Summer/Update

Summer 2015 - our first summer with Dally has officially begun!

We plan on spending LOTS of time by the pool, enjoying the extra snuggles and spending special time as a family!

He is a growing, happy and healthy, perfect 3 month old!

Update:

This past Tuesday morning the judge, lawyers and Dallas' birth father had a conference. They met to reviewed a few things and set a date for a trial. 

After the conference one of the ladies from the agency called to fill us in on the details. She said we have the best possible judge and lawyer available so the prayers for the judge were answered! The trial date has been set for Sept 15th and they have asked that Chris and I be there as witnesses! The lawyer said that by us being there will put a face to a name and it will give us the chance to fight for OUR baby! They feel that there is a very good chance that his birth fathers rights will be taken away but they also said that over the next few months it will all come down to Dallas' birth father and if he decides to change his ways. 

The agency said, "No new is good news!" so our prayer now is that we don't really hear from them between now and then!

We are selling our shirts again and it's an AWESOME deal!

The over all cost of Dallas' adoption is increasing due to all these complications. :( 

Just click on the link below to place you order:

http://goo.gl/forms/nwGdsvdMp4

You know you wanna match this cutie pie!!

Mother's Day 2015

My VERY first mother's day that I was able to celebrate with Dallas in my arms!!

It was an amazing feeling that I will never be able to explain.

I got Dally and myself the perfect shirts to wear yesterday ...

**He has the best facial expressions :)

Mrs. Amy of Amy Horton Photography did family pictures after church for mother's day ...

*please ignore the fact that we don't match (we forgot about the picture) and my flipped up pants (I forgot I left them like that after walking in the rain).
ALL that matters is that Dallas is in the picture!!!!!

Chris got me a new charm to add to my collection ...

On the back I plan to have 2 very important dates engraved:

The day Dallas stole our hearts: 3/4/15

The day he stole our last name: *TBD

*This will be the day we go to court and we legally change his name to ours.

In all the excitement of the day I received MANY well wishes as I'm sure most/all moms do but there was one that made my heart smile ...

When I got out of church I turned my phone on and a text came through from Dallas' birth mom, "Happy Mother's Day! I am so happy that you get to celebrate it this year. Thank you for loving Dallas as much as I do!

All I have to say is GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

I could NEVER have planned this for my life!

"Every good and perfect give comes from over ..."

James 1:17

Update/Prayer Request:

All the original dates have changed so at this time we are waiting for judge and lawyers to agree upon a date for the conference in which they will present evidence to the judge. He/She will then decided if there is enough evidence for Dallas' birth father to fight for his paternal rights. We do not know when this will happen. PLEASE pray for guidance for the agencies lawyer as well as for the judge that will be assigned to the case.

Settling in

I wanted to start with an update and prayer request:

The possible birth father has been ordered to have a paternity test done by May 6th. If the results prove he is Dallas' birth father a hearing will be set for the beginning of June. At that time he will either sign over his rights or he will plead his case for wanting to parent. Also at this hearing, Dallas' birth mom and the agency will be there with evidence to testify against him. 

The agency has been very honest with us, they said that though it does not seen that the birth father has a leg to stand on in court it will all come down to the judge that is appointed to the case and whether or not they feel it is in the best interest of Dallas to remove his birth fathers parental rights.

So between now and the final hearing we are loving and snuggling and soaking up as much time with Dallas as we possibly can. 

I know God has it all under control and you would think that by now I would be pretty great a patience but this is definitely testing that. PLEASE join us in our prayer that God will allow us to raise Dallas and continue to be his forever family!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have been home about a month now and wow, a lot has happened. Our sweet boy is growing and changing faster than I could have ever imagined! I took 7 weeks of maternity leave and I have 1 week left. It is going to be so hard to go back to work but I know he will be in good hands between my best friend and my mom. Plus I MiSs my kiddos at school! 

 Our first official night home was Friday, March 20th which was actually the day the his birth mom was going to be induced. 

At his 1 month check up he weighed in at 7lbs 14oz and 21 in.

He is a pretty good baby. He makes great eye contact and I just know that any day now I will be able to get a smile out of him that isn't caused by gas. ;) He's eating every 3 hours during the day. At night we believe in "never waking a sleeping baby" so he makes it about 4-5 hours between feedings. Chris and I are alternating nights so that neither of us get too tired.

