yum!

I made bread today..and I'm making more right now because Joel and I ate almost all of it. It's that good. I've decided that instead of buying bread...I will just make all of our bread. And it is definitely a trade up!!

time doesn't just fly....it jets...or something else really fast.

I've really got to get myself together! This is the only way that I'm going to remember all the little things with Olivia, and I can't get myself to update ever!

Okay.

Meeting my birthfather was amazing. They were so welcoming. When we drove up the whole family was sitting on their porch waiting.
He decorated his house with purple streamers and had balloons in the living room. Their dining room table was covered in gifts for us. The whole family was amazing.
Its so crazy to see how we look alike. I had known before that his parents had died when he was in high school..but what I didn't know is that his mom's name was Kathleen! And...my adoptive parents didn't know...and they were the ones who named me! Andy was saying that I look and act a lot like her.
He also was saying that had they not died, there was no way that I would have been adopted. They loved kids and would have been more than willing to help Andy out.
Andy has a huge family, and they all have talked for so long about Andy finally getting to be able to meet me. Isn't that crazy?!!?!

His youngest son, Eric, was so funny! He gave me like 5 hugs while I was there and at dinner he kept telling me, "Kathleen, I have a present for you in my room...but I have to go find it first."
So cute.
I'm meeting Andy's brother this Saturday!!






OLIVIA! She will be one year old in less than two weeks!!
We are going to have a birthday party for her on the 13th. I'm so excited!
She is just growing so fast. She can say door, and ma ma, hat, hot, clock (gock is what is sounds like), down...and probably more I don't understand!
She says please in sign language for just about everything.

Oh, and she's doing it to Joel in the picture, but she will go around to just about everything and "cuddle." She will rest her head and pat it. It is so cute!

45 Minutes

Joel and I leave in 45 minutes to go meet Andy, my birthdad.
I'm nervous/excited/ready/scared.

Olivia's update

She is walking everywhere. Crawling is not an option. Everyday she gets better and better. It took half a day to figure out how to turn around while walking. She's tried running...but that didn't end well for her. Her second top tooth is coming in. She is trying to talk so much! She can understand most of what we are saying, and she is really good at all of her sign language.
However...in this stage of growing...she is becoming frustrated with not being able to convey to us exactly what she is thinking and being able to go where she wants to go. And with this frustration comes SASS. She is very stubborn, strong-willed, and expressive. It's been a struggle for Joel and I to figure out a balance with discipline and learning and...everything.


When Joel was 4 he broke his leg, and while he was in the hospital he got this big gorilla and he named Matilda.
Olivia LOVES Matilda. She cuddles it and kisses it...so cute.

My update

Oh My Gosh.
So my entire life I have thought about meeting my birthparents, mainly my birthmom because I knew her name.
When I was little I found my baby bracelet that you wear in the hospital, and it had her name on it..so I looked it up in the phone book, found her name...and called her. Not the wisest.
A few years ago I found her on myspace, e-mailed her once or twice, but nothing really came of it.
I e-mailed her when I was pregnant to find out some family medical history.
A few days after Joel and I moved up here I was at a bible study and God just really laid it on my heart to e-mail her to see if she wanted to meet me. A month later..still no response.
THEN...Sunday came along. She e-mailed me back!!!! OMG
She said that it had taken her so long to e-mail me back because she was so fearful of not being able to explain why she put me up for adoption..and of me hating her. But she wants to meet me! I am so beyond excited.

BUT WAIT.......tonight I was just sitting there watching American Idol...and my phone beeps its notification for facebook. So I checked it and I had a message from some guy. I read it...and it's my birthfather!!!!!! I had not even imagined that finding my birthfather was possible. He has actually been searching me!!! He created a facebook and a myspace for the sole purpose of finding me. He posted an entry on a family/geneology finding site a few weeks ago...and my birthmom had responded to that and filled him in on what was happening with me.

It's so funny...my birthdad works in Spokane in the Engineering Dept and actually minored in Physics. And my birthmom is actually a nurse. Both are married and have kids...Both live in the Spokane area.

I'm currently setting up a time with my birthmom to meet...and hopefully I will get to meet my birthdad soon too!



God has just been working in my heart on patience and trust. I just today got done reading part of my bible study on Abraham's promises in Genesis 12-15 and the study in Romans 4.
Joel and I have totally stepped out in faith moving up here, living with in-laws, trusting in Him to find jobs. I stepped out in faith (totally freaked out) and asked my birthmom if she wanted to meet me....and God is fulfilling his promises! I am so done trying to complete God's plan on my own. He is so good!!!