Crawling!

Sarah Kate is crawling! After many, many weeks of getting in position and rocking back and forth, little Ms. Priss decided night before last to take off across the floor! It was so sweet to see! I know I have my work cut out for me now though - trying to keep up with her!

In other news...I'm sorry it's been many moons since I've posted. Sarah Kate makes life unbelieveably busy in addition to the normal chaos of work and school. I'll make it my new years resolution to do a much better job of posting! :) But a few updates...the little chunkey monkey weighed in at 18 lbs at the peds office last week. He said she was "perfect." She has 2 bottom teeth and I can see the white starting to show on her top gums. So, I know she will be getting more soon.

We are super excited about Santa's first visit to see Sarah Kate this year. Hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas!

Wow! It's been so long since I've posted. Life is just so hectic, it's hard to find the time to keep up with everything. But Sarah Kate is growing fast! Too fast! She's precious and such a happy girl most of the time.

On a slightly different note, we went to a couple's shower on Saturday for some friends who adopted precious Anna Claire. She is the sweetest little girl ever! It made me so happy to think that Sarah Kate and Anna Claire will forever share the bond of adoption and will always have each other to share their thoughts and feelings. God certainly knew what he was doing when he placed the 6 of us together! Thank you God!

Well, I realize I'm terribly behind on keeping this blog updated. Whew, between work, taking an online class and trying to soak up every minute I can with Sarah Kate, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. But I did want to let the world know a few milestones Ms. Sarah Kate has managed. She is rolling over from her back to her stomach and again to her back! She is also laughing out loud, which I must admit just makes me laugh. The first time I heard her do it, I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my cheek. It was just too cute! She has really discovered her feet and she's happiest when she's lying on her back, holding onto them! She is also making her first discoveries of baby food. She semi-likes it. Green beans and sweet potatoes seem to be her favorites, while she could care less for bananas. Every day I get to share with her is such a blessing and I'm reminded just fortunate we are!

Oh, those little "big" moments....!

Yesterday, Sarah Kate finally figured out how to roll over from her back to her tummy! She's been rolling over onto her side for several weeks now, but could never figure out how to get herself all the way over. Well, yesterday she finally did it! Of course, it made her mad when she first tried and it didn't work, but she put all that anger to good use and flipped her little self right on over. Once she figured out what she did, she did it at least 5 more times! Now, she just has to figure out how to get her arm out from underneath her when she rolls over. For now, she just "yells" and I pull it out from her so she can enjoy her "tummy time" she worked so hard for!

My First Mother's Day!

Wow! My first Mother's Day! I can't even believe it. There was a time when I thought that I would never get the joy of being able to celebrate this special day. After years of infertility, for reasons not known, I had really decided that perhaps Motherhood was one of those blessings I would not share with others. But then God did an amazing work in our lives and in our hearts and we adopted a beautiful baby girl in January! All the trials and struggles, laughter and tears, makes this Mother's Day even more special and I'm acutely aware of how precious children are...especially for those that Motherhood doesn't come as easy to.

My first Mother's Day was a joy. I got the new version of photoshop, which I'm very excited to get to try out on the hundreds of photos that I have snapped of Sarah Kate! The three of us went to church yesterday, enjoyed some great fellowship with friends and then made the rounds to see both sets of g'parents. I even had a very special friend come by in the afternoon so we could finally celebrate Mother's Day together after all these years! God IS good!!!!!

Such A Happy Girl

Mornings are so much fun at our house now. When Sarah Kate awakes, she is such a happy girl! She's ready to "talk" as loudly as she can and she gives smiles and grins that just melt my heart. It makes me wish I could just stay and play with her forever, doing anything I can to elicit yet another grin. Speaking of that grin, the picture is her, in all her happiness, one day earlier this week! See, what I mean?

So, this weekend is my first Mother's Day and I must say it seems a little odd for that to now be a holiday I get to celebrate. I'm so used to that being everyone elses holiday...my mom, Stanley's mom, all my friends...but never me and yet, suddenly, it is my holiday too. So, Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mom's out there! Celebrate your day and cherish what it means!

A few Easter Pictures...

Happy Easter!

What a joy to celebrate Easter with my wonderful husband and precious baby girl. The weekend was a whirlwind, with Sarah Kate having Easter pictures made on Saturday and then a wonderful, uplifting Sunday service at church, followed by a yummy

food with friends and family.

Picture day went surprisingly well. Sarah Kate was all smiles for the camera! I loved every single minute of dressing her up. I know it will only be a matter of time and I probably won't even be able to get her to look at a dress, much less wear one! So, I'm taking full advantage now! I hope everyone had a blessed Easter!

