Driving through Nebraska to Illinois

So...this post is for Miki and the family at home while I am currently helping our dear Wilford friends move to Illinois. Jon and I started driving the 24-foot U-Haul, complete with car in-tow, at around 2:20pm pacific time. The plan is to drive straight through. Here's the map. We decided to take a slightly longer, northern route to avoid the slow-going climb straight up over the Rocky Mountains. So far we have made gas and restroom stops in Cedar City, UT; Nephi, UT (including a quick meal at Arby's); Little America, WY; and Cheyenne, WY. We are currently in Nebraska making good time as we just drove past the Cabella's world headquarters in Sidney, NE. We are estimating our arrival to Quincy, IL around 9:00pm central time. We'll see how we do.

Not sure how good of quality this video is, but as you can see we are alive and well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5-qK2DxK0g

1 Year to the Day

It was around 10:00 AM exactly one year ago that we received word that we had a healthy baby girl weighing 6 pounds 5 ounces. She had brown hair and looks perfect. By noon we had arrived at Valley Hospital to meet Shanna (our birthmom) and our new baby girl. I have to say the description we were given was dead on. She was perfect, 10 fingers, 10 toes, and beautiful almond shaped eyes. In certain moments it feels like Shaylee should still be a tiny baby, but after refecting on the long road we tread this past year she's exactly as she should be. Shaylee is a bright light in our home. She is smart, silly, giggly, very active, beautiful and more than we dreamed she would be. A little more than a year ago I doubted we'd ever have a 4th child. Now, I can't imagine life without her. Today she weighs 24.2 pounds. She's no light weight. She's walking a little, 2 to 4 steps at a time. She can open doors and help herself to cereal. She's an avid dirt eater. I doubt there's an object in the house she hasn't licked. She loves music and has a little twist dance when she hears it. Her curls get looks and happy comments everywhere we go. She charms men and women alike with her beautiful smile. Thank you Father in Heaven for sending this little angel to be a Hone. Happy Birthday Shaylee!

Mother's Day

I must begin by saying, I have the best children on the planet! I feel so blessed to have the four beautiful kids Father in Heaven chose to send me. This mother's day I discovered a hidden talent of Kaleb's. With his permission I'm sharing one of his poems...

LOVE

"L... Love is always in the air,
I always want you to be there.
Every Minute I'm with you is a treat,
just like eating candy that is so sweet.

O... Old and young I'll always love you,
and I'll know you love me too.
I just can't think how to thank you enough,
you've helped overcome times that were rough.

V... Vivid colors I can see,
but the brightest colors are you and me.
Any gift I can buy can't show
all my love for you, you know.

E... Everyday that I'm with you
I feel a connection coming through
Whenever we are near or far
know I'll always love you for who you are."

With all my love, Kaleb

Happy Mothers Day!!!

Happy Easter!!!

To me Easter is one of those unsung holidays. It should be as big as Christmas. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of our Savior. His life and death are studied by Christians across the world. But the GOOD NEWS is that He Lives! Easter is when we celebrate that wonderful truth. That he lived and died is of monumental importance, but that He rose again on the third day is what makes life so sweet, so worth the struggles. Because He lives, so can we.

This year we had a BIG easter egg hunt with too many eggs before church. The kids got to sport their fancy new clothes and we're still eating (chicken rolls, twice baked potatoes, deviled eggs, artisian bread, salad, pound cake, & strawberries). Here are a few pictures from our day. Happy Easter!

The Adoptive Bond

I wrote this for a friend who's working on a project for school. I really feel strongly about what I wrote so I thought I'd share.

