WE'RE ON OUR WAY!

We are packing ourstuff and on our way to Atlanta right now. We may not get there in time for the birth even. Soooo Excited, Soooo not prepared! ;) More later!

Baby & Baby Room Preparations...

Ok, to start, the two pictures below are of the previous "Office". You will not speak of this room again. I was obviously used as storage for the past year (ahem)... or so. Here is the before, the after was not taken yet but it is now "The Guest Room".

(all pictures can be clicked to view larger)

Here is one 'before' shot of the old "Guest Room" which is clean compared to the former office. ( I show the before to give an idea of all the work that went into this weekend extravaganza. Michael is cringing right now that I'm showing these pictures of our dirty rooms. sorry honey!)

Ok, Here is where the transformation begins to becoming a baby room. I don't have time to paint the room yet and haven't bought it even (I'll wait till when and IF my sister Ashley comes with my mom to help me). I paused before opening the crib box so you could see my 'excitement' of putting the room together alone (that's right, feel sorry for me people!;)...). I'm pretty impressed with this since I had no make up on...I'm laying on the box and am displaying tools to look more realistic. lol!

FINISHED PRODUCT! Success! Doesn't the crib look great? I'm not talking about the bedding, it's fine for now. I just bought cheap bedding at IKEA (Stacey, I can't believe you AND your husband have never heard of this before... i would be a bad friend if I didn't' steer you in the right direction, get ready to fall in love... http://www.ikea.com/) to tide me over. My friend and client "Kristyn G" has long told me she'd help me with some custom stuff so I will likely take her up on it in the next month. Get ready to be impressed when that happens! Anyway the "mobile" is actually a Capiz Shell Wind chime I bought last year in Gulf Shores Alabama and plan to look for another when we're there THIS Thanksgiving. I love it and can't wait for the walls to be painted so you can actually see it in contrast. Now, these puppet looking stuffed animals are AWESOME! I bought them about... 9 years ago, I think through Pottery Barn Kids. They each have story's on their back sides, in accordance to their Fairy Tale or Children's Rhyme. I know, cool huh!?

Next what we have is Grannies antique dresser that I love! It is definitely a work in progress as to what is on it but to the left, you see the blanket and sweet Raggedy Ann Doll. It is where a Changing Pad will go if i get one (wink. wink.). Of course the entire top will be covered with a cloth before we put a baby or real stuff on it, but, you get the idea. The middle picture is of a tile I made from a craft project we did at church. It reads: BE: Grateful, Humble, Still, Prayerful, True, Clean, Smart, Positive, Involved. I can only hope. ;). Featured in the picture to the right is my Grandmother, Grace Anna Isaacson Holmstrom's, 1952 printing of "A Mother's Encyclopedia" In Six Volumes. I was compiled and edited by the Editors of Parents' Magazine (first copyright was in 1933). I made away with this little treasure by shear luck of dusting off a shelf and saying, "Mom, this is so great! Can I please have these?" Thanks to a mother who isn't highly attached to 'things', I took the goods and ran as soon as she said yes. (that's how you survive in our big family. "Kill or be Killed, Survival of the Fittest..." you get the point) Here my children will now be blessed with the outspoken words of the then Editors of Parents' Magazine. Ahh, the honest days and simpler times... ;). Oh, and don't you just LOVE the little mice, holding up the books?! I found them at a boutique called "Yours Truly" by Tangerine Salon and Spa on Thompson Lane in Murfreesboro. They sometimes have sweet odds and ends like this there.

Below are featured some of the many current gifts and I'm sure many more to come from Grandma Jennie. She gave us another hand crocheted blanket from her mother Zelma (Grannie) who passed away in May (sorry if I'm wrong on that) 6 years ago. It will be featured alone in a later post. Grannie made them when she was feeling well and I'm sure planned all along to have us be given them, when we were blessed with our children. Thank you Grannie, we love you. In this picture you will see, Jennie gave Evan a toy phone, no doubt to encourage him to call his Grandmother waaaay more than her son Michael. ;) You're welcome Jennie. he he.

