1,073 Miles

That is how far it is from my doorstep to this little man:

Bennett and his Teddy

Gosh how I miss him!

Dear Blogging World. Sorry I have been so distant. It’s not you. It’s me. And the fact that I have been insanely busy.

Now, to refresh our memories, last we left off I shocked the world and let everyone know that I am a Birth Mom. So we will get back and I am sure bits and pieces of my story will weave itself in and out of my postings. But for the moment I will bring you up-to-speed on what has gone on since Mother’s Day.

I was able to spend a great amount of time with my Adoptive Couple before coming up to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to work over the summer. They had a Baby Shower for Bennett at the end of April and it was a blessing to be there. I was also able to invite several of my close friends of St. George, so it was a wonderful gathering. And the chocolate-covered-pretzels definitely didn’t hurt.

Oh. For the record, finals went well. I won’t even get in to the emotional distress my Wednesday evening class caused me.

Sorry, sorry. I am bouncing around everywhere. Let’s try this:

REWIND:

Ok. So I’m Jaylene. I’m a Canadian who is currently attending College in Utah. I switched from Nursing to Accounting, and it’s been wonderful. I found out I was pregnant August 2010 and gave birth to a long, skinny, perfect little boy on April 8, 2011. As I have mentioned, he is adopted by a wonderful couple, Jared & Amy. You will find that we have a very Open Adoption, and it is truly an amazing blessing in our lives.

I am now in Edmonton, Alberta, where I will be working over the summer to battle my horrific Student Loans (if only we could duke it out with lightsabers, it’d be a cinch). I will return to Utah in the fall to finish my Accounting program and I cannot wait to see that little Monster again. (His womb-name was Monster, so that is interchangeable with Bennett for future reference.)

A little bit more about Jared & Amy. They are a sensational couple and have been married for 13 years. They have no biological children of their own, but they will be adopting Bennett and they also have a 3.5 yr old that they have fostered for a year and are now able to adopt. So by the end of this year they will have not one son, but two! And I think that is just divine. Literally. It’s divine. Haha.

So ya. Let’s try this again. I was able to spend a lot of time with Jared & Amy and the boys before I started my long drive up to the land of Poutine and Maple Syrup. I was able to split up the trip over the course of a few days and spend some time with friends along the way, so it was great. And Heavenly Father blessed me with overcast skies and cool temperatures because He knows I don’t have Air Conditioning in my car and driving for 11 hours with no A/C would have been the death of me.

I arrived in Edmonton last Thursday and it’s been…different. In my life I have done a lot of traveling, and this is the first time I have returned to somewhere that I have already left. So I feel as though I am moving backwards, even though my life is still progressing forwards. It’s the Twilight Zone really, I’m back in my old city, with my old job and old co-workers, hanging out with old friends, using my old phone with the same number, it’s like the last year and a half never happened. And then it kicks in, ‘Oh yeah, I had a baby and I go to school in Utah.’ Haha. Oh well. It is what it is.

And this summer will be GREAT! I won’t lie though, I am very torn. I am so excited to be back in Edmonton in the YSA scene and catching up with old friends (and family, hopefully, Saskatchewan get ready!) and all that fun stuff, but I do miss Bennett. How can you NOT miss that face?! It is hard to know that he is doing cute little baby things, each day getting bigger and stronger and I am missing those moments. But I still have an uber-strong testimony that Adoption was the right decision for Bennett and me. We have an eternal bond and I will be able to snuggle the heck out of that boy when I go back to Utah in August.

So yes. This first week back in Edmonton was great. I have been able to meet some great new people and spend time with my favourite old people. Fine, fine, old friends. Whatever. Work was good, I am back in my groove and it should be a nice fit for the summer months. My housing situation is good. I went to Superstore a few days ago to buy all these wonderful groceries for meals Michelle (roommate) and I are planning…aaaaaaaaand…we have yet to cook anything. Maybe tonight. Maybe not. No promises people.

And today is also a pretty special day because I will be posting the link to this blog on my F’book Page, so A LOT of people who don’t know about Bennett will have the opportunity to read about him for the first time. So that is intensely terrifying. And also very exciting.

For my dear friends who feel as though they have been left in the dark for 10 months: You have. I’m sorry, but that was the way the cookie crumbled. I was in Utah and it was a very sensitive situation and I felt the need to handle things on my own. Don’t worry; I did have support from a very select few. If you feel you should have been in that group and were not included, please don’t be offended. I didn’t tell my own MOTHER until I was 8 months pregnant. So. It wasn’t just you. It was everyone. Heavenly Father was kind enough to put secret-angel-agents in my life and He was with me every step of the way, so I had a wonderful pregnancy and birth and the whole experience has been a miracle.

I look forward to sharing my experience up to this point as well as anything onwards with those I love as well as anyone who trips upon this blog. It will be a great time and I am so very thankful for the experiences that I have been given. So for now, I am safe in Edmonton, I am a Birth Mom, and here are some pictures from my last few weeks in Utah. Everyone have an amazing weekend (here in Canada it’s Victoria Day long-weekend! Yay!) and as always, if you have any comments or questions, I would love to hear them.

‘Lene

My Girls at Bennett's Shower (April, myself, Bennett, Annie, Robyn)

Snoozing at the Shower

Bennett Jayce