Florida

So while in Florida, waiting for all the paperwork to clear the courts so we could bring this sweet little boy home, we basically sat in the hotel room.  There were a couple of adventures.... pics below, but really we spent our time hanging out in the hotel and getting to know each other.  The best part about doing nothing, was doing nothing but holding this sweet little thing and taking some cute pictures of the faces he is learning to make.  He was such a relaxed and sweet little boy, which made living in a hotel for 2 weeks so much better! Enjoy the pics... I know I do!

This pic was taken at Xander's first doctors appointment.  We were so very lucky that the pediatrician in Florida was so helpful and understanding.  They made everything (pediatrician-wise) so smooth!  And just a note, from leaving the hospital to his first pediatrician appointment, Xander grew 3/4 of an inch and almost caught back up to his birth weight. 

One of the few adventures was to Downtown Disney.  My parents came all the way to Florida to help, but never saw more than the Walmart, so I took them to Downtown Disney so we could buy Xander a Disney outfit.  It seemed very appropriate since he was from Florida.  He just hung out in the Mobi Wrap and was as content as could be!

Another adventure that didnt take us any further than the kitchen sink in our little hotel room was Xander's first bath.  It was pretty entertaining to figure out how to bath him for the first time.  He was such a wiggle worm, but the water was warm and he enjoyed it.  So sweet!

Another adventure was to hang out with his birth family and to see his Grandma Bev (birth father's mom).  He also got to meet his older sister Stetson on this trip but unfortunately, the camera apparently wasnt working well, so I dont have a picture of it :(  Even so, we are very grateful for the support of his birth family and so glad for the time we got to spend with them while in Florida. 

Thanks for the fun times Florida!  We love you.  Muah!

Build a Bear Excursion

While we were in Florida, we had the amazing opportunity to hand out with Xander's birth family.  On one of the outings, we went to build a bear.  Xander's siblings got to build an animal and then they made one for Xander.  It was so cute for him to meet his brother and sister and everyone had a blast at Build a Bear.

This is Austin, I think they look alike.

Natalie putting stuffing in her Kitty

Austin putting the stuffing in his monkey

Carolyn adding stuffing to Xander's Alligator

Making a wish for their new friend

"We love you Xander" from his birth family

Austin picking out clothes for his monkey

Austin giving his new friend a bath

Natalie giving her kitty a bath

Natalie dressing her kitty (this kitty was dressed all sorts of snazzy!)

Natalie and Kitty Natalie

Chris and Carolyn dressing the Alligator for Xander.  I think they were really having some fun with it!

"Hi ya!!!"

This is Xanders Alligator to remind him of where he came from... Florida!

Nat and Austin with their new friends

Natalie was really excited to hold the baby

Austin was excited to hold the baby too

Awe, Sweet siblings!

Tender moments

Love these precious times

Xander and his birth father, Chris

Xander and his birth mother, Carolyn

We are so very grateful for these two!  They have given us the most precious gift.  We couldnt ask for more and will forever love and cherish these two for what they have done for us!

Xander and his Maternal birth family!  (we are missing Stetson and wish she could have been with us!)  Such a good looking group!

We are so grateful for his birth family.  The sacrifices they made for us have given us the sweetest, most precious gift, and we will never be able to say thank you enough!  We are also so very grateful for their support and continued interaction with us.  Xander will always know where he came and the miracle of his birth and his life with us.  He will be beyond loved and we are so grateful for that!  What a lucky little boy!

Introducing the sweetest little thing you have ever seen!!!

The long awaited arrival of Xander James Larson has finally come!!!  I am so proud to present our sweet little son and the newest member of the Larson Family.

He was born at 3:01pm on Feb 2, 2012.  He was 7 pounds 4 ounces and 19 1/4 inches long.  Just the most perfectly sweet little bundle of joy!  Enjoy the slide show and continue below if you would like to read the story of his birth from our perspective.

