Kennedys First Visitors

I don’t know if I mentioned that I am soooo glad to be home. Kennedy, Kassidy and I had surprise visitors yesterday. Grandpa Mike and Nana stopped by to meet their new granddaughter. Grandma Kare and Grandpa George came up on Friday and Aunt Desi and Aunt Jen came on Saturday. Travis went on the cattle drive Saturday and came home pooped.
So, about getting home. I got to the Detroit airport at 2pm. I was flying standby so I was hoping to get on the salt lake flight. There was a flight from Detroit to Salt Lake, the only one of the day, at 4:35. I had a seat on the flight. The Utah ICPC was not able to clear me in time to get on the flight and I was devastated. I cried for 30 minutes. I tried to get on the 5:30 flight to Cincinnati but it was full. I got on the 7:04 flight that left at 9:15. I arrived in Cincinnati at 10:30pm. The airline paid for me a room and I spent about 5 hours in the hotel. I was able to get on the 6:15 flight from Cincinnati barely. My ticket was messed up and they almost didn’t let me on. All of the other flights for the day were full so I was really blessed to get on that plane.
Kennedy did great on the flight. She had a rough patch for about 5 minutes but after that she did great. There were so many wonderful people that helped me. I am so grateful that I am home. I love the mountains and the dirt and the sagebrush.
Kassidy and Dad are so happy that Kennedy and I are home. Kassidy and her friends had a banner hanging in the window. Travis had the house all clean and we were able to relax a bit. I was exhausted but Kennedy decided that she wasn’t going to take a bottle from dad for awhile. It was nice to get back to my bed and my puppy didn’t forget me.

We're Home

Kennedy and I arrived in salt lake this morning. I will be resting a bit but if you want to come by in the afternoon, (after 3pm) that would be fine.

p.s. The mountains are awesome

minutes

I had more minutes added to our phones so you can call again, up to 5oo minutes.

Kennedy smiled at me for the first time today. She's awfully cute.

Adoption update

Our paperwork was sent to the Michigan ICPC today. Please pray with us that this will go quickly so that Kennedy and I can go home.
I would love to talk to you but we are almost out of minutes. You can email me, post a comment, or call me if you have Verison. My minutes reset on Friday.

Another Sunday

We are meeting with the agency in the morning. Kennedy has started to stare at the lights and she is watching me move around. Her neck is getting strong. She can hold her head up really well. There were swans with their babies on the lake this morning. There were several geese with their babies on the grass this evening. Of course, I was taking pictures from the apartment.