Last but certainly not least is our gift from Evans Uncle Matt that wants to be sure his nephew is decked out in the finest of outfits for the great hockey team The NASHVILLE PREDATORS!!!!!!! Thank you Matt. WE LOVE IT!

Lastly, (Kathy, I hope you are satisfied with this post. lol) So many of you have asked about a shower, and I'm very excited about that! I will tell you that I am having a 'small private' shower this coming Friday and a friend and my sister are scheming some Virtual Shower idea for California Family and Friends but as for here, we have PENCILED, Friday November 7th for an Open House at our Church on E. Clark Blvd (by Leaf Ave) from 6-9pm. It's come and go, visit style, permitting we are back from Atlanta. An official date and time will be announced later and an Invitation will be posted on this blog. We are not ashamed to say, we are registered at Target and Babies R Us. We welcome your gifts and need them! Adoption is not free so we love and appreciate all gifts you bring, including, just YOU! If Evan is healthy enough, he will be at the open house but we will see.... Ahhh... I'm so tired, whatever time this says it's posted at is when I STARTED typing. It is now 1:34am and I MUST go to bed!!!! Evan will be here soon and I've gotta get some rest! Thank you everyone, we feel so humbled that you care about us and Evan and want to share this with us. We are grateful and CANNOT wait for you to meet him. xoxo

p.s. thank you stephen, liz and hayden for coming over tonight. it felt great to share our preparations with friends! oooo, so exciting......:)

Our Baby Stuff

OUR IKEA ANTILOP HIGHCHAIR OUR IKEA SNIGLAR CRIB
I have been asked by many of you about what we are doing to get ready for the baby. At first we were doing nothing. I'm glad I finally feel confident to get started on a baby room. Originally I wasn't going to do it, just let the baby stay in a pack n' play in our bedroom or living room (though we also have a 'jenny lind' bassinet we've had for about 10years!) for a few months while I worked on the baby room AFTER home. Not knowing whether a baby is coming home is difficult to make such plans, mentally or physically (no matter how much strength you put into faith, you have to be realistic). Thanks to Courtney, we feel very excited that Evan will be ours. When we talked to Courtney on the phone first time, I started to get brave and started to imagine the room and the colors. I'm gonna turn our guest room into the 'nursary'. Currently it has beautiful antique cherry furnature of Michael's Grandmothers. This weekend I will lovingly be taking the bed apart and hope I can store it at "G-ma's" (only if she promises to give it back later! ;) ). I plan to paint the room a silvery grey and keep one of the dressers in that room that will hold the changing table. I really like neutrals and organics. I envision a vintage, classic style. I am a day dreamer... If any of you know my friend jessica marie (hopefully you can go to her blog from mine on the right side column. sorry JM!) and have seen the pictures her mother took of her walking on hillside at sunset with hip high dry grasses, it's sorta how I would live my life. With streams of sunshine in every glimpse.
Thank you for being our streams of sunshine...

His name means: "God's gracious gift"

We have had a process trying to choose a noble name for our son. It is difficult to choose a name with the uncertainty of adoption and for someone you have not yet met. However, after meeting Courtney, we were joyful when we recognized one of our favorite names in her family tree. So without further ado, our Son's name shall be:

