World's Cutest Easter Bunny Lives Here!

World's Cutest Easter Bunny Lives Here!

Uhhhh, somebody loves Elmo, eh?

Uhhhh, somebody loves Elmo, eh?

"Bye Bye Everybody. Thanks for coming to play with me today."

"Bye Bye Everybody. Thanks for coming to play with me today."

This Year's Winner of "Best Dressed Baby on Earth Award."

This Year's Winner of "Best Dressed Baby on Earth Award."

"Time to go outside and Play"

"Time to go outside and Play"

Maddie Loves petting her much furrier sister

Maddie Loves petting her much furrier sister

Bella made a new friend on her stayover during Easter

Bella made a new friend on her stayover during Easter

Snowbound with her puppy

Snowbound with her puppy

Is it too soon to use the "Careful or your face is going to freeze like that" bit?

Is it too soon to use the "Careful or your face is going to freeze like that" bit?

Bella needed some of her own face time

Bella needed some of her own face time

Maddie's First School Portrait

Maddie's First School Portrait

What Are You Lookin' At?! ...So what if I'm wearing a Christmas tutu.

What Are You Lookin' At?! ...So what if I'm wearing a Christmas tutu.

"Oh My God, This is Exactly what I wanted!!!"

"Oh My God, This is Exactly what I wanted!!!"

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Twas The Night Before Christmas!

....And not a creature was stirring.....or was there?! Yes, Amy and I may have gone to bed with visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads that night, but little did we know that in a land far far away (Bangor, ME) Madeline Grace Caissie had been born. Officially she made her entrance to this world around 10:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve and at approximately 10:30 a.m. Christmas Morning the phone rang at our house with that "207" area code. Only instead of the response being "Hello?!....Oh, it's you...", it was more like "Hello?! OH MY GOD REALLY??!!" Needless to say, I didn't need an interpreter to tell me something serious regarding our adoption plan was going on. If hearing the excitement in Amy's voice on the phone wasn't enough, watching her tremble with anticipation definitely provided me with the verification I needed to realize THIS WAS GOING TO BE BIG NEWS!

Can anyone explain to me exactly what the appropriate response would be to such a phone call? One that tells you the birthmother who selected you as adoptive parents gave birth to a baby girl at just 2 pounds and 2 ounces on Christmas Eve when you had just about no inclination whatsoever as to such an event occurring? All the while telling you to pack your bags as soon as you can, to get to Bangor, Me for an undeterminable amount of time until you can take your new baby girl home? Well, if the answer is run around like two chickens with their heads cut off, throwing virtually the entire contents of a 1000 sq. ft. ranch home into 2 or 3 suitcases while experiencing every emotion from infinite bliss and excitement to an overwhelming sense of panic, fear, and maybe even a tad of self-induced nausea.....then Amy and I nailed it!!!

5:00 p.m. Christmas Day 2009-- We arrive at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, ME full of all the emotions I just described and a whole lot more. Not knowing what to expect at all, we were greeted in the hospital lobby by our birthmother's counselor from our Adoption Agency, Kristen. She took us to the 7th floor and proceeded to lead us to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). Seeing that Amy and I hadn't actually expected to be able to see the baby, we were once again overcome with all the same emotions and maybe a slightly intensified feeling of said self-induced nausea. Well, how quickly all those feelings were replaced with all the unconditional love either of us could ever imagine as we gazed into the isolette of Madeline Grace.

7:00 p.m. January 7, 2010-- I'm writing this blog entry shortly before we plan to go see Our Christmas Angel once again. Madeline is officially 2 weeks old today. Except for one bad weekend where she gave us a little scare, she has progressed quite nicely. She's now weighing in at a whopping 2 pounds and 4 ounces, she's been moved to an isollette for more advanced preemies, and she's even starting to form a bit of a 'tude! She definitely likes to let you know when you're disturbing her by crying as if she were a full term baby Hyeena. The time up here in Bangor can be long due to the fact that it's as cold as The Washington Generals vs. The Harlem Globetrotters, but it's all well worth it for that one hour a day that we get to hold our little Madeline Grace in our arms. We can both honestly say that it is a feeling unlike any other when we get to hold her. All the feelings of uncertainty, stress, and homesickness seem to evaporate when we are with her.



So what happens now? Well, we're still waiting on a few things:



#1 Of course our first priority is carefully watching the progress of little Maddie. Hopefully, there are no more setbacks and she'll be right on schedule to come home when she's able.



#2 We're still waiting to hear of a court date that we legalize and finalize the adoption. Of course, we'll all breathe an extra large sigh of relief when this is done.



#3 Provided that Maddie is healthy enough to transport, we're hoping that maybe sometime over the next 2-3 weeks we'll be able to transport her to a NICU closer to home.



Until then, we're hoping to post plenty of pictures of our steady-developing wonder here and enjoy every last bit of the greatest journey of our lives. Also, we'll be counting down the days till we can take little Maddie home to see all of you, Wish us Luck!