The Moore House was the place where the surrender agreement to George Washington was signed by Cornwallis.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
More from Yorktown
Inside the museum they had a cut away of a battleship. I was surprised at how low the ceilings actually were.Yorktown
The battle field
The trenches.
The trenches.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
William Oliver - 1 week old
William enjoying one of his very favorite pastimes. It's actually very hard to catch him doing anything else. His wake periods are so short you have to work really fast to catch him with his eyes open!
William's first doctor's appointment
I love the perspective of this picture. Darren's hand looks like it is bigger than the baby and the size of the bottle looks miniscule in his hand! This was taken after we got home from his doctor's appointment this afternoon.Today William is one week old. We celebrated his first seven days of life by going to his week old check up. As we suspected, William is in excellent health! As is quite normal he has lost a little bit of weight and is down from 6 pounds 9 ounces to a very trim 6 pounds. He is also only 18 1/2 inches long, not the 19 inches they recorded in the hospital. It seems he is not only losing weight but shrinking, also! The nurse asked that we make a follow up appointment in a week to make sure he is gaining weight. The way he is eating now I don't think that will be an issue!
As I mentioned earlier last week, Jenny was supposed to accompany us to this appointment. We arrived at the doctor's office a little early to begin filling out paperwork and she arrived shortly thereafter. I knew this would be difficult for her so we had William in his stroller with the sunvisors closed and a blanket over it. Jenny came over and set on the opposite side of the small room facing me and with a tired smile began making small talk asking me how I was doing. Everytime we meet with her she is concerned with how we are doing...am I enjoying myself, getting rest, seeing any of the sites. She has demonstrated her unselfishness throughout this whole process.
While she and I were talking, Darren was up at the reception desk working out the insurance and confirming whether or not Jenny really had to be there. The nurse said it was not necessary and Jenny was relieved to be able to leave. We walked her out to the lobby and told her thank you and how very blessed we were to be chosen by her and she said she knew she made the right decision in choosing our family. I hugged her goodbye and told her that we will forever share a special bond and will meet again someday and she asked if we would send letters and pictures to her occasionally. Which, of course I am so happy to do
.
Jenny said that her sister had bought something for the baby, so Darren walked me into the doctor's office and then went to wait for Dawn to come back with the gift. When he went out Jenny was crying. I know I cannot fully comprehend her pain, but I have a very real sense of what she is going through and my heart is broken. Dawn again reassured us that this was the right decision for Jenny and that they were truly happy with their choice. She gave Darren the gifts, a little outfit and a security blanket and then they left.
Our contact with Jenny is now complete. Though we have known Jenny for only a few short days, we now share a common love for a little boy that will essentially join our families together forever; her family will now be an extension of mine. Maybe not now, but eventually. And we have come to love her and her family and look forward to sharing William's progress with her now and in the future. I hope she will be proud.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Colonial Williamsburg - Sunday
Sitting in the church's courtyard.
Darren in front of George Washington's Pew.
Inside the church looking towards the pulpit.
This was particulary exciting for Darren since he has been reading quite extensively about George Washington and was familiar with the church already. Bruton Parish Church was attended by many prominent men of the Revolution, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry and George Mason. It is an Episcopal church that has been in use since 1715 and is stil serving actively today!
More photos of Williamsburg
This is the Governor's Palace. It housed seven royal governors and the first wo elected govenors, including Thomas Jefferson.
Visiting Colonial Williamsburg - Saturday
The path to Williamsburg. Doesn't it just beg you to come and see what is around its corner?
Chowning's Tavern.
The Slave narrative.
The Capitol where delegates from the colonies voted for independence and drew up the Declaration of Independence!
The first on the list was Colonial Williamsburg. This happens to be one of my favorite periods in American history along with the English Regency Era which coincides with it. The first thing we did was stop in at the visitors center and pick up all the information on touring the town; we realized right off that there was to much to be seen in one day so we opted for a week long pass. May I just say I could live here. I have never been one to fully appreciate technology, now I like my comforts just like the next girl, but the gentility of this town, this era, just swept me right in...I am in heaven here.
When you leave the visitors center there is a bridge that leads to the walking trail that leads you into town. In the middle of the walkway there is a plaque that says "You are leaving the 21st century", as you continue down the right side of the path there are smaller plaques the state all the things you are leaving behind and the date they were introduced, things like tv, the woman's right to vote, the convenience of prepared food. Very interesting. As we walked along the path we were taken with the beauty of the foliage, the log fences and the farms and homesteads. I longed to walk right in and begin my new life right there!
Once you leave the path, you enter the most lovely and charming city imaginable (at least to me). Williamsburg is larger than I imagined and I would guess my reaction to it was the same as a child entering Disneyland for the first time. I literally had chills. The drum corps was marching on the lawn, beautiful ladies and gentleman were strolling the streets and horse drawn carriages were being pulled along the road (I didn't even mind all the horses deposits in the middle of the road!). Heaven, I said, absolute heaven. Of course the whole time I was there I was thinking of Maddie Paige and how much she would love to see the town that her Felicity Merriman lived in.
