The Kirchner's: January 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Pictures Galore

*theehee*

Finished product

My kangaroo pouch

Samson needed some love too

When he heard the Vikings lost the game

The Boys

Uncle Phil

Cousin Juleah, first extended family to hold Azariah.

Jason and go-go gadget

After our first visit we got home safely just in time to get snowed in for Christmas. Fortunately my Mom and Dad have a gas stove and we were able to make it over there when our power went out to eat a hot meal and spend time with family.

On the 30th we had made plans to meet with Carol for our first Dr Appointment with Azariah (even though it wasn't his first, it was our first :) We drove up early that Wednesday morning and of course it was snowing again... see the theme?

The Awesome Weather

Azariah was 12lb and 23in at this visit which was his 2 mo visit. It just so happened that his Dr was not 100% ok with his heart sounds and wanted to be sure so an Echo was set up for the next day and we were invited to go along. We then got the pleasure to spend some more time with him and Carol at Carol's home for the evening and then meet them in the morning again the next day.

Spending time with Azariah

For our 5 year Anniversary we went out to eat on the 30th, and on our Anniversary we spent the morning at the Dr's office with Azariah getting his ultrasound of his heart done and then the rest of the afternoon we spent with him again at Carols. This was the last time we'd see him until the legal risk period ended. It was hard to leave knowing that it may be our last time with him. The drive home was long and stressful. I had such a migraine from the stress Jason had to drive the whole way. For the next few days Jason and I prepared for Azariah like we never thought we would. We didn't sleep hardly at all until the 7th rolled around.

Azariah's Echo

Out to Dinner, Just Jason and I to Celebrate 5 years of Marriage!

My emotions ran high on Jan 7th, it was supposed to be the day we took Azariah home but again... due to the weather and snow all the roads were closed and we weren't leaving our house even if we wanted to try. So with extreme disappointment and frustration we had to push it back until the next day. Thankfully Carol knew how hard that must have been for us and e-mailed us a picture of Azariah smiling. It really made my day and helped me wait. That evening I slept very good knowing the legal risk period passed and God really did give me a son. I laughed and told Jason how touching for God to play with our emotions by having us push back our plans another day... Oh little did I know it wasn't over yet!

I should have known that setting up to meet the next day at 11am was being too optimistic. Jason and I left our home at 6:15am on Friday the 8th to go pick up our son in the Twin Cities. We made it to Worthington since the Hwy to Windom hadn't been plowed yet and upon entering Worthington we found out by a State Trooper that all Hwy's were still closed from the day before. We got lucky for not picking ourselves up a ticket for driving on those closed roads but were also now stuck in Worthington.

So we waited! We first stopped on Hwy 60 behind some semi's and waited for a good half an hour before deciding to go get some breakfast beverages at McDonald's. It was still so dark our and below you can see a picture I took. I figured that I might as well document this with our camera knowing that later it would be funny even though it wasn't at that time. It was there at McDonald's we heard from other truckers that the roads weren't opening until Noon. NOON, I screamed to myself in my head!! NO NO NO was my thought then I began laughing... only God would do this and think it was funny! So we spent the next 4.5 hours in Worthington at Walmart, Perkins, and in our car behind a 2 mile long line of semi's waiting for the roads to open. We finally left at 11:15am on open roads and began our journey.

Luckily our social worker was able to push back the meeting until 3pm which ended up being 15 min before we made it there! Perfect timing. However, on the drive up we ended up seeing 18 vehicles in the ditch! 18! God was protecting us after all, and making a really good story too.

We made it to Carol's and signed our papers and were back on the roads just in time to hit early Friday rush hour. We ended up stopping in Jordan to give Azariah a bottle then back in he went and slept the rest of the way home.

Family picture with Grandma Carol

Azariah's ride home

What an amazing story he has to be proud of. Jason and I want to thank you all for keeping us in your prayers through out this entire time, our patience was pushed to the max and with your support we were really able to keep it together. Our lives are forever changed and we have God to thank for it all. So this is the end of the beginning of our story! We hope you are enlightened and encouraged that with God's hand and a LOT of Faith anything is possible.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Azariah's Story

Azariah has an incredible story and I'd like to share his amazing journey with you.

Part 1:

It all started on 11/12/2009 when Jason and I got an e-mail from our Social Worker saying that she got word that two birth mothers had pulled our profiles. Now on a normal ocassion this would be great news but to us and the timing of that news was more than great, it was like a life boat.

You see the night before, not even 10 hours prior, Jason and I had a long talk with each other just expressing our hurt, frustration, and pain. We were at our breaking point and truly were questioning God as to how much more we could handle. Until your in those despriate, confusing, scary, lonely shoes, you can not understand how each day is like the birth of some new opportunity but then evening comes to sweep it away. Time is not time but lost momements. Its hard to explain the sorrow we felt in our hearts. Now looking back I'm not surprised by Gods perfect timing, he knew just what we needed when we needed it, and I know I am a stronger person because of it all.

Jason and I were in the profile book for just 3 short months before we got that email. But Our story did not start here, this is just the begining of Azariah's story. Our story started a long time before which included many trials, frustration, and lots of waiting. It was like a neverending rollercoaster ride.

On December 7th we got "the call." We had been chosen and there was a 1 and half month old boy that could potentially be ours. Kelsey, Azariah's Birth Mother was put in a position that made her unable to mother him. She did not go into the pregnancy knowing it would end up in adoption. For her courage and strength throughout this whole process I truly admire her and have the utmost respect.

After the call on Monday (7th) Jason and I traveled through wind and snow to CHSFS in St. Paul to review all of the papers on Azariah, Kelsey, and the Birth Father, Howard. we ended up driving up the night before and staying in a Hotel due to the poor weather conditions so we could be able to read all of Azariah's medical history and the social and medical history of Kelsey and Howard. We then had to decide if we wanted to move forward with this potential match by Friday. That was the set date that Kelsey and Howard were to have a phone meeting with Susan the Pregnancy Counselor.

Roads on the Drive Back Home

We had talked to several people and our Doctor and greatfully gave Susan our decision and waited for Friday to come. Friday came and to our disappointment neither Howard or Kelsey called or could they be reached. Susan tried the entire weekend to get ahold of them but was unsucessfull. So we got to wait (nothing new) until Wednesday the 16th when we got a phone call from Howard. They had decided to go ahead with the match and move forward with the process!! That was a great day. I actually got the call from Susan when I was shopping in Walmart. I had a hard time keeping focus and ended up leaving with Nothing I needed!

We then began to mentally prepare and protect ourselves with the posibility of becoming parents.

The next step was up to Howard and Kelsey to sign the legal forms making us Azariah's parents. They chose to do the signing on Monday Dec. 21st. We knew this was one of the major risky parts of the process and they may still change their minds. But they didn't change their minds and the 10 legal risk period began. We would have to wait until Jan. 7th to take him home so on the 22nd we met our son for the first time.

Our First Family Photo