Time Flies

Today is April 5th. It may not mean much to some of you, April 5th, but to us, this is the day 3 years ago that changed our lives and brought us extreme happiness.

Three years ago we got a phone call from Annalise's birth family to tell us Annalise had been born. She was 4 weeks early and boy were we surprised. She was born at the home of a wonderful woman in Jacksonville who our birth mom Carrie was staying with while her step mom had surgery that morning. I'm sure Lisee (the woman she was staying with) was a bit surprised to have to deliver a baby that day, but she did amazing!

I was anxious, nervous, excited, and scared! Annalise's step-birth-grandmother told us to come to Jacksonville to see our baby girl. I think the 30 minutes it took for Devin to come home from work were the longest 30 minutes of my life. Not to mention the 2 1/2 hour drive to Jacksonville. We were nervous, what if this were to fall through like the adoption plan in November. Could my heart possibly take it? Could my mental stability possibly endure, that's probably the real question! We made it to Jacksonville and were greeted with this sweet baby girl.

I had met Annalise's birth family, but this was

Devin's first meeting time meeting them.

We stayed that day in Jacksonville and spent time with Annalise's birth family. To say there were ups and downs would be an understatement! It was a roller coaster ride, with my emotions so close to the surface! I felt like at any moment I would burst into tears. We left that evening with pictures of Annalise to take home to show Lauren her baby sister.

The next morning we showed the pictures to Lauren. We told her that we would be naming her Sydney Gloria. Gloria is the name Carrie our birth mom said she would have named the baby, which is after her grandmother that died from breast cancer. We thought this was a way that we could honor Carrie. When we told Lauren the name she was adamant that we could NOT name her Sydney. She was sure her name should be Annalise. We flipped through the pictures again and again and made the decision that Lauren was right, her name should be Annalise! Boy, am I glad we did! She's definitely Annalise and not a Sydney. To be honest, I don't really care for the name Sydney, I mean, it's alright, just not my favorites. Just trying to meet Devin halfway! : )

The next day we did not go to Jacksonville. There was so much going on that we felt the birth family just needed some space. It was hard being here in Tallahassee, and hoping that everything was alright with Annalise. She ended up staying in the hospital for 4 days because of jaundice and some infection she had.

We headed to back to Jacksonville on Friday evening. This time Lauren came with us. Annalise's birth family wanted to have a placement ceremony on Saturday afternoon (don't know what else to call it). They invited their friends and ward members to their church for a service. The intent was for this to be placement of Annalise with us. Unfortunately, Annalise was still in the hospital and we weren't sure when she would be released. We were so thankful that Mike, Annette and Bryan (Devin's brother, wife and son) could come and be with us. By this point I was a wreck and things were going from bad to worse (not with the birth family but with our stress level). I had a break down in Walmart and burst into tears at the photo center. I think the lady behind the camera thought I was crazy or had lost it! Devin and Lauren had gotten locked out of our hotel room because our extended stay was up, yet we weren't quite ready to leave, Devin was supposed to meet Annalise's birth grandfather at the hospital to give Annalise a blessing. We were a mess! But, we made it to the hospital and we made it to the church for the service. It was indeed a highlight and a strength to see some friendly, loving faces in Mike, Annette and Bryan. We honestly couldn't have made it without them! We love you guys! They definitely know the meaning of supporting your family in all things!

We left Jacksonville Saturday evening hoping and praying that we'd get another call saying Annalise was being released from the hospital. We decided to ask for help with fasting and praying from family that this might happen quickly. We headed to church the next day and right before we walked into church, we decided to call the birth family to see how they were doing. They were headed to the hospital to pick Annalise up! She was being discharged! We were so thankful! We went to church and ditched out a little early to make it to Jacksonville by 4 pm so we could sign paperwork and pick up our sweet baby girl.

Being at placement was different than I thought it would be. I was so happy to be bringing Annalise home, yet my heart ached for Annalise's birth family who would be hurting. When it was time to leave, our birth mom let out a cry that about broke my heart! This had to be so hard for her. She is amazing, brave, and our hero! She gave us Annalise, something we could not do for ourselves. We love Carrie so much and are so grateful to her selfless act of love. We are so happy to be able to stay in contact with her. We know she loves Annalise so much and for that we are so thankful!

Carrie (birth mom) changing Annalise one
last time to get ready to leave with us.

Lauren holding her sister for the first time
Lauren showing off her excitement to being a big sister
With our Social Worker, Jim Jacobs, just
before leavng to head home.
Here is our sweet girl today.

Annalise brings so much love and excitement to our family! She sure is a little girl full of life, character and love. We can't imagine what our life would be like without her. It seems she's always been apart of our life. We waited 7 1/2 years for her, and she was definitely worth the wait. We love you Annalise!