Happy Mothers Day -long post warning-

Happy Mothers Day to you all! And a special one to my mom, and to Mia's birth mom too! I love you both! Without these two amazing women I would not be here, be the woman I am, and not have the blessing of our beautiful Mia.

They say it is for all women, mothers or not, but honestly it was depressing being wished "Happy Mothers Day" when a child was all you wanted and everything you couldn't have at the time. To those who do not yet have children, or cannot, or are single, or have lost their child, I LOVE YOU.
This post may not comfort you, and you may not even read it, but maybe it can bring a glimmer of hope, because a year ago, I didn't know we would have what we now enjoy. Life changes everyday. Ours certainly has!

In previous years I would celebrate to honor my mom who is wonderful, righteous, strong, and selfless, as well as a great cook and baker, only to name a few attributes. I celebrate her today! I love to be with her, work with her, decorate cakes and cook with her. She makes daily chores easier, and just having her in the room gives you confidence. She has always been a teacher and hands on in our lives.She sewed our clothes and Halloween costumes, made all our birthday cakes, kept 6 kids entertained, and taught us to be responsible adults. Having a daughter gives me greater appreciation for all that she did for us and continues to do for us. Thank you mom for everything!


Mom and Me. You can see where I get my hair growing ability.

Pumpkin carving at Halloween. Me the baby. She made it through two more kids too. Sorry I don't have an old picture with all of us at my house.

We travel together.

I love working on activities with her.

She doesn't think that she has patience for crafts, but then makes cakes like this. This was our wedding cake, and I might be biased, but it is pretty much the most beautiful cake that ever was!

This is my first Mothers Day as a mother.

 Our cutie family.

Dee got me these beautiful flowers, and donuts for the morning, since he has a 7:00 meeting, and unless he wakes me at 6 there will be no breakfast in bed. I vote extra sleep:)










Our little Mia grows and grows, and will be 7 months soon. I am so grateful for her birth mom that has made this experience possible for us.  She is moving around more and more and nothing will be unreachable soon. I look at our house differently and think " how tall is Mia? can she reach that yet? How much longer till she can? Where should I move this or that?" Don't get me wrong, our house is fairly baby proof, but set her free and she WILL find something unexpected to play with.



"I will find all your cords, disconnect them and play with them, then drool on them"

"You think you can fool me? If you take those cords, I will just search until I find more"











She loves to eat, but sometimes gives us this look... "You want to feed me WHAT?"

   

 She finds entertainment in dress-up already, She kept pulling hair bows out for me to add to her hair.





She loves books to read, to eat. She will crawl across the floor for books.










This is how she interacts with her cousin, Liam. He seems thrilled doesn't he?

I might be biased but I think that she gets more beautiful every day, and more fun, more interactive, more curious, more loved!

 Waiting years for a child makes this Mothers Day all the more sweet.

I wouldn't change anything in this experience.... well, maybe not getting tendinitis from holding her so much.

Six Months Old

Mia has made it to the 1/2 year point! It has been some adventure so far. She has been learning and growing a lot. Each day she works on new skills, and this week we moved up in clothing size for her. Today she had her 6 month checkup at the doctor and all is well. She is on track for everything even if she is tall for her age, in the 96th percentile, can you believe it? She has been sitting up really well. She still has to check her balance but loses it less and less frequently. She is becoming more and more busy, scooting around and rolling all over.

Here she is trying to grab the camera from me. She is definitely of this generation. All things technology interest her. She must have them, hold them, chew on them, push every button.   

Anyone looking for baby actors, here is some of her Emotional Range:

Surprised /or/ Mommy has gone a little crazy /or/ It wasn't me

 Overjoyed /or/ I am going to eat everything you have

Happy /or/ I got what I wanted

She also has Grumpy, Sleepy, Sad, Getting into trouble, and Frustrated. (pictures not included)

She can now play with things sitting up, like this ramp. She no longer needs me to place them at the top, but I may have to chase after them if they decide to go off in a crazy direction.

And she has a funny technique of gathering her toys. She scoots along the ground, reaches out to any toy she can grab, pulls it under her chest until the pile is too large for her to move. She then rolls to the side and recollects them to see if she can fit anymore underneath her. Somewhere along the way she gets frustrated that she can't have every toy at her side. She also must lick or bite every toy she collects.

