He's HERE!

Our youngest son is here!

He's home!

He's healthy!

He's beautiful!

WE are blessed!

Two weeks ago, I delivered Jackson Porter Teagle

at 9:58a.m.

He weighed 8lbz 6oz

and was 19inches long.

We tried to keep his name just between our

close family and friends until he was born.

No particular reason except that we share pretty much

everything online and wanted to keep

something special :)

So his name has alot of meaning to us.

My dad's last name is Jackson.

I never had my dad's last name.

I wish I had, but we never made it legal or official.

My dad is 100% my dad,

however we do not share the same blood.

We have a very special relationship that started

when I was 4 and he married my mom.

So the fact that our son can carry my dad's name

when I never did is precious to me!

His middle name is from Chris's side.

Chris's dad's middle name is also Porter!

So we named our son after both our dads.

We love keeping it "in the family"!!

 

For those of you (mainly ladies)

that enjoy reading birth stories, I'll just give you a

quick run-down.

Friday the 22nd I started having consistent contractions

that were 10 minutes apart.

They started at about 2:00 and hadn't stopped by that evening.

We were at my parents' house for dinner, 

so I gave a quick call to the Dr. since we were in town.

They recommended I come to get checked and we

decided to do so before we drove back home

and put the girls to bed.

I had a scheduled c-section for March 26th already.

If I was in labor, the Doctor would obviously

perform the c-section earlier.

I hadn't dilated anymore than earlier in the week

when I saw my doctor, but my

cervix was definitely "thinning" more.

So he had us stay overnight to get plenty of fluids and see

if there was change in the morning.

There was, I had dilated another centimeter,

so my doctor knew that it would only

be a matter of time that day that I would

go into full hard labor.

So we got ready!

My last picture being pregnant!

The girls were still at my parents' house

and we let the family know

that our little guy would be sharing his sister's birthday!

(Noelle turned 2 that day!)

Everything went very smooth.

This time Chris watched a little of the surgery.

He actually saw the baby's head come out!!

We heard his first cry

and I felt the huge relief of him

being lifted out of me!

Over the next several hours, Chris and I

were again overwhelmed by God's grace.

It never gets old.

The miracle of a life that started inside me

and ended up in our arms

is truly amazing.

Can't get enough of him!

Daddy's first little man!

I forgot how cuddly a newborn is!

Joy, getting ready to take her new brother home!

My recovery from surgery was the easiest of the three so far.

However, I did have a spinal headache from the

spinal given to me before the surgery.

That lasted from Sunday through Wednesday

 and thankfully it slowly subsided by then.

We had some other struggles throughout the week

but the baby was NOT one of them.

He has been beautiful.

He sleeps really well when he's supposed to.

He goes down by himself without rocking.

He eats like a champ.

And he's so darn cute!!!!!

So now we're here two weeks after we met him

and things are feeling almost normal!

Today my brother, Joe came over and took some newborn pics.

I'll share a few here, but there are more on his Facebook page

here.

 

He did a great job and we're super happy with how they came out!

So that's where our family is right now.

I'll definitely post more about our other son very soon :)

For right now, we are getting used to being a family of 5 before we get the next one!

 

The Other Teagle Boy

So, this blog is called

"It's a Mom Life".

I wanted to make it about our life

as we go through this stage of parenthood.

So,

I figured it's only appropriate

to remind everyone that I am still pregnant!

I won't be for very long though.

My C-Section is scheduled for

March 26th!

A couple weeks ago, my brother

took some pictures of us

so we could have SOME type of memory

of the fact that I have been pregnant for 9 months!

I love that he caught our goofy side :)

This pregnancy has by FAR gone quicker

than the other two!

We're pretty sure that it's because

of how busy we've been with getting our little

Tobi home.

So I figured with all the posts that have been designated

to updating the status of our adoption,

we needed one to update the status of 

our little guy that will be here soon!

We have less than two weeks left now

and we are definitely getting anxious to meet him!!!

This is our first boy obviously,

and we still step back and think to ourselves,

"How'd we get here?"

"How are we expecting our 3rd and 4th child???"

