Mother of the Year....NOT!!!

Okay everyone out there trying to win the coveted title of "mother of the year". Sorry, I beat you to it. Today was Sawyer's dedication at our church. I had everything prepared and ready to go. Our family was coordinated and our clothes were pressed. Everything was perfect this morning. Except...I did not take one single picture!!! And b/c of that, I have awarded myself mother of the year. It seemed like the morning flew by and before I realized it, the day was over. My friend Ann is our preschool director and thankfully she has someone who takes pictures for families. So, in a couple of weeks I will have a few pictures of us to post. She did also inform me that they will send me a video of the service. YIPPEE!! Because my video camera was hanging out with my camera IN MY BAG!

Sawyer slept through the dedication service. Everything was perfect. It was great to be standing on that stage with the most wonderful nine year old God could have ever blessed us with and the most wonderful baby we thought we would never have. At our dedication services we choose life verses. As I said before, we had chosen Sawyer's life verse as Jeremiah 29:11. The entire scripture is over to the right. My favorite part of that verse is "plans to give you a hope and a future". How applicable to her life and ours. God truly had a plan to give Sawyer a hope and a future. Thankfully, He is letting us be a part of it. I can't wait to see His plan for her unfold. Everyday we get a new glimpse into her personality and it is precious!

In lieu of the beautiful dedication pictures you should be viewing, I will post other fun stuff.

Brennan made some type of goo at school similar to silly putty and decided to put scars on her face (I don't know either???)

Sawyer only sleeps with her face smashed into something

Brennan and our niece heading out to the Taylor Swift concert

Look at those expressive eyes...what is she thinking???

LOVE that smile!!!

Sawyer is itching to roll over---she is a wiggler

Sweet dreams

Rainbows & Promises

A few weeks ago, we were enjoying a dreary day at home. Brennan and my nephew had been playing inside and heard the rain start again. They ran onto the back porch to stand in the rain (the joys of being a kid...they didn't worry about their hair frizzing). As soon as they got outside they both began to scream for me to come. Now in our house, if you are in the backyard screaming it either means our dog ate something or an animal is in our yard. I stepped on the back porch only to turn and see the most AMAZING rainbow I have ever seen. The colors were so vivid. It was so incredibly tall. It seemed to stretch to heaven with a perfect curve. I grabbed my camera and snapped this picture.

We then ran to the front porch to see if we could get a better picture. As we open the door, the rain begins to pour, but not before we see....a complete rainbow. End to end, a perfect arch and we all three saw it. I have never seen a full, complete rainbow. I couldn't get a picture at the point because we were getting soaked. It never occurred to me to take one from inside?! (go figure). It took a few days to sink in what we had witnessed. The rainbow is the symbol of God's promise. A promise to guide us in the "storms" of our life and see us to the end. It is difficult to describe, but the past year has been the most difficult emotionally and the most rewarding emotionally. Having experienced both having a child biologically and through adoption, I can say adoption is ten thousand times more stressful. The entire experience is out of your hands.

God had promised us a child! We knew we were meant to adopt and that there was a child for us. Throughout everything God continually reassured us. Even when we doubted, He was constant, just like the rainbow. The rainbow we saw that day was God's sign that He kept His promise to us. What a beautiful reminder of the miracle we have in our home. I pray that I can take in all His blessings without having to see a "rainbow" to be reminded of them.

Sawyer's 2 Month Birthday

Two months ago today, our precious baby daughter was born.

isn't that outfit too cute! it was a gift from my friend Jennifer

Sawyer is already emerging with her own personality. She...

• can stand up in your lap and hold her own weight (okay do all 8 wk olds do this???)
• sticks her tongue out when she smiles

• sleeps great at night, well she gets up to eat but immediately goes back to sleep
• sleeps with one eye open (I think she is keeping one eye on us!)

• can fan her toes out (me & Brennan do this to gross Michael out)
• is VERY grumpy if you mess her nap up
• is very ticklish
• loves to be outside
• is blessed to have a big sister who adores her to pieces

And to update on Brennan (you know I can't leave her out). She...

• can stand almost perfect
• sticks her tongue out when she concentrates (just like Michael)
• has always been a GREAT sleeper
• sleeps with both eyes closed
• can fan her toes and is a part of the "Monkey Toes Club"
• is also grumpy if she hasn't had enough sleep
• is EXTREMELY ticklish
• would rather be inside reading a book
• is blessed to have a baby sister who will adore her more than anything
  
  

hahahahahahaha!!!!! I felt like I couldn't update Sawyer without updating Brennan.

These two months have flown by. Sometimes I wish time could slow down just so I could soak it all in. Sawyer is a beautiful little baby. She is amazingly strong; okay, I haven't been around that many babies to remember this age. But, trust me...she is strong!

This month is a big one for us. At the end of the month, we will dedicate Sawyer at our church. This a commitment for us to raise Sawyer according to His will. Then, the following week in October the adoption will be finalized. We will be completely done with all paperwork, social worker visits and phone calls to check on us! That has been relatively minuscule in the big picture, but we are just ready to have it all behind us!