Ryan and Alicia's Adoption Site

Come and get to know us...

This is our story: Ryan and I were set up on a blind date by my sister and his sister-in-law. I was living in Utah at the time and he was in Washington. We went on a fabulous date to dinner and an Arena football game. It was great and Ryan loved that I knew what was going on and loved sports. At the end of the date he asked if he could see me the next day before I left to go back to Utah. We played games with his family the next night and had a great time. We talked for a long time that night and wondered when we could see each other again. And he kissed me good night!

Ryan called me every day that week and one day he asked if I would go to a concert with him on a Tuesday night. I didn't think there was anyway that I could fly up and go, but I worked it out that I would fly there on Tuesday and fly back to Utah on Wednesday. It was great to see him again.

He flew to Utah a couple weeks after that. We were just hitting it off so well. One night as we were talking he opened up. I knew that he had had cancer and had been through so much a few years earlier. We had talked about that, but this night he went into much more depth--especially the side effects of all the treatments that he had undergone. He told me how he would probably never be able to have biological children and he asked how I felt about adoption. This kind of shocked me, but I cared about Ryan and wanted to pursue this relationship. I wasn't going to end things because of this news. And adoption had always appealed to me.

We continued our long distance relationship. In June, after about 6 weeks of going back and forth, I made the decision to move to Washington to be closer to him. Timing of the blind date was perfect so that I could make this decision. I had recently graduated from BYU and was working at two part time jobs that I could easily leave. In July I moved to Washington. I found a job and in August Ryan proposed.

We were married in October. From the first date to our wedding was not quite 6 months. I swore I would never do that, oh well, he was the right one, at the right time, in the right place.

We went on a cruise for our honeymoon. It was awesome!

After being married for about 6 months, we both individually decided that it was time to add to our family of two. We knew that we would need to see the fertility specialist and do in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in order to have a baby. As we went through the IVF treatments, we had all the faith in the world that it was going to happen. The doctor told us that there was not a very good chance, but we had faith. Unfortunately it didn’t work. We were completely heartbroken.

Over the next few months we had to grieve with the loss of the child we never had.

We eventually felt blessed that without being married a year, we knew that we were infertile and didn't have to deal with the month to month pain of not being pregnant. By the end of the year we were ready to start the adoption process. When we called LDS Family Services, they told us that we would have to wait until we had been married for two years before we could proceed. We asked for them to make a special exception, but they couldn't. So we waited.

Ryan and I filled out all the paperwork and did all the necessary things to get approved for adoption. After we were approved we told everyone that we knew that we were trying to adopt and asked them to help spread the news. A little over a year after we had been approved we got an email from my aunt who lives in another state. She told me that she knew someone that was pregnant and not married and was considering placing her son for adoption. My aunt had shared with her our blog and information. Our sweet Julie read it and felt like we were to be the parents of her little boy. She emailed a couple of days and we read the sweetest words: “I've read your blog and it really touched me. Ever since I found out I was pregnant I never felt much like it was supposed to be mine. Please let me know if you can consider adopting my son. I know you will be a great choice.” We immediately felt so peaceful. We started emailing back and forth and building a relationship with her. We visited her a few weeks later and she immediately felt like family. About 3 months after she contacted us for the first time, she called us to let us know that the baby was going to be born that day. We jumped on the next flight and made it to the hospital a few hours after our sweet baby Lucas was born.

We spent time in the hospital with Julie and we met Lucas’ birthfather. We had a great time getting to know him and his family. We really cherished the time that we got to spend with Julie and Scottie and their families. When Lucas was 11 days old we flew home to Washington. We were so happy to be a family of 3!

Lucas is such a happy boy. We love being his parents! He is now 2 years old. We are now hoping to add another child to our family. We want him to be a big brother.

We have met with our caseworker and filled all the necessary paperwork and completed the background checks. We are now approved for adoption and looking for our next child! We are so excited for what the future will bring!

"The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude." -Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin "Come What May, and Love It "

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Last Day of Work

Tuesday is my last day of work. I have been there for exactly 3 years. It has been a great job and I love everyone I work with. They threw me a baby shower and I was so surprised. They are so nice. I got so many great things for this little guy.

One of the doctors that I work with said that they are going to treat me like an athlete retirement: they are not going to replace me, just retire my number.

The other doctor I work with said that he is going to throw a tantrum when I do leave. I told him I could get a cardboard cutout of me and put it next to the x-ray machine. He said that he would just talk to the cardboard cutout and tell it that the new person doesn't do things like me and how he misses the real Alicia.

I will miss that place...but I know that I will love being a mom and this is what I have been dreaming of for so long!

Any day now! We have been in contact with the birth father and have enjoyed getting to know him. We are excited to meet him. "J" is doing great and is getting very anxious for this baby to come. She has been walking like crazy and doing squats and bouncing on a ball. She is so cute! We love her and can't wait to see her again. 8 days until the due date, but it really could be any day now!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Baby's room

We have been putting together the baby's room for his arrival in about 3 weeks! Ryan painted the room with Bison Brown and Asparagus. We were so happy with how it turned out. We also painted the mirror frames the same asparagus color.

I am in search of the perfect chair to go in this corner. We went to a store yesterday and I may have sat in it. I still have to think about it. My little sister found this adorable print. It matches perfectly!

The countdown is on...only 22 days until his due date! We are making our flight plans and getting everything set. We are so excited!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Do you believe in miracles!?!? YEEESSSS!!!

Sneak Peek: Wishing, dreaming, waiting, preparing, and anticipating. How perfect is that?!?

The same night I wrote this post a miraculous thing happened immediately afterwards! I got an email from one of my aunts. She said she knew of someone who looked at our blog and wants us to adopt her baby!

AMAZING!

I called her immediately and got more information even though it was late, there was just no way we were going to be able to sleep.

Three days later we got an email from this wonderful young woman. In the email we read the most amazing words: Please let me know if you can consider adopting my son. I know you will be a great choice.

Of course we would "consider" it!

We have been emailing "J" for over a month and have grown to love and adore her. This last weekend we flew to meet her and her family. It was better than we could ever have hoped for. We had such an awesome time getting to know her better and meeting her family. She is due October 18 with a baby boy. We couldn't be anymore excited! She framed this ultrasound picture and gave it to us as a gift. It left us completely speechless. That night we took it to bed with us. It is beautiful.

We feel so blessed. God remembered Rachel and God remembered us. Thank you for all your prayers on our behalf. We know that the Lord has been very mindful of us.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

And God remembered Rachel

This is something that I have been thinking a lot about the last few weeks. I have read this passage of scriptures in Genesis 29-30 and thought about what it means to me.

Jacob served Laban for seven years so that he could marry his daughter, Rachel. Laban kind of tricked Jacob and had him marry his other daughter Leah. Jacob worked another seven years ("and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had for her") in order to marry Rachel. Leah gave birth to three sons. Rachel envied Leah and said unto Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die." Leah subsequently bore two more sons and a daughter.

A quote from this talk by Elder Spencer J. Condie is:

"In this age of one-hour dry cleaning and one-minute fast food franchises, it may at times seem to us as though a loving Heavenly Father has misplaced our precious promises or He has put them on hold or filed them under the wrong name. Such were the feelings of Rachel.

"But with the passage of time, we encounter four of the most beautiful words in holy writ: "And God remembered Rachel" (Genesis 30:22). And she was blessed with the birth of Joseph and later the birth of Benjamin...When heaven's promises sometimes seem afar off, I pray that each of us will embrace these exceeding great and precious promises and never let go. And just as God remembered Rachel, God will remember you."

We have been trying to be parents for over three years. It hasn't happened yet. I have seen countless friends and family members have one or two children in the last few years, while we remain childless.

And God remembered Alicia. I have thought of three ways that this might happen.

1) We will become miraculously pregnant

2) We will be miraculously chosen by a courageous young woman to adopt her baby

3) I will miraculously change my dreams of being a mother and be content and feel complete with just the two of us.

The third one is probably the most difficult for me to believe will ever happen; I want to be a mother, I have always wanted to be a mother. I don't think that is ever going to change.

So that leaves me with the first two. Both would be miracles. We believe in miracles.

Every night as I fall asleep, I cross my fingers. I am always hoping that the next day will bring good news. Someday soon that good news will come.

God remembered Rachel. . . And God will remember us.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Good Things to Come

"Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be all right in the end. Trust in God and believe in good things to come." Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Good Things to Come

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

One Year

Us at my Grandpa's 90th Birthday Party (hence the 90! Pin)

June 15, 2009: we finally got the call that we were approved for adoption after what seemed like a long process to get all the paperwork, background checks, and homestudy done.

We were so excited to finally be approved and so anxious to see what would happen next.

June 15, 2010: One year. 365 days. 52 weeks. 12 months. Approved and searching.

I don't really know what to say.

I am glad that we made it through this last year. We have learned a lot and grown even closer. But this last year was long and frustrating especially through the rollercoaster of emotions.

We are so happy. We feel so blessed. We have been promised numerous times that we will be parents. We are still unsure of when that will happen, but we are very hopeful that it will be soon.

Thanks for all of your support and prayers. Please keep them coming. We really appreciate it. It means so much to us to have so many family members and friends behind us.

Buy a Frosty this weekend. And you can show your support for adoption.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Happy 90th Birthday Grandpa!

We are heading to Seattle this weekend for my Grandpa's 90th Birthday bash. I love my Grandpa. He is so great. I love these old pictures of him. I just hope there is a big cake!