Family Fun

Ahnna giving love to her first cousin on my side of the family! She loved on Erik so much....she loved to pat and gently rub his head, tell him "hi there", and of course give him kisses on the head! Every morning when she came up and saw him she wanted us to bring him down to her level or lift her up so that she could say hi. Such a cutie! She is going to have a new brother in June also so she will be such a help to her mommy and love her little Isaac!

Uncle Alex and Daddy playing and cooing with Erik on the floor. Alex and Haley will be adding to their family next month with a little girl named Zoey and Alex got in some good practice with the little man. They were so cute!

A four generation shot with my mom and Grandpa and Erik. I look totally exhausted, which I was.....and still am but overjoyed! Great Grandpa Jones now has had 7 great grandchildren! I found out while on our trip to Washington that I am inheriting a rocking chair from my Grandpa's mother. Which means Erik gets to rock in his Great Great grandmother's chair as he grows. How lucky we are! I can't wait for Grandpa to bring it next month!

Mr. magoo himself. This picture pretty much sums up our little moon babe in a nutshell. He always seems to be pulling cute faces throughout the day. He is a super alert baby and is awake almost all day with about 3 naps and then crashes for the night around 7. We have had nothing to do with that, I let him sleep whenever he wants but for such a small one he can't help but just watch what is going on! He has seen his place of residence now after 2 weeks in our family and I think he digs it! He has slept well in the pack n play and today my mom (who is staying with us here in cali to spend time with her first grandson and spoil me, I mean him) and I found a crib on clearance, so we bought it! So this weekend we will trek into town and find a mattress and then he will be in a crib and we can keep the pack n play downstairs to use while I try to keep up on things.

More to come on the joys of new motherhood soon...

gallery of Erik

He is the most adorable little boy! These are all mostly from while we were still in Germany. The above one is just a cute little Erik showing you his eyes that he uses so intently. HOnestly he is awake for 3 hours stretches as least once a day!

Below is where he slept the first night out of the hospital in our hotel room. It was a laundry basket all decked out just for him. Most of the night he spent in our arms anyways, but it was still nice if we needed to set him down.

Our first family picture with our little bundle! Notice the sweet bracelet they let me wear to match Erik's! I felt special, only me, Erik, and S had those bracelets!

Don't you just want to munch on these little feet?

This was at that castle just a couple of days before Erik was born. We set the camera on a timer. I think it's cute. Plus tomorrow is valentine's day- a little mush is always good.

Need to go shower........................see you soon!

Home sweet home

Sleepy boy! And oh so cute!

look at those arches in the brow! I love it! Here Erik is laying with grandma moon on the couch intently focused on her and their conversation.
Day 3 of life...in the hospital the morning after I stayed with him. I couldn't help but take a snap of his skinny cute little body. I know that soon rolls will take over those little legs and I can't wait for that either.

There is nothing like being here at our familie's homes and just enjoying eachothers company. It has been so refreshing to see them again and have fun! Erik has stirred quite the commotion and everyone has been vying for his attention. Last night we had a shower for him and I had to set some boundaries and kept him to myself for the evening. It was hard because I wanted to share the joy of holding him with friends and family but I wasn't comfortable with Erik being so young and it being flu season. So he stayed nestled in my arms or the sling for the celebration. The noise kept him asleep and he was the total star of the show! I was able to share our adoption story and give praises to S and B as I shared about Erik's journey to our family. We are so happy to have a child in our home now and as we are his parents I can't help but always remind people that S and B were a huge part of this and they get the credit they deserve when I talk about the adoption.

I have a pictures to share with you of the little man while he was sleeping the other day. He loves his hands by his face and head. I think he will suck on his fingers or thumb one day in the near future once he figures it out. He is really starting to take on his features. His head is all round and perfectly shaped now and his swelling is gone from birth. I have been trying to relish in his every moment because everyone says it goes so fast. It's hard though because it's so exciting what is to come, but I love kissing all over him and that's all I have to say about that. His days and nights are slowly changing and I could not be more happy from the help of our parents in night time shifts and help with naps in the day. It will be weird at first to do everything on our own. Actually it probably won't be that weird, cause we did for a while in Germany. Maybe that is why it's so nice, I know what it will be like again without the help. 

Our little man is so worth the lack of sleep though, to see him grin in his sleep and make cute faces and snuggle up when he recognizes your scent.....it's pretty Heavenly!

Enjoy the pics!

Erik James .... A new moon

So here is our wonderful little man who is oh so sweet and perfect! His Uncle Alex was taking all sorts of pictures of him yesterday and happened to catch this smile while Erik was falling asleep. He has been absolutely a pleasure and joy to be around. He is the light of his daddy's eyes and every time there is a chance Lindsay is taking over any type of duty or cuddling that can be done for the little moon man. 

He met all his cousins this weekend (he is the first boy, so it was a bunch of girls who love dolls!) and they were enthralled, and one would carry around her baby while we took care of Erik. 

