Week #3

Dominic is 2 weeks old as of Monday.  Rather than having a quiet 3rd week, we've been keeping busy:

Example of PKU Test

On Monday, he had his second pediatrician visit.  We found out that Dominic was doing really well and near the 50th percentile for length, weight, and head circumference which was great.  He's also up to 8 lbs 3.5 oz which was a huge jump from his last weigh in of 7 lbs 2 oz.   The hard part was his follow up pku test.  I held him as they pricked his foot and squeezed out several drops of blood into 4 separate circles on a card.  Dominic rarely screams or desperately cries, so it was really tough to hold him when that happened.  I just held him close while the nurse pulled on his leg and got drop after drop onto the card.  It was pretty tough for me as I anticipated it being a quick thing to get done.  Instead, it took at least 5 drops of blood per circle which was really unpleasant  :(


Yesterday we had our first official meeting with an adoption counselor since bringing Dominic home from the hospital a couple weeks ago.  Our original counselor, Katie, stopped by our house for a couple hours to do a general check-in meeting.  Compared to our homestudy sessions back in April, this was pretty low key.  Katie had a set of questions to go through, but it was mostly just making sure that we were surviving the first couple of weeks ok.  As some newborn babies can require a lot of attention, time, and effort, it's probably wise for the agency to make sure new adoptive parents are holding up all right!  We'll have 1-2 more visits from either Katie or Courtney until the adoption is legally finalized.

Picture of our wedding rings by Amy

Another super exciting thing on the docket is that Dominic will feel like a celebrity tomorrow!  We've talked to our super awesome wedding photographer and she'll be over to take some pictures of Dominic.  Amy is really fun and took some great pictures for our wedding, so we're looking forward to seeing her again and having some great early pictures of Dominic.




Lastly, I wanted I've tacked on a brief video of today's tummy time.  He was awake and did great.  This video shows a little movement, and he got in even more leg movement after this was recorded.  Definitely an upgrade over Monday's tummy time which was really just naptime.

Tummy Time

Today was an exciting day for Dominic.  We've heard of the wonders of "tummy time" through other parents.  Now that babies are recommended to lay/sleep on their backs, tummy time is helpful in muscular development and coordination.

Tummy Time!

Given that Dominic is only 2 weeks old, it's rather early for him to start tummy time as he isn't very mobile.  However, we want to get him used to being on his belly, so he isn't distressed during later sessions of tummy time at an older age.

After Thanksgiving, Dominic's umbilical cord stump fell off.  We gave him a few days for things to heal up and then decided today would be a fun trial run at tummy time.  We laid out the exercise mat and activity gym in our living room.  Then we brought over Dominic and set him down.  It looked nice and comfy, but that may have been a down side.  Dominic was rather sleepy and just crashed.  On the good side, Dominic's first experience with tummy time didn't include crying, distress, or bad memories.  Instead, it was just some half awake glances that devolved into nap time.

Nap time

Holiday Spirit!

Grammy Mary!

It's been great having my mom in town this weekend.  Her excitement to see Dominic in the days before her trip out to Seattle has only been trumped by her excitement to be here in person.

Grammy Mary will only be out for a few days, but she's already gotten in some good memories with Dominic.  There have been all the usual things like feedings, diaper changes, naps, and Dominic's first Nebraska game on TV.  Another great milestone has been decorating for the holidays.  When I was younger, it was always a lot of fun to decorate the house for the holidays by putting up the tree, Christmas lights, and playing holiday music.  With Grammy Mary around to help take care of Dominic, the three of us spent Friday afternoon putting up Christmas decorations.  Happy Holidays everyone!

Mantle with stockings

Christmas tree

Ornament from my parents

Dominic's first ornament

Even better, Molly and Angie stopped by today with a special Christmas present for Dominic!  His new stocking is amazingly cute  :)

Dominic's Stocking

Dominic's First Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Dominic's first Thanksgiving!

Poppa Mark and Poppa Rich invited us to their place for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal, turkey and all. And Poppa Mark definitely got in a good fill of time with the little guy!

After dinner, Dominic anxiously awaited the arrival of Grammy Mary from Nebraska!

And finally, the long-awaited meeting:

Happy Thanksgiving!

No One Said It'd Be Easy...

