God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die....

This quote stood out to me especially since I got my new calling.  Oh you haven't heard?  I am the new Relief Society President in my ward.  I know what you're thinking.  Yikes!!! right?  I am pretty sure there should be an age requirement for this calling, and I should always be below it because of my maturity level.  Oh well.  This quote is from Calvin and Hobbes, one of the best comic strips ever and my husband's personal favorite. The cartoon Calvin reminds me of Josh a lot actually. Because he is obviously really intelligent-but he likes to be immature, cause mischief, play rough and do things that adults don't normally do. Sound familiar to anyone who knows my husband? Anyway, my sister Charlotte had her baby eight days before Berlin was born, and she named him Calvin. He is a cute little BIG chunk. He's super mellow and always happy unless he's hungry. Here are the cousins together in June.  Auntie Audra is holding them-I cut her head off because I am a way good photographer.

Anyways. these photos below illustrate the personality differences between Calvin and Berlin.  Basically, Calvin is mellow and happy and Berlin has multiple personalities.  Okay, not really, but sometimes it seems that way.  Berlin will provide the captions.  But first, a little synopsis of the photo shoot. Calvin has just woken up from his nap.  I thought it would be fun to take some pictures of Berlin and Calvin side by side.  These pictures are all taken within about a minute, and Berlin's face is never the same.

Picture #1-My mom laid me in my play pen and there's someone else already in it!  WAH!

Picture # 2-Ooh, a fan!

Picture # 3- I like fans.

Picture # 4-My mom is making funny faces at me so I will make one back.  Do you think this new guy is a little freaked out by this?

Picture # 5-Hey new guy?  Do you see me?  I can see you if I look like this!

Picture # 6-Mom, I am trying to smile good, I promise!  You are just taking the picture at the wrong time.

Picture # 7-Hmm, I like this soft blanket the other kid has.

Picture # 8-There's my mom again trying to make silly faces so we will smile.  

Picture # 9-Mom!  Get me out of here!  I don't want to do this anymore!

Baby steps get on the bus, baby steps down the aisle, baby steps...

Hi everybody, Berlin here.  These are a LOT of pictures showing what I have been up to the past month.  And if my mom ever gets on the ball, she will post more often.  I don't know what her problem is, I have been sleeping through the night for like THREE weeks now!  She's kinda lazy when it comes to blogging if you ask me.  Anyways, pay attention and I will explain the photos.

HANGING WITH DAD

I like my Dad pretty good now.  He does really goofy faces and he tries to talk to me when I talk.  He makes all sorts of silly noises.  It's pretty darn funny.  We can talk for 5-10 minutes back and forth.  He also dances with me and takes me outside to see the horses and the doggies.  In general, he is a lot more fun than Mom.  But that's probably because Mom does all the dirty work, like diapers.  Plus, Mom feeds me, so I still like her.

Dad had too many carrot sticks in his lunch one day, so he gave them to me to play with.  They are the perfect size for my little hands to hold onto and they're fun to suck on.  My Mom took them away though, and then I think the horses ate them.

This is me and my Dad on Father's Day.  Mom was trying to get a good picture of both of us smiling. It didn't work; this is the best we came up with.

STRETCHING

I am pretty wiggly most of the time, and I like to lay on the bed and kick my legs and stretch my arms.  But this picture is on here because I wanted you to see my pirate shorts.  I am not sure how I feel about them, as you can see by my expression. Ahoy Matey!

So when I first started stretching, I would only stretch one arm at a time.  Here's the left one-

And now the right. Nana (Liz's mom) calls it my Hitler stretch.  I don't do it much anymore because now I stretch both arms at the same time.

But just so you remember that I used to do this, here is one more when I am awake.

SMILING

I smile all the time now, but my favorite time to smile is in the morning.  And it's a good thing too, because my mom needs to be cheered up some days.  She is not a morning person like me and Dad.  

I like swinging!

It's really fun!

Look how cute I am!

Chilling in the tub-I love taking baths.  So far, I don't like swimming in the pool though.  Too COLD!

How you doing?

Seriously, you should try swinging, it's great!

STICKING OUT MY TONGUE

My mom is always sticking her tongue out at me, and she thinks it is SO funny when I do it back.  She is easily amused. I humor her most of the time and play along.

This feels kind of weird.

MY HAIR ACCESSORIES

Bless her heart, my mom tries to make me look cute every day.  But some of these things are just TOO BIG and I don't like them!  Maybe when I get a little bigger I will like them better.  But for the time being, I think the rule of thumb should be: If the flower is bigger than my face, I shouldn't be wearing it.

This one is okay.  I do look like a Christmas present when I wear it, but it is comfortable and I will wear it all day.  I think this one is my mom's favorite because it's orange.

This one is pushing it.

Umm...Mom? Please refer to the rule I just made.

Seriously Mom?  My aunt Charlotte called this monstrosity an anemone.  That's a sea sponge (like the one Nemo lives in).   Don't feel bad, my Mom didn't know what it was either.  On another note, doesn't my complexion look awesome in this picture?

Now that's more like it.  I can wear these forever and they never bug me. 

These are good too, not too big or too tight.

Oh boy!  Here we go again.  (Mom's note-this is of course a joke.  Most of these flowers and bows were gifts from very talented women and I love them all, which is why Berlin wears them.)

THUMB SUCKING

I was born sucking my thumb, so if Mom doesn't have a pacifier for me, I know how to use it.

