God Said Yes

As you know, Sam and I have prayed for children for many years (in fact, many of you have joined us in this prayer).  This prayer has always been answered with wait.  Friday, our prayer was finally answered with yes when our son, Joseph Dean Parks, was born.

I've been in love with this little guy since January when we found out about him and his birth mom chose us to be his forever home.  Every since then, I've been telling myself that birth mom could change her mind and decide to keep him, but in my heart I loved him already.

His birth story goes like this:

Thursday evening, I told Sam that I was going to stay up until I finished my student assessment portfolios so I could take them to school with me on Friday and not have to stress about them if Joseph made his appearance over the weekend (his due date was May 26th).  I finally finished at 12:30 a.m. and went to bed.

Around 1:30 a.m., my cell phone rang.  It was birth mom telling me that she was headed to the hospital and we needed to start that way too.  I woke Sam up, we grabbed our stuff, and we jumped in the car to head to Lawton.  At 2:40 a.m., my cell phone rang again and, over his crying in the background, birth mom said, "Courtney, you have a baby boy."  I will never forget that phone call!  Our precious baby boy was born at 2:36 a.m.  He was 7 pounds 7 ounces and 20 inches long.  We drove as quickly as possible while still being careful and arrived around 4 a.m.  We were taken to the nursery where we met our sweet little man.

The tears couldn't be contained any longer (let's be honest, I had already cried multiple times on our way down) as we sat there looking at the child that is the answer to our prayers.   The next few hours/days are a blur of paperwork, visitors, crying, lawyers, diapers, and court dates.

I've want so badly to blog about Joseph many times in the time leading up to his birth and since, but Sam and I made an agreement that we would wait until everything was legal.  Well, he's ours now (as long as mom doesn't change her mind in the 30 day grace period) and I'm so excited to share him with you!

And, because I'm a proud new momma, here are a few more pictures of our little guy:

Sam has really fallen into the role of Daddy.

He's just so perfect!

 

Here is Joseph on his birth date with his cousin Bryar who was a day short of two months old.  I can't believe the size difference!

Aubrey's Birthday

Last Thursday was the second anniversary of Aubrey's birth.  As we did last year on her birthday, Sam and I both took the day off from work to enjoy spending time together (we've decided that a great way to honor her is to spend time strengthening our marriage).  We ate a nice lunch, took a fresh spray of flowers to her grave (where Sam also read his annual letter to her), made a donation to St. Jude in her name, and took a nap.  All in all, it was a great day!

A Month in Review - April

Well, since April has come and gone already, I guess I will write a recap of our month.  You might be thinking that I didn't write anything last month because I didn't have anything to write about, but it's actually because we were so busy I didn't have much time to get on the computer.  Here are a few of the highlights from April.

~ Sam and I started the month by coming home from dinner to find this in our yard.

 That's right, as an April Fools joke our neighbor forked our yard! 

~ We cleaned out the pond and added a second fountain.

~ We had a carnival at school. 

 

~ I finally convinced Sam to let me update our mailbox.

 Nothing is safe now that I have a Silhouette!

~ Sam got a shot in his back to help with the pain he has been experiencing.

 When I went back to sit with him and wait for his procedure I wasn't expecting him to be dressed like this.  Luckily, he was in a good mood and let me take a picture. 

~ I made a shirt for my friend's son's first birthday party.

~ I let my friend talk me into running the Remember the Ten 5k.  Thankfully, Sam ran with me since Bailey was actually running the 10k.  I might or might not have run into a huge flower pot mid-run.

~ Sam and Ben added a column to the back porch.

~ Bella went to school with me to teach safe procedures when petting dogs during pet week.

She waited oh so patiently in the office as the kids were waking up from rest time.

She even used good manners and looked at the speaker while the kids were asking me questions about her.

~ We went to Tulsa to The Black Keys concert.  Since we stayed at Sam's brother's house, we were able to take the dogs.  They had a blast playing with the cousin dogs!

Pete loves Bella so much!

Bella loves Sam!!!

So there you have it, April in a nutshell.  Maybe I'll have time to blog again once summer break starts.

With a Heavy Heart

Today my heart is heavy.  As you know, our journey to have a family has not been a short or easy one.  Along the way, we have met many people.  One person that we met was a young lady that I will refer to as N.  A friend put N and I in contact with each other in December.  N was pregnant (we later found out it was a little girl due at the beginning of June) and considering putting the baby up for adoption.  We communicated through our mutual friend for about a month until N finally contacted me herself.  During our conversations, it was obvious that N loved this baby very much.  She was torn between putting the child up for adoption and keeping it.  Sometimes our conversations involved the baby, sometimes they involved our pasts (she wanted to know about our journey to have a family and asked questions about Aubrey as our friend had told N about her), and sometimes they were just about every day life (she is a freshman in college trying to find the balance between class, work, and fun).

On February 9th, N called to tell me that she hoped we find the baby that is right for our family, but unfortunately it wasn't hers.  I was sad to say the least as we had been hoping and praying that this might be our child.  Even though I was sad, I told N that I would be there for her if she ever needed anything.  We have texted a few times since that phone call. 

Yesterday, I received a text that took my breath away.  It was from our friend.  She wanted to let me know that N had gone into premature labor the night before and the baby was stillborn.  I immediately texted N to let her know that I am here for her if she needs anything then called Sam crying.  Although I knew that this wasn't our baby, I still felt an attachment to both the baby and N and the fact that N experienced a loss so similar to my own hit me right in the heart.  N called me last night.  Through our conversation, I learned that she has little support during this difficult time.  She's experiencing many of the same things that I experienced when we lost Aubrey (fear, sadness, anger just to name a few), but the main difference I am noticing is that I had amazing family and friends that lifted us up in prayer and helped us through. 

