Hi everyone! Well, when we were in court last Tuesday afternoon, the judge defaulted the birthfather with no hesitations. He also set our finalization date for July 15!! That was exciting news for us - generally adoptions are not finalized for at least 6 months. God's hand is so evidently at work! Praise the Lord!
Also, we had our post-placement visit yesterday evening. It went very well. Now, all that needs to be done before finalization is a visit with the guardian ad litem. We are waiting for her call.
Thank you for all your prayers! We are so thankful to have you in our life! Much love. :)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
In Our Own Little World...
Hi everyone! First of all, for all of you that continue to check this blog, we're so sorry that we haven't updated for so long! As our title states, we HAVE been in our own little world. But, we're doing good - thank you all for your continued overwhelming love, prayers, and support. We are so blessed to have you in our life!
Well, down to business...Kiara is an amazing miracle...she brings us daily joy! As of tomorrow, she will be five weeks old. Can you believe it? We certainly cannot...sometimes it still feels like a dream. But, then there are other moments when we just sit and stare at her beautiful little face, and it becomes increasingly real. Since its been so long since we've updated, we thought we'd just give you a brief week by week update. So here goes...
Week 1 - Kiara came home the Monday morning after she was born without any glitches. Ryan took that day off of work so the three of us just relaxed at home together - it was so special. Her birthmom signed the termination of parental rights papers on that Tuesday. We had a small celebration with Heather's parents and our attorney. Kiara did alot of sleeping this week and we just enjoyed being near her.
Week 2 - Kiara had her two week doctor's appointment this week! She weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces - she had gained a whole pound! And she measured 20.75 inches - she grew 3/4 inch! We were so excited that she was so healthy. We really started to feel like parents, as later in this week, she became really inconsolably fussy - we were worried about the possibility of colic.
Week 3 - Heather finally called the doctor's nurse to inquire about Kiara's discomfort. He didn't think she was colicky (Praise God!) but that she was lactose intolerant! So, we switched to a soy-based formula and we saw an immediate change. She was a completely different baby - in fact, Ryan teased Heather that she had switched babies on him while he was at work! She went from constant crying to being content. We are so thankful that we discovered this early on! In this week, we started noticing cute little things about Kiara - like the way she squeals, how she smiles in her sleep, and that she calms when Daddy and Mommy hold her. And, she started sleeping longer hours through the night - what a relief!! :)
Week 4 - This week, we've noticed that she's started watching us more intently. She is more alert when she's awake - she loves to look at colorful things, like the toys on her play gym and bouncy chair. She likes to be outdoors and listen to the birds. She's holding her head more steadily and even once in a while, she'll give a small smile in return to Daddy and Mommy's. And, we've been dealing with the baby acne thing - this too shall pass... :) But, she's beautiful despite that!
On the legal end of things, Kiara was served her summons to court several weeks ago. Seriously...Mr. Sullivan came to our home and actually had to touch the papers to her head so he could say that he served her!! It was really hilarious. Our first appearance in court was May 12 - this was simply to open our adoption case. Our attorney said that it couldn't have gone better - the judge has already referred to our finalization. For the past several weeks, there has been an announcement published in the Decatur Tribune stating that Kiara Joy Jackson was born, that she was being adopted and that if anyone thought he was her birthfather, he should step forward. Since the birthmother put Kiara Joy Jackson on the birth certificate, it was published this way, and the birthmother's last name was not even in the announcement so we didn't have any concerns. The publication is now over and we will be going to court June 3 to default the birthfather. DCFS needs to come into our home to make certain it is safe. After this, it will simply be a waiting game until finalization. So far, things could not have gone more smoothly - it is so obvious God's hand has been at work.
We are constantly so amazed at the faithfulness of God - but we've also been challenged and reminded that though God answered our prayers, this is not the time to cease praying. Oh no, we have a treasure that has been entrusted upon us to raise and we so desperately want her to grow up knowing of our Lord Jesus Christ and claim Him as her own. So, we've been challenged to stay in the Word and continue praying diligently so that she may learn by our example as she grows.
Here are some pictures for you to enjoy - we hope to continue to keep friends and family who live far from us updated through this website. We'll try to get some video footage of Kiara up soon. We love you all! Thank you again for all your prayers and support.
Going Home from the Hospital
Home at Last!
Pretty in Pink
Bright Eyes
Uncle Kyle's Visit
Milita Fixed Kiara's Hair
Kiara loves you all - but she's had enough of pictures!!
Well, down to business...Kiara is an amazing miracle...she brings us daily joy! As of tomorrow, she will be five weeks old. Can you believe it? We certainly cannot...sometimes it still feels like a dream. But, then there are other moments when we just sit and stare at her beautiful little face, and it becomes increasingly real. Since its been so long since we've updated, we thought we'd just give you a brief week by week update. So here goes...