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted anything here, and what a crazy, wonderful, emotional, and joyous couple of weeks it's been. I've been wanting to post earlier in the week, but there just hasn't been time. And now, I finally have a few minutes to sit down and sort out my thoughts.

Being at the hospital already seems like a distant dream, even though we only brought Dominic home three days ago. The time we spent there was exhausting, both emotionally and physically. From the moment we left our home Monday morning through our return Wednesday afternoon, there wasn't any real downtime. (As I write this, it's astounding to realize that period was only two days - it certainly felt a lot longer!)

As we've mentioned before, the original hospital plan was that Carly would spend a few hours with the baby following the birth, and then she wanted to completely hand over his care to us. We were totally on board with that, and we were also ready to accept any changes in the plan that she might decide she wanted. Well, as it turned out, Carly wanted Dominic to spend the night in the room with her. Though it meant we wouldn't be able to spend as much time with him right away, Brian and I were completely fine with that decision, and in fact we had somewhat anticipated it. It was a little easier to be patient when we knew that in a short amount of time he'd be coming home with us, and we'd be parenting him for the rest of his life.

Dominic in his hospital bassinet

Even while Dominic was with Carly, though, we were still around. We spent a lot of the visit with both of them and some of Carly's friends in her room, with everyone taking turns holding, feeding, and changing Dominic. On the one hand, it was a wonderful way to welcome him into the world: so many people there to celebrate his arrival, for which I'm incredibly thankful. On the other hand, it was very difficult for Brian and I since we couldn't really relax the entire time. Don't get me wrong; we really like Carly and I think that we all get along very well. It was just that this was her space, and we were spending almost all our waking time there, so we had to be constantly "on". It was for that reason that I was so excited for our trip home with Dominic - we'd finally be able to spend time with him on our own schedule, in our own space.

And that's also why it hit me so hard on Tuesday when Carly decided she wanted Dominic to spend another day in the hospital with her. Carly had a C-section, and so she had to spend 2 full days in the hospital afterwards. Dominic, being a healthy baby, was ready for discharge after just 1 day, and the original plan in that case was that he'd leave after 1 day. Even at the time, I knew that it was a good thing for Carly to do whatever it was she needed to bond with and welcome Dominic, as well as process her grief; and in hindsight, I'm glad that she decided upon having that second day. But at the time, I was just about at my own breaking point, since I'd been so looking forward to us leaving for home, and that was going to be postponed for another night. I had anticipated a lot of changes to the hospital/birth plan and was mentally prepared for most of them, but somehow it never crossed my mind that another day in the hospital was a distinct possibility until it actually occurred. And in the end, it was a very good thing, but just was difficult to process as it was happening.

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That second night "in the hospital" actually turned out not to be - the courtesy room that the hospital staff gave us on the first night was needed for actual patients, so we had to head out to a hotel for the evening. That was both a blessing and a curse - neither of us wanted to spend the night away from Dominic, but it also forced us to give Carly some time and space on her own with him. That, and it afforded us one full night of sleep outside of the hospital before we would bring the little guy home (and probably not sleep again for a few years!).

Having a hotel sleep on Tuesday night was probably one of the best things that could have happened, since we really needed it on Wednesday. The morning started quietly enough - we got to Carly's room relatively early, and we spent the morning chatting with her, holding Dominic, watching TV, and generally having a relaxed time. But I think we all knew that in just a few hours, Carly would be entrusting him to us in a very permanent way, and that knowledge added more than a bit of tension to the environment. After a little while, Courtney (the counselor from OA&FS) arrived, and she really started the entire process moving for the day. Carly was able to take as much or as little time as she wanted; but there was no more ignoring what was about to happen.

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Most of the discharge process went by in an uneventful way - Carly was given her last vitals check, Dominic had all of his stuff packed up, and eventually the checklist was completed. Then it was really time for Carly to say goodbye, in whatever way she needed. Courtney took us downstairs to sign some paperwork, although I think the true purpose was to give Carly the time she needed with Dominic on their own. And then, when Carly let us know she was ready, the time we were waiting for was finally there.

When we got back to Carly's hospital room, she said she was ready for us to take Dominic home. She herself was walking around the room gathering her things - I could tell she was trying to distract herself. We had a small gift to give her: a photo album with a number of pictures of all of us, from Dominic's first few days of life. When we pulled that out, Carly began to cry - and that was when it truly hit me how difficult this was going to be. Nothing I've ever experienced can compare for me to the next few minutes.