My heart goes out to this young lady who is having to grow up way too fast.  I want so badly to wrap her in my arms as a mother would and tell her that everything is going to be alright.  I want her to know that as bad as this sucks right now, she will be OK again (not the person she was before, but OK).  I want to reassure her that both of our daughters are in heaven and we will see them again when the time is right.  I want her to know that it's fine to cry and be sad right now.  As it says in John 16:22, "Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy."

I believe that some people are put in your life because you need them while others are put in your life because they need you.  Right now, I'm trying to be what sweet N needs.  This is where you come in.  If you find it in your heart, please join me in lifting N up in prayer.  Pray that the Lord gives her comfort and strength to overcome this situation.  Pray that she finds peace in the knowledge that she will see her baby girl again someday.  Pray that N knows that she is loved and supported.  If you would like to leave an encouraging comment on my blog for her, I will share them with her when the time is right.

A Great Beginning to Spring Break

This year, the hubs and I decided to start spring break with a 3 day weekend.  A little while back, we made plans to meet the brothers (Sam's brothers, that is) in Dallas for St. Patrick's day, but we really didn't want to have to drive.  Sam came up with the awesome solution of riding the Heartland Flyer (a train that runs from Oklahoma City to Dallas).  Since I had Friday the 16th off due to parent-teacher conferences that we completed earlier in the week, Sam took the day off too and we boarded the train at 8 a.m. Friday (the train only goes to Dallas in the morning and to Oklahoma City in the evening).

It was awesome riding the train since a.) we didn't have to drive, b.) we had a lot of room to stretch out and relax, c.) you can bring your own drinks and snacks to enjoy as you please or get stuff from the snack car, and d.) you can get up and walk around if you need to stretch.  Sam's back really started hurting in the week leading up to our departure, so it was nice that he was able to recline and walk around as needed.  We decided that if we ever have kids, we will definitely be taking them on a train trip or two.

Here I'm stretching my leg as far as I can to show you how much leg room we had.

We sat mid train both times.  The chairs face two directions, so we ended up riding to Dallas backwards.

My bearded hubby.  He started growing his beard at the beginning of the year with a goal of not shaving until St. Patrick's day.  He has since shaved it off.

After we got to Dallas, we all decided that we didn't want to fight the crowds.  Instead, we hung out in Ty's back yard and enjoyed chatting with friends, playing horse shoes, jumping on the trampoline, and a fire pit once dusk hit.

Pete really wanted to get every bit of bark off of the logs.

Can you see the wake board rope and handle hanging from the tree?  Ty has a special wake board for the trampoline to practice flips and jumps.

 

Seriously, how cute is this dog?!?!?!

Of course, I made a shirt for the occasion!

 

Oh, and even though this has nothing to do with the weekend, I have to include a picture of the St. Patrick's day mantle I made for when I hosted bunco.  And, for the fun of it, let me tell you a little more about St. Patty's day bunco.  I served a loaded baked potato bar, leprechaun floats (sprite and lime sherbert ice cream), Skittles (taste the rainbow :), and Oreo balls (because they're good).  

I'm an Aunt!

He's here!!!  My sister delivered her amazing 8 pound 7 ounce, 18.5 inch long miracle yesterday!  Sam and I are very excited to have our first nephew (so excited that I've already driven to Oklahoma City to visit him twice!).  I could tell you all about how amazingly perfect he is, but I think I'll just show you a couple of pictures instead.

Isn't he handsome!?

I think he looks pretty comfortable in Aunt Courtney's arms.  (Look at his head.  Instead of a cone head, he has the cute little crease of a breech baby.)

It's hard to imagine that my little sister has a baby!  She's a great mom already!

The whole Bowling family.

In true Courtney fashion, I made a hospital survival kit for Blake and Mindy including snacks (both healthy and non-healthy), Gatorade, chapstick, pony tail holders, wisp disposable toothbrushes and a magazine.  Of course, I found the idea on Pinterest :).   

 

Freezer Paper + Silhouette = One Stencil Crazy Person

Dr. Seuss' birthday was Friday.  To celebrate, in true crafter fashion, we helped the kids make shirts using freezer paper stencils.  It all started last weekend when I made 22 freezer paper stencils that looked like the cat in the hat's hat (we only have 18 students, but the teachers and assistants wanted shirts too :).  We were just going to put the hat on them until one of my friends suggested we add all of the kids names so, of course, I broke out the Silhouette again.  Wednesday night, Bailey (my co-teacher) and I divided the shirts in half and ironed on the stencils.  (Have I ever mentioned how much I love ironing?  I haven't? Oh, that's because I despise it!)  Thursday, we put the shirts in the art center and let the kids go to town painting them with red fabric paint.  After snack that day, when they were dry, the kids all got to peel off their stencils.  They were pretty excited to see the shirts they made!  We kept the shirts over night so we could heat set the paint, then passed them out Friday at group time so the kids could wear them all day.  We took a super cute group picture in our shirts but, since I can't post pictures of the kids on here, you have to settle for pictures of the shirts sans kids.

Here's the whole group.

We didn't put names on the teacher shirts (because I really don't want to be known as Ms. Courtney for the rest of my life).

The kids did a great job covering the whole stencil with paint.  I think the thinner spots add character.

And, in case you are interested in some of the other things I have made using freezer paper stencils, here you go:

Valentine's Day Shirts

Mom's 50th Birthday Party Shirt

Initial Onesies

Cowboy Outline Onesie

Initial Super Hero Cape

And, one of my person favorites, Gabe's onesie with the nickname I gave him in utero.

These are just a few of the many things I have made using freezer paper!  Someone should probably stage and intervention.  On second thought, don't.  I'm having too much fun!!!