This is by far the scariest thing I have had to do as a mom so far. I have been fearing trimming her nails since she was still in the hospital. All of the grandparents said it was time after looking at her fingernails, and I didn't even tell them about when she scratched her little nose and drew blood the day before.

I waited until she was SOUND asleep before venturing up the courage to do it. I got all 10 of them without drawing blood or waking her. PHEW!

Look how long her little eye lashes are.

This "Snugli" puts her to sleep in about 5 seconds. She doesn't wake up no matter how much I move around with her in it. I think I could play a volleyball match without waking her :) .

"Dad...I can do it by myself!"

This is the first time Amy has paid any attention to toys. She usually notices them but doesn't give them a second look. Yesterday morning I was putting on my makeup and I heard the noise that one of her toys makes when it is squeezed (a crinkling noise). When I saw what she was doing, I grabbed the phone to call Mike and sprinted downstairs (almost falling) to grab the camera.

I love this picture. Her eyes look so happy and eager.

One hand on each toy.

Next door neighbor, Emma, takes a turn holding Amy. I think she's happy!

Grandpa Buddy finally gets a turn.

Raise your hand if you love your grandparents!

Grandma Shives likes Amy's Elvis impersonation.

Thanks Aunt Karen!!! This is my favorite!

Dad...that's not what that pillow is for!

Amy Cakes loves bath time.

Liz was scared, but Amy assured her that it would be ok.

A month later...

Getting cozy with dad...

Guess who got peed on during Amy's bath time....

My sister finally delivered her son, Landon, yesterday.

I think she is settling in well. This is her new friend Lucy (the Elephant). Thanks auntie Kim.

We're free! Amy was released from the hospital yesterday at 3:30. We thought that it wasn't going to happen because of some paperwork that wasn't signed by the birth mom, but someone pulled some strings and it worked out as planned. We are staying at Mike Perez's house while he and Kim are on vacation. We were ready for a change of scenery and this worked out great.

Right now Amy has the hiccups.

The nurses and doctors are still saying that Amy will be released tomorrow (January 1st). We are very ready!

Today is a big day for Amy V.

Her methadone dose was cut in half on Tuesday, and it is being eliminated altogether today. I am anxious to see how she responds. She has been a little bit restless the last two days, but the nurses say that that is probably just from growing older. She has a very good appetite and she broke 7 pounds yesterday.

My parents are driving down tomorrow morning to see her for the first time, and Mike is catching a ride down either Friday night or early Saturday morning. We are all hoping she gets released this weekend.

Once she gets released we will have to hang out in Florida for around a week or so to wait for legal work to be finished so she can leave Florida. I can't wait to get her back to Atlanta.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Today Amy has officially gained more than a pound. She started her life as a 5 pound 10 ouncer and is now tipping the scales at 6 pounds 13 ounces! Yea Amy! But as you can see, the pacifier still looks huge compared to her face.

Also, Amy is getting close to conquering her diaper rash which had gotten pretty bad. The nurses have a great system for extreme rashes such as Amy's. Since air on the butt is the best way to make the rash go away, they rigged up an oxygen tent and have been blowing pure O2 right where it's needed.

I keep putting off updating this blog with my big news because I have SO MUCH news to share.

I have taken a LOA from work and am being a full time mom for as long as I can afford it (a couple of months??). Right now that means staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Saint Petersburg, Florida. This way I can walk to Bayfront Medical Center and be with Amy to feed her and love on her as much as I want. The house is great. It is a luxury to be here.

The nurses and PA's at the nurserey are fantastic. They all know my face and name there as I am a regular by now. They also call Amy by the name we are giving her as opposed to her legal name. (We cannot move forward with the adoption legal work until she is released from the hospital...we are hoping for December 31st).

Mike is on his way down from Atlanta for Christmas weekend. I know he is dying to see her again. He only got to see her Wednesday night through Saturday afternoon last week because he has alot going on at work back in Atlanta.

Amy is slowly and carefully being weened off of methadone which is the drug that her birthmother was taking under clinical supervision throughout her pregnancy. Methadone is used to block the effects of other drugs, specifically opiates. The birthmother was trying to break her oxycontin habit when she found out she was pregnant. Once you are pregnant, you cannot stop taking methadone or you will have contractions with withdrawal.

Here she is, Amy Virginia Robbins. She has a feeding tube in some of the pictures, but that was removed shortly after we arrived. She has been eating great ever since. The thing in her hand is Mike's ring, just to give some scale.

BIG NEWS!!!

I got a phone call from our adoption agent Friday night. A birthmother had a c section on December 3rd and signed consent to release the baby to our agent's custody on Friday the 8th. The birthmother, Shara, and her husband had been working to place the baby with a different agency, but the other agency wasn't treating her fairly, so she contacted Tara.

The baby girl was carried full term and was born 5 pounds 10 ounces and has brown hair and blue eyes. I haven't been able to see a picture of her yet, because the 2 adoption agencies need to work things out before Mike and I can come in the picture, but Tara says she is very cute.

The baby is having withdrawal from methadone and will have to stay in the hospital for 2-3 weeks. Once she is released from the hospital we will have to stay in Florida for up to five business days for legal work to be completed. We hope to have her back to our house in Atlanta before January.

The methadone part is a little scary, but we can handle it. We have been told that the treatment is to medicate her with phenobarbitol (??) to lessen her withdrawal symptoms, and gradually reduce her dose until she doesn't need it anymore. She needs to be held, and rocked and bundled and loved on. I can't wait to do that!

We are planning on driving to Florida Tuesday night or Wednesday morning to meet her and make everything official!

Our long weekend trip to Las Vegas was exactly what Mike & I needed. I was desparate for a break from work since I had only taken 2 days off this year. I have been saving my vacation days to use after we "have" a baby since my employer doesn't offer any maternity benefits to adoptive parents other than unpaid leave of absence.

We got to see Guster, Jurassic 5, Ben Folds, The Keller Williams Incident, Phil & Trey, Tom Petty, G. Love, Damien Jr. Gong Marley (Bob Marley's son), and The Killers at Vegoose. They were all GREAT! Here is J5:

The best was Widespread Panic's night show at MGM. They played for hours and there were a lot of interesting people in interesting Halloween costumes.

Here is Mike with Walter (from the Big Lebowski):

We broke even in the casinos...if you count the $20 bill Mike found on the floor. We mostly stuck to the quarter slots, which were readily available where ever you went, including the airport terminals.

We rented a car on Monday to drive to the Grand Canyon, which the lady at the hotel counter said was an hour and a half drive. Two and a half hours later we stopped at an information center along the highway and were advised that we were still three and a half hours away.

We settled on driving through Zion National Park, which was a tease. We barely had an hour to drive through what we would have liked to explore for at least a week or two. We will have to go back for a camping vacation.

Here are some pictures of the trip: