Adoption- the greatest love

Zane and I had a little secret for the past nine months. We knew Dallin's birthmom was pregnant again and wanted to give us this baby. Even though his birthmom had been able to place a baby with us once, we knew this wasn't a sure thing. This new baby is Dallin's half brother and so having a different birth father who is still in the picture made us very apprehensive. We got the call on Tuesday, April 21st that the baby was coming, so the three of us hopped on a plane the next morning and flew to Vegas to pick up this baby boy. Everything did not go as planned though and the birth father did not want to sign the papers no matter how hard Dallin's birthmom tried to convince him. Obviously, this was a hard time for our family. The good part of the experience was showing Dallin to his birthmom.

We went to the hospital to visit Dallin's birthmom, and she was so thrilled to see him. She kept staring at Dallin trying to see what features of his look like hers. She even had to admit that he looks a lot like Zane! Dallin gave her a present, a scrapbook of his first year that I had made. It was the perfect gift.

His birthmom kept saying that she thinks deep down Dallin knows who she is and that she is someone special in his life. I assured her that he did know and that we will continue to tell him all about this wonderful girl who gave him life. We also told her how much we love her.

As Dallin's birthmom was telling us about the struggle she is having with convincing the new baby's birthdad to place with us, I asked her if she was happy with her decision she made to place Dallin in our family. She assured me that she is very happy with her decision and thinks we are the best parents.

These conversations brought me back to the room here in Houston when she placed Dallin into my arms. There was such a special spirit of love in that room. I look at how happy Dallin is in his life with us and how at peace she is with her decision, and it hit me again that this was what adoption is really about. Giving Dallin to us allowed his birth mom to find peace in life while giving Dallin a two parent home with the gospel. I get very angry when I hear that a girl who places her baby in another family for adoption must not love their baby very much. They couldn't be more wrong. Adoption is the greater love. It is placing the baby's needs before your own wants and desires. It is a Christ like love. How lucky we are to be part of this amazing journey.

Proud to be an American

We (Haley and Caleb also joined our family) went to our first "protest" last night as we joined other people at a Tea Party. It felt like more of a rally then a protest. Everyone was very neighborly as we cheered, clapped, and booed along with the speakers. We got there a little late because of all the traffic, but I guess that's good because that meant a lot of people showed up. I got several comments about how I was raising Dallin right. I hope I am raising him right and that he learns the importance of living within his means and working hard in life instead of expecting a free handout. I also hope he understands what a great nation we live in, how lucky we are to have the freedoms we enjoy, our responsibility to protect our nation and those freedoms, and that he should always stand up for what he believes in.

Fighting over who gets the privilege of holding the sign.

Dallin trying to escape. He enjoyed running around and "talking" to all the people and petting their dogs!

It was great to be a part of something that felt so patriotic. There were so many funny signs and just a great spirit as a community joined together expressing their opinions. I have to just add that I love being a Texan and living by so many great people!

Easter

We celebrated Easter Sunday night by inviting my family and the Votava family over for dinner. Dallin participated in his first Easter egg hunt. We practiced in the afternoon picking up the eggs and putting them in his new Easter basket (thank you Carolee for the cute basket), but by night time, he forgot what we practiced. He was more interested in chasing Caleb around and pulling the eggs out of Caleb's basket. Oh, and he was really interested in any planes that flew by. Maybe next year he will get the hang of it. The older kids had fun though.

Dallin is pointing to the airplane. Caleb's finger is in the corner also pointing to it. Way more fun then finding eggs!

My Best Friend

As we walked out of the airport their eyes met. Then everyone around us was able to witness the cutest and loudest reunion of Dallin and Caleb. As soon as they saw each other (Haley, Caleb's mom and my sister, picked us up at the airport) the pointing, squealing, and kicking started as they tried to escape their mommies to get to each other. They were so excited to see each other after five days apart! Haley had put their car seats right next to each other for the trip home, so they could touch hands and laugh, give each other five, and laugh, and just act goofing so that they could laugh some more. I have never seen anything so sweet and funny. (Most of the time our boys fight over the same toy, pull each other's hair, and sometimes hit. Haley and I are constantly reminding them that they are best friends and should be nice to each other. It was so cute to see them loving each other.)

