Adams Family Adventures: Life is full of little surprises...

WE'RE GOING TO BE A LITTLE FAMILY!

We've been given the opportunity to adopt a newborn baby boy the 1st week in February! Dave & Amy are going to be parents!

Below is a copy of a post I put on the Stueve Family website... It's a BOOK, but I think it tells the story pretty well:

"...Story time...(it's a long one)Dave & I have been working a long time to get my "phe levels" (phenylalanine blood levels, for PKU) to a level that might be safe for pregnancy. On my own, keeping my levels in order means a strict diet regimen with no meat, cheese, eggs, beans & milk, which isn't easy, but it is 'do-able'. Our (my brother Josh & I both have it) daily limit of protien equivilates to ~14g of protien (per day). As a female, wanting/preparing to become a mother, the diet becomes much more tenuous. While my blood level may be just right for me, it will be twice as high for an embryo/baby that I would be carrying. High levels in the embryo/baby does harm to the growth & developent of the brain & heart, beginning in the 1st trimester, so this must all be VERY well planned out. No accients allowed! In order for the baby's levels to be at a safe range, mine must be twice as low. The way it measures out for me is that my phe/'protien' limit for the day then becomes 4g of protien, which is like a slice or 2 of bread for the entire day!! Fortunately, there are companies that make low protien/low-phe foods specifially for people with PKU, which makes it MUCH easier! This allows me to have actual meals. During the last couple years Dave & I have been 'tweaking' this & have found it to be a lot more tedious than expected. I have been doing a "level", or blood test -taken at home- after measuring & weighing everything I eat @ very specific times during a 3 day period. I record this in a 'food journal', turn it all in & then wait for the results. If I can get at least 6 good levels in a row within a safe range then it is safe to try pregnancy. It IS possible, many women have done this & had healthy babies over the years...it's just taking a while. It has been quite a rollercoaster ride. I would have 1 or 2 good levels, then the next one would be too high. Then a few more good levels -more than the last time- in a row & then one will be off again, meaning we have to start all over. We keep making progress between each setback, and we keep learning new things we didn't know before...which is GOOD! But as you can imagine it has been an emotional rollercoaster. We have also been entertaining the idea of adoption through all of this. Over the last few months or so Dave & I have done a lot of praying & fasting over what to do... "Should we keep trying to have our own?...Should we start looking for an adoption agency?...Can we afford to adopt?..." The feeling & answer we kept getting was, "Wait. Just wait...Keep doing what you're doing...but just wait." -I thought I was a patient person....turns out, I'm really not!! :-/ Anyway, at about this time is where things began to come together...

I heard the news on the Stueve Fam website about my cousins Paula & Sara being pregnant. My heart went out to them because they've all had a rough couple years, so I decided to swing by their house to say hi & deliver love & cupcakes. :) While I was there, Sara & I got to talk for a long time -we usually do have really cool, long talks when we get together...she's pretty awesome. As we spoke Sara talked about how she was wanting so much to find a good, loving home for her little baby & that she had kept thinking about Dave & I. We talked for a long time about the possibility of us adopting her little boy (with no pressure either way, of course). We talked about how it might affect the baby as he grows up, how it might affect the family & everyone else involved... Dave & I talked about it & prayed about it for a while & felt -still feel- really good about adopting the little boy as our own. Sooo, this lucky little baby boy... won't miss out on the lake, or the funny family stories, & crude Stueve jokes. :) He'll also get to fish & hunt w/ his Gpa Adams; Explore the outdoors & nature with his Gma Palmer; learn about birds & golf from Gpa Jim, and get spoiled rotten by Gma Briden & Gma Adams... and several uncles & aunts. He'll also have an awesome Uncle Andrew who's only 10 yrs apart in age,... & best of all, he will have 3 (actually 4) parents that love him more than he can possibly imagine, ...some poor kids barely even have 1.

Anyway, I know I've written a book here but I really felt it was important to give the full story. God is great. Our Heavenly Father is very much aware of even the smallest thoughts & concerns in our heart. Even the ones we keep all to ourself. I know this is true, ...& its awesome!"

Thanks for taking the time to read our story. There will be more to come...but not near this long!

;-) More sono pics below: