It's Been A Year

tomorrow....

Since we were approved.   

9 months of paperwork, interviews, background checks, home studies, and getting our profile ready were all done on Dec 7 (we didn't find out until dec 8.)

Little did I know the next 9 months would be packed with selling a house, moving in with parents, buying a house, having my heart fixed, moving into our new house, and becoming parents.  Yep, it's been an eventful year for us.  I stand ALL AMAZED.

Gobbling All Over Idaho

Gregg and I had a week off for Thanksgiving this year and thank goodness we did because it took that long just to get anywhere with the horrible snow storms.  It seemed we had snow day after snow day, but the plus side was Emme stayed right on schedule because we weren't running around like usual.  The night of Thanksgiving she slept 8hrs for the first time.  Ever since she's been sleeping 7-8hrs.  That makes a happy mom and dad.

Emme's Thanksgiving outfit. (courtesy of Trevor and Carla)

She refused to take her usual naps with all the festivities of the holiday going on.  So finally she passed out on me.

I had to put this on here just to spite Quinn. 

After a full day of traveling through snow we finally made it to Grandpa and Grandma's house.  Emme needed a bath so we stripped her down.  I was more concerned with getting her into the water before she peed on the floor, than I was to remember to take her socks off.  Gregg thought it was hilarious.

We watched the BYUvs.Utah game while we were there.  Yea for Utah!

Although Adoption Month is over, we will be thankful for adoption forever.  What an amazing experience.  Through it, we proved to ourselves that we are strong.  It also showed us we are weak without the Lord's help. 

A highlight of the trip was seeing this girl....without her, there wouldn't be an us. 

So cute how snuggled they are in this picture.

When Little Ones Sleep

A few weeks ago I could hear Emme during her nap so I went to check on her and she gave me the biggest smile. I ran a grabbed the camera because for some reason when the camera comes out she'll stop smiling. This time I caught it. Booyah!

Yuba twenty ten

Back in August we hit one of our favorite spots with some of our favorite people.  Due to a mishap with chipmunks digging trails under our tent and our air mattress deflating on our previous camping trip we decided to rent a trailer.  It was bliss!

We made delicious orange cakes in the fire.

Sisters do as sisters should, we're all together sisters....

Kenz and Kaylee enjoying the fire.

I love this pic of Gregg and Joss.

Warming up.


Now for the Main Event of the Weekend
  
Here's where my adoption post comes in.  


Sometimes in life we try all we can..... 

Just to fall short....

So we go for it again....

And again....

And again...

And Again....

We think we should give up when a voice says keep going...(in this case the voice was Ty.)

Yet, we fall again...

When we can no longer bare the pain, suffering, and water up the nose, everything seems to just fall into place all at once.  We are rewarded for our endurance and receive the things that we have worked so hard for. 

I deserved this smile :)*Note that I had about 100 failure pictures to choose from.  Maybe even more.  Sad, I know...

And sometimes our reward comes in a blond hair, blue eyed little girl.

Timeline

TWO WEEKS before we found out about our little one we were called into our bishop's office. We were new to the ward so we knew it must be to get new callings. I just knew I'd be put right back in Young Womens. I was a little more worried for Gregg though. They had just released the Gospel Doctrine teacher and I had a feeling he was in for it. (Gospel Doctrine is a Sunday School calling where you teach the adults. You HAVE to know your stuff.)

Well, survey says...DUO GOSPEL DOCTRINE TEACHERS. Um...como? My first thought was this is way over my capabilities, but then something popped into my head. I remembered a talk given in sacrament a few weeks before where the lady said Gospel Doctrine was her favorite calling because she was really blessed and guided in her teaching. We were scared to death, but both knew we needed to take the calling.

THE NEXT SUNDAY our cute five year old niece gave her first Primary talk in church. It was on modern day miracles and she mentioned that when her aunt and uncle received a baby it would prove that miracles happen. I realized there were a lot of people praying for Gregg and I and when we were blessed with a baby it would answer many prayers. Not just ours.

TUESDAY it was time for us to be set apart for our new calling. Meaning through the priesthood we would receive a blessing in giving us help in our calling. Gregg had his blessing first and the bishop said something interesting. He told Gregg that the Lord would grant the desires of his heart. I thought it odd something like that would be said because normally it's only about the calling. Next up was me. The second couselor in the bishopric gave me my blessing. Sure enough he said the exact same thing...that the Lord would grant the desires of my heart. I could only think of one thing that Gregg and I had in common that way and it was for sure not being teachers. EIGHT DAYS LATER we got news we would be parents in 13 short days. Miracle indeed!

I share this story knowing it's very personal. I've debated back and forth whether to make it public. In the end I felt I should share it.  There were many other personal experiences that I could see the Lord's hand in during that time. Our family is a prime example that our Heavenly Fathers knows us personally and has a plan for us.  Even though times can be very difficult beyond anything we thought we could survive , I KNOW it is for our growth and benefit.

