Can you draw this logo on a cup?

If they don't have Starbucks in Lithuania, I'm sure they don't have Forza either.

Sandy and Peter enjoying a bagel and some sort of frothy coffee drink. She's consuming them, he's sleeping...utility maximizing for both.



The logo--a Lithuanian student of mine last summer was kind enough, after all my playful annoyance about there not being any Starbucks, to get the Starbucks logo from the web and draw it onto a coffee cup. It was one of several delightful going away gifts they gave me, the greatest of which was--and remains--the wonderfully fond memories we have of our time there with them.

Peter Wishing Aunt Marsha a Happy Birthday

Peter's cousin Melanie (on the right) organized a delightful birthday lunch for her mother (Sandy's sister). That's another cousin--Geoffrey--on the left, and Uncle Glen in the back.

Peter celebrated hard...until he just collapsed. It was the hour, not the company, as his grandma Milton always says.

Peter MP, wearing Peter R

I believe his foster care mother had this outfit for him before she knew anything about us naming him Peter. Apparently, she even picked this out for him to wear to our first meeting without even realizing that his name is on it.

More New Faces

Last week he got to meet his grandmim for the first time.

He also spent part of an evening at Patrick and Jayne's.

A new friend at church...Kate Mellott.

First Bath

Finally getting clean in his first bath.

Then, staying warm in the towel my Pioneer Middle School colleagues gave him.

Peter, Miranda, and Jackson

Jackson and Miranda came over Sunday for a visit. They were very sweet with Peter, and took turns holding him and feeding him. We all bantered over why he already has so many Auburn Tiger things and so little Oregon Duck stuff. We also looked the photos from the trip, and talked about the process of our picking Peter up in GA.

Coming Home

There's Peter, excited to go into his new home for the first time.

There's Peter, excited to have Zach licking his head. Actually, the dog is doing pretty well. HE is excited about Peter--at least that's what I think all the barking and sniffing and tail-wagging is about. He even bays when Peter cries. We're calling it the dog's special bond to Peter, and not the annoying distraction that it might seem.

There's Peter, excited to see (Auntie) Fawn, his two-day-a-week nanny when Sandy returns to work. Just as excited to see (Auntie) Suzanne and (Auntie) Joanne. And excited, of course, to be in his Elder's arms, and with (Auntie) Janet.

We're Coming Home

We got the word...we're clear to leave. So we fly out Saturday morning at 11:30 and should land in Seattle about 4 PM, back home by 5.

As you can imagine, it has been an astounding 5 days. We got Peter, of course. And we met his birthmother, which Sandy said was about as emotionally wrenching (intensely exhilirating and draining at the same time) as anything she's experienced. I agree, though I'm not sure I can say why. And we started a new phase our life together. All in Atlanta, a place I didn't ever imagine visiting. (Let's not even talk about Auburn.)

Besides Peter's birthmother, we met several other remarkable people.

The woman with Sandy cared for Peter the 10 days of the waiting period. She is funny, kind, loving, and immensely generous. (She does this routinely for the agency in Georgia.)

The woman in white is the agency caseworker. She works with birthmothers and adopting families, and she obviously attends to the birthmothers very well.

We, of course, think Peter is the most remarkable of all. (I think the ladies all agree.)

Peter and Paul

Peter's Uncle Paul and Aunt Pat happened to arrive in Atlanta today (Friday) for their niece's wedding, so we arranged to meet them for a few minutes. Peter, though sleeping, was excited to see them, but not as excited as they were, though they'd not slept for quite some time.

After that, we made our way to Auburn (Alabama, that is).

The War Eagle about to take flight and attack some unsuspecting SEC mascot.

Sandy's old apartment building.

The Return of the Free Movie Lady. The building where Sandy gained acclaim and notoriety as the emcee of Free Movie Night.

A new cat in our life, too

We should have brought 3-legged Zack with us. He could have made friends with Yardstick, the three-footed cat.

Yardstick lives with the family whose basement apartment we currently occupy. He's as delightful as his family is, and he's comfortable having strangers with babies staying over--this family has hosted nearly 60 babies in this program.

He has come downstairs to our apartment every morning. He sits with us for a few minutes; he's even gotten on the bed with me.

We met Peter's birthmother

Sandy and I were both a bit nervous--we had no reference point with which to even imagine what this could be like, but it all went very well.

We're both glad to have met her; we feel like an important psychological/emotional part of the adoption is completed. In a sense, she "gave" Peter to us today. She held him for a while, but really did sit back and let Sandy do all that a mother does. She said several times that she was content with her decision, and that she knows she made the right choice.

What do you say to a woman whose son you are holding and will soon take out of her life--to a woman who has made such a wrenchingly final decision to give her son to people she's never even met?

Well, hard as it probably is to imagine, not much. There was nothing for me to say...I just sat back and listened and watched, awed by this woman's generosity and courage.

A Dahlia by Any Other Name

Flowers bloom for eyes
The heart's garden blooms anew--

Atlanta baby

You never get these moments again

His first shopping trip.

Our Return

We have to wait here in Georgia until some papers go from here to Washington, then come back again. We can't travel to Washington until that's completed, which we're hoping will be Friday. That way, we can all go home Saturday.

The paperwork process doesn't have to be quite complete for us to leave the state of GA, though, as long as we just don't go to Washington. That's good news, as we can take that long-anticipated trip to Auburn, where Sandy will ask about an early admission program at the university.

More to the point, if need be, Sandy and Peter might just travel to Portland, or something like that, and wait out the last few days there.

We'll see.

A Rare Sight

Sleeping until 10 AM!

He did well last night, but still was up enough that I didn't mind sleeping a bit later than typical.

A Walk Around the Neighborhood

I think this is Sandy and Peter's first picture together.




We took a little walk around our neighborhood in suburban northeast Atlanta.
And found this (below). Not sure what it is, but worth a picture.


Everybody is doing just great. Peter is already on a nice routine. He eats every three hours and sleeps well. He has only fussed a little bit, and he is quite easy to get settled back down.

What's in a name, namely his?

Peter Melvin Paul Milton

Peter, the rock, because we have both always liked that name and what it represents.
Melvin was Sandy's father, and Paul is my brother.
The Milton part you can probably figure out.

New Milton in Georgia

Well, we arrived last night, Monday, and stayed in a motel. This morning, Tuesday, Norry, the woman who has been caring for Peter since he was discharged from the hospital, came to our hotel with him, and we met for the first time. It seemed a little bit odd, receiving a baby in a motel parking lot, but....

After that, we all proceeded to this apartment, where we met the case worker down here and signed all the papers.

So now we're resting in a very pleasant basement apartment in suburban Atlanta. And Peter is sleeping in the next room.