What a Wonderful Gift!!

So do we look like parents or what??

This picture was taken on 12/19/09 when Cody and I were out to dinner with my parents and our baby boy was born the day before on 12/18/09!! You did read that correctly Cody and I are officially parents!!! We are so blessed to have adopted the most perfect baby boy.

Jackson Lon was born on December 18, 2009 weighing 7 lbs 13 ozs and 20 inches long.

So here is the story!! On Wed January 27th I got a phone call from my sister in law Rochelle saying she thought she had found a baby for Cody and I. I was at work and she had left me a voicemail. I called her back immediately and she gave me the information and said Jackson's birth mom wanted to speak with me. I called and spoke with her and she said she wanted to meet with Cody and I the next day. That is when the whirlwind started. I immediately went and told my boss that I probably wouldn't be working the next day and told her what was going on. Thankfully I work for a wonderful company that is very flexible and understanding. Once I got home from work I got into cleaning mode. I had a cub scout blue and gold banquet that I had to go to that night and it took everything I had not to tell the whole room but of course I did tell a couple of people. I have two awesome friends that came over and helped me clean my house. Yes, pretty embarassing but at least the help bought me a couple more hours of sleep (even though this was the beginning of many sleepless nights). I wasn't sure what time they wanted to meet on Thursday so I wanted to be prepared. Of course with all of the excitement and stress I started to loose my voice!! They called me on Thursday morning and said that they would come over that evening around 5:00 pm. I am sure they could hardly hear me because my voice had gone pretty fast. Cody and I were just sitting and waiting by like 4:00 and they called around 4:30 and said they were running late. The birth mom came over on Thurs January 28th with her daughter, her cousin, and with little Jackson at about 5:30. The minute they walked in the door and we got to see Jackson, Cody and I both thought he was the most beautiful little baby we had ever seen. The meeting went really well and we talked about how we would work things out. They were over for about 2 hours and we were already talking about if we wanted the stroller and car seat that they had. While they were here we showed them our really clean house (thank you Michelle and Katy) and told them about the cradle we had just got that Sunday. We went over to Cari and Garrett's house for dinner on Sunday Jan 24th and Cody was helping Garrett move something up into their room. While we were in their room Cari asked if we wanted to use the craddle that they had when we get a baby. Of course we said yes and then Garrett asked if we would take it right then, which we figured sure if we are going to use it then we can store it at our house. At the time we had no idea that we might be getting a baby or meeting Jackson three days later. We wrapped up the conversation with the birth mom and they headed out the door. Cody told them to go home and pray about it and then let us know. She said she would call us on Friday and let us know her decision. We felt really good about it but you never know. As I hugged the birth mom she told me that she felt she could finally breathe again and she hadn't felt that way in a really long time. As they drove away and Jackson was in their car it was very hard to see him leave he already felt like he was our baby. Of course I thought please don't let them get into a car wreck or have anything happen to them. Friday was a very long day. I had my cell phone glued to me, I took it to the bathroom and everywhere else so I wouldn't miss the call. My parents were coming up to go to the temple which they had planned a while ago before all of this had happened and I thought they wanted to go on Friday night. I was worried that we would be in the temple and I would miss the call. They had decided to go on Saturday instead. By Friday at about 11:00 pm I figured we weren't going to get the call. Cody was at a scout training campout anxiously awaiting me to call him and let him know. I still felt very confident and wasn't too worried that she hadn't called. Saturday morning we are getting ready for the temple and I am still glued to my phone. I didn't want to call her and be to pushy or try to persuade her decision at all. I knew that she needed to make this decision for herself. Of course as we were about to leave for the temple my period started which this was the first time in 8 years that I wasn't upset and didn't care that I wasn't pregnant. As my dad was about to pull into the parking lot of the temple my cell phone rang and it was the birth mom. She was very apologetic about not calling on Friday and asked me if we had spoke with an attorney. I