What's New!

It has been too many years since my last posting here. Most friends are keeping up with me via Facebook these days. But I have decided to try to write me here, since I have more space to write here than on Facebook. Facebook is awesome for short conversations or just to keep friends and family updated. But a blog, well, you can go in depth. So doing both does make sense.

So I named this blog "What's New" because things have changed quite a bit for Nathan and I since my last posting. The most important one is that we have finally made our dream come true! About a year ago we submitted our profile and paperwork to an agency called "Heart and Soul". The calls came rolling in about once every other week for babies that would soon be born. These were all girls, and we had specified boys. However, we had faith that the right child would be provided for us by the Lord, so even the girls we said yes to adopting if the birth mother chose us. This went on for about two months. Then we get a call about a boy that would be born in April -- which would be a great month for a birthday in both families. Later that week though, they informed us that another family had been chosen by his birth mom. So with continued faith in God, we plodded onward.

It was on a Sunday morning that our lives were changed for eternity. We were getting ready for church (which was at 9 Am) when Nathan's cell phone rang. As he was occupied in the bathroom, I ran to pick it up. I barely missed the call, but checked the caller ID. It was Taanya. I asked Nathan who Taanya was, and he said she was one of the agency workers. Since I worked during usual business hours, Nathan was taking care of all of the issues at the agency. I did not even know the names of the ladies that worked there. So Nathan called her right back. While he was on the phone he asked if we were still interested in the little boy. Of course we were! Apparently the other family had backed out of the adoption and we were second in line. I could not believe what I was hearing! So we were about to become parents! Nathan could not contain his excitement -- he was literally jumping around the room! Me, well, I guess the best determination of my reaction was that of shock. I sat on the couch frozen. The only words I could utter was,"Oh my gosh!" over and over again. All I was thinking about was the financial impact that this was going to have for the rest of our lives.

We did not have anything ready. Nathan's parents offered to take us to Wal-Mart to pick up clothes, car seat and crib. They then took us out to West Valley City to pick up our son. He was so beautiful! I just could not wait to get him in my arms! They placed him into my eagerly waiting arms and was surprised at how light he was. This was mainly because he was ten pounds at birth. I honestly thought he would be heavier. We each got a turn to hold him. Then we took him to Nathan's parents house, where we fed him his first bottle. The hospital staff sent us away with formula but no bottle, and this little guy got hungry about halfway there. Boy could this child scream! His lungs definitely did not worry us. Family started to show up soon after. The rest of the day was spent showing our son off to the Teasdale side of the family. We were also grateful to Erin Davidson -- a former Foster Parent and member of our prior ward in West Point -- for providing numerous bags of clothes for our newborn. We had a good time sorting through them that day with our family. We ended up with so much, that this little guy hardly wore an outfit more than once! When we did arrive back home we were glad to see that Charly and Chuck had had the crib all put together and his dresser as well. Our son had a place to sleep his first night. We then invited our really good friends, the Ewell family, over to meet the little guy. They were so generous in helping us out. Without them, I do not know if this would have been possible for several years. They were truly a godsend. I know we were meant to be in this area, and more specifically in this ward. Our ward family here is exactly that, a family. 

What a day that had been! And the last ten months, well have been wonderful! They have gone by far too fast. In October the adoption was official and Daniel Isaac Teasdale was ours. I wish we had been able to  give earlier notice to our extended family for this great event, but at least Nathan's parents were there. It was interesting so see a court in action. Daniel started babbling during the proceedings, almost as if he wanted to give the court his opinion. It was so cute! The following Saturday was even more special: we got to make him a part of our eternal family! We went to the Bountiful Temple and little Daniel sat on the altar as Nathan and I held each others hands. He seemed to instinctually know what to do! The family was all around us -- physically as well as spiritually, I am sure. I am sure our ancestors were allowed 'time-off' from their labors on the other side to witness the sweet event.

Since then our 'little monkey' has grown so much. He just turned 10 months old a week ago. He is crawling all over the place and is so chatty! He walks while holding onto furniture or us. He still is quite a screamer when upset or hungry. He now weighs twice what he did when we brought him home nearly a year ago. We are so grateful for this addition to our family!

Daniel after a bath in January 2012.

