One Happy Family!

Hello everyone! I wanted to write one last post...with some pictures of Peyton! We have settled in and are doing great! So...this is what has been happening in the last few weeks...

 

          Since we have been home, we have been in contact with Peyton's birth mom. We have been sending picture text messages of Peyton almost every other day. She will write back with joy on how Peyton is doing and just how adorable he is! We have also talked with Mom on the phone after each of Peyton's doctor's appointments...which have also been fine. He is one healthy, perfect boy!! He is eating like a piglet though!! He already eats as much as his 3 month older cousin! His feet and hands are the same size as Riley's already, too! I think he will be taking after his birth mom's side...as she is 5'9"! We have all discussed if Peyton is to be gifted enough to play in tbe NBA, then it is only for the Miami Heat, as it's his birth mom's favorite team! :)

Peyton's birth mom had 60 days to decide and sign to release her legal rights, but was so sure of her decision that she made the appointment prior to discharge from the hospital. On Monday, October 22nd, we got the call from Mom's social worker that she had signed, and more importantly, she is doing good with the decision!  After the phone call, I could feel myself relax. I didn't realize how tense I was waiting for that news. I think I was more guarded than I realized! We then moved into a 10 business day waiting period. This is a period that mom has by law to change her mind...so we weren't completely legal yet...kinda felt like one more hump to get over before truly letting go of my guard.

        Then we moved into deer hunting, of which Jerrod is like a little kid at Christmas. He takes advantage of the once a year 'holiday' and hunts all week! Peyton and I spent most of the week in Staples so we could see Jerrod a lot and so Peyton could meet more family! We had a great week...but the 10 day legal risk period was looming over me. Not Jerrod, by the way...he never gave it a second thought! He was able to let it go and rejoice right away. I never had any worries that Mom would change her mind, but I just couldn't let my guard down 100%. So, on Monday, November 5th at 4:30 p.m. the legal risk period ended and Peyton was legally ours!! I still can't hardly believe it! We got a Reeses Blizzard DQ cake to celebrate that said "Peyton, your ours!" It was so nice to celebrate this long awaited gift from God!

          I think now it's setting in a bit more that we are parents to a beautiful baby boy. He is such a blessing and an answer to many, many prayers. Wow!! We have also been blessed with many friends and family that have come to visit Peyton. And there have been baby showers to help us with the many things we did not have. I am in awe and overwhelmed by everyone's generosity and love. It has brought tears to my eyes on many occasions. So much to celebrate. So much worry to let go of, as God has provided everything and more! Thank you to everyone for your many prayers and to those that have had a hand in helping Peyton with more than we can imagine!

A Beautiful Story...

Hello everyone! The last I wrote, I left you all to be continued with our birth mom dilated at 4cm....are you ready for the ending of the most beautiful story??

