Ella Mia (Finally) : )

Angel

Born - 12/27/08 12:26 AM

19 3/4 inches

7 lbs 1.5 oz

I'll write more later, but I needed to post these... We are back at the hotel...

Today!!

Oh man we are excited today! Gord is running around like a goof! We are so excited to see her and hold her. We packed our own hospital bag, as we don't know what will happen today. I'll check in when I can. We both actually got sleep last night, so we are ready.

Nothing yet : )

Sorry, I believe some were thinking no news was good news but it was actually NO NEWS : ) We spent Christmas night with Marla and a friend of hers. She made us a home cooked meal consisting of cheese and mac (appropriately named), turkey, green beans and sweet potato casserole. Very good! We just got home and are getting to bed, hopefully, our last night childless. We have to be at the hospital at noon (they changed the time) for the induction. She was induced with Ma'kai and said that from start to finish was 8 hrs. We'll see!! We may be staying the night there, so I won't be able to blog tomorrow (just preparing you), so we will be making phone calls when we have news.

Nighty Night!! We have a long day ahead of us.

We hope everyone had a nice Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Very uneventful here... I slept in til 10AM this morning... NICE. It is these dang hotel curtains, they keep the room sooo dark. I did wake Gord up at 9 so he could go get us some of the free breakfast downstairs! So, there was an english muffin for me when I woke up : ) He also did our laundry today. Is he awesome or what?? I guess I will keep sleeping until I have a human alarm clock.

We are heading over to Marla's to hang out for a bit. She said she feels like tomorrow is the day. hmmm We will see. If not, We know some action will happen on Friday at 6AM. Just think that is 4AM Phoenix time. So when you wake up, I may have some news!!!

Have a great eve!

Gained a niece!

At the party tonight, I often found Marla's niece (JaKaia) by my side. Finally, she says to me "I love you". I said "you love me?" and she said "yes". Mia was standing there and started laughing. She said, "you just met her" and JaKaia said "I know, but she is so nice". She then looked at me with her big brown eyes and said "I wish you were my auntie". I said "you can call me auntie if you want" so she did the rest of the night. AAWWW

Lounging around!

We are just taking it easy today until the party tonight. We are a little bored. I think it will be better when she is here, so we will have some entertainment. I'm sure every burp, coo and pooh will add excitement. It is just not as cute to see Gord do all that... : )

Funny, the little counter says that she is born........ NOT! Stubborn : )

Gord negotiated a new price on our hotel room, so that should help for a longer stay.

I thought I would post some pictures that Gord and I took the other night at the outdoor mall.

PS... I see it is 22 degrees out today! Never thought I would be excited about that, but after the last 2 days in single digit... sounds good to me.

Exhausted

Why does a woman that is 9 months pregnant have more energy than me... That will have to change!

We picked Marla up for the dr appt at 8AM. The dr said she hasn't dilated anymore. I think it is too cold for Ella, actually. Today it was 8 degrees, yesterday it was 1!! We decided, if Ella doesn't start things herself, we would induce on Friday, the 26th. This will allow Marla have Christmas with her kids. Made sense.

After the appt, we went to lunch, went to the volunteer center and help prepare for the Christmas party tomorrow. Gord was done at that point, so he took us to the grocery store. We bought ingredients for cookies. Gord dropped us off at her house and he went to the hotel to nap : ) He picked me up about 7 PM and I'm TIRED. I almost wanted to type this up in the morning, but I did get a frantic call for an update, so I thought I should do a quick one!

We spoke with the OH attorney today. She advised that we may be here weeks longer than expected. BUMMER. Their instate office that needs to approve the adoption has been impacted by the cutbacks. So, we are trying to prepare ourselves for a longer stay.

We will attend the Christmas party at the center tomorrow. Most of the people there will be from women's shelters.

First off... I want to send my love and prayers out to the Adams family. Ronnie lost his mother today to a sudden heart attack... We love you and am sooo sorry we are so far away at a time like this. Stay strong and know she is in a good place.

Mass was awesome today... This is how I think church should be. Singing, dancing, audience participation what else can one ask for. The voices were amazing. Not sure where to find one of these in Phoenix, but know I will be looking : ) Gord seemed to get into it. He got his groove on. He did not burst into flames.