Week 1 - Kiara came home the Monday morning after she was born without any glitches. Ryan took that day off of work so the three of us just relaxed at home together - it was so special. Her birthmom signed the termination of parental rights papers on that Tuesday. We had a small celebration with Heather's parents and our attorney. Kiara did alot of sleeping this week and we just enjoyed being near her.
Week 2 - Kiara had her two week doctor's appointment this week! She weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces - she had gained a whole pound! And she measured 20.75 inches - she grew 3/4 inch! We were so excited that she was so healthy. We really started to feel like parents, as later in this week, she became really inconsolably fussy - we were worried about the possibility of colic.
Week 3 - Heather finally called the doctor's nurse to inquire about Kiara's discomfort. He didn't think she was colicky (Praise God!) but that she was lactose intolerant! So, we switched to a soy-based formula and we saw an immediate change. She was a completely different baby - in fact, Ryan teased Heather that she had switched babies on him while he was at work! She went from constant crying to being content. We are so thankful that we discovered this early on! In this week, we started noticing cute little things about Kiara - like the way she squeals, how she smiles in her sleep, and that she calms when Daddy and Mommy hold her. And, she started sleeping longer hours through the night - what a relief!! :)
Week 4 - This week, we've noticed that she's started watching us more intently. She is more alert when she's awake - she loves to look at colorful things, like the toys on her play gym and bouncy chair. She likes to be outdoors and listen to the birds. She's holding her head more steadily and even once in a while, she'll give a small smile in return to Daddy and Mommy's. And, we've been dealing with the baby acne thing - this too shall pass... :) But, she's beautiful despite that!
On the legal end of things, Kiara was served her summons to court several weeks ago. Seriously...Mr. Sullivan came to our home and actually had to touch the papers to her head so he could say that he served her!! It was really hilarious. Our first appearance in court was May 12 - this was simply to open our adoption case. Our attorney said that it couldn't have gone better - the judge has already referred to our finalization. For the past several weeks, there has been an announcement published in the Decatur Tribune stating that Kiara Joy Jackson was born, that she was being adopted and that if anyone thought he was her birthfather, he should step forward. Since the birthmother put Kiara Joy Jackson on the birth certificate, it was published this way, and the birthmother's last name was not even in the announcement so we didn't have any concerns. The publication is now over and we will be going to court June 3 to default the birthfather. DCFS needs to come into our home to make certain it is safe. After this, it will simply be a waiting game until finalization. So far, things could not have gone more smoothly - it is so obvious God's hand has been at work.
We are constantly so amazed at the faithfulness of God - but we've also been challenged and reminded that though God answered our prayers, this is not the time to cease praying. Oh no, we have a treasure that has been entrusted upon us to raise and we so desperately want her to grow up knowing of our Lord Jesus Christ and claim Him as her own. So, we've been challenged to stay in the Word and continue praying diligently so that she may learn by our example as she grows.
Here are some pictures for you to enjoy - we hope to continue to keep friends and family who live far from us updated through this website. We'll try to get some video footage of Kiara up soon. We love you all! Thank you again for all your prayers and support.
Going Home from the Hospital
Home at Last!
Pretty in Pink
Bright Eyes
Uncle Kyle's Visit
Milita Fixed Kiara's Hair
Kiara loves you all - but she's had enough of pictures!!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
God is so good! Praise the Lord!
Our attorney met with the birthmom today. Can you believe its already been 72 hours? The birthmom signed all the paperwork. We are in awe. God is so amazingly good. We give Him all the glory. Thank You, Jesus!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Details, details...
Okay, everyone....we won't hold you in suspense any longer. Its been an incredible couple of days. We arrived at the hospital on Friday night around 6:00 p.m. At that point, the doctor gave the birthmom Cervadel to try to jump start her into labor. Well, approximately 20 hours later, she had only dilated 1 centimeter more! She was pretty miserable. However, at about 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, the doctor checked her again and told us that he expected that Kiara would be delivered about an hour and a half later. Kiara was born at 4:38 p.m.!
We were able to be in the delivery room the whole time. It was an amazing experience that we praise God for allowing us to be a part of. Labor went very quickly and smoothly.
Heather notes: As I left the delivery room, my eyes briefly caught with the birthmom's. With tears streaming down my face, I mouthed, "She's beautiful." She whispered, "Thank you. It was a bittersweet moment for me - my heart was so overflooded with joy of being "Mom" to this beautiful little girl but it also ached for this young mother that just wanted the best thing for her baby. I am beyond amazed that through God's awesome grace and goodness, she choose us as the best choice for this baby.
