Update: Caleb & The Nanny

I realized after receiving a few questions from friends that I never posted about how our nanny situation is working out! We have been beyond thrilled with our nanny, K. Caleb was comfortable with her from day one and I think a big reason for that was that he was in a safe, familiar environment. K pays a lot of attention to detail and quickly picked up on how we interact with Caleb, what things make him laugh, his favorite activities and his habits. From the first day she has done a great job of maintaining our schedule of feedings & naptime.

During our first week with the nanny Bryan was on a very easy elective rotation so he didn't have to be at the hospital very much. It was great to have that first week (which was only 4 days long because of MLK Day) to let Caleb get used to the nanny. He was able to see that we were both still at the house, yet K was taking care of him. I think that seeing us periodically throughout the day and seeing us interact with K helped him to realize that everything was ok.

We've seen that in both transition weeks (my first week back in Houston and now our first week back at home) that Caleb has not been as consistent about sleeping through the night. He'll wake up once, want to be cuddled and rocked - sometimes fed - and will go back to sleep. Our social worker had cautioned that we might see some regression in his sleep patterns so this is no surprise. As we've started our second week of being at home with the nanny things seem to be going better in the sleep department.

I feel so blessed that I can sit in my home office and hear my sweet baby giggling and 'talking' to the nanny. I know that he is safe, having fun and being treated like a little prince. I can see that our nanny cares about him as many days when she returns her first question is, "How long did he nap after I left?" or "How did he sleep last night?". She is observant about when he may not feel well or may be cutting a tooth and is great about communicating all those things to us - even about changes in his diapers too!! This has been a great trait of hers because to me there can never be too much detail about all the things Caleb is doing. Just today K told us that she noticed a little red spot on Caleb's head and was racking her brain trying to think of how & when he could have bumped his head. She soon realized the red spot was just her lipstick where she had kissed his little bald head :). We are so grateful that she gives him such loving & gentle care.

I also feel thankful that I am able to be just as productive in my work as I was before we had Caleb. This has truly turned out to be an ideal situation and I have to give God the credit for putting all the pieces together and for calming my heart & Caleb's. I am reminded during transitions like this what a brave & resilient little boy Caleb is and just how much change he has experienced in his life thus far. We are so, so proud of him and love him more each day.

Our laptop, Lil' Toshiba, is still a mess, and on top of that I left my camera in Houston this past weekend so this post will be picture-free. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures next week when I am back in Houston for work. It will be hard to be away from Bryan but I am sure the days will fly by.

We'd like to ask for prayers for our many friends who are enduring the long waits & changes in the Kyrgyzstan adoption program. Many of them have been waiting as much as 11 months to return to Kyrgyzstan to bring their children home. The President of Kyrgyzstan recently removed several top government officials, including 2 adoption officials. We are praying and hoping that these changes will spark lots of movement in the Kyrgyzstan adoption program and that we will see many Kyrgyz children coming home to forever families soon.

Back to Work

Last week marked my first week back at work. Referring to it that way is kind of ironic to me because it sounds like I haven't been working the past few months! While staying home with Caleb and learning how to be a Mommy was hard work, it felt more like a wonderful vacation and was definitely a true blessing.

My first day back at my job that pays me money was last Monday. I spent the first week back in Houston in the office rather than working at home. It really went much better than I expected it to for both me and Caleb! I only cried when I backed out of the driveway in Temple... with sweet Caleb in the backseat and Bryan waving goodbye to us. I really didn't enjoy taking Caleb away from his Daddy for a week. I also cried Sunday night when I put Caleb to sleep because I knew I'd already be seated at my desk when he woke up. I was worried about him being confused and knew it would be difficult for him to understand where I had gone.

Lucky for both of us, Caleb handled the change in routine very well! I am so blessed that my parents are willing and able to care for him during the one week per month I will be coming to Houston. They did a phenomenal job taking care of him. He rarely skipped either his morning or afternoon nap and was a great eater. They played, played and played with him and also did lots of his physical therapy exercises with him.

