baby shower

Adoption

Little Happies: All About Baby Tex

October 6, 2014

Welcome back to the Little Happies 🙂

This week is all about Baby Teixeira…and let’s be honest…the fact that I am writing about this at all is a HUGE HAPPY!!!

But there can certainly be little happies along the journey to the big ones! That’s what I want to share with you this week.

Also….

In this post you will also discover the gender of Baby Tex!!!!

Now I’ve got your attention!

–one–

We “met” Baby Tex back in August because we were blessed with baby’s birth momma being willing to travel to Denver while being very pregnant. (I use the term birth mom since that’s a commonly used term in the adoption world. She is truly much more and I in no way mean that term to belittle her in anyway whatsoever.)

The weekend was awesome. My SIL and nephew flew in too, so it was definitely a packed house. We spent time swimming, eating, chatting, tie-dying, and laughing. Lots of laughing. It was a great weekend and we realized that we are spoiled with a great birth family. I’ve never met such giving, selfless, caring, and positive people. We are excited about an open adoption and know it will bless our and Baby Tex’s life over the years ahead.

–two–

Then there was this 🙂

Our first and only photos of Baby Tex are a few ultrasound pics in which they couldn’t get great images. Oh well, at least they got some!

This was the photo shoot in which Baby revealed their gender and breech status. Say some prayers Baby flipped between then and now!

–three–

Insanely surreal.

I had a Baby Shower.

What??!?!?!?!?

Back when I was knee deep in warped infertile thinking, I wrote this day off as something that would NEVER happen.

But it did. Wow. Thank you Lord!

My wonderful family hosted a totally Pintrest-worthy shower for me last weekend. Major shout-out to my Aunt Denise who went all out and painted decorations, made the cake/cupcakes, and made every detail as cute as can be. It was a lot of fun to celebrate this upcoming adoption with family and friends.

And now we actually have clothes for the kiddo to wear 🙂

–three–

Before the shower we had a private gender reveal – so we could also then tell others the gender at the baby showers.

Our baby’s birth mom Facebook messages me the gender results.

Then my mom hacked into my Facebook account, read the message and called Baby R Us.

The staff at Baby R Us put together a onesie package based on the gender of Baby Tex.

We arrived to pick up the gift wrapped package and the staff were so giddy! 🙂 They said this small task made their night. It was really touching to see how excited people are about adoption.

Then we opened the package….and obviously by now you know IT’S A GIRL!!!!!! EEEEEEPPPPP!!!

We couldn’t be more excited about this! 🙂

–four–

Then I had amazing friends in Denver throw me a second Baby Shower! 🙂

Double surreal!!!

Again, it was cute as can be and we also had a gender reveal in the gorgeous and delicious gluten-free cupcakes.

Even though I knew, don’t I still look surprised? Props to Alzbeta for snapping these photos of the gathering!

I felt so supported and loved the past couple weeks. Again, it’s truly inspiring to see how excited people are for this adoption.

–five–

Lactation induction.

Obviously no photos here.

This might sound weird to some of you but I assure you it’s not.

I am currently inducing lactation so I can breast-feed Baby Girl. This involves taking herbs, medications, drinking lots of water/tea, and pumping every 2-3 hours per day.

But after two weeks of pumping, I started making milk! What!?!?!

It’s not much. I only make 3-4 ounces a day which is a SMALL fraction of what the baby needs. It keeps getting better each day though, which is encouraging since “the ladies” didn’t really have 9 months to gear up for this. I’ve got about one month left to keep pumping, storing, freezing, and building my supply. It’s literally my new full-time job and I am so excited to be doing it.

That’s a Little Happy wrap! Stay tuned this week for one last puzzle fundraiser update!

Marriage, Mission, Uncategorized

Summer 2013 in Review

August 10, 2013

In our first blog back in months I alluded to doing some traveling this summer. We truly went on an adventure and there are too many stories to tell, so you can get the photo recap of all the places we went and people we were blessed to see.

1. May 1rst – Flew from Denver to Las Vegas, NV and back.

I surprised Jonathan with a 3 day trip to Las Vegas for his 27th birthday. He thought we were dropping a friend off at the airport. Upon arriving, our friend handed Jonathan some tickets…that had OUR names on them! He opened the trunk and OUR bags were in it! Jonathan ran around laughing for a few minutes because he was so surprised.

Our favorite thing we did in Vegas was hiking Gold Strike Canyon. It was an all day trip just outside the city and it had some of the most gorgeous scenery. Of course, we ate at the Vegas buffets and played some slots/roulette. We won free tickets to see KA, a Cirque du Soleil event. We saw an Illusions show that was pretty suspenseful. We visited the Catholic Churches on the strip. It was a tiring but packed few days.

