Officially A Martin

Well it's now official. It was December of last year when we were getting our profile book together and sending our info in to be posted online with the adoption agency. Now, just around a year later we have completed the entire process and are glad to officially introduce you to Elijah Glenn Martin!

In other news Meagan has been going through Eli's clothes and has been boxing up some that he has outgrown. I'm not sure I thought Eli would ever grow out of anything, but our little one is growing up.

In yet other news, the sleeping schedule has been working great. Every night he has gone to bed between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. and he is sleeping all through the night. It is amazing how much this simple schedule has helped with his feeding, naps, personality and all other aspects of his day.

As always.. here are a few photos from the past week or so.

"Daddy.. Mrs. Sue gave me candy, Can I eat it?"

"Yummy"

Eli and Mommy at Hanging of the Greens

Eli Update - Sleep Schedule and Growing

I came home from rehearsal on Wednesday and Eli was already in bed asleep. For the past several weeks we have been fighting him being cranky at night, not eating well, and not wanting to go to sleep. Meagan did a little reading and found out that we weren't being consistent enough with his bed time.

So...after a little research Meagan found a method that we thought would work. About 8:00 p.m. we give him his final bottle and lay him down to go to sleep. We are not supposed to rock him to sleep but lay him down and let him try to go to sleep himself. If he cries we are supposed to wait 5 min before going in to soothe him the first time, then if he doesn't go to sleep wait 10 min the second time before trying to soothe him.

I would have thought it would be incredibly hard, listening to him cry. However we never got the chance.

 We have been doing this since Wednesday and every time he has gone pretty much straight to sleep. Only once did he wake up hungry, about 11:00 p.m. Other than that he sleeps from 8:30 all the way through till about 8:30 a.m.

This has changed so much. He is eating less feedings, but taking more at each feeding. His naps are getting onto a schedule and he seems to be less cranky, and happier. 

I'll take it!!!

It seems really like one of the first things we've done that has worked on a consistent basis!

That's the big news for the week. In other news, Eli is weighing in, unofficially, at 16.5 lbs.

Oh, final big news. Our lawyers have completed the paper work and filed it with the court. So I think we just lack getting a court date to get this whole thing finalized and official.

Eli and Daddy

Hanging out with the office volunteers

Sitting with Mommy in Church

The Crud, Thanksgiving and Teething

The Crud

That's about what you could call what the baby boy is going through right now. He's congested up, and coughing. Thankfully there is no accompanying fever or any other problems, just a persistent cough. Ugh.. Unfortunately it affects everything, his eating, sleeping, being happy. Just when he'll get dozed off he'll wake himself up. Just when he gets eating good he'll cough and spit up. Excuse me from saying but it just plain sucks!

Meagan tells me that when I am sick, I am a baby about it. I don't know whether that is true or not. I do know that I can handle myself being sick. What is hard to do, is look at this sweet baby, and know he is sick, and know that he pretty much has to get through it, and there's not much to do.

So on to solutions...We have some decongestant prescribed by the doctor, have a humidifier in his room and spend time in the bathroom with the hot water running. Hopefully that will help break it up and get it out of there. Any other suggestions?

Teething

In other news there are no teeth yet, but so many signs continue. His hands are constantly in his mouth, drooling, and "chewing" on stuff. We have found a few things that help relieve the pain. The cold wet washcloth seems to help. Thanks also to those who suggested the teething tablets over the orajel. Those seem to work well too.

The problem continues in that it is a constant guessing game to figure out what is wrong. Add being sick to the mix and it's really confusing. There are times we are not sure how anyone does this, how anyone survives being a parent. When I read the news that the world just reached a population of 7 billion people, I know that somehow parents, and kids make it through.

Though days are tough nights are short and sleep is infrequent, I know that we have several things going for us. First, we believe with all our hearts that God has been with us through this process, and he will give us strength to face whatever challenges are ahead. Second, we know that we have a countless number of friends, and family who are reading this, thinking about us, providing feedback and helpful hints, and praying for us. Finally we know every time we look down at that blue eyed, red haired, grinning baby that somehow, we will all be ok.

Thanksgiving

We were so glad to have Russell's sister Miranda come visit for Thanksgiving. She spent a few days hanging out with us. As always it was too short and we look forward to seeing more family at Christmas.

Here are some recent photos.

Like father like son

Our little Aggie

Eli's glowing red hair.. Daddy's shiny forehead

What you talking about Willis?