EVAN ROBERT STUTEVILLE

"Evan" is familiar to me as I have a cousin with the same name. On the drive down, I felt anxious that we choose one to be able to share with Courtney as I knew she would be curious. We sought inspiration in our prayers and around Chattanooga, we surprisingly came to an agreement on the name "Lane" and thought we may use it. But, then we met Courtney this weekend and it changed. At lunch (Joe's Crab Shack) we were talking about our TN family and said, our nieces here are "Brooke and Lauren". She said "What? My middle name is "Brooks" and it's the name my dad goes by!" She was energized (though currently not legally allowed to speak to her father, she feels very close and loves him). I secretly noted that I loved that idea. Later Michael pointed out the it's going to be too confusing and conflicting to have two 'Brook" names in our family. (though I argued, Brooke would probably LOVE to have someone sort of named after her. smile) Still looking for inspiration, it was further pressed upon us her grief and love for her Mother (passed away a year and a half ago) and respect for her mothers parents that she feels raised her. In showing us her own birth certificate, we saw that her mother's maiden name was "Evans". When I read it, I was thrilled inside! I pointed to it to Michael, silently willing him to see this important name that we had already discussed in our drive down. Later alone, after some definition searching to make sure it didn't mean "slaughtered pig or big meanie" we found it would be a blessing for him to be named after the people who Courtney loves the most. "Evan" as I said means "God's gracious gift". Isn't that true? Evan is a Welsh form of "John". Incidentally, the birth father, who we barely know anything about was born, where else? Wales!!!!! His name is Aaron. All of these things make it so we can have no other name. I think you all, now know that too. . . "Robert" is the name of Michael's father who passed away in 1987, too young at 42. We wish we knew him today and wish to carry on his name in our family through our son. It would also be a gracious gift to honor him in that way.

We are grateful for every comment, in emails and on the blog. We know, no strangers. We know everyone who reads this is touched, we are touched. We cannot contain our feeling of joy and excitement! We cannot wait to see our son. We cannot wait to share him with you in spirit and reality. God Bless everyone. Thank you for your name suggestions!

addendum:

Since announcing Evans name... we have learned that my dad's favorite uncle was named Robert and Michael's mom had a cousin, uncle and grandfather, all with varying degrees of , "John, Evan and Roberts (last name)". Crazy! Sounds like we need to get some family history done to me!! lol.

Meet "Our Baby Mama" ;)

(click pictures to make them bigger)
Isn't she wonderful!? We know she is "eclectic" and we love it.:) She is soooooooooooooooooo wonderful! If any of you know my sister Ashley, she's worse at random conversations! smile. (love you ash AND your random conversations, i passed them on to you after all) As you can see her hair is not a natural color, it's blue but fading to green. She did it last Saturday. This picture was taken at the end of our visit at 530pm (see, still smiling!). You are enjoying one of my 'signature', 'I don't want you to see my body so here's a self portrait head shots' with Courtney. She loved it. smile. Our "face to face" meeting started at 12p today. We were still driving to Kennesaw when Hannah called and said, "Hey, do you guys just want to come and meet us at Courtney's Doctors appointment?" Ahhh, YEAH! So we get to her doctors office (she hadn't met him yet, it's a new Dr. since leaving jail) after getting late for the looooongest 10min of our life and were ushered into a hallway with Hannah. Apparently C was giving a "sample" in the restroom (man, this is just how I pictured meeting my birth mother! LOL). The employees were introduced to us, "the Adoptive Parents" and we got, "OH! Nice to meet you!" So we're talking casually (the hallway is getting hotter) when 'someone' pops their head out of the bathroom,' psst'ing Hannah to let the employees know "someone's pee is already in there" then turns her head to us and says, "oh, hey!" and goes back in the bathroom. LOL. I know descriptive but I have to give you an idea of how crazy this is. We are totally rolling with it at this point, despite beginning to perspire from stress and the increasing heat! Finally Courtney comes out with a HUGE smile on her face and arms outstretched for me (lingered of course cause i'm so huggable) and then Michael (sooooo he 'says' she lingered for him too but, we know i'm better ;). We just took off from there. She wanted us to come in to be part of the examination because she wants us to "experience everything we can for our son!" I'm not making this up! She is crazy or an angel, I say both. smile.


