Monday, November 30, 2015

And just like that...

It is time to get the packing of the baby bag rolling...

Our birthmom is 4 cm dilated... I can hardly believe that I am even typing that out...

First of all we have a birthmom...  Who chose us!!!

Secondly, she could give birth to our baby girl ANYDAY!!! 

BE STILL MY HEART!!


Baby clothes washed and put away...

Car seat here and ready to go...

Preschool plans for the next three weeks complete...

A house full of crazed, super excited brothers and sisters ready at any moment to jump in the car for a 30 hour drive to meet the newest member of the family...

And a mom and dad In AWE of our gracious God and this precious birth mom who is choosing life for her baby, despite very difficult circumstances, and God Willing choosing us to parent THIS BEAUTIFUL BABY  through this life...

We are HUMBLED... So HONORED...
So VERY BLESSED!!!

Sunday, November 29, 2015

First snow fall of the year...



It is official, WINTER has begun in our area...

Last weekend we had about 10 inches of snow in a 24 hour period and it was downright gorgeous...
It looked like a winter wonderland with the snow sticking to all the trees and pretty much everything in sight...


It made for some dicey driving, especially in our big white van, which is terrible on the roads in snow... Thankfully, we didn't really have to get out for too much...


This is one way to commute to church on a Sunday morning:)   We are so blessed to be so close to church:)


The old historic chapel is right outside our house. The chapel is beautiful to begin with, but the snow makes it look even more beautiful!

We have had some warmer temps so all the snow is gone... but not for long, I am sure:)  

Friday, November 27, 2015

MEND tree at the zoo lights...

MEND was blessed this year to have a tree at the Brookfield Zoo Lights Display...

There were almost 500 trees that lined the mall at the zoo and were decorated by different groups or businesses.

We all took to the zoo amidst the first snow fall of the year.
We had one gal who worked very hard to get decorations and make ornaments remembering every MEND Chicagoland baby...

My heart was so touched and the tree turned out beautiful!



Some of the precious ladies that come to our MEND meetings each month...



We even had an envelope with extra MEND angel ornaments for others to add their baby to the MEND tree if they wanted to remember their baby with us, as well as information on our monthly meetings.

Samuel's ornament...


What a special day it was... Beautiful snow falling... friends with a unique bond that few fully understand... 

It was another great way for us to get the message of MEND out to some people who may not know that MEND even exists...

But most importantly it is another way for us to remember the beautiful and precious children that God has blessed us with, that are no longer here with us... 

No longer here...
But NEVER EVER forgotten... 

Thursday, November 19, 2015

It's a...



It's a ...

Healthy...

Baby Girl... 


Our birth mom's Doctor's visit went great... 
They did a 3D ultrasound and Praise God, The baby looked great! 
This was super great news considering she hasn't had a lot of prenatal care... 

We are so very thankful!  And are super thrilled that there is PINK in our future... 

We would have been just as thankful for a sweet baby boy too, but PINK will be a fun change around here:) Wahoo!  Let's bring the Testosterone down a bit :)

This makes things a bit more real... We have tentative plans for an induction a little over a month from now... 

We are JUMPIN on the crazy train... right about NOW! And we couldn't be more thrilled about it:)  We love this baby girl already and her sweet, incredibly brave birth mom!


Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Big news... She chose us...


This beautiful boy has something to share...  


He is going to be a big brother...
We have been chosen by a birth mom who is set to deliver at the end of December...

We are thrilled!!!

We know that this little ones life is in God's hands as HE/SHE has had quite the start to life already in the womb... 

As with any adoption... it is never easy, with out it's own share of bumps along the way, or with out risk... But we want this little to be where ever the Lord desires he/she to be... We are trusting in HIS faithfulness for us and that HE walks with us each step of this journey!  But we are praying of course that if it is God's will, that he/she will indeed be our baby!!

It was incredibly special to actually get the phone call from a dear precious friend that we had been chosen by this birth mom... I honestly was TOTALLY in shock...

Greg has always been the one to get the calls due to sort of strange circumstances with our other 2 domestic adoptions... So this was an extra special treat for me... 

To be honest, both of our other adoptions, besides our embryo adoption were drop offs... or stork drops as some call it... Hello????  Your baby is here!!!  Wow, talk about a great surprise...
So this is different.  It is a bit of a waiting game... We have spoken to the birth mom one time and she is in route to live where the agency is located as we speak... She will live there till after she delivers. She was sweet and good natured... We can't wait to be able to visit in person...  

She visits the doctor for the first "real" time tomorrow... We are excited to get any more information that might be available after that... Obviously, our prayers are that the baby is growing healthy and strong!  

This sweet Birth mom has her own precious, but difficult story... and for a number of reasons, immediately when I read her profile I felt my heart literally go out to her... Her story is similar to both Hope's and Isaiah's in different ways... Her story is like a combination of both of theirs... So we are familiar and pretty comfortable with it... which is nice... 

I am sure there will be surprises along the way... probably some hiccups and bumps... who knows maybe big mountains or valleys... Most of all we want to, Lord willing, be able to minister to this sweet mama and her other daughter... 

Anna and I are excited to go meet them in person in a couple of weeks... Thank God for flying at off times of the day and cheap airfare!  I hope that we can impress upon her that we love her, we are praying for her, and ultimately want God's very best for them all, including the sweet baby that she is carrying.  

But of course... we are over the moon excited... How do you guard your heart, yet prepare for this little one to come live with you and TOTALLY change your life! 

We are talking baby names, trying to locate the baby seat (how did that thing go mysteriously missing... I don't recall getting rid of it... maybe it was past it's expiration date???)  , and doing lots of mental planning and thinking on how this will all go down for our family of 9 when he/she is making their impending arrival:)

We would love your prayers for this precious lady who has chosen our family to raise her little one... Prayers for her and the baby's safety and protection and most of all that she, her daughter will grow to more and more know how loved they are... how precious they are... and how much our Savior loves them and wants to know them!  Thanks so much friends... 

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Hot chocolate run 2015




An early morning RV trek downtown with the crew...

We were so grateful when my brother surprised us all, the night before the race, after dinner with coming down... YES, we rode in style (lol) down to the race!!! 

Actually it was awesome not to have to worry about parking... And surprisingly he didn't have to work too hard to find a parking spot for the RV in downtown chi town....


Right before the race... My sister Janie with 4 of her dAughters... Louis, Caleb, Anna, and myself... And two friends...



After the 9.3 miles!!!  We made it!  I was so thankful to have my older two boys to run it with me...(Anna ran the 5K with some of her cousins!) 

It was really fun and we got some yummy chocolate at the end... Plus an hour and a half of laughter!  

Thank you Lord for the beautiful weather you blessed us with!!




Thursday, November 5, 2015

Beautiful day celebrating our boy...









ALWAYS remembered...
ALWAYS loved...
ALWAYS missed...
ALWAYS treasured...


We had a beautiful day celebrating the precious life of our Samuel !  

7 WHOLE years closer to Heaven!!!