Reflections and News

(We braved the crowds and tried out Boo at the Zoo this year.  I have no idea if Ella is upset in this picture or just trying to show something that is in her mouth—thanks lady that took it for not telling us.) 

You know that saying, “Life is what happens when you are making other plans”? Well, I’ve been thinking lately and I think that it is pretty darn true. Please indulge me for several moments while I travel down memory lane:

December 2001—Jack and I married with dreams of having babies right away. What a disappointment when that didn’t happen! We thought for sure we would just start having babies. As the months went by we started to get a little worried, but figured there was a reason. Well, two years later along came our first three children—Angie, Sunny, and Logan. We got an instant family of THREE little ones—2, 4, and 6 years old. What a ride that was! At the same time we felt so blessed and realized that this was what God had in mind for us all along. I learned a lot that first year, and I am still learning the same lessons every day.

So, after this we still wanted more children, and really hoped to have a baby. We started in with a slew of infertility treatments and got certified to adopt at the same time. After a few years of tears and disappointments, we were blessed with our first baby and fourth child through adoption—Ella Anne. We were all so happy to have a baby, and felt very blessed. Believe it or not, after a year we felt impressed to certify to adopt again. However, we had no idea that we would be getting Conner so soon after that. We felt so full, so happy, and so complete.

Because we have been so blessed and just feel so right about our family, we decided that we wouldn’t adopt any more and that we were most likely “done.” That doesn’t mean we didn’t want more children, we just felt like adoption was not our path any more. Well—we were right. Remember the whole “life …other plans…” thing? We—ell…….. (in case you haven’t already heard)……..

We are now 14 weeks pregnant! We are SO HAPPY! We have not done any infertility treatments or anything like that so this was a big surprise to us. And we have been married for almost NINE YEARS. And it has also been a huge testimony building experience—I mean, we always felt like our other five children were meant to be in our home and be our children, but now it just seems so right—these wonderful five kids have come to us through adoption, and now we will have another child through birth. Heavenly Father knew that we had to wait to get pregnant so our other children could come to our home first.

Can you say shock/disbelief/wonder/awe/amazement/humility??????

This is our THIRD baby, our SIXTH child, and our FIRST pregnancy. (How fun is that to explain to your OBGYN?)

God is GOOD—and He loves His children.

Just had to share the news….