Zumba certification
I know this is old news but I wanted to write about it anyway. Ever since I went to my first Zumba class in January of 2011 I was hooked. In the summer I started thinking about getting certified but the timing never seemed right. For Christmas Adam got me a pair of Zumba pants and a tank top and told me I had to get certified now. Love that boy! So I took the plunge and signed up! The training was on a Saturday up in Rock Springs. It was a fun little weekend getaway for us. The trainer for the class was Lindsey Taylor. She is a pretty big deal- okay a really big deal in the Zumba world. She is amazingly talented and fun. It was an 8 hour class and we were all tired and sweeeaty at the end but I made some great friends and learned a lot! I love teaching. My dream would one day be able to have it be my only job instead of subbing on the side of my full time job at the bank. Zumba love!
How we came to be
April 23 2012
How do I even begin…. Friday evening I was with Callie and Mindy helping Mind move back to Sandy when I got a call from Kevin; the manager at the Centerville LDS Family Services. He asked me if Adam was with me and I said that he was at work (Adam was scheduled to work a closing shift) and wouldn’t be home until late. I asked if everything was alright and he said, “You two have been chosen by a birthmom and she’s dialated to a three…” he kept talking but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. The words, “you have been chosen” kept ringing in my head. I interrupted him and said, “so she doesn’t want to meet us first or anything?”. He told me that she had seen our profile and had made up her mind. I had walked to the end of the street by now and Callie and Mindy were watching me anxiously from the driveway. I turned around and threw my arms in the air with this big grin on my face. They screamed and started hugging each other. Kevin asked if I could go get Adam and start getting things ready because Amber- the birthmom- would be delivering in Price and we needed to be ready to go. I ran back to the girls and we were all hugging and crying. Mindy’s boyfriend Shane was there and got pulled into the mayhem. He’s such a good sport. J We raced to get the car unloaded and Callie drove us back to Centerville.
We headed to Target and “picked up a onesie that said “my parents love me” on the front and we wrote “Lil’ baby Baird April 2012” on the back. She headed to Kaysville to borrow a car seat and play pen from her sister in law for us for a few days and I went to the theatre to get Adam. I walked in and his co-worker said, “Adam you have a visitor” and he came around the corner. I asked him if we could talk and went to a spot where it wasn’t as crowded. I handed him the onesie, he reads it, looks uip at me with this disbelieving look and asks if I’m pregnant. Haha! Nope. I tell him that we have been chosen by a birthmom and that she is dialated to a 3. His eyes get big and he says “really??” yep. So he goes and tells his boss and his boss says get out of here! Ha!
We head home so he can change and go straight to my Mom’s house. We tried convincing Jonny to come down and play games but he said they were already in bed, bah! My Mom was in bed watching tv with her leg propped up (she had a bunion removed a couple weeks ago). She asks what we were doing there and I made up a lame excuse that we were just out for a drive and ended up there. We are talking and I pull out the onesie and say look at what I got Layla! She reads the back and says oh that is so cute is Shelby pregnant again? Haha! I tell her no.. do you want to read it again? She reads it, looks at me and says I don’t get it. So I tell her she’s going to be a Grandma and she lost it. She grabs my arm and says Jessy! No! Are you serious??? I tell her the whole story and we’re hugging and crying… Aaron and Shelby dropped by cuz we told them that Adam needed to talk to Aaron and Shelby hugged the crap out of me when I told her. My Dad was asleep downstairs so I went to wake him up. I sit down and tell him he’s going to be a Grandpa and he’s silent for a bit and says, “by who?” Haha! I bust up laughing and said, “me Dad!’. So he takes the blankets off and I filled him on all the details. He was pretty dang excited.
We then headed to the Baird’s. Aaron and Shelby followed us over and we hung around talking. Layla is walking! She walks with her arms above her head like an orangutan! It’s so funny! So Adam slips the onesie to his Dad, his eyes get big, and he looks at Adam real fast and says, “really?”. Then he holds it up to April and she immediately starts screaming. It was the best! We called Britt on the way home and then Trish when we got home. We asked Trish how she would feel about being an aunt again and she just laughs and says, ‘yeah of course!” I say.. “like soon?” and she replies, “Yeah like tomorrow haha! Wait.. Jessy- what are you saying??”. It was hysterical! I could hear Andrew hollerin in the background, they are so excited I love it!
