OWEN WITH UNCLE KENNY

MOMMYS LITTLE HELPER

TWO PEAS IN A POD

OWENS FIRST THANKSGIVING

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO

I can't believe that Thanksgiving was almost a week ago! Since being home from work the time really goes so quickly. A little to quickly for me! I have to go back to work Tuesday, December 11th! Bob and I have really been giving consideration to me staying home with Owen. Tomorrow I am bringing him to the daycare center for a couple of hours and will do the same thing tomorrow. Next week is his "phase in" week and he will go everyday for a couple of hours and gradually work up to being there all day. I am not prepared for that. I don't want to leave him. I am worried about his eating, are they going to take the time and be sure he eats???? Is he going to get the attention that he needs??? Probably not! I mean it's a great place and all the kids seem very happy but Owen has some special needs with his cleft palate. Bob really wants me to stay home. If we really stick to a budget it is possible for me to be at home. I have to go back at least until the new year and then after that anything is possible.

I must admit, the time I spend with Owen during the day is priceless. I am exhausted and he is always attached to my side, but I wouldn't change it for anything. As tired as I am at the end of the day I am so happy. Being a mommy is not an easy job, but it really is the only job that matters.

Here are some pictures of Owen from Thanksgiving and with his daddy!

LOOK MOM I'M A BIG BOY!!!

PLAYING WITH NANAS TUBBERWARE

OWEN SWINGING WITH NANA

OWEN IN THE WISHING WELL, HE MADE ALL OUR WISHES COME TRUE

WEEKEND AT NANA AND PAPA'S HOUSE & OTHER THINGS

Last weekend was Bob's weekend to work so I decided to drive to PA and visit my parents. It was the first time Owen and I went for such a long drive by ourselves. He was such a good boy in the car. He loves music so as long as the radio is on and we are singing he is a happy camper.

Of course my parents loves seeing him, I love watching him interact with nana and papa and my sister and nephew. Matthew has been so good with him. Owen tries to do everything that Matthew does. He doesn't seem to understand that Matthew is 8 years old!

This weekend is my friend Linda's son's baptizm. It will be the first time all our friends have seen Owen and they all can't wait. Thankfully, all our friends have young kids and we spend a lot of time with them so Owen will have little friends to play with, besides my nephew matthew Owen doesn't have any first cousins and his second cousin are all much older then him.

Bob has to work Thanksgiving as he does every year, so I am cooking dinner and having our neighbors over for dinner. I will make Bob a turkey breast and all the trimings today so that he can take it to work with him tomorrow and enjoy a thanksgiving dinner. Then cook it all over again tomorrow! LOL

Owen is doing very well, everyday he shows us something new! Bob took him to the daycare center on Monday so that he could meet his teacher and the other kids. He seemed to really like it, I think he is missing the interaction with other children. I've changed my hours at work so he won't have to spend all day there. I will drop him off at 8:00 a.m and pick him up by 3:00 p.m. It's longer then I would like but it's the best I could do with my work schedule.

DOCTOR APPOINTMENT

Yesterday was Owens first Cleft Doctor appointment. As we expected his was not happy about the doctor checking out his mouth. Mommy handled it worse then him. I cried the whole time.

His next appointment is January 3rd for a hearing test and to schedule the surgery. I am thinking it will be sometime in early February. Seems so far away, but I suppose this will give our little guy some time to adjust and give me time to prepare for him to have surgery.

We found out yesterday that both his hard and soft palate are affected by the cleft. The doctor said he has seen much worse but Owen's is significicant.

I don't think I posted much about Owen's personality. He is just amazing, he laughs all the time, his eyes say exactly what he is thinking and when he giggles everything on him scrunches up including his shoulders. He is saying Mama all the time. He loves to be hugged and kissed and when you ask him for a kiss he reaches toward you with his head. I get the lips though. He now says bye bye to everyone but still only throws kisses at my parents. When he hears my moms voice on the phone he giggles and says lala. We think that is love! When he is in the stroller he will reach up to you grab your hand and rub his face with it and hold it tight to him. A friend of ours who is chinese said that is his way of saying I love You. Not a day goes by that Bob and I don't cry just because we love him so much. Yesterday when I brought him to the hospital for his appointment we meet Bob when he saw Bob standing there he started clapping and had a big smile on his face and grabbed for Bob. The little things mean so much to us, he has really bonded with Bob and I.

So thats about it for now, I am sure more will come!

FIRST DOCTOR APPOINTMENT DONE

Today was Owens pediatrician appointment. He has a upper respiratory infection and is now on antibiotics. She was unable to start his vaccinations because of the infection so we will give him the medicine for two weeks and then go back. She did draw blood for numerous test. Owen handled it better then mommy did. I cried more then he did. It just broke my heart having to see him be in pain. I don't know what I am going to do when he has his surgery. Speaking of surgery, he has his cleft doctor appointment tomorrow.

Owen and I will take the bus into the city and meet Bob at work and we will all go to the appointment together. I am a little nervous about this appointment. Our pediatrician had a good look inside his mouth and said it is all the way to the back, but she has definitely seen worse and knows that once he has his surgery he will do great.

