The Latest News

Yesterday we were called again just like we were the other day by a caseworker with LDSFS saying that Sarrina was on her way to the hospital with bleeding. She said that she just wanted us to know and when Sarrina got there she would call us and let us know what was going on. Not much after that Shaileen got a call from Sarrina saying that she was alone at the University of Utah hospital and asked us to come be with her to comfort her. We were quite relieved as funny as it sounds to hear that she was at the University hospital because before she was at Pioneer Valley Hospital. If you know anything about that hospital at all you know that she does not want to be there. A little later in the story you will learn why. I was still at our house in Stansbury Park and Shaileen had just showed up to work so I immediatly got dressed and drove in and picked her up and we drove up to the hospital. Well, I shouldn't say immediatly because we trusted Siri to get us there the fastest and she took us to some random clinic that was way far off. Anyways, we finally got to the hospital about an hour or so after Sarrina called us. It was good to see her. The doctors and nurses were still trying to figure out what was going on with bleeding and ordered ultrasounds. When they ordered the ultrasound we found how dumb the tech was at Pioneer Valley Hospital because the baby was no longer breech (we know he could have flipped) but the placenta really did not move off of her cervix like the tech said that it did. The team of doctors determined that it would be best if she stay overnight if not over the weekend even. Sarrina was going to be transfered to another room that was not in the OB Emergency room and said that we could leave if we wanted because she wanted to get some rest. I drove Shaileen back into work so she could get a few more hours in. I laid in the car for about 2 1/2 hours and was able to nap for about 20 or so minutes until my last graveyard shift was up. We are so excited to meet Baby Cline but want him to cook as long as possible so he is as healthy as possible. When the doctors were doing the ultrasound they said that he is measuring, if I remember the numbers right; 4 weeks earlier that she is (30ish weeks) and they are estimating that he weighs somewhere around 3 1/2 pounds. As always we would appreciate everyones continued prayers that he is healthy  and everything goes according to thy will. THank you for your continued support. We truly do appreciate it. Hopefully we wont have too much to update you on for a couple of weeks.

Close call yesterday

Yesterday afternoon around 1:30pm we got a call from Sarrina saying that she was headed to the hospital because she was bleeding quite heavy. Shaileen was the one that spoke with her and she said that she sounded quite scared. From what we remember one of her last pregnancies started labor the same way with heavy bleeding. Shaileen was about ready to head into work because she was working 3-11pm last night. I am working 11pm-7am this week in dispatch because I helped out a coworker by picking up his shift so I drove in with Shaileen to make sure she was not alone at work. I stayed there for about 3 hours until we found out that Sarrina was not going to deliver then went home. It is the weirdest feeling being an adoptive parent through the birthing process of your future child because your hands are tied and all you can do is wait and worry about what is going on. The good news is that the doctors stopped the bleeding after a while, however; they were unable to tell where it was coming from. They sent her home on bed rest and asked her to come back in the next several days. Some more good news is that the placentia moved away from the cervix. We did find out that "Baby Cline" is breech currently though. We are so thankful to be where we are with this adoption process and are anxious to meet Baby Cline. The third time is the charm.

We Are Going To Be Parents

I first off have to say thank you to everyone for all of their continued support. We have felt your love and prayers. You have no idea what it means to us and we would have never been able to be where we are today without you guys.

The evening of Fathers Day (6/16/16) Shaileen received a text saying someone is looking to place their baby boy  for adoption and wanted to know if we were still looking to adopt. We replied saying of course we were. We provided this person our blog address and personal information so they could give it to this expecting mother to look at us. She said that she would pass our information along and about an hour later we received another text saying that if we are up for it she will choose us. Holy Moly, that was quick and we didn't know what to think but were extremely excited. We were told that this expecting mother would contact us probably the next day. As you can expect we were excited all day to hear from her and later that evening on Monday June 17, 2013 we got the call from Sarrina. Shaileen was the one that spoke with her. It was a good conversation and she reaffirmed her decision to place with us. Shaileen said after the call that she kept referring to the baby as our baby. We decided that we would get together the upcoming weekend so we could get to know each other better. Sunday June 23, 2013 we picked up Sarrina at her friends house and drove to Baskin Robins. We spent around 1 1/2 - 2 hours getting to know each other and talking to each other. We talked about everything from what her other children are like to openness and even names. It is crazy to think that our crazy adventure is going to be coming to a new step here pretty soon in the next month when he is born so we can start a new adventure. He is due on Friday Aug 5, 2013 but she was telling us that all of her other children have been at least 2 weeks early. So, we are expecting probably closer to 4 weeks instead of 6 weeks until he is here. We learned that Sarrina has 8 children, the last 2 she placed with another family for adoption it sounded like several years ago. Shaileen and I believe we have a name picked out but are not positive yet so we are going to wait until we are positive that it is what we want to choose. Sarrina said that she is completely open for us to choose the name and does not care at all what we choose.