So first of all, she's wearing this crazy shirt. It's something my mom would wear or appreciate at least. It's completely my families sense of humor. Then, on the exam table (nothing was exposed, Michael was comfortable) she and her Dr start right in to mixing it up when he makes fun of her hair color. I cannot repeat the other exchanges as some where inappropriate for mass consumption but (Lindsey c. in particular) some of you will be very upset you weren't there yourself to experience this. We were laughing and having a great time. The Dr. got her prepped to hear the heartbeat with the old school 'midwife' heartbeat detector thingy. He finds the heart beat immediately and says, "Here's number one"... Courtney gives him 'the eye' and says "I don't think so" and he moves the Doppler to the other side of her belly and detecting the heartbeat again says "and here's number 2"! (NO, not twins, he was totally playing with her the whole time and they fed off each other, it was great) She just shot him a look of 'I'm not going to let you get away with that' and bantered back and forth. We are soooooo grateful to have been able to go to her appointment and meet the very casual doctor (but professional too). We will look forward to meeting him again and are thankful he was willing to take Courtney in her ninth month. What a blessing (thank yourselves for all those prayers!).


(her idea to "oh wait, take one from the side!" she's so amazing!) After lunch at "Joe's Crab Shack", (one of C's cravings while in jail) with Courtney, Hannah and her intern "Ashley" we went to her hotel to visit more personally after Hannah had to go to Sealing of a baby to it's family in the Atlanta Temple. Eventually we gave her her wrapped belated Birthday gifts along with letters from Michael's Mom and Step-Dad and from my Parents. She LOVED the letters. She really enjoys learning about our families and especially is enamored with the idea that my family is so big and still close. (wait, she likes both families equally but is mesmerized with a big family... hope that clears that up?) Anyway, after seeing her in person and getting to know her on that level, I have to revise the second part of the gift but, she liked the gifts. We gave her the book "Oh the Places You'll Go" and "Fablehaven book 1" (of 4 or 5) and a hand made by me, GREEN scarf. She was very impressed with the handmade aspect especially. We will omit the mention of "movie theme" as she has apparently sold her PS2 she was watching movies on and the doctor was worried about her sugar levels soo, I might be omitting some of the candy to find a new home in my purse! She'll still get the robe and socks etc.


Anyway, before I forget, she said it meant a lot that so many people are praying for her. She specifically said to tell everyone (doesn't know I have a blog but knows I let lots of people know what's going on, at a time), thank you so much for your prayers cause she feels them. She explained that it's what helped her to feel so confident, SURE and "at peace" about choosing Michael and I (THANK YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH! We know this is real and will be indebted to you for all our lives. We will name our son after all of you. lol)! Again, I do not kid and cannot make this stuff up, she is so great! She also informed us (we had NO idea) that when the baby is born, we will get our own room next door to stay for a couple days, as if I had the baby! AWESOME!!!!! During this conversation, she re-iterated her Birth Plan to us, that we would be in the delivery room and this time she said, when the baby is born, they will hand him to ME! OH MY GOSH! I told her that she could hold him, it's ok and she said she's learned it's really not good so she doesn't try to get attached to the baby. (I'm sure she will hold him later, she's just distinguishing the first time). It's exciting for her to see us be parents. She cannot wait to bless us, she says it over and over. It's almost like all of you, knowing our history and wanting it so bad for us. She's like, "do you want to see all my family pictures so you can see what he could potentially look like!? It was just so great. She shared so much, very personal feelings (even poetry and writings about life and the baby and she is actually very talented with it). Anyway, we finally had to close our meeting with her cause we got about 3hrs of sleep each last night and had yet to check into our hotel. We had the greatest day today! The cherry on top? Can it get any better?? YES! We shopped at IKEA! We bought our crib! And highchair! AND etc! Here is a picture of that to close....



Ahhhh to all your well wishes for a wonderful day. We also, thankfully made some headway on names! No I will not share yet!? Are you crazy?! ;) I will however, announce it when we know what his name is for sure. Just to wet your appetite though, we are decided... his last name WILL be... "Stuteville". LOL! There. you got it out of me... smile. I'm actually really excited that we made some headway cause before MDS was shooting me down right and left! smile. He means well, he just wants it to be important too. Alright, I'll keep him.

