Birthday Boy

The Birthday Boy....

The theme of the party was "B"...we had B everything... Balloons, Bundt cakes, and a "B" buffett complete with bugles, Baby Ruth, brownie bites, bubble gum, blow pops....

These are the "birthday bundt cakes"...instead of cupcakes. This was a great idea at the start until I was at home (with the help of Auntie Laura) making all of these on Friday...

Present time!!

Blake's yummy cake made by our great friend Sue.

Our way of saying thanks to all those who came to the "bash"... Bubbles from Blake

We had a great day and most importantly it was a way to spend time with family and friends and really just think about the past year. WOW! We can't believe that a year has come and gone already. A year ago we honestly didn't know when we were ever going to get that call....and then we heard that a little one had been born and they wanted to hurry and get that baby connected with LDS Family Services... Well thank goodness they did because four days later that little baby was in our arms. The amazing miracle of adoption. And then a year later he is a walking, mumbling, ball of energy and we could not be more excited and happy to have him as our ONE YEAR OLD!

One year stats:
walking since 10 months
says - mama, dada, ball, nite-nite, bye-bye, barks (for doggie), blows kisses, waves goodbye
27.5 lbs, 31 in
pacifier only for naps and bedtime

For time and all eternity

Here are a few shots from the day at the temple.... What an experience! Words are really just too hard to find to express the feelings and emotions that were felt that day. After years of waiting for a little one to join our family.. then having to wait the months to finally know that he is truly ours FOREVER it was amazing. It was also so great to have all of our friends and family with us to show their love and support. We have had such amazing people with us through this journey and are so thankful for that.

Families are forever and we now have one of our own.

A Forever Family (Part 2)

Mike trying out the kayak

Blake and daddy...Blake was such a good sport with his life jacket.

Too bad Preston is too little to drive...he sure looks ready to go?!

Friday morning..early morning...whoever was in town decided to take advantage of the lake and go out for some jet skiing. We also had borrowed some kayaks from our neighbors so there were lots of activities to partake of while at the lake. It was a lot of fun and we all enjoyed ourselves. I think we could have spent a lot more time there but with two little ones, other things on the agenda that day, and all of us trying not to get sunburnt before family pictures we had to only spend a few hours out in the HOT Vegas sun! But we made the most of the time out at the lake for sure.

Grandpa better hold on with Nate in the driver's seat....

Grandma and Grandpa Petersen...Grandpa just returning from a trip around the lake!

Grandma Holly and Preston with his flag...very important

The Urbancic family...Holly, Mike B. Amy, Nate, Dan and Mike A

Blake's first trip to the lake

A Forever Family (Part 1)

So this is going to be a long post (it was a looong weekend)! The family and festivities all started on Wednesday when Gma and Gpa Urbancic arrived. It was nice for them to arrive early to spend some one-on-one time with Blake before everyone else arrived. With that being said...the rest of the family began to arrive on Thursday, and Friday. We had a house full! But what a great occasion. After 2.5 years of waiting... 8 months of being "watched", finalization at court, the time had finally arrived that we were going to be sealed in the temple as a forever family and then Dan was going to be able to give Blake a father's blessing!!!

Grandma Holly and Blake checking each other out....

Uncle Nate and Aunt Katie trying to steal Blake's toy.... HELP!!!

A big family dinner at Applebee's with Dan, Katie, Nate, Holly, Mike (the photographer), Grandma P, Grandma P, Aranne and Blake...right before we went to pick up Mike from the airport

A little bit of the mess that four little ones can make in just a short amount of time....(oldest to youngest...Ellie, Benjamin, Preston and Blake)

Ward Shower

Two special ladies in the ward were so kind to throw a "welcome party" for Blake and it was great. So many people came out to say hello and shower us with gifts for our new little bundle of joy... It was a great night and we could feel the love that our ward has for us and for Blake... Blake is definitely the ward's baby and we love it! 

 

 

The WHOLE story

I know people have been waiting to hear the WHOLE story about Blake but honestly there really isn't a lot of story to tell... We had exactly 26 hours to get ourselves ready! Yeah... pretty scary right?!

So... there is a little bit of background so here we go.

