Ready or Not...

I'm typing this with tears in my eyes and a whole days worth of craziness on my mind, so forgive me if I babble a little and if I don't make perfect sense. But to the important stuff...Rylin Marshall is here! All 8lbs 3oz and 21inches! Not that I'm partial or anything, but he's the cutest baby I've ever seen! Rylin is the name T picked for him, which comes from her middle name Riley, and Jordan and I loved it and decided on Marshall for his middle name. We are excited beyond words, but I want to back up and start from the beginning.

Jordan and I met T and her mom for dinner last night at Chili's as we had planned earlier in the week. We had fun talking about some crazy subjects we hadn't explored previously in the last couple of weeks, and eating lots of onion rings and jalapenos(T insisted so that it might induce labor!) After three hours, we finally parted ways and headed home. For whatever reason, Jordan and I could NOT sleep. Earlier in the week, my co workers had a going away/baby shower for us, and yesterday, the sweet girls from church threw us a shower, so I was sorting baby things and writing thank you cards. We finally hit the sack around 2:30am. Little did we know that we weren't the only ones awake! As we were getting ready for church this morning, our home phone rang, and luckily(since we rarely do), I answered it. It was T's mom telling us that she had been admitted and was already dilated to a 3. Our preparations quickly turned to mass ciaos as we ran around the house doing a mixture of tidying and getting dressed. We made it to the hospital around ten, and the wait began. We were immediately taken back to her room, where we stayed with her through some rough contractions until she could finally get her epidural around lunch time. Some of her friends arrived, so because of the limited amount of visitors, we waited in the L&D waiting room. She slowly progressed throughout the day, and we were able to grab something to eat for a late lunch and return. We got to visit with a lot of her friends in the waiting room, and they really went out of their way to make us feel accepted. Her sister was able to drive up from Austin and be there too. Finally, around 8pm they told us that she was ready to deliver. A few of her friends snuck into the hallway to listen outside the door, and came running to the waiting room to announce that they heard crying! Her mom quickly followed to announce his arrival and after T was given a chance to hold him, they let us come back. I really can't begin to describe what it was like because I was in a bit of a nervous haze. Her mom handed him to me as soon as we came in the room and I couldn't believe how big he really was! He squealed and squirmed, but he was still cute! I handed him to Jordan tightly bundled and then it happened...one tear ran down Jordan's face, and the waterworks began for the rest of the women in the room! He quickly handed him back to me. Poor T was in so much pain, and the nurses and Dr.'s were taking FOREVER to give her anything to help. Rylin was squealing in little bursts at this point, so a nurse came and ushered us into a private room so that Jordan and I could hold and rock him. It was a pretty special time, and I am really grateful that the hospital was so accommodating. After a while, they came to take him to the nursery. We followed them so that we could take pictures, and then we went back to check on T. By this time she was thankfully feeling much better(thank God for Morphine), and we got to chat with her for a while before leaving for the night. We arrived home to a hallway full of gifts, because what I didn't mention, was that my family was planning a baby shower for us today! Though I didn't quite make it home for the party, they continued without me! I think my mom probably had a blast standing in and opening gifts. Then my cousin was kind enough to drop it off at our house before we even got home. I really have the best family!

We are still grinning from ear to ear, and we would love to share all our pictures, but for now we will wait to post on the blog. There is still a lot to happen in the next 48 hours, and we are respecting T in that this is her time with her precious baby boy. Although there is so much joy and hope in the continuing relationship of open adoption, there are still some very real losses for T. Please pray that she can enjoy this time with him and that she would be comforted in the days to come.

Preparedness...yes, its a word.

Jordan and I had a nice weekend of working on some last minute details of the nursery. I managed to find some inexpensive curtains and rod at Target, and we found a great lime green lamp at a mid-century modern estate sale on Saturday. After rewiring and changing the shade to a homemade concoction of cork, I think it turned out pretty cute. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it's actually much lighter than our green walls, and the cork lets little twinkles of light out all over the shade.

