From our little pumpkin to you!
My favorite part of the outfit!!Saturday, October 31, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Outing with the neighbors
We love spending time with our neighbors and have made it sort of a tradition to go out to eat with them every few weeks or so. We rotate the restaurant choice between the four of us so we get to try new places that we might not normally try. We always have a GREAT time!
Yesterday we decided it had been too long since our last outing with the neighbors so we agreed to go with them to Michelle's pick and ended up getting yummy breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. This was Miles' first outing with the neighbors. I'm sure there will be many more outings in the future!
Yesterday we decided it had been too long since our last outing with the neighbors so we agreed to go with them to Michelle's pick and ended up getting yummy breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. This was Miles' first outing with the neighbors. I'm sure there will be many more outings in the future!
Miles is sporting a Halloween outfit someone at our church gave us! Too cute!Miles can poop!!!
Miles brings us so much joy! He makes some of the cutest faces and some pretty cute noises as well. I've been trying for weeks to get a video of his "pooping face." We laugh soooo hard when he does this and the other day I was finally able to catch it on video!
Miles is a month old
On October 14th Miles turned one month old. I am copying a friend's idea and am going to take his monthly picture on the chair in his nursery so we can see how much he grows from month to month!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Since we've been home
Miles is growing like a weed! He has gained a lot of weight and is doing really well (I'm keeping track of his development in the right-hand column for those of you who are interested). The following is a recap of what we've been up to for the last four weeks...
First bath at Miles' new home
Look at those curls!
Meeting dad's coworkers
Meeting Mark, a close friend and coworker
Grandma Carr came from Kansas to visit
Grandma Dorothy came from Logan
Miles at the doctor's
Dad helping at Miles' doctor's visit
Michelle (a dear friend and neighbor) threw us a baby shower
The guests of honor
The gorgeous shower cake!!!
Good times!!!
Everyone loved meeting Miles!
Miles loves his swing
Quality time with dad
Tummy time
First bath at Miles' new home
Look at those curls!
Meeting dad's coworkers
Meeting Mark, a close friend and coworker
Grandma Carr came from Kansas to visit
Grandma Dorothy came from Logan
Miles at the doctor's
Dad helping at Miles' doctor's visit
Michelle (a dear friend and neighbor) threw us a baby shower
The guests of honor
The gorgeous shower cake!!!
Good times!!!
Everyone loved meeting Miles!
Miles loves his swing
Quality time with dad
Tummy timeSunday, October 18, 2009
While we waited...
Here are a few things we did and saw while in South Carolina visiting Dave's sister and her family and while we waited for Miles to be able to join our family.
I felt a little claustrophobic while out there. The highways were lined with trees so the view was very limited!
Eating at McDonald's/Chick-Fil-A with Tyler & Carter
Me & the boys
Austin up to bat
Me, Shannon, & half of Ed watching Austin play
Austin pitching
Us on a pier by downtown Charleston
Dave & Shannon
On the phone with the adoption agency (we were on-call all week!!!)
We HAD to go to the beach!!!
Open air market in downtown Charleston
The gang (minus Ed & Austin) in Charleston. I've been meaning to crop this pic, but just haven't done it yet.
Even though we are soaking wet because it had been raining I love love love this pic of us!
Tyler had fun catching the crabs that were everywhere! He even got pinched once or twice.
Relaxing (not sure what I'm doing with my neck in this pic)
The whole gangSunday, October 11, 2009
The rest of the story finale
After we arrived in Raleigh, NC we rented a car and made our way to Rocky Mount which was where Miles was born, approximately an hour away from the airport. At the last minute we decided to not take our previously purchased car seat with us (not exactly sure why we decided this other than we thought it might be easier to just get one when we got there) so when we got to Rocky Mount we found the Walmart and picked up another car seat. We also picked up some white roses to give to Miles' birth mom and then made our way to the hospital. We were sooooooo nervous to meet Miles' birth mom, but very excited at the same time. Both of our stomachs were in knots! Once the caseworker got there we all went to Miles' birth mom's room and spent some time getting to know each other. We even got to meet Mr. Miles and held him briefly. What a neat experience!!!
