A birthmom

A friend had an adoption fall through recently. A young teenage girl decided at the last minute to keep her baby. Instead of wondering if some guy likes her or what to wear to a dance, she is having to make some very grown up decisions even though she is just a girl as a result of choices she made nine months earlier. As I thought about this situation, I naturally remembered my birth moms and the amazing women they are. When faced with the same dilemma, they made a different decision, a choice made with more thought about the baby they held and less about themselves.

I can't speak for all birth moms, but I would bet the majority of them at some point in their pregnancy dream of keeping their baby (and I'm sure they think about it even more after the baby is born wondering if there was a way....) They think about how no one could love their baby as much as they do and could anyone raise him better then the baby's own mom? The choice to place a baby for adoption isn't made lightly and it definitely isn't made by someone who doesn't love their baby. The choice is made despite friends and family telling her how beautiful her baby is and even some friends who mention how much "fun" it will be to be a mom. I watched both my birthmoms cuddle with their baby and I admit, with Dallin's birth mom I was scared (being my first time going through it and lacking faith in her which I hope she forgives me for.) I watched her grow more and more attached to Dallin and I worried she wouldn't have the courage and the strength to make the hard choice. Both birth moms have amazed me though. I am amazed by their strength, courage, and most of all, the love they have for their baby to realize that although they loved their baby very much, they could give their baby more by placing him in a family with a mom and a dad, a family ready and able to provide and love this baby too.

I will forever be grateful for two women who made the harder choice, the unselfish choice, the choice made for the love of a baby. I also realize every day the privilege it is to raise these two boys and the gift that was given to Zane and me. It is an awesome responsibility we feel on our shoulders. I hope one day to look these women in the eyes and tell them how hard we tried to be the best parents, that we hope we did right by them, and how much we love them.

Here is a story of a truly amazing birthmom. As you read it, you will see the maturity and strength in this woman. Take the time to read this story. You will be amazed.

A Very Mater 3rd Birthday

Can you see a theme in our family? For Dallin's 2nd birthday, he had a Lightning McQueen birthday. This year's birthday was very different because it wasn't about McQueen but Mater. We are branching out. Incidentally, Dallin's Christmas presents revolved around Mater. For his birthday though it was all about Monster Truck Mater. See, he is branching out. We just invited family over for dinner and cake because when we all get together, it is loud enough. Maybe next year we will have a separate friends party.

Cute picture of the birthday boy with the cutest baby ever!

The weather turned unexpectedly warm over night, so the kids ate outside and then played.

Everyone helping open the presents

If you sing Happy Birthday to Dallin, then he will follow it up with blowing out candles even if you are singing to him on the phone or at a park and no candles are in sight. He has been practicing for this moment!

It was a yummy Mater cake!!!

What I love about Dallin:
His energy level wears me out at times, but most of the time, it means Dallin is such a fun kid. There is never a dull moment with Dallin. I love how excited he is about everything. He is full of personality.
There is also a very sweet side to Dallin. He loves to get hugs and kisses and to give hugs and kisses. I will never get enough of either.
Dallin cracks us up. He can pull me out of a bad mood so fast and keep me laughing.
I love the way Dallin loves Gavin. When we picked Gavin up from the hospital, it had been such a whirl wind for Zane and me and we were still very unsure of everything. At the hospital, we were with Gavin, but really we were focused on his birth family. We hadn't had time to adjust or even think about having a second child. We had Dallin's and Gavin's car seats right next to each other. When we put Gavin in, Dallin immediately reached over and held his hand all the way to the hotel. Gavin was his brother. He never questioned it. They belonged together. Dallin is still Gavin's favorite person. No one can make Gavin laugh harder then Dallin and when Gavin is alone with me in the car, his head is turned towards Dallin's car seat the entire time I'm sure wondering where his big brother is.
Dallin has brought so much joy to our lives. We are so grateful we were chosen to be his parents.

Dallin's favorites:
Disney cars and monster trucks (Toy Story and Buzz are on the list somewhere)
Jumping
Being told stories (all day long he asks me to make up a story about him)

The Mater Cake

These boys sure enjoyed helping decorate the cake. Dallin was very proud to tell everyone that he was going to have a Mater cake. He also kept saying he wanted to eat a piece with the teeth (the teeth were gum). We decorated it Friday night when Zane could be home to help. I'm glad he was there because the plans I had in my head for the construction wouldn't have worked well. His brain can just design and construct things better than mine. It was a group effort on this one. The only thing I would have done different was add more frosting. It was super yummy.

I meant to pipe Tow Mater on the side on Saturday before the party and then hang a sign as the hook in back saying Happy Birthday Dallin, but I totally forgot about it as I was preparing for Dallin's party. Dallin didn't care though.

Happy Birthday Dallin!

Incredible Pizza

Dallin's friend Harry has a birthday this week. His party though was last Friday, the day before Dallin's birthday. Dallin knew he was giving a present to Harry, but besides that, I think he thought it was his party too.

Dallin's favorite things to do were the Go-Karts where we pretended to be Lightning McQueen and bowling. This was Dallin's first time bowling and he enjoyed it immensely. It was really fun to see his excitement when he hit the pins.

