My parents put in their mission papers in the middle of November. We were all so excited to see where they would get called! They felt like they needed to go on another mission, and put their availability date shortly after the holidays.
On November 18th 2015 (less than a week after they put in their papers) we got a message from a potential birth mom.. We'll call her J. She said: Hey! I came across your profile and am interested in learning more about you. You seem to have a lot of qualities I am looking for. I am 16, and I am due in the middle of April! I'm not sure how this works, but I hope we can talk.
So, we emailed her. And waited for a response. Now, we'd been contacted by potential birth moms before.. So we *tried* not to get our hopes up. It's hard. We emailed back and forth (a lot.. like by the beginning of December we'd emailed back and forth 100 times). We just asked questions back and forth, getting to know each other.
She found out the sex of the baby a couple of days later (November 20th).. It's a BOY!!! We were so excited! She asked us if we had any names in mind.. So we scrambled to come up with a few. Riley was our favorite, but we also liked Colin, Grant, and Wesley. We asked her if she had any in mind, and she said that she was going to let us choose because we were going to be the ones calling him it, but wanted to choose a middle name for him. When we heard that we were ECSTATIC!!! But, we didn't want to assume that she had already chosen us, so we tried to play it cool. It was hard. She said she liked the middle name Angel because that's his birth dad's middle name. We'll call the birth dad M. :)
On December 12th we went up to Blackfoot to meet J and her family. We hung out at her house, met her parents and siblings, and then went to dinner. M wasn't able to come, so we didn't get to meet him that trip. It was SO good to meet her and her family and to see her cute little belly.
We continued emailing back and forth A LOT (like over 300 emails back and forth over the course of her pregnancy), building a relationship and getting to know each other. She told us that she was glad she chose us in December after we went up and met her and her family. We couldn't have been more excited. Things were falling into place!
In the beginning of March we made another trip up to Blackfoot and just hung out in town at Rupe's (a delicious little diner- it's our favorite spot to meet up). J let us touch her belly, and I cried like a crazy person and thanked her for giving us the chance to be parents. It was embarrassing... haha. She gave us both big hugs and said that she was glad she was able to do this for us.
On that trip we also stopped by to visit the lady that we would be staying with when J went into labor until we were able to come home with the baby. Her name is Grandma C.. She's my brother-in-law's grandma. We visited with Grandma C and D (her daughter) for a couple of hours, just getting to know them and visiting. It put our minds at ease knowing we'd have a place to stay while we were in Idaho. They were such a huge help in our adoption journey!
J and her mom and sisters came down to see our house and meet my parents and Todd's brother and his family in the middle of March. We had dinner at my parent's house and then went swimming. It was so fun to have our families meet each other! Everyone really hit it off and enjoyed hanging out.
J had less than a month until her due date, and we were getting things ready as quick as we could! Her due date was April 12th, and even though my parents had put their availability date as the beginning of the year, they weren't supposed to enter the MTC until April 11th. They were scheduled to leave for Hawaii on April 22nd. Things were getting close and we were all anxious to see if my parents would get a chance to meet Riley before they left.
On April 5th J texted us saying she thought she was in labor, and that she was going to go in to the hospital and have them check her out. It was false labor and she was sent home. But it gave us good practice! :)
On the 6th we started making our plans for Todd's brother to watch Stella while we were there. Todd had just called him that night asking what we should do if J went into labor in the middle of the night and came up with a plan. About 6 hours later (2AM on April 7th) we got a call from J's mom saying that SHE WAS IN LABOR! They were going to the hospital and would keep us in the loop. At 3AM J's mom texted saying she was dilated to a 4 and that we should probably head up there. So we threw everything in the car and called Keith saying we were on our way to drop Stella off!
About an hour into our 3 hour drive we got an update saying she was dilated to a 7. I was really trying not to get pulled over, but we really didn't want to miss the birth! We drove as safely and quickly as possible, and made it there at 6:25AM. When we got there, J and M were sleeping (it was our first time meeting M) and J's mom was just hanging out on the couch. J was dilated to an 8, so we just hung out and tried to sleep. They broke J's water and gave her pitocin a couple of hours later, and she slowly progressed.
Riley Angel Anderson was born at 1:03 PM on Thursday, April 7 2016. He weighed 6lbs 9oz and was 20" long. He was absolutely perfect and we fell in love instantly. Todd and I were in there for the delivery, and Todd was able to cut the umbilical cord. I was able to do skin to skin with him right after he was born. It was such an amazing experience and we are so grateful that we had the opportunity to be there for it.
