Adoption Week 25

Hello from the Adoption world of CJ. Happy Thanksgiving weekend.
In 18 days we have our court date to 'officially' adopt CJ. We are so blessed that we were able to get our court date this year!

It has been awhile since we sent out an update on our adotpoin.
Life has been extremely busy and exhilirating and fun, but at times very tiring.
CJ started sleeping for 2 to 3 nights in a row all night long in the last two weeks. Prior to that he still woke up in the middle of the night.

Cameron John is 25 weeks old/ 5 months. He weighs 15lbs and is 25 inches long. In the last several weeks his motor skills and vocal skills have taken off to new levels.

He is quite the talker and enjoys sharing somes squeals with us that are quite loud at times. He is grabing a toy and holding onto if for longer periods of time.

His big sister, Katelyn, makes him laugh and smile all the time. Katelyn has taken the role of Big Sister in a fantastic way and is a great little helper!

We gave him rice cereal for the first time this week. He spit most of it out as expected.

Thanks for reading about our adoptoin.

Love
The Olschner Family

Adoption Week 8, 9, and 10

7/27/10 CJ turned 8 weeks old.

CJ has had a very exciting journey the last week and a half through the state of Kansas, with a final destination of Missouri. Aunt Liz, Katelyn, CJ and mommy went to Missouri to visit mommy's family. Grandma Henderson was very excited to meet CJ and hold him. So were his aunts, uncles and cousins. Some additional pictures have been posted on the blog.

8/3/10 CJ turned 9 weeks old.

CJ has been growing in his talking (cooing) everyday. He loves looking at the lights and is memorized by them at this stage in life.

Saturday August 7th was the first recognized smile (that didn't appear to be a response to gas). He has continued to smile several times a day! Yeah!

He is growing a lot and eating really well. Amelia's family visible noticed that he had grown even in the week and half we were in Missouri.

8/10/10 CJ is now 10 weeks old. He weights 12 lbs. He smiled multiple times today. We are learning new positions that make him happy. He likes to sit up more and look around at the world.

We will work on getting some of his wonderful smiles on camera and include them in the next blog.

That's all for now!
Love the Olschner

Adoption Week 6 & 7

Oh the JOY! We are really enjoying CJ, watching him grow and most exciting he is starting to sleep up to 4 to 5 hours between feedings at night!

He weights 9lbs and 10 ounces; 21 inches long. He is super strong and will often push his feet to a surface 'as if' to stand up. The doctor said that he must have forgotten he was a premature baby. YEAH!

Cameron cued for the first time on 7/16/2010 at his doctor's appointment. Then Mommy witnessed him crying 'in pain' for the first time after he received three shots in the legs - OUCH!

He definitely seems to be bonding with the family and locks his eyes onto us whenever he is awake. His favorite family member seems to be Katelyn. He will lock onto her when she is talking to him and not even give Daddy or Mommy a glance. Cameron enjoyed his first outside photo shoot with Katelyn (taken by Daddy of course) on 7/15/2010!

On 7/20/2010 Cameron turned 7 weeks old. He has been home from the hospital for 4 weeks and life is finally settling down a 'tid bit' and we are all finding a routine in our daily lives with him.

Talk to you soon!
Hugs from CJ to all of you reading his blog.

God Bless

Adoption Week 5

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Phil 1:6

Check out the picture of Cameron (tube free) that daddy took at his first professional photo shoot.

On July 6, 2010 we received a call from the adoption agency letting us know that the birth parent's rights had been relinquished. This is an important day for our family. This is an optimistic step in the adoption process with CJ and it brings our journey of adoption one large leap forward. We will continue to have visits from the adoption agency over the next 4 to 5 months. They will track CJ's progress in adapting to our family. Then just in time for a wonderful Christmas present, we our hopeful that the adoption will be finalized in December of 2010.

In addition, CJ is officially on 'room air' and has been freed from the oxygen tubes and tank. He can now put his hands all over his face to his delight.

We continue to be so very grateful to the birth mom for her decision to choose our family to adopt Cameron. We pray for her heart to heal during this time and for great opportunities in her life!

We give glory to God in holding our hands and hearts through this process of adoption.

Love
The Olschner Family

Adoption Week 4

Ephesians 3:20
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us

Cameron has been home for a week. He weighs 8lbs and is growing every day.
He is still on oxygen and will hopefully be off by next week.

Katelyn adores him and asks to 'pat' him all the time. She loves to 'pat' his head and is surprising gentle with him. She loves to give him kisses and be near him.
She is a great big sister and helps mommy and daddy with CJ every chance she gets.

Cameron is loving to eat now, no lingering eating issues like he had in the hospital. He wakes up at least every 3 hours and wants food immediately.
His other excellent talent is he gets really mad and holds his breath. He will then start to turn really red and blue. A little scary, but we are getting use to the routine and he is easy to console once you pick him up!

Thanks for reading!
Love The Olschner Family

Adoption Week 3

After 3 weeks in the hopital, Cameron John (CJ) came home to the Olschner home on June 22, 2010. Praise God for CJ and his life.

He started really improving over the weekend of June 18 to June 20. He began eating every feeding out of a bottle and no longer had to be gavage through the feeding tube.

Amelia stayed with him at the hospital for the last three nights so she could help with all the feedings.

Many thanks to ALL of the nursery staff at McKee Medical center, they are truly amazing and gifted at what they do in taking care of the newborn babies. They helped us so much with CJ and the best techniques to assist him in his new life.

The adoption is progressing and we will have more information in the next few weeks concerning our future with CJ. We appreciate everyone's prayers. We see God at work in great ways.

Love
Kurt, Amelia, Katelyn and CJ

Adoption Week 2

June 8th to June 14th, 2010

Cameron is still in the hospital.

On Friday June 11th, Cameron started to eat more by bottle (about 30 to 40ml) at several of his feedings throughout the day.

On Saturday he was able to be off his oxygen (on room air) for about six hours. So he is making some progress in his ability to stay oxygenated on his own.

In the last three days Cameron has been eating an entire feeding by bottle several times a day (his goal is 58ml every three hours). The other feedings he is still being fed through the feeding tube, known as gavage. He is gaining weight and getting stronger. He weights 6lbs and 9 ounces.

The ultimate goal for him to leave the hospital is that he can eat on his own every feeding and gain weight while doing this for two days in a row.

That's all for now.
Kurt, Amelia and Katelyn