Happy Birthday Sweet Little Mirian!!!!

Today Mirian turns two!!!!! What a complete and total Joy she has been for us!!!!!!! We love her so dearly! It was two years ago today that Russ got a speeding ticket on the way to the hospital. He even told the police officer that he was going to the hospital to adopt his new baby girl.

Newborn Mirian

Mirian on her first birthday

Mirian at 2

Mirian has a wonderful birth-mother. Her name is Kristine. Thank you Kristine for your completely selfless and loving act of providing us the opportunity to have and raise this sweet little girl!!!!

Mirian's personality is so wonderful!!!!! She absolutely LOVES kitties!!!!!! Her daddy would have preferred that she loves dogs (which she does) but she drops everything for a kitty. Her favorite movie is "Oliver and Company," because it is about a kitty. Mirian even sings along with the songs. In the car, she gets upset if we don't listen to kitty music (the "Oliver and Company soundtrack). Mirian loves babies! She has 3 baby dolls, but she could easily have a million more and be happy. She loves to change their diapers, push them in strollers and put them down for naps. she is a good little mama. Mirian also loves to read books. Her favorites are "Goodnight Moon" and any book with pictures of animals. She loves to point out the different animals and make their sounds. Mirian loves music and she loves to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree." It is so fun to watch her do the movements and say "Copcorn." Mirian is her mommy's big helper. She loves to help out with anything that she can around the house. Mirian loves to dance, and she sure knows how to shake her little bootie. It is adorable. Mirian loves to say prayers. She always remembers to fold her arms when we sit down to eat, and she always folds her arms when we are done reading scriptures. She is a good reminder to her mommy and daddy. But one of her mommy and daddy's favorite things about Mirian is that she loves to give kisses!!!!

Today Daddy made waffles with homemade blueberry syrup for Em and Mirian's birthday breakfast. As you'll see from the photos, Mirian LOVED it!!!!!!!


Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!! We love you!!!!

Happy First Birthday Goober!!!!!!

It's really convenient for Russ to remember birthdays for Emily and Mirian as Emily's is on April Fool's Day and Mirian's is the day after Emily's.

Today Mirian turns one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a sweetheart she is!!! We are so grateful for her and the joy and happiness she has brought to our lives. She is just so precious. She will have her daddy wrapped around her little finger.

It's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since we first held her in our arms!!!! The times have been so wonderful!!! She is getting SOOO big!!!! She has 6 or 7 teeth and we have a hard time keeping track of her as she cruises from room to room.

It's fun to see her smile, and to hear her cheeseball laugh. Unfortunately, she has learned the cheeseball part from her goofy dad. She does "ET phone home" with her daddy-o as they touch fingers. It's fun to watch!!!

We had a party tonight with some family and friends and it was awesome!!!


Mirian we love you so much and are grateful to have you in our lives!!!!!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Visits with Kristine

Mirian's birth mother Kristine recently got married and then baptized. We were priveledged to attend both of the important events. Here is a picture Kristine and Mirian and also one of Mirian's half brother Michael holding Mirian from the wedding. Kristine is so wonderful and we love her to death.

Congratulations Kristine!!!!!!

Thanksgiving Thankful List

Our friend Audra did a Thankful Post on her blog today and I thought it would be a good idea to copy her idea and do one for me.

Too often we get so caught up in everything that is going on and forget to say thanks. So here is what I (Russell) am thankful for:

1. Emily: What a sweetheart she is!!! She loves me even though I am stubborn. She has the most beautiful smile and always brightens the mood wherever she goes. She supports me in everything I do from my obsession for the Seattle Mariners to my desire to live in fixer uppers and then sell them once they have no problems. She loves me everyday and every minute.
2. Mirian: What a blessing she is to us!!!! She is so precious. Her smile is much like Emily's, always brightening the room. She is so loveable and squeezable, and she doesn't get upset when I put her in Mariners clothes (fyi, the Mariners clothes are pink). I grew up with 8 boys in my family and so having a little girl in the home is a new experience for me, and I love every second of it.
3. Kristine: I am thankful for Kristine and for her generous gift. Without Kristine, we would not have Mirian in our lives. Kristine's love and trust mean the world to us. It is Kristine's faith in our Heavenly Father that in the end, made it all possible.
4. Mom and Dad Carlson: I am thankful for the won derful life lessons they have taught me. They have taught me that nothing in the world is worth losing integrity over. Their dedication to the gospel is tremendous and has not gone unnoticed. I love that they love each one of their boys regardless of what we have all done in the past. I love that they love each of our families.
5. Mom and Dad Carter: See List item #1. It's not often that a young man goes to meet his future in-laws and is welcomed like I was when I walked into their home. I feel their love everyday, it radiates through their actions and through Emily's. My father-in-law can fix or do ANYTHING. If he doesn't know how to do it already, give him 10 minutes and he will figure it out. My mother-in-law is so willing to to anything for her family and she loves EVERYONE and EVERYONE loves her.
6. The Gospel: The gospel of Jesus Christ has had such a tremendous impact in my life. Where would we be without it??? I am proud to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
7. Siblings: I am grateful for both my siblings and Emily's. They truly know how to have a good time. I love them and enjoy spending time with them.
8. I am grateful for Alex and how much he likes to play baseball and scratch my back (this one was inserted because he started scratching my back while I was typing this. How could I not include it?????)
9. Finally I am grateful for our dear friends. I love how selfless my friends are. Always willing to help when I need it and always willing to share a good laugh and hear my stupid jokes.
   

