Oh, the joys of a 22 month old. I tell ya, she has been keeping me busy lately and surprising me every day with something new. At the beginning of the week she decided that it would be fun to put her toys in the toilet!! Yup, you read that right toys in the toilet!?! Where on earth did that come from?? Hollie sometimes likes to sit in her bathtub (no water ofcourse) and play with her toys. I guess she thinks that since there is no water in the bathtub that the toys should be put in the toilet where there is water. Like Amanda said, maybe she is "bathing" her toys. What a funny girl. And yes, the toys are all in the utility tub getting BLEACHED. The toilets are clean, ofcourse, but toilets are just gross!!
On Tuesday Hollie decided to give me a bit of a heart attack, let me explain. I went out the garage door into the garage to put a screwdriver away real quick. I was maybe outside for a matter of 30 seconds and our sweet little innocent Hollie had that much time to DEAD LOCK the garage door and lock me out! I couldn't believe it. I tried opening it and there was no way. All the other doors and windows were locked I had no way to get in. I began to panic, yes I know that's not good to do, but as many people know that's just me. My mind was running. Hollie was crying, I was crying and thinking what do I do. Ofcourse, I didn't have my phone on me, why not, I was only putting something away in the garage that would take me seconds. No, we didn't have an extra key anywhere in the garage. So, off to our neighbors I went. They came over and when we got in the garage guess who was standing there? Hollie. What the heck I thought. She must have been smart enough to lock it and unlock it. I promise I wasn't crazy the door was really locked and I can only imagine what my neighbors thought of me that day. No worries we have now learned to keep an extra key out and I always prop the door open. It was an eventful day.
Bathing toys in the toilet?????
My Miracle Had Come
Our First Angel
Little Angel Smiles
Adoption
Last night Ryan and I had the opportunity to attend an adoption fireside through LDS family services. It was amazing and very informative. The speaker spoke on birthmom's and the process they go through to place their baby for adoption. As many of you probably know it is not an easy process for them. They are completely selfless and are doing what they know is best for their baby. I have such a respect and an unconditional love for each and every birthmom. I love to compare our birthmom to Mary in the bible. Our birthmom is doing exactly what Mary did and with just as much faith and love. My heart is so full and I have so many thoughts running through my head today. I will try and make as much sense as I can in sharing my feelings with you.
As many of you know our life has been tremendously blessed through the miracle of adoption. It was about 4 1/2 years ago that Ryan and I started trying to get pregnant and it was just not happening. After many doctors appointments, surgeries and infertility drugs we began to think that maybe this was not the Lord's plan for us and that maybe there was something else. That's when we began to look into adoption. We knew the certification process was long but we were willing to do what we had to. Low and behold within 4 months we were certified and within 5 months after that we received a letter from our birthmom stating that she wanted to place her baby girl with us. Oh, what a miracle!! We couldn't believe it. Our prayers had been answered and our little princess was on her way. She was due the end of March and we had 4 weeks to prepare. We did the necessities and were anxious until the day we got the phone call stating that she was born that morning at 6:02am, March 30th. I cannot tell you the overwhelming joy that flowed through our hearts. All I could think about was this precious child who was coming to us from Gods arms to our birthmom's arm to ours. (yes, that is a song and it's amazing. I cry every time.) Ryan and I were so lucky we were able to go and visit our birthmom and Hollie in the hospital. The second we layed eyes on Hollie we loved her so much. She was the most beautiful thing we had ever seen. She had lots of dark hair, a beautiful and perfect complexion and the most adorable chubby cheeks. Let me tell you it was very emotional, but happy ofcourse. A few days later placement occured and Hollie was then placed in our arms and we took her home. I just have to say that that is a day I will never forget. I will never forget the tears that filled my eyes as we parted from our sweet most beautiful and selfless birthmom, Amanda. I cannot explain the unconditional love that I have for her. I felt an immediate connection to her a connection I never thought I would ever share with anyone. It's an amazing feeling and at such a young age she knew that what she was doing was in the best interest of her baby. For the next week Ryan and I had the chance to spend every day with Amanda and it was awesome!! We got to know her and she got to know us. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way it was perfect. Since then we have kept in close contact with her and she continues to amaze me each and every day. I am so grateful to her and for her and for what she has brought to our life. I am grateful for the relation ship her and I have and I truly feel like she is my sister. I know many adoptions are not open like the one we have, but it has been such a blessing to us and I wouldn't change it for the world. I know that certain people are put in our lives for a reason and I know that Amanda has been put in our life for more than one reason.
