Christmas morning

Kayla just looked too adorable in her new accessories!

Merry Christmas!

'Look at Blakey, he is so cute'

Lana just came out with this and begged to hold him.  I am taking advantage of the moment to put a few Blake pictures up.

Thankfulness

I have been feeling grateful to the Lord for so much this holiday season, I thought I would put down a few of the things I truly appreciated this last week.

Here is what I am thankful for -

1) That whichever child dropped my toothbrush in the toilet had the good sense to place it behind the toilet (for Gary to find), rather than putting it back on the counter.  THANK YOU!!

2) That my children are so very honest 'Mommy, I hit my sister with the toy on purpose', wow, that makes my life easy!

3) That one of my children always has a calm approach to disaster that causes them to run screaming in my room (while Blake is sound asleep and I am in the bathroom) to let me know that there is a tiny bug downstairs.

4) That doctor visits are always such a pleasant outing. The fact that three of my children have the opportunity to peacefully share two chairs in a small room.  That while I am talking with the doctor about Blake's health the other three can yell and pretend that monsters are hiding underneath their seats.

5) That my eldest son is so wise and practical.  Last week while watching Gary work on the car for a while Bryant decided to give him some helpful advice.  'Daddy, I have been thinking, you should just buy a new car'.

6) That our home is filled with laughter and joy! That I have four children who love to snuggle and delight in all the colors, lights, stories that this season brings. That God has so abundantly blessed us!

Lana's birthday

We had a family celebration the night before Lana's 4th birthday.  Strawberry cup cakes with strawberry icing, yum! 

That girl is such a natural! 

Christmas dresses

Our beautiful baby

He is such a sweet little package, I am so in love! 

Giving Thanks

On Wednesday I took Blake to see the Hematologist.  We were actually admitted to a children's hospital to have this appointment which took me a little by surprise.  Apparently, Blake has abnormalities in his blood and that is part of why the doctor in Utah was concerned.  The Hematologist confirmed the abnormalities after taking blood from Blake and looking at it under a microscope.  They needed a lot of blood, for other tests, so they took it from a vein instead of from the foot.  This was rather traumatic for both Blake and I.  Once that was done, Lana needed to go to the bathroom so I found the restroom and we waited for our turn to use it.  As we stood outside the bathroom I started talking with a father I had seen earlier, who had a baby the same age as Blake.  He was sympathising with me about Blake having blood drawn when I asked him where his baby girl was.  It was then that he told me that she was in a room down the hall getting her chemo treatment.  I was shocked to think of such a tiny baby needing chemo and what this poor father must be experiencing.  At that moment the bathroom door opened and out came a little girl about Bryant's age.  The girl was bald, had a stint in her chest, and was attached to an IV.  She smiled as she passed and tried to give Lana high five.  I had us quickly use the bathroom and head back to our room, feeling the urge to leave a place with so much sorrow.  The doctor came in a few minutes later and explained that he believed Blake's blood issues would be very minor and would very possibly completely resolve in another month (he said this is not uncommon in African American children).  The doctor also said that if Blake has G6PD, it should not interfere with his living a normal life.  He described it as a very minor blood disorder.  Shortly after this we were able to leave the hospital and head home.  I fought tears as I drove thinking of the wonderful holiday season ahead for us with our four healthy children and the anguish and pain of the families we were leaving at the hospital.  Those families were not worrying about whether their turkey would be fully defrosted in time or whether the pies would be made.  Those families were just trying to make the most of the days they still had with their children.  Tears come to my eyes as I write and I am reminded of just how incredibly God has blessed our family.  It is with a very grateful heart that I can say 'thank you Lord for our beautiful, healthy children'!

Quick medical update

Tomorrow I will be taking Blake to see the hemetologist to have further testing done.  After doing more research on the G6PD it sounds like we would have another child with huge eating restictions but with possibly more serious side effects if there were ever slip ups.  Also a number of common medications would be dangerous for him as well.  We do not know for sure that Blake will have any serious or long term issues at this point.  The doctor should be able to tell us more during the appointment tomorrow.

The kids love their little brother!

