Our Journey Through Infertility

When we got married over 9 years ago in 2006, we imagined, like most couples, that we'd be able to start our family as soon as we were ready. According to our plans, we would graduate in the summer of 2008 and welcome our first child in the Fall.

Well, 2008 came and went without a child. Most of 2009 did as well before we went to see a fertility specialist. After several tests, we were diagnosed with "Unexplained Infertility". That means they couldn't find anything wrong with either of us. We tried 2 failed months of medication treatments with the specialist in the beginning of 2010. It didn't feel right to continue the medications, and we started preparing for adoption.

It took 6 months for us to get everything in order. In February of 2011, we were finally certified and on the waiting list! We were selected by a birthmother in May, and our little boy was born in September. Eli's whole adoption process was an incredible experience! We were able to be at the hospital when he was born and brought him home from there. We still have a very open relationship with his birthmother Veronica and her family. We are so grateful that he will always have those channels open as he grows older. He will never have to wonder if he was wanted or loved, or why she "gave him up." There will never be any doubt that Veronica did what she felt was best for her child. She couldn't imagine him growing up without a mother and father, in a home that would provide for his needs and teach him about Jesus Christ. We are grateful every day for the selfless sacrifice she made for him and for us. She was every bit an answer to our prayers as we were to hers.

When Eli turned 1 in September 2012, we decided to go back on the list for another adoption. We got all of the paperwork we needed to update and started working on it. For some reason, we felt that we shouldn't pursue another adoption at the time.

We thought we received the answer to our prayers for another child when I found out I was pregnant in January 2013. We could not have been more excited! But it was not meant to be. After seeing the baby's heartbeat at 6 weeks, I miscarried the following week. We were saddened by this, but also felt hope that we would have an easier time now adding to our family.

Fast forward to Summer 2014. Eli was now pushing 3 and still an only child. We again started adoption paperwork, only to feel like we weren't supposed to pursue it, again. It was a spiritually confusing time for us. We felt like we were supposed to bring more children into our family, but nothing felt right. There were a lot of prayers and tears on my part, and still no answers.

In January 2015, we decided to try fertility treatments again. All failures. Emotionally and physically I was done. Nearly 90 failed months of trying to get pregnant had taken a heavy toll on me. It felt like it was consuming me. There wasn't an hour that it didn't cross my mind, and it was affecting my happiness as a wife and mother. I felt like I had been able to handle 7 years of infertility pretty well, but everyone has breaking points, and I had reached mine. I spent many nights on my knees, pleading for peace and guidance. The Lord delivered peace in abundance, not for the first time. He continued to withhold guidance however.

With only one option left to try, we started searching out information on In Vitro Fertilization, hoping that if God could see us trying everything we could to grow our family, He would open a door for us.
After meeting with several clinics and doctors, we finally found an option that didn't feel "wrong", if not necessarily "right". I have found in my life that God rarely blesses me with strong feelings of "Yes! This is exactly what you are supposed to do!" Most of the time it is just a feeling of "This is your choice, but it's seems like a good one" :).

So where are we now, going into our 8th year of infertility and one glorious adoption later? We are going to continue our plan of beginning IVF in January, unless the Lord guides us in another direction before then. We feel like we've done everything we can on our own while waiting for God's plan to be made clear. Who knows if it will be successful. We certainly hope so. But if not, I will have peace in knowing my Heavenly Father is aware of me and my righteous desires. And while it may be extremely difficult at times, I will trust in His perfect plan for me and my family, knowing He will not leave me comfortless and without Joy!

 Eli and Dad enjoyed Chuckar's baseball games all last summer and this summer. We've got sports enthusiast on our hands.

 We all went target shooting with Grandpa Mike. Eli was ready with ear pro and eye protection!

 Jessica and Michael on our mountain bike ride in St. George, UT - Bearclaw Poppy!

 Adam treated me to a Dierks Bentley concert in Boise. What a treat! Dierks is one of my favorites!

 Can you spot Katelin? Katelin sang with the Chorelaires. She did awesome!

 Never too late to learn how to drive in the neighborhood. Are you ready to trust him on the road?

That's definitely not a smile on Eli's face. He wasn't too excited to ride an actual horse last summer at Zach's ranch. Eli went for about 1 min and screamed the whole way. But now he talks about riding the horse all the time!

Hangin with Dad!

The only time Eli will willingly leave Katelin is when it's SMACKIN time at the golf course or biking in the "big mountains" with Dad. So Awesome!

