Home Again

We got up at 3:00 a.m. to catch our 6:00 a.m. flight. We then had our 14 hour layover in Houston, so we called our good friends the Ward family to rescue us. They have an awesome backyard pool. Baylie was a little fish and soon shed the floaties to try and swim on her own. She didn't care if her head went under water and kept trying to take off on her own. We're going to have to teach her to swim quickly or it will be a nerve wracking summer worrying about her.

It was so nice to unwind and let the kids stretch for awhile. Plus, Debbie is a fantastic cook, so we enjoyed her home cooking.

We went to church and it was so nice to connect with old friends. I love Houston. It will always be my second home. Just flying in to the airport makes me nostalgic.

We were fortunate to make the flight home. There was a heavy rain like we only get in Houston so we were a little delayed. There's nothing so refreshing as flying from hot, humid Houston to cool, refreshing Utah. I always want to breathe deeply when I get back to Utah.

We didn't get home until 2:30 a.m. and didn't get to bed until a little after that - making for a 24 hour day! We were exhausted.

The kids woke up at 7:30 and I did eight hours worth of laundry today while David helped some neighbors move. Hopefully we can catch up on sleep over the next few days.

All in all it was a great trip and we're looking forward to our time in South Carolina. I'm trying not to think too much about all the familiy and friends we're leaving behind and focus on the beauty and history waiting to be discovered.

South Carolina - Day 4

Somewhere in either South or North Carolina. It's all beautiful.

Today has been a long, exhausting and rather disappointing day. When we realized we would be coming back east, we checked and saw that we would just be five hours away from Jalen's birthmom (we'll call her 'L'). Consequently, we asked L if she'd like to have us visit her while we were here, or if she'd prefer to still have us fly her to Utah. We were relieved when she said she'd rather have us visit her while we were here because it would save us some money, even though it would make the trip more complicated. Had we not planned on meeting L, we would have left the kids home, I wouldn't have been bumped flying out here and we would have been able to fly home yesterday. If, if, if.

We had agreed to meet at the Roanoke zoo. We woke up at 6:30 and got everything ready in order to meet her on time. We drove five hours to get to the zoo. When we got there, David called L to tell her we were there. She said that she wasn't comfortable coming to the zoo because she only wanted to see Jalen for five or ten minutes. I was kind of bummed that we drove that far for such a short visit, but I tried to understand that it might be difficult for her. She asked if we could meet her at a park. We agreed to meet her in an hour so that Baylie could visit the zoo for a minute since we had been promising her during the ride that we were going to see some animals.

After the zoo, we called L to tell her we were on the way to the park. She said she wanted us to come to her home instead. David told her we were uncomfortable with that and based on our agency's recommendation, we would prefer to meet in a public place. She recommended a restaurant in her neighborhood and we agreed. So, we drove to the street where the restaurant was and felt a little uncomfortable as the neighborhood was somewhat sketchy, but we decided to move forward and just be cautious. When we called L to say we were on the street, she said we had hurt her feelings by refusing to go to her house and that we made her feel "ghetto." Because of that, she no longer felt comfortable meeting with us. I was glad David was the one on the phone, because by that time I was losing patience. We had flown across the country and driven five hours to meet her for 10 minutes and she wouldn't even come out to see Jalen. Even if she was upset with us, if she had really wanted to see him, we were there.

In my heart, I know she wanted to see Jalen. I think it was just emotionally too hard for her and she admitted that she didn't know how to act around us and was uncomfortable. David was very kind on the phone and apologized for us hurting her feelings. He reassured her that we didn't think poorly of her and that instead we respected her for her decision to place her baby with us. He was amazing. I was just grateful that Jalen was too young to know what was going on and that he wasn't hurt by this experience. Had he been older, it could have been devastating for him. I'm also sorry that L didn't get to see how cute and lovable Jalen is in person.

When L selected us to be the adoptive parents for Jalen, it was in large part because we agreed to take him back to visit her. After we learned that we had been misinformed about her knowledge of the birthfather, many people told us that we should consider that a good reason to refuse to visit with her. Regardless of that, David and I still felt a moral obligation to fulfill our side of the agreement. Now I feel we did that. I don't feel any further obligation to take Jalen back or to fly L out to see him. We'll never keep her from seeing him, but we won't initiate any future visits. For me, it is a relief to have at least made the effort and know that we tried.

We headed back to South Carolina and drove six hours to Charleston, making it an 11 hour road trip with only about an hour in Roanoke. I have to say that our kids are amazing. They were so good in the car and I am so proud of them. I also have to say that southern rest stops are the best - way better than those in the west.

We got to our hotel at almost 11:00 p.m. and have to get up at 3:00 a.m. for our flight. We'll have a super long lay over in Houston, so we plan to meet some friends and go to church at our old ward (congregation). Hopefully we're coherent!

At least the drive was absolutely beautiful. David and I couldn't believe how green everything was.

Lakes and rivers everywhere.

Wild poppies.

For those of you who don't know, my maiden name is Bayles (that's where Baylie gets her name), so I was fascinated by this road marker.

