AUSTRALIA!

November is National Adoption Month,

So I stole this from a friends blog, but I think it is fantastic.

Anyone who has struggled with infertility, or adoption, or anything else that comes with getting these little miracles here, it is worth taking a minute to read:

(Thanks Steph!)

Adoption: Different Trips to the Same Place

By Diane Armitage printed in the April 21, 1995 "Dear Abby" column.

Deciding to have a baby is like planning a trip to Australia. You've heard it's a wonderful place, you've read many guidebooks and feel certain you're ready to go. Everyone you know has traveled there by plane. They say it can be a turbulent flight with occasional rough landings, but you can look forward to being pampered on the trip.

So you go to the airport and ask the ticket agent for a ticket to Australia. All around you, excited people are boarding planes for Australia. It seems there is no seat for you; you'll have to wait for the next flight. Impatient, but anticipating a wonderful trip, you wait--and wait--and wait.

Flights to Australia continue to come and go. People say silly things like, "Relax. You'll get on a flight soon." Other people actually get on a plane and then cancel their trip, to which you cry, "It's not fair!" After a long time the ticket agent tells you, "I'm sorry, we're not going to be able to get you on a plane to Australia. Perhaps you should think about going by boat."

"By BOAT!" you say. "Going by boat will take a very long time and it costs a great deal of money. I really had my heart set on going by plane."

So you go home and think about not going to Australia at all. You wonder if Australia will be as beautiful if you approach it by sea rather than air. But you have long dreamed of this wonderful place, and finally you decide to travel by boat.

It is a long trip, many months over many rough seas. No one pampers you. You wonder if you will ever see Australia. Meanwhile, your friends have flown back and forth to Australia two or three more times, marveling about each trip.

Then one glorious day, the boat docks in Australia. It is more exquisite than you ever imagined, and the beauty is magnified by your long days at sea. You have made many wonderful friends during your voyage, and you find yourself comparing stories with others who also traveled by sea rather then by air.

People continue to fly to Australia as often as they like, but you are about to travel only once, perhaps twice. Some say things like, "Oh, be glad you didn't fly. My flight was horrible; traveling by sea is so easy."

You will always wonder what it would have been like to fly to Australia. Still, you know God blessed you with a special appreciation of Australia, and the beauty of Australia is not in the way you get there, but in the place itself.

(Mary again): I'd like to add an extension to this story though, because I think birthmoms have yet another kind of trip. Perhaps (because I haven't taken that trip I don't know for sure), it would be something like this:

You know that you'd like to travel to Australia someday, maybe in a few years or so, but have not started planning or packing for the trip at all. There's a lot to do before you can go to Australia. Then someone suddenly puts you on the plane and by the time you realize what's happened, you're already in mid-flight.

"Wait!" you say, "I'm not ready to go yet, this can't be happening!" But you have no choice now. Your friends and family are shocked to learn that you're on the plane, but they help you adjust to the trip. Slowly, though the flight has a bumpy start, you begin to get used to the idea of going to Australia, and by the end of the flight, you're actually excited to get there.

During the trip you hear of a couple who are traveling by boat and have waited a long time to visit Australia, but though they are on their way, they can't get into the country. "Perhaps", you think, "I can let them go in my stead," though the decision is hard to make since now you really want to go to Australia. In the end, you decide to let these other people go to Australia instead of you.

When the plane lands, you walk off and watch as people excitedly rush off to their destinations. But you only get to see the airport. It's a bittersweet moment as you watch this couple go out to explore the country, but you're at least happy that you were able to give them the chance to go. With heavy heart, you get back on the plane and fly home.

The couple sends you pictures and stories of their exciting adventures in Australia, and you start packing for the day when you can take the trip again, this time for yourself.

**Another addition, from me: I have taken the trip to Australia. Twice. Both times it was a first class trip. It was wonderful. Then, after taking a break from 'traveling', we decided we wanted to go again! This time, half-way through our flight, our plane crashed! We've been drifting in this ocean wondering how we'll be rescued. By some other plane? Maybe not first class, but still on the flight? Or will a boat come along and pick us up? Drifting is not a very nice place to be. You want to just be home, but you still dream of getting to Australia. You feel miserable about feeling miserable, because, unlike some, you've at least been to Australia, but you still feel like you haven't seen all of it! You miss it, and feel like your chance of getting back there is dwindling. You think about going by boat, but then you think, is it fair to take a place on the boat if you have already gone to Australia by plane, twice, when there are so many wonderful people just trying to get to Australia anyway they can?

However you get there, whenever you get there, it is worth it! It is worth all the heartache, the longing, the ups and downs, and everything in between! Hang in there! Your plane with be boarding soon! Or your ship will come in!

