Our big discovery and adventure this trip was the waterfalls. We had seen Multnomah Falls from I-84 our first visit to Portland and made a mental note to check it out sometime. Well, we did. Just outside of the city, off of the Interstate runs Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway. The strip of road stretches parallel to the freeway and has to be one of the prettiest drives in the Northwest. On both sides of the highway is lush, green foliage, combined with native flowers, and beautiful waterfalls. Multnomah Falls is the second tallest year-round waterfall in the nation, dropping 620 feet. We hiked halfway up to a bridge that passes in front of the falling water. The sound of the crashing water was loud enough you had to raise your voice to talk and you could feel the mist of the water as it sprayed up from the force of the fall. The temperature dropped dramatically the closer you got.
Further down the road is Horsetail Falls. We hiked up a very steep trail to the top of the fall. I had to stop several times to catch my breath – my lung capacity is certainly not what it used to be before I was toting around a watermelon. During one such stop, Todd found a tree with the center carved out and waited patiently. (I had to get the picture.) As we weaved back and forth on the switchbacks up you could look down and see a tiny dot that was the car. The really cool part about this particular waterfall is you can walk underneath it! It was amazing!! The trail continues on but we'll have to save that for another day - one where Todd can carry Konor.
We also stopped at the Vista House at Crown Point. The Vista House was build in 1916 and serves as the symbol for the Columbia River Gorge. It has recently been restored - the marble and stained glass are beautiful. The basement contains a neat gift and coffee shop. The views from Crown Point were breathtaking. A nice volunteer gave us a map showing all the falls and recommended his favorite stops along the way.
Konor is doing great. He is a very busy boy. . .lots and lots of movement. He has been known to wake us up on more than one occasion before 4:00 in the morning with what I call “Konor calisthenics”. Todd simply claims he is on Pop Pop’s time.
We are getting more and more excited to see who little Konor looks like. I have a feeling he will look a lot like Todd. All in all, not a bad thing! His furniture arrived yesterday so his room is starting to come together nicely. I will post some pictures once we have it completed.
March 31st was my 20 week doctor’s appointment. They did a thorough anatomy ultrasound – it was soooo cool. Todd and I got to see the different sections of his brain, all four chambers of his beating heart, urine in his tiny bladder (kidneys are working), diaphragm, arms, legs, hands, feet, nose, lips. . .it was amazing. They also confirmed once again that he is a boy – he is definitely not shy when it comes to that.
The first ultrasound picture is a profile of his face. He had his feet up by his head the entire time. So yes, that is a foot at the top of the scan. The second picture is a perfect picture of his nose and lips in the center of the scan. You can see his nostrils on the left and his perfect lips just below. They were checking for a cleft lip but the detail is awesome. You’d think it was a 3-D ultrasound.
I remembered wearing this shirt on Easter two years ago with Kloe.
We also managed to sneak in a spring training baseball game. The Indians and Reds built a new ballpark in Goodyear – so of course, Todd had to check it out. We had great seats for a good price, awesome weather, and enjoyed watching the pros play ball.
A couple of weeks ago, Todd spent a long “guy’s” weekend in Colorado skiing with some friends he went to dental school with. His trip started out on a low note when his flight out of Boise got cancelled – the first flight they could get him on was for the next morning. Super bummer. So after some planning and more than a few phone calls, he rented a car in Denver and met up with the guys a day later. He missed out on a day skiing but he did get the opportunity to drive a Kia Rio. Tradeoffs right? When he was describing the car to me over the phone I asked him if it was the kind of car you’d expect a bunch of clown to jump out of – he responded with a laughing yes. So for the rest of his trip, whether it was choking up the mountain passes or stuck in the snow in front of the condo, it was only referred to as his clown car. The weekend picked up, however, once he met with the guys and he got in two great ski days on the beautiful mountains of Colorado. Todd, much like everyone else who gets the chance, fell in love with the state’s beauty and wonder.
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. 
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!
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.
