Wednesday, May 9th

This day we had anticipated for a long time; we were finally going to bring our son home.

Our flight didn’t leave until 5:30pm from Houston, so we had some time to kill with Ginger (and her very cute grandson Samuel David). She took us to a beautiful shopping area and to lunch and I especially was enjoying that we weren’t being rushed for once! When we got back to their home, we prepared to pack everything into our rental car to take to the airport. The Woodlands, TX is quite a distance from the airport we had to fly out of (Hobby). We said our very sincere thank-you’s and good-bye’s to Ginger (Hal was at work, of course) and headed for the Hardy tollway!

When we got to Avis to return the car—I started to unload the luggage to haul to the shuttle bus (4 large pieces of luggage, a boxed up pack-n-play, diaper bag, briefcase with the laptop and the car seat + base). I wasn’t sure how I was going to carry all this while LaDonna held Mark? I started to take the first 2 bags to the shuttle, when an apparent supervisor of Avis said to a staff person, “hey, these people need a chauffeur to skycap!” (We didn’t know they did this?) So then 3 people helped us load the luggage into another (and nicer) car, and one of them drove us to the airport terminal skycap area—it seemed really nice of them (not sure if that’s policy or not?). We even had a great skycap guy that helped us unload and took care of everything for us, like fill out new tags with our address on them that were missing. (I tipped him well). We had some time to kill before our flight, so LaDonna took Mark down to meet that lady who helped us from Southwest Airlines the first time, who made us promise to come back. Well, that poor lady was out on jury duty that day, but another co-worker who was also there took a picture on her cell phone and said she would be so disappointed she didn’t get to see Mark!

When we headed to the gate, I must admit, I felt the terrorists had won. What a joke to try to get through security with a newborn and all that must go with. I was quite frustrated, but Mark seemed to take everything all in stride. When it was time to board the plane, the hassle at security seemed to be being made up, because we got to board first without waiting in any line and we got the very front row! (the one with all that extra leg room!) I thought—sorry suckers, without a baby to fly with, having to stand in line… Mark was great the whole time and did not cry once on the plane—a surprise to many of those around us J.

We landed around 7:30pm—perfect flight (other than there was a very ill person that paramedics had to take off before anyone could get off the plane). Our friend Julie (she’s in our church small group) and her daughter Jamie picked us up at the airport. It felt so great to be in Phoenix again. ALL our bags arrived together and intact, believe it or not! When we finally got to our home—it was the best feeling we’d had in a long time; definitely the best we’d had after any trip ever. Troy’s sister and his brother’s family had made a Welcome Home sign for Mark and his cousins drew pictures on and taped balloons around. It was a great evening sharing with Julie and settling back into our home. We were excited to just use a changing table, rather than bending over a bed! We were so excited, that I don’t think we went to bed until 11pm, even though we were exhausted. We slept great in our own bed that night, as did Mark in his crib—finally a night he didn’t have to sleep in a car seat or pack-n-play!

We were grateful to God that he brought us home safely and made us feel very loved by so many wonderful people who supported us throughout our entire time away.

Tuesday, May 8th

In the morning it took us until around 11am to finally leave Lafayette, since we were up every 3 hours, we decided to sleep in while we could! When we finally got rolling, Mark slept again like a dream until we stopped for something to eat in Beaumont, TX. When we crossed into Texas, we remarked how great it was to be out of Louisiana! We ate at a WhataBurger and met a very nice couple (grandparents for sure), who even offered to baby-sit next time we came through! We were looking forward to seeing some friendly faces (the Chappelle’s). When we arrived that afternoon, though LaDonna had never met them and I hadn’t seen them in nearly 20 years, it was like coming home. They live in the beautiful Woodlands, TX area and have a lovely home. Ginger had a room ready for us (with even a pack-n-play already set up!) and we felt so good to be somewhere that wasn’t hotel, restaurant, or airport. We again saw how the hospitality in the south is something missing in much of the southwest. We enjoyed the evening of just talking (Hal and Ginger’s daughter Sherri and her husband came by also)—it was nice to have conversations in person!

Nana & SUPER Nana time!

Again, a pause in the story(check back in a few days)---Troy's mother and Nana visited for a week. It was great to have them here and Mark loved all the attention (as you'll see in the pictures). I know his Nana was sad to leave him... Here's some recent pictures:

We haven't heard anything new from the potential birth father--we don't understand why he's moving so slowly on the DNA testing, but continue to hope in God resolving this soon. Thanks again for your prayers.