We went to bed at 130am and my brain would not shut off. About 2 I decided to just get up and made some toast, folded the laundry and did the dishes. I went back to bed at 3 and fell asleep until 645 and bam!! I was wide awake again. Around 8 we headed back to my Mom’s. Jonny was there edging so we were talking and Adam starts saying how lame it was that they didn’t come play games the night before and Jonny’s saying I know I know but we were so tired.. and Adam says, “..because if you would have been there you would have found out that you are going to be an Uncle”. Jonny rips his earbuds out and yells- “are you serious?!” and grabs me and starts swinging me around. It was the best! Dad was talking to Grandma Flinders on the phone and handed it to me to relay the news. She was really excited and kept saying how she loves that her family is growing and growing.
We wanted to tell Chloe but needed to stop at Callie’s to pick up the car seat. She surprised us with a huge bag of diapers, onesies, soap, butt cream, bottles.. all sorts of stuff! She is the best!! We followed Jonny to their house and Chlo showed us around. They have a really cute place! They’re living in her parents basement and they have a lot of space and a little like half kitchen. Very cool. We sit down in the living room and I tell her she’s going to be an Aunt and she immediately looks at Jonny and he has this ear to ear grin on his face. She looks at me and says, “I’m confused”. So we dive in and tell her the whole story again and she is smiling, getting teary eyed and randomly gets really excited and says “a baby!!”. Haha! She is so cute. This is the first niece/nephew (did I mention we didn’t know the gender of the baby? Though me and Adam just knew it was going to be a boy we hadn’t been told yet), for the both of them so that was extra fun.
Adam and I then headed to Aaron and Shelby’s. We hung around in the backyard while Shelby dug out baby clothes for us. All she had were girl clothes but we took them again because we didn’t know the gender. After slacklining there for a couple hours we headed to the store to get some stuff for the gift basket for Amber. Amber is 33 and she has two other kids, a boy JJ 13 and girl Dakotah 8 from different fathers. The father of this baby is African American and sounds like he also has a handful of other children by different mothers and has not been in the picture at all. We didn’t know much about Amber so we got treats, bath stuff, Despicable Me, a candle and some items for Dakotah and JJ. We headed home and totally crashed. About 945 Aanika called us to say that there was no new news but that if she didn’t hear from Amber’s caseworker Quinn Sunday she would call him Monday morning. Another restless night.
We got up Monday and packed our bags in case we got the call. Work was torture. Mindy and I were just so chatty and I was so anxious. About 10 am Aanika called so I grabbed my phone and ran outside. She asked how I was doing and then said, “well there was a baby born this morning!”. I yelled and she said she thought about letting us just find out the gender when we got there but it’s a boy! I told her we just knew it would be. We chatted a bit more and she said to head down to Price as soon as we could. I called Adam and yelled, “We have a baby boy!!”. He was SO excited. I picked him up from work and the ladies there had given him this really nice quilt to give to Amber. We headed to the bank to apply for the loan and then home to wrap some things up. Poor Dex was lying at our feet with no idea how much his little spoiled life was about to change ha! I called my parents and told them they had a Grandson and of course they were thrilled. We wrapped up at home and headed out. It was a hot 88 degrees Monday with clear blue skies. On the drive we ordered flowers and had them delivered to Amber’s room. We had the radio playing and made it to Price in just a couple of hours.
We checked into the Holiday Inn right off the freeway here. The concierge asked us what we were in town for and when we told her we were adopting a baby she was all grins. Every time we would walk in or out she would ask how we were, if we had seen the baby etc. It’s great to have complete strangers that excited for you. After we checked in we called Quinn and he said that he would accompany us to the hospital to meet Amber about 4pm. It was so hard to wait. I was so nervous I literally felt sick. Adam was telling me it would go great and was cool as a cucumber. We headed to the hospital at 415 and met with Quinn. We had the basket and blanket with us and my heart was racing as we walked down the hall. Castleview is a really small hospital and it didn’t take us long to get to her room. Quinn knocked on the door and in we went. I saw Amber’s Mom right off and I grinned and waved. She came right up to me and hugged me so tight. She kept saying how excited she was for us and how she felt so good about this. She was so genuine and I fell in love with her right away. I turned and hugged Amber and immediately we felt so comfortable and at ease with them. Amber’s friend Hannah (?) was there along with Amber’s 8 yr old daughter Dakotah.
