Christmas 2012

Today we celebrated Christmas with our little family. We started the day very chill. We took our time getting ready and then made our traditional cinnamon roll breakfast and enjoyed talking to Emsley about what Christmas day is all about. We told her that Jesus was born today and how lucky we are that he was born and came to change our world forever. Daddy even read from her rhyming bible about Jesus' birth and the shepherds. Then we let Emsley run towards her gifts...daddy has put together her new kitchen and it was waiting in the living room (behind a secure baby gate!). She enjoyed that and we opened our stockings and gifts. Emsley loved each gift so much that it was kinda hard to get her to open the next gift. We made the big mistake of letting her open her gift of books first. Our beautiful child loves to just sit and read and it was hard to tear her away from those. But we each got some special gifts but for Mike and I the best part of the morning was watching Emsley explore all her new things and seeing how curious she is!

We then headed to my grandparents house to see them and my Uncle and his family (along with my parents). We enjoyed being there and Emsley was loving the attention! Then my parents headed over to our house to open gifts (they spoiled us and Emsley in such a wonderful way and our girl LOVES each gift they got her!) and ate a nice ham dinner together. It was a nice evening! Love spending such great quality time with my parents. They love Emsley to pieces and she them. Emsley took a fun bath and went to bed early and we had some restful time on our own watching a movie and talking about our amazing Christmas day. It was such a great day and they day is so much more special having a little one who just loves opening presents but who is also wanting to read and learn about the real reason for this day. We hope to have this day be a day of celebrating Jesus' birth for many years to come! We are so blessed this Christmas and continue to feel so blessed with our family and how God's hand is always a part of it. Emsley is a joy and we are so grateful to have her as our daughter!

Here are some pictures to share our day!

Happy New Year!

Seriously...best year ever! I feel like I can't say enough of what a great year 2011 was. We were talking about what all the amazing things that happened and what we are looking forward to and praying for in 2012.

1. Had a great vacation, last time just the 2 of us, to Hawaii in March.
2. We got to be at the ultrasound where we found out our baby would be a little girl.
3. Got to spend all kinds of time with Miss Amy before little Emsley was born.
4. We were able to be at the birth of our daughter, Emsley Breanne on April 17th.
5. I became a stay at home mom and have been loving it!
6. Celebrated our 6th anniversary by going to the aquarium with Emsley & a date afterwards alone.
7. Celebrated many first holidays with Emsley....she is so cute.
8. Watched Emsley learn so many new things: smiling, cooing, clapping, waving, laughing, crawling.
9. Spent plenty of time as a family of three with our friends and family.
10. Fell more in love with each other!

But I think this year will be even better. Emsley will be turning 1 and we have another great vacation planned to Hawaii with family. This will also be the year that Emsley's adoption will be finalized, which will be a pretty amazing time for our family. But my prayer is that God allows us to be not only good parents to Emsley but also that she will see Christ in us as she learns and grows more. We desire to see God at work in our family in extremely amazing ways. I'm looking forward to what God does in us...places we go, people we meet, or ways He uses us to further His kingdom.

So, here is to 2012!

Emsley's First Christmas

It's weird to think that it has been over a year since we knew about our little girl. On Dec. 15th of 2010, we met with Miss Amy and it was the first time we were that close to our baby. Then on Dec. 21st, we found out that we were chosen to be the parents of a sweet baby. And here we are just over 1 year later and we celebrated the day with our sweet pea. It was a great day full of precious memories. We have such a desire to make Christmas more than about gifts but about praising God for sending his son to be born into our world. So our morning started with a prayer from daddy thanking God for blessing us with Jesus and then we sang "Joy to the World" because today is a day we are especially joyful for the birth of our Savior. And even though we want Emsley to be joyful in this great news everyday, we want to be very intentional about this day especially. So the gifts waited while we focused of Jesus for a bit. It was a beautiful start to wonderful family tradition.

This week a friend did a post on our adoption groups blog about how thankful we should also be toward Joseph. So often he can get forgotten in this birth story but in truth he played such an important role. Joseph, after finding out Mary would be pregnant as a virgin, CHOSE to adopt Jesus as his own and love and raise him. He was the one who gave us an earthly example of adoption. Today as I was holding my own adopted child, I looked at her and told her that Jesus was adopted just like her. And I hope that it is that fact that she shares with joy and pride each Christmastime to her friends and family! I want her to know that Jesus loves her, loves adoption, and that He desires for her to share this amazing news with others.

I'm not sure what next Christmas will look like. But I know that this Christmas will hold a special place in my heart because of where God has brought us over the last few years. He has given us a daughter to raise to be a child of His and we do so willingly, lovingly, and with complete joy in our hearts. We are so grateful for the birth of our Savior and for getting to share this with our child.

We hope that this Christmas is a time that we all can be joyful in this amazing story!

My First Mother's Day

I have been meaning to post about what Mike and Emsley did for my very first Mother's Day. This day meant so much to me...I have had so many Mother's Days dreaming about what it will be like to be a mom. But Mike, being the amazing husband he is, made me feel like so special. We went to church and they asked any new moms of a month or less to stand up...I was the only one. Then the woman who had been a mom the longest stood up and it was something cool to thing that one day I will be there. When Emsley is older and I have parented her with as much ability as God has given me, I will be there. Then we went home to feed Emmy and then went to lunch at Johnny Rocket's at the Block in Orange. Emsley was a little fussy but let us enjoy our meals and reminiscing over past years as we waited for God to bless us with a child. Then Mike handed me a card that said "To my mommy" on the envelope. "Emsley" got me a card and wrote some sweet things about how much she loves me and is glad that I am her mommy. Then "she" got me a frame that says I heart mom and Mike printed pics to put a picture of her and me in it.

