Joy in the journey

One month ago a little boy entered this world and changed the lives of so many.  Today is an exciting and difficult day.  Today he will join our family as our son.  With our excitement,  there will also be tears.  His birth family loves him with all they have.  His birth mama & daddy, grandparents, uncles/aunts and extended family will hurt today, but we pray they find joy in the journey as well.  You see, this little guy is not losing them. They are an extension of him that will never be replaced or removed.  Our promise to you is that we will love him as much as you do and do our absolute best every single day to be the parents to him that God made us to be.  We will talk about you and pray for you every day. He will know you by name and remain in your lives. This is our promise to you. 
And to this little boy who will now call me mommy.   I love you.  I have loved you from the very second the thought of you joining our lives crossed my heart.   I look forward to seeing you with your big brother and watching you learn and grow, get into dirt, play with bugs (just no snakes, at least don't chase your mama haha) and be the man that God intends you to be.  My promise to you is I will love you no matter what.  I will be the shoulder you cry on and the one cheering you on at your sporting events. I love you sweet boy and welcome to our crazy, fun and amazing family.   We are happy you are here and cannot wait to see where life takes you.  There is so much joy in this journey.   Welcome to it.

3 years ago

3 years ago today we were going about our lives, preparing for our future child, but completely unaware that our lives would change the very next day. The next day we would get the news that a baby boy had been born.  Today I snuggle that 3 year old (a rarity these days) and soak it all up. What a blessing he has been to us.  We've had many struggles, in fact,  I just wrestled a screaming kid into a pull up, but I wouldn't change it for the world. When we began our walk through adoption,  I had no idea how much joy and happiness would result from it. I thought I knew, but I didn't fully understand until I held him in my arms for the first time.   Thankful is not a big enough word.  Now as I snuggle this sweet boy, I think of another sweet little boy who has my heart as well.  We are right in the middle of another adoption of a sweet little boy.  I will be mommy to two little boys in a few short weeks.  When I held this little guy for the first time,  my heart exploded just as much as it did the first time I held J in my arms.  Adoption has given me the gift of motherhood.   My heart will forever be changed for the better.  We love their birth parents for allowing us to love and care for their children as our own.  They are gifts from God, given to us.  We will never know how to repay or thank them enough,  but we do promise this, we will love them, care for them and teach them about God.  These 2 little boys are our greatest treasure on this earth.  I still cannot believe our family of 4 is almost complete.   Someone please pinch me, but then again, please don't,  because this is the best dream come true.

1st doctor's appointment

Yesterday we were able to attend baby's first doctor's appointment outside of the hospital.   It was so nice we were invited and I was fighting back tears because we've never experienced one before.  The doctor was so nice and included us in all of the conversations.  This sweet little boy has lost a little bit of weight since birth, but has gained 4 ounces since discharge from the NICU so that was nice to see.  He now weights a tiny 5lbs 7oz.  We are so happy he is gaining!  This sweetie was born with a cleft lip and palate, which are both located on his left side. This wasn't a suprise to us and we were definitely willing to take on the responsibility that comes along with this defect. The reason he was in the NICU for the first 5 days of his life was because he couldn't quite figure out how to eat and breathe at the same time and he would get tired fast trying,  so they gave him a feeding tube during that time.  He since has figured it out and is doing wonderful!  He will require surgery around 2-3 months for his lip repair and then again around 6-9 months old for the palate.  
There is still a lot of stuff to get done before we can bring him home to our state.   His birth parents are still doing all of the necessary stuff required by law.  There is also a paper that is required for us to bring him across state lines and that cannot be processed until birthparents finish their stuff.  They are doing all they can to keep this going smooth.   Meanwhile,  he is discharged into the care of a temporary care plan.  We have met this person and she is wonderful.  We have no doubt he will be very well cared for.   This morning we began the 17 hour drive home to see our other sweet boy.  We have missed him so much and he is so excited to be a big brother!  So much in fact, he decided to get potty trained at grandma's because the baby has to wear the diapers!  We are so proud of him!  It was very hard leaving baby's state and I shed a lot of tears as we drove away, but I trust that God will get the necessary paperwork processed as fast as possible for us so that we can be a family of 4.  Please continue to pray for our family during the weeks ahead that we are separated from him.  We love you baby boy and we cannot wait for you to come home!