Adoption Updates and the New Year

I set a deadline to have all of our paperwork mailed in to the agency we are using be December 31st. I think I might be pretty close. I tried to get it all in order the weeks before Christmas because I knew the rest of the month would be pretty hopeless. I ordered our profile books a few weeks ago and they came right before Christmas. I LOVE how they turned out. I used Shutterfly.com and I knew the quality would be great since I have used them before. I probably spent four months putting that book together. I wanted it to look just right, but also show exactly how we are. There is a lot of pressure there.
I also ordered our puzzle for the Puzzle Fundraiser from Puzzle you and it should be coming in the mail any day now. I am so excited to write on the backs of the puzzle pieces of all of our amazing Generous Donors!!!! This baby is already loved beyond measure. I also can't wait to put the puzzle together. Most of you may not know how much I thoroughly enjoy putting them together. I can sit for hours at a puzzle. I will make sure to take pictures of the puzzle and the process of putting it together.
I wanted to mention the agency we have decided to use. We prayed about this and wanted to make sure we were making the right decision on which agency was going to bring us our baby. We felt strongly about using an agency and we know that there are so many great ones out there. We are using A Guardian Angel. We feel great about this agency and would recommend them to anyone.
Well we are happy that things are moving along and as the new year approaches, I am excited to think that 2015 will be the year we bring a baby home! Happy New Year everyone and we will continue to keep you all posted as we move forward with the adoption.

Home Study... CHECK!

Today was a big day for us. The home study has been on my mind for a very long time. If anything, it's one way to get my house completely cleaned, de-cluttered and organized. Which is what I spent the last month doing. I might have gone a little over kill... maybe. But all in good reason and it needed to be done, for my sake anyway. I will say that we have an amazing Social Worker and she made us feel completely at ease. Gabe really liked her too, which is always a good thing.
 For those of you who may not know what a home study is, it is an assessment of prospective adoptive parents to see if they are suitable for adopting a child. But I like how my social worker explained it to Gabe. She said that she was there to write down our family's story and then share it to birth moms so that we can bring home our baby.
We were very eager to sit down and talk with our social worker. She wanted us to give her a tour of our home and then we sat down and talked about us, our family, our upbringing, adoption, birth mothers, placement, bringing our baby home... etc. It was really nice and I stressed myself out way more than I needed to. I'm glad it is over and done with because that means that we are one step closer to getting our baby. Next step is to finish all our paperwork and send it in to our Agency. My deadline for that is the end of December. I will be glad to get that part of the process done.
We are getting more excited every day about meeting our little one. We are praying for our birth mom every morning and night. We pray that she will find the peace and comfort she needs as she is going through this hard experience. We are hoping that she is praying to find us. We love her and we are grateful for the selfless choice she has decided to make. Words really cant express the emotion I personally feel for her. She is so wonderful and we cant wait to meet her.
Home study... Done!! One more thing to check off our list.

Sharing our news

I am so excited we finally announced that we are starting the adoption process. We have held it in for quite some time now and we are so glad to share it. We are currently in the process of getting everything ready to schedule our Home Study. We have sent in our BCI's and we're just waiting for them to come back. It can take anywhere from four to eight weeks we were told. Once they are back, we can schedule our Home Study and move forward from there. Very exciting. We are fairly certain we have chosen our agency we will be working with so I will keep you posted when that is final. We want to keep our blog updated with all the progress we are making. We think it will be a fun way to keep all our friends and family informed.
Some of my thoughts... I find myself daydreaming about adoption and our future child. It is always on my mind. I feel like I can take a big, deep breath. That sounds silly but for so long, we have fought the hard battle of infertility and it is so tiring. There was a time, and it wasn't long ago, when people would ask me how I was doing or how I was holding up and I would have to put on my smile and say that I was doing "ok." I didn't want to share how I was really feeling. I didn't want to burden anyone. However, I am finding that although the sting of our infertility is still there, it is not crippling me. I am excited and hopeful about our families future. Two emotions I haven't felt very often in a long time. It is amazing how the Lord's timing works. If not for our trials we have had to face these last four years, we probably would not be going down this wonderful road.  
We are overwhelmed with the love and support we  have felt from everyone since we have made our announcement. Thank you for sharing your excitement and sweet comments. We are lucky to be surrounded by so many friends and family. We are truly grateful.

Me again...