Notice the bowling ball going straight down the middle. His form wasn't good, but he had great aim!

I loved this look of excitement as he watches his ball roll down.

Dallin's celebration dance- Everyone knew when Dallin knocked the pins over!
Dallin's final score- 59. Not bad for a 3 year old.

Birthday Week: Date with Grandma

My mom has taken each grandchild to Build a Bear when they turn three for an outing with just Grandma. Dallin got his turn and was so excited! He has been anticipating this date for a couple of weeks now.

Their first stop was to visit the pet store. How Dallin wishes he had a doggie.

Next was their visit to Build a Bear

Six months ago, cousin Caleb picked a panda bear that growls when he went with grandma. My mom tried to convince Dallin to pick something else, but he was set on a panda just like Caleb's. He giggles though and sounds a lot like Gavin. His name is Big Bear (very original!)

Getting the heart

and the stuffing

Warming up the heart and getting ready to put it in

Bath time

Filling out Big Bear's birth certificate

Bringing Big Bear home in his new house

After the thrill of making a bear, Dallin got to go to lunch and then ride the carousal...

more than once! During lunch, Dallin kept trying to leave the table to walk around the food court and try the samples. We have done this once or twice apparently. :)

After the carousal they visited the Tree House for some running around. Dallin even got the privileged of getting a gum ball from the gum ball machine. He came home grinning from ear to ear chewing a huge piece of gum. When I asked him later what his favorite part was he told me it was getting the gum ball. Big Bear though has slept with him every night since then and even made an appearance at preschool. Dallin can't wait for another special date with grandma!!!

Family Portraits

Get ready for tons of pictures! My sister-in-law Kara took these pictures over Christmas break. You can view her photography blog here. Didn't my brother marry well???

Snow Day

Dallin was pretty disappointed when he woke up Friday morning to no snow, but the ice turned out to be fun to play with too.

We put some dinosaurs in the sand table. The cover was left off the day before, so there was a little water in there too. Friday morning, it was ice age all over again as we tried to pull the dinosaurs out of the ice.

It is hard to tell because there wasn't tons of water in the sand table, but most of the dinosaurs' bodies are stuck in the ice.

We checked the dinosaurs on Saturday and they were back to swimming in the water.

The best part of the snow day was having Zane home. He was closeted in the study all day working, but he came out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Because it is busy season, the boys don't see their dad during the week. Zane always comes home after they are asleep and a lot of the times has left before they are awake (meaning he isn't sleeping a lot). He also works on the weekend but comes home at a decent time at night. So, it was a real treat to have Zane working from home.

We would be ok if there were more snow days if it meant Zane would work from home!

When your best friend is a girl...

You play a little differently then you would with a boy. The last two play dates, they have played house together. Ruby just tells Dallin what to do and he goes along with it. When he adds his own "boyness," she gets frustrated because that isn't what he should be doing. But really, if Mater or Buzz aren't part of the activity, then it can't be that much fun right???

Oh, and red bows become very fascinating.

7 Months January 26

I took the pictures on time, but I'm behind in blogging. This little boy is getting cuter and cuter every month if that is possible. At 7 months, Gavin is eating like a champ rice and oatmeal cereal with any stage 2 fruits or vegetables. He isn't picky. He has struggled at times opening his mouth for me (he just gets stubborn and isn't interested in eating a lot of the time...hard to imagine by his size), but by the end of January, he was opening his mouth without a problem. Gavin doesn't like thick foods, so his cereal is still pretty runny and he doesn't eat baby finger foods. The puffs will just stay on his tongue as he tries to push it out or just grab it with his fingers. He can pick up cheerios with his fingers, but he won't eat it. He averages 5 to 6 ounces for three feedings. His fourth feeding he usually drinks 8 ounces which gets him through the night.
Gavin is trying to compete with Dallin in how much he can jump during the day. Like his brother, he loves all things to do with jumping. He sits up well now, but really prefers to be in a toy that allows him to jump.

Two favorite toys

Gavin is showing his stubbornness when it comes to rolling over. He still won't roll from his stomach to his back. He loves rolling over from his back to his stomach and then after a few minutes makes loud noises letting me know he is done now so please roll me back over. It doesn't matter how long I leave him to "work" on it. The loud noises will turn to crying, then screaming, but he stops trying to roll over and just puts his face in the blanket resigned to crying until someone, even if it is Dallin, comes and rolls him over. Dallin loves to use his head (placing it on Gavin's side by his stomach) to roll Gavin around. When Dallin uses this method, Gavin loves it.

Gavin was born with a heart murmur. It isn't something that the doctors are worried about because his hole will most likely close up on its own (my brother who is going into medicine was pretty frustrated with my explanation as I explained Gavin's heart murmur to him without remembering what it is called) and if it doesn't close up, it isn't a big deal. We went to Gavin's heart doctor last week and he was very laid back about the murmur. He could still hear it, but he wasn't worried because of how healthy Gavin looks (and big...he weighed in at 21 pounds). If our pediatrician still hears the murmur when Gavin is 5, then we will go back in to get him check out again. The doctor said that football could still be a Gavin's future so everything is fine.

My baby is growing up way too fast!!!