Black Friday 2012

I have been looking forward to Hannah's first Black Friday for the longest time.

Of course that was before I knew she was going to be a nonsleeper. Then I was really nervous about it.

But she did so great!

It started out Thursday night at 8 at our local Walmart. I wasn't thrilled about stores starting it the night before and the fact that they couldn't leave Thanksgiving alone. But when you still owe $30,000 on an adoption loan and money is tight, you have to do what you can.

And honestly, it was better going at 8 at night than at midnight. :)

So, Hannah, Peyton, my mom and Tyler and I all went to Walmart at 8 p.m. Thursday night. I was so happy as I got everything I wanted. Hannah did great and was a trooper. Peyton said it was so scary. :)

After Walmart we all went back to my house and had a slumber party. We live in town and our Walmart and Menards are both very close so it's a tradition to spend the night at our house and then go shopping.

Menards started at 5 so we were up at 4:15. It was snowing and the roads were bad so there weren't as many people there as there normally is. So shopping went great and again I got everything I wanted and Hannah was a trooper!

Then we went and picked up donuts and coffee and brought them back to our house:



After donuts and coffee, we traveled into the Twin Cities where we heard Santa was. We stopped at Target on the way down and also Joann Fabrics and then went to see Santa.

As I predicted, Hannah hated Santa.

She screamed and screamed. And I thought it was so cute. :) I got a picture of it and shared on FB but I'll have to get it on here, too. Man, it was cute. :)

Then after we were completely shopped out, we came back to our house and decorated the tree which is another tradition.

I just love this time of year. I love Thanksgiving and Black Friday spending with family.

Me and my girl

I'm so blessed.

Thanksgiving 2012

It was a very special Thanksgiving this year. It was Hannah's first.

And we couldn't have asked for a better one.

Our whole family was there. My brother was home from Chicago and my brother and his family came down from Superior. It's rare that we all are around so it was just wonderful.

We took a picture of all the cousins. Brace yourself! For those who have been following me forever, will see just how much these kids have grown. It's unbelievable!!


From left to right: Tyler (9), James (2), Sam (4), Peyton (6), Hannah (soon to be 1), Adelaide (6) and Bemnet (11)


Hannah eating her first carrot

One thing that has amazed me is watching the bond Hannah and James have. It is so awesome to watch. They spend every Tuesday and Friday together and play so it's not surprising but it is so fun to watch them. James is constantly giving hugs and kisses and so is Hannah. Here are some pictures of them hugging, kissing and touching each other. It is so precious!







Here is Grandma and Hannah

And Daddy and Hannah

Overall the best first Thanksgiving we could've asked for with Hannah. I love this time of year and it's even more special having a little girl to celebrate it with.

I'm so thankful and so blessed.

Playing catch-up

Once again, I'm so far behind on blogging. Not only on my blog but reading others. :( I honestly don't know how moms do it with blogging and being a mommy. It's hard!

I do appreciate those that post their blogs on FB. It's so much easier for me to read them that way than on here so thanks. :) I just wish I had more time to blog and read blogs. I really miss it.

Anyway, I'll be playing catch-up here with some pictures and reading other blogs. :)


Here is a picture of Mark and Hannah. I love this picture. :)


A month ago, Mark's son had a baby of his own. So, Mark is a grandpa, Hannah's an aunt and I'm a stepgrandma. Wow. That makes me feel so old.

Of course I have to share a few pictures of the new addition. :)


Here is Hannah with her nephew, Cruz.


This is Mark's son, Peter, with his son, Cruz


Mark and his grandson, Cruz

One of Hannah's favorite things to do is sit in the sink in the morning while her daddy is getting his insulin shots. One day she'll figure out how to turn on the water and then she'll be shocked. But, she just loves sitting in the sink and it's so fun to watch her smile when I put her in there.




On November 20, my girl turned 11 months. I can't believe how much time has just flown. It's so hard to believe she'll be 1 year old in just weeks. Unbelievable. One thing I've really learned is to cherish each day and minute because it goes by so fast.



Here is Hannah at 11 months. Peyton was there for her pictures, too, so we were able to take one with her, too.

More pictures to come and I hope to get caught up on all your blogs too. :)

Mark is home!

Mark is now home. We actually got home last Sunday night but it's been a rough week.

Overall, he’s doing better but still so weak and has a bad cough. It’s a good day when he has enough strength to take a shower. But, he’s slowly getting better and we’re so glad to be home and have figured out what was going on.

