Blessed

A Heavenly Conversation...

2010-07-20T00:30:00.000-07:00

A Heavenly Conversation

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow,
but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have
to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you.
And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the small child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand
when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words
you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will
teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach
you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach
you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth
could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave
now, please tell me my angel's name."

God said, You will simply call her, "Mom."

Most of our family and friends know we are pregnant, but now that I am in my 22nd week it is starting to feel more real... literally I can feel HER (its a girl) several times a day! So excited to be this little ones Mom.

:) Simple but to the point.

2010-02-15T12:38:00.000-08:00

I don't have a lot to say other than the same 'ol. We are so blessed. We went to a class called marriage refresh at our friend's church this weekend. It was AMAZING. We learned so much. I am so happy, proud, lucky, loved, pampered, blessed. My husband is awesome, I tell him that all the time and I hope he believes me. He just is so sweet. I am so unbelievably lucky. He is my prince charming, my knight in shining armor, my Edward. He loves me so much and makes sure that not only do I know it but everyone around me knows it too. I love you Joe. You are for sure my better half. Happy Valentines. Happy Anniversary, happy everything. February has so far been a great month.

Feeling Strong.

2010-02-09T18:16:00.000-08:00

So after a really emotional January things are going really well! For anyone who I didn't tell, we had another miscarriage at the end of January. We were just about to announce that we were 12 weeks pregnant when it happened. :-(

BUT... it is all okay! Through that experienced I realized how many people care about me and my family. The friends who made meals, stopped by, called, emailed, and just cared was amazing. It was the first time I felt that we had been held up by caring hands going through a miscarriage. I do know that others have cared in the past but I didn't allow them in. Now as we go forward with fertility treatments (shots and iui) I know I have the support system that I always wished for! Not to mention my ever supportive and consistently amazing cheerleaders Joe and TJ.

I am so thankful for where we live. I am so excited that Joe's brother Daniel and his wife Stephanie are moving with their daughter Evy. It will be fun to have family close by again. She is pregnant with another one too so it will be so fun to help and be around for that! I love babies!

I seriously love life! God is good.

In love with life.

2010-02-06T02:08:00.000-08:00

I love my life. It is far from perfect but it is my life. I love all the things that my trials have taught me, and even though I don't want more trials I LOVE having the knowledge that comes from them.

I was called as my Ward's Nursery Leader and I love it! The kids are amazing and you can tell that all the parents love their little ones. They are learning to recognize Jesus and listen so much better. They keep me motivated to be a better mom.

I am also really learning to enjoy home school. It is so very hard, but worth all the effort. TJ is doing amazing and I am re-learning so many fun things. I can't wait to see what we will be doing next. We have done sculptures, studied the Trojan Horse, learned the difference between insects and spiders, learned the difference between Pyramid worship and Zuggurat worship, and he can counut forever by 2s 5s and I am sure much more than he is letting on.

Its late so I am going to end this but I want to keep this more up to date, so I will give it a try and we will see!

Love you all Friends and Family!!!!

Okay...so here are the rules.

2010-01-02T23:43:00.000-08:00

So I haven't posted in forever. I am not sure if I am the best blogger in the world. Oh well, I can't be the best at everything. I decided tonight that for 2010 I would sit down with the new year and instead of making resolutions I would discuss the rules for this year.

You see I understand that I can't control everything...mostly. But after two years of pretty stressful stuff, I am ready for a change. So I am not asking for much. The stress level doesn't have to change...I just want the STRESSES to change. Is that really too much to ask for? And I am not talking about the stuff that is totally my fault. I understand some things I have to change for myself.

I remember being a child and being told, okay wait your turn. I even remember telling my self in adolescence, don't worry it'll be your turn. And sooner or later it was! When I was 21 my grandfather told me okay Brittany you are living right, loving right, and have a good attitude, its gotta be your turn just keep the hope and faith. Guess what! He was right 2 months later I met Joe and it was my BIG TURN!!

