Happy Mother's Day to our Birth Mother

Happy Mother's day! I love being a mom. There is no doubt about it, this is what I was waiting and hoping for since I was a little girl. I have always wanted to be a mother. Almost two years ago, Mark and I found out about Gabriel's birth mother, Andrea. She was searching for the right family for the baby she was carrying, and she chose us. We have been beyond grateful for that choice ever since. Gabriel is a beautiful, unique, and amazing light in our lives. While Mark and I were happy in our marriage before he came to our family, he has brought a completely new and wonderful part to our lives that we could not have had otherwise. He has made our marriage stronger. He has helped us learn and grow and love even more. He is beauty in our lives.

As I was saying a prayer with Gabriel this morning, I thought of Andrea. Without her, I could not have been his mom. Andrea, you will forever be in our lives. We think of you everyday. We pray for you every night before Gabriel goes to bed. We have started to tell him about you and your family, who loved (and I'm sure still do love) him so much. I know you loved him and I try every day to give him what you wanted for him.

So, today I wanted to say to you, Gabriel's first mother-Happy Mother's Day! I am proud to share this day with you.

I love you

Tuesday evening we went out for dinner, because Mark hadn't eaten all day, and he decided he really wanted a steak. While we were at the restaurant I realized that I hadn't brought my cell phone with me and I had to go strait from there to the church for youth activity night. Mark offered to let me take his phone with me and I did. When I came home he told me that he and Gabriel had made me a gift on my phone. Here it is:

The "Ah Lala lu" or "I love you" at the end is my favorite. Mostly he says it when prompted, but every once in a while he just says it out of the blue. It makes my heart melt every time.

From the sicky sickos

I am so sick of being sick! I know I promised to post about Mark's time off awhile ago, but it seems I have been dealing with some type of infirmity or another for the past month. We had a wonderful time while he was off. We went to the Newport Aquarium with my mom and step-dad and had a wonderful time. We went at a leisurely pace the whole time and we all enjoyed the beautiful, scary, and strange that they had to offer. I think Gabriel's favorite area was the jelly fish, which he kept calling bubbles. We took some pictures, which I will publish as their own post.

For 24 hours of Mark's time off Gabriel went to him Mawmar's house (Sarah's mom) and Mommy and Daddy got to spend some much needed couple time. We firmly believe that it is important to keep our relationship strong now so when our children leave home (which eventually we hope they do) we will still love and like each other. While I love my son, the most important relationship in my life is my marriage. Mark continues to be my bestfriend. I love seeing him as a father. Seeing him in this role only strengthens my love for him. I couldn't ask for a better, more kind father for my children.

Mostly, we just spent time together, which was the point of Mark taking time off. It was exactly what I had hoped for.

Since then, I threw my back out and have had other sicknesses. Gabriel had an ear infection a couple of weeks ago, and then this week I took him back to the pediatrician due to an infection in his eyes. Getting a 20 month old to hold still while putting eye drops in their eyes is no easy task. He got this eye infection from a nasty cold, which he has now passed on to me. Within about 24 hours it went from a soar throat to a fever and loosing my voice. I have now passed it on to Mark in about 24 hours time. Thankfully, Mark doesn't seem to be as bad as I am and he has taken good care of us while we have been sick. I am grateful my husband is so willing to pick up the slack whenever I can't do my share, and without complaint too.

Our summer is already filling up with fun adventures. Mark's brother is getting married June 12th. We are going camping hopefully later in June, and I am planning on going to Palmyra, NY for youth conference in July. My best friend from college, Debbie, was planning on coming here from Utah in July with her family, but that trip has sadly been canceled. Still, it is going to be a fun summer with lots of family time. We are all excited and for now we are enjoying the beauty of spring. We hope you are all enjoying it where ever you may be as well.

Ohhh, I'm so excited!

Mark is taking time off! Back in January I suggested that Mark schedule some time off in March because there are not any holidays that he has off between New Year's Day and Memorial Day. So, starting this Friday we will have 6 days of relaxation and fun as a family. We are going to the Newport Aquarium and we might go to the Columbus Zoo. Mostly, we are just going to hang out at home and relax. We are all so excited! I think even Gabriel knows that something is coming. I'll post more about what we did with some pictures next week.