It was stressful, very scary and a living nightmare. I had never seen Mark like that and not knowing what was going on was the worst. And then trying to be a mom on top of that made it even harder. I’m still having nightmares and flashbacks about it. At least it’s over, but it was tough.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and all your encouragement! It really means a lot!

More on Mark

Okay, here are more details about Mark. :)

A few weeks ago, we all came down with a flu bug. Luckily Hannah and I got over it in a few days. Mark, however, took awhile to get over it and never really fully recovered.

About 4 days ago he started having severe tremors and was extremely confused, falling, etc. He wasn't sleeping good at night at all and was walking in his sleep, falling, confused, etc.

I brought him in to be checked on Thursday where they did blood work and everything came back fine. we were told to cut out a medication and that it should get better.

That night was rough..very rough. He was very confused, falling, tremulous, etc.

The next day he fell in the bathroom in the morning while he was trying to give himself an insulin shot at a time that he wasn't due for a shot. That's when I was very concerned. I called Mark's doctor and said something was very wrong. I called 911 and he was brought in. They transferred him to where he had his kidney transplant.

After a day of tests, they ruled out all the "bad stuff". A heart attack, stroke, etc. They figured out it was a reaction to his meds on top of the infection he was fighting that caused the symptoms. Because of the meds he's on, he's immnosuppressed meaning that whenver he gets an infection, he's more susceptible to infection and it lasts a lot longer than "healthy" people. Therefore it was the combination of them that caused the symptoms

Right now they are stopping some of the meds and it's been working! Mark is doing much better. We'll see about reintroducing some of his meds.

Hopefully we'll be going home Sunday or Monday.

Thank you for your prayers!!

One year ago today

My dearest Hannah,

It was a year ago that our lives changed forever. A year ago today we found out we were your chosen parents.

I had just come home from coaching gymnastics. It was about 6:30 at night and I checked my email to find an email from the agency saying “L just picked you guys!”.

I was surprised. You see, because of finances we had actually requested our profile not to be submitted to “L”. But the amazing thing was God submitted it anyway and we found out that you truly were meant to be ours.

I made several phone calls and emails that night to see if this was indeed true. Could our profile have really been submitted without us knowing?

Yes, it could and it did. After 2 hours of phone calls and emails, I found out it was true. We were told it never happens that profiles mistakenly get submitted and this was the first time it had ever happened. The agency later told us that they received a phone call from me saying we had changed our minds and requested our profile be sent. I know I never made that phone call. Maybe they were mistaken, but maybe it was an angel of God who made that phone call. I know angels exist.

Either way, we excitedly accepted the situation. We knew you were meant to be ours. I’ll never forget the moment I opened up my email to find out that exciting news. We weren’t sure where the money would come from but we knew God would provide if it was meant to be.

And provide He certainly did.

What a blessing it was to happen to us so we can show people how things truly happen for a reason and if it’s meant to be, God will let it happen. All the glory goes to Him.

Hannah, this day is such an important day in your mommy and daddy’s lives. So important. This is the day we found our daughter, our miracle baby. The day we witnessed a miracle. The day God showed so many people that miracles do happen. This is the day you made a huge impact on this world. You alone. You gave people faith that if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen no matter what obstacles may come.

As exciting as this day is for us, I can’t help but think of your birth mom. This is the day that she found out that another couple would be caring for the baby inside of her. A couple she had never met and a couple she was entrusting a baby she created and nurtured for 9 months. I can’t imagine the emotions she’s going through and she is definitely in our hearts and prayers today. One day you’ll understand when you see the pictures and letter from your birth mom and you’ll see for yourself what a special woman she truly is and why this day is bittersweet for us. Because even though we’re rejoicing, I know this can be a hard day for her. We will always think of her and pray for her.

My sweet Hannah, I love you. You’ve made Mommy and Daddy’s lives complete. A year ago, we finally found the missing piece to our heart and you fit perfectly. Our lives have never been better and the days have never been so filled with love.

With all my heart,

Mommy

Mark is in the hospital

Just a quick note. Mark is in the hospital. He has possible pneumonia & issues with some medication interactions. He's been sick for awhile with tremors, confusion & dizziness, etc. I'll update more soon. We would appreciate prayers!!

Halloween 2012

As I stated before in the previous post, Hannah was pretty sick this Halloween. :( I felt so bad for her. We went out trick-or-treating the day before to a couple places to spread it out a little so it wouldn't be so much for her and we only went to places by us.

We went to see her Auntie Karen and cousins:



And we went and saw friends Alyce and Kaylee who sometimes watch Hannah:


On Halloween, the poor girl was really sick. We only went to 2 houses because she was so sick and she threw up at both of them. :( I felt so bad. Yeah, I realize we maybe shouldn't have taken her out but hey it was Halloween! So we bundled her up real tight, went to 2 houses and we were back home early so she could snuggle with Mommy.

