Jake's 1st Bath at Home

Jake got a bath the night we got him home. I was quite nervous to bathe him, so I asked my sister to stay and help. Jenny helped buy some of our necessities the day we got him home and this cute tub was one of them! Since the 1st bath we have decided it is much easier to bathe him on the counter-top. I felt like such a horrible mother during his 1st bath - he cried and cried and I kept getting more upset because I was making him more upset. But since then, he is a charm to bathe. He actually kind of likes it (i think!). He no longer cries (for the most part). I love this cute boy.






A few more cute "after the bath" pics from the past couple weeks...

Layney Turns oNe!!

On July 28th, our cute little niece Layney turned 1. She is a blessing to our family. Jenny planned a fun birthday party for her, our family, and some friends. The kids had a blast playing on this huge blow-up water slide. It was also exciting to have all of Layney & Jake's birth-siblings there for the party. Here are a few pictures from the fun night!

Swimming Fun!

Aunt Diane with Jake

Aunt Diane with Layney

Tess & Angel, Adacia & Donnie (Diane not in picture), Me & Jake, and Jenny & Layney

We're here to party...too bad Jake just wants to sleep

Cake by Dawn...super cute and really yummy!

Daddy feeding Jakey

Jake got all tired out...Gramma took advantage of some snuggling time!

The cute birthday girl!

Jake Stephen Miller - Born 7/20/11

This has been the most unbelievable week! We are grateful beyond belief for this most amazing blessing. Jake Stephen Miller was born Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at approximately 6pm. He weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces. Jake is so cute and such a good baby. My emotions have been on a roller-coaster ride for the past 7 months. Here is our story on how this beautiful baby boy came to be ours:

It all started 1 year ago today when my sister, Jenny, and her husband, Ben, adopted their little girl (“L”). Today happens to be little “L’s” 1 year birthday. Their story was wonderful too, but I'll start after they adopted their little girl. When “L” was approx 4 months old, Jenny got a phone call from “L’s” birth-mom that she was pregnant again. She asked Jenny if they would ever want to adopt this baby. Jenny and Ben didn't feel like it was time for them and having the 2 babies so close together could put a lot of stress on them, especially financially. However, she told the birth-mom that her sister and brother-in-law (me and Steve) were starting to look into adoption and might be interested. Jenny talked to me about it and I was instantly intrigued. The birth-mom nonchalantly told Jenny, "Your sister can have this baby". These discussions all started happening in January. We started filling out paperwork with LDS Family Services and attended their orientation meetings. In April, the birth-mom told LDS Family Services that she was not going to place the baby for adoption and instead wanted to keep the baby. We were devastated and heart-broken, but knew our kids would get to us in some manner. A couple of months went by. Even though she said she was keeping him, I continued to hope. Steve and I still prayed every night for the birth-mom. We prayed that she would be touched in some way to have a change of heart and reconsider giving this baby a better life that we really felt we could give to him. About 1 week before he was born, the birth-mom contacted Jenny requesting a visit with “L”. Jenny was open to this in hopes that maybe she was having second thoughts and would feel something while meeting with her and in return, change her mind. The visit never happened because she went into labor 5 days early and gave birth to this precious baby boy. Jenny still said she would do a visit with the birth-mom. She went to the hospital on day 2 to visit the new baby, the birth-mom, and let “L” see her new "birth-brother". At this point, she never brought up anything about adoption. These 2 days following the birth of the baby were emotionally horrible for me. I was mad and frustrated at God. I didn't know why he wouldn't allow this baby to get to us when we really felt he was ours. I think I shed more tears those couple days than I had my whole life. Then it all changed! Saturday morning (he was born on Wednesday), Jenny got a text message from the birth-mom to call her ASAP. I happened to be with Jenny at the time. She immediately called the birth-mom to see what was going on. The birth-mom proceeded to tell Jenny that she wanted to give the baby to her sister (me)! Jenny asked the birth-mom if she was sure – she seriously asked her like 20 times. She was sure. She said she just couldn't give him what he deserved. She felt her apartment was no place a baby should be (and it wasn't!). We were able to find an attorney to talk to on a Saturday and by 1:30pm we were ready to pick up our new baby boy. We had him home by 3pm that day. It has been a whirlwind ever since trying to complete all of the paperwork and get everything done so the adoption is official. We love every second of it though. I can’t really explain the feelings I had, but I just knew he was ours. We instantly fell in love with him.

Anyway, there is our adoption story. It was an emotional roller-coaster for several months, but in the end it was well worth it!

I'm learning to survive on a few less hours of sleep a night, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Steve loves being a dad and adores little Jake. It is fun to watch him be a dad to this little boy. Amazing how quickly you can develop unconditional love for a little baby that you didn't carry in your womb. We KNOW he is ours...and felt it instantly!

Zoey & Layney

We love watching our cute nieces. Zoey is 6 and Layney is 10.5 months (can't believe she is almost 1!)... here are some pics of Layney...

