I know this is a long time coming. So without further adieu...
TUCKER IS HERE! His birth was indescribable in words. It was the most emotional, amazing experience of my life. The biggest testament to the faithfulness of our God and a beautiful picture of what God did for us when we accept his salvation. I cannot put into words the love I feel for Tucker and the bond I have with his Birth Mom, K.
The day of his birth was surreal. It was as if time didn't really exist, at least in it's normal parameters. At times it felt like it was lasting forever and then at other points it felt like it was speeding by and I wouldn't be able to absorb all that was happening.
Thursday morning I got up and we packed for a couple of days stay in Purcell. We needed to make a few returns and get some last minute items before Tucker got here. Before going to Purcell we were going to Lawton to go to K's last weekly doctor appointment. We were about 30 minutes from our house when I got a text asking me to call her. I did, in the worst reception area of the entire drive from Sayre to Lawton, and got bits and pieces. She thought her water had broken. She was at the hospital getting checked. She'd let me know any news as soon as she knew something. Chris sped up and called a Highway Patrol friend and we began contacting family. We made the last hour and a half of the drive in about a hour. When we arrived at the hospital, around 2 p.m, we discovered her water had indeed broken and we spent the afternoon waiting and calling family and friends. I couldn't believe it was really happening.
By dinner time Team Tucker had arrived. My mom, sisters, Nana, Dad and Chris' Mom. So had our adoption coordinator, Dierdra. She suggested we all go to dinner and take our time out of the hospital. We spent about two hours away and that was all I could take. When we got back K had made little progress. She was dilating about 1/2 a centimeter an hour. She progressed this way until she reached a 7. At that point things really started picking up. Also around that time I had a kidney stone attack. I had to take a pain pill, do some walking and drinking and hugging a chair. But as things picked up that pain quickly became a non-issue.
K's foster mom was supposed to be her support in the delivery room. She was allowed to have three people in there and she had chosen Chris & I along with her mom. But when things were getting serious she couldn't get a hold of her mom. So K added my sister, who is a photographer, to the bunch. This allowed us to have documentation of the entire birth.
Also because her mom wasn't there I got to step in and be K's birth coach. I held her hand, wiped her faced, got in her face, helped her breath and even held her leg as she pushed. It was more then I ever even dared to pray for. I still can't really put into words the bond and the emotions of those hours I spent with K as we both did all we could to usher Tucker into the world safely and quickly. She was a trooper!
The nurse finally told her she could start pushing and got the doctor on call a little before 2 a.m. When she started pushing the doctor realized her cervix wasn't all the way out of the way. So she had to stop and rearrange and lay all funky to get it to move out of the way. This was the intense part. She wanted to push so bad and I had to keep her from it. After about 30 minutes she got to try again.
The team came back in and we all repositioned ourselves for Tucker's grand entrance. She pushed through one ten-count and as she started with the second ten-count the nurse said, "Look he's crowning." Before Chris could take the three steps from where he was standing to the bed Tucker was here. The doctor even looked a little startled.
This was it.
This was the moment.
We were parents. All three of us.
Immediately we all three, well four including my sister, were crying. From the moment he was here K said, "there's your son, your son is here." I leaned over and she and I hugged for a long moment as we cried in celebration of Tucker's arrival. Relishing that moment together. That accomplishment together. The love that we both felt for Tucker as his mothers, even though our roles are so different.
As soon as Tucker was clean I got to put on his very first diaper and pick him up. I was already so in love! Chris got to hold him second and then he passed him to K. She looked him over and kissed and loved on him. She then graciously turned and handed him back to me.
After a few quite moments just us, Team Tucker couldn't wait any longer. You would have never known it was 3 a.m. by seeing everyone's excitement and tears. He was passed around between our family and then our family of three made our way to the nursery. This was a part of the process I never thought about because normally the momma has just delivered a baby, but since I hadn't just birthed a child I got to be in there.
We gave him his first bath, which he didn't enjoy much, and by 5 a.m. we got to wheel our baby into our hospital room and just be a family.
Chris slept a little and I laid wide awake and just marveled at this precious baby boy.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD AND OUR FAMILY TUCKER WILLIAM GORDON!