We got to go to

We got to go to her Dr's appointment! We heard our sons heart beat and met Courtney's Dr. who is HILARIOUS. More later.

Pshhhh... you know I ain't sleepin'!

Not on a night like this! I worked a gloriously long day at the Chop Shop (of which, because of the immensely beautiful day out, I was able to open my back door to clear the air and enjoy some sunshine! the real thing!). During which, Michael and I were blessed with a lunch break together (thanks for being late Jill! smile) at Buster Burger on Broad for those of you asking. MMmmmmm, cheeseburger and fries... did i mention... mmmmmm. After lunch we had to drop the truck off as it has been acting up but it's perfect cause we can leave it there all weekend to get fixed! Why you ask? Duh, we're leaving for Atlanta to meet our baby's momma in... 6 hours. *grin* I'm looking forward to it. I imagine it'll be sunflowers and moonbeams at every moment. I will try to be a great photographer though I dream of actually having a great camera to do that with. smile. one day.

So, here's what I got folks. Courtney's "Care Package" or "CCP" as I like to call it (just kidding, I just made that up) has come together like this.... Her 18th Birthday was Sept 19th so it took on a 'gift' theme and by 'gift theme' I mean movie theme sprinkled with an excuse to give her junk food and t.v. type dinners. LOL. So here's some pics and explanations:


FIRST: Birthday gift of, green crocheted scarf (her favorite color) in box with my personal copy of Book 1 for the FABLEHAVEN series (do yourself a favor, check it out. http://www.fablehaven.com/ ). Other wrapped gift is the book, "Oh the Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss (need I say more?).










SECOND: A VERY plush robe and soft soft socks! I know, black but the robe is so comfy I was willing to ignore the unattractive color. Anyway, she can lounge away before and after baby in this bad boy.

THIRD: The Movie "IRONMAN" that came out in theaters while she was in jail and is now on DVD and 'the fixin's" (that's southern United States for: stuff on the side). Plus there is a journal and some pens on there if you click on the pic, you'll see it better of which I will be writing scriptures and quotes in throughout the pages in a random fashion. A reminder of US and that we are always a page a way. smile.

p.s. i stopped typing at 144am! good night!

Thank You for your response!

I'm exploding with excitement that everyone else is so excited! We're excited too! I love your responses to my questions (keep um coming). I returned home from a long and awesome day at work to find 35 new messages in my inbox! We both read every blog comment but I'm the social one who posts. Now I just want the time to fly and for Heavenly Father to take care of my clients if she goes into labor early! It will be welcomed time with our baby but I'm sad my clients won't have an appointment for an additional 5 weeks! yeah yeah yeah 'don't worry about that Lila", easy for you to say, you aren't trying to keep your beloved clients looking and feeling gorgeous and keeping your NEW business afloat! ;)
Mike and I really feel so lucky to get to experience this and with all of you. I feel so blessed to get to take care of a little human finally, it is a real dream come true. It's hard to wrap my brain around that it's finally seemingly here. We have a lot of faith in Courtney especially because she is convinced but there is something to be said when your baby is born and you see him, isn't there? I wouldn't blame her to be attached, at least a little, she is human. I want to be considerate of that and help her through that time. Thank you!
On a fun note. Did you notice the map widget on the top right of my blog? It's a map of the cities that people are from that look at your blog! I think it's only for that day, I don't remember but I have a couple Canadians eh! WELCOME. Also Algeria, that is amazing to see a connection. It's fun. I hope you all think so.
I just wanted to make a comment so I disabled the comments for this post only. I hope you know how sincere we are in our gratefulness to each of you for your love and concern of this process. We feel your love and Courtney will be aware of it too.

So... I have some time...

