Our sweet pumpkins

It was only appropriate that our pumpkins be a pirate (for me hehehe) and the scariest thing imaginable for Eldon...the red ring of death!  Just had to share, cuz it was funny and I think we did pretty good!

A Walk to Remember

This year was the 19th annual Walk to Remember at the hospital where we delivered the boys.  They put on this walk each year to remember the footsteps of sweet babies lost to still birth and miscarriage that they never got to take.  This year, the walk was very lonely.  Unfortunately most of our loved ones were not able to join us.  While we appreciate that everyone has very busy lives, it was still difficult not to be surrounded by our normal support group.  We do appreciate their love and sentiments from long distance though, but definitely missed their faces that day.  We are very grateful for sweet Natalie and her family for joining us on the walk.  She has only met us once, and her family had never met us before, but they were sweet enough to be there to support us during a difficult walk.  We had cute family shirts made to support "Team Larson".  Hopefully in the future, there will be more shirts at the walk, because if I have to say so myself.  They are quite cute!

 It is an unfortunate sight that there are hundreds that are there to walk.  We are grateful for all those who remember the babies and their families who have suffered such a great loss, but it is terribly tragic to realize how many understand the pain we feel.  For all those mothers and fathers and family members and friends of precious angels in Heaven, we are sorry and our hearts go out to you.  We will always remember our sweet little boys. Not a day goes by that we do not miss them dearly.  To Ethan and Tommy, we love you so very much and we will always remember the great joy you brought to our lives and how your memory continues to change our hearts and our lives.  All our love, Mom and Dad.

Time flies when you are having fun

At least that is what we are hoping as we anxiously await the arrival of our sweet little boy.  We have been having a lot of fun lately out on the town with some sweet friends.   Thought we would share a bit of what we have been up to.  First my work had spare tickets to a Diamondbacks game.  We were able to get like 30 tickets, so we were able to bring a bunch of our family and friends to enjoy the nosebleeds with us!  We were having so much fun that I didnt even take any pictures :(  but our cousins took some cute pics of their kiddos having fun with us!  (Of course, because we are so much fun! hehe) Go Diamondbacks!  P.S. we won which made it even better!!!

About two weeks later my sweet friend Jenny and Hubby had amazing tickets to an ASU Game.  Since Eldon had never been during his student years at ASU, and the tickets were pretty awesome (with dinner included) we couldnt pass it up.  Sorry to my fellow classmates since we passed up my 10 year high school reunion to go to the game instead, but we had a great time!  P.S. ASU won that game too!!!! Guess we are good luck!  Go Devils!

 Arizona's weather has been a bit strange this year.  It has been unusually hot, but for about one week, it got chilli (as a teaser before it got warmer again).  For that one week, it actually felt like fall, so we decided to celebrate fall at the local farm.  It was alot of fun.  They had a corn maze, yummy chilli and cornbread, cute picture ops, go carts, and lots of opportunities to crack jokes with our good friends.

Baby Update

Baby X Update

Gestational Age: 18+ weeks

Measuring: Right on Target :D

Status: Healthy and Growing!

Baby Bump Watch

Latest happenings:
During Carolyn's last check up, not all the news was good,, unfortunately.  It was discovered through some blood work that Carolyn was showing results for an antigen called Anti-Kell. Its similar to the Rh factor in how the mothers body detects a foreign substance in the baby and attacks the baby's red blood cells.  This can be incredibly dangerous for the baby and in severe cases can be fatal.  Unlike the Rh factor, however is that there is no preventative measure to take like a shot.  It is incredibly rare and there are only treatments of blood transfusions in utero to assist the affected baby.  After everything we have already been through in our desire to have a family, this was the last thing we wanted to hear.  We asked some of our dear friends and family members to remember this sweet baby in their prayers and fasting.  While we prayed and patiently waited, Carolyn went to see a specialist and our sweet little baby was thoroughly checked.  There are specific checks that can be done to monitor the baby and see if he is affected.  During this appointment, it was determined that so far, he is perfectly healthy and measuring right on target.  More tests were done on the birth father to determine if he was the cause of this, and his tests showed negative meaning, this antigen resulted from a blood transfusion Carolyn had about a year ago.  This was actually exactly the news we wanted to hear, as it would mean the chances of this sweet baby being affected were lessened from this cause.  At this point, because baby X is doing well,  he will just be regularly monitored to ensure that he does not show any signs of being affected, but so far, he is doing great and hopefully will continue to do so!  It is absolutely the best result we could ask for.  I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for answering prayers and protecting this sweet little baby.  I am also so incredibly grateful to Carolyn, first for being honest with us, even when it wasnt good news.  That is so important to me.  Second, for being willing to do what was necessary, tests, monitoring, etc to help to save this baby.  That is so important to me as well.  We still have quite a journey Im a sure, even if it is just waiting for February to get here. hehehe.  We ask that you continue to pray for our wonderful birth parents, and especially for our sweet baby boy, Xander, that he will have the strength to grow strong and to be safe and healthy!  Thank you to everyone for your love, for your support, and for your prayers.  We know that Heavenly Father has a plan for all us, we just hope that his plan includes us bringing this sweet baby home.

