Category: Pictures

We had our first post-adoption visit today. Everything went well; the social worker was great. She took some notes and asked for some pictures to send to Vietnam. She’ll be coming back in three months, then six months, and then I think every year. So, we should get to know each other well.

Two weeks ago, January 9-11, we went to Houston. My family got some really great pictures, and there appears to be a front runner for favorite uncle. With seven uncles there was bound to be some competition whether intentional or not. 🙂 Enjoy!

On Saturday, Elise met her third set of grandparents and her seventh uncle. That’s right, she has seven uncles, so she’s got a lot of names to learn. Luckily, half of the uncles are not of the marrying age, so she doesn’t have seven aunts, yet, she has three. 🙂
Here are her pictures:

The grandparents got some good pictures of Elise at the house, so maybe we’ll be able to share those, too. We also got video of Elise “creeping” for the iPhone. She can move when she’s motivated, so stay tuned for that!

Yesterday, Friday, January 16, we were without heat. The heat had been working when we went to sleep, but did not staying work the entire night. Scott, Elise, and I had a slumber party. It was 55 degrees in the house when we woke up Friday morning, so I called our friends the Violis who graciously let Elise and I come over. Scott went to work.

Elise had breakfast and some play time with the Violi boys, Luke and Cade, and then we went to playgroup at our friends the Monroes. The playgroup had a “Sprinkle” for me and another mom, meaning a mini baby shower. We got books, diapers, wipes, formula, socks, and hangers – the essentials. It was great.

Then the Monroes let us stay over after playgroup and have lunch until our heater got fixed. Elise and I got to go home at about 4:00pm. It was a little chilly when we got home, but the temperature was steadily climbing. Elise and I were grateful to have friends let us hang out in their warm homes!

Here are the pictures of our day:

So, last week we crossed over into boring parents. Scott and I had put Elise to bed, and we had our monitor downstairs in the living room. I was minding my own business when Scott says, “Hey, watch this.” I look over at him, and he has his arms outstretched and his waving them up and down simultaneously there is static on the monitor. The static stops when Scott stops. He was pretty impressed with himself. I couldn’t stop laughing because it was so ridiculous. (I thought, “Is this what our life has become?”) I tried to catch him in the act, but this is all I got.

Today, I took Elise to Plano Presbyterian for her Newborn Screening. First, they were confused when they found out she wasn’t a newborn before they sent me to the lab. Once in the lab, I was told that I could keep Elise’s hospital bracelet since it was the first one with her name on it and all the others had my name on it. I immediately said, “No they didn’t. She was born in Vietnam.” Then I correctly answered Elise’s date of birth and and name. I did not do so well on the following questions.

“What was Elise’s birth weight?” – I don’t know.

“What time of day was she born?” – I don’t know.

The lady didn’t quite know how to handle that. She wanted to know what my pediatrician thought about it to which I said, “I don’t know. She didn’t ask.” As you can see, I was extremely helpful. Eventually, she decided to call the state and just write adoption on our paperwork. So, Elise got her foot pricked and wrapped because the bandaid wouldn’t stay on. I took a picture because she looked like she had had something major done not just a foot prick.

On Tuesday, December 30 my mom, dad, and three brothers came to visit. They stayed until Thursday, January 1 and celebrated the New Year with us. It was lots of fun.

Today, we went to Elise’s first doctor’s appointment. Everything went well. Elise has gained a pound since Vietnam which is good, but she’s still just wearing 3 month or 3-6 month clothing. We have referrals for an ENT, Opthamalogist, Lab work, and a Newborn Hearing Screening. I’ll have to work on scheduling those. They are just routine things that all newborns in the US would have already gotten, so we just need to catch Elise up. She got two vaccines today, and we go back in two weeks for her 6 month check up eventhough she’s seven months. I think after that we might be caught up (assuming I get all those other things scheduled). The doctor did not recommend a developmental specialist because Elise is on target for all those things which is good news. Now to just survive all the poking and prodding. 🙂