3 Years Ago Today

3 years ago today our sweet, precious baby girl was born into heaven. We miss her dearly and think about her every day. I try to picture what she would look like as a 3 year old running around the house. I can just imagine her and Sammy playing on the floor together.

Tonight we took Sammy out to the cemetary to have our "angelversary" visit with Annabelle. We took a red flower and put it in the vase by her name plate. Sammy put his little hand on the name plate and patted it like he was saying "it's okay." Her space was already decorated with trinkets that other family members had placed. It makes me feel so good to know that others (my mom espeicially) visit on a regular basis. I don't want Annabelle to ever be forgotten.

I have had a lot of people ask me if it is easier this year now that we have Sammy in our family. The answer is no, and it will never get easier, it just gets different. We met a lady through church who lost a child to still birth 50 years ago and when she heard our story she cried remembering the loss of her child. I know I will be the same way 50 years from now.

Today, we celebrate the 8 months that we did have with Annabelle and know that she is in good hands with the Lord. We will one day meet again and hold each other tightly. We love you baby girl!

September 23, 2011

September 23rd will be a day we celebrate every year in the Stach household. September 23rd is the day that we became a "Forever Family" or also considered Adoption Day! Our adoption of Sammy was finalized on Friday, September 23rd. Glen and I had been waiting for this day to arrive and we finally received the email on September 16th that we would be finalizing with the judge and attorney over the phone.

We went to Glen's work in the morning as we were having one of his secretaries be our notary on the conference call. I was a bit nervous with lots of anxiety as usual! There was no need for me to be anxious, I just over think everything. We had a list of questions the attorney gave us to be prepared to answer. When the phone rang, my palms were sweaty and my voice was shaky! The judge introduced himself and the attorney (which we know very well), had the notary swear us in and then went down the questions, one by one. They were all yes or no answers. It took about 5 minutes and it was over. The judge congratulated us on our adoption and that was it. I was so nervous for nothing! Glen's secretary congratulated us and we took a family picture. We spent the rest of day hanging out together and celebrated being officially official.



We will receive Sammy's revised (new) birth certificate in the mail within 6 weeks. That is another moment I am excited for - the birth certificate. I never thought how exciting these things would be!

As for contact with the BM, we will send pictures/updates 2 times per year for the next 2 years. I am in the process of making a book for her right now on snapfish. It is super cute and I hope that she is at a place in her life she is able to enjoy seeing what Sammy is doing these days.

Bennett Springs

September 11th of this year was the 6th anniversary of my Dad passing away. So we packed up the car, picked up Nana Nancy and headed to Bennett Springs to spend the weekend remembering my Dad, Cooper the dog and spend time at their favorite spot in the world, Bennett Springs! We met Aunt Ann & Uncle Gary at Sand Springs resort on Saturday afternoon and spent the day walking around the State park where my Dad and Cooper would always come to fish. They absolutely loved spending time together in Bennett Springs. It was such a beautiful weekend. Sammy was so good the entire trip and even got to swing in a big boy swing for the very first time!



While we were there, we spread some of my Dad's and Cooper's ashes along the bank so they could always remain a part of their favorite spot together. Here is a picture of the area where we laid the ashes. Isn't it so beautiful and peaceful?



Nancy wrote a neat poem to go along:

A Man......and a Dog
There was a man....and a dog,
Who had a special bond.
They could be seen together most days,
By a river or a pond.

The dog...he was a hunter,
But he didn't seem to care
If he hunted for birds or fish,
He hunted everywhere.

You could see the man... and the dog,
Riding around town in a van,
Being together was what was important.
It was part of the plan.

So it seems only right,
That we should bring
The man... and the dog to Bennett Spring.

At a place they both loved to be
Together - a man...and a dog...finally free.

The weekend was one of the best weekends we have had in along time just sitting around reminising about days past. We will definitely make Bennett Springs a family trip to take for years to come.

Labor Day Weekend

Grandma Shirley came to visit for Labor Day weekend. She arrived Friday afternoon so we grilled out for dinner at the house. Sammy and I were both under the weather due to allergies/colds so we did a lot of hanging out at the house the entire weekend. Sammy loved taking naps on his Grandma; she is great at getting him soothed! Sammy & Glen watched the first Nebraska Huskers game of the year. Glen commentated the entire game to Sammy and I am just sure he knew what he was talking about!!!!

Week with the cousins

Shelley, Morgan & McKenna came into town last week. We had a great time hanging out with them for a full week. Shelley meet Sammy in April but this was the first time Morgan & McKenna had met him. Sammy got to stay home from daycare one day while they watched him. He had a great time getting to know his cousins. Here is a picture of Sammy with his cousins: Morgan, McKenna, Reagan & Rylee.

Infertility Sucks

Yep, I said it.....infertility sucks! After battling infertility since the loss of Annabelle almost 3 years ago, Glen and I both have struggled with the question, "why us?" Well, we now know that answer. As much as infertility sucks it has also been the greatest blessing of our life. Without infertility, we would have never had Sam come into our life. Sam is the greatest gift God could have ever given us and I would go through all the months of negative pregnancy tests, failed/cancelled IUI's, surgeries, blood draws and days of crying all over again. I always wondered when we would realize "why us" and every time I look at Sam I know. I pray that all my friends going through infertility will soon know their answer to "why us?"

I have had several people ask me if I will continue going to my infertility support group now that we have Sam. The answer is "yes." As I am still infertile and we want to continue to grow our family. We are currently seeing a Natural Family Planning doctor that is trying to help me get pregnant naturally. We know that it can happen. I have been pregnant 2 times now without any assistance; 1 stillbirth at 35 weeks and 1 miscarriage at 10 weeks. Maintaining the pregnancy is an obvious factor at this point. My doctor will test my Estradiol levels through ovulation this next month. Glen & I also had genetics testing done recently. We had genetics testing done on Annabelle but never did it on ourselves. They both came back normal which was a great relief.

Sammy's Baptism

What a wonderful day it was......Sammy's baptism. We had all of our family in town for the big event. Glen's family came in from South Dakota and Texas and made a whole weekend trip out of the visit.

Mom and I had shopped all around to find just the perfect outfit for Sammy to wear. Here he is in his white tux!



Glen's sister and brother-in-law are Sammy's Godparents.



We had Deacon Rich baptise Sammy as we have known him since I started going to RCIA classes at the church before we were married. He has been with us through all that we have gone through over the past many years and he has a special place in our hearts.



After the baptism, everyone came over for dinner at our house. It was great celebrating such a special moment in Sammy's life with all of our family.