I have let another 2 months fly by without a blog post. Shame, shame. But I'm back.... for now. We had a a GREAT summer that flew by too fast. I always get excited for autumn around August time but when it actually comes, I get a little sad to see another summer come and go. But, we move on and welcome whatever comes next, right?

A few things that happened this summer are:

 

*My sweet Grandma Bea passed away. We were so sad to see her go!

*Dallas and I celebrated our Anniversary at the Grand America, along with massages and a LOT of shopping. He totally spoiled me.

*Had the opportunity to cheer on our Miss South Jordan (Malissa Richardson) at Miss Utah.

*Gabe got LOTS of Candy at the South Jordan City Parade and got to ride at the fun carnival rides at Country Fest.

*Took our annual trip to Antimony for the 4th of July. Fun, Fun, Fun!

*We attended my bother and sis in law's sealing to to their sweet babies, Abriha and Axum!!!

*Gabe moved into his Big Boy room with his Big Boy bed.

*Snowbird with the DeHaan family. This is always one of our favorite things we get to do each summer.

*We had some good friends come into town and we were able to spend some time with them. (The Petrey's and Ali Holt)

*Lots of trips to Pools and Splash Parks.

*Lots of trips to the Fertility Specialist (YAY!)

*Dall got a new job. YAY!

*Gabe turned 3 years old!!!

 

I am sure I am forgetting a lot of other little things but these are the highlights!

Whats been going on with me.... In May, Dallas and I finally came to the conclusion that we needed to visit a Fertility Specialist. We were getting pretty discouraged with our progress and our Dr. at the time wasn't giving us much help. Month after month he would prescribe another dose of Clomid. I couldn't tell you how many cycles of Clomid I have been on but I'm sure its a shocking number. So I called my Dr. in April and told his nurse that the last dose of clomid didn't work so now what. She advised I have a very expensive procedure done called the HSG exam. That is what the Dr.'s will advise if the clomid doesn't work for long periods of time. But I thought the exam was a little premature. The purpose of the exam is to see if your fallopian tubes are clogged. Well, since I have had 2 pregnancies, I am pretty sure that they aren't. So... we made the decision to find a good Fertility Specialist and get more answers. To be honest, I wish I would have made that jump a long time ago. I was so nervous at that first appointment but the Dr. that I saw was so kind and just listened to me blabbing on about my body. I just wanted answers. He was able to give me those answers. After all, that is what he specialises in. Well since that first appointment in June, I have seen them every month since. Dallas and I have had a number of tests done on us and I feel more informed about the female and male reproductive system than I ever have before. It is nice to know exactly what is going on with both you and your spouse but can be frustrating at the same time. I have had a lot of good news and bad news in the last 5 months, but now more than ever, I feel very optimistic. Dallas and I are both making lifestyle changes that can only help with what we are trying to achieve. We are both eager to see what is on store for us in the near future and are always crossing our fingers. One thing we do know is that we are LOVING all the time we are getting with Gabe. I'm sure that when more kids come, I will look back at this time in my life and be so glad that I got to know my little buddy better. Dallas and Gabe are best friends and have the best bond. I am so grateful for Dall. He really is the best Husband and Daddy.   

We are so blessed and we know that we can only take one day at a time.

Here are some fun pictures of our last few months.

 

Something I LOVE!

I want to write about a product that I have completely fallen in love with. I have been doing it for almost three full years now and I look forward to doing it for many more. It is called Project Life. It is the best concept of recording memories I have ever seen. Becky Higgins, the creator of Project Life, is one of the most creative people I have ever seen. She inspires me and I am so glad she thought of this concept and decided to share it with the world. If you haven't heard about Project Life, I suggest you head on over to her website and spend a few hours reading up on it. It truly is Amazing.

Here is my personal little story on why I love Project life so much.

When Dall and I first got married, we had a lot of fun. We vacationed a little, went on a lot of dates, spent a lot of time with friends and did whatever we wanted to, whenever we wanted. We were spoiled!!! The thought of starting a family came a lot earlier to me than it did to Dallas. I have family that have PCOS and it is hard for them to get pregnant. I was curious to know if I had it as well. I went to the Dr. and my suspicions were confirmed. I had it. It was not a very good day for me. So, I took the news to Dallas and I told him that I wanted to start "trying"... oh I HATE that word. I knew it might take us a while to get pregnant. Who knows what Dallas was thinking. So, seven months of Clomid went by and we finally got pregnant with Gabe. It took us seven months and I hated everything the Clomid did to me. But I knew that it would help my chances in getting pregnant so I did it. So where does Project Life fit in to all of this? I started doing it when Gabe was six months old. I recorded (took a picture) of something I was doing every day. I look back at that first book and love what I see. There were a lot of pictures of Gabe. When I say a lot, I mean about 85% of it. I took pictures of random, mundane stuff as well as our normal, crazy, boring life. I like to look at those too because someday we will look back at that and miss it so much. I am on Album three and as I look back over the last three years, I love watching how Gabe has changed. It has been pretty remarkable. Not too many people can say that they have recorded almost everyday in their lives or their families lives.

