11 Years ago today....

In honor of my birth son's 11th birthday I'm posting his birth story again. Happy Birthday Kendrick! I was 19 when I found out I was pregnant for the first time. I was just about to start college. It was one of those things that I thought I was invincible from. It was a scary time. I didnt want my baby to have to grow up being the middle of custody battles and have to watch his mom struggle just to provide for the two of them. I wanted him to have a mommy and daddy that loved each other and him. So I started looking at adoption. I went though my church's adoption program. They gave me a bunch of letters hopeful parents had written telling about their families. The first letter I read I knew it was my baby's family. I was able to meet them and a wonderful feeling came over me as I walked into the room where they were. I knew this was meant to be. The next 9months were the hardest. I had so many different people give me their views on what I was doing. Some thought I was an angel for choosing adoption. Others told me I was just throwing my baby away. But I knew the reason I chose this for my baby. I wanted him to have a better life. It wasn't because I wanted anything better for myself. It wasn't because I wanted freedom. I wanted the best for my baby. I continued to keep the family updated on my progress through letters. And they told me more and more about their family. 2 weeks went passed my due date and I was still pregnant. I was getting so miserable and antsy. My doctor decided to induce me. So early morning on May 10th I went into the hospital and was put on pitocin. That is some nasty stuff. I had hard labor for 18 hours and 2 hours of pushing. Kendrick J was born on May 11th 2001 at 2:38am weighing 9lbs 7oz and 20inches long. He was a big baby.

I was able to stay in the hospital a couple of days with him and get to know him. May 13th Mother's Day was my last day at the hospital. I had asked that the adoptive family come to the hospital so I could place him in their arms. It was a very emotional fist Mother's Day for me. I had no idea if I would see him again. The agency was only semi open at the time so I would only receive pictures and letters for the first couple years and that would be it. However, his family wanted to have an open adoption. So they found a way to get me the info I needed to contact them.

Now eleven years later we have an amazing relationship. I feel apart of their family. I love being able to watch my birth son and my birth daughter ,that I placed with them a few year later, grow. I wish we lived closer so we could have more visits but the visits we do have are so wonderful and precious to me. I am so blessed.

Now this mother's day I find my self happier then every. I have an almost three year old little girl and a baby on the way and an amazing husband who loves me and respects me for my past decisions. What a life :)

Spring Yay!

It's been a roller coaster spring this year for both me and the weather. Even though this pregnancy has been easier then when I was pregnant with Layla I still was very nauseous and threw up a lot! Not enough to lose weight this time though. Which is a good thing I guess. I am now feeling better but didn't start feeling better till I was about 16 weeks. I am 19 weeks now. The weather has been up and down as well. We've been having snow and 80 degree weather just about every other day. Easter was a during the warmer part so that was nice. We attended what felt like 50 Easter events. I was pretty Eastered out by the time it actually was here. One of my favorites was the annual Easter egg hunt we have with the Salt Lake City Mommies. An online group of mom from around the area.

We had an interesting Easter this year. We dyed eggs as usual. We had a very grumpy Layla that night. The Easter bunny came and brought Layla lots of fun stuff.

Instead of going to Vaughn's parents for dinner we met up with some of Vaughn's friends and his uncle John for a hike. It was John's birthday and he loves to hike. He told us this was a very family friendly hike. Well not so much! This hike was up in the mountains and there was still a good foot of snow on the trail. We were not dressed for it at all. It was also very icy in some spots. It was actually probably a hike I should not have gone on 4 months pregnant but I did. And I made it. Vaughn had to carry Layla most the way since many times she would fall through the snow. Needless to say when we got back we were all very tired and very sore. I was sore for many days after. But we did get to see a pretty waterfall.

We already had our first camping trip for the season. Well it was wuss camping. We stayed in a trailer. But for a pregnant woman that is ideal. Our neighbor own land up near Duchesne and invited us to come up for a couple nights. His mom was so nice to let us use her really nice trailer so I could be comfortable. It was nice to get away from the icky city air and relax. Unfournatly there were a lot of tiny cactus and Layla who loves to dig and play in the dirt came home with a lot of tiny cactus spines in her legs.

Layla is growing up so fast. We are having lots of fun with her lately. Now that she is talking more she is saying some of the funniest things. I thought I'd share some of them with you...... Explaining to Layla how Mommy and Layla are girls and Daddy is boy. So she says to daddy "Come on boy! Lets go!" L: Is the baby in there too mama? (pointing to my boobs) M: Nope there is milk in there. L: Milk in there? M: Yep, when the baby comes out of my belly that is where the baby will get it's food. L: Food? Like noodles? Had my big belly hanging out because it feels good when I'm pregnant to have a naked belly. Layla was pointing at my belly and daddy asks her "What is that Layla?" Layla answers "It's happy!" Confused I looked down sure enough the crease in my fat belly made it look like my belly was smiling. And too end this blog post I thought I'd share the latest belly pic I took at 17 weeks. We will be finding out the sex (hopefully) on the 14th! So excited!

