The Babies Room!!!

Can you imagine how much joy that brings me even just typing it....
Last year I kind of gave up on ever having a baby and turned the empty room into a beautiful guest room...well only 1 year and 4 months later we found out we would finally be getting a baby. So we started planning what we would want this room to look like. And if you know me...I don't do anything small. And even though I had been imagining this room for...oh 6 years..I actually started picking things out..that I could buy!! No more dreamin!!

The bedding that inspired the color scheme...
Thank You Target!!

My most favorite room/project that I have EVER done!

This was easier then it looks...
And I can say that Morgan...because I painted the darn thing!

My most favorite thing in this room....
the beautiful baby that occupies it!
Love him..Like crazy love him!!

More images of Baby Room.....

This chair was given to me from My Grandparents that I
had recovered in a fabric that would match the room.
It is the most comfy chair...I find myself falling asleep in it..lots!

My favorite part of the room...
I see this picture every time I walk into this room.
So when I am feeding the babe at 2am I see her beautiful face...
and I am reminded why I am so blessed to be feeding that sweet baby!

Dresser that we turned into a changing table as well!

This is a family portrait of Morg, Gavin and I...
My 6year old niece Peighton was the artist!

Re-used the frames I had in the guest room.

His Birth Story

The day that changed my life...

So the plan was set...when Erica went into labor she would call us to let us know. We would wait at home until she got closer to delivery. Well it was Tuesday and I was at work taking a nap (awesome) and my phone rang...with her name in BOLD letters. Side Note: I was only taking a nap because the night before I was up all night passing a kidney stone. Yes, I am that tough...no ER even needed that time. So I swiftly answer the phone all cool, like she is just calling to say HEEYYY! She informs me that her water has broke and she is on the way to the hospital. That was at about 1:30ish. So I jump up, run upstairs let my co-workers know and call Morgan. See he drove me to work because I was still doped up from the kidney stone and didn't think it was safe to drive. So Morgan picks me up and we head home. I want to shower and get cute so the first time I meet her family, my baby (not like he cares) I don't look like I had been napping at work.
And that is when the waiting began.... It felt like forever. We would get texts or phone calls to let us know that she was progressing or better yet NOT progressing. The hospital was behind and short staffed so they wouldn't do anything to speed up her labor. So we hung out....my friend Brittney came over to play games with us and help distract me from loosing my mind. What a task she had....Ya did Good Brit!
Then at 3:15ish in the AM...my phone rings. It was finally that time. Morgan and I jump in the car camera in hand (Morg did ya check to make sure the battery wasn't dead?!@?!). Off to Jordan Valley...
When we arrived we met her Dad who was waiting in the waiting room. Her step-mom had gone down to check her progress...when we hear her scream that its time!! We run down to the room just in time to see little Gavin come out. I actually didn't see anything...there were a lot of people and I kind of left my body for a second.
He was born at 4:24 am...
We watched him get cleaned up, weighed and measured. Then the nurse asked..well it will be better if I put it in script form...
Nurse: Are you the adoptive Mom?
Me: Yes
Nurse: Here is your wrist band.
(Side Note: the original plan was for her step-mom to get the second one because she would be spending most of the time in the hospital)
Me: Ummm...I think there is a mistake. I think ----- is getting one.
Nurse: Is your name Brittney?
Me: Yes (last time I checked, still out of my body)
Nurse: Then this is for you, I have been given instructions that you get this.
That is when I returned to my body and started to loose it. This was a huge gesture from Erica and I was so excited.
Then they gave Gavin to Erica and she wasn't feeling very awesome and was uncomfortable so she told them to give him to me.
I at first was reserved about it because we didn't want Erica to think that we were all about that baby. We wanted her to know that we were there for her and because we loved her. Well she insisted that it was ok...

That is when my life changed forever! I knew the second that I held him that he was mine! I knew that my Heavenly Father had found a way to get that baby into my arms! I wish I could describe the feeling that I had but I still can not find the adequate words.


Then the proud Dad held him and then we gave him to his Beautiful Birth Mom! We then left the room to give her some time...after a little bit we were able to go into the nursery with him and watch him be bathed and checked. We were in there for about an hour and a 1/2. During that time Erica was texting me saying, Britt can you believe your finally a Mama? I wish I could even begin to explain how much I love this girl.
Then we took him back to the nursery for some Erica time!
We told her that we would only come back to the hospital if she wanted us to....that this was her time to be with him.
We got home..climbed into bed...and an hour later she called and told us to come back up.... :)
Placement happened the following Friday in the hospital. Placement is when the birth mom signs her relinquishment papers and we sign our papers. We did this in separate rooms and at the same time. I had not been able to see her that day and was so anxious to see her. I was excited for him..but just NEEDED to see her! I remember walking into the room and sitting right next to her on the bed. And we hugged with Gavin in between us. The world stopped for a couple of minutes. I have never felt the spirit so strong as I did in that room. The amount of Love was overwhelming.
We then all hugged and cried some more and some more. Then she was ready to leave...but not before she watched me attempt to change him. That was comical to say the least. We then hugged again and she left with her amazing family in tow. We couldn't leave yet because we had to watch this stupid video and his temp was 1 point below the normal. While we were waiting in the hospital she sent me the sweetest text messages.
We finally were able to take him home to our house which was full of family members...all so excited to meet him. So I thought the day he was born was the best day of my life...it wasn't. It was the day I got to take him home!

How we met...

