Happy Birthday Madelynn love mimi and grandpa

We can’t believe you are already 5 years old!  You bring so much joy and happiness to our family and we thank Heavenly Father every day for sending you to our family.

We always look forward to visiting with you each week on Facetime.  You give us hugs and kisses and sweet and sometimes silly smiles as we talk to you.  We love to see pictures and videos of you as you take your dance lessons or play soccer.  We were surprised at how much you loved playing soccer and you are so awesome at it.  It reminded us of Aunt Julie who loved soccer, too!  We wish we lived closer so we could see you dance and play sports.  We hope to come see you this fall and do that with you.  We are excited that you are doing so well in school too!  You are almost finished with pre-school and are ready to go to kinder.  We know you will continue to learn and grow your brain!  You are such a smart girl but sweet and kind, too.

Last summer (2017) we were so excited to have you come visit California again.  We love that time together.  Grandpa was really glad you were brave and spent the night with Elijah and him as you camped out in the backyard.  We had fun making s’mores and watching the stars around our campfire.  Mimi loved playing Candy Land with you and reading books to you and watching fireworks with you, too.

But the best part was going to the beach with your whole family.  You loved playing in the waves and digging in the sand.  You even are starting to learn how to boogie board a little as we played in the waves.  Each year you enjoy the beach a little bit more.  That makes us happy because we love the beach, too!

Great Grandma and Grandpa Adamson were so happy we all went up to Auburn to visit them.  They loved doing puzzles with you and watching you run up and down their hills or helping them to pick lemons. I am always happy that you are visiting in July so you can help me celebrate my birthday.  Your family bought me a delicious ice cream cake this year. So yummy!

But the most special part of this past year was getting to spend Christmas with you!  We came to watch your new baby brother Clark get blessed but we also loved watching you hold him and take such sweet care of him.  It was so fun to see your elves Lucy and Elvis bring so much fun to our Christmas celebration.  We all got cool T-shirts and jammies to wear declaring our grandkids are AWESOME!  That is so true!  We loved sharing the excitement of Christmas morning with you.  Santa brought you a beautiful bed for Sadie and you seemed to love the new doll we got you.  You named her Mary Sandra Adamson.

We hope you will continue to grow your testimony of the gospel too.  You already love Jesus and try hard to choose the right.  We love to hear you sing Primary songs or say sweet prayers or be a kind sister to your brothers.  We are happy when you listen to your Daddy and Mommy and try your best to be quick to obey them.  They are helping you grow up to be like Jesus.  Grandpa and I love you so much and want you to have a wonderful life.  We are grateful to be your grandparents!

All of our love!

Mimi & Grandpa

February 27, 2018

Happy Birthday My Sweet Madelynn

Today you turn 5 years old. Wow how time flies. I say that now but really the days are long! But the years are truly short. I love being your mom for so many reasons. You are an amazing young lady. I often wonder, am I a good mom. Am I teaching them all they need to know. I can only hope and keep trying each day. 

I love having a daughter but more so, I love having you as my daughter. You love dresses and bows. And ask to wear lipstick every day. You love playing barbies and with your dolls. You also like to get muddy and play hard. You are just as comfortable playing with dinosaurs. I find you playing outside in your prettiest dress digging in the dirt. And in the moment I think, ugh, that’s gonna stink to clean but I love this about you. I’m not sure if you will be out only daughter, but if you are, you are everything I wanted in a little girl. 

You have big emotions. Sometimes bigger than I like. 

I worry every time I send you to school. Is it safe there? Are you strong enough. As I mentioned your emotions are big and what if your teacher doesn’t understand. You are so sensitive. You are not always strong. I worry so much. I remind myself, you are still so little with so much to learn. 