7 lbs. 15 oz, 20 in. long born at 2:50 a.m.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Waiting, Painting, Showers & Stones
There is not any monumental news to report. We've just been working like crazy the last week to get all the little details in order for Tucker. Our birth mom has been having back contractions for several days now so it could really be any time. She thought she was going into labor Sunday night but turned out to be false labor. So we are just on call to head to Lawton at ANY moment.
Last week we painted the nursery and it turned out really cute! I can't wait for our bedding to come in and to put the final touches on the room. The paint came out a little darker then I wanted but when it was all sat and done it looks great. We did stripes on one wall with a monogram done by my sister's friend. I LOVE it! It just adds so much personality to the room. When we started looking a baby boy stuff I thought I wanted to go pretty traditional, but it turns out I don't so much love the pastel "baby" colors. Tucker will be able to grow into his room and the room has a great vibe to it. Chris and I have found ourselves just hanging out in there waiting on Tucker to make the room his own. It was a lot of work, but I think the end result was worth it.
Last weekend our church and our students had showers for us. On Saturday the whole church gave us so much stuff! It was really a cool day. Our families came and got to see the nursery and meet some of our church family. We are so blessed to be apart of FBC Sayre. We have been in some places that were not so great so we really appreciate having a church home and family. Finding that is different when you are on staff at a church. We are just blessed to have found that. Tucker has so many grandma's already and we're so glad he will be loved by so many! On Sunday night our youth threw us a shower. All by themselves! They had food, cake, drinks, games and gifts. They did an AMAZING job! I'd put our kids up against anyones. They are all so excited to be apart of Tuck's life and already love him so much. They got us TONS of diapers, wipes and other really practical things that are great. One of our 8th girls even MADE Tucker a blanket...I cried when I opened it. I mean just super sweet! So I think as far as "stuff" goes we're covered.
On Sunday morning about 5 a.m. I woke up having some major pain and I knew I was trying to pass my 3rd kidney stone. I waited a couple of hours until Chris's alarm went off and told him I thought we needed to go to the ER because my doctor had told me they weren't going to pass on their own. We went, got a shot and a script for pain meds and came home. I tried to rest until time for our shower that night. I went to the shower and shortly after we got home I started puking and we decided to go back to the ER. I was miserable to say the least. We got the call from our Birth Mom as I was laying on the gurney in the ER. When she called I just cried! I didn't want to be in the delivery room feeling like I was dying while our son was being born! So we waited and heard she wasn't in labor. We were super relieved. They admitted me to the hospital and we stayed until around lunch time yesterday. The diagnosis is that I have a good sized stone at the top of my uritor and until it moves they can't do anything because the procedure that I need isn't cover by our insurance and costs $25,000 so our only option is to wait. Now this wouldn't be great news at any time but when your baby is coming sometime in the next week it really presents a problem! I know there is a reason for all of this but it's hard to see. Please pray that this stone passes quickly and on its own! I'm in pain but my larger concern is having to deal with all of this after Tucker comes or when he comes.
I think that's pretty much it! I'll upload some nursery and shower pictures soon.
Last week we painted the nursery and it turned out really cute! I can't wait for our bedding to come in and to put the final touches on the room. The paint came out a little darker then I wanted but when it was all sat and done it looks great. We did stripes on one wall with a monogram done by my sister's friend. I LOVE it! It just adds so much personality to the room. When we started looking a baby boy stuff I thought I wanted to go pretty traditional, but it turns out I don't so much love the pastel "baby" colors. Tucker will be able to grow into his room and the room has a great vibe to it. Chris and I have found ourselves just hanging out in there waiting on Tucker to make the room his own. It was a lot of work, but I think the end result was worth it.
Last weekend our church and our students had showers for us. On Saturday the whole church gave us so much stuff! It was really a cool day. Our families came and got to see the nursery and meet some of our church family. We are so blessed to be apart of FBC Sayre. We have been in some places that were not so great so we really appreciate having a church home and family. Finding that is different when you are on staff at a church. We are just blessed to have found that. Tucker has so many grandma's already and we're so glad he will be loved by so many! On Sunday night our youth threw us a shower. All by themselves! They had food, cake, drinks, games and gifts. They did an AMAZING job! I'd put our kids up against anyones. They are all so excited to be apart of Tuck's life and already love him so much. They got us TONS of diapers, wipes and other really practical things that are great. One of our 8th girls even MADE Tucker a blanket...I cried when I opened it. I mean just super sweet! So I think as far as "stuff" goes we're covered.