And don't forget the time he wanted to be a Krispy Kreme model!

Eli Warren Wright

Our big guy was born Sept 14, 2011 at 9lbs, 20 1/2 inches long.

He is almost 5 months old now and has been so much fun! He is a great baby. He hardly ever fusses and sleeps through the night most nights. He has brown hair, blue eyes, loves watching basketball with Dad, and somehow he got my sweaty hands and feet, poor guy. We are constantly making the comment that he could not be more like us if he shared our genetics. He was definitely meant for us!

So of course I'm planning to have a wild toddler, which will be nothing new after these guys! Don't let the picture fool you; they're crazy.

Eli spends his days laughing, rolling over, going on walks, watching his puppies play, grabbing everything in sight (no more earrings for me!), drooling, and of course eating and sleeping. He has learned how to take his pacifier out, and sort of learning how to put it back in.

Eli tried peaches for the first time today, and I had to share this video. . Apparently they were a little tart :)  I also discovered that kids learn their "p" and "b" sounds while eating, because those were the sounds he made when he spit out his food. I mixed the peaches in with his rice cereal and he ate a ton of it. The peaches alone were a bit much though! Sorry there's no sound. Don't know what the problem is.

The adoption process all went well. It was finalized December 14, 2011, and we were sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple December 22, 2011. It was such a special day, and we are so grateful to have him be ours for Eternity. Our open adoption continues to go well. This boy is truly loved by a lot of people!

Sorry for the long, and much overdue, update :)

Due Date Dawning

I'm sure if anyone is still reading this poor excuse for a blog, you're probably wondering what is going on with our adoption. Well it's still on! I have been so lucky to attend all of the doctor apointments, and was asked to be in the delivery room and cut the umbilical cord! This family has seriously been so wonderful to us, and while open adoption can be a daunting thought at times, I am so happy to go through it with them. Veronica just had her 19th birthday and we got to be a part of it. Their extended family is great too. I'm so happy we will only have glowing things to say about our son's birthmom! She is so incredible and strong. I can't imagine how difficult this will be for her, but she keeps a positive attitude and calms my concerns. Just a few weeks to go!

What's New?

So what would you do if you found out you were having a baby in 4 months? Here's what we've been doing!

My wonderful parents took us and my brother and his wife to Disneyland and California Adventure!

(The guy in front was some unlucky kid we got to sit in front, since none of us wanted to get soaked again)

(Adam is not eating the sun. It's just a reflection of the picture of the picture)

We spent some time at Bear Lake with my family!
(Obviously not pictured...Didn't get the pics from the rest of the fam)
Spent a few days swimming, playing games, and enjoying one another's company.

Went to Island Park with Adam's Family (not pictured)
(and not the freakish Adams Family) (Seriously don't know where all our good pictures went)

Adam's parents bought a couple of RZR atvs, similar to this one I found online. Super fun! We were lucky enough to get a great rainstorm and lots of mud to go through! Mosquitoes were terrible, but only if you slowed down :) We also went hiking in Yellowstone and ate lots of yummy food!

Other Idaho highlights include boating, 4th of July, and a Baby Shower for the little guy on the way. Thanks everyone! He's going to be one lucky boy with such great friends and family!

I went to Girls' Camp with these lovely ladies

We spent 3 THRILLING days in Douglas, AZ.
It's okay if you've never heard of it. We hadn't either. It's in the Southeast corner of Arizona, next to New Mexico and "Old" Mexico. We could see the Mexican boarder from our hotel.  Adam had to go for work so I tagged along. Here's a picture of their "International" airport :) Not a place I need to go again.

Adam got to take a more fun trip to Amsterdam...without me.

And like every NORMAL couple waiting for a new baby, we got a new PUPPY

We named her Rainey and she has been so much fun! Jax adores her! They play together all day long and are inseparable, which hopefully will be nice when the baby comes!

It's A Boy!!!

WE'RE GETTING A BABY!!!

A wonderful and beautiful girl named Veronica asked to meet with us tonight. We had a great lunch with her and her mom last Saturday and were feeling really good about her. We went to dinner tonight with Adam's parents, who are visiting, and Veronica and her parents met us there.

Veronica handed us this envelope and said, "Here are pictures of your new son!"

Inside we found this

and these

There were a lot of smiles, lots of reaffirmation ("Are you sure??", "100% positive." Really?", "I haven't felt such a strong feeling in my life."), lots of hugs, and a few special pictures.

