Coming Home

The past week has been an incredible journey, and today as I was driving to Lewisville to buy a new garage door opener, the Newsboys song "We Believe" came on the radio..."in this broken generation, in all this dark YOU help us see, there is only one salvation, we believe, we believe, we believe in God the Father, we believe in Jesus Christ, we believe in the Holy Spirit, and he's given us new life...we believe in the crucifixion, we believe he conquered death, we believe in the resurrection, and he's coming back again, we believe...let our faith be more than anthems, greater than the songs we sing, and in our weakness and temptations, we believe...."

And this is what we've done...we've believed!  Through the hurt, the ups and downs, and heartache we've stood firm in HIS promise to us that Cooper Kenneth is OURS!  He is to be a Cozens! 

On Monday, I obtained the documentation that legally took the "dad" off of the birth certificate, hired the new attorney, and planned a trip to Austin for Tuesday to take the new relinquishment paperwork to the birth mom.  Tuesday my friend and I drove to Austin to get state sealed paperwork removing the "dad" and to meet with the birth mom to do a new relinquishment.  I didn't know how it would go, I didn't know how the birth mom would feel, I knew she wanted us to have him but I wasn't sure how seeing me would go...and I was blown away!  Her state of mind, her determination to make sure he is safe and with us...we had AMAZING conversations, her apologies overflowed, her thanking us for giving Cooper a loving home and for giving her a new start with her life.  Her strength is incredible.  We still battle the hospital, as they refuse to honor the legal paperwork taking "dad" off, however he was escorted out of the hospital last Sunday and has told the hospital he's gone.  So, we play their games.

I did get to spend about 45 minutes with Cooper on Tuesday.  I cried a lot and just rocked him. 

He's doing very well.  He's eating like a champ!  He has had a few "episodes" with his breathing while he's eating and his heart rate dropping when he eats, and these keep extending his time in NICU, delaying his release.  BUT that's okay, we want him to be ready to eat and breath correctly at home.  His tentative release is Wednesday, June 25th...this Sunday, the 22nd, he is 1 month old...so he'll be possibly released at what would have only been 36 weeks gestational.  He's a fighter!  The night before he is released a "sleep in" occurs with the one he is being released to...so right now that's birth mom...she'll spend the night in a family room at NICU, and then be released, we will be her ride to be picked up, and then we'll head straight home with Cooper.  Us doing the sleep in will depend on court...I'll get into that more later.

Wednesday the attorney had the new relinquishment in his hands, filed with the court, and we go to court Tuesday at 8am to terminate mom's rights.  Monday the attorney files with the "paternity registry" to find out if the "dad" "staked his claim" on Cooper in the way that he was supposed to, if he did not, then we hope to have his rights terminated at the same time on Tuesday.

If he did stake his claim, Cooper is still ours, we file a lawsuit against him, he's served with papers saying that if he wants to gain custody he must fight us...reply within 20 days, hire an attorney, appear in court in Dallas, and prove himself capable of taking care of Cooper.  And well...let's just say this character has had some violence issues recently....our attorney says no big deal, Cooper will be ours, but if we need to view it like fostering him to keep him safe until he's ours...then view it that way, since we were going to go the foster route before he came along.  So...regardless of the answer from paternity registry, Cooper comes to Dallas!

Here are our VERY specific prayers for this weekend and first of the week: pray that Cooper has NO MORE episodes and is released on Wednesday, pray that Cooper is safe and is taken care of appropriately so that he is successful with his feedings, pray that the hospital treats birth mom with respect, pray that the paternity registry shows us favor and is able to give our attorney an answer on Monday if "dad" has registered or not, pray that court goes smoothly on Tuesday, pray for favor from the judge, and continue to pray for our peace and for birth mom.

IF "dad" is able to be terminated in court on Tuesday, then we will head straight to Austin to give the hospital our paperwork granting us full custody and terminating the parents, so that we are able to do the "sleep in" with him on Tuesday night.  If he can't be terminated because of the registry, we go with our plan of picking up birth mom from the hospital and then heading home.

As a precaution of not being able to do the sleep in, we are meeting with our pediatrician today to go over preemie care...as they have to be handled a little bit differently than a full term baby.

Thank you for continuing to ride this journey with us!  We can't wait to share photos of him AT HOME!  We love you all!

Jess, Bryan, PB and soon to be Cooper Cozens

sometimes things suck

You know that inspirational saying about walking in the sand, and there are two sets of prints and then there are only one...well, that's where we are....there's only one set of prints and we aren't sure how we've gotten to where we are, other than the Lord watching over us and carrying us through this muddled up situation.