On Sunday morning about 5 a.m. I woke up having some major pain and I knew I was trying to pass my 3rd kidney stone. I waited a couple of hours until Chris's alarm went off and told him I thought we needed to go to the ER because my doctor had told me they weren't going to pass on their own. We went, got a shot and a script for pain meds and came home. I tried to rest until time for our shower that night. I went to the shower and shortly after we got home I started puking and we decided to go back to the ER. I was miserable to say the least. We got the call from our Birth Mom as I was laying on the gurney in the ER. When she called I just cried! I didn't want to be in the delivery room feeling like I was dying while our son was being born! So we waited and heard she wasn't in labor. We were super relieved. They admitted me to the hospital and we stayed until around lunch time yesterday. The diagnosis is that I have a good sized stone at the top of my uritor and until it moves they can't do anything because the procedure that I need isn't cover by our insurance and costs $25,000 so our only option is to wait. Now this wouldn't be great news at any time but when your baby is coming sometime in the next week it really presents a problem! I know there is a reason for all of this but it's hard to see. Please pray that this stone passes quickly and on its own! I'm in pain but my larger concern is having to deal with all of this after Tucker comes or when he comes.
I think that's pretty much it! I'll upload some nursery and shower pictures soon.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Ultrasound
Yesterday my Mom and I got to see our Tucker on the ultrasound. It was pretty amazing and it wasn't even one of the fancy ones, just a regular one.
We got to see his profile.
What his little foot looks like,
His face. How much he weighs right now, & that he is DEFIANTLY a boy! (I'll leave that picture off to save future humiliation) It was such a fun experience and I'm so glad I got to share it with my mom.
Golf season has put a slight damper on Chris getting to do everything with me, which I understand but still makes me a little sad. I'm used to doing everything with him because his job schedule is pretty flexible so it's rough on me when he can't get away. But he had a tournament yesterday in Weatherford so it was just one of those things. (Got 3rd place! Way to go Coach G & Boys)
However last night he decided to drive to Purcell because he couldn't wait to see me and pictures of Tucker. He was so cute when he got here last night. He went straight to the computer and had me explain what he was looking at as he looked through the pictures one at a time over and over. He's a cute Daddy-to-be!
After the ultrasound my mom and I made a Hobby Lobby stop and got several really fun/cute things! I got to pick out fabric that my Aunt Teresa is going to use to make Tuck a quilt and it's uber cute! I also stocked up on some half off frames and several other little projects for Tuck's Welcoming Parties. This baby shopping is so fun! Few things are actually as good as you imagine them to be, but this truly is! We're spending today with family, although I'm sure some more shopping might sneak in too!
We got to see his profile.
What his little foot looks like,
His face. How much he weighs right now, & that he is DEFIANTLY a boy! (I'll leave that picture off to save future humiliation) It was such a fun experience and I'm so glad I got to share it with my mom.
Golf season has put a slight damper on Chris getting to do everything with me, which I understand but still makes me a little sad. I'm used to doing everything with him because his job schedule is pretty flexible so it's rough on me when he can't get away. But he had a tournament yesterday in Weatherford so it was just one of those things. (Got 3rd place! Way to go Coach G & Boys)
However last night he decided to drive to Purcell because he couldn't wait to see me and pictures of Tucker. He was so cute when he got here last night. He went straight to the computer and had me explain what he was looking at as he looked through the pictures one at a time over and over. He's a cute Daddy-to-be!
After the ultrasound my mom and I made a Hobby Lobby stop and got several really fun/cute things! I got to pick out fabric that my Aunt Teresa is going to use to make Tuck a quilt and it's uber cute! I also stocked up on some half off frames and several other little projects for Tuck's Welcoming Parties. This baby shopping is so fun! Few things are actually as good as you imagine them to be, but this truly is! We're spending today with family, although I'm sure some more shopping might sneak in too!
Friday, April 2, 2010
FAITH
A certain amount of faith goes into most things in life. But with adoption you have to have an extra dose because of the amount of trust involved with both sides. We have to trust that our birth mom has been honest with information about her child and that she will do what she says she's going to do. And she has to believe that we will follow through with what we've said we'll do. And even though there haven't been any signs either way, it's still hard to believe a total stranger sometimes. Different days I feel different things and today I'm just a little nervous that something could go wrong. Not that I think it's going to, but just that doubt that creeps in sometimes is getting to me today. Which is interesting because today is Good Friday, a day of victory! My attitude needs to change from one of doubt to one of victory!