Rockin to the Music

Laying on Nanny's Quilt

All Marooned Out

Who's the Boss

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An Eli Update: 8 Months, Crying, Adoption Process

It's hard to believe that Eli is now 8 months old. When I look back to see where we have come from I am consistently amazed and perplexed. This is by far the most difficult thing I have ever done in my entire life. It is difficult because there are no rules, and no rhyme or reason to getting a baby through the day. For instance Eli will start crying. Some parents have said that my child will have a different cry for different things, and by learning those cries we would be able to figure out what  is wrong faster.

Ok maybe for your child, there were different cries, but we have yet to discover them with this little one. It is usually narrowed down to a short list of possible problems: Hungry, Gas, Reflux, Tired, Teething, Wet, Dirty. The problem is it's a guessing game, and a wrong guess can make it worse. For instance, if he has gas, yet we are trying to feed him, that only makes it worse. If he is hungry, but we think he has gas and are trying to help him work that out, that makes it worse too. 

So we guess, and try, and fumble through, and cry, and get exasperated. And then, finally, he looks up at us with those blue eyes and that funny grin and smiles, and laughs. It's then that we know it's all worth it, and somehow know everything is going to be ok.

We are just about done with the adoption process. We have completed all of our paperwork, got a loan and made final payments. All of our home studies are done and we have met with a lawyer. Now it's just waiting for all the forms to come in and court date to be set.

I do want to say thank you to all who ask about Eli, who check on how he is doing, comment on Facebook photos, and pray for him. 

Here are some photos from the past month...

Hello... the bottle is empty!

Eli and Pastor Danny

Hanging out with Christian

My friend Sarah

Just laying around

Fishy face

Love the Exersaucer

Getting so big

Crashed Out

Look at my new hat!

I'm all clean!

Yeah.. I'm cute

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Rolling Along

Well we knew this time would come. Eli has finally figured out that he can flip over. He first started about a month ago. He figured out he could roll over onto his side, however he first couldn't get his arm out of the way.
We put him on his stomach for "tummy time", which he hates by the way. We were told that by placing him on his stomach , it would force him to try to roll over. However he just sat there and threw a tantrum, and never rolled over.
He did however figure out that he can grab his feet. And that's when it happened. He was playing with his feet, apparently preoccupied with those cute little toes, when his momentum caused him to flip over on his side. Then he let go of his feet and straightened out, and when he did he was on his stomach.
Let's go back to the part where he doesn't like being on his stomach. For the first few weeks this didn't change. Until a few days ago when he figured out that with a few tucks, and pushes here and pulls there, and if he moved this foot, and that arm.. well that this would happen.



So there it is.. the roll from the tummy to the back. A few days after he did this, I had him on his back, on the mat. I looked up at the TV and then back down at him.. He was laying on his back, but had barrel rolled off the mat onto the carpet. I have a feeling fun times are ahead.

6 Months Progress

Wow... just think.. 6 months ago we got a call saying that we had been chosen by a birth mom, and to ask if we wanted to become adoptive parents. We said yes.. and as they say the rest is history.
The past 6 months have been pretty much a blur.

We started off traveling long distances, visiting Eli in the hospital. Long road trips and short weekends traveling back and forth. I was not sure that would ever end. But it did.

Then we finally got the O.K. to bring him home. Once we got home we had long nights, getting up to feed him every 3 hours. I was sure those days would never end.. but they did

And now it's 6 months later...

When Eli was born he weighed 2 lb 4 oz.. Today he weighed 12 lb 15.5 oz. When we brought him home it was a challenge to get 30 ml every 3 hours.. now he is eating 24-26 Oz every 24 hours. And the Dr. said we can now start using regular formula instead of the more expensive infant brand. YEAH!!

He used to sleep most of the day. Now he is awake, and alert a lot.  He recognizes our voices and turns to our direction when he hears us. He loves to make faces at us, and that cute kid in the mirror.

We were worried about his eye development, he had a check up last week and everything is perfect. Don't have to go back to ophthalmologist until 5 years old.

We really haven't posted much here in a while, because every day was pretty much the same. But I have a feeling that we are on the very edge of a whole lot of "Eli Activity"

But here are a few highlights from the past few months.

Eli did get Baptized



And he went swimming!




And he loved watching the dance lights



Stay with us over the next few months as we hopefully see him roll over, start eating some solid foods, and continue to grow and grow.

