Happy "One month" Reese!!

I can't believe Reese is actually one month old already! I have been trying to update my blog since the day we came to Michigan, but it has been so crazy and I don't have Wifi in my room. I apologize for the delayed pictures and updates, but I have lots to post:) Last Tuesday my mom and I flew out to Michigan to see our beautiful baby girl Reese at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. To say that I was excited to see her would be an understatement! When we first came into the NICU, I started crying as I saw our beautiful baby girl and I was also surprised at how tiny she was. I couldn't believe how a baby could be that small and yet be so perfect. When I first picked her up, I thought I would break her. The nurses were so wonderful and showed me that she definitely wouldn't break. They called her their "peanut rockstar" because she was itty bitty, but could out eat the big kids (the other babies). She is the cutest thing I have ever seen. When I started talking to her, she started smiling and the nurses kept telling me that she hasn't smiled like that before. Reese has the most purest eyes I have ever seen and she is so strong. I start to cry when I think about all that Reese has gone thru by herself. She has so much strength and continues to surprise everyone around her with her progress. The nurses absolutely loved her and had named her Lindsey, Gabby, and Peanut. I am so grateful for the care and love they gave to Reese. I will write tomorrow. There is so much to write! This was right after Reese's bath.

When we got here last Tuesday, Reese weighed 3 lb .5 oz. I was so excited to see how much she had gained each day. Now, she weighs about 3lbs 10oz

In Detroit

Darcee left for Detroit Tuesday morning. We got up at 4 so she and her mom could catch the 6:30am flight. I don't know why I booked it that early--I guess I forgot I would have to get up too!

Reese is doing great. When Darcee arrived at the hospital on Saturday we got more good news. The doctors refigured her gestational age--so instead of 30 weeks, she's 34 weeks now. The great part is that she should be discharged on Tuesday April 26th--about a month earlier than we expected! She got up to 3lbs 2.5 oz yesterday. They want her to be about 3 1/2 pounds before she leaves.

It's so cute to se her tiny hand gripping Darcee's fingertip. She was moved to a crib last night, so she's holding her temperature on her own now.

When Darcee got to the hospital, the nurses put her right to work with feeding, changing and bathing. I'm not going to post any naked baby pictures--Darcee might when she gets home, but that's not my thing.

I think this was right after the bath.

Sorry for leaving out the details that Darcee would have included, but she'll make up for it when she gets back.

3 days until I meet our baby girl!

I hope I am not jinxing myself by saying she is our baby girl already..... Reese is doing really good! It is incredible how much she has progressed in only 3 weeks! She has been taken out of the NICU now because her NG tube has been taken out and she has been getting all of her feedings by bottle. She actually has been getting the maximum amount for her weight and downs her bottle in about 5 min. It is amazing to me how this little premature baby can be completely healthy. I know she is supposed to come to our family. We love her so much already.

I am so excited to fly out to Michigan on Tuesday! I can't wait to hold Reese. I am also kinda scared though because Ron will not be flying out for another few weeks and I have never been away from him for more than a week (Scout Camp). I have to write that I am such a home body! I love being home and love days when I don't have to go anywhere. We don't even go on vacations very much because I just love being home. So being away from Ron and home for about a month will definitely be an adjustment for me. Ron and my Mom keep joking around that only a baby would get me to go somewhere by myself for this long.

This week has been so crazy! Between trying to pick out tile, granite, exterior,etc., we also were trying to hurry and get physicals, background checks, try to figure out what our insurance is going to cover, and get Reese's room somewhat put together. I was getting a little bit stressed out and finally needed to step back and just see what a happy time this is. We finally are adopting and that is such a blessing. It's ok if her room isn't put together or if the house isn't cleaned before I leave. Ron and I decided to just spend these last few days before I leave having fun together and going on dates. I am kinda scared if our realtor wants to show the house while I am gone, but I am sure Ron will do a great job cleaning:)

Updates on Reese....

