It's Not Luck

Molly Faith became our daughter officially this week! Of course she’s been our daughter since the moment we laid eyes on her but this week the judge made it official.

Babies are a people magnet. We haven’t been anywhere recently where someone doesn’t come up to us and ask to see “the baby”. Even at Lowe’s we are approached by ladies buying paint and screwdrivers!

The one phrase that keeps popping up is “You are very lucky”. The quick, easy response is “Yes, yes we are”. But that easy answer is not the true answer.

Luck had NOTHING to do with our situation.

What I want to tell people is-God had EVERYTHING to do with our situation.

Only God could have made all this happen for us.

We are blessed beyond measure with this beautiful child.

And we have God, one selfless young woman and thousands of prayers to thank for this blessing.

Luck is a saying on a Chinese fortune cookie. We are not lucky. We are experiencing a miracle!

A dear friend gave me a bookmark on the day we went to court. It says:
Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible.

I know that the Lord may lead someone to read this posting who is struggling with infertility. She and her husband have tried for years to conceive and they are tired, and losing hope that they will ever have their dream of a child. I have been there. And then, 10 years into my marriage- God brought us Cori Joy! For 3 years and 364 days we experienced more joy than our hearts could hold. She made us a mommy and daddy and everything we had dreamed of came true in that one little girl.

There are going to be those reading this who have lost a child. Perhaps, like us, their only child. Their child may have had a genetic disorder and they are concerned that another child born to them would also suffer the same illness. Or maybe they are older and the opportunity to have another child is not a possibility. And yet they long for a child to bring joy back to their lives again. And it seems an impossible situation. I have been there too. And then, 4 years later God brought us Molly Faith! My prayer is that we will experience a lifetime with Molly and we are once again a mommy and daddy with lots of hopes and dreams for this little girl.

To those people I want to say, please don’t lose FAITH. Miracles still happen! God is working in your lives to bring YOU a miracle. The miracle may be invisible to you-but it isn’t to God-he sees it clearly. Believe that He is about to do something incredible in your heart and life. And then, in His time-you will be ready to receive the impossible.

I know that when you are going through a struggle, hearing someone else-who is on the other side of that struggle tell you to hold on or keep going…can ring hollow.

“It happened to them but what if it doesn’t happen for me?”

Those years that I thought I would never give birth I used to pray that if that was not God’s will for my life He would fill my life with something that would bring me contentment. We sought parenthood through independent adoption and then foster care. It was truly at a time when getting pregnant was not even in our minds-that God gave us Cori Joy.

After she died I felt like the only thing I had ever thought I was good at-being a mother-was over-forever. I longed for the feeling being Cori’s mom gave me inside. I told God how much I loved being a mommy. I again asked Him to bring something into my life to replace that longing. We started the foster care process again, and tried to find other ways of reaching out to help Gods people and then, out of the blue the call came about Molly!

So- today if your dream is to be a parent for the first time, or to be a parent again, or even if you are in need of a different kind of miracle, give God the desire of your heart and hold on to that “invisible, incredible and impossible Faith”. God loves you, he “delights” in blessing you! And as you are waiting for the invisible to become visible-if you need a reminder of what God can do-just remember Cori Joy and Molly Faith!

Six Weeks!

Molly turned 6 weeks old on Monday! Everyone has their "story" of when a baby starts sleeping through the night, or when the fussiness begins to subside etc. Six weeks is one that gets mentioned alot.

Miss Molly's time isn't six weeks. She sleeps one 4-5 hour stretch sometime between 11 and 5 most nights now which is nice. But she still struggles with alot of gas and upset tummy and has a pretty fussy time every night. We've put her back on Zantac for reflux and are hoping that might help how upset she gets when being burped. It had seemed that she really began eating better when we stopped the Zantac and I'm noticing that she is back to taking longer to get through a meal now that we are back on it. I haven't found anything online that suggests that is a side effect of Zantac...but it does seem a correlation.

There was a sitcom I used to enjoy called "NewsRadio". One of my favorite lines from the show was when someone was described as "an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, covered in secret sauce".

I've decided thats what babies are- Enigmas, wrapped in mystery, covered in secret sauce-sometimes its so hard to figure out whats going on. They can only eat, cry and poop! Try communicating with someone tomorrow using only those avenues-see how far you get! ha

I heard lots of nice things after Steve posted the last entry on what an awesome guy I am married to. He is a great husband and the best dad a child could have. Boy does he love this little girl! Since a picture sometimes speaks a thousand words I thought I'd post this picture of he and Molly McButter!

A few things I've noticed.......

Being a new father (again) has given me an occasion to take notice of a few things. Some of these things are profound, some are just silly. Some are things that I knew and had forgotten about, and some are things that I never would have thought could be. Here are just a few things I’ve noticed…..

