October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month!

Last weekend we had the opportunity to attend the 2011 Buddy Walk for the Down Syndrome Association of Central Texas. It was a special day because we got to be members of Team Cruisin' for Carter.

Our team "Cruisin' for Carter" doing the 1 mile walk!

Us with Carter!

Carter is my cousin Heather's son and we are lucky to live close to them and enjoy giving Heather and her husband a break once in awhile so we can babysit Carter and his brother Zane. We always have a good time with the boys. Mostly because Carter loves to entertain. He loves shows like the circus or Sea World and you can usually find him putting on a show for us afterwards. He loves to hang out with Heath. They love to play instruments and Heath is always chosen to read him his books before bed time. Back to the Buddy Walk! Here is a description from the DSCAT website (www.dsact.com): "

The Buddy Walk ® was established in 1995 by the National Down Syndrome Society to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October and to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome."

It also raises money to help fund these great opportunities:

o New Parent Outreach;

o Recreational Classes (art, dance, music, swimming);

o Age-Specific Social Activities;

o Monthly Speaker Series;

o Bi-Monthly Educational Newsletter;

o Promoting and Encouraging Inclusion; and

o Special Education Advocacy And Training.

Feel free to donate to your local chapter! It's a great cause and I have seen the programs personally bless a loved one of mine.

We had a great weekend!

His plan for me

One of the best parts of being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is having the knowledge that Heavenly Father has a plan for me. Sometimes that knowledge is clouded by doubt or fear, but it is always there. Even in my darkest hours of infertility I felt the confirmation from the Holy Ghost that Heavenly Father knew my pain and had a plan for me. But I definitely had my moments of doubt. And by moments I mean years. I spent the last 4 years doubting if I would ever be a mother, doubting my worthiness to be a mother, doubting that my prayers were being heard. Doubting that I would ever climb out of the hole of pity, anger, bitterness, sadness, and jealousy I had dug. The important part of that last sentence was "I". I dug that hole and only I could reach out and help myself out of it. I joined the church when I was 17. In the 10 years since my baptism I have had many stumbling blocks put in my way, but I have always overcome them. When infertility was thrown in front of me I was knocked down, but I didn't give up. I was proactive. We went to the doctor, we got tests, we tried procedures, we tried all sorts of things we learned from friends and family and strangers online, we tried diet changes, we tried vitamins. We tried everything. And each time one of those didn't work it was like getting knocked to the ground again. Before we chose adoption (and after we had one last test done) I found myself knocked to my knees again. But this time I did something differently. I changed my prayers. I poured out my heart to Heavenly Father. I told Him all I ever wanted was to one day be a mother. That I was willing to let this (pregnancy) go so that I could meet Him half way and align my plan with His plan. Remember that pit of despair I had dug? Suddenly it wasn't so deep. Suddenly I could grasp the edge and pull myself out. What a great feeling!

After shaking off those 4 years of sadness my eyes were open to all that I had missed. All the blessings, all the answered prayers, all the direction that Heavenly Father had given Heath and I in our lives as we endured this trial. I was able to see that we were heading right where we were meant to be all along and suddenly infertility wasn't a trial anymore. It was a blessing.

I'm not saying it isn't still hard. I had to grieve the loss of a childhood dream-bearing children. It was hard, but it is better now. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows our pain and helps lighten our burdens.

Howdy Folks! Welcome to the State Fair!

Last weekend we headed to DFW for the annual Texas/OU football game at The State Fair of Texas. I have been going to this game since I was a little girl, and it has been fun to include Heath in the tradition after our marriage. We can't wait for the day when we can dress up our little girl or boy in Longhorn garb and head out the fair. The game was one of the most disappointing I've ever seen. Heath and I actually left a quarter early because it was going so poorly. We decided we'd rather enjoy the fair then watch the beating we were getting. Despite the outcome of the game we had a great time. My dad and brother were there and we all just enjoyed spending time with each other. We ate fried food concoctions, played carnival games, and visited the petting zoo.

Since deciding on adoption these moments have been even more special. Now we look at these events and get giddy with the possibility of sharing these times with our own little one. We can't wait to share our lives with a child.

I also got some great news last week. In July, I took a credentialing exam to become a Certified Coding Specialist (CCS). It's a 4 hour test and not easy at all, and I'm proud to announce that I got the good news that I passed the exam! I celebrated by eating and playing to my heart's content at the State Fair :)

Here are some pictures to document the day:

The great thing about losing bad is that everyone leaves you have plenty of bench space to enjoy :)

Inside the stadium. It was packed full of Texas/OU fans!

Us in front of a Texas Longhorn. Beautiful animals :)

Uncle Mattie feeding the baby goats. This little one ate his whole cup.

Us at the game. You can tell this is at the beginning of the game because we are still smiling. We lost bad :(

My favorite thing to do each year is the Petting Zoo. The smile on my face says how much I love animals of all kinds!

Uncle Mattie with all of our treasures after playing games on the Midway. We have a tradition of winning a basketball each year, and both of us did again this year! Longhorn ones of course :)

"Our Nursery"

Heath and I have been getting excited about transforming what we call the "Longhorn Room" into our nursery. We want to be prepared since you never know with adoption how soon your child may come to you. We like the idea of a gender neutral room because again we have no idea which sex we would be blessed with. We've been to a ton of baby stores and looked online and this is what we've come up with so far:

This is the crib we love:

And this is bedding set/theme we like for the room:

We are thinking about painting the walls either light green or yellow. Blog readers, which color do you like best? We'll probably put up vinyl decals on the wall too or paint a tree with the owls and baby's name on the wall.

We're so excited to begin this new adventure and love that we can call that extra room upstairs "our nursery" instead of "future nursery".