Willis Family Shower

A few weeks ago we went to Eagar for my niece Alyssa's baptism. We are so proud of her & the decision she made to be baptized! She asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost, which made me feel so good. I'm not sure that I pulled it off, since we had just gotten Kylee that week & I was mentally in a totally different place...but I was glad that she asked me. Here she is holding Kylee...congratulations on your baptism Alyssa! We love you so much! (You'll notice as I post more pictures that Kylee is always sticking her tongue out...it's pretty funny.)
All of Linc's mom's side of the family went to Linc's sister Wendy's house after the baptism. I thought it was just a post-baptism party...until I saw gifts in baby girl bags sitting around the room. The really funny thing was that it wasn't supposed to be a "surprise shower" but nobody told us about it. So I'm just waiting for someone to say, "Guess what Anjane' & Lincoln? Surprise! We are having a shower for you!" Everyone just sat around talking and eating and kind of looking at me. Finally, Kylee got her outfit all wet and I realized I hadn't packed an extra one, so someone told me to open their gift since there was a newborn outfit in there. Then we realized the whole situation with me thinking the shower was a surprise & that it wasn't supposed to be...it was really funny. We had a really good time & were touched by the thoughtful gifts we received. It was SO fun getting new clothes for Kylee...I was in heaven! Here are Shelby & Aunt Lea with Kylee...
Linc's cousin Logan and his girlfriend with Kylee...I love this picture.
Can you tell that Lincoln is REALLY excited to be part of a baby shower? What a bum.
I was obviously thrilled...I don't think my smile could be any bigger!
Our first little "family picture" with Kylee.
Thanks so much to Lincoln's family for being so kind to us! We got some really fun gifts, including homemade blankets from Linc's aunts and cousins. It was so thoughtful. We also received a lot of money to help with the cost of the adoption. We are so, so thankful and so blessed to have so many incredible people around us! THANK YOU!!!

Frequently Asked Questions

For those of you who don't know how this adoption came about...let me answer the questions I've been asked most frequently & hopefully that will help to fill you in!

Were you planning on adopting? No...not right now! Linc & I have actually been talking about it every month or two for the past year or so, but the timing was never right. We would start talking about it and then automatically find ourselves talking about something else and say, "Wait...weren't we talking about adoption?" That happened every time we talked about it. We just figured we would adopt after we had a few kids of our own and when Linc was a doctor & we had money. :)

How did the birth mom find you? She is in my sister Melissa's ward. Melissa was sitting next to her in Relief Society and asked to hold Kylee. The birth mom pulled Melissa aside and told her that they were putting her up for adoption, that they had met with 4 couples from LDS Family Services & hadn't felt good about any of them, & that the first time she had felt peace was when she saw Melissa holding Kylee. She asked Melissa if she had thought about adopting. When Melissa said no, she went on to tell the birth mom our story & we ended up meeting them that day. I found out later that the birth mom felt very strongly that she needed to talk to Melissa about it and that it was VERY uncomfortable for her to do so...but I am so glad that she did! :)

Can the parents take Kylee back if they want to? No they can't. They have signed over all of their rights to LDS Family Services. Basically LDS Family Services is responsible for Kylee until we finish our certification and finalize. An easy way to describe it is that we are Kylee's foster parents until the adoption is final. The only way this wouldn't work out is if some major issues came up in our paper work that made us unfit to adopt...which we are assuming won't happen! :)

When will the adoption be final? LDS Family Services and our attorney estimate that it will be final in about 5-6 months from now. We will be able to bless Kylee and be sealed to her when it is final.

My Testimony of Adoption

Before we adopted, I knew that adoption was a good thing. My grandma (my dad's mom) is adopted and she loves her adoptive family so much and has always expressed that to us. I have a friend who is adopted. I also have two friends who have adopted children. However, I never really had a testimony of adoption until now. I know that Heavenly Father supports adoption and that in our case (and in so many others' cases) he used it as a way to bring us a child, a child who is supposed to be in our family. I know that is a bold statement, but I believe it wholeheartedly.

My heart feels full and my soul feels rejuvenated since Kylee has come into our family. If I listed everything that everyone has done for us since we got her, nobody would believe it. Our support system is INCREDIBLE. It's the strongest I have ever seen. I have no idea why we are so blessed to have so many generous people in our lives.

And now on to my main reason for writing this post. Kylee's birth mom started a blog. I've said before how amazing she is, but reading her blog might shed some more light on who she is and what she is feeling about this adoption. If I need to feel peace and calm about this situation I read her blog. It makes me cry. What a beautiful person she is. And how humbled I am that she chose me to have her daughter call me "mom". Ever since I had Jackson, that word has been extremely special, almost holy, to me. It just means that much more to me now.