Little Blake

Early this morning as I was feeding Blake I was overwhelmed with God's precious gift to us!  Blake is such a blessing to our whole family!  God gave us what I would call an 'easy' baby.  Blake has started to string together 3 hour sleep stretches at night and he is an amazing eater.  The kids can sit and hold him and he appears to love any and all the affection he recieves.  We love our little teddy bear and praise God for such a sweet gift! 

(Kristen, thank you for the adorable snuggle outfit!)

Home

What a joy to have our family all together again!  Today we have been rushing around cleaning and unpacking. 

Picking up with our adoption adventure, Gary drove home last Friday to be with the girls since we had no idea when we would be allowed to bring Blake home.  On Monday I talked with our social worker in CO and she said she thought the paper work would be processed Tuesday or Wednesday and then we could go home.  Based on that information Gary drove back to Utah with the girls on Tuesday.  We stayed the night with our friends and then left for the border of Utah and Colorado.  Our plan was to stay in a hotel if the paperwork did not go through.  We drove for a several hours and it was mid afternoon when we realized we had to make a decision about whether to book a hotel.  I called our social worker in Utah one last time and they got the word (while I was on the phone with them) that we could go home.  God has been so gracious to us in this process.  We are rejoicing to finally have our son and be home.  Again, thank you for all your prayers, we feel very blessed!

WE ARE HOME!!!!

We arrived home late last night!  Things have been crazy and it was a miracle how God worked out for us to leave Utah!  Thank you for all your prayers, I will give details and more pictures later!

Biliruben test today

Blake's Bili numbers have finally come down and he can come off the lights!  We are rejoicing!  He will need more testing later this week, we are hoping to be home by then.

Reassuring the Grandparents

As far as the new baby goes, we are planning responsibly of course.  First of all, we recently bought a pit bull (named "Red Fang") that we are keeping in the house for added security.  Safety first, especially with a new baby!  Also, I have started breeding my pet pythons and anacondas that I keep in the house.  They are all over 20 feet long now, and I figure we can get several hundred baby snakes per year!  This will help support us financially as I have recently quit my full-time job.  With finances in mind, Jamie and I have begun refinishing wood furniture at the house.  The baby's room works out great for this.  It has a wall-size window that keeps the room bathed in direct sunlight most of the day.  This helps us to see our work, and also to quickly dry the spray-on varnish.  We also plan to save some money by not buying a traditional crib.  We will simply put the baby on top of the chest of drawers.  It has a nice 1-inch lip around it, so there is no chance for junior to roll off during the night.  Instead of pricey crib mattresses and sheets, we have come up with a really inexpensive alternative using layers of plastic grocery bags.  They are cheap, comfortable, easily replaced, and are non-toxic, in case the baby wants to chew on them.  Looking ahead a little, we have already lined up some cheap babysitting, too.  Our church has a prison ministry, and we know that the inmates would love to spend some time with an infant - a sort of therapy.  So, each Friday evening, we will drop all the kids off at the local prison and have the evening to ourselves, knowing that they are getting plenty of care and attention.  We figure that as the inmates are released, they will form an inexpensive (and experienced) base of babysitters for our future children, as well as those of other families that we make recommendations to.  Finally, as a surprise for Jamie, I am having a jacuzzi built into the floor in one corner of the baby's room.  Not only will Jamie be thrilled, it will be perfect for junior to crawl over and go swimming whenever he likes - we really want him to be comfortable around water.  So, as you can see, your grandkids will always be well taken care of.  You have nothing to worry about...  ;-)

Enjoying the evening

Here is Blake getting in a nap after dinner, he is resting up for tonight (my little night owl!). 

Conversation with my five year old

Last night I was sitting and visiting with Glenda (the wife of the couple we are staying with) and we were talking about Blake's Hispanic heritage.  Bryant suddenly jumped into the conversation with great concern, 'Oh no, that means when Blake starts talking he will speak Spanish'.  I then had to explain that Blake will learn to speak whatever we speak to him, so unless Bryant was planning on speaking Spanish to Blake, he would be speaking English.

On a very exciting note, Bryant lost his first tooth tonight!  That tooth has been hanging by a thread for days now, we are all glad to see it out!