We celebrated our 1st Easter as a family of 3.

A lot of people have been asking to see his nursery and I have been trying to get everything together since our little booger decided to show up 3 weeks early. I officially got everything done last night. It's small and cozy and perfect for our little cowboy so without further ado ....

* I accidentally cut it off in the picture but the sign above the window is one of the famous quotes from the book that we picked Dallas' name from, The Outsiders, and it says "Stay Gold". It was a gift from a friend of mine from high school 

*The rug was a gift from my room mom and it fits perfect!!!

*His name sign was a gift from a family friend!

*This magnet board is above the crib. 

*The banner was a gift from girl that went to high school with Chris.

*The bedding was a gift from a girl that I use to teach with. 

Thank you for all your prayer, love and support PLEASE keep the prayers coming!

OUR Son

Here is the story of how we became a family of 3 ...

MONDAY:

It all started the evening of Monday, March 2nd. I had been talking with Dallas' birth mom on the phone, just getting to know each other better. She was filling me in on everything that her and the doctor talked about at her last appointment and we ended the conversation with her saying, "If my water does break early I will call 911 and then I will call you!"

TUESDAY:

The next morning (Tuesday, March 3rd) Chris and I got up like normal at about 5:30 a.m. and got ready for work, thinking that it was going to be just another normal day. At about 9:30 a.m. (snack time in kindergarten) I was by my desk and my phone started ringing. I looked down and saw his birth mom's name on the screen and thought I would call her back during my break then I walked to the other side of the room to put up some papers. As soon as I made it to the other side of the room her words from the night before went through my head, "If my water does break early I will call 911 and then I will call you!" so I immediately ran back to my desk and answered my phone. My heart began pounding as I heard her say, "I think my water just broke!"
I said, "Oh my gosh, okay, I'll call Chris, we'll get home, get packed and be on the way!"
While she was still talking I ran to Marilu's classroom (next door to mine) and told her I had to leave. I then proceeded to run to the front office to let my principal and assistant principal know what was going on, I was literally going in circles. I knew I NEEDED to leave but at the same time I didn't know what to do with my kiddos back in the room! My mind was RACING!!! I called Chris praying he would answer his phone, he NEVER answers while at work, and he did!!! I was BAWLING while trying to tell him to get home QUICK and that her water broke! Once he was able to understand what I was trying to tell him, he began running around like crazy at work trying to tell everyone that needed to know and get out of there.
While we both were trying to get home as fast as we could we were trying to call everyone and fill them in. Our original plan was to have one of my bffs, Amy Horton Photography, come with us so that she could capture all of our first moments with Dallas. Since he was coming almost 3 weeks early I figured she was not going to be able to make it and would probably have to come up later.  By the time we made it home and started packing Anna, Amy and my mom had already starting packing and were getting everything organized so that they could be there with us when we met our sweet boy for the first time.
After Chris and I got home we began packing and going in circles around the house trying to make sure we didn't forget anything. Thankfully I had already packed Dallas' bags and had them sitting in his room ready to go.  Ashley, our caseworker from the agency, called and said that she would let us know what the doctor said after she checked her. Not long after that his birth mom called me and said, "I know it was my water so if I was y'all, I'd get on the road!"
At about 11:45 a.m. we hit and road and began, what felt like, the LONGEST and so far the only car ride that I stayed awake the whole time to Baton Rouge, LA.

We arrived at the hospital at about 7pm that evening. The whole ride there we were receiving updates from the birth mom and her progress. We were so worried that we were not going to make it but she was progressing VERY slowly and Dallas was very comfy right were he was.
We got to the waiting room and made ourselves as comfortable as possible ...

WEDNESDAY:
Throughout the night, the nurses and our case worker would come out and give us updates.
It was a long night!! These 2 were taken at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning ...

At 3:37 a.m. we received a text from Ashley (who was in the room with her) that she was dilated to 7cm.  Not long after that text, the birth mom asked Ashley to go find  the doctor. By the time Ashley got back in the room, Dallas was already making an appearance. The cord was wrapped around his neck so his poor little face was purple and bruised but he is doing so much better now!

Dallas arrived at 3:48 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4th.

He was 6lbs 4 oz. 19 1/2 in long.