"How could we be so blessed??"

But most recently...

"Do you realize our lives turn upside down again in two weeks?"

So with every day coming closer to the BIG day,

I am trying to be patient.

Chris keeps reminding me not to rush things

(even though I really can't).

So, to help pass the time, I've been working on some

"nesting" projects!

We put together some wall art for the baby

and will do more for Tobi's side of the room too.

I got really motivated the other day

and made several little

"necktie onesies"

for him.

Then, because I left my sewing machine out,

I couldn't help myself.

I made some regular old cloth diaper burp cloths

"cute"

by adding some appliques with extra fabric.

We are definitely ready.

In every sense of the word.

Don't think my stomach can stretch much more!

But wow, The Lord has been so gracious!

It was tough in the beginning, but my last trimester

has really been comfortable.

This has been easier than the last two actually!

So, 11 days or less.

Then we'll see his precious face

and share it with all of you!

(along with his name that we've miraculously kept on the DL)

A Blessed Evening...

Wow.

What a night we had on Sunday!

We had our Adoption Benefit Dinner Sunday evening!

Man, so much prep,

So much food,

So much service,

And SO many blessings :)

Chris, my sister, and I stayed at the church

the entire day getting ready

after the service ended.

We had others come help us too and things 

came together very nicely leading up to the dinner.

Then people started showing up!

And more people...

And MORE people!!

We had to set out an extra table!

That was actually pretty exciting :)

We had one family attend that we've gotten to 
know recently who actually brought their son home over a year ago!

We also had Bob Wheatley, the VP of Compassion for Congo
show up!

Other guests were also there that don't attend our church.
We had so much support!

We had some amazing friends serve the tables

with Chris and help me in the kitchen.

People got their food,

we could hear them chattering

and laughing from the kitchen!

I was so afraid no one would want to 

participate in the dessert auction,

but I was very wrong and people really enjoyed it!

 Everything sold (over 15 desserts)!

When the time came for me and our team to take a break 

to watch the slideshow Chris put together,

I could hardly compose myself.

For the first time, I just looked around the room at the 

75+ people that were there to support us.

They were there to say they want

Tobias home.

They love us.

They love our family.

And they are standing by our side

in this crazy journey!

So all this is flooding my head

and pictures of our son's current home

start flashing on the screen!

There were pictures of little ones that will soon

be home in America with their forever families.

And then, when the picture came up to

introduce Tobias to our family and friends,

everyone cheered and clapped!!

Man, I was overwhelmed!

Chris did the slideshow to a song called

"How Wonderful the Father's Love"

Look it up, it's by Sovereign Grace.

GREAT song.

 Wonderful reminder of His unending love.

So then the night slowly came to an end.

People were talking and kids were running around all over

like they should be.

We TRIED to get our servers to leave,

but they ended up staying long after us to clean up.

I know, it's blurry, but it's cute :)

We can't express how thankful we are to all who helped.

But I must point out that our 7 friends

(my sister and brother included)

got people's orders,

their food,

their drinks,

took their plates,

asked me for all the things I kept forgetting,

and then wouldn't let us clean up.

I just came back from cleaning up what was left.

It took me a half hour.

I gotta say...we may not have LOTS 

of friends, but the ones

we have are true friends.

At the end of the night

we received close to $2,000 to bring our son home.

Can the blessings ever cease???

We have a long ways to go financially.

Probably at least $10,000 more.

And as always, we aren't anxious.

We know He'll provide.

Oh yea!

We had an ultrasound today :)

Tobi has a brother!

In summary:
We are blessed by our Father.
We are blessed with our friends.
We are so thankful for our family.
We are overwhelmed with support from our
family in Christ.
We are excited to have TWO little boys :)
And we have alot of work to do! 
Haha...
Thanks for reading!!

We're APPROVED!!!

WE ARE APPROVED!!!!

Just received our approval of our 

I-600A!

This means that U.S. immigration has determined that 

we are able and fit to adopt internationally.

MORE IMPORTANTLY, 

it means we can get our referral!!

aka: see the face of our SON!

This is very exciting news for us...it means progress!!