Madelynn, I love your heart. Another mom at school sent this letter to me about you, “Hi, I see you are Madelynn's mom! I'm Eliza's mom. They are in Mrs. Amanda's class together. I was scrolling through Facebook and I saw you commented on Amanda's wall and I knew I needed to message you after finding you. Amanda sent me a picture of our girls in class the other day. She said Madelynn was such a great helper with Eliza, even without asking. Eliza has autism and is nonverbal. She isn't too big on interacting with anyone, but I've seen on several papers that during free time that Eliza and Madelynn played together. It warms my heart so much. Eliza has a big attachment to Amanda. They are trying to teach her to use her peers for help too, so they paired Eliza with Madelynn to hold her hand and help her walk down the hall since they have bonded. And that is HUGE for Eliza. Sorry I'm writing a novel, but I just wanted to let you know how much your sweet girl is helping my girl and she probably doesn't know it. It honestly brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.” Madelynn I cried when I read this. You’ll meet lots of people similar to you and even more who are different. Always be kind! Love everyone you meet. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a hundred more times, you don’t have to be best friends with everyone but you do have to be kind. 

You will never, ever get in trouble for being kind. I will never be upset with you for loving another, no matter who they are.

I want to safeguard you from all the bad in the world. I even have/am considering homeschooling just so I don’t have to send you out to the mean world. And when I do send you to school I want to stay all day and hold your hand. I want to make sure your teachers are loving you the way you need them to. I want to keep you safe. But I know in order for you to learn I can’t always hold your hand through life. I have to let you learn things for yourself. That’s really hard for a mom!

But I don’t want you to fear life! Most people are good though I’m constantly warning you about the bad. Most people just want to be loved. And I know you know how to love because you have loved me through all my imperfections.  I know what it is to be changed by you, to have my insides reconfigure because of your kindness. Because of you, I’m a better person, a better mom. 

I’m so proud of who you are and who you are becoming. Continue to learn. Continue to strong. Continue to be kind. There will be many mountains placed in front of you but o know you can do all things with the help of our Savior. 

Current best friends are: Izzy Dilgard, sister Sulcer, AnnaJ Jackson, and Carlie Dowdy. Favorite color is: pink and purple

Favorite food: chips and cheese

Favorite song: let it go

Favorite activity: dance, soccer, and playing downstairs 

Favorite movie: any Barbie movie

When you grow up you want to me a: Mommy/Doctor

Elijah from Mimi and grandpa

Dear Elijah,

Happy 6th Birthday to you
We can’t believe you are  

turning 6 years old. You continue to bring such happiness into our lives.  We don’t get to see you in person as much as we would love to but we are so thankful for technology that allows us to Facetime with you and your family each week.

You are growing up and doing so many exciting things.  We can’t believe you are in kindergarten now.  We think it’s great that you are taking karate lessons and playing soccer.  You did such a superjob playing with the older kids and learning how to be a forward and a goalie. We loved when you called us and you read to us from your school books.  You are becoming a READER!  We are so proud of you and hope you will work hard to become an awesome reader.  It takes a few years of work but then you have a lifetime of reading fun books and learning so many things.

We had so much fun with you and your family when you came to California in July 2017.  Of course, we had campfires, made s’mores, had 4th of July fireworks, went swimming, celebrated your mom’s and my birthdays, played games and read books.  We look forward each summer to your visit. This visit we also got to go see Great-Grandma and Grandpa Adamson.  They love to see you children! I loved going to Primary Sharing time with you and Madelynn and was able to see for myself what reverent children you are. I can also tell you are growing a strong testimony of Jesus. I loved singing Primary songs with you.

It was great fun to go to the movies as a family and watch Despicable Me 3.  All of you kids laughed so much and we laughed, too!  Grandpa was glad that you and Maddie spent the night camping with him in his new tent in the backyard.  His muscles sure hurt in the morning but he loved sleeping outside with you.

Our favorite memory was going to the beach with everybody.  This summer your daddy got to go to the beach with us, too.  He and Uncle Bryant gave you boogie boarding lessons and you caught some waves for the first time!  We were so excited and proud of you! You also found out that all surfers have wipe outs but you still loved playing in the ocean and catching those waves.  You were good at it, too!

