It's Official!

It's New Year's Eve! Wow. What a year it's been! It's been such a joy becoming parents to Raegan and watching her grow! It's amazing that at this time last year we were anxiously awaiting her birth and busily getting ready to become parents. Now our baby is almost 1 year old! It's been a great year! It has been amazing to watch Raegan grow, learn and change.

And we are happy to announce that we just got word today from our lawyer that the adoption is finally final! So Raegan is now legally our daughter! It doesn't really seem too different because being Raegan's parents has always felt so natural but it's nice to know that she is officially our daughter! We will receive the paperwork soon and then we can file to get her birth certificate with our names as her parents. We are happy to be done with all of the paperwork that goes along with an adoption and now we can really focus on just being a family!

We had a great year welcoming Raegan into our family and we are looking forward to see what 2009 brings!

First Christmas

We all enjoyed spending our first Christmas with Raegan. Christmas excitement must be engrained in kids because Raegan is too young to understand the idea of Christmas morning and yet she still woke up bright and early! We thought for sure she would sleep in because we kept her up late on Christmas Eve with church and then dinner with the Welch's but she still woke up bright and early at 5 am! She fell back to sleep for a little while but she was in bed with us by 6:45 in the morning and we were all downstairs by 7!

When we came downstairs the first thing Raegan saw was her new Radio flyer bouncing pony! She was definitely excited to see that and she crawled over to it as soon as she saw it. That was the only present we knew she would like because she we put her on one at Sam's club one day and she loved it! I found one on Craigslist in great condition so that was her one big Christmas present from us.






She wasn't too interested in opening her other presents but once she saw them she liked them too. She got a farmer Buddy and see and say. And she also got a xylaphone which she enjoys playing. We definitely think she is going to be musical because even though all kids seem to like music she dances every time music comes on and she has more rhythm that I do! She also loves every musical insrument we give her so she enjoyed the xylophone too! She also got some Christmas books from us which we will enjoy reading to her as she grows up!

We enjoyed breakfast casserole for breakfast and then it was time for a nap!

When Raegan woke up from her nap she opened her stocking and gave daddy his present, a coffee tumbler with her pictures on it!




And after a while Grandma and Pop Pop came over with more presents! They even brought presents from her cousins for her, a Be Bop Band set, a Cabbage Patch Doll and a ball popper play toy! Raegan especially enjoyed her new wagon from Grandma and Pop Pop and after her afternoon nap we all went for a walk outside!



We enjoyed a nice dinner with my parents and then it was time to retire for the evening! We all had a nice Christmas and we are looking forward to more time with family in the days to come!

The Gift of a Child

I find myself getting more sentimental this Christmas than I have in the past. Every year I tell myself that I want to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and yet every year I seem to fall into the same trap of focusing more on the Christmas traditions of family, food, presents than I do on the reason we celebrate, Jesus. But this year although I have made my fair share of Christmas cookies and bought gifts for everyone, this year I have found that the meaning of Christmas has finally hit home.

I have been reflecting a lot on what happened on that first Christmas this year. I have also been reflecting a lot on what this Christmas means to us. We watched the Nativity Story a couple of nights ago for the first time and it really helped put into perspective what happened that night. I really imagined what Mary must have been going through. I can't even imagine all of the emotions she felt, fear, excitement, joy maybe even embarrassment. I was really struck by the power of what God brought about that night. He chose to use a baby. Why a baby? Why not a big powerful man sent down from heaven. Why didn't He just come down himself and take care of what needed to be done? Why didn't He just come down and wipe out sin and all of the sinners with it? Why? Because that wasn't in His plan. Why else? Because He loved us too much to do that. Why did He use a baby? Well, the other night it hit me. I think that sending a baby was the most powerful thing He could have done.

This year, I have been reflecting on our baby. I have been reflecting on the Chrismas's we have had over the past couple of years. They were painful. As hard as I wanted them not to be they were. I loved being around all of my nephews and nieces on Christmas, I love them all as if they were my own children. But the pain of not having our own child cut deep. Last year over Christmas we were waiting to hear if we were going to be parents. We were waiting while a young 18 year old woman made a decision on who she would choose to be the parents of her baby. That baby is Raegan.

I can't help but think about the power of babies. God sent His own son in the most important and powerful act in history. Jesus was born in a manger, surrounded by animals. He was born so that He could die, for us. He gave us the most wonderful gift that first Christmas. The only gift we will ever need. A gift we are free to share with other people. That day in that manger He gave us Life.

For Josh and I, God chose to give us another gift. He gave us Raegan through a young woman named Chelsea. She gave us her daugther. We could never ask for a more wonderful gift.

Raegan has brought us so much joy, light and laughter. Her life has taught me so much about life. And God used her to teach me so much about trust, patience and peace. I trust God in a new way now. By that I mean, I truly trust Him. After what He did in my life by turning the darkest storm of infertility into the greatest gift, the adoption of Raegan, I have no choice but to trust Him with everything else.

This year we will exchange gifts. I am excited for Raegan to see her new toys tomorrow. But what I look forward to even more is being able to share with Raegan what Christmas means. Being able to share with her how much she is loved by us, but more importantly by God. Toys and gifts are fun. But God has already given us the only gift we ever need, all we need to do is receive it.

We are so thankful for the gift of Raegan. We are so thankful that her birthmom decided to choose us as her parents. I think about Chelsea this Christmas and hope that she is doing well. I think about last Christmas and about how much our life has changed in a year.

