Tomorrow marks a week that we were discharged from the hospital.
They did so good on our drive home and have settled in just perfectly at Joe's mom and dads.
We are learning so much about each other and learning how to work together as a team.
Team Morrow! From 2 to 4 in the blink of an eye!
Cooper and Clara had their first doctors appt on Tuesday and have both gained weight. Clara has gone from 4 lbs 4 oz to 4 lbs 9 oz and Cooper has gone from 3 lbs 10 oz to 4 lbs 6 1/2 oz. They are both a little over 17 inches long and seem so tiny at times but so mighty at others.
They are eating 2 oz of formula every 3-4 hours. Joe and I are learning how to divide and conquer with diapering and feeding. We are sleeping when we can and napping when we can too.
Marie and Brent (Joe's mom and dad) have been a ton of help and we couldn't have gotten through the last week without them! They have lent the helping hand, fed, diapered, burped, and just loved on the babies which has been a true blessing.
In the adoption process we have to wait for the state you adopt from to exchange paperwork with your home state to allow you to bring the babies home. This is called Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC). We knew the state of FL typically takes 7-10 days and we were told to be fully prepared to stay the entire 10 days because that is what it was taking these days. Our adoption agency sent the paperwork to the state of FL on Monday, 11/18/13, they received it on Tuesday, 11/19/13 and we got the call today that said that FL had approved our paperwork and they were sending it tomorrow to Nebraska. (Isn't God amazing...2 days!) That means we can leave FL, we just can't go to NE yet. FL is sending NE the paperwork today so hopefully by Monday, 11/25/13 we will have our clearance to go home.
What a reason to be thankful! God has opened the right doors, smoothed the right paths, and shown us the love and kindness of others throughout this process.
Our plan is to have Thanksgiving here in FL with Joe's family on Saturday, 11/23, enjoy Sunday together and then leave Monday, 11/25/13 for my mom's. We are so excited to get to see her and for her to meet her two new grand babies. We will stay there and fly home on Thursday, 11/28 which is Thanksgiving. Its such a much bigger day that just Thanksgiving.
The twins will be a month old, its Thanksgiving, and we are beyond blessed to be able to bring our bundles of joy home on such a great day!
Please continue to pray for their growth and their health as we travel.
Please continue to pray for Joe and I as we are adjusting to new schedules and taking care of new beings.
Please pray for the paperwork and that God would open the doors to make NE's side as smooth as FLs side.
Peace and Blessings to you all!
God is GOOD!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Everyday I'm more amazed....
Everyday I'm more amazed by how fast the twins are growing and how amazing God is!
Our lives have changed in what feels like a blink of an eye! Its hard to believe that today is November 9th.
It seems like just yesterday we were packing up to move from AZ to Omaha (1 year on Oct. 13, 2013).
It seems like just yesterday we were planning a wedding (Feb. 14, 2013).
It seems like just yesterday we started with Christian Adoption Consultants (April 24, 2013).
It seems like just yesterday we were home study approved (June 21, 2013).
It seems like just yesterday we were applying to agencies (July 1, 2013).
It seems like just yesterday we were matched! (Oct. 1, 2013).
It seems like just yesterday we were told the twins were born! (Oct. 28,2013).
What a truly amazing and awesome 2013 we are having!
God has put people in our life who have made tremendous impact on us.
When we signed up with Christian Adoption Consultants (http://www.christianadoptionconsultants.com/) we were contacted by a woman who has opened our hearts and our minds in ways we never knew possible. She has educated us, cried with us/me, laughed with us, and loved and prayed for us, our journey and our children. Karalee Alvey is such a dear, sweet woman who has changed our life in more ways than she will ever know. Karalee has walked in my shoes of wanting to be a mom and has been the rock that has helped us to sift through the situations that were presented to us to help us open our hearts in preparation for being matched with the twins.
Adoption is a journey that is extremely difficult but so rewarding!
If you stand near me long enough, you will hear me talk about our journey.
