Nuestros milagros.
Milagro #1.
Rebekah
Recuerdo que durante nuestra recepcion de la boda, mi Tia Sandy me susurro: "mi consejo para ti? Espera un tantito para tener hijos". Y si, esperamos...unos 3 meses! Decidimos que ya era hora para un bebe. Yo ya habia terminado mis estudos y Oliver estaba comenzando. Cuan dificil podria ser? Supuestamente Rebekah iba a nacer el dia de nuestro aniversario, pero menos mal que espero unos dias mas para llegar aqui a este mundo. En mi opinion, el nacimiento de cada bebe es un milagro. Rebekah, siendo nuestro primogenita, aun es un milagro tierno para mi. Rebekah es todo lo que hubiese querido ser cuando yo tenia su edad: tiene mucho talento, es inteligente, y bella. Bueno, es cierto que no es perfecta. Su cuarto es un desastre. Se queja para practicar instrumentos. Y es un poco floja. Pero seria aburrida si fuera perfecta! Rebekah tiene 12 anos y la manera en que escogimos su nombre era especial. Antes de casarnos, Oliver y yo estabamos conversando. Yo le dije que yo queria nombrar a nuestro primero hijo por mi abuelo, que habia fallecido unos 2 anos antes. El estaba de acuerdo, pero solo si podria nombrar a nuestra perima hija. Yo dije que si (aunque, vamos. Si no me hubiese gustado el nombre, quizas no lo hubiese permitido...) Unos dias despues, Oliver me llamo por telefono y me dijo bien animado: "Tengo el nombre...sera Rebekah!" Ahora bien. El no lo sabia, pero yo tenia una conexion espiritual con ese nombre. Y esa experiencia para mi, sello el acuerdo. Yo SABIA que el era el hombre para mi!
Milagro #2
Christian
Every parent should have a child like Christian. Maybe it’s because of health struggles from the time he was young (asthma, tubes in his ears, emergency surgery on his neck, corrective surgery on his feet), but he has such a meek & kind personality. He is always obedient (okay, 99% of the time) and always helpful. He is uber smart, a voracious reader, a lover of Star Wars, Legos, Harry Potter, BYU, and Jimmer Fredette. He’s named after my Grandpa Christian, who passed away in 1995. Christian and I share a love of food & cooking. He loves to fish with his Papa. He loves watching BYU sports with his Dad. Christian is 10 years old.
Miracle #3
Joseph
Joseph is fun. Joseph is wild. Joseph is our comic relief. We always picture him in heaven, waiting after Christian was born, stomping his foot and saying “I. Want. To. Go. Down. NOW!!!” I found out I was pregnant with Joseph on 9/11. THE 9/11. It was late that night and Oliver had konked out on the couch, exhausted after a day of staying glued to the TV. I did a home pregnancy test, and I still remember standing there with tears in my eyes, thinking that God was so good. That even amidst all the darkness and evil in the world, there was so much good. My good that day came in the form of knowing that there was life growing inside of me. Oh, by the way, Christian was 5 months old when I became pregnant with Joseph. We named Joseph after the Prophet Joseph Smith. We were discussing names one day on our way home from the doctor, and because Rebekah & Christian’s names were so meaningful to us, we wanted this boys’ name to be as well. And then it came to me. Oliver’s twin brother had given him a pamphlet entitled “Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith”. The first time Oliver read it, he knew it was true. Because of his membership in thechurch, and having served a mission….we met. We always called Joseph our angel baby. Life was kind of crazy with 3 kids under 3, and Joseph was the picture of perfection. Until he hit 1. Then, unfortunately, we had to change his nickname to “Stitch”. Because he got into EVERYTHING. Destroyed EVERYTHING. I could not keep up with him. We lived in a little 600 sq ft apartment (Wymount anyone?) and I spent my day moving from room to room cleaning up after him. But what a joy he is. He still keeps me on my toes. Joseph is super talented, super athletic, a huge BYU fan, and a stinker who loves to torment his siblings. Joseph is 9 years old.