Mirian's Story Part IV (4 of 5)

The email that arrived on March 19 was the answer to our MANY prayers and fasts. We had been waiting for this opportunity for about 2 1/2 years. The email was from Kristine. The email started as follows:

"I viewed your profile on the LDS Family Services site. I just recently started attending the LDS church in Othello, where I live with my boyfriend and my 4-year old daughter. I'm not a member of the church, but my boyfriend is and I really enjoy the church. We've met so many wonderful people and I love so much the focus on the family that the church provides. I've been talking with Carlos at the LDS Family Services, who told me he knows of you two."

So far so good right????

Kristine then told us in the email that she was 8 months pregnant with a baby girl who would be born soon via C-Section and was considering adoption. Before getting back together with her current boyfriend, Kristine was with another man (who was the father of her baby). Long story short, it would not have been good to have the baby's father in the baby's life. Kristine also mentioned in the email that she had been considering adoption since she found out she was pregnant.

Kristine mentioned that she was 39, and that she had a Bachelor's degree in Microbiology and also a Bachelor's degree in French. In addition to that, she also has a Master's degree in Food Science. She also mentioned that she had two children, an 18 year old boy Michael and a 4 year old girl Nicole. Not your typical birth mother right? Kristine was 150% honest and up front with all the details.

Finally in the email, Kristine wrote, "You seem like such a loving couple and one in which spirituality and the Lord is an important part of your life. I don't think I could ask for more from a set of prospective adoptive parents."
These two sentences meant the world to us!!!

Kristine wanted to meet and boy oh boy, so did we. We informed her that we could meet on the following Saturday, Sunday, or Wednesday. Kristine lived in Othello, WA (about 2 hours away from us) and offered to meet half way. She didn't know that we lived in Yakima. We received an email Saturday morning the 21st of March from Kristine letting us know we could meet that day. We quickly packed up enough stuff to go meet Kristine and then head to Spokane afterward and stay with our friends the Divis' (Audra Divis was adopted and has been helpful to us in understanding what things she has experienced in her life). We left as soon as we could. As you can imagine, we were a little excited . . . and nervous.

It was very difficult not to speed on the way to meet Kristine. We were so excited. We used my father's GPS (the GPS' name is Gracie). A couple of times, we had to decide if we believed Gracie.

We finally arrived at Kristine's home. We were VERY warmly greeted by Kristine and her boyfriend Dennis. Then came in Kristine's daughter Nicole, what a sweetheart. They welcomed us into their home. Our visit was wonderful. We talked about our families, our testimonies of the church, our jobs, our schooling, what we wanted for our children, etc. The spirit was present during our entire visit, we felt so good and comforted. We visited for a couple of hours. Towards the end of the visit, Kristine told us that she wanted to go ahead with the adoption with us as the birth parents. The answer to our prayers!!!!!!!!!!

Kristine told us she would like an open adoption. Throughout the adoption process, Emily and I had decided that we would prefer an open relationship with the birth mother for the first year and that then it would be closed. However, after meeting Kristine, and feeling the spirit during our visit, we felt it would be best for the baby to have Kristine in her life. We felt a trust with Kristine and knew that it would be best for everyone to have an open adoption.

As we mentioned previously, Kristine was 8 months pregnant. Since Russell was raised in a family of all boys and has no clue about pregnancy, birth, or girls, he assumed that there was one month left before the C-Section. However as Emily continues to remind him, when you are having a C-Section, things go by the doctor's judgment.

A week after receiving the first email from Kristine, we received another email from her that she was going to have the baby the following Thursday. Yep, we had a week to prepare (two weeks total from the first communication with Kristine).

To spare your eyes after reading this long story, Mirian's story has now become a five part story.