Catching Up

I have a lot of catching up to do.  For anyone that is a friend on Facebook you see plenty of pictures of our sweet little Gavin and we have a private blog that we keep updated for our family and for our birth family.  I am happy to say I am actually pretty good at keeping up that blog.  I think the longest I have gone is 2 weeks without a post.  Obviously my attention to that blog, that will be Gavin's blog, has caused this blog to get left in the dust.
It is so hard to believe that a year ago we were in the midst of filling out our adoption paperwork.  We were just getting ready to attend adoption training (that isn't even offered any longer, sadly) and anxious about what the future would hold for us and "the wait" we had ahead of us.  We were wrestling with the letter to birth parents that would become part of our adoption profile.  Oh how a year changes things.

Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to since the introduction to our amazing and strong birth family and our sweet Gavin- when we got to see him for the first time via ultrasound.

Karlee and Devrey- Gavin's birth parents at 28 weeks

Dinner at our house with Karlee and Devrey and Melissa's favorite- The Farming Game

I tried to take pictures of Karlee each week of the pregnancy from 28 weeks on but I can't remember how far along she was

Dinner at Los Hermanos in Lindon with Karlee and Devrey

We were able to go to the Brigham City temple open house with Karlee and Devrey.  It was such a fun day to spend together.

Karlee and Devrey at the Brigham City LDS Temple

Dropping off Karlee and Devrey for one of their meetings at the adoption agency.

Just weeks before we were going to meet Gavin.  Karlee was so sick during the pregnancy and those last few weeks were really hard on her.

The last pre-delivery picture I have of Karlee.  She would have been 35 weeks in this picture. 

Catching up to 32.5 weeks

My goal was to write a post each week up until Karlee delivers but life gets busy so instead I am playing catch up.  I have been good about taking pictures every week of Karlee during these last weeks of her pregnancy.  I have missed one week (week 31) but because of our crazy schedules we didn't see each other.  I have a picture of week 29 but I promised Karlee I wouldn't post it because she said she looked terrible.  I disagree but in respect for her request I won't be posting the picture here.

 

On September 1, the four of us traveled to Brigham City to see the new Brigham City LDS Temple.  It is beautiful inside and out.  We had planned to go to dinner at Maddox in Brigham City after the open house but when we got there the wait was at least an hour so we decided to head to Ogden and ended up having lunch at TGI Friday's.  It was fun to spend the day together and we even stopped by my sister and brother in laws house for a few minutes to drop off some things and pick up LOTS of baby clothes.  It was nice to have Karlee and Devrey meet some of our family.

I can't believe it has been almost 3 weeks since we went to the open house.

The weather was beautiful but soooo hot! 

Devrey and Karlee at 30.2 weeks

Karlee and Devrey at Brigham City LDS Temple Open House

Me and J.D. at Brigham City LDS Temple Open House

Karlee at 32.5 weeks

We are so happy to have this last picture of Karlee still pregnant.  Our family was visiting from out of town last weekend and I got a text from Karlee that she had been having hard and frequent contractions since 4 in the afternoon- at the time it was around 7:30 pm.  I encouraged Karlee to call her doctor which she had and was instructed to go to the hospital and get checked out.  When she got to the hospital she was dilated to a 2 and 50% effaced...WHAT??!!  Less than 2 weeks ago, Dr Watabe said she was closed and everything looked good.  She was having contractions frequently and strong enough that they gave her several doses of medication and 2 liters of fluid via IV and the contractions FINALLY stopped.  She was obviously dehydrated and we are glad that the contractions were able to be stopped.  It was a nerve wracking and scary couple of hours waiting to hear if they were going to be able to stop the contractions from home.
I was so grateful to have our family with us while all of this was going on to keep my mind "occupied" during the wait.  I am grateful that medical intervention was enough to stop the contractions and I am especially grateful that Karlee was aware that she needed to be timing the contractions frequency and length so she would know when to go to the hospital.
We are all anxious to meet this sweet little man but we would prefer that he "cook" for at least 5 or 6 more weeks before he makes his debut.
Tomorrow we hit 33 weeks- where has the time gone?  We met Karlee and Devrey when she was 20 weeks and went to the ultrasound at 21 weeks.  We go to the doctor every two weeks at this point- which is great especially given the excitement of last weekend.

