This Week's a Wash

It's only Saturday night, and I'm already dreaming of Friday. This time it's not because of the lure of another weekend. Bright and early on Friday morning, the Youree three will gather at a court house in Dallas for Anna Zane's finalization hearing; and the adoption process will be final and complete. Our sweet, sweet girl will be legally ours forever and ever.

So, Sunday-Thursday, who cares? Friday, come quick!

Talents and Tricks of a Five-Month-Old

While it sounds so cliche, I'll still say it: Anna is changing fast. It is twilight-zone-amazing how quickly she is growing up. These last four weeks have been full of "firsts." This mama can hardly keep up.

Most every time she sneezes, she smiles now. I think it's funny that she thinks it funny.

Just this weekend, Anna started screaming. Oh no, not to be upset or throw a fit. Just screaming like talking. It's startling, and I cannot believe she hasn't lost her voice yet.

A not-so-fun favorite was the fever situation. Just a couple weeks back, she ran a temperature for three days. The doc wanted to see her to rule out an ear infection. Thankfully, she was clear of that. Who knows? The doc said it was, wait for it . . . . "viral unspecified."

But my favorite is just to watch her growing in happiness and contentment. Now, that's not to say she was once unhappy and content. It's just that as she gets older, she's more demonstrative with her emotions, etc. And it is a blessing to me to see her completely relaxed and happy playing at home. There's no other place she'd rather be or anything she'd rather do than play with mama and daddy.

Look who can roll over BOTH ways now!

Playing in her walker is a new fun activity. Just over the weekend, she started scooting around. Watch out, she'll be jetting around the family room before long!

But her FAVORITE place to play is the excersaucer. And she still loves the mirror. :-)

Her first fashion pig tails moment. It's a good look for her; don't you think?

In other Youree news, poor Bryan has been working, working, working. Thankfully, this is the last week of the awful stretch. He'll actually get two weekends off in a row--a miracle!

And praise the Lord, we got rain!!!! While my plants are beyond saving, I am soooo happy for the rain. Now, only 15 more inches to go and we'll be outta this drought.

Two-month Update

Anna Zane "enjoyed" her two-month doctor's appointment today. We are delighted to report that she is now 12 pounds and 5 ounces and a staggering 23.75 inches in length. She's still hanging strong in that 90th percentile for height!

In less happy news, she received three vaccines; thankfully, one of those was via the mouth! And we learned she has a mild case of thrush (spelling?). The good doc gave us some meds, which Dr. Youree will be administering. :-)

Big Muscles

Anna surprises us with her strength. She is such a strong girl! These days she can really hold her head up for a minute or two; we think that's impressive for a six-week old. Then again, she is ours! And we think everything is impressive!

Our Girl's Growing!

Yesterday we had the pleasure of meeting Anna's pediatrician for the first time at her one-month appointment. I must say, we were both really impressed . . . and thankful he shares similar parenting philosophies as we do.

She is very healthy and growing, growing quickly. We were shocked, but happy, to discover she is nearly 10 pounds now! Anna is in the 50-75 percentile for her weight and in the 85 percentile for her length. She's grown 2.5 inches since birth. How blessed we are that she is so healthy--music to a mama's ear.

Bryan was a trooper at the doctor's office, standing by Anna's side while she got her shot. Um, the mama bear bailed to the waiting room. She did well, though. Anna only screamed for about three seconds until Bryan picked her up. Then, it was business as usual. She's a star. :-)

Tomorrow we will also start giving her more ounces in that bottle. We've been doing so at her nighttime feeding, but she's seeming more and more hungry as the day goes. Six ounces--here we come!

Back by Popular Demand

Family and friends say we can't post pictures fast enough. I'm trying! I'm trying!

Anna fell asleep during her playtime.

Meeting her friends for playtime.

Um, she was a little fussy today. :-)

Morning cuddle time with daddy.

Mmm . . . prune juice and formula. Surprisingly, she gobbled it up!

Checking for poop. She mostly likes to have her diaper changes. Sometimes when she's really hungry, it doesn't go so well.

Her first day home.

Oh yeah, we are remodeling a bathroom this week too! The tile's been laid, and is looking so good. We are beyond blessed that our contractors are working so hard to get it wrapped up.

What's in a Name?

Many folks are asking what we need and what not. So, tonight I wrapped up our registries at Babies 'R Us and Target. Tomorrow, if our sweet Anna is cooperative, we will visit Zoe and Jack to register there.

Also, lots of people are asking about her name--Anna Zane. Anna means "grace, favor, merciful." My mother's name is Deanna, and my middle name is DeAnn. Also, my sister's name is Tina, so she shares the same ending with Anna. Zane means "God is gracious." Bryan's maternal grandmother is named Betty Zane. She was very influential in his life. And ta-dah, we have our Anna Zane.

More Pictures of Our Sweet Girl

Anna Zane LOVES to eat. This was the bit of bottle I got to feed her when we first met. Precious.

These are the Rutledges, who cared for her the first two weeks. They did a wonderful job, and I am eternally grateful to them.

The Rutledges gave us a CD of pics. This was taken at their house the morning she was to meet us. They bought this outfit as a gift to her.

This is the first picture I ever saw of Anna. It is the most precious to me. I cry when I see it. Happy sigh.

These two are pics Bryan took on his phone.

Anna Zane's First Home Movies!

