Days 21-28

This has been  another fun week...crazy but fun!  It's been an emotional week too.  After three years we were able to see our friends bring home their son from Ethiopia!

Day 21
On Sunday, Jason and Vanessa flew home with their son, Abe.  Abe is adopted from Ethiopia and is almost seven.  When we welcomed him home, it was so fun to see him.  It was very late but we were so glad we brought Farrah with us.  Abe and Farrah played soccer through the airport...haha!

Farrah waiting for Abe to come home!

Abe is home!!

Day 22
James and I are eating healthy and the worst part for me is not being able to eat muffins.  I was so happy when a friend gave me a healthy recipe for blueberry and banana nut muffins!!

Day 23
Farrah has been having some tummy issues for the past week so we went for a visit to our favorite doctor's office.  I always think its so funny how kids love to spin the chair round and round.....it never got old and provided lots of giggles!

Day 24
On Wednesday's, Farrah has gymnastics and her favorite thing is the beam.

Day 25
It has been so pretty outside this week so we enjoyed it as much as possible!

Day 26
While we waited at the allergy doctor (we have to wait 15 minutes after shots for any reactions before we can leave), Farrah was given a new sticker.....a Potato Head sticker.  This sticker had many makeovers.

Day 27
We had a shower for Jason, Vanessa and Abe.  Abe was much more interested in playing outside then opening gifts....He is all BOY!!

Day 28
Every week before church we try to go and eat breakfast.  This week Farrah chose donut holes which is no surprise while mom and dad had bacon and eggs at Taco Villa...haha!

Farrah's adoption story..

I follow this wonderful blog called Kelly's Korner and every Friday she does this fun link.  This week's link talks about adoption!  As you know Adoption is near and dear to our hearts!

My husband, James and I will have been married 15 years this coming April.  Out of these 15 years of marriage we have tried to have a baby for 13 of them.  I remember the year that I was going to turn 30 and we were going to be married 10 years and my heart was broken.  We had gotten pregnant and miscarried multiple times.  I remember "telling" God that this year He'd better fix things.

On February 25, 2009 was the day that forever changed our lives!  James and I had just gotten off of work and it was so nice outside so we went for a walk around the park.  While we were at the park, James got a phone call from a friend.  This friend called us and said "You need to call my sister....NOW!"

We made the phone call and we had no idea what was about to happen.  This friend worked at a hospital and said "A girl walked in the hospital and had a baby and can't take care of it...do you want this baby??"  All we could say was YES!  We talked some more to our friend and she told us that she was going to give our phone number to the birth mom and she would call us.  It wasn't even an hour when the birth mom called us.  She said "I got you number from a nurse and said you'd be interested in adoption.  I had a baby so come get it."  I had so many questions going through my head and I was also a little shocked and all I could say was "What is it?"  "It's a girl and she has hair...that's all I know."

The first thing we did was pray and asked for His guidance in this entire process.  We called our lawyer to get advice.  We went to the hospital first thing the next morning and met the birth mom.  We visited for about an hour her and tried to just get as much info as we could.  I will never forget what she looks like and the conversation we had with her.  After about an hour the hospital attorney's came and signed the hospital right/3rd party rights over to us. 

After we left the birth mom we headed to NICU to meet our daughter for the very first time!  We were so scared and excited.  We walked in and the nurse immediately started telling us about the baby's case.  Her birth mom had not had any prenatal care for the entire 9 months and she pretty much starved her self to not look pregnant.  The baby was at a very low birth weight and they were running all kinds of test to see if there was anything wrong.  (All the test results came back perfect!)

She was hooked up to so many monitors and oxygen and I remember thinking I was scared to death to hold her.  I didn't want to hurt her or anything worse.  The nurse assured us she was needing to be held and at that point my life forever changed.  My broken heart was healed at just the sight of this little perfect angel.  We held her for the first time and just cried tears of joy. 

Farrah Nichole
5lbs 14oz and 21inches long

We held Farrah forever that day and all of a sudden we realized we needed to call our parents.  We called our parents and they were beyond thrilled and couldn't wait to meet their new granddaughter. 

The next five days were a blur...haha!  Farrah needed to stay in NICU for five days.  She was having a hard time eating and was on the verge of a feeding tube but our amazing NICU nurses worked with her until she was feeding on her own. 

There is so much more to this story and will share it with anyone who wants to know more.  Farrah will be four next month and there's not a day that goes buy that we aren't amazed by her.

Farrah is one feisty little girl!  She loves to laugh and her main goal is to just have fun.  We are truly blessed to be Farrah's mommy and daddy!!

Thanks for reading our adoption story!  I would encourage you NOTto  give up.  We have tried for 13 years and I'm so glad we didn't give up.  It was and is such a hard journey and I felt so alone through it.  Even having the most amazing friends and family that walked with us it was still very lonely.  But please confide in your friends and family....they really do want to help.  They may not know how to help but they will always want to listen! 

Day 14-20

Now that KDO is back, we are staying pretty busy!  It's becoming more of a challenge to take a photo everyday but it's been fun!

Day 14
At KDO there is a nap time for all the kids but Farrah rarely takes a nap there.  Monday's and Wednesday's she is so tired after school and on this day she was REALLY tired.  She never sleeps on me so when she did, I didn't move.  When she does things like this, James and I get a little jealous...haha!  She's getting so big and these moments are getting fewer and far between.