When it was time for all of the paperwork to be filled out we were taken to a separate room to sign our papers while his birth mom was given her paperwork to sign. The caseworker got us started on our paperwork and then returned to check on her. The caseworker was gone for an extremely long time and I began to worry. When she finally came back she didn't have the best news to give us. She said that Miles' birth mom was confused as to what to do and wasn't sure if she could go through with placing him for adoption. The caseworker talked her through a few things and then was giving her some time to think about all of it before she returned to get her final decision. We sat there and talked to the caseworker during this time. While the caseworker was back in with Miles' birth mom we decided to go down to the cafeteria to get some food. I also called our caseworker in Utah to let her know what was happening. What seemed like an eternity later the caseworker met us in the cafeteria and told us that Miles' birth mom had decided to keep him and parent him herself. We made it to the parking lot and then both broke down in tears. We stood there and held each other and cried. I would have to say that was THE hardest thing we've ever gone through together. I then called my mom to tell her the bad news and could barely make it through that conversation as well. We decided to immediately return the car seat to Walmart. We then were trying to figure out what the next step should be in getting us back to Utah.
We decided that we would drive back to Raleigh to spend the night in a hotel and then the next day travel down to Dave's sister's house which was approximately 4 hours south of Raleigh. In all of our 9 years of marriage we had never been to visit Shannon and her family in SC so we decided since we were so close we needed to take advantage of that and go see her. We got almost all of the way to Raleigh when we got a call from our caseworker in Utah saying that Miles' birth mom was being discharged from the hospital, but was refusing to take Miles home with her because she after all wanted to place him for adoption. We pulled off on the side of the highway and waited for more information to come from the caseworker who had been working with his birth mom. When the caseworker finally called she said the hospital had agreed to keep Miles overnight and that his birth mom would have the night to think about exactly what she wanted to do and then they would meet at the hospital the next morning. His birth mom was not getting much support from her own mother in her decision and so the caseworker thought it would be good for them to spend the evening together talking about her options.
By late morning the next day we received word from the caseworker that his birth mom had made it halfway through her required adoption paperwork and couldn't go any farther. She was still so torn on what decision was the right decision. So, together they came up with another plan. His birth mom would take him home with her and then the next day (a Friday) they would meet again to go over what his birth mom had decided she wanted to do. After we got this call we decided to leave Raleigh and head down to Shannon's to spend some time with her. If we ended up not getting Miles then our plan was to just fly home that weekend, but at least we would've gotten a few days with Shannon and her family.
That Friday was a VERY long day for both of us just waiting and waiting to hear from the caseworker. Friday night at 5:00 p.m. we still hadn't heard anything so I had Dave call to check on things. When Dave got off the phone he informed me that Miles' birth mom had signed the papers and that Miles' was in the process of being taken to the respite care providers house!!! We had previously decided that we would put Miles in respite care because in North Carolina his birth mom had 7 days to revoke her parental rights and change her mind about the adoption. With her having such a hard time making the decision in the first place we thought it would be best to put Miles in respite so that we wouldn't begin to fall in love with him and take care of him, etc. and then possibly lose him. That would've been more than I could handle. The news that she had gone through with it and signed the papers was VERY exciting news for us, but we knew that we still had 7 LONG days to make it through before he would join our family.
We had a great time that next week hanging out with Shannon's family and getting to know them better. We did lots of fun things while we were there (those pictures will come in another post). It was such a blessing to be able to stay with them. It was a nice diversion so we weren't so focused on whether or not we were actually going to get Miles or not. We got periodic updates throughout the week from our caseworker about things that his birth mom continued to struggle with. We also got updates via the adoption agency on how Miles was doing in respite. It was a LONG 7 days for us, but as previously mentioned it was so nice to be at Shannon's house during that time. I could never thank her enough!!!