To say the past week has been peachy keen would be just a damn lie.  To say Father's Day is happy is another damn lie.  Bryan should be celebrating his first Daddy day, but we aren't.  We boycotted our anniversary on Thursday and have just been sad. 

A short recap...last Friday our attorney told us we were going to need co-counsel to fight the hospital, Monday rolled around, no word on co-counsel, Tuesday we are told the co-counsel doesn't have time but here's the name of another "bull-dog" attorney who can help.  I call them, only to find out my attorney did not...to be told we don't have a case and there's nothing that can be done...I'm not okay with that answer and I want an attorney to speak with us face to face...so I press on and call, pleading my case to other known attorneys, all of whom don't even have the decency to call me back.  Thankfully, our new friends from church, have a great Christian adoption attorney who gets on the phone with me, is willing to meet us after hours, but ends up just seeing us Thursday morning.  He's amazing...we love him...he's frank, he's honest, and he listens without interrupting us.  Unfortunately, that day we finally had a copy of some paperwork from the hospital, only to find out that if our attorney had requested it on May 27th, like we had asked, we would not be sitting in his office, on our 4th anniversary finding out that there really is nothing we can do....despite the corruption and unethical behavior on behalf of the hospital.  Well, damn!  (excuse my language, I'm rather sad/mad)  Happy anniversary to us...so we decide we can't fight, if we know we will lose, and he's telling us we will lose. 

We had several candid conversations with the birth mom, who is terribly sorry...as she knows she was the one who put this into motion...we believe unintentionally, but none the less, put it into motion.  She knows she wants us to be Cooper's parents, and now she has to fight a battle to get him back to us.  We tell her we love her, we tell her we love him, but we can't keep living on "pipe dreams."  I've said it before...I either need to grieve or I need to fight.  So, we grieve.  We've cried a lot, we are at different stages of our grief...but we still can't fight the gut, pure faith feeling that Cooper is to be ours.  So, we cried a lot Thursday and Friday.

Friday four of my trusted Christian prayer warrior friends showed up to pray over us...as they too feel that the Lord is not revealing to them anything different than Cooper being in our home, being our child, being raised by us, that he's destined to do GREAT things for our Heavenly Father, all the while being raised by us...how does one argue with that...when they have had daily prayer vigils for us and Cooper, bringing themselves closer to the Lord, to one another and ultimately closer to us.  After they left I had not felt more at peace....it was a strong calming feeling, a feeling I had not felt in over a week. 

One thing I learned in Uganda last August was that demons are real...I know that, but I really didn't understand that.  I know that Satan attacks when we are the strongest....when our faith is so strong and secure, he tries to bring us down, bring those around us down.  A few weeks ago, my mom told me that the day we called telling her Cooper was not ours, she sat and cried, feeling the same helpless feeling like she felt the night of my break in, 7 years ago...knowing a man had intended to end my life, and knowing there was nothing she could do...over those months of healing for me, I learned a lot about myself and my faith...I was NOT where I am now faith wise, but I knew I was a fighter and I knew that man would NOT win!  I would not let his intentions to end my life, actually end my happy life, I fought through the debilitating fear, overcoming obstacles of terror, meeting with counselors, being overcome with panic and anxiety like I had never experienced before, fighting God and crying "why me," being told that these horrific things seem to always happen to me because I somehow always overcome them, making choices that weren't the best, but fighting none the less.  I overcame, and only by the grace of God, through lots of prayers, and a fight...he lost and I won, God won for me.  Satan lost!  So, here I sit again, this time with a loving husband by my side...but this time the fight isn't internal, we are fighting actual people, people who make immoral judgments and can't seem to make ethical decisions...the ultimate decision, what's best for Cooper?  For once this fight isn't just internal, and I can't just give up.

Here we sit, after a weekend of just being slugs...watching more movies than we've watched in a year...I read a sad book...it's always best to read sad books when you are already sad, right?  Hey, everyone said they cried bucks of tears reading The Fault in our Stars...yeah, it was sad, but it put my situation into perspective...but yet it made me sad for the characters who obviously do not know Jesus, even though they meet in the "heart of Jesus" for their cancer support group meetings.  None the less, I finished a book faster than I've finished a book in a long time.  Yeah, today is sad...I'm sad for Bryan...but yet, I know our chapter of this story isn't over yet...damn, it's been a long one, a bit rocky at times, and down right shitty, but I truly believe there is a happy ending to be had...I believe it with all I have in me, I have to...I guess I'm just not ready to give up yet!  As I teacher, I always fought for what was best for the children, their well being...sometimes I lost, but I never said I didn't do what was best and do all I could...and that's what I am doing, that's what we are doing...fighting for what we know is best for the little boy that we believe God has shown us to be ours.  What that future looks like, we don't know, how it will play out, we don't know...but here's what we know...

