Ella Marie Lopez

Jacob and David meeting Ella for the first time. Ella doing what she does best.
Mommy and Daddy, love at first sight!

We brought Ella home on Friday, July 19, after spending the day before with her and her cradle care family. She is so sweet. She weighed 4 lb and 10 oz and was 17 1/2 in. long. Her birthday is July 6, the same as her cousin Yuri:) We still sometimes can't believe she is here. We got a call on Monday of last week saying that there was a baby girl born and they were considering us for her forever family. We then had a formall presentation on Wed. That is where they tell you all the back ground and medical on the birth parents and then ask if you want to proceed, of course we said yes! She was in Berthoud at her cradle care house, and Eddie and I went to meet her on Tuesday in the morning and then brought the boys back that evening and had dinner with them and held and kissed and cooed over our baby girl. We then went home and on Friday went back at 9:00a.m. and had a placement ceremony. Our case worker was there and the cradle care family and us. We read some poems and lit a three wick candle to symbolize the birth parents, cradle care family, and us, her forever family. Then we passed Ella around and everyone said a little blessing or wish for her. It was really nice. We then packed our precious gift up and we all went home, but of course we had to stop and see Great Grandpa and Grandma first and then Grandma at work. Then we got to go home! Ella has been a true joy and blessing. She is a wonderful baby. Eating and sleeping and pooping. She seems to have a very sweet sense about her and is very calm. She actually does not mind being held by David. David is being a great big brother and Jacob is my life saver. This all happened so fast that I have had to work a little bit this week and next, before our vacation, and I can depend on Jacob to help me with Ella and David. I really don't know what I would do without him. We are in aw of our little girl. We thank God everyday for the blessings he has given our family and for the precious gift of a child.

Summer news

Well we are busy with summer things. June is going to be a very busy month. Jacob has decided that he would like to try boxing. There is a program through the rec center. The guy who runs it has been doing so for 12 years, he has 3 son's who participate and his oldest son is in the Olympics. Jacob had his first practice yesterday. They practice 4 times a week for 2 hours! Jacob is very sore today:) I think it will be good for him. They talk allot about respect for others and yourself and discipline to do what you want and stay with it even when it gets hard. Right now he is in the non-competitive. We will see how he does and if he wants to maybe try competitive later.

David is taking swimming lessons 2 days a week at the therapy pool right down the street from us. His friend Matthew is also taking them. Yesterday was also his first class. He has a really good time in the water. He can blow bubbles and lets me dunk him. He is also still doing his music class, with Matthew also. That is on Wed. and then we usually have lunch with Grandma.

We are going to try and take a vacation in July. We are thinking of going to Yellowstone National Park. I hope we can go, it seems like a long time since we have been on a vacation all together.

We are also lucky that the tornado that went through here did not come to close to us. Marc was working in Windsor when the tornado struck. His car got some pretty good hail damage but that was ok, because he was ok. We have not been to Windsor to see the damage but we did drive out of town a little ways and saw 2 farm houses that were pretty much demolished. It's amazing what wind can do. One person died in that storm. We have of course been hearing so many stories about how people survived and what they went through. Incredible!

That's all for now. I will hopefully have some new pictures to post soon. Hope everyone is doing well. Take care.

Beautiful Day

Today is gorgeous! I feel very happy today which is a big thing because lately I have had the blues and can't seem to get out of them. I know probably just a woman thing. It also probably has something to do with not being able to fit in to allot of my summer clothes, well mostly the shorts and capri pants uggg! I have started a weight loss program through a magazine called SELF we shall see what happens. I am also trying to stop drinking pop. Very hard but definitely doable. Eddie's sister quite pop and lost quite a bit of weight.Hope that works for me. I would like to drop about 20 pounds. I want to feel good about myself and try and be healthier. Days like today really help the mood and I feel like getting out and walking or something, maybe this evening with the boys and Eddie. Here's to summer clothes and fitting into them! YEA!

Eddie's uncle Ray passed away last week. He was 66 years old. He had cancer. I don't like that stuff. It takes to many people to soon. He was Eddie's dad's brother. We were not super close with them, but did enjoy going over to their house every once in a while, they lived in Greeley, in the same house for ever. During the viewing the other night they had put together a power point of pictures and music. It was very touching and made me think about family and all the great times we have together that sometimes we just take for granted. We should take as many pictures and video as possible and enjoy every minute of our time with family. Well ,then reality hit and I of course didn't make it through the day without getting upset with Jacob, David and Eddie. I guess that's just life and thank goodness I get to "start over" tomorrow. Our Family has definitely been blessed, Eddie has lost so many Uncles and Cousins. I don't want to have to experience that for a long time. So everyone take care of yourselves:) So that's my week in a nut shell. On a happier note we are number 33 in the adoption pool. We now have to make a video of our family and things we do. We have 45 days to get it done, I think it will be fun to put together. I haven't decided if we will hire someone to do it or try ourselves. Probably try ourselves and then if it turns out to be really lame or something bring in the professional:) So we will see. Hope everyone is doing well. Love all of you lots. Love Crystal

David's Birthday and skateboard crash

David's skateboard scars

David's 2nd Birthday party!
David's hand print in the middle of his cake!
New skates from Jacob WEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the comments! We are doing ok. David had a great birthday. The Sunday before his birthday he was at church playing with a skateboard and fell on it and got scraped up a bit. Just in time for his pictures. I suppose I could have waited to take his 2 year old pictures until he healed up but he was so cute I just had to take him and get them done while he still had the scrapes:) I will be sending his pictures to all of you soon. Here are some that I took before his big day. Ok so the pictures went to the top. I don't know how to get them down here where I want them. Sorry.

Well we probably won't be getting our baby girl. It seem the birth mother has changed her mind. I say seems because we really don't know. Nobody can get a hold of her and she won't return any of the agency's phone calls. We are pretty sad:( It is definitely her choice what she wants to do I just wish she would call and let them know what she decided. I understand wanting to keep your baby. I cant imagine being in a position where I needed to make a choice like that. We are so thankful for are boys and think they are the greatest. We would love to add to our family with a baby girl. God has the right baby for our family and I will just keep trusting him. He knows what's best for us.

Well I don't know if anyone is out there, or if any one reads our blog. I hope so. If you do please leave a little note to let us know. We are still waiting on our baby girl. When I have more time I am going to explain all about our adoption. Until then.........................................................................