We were invited to two costume parties this year, so we wanted to come up with something creative that could incorporate my round belly and our teeny little baby. Soooo, here is what we came up with! I was Santa, Stephen was a great sport and dressed as Rudolph, and Karis was an elf! We had lots of fun dressing up as a family and are excited to do this for many years to come! We think Karis makes a super cute elf and an equally cute reindeer! :) 
I was reading in Ephesians 3, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably (exceedingly, abundantly) more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!" 
A baby brother!!!! We had our ultrasound this week and the doctor said there's basically no doubt that "Baby #2" is a BOY!! Everything looks just as it should, and the doctor even said he is on the big side! It was a relief to hear that everything is progressing well and we're excited to know the gender. Just 2 1/2 weeks earlier we didn't know the gender of either of our children, and now we know both! It's been fun to think and plan now that we have more details! They'll be almost exactly 5 months apart, so I'm paying special attention to 5 month old babies so I can gauge what Karis will be doing when her little brother is born. :)
Okay, I'll admit the whole biased factor again, but how sweet is she??? All that dark hair, those dimples, her eyes that are so bright and alert, her cute little belly - this baby girl is so easy to love. I'm becoming one of those parents who probably needs to tone it down, but I'm starting to get what every other parent out there feels -- your child fills your heart and you are forever changed and so in love. Haha - I know it's probably a little amusing, but I don't care. I'm smitten. :)
Since Karis was in the hospital a few extra days, it pushed back our opportunity to get a court date last week. However, we just learned we get our court appearance on MONDAY!!!! We already feel like Karis's parents, but Monday will make it legal. :) We're excited to bring Karis home and to introduce her to all our friends!
We are having so much fun with Karis that we haven’t had the chance to blog for several days. And I’m not sure how much time we’ll have in the next week or so, so I wanted to take a moment to update you as much as I can!
After Karis was born, the doctor noticed some rapid breathing, so they moved her to the NICU for observation. She didn’t need anything special – they just spent some time observing her. They attributed the rapid breathing to inhaling a small amount of fluid and meconium at birth, which is not an unusual occurrence. They quickly decided she was fine, but unfortunately she still needed to learn how to use a bottle! It took a few days for her to really get the hang of sucking, breathing, and swallowing all at once! (In some of the photos you may have noticed a tube going to her nose, and that’s how they fed her when they’d try a bottle and she didn’t take much). Again, the doctors said this isn’t uncommon and were confident she would get the hang of it. And she did! She’s been doing great for the past day and a half, so we get to leave the hospital whenever the social worker arrives to discharge us!! Woo Hoo!! The hospital was gracious and gave us a room last night, so we got the real experience of caring for her all day, which we loved! Even though the staff has been AMAZING and involved us in as much as possible, it was so hard to just come and visit, then have to leave her. However, she received wonderful care and got on a great feeding schedule, so hopefully we can keep that up when we leave!
We don’t have a court date, yet, but it looks like we’ll be here for another week or so. We’ll be excited to get home, but are thankful to have great friends to stay with while we’re here!
I’m sure we’re biased, but we think Karis is pretty perfect!! : ) So far she only cries if she’s hungry, tired, or needs to be changed, and has been easy to console if she does cry. She’s super alert and so fun when she’s awake! We’re trying to start good habits early and not hold her 24/7, but we love holding her! She is so cuddly and precious! Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful baby!
We got to see the birth mother a lot while she was still in the hospital. We brought her flowers and stopped in to visit (knowing from the agency that she would appreciate it). We were able to give her a sentimental gift, as well. I can imagine being in the hospital was hard for her, since everything about the experience reminded her that she was letting go of her baby. She did hold Karis and brought her a pacifier as a gift. We got to meet some of her family, and while they have their struggles, we are glad she has a support system and that they care enough to visit. We can confidently tell Karis that her birth mother loves her very much and made a hard decision to choose what she knew would be best for her.
One of the nurses told us that the birth mother asked her if she liked us. The nurse said she likes us very much, and the birth mother said she thinks we seem “pretty alright.” : ) The birth mother also asked Stephen if we’d take Karis to church, and when he said yes, she was pleased. We are glad that means something to her, since she told us that she “doesn’t have a religion.” More than anything we hope she felt accepted, loved, and valued by us.
Since she previously waived 5 of the 10 days she could have to change her mind, tomorrow is the last day that she could disrupt the adoption. At this point we have no reason to believe that she will, and we aren’t really worried about it, but I admit that we will be relieved when tomorrow is over.
We are so thankful that we met Karis’s birth mother. It wasn’t always easy or comfortable – in fact, some parts were hard and awkward. But knowing her has changed us, and as I mentioned before, I’m thankful we have lots of information to share with Karis someday. I think she’ll be helped to know about her birth mother and the circumstances surrounding the decision she made. Thank you for all of your prayers for this woman. She needs them, and she needs the hope that knowing Christ offers. We are so thankful for her, for her decision to choose life, and for the gift she has given us in Karis. She is in our hearts forever.
This is so fun! We're loving each and every second we get with our little girl!! I love how Karis is staring up at Stephen, and I love the expression on her face in our family pic. If you can't see it well, click on the photo to enlarge it. There will be more photos to come and I'll write more details soon, but for now, I need to get some sleep!! Thank you so much for celebrating with us and for all your prayers. We have been blessed by each one.
So there I was, sitting on the sofa, eating some Wheat Thins, and getting ready to watch a movie while writing thank you notes. It’s 9:30 p.m. and my cell phone rings. It’s Kandi from the adoption agency. She says “Hello” and asks if we’re all packed. Then my cell phone cuts out!!!! I race outside where we get better reception and once I can hear her again she tells me that the birth mother is in labor and that her contractions are 3 minutes apart! She’s at the doctor and they’re examining her, so Kandi tells me to load up my car and she’ll call me soon to tell me if the labor is real. Major problem: Stephen is in DENVER! This trip is work related and has been rescheduled 3 times! We were really certain this one was safe, but nope! Oh. My. Goodness!!! So I race around the house throwing things into suitcases and bags. Fortunately I had most things pretty ready to go, so now here I am, waiting to hear back from Kandi! The car is loaded and I’m ready to go if I need to! Stephen was shocked when I called him right after I talked with Kandi! You can imagine! He’s waiting to hear from me to see if he needs to get a flight back! This is sooooo crazy! And so exciting! I’m in shock! And I can’t wait to hear back to know if my baby is going to be born tonight!
Kandi just called - the c-section is in 30 MINUTES!!!
Bye!! I'm going to get my baby!!!!!!