Cooper is doing well, he's about 10 days to 2 weeks from being released from NICU.  He's now in an open bed.  We understand that the hospital is doing an audit of our case, and that they are recognizing unethical behavior having been a part of our situation.  We don't know how things will play out, we do know that we have to wait until Thursday to do our final request to the state paternity board to see if dad has officially claimed Cooper as his...if this has not happened, we might have a fighting chance.  I know you may be learning this for the first time, please do not be upset with us for not sharing this in person or via the phone, this roller coaster sucks...and it's begun to suck the life out of us...we are tired, we are weary, and we are putting ourselves first in this battle, as it's our little family we are fighting for, and frankly it's easier to type than it is to talk.

Through all of this, we hold no ill will, blame, or hatred towards the birth mom and her sister, my friend, we love them...we know so much of this experience we would not have had if it weren't for them picking us.  We had no idea how this would play out, and well, there are no guarantees in adoption...no matter what kind.  I've witnessed evil in this hospital, through some of the staff, and it makes me sad.

Here's what I know....we are hiring a new attorney, we are not letting go of this yet, and if Cooper doesn't get to come home with us, we pray he is safe and loved.  We pray that the "dad" does not use Cooper as a pawn in his manipulation and that he has a change of heart as to what is best for Cooper.  We pray for the birth mom and her ultimate sacrifice, that her decision for us to be Cooper's parents is the ultimate end to our adoption journey, we pray for her extended family as they too have played a role in this, we pray for our family and the roller coaster of emotions we have put them on, we are sorry for hurt feelings, as none of it is intentional or meant to hurt anyone.  We know you all love us, but please don't ask us what you can do, as we don't know how to answer that...just do what you want to do for us, do what you are lead to do...we too do not know how to do this, we've never done this before.  If we've been rude, we are sorry.  If we've hurt your feelings, we are sorry.  If you show up, we may be in our jammies, we may be crying, we may be happy, we may be starving or living on flavored popcorn, or Blue Bell.  Just know, that this too will pass, and we will be fine...no matter the outcome.

Please just keep us in your prayers!  Peace of mind, clarity, discernment, the right people to talk to, doors to clearly shut with no light shining through, strength of mind and body, and to be held up when we can't walk anymore....and most of all Cooper's body healing and his safety.

We love you all, and appreciate all the kind words, emails, texts, Facebook posts, and most of all the prayers, as they have been felt!

JC

wHaT a RIdE

Where oh where to begin!  First of all, thank you for the constant prayers, messages, and surrounding us with your love!  What an experience this has been, and is yet to be!  Without going into great detail because of privacy for all parties involved, here's the jist. 

Cooper was born safely at 32 weeks on Thursday, May 22nd at 12:55pm, 4lbs 10oz, 17.5inches long...birth mom and Cooper were doing beautifully!  There were a TON of hiccups, non that were foreseen, but we got through them...we were able to have access to Cooper Friday and Saturday, Sunday the hospital revoked that due to their guidelines...but whatever.  Monday, May 26th, his birth mom relinquished her rights at about 7:30pm and he became ours!  WOOHOOO!!!  We didn't get to see him until about 8:30pm because of a few hospital regulations, etc...we spent many hours there with him that night, finally getting to hold him for the first time.  In those few days of his life he had done so well...considering he was 8 weeks early!  He had no extra medication, a few extra fluids via IV, only room air in his cannula (nose tube), and took milk on day 2 through his feeding tube in his mouth, began sucking on a pacifier (despite the difficulty the feeding tube and cannula posed) on Saturday. 

Tuesday, the 27th, was a bit of a train wreck....a supposed bio dad came forward, wanting to claim his paternity, but it's not that easy, legally.  HOWEVER, in the eyes of the hospital they viewed "dad" as his guardian and not our legal paperwork, that says we are his guardians in the eyes of the law.  Needless to say our attorney was not too happy.  BUT, we left, heartbroken...because while we were there they took his cannula out, his IV was coming out, AND he was going to begin bottle feeding, they were moving his mouth feeding tube to his nose to supplement what they gave him via bottle.  More great progress our little Cooper was making!  Leaving was heartbreaking!  Our attorney told us the next steps that had to happen, and we said okay...we want this baby...we feel very strongly that this is to be our child, and if not, we will have dotted every I and crossed every t to put ourselves in the position to give this little guy the best life possible.  In the meantime, we wait! 

