The surprise of my life :)

I cannot believe it has been three months since my last post!  I guess you could say I have been a little busy.  Hunter is now one years old- which I still have a hard time figuring out where the year has gone by.  I will give some highlights of the last three months if I can remember them :)  I will also tell you all about his first birthday in another post.  But right now, I want to tell you about the BIGGEST surprise of my life...

A picture is worth a thousand words right, so here you go...

Yes, that is exactly what you think it is.  I took that test on August 16 and finally passed this time.  I have heard at least a million times that "You will get pregnant after you adopt."  I got so tired of hearing it and just wanted to punch someone in the face (not really, I don't usually punch people :)) Noel and I started trying to start our family in 2007.  In the later part of 2008, I started seeing a fertility specialist.  Lots of hormones and one surgery later, still no baby.  The doctors wanted to proceed with more fertility treatments, but after a year of that, we said no more.  So in August of 2009, we decided to follow our hearts and God's leading and start the adoption process.  I am pretty sure you all know how that turned out :)  Fast forward to this August.  One day, I casually told Noel that I thought I was a couple of days late so I would probably take a pregnancy test that week sometime.  He said okay and we didn't give it much more thought.  I honestly couldn't remember when I should have started because I stopped keeping track of that so long ago.  Also I have been soooooooo...busy with Hunter, work, and my photography that a lot slips my mind these days.  The next morning I got up to get ready for work.  I remembered that we might have some pregnancy tests in the cabinet from several years ago.  So I dug through the cabinet and dusted off the box.  I checked the expiration date and found they were still good for four more months.  I am sure you know what comes next...I saw that two blue lines appeared very quickly and then I though to myself "oh, it's negative, no big deal" and threw it away.  I have seen so many negative tests that I didn't even really think one could ever be positive.  I started getting ready for work when I realized that I didn't know what those two little blue lines meant.  I guess I thought one was supposed to make a plus sign or something.  So I pulled the test out of the trash and got the box.  I took one look and literally said "Holy Cow!" I started at it in disbelief for a minute and then just chuckled and said "well, okay God."  I started getting ready for work because I didn't know what else to do and then realized that I should probably tell Noel.  He was still asleep so I woke him up and asked him to come look at something in the bathroom.  He staggered half awake and I pointed to the counter.  He looked at it and said "well, okay...congratulations."  It was so funny because he was so calm and had the cutest sleepy smile on his face.  So we looked at each other and hugged.  I obviously had a blank stare on my face and he said, "ummmm....shouldn't you call your doctor?'  Yes! That is a good idea.  I was so totally in shock I couldn't even think of what to do next.  So we both called into work, got dressed, and took Hunter to daycare.  Hunter's teachers looked at us so funny because we were obviously not dressed for work and we never drop him off together.  I know I looked like a deer in the headlights. I can only imagine what they thought.

To make a long and frustrating story short,  I called my doctor's office who said that I didn't need to come in because all they would have me do was take a urine test.  I tried to explain my unique situation and that I was told if I ever conceived that I would need supplemental hormones right away.  The blood work they ordered would have taken almost a week to get the results and I knew I couldn't wait that long.  So I called the fertility clinic that I had been to three years ago.  God bless the Fertility Center of San Antonio.  I spoke to a nurse right away who told me to come in and I didn't even need an appointment.  They did blood work to confirm the pregnancy and check my hormone levels.  They also gave me the prescription I needed and called with the results that afternoon.  I am so thankful for them!  I am going to see this doctor through my first trimester and then transfer over to my regular OB/GYN.  I will get an appointment and sonogram every two weeks at first and then we will work on weaning off the hormones.

My due date so far is April 15, 2013 which is three days after my birthday.  How fun is that?!?!  I am currently 9 weeks and 1 day.  I do have a baby bump and have been feeling pretty good.  The fatigue and nausea is just now hitting me, but so far it isn't bad. I can mostly just deal with it.  The fun part is that I get hungry every three hours and get to have lots of snacks.  I can already tell I am going to be a pregnant woman who has cravings.  So far,  Noel has only had to go to Whataburger at 11 PM once.  I won't make that a habit and am trying to eat healthy, but what fun is being pregnant unless you can have a little fun with it, right?

So we feel soooo blessed.  I am still in shock a little bit daily and I look at my growing belly and realize I have to slow down and rest more.  As soon as I realized I was pregnant, I did some quick math and found that Hunter and his little brother or sister will only be 19 months apart.  That is less of a gap than we were planning on, but I don't mind. I will take what God gives me and be happy--maybe VERY tired, but happy.

