Miller Plus One

Ok, so it was a long trip!  Honestly, it felt longer than it really was.  Justin and I have talked a lot about the fact that we wish we could go back to Taiwan without the anxiety around picking up our baby, not knowing anything about international travel, and determination to sight-see, no matter the weather.  Hindsight is always 20/20, huh?  When we arrived at the church, we went upstairs to the small room where it seems all of the major events take place--couseling of birthmoms, handing over of babies to their families, and so many tears.  We were running on steam, adrenaline, and pure excitement.  I don't even remember the walk up the steps...I didn't know if Amber Joy would be there at the top, already in the room waiting for us or how this would all happen.  It's crazy that eight months (really two years of our entire adoption journey) was about to culminate in a tiny little church in Taiwan on New Year's Eve.  We waited in the room for wh...

Ok, I plead the fact that I am a new mom for not blogging about the rest of our trip until now!  If I don't do it now, I will begin to forget the details and I don't want to do that!  As I write today, Amber Joy is napping in her crib.  Yes, in her crib.  When we got home, she was napping great...2 or more hours, but after a few weeks, she started sleeping 20 minutes and waking up crying.  I read the sleep books, but they don't really address adoption attachment issues (you really shouldn't let an adopted baby 'cry it out'), so I began rocking her to sleep then lying down with her in my bed.  That worked for about 2 weeks.  Then, another adoptive mom whose son dealt with the same sleep issues began coaching me!  Seriously!  It was a play-by-play over text when we started trying her method.  I put Amber Joy in the crib at naptime and let her cry it out.  The difference: I stay in the room where she can see me.  She learns to sel...

(This was from January 6th, 2012) The end of the beginning… Our journey to adoption has finally ended, and we are now officially on our next journey: parenthood.   As I sit here in the Tokyo airport awaiting our flight to Chicago, then on to Nashville where we will introduce our daughter to waiting family and friends, I realize that now the road to adoption is over.   Now begins the daunting task of raising a godly, loving, excited-about-life daughter.   I must confess that I feel ill-prepared and tired just thinking of it.   The past nine days have been some of the most challenging of my life.   It’s funny really, because they have also been some of the happiest.   We got to pick up Amber Joy on New Year’s Eve in Taitung, Taiwan.   We were excited, nervous, anxious, happy, and so many other emotions, I can’t even explain.   It’s one thing to be first time parents…it is entirely another to be first time parents halfway around the world from you...