{First} 8 weeks

Wow!! Time is flying so fast!! Not sure where the last 8 weeks have gone, but this post will have lots of pictures, in hopes to catch up. I hoped to have kept this blog more updated but, my arms and heart have been full! :)  We love her more each day!

 

Bringing Ava Home -- some immediate family gets to meet Ava! We were welcomed home with surprises: Mimi, Riley & Cameron had come over and decorated our house and set up the pack-n-play gift from our neighbor!! We had a great time introducing Ava to the family. Later, some friends came by to meet Ava! The following day, more visitors, her first doctor's appointment, and photoshoot with Auntie Juanita. Later that week, Tim's parents came into town to meet Ava, had our Sp Mtg company and first Wedn mtg and first Sp Mtg. 

First Mother's Day -- 2 weeks old. Mimi and Grandpa came over for Mother's Day lunch. 

Also at 2 weeks old, Hannah (HannahSwede Photography) did Ava's newborn shoot!! Love, love, love how the pictures turned out!! We are going to miss Hannah when she moves this summer! 

My (Jaime) grandparents came from Colorado to meet and visit Ava (3 weeks)! This makes their 3rd great-granddaughter! The girls definitely outnumber the boys on this side of the family, but they didn't seem to mind! :) 

At 4 weeks old, we went on our first beach trip! Ava did so well on the car ride, despite the traffic that almost doubled our trip time down to the beach. She loves her car seat, as long as the car is moving, or if she's asleep. :) She loved the beach!! We had great weather, with a nice breeze each day. We also shopped ('til we dropped!) at the outlets and it's pretty clear Ava loves to shop already. :) One night at the beach, Mimi, Grandpa, Cameron, & Riley (yes, all 4 of them!) took care of Ava so we could go on a date. We tried a local restaurant (thanks to a recommendation from some good friends) and decided it's a new favorite! We watched a beautiful sunset and got to see a manatee in the bay! Such a cool experience. (And yes, all we could talk about was Ava!)

ONE month!! Can't believe how much Ava has grown in just one month's time! She's starting to "fill out" and get "fat rolls". :) This purple blanket was made by a co-worker's mom -- very talented!! And it matches the nursery perfectly. 

5 weeks old: Baby showers! Miss Ava is so spoiled!! We got loads of goodies from our friends and family! Thanks to Juanita, Phyllis, Audrey, Lydia, Debbie, & Mimi for all your help in hosting such fun times! And to Miss Karen for the pictures! Such a fun weekend!! Oh, and lil' Miss started sleeping through the night! Yay!!

First Father's Day -- 7 weeks old. Daddy wanted to try out his Big Green Egg, so we had dinner with some friends (ribs- yummy!). 

Grandparents couldn't stay away!! They came back in June to see Miss Ava! Ava at this point had started smiling! So sweet it just melts our hearts!

{First} Mother's Day

 Happy Mother's Day!!

How can I put to words what's in my heart as I celebrate my very first Mother's Day? When I hear "this will be your first Mother's Day!" my heart overflows and I've only been a momma for two short weeks! I'm absolutely in love with my new title, as "momma"!

The purpose of Mother's Day is to remember, honor, and celebrate moms and all their diligent efforts, sacrifices, love, and support they have for their child(ren). However, I want to remember that Mother's Day isn't always a day filled with joy for all women. So, today (and everyday) I also want to remember the moms who have loved and lost, desired but never had or held, and carried but given in adoption.

While tomorrow is Mother's Day, today is actually Birthmother's Day. Since the day we met Ava's birthmother, not a day or hour has gone by that I don't think of her. The minute we met, I knew in my heart that as far as we were concerned, it was a match (the decision ultimately rested in her hands/heart -- we are so glad she chose us!) We totally clicked! We only knew her a couple weeks before Ava was born, but immediately had a connection and loved every minute we got to spend visiting with her. She is sweet and selfless, beautiful and kind, thoughtful and giving. While we have gained so much with her gift of Ava, we are mourning her loss also. This quote sums up my thoughts lately:

Adoption is a beautiful journey and I'm so glad our experience has been all that it has thus far. We will forever remember our birthmother's courage and appreciate the privilege she gave us to be parents. We will also remember her loss, and we have a deeper understanding of "joy and sorrow interwoven- love in all I see"...

Here are some pictures in honor of Mother's Day. Enjoy!

 Mimi & Ava

 Grandma & Ava

Mimi, Ava & I

Introducing Miss Ava Kate!

 Meet our sweet lil' bundle!! 

