All is well. But we're damn tired.

Everything is going great with the new baby home. She is a joy. She has spent most of her time here sleeping. However, she's awake enough to prevent us from getting much sleep.

Yesterday we had a visit from her Birthmother. It was beautiful to see the two of them together again. It was as if the start of Z's life journey had been marked. I'm not sure how to put it into words but with the CEO and I in the house and Z's Birthmother present well we were all there. Those of us who love so dearly this is what we had worked for to honor Z by including all of those people in her life who make her who she is and who she will be at that moment we were all represented and we were living up to what we had agreed upon.

I think one of the beautiful things with open adoption is that you are committing to letting everyone who wants to love your child to do so. I've always thought how could not letting people who want to love your child into there life be confusing or detrimental. It just can't be. Through this process or Z's birth and adoption I have become an even more staunch supporter of Open Adoption.

1+1=4

Wow.
This aint' gonna be easy.
Z is home from the hospital and The Kid has been great with her. Yesterday when we picked her up it was one wild ride. The emotions were all over the place. You can see the CEO's blog if you want the details.

Last night was our first night of "no-sleep" in quite some time. I forgot how much attention these little buggers needed. Right now it is just Z and I .
Z is screaming.

Gotta go!!

Baby Arrives!!

10:50 PM on Dec. 25th the precious little bundle arrived. She's perfectly beautiful. Soon after I looked down at the floor and noticed a small rip in my hiking boots.

"Damn it! Now I'm going to have to buy new boots." I looked at my watch, it was 11:00 PM.

Life is strange. Moving from huge event to insignificant in the blink of an eye.

Our lives have changed forever again. And I love it.

It's Go Time!

So here I sit only hours before we head off to the hospital to begin again. I don't know what this wild ride of birth will bring with it but I'm as ready as I'll ever be (Translation: not ready at all).

It seems that at moments like this I should be able to write some very introspective important words. Yet I can't. All that is really going through my head is "I hope everything goes well." And what does that really mean? I guess it is things like: Healthy baby, healthy birthmom, emotional healing and applying loads and loads of unconditional love.

Dog Walking.

Walking the dogs can be a very relaxing experience. I often will finish my walk and think "what did I just think about" and I can't remember. No matter how hard I try I can't think of all that occupied my mind while walking. It seems that the walk allows for me to have a brain dump. I definitely feel refreshed and more relaxed at the end of the walk. I guess it is a simple form of meditation. I get the same sensation after exercising or playing a sport. I love it. I love my life but I also love the feeling of forgetting all about it for a short period of time. I'm glad I've started walking consistently in the morning. I think it's good for my soul.

Habits, OCD or something like that.

I like to do things on the hour or 1/2 hour. I'm looking at the clock right now and thinking I've got seven minutes to write. This freezes me. God forbid I leave for work at 7:05 or worse yet some non-five increment like 7:07. Yikes! I'm already down to three minutes. If I want to hit 7:00 AM on the nose I've got to finish this blog fast. I've added consistent Dog walking to my morning chores, it should have always been consistent. Anyhow, it just puts more crunch time on my morning relaxation routine. ""Crunch Time"" and "Relaxation", hmmm, they don't sound like they mix well. 7:00!!!! Gotta split.

Airplane.

On my way to my Bostion vacation I had a very uncommon experience in the airplane. I enjoyed the flight! Here's the note I made during the flight that captured this rare moment.

Delayed flights, crowded airports, bad food and lots of germs to avoid. However, here I sit on my CHI to BOS leg of the trip alone in the expansive exit row with a good book to enjoy. It's heaven. I never get this alone time, this quiet time. In this small cramped germ filled box I'm oddly at peace. This is perhaps the most relaxing flight I've ever been on. Or should I say the most relaxed I've ever been on a flight. I think the latter is the most true.

More on the vacation later. I hope.

Whatever.

I like it. What can I say, I mean as much as I hate to admit it I enjoy TV. I mean I enjoy it more than I should. It is such a love hate relationship. When we don't put the TV on we generally have a much more enjoyable and relaxing evening. We need to do that more often. I did start the new(ish) David Sedaris book, I'm only a couple stories in but I highly recommend it.

Tonight is my second night of making peanut brittle. It is so easy I love it and it is so great to pass out on the holidays. I think since people don't make homemade candy much anymore it seems like a real treat. Last night I sampled too much. I go wired on a sugar high, I was up until about 12:15 AM, that's no good.

Holidays.

I hate to admit it but at least for the past few weeks I've joined the lame group of people who get stressed out around the holidays. I have always loved Christmas and the sooner the radio started playing Xmas songs 24/7 the better. However, this year with the adoption, travel and work it is very stressful. When writing this I realize that and adoption and travel are two wonderful things. I've need to try and flip my outlook and live by the Monty Python Creed "Always look on the bright side of life..."