Meeting Riley for the first time!
We spent most of the day there at the hospital with J, M, J's mom and baby Riley. We left that evening and stayed in a hotel in town so we could just have some alone time. We were exhausted physically and emotionally. That was the longest, best day of my life! We went to bed early and slept in the next morning.
We spent most of that day (Friday) at the hospital, and went to lunch with J's mom and sisters. We went to a chinese buffet in town and enjoyed hanging out with them for a few hours that afternoon. This was in my fortune cookie:
J was going to be released from the hospital the next day, and if all went well Riley would be released to us! It was an awesome fortune- we were definitely going to be trying something new the next day... Being parents!! We went back to the hospital and hung out with J and M for a little bit and snuggled Riley. Then we went and spent the night with Grandma C and D.
The next day (Saturday) we spent at the hospital with J and her mom. J got ready, we took lots of pictures, and then both J and Riley were released from the hospital. We gave J a chance to say goodbye to Riley in the car, and then headed to Grandma C's house. We spent that evening hanging out, playing games, and snuggling on that cute baby. He wasn't officially ours yet, so we were still trying not to get our hopes up too high.. Which is really hard when we had him with us and were taking care of him.
Leaving the hospital.. I can't believe how tiny he was!
Sunday we hung out while Grandma C and D went to church. We ate lunch with them when they got back and then went out to J's house to hang out with them for a little bit. Both Todd and I felt so comfortable around J and her family this whole time. It felt like we'd known them forever. It was such a neat experience. We all loved on Riley and took lots of pictures, probably ate some food, and visited.
Monday was the day J was scheduled to sign the relinquishment papers. After the papers were signed we went to lunch with J and her mom. It was a bittersweet day. J is such a strong woman for making such a selfless decision. We are eternally grateful for her decision to place Riley with us. She is an amazing person, and we love her so much!
After lunch we called our families and told them that we were parents! Everyone was so happy and so very supportive during this stressful time. We have such awesome family members. We are so blessed. My parents went into the MTC that day. It was also our 7 year anniversary AND Stella's 3rd birthday. It was a busy, emotional, awesome day. We spent that night hanging out at Grandma C's house and enjoying our son.
Our first family picture!
The rest of the week was spent waiting for the approval to go home, playing scrabble with Grandma C and D, spending as much time as possible with J and her family, and getting used to being parents. We got the approval to go home on Friday, but in true Idaho fashion, it was supposed to snow in the mountains that evening. So we decided we'd leave Saturday (the 16th) pretty early and head home so everyone could meet Riley. We stopped by J's house so everyone could say "see you later" and planned our next trip up to see them in May. It was hard saying goodbye to J and her family, even though we'd see them soon. We really grew to love them like family that week. We are so blessed to have such a great birth family in our lives and we couldn't be happier with J and M.
One of the many pictures we took that week
When we got home my parents were waiting outside for us.. To say they were anxious to meet their newest grandson would be an understatement. Corey and the boys soon followed, and Erin had gone to the grocery store to stock us up on the essentials. She's such a sweetheart and we are so grateful for her! We also came home to our living room being decorated! It was such a nice surprise and we felt so loved.
Just a little peak of the decorations. :)
While my family was visiting, Todd's brother Keith and sister Sarah and both of their families came to visit too! We had a FULL house and loved having so many people there to welcome Riley home! Keith brought Stella with him, so it was nice to see our puppy again! She was so excited to see us, and we sure missed her!
We are so very grateful for J and M. Without them, we never would have become parents. It has been such an easy relationship to maintain and communication with them has been a breeze. While the adoption process wasn't easy, it was so very worth it. Riley is the perfect fit for our family. Though he didn't come to us in the conventional way, I'm positive we couldn't love him any more than we do. I know that he was meant to be in our family, and that Heavenly Father had him chosen for us. I'm grateful that J and M went forward with His plan, even though it wasn't easy. We're just excited to see what adventures lie ahead.
Edit: My sister pointed out that I glossed over the scary, difficult parts of our adoption journey with Riley. It wasn't all sunshine and butterflies. Really. There were some VERY trying times. But, we felt like this wasn't the place to document those. If you want more information about about the trials we faced during this journey let me know and I'd be more than willing to tell you ALLLLL about it. ;)
