First portraits!

Last week I took Annelise in for her first pictures. I think they are adorable. She did great! And tomorrow is ONE MONTH since our forever family day in Seoul! Wow! Annelise is so sweet, and really is getting comfortable with us and our house. She crawls into other rooms now and I have to go looking for her! That is very different from the first few weeks. I love having her home. She is such a blessing. Each day brings lots of smiles for all of us. Thank you God for our daughter!

Doing "really" well

Well I am happy to say I am feeling a remarkable change in our lives since last weekend. Things are just "clicking" for all of us. Annelise is really getting comfortable with us and we are starting to see her true personality. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since we had our forever family day in Korea! (wow!) I am starting to get into a good routine with her and the boys. Three kids is alot of work, but I am learning how to balance and I LOVE weekends when Daddy is here to help. Makes it all so much more fun! :) I know my last few long blogs have been kinda mopey, but honestly adoption brings alot of adjustment for everyone. I am happy that we are all bonding well and getting to like our new normal quite alot! You can see some good snaps in the three picture posts I just did. We have had a nice week! And we also had our first post placement visit which went well, except for a tantrum from Anderson. But Annelise was a happy camper! :) lol

{ Bathtime }

Annelise loves bathtime. It was not her favorite thing for the first week or so, then she decided it was great! I look forward to it every day, she just gets so excited!


In her super cute poodle towel all snuggled after bath


Big smile for Mamma!

First trip to the yogurt shop

We also went to the yogurt shop! Annelise had a tiny taste, but mostly munched on gerber puffs and yogurt melts. She had a great time, we all did! This is by far one of my most favorite pictures so far:




Sweet smile

Annelise's Day at the Park

Last weekend we all went to the park! All three kids had so much fun. Here are some pictures that I promised! Only took me a week to get them up here! :)
I think this may be our first photo all together!

Daddy and baby girl

Anderson picked me this flower and was handing it to me, sweet boy!





I was jumping in and out of a sign playing peek aboo when I got this shot!

thanks

Thank you for all the positive feedback to my honest post. I was nervous writing it, but my feelings are strong, and I had to put it out there, if only to maybe help another fellow ap feel they are not alone. I love hearing the wonders of how after even 9 months home, sweet personalities still are emerging. It shows just how hard these babies love. Sweet babies. How I wish every baby could have their forever family right from the start. But so thankful for the loving foster parents Annelise had. You can tell she was loved and adored. Today Annelise went to her first Dr. Visit. She is 19 lbs.28 inches. Poor baby had 2 shots and cried. It about broke my heart, which actually told me a lot about how I am totally falling for her. I hated seeing her hurt. I wanted to just take those dumb shots for her which is exactly how I felt when the boys got immunized. So boo for shots, yea for realizing new feelings! More later with cute pictures of our weekend at the park. First post placement visit in 2 days!

keeping it real

Just wanted to share that while each day Annelise is bonding with me more, these past 13 days have not been easy. It has been hard for both of us. The poor baby got taken away from her whole life. She still smiles, amazing. I had no idea what to expect. I tried to prepare myself, but I think I romantisized adoption. I knew she would grieve, but I had no idea I would. The first night I paced the halls of our hotel in Seoul with her, I felt the tears begin. I realized I did not know this little person, and she was really frightened. And then it hit me "I had no idea how to comfort her." That was really shocking to me. I still am learning how to comfort her. With my boys, they were newborns, and it just seemed natural to rock them. Annelise is not a fan of me rocking her. So I had to figure out what would help her. The flight home was tiring, scary and hard. But we survived. I have had people here ask me about our bonding. It is happening, but for us, it is slow and steady. I do love her, and know once I fully get to know her and her I it will be so worth it. I just wish more people talked openly about the bonding process and adoption. Maybe I am a rarity, I don't know. I do know that nothing worth having comes easy. Annelise is a huge blessing, and I am learning so much about love. A good ap friend of mine gave me a great quote "love is a commitment, not a feeling." For all she has been thru, I pray soon we feel like her family to her. Adoption brings great loss to the child. I pray for her birthmom and her sweet foster family daily. I know they are missing her. Adoption also creates families, and our little family is proud to call Annelise our own.

{ And we are 5 }

Finally Five. A picture is worth a thousand words...

Home

To put it mildly, someone is doing fabulous with her forever family!!!!