1 week home

Well we have been home together as a family of 4 for one week now.  So far things have been going very smoothly.  We have been so blessed to have my mom spending most of the day with us for the past few days which has been a big help at getting me back on my feet.  She has helped load and unload the dishwasher many times a day with all of the bottles, she has helped me get my Christmas decorations put away and she has helped with laundry.  We are so thankful that they live so close.

Last weekend Rob's parents came to visit.  They had lent us their car for the drive to Utah and were exchanging cars with us but they also came to meet Josiah.  It was so nice of them to make the drive and Rob's mom had cooked a few batches of soup and chili for us to eat and freeze.  What an amazing blessing it is to have food in the fridge that is easy!

This week has been full of adjustments.  Jeremiah seems to be adjusting well to his new role as Big brother.  He is such a sweet big brother.  He hates to see his baby cry and is always quick to respond to any whimper out of Josiah's mouth.  He doesn't realize though that taking the paci makes Josiah more upset.  :) He loves to give him kisses and rub his face on Josiah's hair.  It is very cute.  He has however also given him a few good face slaps but thankfully Josiah doesn't seem to care.

Yesterday was a big day for us!  Jeremiah celebrated his first birthday.  It is really hard for me to believe that it has been one year since our lives were forever changed.  We kind of had a low key party with my parents and Rob's parents were able to join us via face time for J's cake eating.  He seemed to like the cake though he wasn't sure about the frosting.  Rosie (my parent's dog) was thankful that we had the cake eating at my parents house as it meant that she got to clean up after the party.

Our sleeping patters are starting to get a bit better around here.   Jeremiah decided that now that he is one he can start sleeping through the night.  Praise the Lord! I have to admit this realization may have come after we banished him to the study in the travel bed a few nights and closed the doors so that we could all get some sleep as he "worked some things out" on his own in there.  It really only took 2 nights of showing him that we meant business about him sleeping and he has for the past 2 nights slept like a champ in his own bed.  We are hoping that it lasts.  Having two babies to take care of in the middle of the night was getting very old.

Thanks again for all of your encouragement and prayers.  I am starting to get to all of the Thank you notes that I need to write.  Please know that we are very thankful for all of the support even if your thank you note doesn't come to you for a few more weeks.  God has blessed us so abundantly through each of you as we have stepped out in faith to add this new sweet member to our family.

 Well Josiah thinks that I have written enough and he needs to eat NOW. So I better get to making him a bottle.

Introducing...

Josiah Robert Ivy

Born December 28th, 2012 at 1132 AM

weighing 5lbs 15oz and 18 inches long

He was lovingly placed in our family for adoption December 29th,2012

We are so excited for all of you to meet our new little son Josiah.  He is doing well and was discharged from the hospital yesterday morning.  We had a bit of a scare when he was first born as he had trouble keeping his temp up and needed some IV fluids for some abnormal lab values.  We are thankful to say that he is living up to his name "The Lord Heals" and he was able to have the IV removed after 24 hours and was discharged right on time.  At this time the doctors have no concerns about his health they believe that perhaps he was just a bit dehydrated.  We are praising God for a healthy baby and a great time with both or our son's amazing birth mom.  I will write a more detailed post soon about how the past 3 days have gone but right now our time is limited for blogging but I wanted to make sure to let everyone meet our little man.  I will leave you with a few pictures from the past few days. Thank you for walking this road with us.  We are feeling a bit tired and we all have a bit of a cold but we are ecstatic about our new addition.  

Meeting Daddy for the first time!

Meeting big brother, Jeremiah

"Mom do we get to pick any one we want?"

Hanging with momma, waiting for discharge

"oh good he's packed up to be sent back"-Jeremiah :) 

And then there were 4. Heading home all together

Jeremiah-  "wait, he doesn't belong in here" 

Safe Travels

J playing in his first McDonald's Play place

After 25 hours in the car we made it to Salt Lake City.  It was a bit of daja vu as we drove over the mountain.  It is almost hard for us to believe that we are here.  Jeremiah did a great job on the road.  He probably slept for 20 of the 25 hours.  We are praising God for that.  Robert is a driving machine.  I kept telling him "we can stop at a hotel anytime" but he kept pushing through.  We did stop at a hotel parking lot for 1 hour when I wimped out on my driving shift because I couldn't keep my eyes open.  We are thankful that God kept us safe as we drove through the bitterly cold night on some very snowy roads.