She keeps us moving for sure! We love our little kiddo, crazy days and all!

To Mia, To Remember

To Mia, To Remember

There is nothing more beautiful than your face right now. Holding you in my arms fills me with peace. Your body relaxes, as does mine.

These moments of calm have become fewer. 

Your curiosity of the world around you grows just as quickly as you do. Lately as I hold you, you wiggle and squirm.
Reaching for the next thing
to touch,
to feel,
to explore.
Your hands stretching, grasping, holding, pushing.
You are learning with every move.

You want to see everything. I want you to, also.
I know your potential is endless.

But really I just want to keep you here, next to my heart.
Quietly listening to the rhythm of your soft breathing. Watching the expressions of your dreams.

Soon your eyes will open and your voice will insistently call.
Time to play.
Time to eat.
Your future awaits!

For now you are here,
Held close.

A Forever Family!

We had the amazing experience of being sealed to our beautiful Mia on Saturday in the Mesa Arizona Temple. Most of Dee's family came down to visit and be with us on this special day. My sister Becky also came with her family. We are so grateful for the sacrifices they made to be here and experience this with us. 

This is us after being sealed together as a family for all eternity. It is such a joyful day. My heart is still so full of love. How wonderful to be able to take Mia to the temple as an infant and feel the peace there. I think that she could also feel the calming influence of the spirit there. Despite the long trip to get there she was really happy. No crying in the sealing room, and she was chatty and excited to be there. I look at the picture of us dressed in white and hope that the memory of this moment can remain with us forever!

A note about the white dress Mia was wearing: Dee's Grandma Marie Campbell made this dress ~30 years ago for his sister to wear for her blessing, and it has been passed onto the grandchildren to wear. It was very special to feel her presence with us even though she is no longer with us. 

Us before going into the temple. We should have snapped a picture of us putting her into the outfit from the trunk of our car. Fortunately we didn't travel with it on since we had to make an emergency clothing change in the middle of our 2 1/2 hour drive to the temple. Traveling with babies is so fun!?

Our happy girl!

 Dee's family that came from across the country to be with us.

Carrie's family (Those that could make it). Unfortunately Carrie's Dad got sick the night before and couldn't be there.

 Becky with Mia. She was kind enough to take most of the pictures. 

BLESSING DAY!

Sunday, we had Mia's blessing at church. It was also her five month birthday.  My brothers and Dee's dad held her in their arms and Dee gave her a wonderful blessing through the Spirit. 

Dee's parents with Mia.

I think that Mia was tired of pictures by the time we did this one, but she is still a cutie.

My thoughts about these two days...

We have waited so long to have these experiences and it is almost unreal that it has finally happened. I feel a greater sense of peace knowing that we are sealed and Mia is connected to us no matter what happens in life. I feel that she was meant to be in our family and I can't imagine our lives without her. She brings us such great joy. Dee and I are forever grateful to Mia's birth mother, for her choice to place Mia in our arms. We hope she is blessed with joy and peace in her life. 

 My faith in Jesus Christ is strengthened through these experiences. I know that by following His example, we can come closer to our Heavenly Father and return again to live with Him. I am grateful for my knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all the many blessings we have received in our lives.  

Have HOPE for the future. 

Yea!!! She is Officially Ours!

Today we went down to the court and finalized our adoption! Yea!! It has been quite the journey, but everything went smoothly, and we have the signed paper in hand. (Dee made reference to a song from Pete's Dragon afterward, and while I thought it was funny I wouldn't put it as the title of our blog post.)

I think that Mia was the youngest kiddo there, and we are so happy we could finalize so soon rather than wait six or more months. We almost didn't make it this morning. All three of us came down with colds, and fortunately Dee was much better today than yesterday. I took Mia to the doctor after court, and he said likely this cold will have to run its course- so not to worry.

Everyone at court was really nice. People were cooing at Mia and how cute she is. It must be the best court job, everyone is happy for you. Definitely the only reason you should ever have to go to court.

So now we are on the road to becoming our forever family. I just have to call the temple and set up a time to be sealed. (If you don't know what that means, feel free to email us and we can give you more info.)

We are so excited! We can't wait!