Update

Haidyn had her 4 month check up on Monday. She was officially 18 weeks.

Weight: 12 lbs 8.5 oz 25th percentile
Height: 24.75 inches 50th percentile
Head: 38 cm

It's amazing how much she has changed in the last week! Rolling over, rocking on her hands and knees, she found her toes, and yesterday I made her some applesauce which she loved.

We are in full swing with harvest. If all goes well, the milo will be done soon, Jason has cut all but one field of hay, and there is still the chile....which we always hope to be done by his birthday in December. And we already have grass up and growing to graze calves this winter. Needless to say, Haidyn and I haven't seen much of Jason!

Halloween....sort of

We had an impromptu photo shoot this evening with our cousins! The school was having their Halloween Carnival tonight so we took advantage of the opportunity. And this way we have pictures of Haidyn's 1st "Halloween".... even though we aren't going trick or treating.






Jason loves this picture. He thinks Haidyn is saying "What's up Willis?"













My happy little Baby!













"Baby's 1st Halloween"









Sydney wanted to be a UPS driver and Brooke was a queen. Haidyn was a tiger....for about 5 minutes!









It's nice to have my smiling baby back! Last Wednesday morning Haidyn woke up with a fever and in the afternoon she threw up. Called the doctor and they told me it was just a stomach bug and to keep her hydrated. Thursday morning it wasn't any better so I took her in to the dr. and by the time we got there her fever was gone. I know that they thought we were just "first time parents". By the time we got home her temp was 102 degrees. Still wasn't any better on Friday. She would wake up with a high fever, drink 6 oz. of pedilyte, fever would go down, lay her down for a nap, wake up and have a high fever again. So on Friday evening we ended up in the ER, and it turns out that she had a UTI. They gave her a dose of antibiotics and within a couple of hours she was already feeling better. We are on the mend now, but it was scary there for a little bit!

And today we finally petitioned the court for adoption. So now they tell us that on January 7, 2011, our adoption will be final! It's been quite the journey so far, and we are looking forward to having this thing final! Thank you to all of our friends and family for all of your prayers and support through all of this. We could not have done it without all of you.

Haidyn's Check Up

Love this picture!! It was taken a couple of weeks ago at my aunt's house when we were making green corn tamales. Last week Haidyn had a check up and shots, which I think are awful!! You take in a perfectly healthy baby and get a sick one in return! Thankfully it didn't last too long.

At 9 1/2 weeks:

Weight: 9 lbs. 15 ounces
Height: 22 inches
Head: 36 cm
New things: Smiling...a lot! Talking...a lot!! Last night she slept from 9pm to 6am!!

Personally, there is nothing better then when she looks up at you and gives you the biggest, cheesiest smile!

New Beginnings

It's funny how quickly life can change. Haidyn Rae was born on June 25, 2010 at 5:02pm, and our lives will never be the same. Two and half months ago today we received a phone call. A birth mom wanted to meet with us that Wednesday. All we were told was that the baby is African American, the gender was unknown, and that the baby was due soon....that Saturday soon.

We met with Stefannie that Wednesday and talked for about two hours. We talked about nothing really. It seemed that Jason and I were asking the hard questions. All she asked us was if we had a name picked out. We didn't have a first name, but we wanted to give our middle name to the baby.

It's hard to describe how we felt when we left. More confused than anything. We had just met with a young woman who was about to place her baby with an adoptive couple, and all she asked us was if we had a name picked out.

Thursday had to be the longest day of our lives. At VBS, my six year old niece asked me if we knew anything yet. I told her that maybe by the end of VBS we would know, and she said "OOHH, that long!" Trust me, I knew how she felt. It's hard to hand over control to someone. But to wait for someone to make a decision that would either completely change your life forever or you just keep going on as you did the day before can drive you to insanity! Finally, at 5pm we got the call saying that she had chosen us. After reality sunk in, panic set in. Any day we were going to become parents.

I expected that the baby would come on Saturday or maybe Sunday. And I hadn't done much because I didn't even know where to begin to get ready for this baby. I figured that maybe Friday night or Saturday morning we would head for Tucson and I would do some shopping while we waited to hear from the agency. Well, I get a call Friday around 3 pm saying the Stefannie was going into labor. Jason was 30 minutes away from the house, and I was trying to pack things in a hurry. It just seemed like it took us forever to leave. And as we are walking out the door, I get another phone call saying that the birth mom wants me in the room during the delivery and that she was 7cm dilated. Things were moving quickly!

Needless to say we didn't make it. Haidyn was born at 5:02pm Friday evening. We got there about an hour after she was born. She weighed in at 7lbs. 2 oz and 19 inches long. Jason likes to say that we had a 24 hour pregnancy....but it was years of labor. I will never forget the feeling of walking into the room and Stefannie handing me this most precious baby girl. Stefannie choose the name Haidyn and we gave her my middle name.

This is considered a high risk adoption because the birth father has not been found or contacted. This week we were brought back to reality that nothing is final yet, and that he still has his rights to claim her. I guess this is what faith is all about. Trusting in God, knowing that He knows the bigger picture.

For now, we continue loving this beautiful baby that He has placed in our care.