Playing Catch-Up

I posted a lot of pictures tonight from the past couple months. I'm finally caught up on our pictures from before Kylee came. It's funny...I was looking at these pictures and thinking that last month seems like a different lifetime to me! So much has happened since then! I can't believe a month ago I didn't even know Kylee existed...so, so, so crazy!!!

We've been spending a lot of time with Brad & Melissa since they got married. We have so much fun with them. They are EXTREMELY kind and supportive...they're always looking for ways to help us out. We really appreciate them! A few days after our Utah trip (posted below) some of the family went to eat breakfast at Crackers. Can I just say that their granola healthcakes are amazing?! Here are the cute newlyweds (and now soon-to-be parents!)...
Mom, Meg and I enjoying the great food & company...
I feel so lucky to have such a great family!!!
P.S. If you think I posted a lot today just wait until you see all the pictures I have from baby showers & our family reunion this past weekend!

Salt Lake City

Last month my brother Shawn was married in the Salt Lake Temple, so Lincoln & I and the rest of my family drove up for the wedding. Linc had his summer school final the morning before the wedding, so we left that afternoon and stopped in Snowflake to drop off our dogs. Lincoln's mom watched them for a week! It was SO, SO nice of her. The dogs LOVE her. It was Daisy & Duke's first birthday that day & I wanted to act like I expected Linc's mom to have a birthday party for the dogs while we were gone...but I couldn't go through with the joke. :) After eating some YUMMY green beans from the garden, we left for Salt Lake & got to the hotel in Utah in the wee hours of the morning. I already posted pics from the wedding & dinner a few weeks ago, so here are pictures from the rest of the trip.

The night of the wedding, Mom, Megan & I stayed up REALLY late being crazy. As the night went on, we got crazier & crazier. I'm only posting the pics from the beginning of the night...you should be grateful. (The next day Lincoln wouldn't even look at the pictures. He hates that I am so weird!) Here's Meg & I playing Boggle...We spent hours dancing to the radio and jumping on the bed and taking pictures. I love hanging out with my mom & sisters. They make me laugh SO hard!
Here was my first "outfit" of the night. This is SO mild compared to what I looked like & was wearing later in the night...
The next day we spent some time shopping. Megan, Lincoln & I ate lunch at Applebee's. Linc was already sick of posing for the camera by then...
Meg and I hanging out...

Brigham City

We were able to spend some time with Lincoln's sister and her family while we were in Utah. It was SO good to see them. They used to live in the complex next to us & then moved to Utah. We REALLY miss them!!! While we were there, they took us for a drive up the canyon and we stopped to eat at a really cool place along the river. Here's Linc, our brother-in-law and cute little niece checking out the water...
Deep in thought...
The place we ate at was called The Oaks...we loved it!
We saw a snake skin laying in the grass on the way out. Jordan picked it up so I could take a picture of it...
We drove further up the canyon to see the beautiful scenery. Wouldn't you give anything to live in a place like this?

South Jordan

On Monday we drove to South Jordan to spend time with some friends there. We stayed at Shawn & Ashley's cute place...thanks guys! We went to lunch at a YUMMY pizza place with our friends, then Linc & I hung out and played cards. He hates playing games & I love them...and it was his idea that we play cards so that made me happy. :)

As I was putting the cards away Lincoln fell asleep. Poor guy is always so sleep-deprived. I read while he slept...it was so relaxing!That afternoon we went to Gardner Village. I had been there once before (without Lincoln) & forgot that the shops there are totally girly. He was a good sport...until I told him to pose for a picture in front of a store called "Just Us Girls". :)
Rebeca & her kids met us there later. I LOVE this girl. She has helped me through so much and has been there to listen whenever I've needed her. She is so amazing. I hope I can be like her someday. I love you so much Bec!!!
We sat on a bench by the pond while the kids fed the ducks. I thought the ducks were dang cute...