Last but not least… Jonathan and I left Vegas with more $$$ than when we went with. How did this happen? Dumb luck. It usually went something like this: Amanda puts $1 in slot machine and pulls lever….$45 comes back. OR Jonathan put $1 on a number in roulette…that number gets picked and dealer hands Jonathan $35. It just kept happening! What?!?! Good thing we really aren’t into gambling or we’d be into trouble with that type of a win streak.

2. May 11th – No traveling but participated in Rugged Maniac.

Mud. Fire. Water. Climbing Walls. Cold. Barbed Wire. Let’s just say I am not doing this again (despite what my smile above implies) and Jonathan can’t wait to sign up next year. 🙂

3. May 17th – Flew from Denver, CO to Cranston, RI.

We went to our beloved Christopher (Jonathan’s brother) and Cynthia’s baby shower for their MIRACLE BABY! The shower was Dr. Seuss themed and it was at a State Park in RI, which looked out onto the ocean. Beautiful! We got to spend some time with them over the weekend too, which was awesome since we live so far a part. Above is an adorable pic of Cynthia a few weeks before her due date.

3. May 19th – Rented a vehicle and drove to York, PA.

Got caught in 3+ hours of stop and go on the interstate turning a 6-ish hour trip into a 10-ish. No pics because why would I document that? LOL!

We got to spend time with Jonathan’s parents, which was great! We also caught up with some of our FOCUS support partners in town, which is always a blessing to us! We have some friends who had just bought a home so we lived vicariously through them at Home Depot one Saturday morning picking out paint and odds and ends.

4. May 28th – Flew from Baltimore, MD to Fort, Lauderdale Florida.

FOCUS New Staff Training!!! It was 6 weeks long and hosted at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, FL. I served as the dean for the college of St. Anne (as in Jesus’ grandmother!) I really loved being around so many joyful and faithful people for 6 whole weeks. I was able to host a few FOCUS Greek events – both formative and fun. Jonathan planned and hosted FOCUS Equip Student Training (FEST) in which both of us got to teach at. Our lives were very full and busy! It was my first FOCUS New Staff Training as a married woman and I have to say it was definitely harder than I expected. Taking 6 weeks to uproot our lives and put them “on hold” isn’t as easy at it was when it was just me. God provided the grace though for us to thrive in the midst of it all.

5. June 28th – Drove to St. Augustine, FL and then down to Orlando, FL.

Jonathan and I drove up to St. Augustine to visit with some very good friends of ours. The visit was short but it was awesome to find a sliver of time that worked to see them since they live in FL and we happened to be in the state. We also visited the Our Lady of La Leche Shrine in town, asking the Blessed Mother to interceded for the blessing of children to our marriage. We continue to pray for children and the healing of infertility but ultimately that God’s will would be done in our marriage.

After our visit we drove down to Orlando that evening. By God’s Providence we met a wonderful young man a few weeks prior, who works as a contractor for Disney. I don’t know how it all came together but we got to spend the next 3 days visiting Epcott, Magic Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. We had a GREAT time! Top 3 memories? Meeting Belle, riding Space Mountain, and riding Soarin!

This trip literally rejuvinated by spirits X1000. We’ve been on the road for a while now…starting to mentally crack under the lack of routine.

6. July 6th – Flew from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Omaha, NE.

After New Staff Training, we flew into Omaha to spend some time with my family and also meet up with our amazing network of mission partners who prayerfully and financially support our work in FOCUS.

We started the trip off by going camping with my parents, which was awesome! Upon getting back, we had a very tight schedule, since we were trying to meet up in person with our supporters. It was completely worth it and I can’t be more grateful for the people God has allowed us to meet through the opportunity we have to fundraise in FOCUS. Who knows how long God will call us to this work but I am certain we have found life-long connections with many of our mission partners.

7. July 24th – Rented a vehicle and drove to Denver, CO.

I am just on the brink of a mental and emotional breakdown. Our lives that past 2+ months have been FULL, BLESSED, and ADVENTUROUS! But too much of a good thing is a bad thing! LOL! I love love love spending time with my parents but man…the car rental place couldn’t open early enough for me to get outta town that day! 8 hours later….we were finally HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8. August 2 – No traveling but our first nephew is born!

We’re home and settled JUST IN TIME for the good news! Joaquin Christopher Teixeira came into the world! We have been asked to be his godparent’s and we couldn’t be more excited and in love with this little man.

That’s a wrap!