Minnesota Baby Shower

While I was in Minnesota, my sweet friend Audra, along with the help of our friend Nicole & my mom, threw me a wonderful baby shower! It was such a sweet time of celebrating Baby Boy Rinn with so many sweet family members & friends! Audra decorated my grandma's house in a construction theme! We have picked out the cutest construction bedding for his nursery...and since Dave is his dad, this was definitely appropriate! My grandma (who is "slightly" hard of hearing) didn't understand why there was "caution" tape everywhere; she thought that my mom & Audra were trying to warn the guests to watch their step when they entered her home! Once she saw the dump trucks, chainsaws, and other little trucks around, though, she figured it out!


If you know me at all, you know that I love games, so I was especially excited for the fun games Audra had planned! We started off with "Nursery Rhyme Jeopardy!" For example--

Q:Little Miss Muffet, a bit of an arachnophobiac, was eating these 2 things before being frightened away.
A: What are curds & whey?

Needless to say, it was a lot of fun...but what made it even more fun is that our friend Nicole (who lives in DC & is due any day with her baby girl!) video taped herself asking all the questions for Jeopardy. Hearing her voice & seeing her on the computer screen almost made it feel like she was there! ;)
We also played a game where everyone had 5 minutes to write a little poem or story about the baby using all different kinds of candy names! Then, I read them aloud & picked a winner, which ended up being Emily's!

When what's in the diaper looks kinda chunky,
And the smell in the air is a little bit funky
Don't get upset or give him a whopper
Just give him a kiss with a whole lot of slobber!

I was absolutely overwhelmed by all the incredible gifts that we received! Baby Boy got his first Covenant Pines t-shirt from Emily...
...and my great-aunt Eunice handmade this beautiful quilt for him! Also, my grandma told Eunice that we are going to use cloth diapers, so Eunice found some of the cloth diapers that she used on her children nearly 45 years ago in her attic! She washed them and gave them to me at the shower! They are just as fresh, soft, & white as the diapers that I saw at the diaper store in Dallas!

My grandma & her sisters are all so talented at making gifts...from my grandma, Baby Boy received a gorgeous blue & white sweater that she crocheted! There was also a matching cap, booties, and afghan. I already can't wait to have his pictures done in this sweater!















My grandma had also put this precious adoption poem in my card! I think it is one of the most sweetest poems/quotes that I have ever heard about adopting, and it's even more special to me since it was given to me by my grandma:

Not flesh of my flesh,
Not bone of my bone
But still miraculously my own
Never forget for a single minute
You didn't grow under my heart
But in it.

Of course, we received so many other wonderful gifts, too! I had so much fun showing them all to Dave when I got home yesterday, and now I really need to start organizing the nursery (which is overflowing!). My mom & I both brought an extra suitcase to Minnesota, and thought it was a tight fit, we managed to get everything home on the plane!

At the end of the shower, Audra led everyone in a prayer time for Baby Rinn. It was absolutely so special and a memory I will cherish! There were so many sweet family & friends at this shower--special people in my life who have supported, loved, and prayed for Dave & me for such a long time!

Six Years!

It's hard to believe that it's been 6 years since we said "I do!" In a way, I barely remember not being married; but, on the other hand, it seems that it was just yesterday that I walked down the aisle, Dave sang the song he wrote for our ceremony, and our own little family was created!

We had great time celebrating our sixth anniversay at Maggiano's! We love trying new restaurants together (especially Italian ones!), and I think we've found a new favorite! And, at the risk of embarrassing myself, I'll share part of the card I made for Dave:

Still the love of my life
Incredibly thoughtful at showing me love
X-pert coffee maker each morning

You are GQ material according to me-& the ladies at school
Especially hard year, but you tenderly loved me through it
And now we have a beautiful baby boy on the way!
Ridiculously good at beating me at Scrabble
So happy that I get to live my life with you!

And...that couldn't be more true! We are so excited for this upcoming year for our growing family!

It's a Boy!

We are so excited to share that sweet Baby Rinn is a beautiful baby boy! It was such a miracle to see him at the ultrasound yesterday. I was very impressed with both the sonographer & the doctor, who together spent about an hour showing us & explaining all of his organs and limbs. The funniest part was when they showed us his "antenna" and assured us we could go ahead and paint the nursery for a boy! Of course, I started crying when we first saw his beautiful beating heart...such a miracle! He had both his hands covering his head for most of the appointment, making it especially hard for us to get a view of his face, but we finally got to see it at the very end. I loved how full his lips looked! He was 12 ounces & measured around 21 weeks, 1 - 2 days...and after some recalculating and looking again at the calendar, our birthmom realized her dates were off...so Baby Rinn's new due date is October 28.

I can't stop picturing his sweet little hands on top of his face and his right leg up by his chest...we're definitely falling in love with our beautiful boy!