If you ask any mother she’ll likely tell you that she fell in love with her child before he/she was born. I have three children who are biologically mine. In all three cases I fell in love with kicks, hick-ups, a big round tummy, and even that speedy little heart beat you hear only at the OB or hospital. My fourth child came to us in a non-traditional way. We had 10 days notice that we “might” get a baby girl and only two days notice that we knew for certain that we had been chosen. For ten days I couldn’t eat or sleep. I was so excited! What would she look like? How big would she be? I could almost feel her tiny frame cuddled into my arms. I envisioned this little girl as a baby, toddler and entering school. I envisioned her giggles and skinned knees. She was born the child of another woman. Her biological father is still unknown to us. We were privileged to meet her when she was just a few hours old. I admit I was skeptical about forming a bond with another woman’s child. I had to experience it for myself to know how deep that bond runs.

At first glance my daughter looked foreign to me. She didn’t look the way I was accustomed to “my babies” looking. I felt uncomfortable coming into a hospital and assuming custody of a baby I didn’t birth. In all honesty, that discomfort lasted only about an hour. Our birthmother was incredible. She didn’t want us to waste a minute. She wanted us to immediately form a bond and love her precious baby. Almost as soon as my baby girl was placed in my arms I knew she belonged to me. My heart was hers. I was hooked and very attached.

We spent 3 days in the hospital with our baby until she was discharged and we could take her home. By that time, it was hard to believe that I hadn’t birthed this tiny little beauty. I had no memory of pregnancy or delivery but I was every bit as attached to her as I had been to my previous three children. As you might notice from pictures she doesn’t exactly look like my other children, but it’s me who is different. I look at blond babies and wonder at how pale they are even though my first three babies were just as fair. My little girl is just as she should be.

In the state of Nevada, a child must live with an adoptive family for 6 months before they can petition the courts to finalize the adoption. As we approached our time to finalize my anxiety spun out of control. I had nightmares that someone would step forward and want to assume custody of our little girl. The attachment was already far too deep to even contemplate separation.

Our precious baby girl turns one year old next month. The time has flown by at such a speed it’s hard to believe. Our smiley toddler is one of us. She is no less my child than any of my biological children. Can an adoptive mother take a child into her heart and love that child as much as a biological child? My answer without hesitation is absolutely!

Conference Fun!

I hope all of you enjoyed our recent General Conference. It is one of my favorite times of the year. I love getting to stay in jammies till lunch time, lounge around and be at home with my family while listening to our Prophets and church leaders. This year we had a lot of fun as usual. It's no suprise that Shaylee is Sage's favorite "toy". Karter had so much fun with the jump ropes he ended up wearing them. It got to the point I was taking pictures of the kids and everyone was laughing. General Conference was never more fun! Kaleb took a more studious approach and did homework while we listened.

9 Months and Counting

Shaylee is already 9 months old! Sadly she "celebrated" her 9 month marker with her first ear infection. Today we went back to the doctor for her well-check appointment. She's already 21 pounds and 28 1/2 inches tall. It's still so surreal to have a baby that grew so fast after my previous 3 were always on the small side. Shaylee is still a sweet smiley baby. She can pucker up and make a fish face that ends with a kissing sound. But she always goes for a kiss with her mouth wide open. She clicks her tongue and blows a mean raspberry. Our favorite is when she blows raspberries on the couch or our leg. She thinks she's awfully funny.

She started crawling a little over a month ago and is lightning quick getting to the dishwasher door before I can close it. It only took her a few days after she learned to crawl to figure out how to pull herself up to standing and is a pro at cruising along the furniture. I'm pleased to report that she's a mama's girl. She follows me everywhere I go. Her first word was even "mama". I've been working on that one with her since she was born. Of course her "mama" comes out with a spit bubble, but all the same I'll take it. Over the past two weeks Shaylee has cut her first tooth and 3 others quickly followed. Sadly, I'm still her favorite chew toy and it has really become unpleasant.

Kaleb, Sage & Karter are still absolutely smitten with her. She's the first one they greet when they get home and no one takes a step toward bed without several hugs and kisses. Fortunately, Shaylee loves her siblings and basks in their attention. It's music to my ears to hear their laughter as they play together.

The white dress pictured is her blessing/sealing dress.

Thank you Mom and Kale for the great find!

I hope the gratitude I feel never decreases. I thank the Lord everyday for this precious blue eyed, curly haired little princess.