There just aren’t any ugly baby clothes. We’ve had a lot of baby clothes come though our house recently. Some new. Some used. Some given to us as hand-me-downs, and some were given as shower gifts. But the one thing they almost all have in common is that they passed the “Oh how cute!” approval ranking. Jumpers, P.J.’s, sleepers, and Onesies, they all receive high marks for cuteness. And it’s true, they all are quite cute. You can put a baby in just about anything under a size 2T and you can’t go wrong. I think the baby clothes designers must have had style inept fathers such as myself in mind when they made them. And only babies can get away with wearing some of the stuff that’s out there. I can’t imagine what my boss would say if I showed up to the office wearing a fuzzy blue jumpsuit with mittens and footies and “Daddy’s Little Slugger” stitched across the front. I’m sure I would get that long vacation I’ve always wanted.

Babies bring out the best in people. Stacy has written here about all of the help and support we’ve been given by friends and family. So many people have done so much for us, some of them far above and beyond the call. Without each and every one of those people, we never would have been able to make it through the ups and downs of the past four months (has it only been that long since we first got The Call?!?!) There’s something about a baby, or the prospect of a baby, that brings out a certain level of excitement and caring from people. The innocence, the wonder of God’s new creation, the dream of what the future holds. It all combines to bring out the finest in people. And I don’t just mean friends and family. I also mean the people you meet in everyday life. In line at the store. At the park. In the Post Office. Everyone, no matter how tough and grizzled, has a smile and a coo for a little baby. Of course, some people can take a good thing too far. Like the lady yesterday at the Costco with her several children and her husband. She just couldn’t gasp and Ooh and Ahh enough. She encouraged her kids to all look at the baby, and the gaze on her face was one of utter joy and rapture. The look on the husbands face was “No! Don’t even think about it! We are not having another! Step away from the baby now!”

Dogs love binkies. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the way the silicone rubber feels in Fido’s jaws, firm, yet relenting. Maybe dogs love them for the same reasons a baby loves them. They feel a soothing assurance with a binkie. I’ve heard the theory that they “smell” the milk from the baby’s breath on it, and that attracts them. I suspect that with our dogs, it’s the track-and-kill-the-prey mentality that is ingrained in all animals. The better we try to hide it, the more of a challenge for them. They have been known to leap over or climb up any obstacles we throw their way to reach their coveted prize. Score so far: Dogs 4, Binkies 0.

Broken hearts can be fixed. Six months ago, if you had told me that I would have a newborn baby in my house, I would have thought you were crazy. Six months ago, or one year, or two years ago, if you would have told me that the hole in my heart that Cori once filled would be filled once again with the love and joy that she brought us, I would have thought that it was wishful thinking on your part and that you were just trying to cheer me up. But today, I can say today that God will take the pain and suffering and turn it into happiness. Through Molly, He has given me that spark again, the reason for facing the day. The thing that amazes me is that through it all, He knew. He knew that one day I would be Daddy again. I remember holding Molly when she was just a few hours old and thinking that God knew this moment would happen. When I was the same size as her, He knew. When He took Cori home, in my moment of deepest sorrow, He knew that one day I would be holding a little girl who would take that sorrow away. I still miss Cori Joy, and there is a part of her in me that will never be replaced and never be fulfilled, until one day I meet her in heaven, but until that day comes, Stacy and I will never cease to be thankful for the precious gift He gave us in Molly Faith.

Time flies

Molly FaithCori Joy

Yesterday was Molly's 4 week birthday! Thursday she will be one month old! I can't believe its been 4 weeks already.



Molly was a very popular little girl this last weekend. On Saturday she went to her first jewelry party! What a wonderful time we all had. HUGE thanks to Cookie Lee consultant-Lydia Dacy and Sensaria consultant-Dot Doheny-also to Alex- Lydia's daughter- These lovely women all donated their entire day and any profit to Molly's adoption fund! Thanks to Kim for having the open house and all the great ladies who came by to shop and give Molly a kiss! For those who may not have been able to come-Lydia is keeping the party open until September 30. If you mention us when you order online www.cookielee.biz/lydiadacy we will get the proceeds. Thanks again to everyone involved.



Sunday was Molly's first "Pot Blessing". A pot blessing is just like a Pot Luck but where you count your blessings not your luck! And blessed she was! Lots of good food and some very special gifts. Molly is a very loved child, by everyone who meets her!



Other exciting news-Molly slept for 6 hours the night before last! Of course it was Dad's shift that night-and she was back to every 3 hours last night but it does give me hope!



Last week at the Pediatrician Molly weighed 8lbs 5 ounces-so I guess those every 3 hour feedings are doing their job!



Continued thanks to everyone who continues to keep us in their prayers, we could not have done this all without them!

Letter from God

There is a scripture in Romans that talks about how nothing can separate us from the love God has for us.