So where do I start....
Well I guess from the beginning...
On December 22nd we went to our friends house Eric and Amber to meet there new baby Mason. As we left Morgan and I got in the car and looked at each other...we gave a look like, who is going to have to say it first. And that "it" wasn't, I want a baby or when are we going to have a baby like it usually was...the "it" was, I am exhausted just watching them! It was then that we decided that if it was just going to be the two of us for the rest of our lives that...wait for it...we would be ok! It had taken us 6 years to even say the words let alone actually believe it....and we did believe it.
So there we were the next night December 23rd eating some dinner talking about what we needed to pack for our cruise, when I got a text. The text said...
Hi my name is Erica, heard that you want to adopt a baby?
It was at that point that I looked straight up and said, Lord you really do have a sense of humor.
Let me back up...about a month before my brother had called me at work and said that his co-worker had a friend that was wanting to place a baby for adoption. She had picked another couple but was feeling frustrated with them. My brother asked if he could give her some info about us. I had just finished our adoption blog and so I told him to give her that info and if she wanted to get a hold of us then he could give her my number. After that I immediately put it out of my mind...this had happened lots of times and nothing ever came from it so it was automatic for me to forget. Well after that Erica looked at our blog and wanted to meet us. My brother would only give her our info if she was 100% serious about this. He didn't want to get my hopes up for nothing...what a good brother I have!
So back to the text...
We started texting just little things and decided to meet for dinner when we got back from our cruise. On June 8th we meet at our favorite mexican restaurant Morelias. Well she knew what we looked like but we had no idea what she looked like. We walked in and there she was. They tell you when you start the adoption process that you will find YOUR birth mom. Well I had no reason to believe that until this point...I knew she was the one like I knew that I wanted to marry Morgan. Dinner was amazing..barely ate anything...it felt like we were having dinner with friends. At dinner she gave me ultra sound pictures of the little babe. (Earlier in the week she had called us to tell us that she had found out that it was a baby boy.) We didn't talk about any specific things we just told funny stories and tried to get to know each other. After dinner was over Morgan and I sat in the car and cried. The tears didn't come right away they came after a long silence. I sat there feeling so many emotions...emotions I still can not put into words.
We started texting almost every day, went bowling and Dr appointments. I was able to go to her 20 week ultra sound...sat there with my mouth wide open, completely amazed of what a miracle pregnancy was.
Erica became a part of our family, we still feel that way. Going through her pregnancy (well 26 weeks of it) with her was bitter sweet. She would send me the sweetest texts that would say, We both miss you..Gavin needs to hear his Mommy's voice. Heavenly Father carried us through this. It felt so natural...I truly felt that my Heavenly Father had brought her to me.

All Mine

Let me introduce our Son
Gavin James Thompson
Born 06.08.2011
4:24 am
6 lbs 3 oz 19 in

Officially joined our family
06.10.2011

More posts coming very soon....

The MOST stylish yard sale!

Ladies, Friends, Family, Anybody that reads this blog....
Morgan and I are having a Yard Sale to spread the word that...
ADOPTION IS AN OPTION
Thanks to my dear friend Eric for that slogan!
The Yard Sale is this Saturday May 14th from 8am - 2pm
Location:
8085 South Leslie Drive (3905 West)
Even though we are still taking donations for items we would also love to see you at the
Yard Sale
There will be a lot of AWESOME items !
There will also be a Bake Sale with lots of yummy treats!!
Thank You for all of your support!

Paper Wreathe

So the other day I was surfing the web checking out some blogs and realized that...
1. People are really talented.
2. Some people have a lot of time on there hands.
And 3. I can craft just as good (or better) then other people!
So I decided to post my FIRST tutorial. I give you....
The Paper Wreathe
The one below is the first one I ever made that was on top of my Christmas tree. I have made a couple sense then but decided to document the making of my last one.

So first what you need to do is gather your supplies:

Foam Wreathe: I purchased mine at the dollar store
5 sheets of 12 x 12 Scrapbook paper: It is muccho important to like both sides of the paper, because both sides are visible when the wreathe is completed.
1 pencil
Box of your basic fabric pins
And your choice of ribbon to hang wreathe

This project seems like it would take a lot of time...it really doesn't. I rolled all of the paper while I watched the movie Hairspray. And to actually complete the wreathe only took me 1 Greys Anatomy episode and 1 episode of Project Runway....Yes this is how I measure my time. It's just something simple you can work on while you catch up with your DVR.

The first thing you need to do is cut your paper. I cut the paper in the middle to give me
2--6 x 12 pieces. Then I cut the paper in strips that are 3/4 inches wide. After you have all of your paper cut...its time to roll. That's when I pour a pepsi (you can drink anything you want) grab a bowl and start to roll. I use the bowl to put all of my curls in so they don't go everywhere. You want to roll your paper super tight: like below

Then after I have all my paper rolled I start to assemble. Your paper will stay in the curl so you have to stretch it out so you have the shape that you want.

Then I start pinning the paper in. I only use one pin in either end of the paper. I usually start on the outside edge and work in. It doesn't matter which way you start. Its easier to do one direction and then go another way but by the time you are done you will just be shoving in paper anywhere that needs it. When you start to get toward the middle I will place the pin in the middle of the curl so it will lay flatter. This way is also good to fill in space.

When you have all of your paper pinned in...and make sure you go back and cover up any holes you left on the wreathe. The good thing is that this wreathe is very east to manipulate and shape the way you want it. I usually put my ribbon on first before I start pinning but it doesn't matter. I usually never do the back of this wreath because I want it to hang flat. If you have a door or window that you are hanging it on and will see the reverse then go ahead and do the back..you will probably need 3 extra sheets of paper. MAKE SURE...you can not see any of the wreath from the side...huge pet peeve!

And ta-da...Its so stinkin cute when it is all finished!!