We are so proud of you for the kind boy you are with your new baby brother, Clark!  We love seeing you hold him and kiss him and be so gentle with him.  He will love having you as an older brother.

So Happy 6th Birthday, Mr. Elijah Reed Adamson!  We love being your grandparents.  You are a sweet boy who is smart and kind and funny!  You have blessed our lives and made us so happy.  We hope you continue to learn in school and to learn the gospel and grow your testimony.  We hope you continue to learn from Mommy and Daddy how to be an awesome boy!  Remember to be kind to your sister and brothers.  You have been blessed to be born into a great family.  We all love you and want you to have a very happy life.

Happy 6th birthday Elijah

Dear Elijah,

How has it been 6 years already then again how has it only been 6 years. How time has flown, it feels like you’ve always been here. We are so blessed to have you in our family. I’ll forever be grateful that you made me a mom. I’m glad you came first. You are very forgiving of me learning to be a mom. You are my guinea pig. 

Your teacher, Ms Taylor, constantly tells me what a good boy you are. She said you are really smart and a friend to everyone. That makes us so proud! It’s so important to be kind to everyone even if you aren’t best friends. In life you won’t be best friends with everyone. And that is completely okay, as long as you are kind. 

We love seeing the person you are becoming. You love being a big brother and my helper. You hold Clark for me a lot so I can get stuff done. You are so tender with me that it melts me each time I hand him over to you. You sometimes play nicely with Madelynn and Nolan. Unfortunately, you are in a stage where you love to aggravate them. Then you get in trouble! We don’t want to get on to you. You’ll one day realize being a parent is really hard. But we have to discipline so you’ll learn. Even though you can be a stink, you are still a super sweet tender boy. 

You are in a bit of a hard stage right now. You don’t like to do things independently. You still want me to help you get dressed etc. it’s so frustrating because you constantly say you can’t. We are trying hard to encourage you to try. The thing is, you can do anything! You are an amazing boy. 

I sometimes wonder if I’ve been unfair to you by having your siblings so close together. I wonder if you’ll feel I took special time away from you. But when I really think about it, I know you won’t. Because you treasure being a big brother. You actually tell me you want a hundred more brothers but no more sisters!

Elijah Reed, I love you so much. You have taught me so many things in the past year. I love your tender heart that so easily forgives your imperfect mother. 

You have the strongest little testimony and remind me to have faith when it’s hard to. This past Sunday you bore the most powerful sincere testimony I’ve heard come from anyone under the age of 12. It was a reminder to me that our Heavenly Father loves us.  I wasn’t the only one it touched as I had 4 adults come tell me how wonderful your testimony was. I hope you always stay strong. There will be times it is hard. But if you rely on the Lord, you will get through the hard times. Your dad’s back has been out for the past 8 weeks. Your prayers have been so amazing. You told me yesterday on the way to school you know daddy’s back can get better because Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead. You are right! 

You currently still take karate and are playing basketball. You played fall soccer and plan to play spring soccer too. Your best friends are Christopher and Ashton. You love animals and even get upset when I kill a spider. You love to eat chips and cheese. You constantly tell me your an outside boy! You love the beach and learned to boogie board this summer. Your favorite song is still “A long time ago/ I know my Savior loves me”. You love to play with legos, Kinect, and magnet blocks. You want to be an Endodontist  when you grow up. 

Clark’s birth story by mommy

Clark, 

You’ve been here for a few days and I’m absolutely smitten! Could you be any more perfect. I’ll start with your arrival story. 

Daddy and I left Paris at 4am to get to the hospital on time. We drove the hour and 15 minute drive and I think I talked the entire time. I was so excited. And I talk when I’m nervous. 

When we got to the hospital, my nerves kicked in. I hate having csections. I hate the feeling of being cut open. They took us to our room. Daddy was still using crutches so we had to walk super slow. When we got to our room I told Daddy I remembered these rooms being way nicer and bigger. But he told me he was sure we had just forgotten and this was the same. 