My Mom & Dad also gave me tons of updates throughout the day on how Caleb was doing and even let him 'type' to me on IM. From what I hear, he loved typing on the keyboard! He even managed to use all caps, bold, and throw some smiley faces in there. I am so grateful that Caleb was with them; it made going back to work much more tolerable and much less emotional.

Surprisingly, it felt good to be back at work. Adult conversation is nice and I enjoyed doing some critical thinking about something other than calculating Infant Tylenol doses. I missed Caleb but also found it rewarding to be back at work. Most of all, it was fun to see my friends at work who I had missed very much.

Bryan had an out of state residency interview on Thursday. His flights home that night involved a layover in Houston and I managed to convince him to just get off the plane and not continue on to Austin! On Friday morning Caleb woke up SUPER early. Bryan nearly knocked me down trying to get to Caleb first so he could see him! It was so adorable to watch baby Caleb lying in his crib and showing a huge toothy grin when he saw his Daddy. During the day on Friday and on Friday evening we visited with Bryan's parents. They got to see firsthand that Caleb has truly discovered his voice as he shrieked in his high chair during dinner!

We are now back at home in Temple and enjoying being back in our regular routine. Luckily Bryan and I both had MLK Day off so we spent most of our time getting our house clean. I'm going to fool that nanny into thinking we live in a super clean house for her first week... and then by next week she'll probably realize we live like everyone else does! It feels nice to have done some deep cleaning and to have everything ready for someone new to come to our home.

I'm glad to say that I am not really anxious about the nanny. She is such a sweet person and even called today to check in and see if we needed her to do anything else prior to coming tomorrow. Based on last week and the insight of our social worker, we fully expect Caleb to not follow his routine 100% as he tries to figure out what is happening in his little world. I'm thankful that during this first week Bryan is on an easy rotation that does not require him to be at the hospital much. Caleb will be able to see that while the nanny is taking care of him Mommy & Daddy are still around. We think this is going to be a great way for him to transition into having someone else care for him during the day.

I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to work from home and that we are able to have a nanny care for Caleb in a familiar environment. Although the transition is not the easiest thing we've done, I'd have to rank it as easier than the adoption process itself! We are blessed to have a precious little boy who is happy and seems secure in who Mommy & Daddy are and still loves us, even if we do have to go to work :)

Thank you to everyone who sent me e-mails, text messages, blog comments and prayers as we made this transition. It was all greatly appreciated!!!

Happy 9 Month Birthday, Caleb!

**This was supposed to be automatically posted on Saturday, but yippee it didn't work... Oh well, it's a day late! Enjoy!

Today is Caleb's 9 month birthday and yesterday marked the 3 month anniversary of our "Gotcha Day". We have been blessed with a joyful, healthy, beautiful baby boy. Having Caleb join our family has shown us first hand what a perfect plan God has for us and the incredible love that He has for our son - a love even greater than the love we feel for him.

We have made so many happy memories together as a new family and notice new things about Caleb's blossoming personality every day. We have been blessed to have 3 months to be together as a family. My time off from work and the break from my back and forth commuting to Houston has given us the opportunity to focus on Caleb and Caleb only. That time has been so valuable and I wouldn't trade it for any amount of money in the world.

As Caleb turns 9 months old we are going to have some big changes. Gone are the days of staying home all day with my sweet baby boy... the wife of a Med Student has gotta pay the bills! I'll return to work on Monday in Houston and then work from home 3 weeks per month. Caleb will have lots of quality time with his grandparents while he's in Houston and hopefully will have a wonderful experience with our new nanny on the weeks we are at home. I'm so thankful that I feel confident about who will be caring for him when I can't, and thrilled beyond belief that Caleb will be able to be in a familiar environment with the toys he loves and a crib he recognizes.

If you're the praying type, I'd be so grateful for prayers for our family next week as we make a big transition. I'm prepared to put on my brave face at work and Bryan realizes that this is a necessary step for our family and is offering me tons of emotional support.