Monday, May 7th

We woke up that morning wondering how many more days would we need to be here. It would be 2 weeks on Thursday, so we thought we should be grateful—we were told it could be 3 weeks or more. We even planned to get some wings at Outback Steakhouse for dinner—our appetite was returning! We had an appointment at 11am for Mark to see the pediatrician that delivered him for his first “well check.” He was 9 pounds and 21.5” long—12 ounces and another inch in just 13 days! They said everything was perfect; just get the PKU done at the hospital. So we went from the pediatrician to the hospital lab where he was born (www.womens-childrens.com) for the blood to be taken (it took about an hour of waiting for this to happen—you have to go through registration again at hospitals). LaDonna did NOT like how he cried when his heel was pricked! We thought we would go back to the hotel to relax the rest of the afternoon.

It was about 4pm when the call came—the ICPC is approved, you can now go home! We asked our attorney if we should offer to Jonique and Donovan a chance to see Mark before we leave. He hesitated, and finally said, yes, I think that would be a good idea to offer. So we made the phone call to Donovan first—he said he need to call back (it was obvious he was with a woman getting food). He called back in about 20 minutes and said that it was just too hard and he couldn’t come say good-bye. We were just fine with that, let me tell you! We left messages for the birth mother, Jonique, and she never returned the calls. We figured, we tried, so that’s that!

So the rat race to get back kicked into gear! LaDonna wanted to leave immediately, but the planner in me said, no-no, we’re going to pick when to leave and not be so rushed! So we worked on getting plane tickets out of Houston where we had to return the rental car. I had remembered that my parents were friends with Ed and LouAnn Jones who lived in Houston, maybe we could stay with them on Tuesday and then fly out on Wednesday at our leisure. Well, LaDonna wasn’t too happy I was considering waiting another day before flying home—but I knew it would take a lot to pack everything up and drive from Lafayette, LA to Houston, TX—AND, I hate to be rushed! Little did I know that my mom had been on the phone with Ginger Chappelle, who also lives in Houston, with her husband Hal. Ginger was completely ready to have us stay with her—she even had a pack-n-play available to us because she has young grandchildren. I spoke to my mom soon to ask about the Jones’, but she said Ginger was really close to the airport and is ready for us to stay with her! I said, great! We’ll be there—what a blessing it would be to leave Louisiana to be in the home of friends. So we spent the rest of the evening packing, doing laundry, getting the plane tickets arranged (our friends, who gave us the tickets, had to book them for us and they were on vacation in Hawaii!), etc… We finally could leave this hotel room!!

Sunday, May 6th

I spent a little time Saturday looking for a church to attend. We just couldn’t go another Sunday without worship. After looking through the phone book, only a few had websites and I was able to listen to a sermon and read a doctrinal statement. It seemed solid—especially for just one Sunday, we weren’t looking for a church home! The name of the church was Trinity Bible Church (www.trinitybible.org). The sermon I heard from the week before was titled: 30 Days Of Gratitude - Gratitude Pulling Up the Bitter Roots. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but at least we could worship together with other believers. Little did we know how God would use this little church to minister to us. All the music, save one, was all music we were use to from our home church in Arizona—amazing how comforting that can be. When it came time for the sermon, we realized he was in a series title 30 Days of Gratitude. Sounded pretty good; this days’ sermon was titled: 30 Days Of Gratitude -In Spite Of Gratitude. What did he mean? He went on to explain how we must be thankful to God because He deserves thanks “in spite of” our circumstances! What a message we needed to hear! (I actually was able to download it if you want to hear it.) The “key verse” on the front of the church bulletin for that day: Philippians 4:6-7—do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. God had us in the right place. Mark slept like an angel the whole service, so we could enjoy it together. Mark was just 12 days old when he attended his first worship service! The service ended with a lovely solo from a young woman—she sang one of our favorite songs from one of our favorite artists—how did God know?! The lyrics are so moving, I felt the need to post them here:

Nichole Nordeman \ Gratitude

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between
What we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace

But Jesus, would You please . . .

We left the service fulfilled and grateful to God for pointing us to the right place. We had a great Sunday—we just enjoyed being with Mark the rest of the day. We knew that no new news could come that day to bring us down.