Miracle #4
Emily
Emily was born #4 of 4. She’s now #9 of 10. But she’s definitely the baby of the family and gets her way like no one else does. Emily was a difficult pregnancy for me. I had gestational diabetes with Emily and she was also my 4th and final c-section. When my doctor told me that I shouldn’t have any more children, I was heartbroken; but it also made me savor every experience with my pregnancy & birth…knowing it would be my last. Emily is a delight to be around. She loves to sing, and dance, and read, and play soccer. She laughs like no other child I’ve ever met. She’s a ball of energy. She goes and goes from the moment she wakes up until the second her head hits the pillow at night. Nothing in our house is safe from Emily, because she feels it’s her god-given right to get into anything in our home. Food, drawers, siblings stuff….doesn’t matter. It’s all hers. But boy does she make life fun. She says the funniest things & absolutely keeps me on my toes. When I was pregnant with Emily, as a family we were talking about names. Rebekah suggested “Emily” for her name & all of the kids loved it! Emily is 6 years old.
Miracle #5
Jacob
As soon as I knew that we couldn’t have any more children, I immediately started looking into adoption. We knew we weren’t done having children and so we had to find another avenue to complete our family. We talked about adoption prior to getting married…in passing. Finding Jacob was no less than a miracle. Jacob is #10. He’s the real baby of the family. Jacob loves eating (no lie, despite his little body, this boy can out eat almostanyone in the family!), he loves to jump on the trampoline, loves to ride his bike, and loves to do whatever his older brothers & sisters are doing. He constantly kisses people, anywhere, on their hand, leg, cheek….and after the kiss he says “I wub you soooo much!” He loves to hug, loves to wrestle and has become the pride and joy of our family. Okay, except when he wakes up at 6am on Saturday mornings. For 3 years, every Friday & Saturday night Oliver will explain to him “tomorrow we don’t have to get up early. You can stay in your room and play until you hear ‘breakfast time!’ Do NOT come out of your room!” And invariably, the first sound we hear is Jacob’s bedroom door opening and closing, checking to see if he can come out yet. Jacob’s name story is unique. When a child is adopted through foster care, you have the option of changing their birth name. When we read Jacob’s file and saw that his birth name was the same as his birth father, we decided to change it. Oliver & I talked long and hard in the airport, prior to returning home to our children. The name we settled on in the airport was Jacob. It resonated with us. When we got home we told them all about Jacob & Arturo, and explained that we were going to change Jacob’s name. We asked the kids what name they thought we should choose. The first name out of Rebekah’s mouth was “Jacob!”, and one of the other kids chimed in with “yeah, like the brother of Nephi!” We decided to take it as a sign, that his name should indeed be Jacob. Jacob is 5 years old.
Miracle #6
Arturo
Arturo is a miracle child. When we first started investigating adoption through the foster care system, we were appalled at how many children are available for adoption. It didn’t take us long for our hearts to open to the idea of a sibling group, even though we started out wanting to adopt only one child. Jacob & Arturo were a package deal in the most beautiful sense of the word. They are so blessed that they were never split up in foster care. Even today, the bond between the two of them is undeniable. We decided not to change Arturo’s name because Arturo is an Alfaro family name. Oliver’s twin brother is named Arturo, as is one of his sons, and their father, and their grandfather. When they first came to us, Arturo’s speech was severely delayed. We were amazed that from day one of changing Jacob’s name, Arturo took right to it, and never once called him by his birth name again. His pronunciation was endearing. He would say “Yay-o, Yay-o” over and over again. We soon discovered that Arturo had probably had chronic ear infections that were never taken care of. Due to his garbled language, Jacob & Arturo developed their own system of communication that only they understood. It was hilarious listening to them talk and understand each other, when NO ONE else could. Today, I am so grateful for the army of educators that have blessed his life in the past 3 years. When he first came to us, I had serious concerns about his ability to be successful in school. To listen to him now (he never shuts up!) you would never guess the journey he’s been on in the past few years. Arturo is very athletic, loves to ride his bike, his scooter, and jump on the trampoline. He loves to play with action figures, and legos. He has, however, spent more time in time out than any other child in this household. He is ALWAYS into something. I love Arturo and am so grateful he’s a part of our family. Arturo is 6 years old.