 Day 15
Farrah is really starting to show interest in writing her letters.  Anytime I wear a shirt with writing on it she always traces it and wants to know what it says.  She's really good at writing her F's and H's.

 Day 16
I really do love my job at KDO!!  I get to love and hold babies all day!  Some days are challenging but mostly they are wonderful!

Day 17
Farrah's best friend is Roo!  This poor dog is so loved by Farrah and Farrah does all kinds of stuff to this poor dog.  Roo LOVES Farrah so its pretty funny to watch them play with each other.  It took Farrah a while to get Roo to sit still and keep the bottle cap on her head but she finally did it.

Day 18
One of my really good friends, Kelsey, is having a baby in five week and needed help painting her big girls room.  It's always fun to get with good friends and bless them.

Day 19
Farrah is changing everyday and growing up so fast!  She loves "reading" to her babies.

Day 20
Sunday's after church is our LAZY day.  This is our favorite day of the week!  We all take a good long nap and watch football all day.  We don't move off the couch until its time to eat....and it is exactly what we need!!

Project 365 - Days 7-13

This week has been pretty busy and a lot of fun!  After looking back at this week I realized how many times Farrah and and I go see her doctor/therapist.  Poor girl goes to the doctor/therapist three times a week but I must say she is doing great and we are seeing results.

Day 7
On Monday, we had a last minute girls lunch and we had a blast with our friends!

Day 8
Tuesday's and Thursday's Farrah goes to food therapy...her therapist is Sara, and we LOVE her!

Day 9
On Monday and Wednesday, I keep the little babies at KDO.  Wednesday was our first day back from Christmas break and learned that two of my babies are sitting up on their own....their getting so big!!

Day 10
Farrah has to go once a week for two allergy shots.  She is such a brave little girl!  She has gotten so use to the needles that now she wants to watch whats going on.....

Day 11
A very dear friend of mine, Abby, turned 30 this weekend!  Her husband, Jantzen, threw her a surprise birthday party and we had so much fun celebrating her!

Day 12
I have a love hate relationship with Saturday's.  I love to workout but on Saturday's I do this workout called "This is Gonna Suck Saturday" and it is so true!  It's the hardest workout I've ever done, but it is so worth the pain for the results I'm getting.  This Saturday part of the workout was flipping a tractor tire by myself.

Day 13
Today at lunch, I was watching Farrah and I am still in awe of her!  So blessed to be this little girls mommy!

Project 365...take 2!

So last year my friend, Paige, did this challenge to take a picture everyday to document and see all the fun things she did.  She just finished her 365 project and I really enjoyed seeing all her pictures and it was fun that I was in a couple of them....haha!!  After talking to Paige the other night I was inspired to start this project again.

I really want to be able to remember the small things that we will go through this year.  This project is just for me but I hope you can enjoy it as well.

Day 1
Ready for church!

Day 2
The stomach bug came for a visit and it was not fun!

Day 3
Farrah has reached the fun age where we can start playing board games!  She got quite a few new games for Christmas so we've been playing a lot...

Day 4
Just when we thought the stomach bug was gone it reared its ugly head.

Day 5
James teaches CHL classes on Saturday's.  Farrah and I brought him lunch and I snuck in to take a couple of pictures of him.

Day 6
Farrah's favorite night of the week.....Daddy bedtime!  Two nights a week James takes care of bedtime and its such a sweet time for him and Farrah.  We started this when Farrah was a newborn.  He really wanted to help and give me a break at bedtime.

My goal is to post every Sunday night about our week.  There will be days I'm sure I forget to take a picture but I will do my very best to try and remember!

Happy New Year....2013!!

I can't believe that 2012 is already gone and we're in 2013!  This has been an incredible year for this Fortner family!  Let's see if I can remember all that has happened to us this year.....

My Farrah turned the big 3!!  Can't believe in two months we will have a four year old!!

I took my niece, Quinn, one her first mission trip! 

We had some friends from the Czech Rep and Norway stay with us this summer.

Farrah started her first gymnastic/tap and ballet class.

We sold our house in a short two months.

We started fertility treatments again!

I know we have done so much more then this but this is just the highlights...haha!!

Farrah's birthday...

Easter....

April showers bring May flowers...

Our 14th wedding anniversary...

Czech Republic with Quinn...

Farrah was a flower girl for Bethany and Boone...

Czech Michal came for a visit....

Sean and Hannah Christy and family came for a visit....

Celebrated my sister's birthday with a surprise to see the musical Sound of Music...

Farrah's first gymnastic/tap and ballet class....

South Plains Fair with our friends.....

Girls trip for my friend, Kelsey's birthday to Canton....

Halloween...Princess Ariel.....

Pumpkin Patch....

Great Wolfe Lodge with friends.....

Madagascar's ICE at the Gaylord Texan.....

And last but not least, my husband's birthday....

I have to brag on James for a minute!  This summer when I got back from the Czech Rep we decided it was time for us to get healthy and stay healthy.  No fad diets but healthy and clean eating.  I am proud to say that since June, James has lost 40 pounds!!!!  I am so proud of him and love seeing him so healthy!  He has gone from a 36 waist pants to a 32 waist pants.  He looks ten years younger and just feels so much better!!  James you are an inspiration to so many and I am so proud of you!  I might add that I myself have lost 17 pounds so far since June!!

Here's to a new and happy year!  I'm excited to see what this year lies ahead.  James and I have some exciting things in our future and can't wait to see how God's going to put it all together!