Our adoption story began long before this beautiful day, and most of it is recorded in previous posts.  But as a quick refresher, Our beautiful birth mother with the help of our birth father picked us to receive the most precious gift very early on in the pregnancy.  Throughout the months we became very close.  Each conversation strengthened our hope that we might one day be blessed to be parents.  About half way through the pregnancy, Carolyn decided to come to Arizona to have the baby.  We were so thrilled that Xander would be born in Arizona and that we might welcome him into the world surrounded by our family, friends and support group.  About 1 week before his expected arrival, the plan changed.  This change came as a result of legal aspects that were not resolved appropriately, and in order to ensure a legally sound placement, it was decided that it was better for us to go to Florida.  So plans and arrangements were made for us to travel to Florida.  About 2 days before our planned arrival, Carolyn notified us that she was going to be induced a day earlier than we originally expected.  So again, we changed our plans and quickly prepared to go to Florida.

We arrived in Florida at about 12:30am on Feb 2.  After a few quick hours of sleep (kind of), we headed off to the hospital to meet Carolyn and Chris again and to await the arrival of our son.  For a few hours we enjoyed each others company as we waited.  Carolyn was amazing.  She felt some pressure and contractions but never complained.  Once the epidural kicked in, she really didn't feel much of anything.  Finally the doctor came in to check her and said it was time!!!!  We kind of had that freak out moment for a sec like you see on tv with first time dads... it was like oh its time, now what do we do. lol.  The doctor brought in all the equipment and soon the room was full of nurses and assistants and machinery to check the baby.  I was blessed to be allowed to be in the room during the delivery.  After just about 3 quick pushes (but strong and amazing ;) ) pushes, Xander entered the world.   He was quickly placed on Carolyn's lap to be cleaned off.  Carolyn was so sweet and had wanted me to be the first to hold him, so she tried to get them to place him with me, but everything happened so fast.  Chris (the birth dad) was given the chance to cut the umbilical cord and then he was moved to the warmer to be cleaned up, measured, weighed and checked.  After what seemed like eternity, (probably only to me), Xander was wrapped up and handed to me.  He was so sweet and so precious and it was all I could do to not just bawl like a baby.

He was and is simply perfect.  He was 100% healthy!  We spent the next approximately 40 hours or so together.  5 people in one delivery room sharing the love that we had for this sweet little boy.  I am so grateful that Carolyn allowed us the chance to stay at the hospital and not to leave our son.  She was so caring and considerate of our feelings and wanted to ensure that we had the chance to bond with him.  Eldon and I traded off shifts of holding him all night and all day.  It was beautiful!  Chris and Carolyn were able to hold him as well.  We also had visitors from his birth family including Carolyn's brother and niece, sister and niece and Chris's mother.  Everyone was so very supportive of the adoption, and especially of this sweet little boy.  He truly came from an amazing group of people who wanted him to have a wonderful life and to know of their love for him.

Once he and Carolyn were ready for discharge, papers were signed to give us custody of this sweet little boy and allow us to begin the journey toward legal adoption. We asked Carolyn to pick out his going home outfit.  We dressed him and then took him with us to the hotel and begin life as a new little family.

We truly couldn't have asked for a better experience with Chris and with Carolyn. They were so loving, so caring and so thoughtful.  It was just an amazing opportunity to get to bond with our son, but also to bond with his birth parents and truly bring them and him into our family.  It was beyond beautiful and we are forever grateful for such a wonderful experience and such an sweet blessing for our family.  Our hearts are so full of love for his birth family and for the most precious gift we could receive.

Family Baby Shower

My mom and her sweet friends through a baby shower for my family members and family friends.  One of my favorite people in the world, Cherilyn offered her beautiful home for the shower and the food was beyond amazing!!!  Our family and friends were wonderful and beyond generous.  This little boy is going to be so pampered and loved!  I am so very grateful to all those who love and support us and our sweet little boy.  So much fun!

B A B Y P A R T Y !!!

We are so blessed to live in such a wonderful neighborhood and even more so, to belong to such a great ward.  Some of our sweet friends from our ward threw us a couple's baby shower.  It was actually more of a "last night out before having a baby" party.  It was amazing.  We knew about the shower (when and where), but everything that was going to happen was a complete surprise.  Everything about the night was about our favorite things!  For dinner, we had a variety of mexican food (my favorite).  On the tables were peanuts (Eldon's fav) and m&ms( my fav).   We played some great baby games such as who can drink the juice from the bottle first, the clothes pin game of who can not cross their legs the longest (p.s. eldon won that one!), who can dress a baby blind folded the fastest, which candy bar (poopy diaper) is which melted.  We also had a DANCE PARTY!!!  yep, its true.  A full on disco lights, balloon floor filled, dj music'ed dance party.  It was awesome!!!  And again, my fav!  And the best part was, our friends totally rocked out with us, and even Eldon danced!  It was a blast!  We truly had such an amazing time with our dear friends, and they were all so very generous that we got some amazing gifts for our sweet little Xander.  Lets just say that he will be rollin in style for quite some time thanks to the generosity of our friends!