Veronica's parents are in the middle, Adam's parents on the right, Veronica in front.

She is so great! We're excited to get to know her better over the next few months. We are very blessed and grateful for this priceless gift she is giving us. OUR BABY BOY IS DUE SEPTEMBER 20, 2011! I get to go to the next doctor's appointment in two weeks! I can't wait!

We want to thank everyone for the countless prayers in our behalf! The Lord sometimes has very confusing plans for us, but we are very grateful for the changes that will be coming!

Annual Family Visit

Every year my parents and my sister Tosha's family come to visit over spring break. My dad was in a play this spring, so he didn't make it, but we still had a great time! My brother Larry and his family were able to come down too. They stayed with some friends in Mesa, but we still got to see them a few times. Thanks everyone for coming to visit! You're all welcome to come back!

There was a little bit of excitement on the way here. My sister had their van fully loaded and they were ready to leave IF Wednesday afternoon. They didn't leave until almost 7pm, and didn't even come all together!

They were topping off the car fluids when they noticed oil in the radiator, or something like that. Long story short, a gasket had broken, car wouldn't make it and was going to cost a couple grand to fix, and take some time. A rental car was going to cost almost a thousand dollars. There were 3 sad adults and 4 very sad kids.

THE SOLUTION: My mom, sister, and 3 older kids drove down late that night in my mom's car. Shawn (brother-in-law) and the baby flew out the next day. Much more complicated, but so glad they still came!

Highlights include: Museum of Natural History, Out of Africa Wildlife Park, Phoenix Children's Museum, My 25 birthday party with a bunch of wonderful family, miniature golfing, swimming (90 degree weather in March), splash parks, picnics, shopping, games, football, movies, and lots of yummy food! Whew. It was a lot in 10 days, but we had a blast =] 

Museum of Natural History: Final price for 4 adults and 3 kids, $6.00. Have I mentioned our free Culture Passes? They're awesome, and so is this museum. The adults and kids had a great time. Here we are panning for "gold". You even get to take it home!

Out of Africa: 1 1/2 hour drive, freezing cold and windy weather, 5 adults, 4 kids, a couple of coupons, final price...much more than $6.00, but still very fun!

They have a couple of shows with tigers and bears, where the employees play with the animals and show off their hunting skills. It was really cool to watch. Bottom Right: the employees would jump into the water to get out of the way.

We left Phoenix a steamy 85 degrees. Camp Verde had to have been no warmer than 55 degrees, with a cold wind. No pants, no jackets, no sense. Luckily I had a bag of DI clothes in the trunk. Yes, those are sweat pants and shorts on our arms. Don't judge us...We made due with what we could!  

The lionesses were by far the highlight of the day! After sitting around and ignoring us for 5 minutes, one lion decided our nephews weren't too bad. They would run in front of her habitat, and she would chase them along the fence! Back and forth they went for several minutes. If they stopped, she would crouch down as if to pounce. They loved it!

 

The second lion the boys caught the attention of was not as friendly. She didn't like them being near her one bit and kept roaring at them, really mean like. When she started digging at the bottom of the fence to get out and eat them, the adults felt it was time to go elsewhere!

Note: If you were stupid, you could stick your fingers through the fence and touch the animals, or lose a finger. That's how close you get to them! They even let you feed a lion and tiger, and pet giraffes, camels, and snakes!

The Children's Museum. It was my birthday that day, so me, Adam and my mom went to lunch instead of the museum. I think we made the better choice!

All the kidos at our house for a birthday bash.

Some evening downtime.

Miniature golfing at Castles and Coaster. They have 4 different courses, they they are really fun.

While the boys rushed through the course, we took our sweet time, and many photo oportunities.

Sad little boy, but I love this picture. He looks like the Incredible Hulk!

I adore all of my nieces and nephews, but this little guy was my very best friend this trip! He's in that hilarious 2 year old stage, where everything they do or say cracks you up. The boys (young and old) got him saying "I got ladies!",  "Oh yeah, Ladies", and my personal favorite :(  "Hairy bum, Katelin", which he still runs around the house saying!

Thanks family for visiting! We'll see you next year! Next week Adam's parents come to visit, and we can't wait!



The Selection Process

Our adoption profile has been up for a little over a month now, and we have had 3 (and a halfish) contacts which we think is really good (even though our profile has been viewed over 230 times).