Marla could not get comfortable today. I think we are getting close. We will pick her up for the dr appt at 8 AM. She gave us a present for the baby today. She said she still hasn't picked us up anything yet. We assured her that she is giving us EVERYTHING, already. We took their gifts over today, just in case things go down!! I wanted to make sure they were there for Christmas morning. After mass, we went to lunch and back to her house to watch a movie and play some games. I was the one who got my booty whooped today : (

Movement?

This may be too much information for some, so sorry! I just talked to Marla and she thinks she is losing her mucus plug. I looked it up and it isn't a sure sign of going into labor, but it means things are changing : ) Maybe today is the day. She still wants to go to church so we will pick her up at 10:30AM.

just chillin'

The silver car is ours... : )

Today has been a lazy day : )

ate breakfast
worked out

bought some last minute Christmas presents

stocked our hotel fridge

having some tea &

wrapping presents

This is all stuff I would be doing if I was at home!!

We just talked to Marla. I don't think we will see her today. She is just watching some movies she rented and relaxing. She did ask us to go to church with her tomorrow. 1/2 of us is really excited about that. Gord just hopes he doesn't burst into flames when walking in. I, of course, am hoping for a full choir. We'll see. Mass is at 11 and then we will probably go back to her house and kick Gord's butt during that dice game, again. She ripped a game right out from under him yesterday and won. He didn't handle that well, but she hung the score sheet on her fridge. See, she is a lot like me : ) Ella will need to have some competitive genes to survive with us!!

I have been getting some emails asking how to make comments on this blog. If you sign up for a google/gmail logon, you will be able to leave comments. When you are reading others comments, on the right side it says something like "no google account? sign up here". Click on it and it should walk you through!

I posted some pics of our hotel view, then you will see why we are inside today!!

Thank you!!

Snow day??

Well, I learned today that if it snows, Doctors and Lawyers don't work : (
We made it there and office people made it there, but they had to reschedule our appt for Monday 8:30. If we make it through the weekend : ) Schools were out today too. Gord didn't think it was that bad out. I guess it had to get a lot worse in Canada for the kids to get a day off.

Since we were already out and about, we went and picked up some cookies and fudge and went back to her house and played games. She taught us a new dice game called 10,000 (I think it is also called Farfunkle). I have this game but couldn't understand the rules, now I do, so watch out!

None of us slept very good last night, so we headed home for a nap about 5. No plans set for the weekend yet. Gord and I need to finish some shopping. We may do that tomorrow.

Volunteering

Marla and I

Me

Ma'kai

Gord and Ma'kai

Marla and Ma'kai




We're home for the evening. We picked up Marla and Ma'kai for lunch at noon. We went to Chili's (same one we met at in August). Marla showed us some pics of family. After lunch we went to the volunteer center and wrapped a lot of presents for their Christmas party on Tuesday. It was a nice relaxing day. I haven't taken any pics of the snow, but I don't think my chances are over. Word on the street is we will get about 6-10 inches tonight.


Tomorrow morning we are picking her up for her O/B appt at 8:30.

Smooth Sailing

We have arrived. Things went extra smooth. We arrived at the airport in time to sit down and have lunch (Thanks Mary!). The flight was uneventful. Unless you count me spilling water on the guy next to me while he was sleeping. I did fess up when he woke up, just in case he was wondering why his pants were wet : )

We LOVE LOVE LOVE the new hotel we switched to. We had planned to stay at the same hotel we stayed in, in August, but caught wind of this new place. New it is! It smells like new carpet and paint. It is in walking distance to a mall with several restaurants and shops. We just checked out the mini gym and the laundry facilities, and it will definitely suit us for a couple weeks!!

We talked to Marla when we landed and we are going to do lunch tomorrow and help decorate the center where she volunteers. Since I did not decorate my house, this sounds fun.

My plan is to check in once a day...

BYE...

Dilated to 1!

We spoke with Marla this morning! The doctor said that she was dilated to 1 yesterday. The Doctor mentioned that at her next appt, we can start talking about inducing. Marla told her that we would be in town next week and would attend the appt with her. We are so excited about that. She didn't sound too happy about inducing, she wants to just let it happen naturally. So, we will see what the recommendation is next week!! The appt is Friday at 9:30 AM. I am still praying that baby stays put until Wed!! Thursday would be better, as we don't get into town until 7 PM Wed. So, God if you are reading my blog, "Thursday is good"!! Gord and I both feel it will be next weekend sometime. WOW...

