All Things Landon - 17 Months Old

Those who told us that before we knew it Landon would be graduating high school, really knew what they were talking about! Landon is 17 months old (as of July 3). No longer is he my tiny baby boy, but now my (tiny) big boy.



Landon's First Detroit Tiger's Game

He really has grown up so much over these last few months. He amazes me everyday with either a new word, imitating Todd or I, a new dance move or just simply being his sweet self. It is such a privilege to be a parent - Getting to watch this little person grow and learn - I thank GOD that he has given me the opportunity everyday :)



Snack Time!



Current Stats (or close to it):

• Height: 30.25 inches (at 15 months)
• Weight: 22 pounds, 9 ounces
• Diaper: Size 3 during the day, Size 4 at night
• Clothing: Mostly 12-18 months, some 2T shirts and pajamas
• Shoe: Size 4.5
• Bedtime: 8PM - 7AM
• Nap: 12PM - 3PM

Here are some of the big milestones since I last posted (in February):

• First Steps (unassisted): 11 Months Old
• Officially Walking: 13 Months Old
• Teeth: 15
• First Word: Da = Dog
• Words: 41 that he uses consistently - Daddy, Mommy, Dog, Broom, Balloon, Bye, Down, Done, Yes, Pizza, Grace, No, Sock, Ball, Shoe, Stick, Toe, Base, Shut, Soap, Star, See, Ow, Moo, Gracie, More, Meow, Sss..., Oh, Knock-knock, Zoo, Get, Egg, Bird, Baby, Night-Night, Nose, Ravioli, Cheese, Elmo, Softball (boy, does this kid talk!)
• Phrases: Oh no!, Get down
• Can go up and down stairs without assistance (16 months)
• Following 1-3 step directions
• Animal Sounds: moo, meow, sss...
• Can identify 2 body parts: Nose, Ear
• Independently eats with a fork, working with eating with a spoon
• Will repeat an action if it made you laugh the first time

And, those not so big milestones that only Todd and I care about:

• First Two-Syllable Word: Baseball
• Waves bye-bye
• Blows kisses

  Sweet Boy

  
• Can open the front door
• Independently plays by himself
• Washes his hands and dries them
• Brushes his teeth
• First chore: Feed Gracie (he goes to the pantry, gets her dish and food, fills it up and then carries it over to her mat - it is quite cute)
• Knows where the recycling goes
• Dances to music
• Sings in the backseat of the car
• Can pretend (brush his teeth or our teeth, making soup, drinking from a cup, talking on the phone)
• Booster Seat as of today - no more highchair
• Gives kisses and hugs
• Last bottle was on his first birthday
• Knows where to go when it is snack time
• Dips his chips in salsa (including tapping of the extra)

Likes:

• Baseball

  The Kids

  
• Elmo
• The Wiggles
• Music
• Dancing
• Cars
• Fruit
• Corn-on-the-cob
• Anything to do with water
• Dogs
• Pizza
• Being outside
• Fruit and Veggie Smoothies
• Entertaining others

Dislikes:

• Sitting still

One Year Ago Today

Landon one year ago

One year ago today Todd and I met Landon for the first time (at our transfer) as a tiny 6-8 cell embryo; And just think, a couple of days before that, he was frozen!

GOD is AMAZING!

Praising GOD for his many blessings tonight....

Landon in his highchair - such a big boy!

Happy Adoption Day (to Us)!

One year ago today, Todd and I adopted 15 2PN stage embryos from Colorado. God decided that one those embryos would become our sweet baby boy - We love you, Landon!

Though not when he was a 2PN stage embryo, one of these embryos is Landon!
Photo taken: May 25, 2010

Landon today :)

An Email From My Husband

Todd is always saying and writing sweet things to me. I wish that I had kept all of them. Anyhow, this is an email that I got from him today and had to share it. God has blessed me with a wonderful, sweet husband....

"I am so incredibly excited for you to bring our son into the world, Lisa.  To think that it could be as early as next week is unreal, and I still haven’t wrapped my mind around it.  I probably won’t until he’s actually here.  You will be an incredible mother, and although people tell you that all the time, I actually know you inside and out, and I can say it with 100% certainty.  There is no little boy alive who will be more blessed than Landon is to have you for a mommy.  (Grace already knows this. :))"

Merry Christmas From Our Family to Yours!

*To check out our Christmas letter, please click the following link (and while you are at, check out our family's web page!) The Noorman Family's Christmas Letter 2010

I'm In Love With A New (Little) Man

Like I mentioned in my previous post we were able to surprise my mom with an ultrasound today. My mom asked me how long it would take. I told her about 5 minutes since it wasn't routine and just for our pleasure. I was way off. I should have said more like 30. Yes, we got another very thorough ultrasound today including more 3D shots! An excellent (FREE) early Christmas present for my mom who was in awe the entire time....

The tech performed another anatomy scan and while the first one was amazing at 20 weeks this one was even more so because he is now so much more developed and about 3x bigger. Leg and arm bones, heart, stomach, kidneys, bladder, rib cage, spine - everything looked, well, like it should, not like blobs or sticks or simply a hole. His face, hands and feet are more defined and we could see his facial features along with each little finger and toe. And, once again he was very active kicking, waving and yawning. At one point we even got to see him play with his toes!