Reese is doing great! She truly is our miracle baby. Sunday I called the nurses and they told me that she is rooting and so they tried giving her a bottle. WHAT? They said that she probably would not be ready for the bottle for another 4 weeks. Usually preemies have not learned to breathe while eating or they have stomach problems, etc. The nurse said she drank the whole bottle. Of course I started to cry (little miracles) I know that does not sound too cool for most people, but it truly is amazing! She's our little fighter! I told Ron that she came early because she just couldn't wait any longer to come down to us and she is eating so well because she just wants to come home to us. She had a head ultrasound done sunday night to check for any bleeding or trauma and everything was normal. Today when I talked to the nurse, she said that Reese has been now taking almost all of her feedings from a bottle. It is just incredible and I know our Heavenly Father is blessing Reese and watching over her. I know prayer works!!! I get so sad when I think that no one is there with her right now, but then I feel so much peace because I realize that is not true.....our Heavenly Father is with her, comforting her, and blessing her with the things she stands in need of. I am so excited to be with her soon. We have not received a court date yet, but I couldn't stand it any longer and booked a flight for next Tuesday. My mom is coming with me so that will be so nice to have her with me. I cannot wait to hold Reese. I am sure it will be an emotional day! The nurse said today that she is tiny, but healthy and strong and ready to take on the world. Reese is such a precious baby that has been sent to our family. I have felt just how much Heavenly Father loves our baby girl and that she has been entrusted to our care. I am definitely grateful!!

The other day, our nieces made pictures for Reese that I can take to the hospital with me. I think they are about the cutest pictures I have ever seen...

Sorry about Reese's name being spelled 5 different ways. We have been going back and forth and I finally decided that I like Reese the best. Hopefully nobody will call her Reeses Pieces:) I had told my nieces we were going to spell her name Reece and then we changed our minds so it is my fault her name is wrong in the pictures. (just had to throw that disclaimer out there:)

This is the cutest picture up above! Kennedy drew this picture of all of the girls on a tandem bike. You will notice how 5 of them have slanted eyes and then the last 2 of course are darker.

Kennedy, Kaiya, Kelsey, Kolby, Khloe, Isla, and Reese

Kolby drew a picture for Reese with all these stickers and drawings on it and I asked her what the yellow stripes were and she told me they were her highlights. I was laughing so hard. You will notice her fake curly hair with highlights down below.

Reese Kiyomi Scoville...

With hopes that we will legally be able to name our baby, we decided to name her.....

Reese Kiyomi Scoville!!!!

The thought of her not having a name and the nurses just calling her "baby" or "no name" just made me want to cry. I am sure they came up with a nickname because they just love her to death and have been very kind. I am excited to see our little baby girl so soon. Today as Ron talked to the NICU nurse, she said that if we were there we would be able to take her temp and change her diaper, etc. We figured that she didn't realize we were not legally able to go into the NICU yet as her parents, but after a call, we found out that the birthmom gave us all the rights to take care of her in the hospital. So now I immediately want to fly to Michigan and take care of our little girl. Even if I can just hold Reese and be with her, she would at least know how much we love her and get to know our voices. I already feel like I am her mom and can't believe that I will legally be her mom in a couple of weeks and that nobody can take her from us. When we initially received the call about our baby, I felt the spirit very strong and so much love for this baby, but also a little concerned that I didn't know how sick the baby was or if she had major health problems, etc. Once we received the pictures, I knew she belonged with our family and even if she had health problems, it didn't matter. She is our daughter!

Reese truly is a miracle baby! She is as tiny as can be and as healthy as can be! All the doctors and nurses have been amazed at how strong and healthy she is. She has an NG tube in her nose to feed her until she can get all the nutrition she needs through a bottle. She is growing quickly and gaining weight quickly which are both good signs.

I just can't believe that all of the waiting and disappointments over the past 3 years are over. (Well at least the waiting part) The past little while I have received much guidance and strength as I felt Heavenly Father teaching me about having faith in him. Learning to truly trust in our Heavenly Father over the past 3 years have been worth every heartache. I felt so much peace knowing that Heavenly Father had truly refined me and had strengthened me beyond what I could imagine. Last week as we received the call about Reese, I felt so much gratitude to our Heavenly Father, but also guilt. I say guilt because I am used to working and waiting for the blessings and understanding that I might not receive those blessings in this life. After we found out about Reese, I seemed to see everyday those that have not yet been blessed with children and my heart broke for them. I asked Ron why we were blessed so much to have educations, marriage, jobs, and now blessed with a baby when I feel so undeserving. He told me, "we don't really deserve any of these things, they are all blessings." I feel so indebted to my Heavenly Father for blessing us with this sweet baby girl who will forever change our life. I am grateful for the struggles we have gone though over the past few years which have strengthened my testimony and hopefully I will be the best mom I can be.