We praise God for His gifts. In God's first gift to me He gave me life. And in His holy and precious second gift to me he gave me a daughter who has changed my life.

We wish everyone a blessed Christmas. May you too experience the true joy and meaning of Christmas!

Photo Shoots

Below is a link to an album of winter pictures of Raegan. Some were taken by me and some were taken by my dad. We took them to get a picture for our Christmas cards but there are so many good shots of her that I thought I would share all of them!

Raegan's Christmas Picture Photo Shoots

"I love big people food!"

From December 2008

Raegan has officially decided to call it quits on the baby food and move on to the "good stuff". Ever since we got back from our trip to Tennessee Raegan has been turning her nose up at pureed baby food and gets excited at the sight of "real food" being put in front of her. And I must say she is very adventurous. So far I don't have trouble getting her to eat anything. Over the past couple of weeks she has eaten chicken and dumplings,scrambled eggs, french toast, waffles, pancakes carrots, broccoli, black beans, avocado, cheese, crackers, goldfish, mandarin oranges, peaches. She even had Lebanese food ( pita, rice, and Lebanese sausage) when we went out to lunch to the Lebanese Taverna with Desi and Christian the other week. She has tried it all and seems to like everything we give her. She especially likes to drink Kefir ( which is kind of like a yogurt smoothie) when I water it down a little bit and put it in her sippy cup ( she jumps when she sees it coming). So it looks like she is going to be a very healthy girl! She is making her dietitian mommy proud eating balanced meals already! Let's hope she keeps it up!

Raegan has also become proficient at playing peek a boo, clapping, doing "so big", pointing, and she still loves to dance, dance! She is so much fun! She is definitely a drama queen ( i haven't figured out if that's a good thing or a bad thing quite yet) And she is constantly keeping us laughing and well entertained!

From December 2008

From December 2008

From December 2008

Road Trip

From Tennessee Trip- National Embyro Adoption Center and stop in Blacksburg

We just go back last night from our long road trip to Tennessee. We left sunday to go down to Knoxville, TN for an appointment with the National Embryo Donation Center there. We have decided to try embryo adoption for our second adoption. So we drove down for our appointment and we are happy to say that everything went well and we can now move forward with the process. We will begin the matching process and soon we will be matched with a donor couple. Then we will be given an appointment either in march or may to go back down to have the embryos implanted via IVF. And everything goes well, Raegan will have a sibling 9 months later. If the first implanation doesn't work then we can try 2 more times. The doctor said he didn't have any reason to believe that this wouldn't work for us. So we are excited that everything went well and excited to see what God has in store for us and our family. We are praying that this works because we really want Raegan to have siblings and we feel embyro adoption is not only a neat opportunity but it is affordable for us whereas another domestic adoption is kind of out of the question because of how much it costs. But we are trusting in God and know that He has a perfect plan for us and our family.

We enjoyed our road trip and Raegan did really well. We drove straignt down to Tennessee on sunday and Josh's parents came along to help watch Raegan during our appointment. We all took turns entertaining Raegan in the car but after about 9 hours she was done! We came back monday and decided to cut the trip in half and stay overnight in Blacksburg, VA ( my favorite place!). I got to see my friend and old VT roommate Meredith and meet her for breakfast at Gillies, my favorite breakfast restaurant. And then we all walked over to campus for a little while. It was a typical winter day in Blacksburg, dreary and cold, but it was still nice to be there. I got to show Raegan the campus ( and told her to pick out her dorm ;). And I got a chance to visit the memorial for the shooting victims. I hadn't been down to Tech since that happened so I was glad to be able to see the memorial and reflect again on those lives that were lost.

After a short visit to campus, we all jumped back in the car and headed back home. We had a good trip and we are so proud of Raegan for how well she did on a very long car ride. And we are excited about the results of our trip and look forward to going back down to Tennessee in the new year for our embryo adoption!

I am having trouble getting pictures to upload but I will add them as soon as I figure out the problem ( or more like as soon as I ask Josh to figure out the problem :)

Update: I have learned how to link to a Picasa album ( thanks Josh). Click here to view our album from our road trip!

Tennessee Trip- National Embyro Adoption Center and stop in Blacksburg

10 Months and Sniffles

Raegan turned 10 months old today! It's hard to believe in just 2 more months she will be 1 year old! Where has the year gone?! I have found myself getting a little sentimental with the holidays here. It reminds me of last year when we were going through the adoption process, anxious to hear if and when we were going to be blessed with a baby. This time last year was a very emotional time of waiting and wondering. This year we are so blessed to have Raegan in our lives. She is such a beautiful, precious gift to us. We love every moment we get to share with her. We are excited about sharing her first Christmas with her in a couple of weeks. We are also excited because we are in the process of going through our second adoption. We go next Monday for a consultation in Tennessee with the National Embryo Adoption Center to see if we are candidates to participate in their embryo adoption program. If everything goes well on Monday then we will make plans to go though embryo adoption via IVF transplant sometime next year. We are putting this in God's hands just like we trusted Him with Raegan. We are excited to grow our family again through the miracle of adoption. We will keep everyone posted of how our trip and consultation goes.

I have attached some pictures of Raegan eating chicken soup that I made tonight. We all came down with a cold so we had chicken soup for dinner. Raegan seemed to really enjoy it. She kept coming back for more and licking her lips.!