Gord and I were out until 3 AM last night at friends' house! We are trying to get used to being up all night : ) We had a good time with good food and lots of games!! My kind of night.

Stay tuned...

It is a good moment!

1 week until take off! All arrangements are made...

Depending on what time of you day you talk to me determines if I am feeling optimistic or pessimistic about the events to come. This very second, I feel good!

1. I'm sitting relaxed with a new CD playing (Deborah Cox).
2. I have a nice hot cup of tea beside me. ( I sure hope Ella likes tea)
3. We got a Christmas card from Marla yesterday. It was really nice. She wished us happy holidays and said she will see us soon! And I thought I had too much going on in my life to do cards this year... She found the energy... what is wrong with me : ) I hope to have a birthday party and do Christmas cards next year!!!
4. Work is wrapping up. 4 more days!
5. Found a ride to the airport next Wednesday.
6. We have lots of plans with friends and family this weekend to stay distracted.
7. My hair has fresh cut and color so I look decent when I meet my daughter. As I type, Gord is working out, probably thinking the same thing!
8. Nursery is ready for a little one!

Week review!

Marlys and Ponder brown nosing!!! : )
As if you can't tell : ) Oprah, mailman, Bootylicious Beyonce, The POLISH Pope!!

Me and sisters dressed as we were in high school. Yes, that is my real prom dress! Susie has her real prom dress too, under the poncho! Oh Elaine... "What a feeling!!!"

Beyonce and my Dad???

Gord as a baby, I mean a cone head!!!

Gord Jovi!

What a week... Tuesday was my birthday and work had a baby shower for me. It was so nice. I can't believe how generous everyone was. Gord and I are are so lucky to have so many people in our corner! I would add the short video that was taken at the shower, but it shows me crying like a baby and that isn't a pretty sight. I decided to play it very low key for my birthday this year. My birthday is normally known as "Glitter Day", and I have big parties with themes. This year the theme was "try to get some sleep". I am having a hard time sleeping, as I can't stop thinking about STUFF. Usually, STUFF that I can't control. Oh well!

I just talked to Marla. She had an appt today and isn't dilated at all. So, maybe I will sleep tonight, as one of my items I think about at night is not making it to the birth. Looks like she may be able to wait the week and half until we are there. We bought our airline tkts (they are changeable) and reserved our car!

For fun, I will add some Glitter Day pics from the past... Enjoy

Milestone

I just had to make a note that we are under the month mark on the little counter : )

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Count your blessings, I know we are!!



Coleen

Daddy speaks...

So the time has come for the father to be, to finally add his thoughts to this great blog that Coleen has created. (*She has done a great job so far!!)
I am so excited that in exactly 1 month, Ella is supposed to be born! That is going to be the best day of my life (our lives), so it cannot come too soon!.....I wish it was tomorrow. Marla sent us a text with a picture of her belly on it tonight, and it looks like Ella is going to be huge!! (jk). It is so awesome that Marla feels so comfortable calling us all the time, it makes me feel a lot better and it eases both of our nerves. We leave in 3 weeks (OMG), so Coleen has washed all of Ella's clothes and our princess' suitcase is packed! She is going to look so darn cute in all of the outfits that Coleen has chosen. I would like to thank all of the folks that have bought and handed-down so many great clothes and things, we could not wish for better friends or family! (We love you guys!)

Speaking of which, we finally got our crib and dresser built this weekend! Ella's room is coming together rather nicely, and I would like to thank my parents for helping us out with the furniture! (*You can all see it on the video attachment, and let us know what you think) When I was building it yesterday, so many thoughts (or moments) were going through my head. I could imagine Ella sleeping in the crib, with Col and I standing at the doorway just watching. Ella looking up at me with a huge smile as I change her poopy diaper, then put her into some fresh warm clothes. I cannot wait for her first step, her first laugh, the first time she falls asleep on my six-pack stomach (sounds better than beer-belly! :) ). Then I looked around the room, and just sat there and listened to the quietness....and figured that this might be one of the last times that it would be this way! I have always been jealous of all my friends that have had the pleasure of holding their baby, and watching them as they grow up.....and now my chance is only 1 month away!! I am a little scared because I have no idea what I am doing, but I will jump in head-first and just do the best job of loving and caring for her as I can.