Tomorrow is Bob's first day back to work, right now he is giving him his night time bath. I love listening to the two of them in the bathroom. I am not sure who laughs more, Owen or Bob! LOL I love that they have the special time together, he definitely helps with the bonding.

I am totally exhausted, I am really hoping the little guy sleeps tonight. Last night was a little rough, he didn't want to sleep in his crib. After several attempts to get him to sleep Bob finally went into his room and they both slept in his bed. We spoke to the doctor about it today and she said this is perfectly normal, he is having anxiety and we need to just go with what works and not worry that he isn't sleeping alone right now. I seem to agree with her.

My mom and dad slept over Saturday night, Owen has already attached to them. When they left Sunday afternoon he blew them kisses, we have no idea where he learned that from, but he didn't it all by himself. He even said bye bye. It's funny because he hasn't done it since my parents left so he definitely meant it to be special for them. Of course they ate it up, my dad just keeps looking at him and has tears in his eyes.

I will update tomorrow how our cleft team appointment has gone! Have a great night.

TAKING A NAP

JUMPING ON MOMMY

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

COMFY IN MY PJS

MY FIRST BATH WITH MOMMY AND DADDY

IS THAT SMILE JUST GREAT!

GOTCHA DAY

WE'RE HOME!

Hello, I am so happy to be home! Although our trip to bringing our son home was amazing there really is no place like home. I missed everything and everyone so much.

I am happy to report that Owen is doing well. When we got to Guangzhou and checked into the White Swan the front desk women saw our passports and said that our coordinator wanted to be informed as soon as we arrived. Apparently all my phone calls to our agency didn't go unnoticed, they upgraded our room to a suite. When our coordinator came to the room she was sincerely considered about Owen. She promised me that after his medical she knew a doctor there that would look at his xray and let us know if we had any reason for more concern.
Thankfully his chest xray is clear and he is doing great. She told us yesterday when taking us to the airport that she felt guilty about not being with us and hoped we could forgive her.

Anywho, more about Owen. He is eating A LOT, the kid loves everything. We haven't found a fruit, vegetable or meat that he doesn't like. He was given the name in our group as baby Buddha. LOL He did great on the flight home, the first 5 hours were a little rough with him, but once he got situated the remaining 8 went well. Thankfully he did not cry the entire time. Actually none of the babies on the plane cried.

Our flight was delayed from Beijing by an hour so we arrived at Newark at 6:45 p.m., I wasn't sure if my family was going to be there or not. They live 2 hours away and told them not to worry if we got in late and didn't make the trip. Well, when we came through customs the first people we saw were my brother-in-law and nephew! They had the video camera, I was walking holding Owen's hand, Bob had ALL the luggage. When we made the turn I saw my mother, father and sister standing behind the gates, the made a banner that said "welcome home Owen'" I have to post pictures because the banner was beautiful. It was made out of red white and blue felt with stars. And red, white and blue balloons. Everyone was crying, even my dad and Bob. They are so excited about the newest addition to the family. Owen wasn't sure what to make of the whole thing but true to his personality he went along with it and even gave us a couple of his great chuckles. I love the chuckles. When we got home and pulled in front of the house there was more balloons on our front steps. My neighbors put some there and the rest came from my Aunt Doris, Aunt Jackie, cousin Kelly and cousin Tommy. Tommy was waiting in his car for 2 hours to see us. I couldn't believe it. My Aunts are coming over on Sunday to meet the little guy. I really don't know what I would have done without the support from my mom and dad while in China, I spoke to them every other day and they really helped me stay strong and be a great mommy to my boy.

I am definitely still on China time. It's 3:51 a.m and I am awake and blogging, Bob and Owen are sound asleep. Owen doesn't like his bed, I think it's too big for him. So Bob set up camp on his bedroom floor and they two of them are snuggled up together snoring....they both snore!!! This would be a good time to mention what a great dad Bob is. He hasn't missed a beat. He is right there for the feedings, diaper changes, medicine giving, you name it he does it. I always knew he would be a great dad, but seeing him in this new role is just amazing.

I can't wait to check out every ones blogs and catch up. I really thought I would have more time to get online but truthfully I just didn't find the time. Maybe if Owen hadn't been sick the first week I would have had more energy for the Internet but being Owen's mommy has definitely become a full time job.....I would my boss can take a joke, when I left we had settled on my new hours when I go back to work, but now that I have him I can't imagine being away from him very long so we will need to readjust that schedule. I think she already knows it's coming.

Well, I guess I should try to catch some sleep, my day will probably start around 6:30 - 7:00 a.m when my chunky monkey gets up.

I have lots more to post about the trip and promise to do so in the coming days!!!

Thanks everyone for the emails, I really appreciated it.

Greetings from China

Hello everyone! It has been a amazing journey so far. It was off to a rough start with Owen having a respriortory infection and needing to be taking to the hospital. It was not what Bob and I were expecting. I am happy to report that he is doing very well!!!

We arrived in Guanzhou last night and today he had his medical. His chest xray was reviewed by a doctor here and he said it is all clear.

Owen, is doing amazing. He has adjusted very well to Bob and I, it is like we've had him since day one. He laughs and has a great giggle. We love him so much, I can't even put it into words.

We miss everyone so much and can't wait to come home with our son!

I will try to post again! We leave on Wednesday.