Please Meet Our Baby Girl . . .

The very beautiful and very sweet Anna Zane Youree!

We made it home!

The photos are from the adoption agency. We'd just met her. I will post a more thorough blog in a bit, complete with video, I hope!

Getting Ready for Baby

The last 24 hours have--by far--been the craziest, most wonderful we have ever experienced. Bryan valiantly worked through the day, keeping focused on the prize. And I hurried around trying to get organized--not very successfully. We've so blessed and excited by everyone's kind congratulations, prayers, and best wishes. I do believe my Facebook and e-mail will explode!

Last night, we started off attempting to register, but soon realized that was not going to happen. We will hopefully be able to wrap that up within a few days. Bryan found his "man" diaper bag, and that's what we'll be taking with us today.

One load of laundry is washed, and another is swishing now. We were so blown away when we arrived at the house at like ten o'clock to find several bags of baby clothes and goodies waiting on our doorstep! And this morning a dear friend brought by beautiful tulips! We are so loved!

On our bathroom counter sets a Bible-verse-of-the-day calendar. Today's verse is 2 Corinthians 9:15--"Thank God for his Son--a gift too wonderful for words!" Amen!

I've been humming all morning . . . .

"Yet saints their watch are keeping,

Their cry goes up 'How long?'

And soon the night of weeping,

Shall be the morn of song."

Only 45 minutes until we leave . . . .

It's a Girl!

It is with great excitement and overwhelming joy that I announce . . . . WE MATCHED WITH A BABY!

We will be bringing home our baby girl tomorrow afternoon!!!!! She was born on February 17, 2011, weighing in at a stellar 7lb and 1oz and 20 inches long. We are OVER the moon with happiness and praise to our Father, who gives all good gifts. How wonderful that we will bring her home on March 8, which will be the five-year anniversary of our first date!

After nine "almost" babies, we decided to start keeping potential baby info to ourselves. It had just become emotionally draining telling everyone when it didn't work out.

So, we found out about this baby--lucky number 10--on March 1st. It was the standard email informing us of the hospital referral. We had one day to respond if we wanted our profile shown. We agreed this was an ideal situation for us, and promptly informed our case worker that we did want our profile book shown. Due to the birth parents' schedules they could not review profiles until this morning.

When the phone rang, I knew we'd be chosen because it was only 30 minutes after they'd been shown our books. The case worker said, "Congratulations, mommy, you've been chosen!" I cried for five minutes; Logan, our case worker, was so kind to just let me weep on the phone with her. I asked her if she could call Bryan because I was so emotional. She was able to conference him in, and I got to hear her tell him! What fun!

The day has been filled with a flurry of activity. I had several articles due this week and next. Thankfully, all my employers have been so gracious to relieve me of those duties. And we have been able to get an appointment scheduled with a ped doc. Both of us have been so blessed with phone calls, texts, and emails of those sharing the joy of our news. Our church family has brought me to tears with their kindness and calls, volunteering baby items, help getting ready, bringing meals so quickly. Ah, "How deep the Father's love for us . . . ."

Since we are a bit bare when it comes to baby items, we are making a dash to Babies R' Us tonight to get a few necessities and to register for a few items. And heaven help us, we've GOT to figure out how to install the car seat.

Tomorrow we will post our sweet gal's name and pictures.

Lost in a whirlwind of joy and blessings,

The Yourees!

Let There Be Light!

Here's today's remodel recap . . . .

We now have lights in the bathroom. I should clarify--we've had lights for a few days now, but they weren't live. The electrician came this morning to set up the switches. So it turns on like a charm! Oh, and notice . . . no more holes in the floor! Yay!

New plumbing WITH the infamous scald guard!

Switches!

On a side note, our neighbors to the back are wanting their new fence to be on the official property lines. Thus, we must move two sprinkler heads, and at least one tree. They also took an ax to this tree, really sunning up my garden. My plants better enjoy this.

Here's the trail that fixed our water bib problem in the back yard. We now have access for our water hoses. Thank the Lord!

Construction

With our "rain delay" yesterday, the boys started their work again today. The plumbers laid the water lines outside the house today. Now, if our grass will just grow back quickly . . . .

The electrician also started his work today. You can see where our new LED lights will be, and our beautiful, new-looking heater/vent! YAY!

Our kitchen sink bit the dust too while we've been working on the bathroom. Below is the new one that works like a charm. We aren't going to know what to do with strong water pressure and immediate hot water!

The only problem yet to be resolved is our now dead water bib in the backyard. Seems like our only water source in the back was connected directly to the galvanized pipes in the front of the house. Hopefully, next week all involved can find a create, inexpensive way to remedy this!

'Plumb Craziness'

Today is plumbing day! Everything has gone fairly well. The only mishaps include a new hole in our utility closet . . . made necessary to get to shower/tub pipes and the broken pipe at the end of day, which means we now have a temporary red water line from the main to the house resting on top the yard.

Let the Remodel Begin!

Tuesday is THE day! Demolition will begin, and the remodel will commence. After a couple weeks of searching for bids, we'd decided on a new contractor this go around--Glendarroch Homes. One of the owners actually attends our church. They are a fairly new company, but do exceptional work from what we've seen.

We spent about 4o minutes tonight removing everything from the bathroom and on the hall walls.

Let's pray these four weeks go by quickly! :-)

The before pics . . . .