January 2010

Monthly Archive

Raegan at One Month

Posted by on 27 Jan 2010 | Tagged as: Raegan

Raegan
Raegan turned one month old yesterday. She is doing really well and eating a lot.

Last week we switched formula, and had not-so-good results. Her poop became hard and she began to spit up–before she had never spit up. So we switched back, and seems to be helping.

Raegan is staying awake more, and is much more alert. She is now looking intently into our eyes and just stares. She likes to look at the windows and ceiling fans.

She does really good at night, waking up every 3-4 hours to eat, and then goes right back to bed. That’s the best we could hope for!

She’s almost seven pounds now, and has grown out of her preemie clothes and is now fitting into her newborn clothes. We got her out of the preemie diapers, too, and are on to newborn. As soon as her legs fatten up, we’ll switch to cloth diapers, but right now the smallest plastic pants they make are too big for her skinny legs.

Cousin Olivia holding Raegan

Cousin Olivia holding Raegan


Adjusting to Life at Home

Posted by on 08 Jan 2010 | Tagged as: Adoption, my life.

So we arrived back home to the great Town of Waterloo on Wednesday night, 12 1/2 days after we left for Florida. It was a wonderful time as a family, although the 22 hour drive one-way is a little long. On the drive back, we bought a John Grisham audiobook, Playing for Pizza, and it was a good 7 hours that kept my mind off the monotony of driving. Great football story, so I enjoyed that, and Emily was intrigued by the storyline of the book.

On the drive back up, we stopped for the night in Nashville, Tenn., and Raegan got to meet Aunt Jenny, Uncle Josh and her cousins Lauren and Reuben. When we got to Indianapolis, Raegan was lucky enough to meet Aunt Nicole. Back in Waterloo on Wednesday night, Raegan got to meet all four of her grandparents, Aunt Megan, Uncle Jon, Uncle Adam and her cousin Olivia. Raegan likes her extended family very much.

Last night Raegan actually slept for six hours straight. We don’t expect this to be a common occurance just yet, but we certainly aren’t complaining about the good sleep last night.

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful greetings. Raegan loves you all very much, and she keeps telling Emily and I how excited she is to meet you all.

Raegan is a great girl. She is beautiful! I love my little girl.

Aunt Jenny & Uncle Josh

Cousins Lauren, Reuben and Raegan

Aunt Nicole feeding Raegan at Starbucks. Formula. She's feeding her formula, not coffee.

Grandma Hubartt

Grandpa Hubartt

Grandma Diehl

Grandpa Diehl

Aunt Megan and Uncle Jon

Uncle Adam

Parting Thoughts from Florida

Posted by on 04 Jan 2010 | Tagged as: Adoption

Saturday night we had a nice time with the birthparents. We had dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s and it was a very good time. The birthparents are really cool people. We were able to sit and talk with them and they were able to say their final goodbyes to Raegan. Their gift of life to us is one we will never forget. Raegan is such a blessing in our lives, and wouldn’t be possible without these birthparents. We are so thankful to them both!

Sunday we drove from South Florida up to North Florida. We are staying right off I-65 in Lake City, Florida, just south of the state line. Our hotel we are staying in is Comfort Suites, and it was built less than a year ago. It looks more like a 4-star hotel than it does a 2 1/2 star. When we opened up the room door, it smells like new carpet. Emily is VERY happy with this hotel and its cleanliness. It has a fridge and a microwave and is even bigger than the second hotel. Oh, and of course, it has running water, so it’s WAY better than the first crappy place we stayed! This is a great hotel.

Today (Monday) we went to see Avatar in the local movie theater. Reagan did great. Avatar is a good movie, and I suggest it. I’m thinking about taking a road trip to Noblesville for Avatar in IMAX 3D. I’m thinking it might be a good Man Group day-trip? Right when the movie was over we got a call from the adoption agency that we got our Interstate Compact approvals to take Raegan out of Florida and into Indiana–yeah!

We already paid for a hotel tonight, and so we decided to stay here tonight and then leave first thing in the morning. We are going to stop for the night in Nashville and stay with my sister Jenny and her family before making the final trip on Wednesday, and hope to arrive by Wednesday night. We are looking forward to being back home and being able to finally settle Raegan into a schedule.

Raegan is a precious little girl. Everywhere we go, people like to look at her. And TONS of people compliment Emily on how good she looks for having such a new baby. I agree–she is flipping hot!

We are excited for everyone to get to meet our little Raegan!




Video and More Pictures!

Posted by on 01 Jan 2010 | Tagged as: Adoption, my life.

Emily and I have been increasingly stir crazy just sitting in the hotel. Today we had lunch with Kym France, who is the first of our Indiana friends to meet Raegan. I’m sure our parents will be jealous of that!
After lunch with Kym, we drove to Sawgrass Mills Mall. We didn’t exactly know what to expect, but heard good things about the mall. Wow, was it busy! It is a very big mall. It actually is divided into four ‘Avenues’ it’s so large. It is an outlet mall, so lots of deals, but also lots of people. Lots of tourists there, too. My guess is that this mall is the area’s premier shopping mall. It’s size is almost comparable to the Mall of America, in my estimation.
Raegan is doing great. She’s a wonderful little girl, and we are such proud parents!

Raegan's first bath

Raegan looking at that mysterious baby in the mirror.

Reagan likes her little bunny from Grandma and Grandpa D.

Raegan and Miss Kym

Raegan travels in style riding in her Chicco carseat.