Adoption Finalized

Just wanted to post a few pictures from the courhouse, where the adoption was finalized yesterday December 17, 2009. It was short and sweet. Cameron fell asleep while we were waiting to go in, but awoke as soon as the judge started talking. It was really cute. We feel so ecstatic! We were even able to do live video stream from Marty's cell phone so his parent's could be "with us" in Oregon. Love technology!

Making up for lost time!

I think its been about 2 months since I last blogged, wow! That's the longest I've ever gone! A lot has happened and at the same time nothing has changed. Just to clear up the record on Bea. I knew Bea from caring for her for her aunt whom she was living with. When her aunt could no longer care for her, Bea's social worker asked if I knew anyone on the island willing to take her. I eagerly volunteered. The social worker really wanted her to stay on the island, so she could have her weekend visits with her dad. So we were able to be her guardians without being licensed as foster parents. However, after 2 months with us, she's now returning home to live with her dad, tomorrow.

Cameron changes everyday, and as he does we fall more and more in love with him. I love motherhood more than anything in this whole world. I love to wake up and see Cameron smiling at me as he lays next to me in our bed. I love how he tries to talk to me with his ahhh gaaa, oooo, and fake coughs. I love that he lets me dress him up in cute outfits, hats, and shoes, then take a thousand pictures of him. I love that Marty is such a great daddy--changing poopy diapers, using the cloth diapers even though he thinks its gross, taking Cameron for all or 1/2 the night every other night so we both can be rested. I love the way he stares up at me with his big blue, blueberry eyes when I feed him. I love that I can bring him to work with me and that he gets plenty of auntie Manda time, as well as gets to watch and learn from all the children. I love watching him learn new things- pulling his bottle towards and away from him, lifting up his head from his tummy, holding his head up, etc. He's making his milestones before I have time to read up on them. I love that he has soo many family members that love him! I don't think there's anything about being a new mommy that I don't love. I don't even mind getting up with him in the middle of the night to feed him. It's amazing how waiting your whole life for something changes how you feel about things. :o)


He's gotten to see many members of his birth family, as well as taken a road trip down to Oregon to see Marty's family. Marty's mom loved having him, and held him any chance she got. When they came up a week after he was born, she didn't get to hold him nearly as much :o) Shirley made the best Thanksgiving dinner, and Cameron looked adorable in his My Little Turkey outfit. Incidently, Cameron's birth dad's family live 30 minutes away from Marty's parent's, so they were all able to come have lunch with us over the weekend. A couple week's before that we had Cameron's birth mom's dad and step mom over for dinner, which they loved, and a month before that Cameron's birth mom's mom and sisters were up visiting from Spokane for her sister's baby shower and they got to meet Cam for the first time.

Now its back to just us, my mom who he sees him regularly (being that she lives right next door), and my sister of course, who works with me at the preschool. I really feel like the more people that Cameron has to love him, the better it will be for him. I think it makes things easier for his birth family as well, to know and to see how blessed Cameron is to be with us, how happy and content he is, and to know of our grattitude for giving us this sweet, sweet boy. I know Cameron's securely attached to us his mommy and daddy. If Manda is holding him, and he hears my voice, he stops what he's doing, and turns towards my voice. When he sees Marty giving him one of his big silly smiles, he almost always breaks into a grin. I can tell by the way he looks at me that he knows I'm his forever mommy. The other night, I decided to take a bath as Cameron had fallen asleep for what I thought was the night. Marty still had Bea, but they were all doing fine, so I brought the lap top in with me to catch an episode of Law and Order while I soaked. After 45 minutes I heard the loudest cry Cameron's ever made. I hopped out, and found that Marty had been doing everything he could to calm him--bottle, diaper change, bouncing, etc. (turns out it was most likely due to trying to give him breast milk we'd just gotten, after a month on formula, poor baby's tummy just wasn't happy). But, I just held him against my chest and sat with him in the glider, and he instantly stopped crying and feel back asleep. I thought back to when he was born and the doctor placed him on my chest, and how I sang to him and he stopped crying. He must know I'm his mommy, and I will comfort and love him whenever he needs it.