Sam

Hello Blog!

So much has happened this summer.

I have a lot to catch up on.

But, I'm not ready too.

Just FYI: Baby #4 was delivered on June 4. I was 14 weeks along.

I was able to hear his sweet little heartbeat, and lucky enough to find out he was a He.

Summer has been spent playing with family and friends, and taking some time to recover emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Things are good now, and I know they will continue to get better.

As soon as I have time to look at my pictures and organize them, I will post them.

Other than the first week, this summer has been a great one! I'm sad to see it end...

New Baby

I don't know if there is anything better than hearing your child's little heartbeat for the first time. I got to today.

After October, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to feel that same excitement about having a baby again, you forget what a miracle it is to get these little ones here, and sometimes you take it for granted, so when something horrible happens, even if it's in the odds, it feels like the end of the world. It is. And it's hard to look forward and be excited about it, when in the back of your mind the entire time are those horrible little words: What.If.

Then you get up the courage to try again, and month after month it's the same. Still no baby.

So then your mind starts to wonder, "maybe it's just not in the cards for us to have more kids." We looked at our options, but given the financial strain of some of them, and the fact that we had two healthy strong children, we decided we would try one more time and then we would have to accept whatever happened. It's an emotional roller-coaster.

We were thrilled when we found out we were expecting again, but it has been hard to get too excited. But today, when I heard that beautiful thump, thump, thump, it is absolutely impossible to NOT get excited. It is another miracle, and I am thrilled.

We are not all the way out of the woods just yet. Baby is doing great, but mom: not.so.much.

(stupid cervix!) There are a few things we have to keep an eye on, and there will be a few more Dr. visits, and few more ultra-sounds, but I really think everything is going to be fine.

Baby is due 12-07-10

I know! Another December Birthday!

I'll Take it!

Kids say the Darndest things!

I realized that I haven't really been documenting the things that come out of the mouths of my children, they are so funny that I don't want to forget!

Cody: Mom your a water buffalo!

Me: What?! Why am I a water buffalo!

(if he says cause you look like one, I'm going to smack him!)

Cody: I am a Kimodo Dragon, and I eat you!

Me: Hey Bo! Guess What?!

(not really expecting a response)

Bo: WHHAAT! (emphasis on the T)

It stopped there. I just busted up laughing!

Me: Cody lets say your prayers and go to bed.

Cody: (without any help from me)

Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, please bless mom, please bless dad, please bless bo bo, please bless baby, and please bless old macdonald's

in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

(Old MacDonald's is McDonald's!)

Bo: Hey Look!!!

Me: what?

Bo: Cow... E-I-E-I-O

(even if there is not a cow anywhere to be seen!)

Cody is really into know what everything eats. He knows deer, mountain lions, bears, whales, polar bears, birds, etc. He knows all the animals! But it doesn't just stop there. He likes to know what the people in our family eat as well, extended family included, some of his answers are pretty funny, but this one made me laugh out loud!

Cory: Hey Cody, what does mommy eat?

Cody: Ummmm. Oh Oh I know! COKE!!

Hmmm. Well, I can't really argue with that! :)

I'll have to post more as I think of them. Personally, I think my kids are freaking hilarious!

Code Man Hits the Big 4!

I can NOT believe I have a baby that is old enough to be FOUR!

We celebrated Cody's 4th Birthday on April 25th. There is an absolutely AWESOME park by our house that has everything you could ever want... Awesome Playground, tons of slides, great swings, an arena to ride horses, a fire pit to roast mallows, a sand volleyball court, a field good for any sport, and the best part... OFF the road, and completely fenced in!!! Every time we go there, I think I fall more in love with it. Perfect for a fabulous 4 party!

The closer it got to Cody's birthday, the more excited he got. I would ask what kind of party he wanted, and from the get-go it was to be a "dragon" party. (He's a little obsessed with "How to train your dragon") Not only was he to have a dragon party, but when I asked what kind of cake he wanted, it was Dragon!

You think 'Dragon' would be specific enough for this kid. Nope. For weeks he said he wanted a WHITE cake. White. I don't know when this kid had a white cake, but he was adamant that it had to be white. When I asked what color frosting, he was as sure as the rest, YELLOW. So, here you have it...

A White Cake, Yellow Dragon!

My mom is seriously the most talented person I know! Not only did she slave away to make Cody his yellow dragon out of white cake, but she was as excited about it as Cody was! What a sweet Grandma! (You know this would not have happened without you mom!)

Cody's first time seeing his Dragon! I think the picture says it all!

I love this picture of Cody and Jax. How sweet do these two boys look?

Cody got all the plates and napkins (anything 'dragon' really) and lined it all up so he could just look at it. Love this kid!

