Abigail Amanda Garrett

Abigail Amanda Garrett
born: 10:28 AM, February 10, 2008
weight: 4 lbs, 4 ounces
length: 16.5 inches

Enjoy the photos:

Baby Garrett Born

Baby Garrett was born at 10:28 this morning in Ogden Utah. Her name remains undetermined. Photographs will be forthcoming. For now you'll have to settle for my poor description. Baby Garrett weighs in at 4 pounds 4 ounces and is 16.5 inches long. She has brown hair and long fingers. She is a bit early but a perfectly healthy little girl. We dont have a name yet because we're waiting until we can see her, and as of yet we've only had a couple minutes with her. We're trying to patiently wait for Amanda, the birth mother, and her family to have their time with her first. Amanda's mother is really having a tough time letting go of this little girl, but she and her family know it is the right decision. It is obvious to us that Amanda is acting out of love for the child more than anything else. Baby Garrett is so fortunate to have two families that love her so much. It has almost been six hours since she was born and we're very anxious to see her, but we understand that Amanda and her family need their time first. Once we get to spend time with her we'll decide her name and take some photographs and videos. You can be sure I'll have them up on the blog as soon as possible. Check back for updates.

As requested, by Amanda, the final nursery photos are now online. The nursery is complete except for the soft fluffy chair that will go next to the crib. We already ordered it and it should arrive in three weeks. The chair is a white antique wood with big green pillows that perfectly match the green in the crib. So without further delay,... the photos:

Here Jen tapes the wall in preparation for the painting (but dont let the photo fool you, Matt spent plenty of time in there).

The crib with bedding and the painted wall. I think we'll get a chocolate brown bed sheet to go over the currently white mattress.

Here is a close up of one corner. Note the sharp tight brown paint. Yup, that is my work. I'm very proud. I cant believe how clean the lines are. The secret is to tape off the area you want to paint, paint a base coat that is the same as the color underneath (to seal off the tape), and then paint with the color you want to see.

And finally, here is the bookshelf turned storage unit and the former desk turned changing table. We'll put a cloth over the plastic table that matches the room, and an elevated changing pad so I dont have to hunch over too far.

Anticipation...

Well, we're about one month away from Amanda's due date. We're very excited. We also resumed school last week but we just can't seem to focus on that when there is a baby coming. We just sent Amanda a small package with photos and can't wait to see her in a few weeks. We still need to paint the nursery but we've got the crib and everything ready to go. All we're missing is the pastel paint on the walls. Jen has a baby shower coming up on February 9th, and then after the birth the girls at my department want to throw an after-baby shower. Mostly they tell me they just want to see the little girl and the shower is just a cover for them to swoon.

So I should tell you that you are being tracked. I just installed a new feature on this blog site called Google analytics. Essentially it allows Google to track this site--who visits, where they come from, how long they stay, if they are first time visitors, where in the world they are accessing the Internet, etc. It is incredibly fun to log onto my stats and see that somebody in Utah, near American Fork, spent some time on the blog just the other day. I guess it means the pressure is on to make sure that I get good photos and some interesting commentary because Amanda, her family, or friends were probably reading this. We also got a hit from somebody in Las Vegas, and since they connected to our site from a similar blog maintained by friends in Vegas, we're pretty sure we know who it is--Natalie. What a fun tool.

Well, I should stop procrastinating schoolwork. Today I read The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution and to my disgust I enjoyed the book (I usually hate political history). Now I've got to write a paper on that so I must conclude.

Oh, one other update. We spoke in stake conference last Sunday. That was a bit intimidating. Fortunately I only had to fill six minutes. Jen was assigned eight (they know who the spiritual powerhouse in the family is). We were asked to speak about trials drawing us closer to the savior and service. It went over well. We also got to see two friends visiting from Nebraska who attended conference. Before it started he came up to the stand and said, "Matt, don't say anything stupid."

On that note I'll end this post. Thanks for reading. I'll get some photos up soon.

Happy New Year!

As I look back on 2007 I must conclude that it was a great year. We purchased a house, Jen and I completed most of our coursework, and Amanda selected us to adopt her baby. Things could not be any better. We met Amanda a couple weeks ago and it was fantastic. After our first face-to-face meeting she invited us to the hospital where they ran a few tests and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat. The nurses say she is very active. We've not settled on a name yet, but the leading candidates are Abigail, Adalyn, Sydney, and Hayden. We want to use Amanda for the middle name, but we may use Rae instead (Amanda's middle name). We think Amanda is wonderful and would like the baby to know about her from the start. Our plan is to introduce photos of Amanda just like we would other family members, and teach names and relations as the child grows.

We've been gathering cloths and furniture for the nursery. Jen's sister Tiffany has twin girls and two of everything, so we now have lots of cloths for a 0-1 year old. Tiff has good fashion sense so we appreciate all the clothes. They would cost a ton to purchase. Also, we did purchasae some furniture at IKEA and painted an old bookshelf white to match.




The nursery will probably get painted a light pastel green or yellow--Tinkerbell is our motivation but we'll keep her images to a minimum. We both love Disney so there will be some of that in the room, but again, we're also minimalists so that stuff will be limited.

Today we're off to Baby's R Us with our new found 15% off coupon. We still need to purchase a crib and a sliding/rocking chair. Thank goodness my mom gave us a lump of cash for Christmas. It was specifically addressed to the baby. That makes much of this possible. LDS Services is a very inexpensive compared to other adoption agencies, but it is still pretty pricey for a couple of graduate students. That, with all the materials to prepare for a baby, can break the bank. It is a good thing we have such generous family and friends.