We were hungry, so we stopped at a Tavern called Chowning's and had a nice lunch served by a charming young waitress in her period garb. She was delighted with William and talked with us of a friend of hers who had adopted three siblings. It seems that wherever we go with him, people have stories of there own adoption experiences to share, they are always so gracious and happy for us. Of course, the first thing that people want to know before they find out he is adopted is how old he is and then how come I look so good for just having a baby!
Everything closes at around five and we didn't have alot of time, so we cruised up the street and stopped to listen to a slave narrative, which was amazing. Very lovely and sobering; what strength and resiliency she demonstrated in her character. She was instructing another slave on how to help a young girl who had just witnessed her mother being taken away and sold to another master. Instructing her on how to relate to her and give her hope. She quoted extensively from the bible and I couldn't help but well up at times. Thankfully, she infused her demonstration with a light heart, otherwise it would have been hard to bear.
From there we walked down the other side of the street where we were able to walk through the back gates of adjoining yards and view all of the different and lovely styles of gardens. Did I mention I wanted to move right in? Through all of this, William slept. He didn't wake the entire time. Sometimes I think he is to good to be true.
Truly, there is so much to see and do here I am glad that we have the week. We are in awe that most of the buildings here are original and that people like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry and many others traversed these paths. We are just a little star-struck!
On our way home we stopped to eat at the Cracker Barrel (they really must put one of these in back home) and then headed back to the hotel. For the first time, we noted a little fussy period in William. From about 10-midnight he fussed of and on until he finally settled down and went to sleep. Darren fed him at around 5am and then we all slept until he was ready to eat again at 10. That was nice! He his beginning to be a voracious eater and I am wondering if he wouldn't like more than the 2 oz. he is currently eating. He still loves being held and snuggled!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
William's first bath
Now, being in a hotel without any of the conveniences of home, we make do with what we've got.
Because of William's umbilical cord he cannot be submerged into a tub of water. Now, if he were a nursing baby it wouldn't be that bad, but bottle fed babies just don't have that clean nursing baby smell. So, a sponge bath it must be. I have mentioned that he does not like being uncovered or being cold so we had to work fast. I stripped him down and he started to protest, but knowing how comfortable he would be once he was all clean I took him over to the sink, which I had filled with warm soapy water and proceeded to squeeze warm water over his little head...much to his surprise (and mine) he loved it.
I took him over to the bed and wiped down his little front side, which he hated and then took him back to the sink to wash his oh, so tiny back side, he hated that, too. The poor thing screamed until I had him clothed, combed and wrapped up tight and then he went right to sleep. I knew he'd be glad I did it!
Day Three...William comes home
Bundled up for the ride home.
Our celebration breakfast at Cracker Barrel, oh... they have the best biscuits!
Back at the hotel sound asleep.
My little man in his "coming home" newborn outfit. Great fit, don't you think?!
Daddy giving him his evening feeding.
When we arrived at the hospital we tried to check him out of the nursery to hold him, but there were no rooms open for us to use. We decided to go to Jenny's room to find out how she was, when Mildred (our social worker) caught us and told us there were some delays in Jenny and Williams release. We ended up waiting in front of the nursery fo about an hour while Mildred made calls and got paper work together.
Finally, at 11:00 we were ready to leave. However, because of the delay of some paperwork we found out that Jenny would have to carry William out of the hospital and hand him over to us. We were worried that it would be hard on her to do that, but she said she had peeked in on him that morning and it would not be an issue for her. We put him in his car seat and she held it on her lap as she was wheeled out in her wheel chair. When we were outside of the hospital, Dawn, her sister was waiting for her. She passed William to us, we hugged her and Dawn goodbye and we strapped our little bundle into the car and headed to Cracker Barrel for a celebratory breakfast. Finding time to eat here has proven quite difficult!
One other stipulation that had to be made before we were allowed to leave the hospital with William was that Jenny had to make a doctor's appointment for him. She also has to be there with us for that first appointment. That is just a little awkward. So on tuesday of next week we will pick her up and all go to the pediatrician for his appointment. I can't imagine how difficult that must be for her. I hope it will just reassure her of her choice in choosing us to be William's parents.
Our first night with William proved to be fairly uneventful. The hospital had him on a feeding schedule every four hours with nighttime feedings at 9pm, 1am and 5am. His 9pm feeding went so beautifully, however he decided he neede a little social time during the 1am feeding. He was a little fussy so I just wrapped him tight and held him for a few minutes to settle him down and he went right back to sleep. Still, Darren and I were awakened by every little sound he made. It is going to take a while to get used to having a baby in the room with us again. Funny how it all comes back again, though. I'm not finding it hard to get back into the routine of having an infant at all; in fact, I'm finding out how much I was made for this. It is my hearts strongest desire and has renewed so much inside of me. I have missed it very much.
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