Happiness

Our little crawler

Photoshoot

We had family photos taken two weeks ago to celebrate our little family. We are not allowed to post identifying photos at this point, so you will have to settle for the back of his head, but here is our family.

By the way, if you are in Perth and wanting photos done, we can absolutely recommend Anna Pretorious Photography - it was a fantastic session, and the photos are just perfect.

Nine weeks home

Jeb took his first steps this week! He took one and a half steps at playgroup on friday, and then repeated it last night when my Mum was with him. We had our first date night away from Jeb and went to the basketball while my Mum looked after him. He was perfect for her and it was nice to take a break for a couple of hours.

I've been emailing Jeb little stories and photos so that he can know what we were doing and thinking through this early period.

Eight weeks home

Our little boy is 14 months old and growing at a rate of knots. He is super tall and heavy which means that a lot of people (even me sometimes!) think he is older than the actually is. My previous boy is cruising the furniture and THISCLOSE to walking!

This morning we went to the zoo for the first time which was lovely. We caught up with a couple of local adoption Mums and scoped out the playgrounds and saw some animals which was a lot of fun. We got an annual membership so we can return whenever we want, which takes the pressure off of having to stay for hours to get our moneys worth. It's only 20 minutes from our house so it's really convenient for a morning adventure if we have nothing else on.

Murray is headed back to work next week after school holidays, but this term is only nine weeks long, and then he has six weeks at home with us! We can't wait! We are seeking permission from the Department to see if we can travel interstate for my Uncle's 60th birthday in December. They live in South Australia and under our placement conditions we cannot travel interstate without written permission. We would be driving 2000km over 3 days across the Nullabor which sounds quite intense but Jeb loves the car, and we plan on stopping and seeing everything that the Outback has along the way.

Six weeks in

J has been home for six weeks and we are starting to settle in and find our groove. I can honestly say that I love this boy and he is my son.

The first few weeks were mentally tough- 'along the shift from full time work to stay at home Mum, and from having come to terms with not having children and being happy with that, to all of a sudden having an active one year old- well that takes some mental gymnastics. But I've gotten past that and every time I look at him, I smile at how incredibly lucky we are.

Murray has been on school camp this week which has been challenging but also a good way of testing my coping mechanisms!!

The first two weeks

The first two weeks with Jeb have flown by. It has been a mix of absolutely wonderful and at the same time terrifying.
J is just gorgeous. He is a happy and placid one year old, who generally sleeps well, and is very playful. He has his moments as most one year olds do, particularly tonight when he decided to scream for two hours instead of going to sleep, and then I tried rocking the chair in a different way and bang - lights out, he is asleep!
I'm in the process of setting up a new private blog where I can share more about J, but to be honest, I am not finding a lot of spare time! This parenting business is exhausting!!!
I feel incredibly lucky to have this little man as our son. It is just amazing.

Our little boy - the first few days

Jeb came home to us on Friday and things have been going great. He is such a happy little boy, and while it will take time to fully bond, I feel like he is starting to build that connection with us.


I'm not really comfortable sharing the nitty gritty in this space, so I am thinking of setting up a private blog instead. Adoption has a lot of stuff that goes with it, and it's not the sort of thing I want random people finding (it was fine when it was my ovaries, but our son is a person and will one day be able to read all of this).

Our little boy Jeb

There is so much I want to say about our son. OUR SON. Can you believe that?
I am heavily restricted by what I can write as the adoption isn't formalised until we apply to the courts, a minimum of 6 months after placement.
I can't give his full name or his birthday, and I can't share any photos of him. It's tough but I understand the need to - while we live in a major city, Perth is such a small place that it wouldn't be fair to put all of that out there when it can get back to his birth family and be upsetting for them.
So for the moment it is just for a small circle of friends.

What I can tell you:
I got the call on Friday July 29th saying that there was a baby for us. I broke down and cried and cried and then cried some more.
We went straight to the agency to find out more information about him and his situation.
He will have some special care needs, and we were chosen through our special needs approval.
We were given the weekend to make a decision (we rang first thing Monday morning to say YES!)
We got to meet him for the first time on Monday August 1st, and he was perfect in every way.
Murray is completely besotted with him.
So far we have had four visits and I will be visiting him again this afternoon.
I am on parental leave for the next 12 months!
My girlfriends through me the most amazing baby shower on the weekend, which was very special.

And with that, I am off to visit my son!

The best kind of news

'If God wills it'

Never a truer word spoken.

We have been chosen to parent a 12 month old boy named Jeb.

I have never been happier in my life.

More to come, promise.