Sunday afternoon, while my husband and puppy snoozed through football, I tirelessly sewed away at my had-to-have-it-but-can't-afford-it-so-i'll-make-it mobile. I now completely understand why the original maker charges so much, and I am happy to be finished. It turned out pretty much how I wanted, but just don't look too close!

T and her mom came over for dinner Sunday night and we had a good time talking and getting to know each other better. She liked the nursery and Duke (he was on his best behavior again) and we made plans for Wednesday's Dr. appointment. She told us that she had gone to the hospital on Friday night with contractions, only to be sent home, so hopefully we can find out more of an eta (ha!) at the Dr.'s visit.

We also got to talk to her about names. This has been one of the most frequently asked questions that Jordan and I have received. Do you have a name? Does the birthmother get to pick a name? Do you get to pick the name? Well...to answer a few questions and to keep you guessing: In a typical adoption with our agency, the birthmother is given the option to name the baby at birth and this name is on the original birth certificate. The adoptive parents can choose to keep the name or change the name, and this is put on the second birth certificate given at the time the adoption is finalized (6 mts after placement). Because we are in an open adoption, Jordan and I decided early on that we wanted our baby's name to have both a part of the birthfamily and us, so we picked a few names and tried to remain open (not getting too excited about one in particular) thinking we would decide this with the birthmother. As it turns out, T had picked a name for her baby early in her pregnancy when she was still thinking she would parent. She told us the name at our match meeting, hoping that we might use it as a middle name. So that's where I'll stop. What I will say is that we do have a name, but we are waiting to reveal it until the little guy is here. The good news is, you won't have to wait long!

Welcome to my blog!

So after swearing that I would never have the time or desire to keep a blog...here I am. By now, if we hadn't told you already, you've probably figured out that we're adopting!

My intention for this site is to provide a way for friends and family to keep up with us during our process, to keep me occupied while we're waiting, and to have some real, "in-the-moment" commentary that I can look back on.

So here are a few FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS that we've already answered a couple hundred times (I'm not tired yet!)....

Domestic or International?

Domestic-most likely from Texas

Private or Agency?

After looking at many, many agencies(and their many different policies, fees, and procedures) and talking to friends, acquaintances, praying and stressing, we are happy to be using Buckner Adoption & Maternity services here in Dallas

Gender, Race?

again, after a lot of prayer we have chosen not to specify either of these. We felt like gender wasn't a big deal at all, and after all, if we were having the baby...we wouldn't get to pick! When deciding on what race and ethnicity we were open to, it was a little more complicated. However, we decided that every child deserves a loving home, and we knew that our families could provide that and more. We really feel like our hearts are open to whomever God brings to us.

Age of child?

newborn-most of the children that Buckner places in their Domestic Infant adoption program are matched before birth and the adoptive parents take the baby home from the hospital

Open or closed?

one of the reasons we chose our agency was because of their belief in open adoptions. This was especially important to me, and Jordan has since come fully on board. Jim Gritter, In The Spirit of Open Adoption defines "True Open Adoption" as:


1. Birth family selects the adoptive family

2. The families meet each other face to face

3. They exchange full identifying information

4. They establish a significant ongoing relationship


To a lot of people, open adoption is a scary thing. Most of what we hear in the media are the rare horror stories. Often, a lack of knowledge leads to assuming the worst. The more research I did on the topic, the less anxious I was, and the more positive feedback I found. Our agency has been doing adoptions longer than any agency in Texas, and have seen the effects of open and closed adoptions...and feel so strongly about it, they only offer open. I could go on and on about this one, but maybe I'll save that for another post!


and the big one....


HOW LONG?

our agency has a 6-12 mth average wait after all paperwork, interviews, and home studies are complete.

So hopefully this answers a few of your basic questions. We are an open book so we'd love answer anymore that you might have.


More than anything, we are so excited about this new chapter of our lives. We know that this experience will be unique, and we can't wait to see what tomorrow looks like. (Don't worry...we're not naming the baby Tomorrow)