Laneah in her bear coat

Laneah's Adoption

On December 14th, we found out that Laneah's birth mother would be induced on the 20th. We couldn't believe it, we were finally going to be parents. Since we couldn't buy tickets in advance, we had to fly standby. And flying standby at Christmastime.... well lets just say we ended up buying tickets there. After battling holiday travel and a blizzard in a Hybrid rental car from SLC to Rexburg (that was fun) , our beautiful baby girl was born! Getting the call at 1 a.m. was the best news we had ever received. We had to wait until placement on Saturday to see her (she was born on Thursday). It was hard, but knowing she would be ours for eternity made the wait easier. A lot of people were worried about the birth mother changing her mind. Although we knew it was a possibility, there wasn't a doubt in our mind that Laneah wouldn't be ours. We all (Jason, the birth mother and I) had too many spiritual confirmations and experiences to doubt.

Placement was at the hospital. We were going to meet the birth mother at the hospital and then take Laneah home with us. When we walked into the hospital room, the Spirit was so strong. I saw Laneah and the world froze. My heart stopped and I couldn't talk or breathe. The birth mother immediately placed Laneah in my arms. She was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I couldn't stop looking at her. The birth mother couldn't stop crying so we talked with the rest of her family for a few minutes and then left for "parent orientation" by the nurse.

We took Laneah back to the place we were staying in Idaho. My family came out for Christmas and they were able to see Laneah. It was a special experience. After exactly two weeks, we were cleared to come home!

Birth Mother Visit

So last week we went and visited the birth mother of our soon-to-be daughter Laneah. What a great experience. The first face-to-face at LDS Family Services was a little awkward because we were all so nervous. But Candice loved the gifts that we got for her. I made her a soft and cozy pink (her favorite color) blanket so that it would comfort her when she got sad and lonely and told her to imagine that when she wrapped it around herself, she was getting hugs from us. We also got her a bracelet with a heart charm that had Laneah's name inscribed on the heart because Laneah would always be in her heart. And we got her the Thank You Willow Tree Angel because she is our angel. For Laneah, we made two cds. One is of me singing songs and the other is Jason and I reading Laneah stories. We wanted her to get used to our voices. Candice really liked that idea.

Saturday, we went to dinner with Candice and her parents. It went really well. Conversation was easy and Jason and I both felt that we could easily talk with them for hours. It felt as if they were old friends. Candice told us at dinner how she had been having these dreams that she has the baby and as she holds her, she hears a clear voice saying, "this is not your baby, this is Rachel and Jason's baby". What a cool experience. We were so happy to be able to go meet Candice and her parents before the placement.