28 weeks and counting

A few weekends ago JD and I invited Karlee and Devrey over for a BBQ and to play games at our house.  Karlee had mentioned that she would like to see our house and it was a good to just get together and hang out without rude waiters trying to push us out the door. ;)
I lost track of time during the day and over scheduled myself so I sent JD to pick them up at their apartment and I tried to finish up what I could for dinner and run through the shower before they got back.  I literally just got dressed when they pulled in the driveway.  I thought it would be at most 30 minutes before we were sitting down to eat dinner but it took over an hour.  I was horrified it took so long and I think Devrey and Karlee were starving so I felt even worse but they were good about the wait.
In reality JD cooked most of the dinner- that guy is really becoming king of the grill.  We had grilled chicken breasts with three cheese potatoes that were cooked in foil on the grill and fresh corn on the cob.  I made a peach cobbler creation using just a bottle of peaches and cake mix and it turned out ok but I'm not sure I will ever use that method again. 

We really enjoyed just hanging out together and talking.  We played one of my favorite board games "The Farming Game" after we ate dinner and it was so fun.  It was interesting to watch who were risk takers and who were more conservative as we played the game and grew our "farms".

Playing The Farming Game

 I also asked Karlee if she was ok with me taking pictures each week as she is progressing to 40 weeks well actually 39 weeks since she is scheduled to be induced a week before her due date.  She liked the idea so I took a few pictures of her and Devrey while they were here.  I haven't had a chance to take a 29 week picture yet and she will be 30 weeks on Thursday...ugh. I should see her tomorrow though so I will have to make sure and snap a quick picture then.

Karlee at 28.2 weeks

Karlee and Devrey at 28.2 weeks

We are looking forward to having them over again and have a trip to Brigham City to participate in the Brigham City LDS Temple open house.  We can't wait!

Preparing for a Baby

I have been so fortunate to have some very generous people in my life give us TONS of clothes for this little man.  I have two big plastic bins full of clothes plus when I find something cute and for a good price I can't help but buy it.  I've even had JD with me on a few trips and I love the cute smile he gets on his face when he sees the outfits that he likes. 

I have painted his room and we have decided to decorate with vintage sports.  I have painted the room a light tan color with white trim. I found some really cute pictures at Hobby Lobby with basketball, football, soccer and baseball that are a perfect fit for the look we want and we are building the room around those.  I am in the process now of painting a dresser that my dad gave to us a blue color that I will distress a little bit.  Although to be honest I'm not sure the person at the paint counter at Walmart mixed it correctly because it looks really purple in the paint can- we'll see how it turns out.  If it's wrong I might change it to a distressed red color.  I'll put up a picture once it is all done.

Last week Target was having a great sale on Graco pack and plays so JD and I went and took a look and decided to purchase one.  It has a napper/changer and a little mobile on it and it can be used as a bassinet too, if needed.  Our plan when we bought it was to use it as a bassinet in our room until we put him in his room however the day after we bought it I found the greatest thing on Facebook.  I follow a group called Eagle Mountain 24/7 Yard Sale and most of the time I'm not interested but this item had to be mine and it was a steal at $15 bucks...a cradle.  It needs cleaned up a little and needed new eye bolts and a mattress but it is exactly what I wanted but was too cheap to purchase.

Look at this beauty...

I am super excited about the cradle but possibly more than that is the story behind it.  When I picked it up I thanked the woman and told her that JD and I are going to be adopting a little boy in November. 
She smiled and said "No way!" 
I just laughed and said "Yes we are." 
She said "How crazy is that?! I was adopted and this was the cradle my parents used for me when I was a baby!"
 I love that story and can't wait to share it will our children.  

I have since ordered the eye bolts and the mattress arrived today and fits perfectly!  Now I just need to clean it up a little bit.

Ultrasound...it's a BOY!!

Karlee and I continued to exchange texts through the next week and we became more and more excited and anxious as we got closer to the ultrasound on Friday, June 29.  We met Karlee, Devrey and Karlee's mom at the doctors office and went into the ultrasound.  My heart nearly leaped out of my chest as we entered the ultrasound room and she introduced us to the tech as the adoptive parents...happiness and pure joy!  It is not common for an adoptive couple to be able to be in attendance at this ultrasound or any prenatal visits for that matter.

It was so surreal being in that room at watching as the tech kept showing us different parts of the baby and stating that everything looked good.  The big question on our minds was is this baby going to be a pink or a blue variety.  The little peanut was not shy about showing us all he is definitely a BOY!   Wanna see a picture of him?

His cute profile at 21 weeks 1 day

He isn't shy- this was the second picture the tech caught!

At the end of the ultrasound the tech asked Karlee if there were any other shots she would like and she diverted to us and asked if there was anything else- no everything looked great and the whole experience was more than we could have ever hoped to experience.  Karlee and Devrey gave us the pictures and the DVD as we were walking out of the office and just asked that we give them copies of them.  **Seriously pinching myself over again**

The next week Karlee invited me to be at her prenatal visit and of course I was thrilled and happy to join her and again introduced me as the adoptive mom when the nurse and the doctor came into the room. :)  When she scheduled her next appointment she asked me to come up and make sure the date worked for me to so I could be there.  I am so honored that she has asked me to join her for these appointments.  

