The first weekend in February, Todd and I drove to Pocatello (a city in Eastern Idaho) to visit the infamous Fica family. Mike, Todd’s cousin, is an Assistant US Attorney, married to Ila (super Mom) and has five children -- yes I said five. Zak (17) is the oldest, flowed by Emily (11), David (10), Joey (8), and Ben (5). Todd’s Aunt Dorothy, Mike’s mom, lives there too, along with a dog, a cat, three turtles, and some hissing cockroaches. Why not? Uncle Tom (passed away eight years ago) and Aunt Dorothy were like grandparents to Todd growing up and therefore, he spent a lot of time with Mike.
You have to be one tough character to hang with the Ficas. They are non-stop, on the go, busy folks (that’s where the five kids come in). We arrived Friday afternoon and met Mike at work. He gave us our own private tour of the courthouse which included the attorney’s offices, courtrooms, security and the US Marshal’s offices. It was really cool. Todd and I thoroughly enjoy talking to Mike – he is extremely smart, humble, and open minded – plus he is always good for bad guy stories.
All of their kids are extremely respectful, smart and just fun to be around. Mike and Ila have done a phenomenal job when it comes to parenting. In fact, Todd and I will borrow pages out of their book to apply to our children. Todd enjoyed playing checkers with David (Aunt Dorothy looked on) and rough housed with Joey and Ben. 
Late Friday afternoon, we were off to the house to round everyone up to go to dinner and Zak’s basketball game. Zak goes to Century and that night they played Poky High. It was a big game. After sweating it out (the fans and the players) into triple overtime, Century won!
Saturday morning we all got dressed up for Joey’s baptism. It was a great day for him. Ila had planned a party for him afterward and he invited friends and neighbors. He looked so handsome in his suit!! But before the party began, we squeezed in a basketball game for David. Ila is the coach. How she does it all is beyond me. . .super Mom, remember?
After Joey’s party, we went to the stables and watched Emily ride and jump her horse. Ila and David helped get the horse all ready to go and then we walked over to the arena where Emily rides. She was amazing.
The final highlight was feeding feeder gold fish to the turtles. The whole family cheered on the event. It was too much fun. Todd and I had a great weekend, and although we left tired, we had smiles on our faces. Thanks guys!
Todd and I are expecting! And yes, it is a miracle. I truly believe this is an answered prayer for all the people who have prayed for us. So thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. God is so good. I am 13 weeks, just entering the second trimester, and here is the latest ultrasound. The baby was laying face down so the tech couldn’t get a good profile shot. His head is to the right with his legs tucked up under on the left. You can see his spine along his back. I have a picture clearing showing he is in fact a boy but Todd (of all people) thought it was inappropriate to share. Too funny.
For those that want more details. . .here is “the story”. After years of fertility treatments, we felt we had reached the end. . .but we still had so much love to give. So in September of last year, we decided to adopt. We discovered a great agency, with two of the best social workers around, ran by the Idaho Youth Ranch. Anyone who has adopted knows it is a long, laborious, humbling process – but we were up for the task. We attended classes, sat though interviews, got fingerprinted, background checks, filled out stacks of paper work, read countless articles, completed a home study, got physicals, and assembled a profile package for a potential birth mother to chose from. At the end of all that, Kitty and Lauri (the social workers) knew more about us than most of our family did! And then the waiting begins. It could be two months, it could be a year, no one really knows.
We kept our minds occupied with training for the marathon and the beginning of October we went to Portland. It was such a great trip -- very healing and rewarding for us. I got pregnant a month later. Reluctant to take a pregnancy test (of which the outcome has never been good), I was sick with a sinus infection and was looking for some relief by way of Benadryl for sleep. I was late and in the off chance I was pregnant, I didn’t want to take any risks with medication so I found myself peeing on a stick. (Todd was in the other room pretending the whole scene wasn’t happening.) The stick turned immediately – the three minute wait was not needed. I called Todd in the bathroom and he came running in, took one look at the stick, turned white as a ghost and sat down on the floor. I thought he was going to pass out. After a brief second, he grabbed the box and looked back and forth from the stick to the box to see if we were reading it correctly. Of course, I just sat there and cried.
It was two months before our feet touched the ground. Thanks to Dr. Ivette Suber, (Todd’s OB friend from work) for our early OB care, and our great friend Dr. Eve White (the OB we started our infertility plight with in Indy so long ago) for the endless phone calls, advice, love and support – we wouldn’t have gotten here without you.
I have been really sick -- unlike Kloe in every way. I have had headaches and nausea all day for the last three months. I am starting to feel better, slowly, and I tell Todd to hold on for when I do -- I'm going to be dangerous. For that reason and Murphy's law (we have a whole closet full of pink) I have been thinking boy from the beginning. Before we found out the sex, Todd and I both secretly wanted another little girl, but now that we know, we are extremely excited for a boy. Immediately after the ultrasound, Todd said, "I think God is giving us exactly what we need." and Eve said "Of course it's a boy, there's no way you could have had another girl as cute as Kloe!" I think they are both so right.