Doctor's diagnosis

Blake continues to have jaundice.  His bilirubin numbers have been stabilized, but are still high.  Talking with our pediatrician in Utah today we were told to keep Blake on the lights through the weekend.  The doctor believes that Blake has a blood disorder called G6PD deficiency.  It is apparently most prevalent in African American males. This would be a lifelong issue that would be controlled by avoiding certain medications and foods that could trigger this deficiency.  We are just now learning about this and do not know many long term details, but the doctor seems to think it would be something we could control.  We will test Blake for this when we get home.

With Blake still under lights, we are all getting very little sleep at night.  The lights cause dehydration and require him to eat as often as every 2 hours.  Also, Blake hates lying on the phototherepy bed (he has to be naked and not swaddled and the bed is plastic).  We are very ready to go home and are praying that God would speed up the paperwork process and allow us to go home on Saturday.  Somehow it seems like a lot of these issues would be easier if we were home and had our family all together.  We are waiting on God's perfect timing.

Sleepy Blake

What we have been doing

We moved into the house of some friends Sunday, what a huge blessing!  They have a full, finished, furnished basement that we can sleep in.  Blake does not like his lights so I can share a room with him and let Gary and Bryant get some sleep in another room (this would have been a nightmare if we were still in a hotel).  Bryant finally has room to spread out and get rid of some of his pent up wiggles.

Blake's bilirubin numbers were up one more today so we will keep him under lights for at least tonight and tomorrow.  The doctor is running some other tests to rule out any underlying causes for Blake's numbers being so high.  Poor little guy is getting a little dried out from being under the lights so I am needing to increase his feedings to keep him hydrated.

Gary has an abscessed tooth that needed antibiotics to help him hold out until we get back to Colorado (it needs to be pulled).  Thankfully the couple we are staying with had a dentist they could recommend who was willing to see him today and prescribe something.  Along those same lines we had to stop at an urgent care yesterday so I could finally get some help for a sinus infection I could no longer ignore.  God has been gracious in bringing us medical treatment right when we needed it.

We will be in Utah until the paperwork for interstate adoptions is approved.  We need Utah and Colorado to agree to let us bring Blake home.  We have been praying that this would happen soon so we can go home sometime this week, we really miss our girlies.  Thank you grandma for taking such good care of them!  Until then, we are so grateful to be in a house, eating real food, with friends.

Jaundice

When I woke up this morning I was amazed at how suddenly Blake's coloring had changed.  I thought, wow, he is already getting his darker complexion.  When I finally took him into a good light I realized his complexion was actually turning orange.  We went to the hospital for a scheduled test to check his bilirubin and sure enough his numbers had almost doubled since yesterday.  The doctor ordered a phototherepy bed and bili blanket.  He makes a super cute firefly.  Gary and I will take turns staying up with Blake tonight since it was advised we keep him supervised.  We are hoping this process will bring his numbers down and keep them down after tonight.

Another picture

Here is another picture of Blake.  He has Hispanic and Spanish background, but mostly African American.  We have been told his hair will probably curl up and he will not look so fair.  Isn't he gorgeous!  That is all for tonight, I am beat!

Blake Scott Gilchrist

We were finally able to get in to see and hold little Blake tonight.  He's a cute kiddo!  Jamie is staying with him at the hospital, as they have him under special lights to help with jaundice I think.  Or maybe they are just wanting to see if he glows in the dark?  Anyway, we are thrilled, to say the least, and anxious to take him with us.  He may be released from the hospital tomorrow, or they may keep him another day... depending on how well he glows I suppose.  :^)  We will stay in Utah until the state-to-state requirements are met and we are allowed to bring him home.  Hopefully that will happen in the next few days.  We really miss our girls, and can't wait to have the family all together.

Bryant was excited to finally meet "Little Brother", whom we have been praying for as a family for quite some time.  And he wanted to see if Blake was indeed about the size of a football or not.  After giving Blake an exploratory poke, Bryant's comment was, "He's squishy".  Gotta love kids!