Our adoption story

Last May we decided that we were done with fertility treatments. We knew that we wanted another child and that she was not going to come to us through my stomach. We requested the paperwork and started to fill it out. We started our adoption classes on July 26th. We attended the national adoption conference in August. Glenn Beck was the keynote speaker. His talk helped so much to put the entire process in perspective and helped us with the multiple questions we had. His comments were very timely.
We finished the classes and had our homestudy the end of August. I was very nervous about the homestudy. Our house has never been so clean. It was very interesting to fill out the adoption questionnaire. There were a lot of strange questions but we got it done fairly quickly. We were approved in mid - October. About October 22nd, I was getting on an elevator at our new (not yet opened) hospital. I heard a girls voice as clear as day, it said, "Mom, I'm coming".
We got our profile online quickly so that we could get ourselves "out there". We took our picture in front of the horses. We lured the horses to the fence with apples and corn stalks. Our case worker thought that we needed more professional pictures, but we felt strongly that we needed to use those pictures. When our file went to the committee for approval, the supervisor looked at it and said, “Yep, that Travis and Kristin.” He thought that the picture captured our real lives very well.
We didn't hear anything for awhile. Our case worker had resigned and we were assigned a new one. We met her in January. When we went to meet her, she told us that a request had been sent to all of the agencies in the US for adoptive parents that had horses. She happened to be in the office that day and sent off our profile. On Valentines day, the agency supervisor, from LDS family services, called to tell us that we had been selected by a birthmother in Michigan. We prayed about it and felt that it was the right situation. We had a million questions. Travis and I are information hogs. We want to know everything and struggle when we don’t know. We peppered the agency with questions and they were really good about trying to get us the information. Michigan’s agency worked really hard to get us the information we needed as well. We were planning on having Lily come to Utah but she went into labor just before Easter and so the doctor wouldn't let her fly.
Michigan is a very challenging state to adopt in and our case worker had to rewrite our entire homestudy. It seemed like every other day we had to take or email something else to the office. It was an emotional rollercoaster. One day we were very optimistic. The next day we were sure that it wasn't going to work out. I thought infertility treatments were bad, that emotional ride was nothing compared to this.
We were able to talk to Lily a few times on the phone. She was always so delightful to talk too. Lily was due April 25th but we expected her to go early. We had bags packed for a month, ready to head out the door at any moment. It made living life difficult. We were hesitant to schedule anything because we were not sure when we were leaving. We had rooms reserved in Lansing. 4 days before Lily was due, we were told that we would have to stay in a different county. The Lord set it up so that we could rent an apartment, saving us a ton of money, (but causing me great stress).
On the 24th of April, I spoke with our caseworker in Michigan and he asked if we had our fingerprints done. We panicked because it takes up to 4 weeks to get fingerprints processed. Our caseworker worked some magic and arranged for us to have expedited background checks and get our fingerprints done on Friday. Travis drove down from work in the afternoon and we were able to get the fingerprints done. The fingerprint people were so nice. They printed off extra copies for us to bring to Michigan as well as putting them in the electronic system.
We went to dinner on Friday night and I fell asleep at 8 oclock on the couch. Saturday morning Travis heard my phone ringing. He brought me the phone, there was a message from our caseworker in Michigan. Lily was in Labor. We made our arrangements, got the only flight to Lansing set up and headed to Travis’ parents. Travis’ dad took us to the airport. My sister-in-law got us standby tickets, we were able to get seats all together for both of the flights. While we were in the airport, our caseworker called to tell us that Kennedy had been born. She had aspirated some amniotic fluid and was in the nursery with an IV and oxygen. Her apgars were 8 and 9. We arrived in Lansing in at 10:30pm and headed to the bed and breakfast place next to the hospital where we were staying. We went to the Hospital and met Lily for the first time. She was surprised when she saw us, the only pictures she had seen of us were faxed copies of our profile. She later told me that I had a beautiful family. I had to agree. Lily took me into the nursery to see Kennedy for the first time. She was just what I had seen in my dream a few years ago. She had so much brown hair and a pretty perfect little face and body. The nurses let Travis go into the nursery, Lily placed Kennedy in her daddy’s arms. It was the most precious thing I have ever seen. We were able to spend a lot of time with Lily while she was in the hospital. We were able to meet her son John. He was so cute. He liked Travis right off the bat. He even gave me a hug when I left.
Monday morning Kennedy’s IV came out and we were able to take her to a patient room. Kassidy got to meet her for the first time. We put her in Kassidy’s arms and she said, now she’s my little sister right? Kassidy was so sweet to her little sister. We took Kennedy out of the hospital on Monday.

Court

* Well, court is over. The birthfather showed up and is trying for custody. I wanted to be there to support Lily but was told that it would be best if I didn't go.
* The lawyer is going to file something to try to get us home next week. We don't need to be here while the court battle ensues.

Thursday

We had a great day today. We went to lunch with Lily and Kathy (caseworker). We ate way too much and had a great time. I think that Lily is one of the most amazing people I have ever met.

Rhonda and I visited the Detroit Temple yesterday. It was beautiful.

Kennedy didn't sleep a bit last night so I am exhausted but, that's the deal.

Court is tomorrow. We are praying that it goes well.

Tuesday

Rhonda came yesterday. We promptly got lost for about an hour. Travis rescued us with the help of the internet.

Kennedy had a doctors appointment today. She is up to 8 pounds and 4 ounces and 22 inches. She is growing like a weed. Her blessing pimples have arrived and she is staying awake longer.

We are anxious to get home. We are praying that court goes well and that the ICPC process goes quickly. we are so grateful for all of your prayers. The Lord has truely blessed this entire process and we are so grateful to have Him in our lives.

Mothers day

Kennedy and I had a nice day. Kennedy let me sleep in, I thought that was a nice gift. I want to thank you for your kind words, well wishes and prayers. We are anxious to get home and introduce Kennedy to ours friends and family.

Friday

Today was a nice day. We went for a walk along the lake. Kennedy decided to stay awake for most of the night, so I am a bit tired. We are looking forward to the court date, we are praying that the birthfather doesn't contest. I am anxious to get home and show Kennedy our home. We are looking forward to introduce her to our friends and family.

Thursday

Well, its happened. I only had to go 1600 miles from home. Travis and Kass sent me some beautiful flowers for mothers day. Kennedy is going to make me breakfast in bed like Kassy always does for mothers day.