Thank you for checking in on our blog, we are blessed to have so many people supporting and loving us!

4 years ago

What would I do without my friends : ) I was sitting at my desk today and the phone rang. It was Yvette to wish me a happy anniversary. I said for what and she said the day you and gordon got engaged. WHAT?? Why does she know this and I don't? So happens, she and Bill were engaged the same day (different year), so it stuck in her head. So, I get home and see on my calendar that I had it written down for the 22nd. I looked it up and sure enough Yvette is right!! Not that I doubted her, I just have to prove it (Meissner trait).

4 years ago Gord drove me up to Sedona (in a thunder storm) to go on a jeep tour. He told me it was free (he knows I'm cheap) from someone he worked that couldn't use it. As we were driving up there I kept telling him that it will be cancelled due to the rain. He kept saying he didn't think so (knowing all the money he put up for this weekend, they wouldn't dare!!). We parked the car and started walking torward the jeep company. It was cold so I wanted to put my hand in Gord's pocket (attempting to have a romantic walk in the rain). I've never seen Gordon reacted so quickly. He karate chopped my hand and my purse went flying into a puddle. He said "what are you doing???". I said "I was cold", he said "You have your own pockets!!". So, I picked up my dripping purse, put my hands in my OWN pockets and thought what an a**hole!! : ) Little did I know he wasn't an a**hole, he was just hiding a beautiful ring in that special pocket. The tour company provided rain coats and we were the only one's on our jeep (he planned this and paid extra, I just thought no one else wanted to sit in an open jeep in the rain). The tour got better. When we arrived at the top of the trail, the driver advised us that this was a nice stop to take pictures. He offered to take ours. So, we walked down a little on this flat piece of red rock and I was standing down looking up and smiling at Tony (the driver). Gord was not looking at him. I kept saying he wants to take our picture, look at him... I looked a Gord and he had teary eyes and he said "That isn't really why we are here" . At that moment he dropped to one knee and said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me... Now it all made sense! It was a GREAT day.

I love you, Gord!!!

1 month, 1 week! (New Pics)

Mia, Marla's Uncle, Ma'Kai, and Marla

Ma'kai

Mia

5 weeks left and we leave in about 4! Time is flying now. We have furniture to put together, shelves to hang, clothes to wash, bags to pack, holidays to celebrate (including Glitter Day) etc... This all makes me want to take a nap. We have 4 more weekends, but of course we don't want to count on all of them because we all know she can have a surprise appearance early! That is Gord's prediction. Marla called us yesterday. She wanted to tell us that she sent us some updated pics. She looks great! The way she talks I thought she would be as big as a house. She must exaggerate as much as Ella's "other" mom : )

Music!!

I finally figured out how to add music to this blog!! It is a short playlist for now, as I am running out of free time. I just added some of the inspirational songs that have gotten me through some tough times. The one song I want to explain is "When I first saw you"... from the Dreamgirls soundtrack. Back in the day, during one of our invitro cycles (#3 I believe), I was addicted to this soundtrack. But one day I heard this song totally different. It wasn't a song from a man to a woman or vice versa, it was a song to my baby! I kept playing it over and over and crying imagining the moment I saw him or her. I will never hear the song again, as it was originally intended. Welcome to my heart!!

Enjoy!

(If only Gord and I sang like Beyonce and Jamie Foxx, or looked like for that matter!!)

Busy Day!

Today we went to an adoption seminar at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Unlike other adoption seminars we have attended, this was not on the process, but more on the after... Bonding, attachment, breastfeeding (yes it is possible), adoptive parent's experiences etc... We heard many stories, but our favorite speaker was the lady that had an open domestic adoption. Hearing her talk about the awkward first meeting with the birthmother and the relationship that grew, really hit home. She spoke about the birth, the signing of the papers and how emotional it was for all. We realized we have so much left to go through. We are so happy we have so much support out there. Thank you. We ran into a couple that we had met in our infertility support group. It was great to see that we are both on a new path to parenthood. We wish them luck in their journey to China!! We came home with a lot of reading material and fun gifts! Thank you Cristi, for telling us about this seminar!!