Carly is not a person who likes to appear vulnerable, and I know that she would have liked to hold back her tears. But the grief and pain on her face was palpable, and I still can't get it out of my head. As happy as I was to be bringing Dominic home, I knew that at the same time she was parting with him. And I know that she made this decision willingly, and in trying to keep Dominic's best interests at heart, but that didn't make any of the pain easier to handle. Once Carly said it was time for Dominic to leave with us, we tried to accommodate her wishes and not draw out the goodbye; unfortunately, we had trouble actually strapping him into his carseat before we left the room. Hearing Carly quietly crying did not help the process, and it almost sent me over the edge myself. But I knew that we wanted to show a strong front for her, and I was able to pull myself together until we made it into the hallway.

By the time we got to the elevator, however, I was sobbing. I know that this should have been one of the happiest moments of my life, but all I could feel was a profound sadness. I still can't fathom what it would be like to experience that pain we saw on Carly's face; and I couldn't stop from feeling that we were causing it for her. Even thinking about it now is causing me to tear up a little, since the emotions are still so raw. I know that the parting in the hospital was not a permanent goodbye by any means, and I look forward to many happy gatherings with Carly and all the people who love Dominic; but I also know that what had just happened was a fundamental transition in Dominic's life, and I couldn't help but feel some of the loss.

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Courtney accompanied Brian and I to our car, where she gave us each a hug and sent us on our way. I haven't written a lot about her role here, but I can't imagine how we would have gotten through this entire process without her. Obviously she's a professional and this is her job, but she was a wonderful guide for the entire process, and without her I don't know what we would have done.

With Courtney, in the hospital lobby

In the car, we just sat there for a few minutes. My tears of sadness gradually became tears of joy, as I realized that we were finally bringing Dominic home. Carly's grief, and our grief, is deep and profound; and while some of it may fade with time, I know it will always be there. But this goodbye was also an opening into the rest of Dominic's life, and he will always be surrounded by so many people who love him immensely. For that, I'm indescribably thankful.

Dominic sleeping on the ride home

As I've reflected on this past week, it's struck me just how important this experience has been. Yes, there were some bumps in the road, and yes, it was a difficult and emotional few days; but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I'm so glad we chose to pursue an open adoption, raw and painful as it's been. We saw firsthand how much Carly loves this little boy, and I hope she could see how much we love him too. No matter what else changes in his life, he will never be short on love.

Dominic, our son, is home. And that makes everything worth it.

Dominic's First Football Saturday

Dominic and Alex

As Dominic was lucky enough to be born during the football season, he is now 5 days old and experiencing his first football Saturday!  To start out the morning, Dominic gave us his own present by sleeping 4 straight hours from 3am to 7am.  He might have slept longer, but I got up and made sure he could have his diaper changed and get a feeding in.  After that, we moved downstairs to watch pregame activities.  However, Dominic crashed right away, so I had the joy of cuddling with both Dominic and Alex for a little while which was really nice.

Big boy pants!

Since I'm a big Nebraska fan, it's a guarantee that we would be watching daddy's team at 12:30pm.  Not only that, Grandpa Bill and Grammy Mary sent out a great Husker outfit for Dominic, so he could show some team spirit!  However, the "0-3 Months" outfit was a bit big.  We slipped him into a rather roomie onesie and then brought the pants over just for fun...he might have to grow into those  :)

Once Dominic was all ready to go, we took some fun family pictures in our Nebraska gear before heading downstairs to feed Dominic and do a quick Skype with Andy's mom before the game.

Daddy and Dominic

Papa and Dominic

Is it time for food?

Feeding time!

Visits & Baby Health

Over the past few days, we've seen and heard so many great notes, texts, emails, voicemails, Facebook comments, blog comments, etc.  It is truly a great feeling to be inundated with so many wonderful messages!  Also, a fair number of people are excited to see Dominic!  I know... kind of crazy how people want to see an adorable baby   :)

While we'd love to be our typical planner selves and schedule visits for everyone that wants to come over, we're actually busy taking care of a baby!  So, we're going to be a bit lazy and ask everyone that wants to come visit to contact us.  We're still trying to figure out a general schedule for Dominic, but we may shoot for visits between 5 and 7pm during the weekdays.  On weekends, we'll figure those out as we go.  So send us a message if you want to come visit, and we can figure it out from there.

