What a year...Saying goodbye to 2009!

We have had some challenges during the past year (haven't we ALL) but we have also had some really great times. We weren't sure what the year would hold for us. We were hopeful that at some point during the year we would get "the call" but as the months passed... it was harder and harder to stay positive. BUT... we did the things we wanted to do... and tried to have a good attitude.. and then with only a month left in the year that call finally came. Here is a look back at what we will remember about 2009!

JANUARY: Still recovering from my knee surgery that I had on Christmas Eve 2008! Also traveled to AZ for the blessing of our newest nephew Preston!

FEBRUARY: Took a trip to Joshua Tree National Forest... Saw just as many trees on the way there as we did in the actual park!

 

 

MARCH: Dan was put into the Elder's Quorum at church and is still enjoying and thriving at his calling. 

APRIL: Went to Yosemite... Stayed the first night in a placed called "The Yosemite Bug"...worst place we have ever stayed... Switched hotels and the rest of the trip was great! 

MAY: Went to Monterey Bay for Memorial Day weekend... so did a bunch of other people. It was freezing and we were not quite ready for that since it was already 100 degrees here in Vegas. We had great seafood and paid for it...that is for sure!

JUNE: Dan and Brian decided they wanted to hike the Grand Canyon. They said it smelled like wet dog and there was poo all over the place... Said it was great and asked if I wanted to go next time?!! What?

JULY:Girls Camp was finally here. I had been planning, and planning and planning. It was worth it though. I had a great week and tons of fun. Hope the girls did too.

AUGUST: We decided it was time to get some new photos taken of just the two of us (after all it had been 7 years)... Karma decided to play a joke and we used these pictures for new adoption pass along cards which arrived the day we got the call regarding Blake!

SEPTEMBER:Our big trip was finally here... We headed overseas to England, Paris and Germany. This was a great trip and we have so many great memories from it. Really once in a lifetime.

Germany

Windsor

OCTOBER: We made the drive down to California again to go to Knott's Scary Farm.. This has become a tradition and is so much fun. Scares me out of my mind..but so much fun.

NOVEMBER: Besides the obvious of spending Thanksgiving with our family in AZ and my 29th birthday the biggest thing that happened in November was of course the arrival of our son Blake. We had been waiting for him for so long and are so glad he made his debut!

DECEMBER: Of course Christmas and spending it with Mike, Holly and my mom and dad as well as one extended family... but we also celebrated Blake's one month birthday too... These are all big things you know!

We don't know what the future holds or what 2010 will bring us but we are grateful for our families and our friends and for the love and support that they continually offer to us. We are so blessed to have each other, the Gospel in our lives and to be able to support ourselves in this unsure time. We look forward to the future and hope it brings us as much joy as we have been able to have in the past! 

Busy with family...Ringing in the New Year

(Blake all dressed up and ready to face the cold...too cute I just have to say!)

We have had a busy few weeks... We have had visitors (none of which really came to see us. They all come to see the little man now!), we also had Christmas and New Years! It has been fun, but also exhausting... We are looking forward to a break, but honestly we won't get one for a little bit... We have guests again this coming weekend... and the weekend after that!!! Oh, the excitement of a new baby!

(Giving daddy some kisses... okay maybe daddy is just taking them)

We spent New Year's at mom and dad's house along with everyone else that was in town for the week... My brother Robert and sister-in-law Lisa.. the girls Morgan and McKenna... My aunt Laura and her brother, Uncle Curt... It was a great night filled with food, some Wii action, and the girls were able to sneak in some scrapbooking too! Everyone.. including Blake who happened to wake up due to some crazy little girls... made it to midnight!

(Happy New Year...We look forward to a great 2010 and lots of new adventures!)

(These are the two girls (my brother's... Morgan who is 8, and McKenna who is 5) while we were taking family pictures... We needed this net earlier in the week!)

(Daddy and Blake taking a rest during family pictures... those to come as soon as we get them... Can't wait.)

Merry Christmas

Blake's visit with Santa... this was taken a few weeks ago

Christmas morning... his outfit says " Mommy and Daddy's favorite gift is ME"

We had such a great Christmas.... we were able to be joined by Dan's mom and dad; Mike and Holly. We had a great Christmas Eve dinner and night with just the 5 of us... and then Christmas day we went over to my parent's house and enjoyed Christmas as a larger extended family. Of course the shirt was true and our most precious gift, besides the Saviour, is the blessing of having Blake join our family. It really will be hard to top this Christmas. It is amazing to have him in our home we can't wait for the future when he gets to enjoy the excitment of Christmas.