2 Months Old and counting!

Hard to believe that yesterday, March 25, Sarah Kate was 2 months old. It just seems like yesterday when I got the call from her birth mom saying she was going to the hospital and a few short hours later receiving another call letting us know she had arrived in this world. Amazing, but in such a short period of time, I can not remember life before her!

She went for her 2 month checkup today and got yucky shots. 3 to be exact! She did really well in the exam and the Dr. said she was such a "content" baby. (Yeah, where is he when she's pulling her hair and refusing to go to sleep?) But when the nurse came in and gave her the shots, well, her attitude changed drastically! She wailed! And wailed! And wailed! Of course, 3 shots and 1 oral injection later, perhaps I would have too.

On a different note, I absolutely can not wait until Easter. She has several Easter dresses and I'm just dying to see her all dressed up! Plus, as silly as this sounds, I'm really, really looking forward to making her an Easter basket. I know she's too little to enjoy it and really understand and I don't usually get caught up in these things...but something about the Easter basket...I want to rejoice even at such a young age with her that Jesus rose from the dead and what a glorious time it was and is!

I'm not going to sleep - I'm not!

Who knew that at 7 weeks, a darling little girl with a precious smile, could turn into a miniture soldier when it comes to bedtime? Sarah Kate wants no part of going to sleep that first time at night. She will do anything and everything within her power (which is quiet a lot I've realized!) to keep herself awake. She normally takes a warm bath and bottle around 8:30ish and should be ready for bed by 9. But no! It doesn't matter how tired she is, she refuses to give in. Her eyes will be red, she'll fuss, she'll kick, she'll flail her arms all about and finally, in a desperate attempt, she will pull her own hair! Yep, you read that right. She pulls her hair. She will pull, cry, loosen her grip and recover and then pull again. Finally, after her 11:30 feeding, she'll just go right off to sleep with no hestitation. It's the strangest thing. Oh goodness, if she is this stubborn at 7 weeks, I can not even begin to imagine our battle of wills when she's 2! Here's hoping we can convince her that sleep isn't just for the weak!

Back at Work

I came back to work after being off for 6 weeks this past Monday. I didn't cry when I left Sarah Kate - she was sleeping soundly! I did, however, find myself wondering throughout the day(s) what she is doing, how she is feeling etc. I must admit - I'm so excited to walk out the door at 5 now (and I REALLY walk out of the door at 5!). Last night, I took her for her first stroll outside. She absolutely loved it. The only time she fussed was when I quit walking and she realized she was not moving. It makes me look forward to Spring and Summer and being able to take her outside even more.

On a slightly different note, we have some dearfriends that have been in the adoption process for a while now. They have endured 2 failed adoptions and it breaks my heart. It made me think back to our situation and wonder why things happen as they do. I know I'll never know, other than God hand picked a child just for us - just as He will for our precious friends. I realize more and more just how fortunate we were. Things just happened so quickly for us and before we knew it, we were holding Sarah Kate. That's not to say the process was flawless, because it wasn't. In the last few weeks of the birth moms pregnancy, there was definitely drama and I honestly did not know if she would proceed with the adoption or not. But I tried (not successfully most of the time) to just remember that I couldn't control the situation and the good Lord's plan is not altered by our circumstances. So, now we anxiously await to see what lies ahead for our friends and we are prayerful that their journey will end successfully, sooner rather than later. I know He has chosen a child just for them and I can not wait until they receive His blessing!

Now, back to Sarah Kate...she is starting to coo a little and smile, which I think is just adorable. She is sleeping about 3 hours at a time at night (although she did make it 4 one night - wooo-hooo!) We are trying to get adjusted to our schedule with me being back at work and I know within a few weeks, it will seem second nature to us. (Atleast that is my hope!) Sarah Kate also finally got to meet her great-grandmother this past weekend. It was a special moment. Other than that, not much else is going on. Hope you all are enjoying this wonderful weather!

6 weeks and counting...

Life forever changed on January 25, 2009 when God allowed us to share in the life of a precious new soul named Sarah Kate. The journey was a test of faith, sometimes with me failing miserably. Nevertheless, the end result was nothing short of a miracle.



The last 6 weeks have been amazing. If I'm honest, it does not yet seem real. Everything from start to finish seemed to transpire so quickly and I have a lot of processing to do both mentally and emotionally. But I wouldn't trade any of it for anything in the world because I know that God hand picked this child just for us!



So, this miracle I'm speaking of...she is a dark haired, blue eyed beauty (so far...but of course, this could change, I know!) named Sarah Kate. She came into this world weighing in at 6.6 pounds and at her 1 month checkup was a whopping 8.3 pounds!



My hope is that I can use this blog to document some of her life for all of those people who don't get to see her on a regular basis....an online scrapbook of sorts. I don't dare say how often I will update it just yet - I will say it is my intention to update it a couple of times a week. But I'm realizing even with the best of intentions, some times life still gets in the way.