A Sweet Birthday Surprise for Levi Ryan!

I have a precious friend from FMSC who happens to be one of the luckiest (blessed) people I know...

She wins more contests than any other I know... And we were so blessed to be on the receiving end of one of her sweet WINS:)

Meet my friend Alyssa... We work every Monday together and not long ago when it was her birthday, I had 120 of our closest FMSC volunteer friends sing to her... I introduced her as one of the most generous people I know... I meant it...If there is a task, she willingly takes it on, and generously gives from her heart.  Whether it is cupcakes for my parties, games for my littles, or sweet birthday surprises...  She is always giving...

She knows how much Levi loves the CUBS so she entered a drawing at her local library for 4 tickets to a cubs game... She said people were buying up tons of tickets...

She bought her 1 ticket, said a prayer for Levi... and BAM!!! She was the winner:)

And then she told me she wanted to give the tickets to Levi for his birthday... I DIED!!! 

Here we are together with the amazing basket she created for Levi to give to him on his birthday... Did I mention she is incredibly talented and creative... Seriously, she is so artistically gifted... something I am not... so I love it!

One of the reasons Levi Ryan's  love for the cubs is so special to us, is that his biological dad Ryan was a CUBS lover.  He had Cystic Fibrosis and was even chosen to throw out the first pitch at a CUBS game when he was little... I couldn't wait to take Levi to a game... 

A big Happy Birthday to Levi as he was unwrapping all of the goodies in his basket, CUBS W car flags, chocolate, fan finger, T-shirt, and more:)  He was thrilled!

Last Sunday, game day FINALLY arrived.  Levi was able to pick who he was going to take with to the game. Unfortunately Greg had an injury the day before so Jojo got to take his spot, and Anna had never been to a game so she came too:) 

We battled the Chicago traffic to the free bus shuttle and made our way to Historic Wrigley Field!  What an atmosphere!  It is such a special place!

And what a game it was!  13-5 Cubbie win for the books! It was such a fun game to watch!  

Levi enjoying some cotton candy while Anna and Jojo were enjoying the game:) I seriously, loved watching them all have so much fun!  It was the perfect distraction and pick me up after a tearful goodbye to Caleb as he headed to OK for 6 weeks... 

One of the most precious parts of the day was seeing Levi as we found Ryan's brick outside Wrigley Field!  Ryan's mom had told me a rough area of where it was, and it was surprisingly easy to find!  I look forward to the day when Levi will understand more of who his bio dad was and how his life came into being. 

 I remember before we adopted Levi as an embryo, I was talking with a dear friend... She loves us deeply and walked closely with me through everything we had been through with the stillbirth of Samuel, the stillbirth of baby Joel (the baby we were going to adopt) 8 mos. later, and my miscarriage.  She sweetly said, "If you do get pregnant, no one would have to know this baby was adopted???"  

I immediately replied, "I couldn't do it. If a baby was conceived, how could I keep that miracle to myself?"  It would be a part of that child's story, and something that deserved to be told  

I still feel that way, and Sunday was another full circle moment for me...

It is like God smacks me over the head in these moments... "Do not miss the miracle of this moment Sara!!" 

This brick at Levi's feet with Ryan's birth and death date, was lovingly placed there by a family missing their son, brother, father, and husband...  Ryan...

And there Levi sits, with that same brick at his feet... This living breathing Levi Ryan... 

 His WHOLE life made possible by this sweet man, our donor mom, AND AN AMAZING GOD WHO IS SO FAITHFUL through it all! 

It seriously blows me away...

What a miracle and what a special day it was!

So friends, don't miss the miracle of the moments that God gives you as well...

 I pray all of our eyes are wide open so we can take in and appreciate all the sweet blessings God has for us to take hold of each day! 

Busy days...

The days are flying by and there is much going on and many changes in our home...
March 2016 literally blew by us and here we are almost a week into April...
This past Saturday Greg had 2 weddings, plus preaching the regular 4 church services this weekend...
We hosted a couple that is being called to our new church in the evening...
I had a homeschool informational meeting...
I went out in the craziest weather I have seen in a long time... blizzard like conditions one minute, and sunshine in the next... no lie...
Came out of the grocery store to a dented car door from the car next to me... His door blew open the wind was blowing so hard... It was just a crazy day... Louis and I both started new jobs and feel so blessed to have them!

All in all we are loving life and enjoying the busy days... knowing that soon summer will be here and things will slow down a lot for the littles and I in the house:) 

This is how the jobs get done around here... everyone pitches in... hauling groceries for mom!  I couldn't do it with out all of their help!  Even though they make 95% of the mess... I cherish it... I know it won't be long and I will wish for the messes under foot...  They are getting big too fast!