When we were preparing for Christian Adoption Consultants to create our family profile, we needed some pictures to be taken so I started asking around work if anyone knew of someone who could help. A great co-worker told us his niece was a photographer and she could help us. Her name is Hannah and such a sweet soul and amazing photographer (http://www.perspectivechangesphoto.com/). When Hannah came to take our photos we started talking about our journey and she shared with us that her brother and sister in law had adopted previously. Hannah's sister in law, Meg and I had a lot of similarities and Hannah put us in touch with each other.
Meg and I began emailing, talking about my hysterectomy, our adoption journey, their previous adoption...it was a great start to a friendship that has continued to grow. I'm a true believer that God puts people in our lives at the right time and Meg was put in my life for so many reasons but most of all to share the roller coaster ride with!
As I said, if you are near me long enough, I will tell you how awesome Christian Adoption Consultants are and how they have changed our life. Well, Meg and her husband wanted to adopt again and so I shared the information about CAC and our amazing adoption consultant, Karalee and so Meg called and they signed up with CAC.
They worked hard to get their home study updated and they were ready on Sept. 29th. Soon after they started applying to agencies and today, they got the call....they are matched! They are expecting a little girl around the first of December.
God's plan for our lives is a mystery. We have to have faith and if we are walking with Him, he will open the doors that he has planned for us.
As I sit and watch the twins, who are 12 days old today, grow, and get ready to be able to come home, I'm simply amazed that God has entrusted these amazing little lives to us...
If you are interested in adoption and hear that call and pull to adopt. Please think about contacting Christian Adoption Consultants. They are all adopted parents who can answer your questions, give you guidance and they will open your hearts to what God has planned. They work with a lot of smaller agencies and all those agencies focus on the birth families while your consultant will help and focus on you, the adoptive families. They can also help you build an amazing family profile that tells the exact story you want the birth mothers to know about your life. Its a great story and they know exactly how to show it with words and pictures.
Cooper and Clara are doing fantastic! They are back up to birth weight, bottle feeding, and just waiting for -the ok to go home. We will have to stay in FL for 7 to 10 days once we are discharged so FL and NE can exchange info. We are so blessed to be able to stay with Joe's parents so we can be surrounded by love and family while we wait for approval to leave.
Please pray with us as we pray for the twins to grow so we can go home.
Please pray with us as we pray for our friends, Meg and Chris and their match with their baby girl.
Please pray with us as we pray for all the children out there that need to find their forever families!
What an awesome National Adoption Awareness Month!
God is Awesome and Amazing....ALL THE TIME!
Our lives have changed in what feels like a blink of an eye! Its hard to believe that today is November 9th.
It seems like just yesterday we were packing up to move from AZ to Omaha (1 year on Oct. 13, 2013).
It seems like just yesterday we were planning a wedding (Feb. 14, 2013).
It seems like just yesterday we started with Christian Adoption Consultants (April 24, 2013).
It seems like just yesterday we were home study approved (June 21, 2013).
It seems like just yesterday we were applying to agencies (July 1, 2013).
It seems like just yesterday we were matched! (Oct. 1, 2013).
It seems like just yesterday we were told the twins were born! (Oct. 28,2013).
What a truly amazing and awesome 2013 we are having!
God has put people in our life who have made tremendous impact on us.
When we signed up with Christian Adoption Consultants (http://www.christianadoptionconsultants.com/) we were contacted by a woman who has opened our hearts and our minds in ways we never knew possible. She has educated us, cried with us/me, laughed with us, and loved and prayed for us, our journey and our children. Karalee Alvey is such a dear, sweet woman who has changed our life in more ways than she will ever know. Karalee has walked in my shoes of wanting to be a mom and has been the rock that has helped us to sift through the situations that were presented to us to help us open our hearts in preparation for being matched with the twins.
Adoption is a journey that is extremely difficult but so rewarding!
If you stand near me long enough, you will hear me talk about our journey.
