How sweet it is to be loved by you...

Ughhh! He is so wonderful! We're getting the hang of night time with our little one but as you can see, he's an angel during the day. ;) I just told Courtney about the blog and invited her to view it and all the wonderful things you have said about this process with her.

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He's been released!

We are on our way to our hotel to FINALLY be alone with Evan! He's doing really well and we are grateful to the staff for being so great & efficiant! We are so happy! Hope you enjoy this picture of Evans contentment on the blanket I crocheted him. xxoo.

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WEE MORNING THOUGHTS...

As this may be my last opportunity to blog for awhile... (we'll see, don't panic. though really, the funnest part of the story is really over and now we're just like everyone else with children, "crazy". no offense:) he he he)... I wanted to journal, no telling what I will decide to tell you at 5:22 am here in my hotel in Smyrna, GA. Evan... he's coming home later today (hopefully) and by home, I mean our hotel till we are cleared to leave the state (likely Mon afternoon or Tuesday). we will get to be alone with him for the first time in his 3 day old life. It has been a roller coaster for sure but we are overjoyed. As with an actual roller coaster, there are many big dips and huge loops, death defying drops and soaring heights. You can close your eyes at parts and be scared or cheer and raise your hands but at the end, you are turning to a friend or loved one that shared the ride with you and say, "that was awesome, let's do it again!" why are we so crazy!? But we are. We of course would do it again and it continues to have challenges but we're hoping the next turn brings a cheer. These first few days, we come back to an empty hotel, with out Evan and hope we provide what he needs in life. We look forward to getting on the computer to remember the joy through the stress when we see we have "86" posts on Facebook or "84" emails! I have to publicly apologize to my brother Bennett and his wife Jennifer (ok, Lacey got an earful about my day too) cause they hear all the stress and unpleasantness. i hang up and say, why didn't i tell them the wonderful things?! there are many but it isn't all perfect of course. our days have been exhausting mentally for not knowing where we should be, at what time how long we will be doing it and all we want to do is be with the baby. Our experience has not been geared towards our own comfort and hand holding even though we craved it, it's for the birth mother and child (definitely most important, I'm not complaining about that). So it is frustrating. To add to it (YOU MAY WANT TO REVERT YOUR EYES * personal information ahead * I'M SERIOUS), I researched and have been attempted Adoptive Mother Breastfeeding. OH MY GOSH! How do you do that!? I know that is what everyone says. Well, if you really want to know, look it up but be respectful that as a woman, it is my function and no matter the child, it is healthy for them and it is why I have pursued it. Not only have I pursued it but I have looked forward to it, equally to getting Evan. Sparing All the details, to lactate when you are not naturally producing milk (i warned you!) is difficult and can be, as far as i understand to this point, produce only small amounts of milk or you can (if I'm lucky), you can produce a full amount. As I am not yet producing milk, until I do, I will use a supplementer that allows the child to still latch as any child but get the sustenance from a tube (for lack of will to explain more, again, you can look it up, my brain is fried). ANYWAY, the reason I tell you is, today, well Thursday, I finally had an opportunity to meet with one of the wonderful ladies from the Breastfeeding Center at the Hospital (Hi Sharon & crew!!!). She very patiently and lovingly showed me how to get Evan to comply despite the obvious privacy issues this entails. Man I was frustrated! It was not her fault and I wasn't because Evan was upset and irritable, it was because, this way wasn't my dream. I don't want to be trying to teach my 2 day old to breastfeed OR to forget the actual supplementer (holds formula, distributes through a tube to the breast/nipple. quite giggling, it's real life) I was supposed to be using and when you know about breastfeeding (or have a baby in general) you know how important it is to have skin to skin contact right away but i hadn't had this yet and it was very upsetting. I didn't want to disrespect Sharon cause she is very good at her job and passionate about the subject and taking time to help me, but, I wanted to cry. We've had a hard time communicating with our caseworkers on anything and to leave a LONG 2 days of that to try to 'jump in' to this venture was overwhelming so i was about to break this afternoon (after looking soooo forward to it all day. actually for a few weeks, i couldn't wait to get started and now was very upset feeling). Michael of course was sweet and patient. Reassuring me to be upbeat and to calm down. I did and resolved to not stress, cause nothing would happen for sure then. I decided to wait till I'm 'home' at the hotel to work on it and felt bad that I didn't feel comfortable in the nursery at the hospital in front of a bunch of strangers but happy that I felt better and good about my decision.
Back to MDS: I am impressed with how well we have learned to communicate with each other over the years but especially this past year. He has changed and mellowed so much. I have changed and been less 'fly by the seat of my pants' and we love it. I appreciate his love toward me and now Evan and his excitement for both of us. I am up because I cannot sleep thinking about how to care for my son. To make my Heavenly Father proud of us that he sent another child to this earth to have a chance to return to Him one day if he lives a righteous life. More, I'm hoping and praying to keep him fed and alive! I now know with out asking anyone or recalling a conversation on the subject, that every single parent has worried about this! lol. Will I feed my child enough? What if he spits it all up? Who do I call to rescue me? Will they hate me WHEN I call in the middle of the night when Evan is making ME cry? smile. It's ok, it's all part of the roller coaster I spoke of at the beginning and now that I've got that off my chest... don't be gross but I would sincerely appreciate some prayers that I will be able to organize these thoughts and find success in breastfeeding (in the prayer you can say "success in her desires as a mother" so you aren't irreverent and all giggly. ;) he he he). It's a righteous desire to give my child the best and give myself to the type of bonding this can bring to me and our child. sigh....
I did it! I told you all a VERY personal story that was hard to admit (you open yourself to nay-sayers and rude comments with good intentions) and I'm still alive! I almost feel like I can go back to bed at 623am, only to wake up at 830a. wink. MDS is still asleep and probably warm so I better slip back to bed and warm up my cold feet with his warm legs. For some reason, I don't think he likes this. weird. Oh well. smile. I hope you didn't mind my personal story but it's my personal blog so ;p (that's a tongue sticking out, clever huh?). Also, don't forget to see the video posted below. It is adorable. If it's just spitting out, pause it while it loads so you can see it perfectly. I'm grinning just thinking about it. Truly, Thank you everyone for your love. Good morning and good night.