After arriving in Salt Lake we ran a few errands and after that it was early to bed for all.  Jeremiah went down without a fight last night.  I'm hoping he got the memo that he is now a big brother and big brothers sleep through the night.

Driving over the mountain into Salt Lake

This afternoon we are anticipating that we will get to finally see Jeremiah's birth mom and meet the new little man.  We would appreciate your prayers for today as J's birth mom goes though labor.  Pray for a fast and safe delivery.  Pray for God to wrap his arms around her and comfort her as she thinks of giving another baby away.  Pray for Jeremiah to be a happy boy while we are together.  He is in his shy stage and sometimes cries around strangers and I know it would hurt her heart so much if he was upset when we were together.  And pray for words of love and grace to flow out of our mouths to her as we meet together this afternoon.  We know that in ourselves we have no comfort to give in such a hard time but we pray that we can be instruments of the true comforter, Jesus Christ to her.

Salt Lake City or Bust

Just a very quick update.  We made it through the holidays.  We got to see all of the family that we could and now we are putting the last things in the car to head out to Salt Lake City!  Praise the Lord for patience, for the nail in the tire before we pulled out, and for the snow being on the East side of the country and not the west.  We cannot wait to share a picture of our newest addition on Saturday.

Thank you so very much for all that have helped to make this possible.  It has been an amazing blessing to us.  Thank you for your prayers, words of encouragement and financial support.  We cannot wait to give a final update on all that has happened in the last 6 weeks to make this moment possible.  It's truly going to be an amazing story.

Please pray for safe travel and for peace for all 3 or us on the long drive.  We will keep the blog updated as we have things to share.

We love you ALL!

A quiver full

"Unless the Lord builds the house, 

those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain.

It is in vain that you rise up early

and go late to rest,

eating the bread of anxious toil;

for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, 

the fruit of the womb a reward. 

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior 

are the children of one's youth.  

Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!

He shall not be put to shame when 

he speaks with his enemies in the gate."

Psalm 127 

I have been working hard this week to remind myself that "the fruit of the womb [is] a reward" This past week has been a bit overwhelming for me on many fronts.  We received word on Tuesday that there was a chance that our birth mom would be induced on December 28th.  This threw me for a big loop.  You would think that working with pregnant women all the time I would have it in my mind that a "due date" is more of a "due range" and truly our little man could come at anytime he decided to come but being faced with the reality that there would be a doctor choosing to deliver our son in just a week was a bit hard for me to swallow.  Oh and by the way, there is Christmas in there, a 5 hour trip to Wisconsin to see family for the holiday, your husband is in the midst of finals, you have an 11 month old who wants to hang on your leg or be held 24 hours a day and you do have a job that you are still expected to work... This was my reality this week.  To say that I was at melt down point was an understatement.  

But as I read this Psalm again it also says "HE will give his beloved rest" I am working hard to find my rest in Him.  In many ways I am so thankful that this is all happening at this Christmas season.  There are so many wonderful Christmas carols to be reminded of the Rest that God gives.  There is celebration of a baby and a reminder of the joy and excitement that a baby brings to the world.  And there are a lot of Christmas cookies to eat to deal with my stress. ;)  I am so thankful that God knows just what he is doing.  

With all of that being said our birth mom did go to the doctor yesterday and the induction is scheduled for December 28th.  It looks like we will be having two baby boys in 2012.  What a blessed family we are. We are thanking God that He is choosing to "fill our quiver" and we are SO incredibly thankful for the ways that He is providing to bring our newest little man home to us.  

We are praying and asking for wisdom as to travel plans.  We are praying for grace as we meet with our birth mom at the end of the week and Lord willing get to spend some time with her.  We are praying for patience with one another as we go though all of this exciting and crazy time together as a family. And most of all we are praying for rest and a chance to "rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing." 

God has been very good to us.  We are thankful for His faithfulness through these past months.  And we are thankful for his abundant blessings to us in so many ways, wonderful family and friends, a very steady job and soon to be two beautiful boys that bring much joy and laughter to our home.   

I know I say this in every post but we truly are SO thankful for each and everyone of our friends who has been encouraging us along this road. We truly feel that we are not in this alone and that brings much strength.   We pray that you too will have a time of rest and reflection on how God has blessed each of you this Christmas season. 