I am sure there will be more posts coming here soon, but again we just want to say thank you. Also, remember that there are tons of couples out there that are hoping to adopt that need your help to build their family. Each of our situations that were brought to us were because family and friends were thoughtful enough to open their mouths and not be shy to talk about us. We would like to ask that you continue to search and pray for hopeful adoptive couples as well as expecting parents. If you ever run across a situation let us know and we would be more than happy to pass it along to one of several couples that we know that are looking. Anyways, thanks again.


WE ARE GOING TO BE PARENTS!!!!

Father vs Dad

I am in toastmasters this year at work which is a group that meets weekly and practices public speaking and listening skills. Today it is my second speech. I decided with it being Fathers Day this past Sunday I wanted to speak about the following, hope you enjoy!

Are you going to be a Father or a Dad? It sounds like the same thing but couldn’t be further from the same thing. A Father is more of a biological term and does not refer to the man’s role or relationship with the child at all. Whereas a Dad refers to the man that is there in the child’s life caring for them. A dad shows he loves his children by interacting with him daily, letting them know that they’re a priority and that they give purpose to his life. It is far easier to be a father than a Dad. As I am trying to be a Dad through the wonderful gift of adoption I wanted to learn what I can do to be the best Dad to my children as I can because they deserve the best. I researched online came up with several things we can do not only as Dads but also Moms.

1.      Check in with your family during the day-

We all work here at Questar which means we are away from home a lot of the day five days a week. Children really enjoy hearing from their parents because they feel loved and wanted. If your children are old enough to go to school arrange for them to call you when they get home. Even just a few unhurried minutes will make a huge difference and show them that you truly care. If your child is young enough that they don’t go to school just call them throughout the day.

2.      Give your child undivided attention every day-

Put down your cell phone! This requires undivided attention to be successful. This will help build your relationship with them. This is where you listen to their ideas and get to know what is important to them and the things they love.

3.      At least once a week have fun together-

Each stage of your child’s life presents a new opportunity and they change and grow up so quick. As they are young you can start out simple by just going to the park and as they grow older adjust it to things not only they enjoy but things you enjoy as well. The important thing is to just enjoy the time you have with them.

4.      Talk about your values with your kids directly-

Don’t assume that your children will learn what your values are automatically. When the time is right and something comes up tell them what you think about a subject and why.

5.      Discipline –

When you come home from work and you find out that your son or daughter didn’t clean their room how do you react? Take a moment and think first before you react. Should your first interaction with the child be one of content or anger? Regardless, make sure whatever you decide make sure you react with love. A good idea is to first take your time to ask how their day at school was. From speaking with other parents I have found that this special time right when you get home or when the child gets home from school is the best time to talk to them because you are going to get the most honest sincere answers  most of the time.  Make sure the punishment also fits the crime.

6.      Nurture your relationship with your partner-

This is the single most important thing in my opinion. Your children believe it or not will grow up one day and sooner or later leave the house. Set an example for them. Boys will learn how to treat a girl by the way the Dad treats Mom and girls set their expectations that they will be treated the same way. Show them what real love is.

A father is someone who can easily leave the home. A father is someone that can easily cheat. A father is someone who can turn to alcohol and drugs. A father is someone who lets his family become a nuisance to him. A father believes that the world revolves around him.

This type of father doesn’t deserve your time, but most of all doesn’t deserve to be called Dad.

Any man can be a Father, but not every man can be a Dad!

Funny faces

Shaileen's little sister has slept over for the past two nights. We have way too much fun together as you can tell from the photos below. I will let the phots do the talking. 

The best part about these photos was watching Shaileen take the pictures of herself. 

