1st Birthday

Dallin turned one on February 19th, but we had his birthday party on the 21st. We were worried that Dallin wouldn't enjoy his party because when he woke up from his nap, he threw up everywhere. You could tell he wasn't feeling well all afternoon, but when the cousins showed up for the party, he started following them around everywhere and showing off his walking skills. He refused to give up paci though. He didn't eat much dinner, but he did enjoy his cake! We just had a family party since my family has enough people to fill up my house plus Carolee and Melissa, Zane's foster and mom and foster sister, flew to Houston to celebrate with us (aren't we spoiled?!) Here is some of the highlights. (By the way, we are still having technical difficulties downloading our videos to our computer so I'm giving you tons of snap shots to really experience it all.)

The cake: I found this cute design on the Internet and it was simple. It was a group effort to frost the cake because Dallin got sick while we were working on it. Carolee, Melissa, Zane and I all worked on part of it.

Hmm, what's all this?

Oh look, something more interesting!

This is a hard one. I need everyone's help.

Forget about the rest of the gifts. Look at this new toy!
Aunt Kari looks like she needs a hug. I better stop opening gifts and go give her one.

Who cares about this shirt. Let me go play with my toys! Sorry Caleb, I think I might have just kicked you. Why don't you help me get away?

No, I don't think I want to wear a hat.

Is this all for me?

This looks and feels interesting.

But it taste good.

I better not waste any of this good stuff and get every last bit off my hand.

More please!

Mmm, now that was delicious! What a great party.

I miss my daddy!

I need to start this post by saying we are very grateful for Zane's job. It is a great place to work and allows me to be a stay at home mom. That being said, busy season is very hard on a family. Today Zane is working his 14th day straight with no days off. He pulls in 80 hours a week and carries a lot of stress on his shoulders. Unlike taxes, his busy season as an auditor will end in the middle of March. Only a few more weeks to go!

Busy season has always been part of our lives and we manage it just fine, but this year it is all different because of Dallin. Dallin sees Zane for about 20 minutes in the morning before Zane leaves for work. During those 20 minutes, Dallin does not want to see me! He is daddy's boy right now. Zane has figured out a way to shave, dress, and get ready for work all while holding Dallin. If he puts Dallin down, there is screaming! He watches Zane leave and waves, or tries to, goodbye to him until he can't see him any more.

Zane comes home at a descent time on the weekend (6:00), and Dallin loves to play and wrestle with him. He can't get enough of him. I always think I'm a fun mom, but there is something special about a boy playing with his dad. He is just more fun! We are counting down the days sweetie when we get you all to ourselves again!

CPA

Since we have been married, Zane and I had two "worries" that seemed to consume our lives--how to get a baby and the CPA test. These two things have nothing in common, but for our household, they were always interrelated. After working for Ernst and Young for a year, Zane started to buckle down and sign up for the first section of the CPA test. There are four sections to this test and all of them very difficult. You have to get a 75 or higher to pass, and after you pass the first section, you have 18 months to pass the other three. Zane knew the pass rate was extremely low. Most people take the test over and over again before they pass.

It is very important in Zane's company to pass the test and yet they work you way too many hours and give you very little study time. Zane would work 10-12 hours (sometimes longer) and have to sit down the rest of the night reading chapters and studying. I would catch him asleep a lot! He struggled with passing the first one, and then got very discouraged. His scores were always between 70-74. I thought he would give up many times. Eventually he would pass one test, and we would relax a little before he started all over again on the next section. Somehow Zane kept pushing through despite the discouragment, stress, and lack of time. Once he got a 74 on a test, paid money to have the test rescored (there's short answer, math, and essay questions so we figured he could get bumped up one more point) and the new score came back as a... 74. The week we got that letter, was the same week our last IVF failed. You can't imagine how depressing that was! We first had a doctor telling us there was no hope that we would have a baby and then the CPA scorers couldn't give him one extra point. This seemed way too much.

And yet, Zane didn't give up. A year later we brought Dallin home and that same week, Zane got the letter saying he had passed his final test. Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways. Zane's journey wasn't over yet though. He found out that the CPA office added a new requirement. Zane needed to take an ethics course (thanks Enron). This really wasn't a big deal, but it was frustrating to be slowed down again. This last winter, he sat through a course on how to be honest and then finished up the requirements with a take home test on ethics.

Well, today Zane found out that he passed the ethics test with a 96 (he wasn't worried about this one) and so as soon as the certificate arives in the mail (and apparently we need to pay more money of course), Zane will officially be a CPA.

So the infertility trial and CPA trial were all part of some eternal plan to make Zane and I stronger and closer, but I can honestly say, I am soooo glad it is over.

And Zane, I'm so proud that you never gave up. You are a great example to our family. Dallin and I are so proud of you!

Baby Frankenstein

Dallin is getting really good at the Frankenstein walk. He can take 4-5 steps before falling, and he is starting to get a little more brave and just letting go to walk a short distance without mommy being there. He will start walking along the couch, then just let go and walk to the other side of our sectional. He has figured out cutting diagonally is faster then walking along the couch. And really, Dallin needs to save time in his day. He has a lot to do.