One of the major highlights of the evening was the parenting advice we received from our friends.  I hope you enjoy as much as we did.  It was some amazing advice!!

We just wanted to thank all those that came and played with us and especially give a big THANKS to those who organized the night so that we could party and feel so very loved by those around us!!!!  We know we are so very lucky and we know that Xander will be all the more lucky to grow up surrounded by such amazing people!  We love you all!

Baby Update

Baby Xander Update

Gestational Age: 38+ weeks

Measuring: Right on Target!!

Approx Weight: 6 lbs 5 oz.+ (this weight was at 37 weeks)

Status: Healthy, growing and perfect!

 The countdown has begun.  In less than a week, we should be holding this sweet little boy in our arms.  I am beyond exstatic.  It still feels so surreal that the time has finally comes.  This has been the longest pregnancy ever!!!!  But it is finally time and we are so anxious to bring this sweet little boy home.  Unfortunately due to some recent happenings, Carolyn is no longer able to come to Arizona to deliver the baby.  We are not very happy that our plan did not work out, but that has been how things have worked in our life lately, so we will move forward and change our plans to go to Florida.  Since she wont have the chance to see his nursery in person, and because we think it is super cute, I just thought I would share a few pics of what it looks like.  Of course, it will be so much cuter once there is an adorable little boy living there.  In the mean time, enjoy....

I made these letters to go above his crib.

our friend made this cute little chair. Love it!

Unlucky Lucky Number 7

So we had a happy little secret.  No one knew. Which was big for me, because I am terrible at secrets.  Unfortunately, the happy little secret became a sad announcement to share.  I was pregnant, but at our 10 week appointment, there was no longer a heartbeat.  We were devastated.  This little one was the 7th biological child of ours.  We were so very hopeful with this pregnancy.  This was the first time that I had become pregnant without medical assistance.  That in and of itself was a huge step forward.  This was also the first baby other than the twins to make it beyond 6 or 7 weeks.  We were in absolute shock just at becoming pregnant, and then as the days passed by, we began to have hope that maybe this one would be the lucky one.

Our hearts are broken once again.  Once again, we suffered the heartache and pain of losing another child.  And once again, I had to endure a procedure to remove a baby that would never come home.  This little one brought hope again to my heart that it may be possible to have a biological child, but now we do not know.  This little one did however make it far enough for testing to be done.  So we are currently anxiously awaiting the results to see if there is anything that can be done in the future to help me to carry a baby to term.  I am already missing the sweet feeling of being pregnant.  Even though I am miserable when I am pregnant, it was so very fun to have a happy little secret inside me.  Someday we will have you again little one.  In the meantime, you brought us hope.

Christmas 2011

 For Christmas this year, we spent Christmas Eve with Eldon's Family.  As is tradition, the kiddos made "spud nuts".  They are homemade donuts that taste just like Krispy Kreme donuts only better!  This kiddos love to put the frosting on!         

 Eldon was testing out our new camera for Christmas.  So here is our cute puppy Zeus!!!  He is a very happy puppy, who smiles all the time, but not for the camera.  He was not so thrilled with his puzzle toy on Christmas.  He couldnt figure it out.  A few days later, he was a pro and gets every treat out of the puzzle every time!

 Our niece Shelly may hurt me for posting a pic of her just out of bed without any make up on (even though she is gorgeous anyway) but I couldnt resist because of her face.  She was so stinkin excited for this gift.... it was a Justin Beiber singing toothbrush.  Ive never seen anyone so excited for a toothbrush for Christmas, but she was in Heaven! hahaha!


 My Christmas morning was awesome!  Watched my lovely niece and nephew open their gifts while enjoying a very relaxing massage in this chair!  Lets just say that I was greatly coveting this chair.  Zeus enjoyed the view of the gifts from the safety of mommy's lap in the chair too.

