Raelyn's 1st Scrapbook Pages

I finally started working on scrapbook pages for Raelyn. Fitting in 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there I was able to complete her first two pages. I'm hoping these will motivate me to create a few more!

1 Month

Yikes, month one went by way too fast!

Here are Raelyn's stats at 1 month old:

• Weight: 8 lb 8 oz
  
• Height: 20.75 inches
  
• Head circumference: 14 inches
  

At her 1 month appointment with Dr. Rob she was grouchy. Probably because she was naked and impatiently waiting for the doctor. Dr. Rob suggested we change formula to Similac Sensitive to help with her gassy issues. Other than that, she is perfect and healthy! The rest of the day she spent screaming and trying to avoid sleep. It was a rough one and she was not too happy with mommy trying to take her 1 month photos!!

Week 3: Baby Shower

On January 24th, we headed up to Lowell for the afternoon to introduce Raelyn to family & friends at her baby shower. My family traditionally hosts baby showers a few weeks after the baby comes home. It was a good thing that Raelyn wasn't another 5 days late!

Raelyn was able to meet many family members that day and they all had a chance to give her some lovin'. We are blessed to be loved by so many!

Grandma & Papa John were happy to have all their grandkids in one place!

Mom & Dad w/their kids and newest grandbaby.

Four Generations.

Great Grandma Fultz w/her newest great grandchild.

Raelyn Grace: A birth & adoption story

How can it already have been four weeks? I've written this post in my mind a hundred times. I've put off writing it wondering if I could do justice to this most precious day, the day our beautiful Raelyn entered the world and took over our hearts.

Mark and I had been ready and waiting for weeks. We were beginning to wonder if she would ever arrive. Although her due date was January 4th, we were all certain she would be a December baby. The end of 2009 arrived and we were proven wrong. Her due date also came and went. Still no baby. Each day seemed to pass so slowly.

I went with Kim, our birth mom, to her 40 week check-up on Wednesday, January 6th. The midwife hooked her up to monitors for a non stress test to track the baby's heart rate and Kim's contractions. It was wonderful to listen to her heartbeat for almost an hour. I felt such a strong connection with the baby as I sat there listening. Everything was normal so the midwife refused to discuss an induction. She said we needed to wait for another week. The local forecast showed a major snowstorm coming in the next day and we all joked that she would arrive in the middle of it. Nope.

Friday night we sat in the basement watching a movie and talked about becoming parents. We had stopped trying to guess when she would arrive. When we headed up to bed, I grabbed the house phone and took it with us. I had been sleeping with my cell phone next to my head for weeks but this was the first night I took the home phone to the bedroom.

At 5:01 am on Saturday the home phone rang. I sat straight up in bed and said, "This is it." I just knew. One, no one calls at at that hour. Two, no one really calls us on that phone. I answered, "Hello?" I heard, "Is this Stephanie? This is Katie from the agency. Kim is at the hospital. She's dilated to 7 so the baby could come soon. Try to get there as quickly as possible." I'm not sure that we've ever gotten ready and the car packed so quickly! On our way to Methodist we called our parents and siblings. We knew they wouldn't mind the early call with the news that our baby was on her way.

It was strange. We had dreamed of this moment for so long that it barely felt real. We arrived at the hospital, pulled in to the parking garage, and then floated to the information desk asking for directions to Labor & Delivery. The walk from the information desk to L&D seemed like it took forever! When we got off the elevator, we heard "Are you Stephanie? And you're Mark?" I'm sure we looked a bit confused as this young man we didn't know was talking to us. "I'm Kim's best friend. She asked me to wait for you guys to arrive." He walked us to the nurse's station where a nurse smiled and it seemed was expecting us. She explained that they were moving Kim into a delivery room and that the anesthesiologist would be giving her an epidural soon. She told us they would come and get us after the epidural and we could go into the room. So, off we went to the waiting area with Kim's best friend, Dale. We sat chatting with him about his landscaping business for what seemed forever. I went back to the nurse's station and the nurse said they had not forgotten us. There was a delay with the epidural. Apparently there were several women the anesthesiologist needed to see that morning. I rejoined Mark & Dale and we waited some more.
After several more minutes, we saw a different nurse poking her head around the corner. We stood and briskly walked toward her. She said, "Are you Mark & Stephanie?" "Yes." "Let me take you to Kim's room, the baby is here!" Mark and I looked at each other wondering what had just happened. How had the baby been born while we were just sitting out there waiting?

Raelyn Grace was born Saturday, January 9, 2010 at 5:53 am.

We walked into the room and it didn't matter. Kim was fine. The baby was perfect & healthy. Kim handed the baby to me and I whispered, "Hi Raelyn, I'm your mommy."

Everything after that is a blur. We watched as the nurses weighed her and gave her a bath.

We called our families. Mark changed her first diaper and I fed her the first bottle.

Kim told us about Raelyn's birth and the reason why we weren't in the room. She had to wait awhile for the anesthesiologist to get to her room. When he arrived, he was about to give her the epidural when she felt the baby coming. She stood up and Raelyn landed on the bed. As Kim was telling us the story, the nurse interjected "I've never seen anything like it in 13 years!"