When Cori died a friend gave me a book of "Letters from God". I was looking at it again today.

I want to share an excerpt from it:

My Dear Child:
There is something blazing in My heart that I yearn for you to know and hold on to. And this is it: My love, which came down to you in the person of My perfect Son, Jesus, is complete, full, unchangeable, and eternal. It is the one gift that circumstances can neither alter or steal away.

Nothing you will face in this life is powerful enough to come between you and My love for you. My love will be your one constant in the shifting landscape of a transient universe. It is...an open door when you are hungry and homeless...a warm embrace when you are lost and alone...a safe harbor when you are tossed by the storms of life and a warm fire when the world has turned you out in the cold. So hold on to this truth as a treasure in your heart.

I love you forever,
God

We are able to tell how many visitors the website has on a given day. Not who you are, but how many times someone came. One day I was astonished that there were over 100 visits!

If you only knew how much I pray that each of you will share with me the eternal home of Heaven! I can't imagine a greater joy than one day being witness to the real "eternal" impact these two beautiful children-Cori Joy and Molly Faith had-that people examined their lives and faith and came to know Jesus as their personal savior. Only God could do something that amazing!!

Praise Problems!

I read a daily devotional and there was one this week that I just have to share with everyone.
This one is from David Jeremiah:
"When faced with a problem or need, don't complain, panic or doubt God. Problems are opportunities for us to praise God in advance for the solutions He'll give. These are Praise-Problems! Facing difficulty just now? Thank God for what He's going to do. He knows how to make bitter waters into better waters and how to bring forth streams in the desert.

I confess I am not always able to turn my problems into praise, but it is something I am praying to be able to do more and more. I do know that worrying doesn't do any good-though it is certainly where most of us start.

I'd like to be able, with God's help to teach Molly as she grows up that there is nothing we face in our life times that surprises God, or that He isn't willing to be right there with us, lifting us up, urging us forward or holding us in the comfort of His arms-we just have to remember to let Him be God and trust always that what He brings us to...He'll bring us through.

We were so blessed this week to hear from both our birth mom and her twin sister. We have a small package of pictures on the way to M and look forward to next summer when we may be able to meet other members of her family!

I am reminded of Luke 6:38

Jesus words: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you".

May our Lord pour out His blessings to everyone who has prayed for us, who has given both in time and resources-we can only say Thank You, but may your laps be overflowing with His blessings for what you have and are doing for us!

This is going into Molly's 3rd week of life. She is doing really well-except for some reason we aren't doing too well sleeping at night. Maybe gassy, maybe just night and day mixed up...not sure but Dad and Mom aren't getting alot of sleep! We trade off though and I am always thanking God for giving me a husband who participates in not only all the fun stuff regarding baby but all the stuff thats not so fun too!

My niece and good friend Kim is having a "Cookie Lee" jewelry party at her home on September 15. The "Cookie Lee" representative has graciously offered to donate all the profit from the party to Molly's Adoption Fund! I know many of you are from out of town and can't go. You can go on to this website and order and mention in the note section or what have you that this is for the Molly Berndtson adoption and we'll get the credit-how great is that! I understand that "Cookie Lee" jewelry is quality made, and a great value. www.cookielee.biz/lydiadacy

Week Two

The second week of life with baby is supposed to be a little easier and stress free than the first…supposed to being the imperative words!

I’ve been trying to fit in some work from home along with my new duties as Mommy. My sister offered to come out Tuesday for a few hours so I could go into the office, train some new people and pick up some work.

Shortly after I got home and fed Molly, she turned blue again. It was quite scary. I laid her down and blew in her face and stuck my finger in her mouth(a feeble attempt I suppose at “clearing the airway”). This caused her to gag a bit and then she seemed to “pink” up.

A call to the Pediatrician and we were on our way to their office. An exam didn’t show anything specific but since we’d "been here done that" before they decided to admit her to St. Joes in Bellingham for observation.

Going back to that hospital with our daughter was very very hard on me. That’s where we said goodbye to our first daughter and again all the old fears and anxieties come rushing back. I’m grateful that once informed, everyone involved seemed to understand these thoughts and feelings of mine because they knew what we’d been through before.

Twenty four hours later Molly had not had any desaturations on her oxygen monitor and seemed to be doing fine. There had been talk of sending us down to Children’s Hospital(which would have been another VERY hard moment for mom and dad) but the pediatrician on call said she just didn’t think it was necessary to start all those interventions yet. She offered to send us home with a portable oximeter and some oxygen “just in case” we needed it. Because we had this equipment with Cori, it was not as intimidating to us as it might have been if we had not had that experience.

