We Are Home!!!!

That's right, we are home and it is awesome. My family met us at the airport with open arms and a bundle of huge balloons. It was great. I am so surprised by how natural I feel at being a mom. I guess I have been with her for two months now; I just thought it would feel different being home. I love being a mom. It is the best gift Jesus could have given, especially around his own Birthday.

Coming Home!

Nov. 23rd Update

I know, I know, I have been awful at updating the blog. I hope you can forgive me. Liliana is awesome. She is now 4lbs 15.6oz and on her way to 5lbs. The last few weeks have been very busy and I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with Lili. She is eating about 60cc's or 2oz every feeding. Guess what, Liliana gets to get out of the hospital on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, if all goes well. I am going to stay at the hospital overnight tomorrow for a trial run of everything. I am so excited. Everything has been so amazing. When I first got here I couldn't imagine having to stay in Texas for two to three months. Now I am about a week or so away from going home to Wisconsin. I have met such amazing people while here and feel as if I have not only friends but family here in Texas. It is going to be hard to leave but happy as well. So much emotion and so little time. I would like to send out a quick list of people who have had a huge part in our journey. I am grateful to everyone for all your prayers and support. If I don't list you here it is simply because I can't list everyone. There have been a huge number of people who have gotten Dan and I through this. Thanks a bunch. So here is the list: God, Guy and Sue, John and Nina, Brad, Jodi and Kailyn, Staci, Adam and Adrienne, Dan and Cynthia, Sarah G., Martine, Rosalind, Erin, Felicia, Genny, Benton, Kathrine, Mamay, Mette, The YaYa's. Thanks for loving us and supporting us through this all.

Nov. 4th Update

Today was an awesome day for baby and me. We had fun doing kangaroo care like always and then when it came to bottle feeding time Liliana did great. She ate 16cc's out of her 27cc's and I didn't have the nurses helping me today. It felt good to be able to feed my girl by myself and have her do so well. I am finding that I learn new things everyday. She is also growing very well. She is now up to 3lbs 6oz. She is on her way out the hospital as long as she keeps up the great work. I am a proud Mommy for sure.

November 1 Liliana

Here is another great video of Liliana. She has grown so much. She is now 3lbs 3oz and 16in long. This is the way I will be putting the videos on from now on at least until I get back home. Don't worry about the other videos just the ones with Liliana in them. The other videos are of the family I am staying with and they are their videos. I am the happiest mother I could be to have my baby girl doing so well.

Oct 20th Update

Liliana is doing great. She is now 2 lbs 9 oz and 15 inches long. She is gaining about 1 oz a day. They also just increased her calorie intake to 28. She should be 3 lbs in no time. I hope you all enjoy the videos. It has been great to see Lili grow.

Liliana's first movie

Liliana Update

My Mom is now back in Wisconsin and I am staying with another family. Everyone here has been so wonderful. Yesterday was a rough day for mommy. Liliana threw up twice while I was holding her. I wanted to cry. It even came out of her nose with the oxygen on. I was terrified. The nurses reassured me that everything was ok and that the oxygen was leaving a little bit of water inside which is why they think she threw up. Today she was awesome. Her heart rate stayed good and didn't go up and down a lot like yesterday. Ok, I have to tell this funny story. While I was changing her diaper she pooped and it squirted all the way to the other side of the bed. It was hilarious. I guess when you got to go you got to go. Anyway, she is doing really good and she is now at 2lbs 6oz. She is gaining about an oz. a day. She doesn't look that different yet but I am sure she will start looking like she is gaining weight. Today is a good day and I hold on to the good days so I am able to make it through the difficult ones. Thanks for all your prayers.

Update on Liliana

Last night Lili was taken off her oxygen. YEAH!!! She is now two wires down, her iv and oxygen. Now we just have to get her eating from a bottle. They think that will be at about 32 weeks. She is about 29 weeks right now. She was even given a bigger nuk today so she can start getting ready to suck from a bottle. She is a good sucker and it really seems to sooth her. Liliana is growing up so fast. Ha Ha. She is still 2lbs 3oz. We are hoping she will start gaining weight soon. Everyone says she is doing great and it is so exciting to see her getting better day by day. We will keep you updated as best as we can.

It's now Tuesday, October 6th. Mimi is transcribing while I do "Kangaroo Kare" with Lili. We flew into San Antiono on Friday and went directly to the hospital. I was able to hold her immediately for an hour. What a surreal feeling it was.


God blessed us with a family to stay with. Dan and Cynthia Brown are friends of John and Nina (Dan's parents) and they pastor a church here in San Antonio. What a blessing they have been. They have a swimming pool, so I get some exercise every day.

Lili is doing great! Her feedings have increased to 11 cc's - she was at 1 cc when I first saw her. I even think her fingers are getting chubby. So far, we've had more good news than bad news with her health. The nurses have been so helpful.

I'm off to give my first bath to Lili tonight.

We Are Parents!!!!!