Here is our little peanut at about 7 1/2 weeks.  I will have another sonogram on Monday.

It was so cool to see the baby, my baby, and see the little flicker that is the heart  beat.  Noel and I decided that at this stage, the baby looks like a gummy bear.

One of the most fun parts of being pregnant so far, was telling people.  Long, long, long ago I imagined what that would be like and how I would share the news.  Now since absolutely NO ONE was expecting this, it made it really fun. Here are some of my favorite reactions:

My Mom:

I called her and asked her if she was ready for her sixth grandchild.  There was a long pause and she finally said "are you pregnant?"  "ya" I replied.  This was followed by another long pause.  Now repeat her question and my reply about three more times.  Then she finally said "Oh my God!" and just started laughing in amazement.

My brother Steven:

I told him that we decided not to have there be too much of an age gap between their twins (which are due 11/3/12) and the next kid in the family so we were gonna have a baby in April.  He was super excited and we talked for a little while.  He finally told me that I inspired him so much that he was going to take a nap, but decided to mow the lawn instead.

My brother Ryan:

I asked him if he thought Natalie and Brody would want another baby cousin.  He asked "from where?"  to which I replied "from me!"  He was happy and congratulated me and then said that he thought I was calling because we were in town.  Telling him I was pregnant was the last thing he thought I would say.

Noel's Mom, Dad, and Sister Jennifer:

Noel's mom loves to get new pictures of Hunter, so we decided to print a picture of the pregnancy test and put it in with a stack of Hunter's pictures.  We were going to see them that weekend anyways so we waited two days to tell them.  As soon as we arrived, Noel told his mom and sister to sit down at the table so they could look at the new pictures of Hunter.  I had the pregnancy test picture as the fourth one in the stack.  I didn't take into account that they would look at each picture SUPER slow and talk about how cute Hunter was.  I thought they would never get to the surprise (maybe it was just my anticipation).  So finally they pulled out the test picture and Jennifer immediately got it and said "No!" in disbelief.  She looked at me and I said "yep!"  Then my mother in law got it too and they were already both up on their feet, jumping up and down, clapping their hands in excitement and crying.  It was so cute.  Noel's Dad was sitting by me and had no idea what was going on until they finally said the word "pregnant" and then he got a huge smile on his face.

Our friends Todd and Candes:

We told Todd, Candes and their two boys that we wanted to take them out to dinner since we felt like we hadn't seem them in a while (it had been like a week).  We sat down at the restaurant I told them that we lied and there was a reason we took them to dinner.  I then told them that we were going to have a baby.  Well, Candes smacked me on the arm and said "shut up!"  "Are you serious??"  And of course I replied "yes."  Now repeat this about 10 times.  Meanwhile Todd just stared at me like a deer in the headlights.  It was priceless and so hilarious!  I think this was my favorite reaction.  

My Co-workers:

So I decided I needed to do something fun to announce it to my co-workers.  I thought long and hard about it and decided to post this picture up outside my office with the following caption below:

The price of adopting our first child ........ $$$$

The going rate for a bale of hay.........$250

A new family photo..........$0

The look on your face when you read this and realize there are four of us in this picture........priceless!

Baby Burns due to arrive April 15th

So, I just posted this on a large piece of paper outside my door so it would be noticeable and just sat back to watch the show.  It was so funny!  Some were confused and thought it meant we were adopting again, but most people got it.  A lot of the ladies cried, which was sweet.

So, this brings me to the end of my tale about the biggest surprise of my life.  We never thought we could conceive, but I am so glad that I have a Lord who is bigger than anything and is still in the business of preforming miracles.  Thank you sweet Jesus!

9 Months

Yes, Hunter is already nine months old...actually he will be 10 months in just a few days.  This little boy is just growing up so fast.  He is crawling all over the place, standing, dancing, clapping, waving, and getting into everything.  Just when we thought out house was baby proof...he finds something new to get into.  Did I mention that he says "mama," "dada," and "bye bye?"  Yes, I know what you are thinking.  We were skeptical too and thought they were just sounds, but he started saying these specific words appropriately and with meaning.  We are not sure what came first mama or dada, but we will call it a tie.

Hunter continues to be the happiest baby around.  He laughs hysterically at almost anything, especially Charlie.  Those two are best buds- well it may be a one-sided relationship.  At least Charlie is still faster than Hunter and can still get away from him when he wants to.  Hunter is a big fan of swimming.  He loves to splash in the water and squeal.  I do think my child is part monster though. If you have been around Hunter for any length of time, then you will know the awesome growling sound he makes SUPER loud.  It just comes out of nowhere sometimes.  Everyone we know thinks it is funny,  but I am not so sure about people at HEB or Wal-Mart yet.