Yesterday I got to go to a doctor's appointment with our Birth Mom. I got to hear Tucker's heartbeat for about a minute and tried to let Chris hear it over the phone. Her doctor was really great and super sweet! He asked me several questions and was very excited to meet me and to finalize our birth plans. It was a great day! It was another big day. But then again everyday these days seems to be big. It was a wonderful sound that I could've listened to all day! I taped it but I'm not sure how to get it on here, I'll work on it!
I also got to meet some of our Birth Mom's family, which was a pleasure. They had several questions for me, naturally. But overall I think that meeting went well too.
But one of the most exciting things is that today I get to go back to the doctor with our Birth Mom for an ultrasound! I did not expect them to do another ultrasound this late in her pregnancy but they scheduled it yesterday. I can't wait to see our baby's face and feet and hands and everything else! I thought this would be something I didn't get to have with this baby but our Birth Mom is just so gracious to us. Chris has a golf tournament today so once again he won't get to be there, but I'll tape that too so maybe tomorrow there will be two videos!
Yesterday I got to go to a doctor's appointment with our Birth Mom. I got to hear Tucker's heartbeat for about a minute and tried to let Chris hear it over the phone. Her doctor was really great and super sweet! He asked me several questions and was very excited to meet me and to finalize our birth plans. It was a great day! It was another big day. But then again everyday these days seems to be big. It was a wonderful sound that I could've listened to all day! I taped it but I'm not sure how to get it on here, I'll work on it!
I also got to meet some of our Birth Mom's family, which was a pleasure. They had several questions for me, naturally. But overall I think that meeting went well too.
But one of the most exciting things is that today I get to go back to the doctor with our Birth Mom for an ultrasound! I did not expect them to do another ultrasound this late in her pregnancy but they scheduled it yesterday. I can't wait to see our baby's face and feet and hands and everything else! I thought this would be something I didn't get to have with this baby but our Birth Mom is just so gracious to us. Chris has a golf tournament today so once again he won't get to be there, but I'll tape that too so maybe tomorrow there will be two videos!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Meeting our Birth Mom
We got to meet our Birth Mom Saturday and it went better then expected. In the beginning everyone was a little uncomfortable and nervous, but as the hour and half went on we all relaxed and got to know each other a little bit. She is as sweet as can be and a very good mother to her nine month old daughter. She has a had a hard life and is just unable to provide for herself and two children. The highlight, for me, of our time together was asking her if she'd pick Tucker's middle name. We felt like she deserved that and that he would always be honored that he had a name from us and from his Birth Mom. She was blown away. You could tell she was not expecting that, but that she really wanted to do it. She invited me to go to the doctor with her Thursday. This is the first week of her every week appointments and I'll get to hear Tucker's heartbeat! I'm so excited I can hardly wait for Thursday to get here. Everything we have hoped for our Birth Mom has offered. We haven't had to ask for anything but she has said that she wants us to hold him first, to cut his umbilical cord, to stay at the hospital with him, that our families can come and visit in the hospital just anything we've thought we'd like to happen, but would've never expected she is graciously offering. At the end of our meal together we exchanged phone numbers and got to visit a little while yesterday. She is just such a sweet blessing! I really think in time we made add her and her daughter to the family as well! This is another answered prayer. I've been asking God to give us the opportunity to be a blessing to our Birth Mom like she has blessed us and the Lord gave us a teenager who only has a foster family herself to love and encourage. Continue to pray for our Birth Mom as she faces the last days of her pregnancy!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Baby Business
I've had baby fever for three solid years now and we've been trying that long. April will be three years since we took any preventative measures. It's been hard, really hard sometimes. It's tough to see others getting what you want so desperately, but through this time I've been able to see why God tarried in certain times in our life. But since moving to Sayre in October of 2008 it's been harder to see why God hasn't allowed us to create life. I've been to doctors and been on medicine and celebrated with what seems like a million friends as they have become Mommies, all to no avail.