Then Mike got me a card and it brought me to tears. We have been through so much together over the years and he told me that he loves me more each day as he sees me being a mother to Emsley. That man...my goodness he is wonderful. Then he hands me a bag and before I open it, he says that he was going to get me a cliche gift of jewelry or something but wanted to get me something a little more special. He got me the perfume I have been wanting forever (Stella McCartney Nude)...and said that he wants Emsley to have a scent to recognize me by. So sweet and thoughtful...again, brought me to tears.

It was by far the best day ever. I felt so loved and cherished by the two people who mean the most to me in the world. Mike is an amazing husband and he and Emsley made me feel so special. I cannot wait till Father's Day to show Mike how much he is totally, completely, and unconditionally loved by his girls!

Here's to 2011!

Well another year is started and I am so excited. We celebrated with a few friends last night and spent time reflecting on some great moments of 2010 and also what we are looking forward to this year...

In 2010, actually just a month ago or so, we got a call from our coordinator Michelle and said that a birth couple would like to meet us. They liked another couple but really wanted to meet soon. So that next Wednesday, Mike and I drove to a Starbucks in Corona and met with them. The meeting was very nice and comfortable. We left feeling good about our time and that we were truly ourselves. It was the next Monday that Michelle called and said that we are GOING TO BE PARENTS!!! We were offically matched and could not be more excited. Baby Wise is expected to arrive April of 2011!

So yes, 2010 pretty much rocked for us. We had many ups and downs but we can look back on those fondly because it brought us to where we are today...right on the cusp of parenthood.

2011 is looking good so far. We hopefully will get to find out if we are going to have a little girl or boy soon and can go crazy buying clothes! We cannot wait to be parents and know that the next few months will zoom by...We are hoping we can get a little babymoon vacation in and to really spend time with friends who live out of the area and really enjoy these last few months as a family of 2. Our lives will be so different this time next year. I don't know what it will look like but I probably won't have 15 minutes to myself at 10AM to write a post. I will have a beautiful child in my arms and no matter what it is doing...crying, screaming, cooing, or just sleeping, I will be so in love with that moment and that little bundle of ours.

Ours...wow. Here's to a great 2011!

Merry Christmas!

I hate being this MIA on my blog. At one point I was trying to post at least one time a week...but since my last post was on November 6th, I am not doing a great job at sticking with it. But here we are on Christmas morning and I thought I would at least make a small note.

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! I hope that your day is amazing and blessed beyond what you can even imagine. And I hope that today we can all remember why this day is really special...our Savior was born on this day. Something we tend to take for granted or forget but I hope it is not lost as we open gifts, eat food, and travel to be with family and friends.

Mike and I have had a busy few weeks and I look forward to giving a FULL update this coming week. Until then, have a safe and happy Christmas!

Quarter of a century

Today is my last day of being 24 years old. I know that most people (who are older than me) tell me that I am still so young and have a lot to experience but I have been through a lot in my 24 years, 364 days. And as I look back, I just want to simply say that I am so grateful for it all. I thank God for the ups and the downs. The happy and the sad. The fun and the terrible. It is all a part of my story of ME!

We are celebrating tomorrow at the Magic Kingdom at DisneyWorld...and it is amazing here. Weather is perfect and its like God lightened the humidity just for our vacation. I am so grateful to my husband for this time away together. As we sat over dinner tonight I was so reminded of what a great life I have.

And tomorrow as I turn 25 years old, I want to look forward to the next years to come. I hope they are just as great, fun, terrible, sad, and crazy as the last 25 have been!!

Merry Christmas!

Well it is 11AM on Christmas morning and the skies in Southern California are clear so it should be a beautiful day. Today we have spent time opening our gifts for each other and are now taking our extremely dead, fire hazard of a tree down. But we truly want to remember what today is about. We remember our Savior's miraculous birth to the virgin Mary and rejoice that God planned it is such a beautiful way. It amazes me how the man who would die to save us of our sins and who created our every being would be a baby....dependent on his mother's milk for his own survival. Yet now it is us who are dependent of him and his word for our survival. Praise God!

Mike and I are also realizing that today was the day that we were hoping to have a baby home with us...God had other plans. It's just us two still but rejoicing knowing that He is in complete control. I'm not saying that we aren't a smidge disappointed but looking forward to seeing what God's timing looks like from here on out.

I hope you and your loved one's are enjoying this day and rejoicing for CHRIST IS BORN!!!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Family and Thanksgiving thoughts...

For Mike and I, family isn't necessarily our parents or siblings but the people who we have things in common with and are around often who love each other. Don't get me wrong, we love our parents and siblings. It's just that sometimes we get more love and support by our chosen family. For us, that is our small group and a few amazing people that I work with.

They have walked with us in our sorrow, praised God in our joy, and carried our burdens for us. We have had them over for dinner, picked them up when they needed a ride, and emailed them to let them know we are thinking of them. The love is genuine and is centered on our love of the Father.

With Thanksgiving just yesterday, I have been thinking of what I am thankful for. Oh course I am thankful for God and what He is doing in my life and how He is helping me grow. Also, my husband. Sometimes I cannot even begin to explain how grateful I am to have him in my life. He is my rock and always supports me when I need him. I am also thankful for my family. Between Mike and I, we have great parents and siblings who we love very much. And of course, our amazing second family. Those people know who they are. They are truly great people who we love having in our lives.

Also, just an update...we were hoping to hear that the agency has show some birthmom's our letter but we found out that not only is our file STILL not complete but they haven't shown us to anyone. We are so saddened by this. We have been waiting for so long to be parents that it just keeps getting harder. Especially since we are relying on other people to help us get a child. Please be praying for our hearts and that this process happens quickly but always in God's timing.