Friday & Saturday, May 4th & 5th

These next two days were filled with more speculations about the dinner Thursday night and how good we felt that Donovan had met us and Mark; that he saw that we would be good parents. Our minds continued to race with good and bad thoughts and now we just wanted to go home. The hotel was a decent facility, for how little it cost us (only $50/night—talk about a God send!). So we tried to do “homey” things like laundry and dishes and did a little driving around Lafayette just to get out. Here’s some pictures of Mark’s first “home.” Not exactly the Ritz, but it was just what we needed:

We didn’t have anything else to “do,” so we were literally waiting for the phone call to be able to go home. It didn’t come on Friday, so we knew we’d have at least 3 more days.

by orders of Kim....MORE PICTURES!

I was reprimanded by my elder cousin Kim that there are not enough pictures...... I agree. So here's some from this weekend (June 2-3). Sorry Kim :-) (among others..)

Call from potential birth father

This post is not part of the story I've been writing while we were in Louisiana, but I thought it would be interesting to many of you who have been reading. Thanks for continuing to pray for us.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Donovan (the potential birth father) called today just after noon AZ time. Each time my cell phone rings and I see his name come up on the screen, my heart sinks. I say a quick prayer and then smile and answer, “this is LaDonna.”

Today was a unique call from past calls. Donovan did not refer to Mark as “His Son.” He asked how I was doing, then how Mr. Troy was doing “and most importantly, how is Mark doing?” He thanked us for the email and pictures that we had sent of the baby shower at Troy’s work. He said he was very thankful for all that we do to keep in touch with him and the many pictures we send.

Through the course of an approximately 10 minute conversation, Donovan thanked me many times for us being so understanding through all of this and continuing to be willing to keep the communication going. He said he just wanted to have a little more personal contact and that is why he calls from time to time. (He called me last Thursday evening also as Mark and I was leaving the grocery store. We only talked for a couple of minutes that time.) He asked what we were doing because he could hear Mark in the background as I was holding him when the phone rang. I let him know that Mark had just finished eating and that we were snuggling. He laughed and remarked about Mark getting ‘snuggle time.” He told me that he was so happy to hear that I had taken Mark shopping with me last week. He thought it was great that Mark could help me do the shopping!

He asked if we had plans for the weekend. I let him know that Troy’s sister was flying in from Wyoming to meet Mark. He sounded very surprised that she would fly in just to meet him! I told him that Troy’s mom is flying in next weekend and his nana will be here the following Monday…all to meet Mark! I could tell that he was very happy to know that Mark is an important part of our family and that everyone feels like he is. “All the way from Wyoming they are coming to meet him?” I told him that we will all be going to our niece’s dance recital tomorrow and would be having a family dinner afterward with our brother and sister at their home in the Phoenix. I was not expecting his response! He (jokingly) asked if he could be part of our family… “Would you let me be part of your family? That would be great to be able to do those things with family.” I immediately said “Sure, you can be part of our family!” (after he signs the papers of course!).

He asked me if I was back to work and what I thought of it. I told him that I am back in the office on Wednesdays, but I love being home with Mark each day. If I could be home with him on Wednesdays also, I would! “Are you serious?” he asked. “You really like being home that much?” I said “Donovan, I have been waiting to be a mom for so long, I am soaking up every moment of it.” He replied, “That is great, and what about Mr. Troy?” I told him that Troy would rather be home with him too! He cherishes his Wednesdays with him and is anxious to get home each night just to see him. We talk to each other throughout the day to see how things are going and so that Mark can hear our voices when we are away at work. “Really, that is wonderful. I am so happy for you guys and for Mark.”

He let me know that it had been raining there for the past few days. I told him that I prefer the sunshine and couldn’t take the cloudiness that many days in a row. “The sunshine brightens my day!” is what I said to him. His response was “talking to you brightens my day! You all have been so wonderful and so understanding and I am thankful Mark is with you. I can tell he is very loved in Arizona.” WOW…that about blew me away. I never know what to think after statements like that!

He thanked me again for being so great and understanding, and let me know that he prays for us and Mark every night. And that he thinks of us all throughout the day. I told him that we too pray for him daily and that will continue. We ended the conversation with him saying “until we speak again, take care of yourselves and Mark. I will continue praying for you.”