Next stop... Babies R Us... We bought the crib and dresser. They didn't have it in stock. It will be here within 10 days. I can't wait to put the room together. It is a mess now!

As we were in line buying the furniture, my phone started to ring... it was Marla. What a surprise. I was gonna call her today, but she called first! I had to give the phone to Gord as I was in the middle of the transaction. At first I thought "What is wrong??" But then I saw a smile on Gord's face as he spoke to her and knew it was all good. I talked to her for about 30 min. She and her kids were just enjoying some carmel apples... yum! She just went to the doctor this week and everything is going well. She has another appointment 11/21, then it is weekly appts from there. WOW. Final countdown... 6 weeks. She said she ate something sweet this past week and Ella went nuts. Looks like she has a sweet tooth, that's our girl!! I just hope she likes her sweets frozen : ) She said she has some recent pics to send us of the family. So, when she emails them, I will post some. It was great to hear from her! Nice to know she thinks of us as much as we think of her.

Next stop... Walmart where there was a flu shot clinic. We were advised by the pediatrician that we should get a flu shot. Neither of us had gotten them in the past, so we didn't know what to expect. It was pretty uneventful!! Hopefully, they will work!

So we just got home. I fed Gord and put him down for his afternoon nap. I think motherhood will come easily, as I have had some practice : ) (We have plans tonight and I don't need him cranky).

Halloween

I know this post is late, but I'M BUSY!!! : )

Gord and I learned something very important this Halloween. We learned if we want to make it as parents and be looked up to by our children, then we need to step it up in the pumpkin carving area. We have gotten to see some friend's and family's pumpkins and ours was tooo simple. I would post the pic, but camera is still not downloading... ARRRGGG (We are buying a new one for December. I have a feeling we will be using it a lot ; )) Yes, the triangle eyes and the smile with two teeth isn't going to impress anyone. Next year we will try harder!! I think this was the first year I didn't burn the seeds, though. So, I am maturing in that area!

Usually, I make Gord buy the candy. He has no guilt and buys the good stuff! I always think "I should buy the stuff that is better for us in case we eat some". BS Well, this year I bought the good stuff and Gord told me the it wasn't possible to OVER buy. I proved him wrong. Even though we had a lot of kids come to the house, we had a ton left over. I'm happy to say, it is gone now : ) Silly me thought we would eat it slower if I put it in the freezer. I use this strategy with buckets of cookie dough, too. I should know by now that I LIKE IT BETTER FROZEN. A failed strategy, oh well you win some you lose some. When we announced our adoption plans, people would say "at least you don't have to gain weight". I guess I don't HAVE to, but I have : ) Everyone looks better when they come back to work after maternity leave, lets hope I fall into that category!! I am gaining weight with this pregnancy. I am (virtually) carrying the baby low and in the rear... literally. By the looks, it may be twins : )

With Child ; )

Gord talked to Marla today for awhile. She and the little guy have been sick with colds this week. They both have asthma, so it makes it a little worse. She asked if we have started shopping and Gord told her that I have done some damage : ) I just can't help it. I've waited a long time for this. I am even exercising a little of resistance, I can't imagine what it will be like when we come home! She told her daughter about the baby and the adoption. She remembered meeting us. She asked if she will ever get to visit and Marla said we will try to arrange something. Gord and I agree it would be nice to take her to the store to pick out something for the baby that can just be from her. So, we will try to arrange that in December. Sounded as if Marla was very relieved that it was out in the open. Her daughter is now playing nurse and being very accommodating. I think it all is making sense to her now, that her mom isn't just being lazy and letting herself go : ) She actually didn't believe her at first and Marla had to provide some medical records to her... smart girl. All in all, she reacted a lot better than what she was expecting.

Gord and I went looking for a rocker today. I also asked the sales guy if they had cribs (We have one picked out, but I thought we could look). They didn't carry cribs, but he asked if this was for us. We said "yes" and he continued to tell us congrats and told me I have a beautiful glow to me. DUHHH! : ) He made another comment to Gord about pregnant women. I usually spill the beans and tell people our life story, but I let him believe I am with child. In the adoption world we say we have a baby growing in our heart, not our womb.