Late that next Friday evening we got a call from the caseworker and she said that she had no indication from Miles' birth mom that she was going to revoke her rights so we should start getting ready to bring a baby home with us. We were told that we should be at the attorney's office at 11 a.m. on Monday morning to pick him up. She also asked us if it would be okay if his birth mom was there so that she could say her final goodbye. We, of course, agreed and wanted to see her again as well. We spent the next two days getting ready for Miles to join our family. Our neighbors wanted to throw us a shower fairly quickly so we registered at three different stores and also bought all sorts of cute clothes, diapers, wipes, and formula. We were ready!
We both got zero sleep that weekend because we were so excited for this new chapter to begin in our lives. We got up bright and early Monday morning and drove up to Raleigh with Shannon. While at the attorney's office we got to meet Miles' respite care provider, Ann. She is such a cute lady and had fallen madly in love with Miles. She was excited for us to have him join our family. We also got to spend some time with Miles' birth mom and her current boyfriend. After Miles' joined our family we spent the next 24 hours waiting on ICPC approval (NC and Utah both had to approve us to be able to leave NC with Miles and then return to Utah with him) and making our way home. We rented a hotel room that Monday night and were on a plane heading to Utah by late Tuesday afternoon. We had been gone exactly two weeks! It was the best homecoming ever! The second we hit the ground in Salt Lake City I began crying because I was so excited to be bringing this sweet angel home with us and was so excited for our future with him.
We had so many prayers said in our behalf and so many people helping us out along the way! We are truly blessed to have all of you in our lives! Miles has a GREAT group of friends and family to get to know! It is impossible to mention everyone who helped us out during this journey in our lives on our blog (the list is too long), but do know that we are SOOOOOO thankful for all of your love and support!
When it was time for all of the paperwork to be filled out we were taken to a separate room to sign our papers while his birth mom was given her paperwork to sign. The caseworker got us started on our paperwork and then returned to check on her. The caseworker was gone for an extremely long time and I began to worry. When she finally came back she didn't have the best news to give us. She said that Miles' birth mom was confused as to what to do and wasn't sure if she could go through with placing him for adoption. The caseworker talked her through a few things and then was giving her some time to think about all of it before she returned to get her final decision. We sat there and talked to the caseworker during this time. While the caseworker was back in with Miles' birth mom we decided to go down to the cafeteria to get some food. I also called our caseworker in Utah to let her know what was happening. What seemed like an eternity later the caseworker met us in the cafeteria and told us that Miles' birth mom had decided to keep him and parent him herself. We made it to the parking lot and then both broke down in tears. We stood there and held each other and cried. I would have to say that was THE hardest thing we've ever gone through together. I then called my mom to tell her the bad news and could barely make it through that conversation as well. We decided to immediately return the car seat to Walmart. We then were trying to figure out what the next step should be in getting us back to Utah.
We decided that we would drive back to Raleigh to spend the night in a hotel and then the next day travel down to Dave's sister's house which was approximately 4 hours south of Raleigh. In all of our 9 years of marriage we had never been to visit Shannon and her family in SC so we decided since we were so close we needed to take advantage of that and go see her. We got almost all of the way to Raleigh when we got a call from our caseworker in Utah saying that Miles' birth mom was being discharged from the hospital, but was refusing to take Miles home with her because she after all wanted to place him for adoption. We pulled off on the side of the highway and waited for more information to come from the caseworker who had been working with his birth mom. When the caseworker finally called she said the hospital had agreed to keep Miles overnight and that his birth mom would have the night to think about exactly what she wanted to do and then they would meet at the hospital the next morning. His birth mom was not getting much support from her own mother in her decision and so the caseworker thought it would be good for them to spend the evening together talking about her options.