At the end of October of 2009 I went to Women of Faith with our church. I went to hang out with grown-ups and was fairly overwhelmed and uncomfortable because it's so different from the youth events I'm used to. But Stephen Curtis Chapmen performed and he talked about adoption and his family's story and it just broke my heart. I spent a summer in Africa in college and I knew then someday I wanted to adopt but both Chris and I thought it would be later. Ya know how we like to plan things? Well our plan was to get married, have a couple kids of our own, & THEN adopt from Zambia. But the Lord has a weird sense of humor and His plans, as usual, were a little different from ours. I came home from that conference hesitant to talk to Chris about adopting. He told me he needed to focus on one thing at a time so I held it in for about a week. When I couldn't wait to talk to him about it any longer I approached the subject with great sensitivity only to find out he'd too had it on his heart. In the days following we started checking into local agencies. I knew I wanted an infant so DHS wouldn't be the route we'd take. All contacts pointed to one place... Deaconess Pregnancy & Adoption in Oklahoma City. We called, got on their website & finally applied in November. We just fell in love with them and their approach. All roads seemed to lead to DPAS for us. The first step was to attend a weekend educational conference in February so in the mean time we talked with family members and researched and tried to prepare. After the conference in February we filled out a mountain of paper work and have just been waiting for our approval.
Until this week. Everything changed this week.
When we got home last weekend from our CRAZY ski trip our FBI background checks were waiting on us and we were so excited! They told us it would take 6-8 weeks to get those babies back so we were elated when they arrived in only 3 weeks. On Monday I mailed those in along with our profile book.
DPAS received our FBI Background Checks, our profile book, our last reference letter & our DHS background check all on Tuesday. That NEVER happens! Tuesday evening we get an email saying that they are ready to move forward and wanted to do our Home Study soon because there are birth mom's approaching their due dates and aren't matched. So we celebrated! We were so excited for things to be moving along so smoothly.
Wednesday was Golf Coach Chris Gordon's first tournament and to top it off Sayre was the host so to say he's been stressed this week would be a massive understatement. So we both spent Wednesday at the golf course. Around 3:30 he was tallying scores and things were hectic. There were nearly 100 people in a space that was designed to maybe hold 30. I was sitting by watching him do his thing and I got a phone call from a number I'd seen before that day. Holly from DPAS called earlier Wednesday to set up our home study so I assumed she was calling me back to tell me something else. When I answered it wasn't Holly, it was Dierdre. Now I thought this was wierd but I figured she had a question for me so I fought my way through a cloud of high school golfers and got to where I could hear her. Then she said words I'll never forget..."I have someone here who has some good news for you!" I knew then. I started crying, no weeping. Uncontrollably. Shocked. Then a soft voice came through the line and she introduced herself and then told me that she was having a baby boy on April 20th and she'd like to place him in our home!!! I couldn't even form words to express my humble gratitudte to this wonderful stranger! She had looked at our book Tuesday evening and chosen us. I ran to grab Chris, pushing my way through a sea of boys and grabbing him as I tried desperately, but without success to pull myself together. I pulled him outside and handed him the phone and our Birth Mom shared the news with him. We both were just overwhelmed because we didn't think DPAS could even show our book to anyone until after our home study, but they did!
WE ARE HAVING A BABY BOY IN LESS THEN A MONTH!!!!
As soon as we got home we began calling family and sharing our news. Everyone just freaked out and we all still are. Things are helter skelter for sure as we scurry to do in three weeks what most have 9 months to accomplish but we have the most wonderful families & church family to help us.
I spent Thursday talking with people about shower dates, making invite lists, picking our nursery decor, crying several times throughout the day with my mom and sister, and trying to obsorb all of this miracle.
Today, Friday, we are in Purcell & are going to spend the day registering for baby stuff. Whirlwind doesn't even begin to describe this feeling, but it's the greatest one I've ever had.
I'm going to be a Momma. In 25-ish days. To a Baby Boy who we are naming Tucker. We just feel so incredibly blessed!
A little background on Tuck: his Birth Mom is Mexican & Native American and his Birth Dad is African American. His Birth Mom's Mother died when she was 12 and she spent her teenage years in foster care with a Korean family. She had a baby girl in June of 2009 (do the math!) and is only 19. She knows she can't parent both of these children. Tucker hasn't been exposed to ANY drugs or alcohol during the pregnancy and our Birth Mom has been to the OBGYN since her second month. We get to meet her tomorrow! She wants us in the delivery room & at the hospital, but after that is unsure about how much of a relationship she wants with us & Tucker. She is my hero and I love her so much without even meeting her!