Hunter is into a new stage that if we tell him no, or heaven forbid try to put a diaper or clothes on him, he will throw a fit.  I tell him that he is only nine months old and shouldn't know how to throw himself back and kick and scream.  Where do these kids get this?  He is also starting to get whiny at times.  I find myself telling him "is that what you want to get upset about?"  Or he will cry when I leave the room and I tell him, "you know mommy will never leave you, so don't be sad."  I look at him and can't help but think that these little insignificant things are so important to him that he gets distressed over it, how silly is that?  I feel like God's given me a bit of perspective of how we view things when compared to His bigger picture.  What is big for us is so small for God.  Just like Hunter thinks he will not get fed if he doesn't bang his hands on the high chair tray, we think God will not meet our needs and we worry.  Nothing like having a child to give you some perspective :)

Here are a few pics from this month and my precious baby boy:

 Swim time

One of us is in baby jail, not sure who though

Watch out world! Here I am!

 

 I love to listen and dance while Daddy plays guitar for me

   Hunter's first tractor ride with Papa

 Hunter and his girlfriend Hadley

  I'm so excited!

Hunter's friends: Hadley, Isaac, Hannah,and Luke

Beach Trip

Just last weekend, we had our first family mini vacation to the beach!  It was so much fun; we all just had a blast.  One of my very good friends was getting married in Port Aransas, TX and she wanted me to be her photographer.  This was my first wedding to photograph, so I felt so honored.  It also came as a huge perk that they got married on the beach.  So we decided to take advantage of it and get a cottage for the weekend.

I couldn't believe how much Hunter loved the beach.  He is such a beach baby!  At first he cried of course, because he just didn't know what to think of it, but he soon got over it and realized he had a huge playground of water and sand.

The wedding was beautiful and it was a miracle we all didn't blow away.  It was soooo windy, but I guess that comes with the territory.  I'll post a few pics from the wedding when I am finished with them.  In the meantime, here are a few pics from our trip:

Seven Months

Well, I am a little behind in my blogging.  Hunter is now 8 months old, but I'll just tell you about last month- that is if I can remember it.  We are just as busy as usual.  I did turn 31 years old last month, so maybe my memory is going with age...or maybe it's sleep deprivation...or maybe because I work full time, am a wife and mother, and have a part time business.  At any rate, we had a fun month with our precious boy as usual.  Hunter starting being able to get around really well.  He couldn't crawl forward yet, but can go backwards, in circles, and roll all around the place.

We took another "camping trip" to Dobbin.  We took four other families with us to my parent's place and the guys and little boys camped while the mommies and babies stayed in the house/ cabin.  I don't take Dobbin for granted, but I think it is funny when others consider it a wilderness experience.  All together, there were 9 little boys running around.  Here are a few pictures of my little country baby in Dobbin from that weekend:

Of course Charlie had to photo bomb this one.  Hunter didn't seem to mind though.

And as you can see, Hunter was well over due for another hair cut.  This is his third "big boy" hair cut.  We have done all his cuts at home.  They turn out pretty good considering we are trying to keep an infant still.

This is before...

And during...

And after..

March Maddness

Whew!!  It is the middle of March and that is what I have to say!  This has been such a busy, but good month so far.  Hunter is now 6 months old.  He can sit on his own very well and play with toys for quite a while.  He is getting ready to crawl and has his two bottom teeth.  He continues to be the happiest baby I know.

So you may be asking, "why has March been so busy?"  Let's start from the beginning...

Part 1:  Baby oh baby!
I am so happy to announce that my brother Steven and his wife Kristen are expecting...TWINS!!!  They had been trying to start their family for 5+ years and the Lord was faithful to answer all our prayers.  They found out at the beginning of this month that they will be welcoming two precious babies in October.  Praise God!!

Part 2: Keeping things interesting
I had my first court experience where I had to testify.  As I may have mentioned in previous blog entries my job is to regulate daycare facilities for the State of Texas.  This involved inspecting, investigating, and sometimes closing daycares.  The first week of March, arrived the long awaited court date for a daycare that we decided to revoke their license.  Without going into detail, most of the parties involved went before the judge and testified.  I had been dreading this day for obvious reasons, but was ready to get it over with.  When it was my turn to testify, I was nervous but confident.  When the defense attorney cross examined me, he decided to bring out a totally different persona than I had previously observed in the prior three hours.  He really let me have it and grilled me pretty good.  His questioning technique was to attempt to make me agree with him and to confuse me by asking very compounded questions.  In my opinion, I think he took one look at me and thought I would be a pushover.  His plan backfired and it just ticked me off and made me more confident in my stance.  I have been at my job for four years now, and have only gone to court twice.  This, however was the first time I had to testify.  Needless to say, it was an interesting experience, but one that I wish not to have again for a looooong time!  As I was walking out of the courtroom, I checked my phone and got an even more interesting text message.  But I will get to that in a minute.

