I just found this...

Our computer fizzled sometime in September and with it I lost access to many of my documents. Well, my fine hubby has just rebuilt the computer and with it many of my documents are back. Christmas made me think of our Christmas letter from last year and I had been trying to remember my wording on a little note that I had written. I just came across it and wanted to post it here.


Last year we mentioned that we were planning to pursue adoption and asked that you would pray with us in this. We are again asking you to pray for us as we move forward with the adoption process. Our biggest hurdle at the moment is completing our home study (which involves a bunch of writing and looks intimidating). Please pray we get it done quickly as well as that God gives us wisdom in all aspects of this process. We have also received a very generous gift to aid us in pursuit of adoption. This has confirmed in our hearts, along with other things, that we are headed in the right direction. In the meantime, we are beginning to say that we are expecting. We fully anticipate and believe that we will have a child/children within the next 9 months. Thank you for walking with us! We appreciate your prayers and your support.

The red phrase is the one I was trying to remember. I know that God led us to make that statement of belief and He has been true to fulfilling it. Joy came to live with us in April and Elle was born exactly 9 months after Christmas. Wow!!! How exciting and overwhelming for me to see the way that God answers His child's cry and how He rewards her faith.

This is for Grandma

My mom was complaining that there were no pictures in my last post so I had to add a few of my recent favorites. Elle was just given this sweet sweater with booties and hat. The booties fit perfect and are so tiny. The hat doesn't really fit (is too small) but I had to get a picture of her in it.
Joy is perched on one of her favorite spots...the dog food can. I just thought her hair looked so cute and curly so I had to take a picture.
Joy loves her teddy bear. It seems to be becoming a more desired item. Isn't she cute!
Elle is in her sweet lavendar outfit. It is newborn size and is fitting her well.
I started taking pictures of Joy and she started tilting her head...so sweet.

Rejoicing

We recently learned that Joy's birth father is currently planning to voluntarily relinquish his rights. This is huge. We have been praying for God's will and His direction in what is best for Joy and are trusting that this is part of His plan. We still don't know if we will be able to adopt her, but things are certainly looking possible. I wouldn't say probable, simply because so much can happen. But, oh, how encouraging to not have great barriers at this point. We must keep trusting God and His plan.

This year as my birthday and as Christmas approach, I must say that I have a gift that I have longed for for many years...I have 2 little girls under my care. Not only are they under my care, but I am mama to each of them. Right now I know that there is some legal risk with each of them, but oh, what an amazing gift. Jesus came to us in the form of a human baby and Mary pondered all these things in her heart. I have been trying to ponder these two and store up precious memories of them. I am amazed at the way God is answering this heart's desire of mine. I mean we would have been thankful to have one little one in our home this Christmas (last year we really believed we would have a child in our home by this Christmas) but to have TWO is incredible! It makes me want to shout for joy and cry with gratefulness! Praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing and is blessing us with earthly blessings as well.

They very much remind me of the hope and ultimately joy that became available to us at Christmas time. May you sense that same hope and joy this Christmas season.

Shameless, I know

I just think the girls are so sweet and I want to share them with ya'll. I know that my blog hasn't been much of a place for deep thoughts or profound insights, but right now, my life is full of my family. It is amazing to me to have 2 girls in my house this Christmas. Especially being last Christmas without any. I do have to quickly share that Joy had a visit with her birth grandma last week and during the first part of the visit, her grandma was naming various family members who were interested in adopting Joy. I have to tell you that my heart was beginning to do little twists and turns. Eventually the grandma said something along the lines of, "Because I heard that you don't want her anymore now that you have your baby." Wow! I quickly tried to let her know that nothing could be further from the truth. I told her that we "love this little girl" and that "we think it would be a special gift from the Lord to raise two girls so close together in age since my sister and I are so close together in age." I didn't tell her that when we found out about the possibility of Elle, I called to ensure that adopting Elle wouldn't jeapordize our possibility of adopting Joy. I was so thankful that I was told it wouldn't...I don't know what I would have done if they had said it would. Anyway, by the end of the visit, Joy's grandma said that she thought it would be best if Joy stayed with us. She said it about 3 times. I have to tell you that it certainly filled my heart with hope that we might actually get to be Joy's parents for always. I do realize that the grandma doesn't get to choose where Joy goes, but it is nice to know that she is for us and thinks that Joy is in a good place. In the meantime, we keep trusting God. He knows what is best. His will be done. Okay...now for the pictures.

Joy likes holding Elle and asks to do so often. She was trying to hug Elle, Elle wasn't too happy.
I was baking some brownies with nuts in them and Joy needed something to do, so I gave her a cup of flour to play with. This is the end result.
I thought Elle looked quite cute in this little outfit. It is short sleeved, but I tried the layering approach and think it worked.This isn't THE Christmas picture, but it is a preview of what the picture will be like.
Again, I just thought Elle looked too cute not to take a picture.
This picture shows my first attempt at putting a little pony tail in Joy's hair. She doesn't sit still for long so I don't have time to experiment. But, isn't she cute?!

SNOW

Yesterday morning we woke up to a world of white. Actually...it started before we went to bed and I was up at many various hours during the night so I saw it progressing quite nicely and it looked lovely. Before bed, I prayed that there would be enough snow so that Joy and I could go out and play in it. That was a fun answer to prayer. Joy looked like the marshmallow man all dressed up in her snow suit. She was so cute. I helped her make her first snow angel. I also introduced her to eating snow...she couldn't get enough. She seemed to like the snow and loved being outside. Even though her hands were getting cold, she cried when we came in. Here are a few pictures of the day.