On an important note, our primary job as parents is to take good care of Dominic and make sure he stays healthy. A baby's immune system is practically non-existent and therefore extremely vulnerable in the first two months.  A simple cold in an adult typically remains a cold.  However, a cold in a baby can be much more harmful without an immune system to fight it.  Even after a hospital stay and his first pediatrician visit, Dominic has only had one vaccination (Hepatitis B), and he won't have any more until he reaches 2 months.  To help keep him happy and healthy, here are two rules we're setting for people that see him between now and that 2-month mark in January:

• Be up to date on your shots (Flu and whooping cough are the big ones - Tdap or a booster as needed for whooping cough)
• No colds!  If you're sick, feeling a cold coming on, or still recovering, please wait until you're 100%.

Home & Open Adoption

Just a brief update here to cover the past couple of days since our last post.  We've been home with Dominic for about 8 hours now.  After an evening full of Skype calls and visitors, I'm looking forward to our first night with Dominic.  Whether we sleep or not, I really appreciate that he will be here with us.  The past two days have been eventful, joyous, and traumatic.

After spending an extra day around the hospital in Tacoma, I think we've become even stronger proponents of open adoption.  As a group with myself, Andy, Carly, and Dominic, we were lucky to spend so much time together during Dominic's first two days.  There were so many firsts that we were all there to experience.  Whether it was his first diaper change or his first bath when he opened his beautiful eyes, I know that it was important for all of us to be together.  With an open adoption, all of us are now family for each other.

Andy and I really care for Carly because she is truly a wonderful person.  After Carly chose us to be the adoptive parents for her baby, we have gotten to know more about each other than some of our closest friends may know each of us.  Of course, that also made today extremely difficult.  We knew it would be tough for Carly when it came time to entrust little Jackson William (now Dominic Jackson) into our care.  However, just sitting here writing this is extremely difficult for me as I vividly remember how emotional that actually was.  I can honestly say that nothing I've experienced has ever been so heart wrenching in my life.

As I said, I'm an even stronger proponent of open adoption after today.  In closed adoptions, today would never have happened.  The adoptive parents in a closed adoption would never have met the birthmother or been given the chance to see the extent of love for the baby from the friends and family of the birthparents and even from the birthmother herself.  Instead, open adoptions provide the opportunity for everyone to stay involved and for babies like Dominic to receive love and attention from everyone that cares about him.  With open adoption, saying 'goodbye' at the hospital wasn't saying goodbye forever...it was merely saying goodbye for today and knowing that today's goodbye would become tomorrow's 'hello'.

Dominic Jackson Magee

We have permanently marked our calendars for November 12th.  The little boy that we will be adopting was born at 12:24pm!

A few hours ago, we announced his name to our immediate family and many of our friends.  Despite many of our friends ribbing us for "not knowing" his name in recent days, we actually didn't decide on the name of Dominic Jackson until minutes before seeing him for the first time in the hospital.  It was a close duel between Ethan and Dominic, but Dominic won out in the end.  It helped make the decision easier knowing that Carly and the birth father really liked the name Dominic as well.  The middle name of Jackson came from the name that Carly gave him: Jackson William.

There will be many more posts in the coming days, but here are a few more pictures of Dominic from tonight:

Lastly, I feel it is important to note that the adoption is still not finalized.  Legally, the earliest that any baby in Washington can be relinquished is 48 hours after the birth.  For Dominic, that would be Wednesday afternoon.  Everything still appears to be on track with the adoption plan, but I also don't want to take a presumptive tone as this is still Carly's decision to make.  As time and events move forward, we'll continue to share updates on our family's progress in the adoption process.

One More Day...

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend as I'm sitting here writing this post.  Ever since I left work on Friday morning and began my paternity leave, I've been running from one thing to the next with a bowling tournament on Friday and Saturday, watching Skyfall with Andy on Friday night, another excursion with friends on Saturday night, hearing wonderful things from our favorite Vancouver bowlers, and then today's final preparations around the house.  This has been an amazing weekend and I really find myself ready to become a father tomorrow.