Life With Nathan

Well, it is just the two of for now. I miss those kids a little. Coming home to an empty, quiet house is a bit more unnerving than I thought it would be. Sure I like peace and quiet, but not on a constant level. I find I have the television on just to fill the void. I like being around people. Nathan has gone back to his evening schedule, and that leaves me over three hours to myself. Somedays I just hate it. I miss him. But I am grateful he has found a hobby he is enjoying. He loves to bake, and now he has started decorating cakes. He would like to make a business of it actually. It is so nice to see him excited about something. It seems that the cloud that has been over him for the last 4 years has finally lifted. I am thrilled about it! He just has this habit of rushing through things though. He was at the DATC taking a culinary course, but he quit because they were covering more material than he wanted. He just wants to bake and decorate cakes, and they were teaching everything. But, he was also taking math, which I think he needs, especially since he struggles with fractions. Oh well. *Sigh* We were recently called by LDS Family Services and told that there is a 2 year old boy that is up for adoption. We are in the pool with 17 other couples. I am nervous and excited. Nervous because I have found it more difficult to attach to older children. Excited because our wait may be over sooner than we were expecting. We sold our dear little doggies -- which broke my heart. I loved them so much. Nathan insisted he was not a dog person, that he is a cat person. So now we have two cats, Cookie and Shnookie. They are driving my allergies nuts! I always got hives from the dogs, but with the cats I can hardly breathe! But I am loving playing with and petting them. I am taking a couple classes through the credit union right now. One is a nutrition course that ends next week, and the other is a sales course. I am really enjoying them. I am hoping that they will really help me out. Well I hope all is well with my friends out there! Take care. Don't forget I am just a phone call (801)682-3341, email steasdale@gwcu.org , or letter away.

Time to Catchup with the Teasdales

Wow! It has been a busy, stressful six months since my last post. The foster kids went back to the Christmas Box House to transition either back to their parents or their adoptive homes. Nathan has agreed to stop doing foster car.e since we really don't have the time for all of their appointments. I was not able to keep a schedule like I needed to at work, and Nathan was either going in late, taking long lunches, or taking full days off. It took me about a month to convince him, but he finally saw that we just don't have the time right now. We thought about adopting these kids, but we definitely could not handle the girl's disabilities (ADHD combined possibly with autism) and the boy's growing disrespect and aggression. So now we are focused completely on adoption. Nathan says that his parents may be willing to cosign on a loan for the funds we need. That would be nice, but at the same time I know that that would give them more reason to control our lives. He also told me he spoke with his mother about living in their basement which they have been remodeling into a mother-in-law apartment. Again, nice but I worry about how controlling they will be. Great news for one of my coworkers -- she is preggo! Unfortunately, the Big Green Monster reared its head when I heard it. I was terribly jealous. It doesn't help that her hubby hasn't been happy about it. The big question that kept popping up was why them -- only she is excited about this -- and not us when we would both be so thrilled? I wanted to be happy for her, and knew I should be. After all, now she won't have to play the waiting game anymore, and that was a good thing. I tried by myself to get over these feelings, but could not. The thought came to me that I had to get over this as it would make work unbearableby having to see her just about everyday. I did have a thought right after that tol read some articles on lds.org about selfishness. I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost! After ssearching for and pondering over a few, I felt better. I apologized to her about having these feelings, and she said she totally understood. Now I can honestly and happily say that I am excited for her. Well I have to go. I need to get ready to drive Nathan to Salt Lake City to see a specialist at the University of Utah. I hope we make it there and back in one piece. I hate driving in Salt Lake County. Love ya'll!

Out with the old, in with the new

Well, another year has come and gone. The first half of the year was not as eventful as the latter half. We had a foster placement with another agency. Her name was Lacey and she was 16 years old. This was not a great decision on our part. She did not respect us one bit, and found that she could get Nathan to do almost anything. She ended up leaving our care and going to Job Corps. We then decided to return to DCFS, and in September had a brother and sister placed into our care. We keep gettng told that we are doing things right with them. I sure hope so. I have been trying to not become attached to these two, for fear I will have my heart broken as it was when our first placement left our care. The same week we got the call from foster care, we recieved a call from LDS Family Services. We have been approved to adopt! This was excitng news. Nathan and I were in the county library at the time, and I almost screamed for joy -- almost forgot where we were at! Since then we have been working to redo our online profile. They are beta testing a new website, and so we have to redo what we did several months ago. No fun! But hopefully it will help us be more available to the birth mothers. Well, I had better go. Church starts at 9 am tomorrow and I have to drop the kids off for their family visit beforehand. Good night friends, and may the Lord bless you in this new year!