This week will be nice and relaxing as we unwind with our families and spend time with those we love all the while snuggling in with the little man. He is such a cuddle bug and I love it! He has learned Lindsay's and mine voices so that has been helpful when he needs soothed. I think it's one of the most amazing feelings to have the touch to sooth my child when he is upset, its pretty fantastic!

Erik did great on all the flights back from Germany. There was a bit of a panic leading up to the first flight in Germany because the airline had a limit of a child being at least 7 days to travel and he was 5. They held the plane and we had to show all sorts of documents and doctors notes and they even called their own docs. But luckily they let us on and I am pretty sure that there were guardian angels helping him out. He hardly made a peep and didn't cry at all on the take offs and landings except the last landing in spokane. He had no blow outs and ate normal and slept normal we could not have asked for more!

Also we were able to see S one last time the morning before our flight which such a welcome surprise! I was excited to hear that the opportunity had arisen and even though we were running a bit behind due to the doctors office taking extra time to get documents that we needed for travel.....it was soooo worth it. She came with some family members and I got to take more pictures for Erik's special scrapbook that he will have throughout his life to reflect on his miracle journey to our family and  into this life. S looked amazing and seems to be doing well. I loved watching her and her family hold Erik. He slept the whole way after that to the airport and I think S gave him some special words cause he should have been starving. Oh how we love her!

More pictures to come as the days pass and we get everyones on computers and allow more space on the memory cards. 

much love

som

Almost Home

All right kiddos...

Our trip is coming to it's end and I have very mixed feelings. Germany has been splendid to us, we have added to our family, we have met an angel who delivered our son, and yet we can not wait to go home to our families and relish in their company.

I am not feeling too hot today so I probably won't be here for long. I think a lot of it is nerves of traveling this weekend with Erik, lack of sleep thus exhaustion, a super headache, and did I mention lack of sleep? Our little moon man is such a great baby and we could have not asked for better, but he is still a baby. I knew the sleep would be one of my big issues as I usually like a full 10 hours of sleep each night (and yes up until this trip, I had that luxery) and so I am struggling a bit. But it is so worth it. And I could not have asked for a better husband than Lindsay! He has become a super hero dad, taking night shifts, changing most diapers, and lovin' on his little man! It has been such a joy to watch him light up as he interacts with Erik and see this other part of the man I fell in love with.

The past few days seem like they have been a whirlwind. Some points are still pretty emoptionally raw for me so I think I will wait until we are back to the states to express some of those thoughts and feelings. But let me give you a quick run down of how the past few days have gone....
tuesday- Erik was moved to a less secure floor once they realized that Lindsay and I weren't going to take him and run. And that floor happened to be a mother/baby floor where they let us stay with him for the night so that we could bond. He was doing well and just needed to stay at the hospital until legal stuff was taken care of. That night I got 1.5 hours of sleep but I got to stare into my little moon man's eyes almost the entire night and talk to him about the miracle adventure he has been on, his amazing birth parents, and what is to come in store. It was quite spiritual to say the least.
wed.-we woke up early and met with S and a few others to discharge Erik from the hospital. At that point S took Erik to go to the passport office and get that process moving. We went back to our room for some sleep and relaxing. Once we got the call we went to JAG and signed our part of the paperwork and picked Erik up. THat was when things started hitting me. Here I was so elated and ecstatic and yet I knew S was having one of her hardest days, my heart couldn't help but hurt a bit for her and her family. Erik is so lucky that he has such a large group of people loving him. He will be reminded daily! After the paperwork we went home to undwind and spend our first night together as a family in our hotel. It was bliss!
thurs.-we picked up the passport and birth certificate for little moon man and went into a town called Kaiserslautern, we found the church my dad attended on his mission and took pictures. It was amazing to know that we were walking the same grounds and streets that he did 30 some years ago. Also spiritual!
Today- we took Erik to a follow med. apt. and he was given the all clear to fly home to the states with us! All we can think about is introducing him to our extended family. We just tried to get on a flight tonight, but the jet was only taking cargo. So we will try again in the morning.

We also found out that B will be in the states near us this summer and may come visit the little man and introduce himself-----I was stoked to hear that! I think that will be wonderful and fun to meet him in person as well. Thus far we don't know him as well and been able to talk to him on the phone once, but I think that it would be nice to share with Erik as much as we know about his birth parents.

Erik looks a lot alike about both S and B, their feature are showing proudly on his cute face. I used to think that it would be so hard to have children that didn't look like Lindsay and I. Not know what our features together would create. But seeing Erik only brought me joy. I am so glad that he looks like his birth parents, serving as a daily reminder of how he came into our family and his origins. As we all know this is a miracle and every reminder is so special.

And lastly before I bend down to smooch on little mister again I will never be able to express or say enough how grateful we are for this experience and most importantly S and B and the loving people they are, the most selfless individuals. ..I can't really say anything more than that.

