First Birthday gift of the baby girl's 1st birthday

A friend of mine came over last night and brought the baby girl her first birthday present.

She enjoyed the package and had fun shaking the gift...perhaps she was trying to figure out what it was.

The bow was easy for her to take off the gift as well as lots of fun to play with once it was off.

This is what was in the package. A very sweet dress that my friend had made.

We had to get a picture of the girl with the dress maker. I can't believe that the baby girl is going to be a year in such a short time. She is growing by leaps and bounds. What a delight she is to us!

some of my favorites

I just wanted to add a few of my favorite pictures of the baby girl for friends and family to see.

This was from Easter Sunday...the first weekend after we started caring for her.This was from one morning when I had to get her up so I could go to work. I love her hands behind her head and her feet crossed.

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She loves eating and does a great job of feeding herself bite sized foods.

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My mom and dad's beagle also loves eating and is paying close attention in case there is anything left over.

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She just looks so happy and content!

This picture was taken at camp, within minutes after she took her first full step.

She thought the slide was really fun. She actually even climbed up the whole thing backwards. (I, of course, had my hands right behind her in case she needed help, but she didn't.)

She looks so studious in this picture. Just studying the book.

And this is her first experience with sand. She even tried tasting it and didn't find it to her liking.

Adoption Update

My husband and I have been pursuing adoption fairly actively since for almost a year. Along the way we have seen God answer some prayers in neat ways. (like making room for us on a plane and providing money for us). But we are still waiting. We did, however, find out that right now we are the only family in the adoption agency we are working with that can adopt. We know it won't be that way for long, but for right now we are the only option. The state we are going through just made an adoption law that all adoptive parent need to have FBI clearance. The state we reside in already had us do this, so we are all clear in that regard. We got an email today from the agency saying that they received the info and that they currently have one family (us) that can adopt. Now, since we are out of state, we may not be as desirable with some birth moms, but if we are the only option, we just might be more so than before. Ahh...we will have to wait on God and see if He pulls a power play. :o)

Ponderings on a can of worms

Well, I think I will open up a can of worms here. Lately I have been thinking about politics. For one thing, it seems there is so much to know that one can spend all of their time with it and I know that isn't something that I want to do. So, I probably err on the side of somewhat ignoring it. But what I have been pondering lately is whether or not it is good to be involved. There is part of me that doesn't want to have to answer to God for putting someone in office who didn't kill babies but who did ignore the poor and the widowed/orphaned as well as God's creation or the flip side, who tended to God's creation and the poor as well as widowed/orphaned but continued to kill His children. Both of them are wrong. Neither party seems to have a complete Biblical view. (I do realize that these are secular parties, but I still want to make decisions in a Godly manner based on His word.) So then, it leads me to consider not voting for either and instead asking God to put who He wants in leadership. But then, perhaps I will have to answer for sitting by and not making a difference through the opportunities given me. All that leaves me going in circles. Do I vote, do I not? If I do vote, who do I vote for? What grid do I run the candidate through to decide? Sometimes I feel like a handsoff approach is much easier, but I am not sure that is right either. hmmm....what do you think?

Boy, that girl likes to swim!

Thought I would post a few pictures of the baby girl enjoying swimming. She thinks it is fun whether a pool, a lake, or a river!
This was her first swimming experience. The pool was a nice 86º and she thought that was just right!
But then we tried a cool lake and she didn't mind that either. This picture is taken in a river. She loves to splash the water.
She didn't mind the cool of the river. She just likes the fun of kicking her legs in the water and splashing her hands. She almost seems like she could take off swimming.

Hello and other ramblings

I decided that the website I was using for blogging didn't really meet my blogging needs. I wanted people to be able to post comments and such and there wasn't anyway to do so unless they opened an account. Anyway, I opened a gmail account and then created a blog. Fun!

The hubby and I went on our first real date in 3 months, since having a certain baby girl enter our lives. We had a nice time. It was nice to be out together without worrying about the little one. Though, I must confess that I did wonder how she was doing and if everything was okay.

She is getting so big. She is now 11 months old and is so close to walking. I'm not in a hurry, though there is a part of me that is proud of her making steps toward growing up. :o)

Now that we have had her for 3 months, I am thinking that I need to begin to work on molding some of the traits that I want to see in her. And...I have no idea how to do this. She seems to be kinda whiny when things don't go her way or when we aren't fast enough at getting what she wants. I really want to try to curb this, but am not sure how. I am open to suggestions. I certainly pray about it and ask God for wisdom on how to raise her as long as we have her.

Well, I think this is a decent start. I will be back again later!