We moved out of L&D and settled in with Kim and Raelyn. The three of us took turns holding Raelyn, feeding her, and changing her diapers. We laughed at our "modern family" as we were all texting friends and posting pictures of Raelyn on Facebook. We spent most of the day & evening at the hospital and left Kim and Raelyn late in the evening. It was strange to leave the hospital that evening without our new baby. All I could think about was getting back there the next morning. I couldn't get enough of Raelyn. I wanted to drink in every moment!

On Sunday the social worker & attorney met with Kim privately and she signed relinquishment papers. Then we met with the attorney and signed the necessary legal documents that would be filed at the courthouse the next day stating that we are responsible for Raelyn. When we returned to Kim's hospital room she had been crying but said to us, "Congratulations guys, you're officially parents." It was one of those moments when your heart beats up into your throat. It's so hard to celebrate when you are mourning for someone else. Especially someone whom you care about and who wants to celebrate your happiness. Love is a strange thing. We spent the remainder of the day much like we spent Saturday: taking turns holding, feeding, and changing Raelyn. Mark went home and I stayed the night at the hospital.

Monday we were scheduled to take Raelyn home. The pediatrician saw her early in the morning and determined her fit for release. Again, we were excited to be heading home to start a new journey with our little girl but we were also sad as we thought about Kim leaving the hospital by herself. The four of us have a bond that can never be broken. We talked that morning about our hopes & dreams for Raelyn, about our hopes & prayers for Kim. Kim told us over and over how she was so glad that we were the parents she chose for Raelyn. We all cried together. I don't think I'll ever be able to accurately explain the feelings we felt this day. How our hearts were filled with joy and sorrow at the same time. How we wish that we could somehow "save" Kim from her circumstances but instead she "saved" us from ours. Love is a funny thing. We thought that we were opening our hearts to one thing and instead God blessed us with so much more. We loaded Raelyn into her car seat and were released from the hospital around 1pm on a very cold & windy January 11th.

We went home filled with the joy & happiness only first time parents experience. We thought we were prepared but how could we have ever known this kind of amazing love was waiting.

Raelyn's story has only just begun. Our little girl is gonna do big things in this world.

Psalm 126:3 "The Lord had done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." (NIV)

Welcome Lily & Sophia!

You might remember that in early December I took a trip to San Diego for a long weekend. I went out to see my friend Kim and go to her baby shower.

Here we are at the baby shower brunch.

I'm happy to announce her daughters were born yesterday, February 2 at 12:04 and 12:05 pm. Meet Lily Elizabeth (5 lbs 14 oz. 19.5" long) & Sophia Evelyn (6 lbs 3 oz. 20"long). LOVE!


We are so excited to be first-time moms together, even if we are 1/2 way across the country from one another. We've been each others support system & cheering section over the past 4 years and were so surprised when we found out within 8 weeks of each other that we would both become moms in 2010.

Congratulations, Kim & Keith! I can't wait to watch our girls grow up "together". xoxo

The Logo

Last week we sent out Raelyn's birth announcement. We used two of the photos taken by Amanda Fales and Raelyn's logo created by Uncle Jason.

{Click photo to zoom}

How many babies do you know that have their own logo??? I only know one. When I spoke with Jenny on Sunday evening, January 10th, she told me that Jason had spent much of the day designing a special logo for Raelyn. What a great uncle!

Dei Gratia means "by the grace of God". It's a play on her middle name, but it couldn't be a more perfect description. It's only by God's grace that we get to be her parents. Thank you for the visual reminder Uncle Jason!

Week 2: Newborn Photo Session

I have been bookmarking newborn photography websites for awhile now (it's kind of embarrassing to really say how long). For some reason, having a newborn session with a professional photographer has been something that I've looked forward to as a new parent. I actually contacted Amanda Fales over a year ago letting her know that when the time came I really wanted her to take our newborn photos. I just love her style and although she mostly takes wedding photos I knew she was right for us.

I kept reading that the best newborn shots are taken 7-10 days after birth. I guess because the baby is all squishy and likes to curl up and sleep a lot. Since Raelyn was born 5 days past her due date we had to reschedule our session once, but thankfully Amanda & Andy were super flexible with us!

They showed up last Tuesday for our session and Mark and I really didn't know what to expect. They toured the house and found all the "best light" locations and we were ready to go. Raelyn cooperated for about the first 20 minutes laying on her belly at the edge of our bed.

We made the mistake of trying to turn her on her back and the scream-fest began.


A+A were great sports and captured some precious photos despite the crying. 2 1/2 hours after they arrived, Raelyn was back to sleep and they were packing up their supplies. Thanks A+A for staying well past the scheduled hour!!

They are hard at work editing and preparing our cd, but they did post a few on their blog for us to see. I am so happy with our choice of photographers!!

Click here to see Baby Raelyn's First Photo Shoot.

Week 2: More First Visits

Sorry for the lack of blog posts last week. Week 2 was more difficult than week 1. Let's hope week 3 is back on the easier side. ;) Let's see, where did we leave off...

Ah yes, visitors. Uncle Matt, Aunt Ashli, and Cousin Rachelle brought us dinner the night of Rachelle's 2nd birthday. Here she is enjoying her new instruments. I'm sure her parents will "pay us back" someday with this loud birthday gift. ;)

Next up, Grandma Sylvia came for an afternoon. She and Great-Aunt Debbie drove down for a Sunday visit. We were very happy to welcome them and give them each some quality snuggle time with Raelyn. :) (Somehow we missed a photo opportunity with Great-Aunt Debbie.)

Our final visit last week was "Auntie" Peeper. She dropped by on Friday to meet her future daughter-in-law, provide me with some sanity, and deliver us a delicious dinner!

Raelyn says to all of her guests: "Thanks for visiting. Please come again soon!"

SCD Recipe: Eggplant Parmesan Bake

Here's one we really want to try but just haven't made yet. Let me know if you try it and like it. :) This is from the book, Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet by Raman Prasad.

Ingredients:

• 4 small to medium-size eggplants
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Olive oil, for frying
• 4 to 5 medium-size tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 8 oz cheddar cheese, thinly sliced, or grated
• 1/2 c basil leaves, freshly minced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese

Peel the eggplants and slice them into 1/8-inch thick rounds. Sprinkle with salt and drain in a colander for 2 hours. Rinse and pat dry.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Fry the eggplant slices in olive oil in small batches and drain on paper towels. Place a layer of the eggplant slices in a 9x13 baking dish. Top with successive layers of tomatoes, cheddar cheese, basil leaves, and garlic. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

When almost done cooking, remove from the oven, top with the Parmesan cheese, return to the oven, and bake until the cheese melts or is lightly browned.

Week 1: Busy day for a newborn

Thursday morning we took Raelyn on her first outing. We really only went to the pediatrician's office, but she did get out of the house. :) She was not a fan of waiting around naked for Dr. Rob to get to the exam room.

Here are her stats at 5 days old:

• Weight: 6 lb 14 oz (birth weight - was down to 6 lb 8 oz at hospital release) 22%
• Height: 19 inches 22%
• Head circumference: 13 inches 8%

She took a nice nap after her busy morning. :)


In the afternoon we decided a little playtime was in order. She spent some time on her tummy mat and on her back mat. She seemed to enjoy both. She was really interested in watching her reflection in the mirror!




Before bedtime we decided it was time we gave our girl a little sponge bath. There was some screaming involved.

Week 1: Our little bird

We just love the little noises Raelyn makes all day long. She sticks out her cute little tongue and smacks her lips and she makes a little squeaking noise that sounds like a baby bird. We are completely in love with our new baby daughter. What a blessing it is to be Raelyn's parents!

Week 1: Coming Home & First Visits

Raelyn was discharged from the hospital Monday morning with a great bill of health! By the time they finished all the paperwork and rolled us out of there is was close to 1p.m. It was quite an emotional morning for all of us!

Coming home outfit

1st sleep in her crib

Raelyn has received a few visitors since she's been home. Uncle Jason even designed Raelyn her very own logo! We'll be showing that off very soon. :)

The very first family member to see Raelyn was her big cousin, Avery!

Aunt Jenny & Uncle Jason were also excited to meet their new niece.

Today, Aunt Ashli came over for some hugs right after school.

Who will be next to visit????

Baby Repko has finally arrived!

In case you haven't heard the news, our daughter was born early this morning! She is so precious!!! We'll write out the story of our morning when we have a bit more time but wanted to post a few photos for you to enjoy. (We've already taken over 100!)

We're pleased to introduce: Raelyn Grace!

The weigh-in

First portrait

First diaper change -- Dad did a great job!

First bottle

Cuddling w/Mom

Cuddling w/ Dad

Sweet sleeping baby

A few reactions about her name... "I guessed it!" "I knew it!" "Of course!"

We are filled with joy & love beyond comprehension!

Christmas 2009

Wow, what a week! Each day we think, "This could be the day." I guess we could be saying that for several more days.

During the past 7 days we had new carpet installed in the basement, two staircases, and upstairs hall. We also painted the basement and created an "art gallery" with some of our favorite vacation photos. Mark finished laying the tile in the bathroom and cleaned up his construction zone. I put together a menu of all appetizers for Christmas Eve, baked a pork tenderloin the day after Christmas, and whipped up two batched of chili today. We also played a few games with family, tickled and giggled with our nieces, and I got to see a movie early today with my mom & Jenny. I would say that our Christmas week was jam-packed with activity!

Next Christmas will bring new traditions and activities. But for 2009, we especially enjoyed watching our nieces open their Christmas gifts and sneaking in a few hugs and kisses.

Uncle Mark & Rachelle watching Matt finish assembly on Rachelle's super-sized doll house.

Aunt Stephanie & Rachelle

Avery sporting her super cool new crocheted hat made especially for her by my friend, Brittany