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A Minute with the Martins - Eli Plays the Piano

I can play the piano by ear, but Eli can play the piano with his feet. Check it out in todays episode of  "A Minute with the Martins"

The Great Grandparents Tour Part 1

This week we are driving through Texas, introducing Eli to his Great Grandparents. At this point we are about half way through our trip. We started off by traveling down through the piney woods to Kirbyville, where we met my Mom's mom, or Granny.

We stayed with my great uncle and Granny came out to visit with her most recent grandson.


After lunch at Jenny's fried chicken we loaded back up in the car and headed due west till we got to Livingston. Meagan's mom's parents, or Nanny and Granddad were excited to get to see Eli. We were also visited by a host of great aunts, uncles and cousins. Eli even got to meet his cousin who was born a week after him, though she is a little bigger than him.

We woke up on Wednesday, got back into the car and stopped to visit some of our friends in Katy. It was great to catch up, see their kids and hang out for a while.

And that's the trip so far. We are looking forward to the next few days where we will meet the last set of great grandparents, along with a host of family and friends. Will post those photos soon.

A Minute with the Martins and a July Update

Here's something new just for you. We've started a series of video clips I'm calling "A Minute with the Martins." It's a glimpse into our daily lives in one minute segments. Being new parents, I am figuring most will be about Eli, of Eli, or have to do with Eli in some form or fashion. But who knows what else could happen.

Here's the update...

Eli now weighs just over 8 and 1/4 lbs. That's just about 4 times his lowest weight in the hospital. We are also now getting to sleep about 6-8 hours most nights. The down side is that our "night" usually starts sometime between midnight and 2:00 a.m. but sleep is sleep, and it's more than we used to get.We will be taking a trip this next week that I am calling the "Great Grandparent's Tour" We will spend a whirlwind trip down through East Texas and into Houston. At each stop we'll get a photo with Eli's Great Grandparents, none of which have seen him yet. We'll also see family and friends, and catch the last Harry Potter movie.

We are just about through summer, shhh don't tell Meagan, but soon school will begin. We are trying to enjoy these last weeks that we have together, with Eli, before the daily routine kicks in. Pray for us as we seek to find someone to watch Eli during the day while we are at work.

It was great to have family up for 4th of July. Miranda, Grumps and Honey (Russell's Dad and Mom) came up for a few days and got to spend time with Eli. Somewhere there is a video of Russell eating Sushi for the first time in many years.

We'll that's about all the update I have. If you want to know more, or know it sooner make sure and follow us on facebook www.facebook.com/lullabycd. And speaking of Lullaby CD... if you haven't picked one up yet they are only $12 and all proceeds go to help us in the financial cost of adoption. Click here to purchase.

A Surgery Update #2

In my last post I talked about how our day began at 3:00 in the morning on our way to Little Rock for Eli's surgery. Here's how the day ended...

We got to Arkansas Children's right and checked in by 6:30 a.m. After waiting a while we were taken back into the pre-operation room where we changed Eli, they took some blood work and then asked us a lot of questions like: 

When was the last time he ate? Is he allergic to anything? Has he ever been under anesthesia before? 

I am glad that they asked this, and that we could answer it the first time. 

It did seem however that every person we talked to asked us those same questions over and over again. I would think entering it into a computer with a connected database each dept could access would solve this, but I am sure there is a reason, and I digress....

They weighed Eli in at 6.8 lb and we got him into the provided robe and socks. Ok the socks didn't work so well because they were gargantuan on him, and the robe, well it was way too big.

After that we kissed him, said a prayer and he was off.

The surgery was to fix an Inguinal hernia and to be circumcised. About 45 minutes after he went in they had both procedures completed and he was in the wake up room. 

It was kind of funny watching him wake up. You could tell he wasn't quite sure about things, and he was making some strange noises. Not ever having been under general anesthesia myself, I am sure I would do the same. And if Eli is anything like me, you'll be able to watch it.

Again with the digressing

By 11:30 a.m. we were moved to a regular room in the hospital. We were able to start feeding him again, and he has responded well eating a little more each time. We spent the rest of the day by his side. 

The hospital will only allow one parent to room in for the night, so Meagan stayed there on the fold out "bed" and I am staying with a friend, so I can be rested to drive back tomorrow.

Again we want to thank you for all your prayers, phone calls, facebook and twitter messages, and emails through out the day. We are so blessed to be surrounded by friends and family, near and far who have supported us in this journey.