So we’ve been home now since Wednesday night at about 8:30pm and all has been well for the most part. She turned bluish once with me here but didn’t require oxygen. She turned this way again yesterday with both Steve and I present. Her saturations did fall as she was turning color but she also seemed to be pushing or struggling with a poop or something which led us to think maybe she holds her breath when she is straining. Her sats came back up after a bit and we used no oxygen. The doctors has told us to try and time it and see if the episodes lasted longer than 20 seconds. Apnea is classified as episodes of not breathing, longer than 20 seconds. So far we haven’t had a timer right there when it happened but it probably didn’t last 20 seconds or if it did just that much before she started to look pinker.

Other than THAT, we are doing fine! She is so precious and we love her SO much! We are both pretty tired but she has slept a couple nights for 4-5 hours without waking or fussing so we have hope that completely sleepless nights won’t last!

Thanks to everyone for their continued prayers. We haven’t heard anything from our attorney as to the birth father and whether he’s contacted them or signed his relinquishment papers or not. Court date for that-one way or the other is September 11.

My niece Kim is holding a Cookie Lee jewelry sale where all the profit from the sale will go to our adoption fund. If anyone likes Cookie Lee jewelry and would like to place an order with Kim so that our adoption fund could benefit, let me know and I’ll pass on her email address.

Home, Sweet, Home!

Wednesday evening Steve and I went and had a belated birthday dinner of steak, salad and baked potatoes. It tasted so good after all the fast food etc. Thursday we were prayerfully anticipating a good report from the overnight test and around 2pm or so that’s what we received! The apnea test showed no signs of apnea or a couple other things I can’t remember and since there had been no episodes since early Wednesday morning, the on call pediatrician had submitted discharge papers!

By the time we left the hospital it was after 4 and we determined it would be too hard to get packed and on the road in enough time to get all the way back home by dark. We went back to spend our first night together as a family in the hotel. Not much sleep was had by mom or baby for that matter! Dad got a little more but by 6am mom woke Dad for the trade off so she could get a few winks.

We left baby town at about 10am Friday morning and reached our home sweet home at 8:30pm that evening. Two 1/2 days later than planned, but we were home! There were plenty of baby stops, for feeding and changing and almost as many mommy stops for potty breaks, plus a 3 hour traffic jam in the Seattle area and an ever so brief stop at Walmart to pick up some more formula.

Our dogs were very excited to see us but had been taken very well care of by our pet sitter/friend Tara-who graciously took care of them the few extra days at no cost! Thank YOU Tara!!

My sista friend and Molly’s Aunt Carrie had administrated the process of letting carpet cleaners in and showing them the rooms we needed etc so we would come home to a nice clean carpet. She also was instrumental in letting friends and family know, via email and phone calls all the updates along the way- she also left a lovely bouquet of roses and a balloon bouquet to welcome us home-THANK YOU so much for everything!!

Friend and house cleaner Alice V was able to come and get the house clean for us as well.(I just didn’t want to bring Molly home to a dirty house!)

My dear Aunt Pat and cousin Elaine had come and decorated the house-outside and in with everything from streamers, helium balloon bouquets and banners to a beautiful bouquet of long stem pink roses complete with a pink fuzzy stork! Thank you both-it was so neat to come home to such a festive welcome!

Life Changing Moments

I like the tv show Dr. Phil. He doesn't claim to "heal" people in 60 minutes and we don't often get to see what happens to his guests after the show ends and they go home. Do most get better and take his advice and help to heart or not-I don't know. But I do know that he often has some pearls of wisdom that I remember long after the show is over. One such pearl was hearing him tell people to name the top 5 Life Changing Moments of their lives.

A Life Changing moment is where you are not the same person you were the moment before.

Molly's birth will now be among my top 5 Life Changing Moments.

Wednesday afternoon(still waiting for the Apnea test):

Because the nurses wanted Molly in the nursery several hours before her test and because some nurses didn’t believe it was ok for us to stay in the nursery with her all the time, we used Wednesday afternoon to go to a local Kinkos and get online to pay some bills, check email and post quickly to the blog. While there we got the call that M was being released and so we headed right back to the hospital to say goodbye.

Saying goodbye, to the person who was instrumental in bringing joy back into your world was a very hard thing. Steve and I had spent several hours of certainly one of the hardest days M and her boyfriend will ever face. We bonded with this young couple. We grew very fond of both of them. It was hard to walk in to Ms hospital room and watch as she did the right thing for this baby. I’ve often said in these last days that the right thing is not always the easy thing. I have lost a child to death and I can assure you that there is no other pain like it.

However, placing your child into the arms of a loving couple must also be very painful. I am proud of her. Proud that she made this decision, knowing it would be hard and against the advice of several important people in her life, because in her heart she knew it was the right thing for both she and her child and this baby. And we are honored that she thought enough of us to give us this priceless gift.

The young man who stood by M throughout this ordeal was not the baby’s father. I believe it takes a real man to do what he did. He certainly didn’t have to have anything to do with this situation. To my knowledge he only ever offered support to M. Perhaps he is not perfect, but then who of us is. I can only say that Steve and I are so glad he was there for M and that he is there for her now.