South Carolina - Day 3

Today was spent looking for somewhere to live. We've figured out that under $700 for a 2-bedroom equals not somewhere we want to live and over $800 is something we can't afford, so we're hoping for between the two. So far the sister missionaries' apartment complex looks the most promising. It has tons of trees and a pond with ducks. It feels like it's in the mountains. Hopefully they will have openings and we can qualify. They want proof that we make at least three times the monthly rent. Ha! We live on student loans. We have excellent credit and rental history, so hopefully that swings the balance in our favor.

It is so great to be back in the South. People are SOOOO friendly! And the soft southern drawl is so fun to hear - it makes me think of David's grandma. (Plus, Chick-fil-a had a peach shake that was amazing.)

I think we're going to like it here.

South Carolina - Days 1 and 2

We got up at 4:00 a.m. in order to leave for the airport by 5:00 and catch a 7:38 flight from Salt Lake to Houston. Up to that point, everything went as scheduled. Lest you forget, we fly standby, which means we only get on the plane if there is a seat available. The night before we left, the flight looked like there would be plenty of seats, but as those who fly standby know well, things can always change. When it got to our turn, there were only two seats left. Since Baylie now has to have her own seat, we couldn't all go. We knew David would have to go because he had to take a test at the university the next morning. I couldn't send either kid with him for the same reason, just in case I didn't make it later. So, off David went and I was faced with five hours at the airport with two kids. Ugh! Worst of all, I realized that the car/house keys and Jalen's car seat were on their way to South Carolina in our checked bags and David had all our cash.

Fortunately, I had my laptop and Disney movies and fortunately the SLC airport has a little play area. We spent about 3 1/2 hours there, then went for some lunch and then tried for the next flight. We made it. Maneuvering two backpacks, Jalen in the bjorn, Baylie on a monkey leash, Baylie's car seat and the two-seated stroller was overwelming. Baylie and Jalen both fell asleep before the plane took off and I followed shortly thereafter.

Once in Houston, we tried to catch a flight to Charleston, South Carolina. David had already made his flight to Charleston, which would have had room for all of us had we made the Salt Lake flight. He had to fly to Charleston because the Columbus flight was full. We spent three hours in the Houston airport - enjoying a nice meal at Ruby's Diner in Terminal E, which is a favorite of mine.

When it came time for the flight, there was only one seat left. Oh, the irony! If I had sent Baylie with David earlier, I could have made this later flight. As it was, we had to spend the night in Houston. By that time, it had been 16 hours since we left home. Me and the kids were exhausted. They were crying and I wanted to. The Houston Airport has a Marriott that can be reached by an underground tram, so we headed there. As an airline employee, I got great hotel discounts. I don't anymore. Suffice it to say that I paid more for that one night than for all the nights put together at our hotel in South Carolina. I called for a crib four times before giving up and the in-room internet never worked (even though they charged me for it - it's supposed to be getting refunded). At least I was able to wash out Jalen's outfit and give the kids a bath. (Note: airport baggage offices carry extra supplies of diapers, wipes and formula for stranded passengers.)

It's amazing what a good night's sleep can do to restore one's soul. We were able to catch the first flight to Columbia. Jalen slept the whole time and Baylie fell asleep after about an hour. Both kids were pretty amazing during the entire ordeal. I received several compliments on how well-behaved and cute they are.

Flying over Columbia was great. It was all trees, trees, trees. So green and beautiful. The airport is small and homey with white rocking chairs for tired travelers. Outside was a beautiful water feature with small fountains and lots off little orange fish. Baylie entertained herself feeding goldfish to the goldfish (is that cannibalism?) while we waited for David.


We went to the university for David to turn in some paperwork and I really liked the look of it. It is very old. The university was founded in 1801 (just 25 years after the Revolution). There is one portion of the university called "The Horeshoe." It is comprised of the original campus buildings and is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. I can't wait to learn more about the history of this area.

We spent the few hours we had left to look at apartments. I had done some research on the internet and talked to some people, but still felt pretty overwhelmed. At the first apartment complex we visited, we spied some LDS missionaries. They lived there and told us what they thought of the place and gave us some advice. (Note: David loved the place, but I wasn't thrilled. That's why I wanted to be involved in the choosing...)

We went to a different area and just didn't feel good about it. A couple of blocks later we drove by the Juvenile Detention center with it's high fences and barbed wire. Then we went to another address I had noted down. There we ran into the sister missionaries. Amazing - I had been praying in my head for help and don't think this was a coincidence. They told us they really liked the area where they live and had us follow them there. Turns out that it is a nice, but relatively inexpensive area with lots of apartment buildings. We now know where to look and are so grateful that we ran into them. It brought me so much peace to drive through that area. We're going to spend tomorrow looking at apartments there. Hopefully we'll be able to find our new home.

P.S. I LOVE our hotel. I have long been a fan of Wyndham hotels and this one is a Wingate by Wyndham. It's a much better room than our Marriott room and has free internet, free breakfast, a microwave, a fridge and is humongous.

Is Hell Freezing Over?