Most of you know we have been waiting for a while now on this crazy journey of adoption but how long... We had a few meetings and things with LDS Family Services but we were "officially" an approved couple since 9/20/07... yeah, it had been a long wait. We honestly didn't really have a lot of things happen during the two years. Some people have "close calls", some people have contact with multiple birth mothers, some have failed placements, we didn't have any of the above. I am actually glad that we didn't. I know that the waiting was hard but I am not sure that I would have been able to handle a failed placement or thinking that each time I was contacted by a birth mother that "this time it was going to happen". So I liked the idea that "no news was good news', even though two years of silence was awfully hard to take.

So... fast forward and here we are on Saturday, November 7th. I am at Super Saturday at the church and Dan is at a service project with church as well. Dan's elder's quorum president gets a call from his wife who happens to be a nurse in the NICU. She is asking us for our caseworkers phone number. Some might see this as a total sign, but she has done this before and nothing has happened. We have also known of other babies that have been born before and nothing has happened. And, after being around for two years we don't really expect much. Not that we had lost hope... but we just didn't think that every time we heard of a baby automatically assumed it was OUR baby! So... Dan gave her the number and that was all.

Sunday was our big adoption/foster care fireside. We headed to the chapel and our caseworker Brad was there. We held the fireside and everything was very normal. We did speak with him and did mention the little baby that was born on "Saturday". We were just checking to make sure he had made contact and that everything was okay. He said he had contacted the social worker at the hospital and he even showed us a picture of a new little baby boy and said there was going to be a placement on Tuesday. But... he also said he was going to be leaving early in the morning to head to Kansas City. As he left the building he said he would "be in touch". None of this was out of the ordinary because after all we are the FSA Co-chairs and it is National Adoption Month and we are in touch with Brad a lot and we have another big activity on the 21st of the month.

So... I didn't sleep very well Sunday night because I just couldn't get this little guy out of my head. I didn't look at his picture that Brad tried to show us because I was too scared. I didn't want to see him and fall in love and then not get a call, but something kept me up all night thinking... "what if that is our son?"

Monday... Dan went to work as normal. I got up and started my day as normal. 11:00am came and everything changed. Rick Perry the agency director called. He started talking about the fireside the night before but I knew there had to be another reason he was calling. He then started talking about a little baby that was born on Friday. He then said that Brad had left word that they should call us and that this baby should be placed with our family if we so desired. WHAT? Could this really be happening? Rick is no longer working on the adoption side of things so really didn't have much more information. He honestly didn't even know if is was a boy or a girl and I didn't know if I was suppose to say... so I didn't! He said he would find out more information and have RoseMay call me back. She was the social worker who had talked with the birth mother.

We hung up... I of course called Dan and told him what had happened. A few minutes later RoseMay called me and gave me more information about the baby. She told me a little baby boy had been born on Friday and was already released from the hospital. She said he was healthy and just waiting for a family. She said she too didn't have a ton of information but did provide some additional help and answered questions for me. She told me we had to give her an decision by 2:00pm and if our answer was "yes" we would be picking him up at the LDS Family Services office the next day at 1:00pm.

I then called Dan back, relayed the info she had given me... and took only a few seconds to know this was to be our son. We called her back and made the arrangements to go and pick him up the very next day.

That night was a whirlwind. We had nothing. We had to go out and buy a few little things, but I didn't want to go overboard. I was still skeptical. I wanted to be sure I had that little guy in my arms before I told anyone and before I had too many things. I wanted to know this was real.

Tuesday, November 10th at 1:00pm we walked into the LDS Family Services office as Dan and Aranne and by 2:00pm we walked out a family of three! Adoption is amazing and the Lord has His hand in all steps. We are so excited and so thankful for our friends and family and their love and support for us over the past two years and especially right now. Our hearts are full!

New Addition

We had a new addition to our family today and we could not be more excited... We want to introduce everyone to our new son... Blake Aaron Urbancic... He was born on Friday, Nov. 6th at 9:11pm and weighed 7lbs 12oz and was 18.5in long...

We have been waiting a long time for him to join our family but could not be more excited about his arrival. We wanted to share a few pictures with you but will share the rest of his story in the days to come....

 

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a weekend.... I think I learned that things don't always go as planned!

Friday I was still not feeling great... Thursday was NOT a good day. I had a terrible migraine. I mean a really bad one. I ended up at my doctor's office to get a shot and I hadn't done that in a LONG time. So needless to say Friday I still wasn't feeling fantastic. I had a lot of things I wanted to get done and needed to get done...but people had other plans. It wasn't a bad thing really. We ended up going to a local high school football game and then out to dinner after. It was fun.

