I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Jared flew in just in the nick of time and I was able to pick him up from he airport at midnight on Christmas Eve. If he had been much later he might have spotted Santa from the airplane ;) I'm very happy that Jared is back. I wish I could say that we had an absolutely wonderful Christmas... but it just isn't the same when your not home. I'm still bummed that I didn't get to put up any of my decorations this year *sniff*. I love decorating for Christmas and my stuff is usually up the week before thanksgiving, and up until the third week of January. I feel like I've missed out on all the big holidays this year... halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, new years etc.

This week we found out that our caseworker has been changed to agency director over Sandy because of the unique circumstances around this adoption. Our agencies director used to live in Illinois and is more familiar with Michigan adoptions so we won't be working with Debbie quite as much anymore. She's been AMAZING though and has been so helpful. I hope our situation hasn't ruffled too many feathers back home because our situation is absolutely not a typical adoption, especially within LDSFS. In fact, our situation is so unique that now the commissioner that is over the worldwide LDSFS is now familiar with our case. I don't think there is much we could have done to prevented us from being in the predicament that we are in. We had met with the birthfather's mother two months before Kylie was due and though it was difficult for her, she was supportive of the adoption. Once she saw her in the hospital she must have changed her tune. I'm just so thankful that he didn't decide to pursue paternity until weeks after Kylie was born. If he had filed papers pursuing paternity before she was born Abbie most likely would not have been able to place her for adoption because the birthfather would legally have the same rights to paternity as Abbie now has. As Abbie recently said, Kylie needs to be protected from her birthfather. So as harrowing as this has all been we know that it is for the best.

I feel so blessed that this is the first Christmas that instead of being a family of two we are a family of three! What a wonderful blessing Kylie has been. I'm so grateful that she is with our family. We love her so much! Her birthmother made some tremendous sacrifices for her and Kylie will always know how loved she was. She truly has brought so much love into the world.
Some friends sent us a gift package with such fun things inside. I have such amazing and wonderful friends. I miss them so very much, along with my ward family. Here are a few pictures donning a few gifts that people have sent.

I finally downloaded a few pictures from last week and these are my favorites by far! I love this first picture... she seems so happy as she is dreaming away. It's by far my favorite! She is becoming so much fun to play with. She becomes much more awake now and has been giving us some great smiles and coos. She's been sleeping well at night also. I have to pinch myself she's been such a good baby. She rarely cries. I keep thinking that the crying spells will kick in at any point but she's just been perfect. I couldn't have asked for a happier baby then she has been. My mom and I have been busy this week buying some last minute gifts for our family and getting them mailed out. Our caseworker in Utah has been trying very hard in attempts to find some way of getting us home. The ICPC approach was rejected yesterday. So our caseworker has sent in some paperwork to see if changing the legal terms around will make a difference (aka. being her "foster parents" in a foster to adopt placement) to allow us to come home, or if we can place a bond with the court. She's been working her tail off trying to find a way. I hope everyone has a great holiday and I love you all! Have fun getting those last minute gifts together.

Well since it's Friday I'll take note of my friend's blogs and start flashback Friday. I'll use the opportunity to brag on my sweet hubby Jared! He's seriously the best. Our anniversary is July 10th and we've now been married for about six and a half years. It's flown by so fast and I'm so grateful that Jared and I have such a great marriage. It's not to say that we always agree on everything. But I new that I had found someone special when I first started dating Jared. And I've never regretted marrying him. For me that is very important because about a year before I met Jared I was dating a boy that I was in love with. We had been dating pretty steadily for awhile and he wanted to know what I thought about getting married that summer (but didn't want to even think about buying a ring until he knew we were both on the same page). I spent quite a few weeks thinking things out and spent a lot of time praying. I remember specifically one night after praying for an entire month about the situation and it just kind of hit me. I knew my answer was that if I married him that I would regret my decision later. So needless to say we broke up shortly after that and I never looked back. Anyway Jared was a MUCH BETTER catch. And I've never regretted spending my life with him. Jared's learned over the past few years that I just love getting flowers and he really surprised me on our anniversary this year! Usually our anniversary isn't much of a big deal so I wasn't even expecting anything. I showed up to work and found these amazing flowers on my desk! What a stud. He definately earned his brownie points this year. I love you Jared! Kylie sends you kisses also :).

Okay I can't help it... I love dressing this little gal up! It's so much fun having a little girl. Kylie started smiling a little bit this week, a big wide open smile that seems to say "Thanks for feeding me mom!". It usually happens after she has eaten and has gotten her bottom changed. I can't believe she's already six weeks old and I'm still not home. As some of you know we got less than stellar news this week about the upcoming trial date. It was a pretty rough week for me and my mom flew out here a few days ago to spend some time with me and Kylie. I'm so glad she came! I'm trying to stay positive though. I just heard of a couple in American Fork that adopted a baby that is now almost six months old and unfortunately the birth father's name wasn't advertised on the punitive father's regristy at placement and the birth father is now contesting their adoption. Their situation sounds much, much worse than ours and its a very real possibility that they may loose their little son. I sit her and complain about being out here, but at least I know that the chances of her birth father winning are close to nothing and when this is all said and done our little girl will be able to come home with us. I've got so much to be grateful for.

Can I just say that I absolutely love photoshop! It's the best. I've been playing around with it a lot lately learning to do "actions". It basically means that instead of having to digitally alter each and every individual image I can do it in one command with the touch of a button. I found an action to resize and sharpen pictures for the web and it rocks! Until I get my Christmas present this year this action is making my poor photographs look much better. I'm so excited for Christmas this year and I hope that it will help me be a much better photographer. I'm about ready to throw my camera off a ledge I'm so tired of it taking crappy pictures. Here are some pictures of the princess...

Here's what happens when you have a combination of boredom, a baby and a camera :) This baby says "get me home now mom!".

Our little bundle of fun is now four weeks old! I'm not sure how big she is now, but I'm going to guess 8.5 or 9 lbs. She's been eating about four ounces every three hours. Today at church she was quite popular with all the grandmas! I think it's pretty funny because I've noticed the past few days that her hair is growing nice and thick on the sides and back of her head, but the area above her forehead is sure getting thin! This girl's going to need some Rogaine if this keeps going on :) I can hardly see the circular calic that she has on her forehead anymore. Jared flew back to Michigan on Friday evening. I was sure happy to see him again! It's nice to not always have to be doing ALL the feedings, diapers, getting up at night etc. She sure loves to snuggle with him and he's able to soothe her faster than I ever can. I'm so glad he's here again!

Well, it looks like we drove a six hour round trip for nothing. We showed up (well, Abbie and her mom showed up) at the Oakland county courthouse yesterday to only find out that the birth father's attorney had called in and they decided to schedule a hearing before a judge on December 4th. They are also going to be appointing Kylie an attorney of her own so they can independently decide on what is in her best interest. The lawyer that LDSFS uses said that she's very confident that the birthfather's rights will be terminated at that hearing. There seems to be enough dirt on him that it shouldn't be a problem and she said that they've won cases on much less than they have with him. Oh well, there's nothing I can really do about it except for hang out in Michigan for a few more weeks. Here are some picture I took of her today on the bed. She would look everwhere else except at me! What a cutie she is... I love this darling gal!

Kylie did really well last night! I actually feel like I was able to get some sleep. The last two nights she was getting up for something to eat every hour and so I've been more groggy than usual. Last night she only got up twice, which was awesome. I'm sad that Jared went home last Thursday and I know that she's already missing him... he's such a great dad to her! When she gets fussy she'd snuggle right into her daddy's arms and would calm right down. I took her to the doctor last Friday for her two week checkup and she now weighs seven pounds even and is 20.5 inches long. So she's grown by half an inch and has regained her birth weight, plus a few ounces more. We aren't quite sure what will be going on at the relinquishment hearing this Thursday. We are hoping that the birth father won't show up and that his rights will be relinquished, but it is sounding like he is planning on being there with his attorney to put up a fuss. Really the only thing going for him is that he's biological, but well just have to see what happens. I wanna go home! Here's a few pictures of Kylie in her car seat taking a snooze.

I decided yesterday that I've taken a bunch of pictures with Jared and Kylie together but didn't have very many with just her and her mom. I can already tell that she's getting bigger! Her cheeks, arms and legs seem to be filling out a bit more and she stays awake for longer periods of time. She's still tiny, but I know that probably won't last for two long. She's been really sucking down the contents in her bottle! I think we timed her yesterday and she ate her lunch in about six minutes. When she gets hungry she means business! Kylie has been SUCH a mild mannered baby. She hardly ever cries and is very content. We've been so blessed to have her with us. We can't wait to take her home and introduce her to all the many wonderful friends and family that are wanting to meet her. We've had such a supportive network of friends and family. We are so blessed.

The other day Kylie threw up most of her dinner and most of it went all over her face, outfit and down her back so we decided oh a whim to put her in the sink and give her a bath. After seeing how much she enjoyed having a sponge bath earlier this week I thought she'd scream like crazy during her bath but she totally surprised us! She was very content in the water and seemed to really enjoy it. What was left of her bellybutton fell of earlier this week and we were sure glad to see that go! Jared threatened to keep it and I refused... so gross! I was really glad to see that piece of rotting flesh go away. Her bellybutton is still healing but today it was much better. She is such a peaceful, happy baby. We have fallen in love with her!!! She is so much more than anything we could have ever dreamed about. We are so blessed.

Our daughter Kylie Morgan! We wanted to share our happy news that Jared and I have adopted a baby girl! She was born on Friday, October 26th at 3:13pm and she's perfect! She weighed 6lbs 9 oz and is 20 inches long. She has a little bit of brown hair that is kind of curly/wavy when it's wet. She's so cute! She looks a lot like Abbie (our birthmother) did when she was a baby, which I was very happy about. We've decided to name her Kylie Morgan. So far she's been a really good baby and only cries when hungry, when we are changing her diaper or if she isn't swaddled enough. We took her to the doctor last Tuesday and she's healthy and now weights 5 lbs 15 oz. She's been more interested in cuddling and sleeping than eating. She loves to be swaddled and complains when her arms and legs are flailing about. Jared absolutely is enthralled with her and can't get enough of holding her. He's been so involved with her and we take turns holding her, feeding, burps and even with her diapers. I get a kick out of watching him keep her awake so she'll finish her bottle.

On Sunday night we had placement and we were able to take her "home" for the first time. As some of you know, we are saying in Kalamazoo with a ward member until the state of Michigan allows us to bring her home, which should be 4-6 weeks. Abbie and her family are doing okay. She is grieving but has never waivered on her decision and is doing well under the circumstances. I love watching her hold Kylie. I admire her in so many ways and feel so blessed to know her. The next few months will be very difficult for her and we'd appreciate any prayers for her and her family's behalf. We love her so much! Here are some pictures so you can see our cute little munchkin. Thank you everyone for your love and support! We can't even begin to tell you how much it has meant to us over the past few months.

Love,
Jared and Tamara