Part 3:  A day to remember
The day after I was in court for work, we were going out of town for Noel's sister's wedding.  That morning we packed up the car and headed north to Austin.  The forecast called for rain and a cold front to blow in.  Despite this, we were still hopeful that the outdoor wedding would go on as planned.  The family was excited and busy.  During the rehearsal, the cold front blew in.  We were all standing outside in our cute little dresses when it got very windy and cold!  By the time of the rehearsal dinner, the temperature had dropped at least 20 degrees and it was raining.  The rehearsal dinner was at a very good Mexican restaurant where the food was incredible.  Unfortunately the bride started feeling a little sick to her stomach.  We were all convinced it was just the stress of the wedding getting to her.  The next morning the girls get up and get ready for the bridal luncheon.  The temperature had dropped down to 42 degrees and it was still raining.  Keep in mind, that two days before that, it had been 80 degrees!  Gotta love Texas weather!  The luncheon was wonderful too and we were pampered with girly goodies and great food...but the bride was still feeling very sick.  We were still trying to convince her that it just must be nerves or stress.  We then move on to the wedding site and start to decorate.  Fortunately, there was a plan B in case of bad weather.  The wedding would take place in the same place as the reception area which was a very beautiful covered pavilion with a large fire place.  My fingers were numb as we ran around the site decorating.  I decided to go do some Matron of Honor duties and check on the bride.  This is where I found that things turned from bad to worse for her.  Poor girl was really sick!  We all soon realized that what we thought were nerves was really some kind of stomach flu.  So, I sat with her and tried to provide comfort.  We all helped her move through the day.  My sister in law is such a trooper!  She was determined to make her wedding happen, no matter what and she sure did!  You would never have known by looking at her that she was terribly ill.  The ceremony was shortened to 10 minutes and she missed most of the reception...but she still became a Mrs.  Her new husband was so sweet and loving to her.  I already saw him in action living out the vows he had just promised to her minutes earlier.  At the end of the night, Noel and I went up to hug him and he told us, "everything that could have gone wrong today did, but I am still married."  It was a great reminder of the beautiful commitment of love.  Rain, 42 degree weather, and a bride with the stomach flu cannot stop true love.

Here are a few pictures from the night:

Part 4: Surprise baby!

As I mentioned above, I received a very interesting text message from someone.  Well, that message was from my friend Karen in North Carolina.  She said that they were on their way to San Antonio.  I have written about our good friends Jeff and Karen before.  They are adopting from the same agency we did.  They came to San Antonio and stayed with us in January to meet the birth mom they were matched with.  To make a long story short, that adoption fell through about a month ago.  They were understandably devastated.  Their plan was to come back to San Antonio the week of March 5th for their baby boy.  This plan came crashing down when it was just weeks away.  To all our surprise, they received a call from our agency on March 5th saying they were being considered for another baby who was born that morning.  They got "the call" Wednesday afternoon that the mother had selected them and had already signed her rights away.  They hopped on a plane two hours later and were in San Antonio by 8:30 that night.  We had always told them that they have an open invitation to stay with us when their baby is born and for as long as they needed to until their paperwork was approved to go back home.  We had to go out of town for a few days for the wedding so they stayed in a hotel until we got back.   They came over, luggage and baby in tow just minutes after we got home.  What a joy it was to see them walk in with a precious baby boy who they named Caleb.  We spent the next week with the most wonderful house guests who quickly grew to be some very close friends of ours.  Baby Caleb is so cute and such a calm baby!  He was such a joy to have around.  It was so fun to have a newborn in the house again.  Caleb made Hunter look HUGE!   The guys spent the week working on Noel's jeep and us girls played with the babies.  Of course, I had to work, while Noel was on spring break and he got to stay at home with them.  We had such a blast with them as we cooked a ton of food, took care of our babies, and stayed up way too late talking, laughing, and swapping baby stories.  They received notification that their paperwork was approved on Thursday, so they left Friday morning.  Thursday night we took them to have Texas BBQ.  Little did we know that Thursdays are biker nights at this restaurant.  We had to wait almost an hour to get in the restaurant, but it was worth it.  We stuffed ourselves and had a great time as our last night together.  Of course, I just had to take pictures of this sweet family.  So here are a few of my favorites from the week:

Part 5: A'Hoy Matey!