Most of all, I just want prayers for Caleb. Bryan and I are adults who will understand what is happening and why things are changing, but for Caleb this will be very hard to understand. Please pray that he would feel happy, safe and secure and that he would feel confident & comforted by our return to him each day.

Now on to the good stuff - some wonderful pictures of our sweet boy.

Caleb & Daddy on New Year's Eve

2009 is going to be a big year for him:

walking, talking, finally being able to grab Sophie's tail...

On New Year's Day we spent the afternoon at the park! Caleb took his first ride in the swings.

He was having fun at first...

But after a few minutes decided he had enough!

Caleb has a great appetite and loves to sit in his high chair. Here he is with his favorite high chair toy, which has also proved to be a valuable item anytime we want to go to a restaurant!

We've now progressed to the 'meat' baby food which grosses me out big time. Apparently this particular meat baby food grossed Caleb out too. We've discovered he'll eat any meat baby food as long as sweet potatoes are involved.

Caleb also likes to do gymnastic rolls in his crib. I often find him wedged like this (always at the end where Mommy & Daddy's picture is!).

Caleb also loves bath time now! What a contrast to 3 months ago when he'd scream bloody murder the second his scrawny little body hit the water!! Lately he thinks it is pretty hilarious when Daddy makes the little frog squirt water on him.

Bryan handles bath time and bed time most nights so that they can have some dedicated time together. It is not unusual for me to hear squeals of laughter and tons of splashing coming from the tiny 1950's bathroom in our little rent house!

Speaking of bathtime, lately Bryan has been letting Caleb stand next to the bathtub and watch the water fill up his little infant tub. Caleb gets so excited and makes a ton of noise as he watches the water! Here's a little video showing our cute baby boy - I apologize for my poor camera skills. Keep in mind I'm hanging over the edge of the tub, because hey, I'll do anything to get cute footage of my Caleb. :)

Fear of Cows: Boviphobia

We're sad to report that Caleb suffers from Boviphobia, or fear of cows. I'm not sure if this is a real term or not, so play along with me here.

Caleb has a book called "Noisy Farm" and each animal makes its own respective noise. We soon learned that he's totally ok with every animal... except for the cow. Although it might seem cruel, we video taped Caleb listening to the animal sounds so you can all see what I'm talking about! He has the same reaction every single time.

Since Lil' Toshiba still has internet issues we had to film it on my digital camera so the quality is a bit grainy... but I think you'll get the idea: Our boy does not like cows.

PS Don't forget to pause our blog music down below prior to watching the MAD COW VIDEO.

How Big is Caleb?

I took Caleb up to the pediatrician's office to be weighed and measured since he will be 9 months old tomorrow. Normally I would have taken him in for his 9 month check-up, but we have to wait a few more weeks so he can receive his next round of vaccines. Apparently the vaccines he is due for have to be at least 6 weeks apart. His vaccine schedule is a little confusing since he is on a 'catch-up' schedule rather than the normal baby vaccine schedule.

Caleb's weight wasn't as high as I thought it would be! Bryan had been predicting that his weight gain would start to level off and not be the same 1/2 lb per week. Today he was 16 lbs 5 ounces and right at 28 inches long. We have been plotting his measurements on both a regular growth chart and a preemie growth chart since we suspect he may have been as much as 8 weeks premature.

On the regular growth chart for 9 month old babies, he is in the 50th percentile for height and is not on the charts for his weight. On the preemie growth chart he is in the 95th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight. Regardless of which chart we look at, Caleb continues to progress at a steady pace so we are thankful for that!

YAY WE HAVE A NANNY!

Yipppeeee! Our nanny candidate, Kim, just called to accept the job. We are beyond thrilled as we have no reservations about her. She'll start on the 20th, which is my first week to work from home. Bryan is on an easy elective that week so he will not be at the hospital much. We think this will be a great way for Caleb to transition to having a nanny as he will see that although Kim is caring for him, Mommy & Daddy are both still around.