Miracle #7
Blanca
Blanca is an amazing, resilient individual. And she is a miracle. Her 12 years on this earth started out as a pretty rocky road for the first 9. She had a rough experience with her birth family, an even rougher time in foster care, and then she landed here. When Blanca came to us, she had moved around so much that not only was she a year behind in school, she had a ton of gaps in her understanding of basic concepts. She had been diagnosed with dyslexia, and her report card was riddled with C’s & D’s. None of which, of course, was her fault. And so we gingerly placed her in the loving hands of special education teachers and have watched this girl bloom. She has progressed more in the past two years than most people do in a lifetime. A shy, self-conscious, 9 year old has been replaced by a confidant, smiling 12 year old. Her report card now proudly boasts A’s & B’s. She loves playing the flute in band. She begged for and received (yes, go ahead, question my sanity) a dog, whom she tenderly feeds, walks, and daily cleans up after. Once unable to coordinate her own outfit, now she daily not only takes care of herself, but is also in charge of helping younger siblings with homework, bathes Jacob & Arturo, and is my go-to girl for help around the house. She LOVES to cook and is quite good at it too.
Miracle #8
Nicole
Nicole is a wonderful girl. She can most often be seen riding her bike around the neighborhood, often stopping to play with little children who all know her by name. She wants to be an elementary school teacher when she grows up. There are some children that you have to teach them to be kind to other children and to help out. Not Nicole. She has an innate ability to entertain and care for other children. She loves to invent games for and play with children. She has a wonderful ability to draw in otherwise shy kids and help them have a fun time. Nicole came to us with several behavioral challenges and has made amazing strides in the past couple of years. She loves to sing and listen to music. She participates in the school choir.
Miracle #9
Summer
There are a million things I could say about Summer. I still remember the first weekend we met her. When we came home, we announced to the family “we found Joseph’s twin!” They were so alike in temperament, likes, dislikes, personalities, etc. we could hardly believe it. Joseph & Summer were inseparable for those first 6 months. They did EVERYTHING together. It was such a testimony to me that sibling bonds are not always created by being formed in the same womb. Summer is such a hard worker. Summer also has dyslexia, but we feel blessed that it was caught early. Due to her wonderful work ethic and a fantastic staff at school, she is making wonderful strides academically. Summer is super athletic and very competitive. I don’t think there’s anything she can’t do. Summer is hands down, a tomboy. She’d rather hang out with Daddy & the boys any day, over doing something girly. She loves sports, anything BYU, anything that ends in “burger”, and any food that is sour or spicy. Summer is a delight and has blessed our families in so many ways. Summer is 9 years old.
Miracle #10
Sofia
Sofia is our final miracle child. When she came to us, she was 4 years old. We had 3 four year olds. That was a fun year! Sofia loves to giggle. Sofia loves everything pink. She’s starting to branch out into purple. She spent her first year being Emily’s shadow. Everything Emily did, said, or wanted….so did Sofia. It has been a relief and a blessing to watch her develop her own personality, her own likes & dislikes this past year. Sofia is a wonderful helper. (“It’s fun to work with you Mommy!” is a common phrase from her). Sofia loves playing with Jacob & Arturo, she loves swinging on the monkey bars, and she loves playing outside. She just recently got her name on the “sight word wall” in kindergarten and is tickled pink with herself over that accomplishment. Sofia is a wonderful child and we’re grateful she’s a member of our family.