Hopie and Zay Saturday morning staring out the window watching the fresh snow fall...

Rascals in the living room... jojo and Levi, wrestling one minute... hugging the next!

Ann and her sweet friend Ava loving on Kaliyah!  

HOpe to post more soon about the new jobs and life in general... So thankful for God's faithfulness in all of life... the slower moments of calmness and the busy full days... He walks with us through it all!

He is his son... He is my son...

Last week would have been this little boys 35th birthday...

That little boy is actually this little boys (below) biological father... Isn't the resemblance amazing?

The stories I have heard of Levi's biological daddy are wonderful and so very special to us... ( I am so very thankful to have a relationship with his bio mom and grandma and other extended family!)

Thinking about Levi's Ryan's biological dad Ryan evokes a crazy amount of different emotions...

Awe over the type of personality he had and how he lived, given that he had the terrible disease Cystic Fibrosis...

Wonder as I hear story of his selflessness... (He turned down his first wish with the "Make a Wish" Foundation because his whole basketball team couldn't come with him to practice with the Chicago Bulls... He didn't want anyone to feel bad, so he ended up with his second wish, being a park ranger for a day...)

Joy as I heard of how he and his wife felt welcoming his twins into the world, Levi's full biological siblings...

A sweetness in my soul when I watch Levi and know that some of his character traits come from him...

And at the same time a feeling of overwhelming longing... longing to TRULY know him... see him... get an even clearer picture of who this man was, who makes up half of who my son is...

And a sadness when I try to resolve in my mind all it took in getting our son to us...

If this sweet man had not passed away, Levi would have been his and his wife's son... That would have been the plan all along had his life not ended at the young age of 27... Knowing and Living with grief and loss, my heart literally ached last week on Ryan's birthday... I know how much he is missed... I know how much it still hurts even years later... I know the longing for heaven...

I can't help but go there... and think of the hurt and pain his young wife went through when she was widowed so young with 2 small children.. and to think of the hurt and pain that his parents and siblings went through when they had to say goodbye... Not a moment of that is lost on me... 

  

This sweet little boy would never have been ours if Ryan had lived a full life... It is hard to resolve it all in my mind... Ryan had to die for Levi to become ours... And literally my heart hurts at the thought... 

Yet... EVERY SINGLE TIME I look at this beautiful boy I know with out a doubt that...

God created him for us... 

God breathed life into what was frozen for 5 years, for us...

God allowed that sweet tiny embryo to take hold and make a warm home inside of me for 9 mos, for us... 

God sustained his precious life while I was on bed rest in the hospital for 7 weeks, for us...

God brought forth this boy that healed so much hurt that was inside of me and our family, for us...

God knew exactly what we needed and he gave us Levi Ryan... 

God took the very best of his biological parents and wove them together to make the most amazing, sweet, joyful, funny, little man, FOR US... 

I don't think I will ever be able to fully understand why Ryan had to die... why Samuel our son had to die... I don't think it is really God's plan for me to understand this side of Heaven... But what I do know...

Is that God has taken the hurt of 2 families and brought forth the life of the most amazing little boy who will turn 5 in less than a week...

God creatively has knit our families together in the most beautiful way and my heart is FOREVER thankful for the gift of being this sweet little boy's mama... 

I will never forget a conversation I had with a dear friend weeks before we did the frozen embryo transfer with Levi... She had walked through a lot with us and loved us.  She was SO concerned for me and the fact that the odds weren't in our favor for the embryo to take... We had already suffered the loss of 3 babies during pregnancy... 

I remember just looking at her with total peace in my heart and saying, "I know there is no guarantee, but I have a peace about it... and for us, IT IS TOTALLY WORTH THE RISK!" 

Levi is worth every second of worry, fear, uncertainty, joy, thankfulness, elation, and overwhelming awe in the gracious plans of our amazing faithful God! 

(Ryan at the cubs game where he threw out the first pitch:)

( I have to laugh because we aren't a big baseball family, but Levi is a cubs lover... His biological dad loved the cubs!)

And this all just makes our family bigger... I can't wait to meet this amazing man in Heaven one day... I often can't help but think of the fact that he is a daddy up in heaven with his kids down here... and we have a little boy and 2 other babies in heaven with their parents down here... Maybe they have all met:) 

Levi is his son... He is my son... He is our son... Really He is God's son... And with it all my heart falls deeper in love with a Savior who makes this all possible... 

Astounding to me really!  This story will never get old... 

As we prepare for holy week and the death and resurrection of our Savior I am continually reminded that we believe in a God who really has made this all possible...