Please pray for us! The next few weeks are going to be insanely crazy! Here are a few specifics...
- Continued Safety for Tucker and his Birth Mom
- That things will go smoothly tomorrow and we would bond with her instantly & easily
- That she has been honest and will follow through with her commitment
- Finances! Since it is so much faster then we thought God is going to have to provide!
- For us. That we would not only get all the preparations done for physical things but that we would also be prepared emotionally & spiritually. And that we would be able to remember these days with great clarity so we can continue to tell what God has done!
TO HIM BE THE GLORY!!!
At the end of October of 2009 I went to Women of Faith with our church. I went to hang out with grown-ups and was fairly overwhelmed and uncomfortable because it's so different from the youth events I'm used to. But Stephen Curtis Chapmen performed and he talked about adoption and his family's story and it just broke my heart. I spent a summer in Africa in college and I knew then someday I wanted to adopt but both Chris and I thought it would be later. Ya know how we like to plan things? Well our plan was to get married, have a couple kids of our own, & THEN adopt from Zambia. But the Lord has a weird sense of humor and His plans, as usual, were a little different from ours. I came home from that conference hesitant to talk to Chris about adopting. He told me he needed to focus on one thing at a time so I held it in for about a week. When I couldn't wait to talk to him about it any longer I approached the subject with great sensitivity only to find out he'd too had it on his heart. In the days following we started checking into local agencies. I knew I wanted an infant so DHS wouldn't be the route we'd take. All contacts pointed to one place... Deaconess Pregnancy & Adoption in Oklahoma City. We called, got on their website & finally applied in November. We just fell in love with them and their approach. All roads seemed to lead to DPAS for us. The first step was to attend a weekend educational conference in February so in the mean time we talked with family members and researched and tried to prepare. After the conference in February we filled out a mountain of paper work and have just been waiting for our approval.
Until this week. Everything changed this week.
When we got home last weekend from our CRAZY ski trip our FBI background checks were waiting on us and we were so excited! They told us it would take 6-8 weeks to get those babies back so we were elated when they arrived in only 3 weeks. On Monday I mailed those in along with our profile book.
DPAS received our FBI Background Checks, our profile book, our last reference letter & our DHS background check all on Tuesday. That NEVER happens! Tuesday evening we get an email saying that they are ready to move forward and wanted to do our Home Study soon because there are birth mom's approaching their due dates and aren't matched. So we celebrated! We were so excited for things to be moving along so smoothly.
Wednesday was Golf Coach Chris Gordon's first tournament and to top it off Sayre was the host so to say he's been stressed this week would be a massive understatement. So we both spent Wednesday at the golf course. Around 3:30 he was tallying scores and things were hectic. There were nearly 100 people in a space that was designed to maybe hold 30. I was sitting by watching him do his thing and I got a phone call from a number I'd seen before that day. Holly from DPAS called earlier Wednesday to set up our home study so I assumed she was calling me back to tell me something else. When I answered it wasn't Holly, it was Dierdre. Now I thought this was wierd but I figured she had a question for me so I fought my way through a cloud of high school golfers and got to where I could hear her. Then she said words I'll never forget..."I have someone here who has some good news for you!" I knew then. I started crying, no weeping. Uncontrollably. Shocked. Then a soft voice came through the line and she introduced herself and then told me that she was having a baby boy on April 20th and she'd like to place him in our home!!! I couldn't even form words to express my humble gratitudte to this wonderful stranger! She had looked at our book Tuesday evening and chosen us. I ran to grab Chris, pushing my way through a sea of boys and grabbing him as I tried desperately, but without success to pull myself together. I pulled him outside and handed him the phone and our Birth Mom shared the news with him. We both were just overwhelmed because we didn't think DPAS could even show our book to anyone until after our home study, but they did!
WE ARE HAVING A BABY BOY IN LESS THEN A MONTH!!!!
As soon as we got home we began calling family and sharing our news. Everyone just freaked out and we all still are. Things are helter skelter for sure as we scurry to do in three weeks what most have 9 months to accomplish but we have the most wonderful families & church family to help us.
