Milestone

I just had to make a note that we are under the month mark on the little counter : )

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Count your blessings, I know we are!!



Coleen

Daddy speaks...

So the time has come for the father to be, to finally add his thoughts to this great blog that Coleen has created. (*She has done a great job so far!!)
I am so excited that in exactly 1 month, Ella is supposed to be born! That is going to be the best day of my life (our lives), so it cannot come too soon!.....I wish it was tomorrow. Marla sent us a text with a picture of her belly on it tonight, and it looks like Ella is going to be huge!! (jk). It is so awesome that Marla feels so comfortable calling us all the time, it makes me feel a lot better and it eases both of our nerves. We leave in 3 weeks (OMG), so Coleen has washed all of Ella's clothes and our princess' suitcase is packed! She is going to look so darn cute in all of the outfits that Coleen has chosen. I would like to thank all of the folks that have bought and handed-down so many great clothes and things, we could not wish for better friends or family! (We love you guys!)

Speaking of which, we finally got our crib and dresser built this weekend! Ella's room is coming together rather nicely, and I would like to thank my parents for helping us out with the furniture! (*You can all see it on the video attachment, and let us know what you think) When I was building it yesterday, so many thoughts (or moments) were going through my head. I could imagine Ella sleeping in the crib, with Col and I standing at the doorway just watching. Ella looking up at me with a huge smile as I change her poopy diaper, then put her into some fresh warm clothes. I cannot wait for her first step, her first laugh, the first time she falls asleep on my six-pack stomach (sounds better than beer-belly! :) ). Then I looked around the room, and just sat there and listened to the quietness....and figured that this might be one of the last times that it would be this way! I have always been jealous of all my friends that have had the pleasure of holding their baby, and watching them as they grow up.....and now my chance is only 1 month away!! I am a little scared because I have no idea what I am doing, but I will jump in head-first and just do the best job of loving and caring for her as I can.

Thank you for checking in on our blog, we are blessed to have so many people supporting and loving us!

4 years ago

What would I do without my friends : ) I was sitting at my desk today and the phone rang. It was Yvette to wish me a happy anniversary. I said for what and she said the day you and gordon got engaged. WHAT?? Why does she know this and I don't? So happens, she and Bill were engaged the same day (different year), so it stuck in her head. So, I get home and see on my calendar that I had it written down for the 22nd. I looked it up and sure enough Yvette is right!! Not that I doubted her, I just have to prove it (Meissner trait).

4 years ago Gord drove me up to Sedona (in a thunder storm) to go on a jeep tour. He told me it was free (he knows I'm cheap) from someone he worked that couldn't use it. As we were driving up there I kept telling him that it will be cancelled due to the rain. He kept saying he didn't think so (knowing all the money he put up for this weekend, they wouldn't dare!!). We parked the car and started walking torward the jeep company. It was cold so I wanted to put my hand in Gord's pocket (attempting to have a romantic walk in the rain). I've never seen Gordon reacted so quickly. He karate chopped my hand and my purse went flying into a puddle. He said "what are you doing???". I said "I was cold", he said "You have your own pockets!!". So, I picked up my dripping purse, put my hands in my OWN pockets and thought what an a**hole!! : ) Little did I know he wasn't an a**hole, he was just hiding a beautiful ring in that special pocket. The tour company provided rain coats and we were the only one's on our jeep (he planned this and paid extra, I just thought no one else wanted to sit in an open jeep in the rain). The tour got better. When we arrived at the top of the trail, the driver advised us that this was a nice stop to take pictures. He offered to take ours. So, we walked down a little on this flat piece of red rock and I was standing down looking up and smiling at Tony (the driver). Gord was not looking at him. I kept saying he wants to take our picture, look at him... I looked a Gord and he had teary eyes and he said "That isn't really why we are here" . At that moment he dropped to one knee and said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me... Now it all made sense! It was a GREAT day.

I love you, Gord!!!

1 month, 1 week! (New Pics)

Mia, Marla's Uncle, Ma'Kai, and Marla

Ma'kai

Mia

5 weeks left and we leave in about 4! Time is flying now. We have furniture to put together, shelves to hang, clothes to wash, bags to pack, holidays to celebrate (including Glitter Day) etc... This all makes me want to take a nap. We have 4 more weekends, but of course we don't want to count on all of them because we all know she can have a surprise appearance early! That is Gord's prediction. Marla called us yesterday. She wanted to tell us that she sent us some updated pics. She looks great! The way she talks I thought she would be as big as a house. She must exaggerate as much as Ella's "other" mom : )

Music!!