And, yes, we do have a name for him, but that will stay a surprise until he's born. We were able to share his name with our birthparents, which is something special that they have for now.

Thank you for all your prayers for us yesterday...and please keep praying for our baby's healthy development. We couldn't be more excited about meeting HIM in October!

Farewell to the D'Amicos

This morning we got up at 5:30 to say goodbye to the D'Amico family & send them off to Tennessee! We have grown to absolutely love this precious family....Heather has become a true heart friend to me, and we love spending time with her 4 boys. For the past year, Dave has taken one of the boys out for breakfast every Sunday morning, and we've also tried to squeeze in fun events with them whenever we can. Spending time with these boys & coming to love them so quickly was a huge reason that we decided to adopt. Once we realized how much we loved them, we knew it was no question of whether or not we should adopt a baby into our family. So...even though I've spent most of the morning sniffing away tears, I'm going to remember many of the wonderful times that we had together!

On Memorial Day we took the boys to the Rangers vs. Yankees game! Despite the fact that the Rangers lost 11 - 1, we still had a great time. Together, the boys ate 11 hot dogs & drank more Capri Suns than I could count. By the bottom of the fifth, 3 of them were fast asleep in the hot afternoon sun!

After the game, we went to Woolley's for some delicious ice cream! I'm not sure how much of it they actually ate...but we had a lot of fun!

And, on Thursday night we had the boys over for hot dogs & ice cream cones in the gazebo. Thank goodness we ate outside, because by the time they were finished with their ice cream cones, Dave had to spray them all done with the hose. :) (Note to self: if we have boys, we will always eat outside in the gazebo.)
This is one of my favorite pictures that I took later in that evening. Once it was too dark to play outside any more, Dave entertained them all by reading books.

I have to share one of my favorite memories of Heather. For my birthday last September, Heather knew I was going through a very rough time due to our infertility & wanted to find a way to let me know how much all my friends cared for & loved me. I have to say that I am a very hard person to surprise, but Heather found a way to do so! She contacted many of my sweet girlfriends & arranged for them all to give me a James Avery charm bracelet. Each friend picked out a different charm for the bracelet, and each charm was unique in reminding me of a special memory with that friend! It was definitely one of the most meaningful presents I have ever received! I also convinced Heather to watch Gilmore Girls, and now she loves Rory & Lorelai as much as I do! Heather is also the reason that I got a texting plan added to my phone, since last summer we texted so much that the single text charges went through the roof! :) Truly though, Heather has been a friend that has laughed, snorted :), sobbed, and prayed with me...I will miss her dearly.

And...a few more of my favorite pictures of the D'Amicos before I end this post!



So long, our sweet friends! Can't wait to see you as soon as you come back for a visit! We pray God's blessings on you in Tennessee!

Baby Shower at Friendship

On Wednesday, May 27, the ladies at my school threw me a wonderful baby shower! Many of my friends at school have seen me through the highs & lows of our journey, so this was a special time of celebration as we wait for Baby Rinn!

The cake was so cute...and once the ladies started cutting & serving it, they discovered that the top half was white, while the bottom (diaper) part was chocolate! :) (Apparently the bakery didn't let them know it'd be made this way when it was ordered.)

It was also special for my mom to come to my shower! Since we still don't know if Baby Rinn is a boy or girl, she brought both boy & girl presents. The boy gift was all cowboy-themed, while the girl gift was all ballerina items....SO SO cute!

I was overwhelmed by all the wonderful presents that we received! We got a Bumbo, musical activity mat, many packs of Onesies, socks, hats, burp cloths, & a lot of the items we'll need for feeding. Plus, we got several Target gift cards that I'm sure we'll use for formula.

It was so much fun to take all the gifts home & show them to Dave! Our nursery is filling up very quickly! I am so thankful for everyone who made this shower so special...these are such precious memories!

Sweet Card

One of my 2nd grade girls wrote such a cute message in her end-of-the-year card to me!

I love you Mrs. Rinn. I hope it is a girl, but it is okay if it is a boy. All babies are great.

Funny Quotes

This week, I started telling my students at school that I wouldn't be coming back as their music teacher next year. I was surprised at how much many of my students knew about adoption, and it was neat to be able to share (at an elementary level) why Dave & I are adopting.

Of course, a lot of the kids had questions or comments about it...several of them were so funny that I had to share. It'd be even better if you knew the background of the students making these comments, but hopefully you'll still get a good laugh.

Mrs. Rinn: ....so, that is why I won't be your music teacher next year.

(tons of hands shoot up)...here's a sampling of what came next:


--If you won't be working, how will you keep your family out of debt?

--My baseball team won the championship.

--Ummm, I don't get it...is the baby inside of you or not?

--My family went to Padre Island, and I got some more rocks for my rock collection.

and, my favorite one of all:
--Will you miss us when you're gone?