Here she is with the Wallaces. The kids baby-sit her a couple days a week and their mom has done so much to help us bring our sweet Hannah home. In fact, Hannah got her middle name from her. This family is very special to us.


And we also saw our friend Karen who loves Hannah so much and Hannah loves her. Karen has been a great friend of mine for years and I love her so much.

45 weeks

When Hannah turned 45 weeks, it was a big week for her.

Not only was it Halloween, she also accomplished several other things:

Learned to wave bye-bye

Learned to give kisses

Learned to crawl on all 4s instead of crawling on her stomach

Learned to give high 5s and low 5s

On top of all this, she was also diagnosed with an ear infection and possible pneumonia the day after Halloween..and look at her, she's still smiling! What a trooper!

I'm so proud of her and to be honest a little sad. Wow is my girl growing up!

More Halloween pics coming up soon!

My letter in our paper

Recently I wrote a letter to the editor and I was amazed at the response I got. People told me they were in tears over it. Amazing! I wanted to share it here so one day Hannah can read what an amazing influence she has had on the world. I'm so proud of her.

Here it is:

My husband and I suffered with infertility for 8 years. In April 2011, I underwent an embryo transfer. My pregnancy test was scheduled on my birthday, April 18. I got the best birthday present ever, a positive pregnancy test.

Little did I know, that positive test was God’s way of telling me that we were going to have a baby, just not in the way we were planning.

Two days after my positive test, we got devastating news. I was miscarrying.

Little did I know, our baby was already growing.

For weeks, I was so depressed. Some days I just wanted to crawl into a hole.

Little did I know, our baby was already growing her nose that I would be nuzzling by the end of the year.

In June, I remember thinking I would’ve been 2 months pregnant. My baby would’ve been the size of a kidney bean.

Little did I know, our baby really was the size of a kidney bean, just being carried in another woman’s body.

In August, we started the adoption process with mixed emotions. We were anxious move on but I still carried that sadness in me that I would never get to carry my baby and knew that I would’ve been entering the second trimester.

Little did I know, our baby was indeed entering the second trimester, wiggling her toes that I would get to touch at the end of the year.

In September and October, we submitted our profile to numerous different situations, all with negative responses. Why was it taking so long?

Little did I know, the reason was a baby whose birth mom was just calling the adoption agency.

In October, there was a new situation. Total agency fees were listed as $46,000. Our budget was $40,000. I stated we were unable to submit our profile.

Little did I know, God decided to submit it.

In November, I received an email stating we were chosen. After several phone calls and emails, it was confirmed that our profile had been submitted in error and we were chosen.

Little did I know, our birth mom had already fallen in love with us and was excitedly showing everyone our profile as her baby’s parents.

After accepting the situation, we realized that with travel, this would set us about $10,000 over our budget which we needed to come up in a month.

Little did I know, God knew it would all work out.

With many family and friends, we raised about $9000 and stayed at a friend’s house, saving more money.

In December 2011, our daughter was born in a hospital states away. A daughter that God told me we were going to have by a positive pregnancy test on April 18, 2011.

When you go to the polls, think about those innocent lives and about the adoptive families waiting. Every baby has a purpose and is a gift from God. Vote pro-life.

An email from my sister-in-law

I got this email from my sister-in-law. It's awesome!!::

My dear family & friends,

What an awesome decision we make tomorrow!

Perhaps you feel angered and harassed like I do, by the all the phone calls and flyers that have been unleashed during this campaign of mudslinging , finger pointing, and distorted truths. I find myself thinking "to hell with them all". Every flyer and tv ad reminds me of children on a playground, who resort to being a tattletale on their playmate when things don't go their way (wasn't my fault) , rather than owning up to their own mistakes. Reminds me of the Garden of Eden, "the serpent beguiled me" (Eve) so I ate, "the woman you gave me" (Adam) so I ate, etc. etc. etc. It makes me wonder whether there are any grownups in the bunch we should support with our vote?

I have decided to vote according to the Word of God. Obama is in favor of government funded abortion for anyone who wants one, in fact, he intends to use your tax dollars to pay for the murder of innocent unborn children around the world, WHAT? People should be free to make their personal choices, but I do not want my tax dollars supporting this evil destruction of innocent life. Please do your research and vote according to your conscience, not your pocketbook, empty promises or distortion of the truth.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.

That is my prayer for us all.
God Bless America