My favorite talk from Oct. conference was by Elder Richard G. Scott.  In it he said....
“Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6). Thus, every time you try your faith—that is, act in worthiness on an impression—you will receive the confirming evidence of the Spirit. As you walk to the boundary of your understanding into the twilight of uncertainty, exercising faith, you will be led to find solutions you would not obtain otherwise. With even your strongest faith, God will not always reward you immediately according to your desires. Rather, God will respond with what in His eternal plan is best for you, when it will yield the greatest advantage. Be thankful that sometimes God lets you struggle for a long time before that answer comes. That causes your faith to increase and your character to grow.

I'm now seeing that all the struggles we faced were for our advantage.  It was hard to have faith sometimes that everything would work out, but there were many times the spirit confirmed it would.  As hard as it was,  I'm thankful for that time I had to learn and grow before I became a mother.  So I guess what I'm saying is I AM THANKFUL GOD LET ME STRUGGLE.  But, I don't want to go through it again....  :)

She's My Chubby

 

I hate that she doesn't have a bow in this picture, but I can't resist her in all her chubbiness glory.  She had her two month appt on Monday.  She did pretty good with the shots, but didn't feel good the rest of the night.  When she woke up in the morning she was back to her old self.  She cooed at the doctor and loved that she got to be naked for so long.  Here's her stats.  (I hated stats before we got Emme, because they meant nothing to me.  Now, I see that it's one of the ways to brag about your baby and heck ya, I LOVE bragging about Emme.)

Length: 23 1/2 in or 75%

Weight 11lbs 11oz or 75%

Head 10%

We laugh because I took her to the Dr. a couple weeks ago for her acid reflux, and she was 9lbs 2oz.  She was 7lbs 1oz when she was born so she's coming right along. 

So I've pretty much stunk at this daily post thing. I'm blogging from my phone because I'm too lazy to sit at the computer.

Little Emme gets bigger every day. We put on some jammies last night and she couldn't even extend her legs fully. It's sad to see her growing so fast but very exciting at the same time. She's also been smiling and cooing and even giggles here and there. Pics to come soon. She melts our hearts more and more each day.

I'm still amazed by how everything has fallen into place. I remember thinking getting a child seemed impossible for us. Gregg and I will occasionally say to each other "I can't believe we have a baby." Adoption is a powerful thing. Thanks to that and our wonderful {M} we are parents.

You're Joking, Right?

Did you just not want to get pregnant?

REALLY!?! Believe it or not, this is an actual question word for word that I have been asked more than once.  From the sound of it, pregnancy does do weird things to your body and I've heard can be very uncomfortable and at times miserable, but this question is appalling in more than one way.

First-Maybe I come off as a selfish person, but my body is not perfect to begin with.  I'm not the type of person that feels the need to dodge the adventures of pregnancy just to maintain my, not so great to begin with, figure.

Second-They're suggesting I took the "easy way" out.  um...REALLY!?!...puuuleease.  They weren't there for the surgeries, nine months of missing a very important hormone, crying till I was dry, pleading in prayers for this trial to be over, watching people have one, two, three kids while my home was still empty, more dr.'s appts, church lessons of how being a mother is the most important role we can have, more crying, other dumb questions from ignorant people, paper work, paper work, paper work, waiting, more waiting, and more waiting, classes, house checks, interviews, background checks, more waiting... Man, I could go on all day. 

Third-How is it fair to a birth mother that I just decide pregnancy is not for me so could they please hand over their baby?  I mean come on...REALLY!?!  

Hopefully you're getting my point.  I'm sure there are cases that people do choose to adopt over pregnancy, but I'm guessing 99% of people try to conceive before they realize adoption is the path they are meant to take.  I'm getting fired up just thinking about it again.  I am very happy with the way Emme came to us.  If I knew the ending from the beginning, I'm sure there would have been a few less tears.  That's not how it works though.  Gregg and I have been through some tough times that have made us stronger and I KNOW better parents.  Adoption was our answer after years of questions, but to just assume we've been through nothing and think we just thought one day "hey, don't you think we should just skip pregnancy and add a year or two to having a baby?"  "um yeah, that's sounds fantastic!"  REALLY!?!  Let's think these things through, before we ask idiotic questions.  That goes with most things.  Let's all make an effort to put ourselves in others shoes before we open our mouths.  I will also do this.  !REALLY!

Open Adoption

One of the first questions I get when people find out Emme was adopted is "Is it an open adoption?"  I'm proud to say "YES."  Gregg and I always wanted an open adoption.  From the beginning of our decision to adopt, we decided we wanted our children to know their birth families.  We have always had a good feeling about it.  It's very confusing to a lot of people why we would choose that, but we wouldn't have it any other way.  I think the biggest misunderstanding would be that we would only made that decision based on what a birth mother wants.  WE chose it.  I'm so glad Emme will never question where she came from.  She will always know the full TRUE story of how her birth mom made the most unselfish choice she could.  Not only that, she will get to see it first hand. 

Open does not mean Emme will have two sets of parents.  Open means Emme gets to enjoy the love {M} has for her and know she was placed because of that LOVE.  We truly believe the more people rooting Emme on, the better. 

I love this post  from the r house.  Please take a second to read it.