It's hard to argue.....

with logic! This is a video from a Tucson City Council meeting.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShkpO9Rf1bo&feature=player_embedded

Perspective

A little different perspective than you have been hearing recently. Wish
all senators, local to federal would explain things like this.

"I'm Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen. I want to explain SB 1070 which I
voted for and was just signed by Governor Jan Brewer.

Rancher Rob Krentz was murdered by the drug cartel on his ranch a month ago.
I participated in a senate hearing two weeks ago on the border violence,
here is just some of the highlights from those who testified.

The people who live within 60 to 80 miles of the Arizona/Mexico Border have
for years been terrorized and have pleaded for help to stop the daily
invasion of humans who cross their property . One Rancher testified that 300
to 1200 people a DAY come across his ranch vandalizing his property,
stealing his vehicles and property, cutting down his fences, and leaving
trash.. In the last two years he has found 17 dead bodies and two Koran
bibles.

Another rancher testified that daily drugs are brought across his ranch in a
military operation. A point man with a machine gun goes in front, 1/2 mile
behind are the guards fully armed, 1/2 mile behind them are the drugs,
behind the drugs 1/2 mile are more guards. These people are violent and they
will kill anyone who gets in the way. This was not the only rancher we heard
that day that talked about the drug trains.

One man told of two illegal's who came upon his property one shot in the
back and the other in the arm by the drug runners who had forced them to
carry the drugs and then shot them. Daily they listen to gun fire during the
night it is not safe to leave his family alone on the ranch and they can't
leave the ranch for fear of nothing being left when they come back.

The border patrol is not on the border. They have set up 60 miles away with
check points that do nothing to stop the invasion. They are not allowed to
use force in stopping anyone who is entering. They run around chasing them,
if they get their hands on them then they can take them back across the
border.

Federal prisons have over 35% illegal's and 20% of Arizona prisons are
filled with illegal's. In the last few years 80% of our law enforcement that
have been killed or wounded have been by an illegal.

The majority of people coming now are people we need to be worried about.
The ranchers told us that they have seen a change in the people coming they
are not just those who are looking for work and a better life.

The Federal Government has refused for years to do anything to help the
border states . We have been over run and once they are here we have the
burden of funding state services that they use. Education cost have been
over a billion dollars. The healthcare cost billions of dollars. Our State
is broke, $3.5 billion deficit and we have many serious decisions to make.
One is that we do not have the money to care for any who are not here
legally. It has to stop. The border can be secured. We have the technology we

have the ability to stop this invasion. We must know who is coming and they must come in an
organized manner legally so that we can assimilate them into our population
and protect the sovereignty of our country. We are a nation of laws. We have
a responsibility to protect our citizens and to protect the integrity of our
country and the government which we live under.

I would give amnesty today to many, but here is the problem, we dare not do
this until the Border is secure. It will do no good to forgive them because
thousands will come behind them and we will be over run to the point that
there will no longer be the United States of America but a North American
Union of open borders. I ask you what form of government will we live under?
How long will it be before we will be just like Mexico , Canada or any of the
other Central American or South American countries? We have already lost our
language, everything must be printed in Spanish also. We have already lost
our history it is no longer taught in our schools. And we have lost our
borders.

The leftist media has distorted what SB 1070 will do. It is not going to set
up a Nazi Germany. Are you kidding. The ACLU and the leftist courts will do
everything to protect those who are here illegally, but it was an effort to
try and stop illegal's from setting up businesses, and employment, and
receiving state services and give the ability to local law enforcement when
there is probable cause like a traffic stop to determine if they are here
legally. Federal law is very clear if you are here on a visa you must have
your papers on you at all times. That is the law. In Arizona all you need to
show that you are a legal citizen is a driver license, MVD identification card,
Native American Card, or a Military ID. This is what you need to vote, get a
hunting license, etc.. So nothing new has been added to this law. No one is
going to be stopped walking down the street etc... The Socialist who are in
power in DC are angry because we dare try and do something and that
something the Socialist wants us to do is just let them come. They want the
"Transformation" to continue.

Maybe it is too late to save America . Maybe we are not worthy of freedom
anymore. But as an elected official I must try to do what I can to protect
our Constitutional Republic . Living in America is not a right just because
you can walk across the border. Being an American is a responsibility and it
comes by respecting and upholding the Constitution the law of our land which
says what you must do to be a citizen of this country. Freedom is not free."

The Rain Maker....

that's what Jason calls it anyway. I, however, like to call it The Skunk Eliminator! I am referring to the hay swather. I have had the joy of swathing hay. On Saturday, I swathed the last half of field for Jason. As I was driving along, I hear the "thud" and thought to myself "huh...that was weird". And then the smell. Being this was my first experience to actually run over a skunk in the swather, I wasn't sure of proper protocol. I did just keep driving and the smell did go away more quickly than what I had anticipated.

Yesterday. Yesterday I was given the opportunity, again, to swath hay. This time, however, I found out about a skunk reunion that was happening out in the hay field. Had I known that this event was happening, I probably would have waited for a more opportune time to cut the hay. However, I was uniformed and naively thought that family reunions only happen on the weekends! Needless to say, I knew that by the time I finished swathing, I was going to need to take a tomato bath to get the stink off of my body!!

Jason did let me into bed last night....so I'm guessing I didn't stink too bad!