Our Journey

Happy Spring, Happy Easter!

2010-03-26T00:07:00.002-05:00

Christmas.....

2009-12-09T10:36:00.000-06:00

This Christmas will be different......
I remember how hard the holidays were a year ago. Right before Christmas was when we decided we were going to adopt, we didn't have any clue how we were going to make everything work, and after going through a year of infertility treatments, having a child just seemed so out of reach and impossible.

Last Christmas there was an emptiness....as I spent time with my mother and with other family members and their mothers, it was kind of a deep reminder that I wanted to be a mother so badly, but I didn't know if and when this would ever even happen. Last Christmas was the hardest Christmas I have ever experienced and I am so happy to say that this Christmas will be the best Christmas of my life!

Today the emptiness and the ache is completely gone! I am so thankful for my wonderful husband and that God made it possible for us to be the parents of a beautiful baby boy who was clearly made for us! We have so much to be thankful for this year because we received the gift of life, our blessing from above!

For me, this Christmas will be different because I have learned to believe in miracles.........Have a Merry Christmas!

Karson Ryan,

2009-12-09T10:24:00.000-06:00

We did not plant you, true.
But when the season is done,
When the alternate prayers
For the sun and for rain are counted,
When the pain of weeding
And the pride of watching are through,
We will hold you high.

A shining leaf
Above the thousand seeds grown wild

Not by our planting,
But by heaven.
Our harvest.
Our own child.

- Debra Nussbaum Cohen

We Finalized!!!

2009-12-09T09:45:00.000-06:00

On November 23rd Karson Ryan officially became part of our family! We couldn't be anymore excited and relieved! Glory be to God!

Something Perfect

2009-09-24T20:16:00.000-05:00

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our Adventure Part 1

2009-09-17T13:02:00.000-05:00

We made it to Salt Lake City! After driving through 3 states, 15 hours, lots of bathroom breaks, and lots of phone calls, we finally made it safe and sound. Yesterday was a very intense day because while we were on our way we found out our birthmom did not get on her flight! We thought, "now what!" turn around and head toward Ohio or keep heading in the same direction and trust in God that he will take care of it.

After finding out she didn't get on the plane I had a sick feeling and my stomach churned for hours....I just wanted to break down and cry, but instead I prayed and prayed and prayed! We kept driving and about 7 hours later I called our birthmom and she said the cab was sitting outside her door to take her to the airport to catch a later flight, I felt a sense of relief come over me, but then she informed me that her child care provider was MIA and the fight was to leaving an hour from then!!! The sick churning feeling in my stomach was back!

In a panic she told me she would call me back to let me know she was going to make that fight....she never called. I called the agency and they told me that they made it very clear to her that she was supposed to call them before she left too so they could be sure to pick her up when she got to Utah....she never called them either. We continued driving west, and I kept getting a busy dial tone every time I tried calling her home (she has no cell phone). The agency called me and told me that they did not think she got on the flight because she never called them to arrange her pick up from the airport. The agency informed me that we probably should turn around and head East because there was no way we could but her on a plane any later than yesterday since the baby is due NOW.

So...I know your wanting to know what is going on now!!! Right now I am sitting in the suite, in Salt Lake City and feeling blessed....I have my wonderful husband and parents here with me...the suite is beautiful (still trying to figure out how we got such a good rate! Had to have been a God thing!) It is brand spankin new and VERY nice and comfortable...there is even a movie theater room down the hall!!!

Oh!!!and the BEST part......Our bithmom is five minutes away from us in a hospital room getting ready to be induced!!! She DID make that flight after all....GOD is GOOD!!!

There are a few things we have found out that are kind of discouraging, one of them is that we probably won't get to be with the baby for 48 hours after birth....it's going to be hard, but I will do whatever I need to do to get my baby!!! We still don't know if we will get to be in the delivery room during the delivery, our birthmom still hasn't let the agency know if she wants to meet us...so we are kind of on pins and needles...we might get to hold our baby girl today or we might not even get to see her until Saturday. At this point, as long as she is a healthy baby girl I will be the happiest Mom in the world!

We also found out that it will probably take longer for some legal things that have to take place before we take the baby out of Utah, so we might end up stuck here in Utah for over 2 weeks! It was a surprise because we had no idea, but as long as we have our baby with us it's not a big deal!

At this point my agency has not let me know what is going on other than the fact that she is in the hospital and the doctor is inducing today and everything looks great so far. There is a possibility they may call and say that she has been born, I have no idea! There is still a chance they will call and we will get to be in the delivery room too....we are trying to just keep an open mind, either way is ok!

