For Kristen...

The 1st day we met you.  I tried hard not to cry in front of you, but I was so ecstatic at what God was doing, I'm not sure I succeeded!

Oh, my sweet precious girl.  Yesterday, we celebrated that it's been 1 year since you came home! (Officially, it was on Sunday, but yesterday was the celebration).   I've been thinking about what I would write, what I would say about your 1st year for a long time.  I don't think that I have adequate words to say all of what I'm feeling, but I will write down my rambling thoughts and maybe you'll be able to make some sense out of them...

I'll never forget the day you came home.  It was a Friday night, and the last day of school for both of us before Christmas break.  We both had Polar Express Day at school, so you and I were both in our pajamas!  I drove over to your foster family's home and picked you up, along with a lot of your stuff!  We had just found out the night before that you were going to get to come home!  We were all so excited to get you home!

May 29th- ADOPTION DAY! You forever became a Thomas!

We had only met you a couple of weeks before, and daddy and I spent our days in December like this: We would go to work, I would pick daddy up from work ,and we would drive to Oldham County to see you- we'd take you to dinner usually, and help you with your homework.  Then, we'd drop you off at the Spears' and head home (I would cry the whole way, because I wanted you with us!)  When we got home, we would work on getting your room put together!  We so desperately wanted you to come home before Christmas so that we would have 2 whole weeks without school to get to know you.  Mommy pushed pretty hard to make that happen, and the Spears were WONDERFUL about working with us to get it done!  We were so thankful that it worked out.

Precious girl, we have watched you grow in tremendous ways over the last year.  We have had many, many struggles, but the victories have been unimaginable.  As daddy and I have watched you grow, we have been overwhelmed by how God is working in your life.  You are more confident now, you believe in yourself.  You love reading, and art.  You are doing very well in your dance classes- your teacher even says it's already time to move up to the next level!  You are kind and caring, and always want to help out.  You are an unbelievable big sister.  You are so sweet with Samuel, and he adores you!  You can calm him down sometimes even when mommy can't!  He loves to listen to you read to him.

Our family of 4 headed home from the hospital with Sam

Kristen, we know that you have grown so much, because you have so many people who love you, and who are praying for you now.  I don't know why you went through all that you went through before you came home.  It breaks my heart to think about.  If I could take all those things from you, and go through them myself, I would.  In a heartbeat, I would.  But, I believe that God has beautiful, wonderful things planned for you.  I believe that He will take the ashes and the rubble that began your life, and turn it into something beautiful.  He promises that He will do that.  Your testimony is going to be one for the history books, precious one.

People tell us that you are a lucky girl to be in our family.  That may be true, but your daddy and I are the ones who are blessed to have you in our family.  You have taught us tremendous things, about God, and unconditional love, and about our own salvation.  Baby, we love you, forever and ever.  We are so thankful to be your parents.  Remember that when we asked you to come home and be our daughter, we said that it was forever.  We meant it then, we mean it now, and we'll mean it tomorrow, and the day after that... and the day after that...until forever. 

Love,
Mommy

to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor. -Isaiah 61:3

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.-Jeremiah 29:11

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.-Phillipians 1:6

This is one of my favorites of you- playing outside shortly after we brought Sam home from the hospital.

changes

Our family has 2 big changes coming very soon.  We've been praying about them for a long time, and we're glad to finally have decisions made!

1. I will not be returning to work after my maternity leave.  We're gonna give it a go with me as a stay at home mom for a while.

2. We're also going to start homeschooling Kristen in January.  We feel like it's the best decision for her education.

We're really excited to start this new chapter in our lives!

For Samuel- Your 1st Month

Dear Samuel,

Today you are 1 month old.  What?!  I'm not sure where the last month of our lives went, but I know it involved hospitals, doctor's visits, family in from out of town, and lots of naps, cuddling and eating.

You started your 1st few days in the NICU, and when we were finally released to go home, we were all so excited!  Your Peepaw and Momo came to visit from Georgia while we were in the hospital.  Nana came to take care of Kristen, and all of us when we got home.  I don't know what we would have done without her here.  Uncle Matt, Aunt Jill, Caleb and Carson all came to visit too when you were 9 days old.  You slept through their whole visit.  :)  Granny and Papa came to visit during the week of Thanksgiving.  Our church family provided meals for us for a couple of weeks after you were born.  I am so thankful that they did, because we probably wouldn't have eaten otherwise.

Your sister is absolutely enraptured with you.  She reads with you and plays with you and asks to hold you all the time. All the noises you make (and you make a lot of them!) make her laugh.  You love her too, and will quiet down for her, or listen to her read and talk to you.

You are nursing every 2 1/2 hours, and it usually takes you about 30 minutes, but it has taken you as long as 1 hour.  Right now, you are sleeping from about 10:30-2:30, and then again until 6:30-7:00.  Mommy will take that sleep schedule at 4 weeks!  You are wearing newborn clothes, and some 0-3 month clothes.  You are about to make the shift to all 0-3 month clothes.  We also recently bought the last pack of newborn diapers that you'll wear.

 We go to the doctor in a couple days, so we'll find out how much you've grown then.  You're looking big to me. :)

You love to cuddle... you literally crawl all over mommy to get into a comfortable position.  You love your play mat, and have recently started intentionally hitting the little figures on it.  You are also fascinated with the Christmas tree.  I think you like the lights.  Your daddy and I think that we've seen a couple of real smiles in the past few days as well.  Your daddy gave you your 1st bottle yesterday, and you took it without hesitation.  You can track things with your eyes, and you recently discovered your tongue.  It's funny to watch you stick it out, and move it around in your mouth.  You are awesome at holding your head up- especially if someone is holding you and you're getting better at it during tummy time.  Although you like to cuddle, when you lay down to sleep, you like to sprawl out with your hands up beside your head.   No more swaddling for you.

You HATE for me to clean out your nose, but otherwise, you are a very happy and content baby.  You wake up to eat every 2 1/2 hours like clockwork, and after you eat, you play for about 30 minutes, and then you're ready to nap again.

I am amazed at how fast you're growing and changing.  I've cried almost every time you've done something new because I'm sad at how quickly this time is going, but I'm also excited about the new stages.