Ava Kate

Born 4/26/14, 3:29am, 7lbs 11.5oz, 19.3"

Ava modeling Mimi's knitted hat

Meeting our daughter for the first time!

 So in love!!

First Family Picture, Ava just a few hours old

Momma and Ava at the hospital

 Bringing Ava home, 1 day old (HannahSwedePhotography)

Ava with Momma's first quilt

Photo shoot, 2 days old at Juanita's

 First Sunday (Special Mtg) 

 Daddy isn't at ALL in love! ;)

Ava modeling Mimi's knitted hat

Ava, 12 days old

To respect Ava's privacy and the privacy of her sweet birthmother, details of her 'story' will be limited, but please know that we LOVE her birthmom (and family) and are so blessed she chose us to Ava's parents. There's no doubt God's hand was in this match, as it couldn't be more perfect. Thank you for following our journey! Sorry this post is short, but hope to update again soon…just wanted to introduce Miss Ava Kate!! … now, back to the newborn snuggles!! :)

Adoption Puzzle Fundraiser

We created a puzzle as a means of a fundraiser for our adoption. We designed this puzzle using one of our favorite adoption quotes. A great thanks to Subatomic Puzzle Lab for making this puzzle a reality!  This weekend, we, with the help of Jaime's parents, brother, and Riley, put together the puzzle. It was a fun evening, full of laughs. :) Thanks for your continued support; and please know that every donation is greatly appreciated.

Here's how it works:

1. We are "selling" each piece for $20. You can choose to buy 1, 2, 3, or 10! There is no limit. Each donation made in $20 increments will result in a puzzle "piece".

2. To purchase via Paypal, click the "Donate" button that is in the right column of our blog or you can email me (adoptionjt@gmail.com) for our address and send a check in the mail. Another option is to purchase through AdoptTogether, and your donation will be tax-deductible.

3. Once you purchase a piece or pieces, we will write your name on the back of the puzzle piece(s).

4. Once every single piece is "sold", we will hang the puzzle in a double-sided glass frame for our child's room, so they can always look back and be reminded who had a "piece" of bringing them home!


Pictures from the evening:

Adoption Photo Shoot

A super talented friend of ours, Hannah, did some pictures for us! Check out her photography Facebook page here! Enjoy!

We're adopting!!

Yes, yes, it's true!! 

We are in the process of a domestic newborn adoption! We are excited to share this news with you all and hope you will check back often for updates of our progress.

We have always been open to adoption, but after receiving confirmation from several specialists regarding our difficulties to conceive, we feel like the path to adoption was made even clearer to us. Although the path of infertility is not one that is wished on anyone, we feel very blessed to have had doctors and their staff who were, well, simply amazing. We've never met such compassionate, supportive, and honest medical staff. That being said, we feel very much at peace with our decision to adopt and especially grateful for the love and support we've felt from friends and family alike thus far. We know our child will be welcomed with more love and support than imaginable.

What the last few months have been like

To say adoption is a journey, is an understatement. For us, however, it's honestly been super fun and pretty smooth-sailing thus far. We were accepted by our agency on November 4th. Since that time, we've been writing personal biographies (a total of 42 pages!) collecting reference letters from friends and family (thanks again, ya'll!), getting fingerprints, background checks, and 911 call screens run by the State and Federal governments, gathering up prior year tax returns and financial information, creating a profile book, writing a birth mother letter (hardest thing yet!), completing interviews with our agency, getting blood work and necessary medical physicals, completing over 6 hours of adoption education credits and exams, researching everything from adoption fundraisers & grants to baby cribs and strollers, cleaning and organizing our house for a home inspection by our agency, and did I mention gathering up PAPERWORK necessary for the agency?! :) The paperwork seemed endless. 

Where we stand now

The adoption process is full of checklists and mile-markers. It seems that each item "checked" off the list is a huge accomplishment. So, we have completed our application process, contracts, and our home study. (whew!)

And...what's next!

We wait to be "matched" with a birth mom! Our "profile" book has been completed and can be shown to expectant birth mothers who could potentially choose us to be her child's parents! This is normally the longest part of the adoption process, and we've been told we will learn more patience in this part of the experience than most people learn in lifetime. An average time frame to be "matched" with a birth mom is 6 months--2 years. Obviously, some happen much quicker than that, depending on how the birth mother's and our preferences match up.

In the meantime...

We are baby shopping, completing grant applications, and preparing in every way possible to welcome a newborn into our lives!

Again, thank you for your support! Please check back often for updates, as we plan to keep this blog updated with information regarding our adoption journey! For answers to FAQ, see the side bar of our blog.