November 16, 2011 = Joyous Adoption Day

Last February, I started writing this entry and could never finish it because of the overwhelming emotions and fear of one of the biggest heartbreaks imaginable:

Helpless

This past weekend, I was incredibly fortunate to meet my potential niece and nephew, Jazmine and Jackson. 

For years my brother John and Noreen have been trying to conceive their own children.  They’ve drained themselves financially and emotionally.  It takes a strong marriage to withstand what they’ve been through and are going through and I admire them for their strength and commitment to each other.

I’ve had to stop and restart writing this due to the tears that run down my face…I am heartbroken that I might never get to see these babies again, but mostly because I fear the babies could be taken from John and Noreen after they have loved them with all their hearts. 

And that’s as far as I ever got.  I started writing it on the plane ride home from Arizona and the lady next to me probably wondered what the heck was wrong with me!  After I returned home, I tried to go back to the file, but never could. 

Now, nine months later, I’m overwhelmed with joy and today can retitle the entry to “Happiness” or a word I am very fond of since having my own children, “JOY.”

Joy is the feeling I had when I held my babies for the first time in my arms, and what I feel every day when I wake up to them.

Today, John and Noreen, are feeling the ultimate JOY as they officially become mom and dad to Jackson and Jazmine Schnaubelt.  Today, is adoption day.  And tomorrow and every day after, they will wake up to Jackson and Jazmine’s joy and find peace knowing they are theirs forever. 

I’m very proud of my brother.  He has given this adoption everything he has to give.  When they were introduced to the birth mom, they helped her through her pregnancy and were there for support during prenatal appts and during the birth.  When the babies were released from the hospital, they came home with John and Noreen and have been there for 95% of their lives.

However, it was never guaranteed that an official adoption would take place.  In fact, John said there was only a 30% chance of keeping the babies.

 

He took that 30% chance and turned it into 100% when they closed the deal today.  He never gave up and always had ideas of how it would all work out.  He kept telling everyone to keep the faith.  We prayed and kept the faith, and God answered everyone’s prayers today.

November 16, 2011 Adoption Day!

I’m so happy for them, and for the babies.  These kids will have a wonderful life, with two loving and caring parents and an army full of extended family to keep them entertained!

To Ashley, their birth mom:  Thank you for choosing LIFE, and thank you for choosing my brother and sister in law to be the best parents for the twins.

Will turns FIVE!

Willy B turned 5 on Sept 26.  He has been anticipating his birthday since his cowboy birthday party last year.   He has been confirming with us several times this year that on his birthday, he gets to do whatever he wants…as long as it isn’t harmful to anyone! 

I’ve had a bit of guilt between Will and Wyatt’s birthdays.  Will has a nice warm, festive fall birthday, while Wyatt’s is in the bitter cold of January when all grandparents have headed south and everyone else has hibernated for the winter.  So when it comes to birthday parties, Will has a tremendous response (plus, now he has his own school friends and neighborhood friends to invite) while Wyatt’s response is marginal.  When we were deciding on what celebration we should have for Will’s big 5, we decided we shouldn’t have a big party again because we know we can’t do that for Wyatt.  We gave Will 3 choices and with each choice, he could choose 2-3 friends to invite along.  We could either 1) Go to a Brewer Game 2) Blast off model rockets and go for an airplane ride at Popper’s house or 3) Go to the movie theater and mini golf, go carts, etc.

It wasn’t even a question in Will’s mind.  He wanted to go to Popper and Grandma’s house!  So we bought a few extra model rockets to assemble, paper airplane templates, airplane themed gifts, planned the airplane cake and favors, and handed out the invites folded into paper airplanes.

We knew the party depended on the weather and had a secret indoor backup plan that had nothing to do with airplanes or rockets!  And sure enough, it started to rain and the wind began to blow about 3 days before the party.  Although it stopped raining by the morning of the party, it was too wet and still too windy to continue with launching rockets and airplane rides, so we were off to LEGOLAND in Schaumburg!  

Since Will fell in love with Legos on his 4^th birthday and soon after found out there is a “legoland,” he has been begging to go so it was perfect.  He was super excited.  We loaded up Will, Wyatt, EJ and Charlotte, and headed for the Land of Legos.  We spent a great deal of time there breaking once for lunch, presents and cake and came back.  

On Will’s actual birthday, he went to school, then we picked him up and went out for lunch at his choice – McDonald’s Playland.  Had some naps, then met Jeff after work at the theater to watch The Lion King.  Followed up with a trip to the toy store and home to eat a snack for dinner (after all that popcorn!) and open his presents from Wyatt and us.  Whew!  Birthdays sure are exhausting but FUN!