Madison {who is the best big sister, trick doer, heart melter, cheese eater, bug squisher, baby lover, hug and kiss giver, picture drawer, story teller & smile smiler. Yes, no doubt about it, she is the best!},
Maelee {who is a perfect example of the never-ending energy of a toddler! Maelee is as sweet as ever, brightening each day, calming each heart, bringing a smile to each face and as always - keeping us on our toes! How did we ever think we were complete without her?},
and Marcus {who is the sweetest baby boy in the world! He is still so little that he doesn't have many tricks under his belt yet but his adorable smiles, big man burps and impeccable aim while peeing are worthy of mention. This perfect little boy is the missing piece to our crazy family puzzle and we could not be happier. Again, how did we ever think we were complete without him?}
We have had the amazing opportunity to build our family in a way that's different for most, similar for some and miraculous for us.
Clint and Tiffany {that's me!} were married in an LDS Temple in June of 2004 after a 4 month courtship {5 1/2 weeks dating and an 8 week engagement... I know! We're NUTS!!! But - we're still crazy about each other and loving the life we've built together so it must have been what worked for us!}. Our first year of marriage was spent in a pink box that we lovingly called our first apartment. I kid you not, the kitchen was big enough for ONE person at a time!! The sink {one, not two as you would think is standard...} was roughly the size of a piece of paper and just as deep! :O) It had a kitchen/dining/laundry/bathroom {yes, all together} and a small living room and bedroom that had been added on. It was cheap and we didn't have to share a wall with a neighbor so we were happy.
For our first anniversary, we lucked into the purchase of our first {and current} home. A 3 bed, 2 bath, split floor plan on 1/2 an acre was HUGE to us!! We've had fun transforming it from a house into a home and someday we'll lovingly pass it on to someone else.
In May of 2006 we made the giant leap into parenthood with the birth of our daughter, Madison. She was the most beautiful baby, complete with a head full of dark brown, curly hair. Amid all the joy and excitement of FINALLY becoming parents, tragedy struck and quite literally threw us for a VERY unexpected loop. After 4 days of active labor, 10 hours of pitocin and finally a C-Section, my uterus pooped out. It wouldn't respond to further doses of pitocin; so instead of closing off the arteries and veins which had fed blood to the baby, it nearly caused me to bleed to death. It was so scary to be the source of so much chaos, and then to know in my heart that as I signed the "just in case" hysterectomy waiver, I was giving up the ability to bring more children into this life... Let's just fast forward and instead say that we're SO THANKFUL that we had the opportunity to have our "own" child. Just knowing that I GOT to be pregnant helps me shake off those crap feelings when they try to creep up on me.
Life went on and we fell blissfully in love with our beautiful daughter. Just before her first birthday, we started the adoption process for the first go 'round. It was tedious, time consuming, and WAY more involved than either of us anticipated. It took us over a year to finally get certified, but was SO worth every minute! We had a few bites, a placement that fell through, and a near-adoption of a little boy in Foster Care, and then in June of 2009 we received an incredible phone call. A 17 year-old girl who had just moved to the mainland from Hawaii had picked us to raise her daughter. We had an amazing face to face meeting with her and her mom and within a week were in the hospital playing cards as we waited and agonized as our daughter's birth mom labored. I would have given ANYthing to take that pain from her and let her sleep. After 39 hours of discomfort, a beautiful, suuuuuuper coned headed chunk was wrapped in a white hospital blanket and met her family: her mom who loved her so much that she chose to place her young daughter in the nervous arms of a crying, scared to death couple who would from that moment on do all they could to live up to the expectations placed on them...
It's been an adventure, that's for sure! We've had ups and downs over the past 2 years as we've slowly figured out this whole open adoption shindig. Some of our most precious memories include the day Maelee was sealed to our family in the Temple by the power of the Priesthood {a day we were able to share with her birth family}, and her recent 2nd birthday party when we were joined by Maelee's birth mom, grandma and cousin. We know an open adoption isn't for everyone, but it's been a true testimony builder for our family and we are SO thankful we've been able to develop a friendship with such an awesome family.
As much as we love our girls, we knew that our family wasn't quiiiiiiiite complete so in January of 2011 we began the adoption process again. It's amazing how quickly everything goes when you know what you're doing... {ok, AND when you save all your info from the last time so you can copy and paste! LOL} 6 months later we received our certification letter in the mail and breathed a deep sigh of relief that we could now turn it over to the Lord and rely on him to bring our son into our family.
I can remember vividly what I was doing when I received the call about Maelee. I'm sure that for the rest of my life I will be able to recall just as clearly the details of the phone call of September 2011. My caseworker told me that there was a 17 year-old birth mom who was interested in our family for her son. We were a bundle of nerves as we waited in the foyer of an Olive Garden to meet her and her parents. Let me just say that Heavenly Father knows what He's doing - our face to face was great, lots of questions, lots of laughs, a few tears and great food :O) We came away nervous that we didn't know for sure one way or the other, but said our prayers of thanks for the opportunity to meet with her. A few hours later, our prayers of longing for a son were answered through a phone call.
We had 3 months to prepare for Marcus to join our family, and it flew by! We had the opportunity to share our prep time with his birth family which was such a treasure, and during that time we came to truly love and care for them. It amazed us the first go 'round how fast you begin to love a family, and it's amazed us this time too. We have such respect for birth parents and their families. Without their gift, we would have an unfillable void in our home. They are truly amazing and we hope they know how grateful we are for them in our lives.
In December of 2011, we again found ourselves in a hospital room watching helplessly as our precious son's amazing birth mom labored for 34 hours to bring him into this world. We will never forget holding him in our arms for the first time and watching the recognition spread across his face, knowing that he KNEW who we were. His smile in that moment will never leave my heart. Adoption is a bitter-sweet process; our joy comes from someone else's pain and it's impossible to forget that. We have been given 2 gifts that have brought so much happiness to our family, and in return the only thing we have to give back is our love, friendship and openness. And of course, the prayer that it's enough.
That's pretty much our story. But unlike most stories, ours doesn't end there - hence this blog! :O) There are times when I'm not quite sure if I record our stories for myself, our kids or for you, my dear reader. Either way, they are here for you to browse, get a giggle out of, shed a few tears over or simply enjoy.
Yours,
Clint, Tiffany, Madison, Maelee and Marcus :O)
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