Rain, rain go away...

I know that we needed the rain, but I am so tired of the dreary days! Joseph and I went out for a walk around the neighborhood yesterday, just to get out for a little while. I had a friend that asked me if I was tired of being cooped up in the house. The answer was a resounding-YES!! I love having Joseph, but with my other children I was able to go and do things shortly after they were born. I haven't even gone to church for the past 3 weeks. Thank goodness General Conference is this weekend, so I won't feel guilty about missing another week! Mike and I both feel that once Joseph reaches 5 weeks, we can slowly start getting out more.

Joseph is still a great baby, other than thinking that he is to be held in order to sleep (especially at 2 am!). He has outgrown his preemie clothes, and his newborn sized clothes are fitting him well now. This week will be a true test for us! Mike is on his way to Arkansas. He will come home on Friday. I was already doing the middle of the night feedings, but Mike was getting the three older children out the door for school in the mornings! I have a feeling that I will be doing that in auto-pilot mode! I probably won't even remember doing it, much less know what they are taking for their lunches! I hope I don't send them with a bottle of formula or something along that line!!

More Pictures

Here are some more pictures. Joseph is now up to 5lbs 2oz! I thought my other three children were small, but Joseph has definitely got them beat!

Joseph is doing very well. He was really fussy yesterday. He had a hard time burping and developed a diaper rash. We are not sure if the rash is from changing the brand of diapers and wipes, or something else. I had Mike stop by Wal-mart on his way home from church last night to get the brand of diapers we had been using and sensitive wipes. We are using the "butt paste", and he is not screaming as badly today when I change his diaper.

The picture of Joseph taking his first "official" bath looks like he is screaming,

but actually he was yawning. He loved his bath - until it was time to rinse out his hair!

A Whole New World

Life is good!! Life is great!! I am so thankful that we have a Heavenly Father that hears and answers our prayers. Our prayers were most definitely answered on March 12th. We received a phone call about a baby that had been born in the state that we live in, and they were looking to place this baby with a family - immediately!

Joseph was born on the 5th of March and he was 5 weeks premature. He weighed 4lbs 11 oz. The birth mother had complications that had some potential risks to the baby (lack of blood flow and oxygen to the fetus). When we were told about Joseph, the doctors had already run tests on his kidneys, liver, heart, lungs...everything but his brain. But we were told that he did not show the typical symptoms of brain damage. He was not having seizures nor sleep apnea. He was already eating from a bottle and taking a pacifier.

Mike received this call on his way to the Orlando airport, and he was texting me with some of this info. We were able to have a conference call with the doctor and to discuss Joseph's potential health concerns. The doctor was "cautiously optimistic" about Joseph not having any long term health problems.

The agency wanted an answer that night. Mike was still traveling home and I had to go to a Seminary training meeting. So we did a lot of texting that night!! After talking with the doctor there was no doubt in my mind that this baby was here for us. Mike called the agency and told them that we were interested.

The next morning we were able to see the baby. Joseph was in the NICU, with all of the monitors hooked to his little body. When we first saw him, the nurse was feeding him. We were then asked if we wanted to feed him. So, putting both of my hands through the openings in the isolette, I was able to feed him. I was in love by this point! We were then allowed to hold him. It was amazing!!

The agency approved us for the adoption and we were given full access to little Joseph. Between Michael and I, we were there for all of his feedings from 8am-11pm. On Monday, the birth parents signed over their rights, and then we signed our papers. Also on this day, Joseph was moved upstairs to the well baby nursery. He went in for an MRI on Monday as well. I found out on Tuesday that he moved around too much during the MRI, so they had to do it again. This time they sedated him, and things went well. The only down side was that his body temperature dropped, and we had to work hard to bring it back up.

We were told that Joseph could go home on Wednesday. I was so excited!! Mike was in Austin, so I was the one that the nurses were starting to hate!! The doctor was not going to release Joseph until his body temp was higher. I did not put him down for over 2 hours! I had multiple layers of blankets on him, and finally at 1:30 his temp was up to 97.2! Yea! We could go home. As many of you mothers know, it was three hours later, that we were finally able to leave!

Joseph is a blessing in our life. We all love him so much. I am going to do my best to keep this updated with pictures and other things!