And we have pictures now to show Molly as she grows up, that we ALL loved her SO much-that her life story is one of nothing but love. Love of a birthmom and her family and boyfriend to make the sacrifice that would in the end be what was best for Molly, and the love of two people who thought their opportunity to be called Mommy and Daddy had died 4 years ago. I cannot express enough how much having Molly as our daughter means to Steve and I. She will always know of her birth mom and birth family. Eventually she will meet them. And her life will only be made richer by having more people to love her.

A Scary/Familiar Road

Next morning we were back at the hospital at 7:30. They gave us that same room again and we were the two most contented parents just holding our little one and pinching ourselves that we really were this blessed!

Approximately mid morning I was holding Molly and I looked down and her color went from pink to dusky blue quite rapidly. It didn’t look as if she was choking or anything but I jumped up and had Steve run for a nurse. They came in and told us that sometimes babys have junk in their throats from the birth and its sticky and gets caught in there. They also suggested we not over wrap her as babies only need one more layer than what we feel is comfortable.

We went back to our euphoria and a little later Ms boyfriend wheeled M down to our room to see the baby for the first time. She was holding the baby when again the baby turned bluish. This was quite upsetting to M and she was worried that she had done something wrong. I was upset too, but fortunately the Lord blessed me both at that moment and the previous day when M went into surgery-at being the calm one and so I jumped up took the baby and Steve ran to get the nurse again. This time the nurse ran the baby back into the nursery where they administered a little blow by oxygen and the baby “pinked” right back up. The baby did this again an hour or so later and again in the middle of the night. After that 2nd episode they kept the baby on an oxygen and heart rate monitor.

After the 2nd episode with M, it became apparent that we would not be leaving the hospital on Tuesday or even Wednesday. Angels again, Laura, her husband John and Beverly arranged payment for additional hotel days as well as covering the initial 4 nights we had planned on. This relieved so much stress for us- staying more time and so forth was not what we wanted to do but knowing we had a place to sleep and that the hotel portion of this adventure was paid allowed us to focus on Molly and her needs.

The pediatrician on call ordered an EKG, Eccocardiogram and a number of blood tests. When those all appeared normal, he ordered a 12 hour apnea test to be administered from 8pm on Wednesday to 8 am Thursday. Meanwhile after the nurses heard that Ms other child had had a hard time with reflux and ended up on the most expensive formula, they decided to change Molly to that formula and after the 2am episode another nurse decided to change the style of nipple, allowing Molly to use her strong suck but not get as much air in her tummy. The pediatrician also started her on Zantac twice per day.

Molly continued to stay in the nursery to await the Apnea test. After the change to the other formula, the nipple and the Zantac, we saw no more blue episodes.

Molly's entry into this world

I truly do not understand why the doctor did not do an ultrasound that morning before he broke Ms water. Or at least why one wasn’t done at her final doctors appointment just 4 days before. Though I am a layman, it would seem the single most important factor in normal healthy delivery would be knowing what position the baby was in prior to birth.

Ms mother was understandably upset and frightened. She asked that I pray so she, Steve, I and Ms sister hugged while I prayed for God to be with M and the baby, to guide the surgeons hands and to bring everyone out of this situation healthy. I acknowledged outloud that both M and Molly were first God’s children and that He loves them even more than we do.

At just after 5:56pm a nurse emerged from the surgical room with Molly Faith bundled in a large warm blanket. Steve and I followed her in to the nursery where we watched Molly be weighed and measured and have her very first bath(which she loved).

M did really well during the Csection, there was only average bleeding and she was in recovery for about an hour and a half. I was worried about M but Ms mom encouraged me to be excited about the baby and that it was ok to feel this way. I know she had not always been supportive of the adoption so this meant a great deal to me.

We were able to stay in a room with the baby until about 11pm when we were encouraged to go get a good nights sleep by the nurses. I had given Molly her first bottle and each of us had held her continuously between calls to everyone back home about her birth.

Mollys story (continued)

M called us at the hotel Monday morning at 6. She was to be there between 7-7:30 for the induction. We hurried over and actually arrived before she did. Her cousin in law Sarah met us there as well as she graciously offered to care for M’s other child that day.

After being admitted to a room, the induction was started. Due to the conflicts of the previous day, only M’s mother and Steve & I were in the hospital room for the better part of the day. I believe M didn’t mind who was there necessarily-she just wanted peace.