At that point, we went directly next door to our room where the nurse had taken Kiara to examine her and clean her up. The nurse was so sweet and encouraged us to touch her and talk to her. After she took Kiara's footprints, she took Ryan's arm, stamped her footprint on it, and said, "Little girls walk all over Daddy's hearts." Ryan agrees. :) She is healthy and strong, passing all tests with flying colors. We then had the opportunity to bond with her for about an hour before she had to go to the nursery for some tests.
Since then, Kiara has been with us in our room. It has been so sweet to care for her and to enjoy bonding with her in these early moments. We love every part of her. She has a cute little button nose and abundant amount of beautiful dark hair.
Ryan says: In the first 24 hours of her life, she has sneezed exactly 38 times!
The birthmom has held her a couple of times since Kiara was born and it seems to have brought some closure for her. She signed the short-term guardianship forms with no problems and left the hospital this morning. If all goes as planned, we will take Kiara home tomorrow morning and the birthmom will sign all other forms on Tuesday around 5:00 p.m. at which point, her parental rights will be terminated and we will receive temporary guardianship until the adoption is finalized.
Thank you so much for all your prayers. We are blessed beyond anything we could have possibly imagined. Praise God for His excellent mercy - we don't deserve to be so blesed - its only by His goodness! Please continue to pray for the birthmom - pray that she will find peace and purpose in the only One she can - Jesus Christ. And, please continue to pray that we will desire and accept God's perfect plan. We love you all and look forward to continuing this blog!
We were able to be in the delivery room the whole time. It was an amazing experience that we praise God for allowing us to be a part of. Labor went very quickly and smoothly.
Heather notes: As I left the delivery room, my eyes briefly caught with the birthmom's. With tears streaming down my face, I mouthed, "She's beautiful." She whispered, "Thank you. It was a bittersweet moment for me - my heart was so overflooded with joy of being "Mom" to this beautiful little girl but it also ached for this young mother that just wanted the best thing for her baby. I am beyond amazed that through God's awesome grace and goodness, she choose us as the best choice for this baby.
At that point, we went directly next door to our room where the nurse had taken Kiara to examine her and clean her up. The nurse was so sweet and encouraged us to touch her and talk to her. After she took Kiara's footprints, she took Ryan's arm, stamped her footprint on it, and said, "Little girls walk all over Daddy's hearts." Ryan agrees. :) She is healthy and strong, passing all tests with flying colors. We then had the opportunity to bond with her for about an hour before she had to go to the nursery for some tests.
Since then, Kiara has been with us in our room. It has been so sweet to care for her and to enjoy bonding with her in these early moments. We love every part of her. She has a cute little button nose and abundant amount of beautiful dark hair.
Ryan says: In the first 24 hours of her life, she has sneezed exactly 38 times!
The birthmom has held her a couple of times since Kiara was born and it seems to have brought some closure for her. She signed the short-term guardianship forms with no problems and left the hospital this morning. If all goes as planned, we will take Kiara home tomorrow morning and the birthmom will sign all other forms on Tuesday around 5:00 p.m. at which point, her parental rights will be terminated and we will receive temporary guardianship until the adoption is finalized.
Thank you so much for all your prayers. We are blessed beyond anything we could have possibly imagined. Praise God for His excellent mercy - we don't deserve to be so blesed - its only by His goodness! Please continue to pray for the birthmom - pray that she will find peace and purpose in the only One she can - Jesus Christ. And, please continue to pray that we will desire and accept God's perfect plan. We love you all and look forward to continuing this blog!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Introducing...
Kiara Joy
6 pounds, 8 ounces
20 inches long
Everyone is healthy. We'll be updating with details soon. Love you all.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Wow...
Ok, we kinda knew this yesterday but it wasn't certain yet so we didn't share it. In the state of Illinois, there is something called short-term guardianship that allows an adoptive child to be released to her adoptive parents as soon as she is permitted to leave the hospital. Which, in our case, means that IF the birthmom goes into labor and delivers tomorrow, Kiara could be home with us as early as SUNDAY!!! And, the birthmom has agreed to consent to giving us short-term guardianship until her paperwork is signed.
We still need to keep in mind that the birthmom cannot sign paperwork until 72 hours after birth. So, there is still a period of time that she could change her mind. With that said, at this point, we have no reason to believe that she will do so - but things change sometimes. We know God's plan is perfect - there will be no surprises for Him. That's a comforting thought!
Our attorney has asked that no one come to the hospital for the birthmom's and our protection. If everything goes as planned, we're sure we will be seeing many of you over the next few weeks.
So, since we'll be camping out at the hospital for the next couple of days, we probably won't be updating much. Please continue to pray. We love you all!
