October 9...our new due date!

Baby Rinn is measuring a little ahead of his/her original due date of October 15....so the doctor moved the due date ahead to October 9! We can't wait to meet this little one! Thanks for all your continued prayers!

Murder Mystery

Our sweet friend Kimi had been talking about doing a Murder Mystery party for quite awhile...and, so after nearly a year of talking about it, we finally pulled it off last Friday night! It was so fun to see everyone in their costumes, and (of course!) we all had a great time together!

l - r: Socks the Golfer, Scoop the Reporter, Harrow the DA, Torchy the Lounge Singer, Silky the Lounge Owner (and murderer!), Billy the Baseball Player, Molly the Socialite, and Ernie the Gambler

Throughout the evening, every character would receive clues that he/she had to reveal to the others. You also received facts about places you'd been/things you'd done that you didn't want anyone else to figure out...the entire mystery lasted about 4 hours, which included all the different rounds of clues as well as trying to figure out "who dun it!" How convenient for Dave and me that our characters were not only partners in crime ...but also secret sweethearts! ;) It was such a fun night...and we can't wait to do another Murder Mystery again somtime!

No News Yet!

While we were very hopeful about finding out Baby Rinn's gender today, we had a call from our birthmother earlier this afternoon saying that she wasn't able to make it to the doctor. Our birthfather usually has Fridays off, but he was called in to work this morning for what was supposed to be a half-day...but, at 2:30, he was still working, so she knew he wouldn't be home in time today to take her. Even though we have to wait another week, that's okay with us--it only brings us one week closer to October! We're going to make it fun and ask for your predictions on Baby Rinn! (see quiz on the left side) :)

We're also excited about continuing to develop our relationship with our birthparents....today our birthmother shared some of her recent cravings with me, which was fun!

First Phone Call!

Thanks for all your prayers for us last night as we had our first phone call with our birthparents! We wanted to quickly let you know that it went great! Despite our initial nervousness (our adoption counselor called this type of call "the scariest blind date you could ever have"), we were able to share our hearts with our birthparents & give them an idea of what kind of life their baby will have growing up in our home. It was fun to chat with them and discover how many things we all had in common! They are truly precious, and we are once again so thankful that that they are placing the baby together and are both involved in the entire adoption process.

And...we also found out that our birthmother will be going to the doctor on Friday, so we still don't know if Baby Rinn is a boy or girl. We promise to let you all know as soon as we find out...we can't wait!

An Especially Sweet Mother's Day!

The exciting news of this week made for a wonderful Mother's Day! Dave & I were literally mobbed when we walked into church with so many sweet friends congratulating, hugging, & crying with us! I know I've said it before, but I am absolutely in awe of the love & support we have been shown on this journey to adoption!

(As an aside, it was such a joy to attend church on Mother's Day. In the past few years, this has been one of the very hardest days for me. My heart was absolutely overflowing with joy today! I am amazed at what God has done in my/our life, and I cannot wait to see what He has planned in the next few months as we wait for Baby Rinn!)

After church, my parents, grandparents, and cousin Nate came over for Mother's Day lunch. I always love our family dinners on Sunday; and, though we usually have them at my parent's house, it was a lot of fun to make dinner for everyone. Our amazing dessert was from Decadent Sweetz; we have a huge shout-out to Susan Robertson from our church who makes these amazing creations--YUM!


Mother's Day was especially sweet for me with all the messages, mommy-to-be cards, & presents I received today! I am still in shock that a little one will be in our family next Mother's Day!

Baby Rinn is on the Way!

To our sweet family & friends,

We are beyond thrilled to share our exciting news that we received a call on Thursday night that we have been picked by a birthmother!! An adoption counselor from the group we have been working with called because a birthmother was interested in us & wanted the counselor to ask a few questions before she made her final decision. We must have answered the questions correctly (at least according to what the birthmother wanted!), because then the counselor said that she was going to be calling on Friday morning with the "official" offer; but, since Dave & I were both on the phone, she went ahead & gave us all the information so that we would have an extra 24 hours to think about it!

Needless to say, even before we had hung up with the adoption counselor on Thursday night, we were both grinning as big as could be and knew that this was the baby for our family!

We were in absolute amazement throughout the course of the call as we realized how many of our prayers have already been answered:

--our birth mother's family is supportive of her decision to place the baby

--her prenatal care & delivery are completely covered by insurance

--her pregnancy has been perfectly healthy so far

--our birthmother lives near Waco, Texas...meaning that we will not have to travel out-of-state or deal with extra attorney fees with an out-of-state adoption

--the birthfather and birthmother are together and are placing the baby as a couple

...and mostly, the complete peace we feel about this entire situation--a HUGE answer to prayer!!!


Baby Rinn is due on October 15!!! At this point, we do not know if Baby Rinn is a boy or girl; but, our birthmother is supposed to have a sono this week to find out!

To say the least, our hearts have not stopped pounding since around 8:00 on Thursday night. After getting off the phone with our adoption counselor, we immediately called both sets of our parents, who were so excited to hear about their grandbaby! (I'm fairly sure that my mom stayed up all Thursday night reviewing her baby clothing inventory & making shopping lists of what is still needed....) We will never forget either of those calls. To say the least, I barely slept on Thursday night...and I spent most of Friday with tears streaming down my face. Our hearts could not be any more full than they are right now!

Our next prayer requests are....
--for our conference call with both our birthmother & birthfather on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. to go smoothly....that we would begin to get to know each other beyond surface subjects
--for our hearts to remain calm & patient as we wait for October 15
--for continued healthy & safety for our birthmother and baby

We are so thankful for all your prayers...and we love you all dearly. Your love, support, and prayers for us on this journey mean more than you know.

Love, Dave, Bethany, and Baby Rinn

Our mouths are filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:2a, 3

Registering (according to Dave)

I had a very different opinion of registering than Bethany did. I was lost in a maze of bottles, pacis, diaper things, and wipe warmers...who needs all this junk?!? But as Bethany said, "I was absolutely glowing!!" and she was, so I let her be the expert (since she was that as well) and just basked in her "glow."

After a little while (just before being overwhelmed), I decided to take a breather to Sears for some man-time. Upon returning, I noticed Bethany had covered maybe 10% of the store and had all kinds of strollers off the rack to "demo." It was a good thing that I appeared at that time because she had picked out a great tall stroller, but failed to notice that it would take an engineer, mechanic, strong man, & nuclear physicist to fold/break down. We decided on a model that was tall & easy for her to break down with only one hand.

We did the same for the pack-n-plays before God in His infinite mercy allowed the store to announce its CLOSING for the night. Needless to say, I'm sure we'll be back, and even I can agree that it is an exciting process.

*I do have to add my favorite part of the night: After the store had closed, we (along with another couple) were waiting to turn in our scanners. The other couple was using the same book ("Baby Bargains") that we were to register, so (naturally) Bethany started chatting with them about the book. When we started to walk away from them, the other lady (who was quite pregnant) turned to her husband and, in a very loud whisper, said, "Do you even think she's pregnant?" while pointing to Bethany...only my wife could look this good while expecting a baby! ;)