Thank you so much for all of your support and love!!

Overwhelming Joy...

I am hesitant to post this, but I couldn't help it once I received the pictures today. Last Thursday, we received a call from our caseworker notifying us that we were chosen to adopt a baby girl who was born in Detroit, Michigan. We were told that the birthmother delivered the baby premature and that the birthmother and father wanted a closed adoption. The birthmother did not want to choose an adoptive couple and did not hold the baby at all. The birthfather went and saw the baby in the NICU everyday while the birthmother was in the hospital. We were told that the baby was able to breath on room air and that she had an APGAR score of 8 at 1 min and 9 at 5 min. She is just doing incredible. The birthparents let the caseworker choose an adoptive couple and so she said that she went through many of the profiles and chose us. She took our profile into the agency along with 10 other couple profiles to see which couple that the other caseworkers would choose and she said that they all chose us and that the spirit was very strong and everyone was crying. I was bawling on the phone as I heard this amazing news. I just felt so much love for this baby girl as well as these 2 amazing birthparents who truly sacrificed their wants aside for what was best for this baby girl. The parents have 3 kids together that live with them and they just sound like the most loving people. I want to fly out to Michigan as soon as possible, but we are waiting for our court date so that we will legally be her parents, otherwise, we would not even be able to hold her or go into the NICU. Paperwork was filed on Monday, so hopefully we will get a court date in a week and then be able to fly out their in about 3 weeks to sign paperwork and see our baby girl. I will stay with her in Michigan until she is discharged from the hospital and then it will take about a week or so for paperwork to go through for us to return to Utah. So I will probably be living in Michigan for 3-4 weeks. Ahhh, Detroit, Michigan.... I am going to get mugged! When I saw these pictures of our sweet baby, my heart just broke when I think that no one is there in the hospital with her. I just want to fly out their immediately and hold her. I was able to talk to the charge nurse in the NICU today and that was very comforting. She said that she was "a perfect baby" and that she had gained 6 oz and grown 1/2 inch. I asked the nurse if I could send a baby book that they could keep by her isolette that the nurses could jot down anything that they wanted about the baby. There is so much that I am going to miss and the nurses love her so much already. On the medical reports they sent us, the nurses sent a little written report that said she was beautiful with dimples. We just have about three weeks to see if the birthparents will relinquish their rights, and then we will legally be her parents!! We love this little baby girl so much and are hoping and praying that we will be able to be blessed to be her parents.

Farewell for now Ogden temple...

I am so sad that the temple will be closed for the next couple of years. I am so grateful for a temple that has been so close to us. I have made friends with some of the greatest temple workers that have become like my grandparents. Some of them even came to my wedding reception. I loved the talk about temples by Pres. Monson. We are so blessed to have as many temples around us as we do. I thought about the family that worked/saved for years to take their family to the temple and traveled for days to arrive their. I thought about what that family might think if they traveled from Logan to Provo in a matter of hours and passing the Logan temple, Ogden temple, Bountiful temple, Salt Lake temple, Oaker Mountain temple, Jordan River temple, Draper temple, and Provo temple. I am probably missing one, but that is just amazing! I feel so blessed to be born in Utah and grow up around so many temples.

I added a post with the Ogden temple dedicatory prayer. I thought it was kinda neat to read.

Yeah, they finally dug a whole...

So we finally found a lot and started digging the whole! Yeah! We are so excited to get started on our house. Our original dig date was January 28th, but with a few hiccups we are up and going just a couple months later. We love our lot! Our neighbors are wonderful, we will stay in the same ward, the view is wonderful, and it's a quiet street where our dogs will not bark at everything that passes by. Our lot before they started digging.

Yeah, finally they dug a whole.

Not much to show, but I will post updates as the house progresses.