If any other adoptive parents out there have advice or words of wisdom from their own experience with this, please share with us. We just want the best for our sweet Caleb. Luckily we were blessed to find someone here in Temple who we think is an excellent fit for our family. We are thanking God for providing us with Kim and for giving us such a sense of peace as we make this transition.

Next post: Caleb's updated weight! We're headed up there as soon as the Peanut wakes up from his morning nap.

Nanny Update

Several of you dear friends have asked about the status of the nanny situation so I thought I'd give an update.

We reviewed multiple candidates and interviewed our favorite last Saturday. She is older than most other candidates we have seen who tend to be in the 20-ish age range. Our potential nanny has 2 grown children and lives in our area, so those are both big pluses.

My favorite things about her so far have been how prompt she has been in her correspondence with us and how warm and professional her tone is. She loves children and clearly understands how important this decision is to us. In many situations, she anticipated things that were important to me before we even met. I've also taken notice of how detail-oriented and organized she is... 2 things I like very much!

At her interview in our home, she brought pictures of her family and told us all about her kids. It was a great way to get to know her and break the ice. She was very sweet with Caleb and we really enjoyed our conversation with her. Sadly, she recently lost her father to cancer and told us she has been praying for God to lead her to the right family to nanny for as she knew it would bring her a lot of joy. I see this as no coincidence because I have been praying for God to prepare the heart of Caleb's nanny. In talking with this nanny candidate after the interview, she has indicated that she believes we would be a great match and that she knows the job would bring her many smiles. It was also important to us that she wants to see Caleb become a strong, healthy, happy little boy - something that is equally important to us.

At this point, we have offered her the position and she said she will respond to us by Friday at the latest. We realize that considering any job is a big decision and we don't want to hire someone who isn't 100% sure. Our #1 priority is Caleb's well-being, and one facet of that is the most loving and consistent care we can provide. In our opinion, having a caregiver come in and out of his life in a short period would be less than ideal.

I'm praying that this potential nanny's decision will be to accept the job. If she doesn't then we are back at square one without much time to find someone else! We appreciate everyone's support and interest in our little family throughout our adoption and now as we navigate these new phases in our lives. I'm anxious about my return to work and praying that it will be the best thing for Caleb- something I am still trying to convince myself of!

I'll be sure to share any new developments about our nanny situation as soon as I can! Also, I plan to take Caleb to be weighed on Friday as he will be 9 months old on Saturday! It's crazy how time has flown by and he is growing so fast. He was 15 lbs 7 ounces and 28 inches long in early December... any guesses on how much he weighs now??

Christmas 2008

Here it is... the long overdue Christmas post!

We had an amazing first Christmas with Caleb. Bryan was fortunate enough to have the week off from school so we were able to travel to Houston to spend the holiday with both sides of the family. We spent Christmas Eve & part of Christmas day with Bryan's family and then the rest of Christmas day and the day after Christmas with my family. Luckily our parents only live 4 minutes apart so we didn't have much driving in between locations!

Only 1 year ago, our Christmas Eve photo was just two. We actually used that photo on our adoption application! When I look at these photos and realize what God has done in our lives in one short year I am blown away. He has blessed us with a beautiful son who brings us so much joy and fills our hearts in places that we did not know were empty. We will never stop thanking Him for bringing Caleb into our family.

Here is a recap of Christmas 2008 in pictures. I didn't really hold back on this post... there are a bunch of pictures so sit back & enjoy!

When we got to Gran Jan & Grandpa's Caleb got to play with the nativity!

It's fair to say he was pretty pumped up about Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus and the manger. He was especially thrilled with the angel on top.

Caleb playing with Baby Jesus

Caleb played in his jumper on Christmas Eve. He always smiles when he sees Sophie!

Such a happy, smiling boy! Caleb is wearing his new red shoes that squeak when he bounces. They were better suited for jumping than his black dress shoes!

Even Grandpa joined in the jumping!

A Pickett family photo taken on Christmas Eve

From left to right:

Billy, Carolyn, Tony, Jan, Caleb, Betsy, Bryan, Michelle, Craig

After the family photo everyone had to take a picture with Caleb!