I was talking to Rachel A. about pediatricians and decided to ask you all some questions of which I'd appreciate your reply. Whether out of town or in town you can help. 1st Who is you're Pediatrician in town & why do you like him/her. 2nd Is there someone you DON'T recommend? (this can also be emailed so we're not 'bad mouthing' online please. lilastuteville@yahoo.com) 3rd what qualities should I look for in a trusted Dr for my child? All these questions from someone who still doesn't have a gynocologist (sp?) OR primary care Dr after living here 6 years! Feel free to recommend for that too. smile.
All of you have been so helpful, I can't wait to hear your answers when I get home tonight... Later I hope to post the result of 'the gift basket' for Courtney...

Here she is... Miss America!

Here is Courtney! Obviously she gave us permission to share her picture. It makes her happy to know that everyone is so excited. She was almost surprised that we have told everyone we know.
Courtney is WONDERFUL and great and beautiful. We had a great conversation once it got started. She and I started started talking with Hannah on a conference call where we really couldn't hear each other. After about an hour Hannah had to go so we continued our conversation on our own when I called her back. We talked from 1p till almost 330p! Iiiiiiii, know! Before she hung up with us, Hannah, said, "It's like you guys knew each other before" (p.s. H never got to speak in our conference call). lol. It really was like that, we continued our conversation with each other after Michael got to say hi real quick before going back to work (the connection was so bad on the conference call, he could just stare at me while i talked and give me thumbs up and 'watched the conversation)
(click the picture to see larger)
Courtney is really great. She is intuitive, wise, funny, loving and sensitive. Like any woman, she has the questions and insecurities we all do. She loves her mother and feels like they are very connected still even though she was killed in a car accident a year and a half ago. I found out that she grew up riding horses and caring for all kinds of animals (including livestock) on her maternal grandfathers 40acre property in Mississippi, her favorite color is green, she loves anything CHOCOLATE, Chinese Food is her favorite and she loves MADONNA! LOL. It is hilarious. We are really looking forward to our visit next Friday and Saturday, we can't wait to see her and give her a hug... She also asked us to keep in touch with her after the baby's born with emails and pictures and possible visits. She expressed to us that she really does want us to name the baby and lastly, she asked if we would please be in the delivery room when she has the baby. WOW! I don't know what else to say?! We are very excited to be asked to such a personal experience and can't wait to be part of it. In the end she kept telling me how sure she is about placing the baby and not to worry about her changing her mind etc. I told her I appreciate her honesty and reassurance. We had an easy conversation and that is a relief. Our plan for our visit is this: Friday lunch together, go to a park after then meet for dinner (Hannah will be with us for all of this). On Saturday, we will likely hang out for breakfast or stop by to see her right before we go out of town to get some ice cream or something. SOooooo Exciting!!! SOoooo nerve racking!!!!!! Aghhhhhh!

Guess who's going to talk to her birth mother tomorrow at 1pm??? Guess who also was sent a picture of her??? Let me ask if it's ok to post it when I talk to her and I'll post it. I'm so excited! It's getting real. Understandably I have been hesitant to embrace this process and am stepping out of my shell. Michael and I are really looking forward to our visit. Right now we're not nervous. With all the little things I'm learning about her, it's making the gift ideas turn. I think she has a short attention span, like she wouldn't have patience to sit still, she's always on the go and she really is a teenager with wanting to use facebook and talk to her friends and stuff. I daydream a lot about what she's thinking about and how it would feel to be stuck in a hotel by yourself after being in jail since may, spending your 18th birthday there (we're bringing a belated gift for that, in fact may 'wrap' all the gifts and say that is why... cute!) and not having any of your stuff with you (she just got some of her stuff today actually). It has to be lonely and boring. I will gift accordingly, candy, handheld games etc). I've been told she's not a 'writer' so if I do a journal idea, I'll modify it to suit her attention span. smile. I was talking to my brother and sister in law tonight who have 2 children through adoption (and just had their first 'to term', healthy baby boy), picking their brain about their birth mother meeting. I told them, I'll bring our photo albums for her to look at. If it's appropriate, we'll tell her about our missionary experience and show pictures of that. I think she'd like to know how we met... I still may make her something, not a scarf but something else, we'll see. Anyway... I just wanted to document these thoughts and now will go to bed. I started this blog at 1045p and it's now 1243am. lol. I started watching survivor and thank goodness for time zones cause it's two hours earlier in Cali so I got to talk to 3 siblings, a sis in law ( i whispered to a baby nephew) and my mom and then finished the blog. lol. I'm sooooooo ready for bed! i get to sleep in tomorrow! i will not set my alarm and will not feel bad about it. Carly... I'm gonna make your letters tomorrow! I'm excited. I'll throw in a gift for your baby boy too! (thanks Hallie for the hat info I CANT WAIT!!!)
by for now y'all.