Other than that things are pretty much the same. Gabriel says a new word every day (which is not an exaggeration). He remains the most adorable, ornery little boy. When Mark is here they are pretty much inseparable, but no one;s kiss can heal like mommy's. I love being his mommy. So, until next week I hope you are all doing well and that you get to spend some quality time with those you love.

Best Friends

This is Gabriel's best friend E.






I babysit E and his older brother a few days a week. They live next door. Sometimes when I put Gabriel to bed and he is getting fussy, I say, "it's an E day tomorrow. You have to go to bed so he can come over in the morning" and he lays down and goes to sleep. When he saw them coming over the other day he got so excited. He was jumping up and down and squealing with delight. When I go get E up from a nap they see each other and they both start laughing and run over to each other. They love each other. E is almost exactly 6 months older then Gabe. They follow each other around playing together all day. When I come into the room where they are playing they look at me and run away, like they don't want me to interupt their conspiratorial behavior.








Yes, Gabriel is sitting on E's lap in that second picture.




Sometimes, when it is a non-babysitting day I think Gabriel thinks to himself, "I wish E was here". Don't get me wrong, Gabriel loves his mommy, but I think he gets a little bored when it is just the two of us and I am trying to get some house work done. Hopefully we will get to have some fun out of doors soon and he won't be quite so bored without his bestfriend.

Our little man

Last Friday Gabriel got his hair cut for the first time. I have been saying that he needed it cut for a while, but Mark kept saying no. He just wasn't ready to leave behind the baby look of Gabriel's hair. However, he was developing a bit of a mullet, so when I said we should go get his hair cut (for the hundredth time) and Mark said yes, we were on our way 35 minutes later. Mark had taken the day off, so it was a perfect time. We had talked about Mark cutting Gabriel's hair, but he said that for the first time he thought we should go somewhere and have it done. I quickly agreed. We went to a local place called Cookie Cutters that specializes in children's hair cuts. Here are a few pictures of what it looks like.

It was a really fun looking place. As you can see, each of the chairs was something fun like a dinosaur, a rocket ship, a race car, or (what Gabriel sat it) a tractor. They were arranged in a circle and in the middle was a television for each chair. Here are some of the before shots. They don't fully give a good picture of how long and scragly his hair was getting, but let's just say it's bad when daddy is tucking it into his collar on Sunday in order to hide how long it's become.

He did a fantastic job of sitting still. He thought the tractor was great fun and Daddy did a great job of keeping him entertained while I snapped away with the camera. The lady who cut his hair kept saying, "I can't believe how great he is doing."

Even when she brought out the little shears to do the edges he was very good. He didn't throw a fit when Daddy had to hold his head still or because Mommy kept telling him to smile.

He looks like such a little man. Although, we decided that without the wispy hair his cheeks look even chubbier than before. His beautiful eyes also stand out now more than ever. People already were constantly commenting on his beautiful eyes. How can you not fall in love with that face? It's impossible. And for a treat, here's a pic of his fishy face :). Love it!

Hoping for another little miracle

Actually, we don't think adopting another child would be a little miracle at all- adoption is always a huge miracle. Last Friday, we were officially opproved for a second adoption! We are so excited about this. We know, Gabriel will only be eighteen months old in a few weeks, but we're ready. When we adopted Gabriel it was 18 months from when we applied to when we took him home. This is pretty much average. We started our application for a second adoption the beginning of September, so if the average holds it will still be a while until we have another baby placed with us. However, it could also be tomorrow. We would love for it to be sooner rather than later.

Gabriel has been the most beautiful gift in our lives. Even as he becomes an obstinate toddler, I still look at him and think "You are so precious. I love you so much." We don't have any concern about loving another child as much as we love him. He has shown us how love simply grows rather than dividing. We are so excited to share the love we have in our little family with another child.

We are working with LDS Family Services, which is the agency we worked with when we adopted Gabriel. One of the great things that our agency does is provide counseling and support services for birth parents without pressure or judgement. If you or someone you know would like to know more about adoption, please go to itsaboutlove.org. This is a no pressure way to learn more and you can be directed as to how to speak with an adoption counselor in your area who can help you to decide if adoption is the right option for you. You can also see our profile at www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/23704159/ourMessage.jsf .

To our future child: We can't wait to meet you...we love you.