I spent Thursday talking with people about shower dates, making invite lists, picking our nursery decor, crying several times throughout the day with my mom and sister, and trying to obsorb all of this miracle.
Today, Friday, we are in Purcell & are going to spend the day registering for baby stuff. Whirlwind doesn't even begin to describe this feeling, but it's the greatest one I've ever had.
I'm going to be a Momma. In 25-ish days. To a Baby Boy who we are naming Tucker. We just feel so incredibly blessed!
A little background on Tuck: his Birth Mom is Mexican & Native American and his Birth Dad is African American. His Birth Mom's Mother died when she was 12 and she spent her teenage years in foster care with a Korean family. She had a baby girl in June of 2009 (do the math!) and is only 19. She knows she can't parent both of these children. Tucker hasn't been exposed to ANY drugs or alcohol during the pregnancy and our Birth Mom has been to the OBGYN since her second month. We get to meet her tomorrow! She wants us in the delivery room & at the hospital, but after that is unsure about how much of a relationship she wants with us & Tucker. She is my hero and I love her so much without even meeting her!
Please pray for us! The next few weeks are going to be insanely crazy! Here are a few specifics...
- Continued Safety for Tucker and his Birth Mom
- That things will go smoothly tomorrow and we would bond with her instantly & easily
- That she has been honest and will follow through with her commitment
- Finances! Since it is so much faster then we thought God is going to have to provide!
- For us. That we would not only get all the preparations done for physical things but that we would also be prepared emotionally & spiritually. And that we would be able to remember these days with great clarity so we can continue to tell what God has done!
TO HIM BE THE GLORY!!!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Ski Trip '10: Warning it's LONG!
So I've felt like I haven't had anything "blog worthy" to write about for a long time. There are things going on, but I'm just not quite ready to release them to the whole wide world. But even as this trip was unfolding I was thinking...BLOG POST!
I'll start from the beginning... About a month ago a family from our church invited us to go skiing with them in Pagosa Springs, CO at Wolf Creek. We went back and forth about going or not because we've been trying to save as much money as possible for some other goals. But in the end we decided we'd go. It's hard to turn down a ski trip where all you have to pay for is gas, rentals & lift tickets. The plan was we'd leave as soon as church was over last Sunday, but Chris was sick so we didn't leave until Tuesday morning. Again after much deliberation.
We skied half a day Wednesday and things were going well. That night we went to the natural hot springs and soaked our sore muscles, it was wonderful! Thursday was going to be everyone's last day to ski so we got up and at it early. Chris and I both decided to get different boots because ours were hurting the day before. After a little while we got our skis on and up on the lift. As we started to get off the lift I heard Chris smack against the icy ramp. I thought to myself, "Great way to start the day!" I'm not so sympathetic, especially with my husband, until I realized he couldn't talk. The ski patrol and lift operators rushed over to him and were asking all kinds of questions and he couldn't answer. That scared me! But as they continued to check him out he came around and we thought was going to still be able to ski. But Chris ended up getting a free ride to the bottom of the hill curtsey of Steve with Wolf Creek ski patrol.
We both spent the rest of the day at the lodge because I was worried about my little husband. The next day was Friday. We knew a storm was supposed to hit Oklahoma so we decided to come home early. We left Pagosa around 2 p.m. and thought we'd be at least an hour or two ahead of all nasty weather. We made it about four hours to Clines Corners, New Mexico.
About three miles north of the gas station that is that town we slid off into the ditch. Chris handled things wonderfully and I really wasn't too worried. A very nice man saw us go off the road and turned around to pull us out. We decided to stop at Clines Corners and go to the bathroom and fill up before heading east on I-40. Much to our dismay the interstate was closed right before we arrived. So we debated our options: wait it out in our car, try to drive 30-ish miles west and try to find a hotel, or navigate around I-40. All the while the storm getting worse. We opted for option #1. A night in our car. Neither of us had ever slept in our car before so we knew we were in for an adventure!
After a lovely dinner from Subway, compliments of the gas station we got settled in for the night. It was funny to watch the hysteria that people were feeling. I mean buying bags of sandwiches just in case we were there for days or something! I've never seen Subway be such a hot commodity before! It really could've been a lot worse! We could've had our youth with us, been left on the side of the road, or I could've been by myself. We made some serious memories! We read a book, we laughed and I self medicated. I soon realized sleep wasn't going to come on it's own so I took a tylenol PM and slept well till about 4 am. We slept in our coats with the car running and a window cracked. The Element really wasn't too bad! I mean it wouldn't be my first choice, but we definitely got a much earlier start on Saturday then we would've otherwise. We got on I-40 about 6:30 Saturday morning. We drove several hours to Santa Rosa, NM and stopped here for breakfast.
