Easter Auction for our Adoption Fund

My dear friend Beverly is hosting an auction for me on her Facebook Page.  We're managing it together, but given the fact that I have a 3 week old (wow- that still seems surreal to write!) and M could go into labor any day, we decided that having it on her FB page was the way to go. 

The last auction was for Valentine's day and we raised just over $500!  We're hoping to exceed that amount with this auction.  Quinn's adoption is an amazing unexpected miracle, but comes with unexpected legal and agency fees we hadn't budgeted for.

Beverly and I have some really talented friends who have donated items.  I'll be adding some items of my own very soon. 

If you are on FB, please take a look at the auction here.  You can bid by leaving a comment.  Please also feel free to share the link on your FB wall or blog too.  Auction will end on Thursday at 8:00 CST.

Here's Quinn modeling a tie dye onesie... two of these pieces of art are up for auction!

Photo Updates

I figure I will make up for my lack of posting with photos.  :)  We're adjusting to life as a family of three and learning how to balance all of the little details of life with a newborn. Quinn is such a great baby and is eating like a champ.  He's gaining weight and I can't believe how much he has changed already.  He's already lost the newborn look, but is still wearing newborn clothes. 

Cheering on Daddy's swim team from home. 

Kicking it in my crib

Rocking the Monkey Hat

Romeo caught in the act...

I'm a VERY mellow guy!

Rocking tummy time while watching the Blackhawks with Daddy.

We went to court on Wednesday.  We had to go downtown, but it was a great experience.  The judge couldn't have been nicer.  We shared the waiting room with another family adopting an infant, and a family adopting an older sibling group.  That family was first in court, and the little girl came back and told Chris that if he told the truth, he'd get a sucker.  :)  We each got a sucker as we left court!  We now have the interim adoption order and will not have to return to court again.  We have our post placement visits at 1, 3, & 5 months.  We have a tentative date for finalization in August, but that paperwork is filed by our attorney.

My coworkers had a shower for us yesterday.  Quinn is one spoiled little guy already.  Lots of great necessities, but this diaper motorcycle complete with a dog toy rider might have been our favorite!

Another favorite gift is this lounger/feeding pillow.   I think Quinn likes it too!

M has made it to 36 weeks as of today.  She is feeling good and there's no sign of labor just yet.  We're hoping she makes it at least a few more weeks, but we know it could be any day now.  We have a series of contingency plans should she go into labor at any point between now and her due date. I have to spend all day tomorrow at grad school and Chris has a meet, so Mr Quinn will be spending the day with our good friends.  It will be the very first time he hasn't been with one of us, and the longest I've been away from him.  I can't imagine I'll be a very good student.  :(

Trying to get into some routines and hoping to post more here.  I have lots of thoughts running through my mind that I need to process.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the love and support you've shown us.  Thank you to those of you who've sent gifts to Quinn.  I'm working on getting thank you notes out... but things are a little tougher to accomplish these days! 

Weighing on my heart

I still need to write out Quinn's adoption story and hope to do that in the next few days.  I don't want to lose any of the details.  I find myself so driven to try to capture as much as I can for Quinn.  I want to make sure I can preserve his first moments of life with the amazing woman who gave birth to him.  We've never met, and I don't know if we ever will. She has communicated with us via an anonymous email account.  She did meet with our attorney and agency, and I have tiny snippets from them that I need to commit to paper before they are gone.  She is an intelligent, compassionate, brave woman who I will forever be grateful to.  And she has told us how grateful she is to us.  The weight of it all on my heart is heavy and I don't know if I will ever be able to truly process it all.  I find myself hesitant to call her Quinn's birthmom.  That just doesn't seem adequate.  We've already been talking to him about her, and I am just not sure what we will end up calling her.  We don't know her name (but our agency and attorney do- she has asked to remain anonymous to us)

I've been waiting for the tears to fall- and they seem to finally be coming today.  They are tears of joy, and relief, and love, and admiration, and loss, and gratitude, and so much more.  I think I was in shock for the first several days- literally.  I think I might need to have a few conversations with people at work again as I don't really have much recollection of them.  As I held Quinn during one of our late night feedings last night, it really started to sink in that he's ours.  We've been entrusted by his mom to raise him to be the man she hopes he'll become.  That weighs even heavier on my heart than the concept of providing for him.

For those of you that have followed our story, M was ecstatic when we told her about Quinn. Her reaction blew us away.  She is excited about the idea of her son growing up with a brother so close in age.  So for now, we are making plans to care for... two newborns!  She is feeling good, and her OB feels she may deliver close to 36 weeks... which is in two weeks!  I have an entire post all together about my emotions about raising two boys.  I'm torn between thrilled and feeling overwhelmed. 