I finally figured out how to add music to this blog!! It is a short playlist for now, as I am running out of free time. I just added some of the inspirational songs that have gotten me through some tough times. The one song I want to explain is "When I first saw you"... from the Dreamgirls soundtrack. Back in the day, during one of our invitro cycles (#3 I believe), I was addicted to this soundtrack. But one day I heard this song totally different. It wasn't a song from a man to a woman or vice versa, it was a song to my baby! I kept playing it over and over and crying imagining the moment I saw him or her. I will never hear the song again, as it was originally intended. Welcome to my heart!!

Enjoy!

(If only Gord and I sang like Beyonce and Jamie Foxx, or looked like for that matter!!)

Busy Day!

Today we went to an adoption seminar at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Unlike other adoption seminars we have attended, this was not on the process, but more on the after... Bonding, attachment, breastfeeding (yes it is possible), adoptive parent's experiences etc... We heard many stories, but our favorite speaker was the lady that had an open domestic adoption. Hearing her talk about the awkward first meeting with the birthmother and the relationship that grew, really hit home. She spoke about the birth, the signing of the papers and how emotional it was for all. We realized we have so much left to go through. We are so happy we have so much support out there. Thank you. We ran into a couple that we had met in our infertility support group. It was great to see that we are both on a new path to parenthood. We wish them luck in their journey to China!! We came home with a lot of reading material and fun gifts! Thank you Cristi, for telling us about this seminar!!

Next stop... Babies R Us... We bought the crib and dresser. They didn't have it in stock. It will be here within 10 days. I can't wait to put the room together. It is a mess now!

As we were in line buying the furniture, my phone started to ring... it was Marla. What a surprise. I was gonna call her today, but she called first! I had to give the phone to Gord as I was in the middle of the transaction. At first I thought "What is wrong??" But then I saw a smile on Gord's face as he spoke to her and knew it was all good. I talked to her for about 30 min. She and her kids were just enjoying some carmel apples... yum! She just went to the doctor this week and everything is going well. She has another appointment 11/21, then it is weekly appts from there. WOW. Final countdown... 6 weeks. She said she ate something sweet this past week and Ella went nuts. Looks like she has a sweet tooth, that's our girl!! I just hope she likes her sweets frozen : ) She said she has some recent pics to send us of the family. So, when she emails them, I will post some. It was great to hear from her! Nice to know she thinks of us as much as we think of her.

Next stop... Walmart where there was a flu shot clinic. We were advised by the pediatrician that we should get a flu shot. Neither of us had gotten them in the past, so we didn't know what to expect. It was pretty uneventful!! Hopefully, they will work!

So we just got home. I fed Gord and put him down for his afternoon nap. I think motherhood will come easily, as I have had some practice : ) (We have plans tonight and I don't need him cranky).

Halloween

I know this post is late, but I'M BUSY!!! : )

Gord and I learned something very important this Halloween. We learned if we want to make it as parents and be looked up to by our children, then we need to step it up in the pumpkin carving area. We have gotten to see some friend's and family's pumpkins and ours was tooo simple. I would post the pic, but camera is still not downloading... ARRRGGG (We are buying a new one for December. I have a feeling we will be using it a lot ; )) Yes, the triangle eyes and the smile with two teeth isn't going to impress anyone. Next year we will try harder!! I think this was the first year I didn't burn the seeds, though. So, I am maturing in that area!

Usually, I make Gord buy the candy. He has no guilt and buys the good stuff! I always think "I should buy the stuff that is better for us in case we eat some". BS Well, this year I bought the good stuff and Gord told me the it wasn't possible to OVER buy. I proved him wrong. Even though we had a lot of kids come to the house, we had a ton left over. I'm happy to say, it is gone now : ) Silly me thought we would eat it slower if I put it in the freezer. I use this strategy with buckets of cookie dough, too. I should know by now that I LIKE IT BETTER FROZEN. A failed strategy, oh well you win some you lose some. When we announced our adoption plans, people would say "at least you don't have to gain weight". I guess I don't HAVE to, but I have : ) Everyone looks better when they come back to work after maternity leave, lets hope I fall into that category!! I am gaining weight with this pregnancy. I am (virtually) carrying the baby low and in the rear... literally. By the looks, it may be twins : )