Snowflake

The next day we drove to Snowflake to pick up our dogs and to spend time with Lincoln's family. We missed the dogs so much, as funny as that may sound! We were so excited to see them. Here they are checking out what's going on outside...
We visited the cemetery and realized that nobody has been cutting the grass between/around the headstones. It looks horrible. Linc took care of it though. We're hoping this isn't a long term thing. The cemetery has done a great job taking care of the headstones up until now.
We love our little boy...
On our way out of town, we went & picked some sweet corn. Lincoln's uncle grows the best corn ever! It's so delicious. We drove by the cows & this one was staring right at me...
I had to take a picture of the haunted light switch at Linc's parents' house before I left. Ready for a ghost story? It's kind of long...that night I was upstairs in Lincoln's parents' house reading. His mom was upstairs sleeping in the other room. I walked out into the hall to go downstairs and noticed that the bathroom light was on. Now, I could have SWORN it was OFF a few minutes earlier. If Linc's mom had turned it on, I would have seen her walk by my door and the dogs would have run up to her. That hadn't happened, but I chalked it up to my imagination. I went downstairs, then came back upstairs a few minutes later and went back into the bedroom. A few minutes later I came back out and the light was OFF. I was POSITIVE that nobody had walked by the room to go to the bathroom. I went in the bathroom and looked to make sure the light switch was off. I then went downstairs and asked Linc's dad if the bathroom had faulty wiring (they live in a house that is over 100 years old) and he said he didn't think so. I told him & Linc the story and told them that if the light was on when I went back upstairs, I would FREAK out. (We've had a few other experiences at his parents' house where lamps have turned on next to us in the middle of the night...SPOOKY!) So anyway, Linc told me that the way I'd know if it was REALLY haunted and not just faulty wiring was if the light was not only on but the light switch was turned on. That would mean that someone had actually touched the switch. I agreed...and went upstairs..and this is what I saw...
ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I had gone straight upstairs after talking to Lincoln & his dad, so they wouldn't have been able to run up there before me and turn it on. Linc's mom was asleep the whole time in the other room upstairs...and we would have heard her if she had gotten up while we were talking. I had a hard time sleeping that night! So that's the LONG story of the ghost that lives in Linc's parents house. Lincoln's dad reassured me that he didn't THINK anyone had ever died in that house, even though it is so old. Ha ha. Whatever...I'm not even going to think about it.

Ward Party

I pulled these pictures off our ward website. I thought they were kind of funny. These pictures are from our ward pioneer activity back in July. Linc was a champ at stick pulling. I was so proud of him & his big muscles! :) (He told me not to put anything on the blog about it, but too bad!)
This is a NASTY picture of me, but I thought it was funny. I took part in the pie eating contest. I really thought I would win...but sadly I didn't. I was close! (My dumb pie crust was stuck to the bottom of the plate so I had to scrape it off with my teeth.) Oh, and I love that boy next to me. I taught him in Primary and am now his scout leader. He knows more about the scriptures than I do...I'm seriously so impressed with him. (Random funny sidenote: My sister & I used to have yogurt eating contests on our back porch when we were little. We'd spoon the yogurt onto the lid and then race to see who could lick it all off first, without using our hands. We both became SO fast at it. Hence my being confident that I could win the pie eating contest.)

Worth It

Lincoln & I are quickly learning that when something WONDERFUL happens...especially when it involves expanding your eternal family...the adversary works double-time on you! This adoption process is SO INTENSE. I don't know how else to describe it...and it's really hard to understand unless you've gone through it. You feel like you are on a roller coaster every day! It's extra hard for us right now, because we are trying to become certified at the same time we are adjusting to having a new baby. Certification takes A LOT of time...which is something you don't have a lot of when you have a newborn and one of you is working full-time & going to school! Every day we look at what we have to get done and look at the hours in the day...and it just does not add up on paper. Yet somehow we get it done, even though most of the time it is at the last possible second and involves a lot of frustration and stress. I will be SO proud of ourselves when this is over! We are holding up (sometimes barely) under A LOT of pressure and are somehow making this happen. I know it really isn't just us though...we are being helped SO MUCH. Thank you to everyone for supporting us through this. And for those of you who have tried to contact me and I haven't gotten back to you...please be patient with me. It's going to be awhile before I feel like I am back on my feet again!

The other night Lincoln & I were really frustrated with the situation and trying to work some things out. We were both so overwhelmed and tired...and then we looked down and saw this little face smiling at us...how can you not feel like things are somehow going to get better when you see her sweet face?!
Despite the stress, we are experiencing pure joy from having this little girl in our home. We are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure she is with us forever!!!
Wish us luck as we try to get through these next few days. We are supposed to finish our home study paper work tonight and have to have our home ready for the inspection by Friday. I will be breathing a lot easier once those things are done. :)
P.S.-Lincoln volunteered to get up with Kylee all night tonight so that I could get a full night's sleep. I am VERY excited!!! :)

Utah Bride Blog

My brother Shawn & his wife Ashley were featured on the Utah Bride Blog! Check out the links below!!!
Shawn & Ashley's Engagement Session
Shawn & Ashley's Wedding Session
I love Shawn & Ashley...they're not only a beautiful couple...they are two of the kindest, most genuine people I know! I am so lucky to have them in my life!!!

Don't Get Me Wrong...

I LOVE being a mom, but the "no sleep" thing is killing me! I am the type of person that CANNOT function without sleep. It's been interesting to say the least.