Checking out the chicks

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Around Easter time we took Will to Cal Ranch to see the bunnies and chicks.  He absolutely loved it! (It must have made an impression because "bock" was the first animal noise he said)  It was adorable to watch him intently watching the chicks run around.  He was so interested in what they were doing.   One of my favorite parts of being a parent is being able to see the world through the eyes of a child.  Everything is new and amazing and it is so fun to watch Will experience things for the first time. Of course Dave had a good time being Will's "wing man" LOL

More Love

When Will was around three months old Brooke brought her family over to see him.  What a special experience!  As Dave and I were preparing to adopt, we went to an adoption class where they discussed relationships with birth parents and they also brought up having relationships with all members of the birth parents family.  They related how at first it had been difficult for them to have their child call their birth grandma, grandma, but after time they realized it did not diminish the relationships they have with their family, it just added to them.  It just added up to more love.  I feel exactly the same way.  I am so very happy that Will has the opportunity to have so very many people love him, much more than if it was just our family.  

A Special Visit

We were so lucky to have Will's Birthmother, Brooke, come and visit us about a month after Will was born.  We are so happy to have her as part of our family and grateful that William will have the chance to grow up knowing her.  It means so much to us that Will can know where he came from and that he is loved so very much.   Open adoption has been such a blessing in our lives.

Will's Nursery

One of the things that I have always looked forward to doing when I had kids was decorating their nursery.  I decided to go with an outdoors, forest animal theme for Will.  It was so much fun!  It makes his room feel so cozy, I love spending time with him in there.

We have a picture of our family, along with a picture of Brooke hanging on his wall.  She is so important to us, we really wanted Will to have that in his room.  As you can see there are also deer fighting on Will's wall.  That was Dave's contribution...

Having everything all put together was so nice.  Now it feels like a little boys room!

Baby Shower

About a month after Will was born my Mom and sister threw us a wonderful baby shower.  I love my family so much, they are so supportive.  They were so excited to come and meet Will for the first time.  

The decorating was completely adorable.  They did a forest animal theme which was what I had done for Will's nursery.  I absolutely loved it!

Of course the food was so good too!  I loved the mushroom cupcakes, acorn nutterbutters, and arrow fruit kabobs.  

Will got so much loving by all of my family.  We are all just so happy that he is here!

Will's First Christmas

I can easily say our first Christmas with Will was the most memorable Christmas we have ever had.  Because Will was so new and little we decided to keep him home instead of taking him around family.  We wanted to make sure we did everything we could to keep him healthy.  Because of this, our Christmas was very small and simple.

My parent's came down to spend the day with us and my Dad was able to meet Will for the first time.  He had been sick and so he didn't come down sooner to meet him.  It was a quiet day, but I think because of that we were really able to feel the Christmas spirit.  We spent the afternoon listening to our favorite Christmas songs and talking.  Then Dave made us a delicious dinner.

Of course the star of the show was this little guy.  He made this Christmas the most special, wonderful Christmas we have ever had.

Home Sweet Home

This is the first picture we took of our perfect little boy.  I could not believe how incredibly tiny he was.  Being able to hold his little hand while he laid on the warmer was like a dream.  The joy I felt can not be described.  There is nothing quite as amazing as a newborn baby fresh from heaven.

After a couple days in the hospital we were able to take Will home.  He looked so small in his car seat I thought he would never grow into it!  We had brought a cute outfit to bring him home in, but he was so small he did not fit in it.  At least he was able to fit in his little hat!  We were so excited to leave the hospital an take Will home, but leaving Brooke behind was so hard!  My heart was breaking as we said goodbye to her and loaded him into the car.  It was so difficult to see her in pain.  She is such a strong woman, and I am so grateful for the great love she had for Will.  

Once we were home Will took a nap in his bassinet.  We sent this picture to Brooke so she would know that we made it home safely and Will was settling in.  As hard as it was to leave her, it felt so good to be home.

A couple days later we were able to take Will to his very first visit with our pediatrician.  He did so well.  There is a lot of poking those first few weeks of being born but he handled it like a champ!  He did not even cry when he was circumcised.  He only began crying when the nurse picked his nose.  He did not like that at all!  We are so happy to have this strong, sweet boy in our family.