Speaking of forever... we have a court hearing on December 17th to finalize the adoption!! Yay! Then on the 22nd we will go to the temple to have Cameron sealed to us for all eternity, and finally, he'll be blessed at church by his daddy, and grandpa's on the 27th. December will be a special month for the Mickelson's! Not to mention it's Cameron's first Christmas, and to celebrate we went out and cut down a 10' tall Christmas tree! Its really sweet to celebrate all the first's with Cameron, his first Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now Christmas. These holidays always remind me of family, and now we have our own little family, can build traditions, and celebrate together. I think I'm the happiest I've ever been. God has truly blessed us. Ok, sorry this has been such a long post, I'll try to post more regularly, so they won't be so long :o) I do add pictures to our picasa web album regularly, but don't always get to the writing of the blog :o(

We love you all, and if we don't tell you before then, have a Merry Chirstmas! We'll sure miss our little Bea, but are excited that she gets to live with her daddy whom she loves and misses.

If Bea learned anything from us, its how to multi-task--look at how she can feed one baby, while holding the other!

First excursion with Baby Cam

Marty and I have become guardians for this little angel named Bea. She's 3 and sweet as can be! We took her and Baby Cam to the Aquarium yesterday. Cameron managed to sleep the entire time. It was his first time in the Ergo. I think he likes it! Marty and I couldn't be happier or prouder parents! Cameron is our little cuddle bug, and Bea is our little helper. We love them both! Cameron loves Bea too, he'll just sit and listen to her as she talks on and on. Its really cute.

Oh and yes I am feeling 100% better after having my appendix out last week. Luckily it didn't rupture, and thankfully Marty is still off of work. We found out we were getting Bea the day after I got out of surgery. Never a dull moment around here! At least we had a couple of weeks to get used to parenthood ;o)

Little Cameron

Happy 1 week Birthday little Cameron

One week ago we received the best gift of our lives, a little baby boy, we named Cameron Edward. He was born at 3:18am on Thursday September 24th at the University of Washington Medical Center. He came after a long labor, but was perfectly healthy and calm upon arriving. When the Dr. placed him on my chest I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven. I think it was the happiest day of my life. His birth mom was incredibly strong and patient as we awaited Cameron's entry into this world. She was the calmest laboring woman I've ever seen. We then spent the next 2 days at the hospital receiving excellent care and help with breastfeeding. They gave us each our own room and we took turns sleeping and caring for little Cameron. Maranda and I ended up rooming together the second day so we could both breastfeed. Then she came home to Vashon with us to recover and allow her milk to come in. It was pure bliss bringing this little angel home.

He is a very content and happy little boy. He hardly cries and loves to be held and cuddled. I can't help but spend my every waking moment staring at him. He has the biggest almond shaped blue eyes, a very distinct nose, and tiny little lips. He's got lots of dark brown hair and a perfectly shaped head. He has long feet and toes, and his skin is a little flaky from being in the belly an extra 2 weeks. I was able to shower with him today which he just loved, feeling the warm water against his back, he almost fell asleep. It was sweet.

I will write more later and post more pictures, but right now I'm going to take a quick nap while Cameron sleeps in grandma's arms.

PS If you haven't seen it, here's some video from Cameron's first moments of life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN-DbHlbczE

Still nesting, no baby yet :o(

So what do you do when you're waiting around for a baby to be born? You decide to decorate your house by making curtains for all the windows. I've been wanting to add some color to our home for some time, and have felt an urgent need to do so before the baby arrives, along with cleaning the house from top to bottom, and now drying plums. So NOW the baby can come, but not until after 10:00 am tomorrow morning, because I'm getting inspected by the department of early learning so I can be a licensed child care provider. It's been 3 months since I turned in all my paperwork, so I really don't want to reschedule. Come on baby, just another 12 hours, then you can come! We also decided to move the new glider out of the nursery so we can get more use out of it. We figured since the baby would be co-sleeping, it didn't really matter where the glider went, and if we put it in the living room we'll use it a lot more. Ahhhhhh it's so nice! Marty loves it, which I'll use to my advantage in persuading him to get up with the baby in the middle of the night :o)


This was the fabric I had wanted to do the curtains in, but it was a little too bold for the style of my living room, but it goes perfectly down in the preschool.