And finally... The poor boy just couldn't take it anymore! He just had to have a bite! I was worried when I saw how awesome his cake was that he was not going to let us cut into it. Really, we were figuring out how long it would take us to whip up some cupcakes to give everyone if it came to that!

And my favorite line of the night (from Jaxson) "Cody, can you save some for the rest of us?" He was so worried when he saw his cousin diggin' in that there wouldn't be any left for him!

It was a little windy, so the blowing out of the candles was a little tricky. And the dragon had taken a hit by then!

"A Red Rider BB Gun with a scope and this little thingy which tells time!" -Ralphie

Chad, Anne, & Zach all went in on the ultimate gift! The BB gun. I don't know who was more excited about it, Cody, or Cory!

And here he is trying it out for the first time. He shot a paper cup! Bulls EYE!

Cody would open a present, and be so excited about it, that he just wanted to play with whatever it was. So he would leave to do just that. Jaxson on the other hand, was so excited to see what he got that he kept getting him and hauling him back to the presents to open the next one! These two just crack me up!

Another favorite moment: Everyone is busy talking and chatting and seeing what else Cody got, etc. And I look over and see this! Mark snatched his turn with the BB gun and was getting a little target practice in. Still makes me chuckle. Boys and there toys!

How cute is that?! And how do boys just know how to do this stuff? It's got to be hereditary!

Don't they look like professionals? And they take it so serious! :)

What would a Cody party be without animals? Cory was sweet enough to haul our horses over to the park so we could ride. (and when I say "we", I mean everyone but me!)

Sally in all her Cowgirl Glory!

Grandpa made the mistake of putting Bo in the swing! Once he gets in there, there is no getting him out again. SUCKAH! (Kidding. Actually, THANK YOU!)

Yeah. Days of '47 Better Watch it!

Anne & Chad wanted a little "sweetheart ride" it was so cute. Until Cory started trying to shoot Chad's horse in the butt with the BB Gun! (Don't worry, he missed the horse, but I think he might have hit Chad!)

And Grandma can't be left out!

Bo was running from one thing to the next just as fast as those little legs could carry him.

Kimberly's turn on the ol' grey.

Everyone had a turn on a horse, Cory chased Zach like the steer wrestlers chase those steers, and I do not think that Cody stopped smiling from the second we got there. It was a blast of a party, and my little boy is just growing up too fast.

Cody finished his dragon to the last drop! He was one happy boy.

Cody you are such a fun little boy! I am so happy I get to be your mommy. You make me laugh a million times a day, and you are the sweetest most considerate boy I know. You look out for your little brother, and you stick up for me. You have a tender little heart and big personality. Cody we love you so so much, and are so grateful you are part of our family!

Happy Birthday!

Pnuemonia - Part 2

As I said before in our previous post, Sunday morning, after spending about 15 minutes celebrating Easter, we sent Cody with Grandma & Grandpa Huntsman, and we took our sick little boy to Primary Children's Hospital. I was a little nervous about taking our boy to a second hospital in just a few days, but I needed to find out what was going on with our sweet little boy.

It turns out that his pneumonia had spread into most of his left lung, and when the white blood cells tried to attack it, they over flowed out of his lung and started gathering fluid on the outside of his lung. The pressure was sitting on his diaphragm and the pneumonia in his lung was causing extreme pain, making it really hard for him to breath, and even harder to walk. (explaining why he hadn't walked for a whole week by this point!)

We were admitted and started right away on a broad series of antibiotics that covered just about everything, through his IV every six hours. Even after just a few hours it seemed like he was improving!

On Monday 4-5-10, we were told that the fluid on the outside of his lung looked like it needed to be drained to release the pressure it was putting on his poor little body, which meant our little Bo baby needed a chest tube to help drain the fluid. It was a fairly simple procedure. They took him down to radiology where they sedated him, and we got to be with him all the way up until he fell asleep. We then had to give him a big kiss, and step out to wait for him in the waiting room. Before we went down for the procedure, Bo had been playing with some little farm toys, and he had latched on to a little duck. He carried it in his little hand all the way down to the radiology department, held on to it throughout the sedation, and then proceeded to hold his little duck through the whole procedure, and all the way back to his room! The Dr. and nurses had to comment on how strong he must be, and how much he must love his farm animals to make it through all that! Even at scary times, Bo finds a way to make me laugh till my cheeks hurt! The draining started and we were told he would have it anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks!

The chest tube was about the size of a straw with a little curly pig tail at the end. They showed it to us before putting it in, but I didn't get a picture! Here is our little Bo all hooked up!

This is what was at the other end of his tube. The red stuff is all the liquid being drained from his little chest! More than I'd like to see! And the blue part is the suction part that helped pull it out. Not. so. fun.

