One Year Ago Today... #BabyMadison flashback

On this date one year ago, Emily and I went to the Dr's Office with Hannah to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl.  Kellie was there too with us...  It was a special time as Hannah was very sweet with us and the nurse was telling us about all the different things on the ultrasound.

It was a neat moment when we found out that it was a girl!  I have so many memories from that day .. because we had family who were at work and we couldn't get ahold of them right away, but we had a huge "village" of supporters who were on pins & needles to find out too!

Here is the video I made that day of our experience ... it still makes me tear up to hear Emily talking in the video about how "she's the most beautiful thing ever..."

Sweet memories...thanks for all who have been in the adoption journey & the now the parenting journey with us.

Where were you 3 Months Ago? I was tweeting about #BabyMadison

On the night before Madison was born, I started to post on Twitter about our experience.  I knew that I wanted to keep up with all the events of the day, so I decided to let Twitter handle the details for me by time-stamping each tweet.  Little did I know that family & friends across the country would be keeping up with the status updates and waiting on the news of Madison's birth?

I wanted to preserve the memories ... so I'm re-posting some of my favorite tweets from that day.  (There was a total of 55 #BabyMadison tweets that I posted on March 1st...not counting replys, re-tweets, or other posts by friends and family!)

CoachEchols Feb 28, 10:41pm    I hope wifi or cell signal is good at hospital tomorrow. I will post updates as I'm able using the hashtag #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 4:14am    I hit snooze once...couldn't go back to sleep for some reason, so I talked to Ladybug about being good while we are gone #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 5:16am    Leaving for the hospital http://post.ly/1gbKj

Mar 01, 5:55am    Made it to the waiting room...we will be going car shopping later because I doubt we will ever find the place where we parked #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 6:18am    Hannah Arrived with Kellie #BabyMadison #fb

Mar 01, 6:53am    Settled in the room...are we having fun yet? #BabyMadison http://post.ly/1gcQO

Mar 01, 7:21am    Doc has been doing this for 30 years...delivered over 7,000 babies. Thankful for good hands to care for #BabyMadison

CoachEchols Mar 01, 7:26am    Predictions...Doc says noon. Hannah says 11:50am, kellie 12:15, Emily guessed 1:30, JE guessed 2:45pm. #BabyMadison

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Mar 01, 7:28am    Predictions on weight: Hannah 6.2, kellie 6.5, Emily 7.0, JE 7.3 #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 7:40am    1st contraction...medicine is working. #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 8:56am    Waiting, waiting, waiting. This is kind of like the rest of the adoption process....except #BabyMadison is coming today!!

Mar 01, 9:19am    Epidural is underway...only Cody & Hannah in the room now. Emily, Kellie, and I are off to the waiting room. #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 9:35am    Waiting in the Waiting Room is worse than being in there...but better than being at home. #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 11:58pm    Doc said once we get to 7 or 8, everything just flies. Said we may be calling for delivery about 2:30. #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 12:59pm    9. Gonna start pushing in about 10 minutes #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 1:14pm    Not pushing yet ... #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 1:23pm    Pushing in about 10 minutes. #HeardThatBefore #NursesCan'tTellTime #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 1:51pm    Nurse is back...checked...getting ready to push a little bit.

Mar 01, 1:56pm    Called the doc. Here we go. #BabyMadison

CoachEchols Mar 01, 2:04pm   Done. She's here. #BabyMadison

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Mar 01, 2:29pm    #BabyMadison is here! http://post.ly/1gig7

Mar 01, 2:57pm    Official time was 2:01pm 6.9 lbs 18 inches long.

Mar 01, 3:25pm    First dirty diaper. #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 4:44pm    We are sitting down for the FIRST time and trying to process today. Our supporters are so kind to pray for us, Hannah, & #BabyMadison

Mar 01, 6:32pm    I just sat down and got my computer open...catching up on all the messages from folks today who celebrated the arrival of #BabyMadison

CoachEchols Mar 01, 9:35pm    Is it still March 1? Feels like this day started a long time ago...I'll never forget that we welcomed a new life to this world #BabyMadison

 

Madison's Storybook

This storybook was the Mother's Day gift I gave to Emily.

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We've wanted a way to tell Madison about her story ... 

So I came across the idea of creating a storybook.  I got this idea from Monica, a friend at work who has been down the adoption road and has a really cool storybook and charm bracelet with charms to commemorate all of the big steps in the journey.  I collaborated with a couple of friends to write out Madison's story, and Mary Carlisle has sketched all the illustrations.  I uploaded this and created a book using www.blurb.com to give to Emily.

I look forward to reading to Madison about what God has done in our lives up to this point, and I know that God has big plans for Madison in the future.

Final Saturday of chores and various baby preparations

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This is our last weekend before Madison arrives!
- clothes washed
- scrapbook pages made (ready for her picture)
- towels laid out for our house guests
- dog food refilled
- air filters changed
- baby tunes on the iPod
- madisons bag is in the car
- the basinet is ready and baby monitor in place
- the rocker is downstairs and handy for the time while Grammy is here
- my Kindle is charged in case of a long wait
- the baby banner is hanging
- and a craft project is ready for when Mrs Echols students come over to visit Madison

Awesome Diaper Shower today by office folks! @centrikidcamps @fugecamps

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We are so blessed by the folks at my office today ... they threw a diaper shower for us, encouraged us, and prayed for our family.

[Joy in the Journey] 11/28/2010

Several of you have asked about an adoption update. The last week has been some what of a roller coaster of emotions and we ask that you pray for our birth mom. We know that this process is filled with ups and downs and all we can do is trust God. God continues to test our faith and demand that we cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us. He knows the situation and we are trying to trust him. We can not share much more that this point but ask that you pray. Our friends, family, co-workers, and blog world have been so faithful to lift this baby up and we can't tell you how much we appreciate this! 

Come on March!!!
Emily