Harvesting

While I've been waiting for little ninja's arrival, I've been busy canning. Here's what I got done last week. Recently I did another dozen jars of applesauce, apple pie filling, more raspberry jam, and crushed tomatoes. I still have more cucumbers to pickle as well. It's exhausting work, but a lot of fun too.


The baby shower was a lot of fun. We played games, ate yummy food with many fresh ingredients from the garden, and opened a lot of presents! It was so nice to see so many friends from the olden days, as well as their moms! How grateful I am for Maranda and her family, as well as the many friends and family of ours that have been so supportive.

Almost time!

I just wanted to post a couple of pictures from the midwife appointment last week. Little ninja is doing well. He has 2 weeks till his due date which means he could come any day! Maranda and I have been spending a lot of time together lately which has been really fun. I just love this woman, and the little one inside her! This is the happiest I've been in years! I can't wait to become a mom.

Nesting?

I finally feel like a grown up, we have real nightstands, to go with the bed Marty built for us. Could this be nesting that I felt like I had to get nightstands before the baby arrives? We got a killer deal on them too. They're from Pottery Barn, not a scratch on them, off of Craigslist. A $700 pair of nightstands for $125. Can't beat that! And yes, that's a bear in our bed. He's keeping a place warm for our little boy. Oh and now that we have the nightstands I want to make an upholstered headboard to go with them. Have any of you read "If you give a mouse a cookie"? I'm totally the mouse.
Ok but seriously, can adoptive moms really get the nesting instinct? Or maybe I was just born with it? I'm a total home body, obessessed with doing projects around the house, as well as in the yard, cleaning, organizing, and of course having everything one could possibly need for a baby. None of which sounds irrational to me, though it may at times to Marty. I call it being prepared and productive. He'd probably call it obsessive and compulsive :o) I already have a drawer full of bottles, blankets, clothes, diapers, and I just acquired the Graco SweetPeace Soothing Center baby swing, and a Moby Wrap off of Craigslist for our little boy. Of course I've been testing out the moby wrap with all the babies, so far they all love it.

I'm thinking I should probably save somethings for a registry in case someone else wants to give something to this little guy besides me. I've started creating a registry at Baby's R' Us, though I'm also thinking about asking people to contribute to my dream rocking chair that I've found online. It's upholstered in microfiber, is a rocker, glider, and a recliner! Since I'm sure I'm not going to want to be cooped up in the nursery, as beautiful as it is, I want to put the chair in the big open area next to the wood stove so we can cuddle in front of the fire or admire the view out the french doors. I usually dread the winters here, but not this one!! I can't wait for this little boy to arrive. Marty and I will also get to celebrate our 4 year anniversary with the baby which will be the greatest gift ever! Another beautiful addition to our nursery was a quilt made by my mother-in-law. I just love it!!! She hand quilted it. It's really adorable. We had our baby's parent's over last weekend for dinner and they loved it too. Our baby's mom makes kites. She was really impressed with the quilt as was the dad. They both are such wonderful people. They got to meet both mine and Marty's family. We had a good time. I also put up on the wall the quilt I had made a couple years ago for "our baby." It's not nearly as fancy as my mother-in-laws.

Dinner with family and friendsStay tuned for Part 2 of Nesting... The great outdoors!

Love you all, and congratulations to the new mama's out there. Your girls are beautiful, our son is going to be one lucky guy!

Guess who's having a baby?