On Wednesday 4-7-10 Bo had a PIC Line put into his arm. It was a 20 minute procedure. He was sedated again, and they ran a line through his vein up his arm into his chest. It made me so nervous at first, but then the perks way outwayed my reservations. With his pic line, the Dr's and nurses were able to draw blood without poking him, and to give him his medicine without hurting him. His IV in his hand had started to get sensitive whenever they had to put something in it, so it was nice to see him not hurt, and able to use both his hands again!

Thursday 4-8-10. Bo finally walked! It was the first time in two weeks that I had seen him even stand up on his own! It made me so happy! The restrictions he had on him to stay in his room were finally lifted, so we were able to take him to the Playroom for the first time!

He was a little nervous to get in the chair we brought to wheel him down to the play area, but once we go there, and he saw other kids, and all the toys, he perked right up!

It was a little awkward for him at first with all his tubes, and junk connected to him, and he was so weak, he just sat on the ground for a minute.

Here he is playing with the dinosaurs. He would just scoot on his bum to get what he wanted, then he started crawling, and finally, he stood to walk. It was like learning to walk all over again! He was so tipsy, but he is one determined little man! (You can see all the stuff he was hooked to in the background)

He was so excited to see a little baby. It makes me laugh when he calls everyone a baby.

They had the coolest toys! It was fun to see a little glimpse of "our Bo!" There were so many other children in there, and it made me so grateful that our problems, as big as they seemed to us, were nothing compared to what some of the other families were dealing with. Cancer, brain surgeries, back injuries, all kinds of things. Those sweet little children, who were all hurting, but taking a minute to just try to be kids. PCH knows what they are doing!

We were only in the playroom for about 30 minutes. Bo got tired so quickly, but it was so nice to get out of our room and be around other people for a minute!

Some sweet person donated all these big stuffed Moose's to the children at the hospital. Bo was so excited when they brought it in to him! I can't believe how caring and giving some people are.

Friday 4-9-10 Bo got his Chest tube out!! We were so excited to see that thing go! The poor little girl across the hall from us had the same thing as Bo, but she had been there for three weeks, and had a chest tube as well as a feeding tube. After Bo got his chest tube out, the poor little girl had to get another one put in on her other side! They were the same age, and my heart hurt for that poor little family!!

After the chest tube came out, Bo perked up even more. He was teasing me by putting two pacifiers in his mouth at the SAME TIME. He was laughing so hard it just made me laugh!

What a little joker! I can't tell you how nice it was to see some life in that little babies body again after two weeks of him being so lethargic and lifeless.

You know your baby is feeling better when he's wanting Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and doing anything he can to get out of that bed!! He sat in this chair forever playing with his animals, and just enjoying the freedom of not being hooked up to so many things!

We were in the process of getting rid of that binky when he got sick. We were down to only having it at night, but then when he got sick, I was all about giving him whatever he wanted if it would make him even a tiny bit happier!

And FINALLY we were ready to go home!! We had gathered up all our stuff, and he got dressed for the first time in a week! It was a little sad to put his clothes on him only to see that even though they fit before, they were now huge on him, and his pants wouldn't stay up. I even had to get some diapers a size smaller! At least we were going home with a baby on the mend!

He had the BEST nurses day & night the whole time we were there, and of course he won them over. Who can resist that sweet little face singing "E-I-E-I-O!" They would even bring in other nurses just to see him, and have him demonstrate their favorit animal sounds! He's just a little charmer! We could not have been treated better!

We went home with his PIC line still in, and met with home health care. They took care of us for two weeks, and they were super nice. However, I am so happy to report that his PIC line is gone, and so are the nurses, and everyone else who helped us along the way! Although he is still on oral antibiotics, and will be for another 10 days, it seems like all of this is behind us, and it's nice to be on this side of things. Nothing like a healthy dose of pneumonia to kick your testimony in the butt! I cannot even begin to express my appreciation to our father in heaven for the blessings he bestowed on our little family during this time. We were blessed with such a great family who all took turns taking care of my Cody so Cory and I were able to do what we needed to in order to continue taking care of Bo. We didn't have to worry about one thing the whole time we were in the hospital except getting our Bo better. We came home to a clean house (Thanks Kelly & Jill!) And yummy dinner! (Thanks Mom & Dad!) And a big thanks to everyone who took turns watching Cody and taking care of all his wants and needs. Lastly, I am so thankful for modern medicine and so grateful that Bo was able to be treated so quickly and efficiently and made healthy and strong. I have nightmares about what would have happened had we been those poor pioneers who not so long ago lost there loved ones to this very thing.

THANK YOU!

We love you!