Favorite Pictures

Some adorable cell phone pics from the past week or so:

Dedication

Today we dedicated Isaac to the Lord. We wanted to do it today because Brian's mom and sister were visiting. It was beautiful.

The pastor quoted Ephesians 1:5

In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will...

"In the Old Testament, there are only three people who were adopted, the two most prominent being Moses and Esther. In the New Testament, however, the concept of adoption looms large in the letters of St. Paul, for Paul uses adoption as a metaphor for what it means to belong to Christ Jesus.

'In love,' he says, 'God decided in advance to adopt us as his sons through Jesus Christ.' Into our hearts he has sent the Spirit of his own Son to witness that we are now God's children! Because we are sons, we look to God, calling him Abba, Father.

May this same deep relationship grow in the home of Brian and Dawn. They have waited many years for this event, and God, in his grace, has not forgotten them. Isaac may not know this now, but God has placed him in a home where he will be loved unconditionally. If I could change only slightly the passage we read at the beginning, it would read, 'In love Brian and Dawn decided in advance to adopt Isaac,' and it would be entirely appropriate to say, as did St. Paul, that they did this 'through Jesus Christ.' It is Christ's love that stands as the eternal pattern for us all! May this family be truly blessed."

Then our pastor held him, anointed his head with oil, and prayed for him. When he finished praying, he looked at Isaac and he had a HUGE smile on his face! He said to the congregation, "he's smiling!" and people gasped and Aww'd. Isaac kept smiling until after we sat down.

After the sermon, we had communion and Brian spilled his wine on me and Isaac! Oops! :)

It was a beautiful day. I can't imagine the dedication being any more perfect. I loved every moment of it. ♥

One Month Old

Isaac was born one month ago! It's so hard to believe! :) Time has flown by.

I'm loving being a mom. I love that Isaac is an easy baby, at least as far as I know. Ha! He is now going up to 6 hours between feedings at night! That sure makes a difference in how I feel. He's now using mostly the big bottles, as the little ones don't hold enough! He's such a good eater! If our calculations are right, Isaac now weighs 8 lbs 2 oz!

I love this baby!

Begin meltdown:

Ok, he's better now...

♥

Favorite Pictures

Flowers

We received these flowers after the court date that made Isaac officially ours. They are from my sister, her family, my mom and dad. It is a Vera Wang arrangement! So beautiful! I can't wait until Isaac picks me dandelions... I now have the perfect vase for them. :)

Bath Time

We have been putting off giving Isaac his first bath. We had to wait until his umbilical cord stump fell off, and then it was just being afraid of bathing such a tiny being!

Today was the day... and it went much better than expected! He seemed to enjoy the water!

The longer the bath lasted, however, the less impressed he was.

After the bath we had to put lotion on him... he still hates that and screams the whole time. :)

Nothing a little snuggles with Daddy can't fix though!

Now we have a happy and clean baby. ♥

Happy Thanksgiving!

Isaac went to his first church service on Tuesday for our Thanksgiving service. He slept through the entire sermon.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Introducing Isaac

Born October 30, 2011
Isaac spent five days in the NICU to strengthen his ability to suck. I told him that this would likely be the only time where people would WANT him to suck, so enjoy every moment.

He's been home for just over two weeks. We're in love. He came home eating 2.5 oz every 3 hours or so, and now he eats close to 4 oz every 4 hours or so. He's been opening his eyes a lot more lately (usually after a meal). In the past few days he's started to pull his head up and flop it around. We enjoyed tummy time today, and he even turned his head toward me!

The dogs have started to attach themselves to Isaac, and are getting protective of him when strangers are holding him. I'm amazed at how they know what is going on! The cat is getting better, though is clearly still offended that he is no longer number one.

We're loving life, and still in awe that we are finally parents!

Two Weeks Old