Amber also has a 13 yr old son named JJ (Jeffrey James) who wasn’t there. Amber was holding the baby and he is adorable. His birthfather is African American and Corbin's skin was quite light but we have been told the pigment will darken as he grows. He has so much black hair! He was born at 855am, 7 lbs 5 oz, 20 ½ inches long. Amber said her water broke at 8 am, she was to the hospital by 820 and he was here 30 minutes later. Wow! She said JJ and Dakotah were really fast too. We have named him Corbin Adam Baird. J We love him.
We sat and talked with everyone for around 2 hours. Her Mom Jodi was so genuine and excited for us. Her Dad came towards the end of the visit and he too was really nice and down to earth. We were talking to them in the hall after we said goodbye to Amber and they again were telling us how much they supported this decision and how Amber and Dakotah are living with them and sleeping in the same bed. So it sounds like it may not be the best situation at home but we just clicked with Amber and had a really good time talking. Adam asked her why she picked us and she said it was a joint effort between her and her Mom. Her Mom (who ironically the grandkids call Grandma Jo Jo) was saying that we seemed so real and genuine. She said a lot of the profiles they looked at would talk about how many times they had been to Disneyland etc and it seemed to focus more on the financial side and she said that she could feel the love and zest for life we had. She said that when they read we both love cheesecake they were like this is them! Haha! It was really cool.
We headed back to the hotel and decompressed a bit. We’re right next to a Winger’s and the hospital is on the other side of that so we walked there for dinner. We could not stop smiling at each other. I hardly slept again that night. Tuesday morning we went out for breakfast and stopped in a few different stores trying to kill time waiting for Quinn to call us. He finally did and said he would meet us at the hotel around 11am to sign papers.
Amber also has a 13 yr old son named JJ (Jeffrey James) who wasn’t there. Amber was holding the baby and he is adorable. His birthfather is African American and Corbin's skin was quite light but we have been told the pigment will darken as he grows. He has so much black hair! He was born at 855am, 7 lbs 5 oz, 20 ½ inches long. Amber said her water broke at 8 am, she was to the hospital by 820 and he was here 30 minutes later. Wow! She said JJ and Dakotah were really fast too. We have named him Corbin Adam Baird. J We love him.
We sat and talked with everyone for around 2 hours. Her Mom Jodi was so genuine and excited for us. Her Dad came towards the end of the visit and he too was really nice and down to earth. We were talking to them in the hall after we said goodbye to Amber and they again were telling us how much they supported this decision and how Amber and Dakotah are living with them and sleeping in the same bed. So it sounds like it may not be the best situation at home but we just clicked with Amber and had a really good time talking. Adam asked her why she picked us and she said it was a joint effort between her and her Mom. Her Mom (who ironically the grandkids call Grandma Jo Jo) was saying that we seemed so real and genuine. She said a lot of the profiles they looked at would talk about how many times they had been to Disneyland etc and it seemed to focus more on the financial side and she said that she could feel the love and zest for life we had. She said that when they read we both love cheesecake they were like this is them! Haha! It was really cool.
We headed back to the hotel and decompressed a bit. We’re right next to a Winger’s and the hospital is on the other side of that so we walked there for dinner. We could not stop smiling at each other. I hardly slept again that night. Tuesday morning we went out for breakfast and stopped in a few different stores trying to kill time waiting for Quinn to call us. He finally did and said he would meet us at the hotel around 11am to sign papers.
The three of us sat by the pool and went through the paperwork. It was surreal and felt so weird to be initialing these papers like we were buying a house or something. It took about 30 minutes to finish up and Quinn said that he would meet us at the hospital after we checked out. Since Amber tested positive for Group B Strep Corbin needed to stay an extra night in the hospital. The staff had a room made up for us so we could stay with him. We checked out of the hotel and headed across the street to the hospital. Quinn had told us that Amber’s son JJ had decided to come down and again I was sick with nerves. I knew that JJ was not happy with Amber’s decision and I was worried he would be angry with us or hate us…. I had no idea what I would say to him.
Amber was there along with JJ, Dakotah her friend Kim and Kim’s little boy Corbin. Ironic? I thought so. JJ was sitting in the bed holding Corbin with Dakotah and it ripped my heart out seeing them in so much pain. JJ was pretty quiet at the start but him and Adam started talking about basketball and he really opened up. Sounds like he is a daring kid and likes to BMX, longboard, skateboard… he does it all! I was really glad we got to meet him.