We packed up our RV on Tuesday and headed home, in a bit of a trans...we know we hurt many feelings because we just wouldn't talk to anyone, we couldn't, reliving it was Hell!  We were devastated, but we knew that over the course of days since Cooper's birth our marriage was stronger and we were united, and our faith was unstoppable!  We cried, yelled at God, cried some more, and hauled butt home to sleep in our own beds and snuggle with PB.  Wednesday was a bit of a blur, we didn't get out of our PJ's and we didn't talk to anyone, unless you showed up on our doorstep and crawled in bed with us to cry with us.  Thursday, was a little easier, Friday was hard, but better...and well, Saturday was the hardest, because I knew that was supposed to be my baby shower, and presents had been delivered by UPS, the mail man, our in laws, etc....Cooper's room was closed and we just didn't open the door.  Sunday was easier.  Monday even easier.  And Today, Tuesday, we got a glimmer of hope....hope I can't share, but I can ask you to continue to pray!

Here's what we need prayers for: Cooper to continue to get stronger (we have no idea how he's doing because they denied us access), that what we need to happen or not happen to go according to HIS plan, and that by the end of the week we have a more definitive answer as to how this is all going to play out! 

I know it's vague....but that's all I can say for now!  We love you all, cherish your prayers, and hope to be celebrating with our sweet and perfect baby, Cooper soon enough!  And if we aren't, we know God has a plan...we will continue the adoption process, but go the agency route instead...at least the paperwork is done!  :) 

I am continually led back to Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose .

We know we are to be parents, and we just have a peace that Cooper will be ours.  Many of our friends still firmly believe that the Lord has made it clear to them that Cooper will be ours, their children have dreams about teaching Cooper to walk in their living rooms and me rocking him to sleep in our home...so that we stand firm on!  With faith like a child! 

Please forgive us for not necessarily reaching out, we know you are all there, we know you love us, we have been blessed by many, and are thankful for the space we have been given...as being sad is just too hard, and being stared at with the look of pity is too hard.  We are both busy with work, Bryan's back in Kyle working and Focused Ed, LLC is booming...so it's a good thing I pulled myself together, poor Brenna would be drowning...we only sent close to 1,000 emails today!  :) 

Again, thanks!  And I look forward to updating you again soon!  Keep the prayers coming...where two or three gather in my name, there I am among them!  Matthew 18:20!

We love you all!
Jess & Bryan

T minus 4 days....

Well, last night Bryan and I spent our last night in our house together, before we come home as a family of 3***...YIKES!  As I sit on our porch, it's gorgeous outside, and reflect on life in general these past few years it's quite amazing how this story has played out.  This past Wednesday, May 14th, 7 years ago was the anniversary of the break in...thinking back to that time in my life, the healing and recovery, the emotional state I was in for many May's, and the forgiveness that has taken place in my life over the course of the past 7 years...and looking forward to what is to come this week and the journey we are about to embark on, I'm blown away, as I couldn't have written a better story.

Right now, birth mom and Cooper are doing well.  She's hanging in there, the concerns and risks are still high...but she's been able to keep him baking, and we're just a few days away from the 32 week mark.  Wednesday they will admit her to begin monitoring her, as they take her off of her blood thinners, that's when we need the MOST prayers!  Please pray for her body to react in an okay way, so that Cooper can remain in until they deem appropriate Thursday morning.  There is NOT a scheduled C-section time, as they have to wait to see how her body does on Wednesday.  We are asking for prayers, specific prayers, that the doctors remain calm, make decisions with BOTH of their best interests at heart, and that the surgery is smooth and both come out of it without any trouble or complications. 

We will post when he is born, however, I do not know that we will post any pictures until the 48 hour mark, when she relinquishes her rights.  Throughout all of this, we are keeping her at the highest priority, what she wants and what is best for her as she makes this ultimate sacrifice.  I know how I feel and how Bryan feels about this unborn child, whom she is blessing us with, the struggles this pregnancy has caused her body....and I wish there was a way that we could repay what she is doing for us, but what it all comes down to, is that Cooper will KNOW without a shadow of a doubt the unconditional love that she had for him, that in no way is he unwanted, but dually loved! 