After he was born they let us come in and see him for the FIRST time!

I am so thankful Amy was able to come and capture all of it .

Click on the link below to see the amazing video she put together!

http://video214.com/play/izIR9z2mbwaHKz81AaPWBA/s/dark

After we were able to spend some time with him and his birth mom, a nurse came in to evaluate him and told us that they were going to take him down to the NICU to keep a closer eye on him. He was about 3 weeks early and he is going through some withdrawals from the medication the birth mom was  on while pregnant so his little body needs some extra attention as it is healing.

Over all, Dallas is doing great but they have to keep an eye on him and at times they give him a little bit of morphine to help his body relax as it is healing. Thankfully we can come up or call 24/7 to check on him.

THURSDAY and FRIDAY:
Chris and I spent as much time with him as we possibly could. They let us both do "skin to skin" for hours at a time so that he could relax, listen to our hearts beat and bond. We wanted to spend as much time with him as possible even though in the back of our minds we knew that if his birth mom changed her mind, this would be our last time to spend with him.

SATURDAY:
This was the day that Chris and I had been waiting for since we began the adoption process. The birth parents were supposed to sign their rights over at 10 am but we were told that it may take little longer but we would get the text when everything was done! It was a VERY emotional day for us as well as Dallas' birth parents. My dad, brother and future sister-in-law came down to night before to be there for support. We got the text at 10:47 a.m. and it felt like an elephant was lifted off of our shoulders.

The baby that we had been snuggling, cuddling, changing, feeding, soothing, and LOVING was really OURS!

Now we get to love on him knowing that he is OUR son and we are his MOMMY and DADDY! :)

Little Dally will be in the NICU for another 3-4 day as his little body makes it through the withdrawals of the medication and he is able to go 72 hours without any morphine to keep him comfortable.

Starting Monday, the agency will begin the process of getting all the paperwork in order so that we can have legal permission to cross the state lines and bring our little bundle home. We have been told this part can take 10-14 business days but after talking with the agency they are hoping and going to try to get everything done by this coming Friday.

THANK YOU!!!

Thank you so much to everyone for all the prayers, words of encouragement, congrats and support. We would not be here if it were not for y'all!!
**We also owe our forever thanks to Dallas' birth parents for picking us and trusting us with this AMAZING gift!!! 

Thank you God for our perfect little boy!!!

24 days!

Yep, that's right! Only 24 days until Dallas' birth mom is induced and we will get to meet our sweet baby boy! It's still so hard to believe and I think I'm still in shock.

We've never been this close!! 

Dallas' room is pretty much all together just waiting on a few finishing touches and his bag is packed just waiting anxiously for the day!

(Reminder, I'm referring to Dallas' birth mom as D in order to respect her privacy)

This past week D and I were able to catch up after her doctors appointment. She and Dallas are doing great. Together with the doctor, D picked March 20th as her induction date. Chris and I will go to Louisiana on March 19th so that we can spend some time with her before the big day. I can not wait to give her the biggest hug and feel Dallas move in her tummy. It is impossible to truly express the love that I hold in my heart for D. The gift that she is preparing to give us will FOREVER be one of the best gifts ever given! 

I love that she refers to Dallas as MY first baby and when we talked last she reassured me by saying, 

"I know you guys are probably still nervous but I really don't want you to be. You have to understand that he is coming home with you! He is your baby!"

So what happens after Dallas is born?!?!

D said she wants to hold him and explain that she love him and it is because she loves him that we are his parents. After that she said, "He is yours!" 

She has to wait 72 hours after he is born (not including his actual birthday) to sign over her rights so technically we will be taking him to the hotel with us before he is even officially ours. Once her right are signed over we will have to stay in Louisiana until all the paperwork goes through. We have been told that can take up to 10-14 business days.

Once all that does go through we get to come HOME!

This coming Thursday we will be talking with her again after her weekly check up and we will get to see one LAST sonogram before we get to see him in person! 

We have a few more fundraisers going on between now and March 19th in order to help us meet our goal of at least $30,000 to cover all the costs of the adoption; we're about $2,600 away right now ...

1. THIS Saturday, Feb 28th will be our Pancake Breakfast 

2. "It's all about Dallas" T-shirt, hoodie, & onesie

All orders & payments are DUE by March 6th!!!

