02-6-2008 - *I got my PICTURES/UPDATE* (May 31, 2008)

My mood while writing this blog: UBER excited!!

This morning I kept making Brandon go and check the mail… We had plans to go out with friends later and I didn’t want to leave until I got my mail! Normally the mail comes at 11, so when it was 11:45 and there still was nothing, I was upset. BUT I knew the mail hadn’t come yet because I was sending something out and it was still there. I got in the shower and when I got out I made Brandon go check again… he wasn’t coming back up. Yeah, I was nervous. I don’t want to wait until MONDAY!

He came back up with some lunch and an arm full of mail… bills, credit card offers, and… YES, MY UPDATE! WOAH… get the tissues out because I knew I would need them! First, they printed out pictures—2 sets, one for Brandon and one for me! They also wrote us each a note—I’ll share mine and then parts of Brandon’s that mine doesn’t include.

Dear Nikkole, (5/26/08)

Today is Memorial Day. You have been in our hearts and our minds everyday since we brought Nicholas home. We decided to name him Nicholas. We always loved the name. Also St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children and he also is known as the secret gift giver—St. Nick/Santa Claus. Since Nicholas is the greatest gift we will ever receive—we thought the name very fitting. And Nikkole and Nicholas are very similar too! We are giving Nicholas two middle names—Christopher Reilly. Please let us know how you spelled Reilly because we want to spell is the same way.

Nicholas is such a peaceful baby. He sleeps four to five hours at a time. He still loves to stretch out like he did at the hospital. When he wants a bottle, he shakes his head from side to side—it is really cute. He eats a lot and has a good appetite. Tomorrow is a big day because not only is Nicholas one week old, he is going to his first doctors visit. The pediatrician has been calling every day to check on him. Both our families are over the moon for Nicholas. Everyone has been stopping by or calling with ‘Congrats’. Nicholas’ uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandmoms are so happy to meet him.

Today is May 27^th. We have just come back from the doctors office. Nicholas is doing great! The Doc says he is perfectly healthy. His umbilical cord looks great and his circumcision looks great too, per the doctor. Nicholas now weighs 7 lbs and 5 oz and is 21 inches long. We have been taking lots of photos. He mostly is sleeping so most photos are of him sleeping. When he is awake, he is looking around a lot and making lots of eye contact.

Nikkole, we hope and look forward to many special times together with you and Brandon. Nicholas s very lucky to have us all. In our house we have three stars—Nicholas, you and Brandon. We love you and wish you peace and happiness.

Love Christine and Christopher.

Brandon’s also said things like:

· “We named your baby Nicholas…” (Your baby… so cute.)

· “He sleeps and eats and burps like a champ.” (Haha… go Ryllie!)

· “…and when it is bottle time we talk to him, sing to him and give him lots of kisses.” (Again… so cute!)

· “He is sooo strong, when he grabs our fingers it is hard to let go.”

· They also talk about him enjoying summers in Maine at the ocean soon AND “he will have fun with his cousins—canoeing, swimming in the lakes and eating lobster too!”

· “You and Nikkole have given us the greatest miracle and you will always mean the world to us.”

· “We look forward to our first get together.”

Just, so amazing. Obviously I cried! Then Brandon’s mother came in a bit later and asked if she could read them and said she would cry along with me. I told her I found my tissues too! (Then it was awkward her standing there reading it…) When she left she asked if she could take Brandon’s set of pictures to show his grandmother. You could tell she was bawling on her way out—wouldn’t turn around to shut the door, tried to reach behind her for it.

I spent quite a while afterwards reading and re-reading our letters. Then looking at the pictures over and over. Even while we drove to our friend’s house I was looking at them over and over. 23 pictures. One amazing thing was we got a picture of him and his cousin L. is in it too—every time I try to think about what he is doing, I wonder if L. is over at the house. I always remembered L. from the pictures of her the first time we met Chris and Christine. Also while we were in the hospital Christine was telling us how excited L. was! It honestly made me smile getting a picture with L. (o: