Silence and Solitude

Amidst all the stress and anxiety in our lives, Kris and I took a moment after church on Sunday to take a hike (pun intended) and explore the forest of Kingwood.  This is something we loved about Austin, and as you Houstonians know, there aren’t many places to explore in Houston.  We found a new gem in Kingwood this weekend that I think will be our go-to spot to hike from now on.

As it turns out; quiet time with nature is good for the soul. 

Here are a few photos I snapped while on our hike. Enjoy!

Happy Anniversary to my love!

8 years, 7 months and 15 days ago, Kris and I shared our first ‘hello’.

And 2 weeks later, we found ourselves head-over-heels in love. 

I guess I’ve never shared this story on the blog and it’s a good one, so I will now.  Kris had a sport bike at the time and he was leaving my apartment to go for a ride.  He kissed me good-bye, said he’d be back soon, not to worry and then he slipped and said the three best words you'll ever hear, ‘I love you’.  Shock took over and I didn’t know what to do, so of all things - I shut the door in his face.  I know, I know... shame on me.  I can’t imagine what he must have thought.  After all, he didn’t mean to say ‘I love you’ so soon.  That was the moment I realized I had fallen in love with him.  When he got back, we talked about what happened, I apologized for my reaction and from that day forward we’ve loved each other beyond measure.

Now, we are celebrating 3 happy years of marriage and every year our marriage grows and evolves into something better than it was before.  Although we’ve had some bumps in the road, it’s really been a beautiful ride.

On our anniversary, I thought it was fitting to share with you the ‘About Us’ page we wrote for our profile book.

"One word, that's all you said".  It's been eight years since our first “hello” when Kris swept Ashley off her feet and she stopped him in his tracks.  It was a moment that changed our lives forever.  Really, it was love at first sight.  Because of the way we met, we have a saying between one another, “you had me from hello”.  Ashley engraved this saying on a dog tag necklace and gave it to Kris for Christmas. He wears it every day.  We were college sweethearts and are now married with two furry children who also stole our hearts.  A few years ago we made the decision to start a family, but soon found out God had a different plan for us.  We realized then, were always meant to grow our family through adoption. Our journey through infertility has taught us to enjoy and appreciate life much more than we ever did.  We learned we can withstand great obstacles and know that whatever challenges life throws our way, our marriage and our bond, will be stronger than before.  Kris’ favorite quote is “rise and rise again…until lambs become lions”.  It means to never give up, and we won’t.  We have a beautiful life and together we can’t wait to share our life with you and this child as we continue down this amazing journey.

In honor of my husband and the wonderful man he has been to me all of these years, I want to share what I wrote about him for our book.

About Kris (through Ashley's eyes):

Kris is my dream come true; my happily ever after.  He’s everything I ever wanted in a husband, but never knew it.  He is simply the most wonderful man I know.  I love Kris for the way he loves me.  He’s my rock and my best friend. 

Kris knows how much I love surprises and is always looking for new ways to surprise me. Every time, I’m blown away.  This is just an example of his constant desire to make those around him feel special.  He consistently thinks of others before himself and this is the quality I admire most about him.

From the moment I met Kris I was instantly attracted to him. He is tall, dark and handsome, but more than that, he has a great sense of humor.  He keeps me laughing and smiling every day, whether he is singing to me in the shower, wrestling with the dogs or very animatedly telling me another one of his stories.

Kris’ optimism is something that is contagious and his courageousness helps me face my fears.  He is kind, genuine and honest.  All of these traits make him an amazing husband, a true friend and one day an exceptional father.  I’m truly blessed to spend the rest of my life alongside this man.



And now here’s a peek into the last 8 years, 7 months and 15 days of our life:

Our very first picture together - February 2003

Our first offical date. He took me to Eddie V's to celebrate my 20th birthday. It had snowed in Austin while we were eating and when we left, the city was blanketed in snow. It was truly a magical evening.

In Houston, celebrating Kris' 21st birthday - November 2003
  

My 21st birthday in Austin - February 2004

Our first trip just the two of us. Biltmore Estates - Summer 2004
  

Kris' graduation - May 2005 


The day we brought Oskar home - July 2005

On the way to Austin for my graduation - December 2005

In New York - Fall of 2005

In Playa del Carmen - our first trip out of the country together.  We were celebrating our 3rd anniversary in February 2006. 

