Our Field of Dreams

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day

I said a Valentine prayer for you
and asked the Lord above
to fill your heart and bless your soul
With the precious gift of love.

I asked Him for sincere love
The kind that's meant to stay
Just like the generous love
You give to those you touch each day.

I prayed for love from family
And from every cherished friend
Then I asked the Lord to give you
His love that knows no end.

Love is patient,
Love is kind.

It bears all things,
Believes all things,

Hopes all things,
Endures all things.

Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:4,7,8

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Eight Months: full of personality & drool

It's hard to believe this is true, but it is...

Vivienne is more fun as each day goes by. How can this be? Today she started playing the "So Big" game with us. We've been playing it since she was a few weeks old but today was the first day she understood it and then she raised her hands, on her own, when we said, "So big!" In light of this development, Dave and I started working on "High Five" tonight. At this rate, she'll be doing the "Macarena Dance" by the weekend. Just kidding!

Last night, we had Vivienne's birthmother over for dinner. She was amazed to see how fast Vivienne can make her way around the room -- rolling, army crawling, inch-worming, etc. The little princess has also learned to sit up on her own, say "ma-ma" and "da-da," stick out her tongue just for fun and has four teeth (hence the drool.)

Drool & leggings are the new "in" thing

Poor puppy doesn't stand a chance anymore!

Big girl playing with some of her Christmas presents

Sunday, January 22, 2012

How does open adoption work?

Dave and I get asked lots of questions about open adoption and "how it works." Although some may see this as an annoyance, we actually LOVE talking about adoption and sharing our story!

We are often asked if we stay in touch with Vivienne's birthmother, "T," and how we do that. Thank goodness for cellphones and email because it is very easy to chat and share photos with T. It also helps that she is young and loves texting! Before Vivienne was born, the three of us decided to get together often the first year of Vivienne's life because she changes so much and we want T. to get to experience this with us. At the end of November, we brought Vivienne to see Santa at the mall and asked T. if she'd like to come along. She did and it was so wonderful to share that "first" together. Vivienne and T. also got their photo taken together with Santa. We love that picture! What a great memory (and photo) to share with Vivienne.

It is important to Dave and I that Vivienne grow up knowing T., knowing that she grew in her belly, and knowing that her birthfamily loves her! We feel this is a great gift Vivienne has! So many people that love her!

Tomorrow night we are speaking to a group of waiting adoptive parents at our adoption agency. Waiting for God's right timing was the hardest part of this journey for us. We hope we can be an encouragement to those that are in the desert called waiting. I'll keep you posted on how it goes...

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Seven Months Old

Our very wise 11-year-old nephew, Colin, recently told us, "Vivienne is the whole package. She is strong, smart and she is very pretty. She is going to be very successful in life. I can just tell." Too cute! Here's our little angel who just turned seven months old yesterday...

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

It's Official!

Today our adoption of Vivienne was finalized in the courts of our state. The hearing before the judge was brief, lasting only 15 minutes, but it was momentous in our lives! Sixteen or so of our family and friends attended the hearing with us. It has been a long journey to this point and we couldn't have made it through without such support and with our faith in God and His promise to us... that we know for sure!

The last thing the judge said before stepping down from the bench was, "I think the judge should be the first one to hold the baby for photos, don't you think?" We figured it was the least we could do after he had granted our adoption petition! ha ha!