Here is the Frankenstein walk.

Much cuter then Frankenstein though!

Baby Tag

My sister did this tag and I thought, what the heck, I can do it too.

1- Where were you when you first found out you were pregnant?
At LDS Family Services

2- Who was with you?
Zane, Caseworker, and of course our birth mom!

3- How did you find out that you were pregnant?
Our case worker was sneaky and asked us to come in to update paper work. During our conversation, the door opened and in walked the most amazing person...our birth mom.

4- What was your first reaction to finding out you were pregnant?
Shaking, more shaking, and even more shaking (from both Zane and me) I think our birth mom thought we were stupid because we kept asking the same questions as we got to know her. My brain seemed to stop working and nothing was getting processed.

5- Who was the first person you told?
my mom and dad- they cried, we cried, lots of crying

6-Did you plan to get pregnant?
Well yes, we spent forever filling out the paper work!

7- Did you tell everyone else right away?
The rest of my family and special friends. I can't keep a secret.

8-Was everybody happy for you?
Lots of crying!

9- Did you go out and celebrate?
A little, but we were really scared too that this was too good to be true

10- Did you want to find out the sex?
Yes so that I could start painting!

11- What was the sex?
Boy; Our birth mom took me with her to the ultrasound where she found out the sex and I got to hear his heart beat. More tears...

12-Did anyone throw you a baby shower?
Yes, the biggest one ever! They had a committee and committee meetings to plan my baby shower. (I have wonderful friends!) My two friends made the greatest movie, a DVD of all my family members talking to me about how happy they were for us. More tears.... My coworkers also threw one for me about a month and a half after Dallin was born even though they were doing all this extra work covering for me while I was on maternity leave. Again, great friends.

13- If yes, who?
See above

14- Did you get any outfits at the baby shower that you just knew you weren't going to put on your baby?
No, we used it all (hopefully we can have another boy that will be able to actually wear them down as Dallin grew so quickly).

15- How much weight did you gain?
At my baby shower, everyone told me I looked great for being in my 3rd trimester!

16- Did you lose all of the weight that you gained?
Still working on it! Unfortunately, I have to lose my weight the hard way whereas my sister lost 10 pounds just by breastfeeding!

17- Did you get a lot of stretch marks?
Hmmm, no. What a relief!

18- What did you crave the most?
To be able to look in the future to know if this really was going to happen.

19- Did you crave anything crazy?
An angel coming down from Heaven telling me when and how a baby would come to our family so that I could know ahead of time, plan for it and have some CONTROL. That's not really crazy though right?

20- Who or what got on your nerves the most?
The waiting...really two months was way too long!

21- Were you married at the time you got pregnant?
Yes

22- Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?
My birth mom disappeared for a couple of weeks after Christmas. I would say that is a pretty big complication.

23.- Where were you when you went into labor?
Working, saying goodbye to my students, and then laying on the couch waiting for the phone to ring with any news.

24- Did your water break?
I sure hope not!

25- Who drove you to the hospital?
Zane and I went the next day together.

26- Did you go early or late?
In my opinion it took too long, but really Dallin came right on time.

27- Who was in the room with you when you gave birth?
Well, I was alone on the couch (Zane was still working...Dallin had to be born during busy season!) debating about putting Jane Eyre in to watch (Jane Eyre gets watched whenever I need to see someone who has a really depressing life. It gives me hope because I know my life is never as bad as hers. If Zane sees me watching Jane Eyre then he knows something is wrong!)

28- How long were you in labor for?
The anxiety lasted all day until about 9 at night when I got the call that Dallin was born and was healthy. That is also when our birth mom invited us to the hospital to see him the next day.

29- Did you have any drugs for the pain?
I wish they had drugs for the anxiety!

30-Did you go Natural or have a c-section?
If C stands for celebration, cheerfulness, craziness, confusion or concern then definitely a c-section (of course Dallin is really the only one that has had his stomach cut open).

31- What was your first reaction after giving birth?
When Dallin was placed in my arms by our birth mom after she terminated her rights, my heart was breaking for this girl who we loved so much. I couldn't believe how wonderful, selfless, and awesome she was.

32- How big was the baby(s)?
6 pounds 13 ounces

33- Did your Husband cry?
Like a baby. There wasn't a dry eye in the room, but who wouldn't cry?

34- What did you name the baby(s)?
Dallin Max

35- Does his name have any significant meaning?
We liked the name Dallin because it was a little unusual. Of course we heard the name from Dallin H. Oaks, the apostle and well, he is a great guy, so it must be a good name. Max is Zane's dad's name who is deceased.

36- Did you have any visitors?
Family and friends all came by over the next couple of weeks.

37- Did the baby(s) have any complications?
Not at birth, but he had pyloric stenosis which caused him to throw up a lot. He had surgery when he was a month and a half old. This was our hospital experience.

38- How old is your baby today?
11 months

39- When is the next one(s) coming?
Who knows, but we are working on the papers as we speak.

40- If you could, would you do it all over again?
Of course, although on the day when our birth mom terminated her rights, I told Zane Dallin was our one and only. I could never do this again, but it's like labor. With the passage of time, you seem to forget.