Last fall, we had a miscarriage at almost 9 weeks. We had been trying for eight months to get that pregnancy with he help of Clomid. Since then, we have been trying for another eight months to get pregnant also with the help of Clomid but have not been able to get pregnant. I am now seeing a fertility specialist to see where to go from here. With all that said, I have always wanted a big family. Dallas does as well. I don't know how many kids the Lord will bless us with, but we are going to work hard to get them here. That is why I feel Project Life is so important for me and my family. I want to record and document our family story. I want to remember as much of our crazy life as possible. I feel that the things we do it our lives come and go and sometimes get forgotten. I have glimpses of things I did in my childhood and I with I had more. I hope that by continuing to do Project Life, one day my children will be able to look at the albums and love what they see. It is a big commitment. A LOT of time has been spent on these three albums I have done. I know life will get busier as time goes on but that is why I want to keep it up.

Thank You Becky for creating this amazing product. Now to my readers.... Go check it out and order one!  

Here are a few links to Becky Higgins products that I love.
Project Life Clementine Edition
Photo Pocket Pages
White Signiture Binder
Project Life Cherry Edition



Til We Meet Again!

Betty Mae McDermott Blair (Grandma Bea) was one of the most amazing women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, let alone have her as my Grandma. She had a deep love for her family and boasted about how Amazing her's was! I am proud to say I am one of them. She loved making new friends and she carried that friendship all throughout her life. She was dedicated, devoted, loyal and most of all, a hard working Latter Day Saint who loved her Heavenly Father! There is so much to be said about this amazing woman.

