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Friday, June 1, 2012

Showers of Blessings


When Jayden makes his arrival, he is going to be one of the most loved babies on the planet!  I had the blessing of not one, but three gatherings to celebrate our newest son!  

Our BLG (stands for Bible and Life Group, a.k.a. Sunday School) at church does a Celebration of Life dinner for mommies who are expecting a child that is not their first.  The mommy-to-be gets to choose the location and all the ladies in the group go out to dinner...the ultimate Girls Night Out!  I, of course, picked Po Boys Shrimp Shack (owned by my friends Shawn & Josi Teeters)...and the evening couldn't have better!  Since we went on a Monday night in "off-season," we pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves...except for the one sweet couple who quietly sat behind us and came up to wish us well and take a picture of us before they left (I can't remember whose camera the lady used...but if it's you, can you please email that pic to me?)!  What a wonderful blessing it was to spend an evening with these precious ladies!  The cake above is from this dinner...I loved how they took the meaning of Jayden's name and used it this way!  We are indeed thankful!!!!


Then, quite unexpectedly, I walked into my Holding On To Hope meeting at church to discover that they were throwing a surprise shower for me and two other ladies in the group!  This is a group of women who have suffered infertility, miscarriage, and/or child loss and we get together every other week to discuss a book related to what we are going through and to share with each other in a way only those who have walked the road we're walking can understand.  God has done some pretty amazing things in this group...just about everyone who has stayed in the group has ended up with a child - either through adoption, birth, and/or fostering!  One of the ladies that shared the shower with me came to our group when she found out her son that she was pregnant with at the time would not live outside her womb.  We were able to support her through this and now she is pregnant with a precious little girl due in the fall.  Going in to the meeting, I knew there was going to be a shower...but I thought it was just for this lady!  I was very surprised to find out it was also for me!  The other shower honoree recently gave birth to a sweet little princess a couple of months ago  after dealing with secondary infertility.  I am just so amazed by this group of  amazing women that I now have the honor and privileged to call my friends!  We have become as close as family...and yet, except for this group and the common thorn that brought us to it, I might have missed out on getting to know many of them!  I am so thankful for each and every one of them!


A couple of weeks ago, my dear friends Rhonda and Jen threw a great baby shower for me!  Several of my friends from church and homeschool groups I'm involved in came out to celebrate Baby Jayden!  


I ALMOST wore my Choose Life adoption fundraiser shirt to the shower...but opted for a nice sweater instead (I must admit, it was a totally vain decision...I look better in a sweater than t-shirts and I knew photos would be taken of me!).  I kinda regretted my decision not to wear it when I saw the hosts of my shower sporting their own!!!  But, then I felt better when my friend Judy showed up in hers...and all three of the shirt colors were represented at the shower!  ;)


Not only was it a great shower...but it was a great afternoon of visiting with some very precious friends...some of whom I don't get to spend nearly as much time with as I would like!  :)


And, of course, there were some precious baby gifts to unwrap!  Lots cute little outfits and lots of the everyday stuff we will need when he gets here!  I can NOT wait to use each and every one of them with Jayden!  



I got a HUGE surprise when I opened the gifts in the next two pictures...they were secretly sent by my very dear friend Sherry in Alabama to my friend Lynda (who lives here) so that I could open them at the shower!  I could not believe it!  


 Another special gift came from my friend Angelica, who made the basket below!  If you need a gift basket of any kind for any reason, I highly recommend her!  


Another special part of the shower came as I read the precious note written by my friend Stacy's sweet daughter Zoe!  Stacy said she was getting ready for the shower and realized she needed a card for their gift, so she asked Zoe to put something together for her while she got ready.  To read what this sweet girl with special needs wrote was both humbling and some of the most precious words I've ever read!  That girl is a treasure indeed!  :)


I know you are dying to know what the note said...so here it is:

Congratulations!
This baby is going to love its new parents and
Entering your guy's life!
It's going to be so grateful to have
A great Mommy and Daddy and Big
Brother who will adore him when he's here
What a blessing to its life you guys will be.

Psalm 127:3
Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.