As I sat last night and listened to the speaker I couldn't help but think of our sweet dear Amanda and how much I love and appreciate her. At the end of February our little baby boy is due and we are so excited. Amanda is our birthmom again and we are so grateful to her and for the decision she is making once again. She is an amazing woman and one who I will look up to, respect, honor and love for the rest of my life. I am so grateful for adoption and that it has brought us our, soon to be, eternal family of 4. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for leading Amanda to us and for trusting us to raise her two beautiful children. I know that these children were to come to us, but they just had to come through a different avenue.
I just have to share something close to my heart because it's such an answer to our prayers and I know that Heavenly Father has his hand in our life more than we think. In November we had done some infertility treatments and they had not taken and we were not pregnant. I was sad because I truly felt that I was pregnant. I talked with Ryan a bit about what we should do and he said, Kerri, let's pray about it and we will know what to do. I agreed and we went on with our evening. The next morning I woke up and was getting a few things done and I had sent a text to Amanda asking her what she wanted for her birthday. After a few text messages I received another text from her telling me that she had a surprise for us. I asked her what it was and she said that she was pregnant. At first I was shocked and my heart immediately went out to her. She was in class and told me she would call me when she got out. I sat back for awhile and thought to myself about the situation. I was crying and my mind was running a mile a minute. I didn't know what to say or what to do. Finally peace came over me and I knew that this was an answer to our prayers and that this was to be our child. I wish I could explain to you all of my feelings but they are undescribable. I just know that Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways and sometimes things are not going to happen the way we think they are. He has a plan for us and if we can trust in Him and put our Faith in Him everything will be made right. This was the day that I finally accepted my infertility and new that our children were going to come to us another way and that Heavenly Father had His hand in our life.
Saturday Project
Saturday's are always our project days around the house. Ryan is a man who loves projects and loves to make improvements around the house. Ever since we have lived here we have always disliked our front yard. It was never our favorite part of the house and have always talked about re-doing it. Well, when I rolled out of bed around 8:00 (yes, Hollie and I slept in, hurray!!) we went downstairs to find Ryan digging up the front yard, I just had to laugh. He is so random and when he wants to do something he is one to defienetly get it done! I am so glad I have a husband who has so much drive, energy and determination. We had briefly talked about it Friday night, but I was unaware it was going to be Saturday's project. Trust me I was completely okay with it because it was driving me crazy too. There were way to many plants and they were all ugly and we wanted a bigger area for grass. This year is the only year we have never overseaded our front yard and that was because we didn't like how it looked and we wanted to make improvements. So, we said what the heck lets just let it go this year. I promise to all those around us we will have green grass every year from here on out.
The beginning of the project. It was FREEZING outside!!
