Adoption Kick-off Open House

We are SO excited to be approved for adoption that we wanted to share that joy with all of our friends, neighbors and ward members. We had an adoption kick-off open house last Saturday and had a great turn out. We loved being able to share our joy with others, and Caden loved having all his friends over for a party! We had a great turn out and a lot of fun.

Here are all our adoption magnets, pass-along cards and postcards on our new piano (thanks to craigslist). We love having a piano and hearing Caden and Russ play beautiful songs.

Of course you can't have a party without food....lots of food! :)
Caden helped me cook brownies at 6:30 AM, and like any good mom would do: I let him eat the batter. He was a very happy boy.
This is a weird picture, but we wanted to highlight Wapa and Mimi (Russ' parents) who helped us out so much by playing with the kids, restocking food and talking to people. We are so blessed to live close to them right now.

Happy birth mother's day!

We know this post is a day late, but we wanted to wish a happy birth mother's day to all of you amazing, strong, loving and selfless women out there! We are so grateful for the strength and courage you have to place your babies for adoption, and we hope that you are filled with peace and joy in your decision. We admire you and look up to you! We want you to know that you are an answer to many prayers offered by those that are so anxious to grow their family and are not able to. What a huge blessing that is! We hope you had time to relax and to be spoiled by those around you!

Approved!!

We are approved to adopt!! We signed the home study today and now our profile is live! We are SO excited! I had a hard time going to sleep last night because I was so excited. I woke up happy, thinking it was the perfect day. We are so excited because it is like victory from the last two and a half years of struggle, heart break, discouragement, etc. We did grow from our trials and learn very important lessons, not to mention that we have grown so close. However, we are very happy for this time of new excitement for the miracle of adoption. Click on the link on the right side to see our profile!

Celebrate good times!! We went to Red Robin to celebrate and had a rookie magic...life is good! :)

National Infertility Week

This past week was National Infertility Week. It has made us reflect back on our experiences with both fertility and infertility. Here is our story:

Before getting married, we felt strongly that we shouldn't wait to have children. We knew it was what the Lord wanted for us at that time. A few months later I was pregnant, and 9 months after that we gave birth to our beautiful son. Since both of us come from large families, we never thought we would have a reason to celebrate National Infertility Week.

When Caden turned 1, we decided to start trying for another child. We found out we were pregnant again and we were overjoyed! We were excited for Caden to be a big brother, excited to have another angel in our home and excited to experience the miracle of birth again. We weren't quite prepared for the miscarriage that happened a few weeks later. Nor were we prepared for the 4 other miscarriages that we would have, the countless doctor and specialist visits, nor the heart break of losing 5 children through miscarriages. It has been a very devastating process, and we have cried together. However, we have learned many things as well and we feel blessed to be where we are now - waiting for another miracle. Not the miracle of giving birth, but the miracle of adoption.

Through this whole 2 year process of struggling with infertility, we have grown SO close together. We have relied on each other for strength, for faith, for happiness. Our relationship is much stronger now than it has ever been. Also, we have tried for two years to know what the Lord wanted us to do. Now we know (without a doubt) that He wants us to adopt. We are AMAZED at the incredible birth parents that are so selfless and willing to give their baby more. We feel so blessed to be approved soon to adopt!!