Merry Christmas

Adoption Walk

Last Saturday we went to Liberty Park for the annual Families Supporting Adoption 5K Adoption Walk. The walk is to raise awareness of adoption. It was great to see some of our friends from the adoption world and to see so many people whose lives have been blessed through the miracle of adoption.

The fire department even showed up to give kids tours of their trucks. This was a lovely coincidence since Katrina is a trained firefighter.

Happy Holloween!

Our family dressed up as a pumpkin patch. I think this costume will probably still fit Cohen next year, so we may do the same thing next Halloween. We went to Megan's sister Lisa's house for their annual family Halloween party and ate Chili, donuts and homemade rootbeer. Cohen was definitely the hit of the party, but he didn't seem to enjoy his costume as much as everyone else!

Super Baby!

This shirt says it all!!
(Worth the Wait)
most definitely!

Hiatus

We will be taking a hiatus from blogging for awhile. Our priorities right now are to have fun with Cohen and keep in touch with Katrina. I’m sure we’ll post now and then, but probably not regularly until Cohen is a year or so old.

Introducing COHEN!!!

WE ARE IN LOVE!!!

Born July 17, 2010 at 5:50 p.m.
8 Lbs. 4 oz. 22 ½ inches long.

He has some dark hair, huge hands and feet, dimples, and makes the cutest little squeaky sounds we’ve ever heard. It seems surreal that he is finally here. We just sit around and stare at him all day and it’s still hard to believe.

Cohen with his sweet birth mother – she is our hero and we feel so blessed to have her in our life.

Placement Day

We came home to a house full of family and a surprise party. They were kind enough to only stay for a little while so that we could get some alone time with the little guy and some much needed rest. Cohen is doing great—eating, sleeping and pooping just like he should. He makes the cutest faces in his sleep and when he’s awake he stares at us with his huge bright eyes.

WE ARE IN LOVE!!!

40 Days

The countdown is on!  Sam started this about 2 weeks ago.

We went fishing at 5 a.m. last Saturday with Megan's dad.  We didn't catch anything, but it was beautiful!

After fishing we went to Megan's nieces' last soccer game.  Ellie is on the left, Kate is on the left.  They were both pretty proud of their trophies.  (btw, Ellie & Kate belong to Emily &  Scott)

This is their youngest, Morgan.  She LOVES her uncle Sam!

Morgan kickin' back enjoying some Oreos

Megan and Ellie share something in common--they both LOVE animals.  This is Ellie's latest pet--a horny toad named Parker.

The baby's room is coming along!  I'm sure the he won't care what it looks like, but I'm having fun.  I have a few more plans before it's finished.

Something New & Something Blue

Sam posted last (just yesterday), and as usual, he was NOT being serious.  We do have something new.

It's time to get ready for a baby!  A baby BOY to be  specific!!!  Here are a couple of things we have purchased lately to make our home a little more comfortable for the little guy.

We also purchased this crib bedding.  This, of course, is the promotional picture and our nursery doesn't look quite this cool yet.  We wanted to get something that was gender neutral in case the our next baby is a girl.  We also have a white crib and white changing table/dresser.  We'll post photos as soon as everything is set up, but that will probably be a few more weeks.  We've been trying to figure out if we can squeeze in a short scuba diving trip before the big day.  If not, I think hanging out in the baby's room will suffice!

 

nothing new!

Nothing new to post here! These aren't the droids you're looking for! Move along.

Sailing the Great Salt Lake

Did you know there are sailboat races on the Great Salt Lake? 

Last week Sam’s friend asked him to help film a mini documentary about the GSL that included a sailboat race.  Sam has been DREAMING about learning to sail for the last year or so, so he jumped at the chance.  Lucky for me, Sam likes to take me along for things like this.  So on Saturday we woke up bright and early and headed out to the GSL Marina.  I expected to just hang out at the Marina all day while Sam was sailing, but when the crews were getting ready to go, the captain of the boat Sam was sailing invited me along, too.