If you are wondering why Noel looks like a pirate in the past two pictures, there is an explanation.  As mentioned earlier, the guys had been working on Noel's jeep all week.  On Wednesday, Noel had been doing some welding on the jeep.  That night, his eye started hurting so he flushed it with a lot of water.  Early the next morning, he woke up to severe pain in his eye.  So we called the eye doctor's emergency line and they had us come in.  I am sure you can see where this is going.  Noel had a small piece of metal in his eye.  The eye doctor had to pull it out with tweezers, brush out the rust, and buff the cut smooth.  Sounds fun, right?  Poor Noel was tough and handled it well.  I treated him to a breakfast at Chick-Fil-A and then went off to work.  His eye was hurting so bad, that he just needed to keep it covered to help it heal.  Noel is a good sport and decided to go all out and wear a pirate shirt and hat to make his look complete.

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Part 6: Adoption Day!!!

And for the finale....on March 16th we went to court to finalize Hunter's adoption.  "I thought it was already final?" you are thinking.  In Texas, the adoptive parents have to be "supervised" for six months post placement.  So this means that Hunter is "officially official."  His birth certificate will now have our last name.  To keep with the crazy nature of this month, we didn't want to disappoint you all so we made the Adoption day an interesting one.  We had both of our parents and Noel's grandparents meet at our house before so we could caravan.  Well I was the line leader and had to navigate us down town.  Little did I know that downtown San Antonio would be packed with spring breakers and people celebrating St. Patrick's Day.  Many streets were closed off and there was no where to park.  We finally found a parking spot and rushed into the courthouse.  We had to go through the metal detectors and get wanded by the security guards.  Noel's Paw Paw got in trouble for having a pocket knife.  The guards really gave him a hard time.  We were already running super late.  It was 1:28 and we were supposed to be at the hearing at 1:30.  So my Mom, niece, Hunter and I went to find the court room and everyone else was going to catch up.  Our instructions were to meet the Adoption Agency's attorney by the second floor elevators.  Sounds easy enough....Wrong!   We went up to the second floor to not to find anyone that looked like an attorney.  I found a girl working behind a counter who was looking in a mirror fixing her hair.  Without even looking up at me she gave me a non-convincing question of "how can I help you?" I told her that we were looking for adoptions and she directed us to the third floor.  So we went to the third floor. Someone else then directed us to go down to the basement, walk outside to another building, go through the tunnel, get in the elevators, and then go up to the second floor.  How in the world would I have found that???  We got there well after 1:30 but were missing the other half of my family, including Noel.  To make this long story short, they wondered around the courthouse for 20 minutes until we finally got a hold of each other on the phone.  They went back to the beginning at the metal detectors where I ran back there to meet them and bring them back up.  So, we were all a little flustered and were arguing with each other while we ran and trekked back.  

We quickly reviewed the final court paperwork and signed and then went into the court room.  It was 2:00 at this time and fortunately this was a "first come, first serve" basis and we were the only ones present for an adoption.  The judge did not seem to mind at all and seemed happy to see it.  We all approached the bench, swore in, and the attorney asked us about 10 questions to which we both answered "yes" to each one.  The last question was if it was our intent to finalize this adoption today and I said "ABSOLUTELY!"  Everyone laughed and the judge said it would be his pleasure to do so.  He signed the court order and that was it! The judge was very kind and let us take pictures during the ceremony.  He talked to Hunter and even tried to fix him up with his one year old granddaughter!  We thanked him and then waited a few minutes for the attorney to come back with our copy of the adoption decree.  It was great how quickly we forgot about the frustration of 15 minutes earlier.  As we were crossing the street back to our car, a police on a motorcycle came racing down the road.  Noel's grandparents were right in the middle of the road when he just about hit them.  My dad saw him coming and stood in the road pointing backwards to them so he would see.  It was then when we realized that they were still after Paw Paw for bringing in the pocket knife :)

After the finalization, we went by Adoption Angels to say hi, thank them, and turn in our last monthly report (Hallelujah!).  It was great to have them see Hunter so they could "ooh" and "ahh" over him.  We also wanted our parents to meet our Dream Team. 

Later that evening, we met 33 of our closest family and friends at Spaghetti Warehouse to celebrate the end of this 2 1/2 year journey.  It was such a special time to have those around us who have walked hand and hand with us from the beginning.  

So there you have it!  The story of crazy, busy, and wonderful Month.  Whew!  I am tired.  I think I'll go to bed now.