"O ye beneath life's crushing load, Whose forms are bending low, Who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow; Look now, for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing; Oh rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing." It came upon a midnight clear

Nesting

    Most pregnant women go through a phase that most people refer to as "nesting." It's a period of time at the end of your pregnancy when you have an increased energy level to get things done around your house and ready for your new baby.  I think I hit my nesting phase this week.  The nesting phase was prompted by a wave of anxiety over our family coming to see the new baby and having them see the house in it's current state.  I worked on getting laundry done, vacuumed the house, packed a box with all the things that we will need for baby and got my gifts ready to be wrapped for Christmas.  We are praying that the baby can wait until after Christmas to make his arrival but after my short nesting period I feel that we are ready whenever he decides to make his debut.

So is SO excited over the money that has
raised for his little brother so far! Thanks
Everyone!! 

 Just a quick update on the fundraising front.  Thank you to all who have SO generously given.  We got an update from the MICAH fund and we currently have raised almost enough to cover the remainder of our agency fees.  This is a HUGE blessing.  We still need about $8,000 to cover our medical bill and travel but we are trusting that as God has provided so far he will continue to provide.  Please pray with us for the final funds that are needed.  If you are feeling led to give I wanted to let you know that we did receive word from the agency yesterday that we may get to meet our new little bundle of joy sooner then we had expected (no official word yet so I will not get anyone's hopes up) but what I will say is that we may have the blessing of two babies in 2012. :)  So if you are still thinking and praying about giving now is the time to do so as we need the funds before we travel.  Thank you for your support.  We have been very blessed and encouraged by so many of you in the past few weeks.  God is Good! I am just blown away by the confirmation that he has given in the past 3 weeks that this little boy is a part of His plan for our family.
    As I go about my nesting I try to continue to remind myself of the joys of this advent season.  It's a time to remember and rejoice in the birth of our savor who came to earth as a baby to purchase for us adoption as children into His eternal family.  What a great reminder I have as I prepare and labor over the earthly adoption of my second son that adoption was God's plan all along.  He knows the pain of adoption and his work to adopt me as his forever daughter was much more painful and costly then any earthly adoption.  Praise the Lord for his willingness to come to earth as a helpless baby 2000 years ago.  Hallelujah for his willingness to endure the pain of death and separation from God for me so that I do not have to pay the penalty that I deserve for my sins. Glory to God that He planned for adoption to be the way for all of us to enter His forever family.  May each of us who put our trust in Jesus Christ rejoice this holiday season in our own adoptions as sons and daughters of The King.

35 weeks 5 days

   I guess most women when they are almost 36 weeks pregnant are feeling tired, run down, warn out, a bit nervous, excited, and anxious with anticipation.  I have to say that this mom is no different.  I may not be feeling the discomfort in my hips or my back and I may not be needing to use the bathroom every 5 minutes like most women my gestational age but let me tell you I'm feeling the pain of 36 weeks.  This week has been non-stop grant applications.  When I am not doing laundry, loading the dishwasher, trying to have a few minutes to myself to shower, or spending a few hours of needed time with friends, I have been working on paperwork.  My stack grows bigger with each day and my hand and brain become or exhausted.
  Many of you have asked for an update on our fundraising efforts so I wanted to give you one.  The MICAH fund will give us a financial update every other week.  Last week we were given word that as of last Friday we had raised $500.  That is one quarter of the way to having our grant completely matched.  This is huge!  I do know that we have raised at least $500 more and for that we are very grateful.  With the match this means that we now have $2000 more to add to our adoption fund and we are now down to $15,000 that we need in the next 4 weeks to bring our little man home.  Please remember that once we reach our maximum matched amount the money will still be able to be given to our adoption it just will not be doubled.
  I admit that this week I have had moments of anxiety.  I have wondered where the money is going to come from and how in the world we are going to function with two kids that don't sleep through the night.  When I hit those times I am reminded to pray.  A friend reminded me of the story of Abraham and Sarah.  Sarah was 90 years old when she became pregnant with Isaac.  To most people that would seem impossible but in Genesis 18, when Abraham and Sarah are both wondering themselves how this was going to happen in their old age God reminded them, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"  The answer is no.  We see just 3 chapters later that the Lord was true to his promise and Sarah gave birth to a son.  I have to trust that the God of the universe who can make a barren women fertile at the age of 90 and who cares even for the littlest sparrow can provide all that we need and more to bring our son home at his birth, for nothing is too hard for the Lord.
  Thank you to those who have given so far.  We are so blessed by you.  And thank you to those who continue to pray for and encourage us through this process.  I cannot wait to tell this baby the story of how loved he is even from before his birth.