I wanted to share some of my memories I have with my sweet Grandma Bea. I don't ever want to forget them!!!
As far back as I can remember, I have had a special bond with Grams. I remember always looking forward to Sundays because that was the day we saw Grandparents. I LOVED my Grandma's house. It was the house that she raised my Dad in and I always thought that was so cool. I remember playing so hard with all the cousins and Grandma being the ring leader of it all. She wanted to see her Grand kids having fun and she would stop at nothing to make it happen. I also believe I had my first sleepover at her house.That was a big deal!!! I loved sleepovers at Grandma Bea's because that meant a LOT of fun things were in store for us. Some of my cousins would be there and Grandma would take us to feed the ducks, take us on walks around her neighborhood with an Ice Cream cup in hand, march around the house to Bea's famous marching song with musical instruments blazing, the McDermott family reunions we would have at the Murray Stake center, and all the many years we spent at  the Redmond campground with the "Stuffers", the Murray 4th of July parade. She orchestrated ALL the games and activities for the Grand kids. Amazing!!! She always went above and beyond when she was planning a party.  Grams had a special friend.... her name was The Shoe Fairy. When we would have sleepovers, all the grand kids would leave one of their shoes at the front or back door. While we were sleeping, the shoe fairy would creep in and leave an incredible amount of goodies. We would be so excited to wake up and find our shoe spilling over with Candy!!! She would always take us to Jobber Odd Lot. It was the most insane nick knack store! We would walk in and my eyes would light up. I had quite the obsession with trinkets when I was younger. Grandma knew that about me and she found so much pleasure watching me get so excited about this store. She would always let us pick out our favorite thing and she would buy it. Grandma's Christmas Eve Eve parties were THE BEST. We are lucky enough to have most of them on video. She always loved performances and would try to have everyone perform a dance or piano piece or a song. One of these parties cracks me up. This is what I remember of it. I think I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade, so I was pretty young. My mom, Rachel, Marni and I sang a Christmas hymn, my Aunt Tracie and Sherri sang a song, my cousin Shylo played the piano, my cousin Blair played the Clarinet, my cousin Toni tap danced, and all my sibling rapped. After that was all done, we barked and meowed Christmas Carols all night. Another thing that I will never forget about Grandma is our trips to Capitol Theater to see the Nutcracker on Christmas Eve. She started to bring all the grand kids when we were all really young (so our parents could get some wrapping done). She made Christmas feel so magical to me. She loved the Ballet and her eyes would light up every time she went. There is this part during the Ballet where a canon goes off and I remember Grandma jumping and screaming when it happened because she had dozed off. I love those sweet little memories.
As I got older, I realized just how much Grandma really did for her children and her grandchildren. She never missed a birthday! She was always there. I am positive she never missed any of her grand kids birthdays. She wanted each and every one of us to know that she loved us so much. Every time we would say I Love You, she would say I Love You MORE! There was no arguing with her on that! She has so many cute quirks. She had this adorable giggle when she thought something was funny. My Dad could always make her laugh. She loves my Dad so much. I love the bond that the two of them shared.
She came to my Miss South Jordan pageant and cheered me on. And when I got married, she absolutely fell in love with Dallas. I remember her telling me that I really got a good one. Then whenever i would see her and Dallas would not be with me, she would ask how my handsome husband was doing. I loved that she loved him.
In the last years of her life, I have very sweet memories with her. I remember making a visit on Christmas Eve 2 years ago and my Dad gave her a red laptop. She was so excited to use it. My dad told her she could use it for Henry and Clara's (her parents) history..... and that he already set her up with a Facebook account. I remember the look of pure confusion on her face. But Grandma was excited to use it because it meant she could stay in touch with the people she loved. Just last Christmas, we made a visit on Christmas Eve and my Dad gave her a nice flat screen tv. She giggled the whole time she was opening it. She wanted them to put it up so that she could see it on her wall. Her giggle was amazing. She loved getting presents but most of all, she LOVED giving them. Seeing the looks on her families faces was pure joy to her. I was able to visit her in the Hospital about a month ago after she had a bad fall. She never liked the Hospital or Rehabilitation Center. She just wanted to be home with family. The last time I saw her while she was coherent was last Thursday. Marni and I took the kids to see her. She was laying in her bed, dozing off a little. She wanted to be awake while we were there but could not keep her eyes open. Before she dozed off, we gave her a nice lotion massage on her hands and arms. I told her that her hands looked so young and she laughed. She also told me that I was so stylish because i was wearing this scarf. She said that she watches the shows and she knows what is in style right now. I think that is so darn cute! It was a precious afternoon spent with her and I am so lucky and grateful i did because shortly after, it was downhill from there.
I loved this woman so much. My heart is so full right now. It gives me comfort to know that I will see her again. It also gives me comfort that she could be watching over me and that she knows how much I LOVE her and how much she meant to me. She is no longer in any pain and that is great.

I love you so much Grandma Bea. You are such a big part of me and who I am. I am grateful to have known you and to call you Grandma. I will miss you so much and pray that in those rough times, you will be looking down on me giving me comfort! You will be missed by so many!
Til We Meet Again!
I Love You MORE!!!

Jan-Feb {2012}

So one thing I need to do better at in the years of 2012 is updating my blog more regularly. I hope I can do that. January and February were not too bad for the Lundquists. So again, I will share pictures of the last two months.

One Saturday, Dall and I were cleaning the house and out Gabe got so tired, he tuckered out on the couch. No blanket either. We knew this little boy must have been exhausted. Cute non the less!

 In January, we spent a LOT of time at the Pediatrician. We found out that Gabe has allergy induced asthma. His asthma also comes on when he gets a cold and he has had a few colds in January and February. Poor little guy! Dallas and Gabe are passing the time in the waiting room at the Dr.'s office.  

 My Best Friend Ali was in town for Christmas and into January so I was able to see her a few times. It was so fun seeing her and her darling little boy Boston. We also indulged in some yummy Frozen Yogurt and Ali's sister Mimi was able to come too. I use to work with both of these ladies and I miss it!

 These next three pictures are all taken at the Pediatricians office. Gabe was having a mini asthma attack so Dr. Bosworth had him hooked up to the nebulizer and we did a breathing treatment in their office. We told him that it was his super hero mask.

 This visit at the Dr.'s was a follow up just a week later. Gabe's Dr wanted to check his lungs and see how his breathing was. The sweet nurse brought in animals and Gabe was just fine for the entire appointment. Now he incorporates the Dr.'s office with the place with then animals.

 This is where Gabe likes to spend most of his time... in the basement shooting Hoops... with us of coarse. It is nice because we go down to exercise and he plays ball. Win Win.