We chatted for about 2 hours again. During the conversation Dakotah piped up and said, “I just have to ask you- (I thought for sure she was going to ask about me and my… story)how old are you?”. Ha! Caught me totally off guard. She is so cute. Towards the end JJ and Dakotah started asking for lunch so Amber started gathering her things. We hadn’t talked about what kind of communication we were comfortable with so I said, “We would love to keep in contact with you if you’re comfortable with that”. She said sure and so I was asking if she wanted me to send letters and pictures to the agency to forward to her, if she wanted to exchange email addresses.. she replied, “whatever!”. I was really taken aback by this and initially thought she was totally detached (which I would later find out was completely not the case). So I suggested we exchange email addresses which we did. The nurse came, they gathered their things. We took a few group photos and the nurse wheeled Amber out. She waved and said, “good luck!” and she left.
Adam and I just stood there with Corbin in my arms. I had felt like an intruder, like the bad guy taking this sweet baby from them and here we were. Our first moments as a FAMILY. It was pretty amazing. It wasn’t long before the nurse came and hustled us into our room for the night. Her name was Jackie and it turns out she has been Amber’s nurse since she was a little girl. Everyone knew everyone and knew our story and were so excited for us. It was great to feel like we had friends supporting us. The room they put us in had a bed and a nice big leather couch. They brought us bedding and rolled Corbin’s cart in. We got a bunch of instructions, they brought us some blankets that the young women had made and left us. We were exhausted. We watched t.v. literally all day. The hospital brought us dinner which consisted of chicken cordon blue, salad, potatoes, corn and cheesecake for dessert. Wasn’t half bad either!
We chatted for about 2 hours again. During the conversation Dakotah piped up and said, “I just have to ask you- (I thought for sure she was going to ask about me and my… story)how old are you?”. Ha! Caught me totally off guard. She is so cute. Towards the end JJ and Dakotah started asking for lunch so Amber started gathering her things. We hadn’t talked about what kind of communication we were comfortable with so I said, “We would love to keep in contact with you if you’re comfortable with that”. She said sure and so I was asking if she wanted me to send letters and pictures to the agency to forward to her, if she wanted to exchange email addresses.. she replied, “whatever!”. I was really taken aback by this and initially thought she was totally detached (which I would later find out was completely not the case). So I suggested we exchange email addresses which we did. The nurse came, they gathered their things. We took a few group photos and the nurse wheeled Amber out. She waved and said, “good luck!” and she left.
Adam and I just stood there with Corbin in my arms. I had felt like an intruder, like the bad guy taking this sweet baby from them and here we were. Our first moments as a FAMILY. It was pretty amazing. It wasn’t long before the nurse came and hustled us into our room for the night. Her name was Jackie and it turns out she has been Amber’s nurse since she was a little girl. Everyone knew everyone and knew our story and were so excited for us. It was great to feel like we had friends supporting us. The room they put us in had a bed and a nice big leather couch. They brought us bedding and rolled Corbin’s cart in. We got a bunch of instructions, they brought us some blankets that the young women had made and left us. We were exhausted. We watched t.v. literally all day. The hospital brought us dinner which consisted of chicken cordon blue, salad, potatoes, corn and cheesecake for dessert. Wasn’t half bad either!
One of the nurses (I forget her name) popped in and told us it was a slow day and she was bored and asked if she could hear the story of how everything happened. I laughed and told her the whole thing. She was so excited for us.
Around 9 pm Amber’s Mom Jodi stopped by with a gift for us. She hugged us again and said how happy she was for us. It was great to see her again and have a chance to say goodbye. She gave us a blanket and some really cute outfits for Corbin.
Shortly after she left Andrew (Adam’s oldest brother) came for a visit. He was on his way home from Colorado and was driving through Price. We were so happy to see him and excited that he could be the first to meet the nino.
He stayed for almost two hours and after he left we tried to sleep. Corbin stayed in the room with us and nurses were in and out all night. I slept on the couch and Adam was on the bed. That couch was dang comfy! Around 3 am the nurse came and said they needed to take him to the nursery for a bath and to run some more tests. The poor thing- Corbin had an IV so they wouldn’t have to keep poking him for blood. That two hour stretch was the only time all night I really slept.