We are so humbled and honored that Karlee and Devrey have selected us and asked us to be this little boy's parents.  We have shared some very tender moments that are not appropriate to share in such a large forum but have confirmed this relationship is what it needs to be. We are anxiously awaiting November 1 and are over the moon for this little guy already and are so grateful for the relationship that we share with Karlee and Devrey.


Until next time...

Ultrasound

Karlee and I continued to exchange texts through the next week and we became more and more excited and anxious as we got closer to the ultrasound on Friday, June 29.  We met Karlee, Devrey and Karlee's mom at the doctors office and went into the ultrasound.  My heart nearly leaped out of my chest as we entered the ultrasound room and she introduced us to the tech as the adoptive parents...happiness and pure joy!  It is not common for an adoptive couple to be able to be in attendance at this ultrasound or any prenatal visits for that matter.

It was so surreal being in that room at watching as the tech kept showing us different parts of the baby and stating that everything looked good.  The big question on our minds was is this baby going to be a pink or a blue variety.  The little peanut was not shy about showing us all he is definitely a BOY!   Wanna see a picture of him?

His cute profile at 21 weeks 1 day

He isn't shy- this was the second picture the tech caught!

At the end of the ultrasound the tech asked Karlee if there were any other shots she would like and she diverted to us and asked if there was anything else- no everything looked great and the whole experience was more than we could have ever hoped to experience.  Karlee and Devrey gave us the pictures and the DVD as we were walking out of the office and just asked that we give them copies of them.  **Seriously pinching myself over again**

The next week Karlee invited me to be at her prenatal visit and of course I was thrilled and happy to join her and again introduced me as the adoptive mom when the nurse and the doctor came into the room. :)  When she scheduled her next appointment she asked me to come up and make sure the date worked for me to so I could be there.  I am so honored that she has asked me to join her for these appointments.  

We are so humbled and honored that Karlee and Devrey have selected us and asked us to be this little boy's parents.  We have shared some very tender moments that are not appropriate to share in such a large forum but have confirmed this relationship is what it needs to be. We are anxiously awaiting November 1 and are over the moon for this little guy already and are so grateful for the relationship that we share with Karlee and Devrey.

With love,
JD and Melissa

Introducing... Karlee and Devrey

After the FSA Conference this weekend we felt like we were ready to introduce these two amazing people to you- our family and friends.  We asked them if they would be comfortable with us sharing our news with everyone and sharing on our blog and the response was "I would really love it if you guys did that." 

Without further delay let us introduce you to Karlee and Devrey.  They are expecting a baby in November and have selected JD and I to adopt their baby.

Devrey and Karlee

We have loved getting to know and building a relationship and friendship with them.  We are so blessed that they live very close to us and we are able to see them often.  We received our first email from them on June 9.  I have never been so excited and nervous to respond to an email in all of my life.  Luckily we had a heads up from our case worker that we would likely be getting an email from an expectant couple soon and I'm glad she did because otherwise I may not have checked our email all weekend because we had family in town.   We responded to their email a few days later and started exchanging text messages a week later.  Karlee and I do most of the "chatting" via text. 

We met them for the first time on June 22 when we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  Funny story- we were sitting there after we had finished eating and obviously the place was busy but one of the waiters came up to the table while I was taking a drink and asked if he could take the glass for me.  WHAT??  If that wasn't a clue to vacate the booth I'm not sure what would have been.  Kind of funny now but I wasn't impressed at the time.

We had a great time at dinner and went back to their apartment to visit for a little bit longer.
Karlee had mentioned in text messages that the week after we met she was going to her "big" ultrasound to find out the baby's sex and to make sure everything is developing as it is supposed to. 
She was just over 20 weeks when we went out to dinner and would be 21 weeks at the ultrasound.  While were visiting at their apartment Karlee asked what we were doing the next Friday.  I of course knew what she was asking but I wanted to make sure I understood and asked her "are you asking us to go to the ultrasound with you?"  She looked at Devrey, smiled and said "Yes!"  We didn't have anything planned but if there would have been plans they would have been quickly cleared from the calendar.  I couldn't dream this stuff up and I wanted to pinch myself as we left their apartment that night.

Karlee and I continue to exchange text almost daily and we see each other at least once per week.  We have really enjoyed getting to know them better and building what we believe will be a long and lasting relationship with them.  We share many things in common including likes and dislikes in food and activities- kinda crazy.

Enjoying dinner at Los Hermanos in Lindon, UT