Jayden Neal...

Dear Friends & Family,

I struggle as I try to find the words to write this. Jayden Neal was born early this morning. He is beautiful! His hour and half of life here on earth was filled with love and adoration. His dad gave him a beautiful blessing. Angie, Neal and his grandparents were able to hold and love him, until he slipped back up to heaven. Neal & Angie are at peace, they know this was Heavenly Father's plan for Jayden. They have a hard road ahead, but thank each of you for the love and support shown to them. Maybe this is not the miracle we wanted, but a miracle still the same. Life is precious, and we are in awe of Our Heavenly Father's love for each of us. We are thankful for that beautiful hour and half that Jayden was in our lives. He has truly touched the lives of many.

Jayden...

Hello! I got this e-mail from my dad last night, attached were these pictures, he said: One is of the little boy willow tree statue that Debbie one of the nurses gave her with a really nice card. All the nurses want to take care of Angie and be a part of the miracle, We have seen many of the doctors drop in and check on her when they are not even on call. They are all amazed. Angie has the best attitude and Neal is so attentive. I told mom every Dad would hope for a son in law that would care for his daughter like he has. I can truly tell that the Lord is on our side and listening to our prayers so many little miracles - happening everyday and Every day brings Jayden more time and hope. By the way the name Jayden means - Heard of God - and God truly has heard him and is assisting him already in his earth life.

Also to answer some of your questions, yes, Angie is still dilated to a 10, once you are dilated there is no going back. I had that same question. :) She is still having contractions but it is less and less, night time is harder for some reason. I talked to Angie yesterday, and it was great just to hear her voice! She sounded tired, but in good spirits! I haven't talked to my mom or Angie today, if anything has changed I will post later today.

Thanks again for all the love and concern, we are truly blessed with incredible friends and family. We love you all and appreciate the prayers, love and support more than you will ever know!

Still hanging in there...

Angie is still hanging in there, she's SO tough! We are so proud of her! Her contractions have slowed to about 45 minutes. Jayden is doing great too. My mom said they tear up watching how Neal takes care of Angie, he won't even leave the hospital.

Also another cute little story, my mom said that the other day a nurse stopped back in to Angie's room, and she said, "I can't believe you are still here, you're going to be one of those miracles, aren't you?!"

They read through all of your comments yesterday, and felt your love. :) Thank you!!

I also read this quote and thought it was fitting.

"Today's Trial is Tomorrow's Testimony"

The Latest...

Just when life seemed the darkest the magnificent miracle of spring appeared! Well as you know in situations like this things can change in a matter of minutes! My mom just called and Angie's contractions have slowed from every 5 minutes to about every 10 minutes. That is great news! What is even better is that the doctors came in and told them that they were going to go ahead and give Angie the steroid shot to enable this little guys lungs to start growing. HUGE BLESSING! Last night they didn't think that was even a possiblity. So keep up the prayers, they are working!

Update...

First of all THANK YOU so much for all the prayers in Neal & Angie's behalf. We can all feel them. There is truly strength in numbers. My parents flew down yesterday morning to be with them, and Neal's parents should be there today. Angie is dilated to a 10, they are still trying to hold off full out labor. She was unable to be on the pain meds, since they were making her heart race, which I'm sure was pretty miserable for her, but last night they got her heart rate back down and she was able to be back on the morphine. What a blessing! She had a good night my mom said. The doctors are pretty amazed at her pain tolerance and that the baby has not come yet. She is 23 weeks along exactly today. If our sweet little guy can make it 7 more days the statistics of him surviving go up dramatically. They can give Angie a steroid shot to induce lung growth in him. We are just holding on and hoping for a miracle! Please continue to pray for them. We would appreciate it so much! I will update if anything changes or as often as I get any new news. Thanks again!

We Need a Miracle...

Yesterday my little sister Angie was admitted to the hospital. I don't know all the technical terms, and won't go into much detail, but she is now in labor and the baby will be born in the next few days. The little guy is healthy but she is only about 22 weeks along. The chance of survival for this sweet little guy is very slim. This is their first baby, we waited a long time to get him. I have a testimony of the power of prayer, I know that Heavenly Father knows Neal & Angie's situation and is very aware of their little family right now. We just need a miracle! So would you please say a little prayer for my sister and her family. We need all the faith & prayers we can get. Thank you!

Memorial Day…

 

A big THANK YOU to all who sacrifice so much for us to be free!

...