Ever since Carly picked us, I haven't been too anxious or stressed.  I think my mindset was just to chill and roll with things which helped keep me from bouncing around with excitement.  (That definitely came in handy at work since I didn't mentally check out until I essentially walked out the door.)  However, I do have to say that my laid-back armor got a few cracks in it during our baby shower last Sunday.  Molly and Angie did an amazing job hosting the event.  We also had so many wonderful family and friends on hand supporting us that it really struck home for me.  The night afterwards, I was feeling rather sappy as I sorted through baby clothes, toys, blankets, and so many other adorable baby items.

Today, Andy and I really focused on our final preparations and it's been a sentimental day.  We cleaned, we organized, we washed baby clothes, and we assembled nearly everything.  Just looking around our room and the future baby room, it feels 'right' to see dedicated baby spaces and items.  One of the things we really like the most is our 'Baby Nook' which is a converted closet space in our bedroom.  After a little work, the fresh coat of paint has been bedazzled with some new forest friends.

Completed 'Baby Nook' in our bedroom complete with forest-themed wall decals

Looking forward to tomorrow, I'd recommend checking out our past post on Adoption Planning II if you have questions on what's next.  That post goes into detail and runs through the tentative hospital plan/schedule.  It's possible that we'll have an interim post on here while Andy and I spend most of the day waiting at a coffee shop before heading to the hospital later in the afternoon.  If not, then our next post will be much more baby-centric!

Parental Leave

With Monday right around the corner, a lot of people have been asking us if we are taking any time off from work.  As neither of us are pregnant, there isn't the automatic assumption that we need recovery time after a birth.  While we might feel like we need some recovery time following the entire adoption process, that isn't anything compared to actually giving birth to a baby  :)

When thinking about dads and paternity leave, I did some searching and found a really fun infographic online about paternity leave around the world.  As many people may know, the US has the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which requires employers to give employees up to 3 months of unpaid time off from work for a birth or adoption.  In comparison, many other countries provide paid leave for fathers.  For many dads in the US, paternity leave simply isn't an option because it's unpaid.

On our end, we want to take as much time off from work as possible to care for our first baby.  It'll cost a little bit, but we've also been saving up to prepare for the full range of adoption costs.  Between the two of us, only Andy's employer will offer paid leave (up to 1 month).  To help answer some questions on how we're handling our paternity leave, here is our current schedule:

Nov 12th to Dec 2nd - Both Andy and I are on leave!

Dec 3rd to Jan 1st - Andy is on leave.  I'll be on partial leave working from home off and on.

Jan 2nd to Feb 3rd - Andy is on leave.  I'll be working full time.

Feb 4th to Feb 17th - Andy goes back to work full time.  I'll take 2 weeks of additional leave.

Feb 18th - Begin day care.

Overall, Andy is taking 3 full months which is fantastic.  My job is more demanding.  While a full 3 months of leave is legally allowed, it would likely be a bad career move on my part.  Being involved in high profile projects can be both really cool, but also really demanding at times.  However, I think Andy and I will really be able to take a lot of time off for the baby.  We'll be together at home for a while, and there will also be plenty of visits from family and friends which means we'll have one (hopefully!) happy little boy at home.

How Time Flies...

I got into work this morning, and found this e-mail: "Sixth Annual Microsoft Adoption Fair is Nov 9".

The timing seems oddly fitting. November 9 (this Friday) will be my last day at work before starting parental leave. And it was almost exactly one year ago that Brian and I really started this journey, with the Microsoft adoption fair last November. That was when we first got information on OA&FS, and when the ball really started rolling.

Of course, at that point, the plan was to try to have a child by 2014. The astute among you will note that we're a couple years early :) But while moving ahead so quickly may have been a surprise, it was definitely not unwelcome!

I may stop by the fair on Friday, since there will probably be some folks from the agency there who we know, and they have a few short seminars on topics that may still be useful for us. But more than that, it seems like a really fitting way to close this chapter in our adoption story and plunge on into the next!

Open Question Thread

We were chatting with our good friend Kyle today, and he brought up a great point: while we've had the chance to write about many adoption-related topics on this blog, he still had a lot of other remaining questions to ask us. (Coincidentally, his first question was actually about naming the child, which we just wrote about earlier today!)

So at Kyle's suggestion, we'll open this one up for questions :) I can't promise that we have all the answers, and given the craziness of the upcoming week we may not be able to respond right away, but we want to invite any and all questions about how this process is going to be working for us. Just leave a note in the comments and we'll do our best!

Time to Choose a Name!