He  redeems what was lost and hurting, breathes life back into what was once frozen, and resurrects what was dead... 

What a gift for all of us!

Morning company:)

The other morning I awoke to this smiling face next to me:)

 I rolled over and said, "I love you buddy!"

And His response... "And I am a MIRACLE!!!"  

Yes you are my sweet Levi, yes you are!  He is an amazing miracle from God that was allowed to join our family through embryo adoption... He and I were talking about it today in the car and I can't wait till he can really understand his own amazing miraculous story! 

And then this little rascal came to join us in bed... and that was the end of the peaceful resting!  He is all boy and never sits still... But he makes for many laughs!  I love love love every moment with both of them!  I am so thankful that we get to do preschool together this year... What a treat for this mama! Hopefully they would say the same thing:)

Have a blessed Monday friends... from Zay and Levi!!:)

Day by day...

UPDATE as of 1:30 mountain time today...

I am on my way to the medical records office in Phoenix for full medicals requested by Alabama... The Adoption agency director is REALLY going to bat for us to get Alabama to push it through today and then AZ to push it through possibly today... With the upcoming holiday this would be a HUGE  BLESSING... We are so grateful to her!   This is going to take a miracle since it has taken us this long to not even get through the first state yet... But God's knows and He is in control... :)

Original post:

As the days tick by... Some of us here in AZ awaiting the clearance of our interstate adoption paperwork to clear and some of us waiting 1800 miles away in IL., there are  lots of things happening for the 7 of the Hintzes back at home in Chilly Illinois...

Dad Getting little guys and hopie ready for school each day... 

High school boys taking care of preschool boys after school (They are such great brothers!)...

Snowy walks to church... 

Facetiming with mom, Anna, Jojo, and Kaliyah...

And on our end in sunny Arizona there is a lot happening for the 4 of us:)

Day trips to Sedona to catch a glimpse of God's beautiful creation... (The friends we are staying with had a job 20 minutes from Sedona, so we tagged along)
Long walks with toddlers...
School work with Anna and Jojo (YAY... Science is mostly completed for the year... all of our book science is done... now just observations and projects!!!)

Lots of snuggle time with precious baby Kaliyah:)

Sweet get together with precious friends...

We are so thankful that even though we left our house 3 1/2 weeks ago and have been separated for a lot of that time... God is blessing us all with sweet times and lots of memories being made!  

So here is the ICPC status... 

Basically tomorrow starts day 1... Yep, you read that right DAY 1!!! Even though we are post relinquishment by 17 days, it is still day 1... 

 God willing our packet will be sitting on the ICPC Alabama desk tomorrow sometime.  God willing she will pass it through maybe tomorrow or shortly there after...  We have found Alabama to be not so easy to get through... We had new affidavits that needed to be written up, signed and notarized, that will go from the Alabama lawyer (who knew we would need an Alabama lawyer????) and be in ICPC  possession tomorrow morning! 

With the ways things have gone there are any number of things that could happen.  There was even one mention of a family that had to take the baby back to the state of the birth mother before they could clear that state.  OH GOODNESS, Please pray she is gracious, (that she won't make us do that and) that she will find all the paperwork needed right in front of her, and that she will pass us through that state asap.  

Then we need to clear Arizona... We are HOPING  by Friday... 

Then we need to clear Illinois...  God willing that happens by next Wednesday... This is all BEST case scenario... :)

As always we know that it could happen that we are cleared mid next week... 

AND then again, it very well might not happen...

 Please continue to pray that God moves any mountains in the way... Pray for safety and protection of Greg and the kids back home and then for us here...  And pray for patience that we all can just take it all in stride...

WE KNOW THAT NONE OF THIS TAKES  THE LORD BY SURPRISE... He knows the exact time that we will get clearance.   It will all be in HIS perfect timing:) 

Fall fest...

We are so blessed to live right on campus where the church is at...

Never thought I would really like living right where Greg works or so close to where all the action happens...

But we love it!  We have a country like setting for the back yard, but yet are 5 minutes from pretty much anything we could need... that is a gift and something I don't take for granted... 

One of the HUGE blessings for us has been for our kids to be involved at the church school.  Hope attends first grade full time...

But Jojo and Anna can just pop over for a class here and there...

They are both doing PE this year and Anna is doing art... They also get to participate in extracurricular activities, like choir or cross country:) It is such a HUGE blessing!

This past week was our annual Fall Fest... 

It was a really fun day... We had lots of mom help in preschool and the older kids loved it too:)  

Jojo with his hot chocolate!

With my 2 favorite tigers!  