So we've waited for this exact day for a while

because it is the prerequisite for our referral.

 Compassion for Congo also goes by 

who gets their approval in-hand first,

so the quicker the better for us!

So here's how we envisioned this happening:

We receive our approval.

We call Paul frantically trying to meet with him

so we can see who our son is.

We meet with him within MINUTES and 

receive instant gratification :)

Here's how it is happening in reality.

We received approval.

I emailed Paul.

I was impatient, so two minutes later I 

called Paul ;)

We were then informed that Paul was literally 

leaving for Congo in a few days!!

Therefore, no meeting with Paul until he gets back.

I think The Lord is teaching us patience. 

We are excited, nonetheless!

What's neat is that with Paul being down there in our 

son's hometown, there is a chance

he will see him face to face

before we do!

We, however, do not know who is 

available in the orphanage.

We do not know if they will be bringing more

children into the orphanage while Paul is there.

Either way, God has orchestrated things

this particular way for His purpose, the good of our son,

and our sanctification.

Just wanted to share our excitement as we 

finally have the approval we were waiting for!

Step by step!

Also, we are planning a fundraiser dinner at the end of October

at our church.

ANYONE is invited!!!

We'll create a Facebook event so we can have people 

RSVP soon.

We think it will be really fun, and it'll be a nice dinner!

More details about that will be coming soon!

Oh!!  

Last thing. 

We saw our little baby today!

(wow, just realized we got to see our baby AND got our approval the same day!!)

I am 9 weeks along and the baby is measuring perfect.

It was moving around like crazy!!  

Head is on the left at the top of the pic you can see fingers!

Things are fuzzy in the picture, but we were able to see

fingers and toes!!!  It was squirming 

all over the place.

So precious :)

So rejoice with us as we continue

to be shown His grace in these

everyday excitements!

 

 

Big Announcement!!!

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, 

the fruit of the womb a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the children of one's youth.

Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them."

Psalm 127:3-5

Before you continue reading this post...please re-read the above verse carefully.

God's view of children doesn't exactly match up with our popular culture's.

Children are seen as a blessing most of the time, 

but only to a certain extent.

I mean, HOW MANY children makes a full quiver??

I think it's different for every family, 

but the truth is this:

Children are a REWARD.

Children are an INHERITANCE from the Lord.

Children are like arrows in a warrior's hand.

And we are blessed to be having MORE!

The reason I start with this is because

this is what God has been teaching me 

through His word the past several weeks.

It has been made evident that He is in control

of our family's size, and NOT us!

And we are to be so excited for the children
He brings our way.

That brings me to our big announcement....

I am 2 months pregnant!!

 

Yup.  Crazy. Scary. Unreal.

But real.

 

Definitely a surprise to us, as we are 

currently trying to bring our son home from Congo.

And it may actually turn out that both children come home within a couple months of each other!!!

 

How I sprung the news on Chris :)

So there it is.  We've been holding it in for over a month,

but with a healthy ultrasound

and hearing the baby's heartbeat every day 

on our doplar at home, 

we decided to share the good news :)

 

7 week ultrasound.  Great growth and heartbeat!

  So as Chris has reminded me,

as long as there is breath,

we praise Him.

I'll fully admit that I was very scared 

when I found out.

I mean, I'm almost 26...how can I all of the sudden

have FOUR children???  

THAT FAST?

I feel inadequate to raise TWO little souls 

at once!

But ya know what....

this is HIS plan, not ours.

The Lord never lets us forget that we 

are NOT in control, and we 

NEED to rest in Him and not on our own understanding.

(cuz let me tell you...I still don't understand it!)

So there it is.  Our big surprise :)

Please continue to pray for us.

We should be able to see our son's face in a matter of weeks now.

It seems like such a long waiting period,

but as you can see, God has kept us busy with other news.

You will now be kept up to date not only with our

adoption progress, but with my pregnancy progress as well!

I pray you all enjoy your weekend!!

I will do my best...with my Seabands on my wrist 

for morning sickness, and saltines beside my bed, 

and my husband who has been an absolute ANGEL in 

helping me through this rough period of pregnancy :)