We spent a brief time with Mariah (birth mother) this evening.  It was emotional all around.  She loved this little boy, but had no way to keep him.  Please pray for her if you think about it.  This whole thing was very hard for her.  Jamie and I liked her very much, and wished that we could have demonstrated the love of God to her more, but we have been restricted from approaching her unless she initiated.  We have been praying that God would send a Christian friend into her life, and that she would come to know joy and peace in believing.  I do not know if we will ever see her again, but if not in this life, then we sincerely desire to in the next.

As I held little Blake this evening, I was awash once again with the wonder of adoption, and it's part (to our immense benefit!) in God's perfect plan for "summing up all things in Christ".  What a wonderful family we have all been adopted into!  I also felt the sobering weight of responsibility, as I did with each of our children.

Father, grant us grace to be a good parents to little Blake, to love selflessly and wisely, and to point him to You for life.  May he know You and love You more than anything or anyone else.  Thank You for blessing us yet again.

Pictures later today

We will be posting baby's name and pictures after the relinquishment papers are signed this afternoon.  Everything looks really good.  We were not allowed to go to the hospital last night but will be going in later today (maybe earlier if birth momma is up for it).  I keep thinking about what baby will feel like and smell like, I cannot wait to get my hands on him!

HE HAS ARRIVED!!!

Baby was born at 5:17.  He weighs 7 lbs 4 ounces and is 20 inches long.  Apparently, he is super cute!  The call came while we were in Target, it will now be remembered as THE phone call in our family.  We are waiting to hear what the plan is for tonight and whether they want me to stay with him.  Our precious baby is really here!!

A little change

We just heard from the social worker.  Birth momma is very slowly progressing (still only a few centimeters), but her water broke this morning so this baby is coming.  I do not think they actually gave her any pitocin this morning since her water was already broken, sounds like they thought she would progress on her own.  I would imagine they will put her on an epidural and really start into the pitocin if she still is not progressing in the next couple hours. 

Still waiting

I have called our social worker twice today for an update and she has not gotten back to me yet.  We are hoping this means that baby is coming and there is no time for phone calls.  I did talk with our worker last night and she explained that when the baby does arrive the birth mother only wants to hold the baby not feed or change him.  Since this is the case they will probably want me to stay at the hospital and take care of him until the paperwork is signed and he is released.  I am thrilled to possibly be able to hold him during his early hours after birth.  Sounds like I might be sleeping in the waiting room or in a chair in the nursery tonight.  I will try to update as soon as we know more, if I am at the hospital you may get a post from Gary.

A Quiet Day

Because we were not expecting anything to happen today with the baby we decided to visit a Dinosaur museum nearby.  It was wonderfully well done and Bryant had a blast looking and leaping on everything he could.  There was a very realistic set of motorized dinosaurs fighting.  They growled and moved and looked so lifelike I instinctively felt the urge to run away.  We had a really fun day.

Tomorrow morning momma should go in and start having the baby.  I will post as I hear details.  So exciting!

Baby is looking good!

The appointment for momma this afternoon found baby and mother doing well.  We were glad to hear that mother is progressing which would probably have her around 4 centimeters.  If she does not go into labor naturally they will induce Friday morning and I am guessing baby will be arriving this time.  Thank you for all your prayers, we have felt God's gracious hand on us through this past week and appreciate all your encouragements! 

Wednesday morning

Bryant is working away at his math, very loudly, and I am taking a minute to say where we are today.  Gary is working and will be giving a big presentation over the phone later today.  Bryant and I will use the time to catch up on laundry.  I have not heard anything new on the baby/momma front but hope to have some news after her appointment this afternoon. 

On a side note, Bryant was complaining of his teeth hurting yesterday while eating an apple.  I took a peek in his mouth and found that a big tooth was pushing on one of his bottom front baby teeth, yes, that would hurt.  My little man is getting ready to lose his first tooth!

Update Tuesday evening

I spoke with our social worker today and she said the birth mom was feeling much better.  She will go to the doctor tomorrow and get a full work up.  Unless they find something urgent tomorrow they have scheduled baby's momma to go in Friday morning at 6:00 and they will start inducing her again.  We are wondering if Sunday night the mother was already showing signs of sickness and maybe they did not give her much pitocin at all so she could rest.  We still do not know the details of what took place Sunday/Monday and continue to speculate.