This last week we visited a pediatrician's office close by. We really liked the office and the doctor. So, we are all set with that. She said we can call the office from Toledo with any questions we may have. She strongly advised us to get flu shots and to make sure that Ella ia covered as much as possible on the plane so people aren't poking at her.

One year ago...

A year ago this month we initiated the adoption process. When all the professionals told me that it will usually take about a year it sounded sooo far away that anything would actually happen. But, again, they were right! Hate when that happens. :) We have 2 months to go! Gord is convinced she will come early.

We picked out a crib last night and bought shelves for the room. We've always felt like we had so much time to prepare, but I think we are in crunch time now!

By the way... we had a great time in Laughlin. We ate, drank, danced, laughed and gambled!! next vacation will be a family vacation : ) I had a great video clip of Gord, but I can't seem to download it. He must have known my plans. Drats!

Laughlin... here we come!!

I just got off the phone with Marla... I filled her in on our weekend plans and she said we better get all our fun in, now! I told her that was our intention! She is feeling good. She was actually sneaking in a nap, as her son was sleeping too! We only talked for about 15 minutes and I let her go to take advantage of the quiet time.

Bags are packed, car is gassed, money in hand! We are taking off for Laughlin in a couple of hours!

30 weeks down, 10 to go!

Every week I get an email on the progress of the baby. This week, it says she is about 15.7 inches long and weighs about 3 lbs! WOW. 10 more weeks. I have a lot more questions about her, but I guess we will have to wait...

I love our ticker at the top of the page, but I can not figure out what the numbers mean in the boxes?? What is the numbering system being used? Someone help me. Usually, I'm good with numbers. I asked Gord if he could fingure it out, but he couldn't either. hmmmm

75 Days!!

It has been a while since I posted and most people who know me, know if you don't hear from me it can be a bad sign. But in this case, it isn't. We have been keeping busy and everything is still going to plan. I spoke with Marla last Sunday and she said she is starting to feel BIG and wakes up with a sore back everyday. Bummer. I feel for her and appreciate this sooo much. To make sure Gord is appreciating this, I made him watch a live (unmedicated) birth on babycenter.com. WHOA!! I wish I could tape his face. I think adoption is sounding even better to him : ) I didn't realize everyone hasn't seen that. I was first exposed at St Jerome's in 5th grade sex ed class! Me and my mom had to attend after school hours and on the way home my mom said "any questions?" and I said "NO!".

We have been out shopping for stuff we need and getting ready for what could be our last Laughlin trip for a long while on the 17th.

Continue to keep us in your prayers, we appreciate everyone's thoughts.

Excerpt...

Eileen - I had to steal this from your blog, too! Sums it up...


Excerpt from: The Guide To Adoption by Douglas R. Donnelly, 1987, Focus on the Family Publications

"Take 2 separate tragedies: an unplanned pregnancy and a couple grieving over an infertility problem and combining them in such a way as to solve both problems simultaneously is exciting beyond words. Through grace, the birthmother makes a painful, but heroic decision and is granted the strength to see that decision through. And also through grace, the adopting parents accept a child into their home and bestow on that child their name, their material possessions, and the fullest measure of their love and affection. A special bond exists between birthmothers and adopting parents. They have together, through a teamwork of the most magnificent kind, created a human being…in a way which neither could have done without the other. There is no greater human example of grace. "

Seeing is believing!

Marla sent us the ultrasound today! Well, she sent it to our phone, so I had to call my savvy niece to ask "how the heck do I get this on my computer??". Thanks Em!! Just when I think I'm hip, I'm NOT! Gord and I had a great time trying to figure out what we were seeing. The quality was bad, but just knowing what (who) it was, was HUGE. I must say we both had a tear stirring up. Everything that happens makes this feel more real for us. This video is of her head. You can hear Mi'kai in the background, so cute...

Tomorrow is our 3rd anniversary. Time flies. Every year we are married my parents send us $5. We got a beautiful card with a $15 check in it today!! We may have to treat ourselves to some ice cream tomorrow. Maybe next year we will be able to afford a pizza dinner. Thanks Mom and Dad.

FRIENDS!!