When we took Quinn for his first pediatrician appointment, she asked if we had a support network.  We literally laughed out loud.  We are so blessed with a literal army of people who are excited to be a part of Quinn's life.  We've heard so many kind words of congratulations from those we know and love and those who have been touched by our story. 

For those of you who may be reading this who are deep in the trenches, I want you to know that I get it.  I spent 13 years in those trenches.  It still stings, but I can say now without a doubt- it was worth it.  I hate that we had to have so much hurt and loss before we could hold our son.  And there will be a part of me that will always carry that hurt in my heart.  I am hoping that the love for this little man will fill in the spaces of my heart and lessen the hurt.

ICLW- Baby Photo Included

When I signed up to do ICLW this month, I had no idea how my world was going to change!

After almost 13 years of infertility, loss, and heartache, our little miracle was placed in our arms on Monday.

He's perfect in every way.

I don't think I'll ever understand why we had to endure it all, but I know now it was worth it.

I'm not sure I'll ever "get over" being infertile, but having this little man smile up at me makes my heart full once again. 

I'm not even sure what to write here for ICLW. 

Instead, I will share one photo that simply takes my breath away.

Madly in Love... (edited to add photo!)

We're madly in love with our son.

Yep, he's in our arms.  We're working on the final legal steps necessary to make sure his mom's wishes are being honored.

I'll share photos once I know that I can

But know that we are totally, madly in love with this little guy.

We're forever grateful to his amazing mom who has changed her original plans to ensure that he is placed in our arms forever. 

For those of you who have asked, we are registered at Babies.r.us and Ama.zon.  We are so thankful for all of the words of support and congratulations you've sent our way.

We truly have been blessed.

Edited... got the all clear to add photos.  Here's the first photo featuring our son, Quinn Robert.

Our first family photo!

Blessed Beyond Measure

I honestly can't even believe I am writing this post.  Life has an amazing way of throwing your plans away and bringing you something... more.

We'll be picking up our son on Monday.  Tomorrow.

Let that sink in for a moment....

And M is still pregnant.

Take that in....

Yes, there is a chance that our life will be twice blessed in a very short period of time.


It has been a whirlwind of red tape and moving mountains for the past 36 hours, but in the end, good has prevailed and we will hopefully holding our precious baby boy on Monday, if not this afternoon.  His brave birthmom chose Chris and I to be his parents and brought him to a local hospital with a letter stating that fact.  Her wishes were not initially honored, and the safe haven law went into effect.  Another agency got involved, DCFS has intervened, and in the end, her wishes will be honored and he will be placed in our arms.  There's so much to this story, and I will share it at some point.  For now it is saved through frantic emails, text messages, and voice mails.

His birthmom wishes to remain anonymous to us, and we are currently communicating with her through email.  I will say that the power of Face.book was probably the single most factor in making everything happen as it should.  My faith in people has been incredibly restored this weekend.

We have worked with our agency and will share our news with M once we know everything is official.  We know this is not an ideal situation, but we didn't make any of our decisions lightly.  It will ultimately be M's decision if she wants to continue her plans to place with us, and we pray that she will.  If she chooses not to, our attorney and agency are ready to support her.  We are committed to making sure that her needs are met.  We are so very hopeful that she will be excited at the prospect of both babies growing up in our home with the bond of being so close in age.  We've had lots of tears and soul searching in the last 36 hours, but we feel that we have made the best decision for our family. 

In a crazy twist of timing, our friends are throwing us a small shower this afternoon. And the fact that M wanted to see our nursery means that we have one to bring this little guy home to.  Is it possible that the universe is finally going to allow our dreams to come true?

I promise to share updates once we have him safely in our arms.  He's been in foster care since Friday afternoon through the other agency.  He doesn't have a name just yet, we're hoping it will become clear once we see him.

I'm not sure Romeo is really ready for this... :)

Nursery Sneak Peek

We've made some progress in the nursery.  We needed to have it "staged" for M's visit last week.  We have the bones in place- the crib and the dresser/changing table.  I have a chair in the room as a place holder until we get the chair we've decided on from BRU. 

I still need to add art, and the bedding is still in progress.  I'm happy with my choice on theme and direction, we just need to execute it now! 

Hoping that the little guy will hold on until at least the start of March.  I've still got big plans for this space before he gets here!

M brought this adorable bear.  Looking forward to taking photos each month with the little guy and this bear!

Love the crib- and the fact we got it at half price!  Bumper is a breathable one from Target.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this dresser from Ikea.  Excited to use it as a changing table and storage.