This afternoon we drove out to Antelope Island and drove around.  We saw lots of buffalo and enjoyed getting outside a little (it was very cold).

Plans for today

We have not heard any updates on the birth mother this morning and continue to pray safety for her and the baby.  After much consideration and prayer we have decided to stay in Utah until the baby is born.  We could have driven back to Colorado today and maybe been able to stay a couple days before coming back to sign paperwork and pick up baby.  Everyone sounds like they are doing well at home and we really want to be available in case the birth mother or baby would need us before Friday.  This morning will be school for Bryant and I and work for Gary.  This picture is of the view out our hotel window.  The wet is supposed to turn to snow by later today.  Clouds have mostly covered the mountains.

Some concerns

The birth mother has the stomach flu bug and they are sending her back to her lodgings near the hospital.  We do not have details, but I have never heard of a woman being induced for 20 hours and then sent home.  Also, typically if you have a fever and are really ill (at 9 months pregnant and already high risk) the best place to be would be in the hospital being monitored.  We are praying that this is not a money issue for the hospital or a push from the agency so they can go home and sleep.  We are praying that the baby will be safe and the mother as well.  With so few details my mind is running to some really scary possiblities, God is giving yet another opportunity to trust Him.  This is out of our hands.  The rumor right now is that they will not induce again until Friday.  I will update if I hear more.

Still in labor

Our birth mother was induced last night (I have never heard of scheduling someone to be induced at night before).  The poor girl has been in labor all night and the baby still has not come.  We do not know any details, but we are praying that her labor would pick up quickly and she would be able to give birth soon and naturally. 

 Bryant has been doing school this morning and Gary has been trying to work.  We will take a break soon and go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  They have the play equipment that Bryant can work out some pent up energy on.

Sunday update

We spent an enjoyable day in Utah staying close to the hotel in the morning and then doing a little sight seeing in the afternoon, we actually had to stop the car to let a buffalo cross the road in front of us!   We spoke with our social worker here who met with the birth mother and our family last night, apparently she had a really nasty stomach bug all last night.  We are praying the birth mother stays healthy, as well as our family.  The birth mother should be going to the hospital soon to be induced.  Another piece of news we found out is that she has been a high risk pregnancy and that is part of why they are inducing her tonight.  I believe we will not be allowed to visit the hospital until after the 24 hours after birth has passed and the birth mother signs relinquishment papers.  Emotionally, today God has been reminding us of His goodness and giving us opportunity to enjoy being together as a family.  We are so glad that Bryant is here with us, his five year old excitement with life is exhilarating!  God has blessed us so much in so many ways.  Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouraging comments!

Meeting

Tonight we had the privilege of meeting our son's birth mother.  We met a young woman who was mature enough and loved her baby enough to give him to someone else to raise.  Her life circumstances are such that she could not realistically care for this baby, physically or emotionally.  Never the less, this is obviously the most difficult decision she has ever had to make.  After visiting and eating, our social worker was ready to head home to her family so we said 'goodbye'.  The word felt so inadequate when we are talking to a woman who we may never see again, and who will be delivering and then entrusting us with her child. By the time we climbed in and closed the door to the car I had completely lost it.  I was sobbing for several minutes before Gary and I could talk.  My heart wanted so much for this mother to somehow not have to give up her baby.  Gary reminded me that we would not be able to change her circumstances even if we tried and that if we were not adopting this precious baby either he would be in foster care or someone else would adopt him.  We can offer him a stable family and best of all he will grow up learning about the Lord.  Tonight it is with joy and sorrow that I now look at the adorable baby things we have for our little guy.  I am so grateful to the Lord for the brave sacrifice that this mother is making for our baby boy.  Please continue to pray, not only for us, but for each member involved in this process.  The birth mother will have 24 hours after the birth before she will sign papers finalizing her relinquishment.  We are waiting with open hands to see what the Lord is doing.

Leaving to pick up baby!!

Just a quick  note to say we are packing up the car and should be leaving in just a few minutes.  The car looks super cozy on this cold day, and we are bringing home baby, isn't God good?!