Thanksgiving and Christmas in LA

We spent Thanksgiving in Los Angeles with my family. Most of our time was spent watching football and finishing our schoolwork. I typed out a 25 page paper during our three days in LA and watched the ASU, NU, and BYU games. We also visited our good friends Mike and Jenny, and their little girl. We went miniature golfing at Golf-N-Stuff, which contributed a scene to the original Karate Kid movie.

We're now back in Tempe and finishing up school. The term technically runs until December 15 or so, but I will be completely finished before the end of November. Jen is pretty jealous. Then on December 14 we head up to Moscow, Idaho, to meet Amanda. We're anxious to get to know her and her family. We are so grateful for her decision to allow us to adopt her baby girl.

For Christmas we'll be in LA again, and Jen's parents will fly in for a few days. Usually we spend that holiday with them in Washington, but this year we're rotating my parents in for Christmas. Then we'll return for school in early January, prepare our home for a baby, and return to schoolwork. I've only got two classes left, exams, and my dissertation (which will take a couple years). Jen has about six classes and will complete them over the next two semesters as a part-time student, then complete her exams and final document. She'll graduate in Spring 2010, and I'm expecting to finish a year later.

Its Baby Time

The good news is finally here! We've been waiting for years and a young woman named Amanda just selected us to adopt her baby. We're so excited! All we know so far is that Amanda is seventeen, she lives somewhere near Spokane, Washington, and she is expecting a baby girl on February 25, 2008. We also know that she printed our LDS services profile and thought and prayed over it for a while.

We first found out a couple weeks ago, but information was so slow to come that we were not sure we could really trust that this was for real. We didn't want to get our hopes up until we knew that she really did select us. Now we've sent her a personal email and are anticipating one back from her soon. We have so many questions for her I don't even know where to start. But we'll keep the blog updated as info becomes available.

Other news.... Is there really any other news that is half as interesting? No, not really, but here it is anyway. Jen is still dutifully pounding away at schoolwork. She's on a mission to complete as much as possible before the baby arrives so that she can still finish her program. She only needs a couple more classes after this semester, and she'll work on those part time as I finish up mine. I have two more classes, exams, and then the big dissertation. It looks like my dissertation will deal, ironically enough, with LDS services. I'm going to look at the Church's Indian Student Placement Program (1946-1996), though I've not yet decided if that will be my focus or just one of the several educational programs used by Navajos in the latter half of the twentieth century.

So I guess that is it for now. Look for more to come...

Our new piano arrived! This old girl belonged to Jen's grandmother who passed away a year ago. Her oldest child inherited this 1921 Steinway M but did not have the space for it, so it is on indefinite loan to his oldest child--Jen. But don't be to shocked by the name and date because pianos actually depreciate over time, and this one needs thousands of dollars in repair so it will be a little while before Jen is using it regularly. Right now that is her justification for keeping her upright (also in the photo). Any minute now I need to go pick up the new block I had made to lock in the left leg currently secured by a piano bench and stack of books. Even still, we're excited to have this piece of history in our home.

Paintball

Thursday I went paintballing with the youth from church. We drove out to a field on the southeast side of the valley and had a lot of fun. I made the mistake of charging into a crossfire to save a game, and I'm still paying for it. Most of my welts come from that foolish run. Two days later my muscles are very sore. It hurts to get up and down, and Jen likes to poke and punch my quads.... I hurt.

Back from Olkahoma City

I just got back from Oklahoma City. The annual meeting of the Western History Association met there this year and it was fun to see old friends again. The four-day conference is composed of a variety of panel presentations and a few special events and meals. I also got to meet several of my heroes. My friend and mentor Donald Fixico received the Native American Achievement Award for his life long contribution to Native American history. I was there representing my institution and a resource project I'm currently running to assist teachers and professors who work in Native American history. Overall it was a great experience.

On another note, for the third week in a row my blackshirts (the Nebraska Cornhuskers' defense) allowed over 400 yards--ug! The offense looked equally miserable, maybe even worse. I'm a little worried that the rest of the season will be really ugly. Good thing BYU looks good, so I'll have a winning team to follow.

Other news??? We are getting a grand piano next week. Jen and I are really excited. It is a family piano that her father inherited but has no space to keep. Right now Jen is trying to convince me that we should keep the old piano as well, but I'm not quite convinced yet.

Summer is Over... Now Back to School

Well, the summer is finally over and school has resumed. I'm pleased to say that after the past three years of graduate work my final year looks like it will be much easier. I'm looking forward to having more free time to spend how ever we want.

Here are a few final photos from this summer's escapades:

Here Jen stands triumphant over the remains of a massive vine hedge (formerly 3 feet wide, 6 feet tall, 50 feet long). We spent two days cutting it down and ripping out the extensive root system. In the process we found all sorts of odd items buried in the vines--children's toys, Christmas lights, and a beer can or two (we don't drink). Jen is standing on one of the smaller posts that further complicated the fence removal.

Here is the new fence we built in place of the old nasty vine covered fence. The gate was not yet hung when we took this picture, but now it is all done. All that is left is for our grass to grow and fill in the dirt patches that we dug up while removing vine roots.

And finally, here is Jen with one of the twins, making a lovely face.