Hello, May 24th.



Goodbye, tomatoes.

My "Little Guy"

So Jalen is officially huge. Here are his 4 month stats.

Height 26" - 86th percentile

Weight 18.6 lbs. - 97th percentile

Head 17.75" - 98th percentile

The other day one of my nephews asked why Jalen had so many wrinkles on his back - referring to his fat rolls. Even Baylie has started saying, "Hey, Chubba, Chubba." Love it!

At what age do the fat rolls become uncute? I still have mine, but they don't seem to elicit the same response.

Happiest Place on Earth

Me and my dad at Disneyland when I was less than a year old.

I love, love, love Disneyland. My parents started taking us when we were very young. To show you how old I am, we used to have tickets for each ride instead of just a pass to get in the park. My parents would buy packets of tickets which would have lots of A rides (smaller, less popular), but very few E rides (Matterhorn, no such thing as Space Mountain back then). We would have to split the E rides between all of us kids. There used to be a saying that something was as good as an E ride, but now days, no one would know what that meant. One year my mom made us all shirts out of red bandana fabric. For some reason, that stirred up some excitement in the park. People kept taking our picture. I guess they weren't used to a 7-person family. Or maybe they thought we were a performing group or something.

Last week my sister and her family were going to Disneyland. They invited us along and we really wanted to go, but we weren't sure Baylie would apprciate it being so young. Plus, we didn't see how we could justify the cost. When my mom said she'd pitch in as a birthday present for me and a graduation present for David, we jumped at the chance. And can I just say, you're NEVER too young (or too old) for Disneyland.

Baylie loved Disneyland. Her favorite rides were "Small World," "Tea cups" and "Horses." She loved some of the characters and not others, but regardless she would always ask for "my book, my book," the autograph book Grandad bought for her. She especially loved the princesses. It was so much fun going to Disneyland with a child. It was so magical.

I confess I cried when Baylie spied Tiana and ran over to give her a big hug.

Baylie cried too when she had to leave Tiana.

Baylie was a big fan of Alice who invited Baylie to dance with her. (During the Tiana show Baylie was also asked to dance, but she was too afraid and wouldn't go - much to my dismay since we arrived a half hour early just hoping for the chance!)

Even Jalen, young as he is, enjoyed himself. He kept looking around and watching everything. He went on a few rides. I think it was nice for him to see something besides our apartment ceiling.

We'll be moving across the country soon, so it will be a while before another Disneyland trip, but then again, Disney World isn't that far from South Carolina...

Disneyland can also be exhausting...

... you have to take a break wheverever possible - even on the ground.

Thanks Grammy (and Grandad) for making this trip possible.

We also took a side trip to the Santa Monica pier where I was sure our little princess was going to jump into the ocean. Thank goodness for the monkey leash.

The Day After Mother's Day

What it looks like when Mom takes a day off.

Sigh...hello, Monday!

For my Mother's Day gift, my dear husband got me exactly what I asked for - a Willow Tree figurine called Child of My Heart. It is marketed as "a piece that is influenced by the rich diversity in our culture – with multi-racial families, blended families and adoptive families" and is described as follows: "different hair and skin tones between mother and child subtly imply that they are not related by blood."

This is what the picture looks like on the Willow Tree website. Perfect for my little family.



Below is my figurine. While it is beautiful, I think someone was seriously misguided about the "diversity." Have any of you seen this figurine in a store where the baby is actually darker? I'm wondering if I should try to exchange mine.

I Love You Mom!

As a college student. (No wonder my dad proposed after only two days!)

Four days before my birth.

My mom is an amazing woman. I often focus on the things that drive me crazy instead of on the unique gifts she has. So today, I'd like to list some of my favorite things about my mom.

• She has never met a stranger.
• She goes out of her way to make others happy, whether it's a close loved one or the check out girl at the grocery store.
• She does everything in her power to serve her children, even when they're ungrateful.
• She is very naive about certain things and often says things that don't mean what she thinks they mean. ("That was my eighth boner today!")
• She knows the name of every plant and flower.
• If she were a boy, she'd be an Eagle Scout (she was raised in Boy Scout camps since her dad was a professional Scouter). She knows the motto, pledge, or whatever else Boy Scouts say.
• She used to go to 11 ballgames a week in order to watch all her kids play and her husband coach.
• She sacrificed her own dreams in order to be a stay-at-home mom.
• Everything I do as a woman, wife and a mother is because I watched her do it first.
• She treats my husband like her own son.
• She loves my kids.
• If it weren't for her, I'd be naked. She still buys all my clothes.
• She suffered from polio and rheumatoid arthritis and is in pain basically every day, but she never mentions it.
• She doesn't have a clue how truly awesome she is.

And I would be truly ungrateful if I didn't recognize the two special women without whom I would not be a mother - the birth mothers of my kids.

At the birth mother awareness day yesterday, a sweet birth mom sold these shirts where we could write our birth mom's names.

P.S. I'm 99.9% sure David has forgotten it's Mother's Day and I'm just wicked enough not to remind him. Good thing he already bought my gift!