Halloween, Bug Style

We had a great Halloween this year.  I loved showing the little one off in her ladybug costume.  Emme hit a growth spurt during the Halloween season and we were a little scared she wouldn't fit in her costume by the actual holiday.  I added a few pics of her in her costume at different times in the middle of the post so you could see the difference between just a few weeks.  I want to squeeze her just looking at the photos.  With the added pounds she's been smiling up a storm and actually giggled a couple times. 

Oct 16th

Blake and Kelsey were good sports to go to the party last minute with us. 

Oct 19th

Oct 30th  Seriously!?  Love this chunky face!

Oct 30th

Oct 19th

This was a mom, no makeup day.  I didn't think I would be in any pictures, but here I am showing the world.

Gregg's, mine, Emme's

Sad to say, but this was probably my best pumpkin in years....maybe ever.

It's That Time Again

November is National Adoption Month

The the r house  challenges advocates of adoption to help educate others by posting daily about adoption this month.  I'm up for the challenge, but I don't promise I can do every day.  I will try my best!  There are so many myths when it comes to adoption and I want to help clear those up.  I've been surprised by how clueless people are.  Plus, I would be ungrateful if I didn't give thanks for the wonderful gift we have received. Well, I hear that little gift crying in her bed, so I better run!

First Day

 I realized I haven't shared our story of how Emme came to us.  Like almost all adoption stories ours was a miracle.  Our story really started years ago, but I will start with the day we found out. 

Our case worker called on Sept. 1st and asked if she could bring some papers to sign because they were getting audited.  We had just barely moved to a different location so we thought nothing of it.  Adoption papers are never ending.  She asked how things were going and I said it was hard.  Waiting is hard.  She agreed, but said she believed in adoption karma and if you do all you can you will be blessed.  She then gave us the papers to sign.  We both quickly read through and initialed each line, but started to get a little confused towards the end.  See below....

We both looked up in shock and as I saw the tears in our case worker's eyes I knew it was true.  We were getting a baby girl.  I kept saying "I'm in shock!  I'm in shock!"  Could this really be true?!  Was our trial of 5 years really coming to an end?  and fast....

We were able to call Emme's aunt {J} and make arrangements for a few days later to meet her and {M}(our birth mom) in Idaho.  Yep, that's right!  Idaho!!  How cool is that?  

At Olive Garden a few days later Gregg and I arrived first.  I've never been so close to throwing up from nerves before.  We were so scared {M} would meet us and not like us.  The minute they came around the corner and we met, all nerves went away and all we felt was the comfort of the spirit.  We loved {M} from the second we met her.  Her and I have so much in common, and I could see how the Lord prepared us for each other.  We made plans to meet again so Gregg and I could meet the whole family.  It was nice to get to know Emme's birth family.  We felt very lucky.  {M} let us know that she had thought about it and wanted Gregg and I to be the first to hold the baby.  How amazing is she?  How did we get so lucky to have {M}?

We then had a week to prepare for baby and work out arrangements at work.  We both had butterflies all week.  Then back to Idaho we went.  Emme was born c-section bright and early.  Gregg and I waited in the recovery room and could hear Emme screaming.  It was so exciting.

Me waiting in the recovery room.

 

 

They wheeled her out and she was all scrunched up and mad as heck.  Her cry was as cute as can be.

My first time holding her.

Gregg's first time holding her.

Mad at the doctor while he was doing his tests.

Showing {M} Emme for the first time.  

{M} was pretty sick from the c-section, poor thing. 

Feeding Emme later that day.

{M} taking a picture of Emme.  

Gregg and I have truly been blessed.  {M} has such an awesome family.  We felt so comfortable with them.  We're thankful we live in a time that adoptions are open and Emme will know her birth mom and the amazing person she is. 

Little Ru

A lot of Emme's wake times are spent with me putting something on her head and then us having a mini photo shoot. She's not always a fan, but with I think she's starting to get use to the flashing and clicking.  I love my newest little model.  Herc's pretty glad there's a new kid in town to take his place.

Busy Mode

I'm in complete busy mode and I love it.  I wouldn't want it any other way.  I look forward to holding this girl, deciding on outfits, choosing bows, trying my hardest to make her smile, and giving mounds of kisses.  Yep, I wouldn't have it any other way.  She took some time to get here, but I can say she was definitely worth the wait. 

Our Miracle

Little Emme
Born to her beautiful Birth Mom 
Placed in our arms with Love

It's What Fun Is

My cousins from France wanted to get in a trip to Lagoon with the fam before they left to go home.  It ended up being the week after my surgery so I wasn't allowed to ride anything, but I had just as much fun watching and taking pictures.  Let's all admit that photos look better big.  So from now on I'll probably have big photos on our blog.

Kels, Cam, Gregg, and Quinn are on the back row.  That dude in front of Quinn has awesome hair. 

Can you find them?

Do you have a ticket?

This is becoming a tradition.  See last year.

I love how you can see Cam's face.

This was a harder shot to get than it looked. 

Ryan and Al getting their cuteness on.

How can this pic not make you smile?

We miss this boy and his family. 

Mak with some other girl.

Darling S.  She was pretty sleepy all day.