When we were preparing for Christian Adoption Consultants to create our family profile, we needed some pictures to be taken so I started asking around work if anyone knew of someone who could help. A great co-worker told us his niece was a photographer and she could help us. Her name is Hannah and such a sweet soul and amazing photographer (http://www.perspectivechangesphoto.com/). When Hannah came to take our photos we started talking about our journey and she shared with us that her brother and sister in law had adopted previously. Hannah's sister in law, Meg and I had a lot of similarities and Hannah put us in touch with each other.
Meg and I began emailing, talking about my hysterectomy, our adoption journey, their previous adoption...it was a great start to a friendship that has continued to grow. I'm a true believer that God puts people in our lives at the right time and Meg was put in my life for so many reasons but most of all to share the roller coaster ride with!
As I said, if you are near me long enough, I will tell you how awesome Christian Adoption Consultants are and how they have changed our life. Well, Meg and her husband wanted to adopt again and so I shared the information about CAC and our amazing adoption consultant, Karalee and so Meg called and they signed up with CAC.
They worked hard to get their home study updated and they were ready on Sept. 29th. Soon after they started applying to agencies and today, they got the call....they are matched! They are expecting a little girl around the first of December.
God's plan for our lives is a mystery. We have to have faith and if we are walking with Him, he will open the doors that he has planned for us.
As I sit and watch the twins, who are 12 days old today, grow, and get ready to be able to come home, I'm simply amazed that God has entrusted these amazing little lives to us...
If you are interested in adoption and hear that call and pull to adopt. Please think about contacting Christian Adoption Consultants. They are all adopted parents who can answer your questions, give you guidance and they will open your hearts to what God has planned. They work with a lot of smaller agencies and all those agencies focus on the birth families while your consultant will help and focus on you, the adoptive families. They can also help you build an amazing family profile that tells the exact story you want the birth mothers to know about your life. Its a great story and they know exactly how to show it with words and pictures.
Cooper and Clara are doing fantastic! They are back up to birth weight, bottle feeding, and just waiting for -the ok to go home. We will have to stay in FL for 7 to 10 days once we are discharged so FL and NE can exchange info. We are so blessed to be able to stay with Joe's parents so we can be surrounded by love and family while we wait for approval to leave.
Please pray with us as we pray for the twins to grow so we can go home.
Please pray with us as we pray for our friends, Meg and Chris and their match with their baby girl.
Please pray with us as we pray for all the children out there that need to find their forever families!
What an awesome National Adoption Awareness Month!
God is Awesome and Amazing....ALL THE TIME!
Monday, November 4, 2013
Our journey is just beginning!
November is National Adoption Awareness Month.
Yesterday was National Orphan Day, a day to bring awareness to all the children around the world who need loving homes.
This day and this month mean so much more now, than it ever has!
I have wanted to be a mom my entire life (just ask my older brother).
Now, even after only a week, its hard to think about them not being here.
On Monday, Oct. 28, 2013 at 7:20 PM ET, Clara Bailey Morrow entered this world and 2 minutes later, her brother, Cooper Brenton Morrow arrived. Clara weighed 4 lbs 4 oz, and Cooper 3 lbs 10 oz. They were just 33 weeks and doing amazingly well.
Joe and I flew down to Florida on Tuesday and finally were able to meet them late Tuesday night.
They were 24 hours old, so tiny, so small, and so beautiful!
Tonight, at 7:20 and 7:22 marks 1 week....7 days since they arrived on this earth.
I feel like my world has stopped. They are my focus, they are my world and they are my heart and soul.
I have dreamed what this would feel like. But my dreams can not come close to the feelings I am having. We have intentionally set out on this path to adopt. It has been hard, and scary and just like a roller coaster ride but now...all of that seems like a distant memory.
They are here, they are healthy, they are growing and they are ours!
God has a plan. His plan hasn't always been my plan. He has opened our hearts in ways that we could not have imagined. His plan hasn't always been reveled to us but He had a plan. His plan has always been for Joe and I to parent these wonderful beings. He heard our cries, he heard our prayers, and He delivered far greater gifts than we knew possible.