So this year is MY TURN 2010! You hear me. Living right, loving right, good attitude. I am set. So that is the one rule for this year. IT IS MY TURN. (And I have a lot of things I am waiting for so its not like 2010 can't deliver at least some.)

:-)

An Infertility Blog

2009-09-17T01:58:00.000-07:00

So I need a place to voice my feelings about infertility, but didn't want it to reflect on our family's experiences on the blog. So I started a new blog. Its kinda honest and it will not be a public blog. it will be invite only until I have either gotten comfortable or feel that it will help others more than I will get judged for my feelings. Anyone who has been on this journey before can understand how much of a emotional and personal journey it is compared to just the physicality of it. So if you are interested in hearing about our infertility journey than let me know. But so you know it pretty honest. Pretty graphic (lol well not like gross just telling about some of the things you put your body through). And sometimes I need to vent and feel a little bad for myself so I don't need anyone telling me I am being a baby or anything like that. But the family blog will always be upbeat and fun!

Love ya all!

Seasons

2009-09-05T04:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated the blog in a couple months. I guess I am not the best blogger in the world. I think its because I doubt many people view it anyways.

I am thinking a lot about seasons right now. Summer is ending and Fall is coming. I love the Fall it is my favorite season of all. I am hoping that this Fall will bring in new "Seasons of Life" for our little family. There are so many journeys we are on right now that I look forward to taking the steps one at a time just to get farther down the road! That is my positive attitude on not particularly liking this Season.

Joe is enjoying work, TJ (who is requesting to be called Thomas more and more) is in 1st grade and is at school ALL DAY! He loves, I love it, we are a happy pair. I am finding myself spending a lot of time coming up with projects. I am knitting a hoodie sweater for TJ, crocheting a baby blanket, cross stitching a Christmas piece, and working on my book. It sounds as if I am keeping busy. But its me just trying to bide my time figuring out what to do. Do I go to work? That feels wrong. Do I go back to school? That feels wrong. What feels like should be happening isn't. Its rather frustrating. I look forward to the day that I can look back and see the bigger picture. I am sure I am learning something and I can't wait to figure out what it is!

I do truly feel blessed. I may have some health struggles, but my overall health is great and so are both Joe and TJs! We have a pleasant home, a good ward, nice neighbors, and Joe and I are enjoying a great time in our marriage. I am truly humbled that the Lord has given me so much. And yet I ask for more! Oh my, I should probably pause and read this blog a few times and let the Lord take some time for others who are less fortunate.

If there are any out there that are reading this and need a good chat or a friend to talk to I have time on my hands! Please let me know if you need support. I know that I have recently realized without my new found support here I would not be a very happy person. We were so directed in our decision to move here.

Well I love you all, and I hope that we all enjoy the new "Season," whether its new seasons in life, or just the change in the weather.

Blue skies...nothin but BLUE!

2009-06-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

So far life is pretty even and calm. I LOOOOOOVVVEEE IT! Well actually lots of not so fun things have happened but through the Joy of aging comes wisdom, that's why I ask my mom & dad for the answers to all the hard stuff! LOL

Ok so there are so many things to do here locally. Festivals, concerts, museums. This past weekend we went to a Scandinavian Mid Summer Solstice Festival. There was a may pole (not sure that is what they called it), a bon fire, pea soup, booths with fun historical displays, and a lot of viking fun! TJ loved it as you can see from this blurry picure (using iphone):

We have all sorts of plans for the week of the 4th. I miss all of our family and summer stuff is my favorite with Scott and his fabulous BBQ and tasty foods and Killer Bunnies! Ce la vie.