They came in and did all my blood work. They take a lot of blood before you have a baby. Then they put in my IV port. I was so nervous that the nurse asked if you were my 1st. I laughed and told her 4th but it’s no easier on my worries. Dr Williams comes in and talks for a minute then he prays with us. It prayed for our Heavenly Father to guide his hands, to help mommy, and to heal daddy’s back. I love him as my dr! He’s a good man!

After all is prepped and ready. They came to take me to the OR. I hate this part the most. I hate being taken from your daddy. They put you on a very small metal type table for the surgery. First the anesthesiologist has to put in the spinal block. This time it was very painful for mommy. She hit my bone several times (4-5) then hit a nerve that sent the worst pain down my leg. It hurt so bad that I screamed. She finally got it in place. My blood pressure each time bottoms out so they have to send more medication in the IV for it. I dry heave over and over. At this point I ask when they will get your Daddy. I need him beside me because I never feel strong enough to do it alone. And Daddy is one of the only people I’m comfortable crying in front of. They get him and as soon as he holds my hand I feel a bit of relief. It’s still scary, I’m still dry heaving from my blood pressure, I can still smell the burning as they cauterize the cuts, and feel all the tugging and pressure. But it’s a bit better because I have him beside me. 

I feel them pull you out of my womb. My eyes have been closed the entire time up to this point but when I hear your sweet cry I look up and as they hold you up for me to see, you start peeing every where, including all over me. They quickly take you away and tell Daddy he can go see you and take pictures. This is always hard on Daddy because it means leaving my side. Plus this time he’s in pain when he walks. But he goes over to you and I feel so much relief. I’m in the OR for a while longer as I’m sewn back up and given nerve blocks in my stomach to help manage the pain. 

When done, Dr Williams gives me a hug and they wheel me back to my room where you and Daddy are waiting. I’m shaking uncontrollably. When I get back I want to hold you so bad but you are under the heat lamp trying to get your temperature to a normal level. When you finally do they bring you to a very shaky mom for some skin to skin and bring us several warm blankets. Daddy FaceTimes Mimi and grandpa and I FaceTime nana. They were all anxious to see you and make sure you made it safely into the world. I call papa to come get Daddy. He was in a lot of pain that day and papa takes him to his house for a rest. They take you for a while and I rest. 

As soon as I get feeling back in my legs I call the nurses. I had decided right away that I needed to get up as soon as possible so when your brothers and sister arrive, I’ll be ready for them. It’s pretty painful the first time (really the first 20 times) but I get up and walk to the bathroom to clean up. Then walk around the room. 

They bring you back to me and I’m in awe that you are really here and you are really mine. Daddy and papa head back to the hospital and nana brings Elijah, Madelynn, and Nolan to meet you. They were so happy to see you outside of my tummy. They all took turns and then took turns again to hold you. Elijah just asking you if you were Oreo pus. And Nolan kept saying tickle tickle. Madelynn just wanted to keep snuggling you. I didn’t know if I’d ever get you back (9 days later and it’s still the 1st thing they ask to do when they wake up and when they get Home from school). You are so loved by so many. 

Charity comes to stay the night with me the 1st night to help me out. I find it impossible to sleep that night. I’m sure it’s the adrenaline but every whimper you made had me up. Around 5 I finally decide to walk the halls. As I was walking one of the other doors was opened and I saw it, the awesome room I had remembered when I had Madelynn. I somehow got the crappy room this time. But in reality it doesn’t even matter. Because I have you. 

We had a series of visitors on day 2. They all told me how perfect you are. I couldn’t agree more with them. Becky spends the night with us that night. You were a bit cranky and gave us a little hard time. Once becky fell asleep she was out. Even with your crying and the lights on. It made me laugh....for the most part. 

We are so happy to have you as part of our family. We don’t know if you’ll be our last or not. I cherish holding you. I love the way you bundle so tight in my arms. I wish I could keep you little forever....and this is said through very tired times. You filled a hole in my heart. I never worried if I could love you the way I loved your siblings because I loved you the day I found out I was pregnant.