Everyone keeps telling me to sleep, but I think the only way I'm going to sleep from now until he arrives is with the help of Tylenol PM.  :)  The room is ready, my packing list is made, arrangements for all of my tutoring, the house, and so much more has been taken care of...so tomorrow I get to enjoy some friend time, run a few errands and begin to pack!  Tuesday we get to tour the NICU with the social worker, so we have an idea of how that works, and Wednesday our parents arrive!

Please keep us all in your prayers, and the next time you hear from me, Cooper will be here! 

***So, Bryan is working on a job in Kyle, TX right now...so that makes Cooper's arrival even easier on his work/vacation time.  He'll be able to work and be at the hospital at night for almost 3 weeks, and only have to come home for 1-2 nights in between now and June 5th or so!  YAY!  And while I get to come home for my shower in a few weeks, he'll stay at the hospital with Cooper and the same for the day of my best friend's bridal shower.

25 days and counting

Well, we have picked a name...first a little background before his name is revealed...being a teacher makes names VERY difficult...you may love a name and the child who has that name, and then the next year a terror with the same name enters your classroom...therefore, making it nearly impossible to find a PERFECT name.  Almost 36 years ago when I was born my mom had been a teacher, and decided upon my name...but I know nothing about the Jessica from all those years ago, as my parents moved to Lake Charles, LA and well, the internet didn't exist.  :)  We knew we wanted Kenneth to be the middle name, as it was my Papa Steger's name, my dad's/Judd's/Knox's middle name, and my mom's brother's name....so with Kenneth and Cozens...that was two hard C sounds, so we/I wanted another hard C.  We had it narrowed down to two, one had no sentimental meaning and the other was/is the name of two of my favorite guys from my BEST year in the classroom (2011-2012) and one other student from the year before I met Bryan, a boy who was a twin and living in foster care.  Secretly, or not so secretly I knew that would be his name but we still came up with other ideas but continued to go back to the two C names.  While walking on the beach in Gulf Shores this past week, we decided on his name...I told Bryan I wanted birth mom to be the first to know his name, as she had been asking what we would name him, as she wanted to call him by name.  So, we took a family picture to send to her....

 

 

And here we are, just before sundown, just beyond the stairs of our beach house.  And then we began telling people his name.

 

 

This past weekend a new complication was added to the long list of troubles this pregnancy is causing her...it breaks my heart to know how her body is reacting to this pregnancy, but I am reminded that the Lord has had this in HIS hands the entire time and He will continue to hold birth mom and Cooper in his hands and deliver him to us and heal her body.  Due to the added complication the doctor is even more aware of birth mom's safety and has decided that Cooper will arrive at the 32 week mark, May 22nd.  She will be admitted on the 21st to begin to wean her body off of the blood thinners for her blood clot, so we will already be there as he may come prior to the scheduled surgery due to the complications of taking her off the blood thinner. An earlier than that delivery is always a possibility, but we pray he can stay baking until then.  So...we'll have a baby and then I'll get to have my baby shower.  :)  We know he will be in NICU for a period of time, however the doctor believes it will not be until his July due date, as he is already in the 90th% in growth and organ development...but once again, it's in the Lord's hands.   We are prepared to be in Austin until he's ready to come home...minus a few trips back home for my shower and my best friend's bridal shower and wedding....but we will tag team for those and Bryan will be with Cooper when I leave for a day. 

 

We still covet your prayers....safety of birth mom at all times is our most important prayer, her peace, Cooper to keep baking until the 22nd, wisdom and guidance for the doctors, and for the doctors to remain just as cautious as they have been.

 

25 days...oh my!!! 

Growth

In my Bible study we've been studying Gideon, Gideon had an army of 300 to fight the Midianites who numbered over 100,000 people...Gideon God won that battle, with the use of Gideon and his men.  The relevancy of that story to our story right now is right on target, when have to rely on the grace of God to protect baby and birth mom.  Up to this point, there have been several sticky situations with mom's health...here is a brief update, so that you can pray specifically.

We are 27 weeks and 3.2lbs, in the 90th percentile.  :)  Birth mom has Placentia Previa, and it has dropped completely to her cervix, along with being attached to her C-section scar.  HOWEVER, she has not thinned out or dilated, so for hemorrhaging purposes, that is good.  She is on full bed-rest for the next week, and as long as she doesn't bleed again in the next week, she can return to her desk job for 3 hours a day...staying on partial bed rest.  The high risk OB is on top of things and very aware of the situation and keeping BOTH baby and birth mom's safety at his highest priority.  He knows that she will bleed again, as long as they can stop the bleeding and the placenta doesn't tear, we are fine.  If she has a 3rd bleed, then she will be hospitalized for bed rest until baby arrives.   Today she was given the first of 2 steroid shots to help boost baby's development (from my understanding particularly the lungs), tomorrow she will get shot number 2, and as long as he stays baking until Friday at 11am (not that we are expecting him to arrive before then or even then), the shots will be in his system and he'll have the added "stuff" he needs to finish developing....whether still in birth mom or in NICU.