Saturday morning there was an adoption 5K charity run waaaay on the other side of town and I really wanted to go, BUT I was suppose to be helping out at our ward's Super Saturday. The run started at 9 and our activity started at 10... So you do the math?! I can't run that fast! I had to make a tough decision because I really wanted to do the run, but I had committed to helping a few weeks ago so I went to Super Saturday. The classes were great and then it came to my class (card making). I had all my cards ready to go but people's bellies were talking to them and many choose to have lunch instead of make cards so I ended up with a lot of cards not done when I got home. A little disappointing especially since I really wanted to be at that 5K run!

Then as it turns out when I get home my sweet hubby is outside digging in the dirt and tells me we have no water... just a nice leak instead. WHAT? We were suppose to do this, and this, and this... not have to fix a water leak all day! Oh well... Life goes on...

Sunday turned out great though. We were helping out with the FSA adoption and foster care fireside for the valley. We were nervous because we didn't know how many people to expect, what to expect from the speakers, or anything really. But the night was a success. Everything went off really well. The speakers were great. There was a great turnout and the night was just perfect.

Families Supporting Adoption

A lot of people ask me now that I work completely from home.... "What do you do all day?", or "Are you bored?", or "How do you stay busy?".... well the biggest answer to all of these questions is usually FSA! 


I am so excited that we started our adoption process at the time that we did, and got in with the group of couples that we did and have the idea to raise our hand and say that we would help out with that first activity, because that has helped us out in so many ways. 


I spend a lot of time, probably a little too much, working on FSA projects, thinking of things we can do in the future, trying to make things run smoothly, organizing the activities, writing the blog over at www.nevadafsa.blogspot.com, planning the next meeting, you know... all of the behind the scenes kinda stuff.... and I LOVE IT! It keeps me involved, keeps me inspired, gives me hope, and reminds me of the miracles that happen through adoption, because of adoption and that will one day happen for us. 


I really am grateful for the support network of Families SUPPORTING adoption and hope to continue to be a part of it for years to come (hopefully this means after we have been placed with a little one of our own!).

November has arrived

November is here and it is for sure my favorite month... It is my birthday, Thanksgiving, the weather gets cooler and we get to pull out the sweatshirts, and most importantly it is National Adoption Month and we are able to bring adoption to the front of people's minds. I love this opportunity. I wish it came about more often!

"The 2009 National Adoption Month Theme


This years theme is "Answering the Call - You don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent. There are thousands of teens in foster care who would love to put up with you."

This year's theme of adopting teens from foster care builds on the Ad Council's new public service announcement (PSA) campaign of the Children's Bureau, the Adoption Exchange Association, and The Collaboration to AdoptUsKids.

The main focus of National Adoption Month has been and continues to be foster care adoptions. There are approximately 129,000 children in foster care in the United States waiting for adoptive homes.

There is a strong need for adoptive families for older children, teens, children of color and sibling groups. The 2009 focus is more toward the African American community."
From About.com

Picture Perfect Weekend

We had a great weekend... We started off with a concert poolside at the Hard Rock on Friday night. We headed out and were able to join some friends and just relaxed and listened to some music. I will have to admit the best part was people watching. Concerts, pools, music, and alcohol sometimes bring out some crazy people... and it makes the best kind of people watching. Too FUN!

Saturday morning we headed to Lake Las Vegas for a fun photo shoot. Now... we have not had pictures taken for a LONG time. You just don't take pictures that often when it is just the two of you. A friend and fellow FSA member is building her business (Marissa d photography) and offered to take some pictures for us. It was really fun and we were able to get some cute pictures.


She is still working on the rest of the editing and such (she has her work cut out to help us look fabulous) but I am excited to have some updated pictures finally!

BUTTON?!

So... while we were at the adoption convention and the week to follow I have made a new friend... an amazingly talented new friend who out of the kindness of her heart decided that she wanted to help us on our journey of adoption. She created this new "button" for us to use on our blog and for any of our friends to use as well.

I know I have already called in a huge favor before and asked anyone out there to please post about us or to put a little "snippet" about us on their sidebar but I am here again.... If you would be so kind and just "grab our button" and stick it on your blog that would be awesome! We really are trying to do all that we can to get our name out there and try to reach as many people as possible in hopes of finding our birthmom.

