Brothers

There is something so sweet about boys. I would love to experience a daughter some day, but I am so happy to have brothers. Jake could not be more excited to have Will as his brother. Jake walks over to Will each day and gives him kisses, hugs and he,"checks" on him often. He talks about how he wants to ride bikes and play cars with him when he is bigger.

Christmas Numero Dos

Due to our unexpected arrival of little William David, we stayed here for the holidays this year. We were due to have Christmas in Baltimore, but we couldn't make it. He is just too little for travels just yet. My family understood completely and have since made trips up to meet Will. Dad, Carol and Uncle Mike were the first and with them came more presents!! It was like Christmas morning all over again. They are too generous and I hope Jake and Will know just how spoiled they are!!! It was wonderful to have them in for the day.

Pop and Gigi Catching a nap together

Looking soo little in Mike's arms
Candy Land... best game!

Blizzard Bonanza

We had our first snow storm of the season. We got about ten inches of snow. Jake was so excited to get out there and play. Thankfully it occurred on the weekend, so Jon and Abby were able to take Jake out. There was no way Will was going out. So, we stayed inside and snuggled!

Jake making a snowman with his babysitter, Natasha
Our Big snow bundle

Helping Daddy clean the cars
Lovin' my Aunt Abs

Christmas as Four- Picture Update

Hanging with Santa

First Picture as a Foursome

Will's cute Christmas outfit curtosy of the Monokians!

Christmas Eve reading The Night Before Christnas and the bible before bed.

Busting through the wrapping paper Christmas Morning

Jake's reaction to the gifts!

And it begins...

As jake calls it... Jump-O-Lene!
His first wooden train set
Will's reaction...hehe...

Bringing Will Home

So last I wrote we were waiting to meet Will for the first time. A lot has happened since then! We were allowed to go to the hospital around 1:00 or so on Sunday, December 19th. When we got to the hospital, the pregnancy counseler gave us the low down on how Denise was feeling and how the baby was doing. All were great! I will never forget my thoughts and feelings as we rode upstairs in the elevator to meet our son! We went up and spent an amazing hour or so with them both. Everything was so easy and it just felt right. Denise, his birth mother, was so thoughtful about every hospital decision. She had the nurses hold his vaccines until she knew what we wanted to do. She also had them make an extra copy of his footprints and hospital pictures. She even waited on the circumcision until we had our say. We couldn't believe it. She was strong, confident and made US feel comfortable when here she is.... going through the hardest thing she will ever have to do. I tear up thinking about it. She was made for us, as was Will. Together, we made his name official and took pictures.
The first thing we noticed about Will was his amazing hair. He has a serious wig! It is thick, dark and super soft. Will also has a beautiful complexion. His skin is a beautiful color and his eyes are big and dark brown. He is precious and more than we could have dreamed of.
After spending time together, we were told it was time to go and we would be able to come back the next morning and bring him home!!!! I did not sleep a wink that night. I laid in bed, full of anxiety and excitement. The next morning, we woke up early and were at the hospital by seven a.m. We spent time with the baby together before everyone arrived. Our adoption case worker, the pregnancy counsler and Denise arrived around nine thirty or so. We had about an hour or so of paperwork while Denise had time alone with Will. Afterward, we were supposed to have a small adoption ceremony, but it was too much for everyone emotionally. So, we simply had a "passing" of the baby from Denise to myself and Jon. I am so thankful that God placed the desire in our hearts for open adoption. Our final moments together at the hospital were not a goodbye, but see you soon. Since the hospital, we have continued our emailing with Denise. We have already sent her pictures as well as videos. We have even begun chatting about a Valentine's day get together. We are ever grateful for this precious gift, the relationship with his bithmother and feel undeserving of such immense love from God. I never want to forget any detail of this experience and I hope that our relationships continue to strengthen.

Love at first sight....

Finally in our arms!!!! Forever in our hearts!

Enough Said...

First Picture of the WIlliam David Sharp

We got to spend time with our new little guy today! It was purely amazing. We were welcomed by the pregnancy counselor and she gave us the low down on how things would go from here and how our birth mom was doing. After a very very long labor, she is finally feeling better! We then walked upstairs and went to her room where she sat with him... our son... unbelievable. He is GORGEOUS.... I am biased, but he is plainly gorgeous. He has a beautiful complexion and a head of hair like I have never seen on a newborn. We held him, fed him and named him together. William David Sharp... We will call him Will. We love the name and it has double meaning because we believe it is God's will that we raise and love this child and welcome his birth mother into our lives as well! We then talked about the future of our open adoption. We laughed, smiled and it felt so easy and right. Everything about this experience has just felt right. I am so thankful to God that he has laid it all out for us... we are simply following his lead!! After some chatting... we gave our birth mom a scrapbook I made and had not added pictures to yet. We wrote a letter at the beginning explaining that we promise to fill it with pictures and updates. The beginning of a long relationship. We then gave her a gift of a "spa day." What do you give someone? It's unbelievable. Then, we left and we are coming back tomorrow morning at 7am. We meet with the pediatrician, spend some time together then we are having an adoption ceremony at the hospital. Afterwards, our birth mother will have private time with Will while we complete paperwork. Then, it is home for Will. Finally.... a beautiful amazing end to a long and bumpy road. I couldn't be more happy and I am so excited to be a family of four!!!! God is good.

Words Cannot Express...