Dan and I are parents. That's right, not only have we been matched but our daughter Lilian Paige was born Sept. 28th at 5am. She is 27weeks old and doing as well as can be expected. She is breathing on her own and is aware and active. I hope I am not asking too much when I say that we are in major need. Our biggest needs include finances, transportation while in Texas, hotel stays, food, and prayer. I know that God is going to provide all that we need. Please feel free to call at 608-219-4190. We are so excited to be parents. God is good, All the time. YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am headed to San Antonio on Friday with my mom. I can't wait to see and touch my baby girl.

Moving Forward

We are now done with our homestudy and have been given a situation to be presented for. We have accepted being presented and will know next week whether or not they have accepted. We are very excited. God has been working things out in ways we never expected. With being accepted we are looking to have to pay the full amount upfront next week. We are still in need to make this happen. We are completely confident that God will continue to provide the money needed. We are parents and will do what is needed to bring our child home. Thanks God for everything. Thank you to everyone who has provided financially and prayerfully for us.

WOW!!!

WOW, we are amazed at how fast this is all going. We have been told by everyone we are working with that finding and picking up our child could go as fast as October. It is all in God's hands. We are finding that we are in need of the finances much faster as well. This is all so exciting. If anyone has any ideas about raising the funds please let us know. The amount of adopting is pretty expensive but totally worth it. We are looking to raise about $30,000-$35,000. WOW, I know that is a lot of money but God has the perfect baby our there for us to bring home and love. We would greatly appreciate any advice and assistance we can get. Tell all your friends and if you need a pic of us set to help out we are totally up for it. WOW, this is really happening. Yeah God! If you want to give us a call feel free as well. (608-219-4190)

Adoption Situations

My friend Sarah gave me some great websites to look at to find "Adoption Situations" which are little blurbs about the gender, ethnicity of parents, and when the child is due. I found a few that I am so excited about. I have been making calls to different agencies all day. I am simply waiting now to hear back. I have a lot of questions for the agencies about the "situations". I want to know more about the medical history, where they are located, the price they are expecting for the adoption, as well as how open they expect the adoption to be. One of the little baby girls is due Oct. Dan and I have a desire to have the baby due no later than Dec. God is paving the way and I am excited to meet our baby. This is really happening fast but it is probably better that way so I don't have time to worry to much about the unknowns because the unknowns are getting answered quickly. God is so good and his plan is amazing. Thanks God.

Second Home Study Meeting

We finished our second home study meeting. It was again a great visit. This visit was spent talking with Dan about his family history as well as what we are looking for in a child. We just want a healthy baby. Today we went to look at baby stuff. I got a little overwhelmed with all the stuff we need and how much things cost. I think I found the bedding I wanted at Target. I also went in to get my physical done for the adoption. Everything went well. I am healthy and ready to be a mother. Next week is our last home study meeting and then we will be able to begin looking for our baby. I think it is all sinking in that this could happen very quickly from here on out. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue this process.

Catching Up

Ok, so I need to back up a little and let you all know how this all started. About five years ago I was diagnosed with endometriosis. This is a disease that causes infertility and a lot of pain. I had been getting worse and was missing a lot of work. About two months ago I had a hysterectomy. This decision was a difficult one for my husband and I to make. We had support from our family, friends, and Doctors. I am now pain free and seeing life with new eyes. I feel like I have been given a second chance to live. Before the surgery Dan and I talked about adopting. We knew we wanted to be parents and because I wasn't going to be able to get pregnant we decided to adopt. I didn't really know where to start. I called people at our church and looked at things online. It all seemed so confusing. I finally just made a call to an adoption agency. I called one and they said they didn't have any spots but recommended me to Adoptions of Wisconsin. I made the call and was welcomed with open and loving arms from the beginning. It is a smaller agency and more personal. We are working with Claire, who is awesome. They sent me a packet full of info. for free, and let me get educated before making any decisions. My husband and I met some new friends through my mom who met this couple, Sarah and Keith, at a wedding of the daughter of my parent's friend. Did you get all that? Sarah and Keith are related to the mother of the bride at the wedding. Sarah has been helping me with all of my scary questions and calming my fears. She recommended that after we do our home study we use a referral agency so that we have access to more than one agency. I feel so much better knowing that she went through the referral agency and had great success. Sarah is now walking me through it all. Dan and I are working on the first step of getting the home study completed. Then we can start the process of looking for our beautiful baby. I know God has the perfect baby for us. I can't wait!!!! I am just so excited to share this with others. It makes me feel like this is all really happening. Thanks to all who are supporting us. We love you all.

Completion of Our First Home Study

Well, it was awesome. Our first home study meeting was great. We spent much of the time talking about our marriage and next time it will be more about our past and our family history. From what I could tell our social worker really seemed to like us. I don't think this home study thing is going to be as scary as I thought. We have two more meetings. The next one is next week on Thursday at 1:30 and our last one is the next Thursday around 2:00. The last one is when they come over to the apartment and check things out. I just can't believe that this is happening. I am so excited to be adopting. I am sure all you mothers out there can relate when I say I just can't stop thinking about being a mother and bringing our baby home.

home study meeting #1

Tomorrow is our first home study meeting. We have no idea what to expect but we are very excited that we are finally beginning this awesome journey. I am inviting you now to join us as we go through the adoption process. Here we go!!!