cason & colleen: September 2012

Friends and Family ~

Thanks so much for your prayers and support for us. Can't believe that Cashel is already over two weeks old! They say time flies once you have kids, but WOW... these two and a half weeks have been a complete blur!

Here's the Cliff's Notes version of the last few weeks for us since Cashel was born August 28th....Colleen and her mom stayed with Cashel in the private hospital room for two days until he was discharged, then they went to a hotel in Cincinnati since he couldn't leave Ohio until the adoption was accepted by both Ohio and Kentucky. I came home early the day after he was born (Wednesday the 29th) so I could continue to move us out of our rental home and into the house we just bought, and also get some work done. After taking some last loads, trying to unpack and find things in our many boxes, and building a tortoise pen in our new backyard (the Tortoise Fortress, or Tortress, as I dubbed it), I headed back up to Cinci to the hotel late Thursday night before Labor Day weekend.

Momma Wittig with three generations of Wittig men

That Friday morning we waited nervously to get word that the birth mother had signed over her rights to her son. When we didn't receive word at the expected time, doubts began to slip into our minds... maybe something happened again... maybe the birth mom would decide she wanted to keep the baby... maybe this sweet little guy would be taken from us as others had before. As I held Cashel in my arms, I prayed that he'd be ours even as my mind continued to second-guess.

A few stressful hours past the time we thought we'd hear that everything was taken care of, we finally got word that the birth mother had signed without any issue - she'd just overslept. That news that was met more with relief than celebration on our side, but after it was our turn to sign and make everything official, we let ourselves rejoice. Colleen was beaming. She has an amazing smile in normal circumstances, (I'm biased...), but it was incredible to see her grinning for hours on Friday - she couldn't stop. Signing those documents really did flip a switch for her; she was obviously caring and loving him before, but signing everything made it feel authentic and official. Until the end of this month, there's still a slim chance that things could get interrupted, but it is minute, and we are trusting that Cashel is the one for us.

Loving his momma

We had a wonderful weekend at the hotel, with both sides of our family in and out the whole time. I came back to Danville early Tuesday morning after the holiday weekend (the 4th) so I could get back to work, and Colleen and Cashel were allowed to join me just a day later after getting word that both Ohio and Kentucky social services have approved our documents. We were expecting to have to wait until later in the week, so the fact he was allowed to come home a few days early was such a blessing! Since then we've been adjusting to parenthood in our new home while trying to unpack and prioritize projects.

*****

Brown

Cashel has been a relatively easy baby so far, sleeping up to 4 hours at a time even with so much going on around him, and loving life as long as he has a full belly and a clean diaper. When he is awake, it is amazing just to hold him as he stares inquisitively into our faces with his beautiful dark brown eyes. His hair seems to get longer and crazier by the day, and he has such a cute little personality. He, of course, loves Colleen most of all, and tracks her by the sound of her voice even from across the room. We love him so much!

I am loving being a dad, and I'm so excited about all the things that Cash and I will do together. For those who have been asking, though I had a few diaper related fiascos while we worked at the orphanage in Kenya, I now feel officially a part of the dad club since I've been peed on mid diaper change multiple times already and "exploded" on a few times already over that first weekend with him. Working on our house makes it all the more exciting to think about the future with him - we've been trying to get his nursery ready, planning where his future room might be, and I've already climbed the one tree in our backyard looking for good spots for a future tree fort.

Our church family has been incredible during this busy time for us, with individuals helping us move, watching our puppy, and bringing us meals, among many other things. We are also extremely grateful to Colleen's mom and the Ambrose aunts and uncle who spent part of their holiday weekend cleaning, tearing out carpet, and emptying boxes at our home. We are astounded by the blessing of our friends and family; Cashel is going to grow up in such an amazingly loving community!

*****

Bliss: Grandpa and Grandma Ramsay with their three grandchildren

One of the great things about having so many friends and family with children close by and all in the same age range is that we have an incredible network families who have given/loaned us baby gear (that's what it's called right?... Maybe baby supplies? Baby rations? I need to learn some more dad lingo.) for Cashel. There are a few things we need for him, and we are incredibly appreciative of all of the gifts we've received thus far, but for the most part we are asking those who desire to bless our family, to contribute toward our adoption expenses in lieu of other gifts.

Our church has graciously agreed to accept donations toward those expenses on our behalf, so if you desire to give to Cashel's adoption fund, you can make a check out to Grace Presbyterian Church and put "Adoption Fund - Wittig" in the memo line. You can give checks to us, any of our family members, or mail them to Grace PCA, 180 Bold Venture Blvd., Danville, KY, 40422. You will receive a tax-deductible receipt for your contributions. Please don't feel obligated though! We just wanted to share our biggest area of need with those who have been asking how they can help. Thanks!

Thanks so much for reading, for your love, and your support! Yay, I'm a dad!

-Cason