 

The Crew--Temma, LeRoy and Scott. 

Can you believe Sam got paid to do this?

We’re in the lead!  

The water died during the last race.  Since the crew didn't have much to do I finally dared to ask one of them to take our photo.

Our boat came in first place in the first race and 2nd in other two.  The captain, LeRoy, was nice enough to share the loot and gave us this glass.  

Thanks LeRoy, Scott, Temma, and of course Caius (the boat) for letting us tag along!

Biking & Hiking

Sam finally had a free Saturday so we made the most of it and headed south on Thursday for a long weekend.  We hung out with Sam’s family and spent the rest of the time enjoying the epic spring weather. 

We went on one of our favorite bike rides around Sam’s hometown.  I had a little accident, but it was definitely worth it.  

Saturday we spent all day hiking to and from Choal Falls.  Not very many people know about this place -- we didn’t run into a single person the entire day.  We only snapped a few photos on our way to the falls, but we used up the rest of our camera’s memory card when we got there.  Here’s just a few. 

The stream was ideal for wading in and the perfectly smooth sand massaged our tired feet.  The water just under the falls was barely deep enough for swimming, but the water was a little chilly for that.  

This little guy is about the closest thing to a human we saw the entire hike.

We also saw this nifty little house some little creature built.  Hole was about the diameter of a  pinky.

It was about 75-80 degrees on Saturday, but the next day the wind picked up as we were getting ready to leave and a couple hours into our drive home we hit this.

Thankfully we didn’t hit that gorgeous late 60’s model Camero in front of us.  Drool.  

Up To

I’ve kind of been neglectful at writing about that day-to-day stuff we’ve been up to lately.  Sam’s been taking an all-day class on Saturdays which puts a damper on the weekends.  However, there are a few things I’ve missed:

My sister Alli lives in England.  Her husband Shayne came to the states for work and he brought my nephew Josh with him.  We got to hang out with both of them a couple of times.  I can’t believe how much Josh has grown up since I saw him last summer!  I hear he’s already quite the heartbreaker.  One of their visits included a slide show of a two-week mission Shayne and Alli recently served for our church.  They went to India to teach neonatal resuscitation techniques to labor & delivery professionals who then train other professionals all over the country.  The slideshow was heartbreaking.  They were in an extremely impoverished area for most of the time.  In one photo, a woman was trying to shove her baby through the window of the cab my sister was in.  It was obvious her child was malnourished, and she must have been desperate to get help.  Amazingly, Shayne said that in general even the most poor seemed very happy.  They literally live in filth and barely have enough to eat.  Yet they still find good in life and are grateful for what they have.  I can learn a thing or two from them!      

 Once a month we have dinner with my grandmother.  She lives in a big, old house and takes care of my grandfather who requires a lot of attention.  So every second Monday, we visit her to help out with whatever needs to be done.  Last night we took over a pot roast and helped her clean out her basement.  We also got in a snowball fight.  This was awesome because my grandma was on my side and Sam didn’t dare throw anything at an old lady! 

Last Sunday we spoke in Church on D&C 109:8.  I spent several hours working on my talk.  Sam spent about 15 minutes preparing his.  His talk was better than mine.  Although he did say the word “suck” in his talk.  Is that bad?? 

Also, Sam FINALLY posted something! (see next post) When I began this blog I envisioned that we’d take turns posting.  Of course it didn’t really turn out that way.  I guess he’s just not the blogging type.  He really is excited about this whole adoption thing, though.  I PROMISE.  He even made tiny baby moccasins the other day.        

My two cents

Sam here just adding my two cents worth $.02. There you have it!

It's a Small World

Yesterday I received a call from a woman my sister grew up with.  Last year she and I ran into each other at an adoption class (the kind you have to take to become eligible to adopt), and since then we’ve kept in touch.  She has a SUPERCUTE little boy, and she and her husband are hoping to add to their family via adoption. 