The first contact we received was from a girl named Sara, who lives here in Arizona. We emailed back and forth every day for about a week, and then asked our caseworker what to do next. She suggested we could meet Sara for lunch, and maybe bring a caseworker along. We met Sara at Olive Garden for lunch about 3 weeks ago. She was really great. We still make contact about once a week, but she is still in contact with other couples as well. She's due with a baby boy in July and has until then to make a decision.

The second contact was from a girl who didn't even write her name in the email, just an Idaho phone number. She is due with a baby girl in August. We emailed her back and didn't hear anything, so a few days later I tried calling her (a little awkward since I didn't even know who to ask for). Once I told her why I was calling, she said she had picked a family the day before!

Last week I was looking up our profile and the system couldn't find it. I called our caseworker and she said someone in Michigan had put a "soft hold" on our profile. That means that someone was seriously considering us and didn't want anyone else to pick us until they made a decision. It would have been very exciting if that person had actually contacted us! Whoever it was removed the hold a few days later.

The 3rd contact came today from a girl named Veronica. She is due in September and doesn't know the gender yet. She said we were the first family she looked at, but then our profile disappered before she contacted us, so she made sure to send an email when she saw we were back up. I emailed her back tonight, so we'll see where this goes!

It's exciting to have a couple of people interested, but we're keeping a bit of an emotional distance. Either of these contacts could be the one, or neither of them could be. We know we'll end up with the baby we are supposed to though! For now it's still great to get to know other people and find out what matters to these mothers who are giving someone such a priceless gift!

Making Some Progress

I wish I could say that about all of the projects on my list, but this one is just as good! Our adoption profile got posted just a few weeks ago on the LDS adoption website, right next to 965 other couples. Since we were told it takes awhile for anything to happen, we haven't been expecting anything.

Friday night Adam and I went on a super fun date by ourselves. Adam's company paid for us to go out to dinner, and then we snuck into a hotel pool and hot tub :) It was like being in high school all over again! It was an outdoor pool and we had it all to ourselves, possibly because it's only March and Arizonans are wimps in the 80 degree temperatures.

Anyway...we got home that night and like always I checked my email. To our great surprise there was an email from a girl saying she was looking for a family to place her baby boy with and our profile caught her eye! She is in contact with several other couples, and chances are nothing will come of it, but it's great knowing that we can be found and learning a little more about how the process all works. Right now we've just sent a few emails back and forth, trying to get to know each other a little bit.

I've wondered what it would be like getting that first email. It was so exciting, but also a little heartbreaking knowing that she will be having to make such a difficult decision. She sounds like such an amazing girl (I think she's about my age) and I can't even imagine what she is going through. It really puts it into perspective to think about what someone will be sacrificing for us to one day have a child. It's a very humbling experience.  I'll keep you up to date on the journey we've just started, the thing called the "Rollercoaster" of adoption.

"The Naughty Bird" and Other Short Stories

The Naughty Bird

There once was a bird

Who needed to turd.

So he sat in a tree

Waiting very silently.

Then he pooped on my head.

The End.

The Naughty Dog



       The king and queen were sleeping soundly when the royal pup started to make a very loud licking noise. Since the royal pup shared a bed with the royal couple, it woke up the queen. The queen thought the pup was cleaning himself and kicked him to get him to stop. When the licking continued, she began to get very annoyed with the pup. She reached out to swat him, but instead stuck her hand into a warm,wet pile of vomit. She then got to change the bedding and take the pup for a walk at 4:00 in the morning before returning to bed. She didn't feel very royal anymore, especially when she met the naughty bird later that day.  The end.

The Naughty Paperwork

     Once upon a time there was a nice, and not at all poop or vomit covered, couple. They decided to have a child. When normal means didn't work, they decided to try adopting. They rushed to finish all of their paperwork. It took them a whole month! They thought that was a long time, but it was much faster than most.

Having their application finished was a nice feeling. Then they waited 5 whole months for that paperwork to get processed. Finally, one sunny day at the end of February they got a phone call. Their application had been approved! Now they would keep waiting, but this time on a baby and not paperwork.  The end (but really just the beginning).

Weather Alert!