Our journey is just beginning. We don't know how long our stay here at Miami Children's Hospital will be...but however long it takes to get them to where they should be, I will be with them. Joe has gone back to Omaha today to prepare our home to welcome this amazing souls.
Miami Children's Hospital is a wonderful place. They have apartments for parents to stay in to be close to the hospital. They have a family center that does everything from our laundry, to classes, movies, etc. They take care of the everything that is needed to make sure we can focus on our babies.
The staff is so wonderful. They include us in everything they do, they are as nurturing to us as they are to the small wonders they take care of.
We are so blessed and thankful to all of you who love us.
Many of you have asked where we are registered.
We are registered at Top to Bottom Baby in Omaha, NE. Target, and Babies R Us.
We will be adding to them once we know when they will be coming home this was just a first stab at what we might need.
Please know that if I don't respond quickly to an email or text, its not that I don't appreciate each and every one of them. If I'm in the NICU with the babies, that is where I'm focused.
Please continue to pray for their strength and continued growth so we can come home soon!
Please pray for Joe as he is in Omaha and not with us in person but definitely here in spirit and via the web.
God is an AWESOME God!
Peace and Blessings to you all!
Yesterday was National Orphan Day, a day to bring awareness to all the children around the world who need loving homes.
This day and this month mean so much more now, than it ever has!
I have wanted to be a mom my entire life (just ask my older brother).
Now, even after only a week, its hard to think about them not being here.
On Monday, Oct. 28, 2013 at 7:20 PM ET, Clara Bailey Morrow entered this world and 2 minutes later, her brother, Cooper Brenton Morrow arrived. Clara weighed 4 lbs 4 oz, and Cooper 3 lbs 10 oz. They were just 33 weeks and doing amazingly well.
Joe and I flew down to Florida on Tuesday and finally were able to meet them late Tuesday night.
They were 24 hours old, so tiny, so small, and so beautiful!
Tonight, at 7:20 and 7:22 marks 1 week....7 days since they arrived on this earth.
I feel like my world has stopped. They are my focus, they are my world and they are my heart and soul.
I have dreamed what this would feel like. But my dreams can not come close to the feelings I am having. We have intentionally set out on this path to adopt. It has been hard, and scary and just like a roller coaster ride but now...all of that seems like a distant memory.
They are here, they are healthy, they are growing and they are ours!
God has a plan. His plan hasn't always been my plan. He has opened our hearts in ways that we could not have imagined. His plan hasn't always been reveled to us but He had a plan. His plan has always been for Joe and I to parent these wonderful beings. He heard our cries, he heard our prayers, and He delivered far greater gifts than we knew possible.
Our journey is just beginning. We don't know how long our stay here at Miami Children's Hospital will be...but however long it takes to get them to where they should be, I will be with them. Joe has gone back to Omaha today to prepare our home to welcome this amazing souls.
Miami Children's Hospital is a wonderful place. They have apartments for parents to stay in to be close to the hospital. They have a family center that does everything from our laundry, to classes, movies, etc. They take care of the everything that is needed to make sure we can focus on our babies.
The staff is so wonderful. They include us in everything they do, they are as nurturing to us as they are to the small wonders they take care of.
We are so blessed and thankful to all of you who love us.
Many of you have asked where we are registered.
We are registered at Top to Bottom Baby in Omaha, NE. Target, and Babies R Us.
We will be adding to them once we know when they will be coming home this was just a first stab at what we might need.
Please know that if I don't respond quickly to an email or text, its not that I don't appreciate each and every one of them. If I'm in the NICU with the babies, that is where I'm focused.
Please continue to pray for their strength and continued growth so we can come home soon!
Please pray for Joe as he is in Omaha and not with us in person but definitely here in spirit and via the web.
God is an AWESOME God!
Peace and Blessings to you all!
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