The contractions began right away and it wasn’t too long before M asked for the epidural. Unfortunately the anesthesiologist was on an emergency surgery and she was forced to wait and endure quite a bit of pain. It was hard to watch her in pain and not be able to help. When the epidural was finally administered it only worked on half of Ms body and she continued to feel every contraction. I watched the contraction strength numbers rise each time on the monitors and am quite sure that if it had been me you would have heard me from here to there and back, but M was incredible. She just grabbed onto the bed rail and buried her head in the pillows. Sometime in the afternoon Ms boyfriend and her sister arrived from a 3 hour drive to get there. She was very relieved that he was there with her.

The 2nd epidural finally came but by this time I truly believe that M had gone through most of this labor unaided by medication. It seemed that the time would arrive shortly.

Because of my delivery of Cori and our several hospital stays, I am more aware of certain behaviors that happen when a situation becomes precarious. I don’t believe others there were aware but I had been watching the baby’s heart rate and the nurses were having little success keeping it up. At one point they had sent Steve, Ms boyfriend and sister out of the room to turn M over. I knew something was wrong. I went out and whispered in Steve’s ear that the baby’s heart rate was falling and he needed to start praying. Inside the room the once jovial and friendly nurse began issuing orders to call the doctor and get an ultrasound monitor in the room. I’m not sure at what point Ms mom realized something might be wrong but she asked and the nurse said she was sure everything was going to be fine but that she had felt the baby’s lips and wanted to make sure it was the lips on her face. The doctor and ultrasound arrived at the same time. His exam and the monitor showed that the baby was fully breech and in his opinion M needed to have a Csection sooner than later.

For those of you who know of or knew us when Cori was born you will understand when I say that as all this was happening, it was as if I was reliving Cori’s birth all over again. When a mostly typical labor turns into an emergent situation it’s a very scary thing. In less than 5 minutes we went from just about to see Molly be born to waiting outside a surgical unit.

Molly's Story part 1

I wanted to share with everyone in a bit more detail just how miraculous bringing Molly home really was.

We arrived on Saturday the 18th and intended to spend Sunday the 19th (my birthday) enjoying a shopping spree at a SuperWalmart made possible by my dear friends Beverly and Laura(thank you guys SO much!) We learned that several members of our birth mom’s family wanted to meet us.

No one should ever think that something this monumental only affects the birth mom(M) and the adoptive parents-this (or at least in our case) does, impact an entire family.

And, like any blended family there are conflicts. Conflicts are always stressful and the 19th was especially so for everyone. I believe everyone involved wanted the best outcome for the situation and all hearts were in the right place, but sometimes we forget the goal line when we are in the skirmish.

We are glad that we were able to meet this family and appreciate how much everyone supported us and this adoption. We had a peaceful meeting with birth mom later that day and felt much better as we ended the 19th.

She has arrived!

Molly Faith was born on August 20 at 5:56 pm! She weighed 7 lbs 12 ounces and was 19 inches long. She is beautiful! There is so much to tell and little time to tell it as we are still in baby town and Molly is still in the hospital. Molly has had a few little setbacks since birth and is currently having a overnight Apnic test. Please pray that she would have no apnic episodes and that she will be given an A-OK to go home! Pray for her tummy that the reflux she has been having would be completely healed and that her tummy would become like the iron of her new mommy(well if you don't count all the knots its been in of late!). We will post more and email friends and family once we are home but wanted all of you to know that Molly is now in our world and we are the most blessed two people to walk the planet! Please pray for Molly's birthmom-who had to have a C-section and is quite sore. Pray for her physical healing and her emotional healing. She is a wonderful young woman and we are honored to know her.

On our way!

Well folks this is it! We leave tomorrow morning for babytown. Of course there are a million thoughts running through my head right now and at least that many things to do before we leave but if you would have told me a year ago, or even 6 months ago that I would be going to watch my new baby daughter be born the day after my birthday-I would have seriously considered you for the funny farm!

When Cori Joy was born I remember just crying every time I looked down at her. I was so overwhelmed that the Lord had blessed me with her. When she died I felt as if He had fired me from the only job I ever loved. I don't feel that way anymore-Cori may have been a responsibility He entrusted to me. Cori's death was not a punishment for a job poorly done. For reasons only He knows, her time here only lasted 3 years 364 days, but her "story" continues. Perhaps He was preparing me for "such a time as this". He knows the end from the beginning and nothing is ever a surprise to him.

The love and lessons Cori's life and death taught me, prepared us for this miraculous blessing of Molly! She is going to be a very loved child! Her birthmother chose to bring her into this world because of love and with love will be placing her in our arms of love. May Molly's life reflect the words from the verse in Corinthians that says "now these three things remain, Faith, Hope and Love...but the greatest of these is Love".

Thank you all for your continued prayers for our safety driving over, for the delivery to go smoothly, Molly to be born healthy and that her birthmother would do well and that when we are released we also have a safe trip home.

We'll try to get online somewhere and post when she is born!

Garage Sale Part Two-a praise Jesus kinda day

To begin with NO rain and that is saying something for the strange summer the Pac NW has had! It literally waited to rain until all was put under the tents and we were back inside resting last night!