I just wanted to be out of the car! Plus this place is the kind of place that my husband LOVES! He wishes he could host Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, I think that is his dream job. We also used this stop as an opportunity to "freshen-up."
We were able to make the rest of the trip without incident. It was a super LONG trip but definitely a memory we won't soon forget. After only 26 hours we arrived back in Sayre. (It should've only taken 10 hours) We picked up our dog, showered, and got to sleep in OUR bed. Never underestimate the power of your own bed! It works wonders! Here we are all clean & ready for bed in our bed. A happy family once again!
I'll start from the beginning... About a month ago a family from our church invited us to go skiing with them in Pagosa Springs, CO at Wolf Creek. We went back and forth about going or not because we've been trying to save as much money as possible for some other goals. But in the end we decided we'd go. It's hard to turn down a ski trip where all you have to pay for is gas, rentals & lift tickets. The plan was we'd leave as soon as church was over last Sunday, but Chris was sick so we didn't leave until Tuesday morning. Again after much deliberation.
We skied half a day Wednesday and things were going well. That night we went to the natural hot springs and soaked our sore muscles, it was wonderful! Thursday was going to be everyone's last day to ski so we got up and at it early. Chris and I both decided to get different boots because ours were hurting the day before. After a little while we got our skis on and up on the lift. As we started to get off the lift I heard Chris smack against the icy ramp. I thought to myself, "Great way to start the day!" I'm not so sympathetic, especially with my husband, until I realized he couldn't talk. The ski patrol and lift operators rushed over to him and were asking all kinds of questions and he couldn't answer. That scared me! But as they continued to check him out he came around and we thought was going to still be able to ski. But Chris ended up getting a free ride to the bottom of the hill curtsey of Steve with Wolf Creek ski patrol.
We both spent the rest of the day at the lodge because I was worried about my little husband. The next day was Friday. We knew a storm was supposed to hit Oklahoma so we decided to come home early. We left Pagosa around 2 p.m. and thought we'd be at least an hour or two ahead of all nasty weather. We made it about four hours to Clines Corners, New Mexico.
About three miles north of the gas station that is that town we slid off into the ditch. Chris handled things wonderfully and I really wasn't too worried. A very nice man saw us go off the road and turned around to pull us out. We decided to stop at Clines Corners and go to the bathroom and fill up before heading east on I-40. Much to our dismay the interstate was closed right before we arrived. So we debated our options: wait it out in our car, try to drive 30-ish miles west and try to find a hotel, or navigate around I-40. All the while the storm getting worse. We opted for option #1. A night in our car. Neither of us had ever slept in our car before so we knew we were in for an adventure!
After a lovely dinner from Subway, compliments of the gas station we got settled in for the night. It was funny to watch the hysteria that people were feeling. I mean buying bags of sandwiches just in case we were there for days or something! I've never seen Subway be such a hot commodity before! It really could've been a lot worse! We could've had our youth with us, been left on the side of the road, or I could've been by myself. We made some serious memories! We read a book, we laughed and I self medicated. I soon realized sleep wasn't going to come on it's own so I took a tylenol PM and slept well till about 4 am. We slept in our coats with the car running and a window cracked. The Element really wasn't too bad! I mean it wouldn't be my first choice, but we definitely got a much earlier start on Saturday then we would've otherwise. We got on I-40 about 6:30 Saturday morning. We drove several hours to Santa Rosa, NM and stopped here for breakfast.
I just wanted to be out of the car! Plus this place is the kind of place that my husband LOVES! He wishes he could host Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, I think that is his dream job. We also used this stop as an opportunity to "freshen-up."
We were able to make the rest of the trip without incident. It was a super LONG trip but definitely a memory we won't soon forget. After only 26 hours we arrived back in Sayre. (It should've only taken 10 hours) We picked up our dog, showered, and got to sleep in OUR bed. Never underestimate the power of your own bed! It works wonders! Here we are all clean & ready for bed in our bed. A happy family once again!
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