No more 24/7 together

As I lay here in bed this evening I am thinking about how much I love Shaileen and how lucky I am to have her as my eternal spouse. The past 3 years since we have been both working for Questar we have been together 24/7 because we had the same shifts, carpooled together and even took breaks and lunches together. This week Shaileen started a new shift in dispatch with her new position. I have really taken all the time we have spent together for granted. It seems so weird not to be able to just do every little thing together. Shaileen, I love you and am so happy to have you as my wife and future mother to our children. Thanks for being you because that is perfect and why we got together in the first place. 

Praying for all in the adoption world

During the processes that we have gone through to get approved to adopt and now waiting/searching to find a child we have felt so many peoples prayers through all our success and struggles.There has been so much support for us and we truly appreciate it more than any of you could ever know. People have passed along our information and that is how we found the first 2 situations. Not just randomly, but because someone remembered us.

I am writing this because if you would be kind enough we would not only like you to pray for us but more to pray for all involved in the adoption world. We as hopeful adoptive parents make up a very small portion of people involved. In each of our prayers we have been praying for comfort for ourselves and patience. More importantly we ask for blessings for expectant parents, their children and their families. We don't pray that they will place their children but we ask that they will be comforted and know what is right for their situation, not ours. I cannot imagine the thoughts that run through the expectant parents heads when contemplating adoption and that is why we ask them to be comforted. With our 2 failed adoption placements we saw first hand how much of a loss it was going to be for not only the expectant parents but also their families.

Again I write this to please keep them in our prayers as well as us as you have already done because we feel them. Thank you.

Finally, inside house photos

If you follow us on Facebook or Instagram I am sure you are sick of hearing about us moving into our new home. We wanted to document this for ourselves however. This house feels more like a home already more than our old house ever did. We are so excited to bring children into our home. Like always, if you know anyone that is thinking of placing their child for adoption please pass along our information. We would appreciate it more than you would ever know.

This is the living room that you see when you first walk in our door. We absolutely love it. We told each other that we better never have to paint in here however because we would have to hire someone to do it. There is no way I could get in the upper corners all by myself. 

These are the french doors into the office. 

On Memorial Day we went and bought a new computer desk that matches so much better in this room.

Dont mind the large painting in the background. We just have not hung it up yet. 

Shaileen gave me the ok to start collecting sports memorabilia, so we went out and purchased this shelving unit. I have bought a couple new things off ebay this past week to start filling it up. Cant wait to get them in the mail now.

We absolutely love our kitchen. It feels so much warmer and inviting now. When we have people over it doesn't feel so crammed anymore. 

As funny as it sounds one of our favorite things about this home is the food pantry. We have plenty of space downstairs to store the food but this is so much more efficient. 

Family room right off of the kitchen.

Half bath off of the family room on the main floor, and hooked to it in the next picture is the laundry room. 

Here soon we are looking forward to building some stools for the washer and dryer so they stand up higher. We are going to build them because they are ridiculously expensive to buy. 

Don't judge by how dirty my garage is right now. It is one of the last things I am worried about getting organized, at least we can pull the cars into it right now.

As you walk up the stairs to the upper floor this is the view you have of the living room. 

This is going to be the nursery in the future, some day soon i am going to set up the crib and everything else but I just am not in a big hurry. At least we have everything we need. 

This is another extra bedroom upstairs for when guests come stay with us. Nice and cozy.

One of the bedrooms Shaileen made into her craft room. We recently went and bought some tables so she can do her crafts on them. We just need to paint the nasty stripes off of the bedroom walls. 

Extra full bathroom upstairs. This is so much better than the nasty blue tile one we had before. I can't say enough how excited we are to be out of that house. 

Master bedroom- We just have not put anything up on the walls in here yet however because we have not decided what we want up yet. 

Master Bathroom, my favorite thing about it is the shower is tall enough where I don't have to crouch over to use it. Also, the seperate toilet room. 

Shaileen's painting turned out really cool I think in here. 

Master closet. 

This is one of the rooms in our basement. This one had the built in for the tv already. Sooner or later we are going to make this a work out room until we finish the basement. Perfect size for it I think. 

As I am sure you can tell we are using this for our storage and freezer room for right now. I definately need so organize this better quick... 

How cool is this room? The previous owners of this house had children that played in a band. They let the kids do what they wanted to finish this room so they soundproofed it and made it into a band room. The messages on the wall are pretty fun. 

We so look forward to building many memories in this home. We welcome anyone that wants to come out as well.