In Jackson Hole, WY celebrating our 4th anniversary- February 2007

We purchased our first home in April 2007

Minutes before Kris proposed!

Our engagement - August 27, 2007

Engagement photo - April 2008 

 
Bridal portrait - August 2008 

Talking to Kris before our wedding - September 20, 2008

Kris watching me walk down the aisle.

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Simpson! September 20, 2008 - the best day of our life to date.

Honeymoon stop #1 - LA 

Honeymoon #2 - Moorea

Honeymoon stop #3 - Bora Bora

Honeymoon stop #4 - Le Tahaa 

On the last day of our honeymoon, we went back to Moorea to get tattoos that signify our marriage. What better place to get your first tattoo than in Tahiti where tattoos originated?!

We welcomed home our second puppy George - October 2008

Trip to Cabo - May 2009

This is where Kris proposed one year later. We celebrated our 1st anniversary in the Hill Country - September 20, 2009.

Our white Christmas in Boston - December 2009

Our adventure of a lifetime in Kauai - May 2010

Celebrating our 2nd anniversary in Palm Beach, FL - September 20, 2010

In the Dominican Republic celebrating our decision to adopt! July 2011



And here we are today with a dream.  We are waiting patiently to bring home our first child through the miracle of adoption.

Although my life has not gone in the direction that I envisioned, it's turned out better than I could have ever dreamt.  I'm lucky in love and happily married with a life full of wonderful memories and adventures.  I can’t wait to see what the future hold for Kris and I, but no matter what happens, I know I get to grow old with my best friend.  I love you with all my heart Kris Simpson.  Happy 3^rd Anniversary!

Dear Birthmother

Hello and Thank You

Writing this letter is the hardest thing we've ever had to do, yet it could not even come close to what you must be experiencing right now.  While there are no words that could possibly express our deep, heart-felt gratitude to you for making this important decision, we simply want to say thank you.  Thank you for having remarkable courage.  Thank you for the opportunity to help people like us start our family.  Thank you for loving your unborn child.  Thank you for your gift of life, love, selflessness, conviction, trust and for all the things that you do that leaves us as adoptive parents in awe. For all these things and more we thank you.

The path that has brought the three of us together can only be described as destiny.  You see we believe everything happens for a reason, often times beyond our control.  It was through these series of events – when we first met in college, when we married under a big Texas sky, when we began fertility treatments, when we were accepted into the Gladney family – which we stand here today eagerly waiting to meet our first child, and to meet you should we be so lucky.

We pray that you are given strength, comfort and support during this most difficult time.  This decision is not easy but we have faith that you will know you’ve made the right decision when it happens.  And whether you decide to choose us to parent your child, or choose another deserving family, we know that it was always meant to be.

If we are given the extraordinary blessing of raising your child, we want to share with you a few important things.  We will love on your child every single day, showering him or her with love, laughter, adventure, support and the knowledge of where he or she came from.  We will get to know who you are, your interests, your personality and your funny quirks, and we will share these wonderful stories with him or her as our child grows.  They will always know you, and the love and selflessness behind your decision.

We hope you enjoy getting to know a little bit more about us in the following pages.  But more importantly, we hope this important decision comes naturally to you and that you find comfort once you’ve found the right parents for your child.  From the absolute bottom of our hearts…thank you.

Love,
Kris and Ashley

Profile Book Sneak Peak!

Last night I was thrilled when I received a sneak peak of the cover for our profile book.  Carrie Zuber owns a company called Reflections and she is making our adoption profile book.  I sent her our text and photos last week and she is now well on her way to making our life story into a book.  When we first spoke, she asked me if I had an idea of theme, colors, etc. and really the only direction I gave her was fun-loving and vibrant.  I also told her our favorite colors and that I wanted every page to be different.  I pretty much told her nothing!  We’ll, she’s amazing and came up with this for us:

We couldn’t be happier with the design!  Our words are very heart-felt and the photos along with the design of the book will be playful.  I think it’s the perfect combination.  Kris got to work this morning and asked if I could email him a copy of the cover because HE liked it so much!  I'd call that a success!

How did you spend your Labor Day weekend?

