... that we had a baby!!!!!!!!!!

Our little Jas was the most perfect wonderful baby! But she had some meconium in her lungs at birth and her oxygen levels were not as high as they should be, so she was taken to the NICU a few hours after birth and put on oxygen. A few days later, she developed pneumonia, which irritated her lungs even further and meant she needed to go on antibiotics. She ended up being in the NICU for three weeks, which was very tough, but probably worked out for the best. I was on the edge of a physical and emotional breakdown and really needed some time off to recuperate from everything, so it was nice to have a little break and know that she was being taken care of. I liked all of the nurses in the NICU and got to know all of them pretty well after visiting two or three times a day for three weeks! 

She had lots and lots of visitors in the NICU during her stay, so many people came to show Jas how much they loved her!!!

It was a little frustrating having her in the NICU because everything about her was so healthy except for her breathing. She was gaining weight, eating well, and so so happy! But we just had to be patient and wait for her to take her sweet time getting healthy! Good thing we love her so much, she was already showing us her stubborn side!

... that she was finally here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

March 25, 2016

I felt so lucky that Jasmine had invited me to the hospital for the birth of our daughter! It was a crazy, wonderful, exhausting, long, long, LONG day, and definitely one that I will never forget.

... that we had a birth family?

People told us that buying a house was stressful and crazy.

It was a piece of cake compared to everything else we had going on.

Two days after Angie had texted me, we arranged to meet this couple that was looking for a family for their child. The birth mother and I both felt an immediate connection, and we were so anxious to meet each other! Thankfully, Angie and her husband agreed to come along as well for support. We took them to dinner and talked for a few hours and got to know them and two of their sweet boys.

Jasmine and Johnny were kind, smart, and just wanted to do what was best for their family. We all decided we were going to see if we could make this adoption work, but it was very complicated. Over the next two months, we worked with two adoption agencies and an adoption lawyer to make sure we could get everything in place to make this adoption actually happen. And on top of that, I texted Jasmine every day to make sure she was okay and visited them multiple times a week. During the two and a half months before the birth, we spent a LOT of time together. We went bowling, threw the boys birthday parties, went to the doctor, went shopping, got our nails done, and ate all the food. It wasn't all pretty all of the time. It was one of the hardest and most stressful things I have ever been through in my whole life. But Matt and I tried our best to make sure they were happy and taken care of while they were here.

It seemed like it took forever, but FINALLY Jasmine's induction date came and we were going to the hospital!

... that a lot of exciting things started happening!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that they are all over, I can finally call them exciting.

And happy, horrible, miraculous, wonderful, miserable, terrifying, humbling, infuriating, amazing, and all of the other things that they were while we were going through them.

On the day of our 4 year anniversary, Matt and I had set up an appointment to see a townhouse in West Valley and planned to go to lunch afterward. As I was driving to meet Matt at the townhouse, I got a text from his cousin, Angie. Her text said that she had heard that we were thinking about adopting and she wanted to know if we wanted to meet with a woman that had reached out to her about a child she wanted to place with a family.

My first reaction was "Whaaaaaaaaaat?"
And then I had a feeling that I will never forget. As I was driving down I-15, I suddenly felt as though my heart had leapt out of my chest. My heart burst with happiness and tears sprang to my eyes. There was a baby that needed a home.

But as quickly as that feeling came, my rational mind stepped in to bring me back down to earth. Could this even be real? Who are these people? Are they lying? Would they really give us their baby? Could we even do this right now? Are we ready? Could this even really possibly work out?

When I got to the house, we walked through the whole place and decided that we actually liked it pretty well. I showed Matt the text from his cousin and asked him what he thought. While he was very surprised, he thought that it wouldn't hurt to look into every opportunity that comes our way! So I texted Angie back and told her that we would be interested in meeting this family and seeing if we could adopt their baby.

Ever since we moved back into the in-laws' house, I had been praying that Matt and I would find a home. We had decided that what we wanted most was to have a family, but in order to have a family we had to have a home first. So I made a deal with Heavenly Father: if He found us a home, I would do everything in my power to move forward with adoption. I remember standing in the driveway of the townhouse and thinking that if Heavenly Father wanted these things to work out for us, we could possibly have both a home and a baby very, very soon.

What happened next was the fastest, longest, most stressful three months of my life.

Six weeks after we saw the house, we closed on it and moved ourselves in!

And it could not be a more perfect house for us! Exhibit A: ChrisTina loves the house.

(especially the backyard)

Exhibit B: Matty loves the house.

And he also loves me because what you can't see in this picture is the rain AND HAIL that tried to kill him while he was outside grilling us steak for dinner. I love my Matty!

Exhibit C: West Valley is our kind of people.

That is a beautiful grey Dodge Charger with black racing stripes and #ForPaul stickers that I spotted in the parking lot of our local Smith's. This person is destined to become my best friend someday.

So obviously, everything about our new house is perfect... except for maybe a little incident with the water heater needing to be drained and rinsed out

And the delightful plethora of lawn ornaments that were left in the backyard for us to clean up

And these painted vines in the downstairs that make me sigh every time I look at them.

Do I look like an 80 year old grandma? Get those vines out of here.

Other than that, the house is perfect and we could not love it more! The ward is great and we already feel right at home. After 4 years of marriage, Matt and I finally have a real place that we can call all our own and it is AWESOME!

I love having a home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

... that we love the Williams!

Another reason to come to Vegas is the Williams, of course! They always allow us to come and stay, even if they have a brand new baby, they're all sick, and they have to kick the kids out of their bedrooms for us. They are the nicest! And despite the fact that Matt told everyone that we were going to Vegas to see Mariah, we really went down to meet little miss Tessa!

What a cutie!

Las Vegas is always jam packed with fun, like installing the new screen door,

(Byron insisted that Matt be the one to use the hacksaw. Get it???)

Slurpee runs,

Playing in the hot tub,

And even homemade Brazilian lemonade.

Those Williams can throw a serious party.

We love you guys!!!

... THAT I LOVE MC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I found out that Mariah Carey was doing a residence in Vegas, I told Matt in no uncertain terms that we were going. Absolutely. No matter what. Period.

#dreamsdocometrue

Matty even let me walk around the mall at Caesar's, do some shopping, and get some delicious gelato before the concert started. He really loves me.

The concert was AMAZING.

Things Mariah was pushed out onto the stage in:
-A pink convertible
-A jet ski
-A giant bed
-A row of fake movie theater seats
-A mini stage that elevated her even more than the normal stage

She is my idol.

Mariah, I love you so much. And I'm sorry that it looks like I'm trying to grab your boob in this pic.

After the concert, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Shake Shack.

I had been wanting to take Matt there ever since our last trip to Vegas, and it was just as delicious as I remembered. All in all, a wonderful, magical, unforgettable, incredible, unbelievable, indescribable, unbeatable evening.

I LOVE MC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!