Pics to come in a few days!
Loves

A most perfect day for our little family!

All right our little bundle of bliss has arrived!!!!! This morning at about 7:30 we got a call from S's mom that S delivered the moon babe at around 6:45. Both were doing great and S was getting ready to shower and fill out some legal paperwork so that we could come visit and help take care of the moon babe. We were told we would get another phone call in a bit later telling us when it was ok for us to go to the hospital to visit our new addition. (I know you are all dieing to know what gender and the name but I am going to make you keep reading to find out!) So we tried to sleep for a bit longer since we had slept little due to watching the super bowl which started airing at midnight! But knowing that our little one had arrived was painful in trying to get any type of relaxing done.

So I jumped in the shower and packed up our stuff to check out of our hotel because we had to switch our rooms to accomodate the moon babe. Lindsay didn't want to wait at all so we didn't even check out we just left for the other base as soon as we got word. When we got to the hospital we weren't quite sure what to expect, we knew that we were visiting with both S and the moon babe and we were excited for this. I thought I was going to be a ball baby but I just got a little teary walking in. S had some soft music playing and she is such a relaxed and put together person anyways that we all fell into a nice casual relaxed conversation. Lindsay and I got some copies of the paperwork we would need, I got to put on a "parent" wrist band that matched the babies and Lindsay held our new..........................SON for the first time! It was very heartwarming and undescribable really. He was a little over 7 pounds and 21 inches long, his name is Erik James.

We continued to visit and take pictures and such and then left S to spend more time with Erik and fill out more paperwork (pretty much it's never ending). We came back a few hours later when he had been moved into the nicu until he is released into our custody. Tomorrow we fill out more papers and we will get to stay at the hospital with Erik until he is released on wednesday to leave the hospital with us. When we had come back to the hospital we spent lots of time just staring at him, rocking him, gazing into his dark hazel blue eyes, and then we got to feed and diaper him. It was our dreams coming into fruition! I haven't really shed too many tears yet but writing this out is getting them going......man. THis afternoon was one of the most blissful I have ever had. Spending time with Erik helped me start to feel bonded to him and all I can think about is when we get to go back. I feel blessed that the hospital is going to let us stay there tomorrow night so that we can be there constantly.

If all goes well we will be heading back to the states this weekend to spend lots of quality time with our families! We can't wait for little one to meet his cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents for the first time! He is such a mellow and relaxed baby....I totally think he got that from S and for that we are grateful! He didn't cry at all when we changed him or played with him....I think we got super lucky with everything!

All right, spread the word-the Moon family has officially expanded! Love you all and we will keep in touch as things continue to happen in our happy lives. Also please continue to pray for S and her recovery as we could not be parents without her and her selfless sacrifice!

Sommer

Change of events

All right so we know that lots of people are tuning in to hear any new updates about the moon babe. We are so glad that there is this way of communication for our families and friends to stay close with us as we are so far away.

So yesterday (Saturday) lindsay went out for dinner at a restaurant on base. Actually it was Chili's. Yes Ramstein is lucky enough to have a real chili's on base. Unfortunately it's THE place to go on saturday nights....we got there around 7 pm and there was a 2 hour wait!!! Crazy..so we went to a different place on base. The food was ok but not great. Thus far my favorite meals have been from the taco bell on base. But I must admit that Linds and I did try true german bratwursts and "pon fritz" (not quite sure how to spell that) which are french fries at the recommendation of my father who served his mission here in Germany. Yes Dad we were going to attend a ward in the building you attended this morning but events have changed as I will soon explain. Anyhow the bratwurst is on a unique bread round bun. It was different, not bad but I prefer my american food for sure.

Back to the story...last night as we were finishing up eating we got a phone call on our borrowed cell phone from S's mom. We were excited and I had Lindsay answer it. She told us that S had been admitted to the hospital and that they were going to start inducing that night because somehow they realized that there wasn't enough fluid around the baby. We were told that the labor process would be slow and long and that we would get a call when there was more to report. So we finished eating and went back to our room where we anxiously awaited and tried to sleep. Lindsay actually slept through the night and I was a wreck to say the least, I couldn't think about anything else. This morning we were planning on going to church but I didn't want to leave and then have to rush back to the base. So I called S's mom this morning to find out how everything was going. It has been slow as she said. S was put on pitocin last night and early this morning she was taken off, she is now contracting on her own! As long as she continues to contract on her own than she won't need more pitocin and things will progress naturally, otherwise we go back to square one. Let's all pray that this delivery goes well for both S and the baby!!!! So we are hoping the delivery will happen today but it may go into the night again, we will see.

All the prayers are being felt over here. We thought the baby wouldn't come this weekend and things have changed in our behalf, for this we feel blessed!

All right there are people waiting to get on the computers I should go. We will post again as soon as we know anything and can get to another computer!

Love,
Sommer