A little update

Today is the first day of spring and I woke up to snow on the ground. Not very much but when it's in the 70s back home in Wisconsin it kinda makes me a little grumpy. I shouldn't complain though. We really have had a mild winter. Barely any snow at all. Here are some pictures of the little bit of snow Layla got to play in back in January.

Layla got her first hair cut. She really doesn't have much hair yet but it was very uneven. Daddy just gave her a little trim. In this picture it's pulled back.

In January we found out we were pregnant. I am now 12weeks and just showing a little. I've been very sick as usual. Pregnancy just is not nice to me. I have not been as sick as I was with Layla though so I am able to some what function. I have given up most my clients. However, I am still some how teaching water aerobics. I have a friend who is a photographer and she is doing a progression photo shoot. We will be taking pictures of my belly every month. It should be fun to watch it grow.

Well that's all for now. I hope you have a Happy Easter.

Our little Bean

We had our first Drs appointment last Monday. Everything went well and we even got to see the little one!

ANNOUNCEMENT

We are expecting!!! Due Sept 29th! We are very excited. I've been very sick as usual but other then that all is well :)

Holidays 2011

We had a rough start to our holidays this year. Vaughn's Grandpa Charlie passed away on November 19th. He was a fun man to talk to. He was full of stories about his amazing past. He always called Layla "Tyke" We are going to miss him greatly. During the funeral services I noticed a robin sitting outside the window as if he were listening to the talks. He stayed through the whole thing till the end and flew away. I decided it was Grandpa Charlie listening in.

Thanksgiving this year was pretty low key. We had dinner with Vaughn's family. I made the turkey this year. I made the famous turkey that I won Vaughn's heart with when we first were dating. It turned out wonderful.

Starting the 28th of November I took a "vacation" from my business. It was my birthday week and I decided I deserved it. I started it off just right by going to the spa for the day. Oh it was so wonderful! We celebrated my birthday early with the family since I was going to be gone on my birthday. I got a new stove! I was so very excited. Our old stove was so tiny you couldn't fit a pizza pan in it. In order to fit the new stove in Vaughn had to do some remodeling of the kitchen counters. It turned out great.

On my birthday I hopped on a plane and flew down to New Mexico. I went to go visit my birth children. I went by myself. I flew into Albuqurue which was a 3 hour drive from where my birth children live in Roswell. I rented a car and spent the night at a hotel since the weather was bad. In the morning I had a very scary drive down to Roswell because New Mexico does not know what a snow plow is. I was praying the whole way. Once I got into Roswell I got a little lost because my map was wrong. But eventually I found their house and Kendrick was outside in the driveway hullahooping.

My visit with my birth children and their family was amazing. We had such good times reconnecting. I am so proud of them. They are beautiful and so smart.

And Silly!

For Christmas I made them an advent claender of sorts. They had 24 fun gifts to open. Here are the fun straw glasses!

It was so hard to leave but I am so glad I got the opportunity to spend time with them.

It was hard to believe it was Christmas time this year. We had such a warm winter so far and hardly any snow. To get us into the holiday spirit I bought us tickets to ride on the North Pole Express. Both Layla and I LOVE trains. She was so excited when we got there and realized what we were doing. It was a great experience and a great memory. I think we will do it every year now.

The train took us to the North Pole where Layla got to meet Santa and tell him she wants a trip to Jamaica. All she got was a jingle bell. She wasn't quite sure about him but she was pretty excited he gave her something. While we were on the train they had a high school choir sing carols and served us yummy hot chocolate.

Layla had a blast!

Christmas morning when Layla woke up I told her Santa had come and she somehow knew exactly what I meant and ran straight for the tree. She said "WOW!" It was precious! She got pretty spoiled this year. It took her all day to open her presents. She would open one and want to play with and not open any others.

After we opened a few presents we got all dressed up and went to my dads for breakfast and went to church. Then came home and opened more. For dinner we went to Vaughn's parents house and opened even more presents. We were all spoiled this year.

The Wednesday after Christmas we headed down to sunny Mesa, AZ. We drove down and Layla did amazing. It was in the 70s the whole time we were down there. We went down to Mesa to attend Vaughn's cousin, Kelson's wedding. We stayed with Vaughn's sister Maren and her family. The wedding reception was held outside at night and it still felt great! As always it was so fun to hang out with all the cousins and their kids. Layla had a blast playing with her cousins and her "other" cousins :)

We were still in Arizona for New Years eve. Vaughn's mom watched Layla for us and we went over to Vaughn's cousin Andrea's house. It was pretty cool to sit outside around the fire and roast marshmallows on New years Eve.

We hope you all had great Holiday season and Happy 2012!