Failed Phone Call, wah wah wah...

Ok, so. I have been EXTREMELY busy at work (thank you everyone!!!). I'm not complaining at all but thought you'd like to know my schedule: I get up at 9a, at work by 10, slammed back to back with clients till 9pm (or later! it was fun Tara, lol) after cleaning and closing out business stuff, I'm home by 930-945! When I get home, I work on the computer for about 2 hours, setting appointements up, responding to emails etc. THEN while I watch Dancing With the Stars, I check facebook to ignore 'food flings' and 'pokes' but mostly to see if Kate emailed (sorry, the girl makes me smile. what can i say?) but also to see what old friends from home have found me (so exciting, i love facebook for that). Blurry eyed, I check the time to see 2AM!!! and crawl into bed with my sleeping husband.... wake up at 9a, at work by 10 etc etc ....
So, I've had no time for socialization except for clients (lucky devils) and was dreading another long night (in a way and only cause i keep staying up so late) till my phone ring said my caseworker this morning! I was doing Katie's hair and just finished (it looks AMAZING of course) when I answered the phone. It was actually Hannah asking if it was possible that we have a phone call with Courtney cause basically she is really restless right now. I was like... umm. right now? (getting dizzy thinking about all the clients i had left in the day) she said no, In the next few days starting today. Ok, I was excited now cause I can't wait to talk to her, are you kidding? I said, cautiously, that we could do it tonight when i get off work at 9p if it isn't too late. Even though it was 10p there time, she said, lets do it! I was pumped! Surprisingly not nervous because of all my gained perspective about getting too excited about things over the years... I went on with my day and got home by nine after getting really good hugs of excitement from my clients. I got home, I changed clothes, used the restroom, I got out a pad of paper, (p.s. MDS went to play basket ball tonight cause I said, I'll be taking over the conversation anyway, so he might as well keep his 'appointment' with the court. lol) and a pen, ready for notes and waited for the phone to ring (checking emails for those 3min of wait) and at 9:03p the house phone rang! It was Hannah. She explained (i'm sure nervously) that C was so restless earlier (bored and moody, alone in a hotel) that she didn't feel up to talking tonight. frown. but I did get to have a nice talk with Hannah. I got to ask a lot of questions about C and even found out the birth father is also young, just graduated from High School. C is actually from Mississippi somewhere and can't wait to get back but the terms of her probation prohibit her from leaving the state at the moment. She just wants out of that room. No car, no way to call anyone, no computer and is now 18 (Birthday was last friday, Sept 19th) wanting to get away. Add pregnancy hormones and you basically have a cocktail for a tazmanian devil. smile. So, I'm happy to wait a couple days for Friday when I can finally take a breath! In the mean time, I have all new ideas for her meeting gift so I may remove the poll and add a new. sorry! New info calls for new polls folks! I was told some other things but I do need to keep some to ourselves (at least for now). I'm not 'worried' but I am concerned about her running away or something if she gets too restless. Hannah assures me that C is taking this very seriously and WILL place the baby but if C runs into the wrong hands out of despiration and final freedom, I'm more concerned about THAT person and what they will impress upon her mind. We're praying, we never stop. I'm looking forward to talking to her on Friday hopefully (then I'll blog about it - of course) and we are making plans to see her NEXT Friday and Saturday, Oct 3rd & 4th. sigh.... I know this has already been a roller coaster but I didn't know I could have a big roller coaster all in one day!? lol. keeping the faith....
kisses, ok, hugs too.