Love, 
Stacy and kids


Above is a group picture of those precious ladies who took time out of their busy Sunday afternoon to spend a few hours with me in honor of one of the greatest blessings God has provided!  I am so thankful for each and every one of these women!  I would adopt them all as sisters if I could!  I am so blessed to have so many great friends!  :)

 Kirstin and Kasia are two of my fellow homeschool moms and we were all in the same Classical Conversations community last year.  Kasia's daughters also do gymnastics with Christopher on Monday afternoons.  I met Kirstin when her daughter Kyla was in Kindergarten with Christopher. Christopher loves playing with ALL her children...but has formed a special bond with her son (who is a year younger)...and Dominic is STILL praying that Christopher gets his sister...so maybe there's another Jansen child yet to come!  ;)

My friend Lynda (who secretly brought Sherry's gift to the shower...girl can keep a secret!  I had NO idea!!!), me, my friend Stacy (whose daughter wrote the sweet note), and my friend Judy!  Love these women!   =)

At the end of the shower, a few of us sat around and had some girl talk!  I enjoyed that precious time every bit as much as the shower!  I love having girl time!!!  Thanks to my friend Rhonda, who opened her home and was such a gracious host for my shower and the girl time that came afterwards!  :)

So...now that the showers are done, the car seat and stroller (thanks to Grandma Jansen for the gift card that made those possible!) are put together and ready to go (among other necessities), as well as the high chair that Uncle Bob & Aunt Betsy sent from Ohio...we are ready to go!!!  Provided the anonymous couple that pledged to give us $15,000 toward our adoption sends in their last $3,000, ALL of the funding is DONE!!!  PRAISE GOD!!!!!

Even though Jayden's due date is June 12th, the doctors have scheduled a C-section for June 14th (not sure why they are scheduling it AFTER the due date...but it is what it is!).  So, unless Jayden decides to start making his wishes to be born sooner known before then, that's when he will be born.    That's TWO WHOLE WEEKS AWAY!!!!...and even though the last several months since we found out about him have flown, the last two seem like an eternity away!  I am so VERY READY to hold that little boy in my arms, count his fingers and toes, give him some "neck sugar" (as my aunt calls it), and just love on him!  Please pray for us during this time as we make plans to travel up for the birth (most importantly, that if she does go into labor early, that we are able to make it there in time!).  The doctors told the birth mom she could only have ONE person in the delivery room for the birth...and out of all the people she COULD have picked, she picked ME!!!!   WOW!!!!!!  I had the blessing of being in the room when Christopher was born and I will also have that blessing when Jayden is born!  I can't wait!!!

Pray also for the birth mom during her last two weeks with Jayden.  Pray for peace, for health, and for comfort.  She's had some back problems, which is why they are doing the C-section.  Pray for healing for her back.  Pray for her to prepare for life without him and pray for blessings on her!  I am so blessed to know her!  This woman has more love and courage in her than I may ever know!  There is no doubt in my mind that she loves Christopher and Jayden with all her heart...and it is because of that love for them that she is making the hard choice to place them for adoption with us!  She has not made this choice lightly and she has not once wavered in her choice...and for that, I have the utmost respect for her!  Please, whatever you do, do not judge her for the choices she's made...because for whatever mistakes she may have made (and we have ALL made mistakes in our lives), two of the choices she has made have blessed me more than I could EVER describe with mere words!

I also ask you to pray for Christopher as he prepares to be a big brother and pray for us as we prepare to be the parents of TWO boys!  Pray for wisdom in some decisions we will make around the time of Jayden's birth.  Pray for blessings, wisdom, and mercy for all involved in this process.  But most importantly, pray that this will all bring glory to God!  Without Him, there would be no Jayden!  He has indeed moved a mighty big mountain to bring this little boy into our family!  Thanks to each and every one of you who have allowed Him to use you in blessing us throughout this process!!!  We are blessed indeed!!!  :)

2 comments:

Erin said...

Kara, I loved reading this update. Baby J will be here so soon. What an awesome adventure the Lord has taken you on. It has been a privilege to watch you (via blog and FB) walk though this with the Lord - you guys are awesome! Praying for all that is coming up!!!

Sherry said...

Hey Kara, Oh how I wished that I could have been there. You have the most amazing and awesome friends! I hope that one day I can meet them personally. God Bless you, David, and Christopher as these two weeks go by. Thank you for sharing your "Jayden" journey with all of us. I know that it has seemed long - but oh my - look what waits for you! God is good! luv ya K - Sherry!!!