You may find it sad, but we were actually excited to have NO big plans this past weekend.  We’ve been going so much that it was finally nice to sit back, relax and decide what we wanted to do with no agenda.  On Friday night, we had date night just as we do every Friday.  On Saturday, we did some baby shopping – yes I said BABY SHOPPING – and that night we had dinner and drinks with friends.  Sunday was just an all around lazy day.  We didn’t do anything worth mentioning, but it was wonderful.  And now comes Monday, the reason this weekend was so memorable.  We made our first purchase for Baby Simpson!

Originally, our first purchase was this crib:

After a phone call to my mom saying we were purchasing the crib, she immediately called me back and said that they were planning to surprise us but…they wanted to buy the crib!  We are so thankful to them for buying us such an amazing and special gift.  It’s going to look gorgeous in Baby Simpson’s nursery and Kris and I will be counting down the days until it arrives.  Believe it or not, he is equally as excited as I am!

We spent Monday looking at strollers and car seats trying them out and seeing which ones worked for us.  We narrowed it down to two strollers and two car seats.  Initially, our thought was to choose one and purchase it once we needed it, but after we found out my parents were purchasing the crib for us, we were too excited and decided we needed it now!

Baby Simpson will be strolling in style in the Orbit G2 once he/she arrives!

And because we bought it yesterday, we got it tax free and it came with the Bassinet Cradle G2 for free!

The Bassinet Cradle G2 can be used at home or we can put it on the stroller frame like this:

It arrives in 3-4 weeks and George and I may just have to take a stroll around the block to try it out. Just kidding...

Monday was a bit surreal to me.  Within an hour, my parents told us they were going to buy us the crib and Kris was ready to buy the stroller.  I was a little quiet after it all happened, because I was still so in shock that this was all really happening.  We have waited for this moment for two years and I couldn’t believe it was finally our reality.  We don’t know when we will meet our baby, it could be 2 months or 15 months from now, but all we can do in the meantime is plan and prepare just as if I were pregnant.  So, like my friend Dani said, we are EXPECTING!  It’s officially time to celebrate and get ready for the arrival of Baby Simpson!

Mom, Dad and Kris - thank you from the bottom of my heart for making yesterday so special.  I never expected to receive a gift or buy something for our baby so soon, but I’m very grateful that we have.  It makes the adoption feel real.  I finally feel like we will be bringing home a baby - our baby that was always meant for our family.

THANK YOU

A simple 'thank you' isn’t enough for the smiles you have brought to my face and the courage you have given me to continue to share our story. 

Thank you to all of you following my blog – new and old readers alike.  Since I have chosen to share our story publicly, I’ve received countless emails, phone calls and compliments in person.  Each and every message was truly touching.  Sharing our story has been rewarding in more ways than I ever imagined it would be.  So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for every heart-felt message, for taking time out of your busy day to read my entire blog from start to finish and for the daily thoughts and prayers.  They mean the world to both Kris and I.

A Time to Celebrate

Yesterday I wrote on Facebook that it was a big day. When I wrote that, I had no idea the overwhelming response I would have. I received phone calls, texts, emails and even Facebook messages. Thank you guys for all the love! Yesterday went flawlessly and our home study is finally behind us. I cannot even begin to tell you what a relief that is. 

Our local Houston caseworker was at our house for a whopping 30 minutes. She asked us a few questions pertaining to our neighborhood, our neighbors, safety precautions we have planned, how many bedrooms in the home and so on… Then I took her on a tour where she glanced in each room and we moved on to the next. She didn’t open one closet, cabinet or drawer. She must have noticed the perfectionist in me. I will tell you, we’ve spent the last three weeks cleaning out and organizing every square inch of our house. It was quite the task let me tell you, but even Kris will proudly say, it was worth it. I think he is most proud of the garage! Even though our caseworker didn’t notice, it was the push we needed to organize our home from top to bottom. And it feels wonderful!

The good news is we are APPROVED on her end and are just waiting on approval from our caseworker who conducted our interview. Once we receive our final approval we will officially be a Gladney approved and waiting family! Can’t wait to receive that title, because that means we can be chosen by a birth mom really at any time! Lots of celebrations are in our near future! This weekend, we will be celebrating the completion of our home study and the turning in of our profile book – all exciting stuff that we have worked VERY hard on.

Speaking of exciting stuff… Hardwood floors are being installed right now in the nursery! It’s so loud that I had to call Kris and make sure he didn’t accidentally schedule a demolition. I may soon have a headache because of all the banging, scraping and beeping, but that won’t stop me from smiling.