As we're getting ready to welcome a baby into our home, we often get some of the same questions from our family and friends. One of them generally goes like this:

"So what are you going to name the baby? (pause, then a slightly confused look) Wait, who names the baby?"

Choosing adoption has definitely been a learning experience for us, and the same goes for everyone else in our lives as well. Who does end up naming this child, since he'll have both birth and adoptive parents? For that matter, how does the state end up recognize multiple sets of parents?

In Washington state, what happens is that a child who will be adopted is issued a birth certificate at birth just like any other child. The certificate lists the birth mother (and father, if known), just as it always does. And the birth parents do indeed name the child (if they want to, that is; otherwise the birth certificate lists the name as "Infant"). So the birth certificate is filled out just as it always would be, with no real differences that I'm aware of.

Then the adoption happens. When the adoption is finalized, a new birth certificate is issued, and the original certificate becomes a sealed record of the court. The new birth certificate lists the adoptive parents only, and it lists a name for the child of their choosing. So the adoptive parents also get to name the child.

In our case, we know that Carly already has a name picked out for this child, which will be on the original birth certificate. Brian and I are still choosing a name for ourselves, and we aren't quite sure yet what that will be. We're also considering using one of the names Carly has picked as a middle name for this child, as a way to honor his birth family. But everything's still up in the air for the moment - all we know for sure is that he's going to be a Magee!

Adoption Planning II

It's been a little while since we've made some posts, but expect to see some updates over the next few days.  Today's update is all about Adoption Planning II. 

• Information Meeting
• Pre-Adoption Seminar
• Homestudy
• Waiting Pool 
• Chosen by Birthfamily
• Adoption Planning I
• Adoption Planning II
• Placement

If you remember our update about Adoption Planning I, that was essentially a 'getting to know each other' meeting.  After that went well, we kept moving forward.  Between that meeting and Adoption Planning II, we met with the potential birthmother several times and also got to meet her nearly 4 year old son (who is adorable!).

Adoption Planning II took place on Monday, October 29th and was a much more in-depth meeting.  Similar to Adoption Planning I, there were four of us there which included Andy, myself, the expectant birthmother, and the OA&FS counselor (Courtney).  The purpose was to handle a lot of the heavier details about open adoption.  Following a solid 2 1/2 hours together at an Olive Garden doing some heavy thinking, we were done.  It was sort of draining after a long day at work, but it was definitely important!  Here are some of the highlights:

Open Adoption Agreement
We all agreed to some yearly minimums with at least 2 in-person visits, 4 exchanges of pictures with 10+ pictures for each exchange.  These were all minimums, so I can easily see us doing much more with Facebook being a great tool to share all the latest updates and pictures.

Additionally, we talked about sharing information and what everyone was comfortable with.  Before now, we've left off the expectant birthmother's name in all of our posts to respect her privacy.  However, she gave us permission to use her name, so we can stop referring to her as just 'C' or 'birthmother.'  Our really awesome and fun birthmother's name is Carly  :)

Adoption Birth Plan (In-Hospital)
Before this meeting, Carly and Courtney discussed how Carly would like everything to go in the hospital.  This is a great example of how OA&FS is a really good agency.  Prior to the birth, they prepare everyone involved (the birthfamily, the adoptive parents, and the hospital staff).

As the adoptive parents, we really see our role as a supportive one.  The birth of any baby is a momentous occasion.  That day is (and should) be all about Carly.  For us and other adoptive parents, our role is, really, just to show up.  (Hooray for us!)

So for those that want to know the tentative plan, Carly has a C-section scheduled for 10:00am on Monday, November 12th.  Following the C-section, Carly will need some time for recovery and then spend some time to herself with the baby.  When she is ready, she will contact us and we will come to see her and the baby.  After some time together, Andy and I will begin to handle the majority of the baby's care such as changing diapers, feeding, holding, etc.  Again, this is just a tentative plan.  On such a big day, we're expecting timelines and plans to adapt to ensure that everyone is comfortable with how things are going.


This pretty much summarizes our Adoption Planning II meeting!  It was our last group meeting with us, Carly, and Courtney.  We plan on seeing Carly at least one more time before the 12th, but this was the last official OA&FS meeting before the birth.  Keep an eye out for some more updates about our recent painting adventures for the mini-nursery and our upcoming baby shower!