side note: if you are in California or anywhere outside of Tennessee I guess, and are interested in being invited to a "Virtual Shower" for us, My sister Jenalyn and one of my Oldest and Bestest friends Heather are organizing a way to celebrate this occasion for those of you that have asked about a shower. Jenalyn needs your email so here is hers, jennypatch9@yahoo.com , she or Heather will get back to you. We are interested how this will go but it sounds fun. wink.

Oh, ya'll are gonna eat this up!

TURN UP YOUR SOUND! AHHHHH I can't even stand it barely myself, it's so adorable!!!

Evan should be coming "home" from the hospital tomorrow. If you don't know, we will have to remain in GA till the paperwork is finished and that means Evan's first home is in a Residence Inn in Smyrna, GA! lol. We are happy to be alone finally without (very helpful albeit) all the nurses etc. We cannot wait to take MORE pictures! lol.

Day 2 Quick post

just after i fed him this morning, this was his face.

talk about kissable!

our CRAZY dr! we love him! this was just before evans

"surgery" (down "there") lol.

angel or walk like an egyptian? you decide.

this is the light bed for his jaundice (only a little)

finally. we decided to get courtney something different after getting to know her.

we didn't know what it was going to be after we got to the Jared jewelry store

to find out what we wanted wasn't there. quickly and thankfully, we decided on something much more appropriate for courtney. these initial pendants are perfect and off set so she can wear them together or separate to remember evan near her heart. after talking with her and getting to know her lifestyle, we know she will cherish this better than a ring from tiffany's. xoxo

evan should be released tomorrow if all goes well. it's exciting and nervous. we will get settled in and get to know each other 24/7! yikes... ;) We will meet courtney on saturday or sunday to give her this gift and have one last visit "till we meet again". thank you for all your wonderful comments! they are so great and really lift our tired spirits! by for now....

Well, What do you know, Patience IS a virtue.

tangled feet. long toes.

new born

proud daddy

shocked mommy

eternal friends

loves to look around!

first diaper

(do you see him looking at me? loves me already!!)

first scrunchy pose

full lenth

first name plaque

So, WOW we have had a long (two) day(s). We haven't slept since we woke up Monday morning for work (MDS is actually snoozing right now but i HAD to write to my people! :) he he). Here's a run down...