Lola

Lola joined our family on May 14, 2011. She is a sweet little girl. It has been fun having a new puppy. She was 8 months when we got her. It was kind of random as we weren't really looking for another dog, but we happened upon her picture on KSL and couldn't help but fall in love with her. She is very sweet and loving and always wants to cuddle. Her and Macey have been having their issues...mostly, Macey is acting like a little bully and likes to nip at Lola's ears...but Lola nips back at her. They seem to entertain each other well. We love our dogs!

Macey Turns 2

Macey turned 2 on February 6th. She is the sweetest dog and we love having her be a part of our family. She brings Steve and me a lot of happiness!

A Very Special Day...

Our family witnessed a very special event on Saturday, February 5th. It was the day that my beautiful niece Layney was sealed in the temple to her mom & dad. The blessings of the temple are very important to me and are a big part of our religious beliefs. It was truly an unforgettable experience to be able to be a part of this special day with the Spencer Family. Layney was a perfect angel and Zoey was a very proud big sister. We are so lucky to have Layney as a part of our family!

Miss Zoey Turns 6

My beautiful niece Zoey turned 6 years old on February 4th! She is the sweetest girl and has the biggest heart. I'm lucky to be a part of her life. Unfortunately, I was so sick the night of her birthday party and was unable to go to her favorite restaurant (Olive Garden) to celebrate with the family. Steve went to represent and brought a yummy dessert - she was looking forward to these special sugar cookies since he brought them for her last year. She is a beautiful girl and my whole family is better for having her in our life...

January - Summary of Events

It is hard to believe how fast January has come and gone. We've had a good month with a lot of exciting things happening. Here is a summary of what we have had going on this month:

• New Primary Class - It has been fun getting to know the new kids in my class. I also have been assigned a new team teacher which has been fun. I teach the CTR 4 class (4-5 year olds). They can be a handful but are very cute and pretty sincere in their love for Jesus Christ and the Gospel. We are learning/teaching the kids this year about the truthfulness of the scriptures and how they can know they are true. We have a cute primary presidency that has really done a good job on implementing the new theme this year. I also love a new song we are learning in Primary this year. I got to fill in on a spur of the moment with playing the piano one week - I quickly gained an appreciation for the music director - they do amazing work trying to help these kids learn these songs!
• Steve's Calling at Church - Steve has had a fun time organizing the ward building cleaning assignments. Instead of having church cleaning assignments be voluntary, our ward has implemented the new direction to make mandatory assignments for cleaning the ward building. Our ward shares the building with 1 other ward, so we are responsible for cleaning the church 6 months of the year. Steve has organized the cleaning into 8 different assignments. Each family in our ward has been assigned 2 assignments for the entire year. They have their one assignment, can enter the church each Saturday anytime between 8-11am and perform their assignment. So far it has been pretty good, with a pretty good turnout on assignments...it will take a little while for everyone to get on board, but it sure makes it easier for all ward members.
• Biggest Loser Competition - I decided to participate in a Biggest Loser competition! It is a 12 week competition that required a $30 buy-in fee. There were approx 130 people that entered and so first prize is close to $2500...that is a ton of motivation, right?! The first 2 weeks I did awesome - lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks. This week has been a little more difficult, so I hope to at least maintain the 8 pounds I had previously lost.
• Family Birthday Dinner - We celebrated the January birthdays in my family on Sunday, January 16th, at G&G Lewis' home. The January birthdays are my brother Dean (the big 32) and my cousin Alan (19). It is always a fun time to be with my family.
• Sleepover with Zoey - I had a primary quarterly activity to attend on Friday, January 21st - it was a pizza & pj party for the kids. I decided to invite my niece Zoey to go with me and then have a sleepover at our house! We had a fun time - she loved seeing all of the "new" kids at "Kimmy's church". She was excited to tell her mom and dad about throwing marshmellows (David & Goliath), running like a football player (parting the red sea), pushing kids in boxes (Lehi's family arriving to the promised land), playing with the animals (Noah's ark), and fishing... We then went back to my house and she wanted to watch Nemo (we watched it once at night and once the next morning)! She loves her movies!!
• Layney's Adoption Finalization - My sister & brother-in-law had their final court appearance yesterday (Jan 28th)...this was the finalization of their adoption process. Layney was absolutely the cutest ever with lots of smiles - it was like she knew what was happening and what a special day it was. We loved being a part of it with them! We celebrated afterwards with a small group of family going to Little America for Brunch. It was a fun morning. So looking forward to next weekend when they will be sealed in the Temple and she will be blessed.

Jenn & Ben's caseworker Rachel

Aunt Diane and Cousin Leticia

Grandma (My mom)

Great Grandma & Grandpa Lewis (my grandparents)

• Adoption - Steve & I have made the decision to adopt! It has been an amazing process watching Jenn's family go through this experience. We know there are many ups and downs through the adoption process, but we are ready and excited for this new adventure!! We know that it can be a long and expensive process, but we know the Lord has a plan for us and are preparing ourselves as best we can for our future :)
• Macey - Isn't she still the cutest dog? I had to snap a few pictures of her laying in Steve's lap. If we are watching TV, she is typically on his lap or on his shoulder. She is the sweetest little girl and we definitely have a soft spot in our hearts for her.

Until February....