Russell and Meagan's Journey: November 2011

Sunday, November 27, 2011

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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Sunday, November 20, 2011

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...