then asked her if this is what she wanted and she said yes!! We had spoken with an attorney and were able to schedule an appointment to all meet together on Monday at 2 pm. This is just a testament that if you are doing the right things then things in your life will fall into place. The weekend seemed very long and we had a couple of conversations with the birth mom and were getting things ready. I started washing baby clothes and was very excited and still not sleeping very well at night. All I could think about was little Jackson. I spoke with my sister in law Rochelle and she had heard that even after the birth mom spoke with me on the phone the first time she started to feel good about us. We contacted our good friend to tell him our wonderful news and he offered to come to the attorney's office and take some pictures for us. We figured that he could get some really nice pictures of them with Jackson so that we could give them to them and also Jackson could have them as well. The birth mom had told me that she wanted us to get Jackson as soon as possible since we had missed out on the first 6 weeks of his life so we weren't sure if that meant on Monday or not. While we were at the attorney's office on Monday they had said that her family wanted to come in town to say goodbye to him so initially they were talking about giving him to us on the following Tuesday (over a week later). Then they came back and said how about Thursday of the same week. The next few days were long followed by more sleepless nights. Which through this whole process I lost 8 lbs. On Thursday Feb 4th the birth mom and her cousin went over to the attorney's office to sign the papers at about 4:30 pm. Our attorney sent us a text to let us know and we were so excited. As they left the attorney's office they called and let us know that they would be going to gather up all of Jackson's stuff and bring him over. Again our good friend Matt offered to come over and take pictures for us. As they arrived it was very emotional. Cody and I were so excited and happy but felt so sad for them. Even though they knew it was the right decision to make for Jackson it was so hard for them. The best mothers are the ones that put their children's happiness before that of their own and both the birth mom and her cousin did that for Jackson. They have so much love for him and made the ultimate sacrifice for him. They were here just about an hour. It was such an emotional yet wonderful experience for us. We finally had the family that we have always wanted. They gave us a gift that no one else was able to give to us. The birth mom's cousin said it really well when she said they didn't loose family they just gained more family. Randomly that day Cody's parents had come up to go to the temple. They wanted to stop by for some oranges and we were trying to stall them so they could meet Jackson but we didn't want them to show up while the birth mom was still here. Thankfully Cari was able to stall them at her house and they started to get anxious and wanted to get home. They were the first ones in the family to get to meet Jackson and were so excited. We were trying to keep it a secret because we wanted to surprise Cody's family at his sisters house in Tucson when she blessed her baby and baptized her son on Feb 13th. Those first few nights it didn't quite feel real, it felt like we were babysitting. That first night I am sure we did everything wrong. We had gotten him to sleep around 11pm and thought he was down for the night, about 30 minutes later he let us know that he was not. I also learned that you aren't supposed to give babies cold bottles, I thought it was just a preference thing and figured since he drank it and didn't care that it was no big deal, later I found out that it can hurt their stomach (oh great!!). The first 2 nights Cody was so excited and got up with him each time and I felt really bad because I didn't even hear a thing. The 3rd night I got up with him and Cody slept. Then we decided that since Cody was off work for a couple of weeks then we would take turns so that one of us wouldn't be totally wiped out and we would both get to enjoy him. We feel so blessed to have Jackson in our lives. He is named after a Grandpa Jack and an Uncle Lonnie that sound like some pretty great men. I can't believe that we got a baby within 8 days. We are so thankful for all of the prayers and support that have been shown in our behalf over the years and we know that Heavenly Father does hear and answer our prayers.

Already smiling at daddy!

The first night when we thought he was out for the night (it only lasted 30 mins)

Having a nap with his daddy


Our first bath!!

Jackson loves bath time, but does not like to get out!!

REALLY DOESN'T LIKE TO GET OUT OF THE BATH!

At our ward Souper Bowl Party!! (it was a soup party the Sat before the Super Bowl)

Looking cute in his shark PJs