Thank you all for your prayers and I will keep you posted! :)

Love, Katie

Update!

2009-08-31T15:28:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I posted on here, but in case you didn't already know this......WE HAVE A MATCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A few months ago we lost a potential match (a boy) and we were re-matched with another baby the same day. In about a week we should be traveling to Utah for the delivery of our baby girl (YAY!) and we couldn't be more excited! Although we are excited, we also have alot of fears too. We are praying that the birthmom follows through with this and does not change her mind last minute. When I start worrying about this I just remind myself that God is in control and he has everything all planned out already and that we just need to trust in Him. Even though I trust in Gods plan I still know how much losing this situation would hurt, so it is very scary. There isn't a minute that goes by that I don't think about that sweet baby girl, I can't wait to see her face and tell her how much I love her.

I am really close to having everything packed and ready to go, and I will post pictures of the nursery on here tomorrow. Please pray for our strength and the health of our baby girl who is soooo close to joining us. I also ask that you pray for the birthmom as she travels and for her health, she told me she is not sleeping very good because the baby is moving alot. We have felt so blessed to have such supportive and giving friends and family throughout this process and I can't wait to keep you posted on exciting things about to happen in our VERY near future!

Love, Katie

Hurry up to wait!

2009-07-10T11:05:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is the story of adoption. When going through the adoption process you hurry up to get things completed and then you wait! It's like going from one extreme to another. Now that we have our "hurrying up" completed, I am waiting and feel as though my mind is still in that hurry up gear, there is nothing left to "hurry up"....the extreme shift in gears leaves me with some anxiety.

Waiting is hard, especially knowing that we could potentially be matched with a baby due in weeks/days time. We don't know if we should be excited right now and preparing for a baby that may come any day now, or if we have more time...reality is we may not bring a baby home for many months to come, we will not know until we have an "official" match. Not knowing is frustrating.

We try to find comfort in the fact that God does have something wonderful in his plan, we just wish we could catch a glimpse of it SOON.

2009-07-08T22:08:00.000-05:00

Update

2009-07-06T22:46:00.001-05:00

You may have noticed that I got REALLY behind on the 365 project..oooppss! I have been extremely busy and then Matt and I went on vacation, so it's been hard to get on and post, but I will try not to get behind again!

A quick adoption update:

The adoption is moving along! Before we left for vacation we completed our homestudy and also completed our profile for the agency! We are finally done with everything so now we wait and prepare for the baby, it is completely out of our hands! The most exciting news of everything is we might have been matched with a situation already! We don't want to get our hopes, or anyone elses hopes up because nothing is set in stone yet, but we do know that if we are matched with this situation then our baby will be due August 7th!!!! That's SOON! We will defiantly keep you updated and let you know if we do get matched with this situation...we should know soon! Please keep praying for us!

More 365......

2009-07-06T22:40:00.001-05:00

Here are some more pics taken this past couple of months!

365 Slacker!

2009-07-06T22:32:00.000-05:00

Random 365 pictures.....(trying to catch up!)

Wow I am a 365 slacker! I have around 20 Pics or so to catch up on!.....

5/365

2009-06-19T11:20:00.001-05:00

Today is the first day the little pink flowers bloomed from the plant Matts grandma brought back for us from Mexico.

4/365

2009-06-18T22:40:00.000-05:00

Here is just a peek of the nursery decor....and yes, we think its safe to say we are getting a girl! I went to pick out our crib bedding today and while I was in the store, feeling overwhelmed by all of the choices, I thought I heard my cousins baby Brian singing in an isle close to me, but I figured it couldn't be Brians voice because there is no way I would get that lucky to get Deannas help and advice on some things...sure enough, I turned the corner only to see Brians sweet smiling face! Deanna is a lot of help when it comes to decorating, she has great taste! WOW, all I can say is God must have known how overwhelmed I was feeling at the moment!

3/365

2009-06-17T14:51:00.001-05:00

Days like these make me really eager for the day our little one comes into our lives! They bring so much joy! Today I helped my cousin watch her baby and a friends baby...they are both 6 mo. old and it was so much fun:)

2/365

2009-06-16T10:37:00.001-05:00

Our yard is starting to look so beautiful this time of year, especially the pond. This is one of many flowers in bloom on our garden pond. I have a feeling most of the pics I take for project 365 will be from my yard!