     After our phone call from the birth mom that she was dilated to 4cm. . . . I got off the phone and spent a few minutes just staring at Jerrod in shock. . . . then I hyperventilated a little thinking "Is this really happening. . . and now???" Then a made a few phone calls trying to spread the word as we were not planning on returning home until our baby boy was with us! I was still in shock that we were having a boy! Can you believe it. . . A Boy!! And now it could happen anytime! Eeeekkk!!
    So when we got to Staples we met up with a lot of our family. We were going to reveal whether it was a boy or girl. . . pre-planned reveal. So everyone was buzzing with their guesses, but little did they all know that we were having this baby SOON!! So it was a pretty awesome experience to tell all of our loved ones what was going on! Their faces were priceless! There are many things that I may never experience with pregnancy, but having this moment with family around us, it meant more than the world to us. There are so many beautiful moments in adoption that are not in pregnancy! Like having a celebratory drink with everyone!! Can't do that when you're pregnant!!  HeHeHe! :)
    Of course, with all the family buzzing with the news of it's a boy AND she's dilated to 4cm. . . . the excitement came with everyone telling me it's going to happen tonight. Although those were already my thoughts, the added nervousness and shock from family made it even more surreal and, frankly, harder not to hyperventilate! But we knew our mom would call us when anything happened...as we were going to be the only people in the delivery room with her! Yep...pretty amazing! We knew that we would be able to experience everything with our baby boy as he entered this world. We were going to be right there, first faces he saw and voices he heard!
     When we got home, we were exhausted. . . after being up since 4 a.m. and then the emotions running around in us from all this news! I thought. . ."I am going to sleep good tonight, I will have my phone next to me and she will call." O.k.  Not really how it went. . . I started with my phone on the floor next to the bed (no nightstand) and then couldn't rest thinking I may not hear it. And yes, the volume was all the way up; I checked 3 times! So then the phone ended up under my pillow - the whole night! As I tried to fall asleep, I have everyone's voices in my head from earlier saying "You better get down there or your going to miss it!" or "It's going to happen tonight. . . no way she will make it through the night!" And, yes, as you can guess. . .no phone call. Jerrod slept great. . .snored even! And I checked the phone from under my pillow every hour starting at 3 a.m.
     The next few nights were the same. . .no phone calls, but the sleeping did get better! We did text our birth mom everyday to see how she was doing. She was getting anxious knowing that if she didn't go into labor on her own, they were going to induce her on Tuesday morning.
     Monday night (October 15th) we were on our way back to St. Cloud to spend the night with Jerrod's mom and Dennis. We set the alarm for 5:00 a.m. so we could meet our mom when she got admitted at 6 a.m. Early morning!!! And I actually slept good that night!! So, of course we would get lost in the hospital! Thankfully we found someone that led us to the right spot! We got to our room and the nurses got Mom all admitted. We had a lot of time to sit and visit with mom. The Dr. came around 9:30 am and then things moved quick. . .epidural by 11:30. . .and beautiful baby boy by 1:31 pm!!
   I was mom's labor coach, of which I didn't do a whole lot because she was amazing! She pushed 3 times and baby was here! I was able to cut his cord when he entered the world! It was truly the most unbelieveable, beautiful, amazing moment in my life! We named him Peyton William Busker. William after Jerrod's dad. Our birth mom also had a part in naming him. We couldn't choose between William and Edward (after my grandpa) and Mom thought William sounded best, also that Edward reminded her of the Twilight series! :) Too funny! I hadn't thought of that, but now I do! And the cool thing about his name now is that his birth mom had a part in naming him! That means a lot to us!
    Baby Peyton was super healthy! He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz and 19 1/2 in long. Big Boy!! We got to hold him and feed him right away! We took pictures with us and with mom. We all had tears in our eyes; Peyton is so incredibly loved by all of us. . .and all of you!
    The hospital gave us our own room and we spent 1 night in the hospital. Most of our time that evening and the next day was spent together with Mom. We really enjoyed that time with her and we are so excited about the realtionship we have already with Mom. We have an open adoption and we have many plans to see her often! She is such a strong, loving, and giving person. She has given us her baby to love, support, and encourage. And we will do just that. . .and more! We are so blessed! The relationship is more perfect than I can even imagine!
    We came home Wednesday night. It felt so good to be home, but a little surreal to be home with Peyton! We have had pretty good nights with him. He is such a good baby! The next step is for Mom to sign legal documents giving up her rights as a parent. I can not imagine how hard that will be. They have 60 days to do so, however, Mom is planning to do that soon. After she signs, there is a 10 business day waiting period in which she can change her mind. Please pray for all of us during this time as it is very emotional.
     I will, as always, keep everyone updated. We are choosing not to post pictures of Peyton until everything is legal. We will wait for the 10 day waiting period to be over. Thank you again for all your support and prayers, this is truly a miracle from God!

Hang on...here we go!!

Again...we have been quiet for a reason, although the reason didn't come until a week ago!! Hang on, because we are in for a crazy ride.....