This llama was hilarious... And Isaiah was TOTALLY enamored with it!

They had pumpkin decorating, a bouncy house, hay ride, relay races, bowling with pumpkins, a petting zoo, and more...

 It was so much fun!  It was a beautiful day! 

God has given us such an incredible fall... It has been super warm... like beyond nice... 

As much as I love winter and the snow... This gorgeous weather has got me wondering if we are going to get hammered by the cold and snow this year... We will see:)

We are taking one day at a time and cherishing all the blessings God has for us each day!

They melt me...

While Greg was gone a couple of weeks ago... One of these lil' punkins joined me for the nights...  It didn't talk long till the other munchkin joined Levi and me:):)  

Can you stand the love?

They are the best little buddies and I am so blessed by them... 

How did we get the priveledge of being their parents:)??  So thankful!

The love for him just grows bigger...

I don't think I could be any more thankful for this sweet lady below... Levi's biological mom.  Not a day goes by that I am not overwhelmed with thankfulness for this precious little miracle God gave us and the sacrifice that was made on her part for us to have Levi in our lives! 

 A couple of weeks ago we met her family and Levi's biological grandma and cousin in the city to spend the day at the zoo... It was also the same day as the air show... Wow... what a show we got to see!  It was an absolutely beautiful day!

I think this is one of my favorite pictures... a little blurry... But two moms who love this boy so deeply!

Levi with his biological brother and sister.  Anna is actually a pen pal with Levi's bio sister.  They all have such a sweet time together... So much love for this little guy... Can you ever have too much love for your child?

Levi and Jojo at Lincoln Park Zoo in front of part of the city skyline!

Crack me up!  Levi with Hopie and his biological cousin!  She is a hoot!~

All of the girls!

The whole crew!  It was such a special day for us!

We even got to see the Blue Angels!  That was seriously like nothing I have ever seen... It was crazy amazing, so loud and so thrilling!

We are in awe of the handiwork of God to work a miracle in our lives through embryo adoption... but also when we see the beautiful creations he works everyday!

Overweis splash pad

Someone asked me today if we liked living in the country more than here in the suburbs...

It got me thinking...
The part of the property where we live with acres of soccer fields behind us... It is the best of both worlds... A piece of country right here in the big city!

And we are a 5 minute walk from the Oberweis Ice Cream shop and splash pad...

 Does it get any better??

Every day I am once again amazed by God's blessings in moving us here to Schaumburg...
We love it here:)

And clearly, so does Isaiah...

and Levi...

and the bathing beauties Anna and smiley Hope...

and our sweet Jojo...

These were taken a couple of weeks back... and goodness we have now had a cold spell!

We are hoping for some pool or splash pad days soon:)

Nutella beard

He melts me!
Every single day he melts me...

Whether it is the Nutella beard, or how he remarks, "I didn't see THAT one comin!"  This kid is hilarious, sweet, and such a love bug!

Levi Ryan, One of a kind, for sure:)

Family is more than blood...

And this is how we found them early in the morning last week... Heart melter!!!

We are family!  

We are different...

We don't all look or act the same...

But God creatively wove us together...

Biology makes us family... Adoption makes us family... Sacrificing birth mama's made us family... Setting aside fears made us a family...

God made us a family... I could never have dreamt it up to be any better...

Are we perfect... NO way!! 

But we love him first, then each other...

Thankful and blessed!!

This is what is keeping us busy...

The weather has been perfect this week for some great pool time... We have been so blessed to be able to purchase a family pool pass for the last few summers... I think if we go three times we have it paid for... We have already been twice this week... 

And seriously, the place is great for kids of all ages... splash pad and kiddie pool for the littles, a pool,  and a couple of slides for the bigs:)  Grateful mama here:)

Anna finishes off the soccer season with a tournament this weekend... I think she has found her niche... She is leading the team in scoring:)  She is fast and furious... but slightly out of control... Totally just like I was when I played soccer... 

 These two are pretty much in separable... Church buddies, soccer buddies and pretty much down right silly buddies:)

And this little character is pretty much hands down the reason I struggle to get anything accomplished during the day... 

He thought it was a great idea to mix the already cooked pancakes with a drumstick... 

BUSY, CURIOUS... NON STOP is this little guy!  But I wouldn't trade it for the world... 

So while the big guys are away in Haiti, our days have pretty much been filled with...

Pool time... Cleaning up after the littles... some house organizing... soccer... More cleaning up after the littles... ordering school books for fall... late night movies with Anna and Jo...  A few moments of me time when I get out for a run... Some more cleaning up after the littles...

But like I said, I wouldn't trade it for the world... 

These kids are my greatest joy!