Project 365

2009-06-15T15:25:00.000-05:00

I learned about project 365 from another persons blog I follow and I decided to give it a try too! (Thanks Chelsea!) Project 365 is where you take a picture every single day for a year and then post it to your blog. I thought this would be great for me because I love taking pictures and it will help document this amazing time in our lives! So here is the first picture.....

1/365................

Can you believe this was my high chair when I was a baby! It's almost as good as new now....I have been sanding and re-finishing it this past couple of days and I am loving the way it is turning out, but I have decided I don't care for sanding!

High Priority Mail!!!

2009-06-09T22:42:00.000-05:00

Application information was sent priority mail today!!! It is a big milestone because there was ALOT of paper work involved with that and ALOT of information that I had to paper chase around town to get! I still have some things to gather but I got alot of it done which is a great feeling! Now I just wait for a call from the agency and continue to get things done that need done like Matts physical, letter from bank, wait for home study to be completed, letter to Birth mother, Profile Picture and a few other things. I know after the agency calls things could move fast!

Praises:
A lot of the paper work has been completed and sent off...YAY!
We found out our health insurance WILL cover birth mothers hospital bills
Such supportive friends and family! (Thank you for the reference letters)

Prayer Requests:
Our baby in the womb
Agency matches us with a birthmom soon
We continue to stay hopeful, excited and positive

Stroller

2009-06-07T12:25:00.000-05:00

This is the stroller that I have my eye on right now, it's actually a jogging stroller, but very practical for everyday use too...it has VERY good ratings and I love the fact that baby can face you and you can even clip carseat into it for newborns! This color would be fun for girl or boy too :)

PAPERWORK!

2009-06-07T09:17:00.000-05:00

So, here I am scrambling to get agency paperwork done again! It is amazing how different domestic agency and international agency paperwork is! I am almost done...just need to find a couple of things and then we will be officially in line as candidates for newborn adoption! Yay! We are very encouraged that this process is going to move pretty fast, to let you know how fast things could possibly go, our baby will more than likely be coming home while the weather is still warm here and I mean this year! So there is a huge possibility that our birthmom is in the second or third trimester of pregnancy now! The fun begins....we are starting to do all of the stuff that I have been waiting 4 1/2 YEARS to do like decorating the nursery and purchasing baby stuff! God knows exactly what he is doing with our adoption and we are just along for the crazy ride! This is the most hopeful and excited we have been in a VERY long time! Please pray for us!

Praises-
This is ALL in Gods hands!
We chose an agency!
Somebody is incubating our baby for us right now!

Prayer requests-
That our baby is nourished and grows in a healthy womb .
That God continue to make tough choices clear.
That we stay hopeful and excited.
That the cost of the adoption will work itself out and won't put a strain on us financially.

Amazing..........

2009-05-26T22:41:00.001-05:00

I wasn't expecting to post this soon, but I just wanted to let you know if you read the post and prayed for us today that God is listening! WOW is all I can say, I will fill you in when I get more details. Please keep prayin for us!!!

Love, Katie

Gotta have faith!

2009-05-26T15:04:00.000-05:00

We are back and excited to share the rest of our adoption journey with you. We have a lot to update you on. First of all, you may have noticed the Russian adoption Journey disappeared. As hard as it was to part with our decision to adopt from Russia, we did it because it became obvious to us that God has something different planned. We continue to pray for our friends who are still waiting to adopt their babies from Russia.

So where are we now?! Well, God works in mysterious ways and we have learned to put EVERYTHING in his hands and trust in his plan (maybe this is one of the most valuable things we will get out of this adoption...well other than our baby!?). After we officially made the decision to stop the Russian adoption, there were many mixed emotions and we needed time to heal and pray, it was like losing another hope and dream.

We are very excited to announce that we are in the process of choosing a private domestic adoption agency...It has been amazing how many different resourceful, positive and encouraging people God has recently brought into our lives. We have become VERY hopeful that we can have our baby soon!

We have a lot of things to be thankful for and even though many things haven't gone as planned in our Journey, I know and trust that everything that has happened this far is forming the road to our baby.Thanks to everyone for sticking it out with us this far! We will keep you posted!

Praises:
for our supportive friends and family
that God has helped make our decisions more clear
We could possibly have our newborn baby in our arms soon
Our home study is almost done and we can use the same one we started for Russia

Prayer Requests:
that God continue making these tough decisions clear especially with agency choice
that our baby's biological mother stays healthy and makes good pregnancy decisions