My mom and I went to Kneaders for lunch one day and Gabe and Grandma were looking at some birds perched on a lamp post. I LOVE this picture of the two of them. 

 Marni invited us to Carson's Birthday Party at this awesome Trampoline place in Draper. The name of it slips my mind. Gabe and Avery had a lot of fun in the kiddie area. Gabe loves to jump on tramps so I knew he would be in heaven. I was right.

 We went with some of our good friends to the Herriman Rec Center. It is my favorite place to go in the winter months. Gabe was a little weary of all the big slides, so he just stuck to the little slide and splashed around with his friend Mollie. They had a lot of fun together!!!

 Wherever we go, Gabe HAS to drive in the "vroom vroom cart." Harmons has this one and it is Gabe's favorite. I also like it because Gabe is a saint at the Grocery Store if he drives in his car the whole time. Another Win Win.

 We have been aching for Spring!!!! Gabe longs to be able to push his lawn mower ans I just want it warm so I can do yard work. Crazy? Maybe.. but I welcome yard work if it means Spring is here!!!

 Dall and I celebrated Valentines Day early. The Friday before, we ate dinner at Olive Garden (we had a gift card) and then saw "The Vow." Great Valentines movie. It was a great night spent with my Love!

 This was our sweet set up on Valentines Day. I made a really good Spicy Shrimp Pasta with grilled Asparagus and rolls. Cherry Garcia for Dessert. It was YUMMY!!!

 Funny boy.

 We had a fun Date Night with the Johnsons. Erin and Dan have two boys and a baby girl, Levi, Lucas and Pepyr. Gabe LOVES to play with the boys. The played all night while we played games. It was a fun night!!!

So January and February were good to us. Let's see what March and April will bring.

The rest of our 2011

Where did the month of December go??? I love the Holidays but they always go by too fast. It seems more so that way as I am getting older. We had a great December though. It was full of activities, fun parties with family and friends and a lot of Holiday spirit. So of coarse, this is going to be a post of a lot of pictures and not too much typing.

We had a fantastic and delicious Thanksgiving with my family.  Mom mad a whole bunch of pies. She was quite proud of them. The kids played outside because it was so nice while the adults hounded through the Ads!

Nate and April brought home their babies Abriha and Axum Tariku from Ethiopia. We all went to the airport to welcome them home. They were all very tired from the long flight. We love them so much and are grateful for their safe return.

 My pretty Christmas tree for 2011. I liked how it turned out this year.

We went to The Festival of Trees and boy was it busy!!! After browsing all the isles, we put Gabe in a very large bubble. He loved it. 

 Our ward had a Christmas breakfast that was really nice and Gabe got to meet Santa at the end of it. He wasn't scared of him at all.

 My awesome neighbors decided to have a cookie exchange. We made a lot of cookies and were able to take some of each kind home. Great company and great food.

 Dallas did some Karaoke at his company party... after a LOT of bribing.

 We had our first Blair Ugly Sweater Party this year. We went bowling at Fat Cats, ate great Pizza, made fools of ourselves with our horrible bowling skills (all except for Dall and Tommy), and were in our horrible sweaters. It was a great night!

We were able to go to the Nutcracker at Capital Theater this year. It was great, as always... and me and Allie got a little too crazy at intermission. hehe

We had our Blair Christmas Eve Eve party this year at Marni's. We ate a lot of yummy food and we watched the photo movie that Landon always makes every year. After that, we went over to Nate and Aprils to open presents. It was a fun night.

For Christmas Eve this year, we visited all of Gabe's Great Grandparents. It was so good to see all of them. Then after, we ate at Macaroni Grill and then went back to my parents to open our pajamas, watch Christmas Vacation and get really excited for Santa to come.

Christmas day was so great!!! We opened presents... I got my 2012 Project Life, Dall got a lot of clothes... and Gabe got a Basketball Hoop, among a lot of other toys. We went to church and enjoyed a nice meeting, and then we spent the rest of the day visiting all our family. It was a wonderful Christmas!!!

After Christmas, we went up the Lundquist Family party and ate food, opened presents and played Bingo. Gabe loved his Bingo. We also got to spend some time with some great friends that we haven't seen since the summer!!! And Gabe just played played played with all his toys!

We celebrated Allie's 25th birthday at RedRock. It sure was yummy. Happy Birthday Allie!!!

So we had a great Holiday Season. It sure went by fast but we had a lot of fun and made lots of memories. Here is to 2012!!!