We still need to keep in mind that the birthmom cannot sign paperwork until 72 hours after birth. So, there is still a period of time that she could change her mind. With that said, at this point, we have no reason to believe that she will do so - but things change sometimes. We know God's plan is perfect - there will be no surprises for Him. That's a comforting thought!
Our attorney has asked that no one come to the hospital for the birthmom's and our protection. If everything goes as planned, we're sure we will be seeing many of you over the next few weeks.
So, since we'll be camping out at the hospital for the next couple of days, we probably won't be updating much. Please continue to pray. We love you all!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Here we go...
Heather writes: Well, I made it to the doctor's appointment this morning - with 30 extra minutes to spare! :) The birthmom seemed at ease and really accepted my presence.
I heard the most beautiful sound this morning - Kiara Joy's heartbeat! She is healthy and strong. The birthmom had an ultrasound this morning. We didn't ever get a good view of her because of where she is positioned. But, below is a little sneak peak of her arm!
The doctor said that the birthmom hasn't really dilated too much from last week. But, she is adamant about being induced. She says she's ready to be able to put this behind her. It was for this reason that the doctor ordered an ultrasound to make certain Kiara is healthy and ready for delivery. The birthmom is being admitted to the hospital tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. At that point, the doctor's goal is to get her to dilate more in hopes that once she does, she will go into labor on her own. We are expecting that a baby will most likely be born this weekend!
From the both of us: What an amazing couple of weeks! We are in awe of the orchestration of our great, awesome God!
From the beginning, we have tried to guard our hearts, not get too emotionally involved for fear that Kiara Joy won't be ours. But, we have learned that that was impossible. We have never met this beautiful little girl but we are hopelessly and completely in love with her. We know that things may not turn out as we plan but we take hope in that our sovereign God's plan is perfect. Regardless of the outcome, we give Him absolute praise for the work He has done in our lives throughout the last couple of weeks and for the opportunity He has given us to love a family in need.
We don't talk about our infertility much because of the pain that comes of thinking of it. God knew we needed this "detour" (at least, that's how we look at it in our humanness) to grow us, bring us closer to Him, and begin breaking our self-sufficiency. We're asking you, our dear friends, to remind us that our lives are meant only to bring HIM glory in whatever happens in the weeks, months, and years to come.
Please continue to pray for our birthmom. She has a need for a Savior and doesn't even recognize it yet. Please pray that God will open her heart. Pray for her - as she goes into labor, for a healthy delivery. Pray for her hurting heart. Pray for a healthy Kiara Joy.
And please pray for us - that our will will be that God's will is done.
We love you all so much! Thank you for your overwhelming support! We'll update as soon as possible.
I heard the most beautiful sound this morning - Kiara Joy's heartbeat! She is healthy and strong. The birthmom had an ultrasound this morning. We didn't ever get a good view of her because of where she is positioned. But, below is a little sneak peak of her arm!
The doctor said that the birthmom hasn't really dilated too much from last week. But, she is adamant about being induced. She says she's ready to be able to put this behind her. It was for this reason that the doctor ordered an ultrasound to make certain Kiara is healthy and ready for delivery. The birthmom is being admitted to the hospital tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. At that point, the doctor's goal is to get her to dilate more in hopes that once she does, she will go into labor on her own. We are expecting that a baby will most likely be born this weekend!
From the both of us: What an amazing couple of weeks! We are in awe of the orchestration of our great, awesome God!
From the beginning, we have tried to guard our hearts, not get too emotionally involved for fear that Kiara Joy won't be ours. But, we have learned that that was impossible. We have never met this beautiful little girl but we are hopelessly and completely in love with her. We know that things may not turn out as we plan but we take hope in that our sovereign God's plan is perfect. Regardless of the outcome, we give Him absolute praise for the work He has done in our lives throughout the last couple of weeks and for the opportunity He has given us to love a family in need.
We don't talk about our infertility much because of the pain that comes of thinking of it. God knew we needed this "detour" (at least, that's how we look at it in our humanness) to grow us, bring us closer to Him, and begin breaking our self-sufficiency. We're asking you, our dear friends, to remind us that our lives are meant only to bring HIM glory in whatever happens in the weeks, months, and years to come.
Please continue to pray for our birthmom. She has a need for a Savior and doesn't even recognize it yet. Please pray that God will open her heart. Pray for her - as she goes into labor, for a healthy delivery. Pray for her hurting heart. Pray for a healthy Kiara Joy.
And please pray for us - that our will will be that God's will is done.
We love you all so much! Thank you for your overwhelming support! We'll update as soon as possible.
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. ~ Isaiah 26:3-4
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. ~ Psalm 19:14
But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." ~ Psalm 31:14
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ~ Romans 11:33
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