As far as Father's Day it was a good day. We found out that our new insurance will pay for 5 rounds of iui infertility treatments with low cost to us, so needles here I come! At the same time we are getting licensenced and doing home studies to be able to adopt internationally. We have been talking for over 6 months and investigating agencies and we are going through one with a program that has Korean infants that are waiting children in orphanges. Some have special needs but we have been very specific with what we will and won't be able to handle. So one way or another by the time TJ turns 8ish we will have a new little miracle. Yay! Now how that will happen is beyond me...hehehe. I just know if I do my part things will work out the way the Lord wants them to.

I do want to say as far as husbands go, Joe is AMAZING! He just is there for us, and we love being there for him. TJ is also one of the best kids in the whole world. Seriously just great.

Love much, seek to see smiles in others, and most of all make your "normal" being willing to accept your reality and find the joy in it and the joy in the journey not just the happiness that could exist at the destination!

:-)

Lost in Translation... oh wait we are still in the same country. So why am I so confused?

2009-06-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

Haven't updated for a bit so here is the low down. We moved. Most of you already know that. If however you need our address just email me or something.

So here we are in Washington. Its green, hilly, green, there's an ocean, um its green. We have dreamed of moving to the Puget area for several years and we actually did it. One of a very few things that we said we WANTED to do and actually have gotten to do. Ironically (the time when most things you want happen) it happened in a time that I really did not want to leave Utah and my family. TJ has awesome friendships there not to mention his best friend is his cousin that is one month older than him, and we had an awesome ward! But Joe was offered a transfer with Comcast for much better pay, plenty of overtime, and much more room for advancement up the ladder! So I am here and I am happy.

The view from our condo is amazing, and when I get lonely I take a book to the balcony, sit in my hammock chair, and enjoy a dream coming true even if the timing was off.

My View:

TJ is coping okay. I think we have like 150 drawings to send to cousins. But I signed him up for swim lessons as soon as we got here and we have a pool here at the club house. In a few weeks he starts Karate and Dance lessons so he will be hopefully too busy this summer to notice the lack of cousins, and then school will start and we will make tons more friends.

It helped Grandma was here for the first 10 days. I have had several people tell that having her come was not a good idea because having "the mother" with you for that long isn't healthy, but I have to tell you in all honesty it was good to have her. It would not have gone as smoothly without her. Despite my need to be very independent and stubborn I let down my walls and accepted her help with cleaning and unpacking. I then got sick so it was a HUGE blessing to have her at that point as well. She is awesome.

We have already had many adventures and I will have to blog them but for now this is it. We love you Utah but we are on to Greener pastures...literally. (Just maybe not sunnier skies, it is a rainy area.)

Inspirational.

2009-04-15T19:28:00.000-07:00

We all should hold onto our dreams, no matter how much the Simon Cowells in our lives Judge us before they truly know us.

Watch this to be inspired by just one person's dream:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

15 Seconds of Fame

2009-04-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

For those of you who didn't see it from the link on Facebook or catch it on tv, here is our little 15 seconds of fame!

I didn't get to tell the story of how they asked us so I thought I would blog that here. I got an email from the president of the board of directors of the Adoption Exchange asking if we would be interested in sharing our story. I had gotten to know many of the people from the Exchange from when we first became foster parents. Their website is where I first saw TJ's picture and Profile. (Joe still carries that first picture we saw of him in his wallet to help him to remember to be safe at work.) I conctacted them and they gave our information to his caseworker Kent. TJ had not been a foster home as long as some of the others, but he had been in more homes and in the longest of any of the kids under the age of 8. So when he found his forever family it was not just our miracle but one that so many shared with us from DCFS employees, Adoption Exchange employees, and the FABULOUS workers from the group home he lived in. We still occasionally contact the Exchange for information on support groups for different special needs and general adoption advice for when we adopt again. So after all of this Joe and I decided we should focus on and share the miracle we have everyday which is TJ.