Sometimes when I am sleeping, I think "Hmm...I wish I had something in my mouth right now."

 "I think I would stay sleeping if I could have something to suck on. Hmm, what should I use?"   

"Oh wait!  My thumb is built right into my hand!  Lucky!"

I am super cute when I sleep.

HOLDING STUFF

Usually, it's my burp cloth; I like to hold it while I eat.  And I have a really good grip-my doctor said so.  But my mom's friend Amanda gave me this, and I really like it.  And I'm pretty adorable when I hold it, if I do say so myself.

Well, that's all folks.  Stay tuned for my next post, with my special guest star-Cousin Calvin.

She did a doodle; your turn to change her. I'll give you a thousand dollars if you'll do it.

We're alive!  So, I promised the story of the adoption and here it is, mixed with some cute pictures of Berlin from the last six weeks, in categories and chronological order.  Yes, I am OCD. But as my friend Baylee says, it should be called CDO, so that the letters are in alphabetical order.

Here she is just lying around

4/21

4/24

4/29

5/3

5/10

Now, wait for it!

Here it comes...

Big Smiles!

5/22

Okay, so on Wednesday, April 13th, Liz called me to tell me she was on her way to the hospital.  She had gone to the Doctor that afternoon and he decided to send her to the hospital because of severe swelling and high blood pressure.  She still wasn't dilated at all and Berlin hadn't dropped yet, so she knew she was in for a long night.  She wanted to try to have the baby normally if possible so she wouldn't have as long of a recovery.  Anyway, her mom called me around 7:00 that night and told us nothing was really happening and to just come to Phoenix in the morning.  So that is what we did.  I didn't get much sleep, mainly because I was so excited.  We left our house on Thursday, April 14th, at 5:00 AM, picked up some breakfast burritos in Globe, and got to the hospital at 8:30.  

Pause for more pictures...sleeping this time. And for the record, I do not pose my baby, she comes up with this stuff on her own.

 4/24

 4/27

 4/27

 5/3

5/6

 5/7 

5/13

5/17

5/17

 5/21

5/23

So they induced Liz and did all sorts of unpleasant things to try to start the labor, but Berlin wasn't really cooperating.  So, around 5:00 PM Liz's doctor came in to talk options.  She could continue to try having the baby vaginally or do a c-section.  The entire day, Liz's swelling and blood pressure issues remained a concern, and they weren't going away, so she didn't have the option to go home and wait.  Her doctor recommended the c-section because of a lot of factors.  Liz decided to follow his recommendation, and got prepped for the c-section.  They only allow one person in the operating room with the mother, so Liz's mom went in with her.  But Liz's nurse said she would come and get me after Berlin was born, even though it was technically against the rules.

Okay, now for some funny shots!

Yawning

4/24

5/10

Punching- she likes to do this in her bouncer while wearing her mittens that coincidentally look like baby boxing gloves, haha!

4/25

5/8

Story Time-CUTEST THING EVER!  She loves it when we read to her, especially Josh; she likes his voice.

5/14-one month old

Bath Time-Berlin loves her bath A LOT

4/23

5/26

After bath time-she DOES NOT like to get out

4/27

5/26

Is it bad that these make me laugh?

 My Personal Favorite-plotting to take over the world...or maybe just our lives!

 4/25

Liz was taken back to the c-section operating room at 7:37 PM and Berlin was born at 7:44 PM.  Those c-section deliveries are fast!  Liz's mom said Berlin was sucking her thumb when she came out.  She was 8 lbs 13 oz and 19.5 inches long, and she looked really cute from the very beginning.   When they took Liz back, a different nurse told us to go wait back out to the waiting room and she said I wouldn't be able to see Berlin until Liz was back in her room.  So we waited, and then Julie, Liz's mom, came and got me.  She said the nurse sent her to get me.  Anyway, I got back there, and they had just finished cleaning Berlin and were taking some vitals.  Liz was coming out of the anesthesia, so the nurse let me hold Berlin and feed her a bottle. Then I took Berlin over to Liz so she could see her and hold her since she hadn't yet.  We just talked about how Berlin is like the cutest baby ever.  The minute Berlin heard Liz's voice, she started looking around for her. It was pretty special to be back there.  Liz said when she saw me holding her, she knew I was supposed to be her mom, and the same thing happened when Josh held her for the first time.  That was such a HUGE blessing for all of us.  Liz was downright amazing from this point on.  

I never once wondered if she was going to change her mind after she had Berlin.  The caseworker told us that birth moms really have to make the decision to place their child twice: before the birth and then again after.  Liz made this look easy and I couldn't have asked for a better birth mom in those four days between birth and placement.  She was INCREDIBLE!  We had a pretty great time!  

Picture interruption-these are her sitting up, just chilling.

5/9

5/14-One Month Old!

 5/17

 5/17

 5/20

On Monday, April 18th, Liz signed the papers relinquishing her rights as Berlin's mom. She seemed to do it with ease, even though I know it had to be really tough.  Berlin slept through the whole thing.  Liz has great faith in Heavenly Father and I am so grateful for that.  It is a humbling experience for someone else to choose you to raise a child they carried and delivered into this world.  I can't really wrap my head around it even now.  But I am so grateful there are wonderful, courageous women who do it every day, all for the love of their child.  We love Liz, and all the other birth moms out there.  And we love our little Berlin so much.  It's been a fun challenging experience so far, and we are excited to be her parents!

4/18

4/18

4/18

Our Little Family