By late morning the next day we received word from the caseworker that his birth mom had made it halfway through her required adoption paperwork and couldn't go any farther. She was still so torn on what decision was the right decision. So, together they came up with another plan. His birth mom would take him home with her and then the next day (a Friday) they would meet again to go over what his birth mom had decided she wanted to do. After we got this call we decided to leave Raleigh and head down to Shannon's to spend some time with her. If we ended up not getting Miles then our plan was to just fly home that weekend, but at least we would've gotten a few days with Shannon and her family.
That Friday was a VERY long day for both of us just waiting and waiting to hear from the caseworker. Friday night at 5:00 p.m. we still hadn't heard anything so I had Dave call to check on things. When Dave got off the phone he informed me that Miles' birth mom had signed the papers and that Miles' was in the process of being taken to the respite care providers house!!! We had previously decided that we would put Miles in respite care because in North Carolina his birth mom had 7 days to revoke her parental rights and change her mind about the adoption. With her having such a hard time making the decision in the first place we thought it would be best to put Miles in respite so that we wouldn't begin to fall in love with him and take care of him, etc. and then possibly lose him. That would've been more than I could handle. The news that she had gone through with it and signed the papers was VERY exciting news for us, but we knew that we still had 7 LONG days to make it through before he would join our family.
We had a great time that next week hanging out with Shannon's family and getting to know them better. We did lots of fun things while we were there (those pictures will come in another post). It was such a blessing to be able to stay with them. It was a nice diversion so we weren't so focused on whether or not we were actually going to get Miles or not. We got periodic updates throughout the week from our caseworker about things that his birth mom continued to struggle with. We also got updates via the adoption agency on how Miles was doing in respite. It was a LONG 7 days for us, but as previously mentioned it was so nice to be at Shannon's house during that time. I could never thank her enough!!!
Late that next Friday evening we got a call from the caseworker and she said that she had no indication from Miles' birth mom that she was going to revoke her rights so we should start getting ready to bring a baby home with us. We were told that we should be at the attorney's office at 11 a.m. on Monday morning to pick him up. She also asked us if it would be okay if his birth mom was there so that she could say her final goodbye. We, of course, agreed and wanted to see her again as well. We spent the next two days getting ready for Miles to join our family. Our neighbors wanted to throw us a shower fairly quickly so we registered at three different stores and also bought all sorts of cute clothes, diapers, wipes, and formula. We were ready!
We both got zero sleep that weekend because we were so excited for this new chapter to begin in our lives. We got up bright and early Monday morning and drove up to Raleigh with Shannon. While at the attorney's office we got to meet Miles' respite care provider, Ann. She is such a cute lady and had fallen madly in love with Miles. She was excited for us to have him join our family. We also got to spend some time with Miles' birth mom and her current boyfriend. After Miles' joined our family we spent the next 24 hours waiting on ICPC approval (NC and Utah both had to approve us to be able to leave NC with Miles and then return to Utah with him) and making our way home. We rented a hotel room that Monday night and were on a plane heading to Utah by late Tuesday afternoon. We had been gone exactly two weeks! It was the best homecoming ever! The second we hit the ground in Salt Lake City I began crying because I was so excited to be bringing this sweet angel home with us and was so excited for our future with him.
We had so many prayers said in our behalf and so many people helping us out along the way! We are truly blessed to have all of you in our lives! Miles has a GREAT group of friends and family to get to know! It is impossible to mention everyone who helped us out during this journey in our lives on our blog (the list is too long), but do know that we are SOOOOOO thankful for all of your love and support!
Getting ready to go in to the attorney's office to pick up Miles!!!
Ann, Miles' respite care provider who he stayed with during the 7 days while we waited to see if his birth mom would change her mind about placing him for adoption
Our first family photo!!!
Our family is complete
Feeding him for the first time
He's OURS!!!
By the time we got done at the attorney's office it was way past lunchtime so the first place we went was to McDonald's for food
Miles & Aunt Shannon
Miles and dad
Our family
Miles' first night with us
The next morning
We finally get to go HOME!!!
Miles & dad at the airport
We thought his "on the go" outfit from Aunt Shannon would be perfect for the occasion
Miles on the airplane
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