Another trip to a friend's house, another trip home with a loaded car full of baby stuff :) Thanks Yvette!! We went through bags and tubs full of tiny things. Yvette's twins were smaller than most babies so you can imagine how tiny they were. They were like barbie clothes. And I know barbie clothes! When other preteens were hiding on the playground having their first kiss, I was rushing home to make a new barbie car out of shoe box. Yes, I played way to long. Oh well, I'm a late bloomer. Gord and I used to joke that we would be using a walker and pushing a stroller at the same time. Talk about late bloomers. Back to talking about our donations. Previous donors have been Lisa and Tammy. Thanks Guys!! It is like going to garage sale but not having to wonder "hmmm where has this been??". You all say "you probably want new stuff", but "motherhood" hasn't changed me. I'm still very practical and budget conscious. Plus, I need to save $$ for our big trip. I'm sure Ella will get her fair share of new stuff, just not in the first 6ish months. We are very lucky to have all this support. I have a great list of things I need to bring to Toledo that I found on my adoption group website. We have all but two things scratched off. We are ahead of the game!

Next task, finding a pediatrician. I have some great leads! We hope to meet with them in November and get some of our questions answered. Did you know you can't fly with a baby less than 14 days without a Dr's note?? Most of my contacts had said they had the note, but were never asked for it. So, better safe than sorry.

Dolls

Ultrasound

Well, I have proven to not be the best blogger, not very timely. Anyway, if there is anyone that hasn't heard the baby is a girl. A baby girl that couldn't sit still for the ultrasound (sound like anyone). My mom said I wouldn't sit still in her tummy, either. I think it was due to the many doses of Nyquil, but maybe it was just my excitement to begin life : )

We have chosen a name. Ella Mia. Ella is a unique combination of her grandmother's names (Elfriede and LaVerne). Mia is her sister in Oh. Hopefully, one day they will have a relationship and feel they have a bond! We have had this name picked out for years

Ella has a total of 4 dolls already! Whoa! We couldn't resist.

I'm sure this blog will be most useful when we are in Oh, but I will continue to post important information (like how many dolls she has). And, as we finish the nursery, I will post pictures.

OH! I also found out the the due date may be moved up from the 23rd of December to the 18th!

Pics from OH... (Gord and Ma'kai, Coleen and Marla, Coleen, Mia, L and Marla).

Coleen

Happy Birthday Gord!

There wasn't an ultrasound last week. It is scheduled for 8/27/08.

Coleen

Home From OH!

Hi! We're home and things went great!Well we arrived 10 min late for lunch because we took a wrong turn! this put us in a tizzy, for sure. They didn't seem to mind at all. When we walked in, there was the lawyer, Birthmother (Marla), and her friend who placed a baby for adoption 7 yrs ago. Marla gave us a long hug, it was much more than a hug of obligation! It was very welcoming. As soon as we sat down, the lawyer advised us that Marla was awake since 5 and very nervous. So, this helped me a lot, as SO WAS I!!! Talking flowed pretty easy, thanks to Gord. He is great with this stuff. Lunch was about 3 hrs. After that, she took us to a teen outreach center that she volunteers for. After that, we went to another friend of hers house and ending up going to see a band in a park. We were with her a total of 10 hrs on Saturday. We got to meet her 2 children. They do not know about the baby so we didn't talk about it around them. She knows her time is running out and the way her belly is popping, she will tell them next week. Her ultrasound in 8/21!! She said she will call me after. Her kids are 11 (girl) and 2 (boy). She seemed very confident with her decision and wanted to talk about how everything will happen in December. After the birth she wants pics and letters and we already have each others cell numbers. She said she doesn't want to get in the way and be confusing for the child, but we can keep in touch. It all sounds so great. I feel much more at ease with the situation.
Thanks for all the calls, cards, text messages, emails, prayers and wishes of luck before we left and while we were there. It was a very exhausting weekend for us emotionally and physically. The reminders of the people that love us at home helped get us through. I have pics from the weekend but am having issues loading them.

"Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" Gord and I should look like body builders by now : )

Thank you!!

Anxious and Excited!

Tomorrow we are leaving for OH. We are both very anxious and excited. We plan to meet her at Chili's at Franklin Park Mall at noon on 8/16. I spoke with her lawyer yesterday and she advised me to bring photo albums. This will be a great way to spark conversation!