Our trip to Idaho
On Thursday Amanda, Hollie and I flew back to Idaho. Hollie and I went because Amanda had a ultrasound and doctors appointment and we wanted to be there for them. I just have to say that being able to be a part of this whole pregnancy as much as I can has been an amazing experience. Seeing a baby on ultrasound was one of the most amazing experiences of my life along with hearing his little heartbeat. I tell ya, technology is amazing and I love every bit of it. I could sit here and type for hours about my experience but I will leave that for my journal. I will instead tell you about our trip to Idaho. Yes, it was FREEZING COLD!!! We survived and actually enjoyed seeing and playing in the snow. We got to Idaho Thursday night and ofcourse it was cold and windy. Friday morning we had the ultrasound and our little Ethan is doing fantastic! He currently weighs about 5lbs and is just the cutest baby ever. We got a few 3d pictures which is normally hard to get being that he is due the end of next month. You can see his face so clear and his little fingers. He was already showing his personality because he wasn't cooperating and was being a bit stubborn. He loves his hands over his face and wouldn't move them. We tried everything to get him to move his hands and then next thing we know he had a foot over his face too. We were laughing and it was super cute. We are so excited for his arrival and cannot wait to see him. The ultrasound shows his due date as February 22nd, but the doctor says to keep it the 26th. So I assume he will come sometime between those dates. Here is a picture of our cute, adorable little angel.
On Monday night for family home evening we went sledding. It was freezing cold, 19 degrees and a wind chill. We were bundled up and had a blast. Hollie went down 4 times and loved it! By the end of the 4th time we were freezing and so off to the church we went and got hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies.
Tuesday morning Hollie and I were off and headed back to Salt Lake to fly home. The drive to Salt Lake was a bit interesting and not something I drive in often. It was snowing, the wind was blowing (wind gusts up to 50mph) and it was hard to see the road. We made it safe and my sweet princess slept the whole way which made it easy for me. We are glad to be home and missed the warmer weather. We will be back in Idaho towards the end of February and look forward to the new and fun adventures that will arrive then.
Where do I begin...? This last week and a half has been awesome! We had Amanda come into town to visit on the 4th of January and boy did we have a great time. There was lots of relaxing, shopping, talking, more shopping, decorating and sudoku (I finally learned how to do it and I love it. Amanda says I am now a nerd like her, haha). The week was lots of fun and we all enjoyed spending time together. Some of our highlights were that we painted and put a nursery together for our little angel who is on his way. I just don't know how to explain how cool it was for the 3 of us (Amanda, Ryan and me) to paint, decorate and pick out bedding. By the end of Saturday night the room was painted blue and brown and chair-rail was up around the room, yes we worked fast. We had a blast and our end result is adorable. We still have to get a dresser, blinds and curtains but other than that it's all ready and very boy. Amanda, Hollie and I did some fun "boy" shopping at Babies R Us and got a few of the necessities that we will be needing. He's not even here and will be the best dressed boy, just like his sister was the best dressed girl. Oh, I cannot believe our little princess will soon have a brother, I am sooo excited. Here are a few
pictures of his room.
Okay, back to our week. Amanda really enjoyed the weather here and even got to wear some capris and short sleeve shirts. I guess 60 degree weather is nice and warm for those who are from Idaho where it's ice cold. Ofcourse, I was in pants and a long sleeve shirt because it was cold for me. One day we went up to Scottsdale and walked around the mall there and that was fun. Just observing people was enough entertainment for us. Other than that we hung out here, went to the park and had a day where we pampered our feet and got our pedicures, it was great!!
Having Amanda here was the coolest experience and I am so glad that we have the relationship with her that we do. She is amazing to me and I truly feel like she is my sister. We actually had quite a few people ask if we were sisters and we said no, but kinda. It was lots of fun and we love her so much and are so grateful she is a part of our life. Oh, I forgot to tell you that we finally figured out a name for our little angel. His name is going to be Ethan. We don't have a middle name yet but we do have a few ideas. Amanda and I sat on babynames.com forever looking for a middle name and let me just tell you there were some hillarious names on the list. Here are a few for you, frick, innis, McLovin, Dong and Nimrod. So, if you know my husband you know we had lots of fun with these names and there was LOTS of laughing. Mind you these were only a few.
Anyway, our time with Amanda was amazing and as you can see we had lots of fun. We love her so much and are grateful that she is a part of our life.
Too Much Fun...
Just a cute picture of the 5 of us I had to include. Me, Hollie, Ryan, KC (my brother) and Brookie.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!