Courtney was released today!

I'm at work but Christopher just called to say Courtney's been released from jail today! He said she was anxious to get out and asked 'When can I meet Michael and Lila?' Ahhh! I'm so excited! I thought she would be released thurs or friday & it would be too soon to come down so I moved all my clients from NEXT weekend to THIS weekend! lol. Murphy's law right? So it's likely we'll be in atlanta next weekend to meet her....
I have about scrapped the scarf idea for a first meeting gift and am considering another but I need MORE gift ideas so suggest away! Remember, she will be in simple temporary surroundings so keep it simple and thoughtful. smile. ok, back to work....

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Suggestions (and revisions)

So, Courtney has a hearing regarding her release on Sept 25th or 26th. We will be praying that what is best for the baby will happen. When she is released, it's likely we will be asked to meet her within a week or two. EXCITING! NERVOUS! YIKES! So, I also need some suggestions.
It is not uncommon to bring a 'gift' to the birth mother when you meet her. I asked my sister in law what she did and something she mentioned she felt was right for her birth mom was a willow tree figurine for example. Our birth mom doesn't have her own home and this type of idea is great but not right for her. So... i would love suggestions.... I was thinking of finding out her favorite color and crocheting her a scarf for the winter.
As far as the time of placement of the baby there is many times a more meaningful gift shared. Michael and I have agreed that we would like to give her a ring we found that to us, tells her, "You will always be a part of our hearts and we will always be a part of yours". We want her to wear it and know we are thinking of her and always grateful for the choice she made to place her son with us. Here is the ring.
http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/Item.aspx?sku=GRP01974&mcat=148204&cid=288155&search_params=s+3-p+6-c+288155-r+-x+-n+6-ri+-ni+0-t+

Friday 9/19/08:
I think I confused a lot of folks so, I'll clarify. smile. There are two seperate gifts to give...
1) at our first meeting (scarf and/or something else, preferably casual cause she can still change her mind, I don't know her personality etc)
2) at placement (the ring, likely for sure)
Thank you for all the comments so far. I love them all! more, More MORE!!!! lol.

Courtney

So as I pretend to be patient between hearing anything about our current adoption, I will share some confidential information about our birthmom in Atlanta. We were given a bit of her health history and personal background this weekend in a fax. I would like to share a few of her interesting facts and appropriate information you can know:

Sadly, I learned her mother died at age 36 in a car accident. (don't know how long ago) Later, Courtney describes her mothers personality as "Laid back, fun, outragously outgoing. down-to-earth-type". Describing her own personality, she wrote, "My personality is unique just like my mother's was." (I am so touched by this, you can tell how much she loves her mother and misses her, especially as later she says that "everyone in her family has disowned her" except her mothers parents. sad to me, i have more and more compassion for her. she does also say she is close to her 16yr old brother)

Having not completed High School, she wants to get her G.E.D and go to Cosmetology School. (I just might have some 'advice' for her about that)

She states her dad's "Talents, hobbies, interests" are: "Cleaning guns". LOL!!!!! (we honestly almost died laughing, honestly. no really, honestly)

Both her parents are listed as "American Indian" (not enrolled in or affiliated with a tribe) with Scottish, German and Irish named first. She lists herself as "Caucasian" though.

She and both her parents are allergic to cats (my mother in law is getting ready to give Oliver a home. lol).

There is other information but I feel like it's inappropriate to share more than this on a blog. I'm hoping she likes us. I feel encouraged that we have things in common like brown hair, hazel eyes and the similarity to she and her moms personalities! AND, wouldn't you know, one of michael's hobbies is ... you guessed it, 'cleaning guns!' Uncanny. smirk.