Haley joined us for pizza when we got home and the whole night the boys wrestled and played with each other. It is amazing how creative and funny little one year old boys can be. (Dallin's on the left. Notice he is taller then Caleb now but Caleb is still a lot more steady on his feet compared to Dallin.)

Short and Sweet- The vacation not the blog!

Zane's foster brother, Devan, got married on April 2nd in the Salt Lake Temple to a wonderful girl named McKenzie. We had the opportunity to make a quick trip out to Utah to attend the wedding. That was also the same weekend as Conference, so it made it even more special as we attended one session of conference and then watched the rest with family. Zane was able to go to the Priesthood session with his foster dad and brothers which was also a special treat. Although we didn't get to see everyone we wished to see, we made some great memories and even got to introduce Dallin to even more relatives!

Waiting outside the temple for the bride and groom

Dallin and "Great Grandma" Turner- I think this was love at first sight. If Grandma Turner was around, then Dallin wanted to be held by her.

Also love at first sight. Dallin's first word is doggy. He gets so excited when he sees one. Thanks to spending a weekend babysitting our friend's kids who have two very big dogs, Dallin isn't scared at all when he sees one. On the downside though, he isn't scared to put his hand in their mouths either!

You can see in this picture above Dallin is only wearing socks. We had just got home from the reception and were trying to get Dallin undressed and ready for bed. He was obsessed with Sadie the dog and kept chasing her around the kitchen on this nice hard wood floor. Right after this picture was taken, Dallin tripped and took another nose dive giving himself a bloody nose. What is even worse is that earlier in the day as we were rushing around trying to get ready, Dallin discovered the stairs. Both Zane and I assumed the other was watching Dallin...never assume this! As Zane came in the front door, he saw Dallin sitting with his back facing the stairs. Zane watched in horror as Dallin decided to lean back. He said he felt like it was all in slow motion as he ran to try to catch him. I heard the screaming and came running, but both of us were too late. Dallin took a tumble all the way down the stairs to the basement. Fortunately, these stairs have some very nice and comfortable carpet on them. Dallin cried for a couple of minutes, saw the dog, and was happy again. He didn't even have a bruise. From then on though, you can be sure Zane and I had excellent communication. It was like a volleyball match as we made sure we called out who had him!

Zane and I at the reception- Still in love!

Dallin with Aunt Nikki and his cousin eating again!

Saturday morning conference with my brother and sister who attend BYU- My sister Lindsey just received her mission call to the Minneapolis, Minnesota Spanish speaking mission.

This is only some of Dallin's cousins. Unfortunately, I never can catch each moment on camera. On Zane's side, we have at least 15 nieces and nephews. Six of his siblings live in Utah, so when we all get together, it is one great party!

The best part of the trip for Dallin besides Sadie the dog, was the airport. He just barely started recognizing airplanes at home, so seeing them up close land and take off was really fun for him. Everyone kept telling us how cute Dallin was, that is until we actually got on the airplane. Trying to keep an active yet tired one year old boy sitting nicely on your lap is impossible. The airplane ride felt like a wrestling match. At least on the way home, he finally slept for forty minutes after he screamed for 10 minutes first. On the way to Utah, we weren't so lucky.

We had a great time and can't wait to go back again soon!

A Boy and a Ball

This ball can provide at least 30 minutes of entertainment which for a one year old is fantastic. While Dallin is playing, I'm able to do a bit a gardening. I can't do much yet because Dallin is trying to test the no street rule still.

Pausing to look for airplanes. Dallin can find an airplane or helicopter anywhere!

After awhile the ball gets boring and Dallin will want to help me garden.

Really, not helping. Pull the weeds not the flowers!

And then daddy comes home. Dallin will run up to the car to help daddy drive the car into the garage.