Ok, well it is and isn't me. I'm having a baby, but not giving birth to a baby! Can you believe that!! It really is a miracle. The baby is due to arrive Sept 10th. It's a boy and we call him little ninja right now because he loves to kick his mommy's belly.

Some of you may remember my post a month or so ago. I was really struggling, and feeling so sad and confused about why the Lord hadn't blessed me with children when all I've ever wanted was to be a mom. It had been so hard to see all my friends having babies, and not being able to experience the same joy. You all wrote incredibly sweet and encouraging things. I didn't really want to believe anything you all said, even though it was true. I just wanted to give up, and wondered if it ever would really happen. Well wouldn't you know, 2 days after I posted that blog, someone asked me if Marty and I had thought about adoption. I blurted out, yes!! He then went on to tell us that his daughter who isn't married was pregnant, and she was trying to decide whether to keep or adopt out the baby. While praying about it, she saw me and Marty's face. This isn't a woman we talk to or see on any sort of regular basis. She's a member of our church, though she lives in Seattle. Her dad has helped us out quite a bit (he helped us build our fence which is when he told us). It makes me tear up everytime I think about it, but he actually painted the nursery! I don't think it was just a coincidence. We had over 10 people helping us paint our house that day, but it was he that painted what I knew would be a nursery some day, with some help from Marty. Who would've known that his daughter would be giving us her baby for that nursery. As he told us the story about his daughter and the situation she was in and her desire to give this baby a mom and a dad, I just had this peaceful feeling, and understanding of why all the other options hadn't worked--the IVF, fostering, even a traditional adoption since we nearly maxed out the credit card with the yard. I knew that if she decided she wanted us to adopt the baby, we definatly would, and that the Lord really did have a plan all along, but was just waiting for the right time to unfold it to us.

The birth mom keeps telling us how she too has found peace for the first time in 5 months, and that when she starts to doubt the spirit reassures her that this is the best thing for this little boy. She visited us a month ago and said she knows little ninja is going to have a great time being raised by us, playing in the yard, playing with the children in the preschool, etc. It's amazing how everything has just fallen into place. We loved this woman before, always had admired her and thought she was an incredibly smart, talented, and beautiful woman, but now I don't even have words to describe the love we have for her, the profound gratitude and appreciation for what she's doing and the choice she's made to carry this baby so that we can become parents. She is making a sacrifice I couldn't even dream of making. One that I will be eternally grateful for.

A lawyer is working on the legal stuff, and a social worker is completing a home study for us required by the courts. Its amazing everything you have to fill out and have documented!
The birth mom asked if I would be her birth partner at the birth, and I said yes of course! She's giving birth at the same birthing center as I had wanted to give birth at. We're going to take a birthing class later this summer. I've never been at a birth before so this will be a new experience for me. We stay in close contact with her which is really nice. We just love her so much!
My sister is going to plan a baby shower for us after the baby's born, and we know he's ours forever. Then everyone can get to meet the little guy as well. My mom was suppose to keep the adoption a secret, but hasn't done a very good job. The birth mom said she didn't mind who we told about the adoption, so I figured it would be safe to officially spill the beans. I'm so grateful that I was able to start my preschool/daycare before the arrival of this little boy and that I have 2 great assistants, my sister, and Ashlea to run things for a while after he's born. I'll be able to make a nice transition back to work, bringing him with him on my long commute down the stairs ;o) My youngest ones will be 16 months by then, and walking which will be nice, and I've already "reserved" a spot for the baby so that I won't be over capacity.

I have all the clothes I'd EVER need for the first 6 months of this little boy's life (3 drawers full!). Gotta love craigslist! A lady I was buying cloth diapers from was getting rid of all these great little boy clothes. A huge lot for a great deal. I have most everything I need for the nursery, though I'd like to get some pictures for the walls. I love to just lay on the bed in this room, the baby blue walls and green accents make it so calming. Of course I had to add a few hints of lavender, just because I like it.

Sorry this has been such a long post. Love you all! Thank you for your encouragement, prayers, and love! Jenny