A woman named Kathy and her husband who was the camera man/photographer came to our home on a saturday (which just happened to be one of the ones with nice weather!) and filmed interviews and us playing as a family. It was so fun to have them in our home because TJ got to learn how people who are "on" the TV get there. I don't think he really understood that just like we use our movie camera to tape at home that they "make" them the same for TV. He thought that people were watching him right that moment so we had to explain the difference between just "taped" and "Live" and that we were NOT doing live and there were not hundreds of people watching their tvs at that moment and when he did see it on tv the camera would not be here to embarass him. Once he understood that he was all game to play with the camera watching us. In fact I think he was sad once they left. He wants to know when they will be back and we will be on again. LOL I told him once we had more kids and mommy looks like a "TV actress" mommy.

We really enjoyed doing this and hope to be able to share our story with anyone who wants to hear it or has any questions about our journey. So if you know anyone who does have questions about adoption or foster care let me know!

Little tidbits I learned from the experience...

1. I cleaned the house for 2 days for NO reason. I mean CLEANED, I scrubbed everything and was obsessed. It was all in vain, they basically moved stuff around in my living room and made a mini set that you could only see a 6x6 foot area behind us that looked nice. That was ALL that was seen of my house.

2. Cleaning the backyard up (especially the doggy poop) was NOT in vain. We were outside 90% of the time.

3. I will never I MEAN NEVER do TV, unless it is the biggest looser, again till I finish loosing weight. Which I am working on and have lost some but not nearly close to enough!

4. Joe is totally hotter on TV than off. hehehe Isn't he cute?!

5. Last but not least...the grass always does look greener. Even when you are the one on the TV. We look so "perfect" in the clip, but it is not so everyday! We have many close to perfect moments but life in general is hardwork! So let that be my lesson I share with everyone! Anyone can be "cut" "edited" and "made" to "LOOK" perfect. We all should spend more time thanking God for our own trials, than wishing for others blessings.

So here it is:

Ahh!!!!! okay I feel much better now.

2009-04-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted since before St. Patrick's Day and my niece said I needed to. I think she was tired of looking at shamrocks.

So news: We were on channel 2 News! Thats really is news! LOL It was so fun to see our family be a "success story." They did an awesome job putting together the 20 second clip. Joe and TJ are so awesome together and it was a blessing to be able to share that. I really hope it gives the bolster of confidence to someone to reach out and adopt an older child. Everyone deserves a Forever Family!

Joe and I are in the process of making some HUGE decisions. After failing to get pregnant with our first attempt at IUI, with A LOT of fertility shots to get us there, we have gotten really bummed. I know that some people have to try like 6+ times...but that doesn't make it easier. And we don't have the finances to try again. I feel in a way that it was flushing money away, however I know the knowledge we gained about my body, and the bonding that happened between Joe and I can't have a price put on it. The day we did the IUI was the BEST day. Joe and I were so silly and talked and dreamed and stopped worrying for those 4 hours. It was awesome. We decided we need to have more 4 hour meetings like that! Which is so true we should all take time to set aside all the negatives and just dream! So I am emotionally healing now after not getting pregnant, and finally getting excited again about the someday that might come. We will always keep trying and as we save money we will try again and again! I have definitely learned much patience and to look for the joy in the journey.

Speaking of journeys.... The Adams may be taking one very soon...TO BE CONTINUED Mwahahaha

Being Thrifty and Saving Money

2009-03-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

So I cancelled our mobileme account since our trial on this computer was up. I just figured that since I have facebook for all my pictures and current updates I could put my blog and thoughts on here for free. Trying to be frugal which is not something that comes easy to me. But I want to be able to afford fertility treatments so we are cutting back where we can.

Other updates... We have new phone numbers...I know, I know. When we moved from Highland to Orem it was in the middle of the Utah area code change and now Highland isn't in the same toll area as Orem/Provo so we couldn't keep our house number. And Comcast switched who they do their cellular discounts through so now we have AT&T instead of Sprint. Kinda weird for us cause I have had Sprint for over 3 years. So the new numbers:

House: 801-607-1391
Britt's Cell: 801-361-0192
Joe's Cell: 801-361-2732

Ok for more updates on our family, check back here!