Surgery

This morning we are heading to Little Rock for Eli's hernia surgery. This is something we knew we would need to do since we left the hospital in Norman. They usually would have done it there, however he was so small that they wanted to let him grow up a little.

At 3:00 a.m. then alarm clock went off and we prepared for our journey. The trip takes a little over two hours and err have to check in at 6:30 so we are just about on time with little to spare. Right now we're still on the road, the sun has just come up.

Everyone has assured me that this is a routine surgery and the simplest one there is. While that is true, there is no routine surgery when it is your son who is being put under. We know that his apnea he experienced is something they want to watch out for. For that reason they will be keeping him overnight.

We've done overnight in a hospital room before. They tell us that they are not sure here at Arkansas Children's whether we will be in a room that will sleep one or two. From previous experience I use the word sleep very lightly. If they only allow one of us in I'll let Meagan stay and I'll figure out other arrangements. Anyone have a couch?

For those who want to stay updated throughout the day I have added a widget to our home page that searches for the #pray4eli hashtag. I'll use it throughout the day. Also if you'ld like to leave a prayer or word of encouragement via twitter use the #pray4eli hashtag. You can also leave comments on this post and on our hopes prayers and lullabies Facebook page

Well we are almost to Little Rock so I will close this out. Keep us in your prayers. I'll keep you updated.

Eli Says His First Words...

In all seriousness Eli is doing very well. Thank you all for your support and prayers.

Our Second Two Weeks - An Update

I guess when you see Eli every day, you don't tend to notice changes so much. But as I look back I can see that the past two weeks have brought about their own share of updates, and milestones.

When I left off with the First Two Weeks Update  I shared he was eating about 53 cc of food, and was about 5 lb 2 oz. That has all changed... but let's start at the beginning.



The second to last week of my I took my first extended trip away from Eli and spent some time leading worship at College UM ARMY. This is a trip I have taken almost every year for about 4 years now, and it is great to have the opportunity to lead worship for such an outstanding group of young adults.

Special thanks go to Aunt Miranda, who came up and stayed with Meagan and Eli for a few days while I was gone. When we first called Miranda about the opportunity I think she was out the door and in the car before we hung up on the phone. She is one excited aunt. She took this great photo.

We had not taken Eli out in public much up to this point, but we were able to sneak him a few places with out to many people being near. One thing we did was to buy a small rocking bassinet and put it up at the church.

We used it so we can have a place for him while we work on decorating the stage, and so meagan can run lights on Sunday mornings. Though the word did start to get out and we were met by a small contingent of people at the bottom of the stairs each week after the service.

On Wednesday we took Eli to Arkansas Children's for an eye update. One thing they watch on preemies is for retinopathy of prematurity. So a two and a half hour trip up and an hour or so wait/appointment and we were good. They said that he is doing fine, but want to check him again in a few weeks.

After the appointment we met my friend Amy Forbus for lunch at her favorite hamburger place, Buffalo Grill. It was nice to be able to catch up with her, and for her to meet Meagan and Eli for the first time.

Friday was our 2 month checkup at the doctors. Now we all know what happens at two months right? SHOTS!!! Luckily the nurse was quick, though from the screams and cries I cannot say it was painless. We did get great news though, and this brings us back to where we started....

Eli now weighs 6 lb 3 oz and is 19 1/2 inches long. With that news the doctor said that we can stop feeding Eli every three hours and move to an as needed schedule. He has stuck close to the schedule during the day, but for the first time last night we fed him at 1:30 a.m. and he slept till 8:30 a.m. When you have been used to 3 hours of sleep at a time, 7 and 1/2 hours of solid snoozing is a wonderful thing. And he is eating 80 and 90cc of food at every feeding now.. we have a hungry, growing boy.

We also were able to take Eli off of oxygen when we travel around town. When we take long trips to Arkansas Children's or Houston and such we will still need it, but it is nice to have one less thing to worry about when we go to the store, or up to church. And yes, we now are taking him more places with us.

So that's about got you caught up. We again thank you so much for your prayers and support through all of this. We are now working on looking up grants and loans to help us with the rest of the money we need to raise by November to finish this off. We figure about $9,000 will finish out the lawyer fees, home study post placement feeds, and final adoption payment needed.

Look for a future post showing ways that you can help out if you would like to.

As always I'll close with a few more photos you may have not seen yet.