She called me because of something work related, but we ended up talking about our adoption efforts for quite a while.  We’ve been able to celebrate the little triumphs (like getting our banners to post correctly on our agency’s old website) and commiserate in the frustrations (such as THE WAIT!) that come with adoption. 

I hadn’t seen her info/profile on our agency’s new website, so I was hoping this meant good news for her family.  Unfortunately, that’s not the case.  Her house was burglarized and they got cleaned out.  She’s bummed that their TV was stolen, and that most of her favorite clothes are now gone.  But she’s most upset that her computer (a.k.a. photo album) is gone.  How do you post an adoption profile without any photos? 

BUMMER!

She has some ideas for scrounging up photos of hers living in cyber space.  I hope she finds what she needs.  And I hope her family gets a new member soon!  So if you are looking for a family for your child and Sam and I don’t seem like a good fit, check out Steve, Suzanne and Wyatt.  They have a blog you can check out, too.  I highly recommend them! 

Annual Home Study/Visit

Yesterday we had a home visit with our new adoption worker.  I was a little anxious because we aren’t 100% done with remodeling.  I was worried we might get in trouble for not having any interior door knobs installed yet.  And what if she looked under our bed where I hide things I don’t know what do with—like a Christmas decoration I’m still making?  Would we get in trouble for not having enough water in our food storage?  Of course I was over thinking things, but that’s what I do.  We spent Monday night completing a list of things I’m pretty sure are important: 

• Install missing heating vents;  check. 
• Buy new fire and carbon monoxide detectors (Sam went out to find some at 2:00 in the A.M.); check. 
• Maker sure neighbor’s cat’s poop isn’t all over the yard; check.

The visit went really well.  There are just a few things we have to take care of like put child locks on the cabinets that hold cleaning supplies.  Best of all, I really like our new adoption worker.  Although I don’t know her very well yet, I really like her a lot.  She’s totally on the ball and seems to realize how important this is to us.  She’s genuine and I feel like she can empathize with the ups and downs that come with this whole thing.  And she didn’t look under our bed. 

      

Slumber Party!

Last weekend my sister and brother-in-law went out of town. We figured this was the perfect time to follow through with a promise Sam made to their kids to have a slumber party where we stayed up all night watching movies and eating popcorn and candy.

We didn’t end up staying up all night, but we did watch a movie and eat popcorn and candy.

And of course there was jumping on the bed that turned into a pillow fight.

The 4-year-old woke up in the middle of the night because she had a nightmare that her daddy was the Grinch. I tried to console her, but I was also trying not to crack up at her nightmare story. She woke up again, but before I could get up, Sam was headed to the living room to check on her. I woke up awhile later and Sam was still gone. Then I found this:

After that I only woke up once because the baby wanted to snuggle (that was heaven!). In the morning I was awakened when Sam and the girls brought me breakfast in bed.

Yes, I married the best man in the world!

We went to church the next day and got some interesting looks. A lot of people know we are hoping to adopt, so I think they thought we hit the jackpot!

Where It All Began

The other night we went bowling and it reminded me of our very first date.
I met Sam about a month or so before we first went out. I was immediately interested in him, but I wasn’t sure what he thought about me. I actually made the first move. I had a work-related event that involved filmmaking. I knew Sam had been working on a documentary and that he had a passion for film, so I figured it was the perfect excuse to ask him out. He turned me down. Apparently he had to work or something. A few days later he asked me out to go bowling.

When we pulled up to the bowling alley, I was a little mortified when Sam pulled out his very own bowling ball and shoes. Who has their own bowling equipment? For the first couple of frames Sam didn’t do so hot, but I was doing unusually well. Sam proposed a bet; whoever lost had to make the other one cookies. We shook on it—I didn’t really care if I was being a sucker. After that it was all downhill for me, and Sam started throwing strikes.

After bowling we went out for hot wings and then over to Sam’s friend’s house to watch a movie. I have no idea what movie we watched, but I do remember Sam held my hand for the first time. He took me home after that, walked me to my door and gave me hug goodbye.