Baby X....He's a boy!!!

Even though I was thinking pink, our sweet little baby had something else in mind.  He is all boy and wasnt afraid to make that known in his last little photo shoot.  We are grateful for our little exhibitionist, and are just happy to know the gender so the few things I can plan for, can be started! YEAH!!  We hope you enjoy these beautiful photos as much as we did!  And to keep with his nick name of baby X, and a middle name for his birth father, our sweet little one will be named....

Xander James Larson. 

Profile

He is sucking his thumb, so cute

Silhouette

love this, sucking his thumb and grabbing his ear

Thumbs Up, all is well!

So shy and sleeepy

Too many pictures.lol

100% no doubt

Perfect little feet

These last ones are our favorites.  Our birth mom has the best sense of humor and sent these ones special... In this order, it shows the little one's sense of humor (which we learned with his last little joke).  This one is better....

 Baby X says... "That's right.... Im a man!"

"Hahahahahahahah, just kidding! That was my cord, hahahahaha!" As he slaps his knee in laughter.

"But.... I am a boy :D"

He he, i love it and am so excited to see his little personality in person!  February needs to hurry up and get here soon!!

Pink or Blue????

In anticipation of Carolyn's upcoming appointment, we are taking guesses on the gender of our sweet Baby X.  If you want to get in on this simply click here and make your guess.  Honestly we want a healthy baby that we can take home and love and cherish, but I am just dying to know whether its a boy or a girl, so I am hoping this little one isnt shy!!  Take a guess, and Ill let you know in just a few days!  Eeek! (imagine a squeal of delight!)

Good DNA

We are very grateful for the gift of Baby X.  If you cant tell, we are really beginning to get excited.  A baby is such a precious gift, especially for us.  But we are not just grateful for any baby.  This baby is going to be special and absolutely just wonderful.  How do we know, you ask????  Because Baby X has good DNA!!!  It is very obvious to us that Carolyn has good DNA to pass on.  Besides being quite lovely herself, she has 3 great children to prove her baby making ability :)  Stetson is beautiful, super smart and quite talented from what we hear.  Natalie is following in her big sisters footsteps and has quite the sense of humor to boot.  Austin has a personality all his own and is quite the handsome little man.  But Carolyn is only part of the make up of our sweet baby to be.  The other half comes from Chris.  While he doesnt have any other children for comparison, he is pretty handsome himself and also has You Tube to show off his talents and skills.   Chris actually is quite talented, especially in one particular area.  He has quite a unique talent for Yo-Yo-ing.  With his permission, I am posting this to show some of the uniquely talented DNA our baby will be inheriting and because I think its pretty dang awesome to see!!!  Click the link below and Check it out! 

Chris's Skills

The best Anniversary Gift

This year for our 5 year anniversary we took an amazing trip to Florida.  For the fun Disney Part, see the next post, for the amazing gift part....keep reading!  :)  One of the main reasons we chose Florida was because there are some very special people we have been wanting to meet in person who happen to reside in Florida.  For our anniversary, we got the chance to meet the amazing individuals who are making our dream of parenthood finally come true!  Over the past couple of months, we have grown to love and admire Carolyn and Chris and it was a wonderful experience to meet them, Carolyn's two youngest kiddos and one of her best friends Kasey.  We had a wonderful day talking, seeing the "Worlds most famous beach". sharing stories and giggling with her cute kiddos.  It was a wonderful gift to meet them and I am so grateful we were able to take this trip.  I think it helped us all to bond and feel more comfortable with each other which I think is so important in an open adoption. It was a great day in Daytona Beach!!

Natalie wanted a pic and Austin just had to get in on the action.

Carolyn and her cute kiddos

Look theres a baby in there!!!

One big happy adoption family!

The best 5 years of my life

We have been married for 5 amazing years!  It is crazy to me how quickly time goes by!!  Not everything that has happened during the past 5 years has been happy and wonderful (although most truly was) but I cannot imagine going through both the most joyous and the most painful experiences in my life without the most amazing man by my side.  Being lucky enough to have Eldon as my Eternal Companion is truly the greatest blessing and treasure.  We have been through quite a bit over the past few years, and I am ever so grateful for him as an amazing husband, a caring man, and as my best friend.  

To celebrate our union, we decided to take a fun little trip to FLORIDA!!!!

