Baby Shower

Last friday, the sisters in the ward threw my a baby shower. It was so fun. I was nervous that it might feel weird because I am not pg, but it didn't at all. Some of the sisters teased me, telling me I looked so good for expecting twins in a couple of weeks. They planned my favorite meal with a little help from Mike, it is Hot Cha Cha. They also tied some quilts and we mostly just visited together. There was no games planned, which was so nice, nothing silly to embarrass me, LOL. Candice, who took charge of the whole thing had contacted my family and Mike's family to see if they wanted to send anything for it. Mike's family sent a DVD of the family after they found out about the adoption, and some of them said things into the camera, like congrats and offered us some advice. My family sent some gifts. The rest of the time was spent opening gifts and we got a lot of stuff. We have so many cute clothes now, and we even got some really cute preemie outfits. I have had fun over the weekend going through them. One sister gave us a picture frame, that had a spot for two pictures and it had a poem with it. I read the poem a loud to everyone and it made me cry. It was such a good poem and it also had a spot behind the frame to put a letter you write to your child when they are just a baby, and keep it there for them to read later at a future time in their life. It was a very sweet gift. I had such a fun time. Here is the poem that made me cry.

The Chosen Heart

Longing for a child to love,

I'd wish upon the stars above.

In my heart I always knew,

A part of me was meant for you.

I think how happy we will be,

Once I adopt you, and you adopt me.

I dream of all the joy you'll bring,

Imagining even the littlest things.

The way it will feel to hold you tight,

And tuck you in every night.

The drawings on the refrigerator door,

And childhood toys across the floor.

The favorite stories read again and again,

And hours of games with make-believe friends.

The day you took my outstretched hand,

A journey ended, but our lives began.

Still mesmerized by your sweet face,

Still warmed inside by our first embrace.

I promised to give you a happy home,

And a loving family all your own.

A house you've now made complete,

With laughter, smiles and tiny feet.

A parent is one who guides the way,

Know I will be there everyday.

Rest easy as each night you sleep,

A lifetime of love is ours to keep.

Longing for a child to love,

I'd wish upon the stars above.

In my heart I always knew,

A part of me belonged to you.

Got a call from our angel's SW

Today I received a call from our angel's SW. She told me our angel's name, but I will probably still refer to her as our angel, or "T", since this is posted online and I want to respect her privacy. It was nice to finally have a name to call her. Anyway, T went into labor, but they were able to stop it. She is in the hospital now and is expected to be discharged on Sunday. Our son is measuring 4lb 5oz and our daughter is measuring 3lb and an undertermined amount of oz (she was not cooperating to be measured). Although we would like them to stay put a little longer, this is wonderful news, because it means that if they are born today or really soon, they should be fine. The SW also gave us a few more details about T which is helpful in terms of trying to find a gift for her. It is hard to think of something to give her that will compare to what she is giving to us, but I hope we can find something that will show her how grateful we are to her, and how much we admire her, for her choice.

Tomorrow the sisters in the ward have planned a shower for me. I was a little nervous about it, since we don't have the babies in our arms yet, but now after talking to our angel's worker, I am really excited. I am still hoping and praying that everything goes as planned, but everything just feels so right, it is hard for me to think that it won't happen. It is amazing to think that I could be a mom so soon. It is something that I have been waiting for a long time to be, and yet I feel so inadequate to be a mom. I feel like I won't know what I am doing, but at the same time I can't wait for it to finally happen.

We bought a crib

So last night, Mike and I went shopping. We bought a crib and a pack 'n play. We also picked up a crib sheet and a couple of blankets. We looked at carseats while we were out, but they did not have a good selection. We will have to find some time to drive to Tupelo or Jackson to find something better. Mike put the crib up last night, and it looks ready to have a couple of babies in it, so exciting. We bought the pack 'n play to take with us to Atlanta. There is a good chance that the babies will have to be in the hospital while we have to be there, but if there is a chance we can take them home, but still need to stay in GA, we will have them sleep in the pack 'n play or their carseats, depending what works best for them. It is so fun to think of all this.

We have a lot of support from everyone around us. So many people have offered to give us things, like diapers, formula, clothes, that their little ones didn't use or grew out of. I am sure before we know it our house will be full of baby stuff. The ward is throwing me a shower next week. In a way if still feels weird to have a shower, but I am excited for it too. Many people that adopt don't have a shower until after the baby comes, but everything just feels so right, and it would be nice to have more things before the babies get here, so we feel more prepared.

We found out a few more details this week. I am going to refer to the birthmother as "our angel" from now on as I want to call her something different than the birthmother and we do not know her name. Our angel is currently seeing her dr. on a weekly basis, where they are doing u/s each time to make sure the babies are continuing to grow well. She told her worker that she would save the u/s pics for us, which I think is so sweet of her. The dr. will not take the babies before 34 weeks, which would be about 3 weeks from now, but it appears he would like her to go longer than that. She is understandably getting more uncomfortable and would like the babies to come as early as possible. So still not sure when it will actually happen. We were told that we could be at the hospital when they are born but we are not sure on the exact details. I hope that means we can see the babies right after they are born.

Things are starting to feel real, and I am so excited for all that will take place in the next month and beyond. I walked by the crib this morning (it is in our room) and I just wanted to cry, I am so happy. Mike thinks I am weird, but I don't care. It is finally happening for us, and we are truly blessed.

She picked us!!!!!

I am still in shock. We are expecting twins in 4 weeks. I came home for lunch today, to find a message on the phone from Brother Watson. He just asked us to call back and that he had some questions for us. I called him back and he asked a few questions, and then he said, "ok, you have 4 weeks, because she picked you". He totally caught me off guard, and I repeated what he said, to make sure I heard him right. When I was for sure of what he said, I could no longer speak, because I was crying. I choked out that I was going to give the phone to Mike, since I could not talk. I handed the phone to Mike, and I sat down and cried and cried, I just could not believe it was actually happening. Even now as I remember I am starting to cry again. I can only imagine what it will be like when I have those babies in my arms. So all afternoon, I have been grinning from ear to ear, or close to tears, I am just so happy.

As I drove home from work today, it was pouring rain outside. The kind of rain that makes you nervous to drive in, because you can hardly see in front of you. The only thing that I could think of when I was driving through the rain, is about the day I will tell my children about this day when I found out they were going to be my children. And how it poured outside, but I was so happy inside and how I didn't mind being in the rain that day, because I was so happy they were going to be apart of our family. I will tell them how I prayed for them for many years to come to our family, and today was the day I knew that my prayers had been answered.

So today, I told my boss and I looked into dropping all my classes for this semester, and we are going to have twins in about 4 weeks. That just sounds so crazy still. I know there are so many things to do still. I don't know if it is possible that we will be completly ready by then, but we will have a lot of help from friends and family. We are so blessed.

Brother Watson told us when the bm saw our profile for the first time, she said that we were a perfect match. I am just so thrilled. I am going to be a mom.