Hannah called Monday to say Courtney's been contracting all weekend and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

(i KNEW i needed to pack Evan's bag, of which I have nothing of course (it was pitiful)! so we packed the onesies and blankets that I have bought. lol)

H called back, around midnight to say, she really is contracting and i'm gonna take her to the hospital to make sure she isn't have false labor. I asked her to call me back if the hospital admits her and we would leave THEN. I start to nest and get ready, packing etc. MDS is NOT convinced at this point and is REALLY tired (= cranky) and wanted to go to bed. I begged him to please trust me and help get things ready so at least when H called to say it's for real, we'd have the car packed up for Evan and would just need to add ours. eventually i talked him into helping me till 130am, then i promised he could go to bed.

130am: H calls and says, THIS IS IT! We are now both tired and cranky and prepare to pack for up to 2 weeks away from home and at 330am leave for Atlanta.

H calls periodically to give updates that sound like she's progressing fast and It seems we wont make it in time for the birth! yikes!

We get there around 820am (eastern time)! Poor C is exhausted and even seems a little dilerious from pain meds (NO EPIDURAL!) and quickly progresses from there.

At one point the pain is really bad for her and she agrees to the epidural only to be at 10 and 100%! The nurse said, I think you can handle it courtney, you wanna go for it? YES! so it seems like only 10-15min later while i am at her left side, holding her foot back and encouraging her breathing, HIS Head was crowning! (sorry for the visual but this is the circle of life for goodness sakes!;)) Within 2min, his head was out! I couldn't believe it! I have never watched a birth in real life before and never of my own child obviously but I was overcome with emotion (fear and excitement) and tears flowed. Courtney was watching me intently. When Evan was fully delivered, she was so excited, she pulled me in with her eyes and exclaimed, "Your Son! Here is your son!" Having just been in searing pain, she was now motioning for Michael to come closer to see him. She was so happy for us and didn't want us to miss a thing. (thankfully, cause i wasn't in scrubs) they didn't hand him to us but quickly, C made sure to direct what was, next, that Mike and I would cut the cord, Michael did the major severance, I did the section closest to his belly button. it was a wonderful experience! we were whisked away to a room alone with Evan and told to try to feed him a bottle, (this was wierd to me) and after courtney was 'cleaned' up and about to finally rest, she requested the 3 of us. we gladly returned to her side as we love her company and wanted her to see and hold him, this beautiful perfect Child of God. She cried and said, "Can you believe I made this miracle?" She continued to inquire of our feelings about being parents finally (a whole 20 min at this point. we were/are clueless) and hung on every word. finally our wonderful visit with her was over and we had to take Evan to the Nursary. He was soooo good the whole time. He doesn't cry yet, just sleeps. This evening we went back after checking into our lodgings (THANK YOU TARA!) and brought Evan to Courtneys new room to meet her new boyfriend, her friend that introduced her to our agency and her boyfriend (also another caseworker assistant to mediate?). we took pictures and visited and as usual we always especially love when it's just us and Courtney. It's like hanging out with family after a party, basking in the glow of the celebration with someone you trust. Tomorrow morning we will sign our paperwork so we can be on our way back to Tennessee. Hopefully by Monday night or Tuesday morning. We can't wait for Smokey and Oliver to see him and see how they react to a baby. Anyway, despite our exhaustion, we are happy and glowing. Each moment we spent with Evan, the more we love him and feel comfortable with the idea that we are now parents finally. We logged on tonight and had something like 80 well wishes and congratulations. We know this has been a ride for you too and thank you for the prayers and love. Courtney thanks you too, honestly. We cannot wait for you to meet Evan.

We are lovin' life. Amen.

HE'S HERE!

EVAN ROBERT STUTEVILLE
born:

Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 940 am

6 pounds 6 ounces, 18 inches long

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WE'RE HERE. NO BABY YET

WE'RE HERE. NO BABY YET AND IT'S FREEZING IN HERE! POOR COURTNEY, SHE'S ALMOST UNCONSCIOUS FROM THE PAIN.

WE ARE STILL DRIVING BUT

WE ARE STILL DRIVING BUT SHE'S DIALATING FAST AT A 6 OR 7 NOW. WE MIGHT MAKE IT THERE BEFORE HE'S BORN!

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.