At this point, we have a scheduled C-section at 34 weeks, June 5th.  It's nice to know that he won't arrive any later than that date for the safety of both birth mom and baby.   She will be admitted June 4th to be prepped and weaned off of blood thinners (due to blood clots in her leg)...at that point, baby could make his appearance.  My gut feeling, he will be here in May. 

I've been kind of an emotional mess today, we are so ready for him to get here, but we want both of them to stay safe. So here are our specific prayer requests...we are firm believers in the power of prayers, so please feel free to pass along to your other prayer warriors.

Please pray for...
- Birth Mom: healing of her blood clots, protection of the cervix, rest and sleep, peace/comfort/support as she learns her new normal after baby, her job to continue to be supportive of her and her pregnancy,
- Baby: he learns to sleep during the night so birth mom can get some rest at night, continued strong weight gain, continued growth & development of his organs and body, to continue to not feel any distress with birth mom's complications, to fully know how loved he is by birth mom, and his biological and adoptive family
- Doctors: Continued diligence in treating her complications seriously, watchful eyes, supporting her and her decision to place baby for adoption, respect her as a person and not just a patient, doing what's best for BOTH of them
- Birth mom's family: peace about her health, peace about her decision, support for themselves and her, wise words to help all involved to heal/grieve
- Us - remain calm, to continue to be reminded that this has totally been the Lord working, nothing we did and nothing we can do, HE has this...we know that...just continued reminding that HE still has this

We are so overjoyed with this whole process, knowing the details of her health, understanding the risks, the joys of a friend hearing his heart beat, feeling him kick/turn somersaults...we know our journey is unique and very rare and for this we are truly thankful...but of course it wouldn't be a "Jessica" situation if there weren't a few extra hiccups.  :) 

Oh...we think we have a name....maybe after our vacation next week, we'll be ready to make the "official" announcement.  Stay tuned and keep those prayers coming!

We love you all!

Baby Blessing

Where have the past 4 weeks gone???  We've been finishing up our remodel project....our living room and kitchen look completely different now!  Bryan's worked so hard redoing the counter tops, backsplash, building new book cases and drawers...maximizing our space to add another human being to our sweet little house!

We are now at 23 weeks, and it's starting to feel more and more real!  Birthmother is doing well, baby boy is 1.3 pounds as of Thursday's appointment.  He is growing and still hanging out behind her belly button.

This past weekend we had a "Baby Blessing" party....I've seen people do this when they build a house, so I thought why not do it before we paint the baby's room....we invited our family and a few friends over to cover baby's room with prayers, scripture and messages.  It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  37 loved ones came by to share in this joy!  So very exciting!  I have only begun to read a few of the messages, as I cry my eyes out reading them.  I wanted to share a few with you.

Nolan leaves his cousin a note

Opa sharing his heart with baby Cozens

Sweet friends Krista & Abby Bo Babby leave blessings for baby!

We loved that the kids that we love came and left their own special messages! 

Baby is already so loved by his family!  And he will have an "adopted" Grandma, just like I did! 

We are overwhelmed by the support of our friends and family...and even more by baby's birthmother's love for our little guy!  She is so relieved to know that he is coming to us, we truly are blown away at the process of all of this.  Over the years I always had a "selfish" prayer that the Lord would make this process easy...Brenna shared with me that her initial prayer, months ago, was the same "selfish" prayer I prayed....Hard to believe our dreams are just weeks away from coming true!

 

 

Prayer Requests: 1. Baby continues to grown INSIDE his birthmother, there are a few complications and we need the two of them to stay SAFE!  Please pray that the doctors continue to monitor her as they are, that the placenta does not get any more complicated than it already is, that she does NOT dialate and that baby bakes until the first part of June, 34-35 weeks.

2. That we retain the right attorney and that we can get our home study done quickly, just in case baby decides to make his appearance early, we need to be ready to make decisions

 

Thank you for following along with us on this journey!  We truly are blessed!

 

ps...Isn't my shirt cute?  My friend Joy with Beauty and the Bling made it for me...thanks to a Pinterest idea