3.Jamberry Nail Party!

4. As always a donation can be made on our You Caring page!

More updated coming later in the week :)

Younique

Check out our newest fundraiser ...

Younique!

Click on the link above and everything you need to know will be on the website. This fundraiser ends on Sat. Feb 21st and a percentage of the order will go to help bring baby Dallas home. 

We are still about $4,100 away from our goal of $30,000 to cover his adoption fees. 

Special thanks to Traci Millen for opening this fundraiser up to us. She's the mother of 2 kiddos because of adoption; she has walked in my shoes and has been very encouraging! 

Skype

Thursday afternoon Chris and I got to Skype with Dallas' birth mom! It was amazing to be able to see her, talk with her and get to know her. Earlier that afternoon she went to a doctors appointment for a check up and she showed us the sonogram pictures of him. She also let us know that she has been saving all the picture from her sonograms for us to put in his baby book!

Here is his sweet, PERFECT profile ...

Right now baby and mom are doing great. 

The doctor said he has hair, everything is measuring perfect, he weighs about 5 lbs and they watched his little tummy go up and down as he practiced taking breaths (the doctor said he's an overachiever)!

Chris and I were very nervous yet SUPER excited to talk with her. We were praying that when we were done we would have a peace about it and honestly I do not think there are words to explain the OVERWHELMING peace that we have. 

I can see God's hands ALL over this! 

Here are some highlights from our conversation:

1. She said when she saw our book she knew we were the ones. We were real and the fact that we have tattoos, and he played in a band and I have my nose pierced was cool because that made us more relate-able to her. 

2. She wants us there when he is born. Chris (and Amy, camera in hand) will wait in the hallway/waiting room and I (most likely) will be able to be in the delivery room with her! I will get to see him take his first breath and hear his first cry! (I'm crying while typing this just thinking about it!!!!)

3. She will be going back to the doctor in 2 weeks and at that time they are going to set a date to have her induced so that we can go down the day before and be ready. We will Skype after that appointment to work out the other details. 

4. She LOVES the name we picked out for him and the story behind it. When we told her she started to cry and said, "Awe, he has a name!" Later on in the conversation she said, "The wait is almost over, Dallas will be in your arms in about 6 weeks!"

5. After he is all cleaned up he will be assigned his own room in the hospital and Chris and I will stay with him in that room until he is discharged. From there we will go to our hotel and wait for all the official paperwork to go through. 

Side note:

She has to wait 72 hours after he is born (not including his actual birthday) to sign over her rights so technically we will be taking him to the hotel with us before he is even officially ours. Once her right are signed over we will have to stay in Louisiana until all the paperwork goes through. We have been told and that can take up to 10-14 business days. Once all that does go through we get to come HOME!

6. We do plan on meeting with her at the agency the day we head back to Texas to let her hold him and tell him good bye one last time. 

7. We are going to send letters and pictures up to the agency every 3/4 months and if she wants an update she can go up there to get the letters. She was so happy to know that we NEVER plan on keeping it a secret that he was adopted and if and when the time does come that he wants to reach out to her we would not stand in the way of that!

8. She saw the pictures that I had taken of the nursery and the things we have already done around the house to get everything ready for him. She kept saying how happy she is that he is already loved by so many people and that it was just more of a confirmation that this was the best choice to make!

9. She asked about our adoption journey and as we were telling her about all the other times things just didn't work out and everything we had done to get to this point she kept reassuring us that he WAS going to be coming home with US! She said I know it's not going to be easy but it's what is going to happen!

Then she said something that I will remember for the rest of my life...

"I love him but I honestly feel like I'm your surrogate, he's not mine, he has always been yours!"

Like I said at the beginning it was AMAZING being able to get to know her and I am so anxious to meet my sweet baby boy!!!

Now that you are all up to date I will leave you with this ...

We NEED your help!

We are still about $5,100.00 away from our the $30,000! 

Here are 3 ways you can help us bring our baby boy home ...

1. Just Love Coffee:

click on the link then click Shop & Support

We will get a percentage of what is purchased.

Click here for the details.

2. Pancake Breakfast:

Mark your calendars!!

3. Make a donation on our You Caring page!

Last but not least I will leave you with this super cute pic of Dallas giving us all a thumbs up