First I can't say more without a ton of thank yous. In no particular order:

To: Sue and Ed and Cheyenne-for Friday and Saturday-Cheyenne you are a superfantastic 11 year old, a great jar washer and the greatest customer ever! Sue, thanks for the donations and all the help setting up on Friday. Ed, greatest hotdogs ever! Sue you were essential to keeping all the customers happy and boxed up-no one had to juggle their treasures with you around-it kept them shopping and that was just what we needed!

To: my sista friend Carrie. For working late into the night Friday-getting us fed both dinner and breakfast the next day!! For managing the cashbox with accuracy and a smile to each customer! For helping box the remainder up after 8+ hours of duty-did you ever take a potty break??? Oh, and thanks for the awesome donations too!

To: Becca and Panina...two awesome teenagers who make a mean rootbeer float and helped whenever and whereever they were needed. Also for the contributions to the Smiley bank AND for keeping the laughter alive all day!

To: Naomi who took time out of 1 of only 2 days she gets off with her own chillens to help us raise money for ours! You are the bomb girl-thanks for coming by and pitching in!

To: Aunt Pat and Gloria for dropping off some of the best sellers we had-fishing poles and books!

To everyone who donated their quality stuff-we sold 3/4 of everything we had and everyone mentioned what a nice assortment we had-THANK YOU for your donations!

To: any of our customers-whether you shopped, or donated to our smiley bank or shared a hot dog or rootbeer float with us...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU

Because of all of you we raised just over $800 on this sale!! This will help so much.

Also of note were the family from Florida who had read our story and had stopped by just to give us a donation! They had just adopted 2 months ago and brought their precious baby daughter to our sale. I didnt get to meet you but want you to know how special your visit is to us-we'd love to see you again next year when you are in town-Thank you so much!

There were items that would have been difficult to dispose of had they not sold or been given away-PTL that even those items found new homes.

And of the remainder of the items, imagine the blessing it was to hear this morning that our new friend and dog sitter Tara will take these things and sell them at her consignment shop and actually give us the full price for whatever they sell for-she's even going to pick them up! Another Praise Jesus moment!! Thank you Tara and hubby AND if anyone needs an awesome dog sitter-let me know, I'll pass on Tara's contact info!

There was some comic relief in the day as well(besides the giggling girls I mean). Our friend, neighbor and police officer Jon showed up at the sale reporting a theft...his own... Seems late Friday night he was walking his dog(2am) and decided to take a peek at the goods! Using the flashlight end of his taser he proceeded to find a few books and videos he'd like. We of course knew nothing of this until he came later in the day to 'fess up. Once here he decided on a few other treasures and actually called a friend down who bought some more....who says crime doesn't pay??? ha ha

And last but not least the tables and huge tents that Cascade Dafo loaned us for this event were a god send-everyone loved our set up and the tents provided a great respite from the raining walnut shells(its time for all good little squirrels to start storing up for winter you know!)-Thanks Cascade!!

So, we're just about a week away from the big day. Its exciting and scary all at the same time. But we know that God is in control. Just as He brought us through the hardest times, so He will bring us through these times. We'd appreciate your continued prayers this week. I'll try to post at least once more before we head to baby town!

Garage Sale Part 1

We are gearing up for the big Garage Sale Fundraiser on Saturday. Several people have been good enough to donate their "treasures" for the sale, thank you very much! We have a couple tents up with a couple more to go tonight and tomorrow will be the big pricing day and getting everything in place. As usually happens with garage sales there will be a ton of people first thing and then it usually comes in waves. We are hoping for a rain free morning, sunny afternoon and lots of hungry folks! Rootbeer floats, hotdogs, soft drinks and water will be sold to the masses!

We finished up the home portion of the home study this week. The attorney has sent all the paperwork to birthmom to sign and return-we are praying that happens by Friday or Monday at the latest so the atty can get an appt before the judge by Thursday next week.

We received a pack of paperwork with all the court filings etc. From everything we've read, the father of the child really should have no leg to stand on as far as rights to the child. We are praying however that he simply sees the writing on the wall and signs the paperwork without incident.

In preparing the room for Molly we ran into a couple snags. While Steve attempted to hook up some new electrical in the room, he is not an electrician and when you turned the light on another light in the room went off! :-)

A dear friend of ours came right over and was able to get us all hooked up!-Thank you David!

Steve's brother Bryan came over on Sunday and put some roof patch around some vents that have been causing leaking in both Cori/Mollys room and our guest room-Thanks Bryan!

Time has grown so short that while Steve was able to hang the drywall in the room himself, he didn't think he'd be able to get it taped and mudded and looking smooth enough to paint in the time we needed. Friends Lila & Lage told us of a friend of theirs who did amazing drywall work. A call to him and the next day he and another gentleman came out and viola' Cori/Mollys room is ready for paint!! -Thank you Sam and friend!