With Gran Jan and Grandpa

With Uncle Craig and Aunt Michelle

With Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Billy

Caleb on Christmas morning with his Santa Claus presents. We hear Santa keeps it pretty low key when you're 8 months old.

Caleb playing the piano with Grandpa in his Christmas overalls

Caleb's Great Grandma Pickett came to Houston from Louisiana on Christmas Day. This is the first time they met!

Caleb really studied Great Grandma Pickett! Later that day Great Grandma Pickett read the entire hard-back book version of our blog that we gave as Christmas gifts this year to the grandparents. She got to learn all about our journey to baby Caleb!

Four Generations of Picketts

Later that day it was time to go to my parents' house. Sophie watched nervously as we packed up the car.

A family photo with my family before the Children's Mass on Christmas Eve

From left to right:

Chris, Bobby (Dad), Carol (Mom), Isabella, Malikai, Betsy, Caleb, Bryan

Caleb got to play in his jumper at Granny & Daddy Bob's house too!

Having a snack while sitting on Granny's kitchen table

Caleb playing with his big present from Granny & Daddy Bob - a little house! He likes to play peek-a-boo with Mommy through the door.

Uncle Chris played music for Caleb on his new classical guitar

Caleb enjoyed looking at the tree with Granny

Caleb enjoyed playing with the windchimes with Daddy Bob

Caleb with his cousins Isabella & Malikai in their matching Santa hats

We also went over to my Uncle Donny & Aunt Lucy's house where Caleb got to meet more extended family. Sadly I did not take any pictures while we were there! It was wonderful to visit with everyone on both sides of our family and share Caleb's first Christmas with people we love.

The Nanny Search

For the record, I have yet to perform any computer repair on Lil' Toshiba. I haven't had the time (or the patience!) to sit down and work on it so the pictures of Christmas and other recent Caleb adorable-ness are yet to come. So if you are just here for pictures, you can stop reading & scrolling now because there aren't any... yet!

I have been totally absorbed by searching for a nanny for Caleb. After sending out a search among all of the resident's wives and receiving no response, I joined 2 online nanny services. I found our first candidate - a nursing assistant who lives in Temple - and was thrilled at the prospect of having her provide in-home care for Caleb while I work from home. My first day back at work is Jan 12 (in Houston) so our need for a nanny the week after that is fast approaching.

After much anticipation & communication, I scheduled a meeting with candidate #1 and was waiting for her last night in my freshly cleaned house. Did she show up? NO. Did she answer her phone when I called when she was 15 minutes late? NO. Has she called me back yet? NO. This is God's clear way of letting us know that she is definitely not the nanny for our Precious Boy. I was so frustrated and I guess I forget that a lot of people in this world just aren't professional or mature... but I mean COME ON at least answer the phone or call and say you changed your mind... Grrrrrrrr.

Once she didn't answer the phone I was back on the computer renewing my search for the next candidate. I now have 2 more - one who we will meet this weekend, another who I will interview solo on Monday. They are both very different in age and background and I'm interested to see if we will prefer one over the other. I'm trying not to be biased but there is definitely one candidate whose communication with us has been warm, understanding, enthusiastic and mature. I am praying that at least one of the candidates will be a good match for our Caleb.

I've been very anxious about having someone else care for Caleb after all the progress he has made in his bonding with us. I expect him to regress some but am sad to think of that happening. I have tried to make myself pray for his future babysitter every time I feel anxious about the situation. I've been asking God to prepare her heart to care for our son and to love him like we do. It is so important to me that Caleb feel safe, loved, secure and well-attended to. I want someone who cares as much about his physical and emotional well-being as we do. He deserves nothing less!

As Bryan and I hopefully make a decision soon, please pray for us that we will find the perfect candidate to care for Caleb. I thank God that we will be able to have him cared for in our home rather than at day care and that I am blessed with a job that allows me to work at home most of the time. I'll keep you all posted; hopefully we will have a decision in the next week!