Grafted In

Anna says, "Yeah! My Grandmom is here! She's spoiling me with love already.

Wow, I can't wait to meet the rest of the family, too."

Motherhood is delightful!

Mercy Folsom Hospital where Anna was born


Mercy Folsom Hospital Rose Garden


A cluster of three

A grafted-in rose bush
(Part of the bush had red flowers, another part with deep pink flowers and another had white with reddish/pink edges. Was easier to see the contrast in color in person.)


Months ago while I was in prayer and going over my thoughts about adoption and releasing some of my fears to the Lord about adoption the Lord impressed something profound and sweet on my heart. He spoke to me about how we as the wild olive branches are grafted into the natural branch or root of Him when we walk with Him. And as we do so we take on the very nature of Him and are nourished by Him. In the same way He was speaking to me that our little one will do the same in our family.


The Lord is so good about bringing things full circle and completing His good works in our lives. The ones who planted the rose garden at the Mercy Folsom Hospital probably had no idea how the grafted-in rose bushes would be such a blessing to me. In seeing them there at the place our little one was born I felt the Lord was giving me an extra kiss telling me how much He loved me in grafting me into Him as well as Anna into our family.


I loved being loved by Him and it makes me want to love my little Anna with the same kind of sweet love!

No News

The Georgia ICPC office did not get our paperwork today so looks like we're here until the middle of next week if the paperwork goes through quickly.

California Cleared Us

Hooray! I am coming home soon!

Yah! We just got word that California cleared us to leave the state! Now onto Georgia. We'll find out tomorrow morning if our paperwork made the fedex pick-up so it could get to Georgia. There were literally minutes to spare for it to get out.


If the paperwork makes it to Georgia then we could potentially be cleared by Georgia tomorrow or we'll have to wait until next Tuesday.


We did not meet with the birth mom today. It didn't work out between our schedules so we'll probably meet with her tomorrow.

The Birth Mom Signed

Peaceful sleep.

(Grandmoms, you'll be happy to know she's finally sleeping in her travel bed.)

Today the birth mom signed consent giving us the right to care for Anna until the adoption is finalized. She does have 30 days to change her mind but from the agency to attorney to social worker they said the odds are very low - generally birth moms will change their minds at the hospital if they are going to change their minds.


She did ask one last thing of us before we leave and this is for all of us to see her one last time. We didn't think about trying to do this at the hospital. There were so many other details on our plates at the time. It makes sense from her point of view that she would want to do so. When the social worker told us this she added to it that the birth mom really likes us. This makes us feel good. Again we'd love your prayers. I think it was the social worker that mentioned it could get emotional at the end when saying the final good-bye so pray for all of us to have the wisdom we need in saying farewell.


Tomorrow is a big day in Anna's world. She gets to meet one of her grandmothers. My mom will be coming in town for the weekend!!!! We all can't wait!

What's Next?

Daddy's little girl

Wednesday is a big day for us. The birth mom will sign consent for adoption on this day. This was supposed to happen at the hospital but had to be delayed since Anna was early and the birth mom didn't get to have her first initial meeting with the California social worker until only days before she was born. (By California state law there has to be 10 days between the first and second meeting.) Once she signs consent our paperwork will make it through the California Interstate Compact office in about 48 hours time where they give us permission to leave the state with Anna. Then the paper trails makes its way to the Georgia Interstate Compact office where they invite us into the state with Anna. Once the paperwork has arrived at the Georgia office it can sometimes take just 24 hours to make its way through. Please pray our paperwork is seamless. We can't wait to be home. If the paperwork is seamless then it looks like we could be home mid to late next week.

What Bliss!

Snuggles with Dad.
Anna's first ride in the car in her gender neutral outfit since we never found out officially if she would be a girl or a boy. Can't wait to go shopping.
Her little cap was made by the volunteers at Mercy Folsom Hospital which has to have the best staff in the world.

One happy mama!


Isn't she beautiful!


Daddy in action - cleaning her first dirty diaper.

6 lbs 15 oz

Soon after birth in the nursery.

She's here! Anna Kathryn was born Monday morning - September 22 at 3:47. She was 6 lbs 15 oz and 19 inches long. I was able to be in the delivery room and had the honor of cutting the cord. Bryan and I are in parental heaven. She's the sweetest baby and just so adorable. We can't stop staring at here!

We just arrived back at our home away from home and want to sit for hours just holding this precious little bundle. Enjoy the pictures!

Our Home Away from Home

Me checking my email at our little apartment.
A comfy bed to rest our heads on at night

We're on the top floor. See our little door, window and balcony.

The past two days we were running around trying to find a place to stay for a few weeks. Three hotels later and we found a spot to stay!

Funny story - We saw one place on the internet that was really cute and the price was amazing for California so we went to check it out. As we got closer to our destination we saw bars on all the windows and doors of every house and business and iron fences around all the lots but they didn't put the fences up for aesthetic purposes. We then realized why the price was great. So we've bitten the California-over-priced-bullet and gotten a basic furnished apartment in an area where we feel safe.

Now I am nesting - cleaning, laundry, and cooking!!! Getting everything ready for the baby. Oh, and we heard back from the social worker late this afternoon and she said that our birth mom has arranged to meet with her tomorrow. What a major breakthrough in light of the length of our stay! No new news on the pregnancy. We're just waiting!