Our First day in Florida started out at Disney's Magic Kingdom.  It was similar to Disneyland in California, but still quite different.  It was interesting to think you know where things are and to head in that direction and then find that it doesnt look the same at all.  For those of you who know me well, you know that I love Pirates.  The Pirates ride here was definitely different.  The entrance is totally different and the ride is similar but shorter.  The best part that was different, was they had a Captain Jack Sparrow show and he let me up on stage to become part of his pirate crew.  It was AWESOME!!!!!  he he. 

Day 2 was the Epcot Adventure.  We went on a ride that took us on banked curves at 65 mph, soared over California, talked with a turtle and toured the world all in one day.  You cant beat that!  One of the funnest parts was in Japan where I got to pick an Oyster and found a pearl!  Oh and in France we had yummy treats including something similar to what Eldon had on his mission called Napolitanas.  He put it on facebook to tease his mission buddies and ended up finding out that one of his mission buddies lived in Florida, and the best part, he buddy and his family was able to join us for Day 4 of our adventure.

Day 3 was a break from Disney for the best Anniversary gift ever. (see post above)

Day 4 was Hollywood Studios.  This park was crazy busy!!! But had a lot of things we had never done before.  The Rockin Roller Coaster was pretty dang fun.  We also went on a backstage tour, saw a car stunt show, and Indiana Jones Stunt show, watched Beauty and the Beast as well as saw a Jedi Training sessions.  It was quite a day full of fun!

Day 5 was Animal Kingdom.  This was our final day, so it was only a half day because we were flying home.  We started out the day on an African Safari.  It was pretty entertaining.  Our guide was hilarious.  We saw some cool animals.  Next we ventured over to Asia and took a trip to Mount Everest to see the Yeti.  The ride was pretty good, but it was pretty funky to go backwards and loop in the dark when you cant tell which direction you are headed.  We saw a few more animals, including a bugs life show before the heavens opened up and it poured on us.  We were absolutely soaked by the time we got to our car to head to the airport.  I didnt get a pic cuz Eldon wasnt too thrilled at this point.  I thought it was pretty funny though.

All in all, we had a wonderful trip to Florida.  It was pretty hot, definitely humid, full of great memories to cherish and a wonderful way to celebrate the best decision we made... our marriage.

Meet the Parents....The Birth Parents that is

I asked our amazing birth parents if they minded if I shared a few facts and stats about them, so that others could learn a little about the people that our changing our lives.  So it is our pleasure to introduce you to our amazingly giving new friends....

Our Baby's Birth Dad                               Our Baby's Birth Mom
Name: Chris                                                Name: Carolyn
Age: 25                                                       Age: 32
Height: 5'10"                                               Height: 5'8"
Hair Color: Brownish Red                           Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Hazel                                         Eye Color: Brown
Religion: Catholic                                        Religion: Christian
# of Siblings: 2 half siblings                          # of Siblings: 6
Birth Order: Youngest                                 Birth Order: Youngest
Children: None                                            Children: 3- Stetson (17) Natalie (7) Austin (6)
Job: Food Service                                        Job: Customer Service Rep
Favorite Color: Blue                                    Favorite Color: Yellow
Favorite Food: Steak or Pizza                      Favorite Food: Chicken Gizzards
Hobbies: Weight Training, Running, ,             Hobbies: Going to the beach, fishing,  
              Boxing, Surfing, Cooking                             hanging out with her children
Feelings about Adoption: "Adoption gives   Feelings about Adoption: "My thoughts on
             people who havent had luck               adoption have always been positive. This 
             having a baby, the chance to               is both the hardest and easiest decision I
             experience the miracle of life"             have ever had to make.  Hard because                                                                                  I look at my kids and know that there                                                                          will be a face missing. and easy because                                                                          I know that Stefani and Eldon are going to
                                                                       make great parents and they will raise
                                                                       the baby in a safe and loving home.

We are so incredibly grateful for these two amazing individuals.  It hurts my heart to know the sacrifice they will make, but we are so grateful for their selflessness and positive attitude towards adoption.  We pray that everything continues to move along smoothly over the next several months.  We are so incredibly excited for this opportunity for a chance to finally bring children home. These two courageous and wonderful people will forever hold a special place in our heart.

Already a little Joker

We had a little bit of a scare this past week, and learned that we already have a little joker in the making.  Our beautiful birth mother had her routine appointment this past week.  She wasn't getting an ultrasound or anything, just a typical monthly visit with a heartbeat check.  Unfortunately, the doctor wasnt able to find a heartbeat!  If you know me at all, you know that I was dying for the 20 minutes or so while Carolyn was waiting for an ultrasound to see what the little one was doing.  Eldon tried to keep me sane while I prayed that my text message notification would sound letting me know what was happening. Fortunately, everything was just fine with the baby!  Heartbeat was 164! Not sure why the machine didnt register the heartbeat, but we are so very grateful everything is okay.  And, for all the trouble, we got a new little picture!  Our birth mom added the comment from Baby and said the picture looks like he/she is rolling around laughing.  Very funny Baby X, but lets save the jokes tell you are here in person!