Our Adoption Video

I will be posting pics of baptism later but this is the video that we showed at church this morning. We had a wonderful day celebrating Charlie & I hope that you enjoy our video!

8 Weeks old

How is Charlie already 8 weeks old?? It's going so fast! I love seeing him grow & doing so well but it's always sad to never get that time back. He is smiling up a storm & learning to coo like crazy! Melts my heart! He is such a good baby & is now sleeping about 7 hours at night. To me that is nuts because I've never had a baby sleep that long at this age. When we finally knew he was ours, one of the first things I said to him was that I hoped he liked soccer & to be on the go! Well, he certainly does! He's just so easy going & he's already been at his fair share of soccer! He'll have many hours of sports watching under his belt by the time he gets his own chance at it! He is almost 10 pounds! Yes, he's still little but he is growing nicely & he loves to eat! We seriously can't imagine our lives without him here & we all love him so much! Here's a couple of recent pictures. I don't have too many since I've so sick but I caught a few good ones of him smiling!

I Never Knew....

I never knew......that being a mom could be so difficult.

I never knew......that being a mom could also be so rewarding in that same moment it is so difficult.

I never knew......that my heart could almost burst with so much love for my children.

I never knew.....that the adoption journey would be as difficult as it was/is.

I never knew.....that this same journey would be 1 of the biggest blessings in my life.

I never knew.....I could love a child who is not of my own flesh just as if he was.

I never knew....I could feel so much love for the woman who gave our son the gift of life.

I never knew....the journeys that God would take me on so that I would learn over & over to just trust Him.

I never knew....that in almost 5 years, not a day would go by that I wish I had all 6 of my children to hold here on earth.

I never knew....that most of these thing I never knew would make me who I am today.

Blah!

We've been sick around here again. This time it was both Brian & I. At the same time. With the worst strep we've both ever had. 2 sick parents + 5 children= HELP!!!  We both wanted to call our mommies to come bail us out but we knew that both of them were busy. Thankfully, we both alternated our good moments vs bad moments until Alexa got home from work on Saturday.So glad that she's at the age where she can help out in that way. She did tell me I could have my job back though! ha! No need for child development for that kid! She living it! 

The bad thing is that we had baptism scheduled for Charlie on Sunday & dinner planned for right after that with both of our families. Both of us knew it wasn't an option with how sick we were. I didn't really get out of bed all day Sunday & I'm pretty sure we would have spread germs everywhere. We have so looked forward to this day & we didn't want to just get through it. We want to enjoy & reflect on 1 of God's greatest promises for us & our children. It can be rescheduled & food can be reheated & made again. We know that some family won't be able to be there & I hate that! But you got to do what you got to do!

So now we are in recovery mode & it's been slow going for me. No moving too fast for me! Yuck! Everyday is getting better but I am not near where I'd like to be. Just disappointing for me since this is my last week at home because I go back to work on Monday. Not what I had in mind for this week! I guess if nothing else, it made me slow down & just sit with my boys, at least during the day. Of course kids still need to be brought to the gazillionth soccer game of the season. Okay, maybe exaggerated there but still, wow! We've seen a ton of soccer between the 3 kids! Good thing I enjoy watching soccer & there's lots of space for Jackson to run.

Hope to post some new pictures of Charlie soon! I've been taking them but just haven't had the energy or time to post them! Hope everyone in Iowa is enjoying this warm weather!

A Whole New Appreciation

This Sunday is Mother's Day. What most people don't know is that Saturday is Birth Mother's Day. I honestly didn't know that either until recently but you better believe that we will always be celebrating that day from now on. So in honor of Birth Mother's Day, I wanted to write something to honor Miss A and other birth moms.

Who do you think of when birth mothers are mentioned? Do you think of poor, uneducated, drug addicts who don't "want" their children? Do you always view them as young and unmarried? Do you think that all of them are just promiscuous, un-Christian women who should know better? If this is what your idea of them are, then you are wrong! While some of these women who carry the title "birth mom" might be in this category, that is not always the case. Thanks to some of the made for TV movies, this is the perception that has been wrongfully given.

While looking into domestic adoption, we found that the majority of moms who place their children for adoption are in their 20's and already have 1 or more children to care for. In alot of cases, the parents are just not in a position to care for any more children so they chose lovingly to place the child with a family that can. The pregnancy itself may not be planned but most of these women who choose life for these children love them and would probably choose to parent if their circumstances were different. No matter what her story may be, the decision to place these children is never an easy one and they will have to grieve the loss of raising this child that she hasn't given birth to. The decision is not a selfish one. Quite the opposite, in fact. She loves this child so much that she would rather make the decision to give her child a better life and learn to cope with the loss she now faces. In our eyes, Charlie's birthmom is our hero. She is an amazing woman who has strength beyond words! We pray that she knows how much we care for her and that she knows the love of God in her life.

Everyone has a story. Everyone has a history. These women who are birthmoms are no exception. Their stories make them who they are, just like you and me. They deserve respect and they deserve understanding. Most of all, they deserve the love of the families that are raising their children because they are the most precious gift!

I ask that if you know a birthmom in real life, that you take the chance to tell her Happy Birthmom's Day on Saturday. These women deserve the recognition of their selfless choice!