You think it's cold there?? Phoenix couldn't even let our kids out for recess today! It was all the way down to 43 degrees for the high today :) 

Remember those days of recess being huddled next to the building, while the snow blew straight into your face? I do, and yet I took Jax for a 5 minute walk today and cursed him the whole time for refusing to go to the bathroom in the backyard like a normal dog. The wind is blowing (one out of 15 windy days a year), and it really does feel cold. It's days like this that I'm grateful I live down here. It's going to be back up to 70 by Saturday so that we can enjoy the Phoenix Open (pro golf) outdoors. Who wants to come visit?


Adoption Note: Still waiting for our paperwork to be pushed through. No new news.

Christmas Catch Up

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas thanks to our awesome parents! My parents gave us a new vacuum which has been a blessing considering I often come home to this (and Adam did some cooking last week). Surprisingly Jax still has some toys with stuffing in them. This picture is nothing.

Adam's parents gave us several gifts that we loved, but I'm very excited to try this out!

I haven't known where to start, but we're planning a sewing project for our ward young women this month. My mother-in-law had the sales women give me a how-to class on using my new machine. I learned what each stitch does and what it's used for. Did you know there's a preferred stitch for stretchy fabric?? Now I just need to learn how to shop for fabric...

I wish I had pictures of our Christmas, but I let others take all the pictures. We went sledding with my fam, played lots of games- including a rousing game of Minute-to-Win-it (so much fun), Adam went snowboarding a couple of times, and just loved being around the family. It was hard to come home, but Adam was ready for some down time! We spent the whole first weekend back watching movies. I don't even think we left the house! I was begging Adam to go somewhere, which was quite a switch.

We can't wait for the flood of family visits, so get packing!

Adoption Update

Just when we think things can't possibly take any longer, we find out there's still more to be done with our paperwork! We rushed to get all of it turned in back in September, but the agency still hasn't submitted it for certification. Now we're waiting to get CPS clearance from Idaho and hopefully that's the last hang-up. If all goes ok we should be on the list to adopt by the end of January.

It's been pretty frustrating the last couple of months waiting on other people. I try to remember that a few months really isn't a big deal in the scheme of things, but it's hard to be patient sometimes. At least I know we aren't going to miss out on "our" baby just because of paperwork delays. Keep us in your thoughts and we'll keep you updated as things progress!

Yes, we are still here

First: I'm shocked anyone actually has looked at our blog.

Second: Apparently one post every 4 months isn't acceptable.

Third: I'll try to do better (no one likes novel posts), but checking in every couple of months should suffice.

          If you haven't already heard, AZ has had 80 degree temperatures for the last several months. I understand it's the middle of December, but do we still have to be sweating? I've had to wear flip flops for so much of the year that most of them are now broken and Jax only wants to be outside so I'm forced to take several walks during the day (without a jacket). It gets chilly at night, so I have to open my windows during the day to warm up the house. We've even had to turn the heat on a couple of times this month! (Anyone feel bad for us yet??) It's really hard living down here during the winter :)

           We are going to be in Idaho for Christmas (Yea!), but are definitely not looking forward to the cold. Our blood has really thinned out. Adam spent last week in Flagstaff for work and it was still in the 50s. He took a blanket to work with him! If you see us looking a little overweight, it isn't because we ate too many sweets - we probably have 5 layers of clothing on.

            Our adorable puppy, now 1 year old, loves cooler weather however. Back in October we had a crazy rain/hail storm. Jax couldn't wait to dig in the hail and run through the freezing cold water!

 

 



The water was overflowing the curbs, and there were even whitecaps from the wind





They had just planted all of these new trees on our street. Several of them didn't quite make it.

          Since then, my parents came to visit around Halloween. We had a great time using Phoenix Culture Passes to see a few of the sites. Our library does this cool thing where you get free passes to museums, zoos, and other attractions. We visited the Botanical Gardens, a museum of natural history (dinosaurs and stuff), and a Native American museum. My dad has all the pictures, but we had a great time! We love when family comes to visit, and not just because we get spoiled! Thanks Mom and Dad.

           For Thanksgiving we drove to St. George to spend it with Adam's family. His parents rented a house for the week, so we got to spend some great quailty time with his parents, sister Mickel, brother Zach, and Zach's wife Andrea. We had dinner at Adam's grandparents with some aunts, uncles, and cousins, which was super yummy, just like Thanksgiving should be. We had so much fun playing games, shopping, and just hanging out. Again, we were very spoiled! Thanks Ma and Pa Wright!

Overall, we've been enjoying life and keeping busy. Adam is ready for a much needed 2 week break before busy season starts, even if it means freezing our buns off!