Catching up!

The adoption process is a long and complicated one. Many people have suggested I start a blog so it will be easier to update our loved ones on the process!

A recap of the progress thus far...

10/19/07 - Called out to the social worker we met at an adoption seminar to start the process. This call was bitter sweet as it was the day after we found out that our 4th invitro cycle had failed. Although disappointed, we were ready to jump on a new rollercoaster with a happy ending and less medications : )

10/22/07 - Gord and I were fingerprinted for a thorough background check.

Month of November - Doctors appointments for both to deem us healthy enough to parent.

11/27/07 - Turned in application with all appropriate documentation.

Due to the holidays our meeting with the social worker will not be until January.

1/10/08 - 1st meeting at the house with social worker. Although we were really nervous, this meeting went very well. We just sat on the sofa and discussed our vision of adoption, family support, parenting thoughts and type of child we see ourselves with.

1/17/08 - My meeting with Social Worker. This is where she just asks for our bio. How I was raised, how many siblings, experiences in school etc...

1/23/08 - Gord's meeting with Social worker.

1/24/08 - Social worker submitted our report to the juvenile courts and we will wait to hear if we are certified. Should be about 6 weeks.

2/6/08 - First meeting with Adoption Attorney. This was an Attorney we met at an adoption seminar. She went through our "profile" and gave us suggestions. For those that don't know ... our profile is a document we put together to introduce ourselves, our values, our home and families to a prospective birth mother. This is the document that the lawyers will supply the bith mothers with when they are trying to choose a family to place their child with. Once we are certified, we will send copies of these profiles and a copy of our certification to all the Adoption Attorneys in town (6). And Wait!

2/14/08 - We got a call from the lawyer above. She misunderstood from our meeting that we weren't certified. she was calling about a potential situation for us. Because we did not have our certifiication we could not discuss any further. This was eye opening for Gord and I to see how quickly something could happen. We went out for dinner, as it was Valentines day, and they made a trip to Babies R Us to see what we would buy, immediatly, if this should happen. Our first baby window shopping experience!!

2/19/08 - Call from social worker that we needed to provide the courts Gord's green card. We supplied it quickly, but this seemed to put us at the end of the line.

3/28/08 - We had a call from the social worker that we have been certified!!! She is putting our copy in the mail to us. That night we were out to celebrate. We went out for chinese and Gord's fortune read "the laughter of children will soon be in your future". We both teared up. Pretty cool. Gord still carries that in his wallet.

First week in April - We made all the copies of our profiles and put together the packages for all the lawyers. Some we mailed and some we hand delivered. We gave one to our social worker and she called us and said she loved it. That was good to hear because our feedback on the first draft was not so good.

5/14/08 - Our first call. It was from a lawyer's office in town. there was a situation in FL. Baby was due in 10 days and we had reason to believe it would have some health issues. The cost of this adoption was very high compared to most provate adoptions. Gord and I felt this wasn't right for us. Through this whole process, no one ever told us how to say no to a baby. I took this very hard and then knew this was not going to be easy!

May - We received a couple of other calls. All sounded good and we put our hats in the ring and sent out our profiles. Some chose other families, decided to parent the child or we never heard anything more.

6/30/08 - We received a call from another lawyer we met with in the beginning of June. She said they saw a situation posted on the adoption attorney network and she thought it would fit us. It was in OH and the due date is 12/23. We advised her to send our profile. She did say we were the only couple she was sending, but since this was posted, attorneys from all over the country would be seeing and sending clients profiles. Sounded like a long shot but we wanted to get out there.

7/11/08 - We received a message from the above lawyer that the Birthmother has chosen us!! I never knew how we would react when hearing a message like that, but it was awesome. Gord and I were in awe.






Next couple of weeks - Our lawyer was on vacation so it was hard to actualy talk to her. We communicated through emails, mostly. The birthmother's lawyer then went on vacation. DO YOU PEOPLE EVER WORK. : ) It was just difficult because we wanted more and more info!!

8/4/08 - Gord and I have a trip planned to Toledo, OH to meet the birth mother the weekend of 8/15/08. We are excited and nervous. We just hope we live up to our profile!!