That night I couldn’t sleep. I was very surprised by this because our date wasn’t really much different than most of the other million first dates I had been on. I did like Sam A LOT, and I really wanted to go out with him again, but I usually have no problem falling asleep. I tried everything I could think of. I wrote in my journal, I counted sheep, I even read War and Peace. I did sleep sometime between 5:00 and 5:20 a.m., but that was it.

So that’s where it all began. Sam still kicks my butt at bowling, but at least now I get to go home with him after the game. And after all these years, I’m seriously considering buying my own pair of bowling shoes.

Thank Goodness for Visiting Teachers!

visting teachers - noun. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints, Relief Society sisters (adult women) assigned in pairs to a list of sisters in the ward. Each set of Visiting Teachers are required to share a monthly spiritual message and generally assist, help strengthen and be-friend their assigned sisters. All Relief Society sisters should have someone assigned to visit teach them monthly.

Saturday I received a call from my stalwart visiting teacher, Sister N.

“Hi Megan, I just heard some news that I want to tell you so that you can deal with it in your own way.”

I million thoughts quickly went through my mind, none of which were remotely close to what she said next.

“Sister L was just placed with a baby boy and I just wanted you to find out about it when you could deal with the news however you need to.”

My first thought was relief, because of all the things I might need to “deal” with, this wasn’t too bad. I then felt sincere happiness for Sister L (really, I did). Sister L adopted a little girl from China about 2 years ago, right around the same time my sister and her family adopted their little girl from China. Sister L and I have talked about adoption, and I knew she would try to adopt again at some point. So I wasn’t totally surprised by the news. But I admit there was a small part of me that was bummed it wasn’t Sam and me getting a baby. I thanked Sister N for giving me the news, hung up, and told Sam. (By the way, he was more upset than me.)

Here’s where I thank Heavenly Father for the divinely inspired visiting teaching program, and the divinely inspired woman who first assigned Sister N to be my visiting teacher. Sister and Brother N adopted both of their children. Sister N knows exactly what it’s like to be in my shoes—aching for a child and feeling so helpless, trying to be positive, patient and optimistic while watching everyone else have babies—lots of them—while my arms remain empty year after year. Yes, Sister N knows what it’s like to be me. And it seems she knows what it’s like to be me even more than I.

You see, when I went to Relief Society yesterday, the R.S. president announced Sister L’s good news. I was totally surprised by the effect this had had me. It felt like a slap across the face. Along with that, (I might have been imagining) I swear I could feel everyone look at me out of the corner of their eye. How would I have reacted had I not already had 24-hours to process the news? At best, I would have held it together until class ended and I would have barely made it to the car before losing it. At worst, well, I would have had to make a b-line to the bathroom. But after the initial shock of the slap, I again felt sincerely happy for sister L. I really did. And I didn’t have to hold back any tears.

Yes, thank goodness for visiting teachers!

Year of the Baby

Yes, my title may be a little bold, but I really do think that this is the year Sam and I will finally become parents. Every year for the last several years I've hoped that it was the year, but this time I really think it is. And if it isn't, well, I'll be okay--it just means we're one year closer to whenever it happens. But in the meantime, the realist in me is giving in to the optimist in me.

We had a great New Year holiday. We spent time with family and friends, played games and watched football (go Utes!), watched good movies and ate yummy food. It doesn't get better than that!

On New Year's Eve we went out with some friends for Sushi, then to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert and then back to our friends house to play video games.

Here's what we look like from the back--just in case you were wondering. We're boxing each other on our friend's Wii. Great therapy! It's pretty hillarious because I have no clue how to play this game well. Sam takes me out me every time. HOWEVER, I kick his you-know-what in Wii golf.

The next day we took my sister and her family to our favorite neighborhood diner where my nieces found this thing--I'm not quite sure what to call it--a vintage car trunk outifitted as a bench?? Whatever it is, they loved it. By the way, they are way excited for a new cousin. My sister tells me they even pray that we will find one soon!