As for results, baby boy is measuring in the 52nd percentile weighing 2lbs 13ozs. He had a healthy heartbeat of 163. And, while he is currently breech, there is no concern because we still have 11.5 weeks to go. Everything on my end looks great as well - cervix length, amount of amniotic fluid, weight gain (14 lbs. to date) and belly measurement are right where they should be.

And, now here is the new love of my life. While I loved him before, I felt a connection today as I watched the monitor and then, once I got this picture I couldn't stop looking at it, overwhelmed with love for this miracle growing inside me.

28w3d

An (Uneventful)* 16 week Appointment

It seems that after four, very difficult years of trying to get pregnant, God has blessed us with an easy pregnancy (thus far)! Today's appointment was like the others - everything perfect :) We didn't have an u/s, but did get to hear the heartbeat which we hadn't heard since week 6.  I have gained 3 pounds - a little low, but the doctor wasn't too concerned as long as I continue to gain weight over the next few months at a somewhat faster pace. We also scheduled the BIG u/s for Tuesday, September 28. I can't wait to find out if we are Team Pink or Team Blue! I am starting to have somewhat of a baby bump - will post pictures soon!

Hope you are all having a blessed week!

*By uneventful I don't mean it wasn't exciting (because it was!) - maybe a better word to describe the apt. would be uncomplicated or perfect :)

Bittersweet

**For the background on this blog check out: May Transfer is ON!**

About a week ago I started feeling very anxious about traveling the 10 hours to Michigan a mere two days after the transfer and attending all of the wedding festivities that were planned that weekend. Not to mention the 10 hour drive back and all within a few days. We had to be back by Monday, May 31 to be back in time to take my mom to the airport on Tuesday. We were too far along with our protocol; or rather had spent too much money on this transfer to stop now.

The last thing I wanted to do was not go to the wedding especially since they worked around our schedules with their new date. I didn't even mention it, however, Todd did. I told him before I would even consider it I wanted him to talk to his family about it. I didn't want Travis and Amy's marriage to start off with a family conflict because I didn't attend their wedding. Todd talked to them and they were all very understanding and supportive of it. Huge sigh of relief! So, the 'bitter' part of this bittersweet moment is that I am not going to be attending the wedding :(

The 'sweet' part, I will get to spend some quality time with my mom. Before my dad's Parkinson's disease had progressed (to where he couldn't be left alone), my mom and I used to do all sorts of stuff together, and now that I will not be attending the wedding, we will have four days to just hang out, go out to eat and shop. All things we both love doing!

God has definitely blessed me with two wonderful families! A family who understands my predicament and is supportive of our decision for me not to make the trip to Michigan for the wedding, and another who got on a plane to watch Grace so we could take the next step on our journey :)

GOD is good!

Embryo Adoption - How we came to it and what it entails (to just get on the waiting list)

Let's go back to May 2009 - After an unsuccessful IUI with donor sperm in February 2009 and then a consultation with our fertility specialist, we no longer had peace about pursuing another one. We had been trying for a baby since July 2006. Almost three years later, our arms were still empty, and our hearts were broken. We so badly had wanted to experience a pregnancy. Everything from the ultrasounds to the first movements to the birth, but not feeling we had God's blessing to move forward with the assisted reproductive technologies (ART) that we knew of, we thought that dream was gone. I had started to look into local adoption agencies, but wasn't feeling 'it'. I knew we wanted to children, but if we didn't have God's blessing do another ART or adoption, how were we going to get a child? Discouraged, I continued to research adoption, but didn't make any contacts.

A trip to the mailbox in late May 2009 changed everything. We received a pamphlet from Bethany Christian Services about something called Embryo Adoption. Embryo Adoption = A Baby? Sounded good to me, so I read it. Hope that I had lost resurfaced a bit. I had Todd read the pamphlet. Curious we signed up for the next orientation (which happened to be in just a couple of days). We looked Embryo Adoption up online, but still weren't sure really what it was. Excited and growing more hopeful, we went to the required orientation. After the first part of the orientation, we both knew. THIS, Embryo Adoption, was God's plan for our family. We stayed through the rest of the orientation learning everything we could about what it was.

That next day I began to research agencies that would do an embryo adoption home study because just as with a regular adoption, we had to had one. A week later, and after many emails and phone calls we choose Adoption Assistance, Inc. We found out what we needed to do and did it. Application in a week. Paperwork and more paperwork in two weeks. One meeting in a neutral place done. Meeting and inspection of our house soon after. In about six weeks we had completed the entire process. In the meantime, we were also needing to complete an application and paperwork (and more paperwork) for the National Embryo Adoption Center (NEDC) in Knoxville. After our part was done for both, no longer than two months, we waited.

During the middle of August we got a phone call from Adoption Assistance. We were 'approved', and our home study was complete. We got a copy and sent it off to NEDC for their approval. More waiting.

Early September we found out that we were officially on the waiting list. We had satisfactorily met all of the requirements! Well, up until that point. The next step was a medical clearance from NEDC. An appointment would be scheduled in January or March. So we did what we did best, and waited until we heard back from NEDC.

A phone call in the beginning of November reminded us that God was there. He knew we were trying to wait patiently, but that it was getting hard. A couple had canceled their initial appointment, did we want it? Yes, please! We needed to be in Knoxville on Monday, November 23. That gave us about three weeks instead of another two to four months. We both arranged for a sub and called my mom to see if she could come and watch Grace. She could. We were set for November 23. God is good!