She's growing!

Olivia says... "Life's good!"

"Mom and Dad got me a nice comfy bouncy seat that I love sleeping in."

"And I have plenty of yummy milk to drink! You can see it in my cheeks, can't you?!"

This is mom... I took Olivia to the doctor for her two week visit and the doctor thought she looked great! She also weighed in at 6lbs. 14oz.! She's packing it on. The nurse measured her at 20 inches long, but I will admit that their method of measuring is less than accurate. That's okay because I can tell you she has definitely grown!

Other Highlights from Utah

Until Olivia came along we didn't think that we would be seeing any real snow this season (except for the snow that was shipped in for the Santa Breakfast). Well, let's just say that Little Robby was in heaven! He loves the snow. I'm not sure where he got his "cold weather lovin' genes" from 'cause it certainly wasn't me! Li'l Robby would be so happy if we moved somewhere where it snowed on a regular basis during the winter.

He would have played outside all day if he could have.

"What fun!" he says.

I do have to admit that he looked pretty cute coming in with his rosy cheeks, though.

I had to throw this one in there because I thought my two little ones looked particularly sweet here. You wouldn't suspect that they had bickered at all in the back seat during the long drive there and back.

Olivia and her first teddy bear

We bought a teddy bear for Olivia, that we decided we are going to use to measure her from month to month. So here is our first installment of Olivia and her teddy bear.

By the way, have I told you yet that I'm in love!

Sweet, sweet Olivia

Okay, so I must admit that when there is a new baby who is so sweet, I just can help wanted to hold her, cuddle her, and admire her, but this time I have to be careful not to make Jenna feel like she has been dethroned.

But who can resist a cute face like this?

Olivia meets Great-Grandma

We had a great time visiting with Great-Grandma on Wednesday. She was in heaven admiring her newest great-grand baby. All the attendants at the facility who came to the door to check on Grandma were introduced to Olivia. As we visited, Grandma figured out that once the babies on the way in the family are born, she will have as many great-grand babies as grandchildren. "Look what Grandpa and I started!" she said.

On our way out, Grandma insisted we show Olivia off to her friends that sit with her at dinner. She was so proud. (Although, I was trying to be cautious of those who tried to reach out and touch her. Babies are irresistible though.)

Sibling Love

Now I need to catch everyone up on the last week of our lives. I will start by showing you how adored Olivia is by her big brother and big sister. Robby tell us he is Olivia's "Big, big brother" because he is a big brother times 2.

Our New Little Olivia's Story

(If you just want to see pictures scroll down)

Everything began Sunday evening. We had gone to church and Robby got home with the kids about 3pm. I stayed for choir till about 4pm. When I got home Robby was napping and so I had dinner and laid down to rest a little myself. Robby and I got to talking and the phone rang about 5pm. I almost didn’t answer it because I figured I could call whoever it was back later. Well, I’m glad I picked up because it was Larry our LDSFS caseworker. At first it didn’t even strike me as strange that he was calling on a Sunday. I had trained myself long ago to not get excited when someone from LDSFS calls because it is quite likely not anything exciting. So he says to me, “You’ll be glad that we caught you at home! There has been a little baby girl born in Utah and the birth parents are interested in choosing you! They would like a conference call as soon as possible.”

Okay, talk about shock, excitement, and emotion all rolled into one moment! As soon as we got off the phone we called the caseworker in Utah. It just so happened that this caseworker was the same caseworker who worked with us when we were placed with Jenna. That was another wonderful surprise! She quickly arranged a call with us and the birthparents who were still at the hospital.

We had a wonderful 45 minute conversation with them. They told us that they chose us because we felt so familiar to them when they saw our website. They were both very easy to talk to and we enjoyed getting to know them. So many things were discussed. Thinking back I remember enjoying hearing their laughter when the discussion was light-hearted, and I was touched by the emotions they shared when we talked about why they were choosing adoption. They were both very in tune to the Spirit as they made their choice, and we felt honored that they wanted us to be Olivia’s parents.

After our call ended at about 6:30pm or 7pm we (or more primarily I) became frazzled trying to pack everything that we might need for a week in Utah while also calling to tell the family and anyone else we needed to notify. We discussed flying and decided against it since it would be WAY expensive for 4 tickets at such short notice. I must admit while packing I felt like I was in a dream and couldn’t get all my thoughts to flow in one comprehensive pattern. By 8:30pm that night we were on the road to the Salt Lake area of Utah. We stopped for the night at midnight in Flagstaff and got up early the next morning to drive from about 7am till 5pm and arrive at the LDSFS agency for placement. The trip at times seemed slow and at times seemed crazy because we were worried for a little about road conditions and about picking up a car seat for baby Olivia. Many thanks go to Andra, Robby’s mom, and my mom for being our information source on the road by checking the internet when we need them to. (Things would have been a lot more hectic without you!)

We arrived just after 5pm and got settled before meeting Olivia’s wonderful birthparents and birth grandparents (on her birthmom’s side). The spirit was so strong in the room. We could see and feel the emotion that Olivia’s birth family felt. There was a sense of peace though as we met together and talked about our lives and their hopes and dreams for little Olivia. When the time felt right, Olivia’s birth family took a private moment to have a final moment with her before placement, and then they handed her to us and we embraced sharing our feelings of gratitude and extreme love for each other. I can’t even think about it without crying. My tears are for joy for Olivia’s arrival in our family and also in grief as I think about the incredible sacrifice that they made for her. Words cannot express our gratitude.

I am sure you are interested in seeing pictures so here they are with thanks to Uncle Tommy for saving us by bring his camera cord so we could download the pictures from our camera (It’s hard to remember everything when you are packing in such haste. :)

Our first moments with Olivia

Our first family picture with baby Olivia

Uncle Tommy says "Hello!" to little Olivia

Sleepy little babe

Showing off her cute little body

Olivia says hello to everyone...

We've adopted a baby girl!

Olivia!

Yes, that's right! We have a new addition to the family as of today! Incredible isn't it?! We didn't even know about her yesterday afternoon and today we are proud adoptive parents. All I can say is that it is a miracle! We can't express in words the love and gratitude that we feel for her wonderful birthparents who we had the honor of meeting. We were also incredibly touched by Olivia's birthgrandparents. Today was more amazing than I can describe. We feel so blessed, but at the same time we want Olivia's parents to know that we are in awe of their amazing courage and you are in our prayers. Adoption is a miracle!


Okay, so you probably want some stats... Olivia was born on January 11th at 11pm, and she weighed 5lbs. 15oz. and was 18 1/2 inches. She is a petite little girl, so she fits in our family since I'm petite as well! We are overjoyed!


Well, it's late and I have a long night ahead, so I will post the rest tommorrow!