    On Tuesday, Oct 2nd at 9:30 p.m. we got a phone call from an unknown number on our landline. We just let it go to our voicemail...and then we heard our social worker start talking...and it was a mad dash to the phone!! She had great news...there was a mom that wanted to meet us! In the conversation, Vicki (SW) had mentioned that this birthmom had written us an email on our adoption email...but since that has been quiet for a year, I hadn't checked it! So...first thing I did was go to my email and send her a reply letting her know that we were excited to meet her on the coming Fri...to think that if mom hadn't stayed vigilant with us, we would have missed an opportunity of a lifetime! Mom had been looking at LSS's online profiles and found us...emailed us Saturday morning, and when she didn't hear back...she took it upon herself to go into LSS and find us...and to get the process going....because she is due in 3 weeks!!! Yep...that's right, 3 weeks! I wonder if you are feeling the goose bumps or the shock that we did when we first heard!!!
      So we had 3 days to roll this timeline around in our heads...let me tell you that we did not get much sleep those days! On Thursday (prior to meeting mom) we went to St. Cloud to stay with Jerrod's mom and Dennis. We were nervous about meeting mom...we were the only family she had picked to meet! But after getting to LSS and the meeting began with mom and her social worker, it felt so comfortable. Jerrod and I both felt it was right...we have found our perfect match!! Now...we could only hope that she felt the same way..... After we all met together and visited about how we grew up, our families together, her life in a nut shell...LSS separates you so that you have a moment to talk or think about it. So Jerrod and I looked at each other...and we both said at the same time "This is it!" The SW checked in with us to see where we were at first...then she left to check with mom...we sat in suspense wondering if mom would walk through that door again...and she did!! I truly can't tell you how relieved I was to see mom come through that door...and then she asked us to be the parents of her baby. Wow...  Yep...it's really happening!!!
     We did communicate a little through texting with mom during the week...she had updated us on her appt with the doctor, and said all looked good.  She said that baby was head-down and that she wasn't dilated yet....phew...thank goodness...hoping to get all the time we can so we can get ready! Jerrod and I had nothing...no crib, pack-n-play, bassinet, diapers, and all other essentials. And to tell you the truth...I never really worried about any of that. Of course, that's the first thing people asked us when we shared what was going on...but I had such a peace about it all! We focused on our projects around the house...spreading rock, painting our bedroom, etc. And let me tell you...I knew my peace was coming from God because everytime I turned around...someone was offering something we needed before we even knew we needed it. A HUGE thank you to all of you that helped us get ready for this baby!
    Before we know it, it's Friday 5 am and we are on our way to meet mom and sign some papers! These papers are non-legal papers that discuss how we see the delivery going and what the relationship will be like after baby is born. It was a big meeting. So many questions and scenarios to talk about. I am so thankful for that time though...it really allowed all of us to be open and honest so that we all knew what was expected. Mom had invited us to go to her ultrasound later that day...so we ran some errands and waited anxiously for 3:30 pm.....however, even though we now know the sex of our baby, there are family and friends that don't....so before I pause the story here, I just want to give you one last update...as of Friday at 4:30 pm, mom is dilated to 4 and we are just waiting for the phone call that she is in active labor...........................................................

    To be continued.....soon.....

Hello everyone!! Boy, has summer flown by!! I apologize for neglecting my blog for so long. We have purposefully been quiet on the blog because we had some activity that we felt we needed to keep amongst ourselves and our family until we saw where it all led. We met a birth family (mom and dad) 2 weeks after we got into the book!!! It was exciting...and shocking...that we were chosen to meet a family so soon after getting in! It really felt good to get picked so fast. It said a lot about our profile and how it portrayed us. We met the birth parents in St. Cloud and saying that we were nervous was an understatement!! Mom and dad were no longer together and had over 7 meetings with the counselors about the choice of adoption. We were the only family they were meeting....talk about pressure! When we got to St. Cloud, we met with their social worker (SW) first and she gave us the low-down on how these meetings went. It was relieving to meet with her first. We also had a background history on both parents prior to meeting so we knew what we wanted to ask and what concerns we had. Mom (21y) and dad (22y) were no longer together and pretty healthy, so there wasn't too many concerns.  Mom was due in November...so we had time to possibly wrap our minds around this!