We are blessed with amazing parents and family and we are thankful that this year we were able to spend Christmas with both of our families all at the same time. This Christmas it was all about a baby... Baby Blake...and hopefully Baby Jesus!

Painting Party

We finally decided to paint Blake's room! We have had his furniture for a while now so that was nice, and we actually had his bedding too but we never got around to actually painting the room. Well Blake is here now and we decided it might be nice to actually decorate the room and make him feel welcome here in our home.

I had the idea in my mind and knew what I wanted the room to look like but you never quite know what it is going to look like for sure.... I think it came out pretty close to the picture in my mind. We wanted to have some design/fun on the walls but wanted it to be easy to do so...that is where the circles came into play.

We still have a few things left to do... window valances, cushions on the rocking chair, a few pictures on the walls...but overall it is complete and we like it and actually feel like Blake likes it too. He looks around the room when we are in there and stares at the red circles on the walls...

Trying out tummy time

Tummy time is not really your favorite time of day but your are getting a little better at it and enjoying it more and more every time. You are getting stronger and stronger and gaining much more control of your head.. You don't get the concept of rolling over yet..but that will come for sure. You do like your toys, especially the ones that make noise and sing to you and you are learning to follow them and watch them. Either way, you are too cute and fun to just lay with and watch.

One Month Blake!

Dec. 6, 2009

One Month Old

Where has the time gone?! We can't believe that you are already a month old... You are growing and changing so much and we love you more each day... if that is even possible. It is so wonderful having you in our home and we can't be more happy that you have joined our family, especially during this time. You have pretty much met everyone now... It has been a busy month! We went to AZ to meet the Urbancic family for Thanksgiving, and just got back from CA where you met the Cox side of the family. There are still a few more family members that you need to meet and of course you need to go to Utah where you have tons of people waiting to se you.. but that will all happen with time.

We want to remember what you are doing right now so....

* You are still not sleeping through the night and while we love you to pieces we are counting the days until that starts to happen!

* We are watching your eyelashes grow... Mom noticed it first and then they just started to keep growin and growing and now they are long and beautiful... the girls will all be jealous!

* You don't really like your baths, but you are getting better.

* You have outgrown your bassinette and are now sleeping in your "pack 'n play", but still in our room.

* We had the first home visit with your social worker and all is well there. YEAH! 5 more to go.

* You are eating about 4oz. every 3-4 hours... and definitely growing.

* At your one month check up you weighed 9.4lbs and were 21.5in long... way to go, big man!

Over all...mommy and daddy.. and a ton of other people love you and we are all glad you are FINALLY here!

California Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas party in California with family and friends once again this year. This is a great tradition and so much fun to get together at least once a year with people that we don't get to see since we have moved over to Las Vegas. This year of course was a little extra special because we were bringing a new member of the family and everyone was excited to meet Blake. This was also the first time that my brother Robert, sister-in-law Lisa and the girls; Morgan and McKenna all had a chance to meet Blake as well.

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! 

 

 

We are soooo Thankful

We were able to travel to AZ to spend Thanksgiving with most of Dan's family this year. We had a great time. This year our hearts are overflowing with gratitude... Times have been tough in our family but with the blessing of Blake things seem to be a little easier and we know it will all work out. He is just such a joy and we are all so thankful to have him in our lives and in our family.

We are also thankful for each other, the Gospel in our lives, our health, and everyday things that we are able to enjoy. Our lives really are wonderful!

Shower time

The ladies at my mom's card class wanted to help welcome Blake to the family by throwing a small shower... They were very sweet. We had cake and opened presents (after we made cards of course), on Friday night. It was fun and they were so fun to watch too. We passed around the gifts and they just oohed and aahed over Blake. He is one loved little boy!

 

Blake came away with some great stuff and now he doesn't have to wear the same clothes every day... He is going to be looking good!

Happy, Happy Birthday

This year my birthday pretty much just came and went with all the excitement of our new arrival but I didn't mind... I was actually okay with no one really noticing that I had turned "29"... Dan did bring home roses and they were beautiful.

It was a great day though I was able to spend it with my two favorite boys and that was the most important thing. I had a fabulous day and I felt loved! Happy Birthday to me!

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!