So... go on.... get grabbing!

Thanks for all of your support and thanks to Meka for this great button!

National Adoption Conference

Once again this year we packed up the car and headed out to Utah to learn all we could from those who know at the Families Supporting Adoption National Conference... and let me just say... we were not disappointed. It was a great conference. There is always something that we take away from it, something that we learn, something that hits us, something that we take back to our local chapter.... something!

This year was great because we were able to be there with a few other couples from the Las Vegas chapter and we didn't have to feel like we didn't know anyone. It was awesome.

The only scary part of the whole weekend is that while we were there Brad, our caseworker, asked us to join him for lunch and a little weekend with the other co-chairs from the SW region and the next thing you know we are on the Regional Board and signed up as the outreach chairs! What? I don't know how these things happen but I just hope we do a good job and don't let people down. We thought it would get us out of our current situation as chairs in Las Vegas, but no such luck! We are doing double duty now!!!

One of the highlights of the conference every year is the keynote speaker on Saturday morning and this year was no different. This year we were able to hear from Troy Dunn who is a member of the church, a current bishop, father of a son currently serving in Moscow, Russia on a mission, and well-known from his television show "The Locator" where he reunites many families (some of them adoptees). He talked to us about many situations he has seen but his best story was the one of his own families. He has a younger brother who is adopted and the thing he remembers about it is his mother telling him that they had to pray and someone else would be praying as well. Heavenly Father would then find the right person and they would be able to "trade prayers" and the adoption would be able to take place. I thought that was a great way to explain adoption to little ones, but it also made it seem so simple as well.

I hope that one day we will be able to find the right person to "trade our prayer" with!

Weekend Wrap-up: Family, FSA and Fireworks

We had another great visit from Dan's sister Amy, her husband Steve and their little boy Preston. It was a busy weekend but filled with laughs and great memories as always.... We took a trip out to the lake, enjoyed some down time at home playing games, went swimming and had a BBQ at my parents house, took in a baseball game with our FSA group, watched an awesome firework show, went to church and just had a great time with each other.

The girls on the jet ski... It was a "little" windy but that just made for fun waves!

Uncle Dan having fun with Preston and him loving every minute of it. Notice the glasses had to be removed first!!!
Great family photo at the baseball game. Preston actually liked the fireworks once he could see what was going on.

Great firework show to top off the night and a wonderful weekend.

Make it a FROSTY weekend

I am going to be having a busy weekend with family in town and an event for FSA (families supporting adoption) but we are going to find time for a FROSTY that is for sure! Hope you can too.

Grab your family and friends and head out to Wendy's for a Frosty this weekend... In honor of adoption Wendy's is donating 50 cents for every Frosty they sell this weekend. Celebrate the start of summer, Father's Day and this HOT weather we are having by enjoying a FROSTY!

Trusting in the Lord

Birthmother's Day

Did you know that today is Birthmother's Day??? I can't wait until we are able to know who are birthmother is and honor her, and thank her and send her flowers and treat her on this day! It is hard to know that somewhere out there there is someone that will hopefully one day become our birthmother but neither of us know it yet. Strange right? Until then I pray for her and think of her often even though I don't even know who she is....

FSA Campout

This was going to be our first real test as the Co-Chairs of Nevada FSA! We had planned an overnight camping trip to Warm Springs.... well, of course everything went wrong! We had drama trying to find a lifeguard, our activities committee decided they couldn't make it and I had to run around buying food and getting things totally ready, Dan had to work late that night so my dad actually drove up to Warm Springs with me so we could set up and be there when people arrived, and then to top it off the wind blew ALL NIGHT LONG and in the morning we were greeted with Rain! Rain, in Vegas, in April, only because we were having a campout!

In spite of all these things everyone had a great time and played, enjoyed the river behind our site and the smores in the evening and are even ready for us to make the reservations to come back next year! What a daring group we have.

Our fearless leader - Brad our caseworker!

Everyone setting up camp and enjoying some dinner.

Dan building us a fire in the morning so we didn't freeze to death

The few remaining survivors after a long night. You can't tell but it is freezing and raining in this picture and we are huddled around the stove to keep warm while Dan is cooking pancakes!!! What a weekend!