Adopting sealing

Another special day in our family happened yesterday. Alex was sealed to Kimberly and Jason in the temple! We are so happy to have him in our family through the wonderful gift of adoption. Alex sometimes wont let others hold him if Kimberly (his mom) is in the room but in the temple today he was super calm and was as happy as can be. The sealer in the temple said that pretty much all of the time when a child is brought into the temple they are super happy and calm. I can't wait for the day that we are able to do this in about 7 months or so! Thanks for inviting us Kimberly and Jason.

UH OH TAYLORSVILLE TROUBLE

This past Friday and Saturday were an absolute blast. It was the first softball tournament of the year. It is called the DashNSplash out in Tooele/Grantsville area. I had not had previous experience with softball tournaments but I soon grew to love them. On Friday we showed up at approximately noon and played 4 softball games and went 2-2. On the way home we were talking about how we probably planned playing 1-2 more games on Saturday because if our team lost one more game they were out of the tournament. Let me just say our little girls are resilient. They went 8-9 on Saturday and was one win away from taking the tournament Championship. Everyone was absolutely beat by the end. So that means we played 13 softball games in 2 days. We are so proud of the girls and how hard they worked. Lets get em' in two weeks at the next tournament. GO TAYLORSVILLE TROUBLE!

40 more days!

HOLY COW! Time is going by so quick it seems like just yesterday we got a call from J telling us that she wanted us to be her childs adoptive parents. It is probably because we have been so gosh darn busy lately but we will not complain because we cannot wait to meet Sawyer. Shaileen and I talk all of the time about how we dont understand how people can go through a whole 9 monthish pregnancy. We are dying already and it has only been about 1 1/2 months with barely over 1 month to go. The bonding experience being pregnant probably helps when you are pregnant, however we would be going crazy! As soon as we found out we started completing his room and it is all of the way done except for the bedding. We keep racking our brains trying to figure out what we still need to do because it seems like there is something for sure but we cannot think of much. It will be nice when her baby showers are here because then we can desipher what things to still get and what not to get. I am writing this post mostly because I am so excited to see Sawyer. I would also be very ungreatful if I didnt say anything about "J". We are so greatful to know her and already love her very much. It seems like we have known her for a very long time. She is such an incredibly strong woman. Through the many BBQ's we have had already I know that we are going to be linked throughout this life in a very special way. We look forward to the special bond we will continually have. It's kinda weird how Shaileen's and my thoughts were before this adoption process. Our thoughts on openness were full of scared/uneasy thoughts on whoever the birth mother was going to be. They would be co-parenting we thought for sure. However, after going through the adoption classes that we were required to take we had a change of mind completely 180 degrees on openness. There were several panels of people that we were able to ask questions to and have them answered by people on both sides of the line. There were adoptive couples, adoptive couples specifically with special needs placements, adopted children, and the one that hit us the most was the birth mother/father panel. I could easily say that there was not a person in that room that did not have dry eyes. We found out how important it is to us to have a continued relationship with our childs birth parents. Not only for them because they should never be forgotten but because it is healthy for our child. There are a lot of people that do not understand how we can keep that relationship because they are not in our or "J's" shoes. All that matters is that we are confortable with it and having a good healthy relationship.

Park City, Laser Tag, BBQ, Softball and More

This past Saturday was one of the busiest/funnest Saturdays we have ever had. Early Saturday morning I woke up for Softball practice. It was a really good practice. We were able to teach the girls a lot and they learned a bunch too. After practice William and Briana invited us up to Park City to ride the Alpine Slide and the Alpine Coaster. The Alpine Slide is a lot more fun when you don't fall and burn your knee and hand, OUCH! The Alpine Coaster on the other hand is an absolute blast and I would recommend it to anyone. About 15 minutes after we got home we had "J" (birth mother) come over to our house for a BBQ. We had a great time getting to know each other more while having some red hamburgers! haha.... After about 3-4 hours she left and said that we would see her on Monday for her Dr's Appointment. We absolutely love spending time with her. It seems as if we have known her forever. Later that night some family invited us to go to an "ironman" session of lasertag at Laserquest in Midvale. It was a blast. Shaileen had a bunch of fun too until I kept popping around corners shooting her. After the game she would not talk to me for about 10 minutes or so! I think that just means that I played the game right. HAHAHA... Check out the photos below

Thanks for inviting us William and Bri

 

Dont make fun of me too bad but in this video i crash bad! haha 

Shaileen going up the hill on the coaster

This is the coaster video! Best ride in park city!

In the waiting room for Laser tag! Shaileen was a little excited... haha

Happy Birthday Shaileen

Happy freaking birthday Shaileen! Hope you have the best day ever. I love you so much I found Jack Black and had him sing you Happy Birthday!
I Love You! Hope you have the bestest birthday ever...

Thoughts today on Adoption

I dont know why but I just had an overwhelming feeling that I needed to write down my feelings today that I am having. Again, I dont know why and this is all off of the top of my head so if it does not make sense I appologize.

I am so very thankful for the gift of adoption and the blessings that it has brought into not only my life but also Shaileen's. It is crazy to think that the placement has not even taken place yet but there are all of these blessings and trials that have made us so much stronger as a couple and individual. It is sad to say but when we started trying to have kids I was not ready to be a Dad and I think I knew that I wasn't ready either. Shaileen had been prepared growing up working at day cares and just having a motherly instinct. Sometimes I feel real bad because in the bottom of my heart I know that this trial that we have gone through with infertility has been for me. It has taught me to become more patient and not take children for grantid. I am so thankful of having Shaileen as a loving spouse to spend literally every second together. I love her so much and am so happy to spend eternity with her. She makes me a better person every day. I cannot wait to see her as a mother.

I am also thankful for the sacrifice of "J". She is one incredible woman and we have grown much love for her in the short time we have known her. It seems as if we have known her for a very long time. We were so nervous to meet her at lunch the first time and I won't lie it was a little ackward at first but after about 5-10 minutes it felt very natural. We sat and talked for either 3-4 hours, I don't remember how long but it was long. It is incredible to think that there is someone out there that trusts us so much that they are going to place with us. What an incredible gift she is able to provide. We are excited to grow even closer to her in the future and build that loving relationship for the little one. It is very important to Shaileen and I for our son to know who "J" is. I know that he is going to have a loving relationship with her as well.

Again, sorry if that did not make any sense. I would like to thank the people that follow our blog and have supported us through this adoption process and that will continue to support us. We Love You!

Kurt and Shaileen
(if she agrees with what I wrote, haha)