Avery Gwen

Avery is our new daughter. She is eight months old. 19 lbs and as sweet as can be. We adopted her on November 12, 2012. She and I are still in Utah waiting for the paperwork to be processed and for us to be able to leave the state. We hope to be home by Thanksgiving.

We have only known about the opportunity to adopt Avery since the middle of October. My mom went to Utah to a wedding and was talking with my cousin and aunt. They were talking about Avery and that Katie had decided to place her for adoption. My mom mentioned that we (Ben and I) might be interested in adopting her. Brenda said that she felt really good about that and that she would love for Avery to go to relatives, but that she would need to talk with Katie. My mom sent me a text that said: "Do you want to adopt a baby?" I was not really sure how to respond. But, I said maybe. I got more details, discussed it with Ben and we made the decision pretty quickly that this would be a great blessing for our family.

Katie called us the following Monday evening and told us that she wanted to place Avery with us. She said that she was grateful that we are family and that we would be a good home for Avery. She did ask how it would work and how we would be able to get to know Avery. I suggested that they come to Missouri to meet us and see where we live. We purchased the plane tickets a few days later. We started the paper work with our case worker and began the process.

Here are some of the pictures we had taken when Avery came to visit us in Missouri around Halloween. She and Lydia are super cute sisters!









Holding hands with birth mom and Nana Brenda.



My cousin Brenda, her daughter Katie and Avery.



Kisses



Sisters





Sisters are the best. I am grateful that Lydia and Avery are sisters. I love my sisters very much and I am thankful to have them in my life. I know that these two will teach each other a lot and that they will love each other so much!

The visit went really well. We loved Avery from the start. Lydia was more than excited to be a big sister. Katie really liked where we lived, thought we were good people and good parents. Brenda and Katie got to know quite a few members of our family and were really excited to meet Avery's future cousins, aunts and uncles. It was hard to say goodbye to Avery by the end of their short visit, but she had to go back to Utah. We booked our plane tickets for November 11th and decided that the adoption would happen on Monday the 12th.

The week flew by and before we knew it we were on a plane to Salt Lake City. We landed in Utah in a giant snow storm. We got to watch the snow fall for a few hours while visiting with Avery, Brenda, Katie, Aunt Karla and Uncle Ernest. We braved the storm (not really) and drove to Heber to stay with our friends the Holbrook's.

Monday morning we were busy running errands and then we went to LDSFS in Centerville. We talked with our "case worker" there and started going through some paper work. Katie wanted us to be in the room when she signed the papers so we went in. We watched Avery play and we talked for a while. Katie signed the papers. There were many tears of joy and sadness shed. After about an hour, Katie and Brenda left and we finished our paper work. We loaded Avery into the car and drove away as the parents of two. We celebrated by going to Pace's Dairy Ann! I took Ben to the airport because he had to get back to work and he said goodbye to both of us.

I cried on the way home from the airport; tears of joy and happiness. I had a few moments to think for myself and the emotions came very strongly. I am proud of Katie for the decision she made. I am grateful to Katie that she trusts us to raise her daughter as our own and provide for her. I am grateful for the love that Avery has felt over the last eight months and the joy she has brought into their lives. I am honored to be her mother and look forward to watching her grow, learn and mature.

Avery is a doll. She is crawling around and a few minutes ago she decided to go up three stairs! She loves to play, eat and sleep like a typical baby. We are getting to know each other and she has given me the sweetest snuggles and loves! I am anxious to get back home to see Lydia and be together as a family. But for now...I have time to bond with Avery and I am enjoying it very much.