I also wanted to share with you a few things I've come across that have really got me thinking. First off my cute blogging friend Alison posted this a day or two ago. (I'd link back to her but she's private.) She has been reading a book called: A Mother's Book of Secrets by Linda Eyre and her daughter, Shawni Eyre Pothier

"It's true that as a mother there is always a never-ending list of things to accomplish. Pay the bills. Check. Do the dishes. Check. Make dinner. Check. Do the shopping. Check. But are we successful if we didn't notice the look on our child's face when he learned to 'pump' on the swing by himself? Is it success if we got lunch done and put the kids down for naps in fifteen minutes' time so we could finish catching up on 'important projects' if we forgot to help the kids finish the puzzle we promised we would? Sometimes success is when we don't get through the to-do list but instead stop long enough to notice the little things. To savor moments. Not only to notice the delight in our children's eyes, but to help create it.

In her book Surrendering to Motherhood, author Iris Krasnow writes that the most important advice she could give mothers is to Be There. She says: '...Being There isn't about money or even about staying home full-time. It's about an emotional and spiritual shift, of succumbing to Being Where You Are When You Are, and Being There as much as possible. It's about crouching on the floor and getting delirious over the praying mantis your son just caught instead of perusing a fax [or filling the dishwasher] while he is yelling for your attention and you distractedly say over your shoulder: 'Oh, honey, isn't that a pretty bug.'"

'It's about being attuned enough to notice when your kid's eyes shine so you can make your eyes shine back.'

“I want my kids to see my eyes shine when I play with them. I want to enjoy their play as much as they do. I want to 'crouch down on the floor and get delirious' over the seemingly simple things that delight them. I want to be theirs while I can."

Don't you just LOVE that?! I printed it out and taped it to my bathroom mirror. Thanks Alison!

Hope you all have a PERFECT Monday!

A little catching up...

Hello friends! Another {CRAZY} week has begun! :) My little sister Angie was here from CA last week! LOVE when all my sisters get to be together!! It's such a HUGE blessing for me to have such beautiful women surrounding me! Plus if you didn't know 2 of them are expecting and we found out last week they are both having boys! We are used to girls in our family... and now the boys are starting to out number us! We made some of those cute beaded watches! ♥ them! Pretty much addicted to making them now! SO fun! I am so grateful that I can volunteer a small portion of my time with our local chapter of FSA (Families Supporting Adoption), we had the great opportunity of putting together a small dinner in honor of all the birth mothers in our area. (look at these cute favors Candise made up. I ♥ them! And dinner was to die for... she sent me the recipes, so hopefully I'll get a second to post them after I make them again! )

I came away from the evening with a renewed love for my family, for adoption and of course Bri and Shanna! We have truly been blessed. There were birth moms who had placed only weeks before and some who had placed 16 years ago! It was inspiring to say the least and I felt privledged to hear their stories. With Mother's Day being Sunday, I found myself looking back on past Mother's Days, ones that weren't so great for me, ones when we were childless. I just wanted all of you beautiful women who are dealing with infertility to know that there will come a day when you will want to celebrate Mother's Day. A day when you will rejoice and look back on the past with a smile, and say, "it was all worth it." I wish I could reach out and give you all a big hug. Keep going, I can honestly say all those years of pain and heart break were worth it! Natasha asked me to be a guest blogger and write an article about our infertility and how we dealt with it. If you want to read my article about part of our journey through infertility go HERE.

Happy Mother's Day...

Mother's Day is approaching, but did you know that the Saturday before Mother's day is Birth Mother's Day or First Mother's Day? We ♥ birth moms especially our birth moms... Bri & Shanna, it is because of them that I get to celebrate Mother's Day. I get teary eyed just thinking about the miracle it is that I get to be called mom. I am beyond blessed and not only feel grateful but privledged to be mom to these TWO beautiful kids!

Families Supporting Adoption is having a birth mother appreciation dinner to honor all birth mothers in our area. If you are a birth mom and would like to come, please e-mail me for more details, sunshineinmysoul_33(at)yahoo(dot)com, we would LOVE to honor you Saturday night!

FSA is a national organization with chapters all over the country. These chapters provide information about adoption and support to those associated with the adoption process, including birth mothers, birth fathers and adoptive couples.

Birth Mother's Day (or First Mother's Day) has been observed on the Saturday before Mother's Day since 1990 when it was first celebrated in Seattle. There are an estimated 6 million adoptees in the United States.

So HAPPY Mother's day to ALL mom's out there!

Just Because...

The winner of the travel make up bag is Brandi! #4! E-mail me your address Brandi, and I'll get it to you! Thanks girls. Oh and by the way... I did not make the make up bag! hahaha. You guys give me WAY too much credit! ;)

And just because this puts a smile on my face every single time I watch it! So in ♥ with this little sweetie pie!