Our little nephews helped to bring the Christmas spirit to the morning.  They were very cute opening gifts.  Our nephew Dax is 2.  He really liked the gifts but wasnt too sure about the wrapping paper.  This little boy is all BOY!  He got a gift of a toy car.  One button made the car make noises from the "radio".  He made the funniest frowny face.  He didnt like it at all.  The next button made a "vroom vroom" noise.  Man, did his face light up to hear the car noises!  So cute!  And just because he is adorable, I included a picture of our newest little nephew Ryker.  We think he looks alot like Eldon.  So cute!  It was a very Merry Christmas!  We were grateful to spend it with our family.

With our Gratitude

 To our Dear Friends and Family;

First, we must apologize for the delay in this letter.  While our gratitude is abundant for the love, support, and generosity of those around us, we still find it very difficult to bring ourselves to finish projects related to our sweet babies.  Second, we must give a huge THANK YOU to our family, friends, and co-workers, whose generosity has allowed the memory of our sweet little boys to help and uplift so many others.

It is so amazing to us how quickly time goes by.  It seems like just yesterday we were entangled in the stress and sorrow of the loss of Ethan and Tommy and yet, it has already been two years!  During the past two years we have become ever so grateful for the knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father who leads and guides our lives.  We have come to learn that while we do not know the meaning of all things, (especially related to this loss); we do know and feel our Heavenly Father’s love helping us through each day.  Just as with their 1^st birthday, it was very important to us to make Ethan and Tommy’s birthday a memorable one full of love and celebration for the joy they brought to our lives.  December 3^rd was actually a very dreary one.  It was raining off and on frequently throughout the day and we were incredibly concerned that the weather would ruin our plans at the cemetery.  Thankfully, the clouds parted from the exact minute we entered the cemetery to the exact minute we drove away and not a single drop of rain fell.  It was a sweet thought to think that the Heaven’s could pause for just a short time to allow us to honor our sweet little boys on their birthday and “send our love to Heaven” with a balloon release.  Following the balloon release, friends and family joined us back at our home for a birthday dinner.  It truly is so comforting to be surrounded by those we love during difficult days. We are very grateful for those who were there in person and were able to share in this special day and for those that were there in spirit and thought as well.

As part of the tradition for Ethan and Tommy’s birthday, we prepared bereavement boxes, similar to the gifts Stefani received during her time in the hospital.  These boxes were created through the love, time and talents of our sweet friends along with the generosity of so many who gave the needed items to fill the bereavement boxes.  These boxes were donated to the hospital that took such good care of Ethan and Tommy and will be distributed to other women and families who will suffer the tragic loss of a child.  We desperately wish gifts like these boxes were not necessary, and that there wasn’t a need, but unfortunately there is.  We are again, so grateful for the blessing to be able to take such a difficult trial in our lives and turn it around into an opportunity to help others who will experience our grief and know our pain. 

We know with a doubt that we have been beyond blessed during our struggles and trials, and with this specific one, this fact has been abundantly clear.  Words cannot accurately express our gratitude for the love and support we have felt and continue to feel on a regular basis.  We are grateful for the role each of you play in our lives and for your help in ensuring that Ethan and Tommy’s memory will be preserved and will help to make a difference to others.

Thank you for all that you do for us and our sweet little boys! All our love!

Eldon and Stefani Larson

Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan and Tommy

 It is crazy how quickly time goes by.  It seems like only yesterday that we were wrapped up in the heartache of losing the boys, and now we are remembering what would have been their second birthday.  It is our tradition to have a gathering of our friends and family to remember the love our sweet babies brought into our lives.   This year it was pouring rain.  I was so worried that our plans for the cemetery would be ruined by the rain.  It stormed off and on all day.  The entire drive to the cemetery it was sprinkling.  The second we pulled into the cemetery grounds, the rain stopped.  It was still cold, but thankfully, it wasnt wet.

 We were surprised and honored by the many people who showed up to show their love and remember Ethan and Tommy.  There were quite a bit more people than we expected which was a wonderful surprise!!

I love to see the balloons fly.  Sending our love to our sweet babies in Heaven.  Amazingly, the rain stayed away until the very minute that we drove away from the cemetery.  Our sweet babies held off the rain so they could have their balloon release.  It was very special and it touched my heart greatly!  Ethan and Tommy, we love and miss you so very much!  You have brought so much love to our hearts and to our family.  Just your memory makes us strive to be better people each and every day.  We are grateful for the lessons we learned from being your parents and strive to make you proud of us.  We love you babies!!  Families are Forever!