When mom and dad came in, we all stumbled on what to do and what to say. Jerrod and I were suppose to start talking about ourselves and our story first...Jerrod couldn't stop talking and I think I summed my life up in 5 sentences....how very opposite for us!!! But after the first 30 seconds, conversations were flowing! It really felt right...that they were the ones. After our meeting, there was some time to talk things over alone. They decided to meet another family...which we totally supported. We felt that they should be sure about their choice, which would only make it easier on us if they chose us. We had a wait due to July 4th...then they wanted time to think about the 2 families they met. About 4 weeks after our first meeting, our SW told us that mom was having second thoughts about adoption. But, IF she chose adoption, they had chose us.  So another waiting game as mom wavered on the biggest decision of her life. After another 2 weeks or so, mom decided to keep the baby.  There were a mixture of feelings for us...mostly we were grateful that the birth parents were honest in the way they were feeling and didn't drag us along until November, only to switch their minds then. We also felt that they were both pretty mature and would do just fine parenting this baby.

All in all, things happen as they are suppose to. We take away a few positives from the experience. We both were so nervous for the meeting...right down to what to wear...and now I think we will be more at ease having already been through a meeting. We also had such positive feedback from the SW at how well we did in the meeting. It helped us to know what questions we wanted to ask and what questions the birth parents may be asking us. It also made us feel like when it happens and works out in the end, what a blessing it truly is! Adoption is the greatest gift of love that there is!!

We thank you for all of your continued support and prayers. We are staying positive and patient! God has something really special in store for us!!

Time flies....

Can you believe that we are towards the end of July already?! Wow!! Time sure does fly! We have had some very exciting news on my brother's behalf....baby Riley Scott Odden was born to Josh and Inga on July 20th at 12:05. He weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 20 inches long! A healthy baby boy!! He has already blessed our family with so much joy! I am so proud of my brother and Inga! They are going to be AMAZING parents!! Congrats!!

On the adoption front...we are in the book and patiently waiting to be matched. We continue to hear stories from friends/family on possibilities. There are still adoption cards being handed out to these potentials...so we will continue to keep our fingers crossed and leave it all in God's hands! We are so blessed with such good fortune already...our relationship and health, immediate family, and awesome friends! We continue to feel so much support from everyone and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for keeping us in your prayers and lifting us up when we are down! This journey is going to bring us amazing things...we wait in anticipation!!

We're in the book!!

We have finally made it into the book!! My heart was pounding last Thursday when I checked the email & saw that we were being invited into the book! Seems as though this has taken forever, but it has actually gone quick in some respects. This was the big marker to reach for us, and now that we are here, I'm kind of shell shocked & excited at the same time! I was teasing my brother, Josh, that we could actually have a child before him! Inga & Josh are due July 27th...it is so exciting that my soon-to-be nephew will hopefully grow up with a cousin that's the same age! Now that we are invited into the book, we are also invited to have online profiles. This is something that we could not get into until we made the book! This is just another avenue that LSS offers to help with attaching families! Now, we wait for a phone call. The phone call can be news that we are 1 of 3 families that a mom wants to meet to a mom has picked us. Situations can vary so much too...can be a mom that is 4 months along to a mom who's baby is already 6 months old! It can all happen so quick too...only the Big Man above knows what He has planned for us!

LSS facebook feature!!

Hello!  I hope everyone had a good weekend.  Wanted to let everyone know we are officialy number 2 on the list to enter the profile.   It sure feels like things have started to move alot quicker for us on the adoption front.  Hopefully it continues on that path.  This wednesday LSS is featuring us on their facebook page at noon!  If  you get a chance,  check it out and "like" and/or "share" our profile to help us spread the word!  Have a good night!

Jerrod