Shortly after she left Andrew (Adam’s oldest brother) came for a visit. He was on his way home from Colorado and was driving through Price. We were so happy to see him and excited that he could be the first to meet the nino.
He stayed for almost two hours and after he left we tried to sleep. Corbin stayed in the room with us and nurses were in and out all night. I slept on the couch and Adam was on the bed. That couch was dang comfy! Around 3 am the nurse came and said they needed to take him to the nursery for a bath and to run some more tests. The poor thing- Corbin had an IV so they wouldn’t have to keep poking him for blood. That two hour stretch was the only time all night I really slept.
We got up around 7 and packed our things. We headed to the admissions desk to fill out paperwork and then waited in the room for them to tell us we could go. Dr. Gagon (he delivered Corbin) came in and talked to us about the circumcision. I tried really hard not to wince while he was talking but my goodness! I really had no idea what those poor little babies go through! We wanted it done in the hospital so they took care of it before we left. The nurse brought him to us afterwards and we got to dress him for the ride home. We were so nervous putting him in the car seat and the nurse was really patient with us. She gave us more instructions on keeping the cord and circumcision clean and we headed out.
Adam told me later that he was standing at the doors with the nurse when an older woman came up and tried getting a look at Corbin. He wasn’t about to let her get anywhere near him so she asked where the baby’s Mom was. Adam says, “she’s getting the car”. She replies, “Oh! She’s up and about already??”. Hahaa!!
The drive home felt so long! I was white knuckled gripping the steering wheel and Adam told me this was the first time he had seen me stay the speed limit. Hardy har Adam. It’s probably true but I was nervous with the little guy in back!
When we got home my Mom had balloons saying “It’s a boy!” tied to our banister. We had the fam over to meet him and you could not contain the excitement. It was a great day.
Get a call Friday that we have been chosen, come home Wednesday with the sweetest baby ever. Wow. Hard to explain the whirlwind of feelings that have been swirling around. Suffice it to say, as sudden and unexpected as that call was, it couldn’t have gone smoother and we could not be happier.
Get a call Friday that we have been chosen, come home Wednesday with the sweetest baby ever. Wow. Hard to explain the whirlwind of feelings that have been swirling around. Suffice it to say, as sudden and unexpected as that call was, it couldn’t have gone smoother and we could not be happier.
And then there were three.
The best thing
The best thing has happened to us. This little guy has joined our lives and we couldn't be happier. Meet Corbin Adam Baird.
Valentine's Day
We stayed in for V day this year and it was great! I made a tasty din din of lasagna and asparagus with cherry chip cake for dessert. We really dislike fighting the crowds on a normal night out and can often be found eating with the Senior citizens at 5. What can I say, that's how we roll nowadays.
Where the wind comes rolling down the plains..
Rolling is not the right word to describe the windstorm Davis county experienced a few months ago. The highest gust was clocked at 102mph and caused severe damage that people are still cleaning up after. Our building didn't have anything major happened but here are some pictures of around the complex. It was pretty cool to see the community pull together and help each other out afterwards.
Patience
*Patience (or forbearing) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast.
I have never been good at patience. It has been only 6 months since our adoption profile has been up and I feel like it has been 6 years. We are keeping busy, and have a lot of fun things going on. Though it is small, there is a piece of me that threatens to overwhelm myself with doubt. Maybe it's all the adorable, brand new babies at church, or listening to people talk of how they didn't want kids but wham-o they're having triplets (exaggeration I know) or whatever. This line especially struck me: Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity. Huh. I never thought of it that way. It isn't about the challenges themselves but how we react to them right? Right. Life is good and awesome things are waiting for us. Happy Valentine's everyone.
I have never been good at patience. It has been only 6 months since our adoption profile has been up and I feel like it has been 6 years. We are keeping busy, and have a lot of fun things going on. Though it is small, there is a piece of me that threatens to overwhelm myself with doubt. Maybe it's all the adorable, brand new babies at church, or listening to people talk of how they didn't want kids but wham-o they're having triplets (exaggeration I know) or whatever. This line especially struck me: Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity. Huh. I never thought of it that way. It isn't about the challenges themselves but how we react to them right? Right. Life is good and awesome things are waiting for us. Happy Valentine's everyone.
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