All these people did this for only our thanks-God bless you all!

God has been good to us through the giving hands of people like those above consistently through this process and we continue to trust that He who began a good work will carry it through to completion.

Stay tuned for Garage Sale Part 2...the aftermath!

In Everything Give Thanks

A bit of a scare yesterday. Melissa called, she had not been feeling well for a couple days, unable to keep even fluids down. She got an earlier appointment and they discovered a nasty kidney infection and dehydration. She was admitted to the hospital yesterday and as of this morning had gone through 3 bags of IV with still very concentrated output-so she was definitely low. They had a hard time getting the veins to not collapse and so she has several holes to show for it. Apparently she has a hard time remembering or thinking to drink water. She said she felt better this morning, has not thrown up(but they've been giving her some nausea meds) and they gave her something for sleep which helped tremendously. They may keep her one more day. She told me that the doctor has scheduled the inducement for the 20th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had thought the 23rd...for some reason those three little days seem to have turned this whole thing into warp speed for me! We'll likely travel on my birthday-imagine being a new mom again at 45(I can't!)

Thank you Lord for your healing hand on Melissa and Molly, thank you for time...even if at warp speed.

Home Study

We've begun the homestudy process. Friday we had our fingerprinting done and will send these on to the FBI for the new law. Monday we meet with the social worker to go over all the paperwork and begin the "interview" process. Thank the Lord that she is accepting the "personal information" portion we did for the foster care process last summer. This is like a 16 page survey of essay questions like "how did your parents solve problems" and "how did your parents criticize you". Real easy ones like that. Needless to say having her accept what we had already completed is a God send. The lawyer emailed on Friday also and there is a plan to move forward with or without the voluntary relinquishment from the dad. Basically once he is served papers he will have 20 days to respond. If he doesn't he is in default and we move forward. If he does, he will need to do so with the court system up here, but either way we should know within 20 days what we are up against with him. Steve's starting work on the nursery. It has always been Cori's room. I feel funny now saying "Molly's or the baby's room" so I've been saying its "Coris' babys room". Eventually it will work itself out and we may not call it anything but for now I feel more comfortable with that. Thank you to everyone who is praying and thinking of us during this time!

Stumbling blocks and Stepping Stones

I have a good friend Sue who at the beginning of this journey would write to me about how she saw each thing that was happening as a stepping stone. We know that there is an enemy who will attempt stumbling blocks along this path, but of course we pray for as few of those as possible. Well, we've had a few this week. Paperwork has been sent to the father for signature, voluntarily releasing his rights. No one thinks he will sign it just like that, but God could know better. If he doesn't we are not sure what the next step is-though likely it would be some sort of court hearing and unless the courts have changed dramatically I don't know how quickly that could happen, or how much more $ it will cost. We are hoping our attorney may be able to try and reach the father by phone and work at convincing him to sign without a court hearing etc. Please pray that she will, and that he will.

As I said in the last post we were misinformed as to how long and how detailed the home study portion would be. The woman we've hired seems to know her stuff and says if we hurry we should be able to get the homestudy done by baby's birth. Toward that end we go today to have our fingerprints taken for the Homeland Security clearance or the new law I spoke of. Pray that the red tape of our government never rears its head and we see the fastest turnaround on our clearance that they've ever seen!

We've doctors forms that need completion(and potentially doctors appointments), proof of rabies certs for our dogs, employment verification letters, copies of marriage certificates, Cori's death certificate...you name it, its wanted and due for this homestudy. Steve and I will both need to be interviewed separately and together, plus a home visit.

Perhaps someone could arrange for an extra hour or two to be added to each day from here til August 23, because with both of us working and the house issues to get done as well as now all this paperwork we are going to need at least a week more of hours to get it all done!

But we cannot forget that each stumbling block is just another opportunity for God to turn it into a stepping stone. He is the one we need to put our trust in and rely on-for this is a blessing from Him-and He will never leave us or forsake us!

Meeting our birthmom!

We went to the Tri Cities area this weekend to meet with our birthmom. The visit went really well. We were able to meet and talk to her and play with her very adorable little girl. We discussed things like what we'll tell the baby, sending her pictures and eventually arranging for the two girls to meet and play together. We went with her to the doctor appointment and we also thought he was a nice man and seemed to know all about the adoption and said he thought this would be a good thing for everyone involved. If all continues to go well he will schedule an inducement on August 23! We were very happy to learn when we got home that she had told her grandma that she liked us and that she was happy with her choice! Please pray for other areas to fall into place-the birth father, our homestudy which now appears to have to be done soon, soon, soon because of a new law that took effect a week ago or something! Also pray for her health and that of the baby as we go into the last few weeks! Thanks for taking this journey with us!