Slight change in plans

We talked with the Utah agency last night and they explained that the birth mother would really like to meet us before she gives birth.  We have agreed to drive up tomorrow and meet her for dinner.  This was unexpected since initially we did not think she wanted any contact with us.  Today we will be packing up and getting ready to leave in the morning.  Bryant will be going with us, he has been praying for this little baby for 2 years now.  We are still in such awe at God's timing and goodness in all of this!  Thank you for your prayers!

We had a quieter day yesterday and even enjoyed a snowball fight with some friends.  Grandma has quite a throw!

Taking a breath

We talked with our agency last night and they said the mother has been having contractions, but has not been progressing.  She is not in the hospital at this time.  The doctor has decided to wait until Sunday and then induce her.  We still need to be all packed and ready to go in case her labor progresses naturally.  It is nice to know that this will be happening soon and yet not feel quite as rushed.  The agency we are working with is located in northern Utah (about 8 hours away) and we will be driving.  Today we will be relaxing a little by getting together with some friends and then I need to go buy a new infant car seat.  We were warned last night the hospital often inspects car seats and requires that they be under 5 years or they will not release the baby.

False Alarm?

We were told last night at about 9:00 that the birth mother was possibly going into labor and they were going to take her to the hospital.  Gary and I scrambled around a little last night to throw some things in bags and talk through plans with Mom, Dad, Chris, and Kellie (we have such an amazingly supportive family!).  We still have not heard yet how the night played out, but we are getting ready to leave at short notice.  Wow, this is really happening!  Did I mention we are having a snow storm!

Baby Update

We just found out that the birth mother is 3 centimeters dilated, so this baby could come anytime!!  So exciting, I could be holding my new baby in just a few days!!  Please pray that we really would be prepared.  We also could be gone longer than we originally thought, apparently up to 2 weeks is not uncommon, although as short as 4 days is possible.  The possibility of being gone more than a few days has really taken us by surprise.  That would be a long time for Gary to be away from work and we have never left the kids this long before (Our trip to Ethiopia was the last time we were away and we were gone less than a week).  We are praying about taking at least one child with us.

I am off to get ready for the day!  My parents fly in this morning, God's timing is so amazing!  Dad and I are already scheduled to spend the afternoon shopping so I can get everything needed if we left on short notice. I am marveling and rejoicing at how God has arranged all of these little details and how he has chosen this baby for us!  We could not be more in awe and thrilled!

WE ARE MATCHED!!!

We recived an email last night from an agency in Utah saying they may have a situation for us and to call in the morning.  The email sounded so promising that I hardly slept at all last night (I felt like a 5 year old the night before Christmas).  After talking with the agency today and getting all the information we could, Gary and I felt so peaceful and excited.  We are going forward and have agreed to match with this birth mother.  Is this really happening?!!  I cannot give too many details over the computer, but the baby will be multi racial and probaby healthy.  The Utah agency needed to find a match for this mother right away and we were an unmatched couple who would be a fit for this baby.  The mother is due in 4 weeks, but there is a chance he may come early.  We are so excited, I have felt giddy all morning!  God is so gracious, even when we are weak He still chooses to  give us such good gifts!

Gorgeous fall hike

This was a really cool grasshopper that Lana kept catching and then losing as it would hop out of her hands.  I finally agreed to just take a picture of it instead of taking it home with us.

Some thoughts

This has been a challenging season for me to practice trusting God and His timing.  We continue to be so excited about the upcoming adoption, but I wrestle with not knowing if we might be bringing baby home next week or in 6 months.  I love to be prepared and this is testing my peace daily.  At the recommendation of our social worker I have been contacting agencies to see if they have any possible situations that would be a fit for us.  On Monday we were made aware of a birth mother in California who would be delivering in the next few weeks.  This morning I was notified that the birth mother was no longer available.  These ups and downs have been tough.  What I keep preaching to myself is that God has my baby already chosen and the time of his arrival is also already planned.  My part is to rest and trust God as I continue to actively seek out situations.

Psalm 9:10

And those who know your name put their trust in you,

for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Bryant took above the picture of 'the girls'.

Colonial Reenactment