I have been wanting to blog forever... Jon and I have been keeping the latest adoption news to ourselves given our most recent disappointment. Last week we received word that our profile was shown to a birth mother and that she had chosen ONLY us to interview! We went to the agency Tuesday night to meet her. As we prepared for the meeting and waiting for the 7:15om start time... I was a wreck. It is a strange feeling to meet someone who may possibly be giving you your next child. As bizarre as it feels, I was more confident and relaxed this time. She arrived with her mother and the meeting went very smoothly. It felt natural and right. We discussed the type of relationship we would have and I am happy to announce it will be an open adoption. Jon and I couldn't be more thrilled. We met her on Tuesday and she was due FRIDAY!!! Yes, Friday the 17th as in this past Friday. We also found out it was a BOY! I can't tell you how excited Jon was the moment she said boy. You could just see the vision of two sons dancing in his head! I loved it. There is nothing better to me than seeing the excitement in my husband when he thinks or talks about our child or future children. After the meeting, they told us they would call within a few days. So we waited....
Then, we heard on Thursday that she was certain we were the family for her and were provided an email address that we could email her with. How do you write an email? What do you say? I sat and thought for a long period of time. (thankfully Jake was napping!) I sent her an email and awaited her reply. Then, we cleaned all the clothes, changed sheets, took everything out of the attic. We kept ourselves busy as we waited...That night I checked my email and nothing... so we waited... Friday morning I picked up Jake from preschool and we had just walked in the door when the phone rang. The caller ID said Bethany Christian Services and my heart just stopped. She had gone into labor and was at the hospital, 4 centimeters dilated! Crazy!!! On her due date. So, we waited yet again.. I checked my email and found that she had actually emailed me at 8:00am. It was the most amazing and touching email and I will never forget it. We didn't hear anything all day and night on Friday and I can tell you I might have slept 30 mins last night. The next morning, TODAY, we heard that he was born at 1:59AM. He had a very long labor, but is healthy and his birth mom is recovering. We didn't hear anything again until around 12:00. We were in Target buying last minute baby essentials and they called again. We were then told that he was over 7 lbs. and 20 inches long. They also told us that we should wait until Sunday to come meet him because birth mom is just simply exhausted and hasn't had any one on one time with him yet.
So, now we are scheduled to go meet him tomorrow afternoon!!! Meet our son... how surreal. I can't express how I feel tonight. It is strange to feel like I have a newborn who is not with me right now. It is amazing to know that we are going to bring him home Monday morning. I am blown away by a young girl's sacrifice and God's mark on all of details so far. I lay awake just staring at my empty bassinet and I dream. I dream of his touch, his smell, his little grip... everything. I also can't wait to see Jake as a big brother. Although I know it will be a big transition... I know my Jakers and I know he will be amazing at it!
I have always wanted to be a mom to many little ones. For a while there I began to believe that it just might not be in my cards. You never know what God has in store, but I know that His plan is always better than the one I have crafted in my brain. However, it has been a long road and an emotional one. I have been trying to stay strong through everything and not let it get to me too much. I have been enjoying my life and finding joy in the grace of God. I have focused on the positive and felt lucky to have all that I have. Now, I feel all of the emotions I have been avoiding. I feel like I am going to lose it when I finally drive away from the hospital and he is in our car and we are driving him home!!!! I just can't wait and it feels good to let go. Thank You God for this amazing and truly unbelievable experience.
I will be posting as soon as I have an update, but as of now... we meet our SON tomorrow... we have an adoption ceremony at the hospital Monday morning then we bring him home. What a truly amazing gift.

Sleep... sweet sleep

Ever since we took Jake's paci he is officially a "no napper." He has always been a great night sleeper, but naps were never his favorite. He dropped his first nap early and went to one nap by a year old. However, after sleep training and consistency he was good for about a year with one strong nap... then two years old came... and ever since, it has been touch and go. I still put him in every day but it's usually twenty minutes and he is out. I am encouraging longer,"quiet." times with consistency, time out's if needed, clocks, books, leapster... anything! Nothing really helps, so twenty minutes it is... I was coming to terms with that then he started waking at 5:30. So, for three days now he's been waking up at 5:30 and goes to bed at 6:30. It is a very long day. I love my Jakers, but Mommy need a little sleep and time to herself. I don't like him watching too much TV. So, it is long days for us over here. We have been forced to get creative and inventive with our playtime. We make castles out of tissue boxes, forts out of sheets, ramps out of ironing boards. Thankfully, he is a player and he is pretty creative in keeping himself busy, so that helps. I'm trying to remember that this is a small window of time and that this too shall pass, but boy am I wiped!

Johnson's final visit to see Santa and Prancer

Our membership to Johnson's Farm will expire in January when farm activity slows down. We thought we would sneak in one or two more visits before then. We love it so much and will miss it until the spring! Every December the farm has Santa and a real live reindeer (Prancer) come and visit. Jake especially loved the Christmas cookie decorating table. Thinking we might go back at night to see the lights and make smores by the fire pit!!

Goodbye Paci Ceremony Pictures

Packing them up..
One Last Wee Taste

Writing our goodbye letter

Taping and labeling... tried to resist it here...After the mailbox drop off! We are soo proud of you Jake!! What a huge task this was for you. Now less than a week later, you are back to napping and sleeping through the night free of paci! What a big boy!!