Halloween!

I'm a little late posting our Halloween pic's, I've been out sick since Halloween with the dreaded H1N1. Wow, is it good to be feeling myself again today! Lauren and I had a breakfast date and then went to play at the Gymnastics arena for preschool power hour today. I am more amazed each day by this amazing gift that has been placed into my arms. Lauren is such an incredible little girl.

She loved Halloween, she only went to our 2 neighbors homes to say "trick or treat", and then spent the night excitedly giving out candy. She LOVED passing out candy. We sat in the driveway with Dan's parents and had such a nice night. Gosh, how many YEARS I had been waiting to experience Halloween with my daughter! It was everything and more than I dreamed it would be. It's so fun to be experiencing all of our first's together as a family.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Finally!!!!!! It's raining Babies!!!!!

Congratulations to all you wonderful mommies who are seeing your long-awaited daughters today!!! I am over the moon excited for you all and cannot wait to follow you on this exciting journey.

This is sweet little Zoey, her mommy designed my blog and has been a friend from the very beginning. If you go way back to my first blog post, you will see a post regarding a poem she wrote for her Zoey, so many years ago.



This is Terri's beautiful Daughter..Terri is one of the original Arizona Adoption Mama's! Our group has grown over the years and I have been so fortunate to have met this beautiful person during our journey to Lauren.





Terri, Sooze, Steph, 3D, Kelly....I am soo happy for you.

Kayce...you rock and you are next!!!!

Three Months Ago Today

Today...

Day at the Zoo

Last Thursday was my first birthday as a mommy and wow was it wonderful! We went to the zoo for the first time and Lauren had a blast! She loved feeding the Giraffe, Sam, and clapped each time after she fed him. The train ride was another big hit, she loved yelling "choo choo!" throughout the zoo. The animals were really active and it was just such a fun day!

To all my friends who were anxiously awaiting referrals only to find the CC*A*A did not send them in September....I am truly sorry. It's so hard to take off the armour only to have put it back on again. Just know you all will be holding your daughters and enjoying times like these very soon. I have felt since having Lauren that somehow she knew she was waiting for us. Also, from our experiences in China, I believe your daughters are safe, cared for, and being told mommy and daddy are coming soon. They are anxiously awaiting you just as much as you are awaiting them. I look back on our whole experience and look into Lauren's eyes and just think...what a miracle. Only God could orchestrate something so beautiful.

It's the Craziest Time Ever, It's The Most Wonderful Time Ever

Life is like I've never experienced before. Lauren brings such joy into my life. Her hugs melt away any anxiety or stress I have. As I see more and more of her personality, I am amazed at what an incredible little girl she is. I am so grateful that God placed her in my life.

School right now consists of 3 (soon to be 4) full days of clinical, a Capstone research project, weekly discussion boards, 2 research papers, 6 practicum expanded clinical notes, 2 clinical papers in APA format, 4 specialty rotations (some are 2 hour commutes), and a partroge in a pair tree...I mean and I work three 12 hour shifts a week! Can I say...I cannot wait until December 18th! Graduation day!

Some days I feel paralyzed by the weight of school and wonder how it will all be done, but Danny keeps reminding me to take one day at a time. He is my voice of reason lately. I love him so much. As I am taking on this mountain, he is being such an amazing Daddy to Lauren (and tutoring part-time). They read, sing songs, go to the mall, play at the Children's Museum, etc. She loves her daddy so much and what is encouraging to me is that despite my busyness, she has attached to both Danny and I. Whenever she sees one of us after being away she smiles so big, jumps up in our arms, and squeezes our necks soo tight! It's the best. :)

Lauren just loves dancing, singing, and climbing anything in site(I see gymnastics in her near future) :). She recently started to take an interest in books too. She is saying more and more words every day. Last night as we layed in bed together reading, she pointed to my nose and said, "nose", and then my chin and said, "chin" and so on. Her little, sweet voice is just too cute. She also has surprised us in how she loves to pray. She will say "pre!" grab both of are hands and close her eyes and whisper her words only she understands. Then she says "ameen" and claps her hands so excitedly! I really need to get it on video. :)

This week is such an exciting week because many, if not all, of the March LIDers will be matched and receive referals of their little long-waited gifts! It brings back memories of our referral day and I am so excited for you all. It's been a loong wait and it's finally your turn. I love you all and am so thankful to have met such amazing friends like you on this journey to our daughters.

Our first post-adoption visit was last week and it was nice to see our SW who we've gotten to know over the years at our yearly homestudies. Lauren showed off for her the whole time and brought out every toy we own and kept walking through the living room with her doll in the baby stroller and saying "hello". :) We have two more post-placement visits and then we are done with the paperwork process of our adoption.

Well, I better get back to my work. It's been nice to have some extra time today. When I got to my clinical, my preceptor was off for a conference, so I got a surprise day off! ;)

I'll try to update again soon.

West Fork Trail w/Lauren

Last weekend we headed up north to our favorite hiking trail with Lauren for the first time. Lauren had so much fun and,as Dan and I said while we were hiking,as good as it was with the three of us before, it's even better with the four of us now.



Half way through the trail there is a swimming hole where the creek gets deeper and we sat in the shallow end with Lauren. She had so much fun, she didn't want to get out!


Bailey also had a great time and I think it made her feel a little more like things were going to be okay in this new life with our newest addition.