The post we thought would never come!

She is finally here!!!

Sawyer Addison Moore was born July 6, 2009 at 3:05 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and was 19" long. She is TINY!!! (well compared to Brennan as a newborn baby).

Michael and I were able to see her in the hospital the next day. At the time it was very surreal and still is. It seemed like the day would never come and then it did! Tuesday was my emotional day. There were a lot of things still in question regarding the birth mother; she hit a very rough spot and unfortunately we were at the hospital and full aware of how she was wavering. The whole day Michael kept reminding me that it was completely out of our hands so we just needed to be ready to accept whatever God had planned for us. We went to the hospital in the middle of the night Tuesday night just to spend time with Sawyer. The hospital we were at has a separate room set up just for adoptive parents, very cool!! It was hysterical, we were in there with her maybe 3 minutes and I went to change her diaper and well....let's just say we were christened into baby hood again. We both had forgotten a lot of small details, like wait until they are completely done using the bathroom before you change a diaper. Needless to say, she does not have ANY bathroom issues!

The next day Wednesday we swam with Brennan at the pool and just hung out until after lunch. The birth mother could not sign until 3:00; so we were told to come around 3:15. Wednesday Michael and I did a complete flip-flop emotionally, he will LOVE it that I am saying this. He was a complete bundle of nerves the entire day and I must say I was cool as a cucumber. I would love to say it was complete faith, but probably more like sleep deprivation. But, thankfully I was there to remind him that "it is out of our hands" without missing a beat, remember the day before he was that way with me. We were in the waiting room at the hospital for almost 2 hours when our 2 coordinators walked through the big doors and .......nothing. They didn't look at us or make eye contact. Not kidding, 5 minutes and nothing! Both, our hearts dropped. And I am thinking, okay Lord you have us on this path but for this! I know we learn through both the good and the bad in life, but I was praying Lord please don't use this as a bad time we must learn from. Then what seemed like an eternity, really 5 minutes, our social worker turned around and gave us a thumbs up!!!!! Time flew after that and an hour later we were in the car leaving with our new baby girl.

Brennan has been on cloud nine. She counts the minutes other people can hold her. So, if you are planning on holding her before Sawyer turns one, you might want to get an appointment with Brennan first!

So much more to say, but that will have to wait for another day. This has been the most AMAZING journey we have ever been on as a family. God has revealed Himself to us in so many ways and we are so thankful for that!!! Please, please, please continue to pray for the birth mother. We will forever have a special place in our hearts for her. Unfortunately, we are in the best place right now and she is in the worst. She does have a wonderful support system around her. We also asked her a week ago what her favorite verse was. We were kind of thinking if it fit, it could be Sawyer's life verse. Her favorite is Jeremiah 29:11, "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 a hope and a future". We are honored to use the same verse she chose. How applicable to her and Sawyer's life.

Time to end this extremely long post, sorry our internet has been down for 3 days and it seemed like an eternity. Brennan just came to tell me that Sawyer is awake and smiling, so I have to go see this!

She is finally here.

The last few days have been a whirlwind of emotions. But we finally have her in our arms. As most of you can already tell this is not Tracy. (I know the fine writing was a clue) Tracy & Brennan are in the room with Sawyer sleeping. Our internet is not working at our condo so I had to go find a internet cafe to update you with pictures. By the way not many normal people in an internet cafe this morning. I have put together a quick slideshow of Sawyer. I hope it works. Tracy will update later with much more detail.

Michael

We got a phone call this morning that the BM was in the hospital and they are taking the baby today!!!!! We are heading to Orlando late this afternoon. There are so many things to pray for....a safe delivery, for the BM's ongoing emotional state, safe travels and more! We will update as soon as we can.

What a sister is like

Well to start of this is a little different than usual this time it is me writing on here (Brennan) and I am going to show how I feel about getting a new person in the family. For me getting a sister is like making a new friend but just thinking about it they will be with you forever not just until they move away like how friends do. The fun part about getting a baby sister is you get to do a lot more stuff than you used to you will have someone to play with and especially when they get to be 2 and 3 those are some of my favorite years with a baby. For one reason they are able to walk and they try to talk and you can't understand what they are saying and then you just have to nod and say yea. Those are some of the years when they start to do funny stuff and then they don't know why you are laughing. Well I guess that is all the time I have to talk so I will talk to you later.

It's getting close!

We have had a few "maybe" times in the past couple of weeks. Our agency has called twice with the news that the BM was in the hospital and they could take the baby the next day. Both times sent us scrambling to get ready. The last time, upon my sister-in-laws urging, we actually went and bought a few bottles and the much needed pacifiers. We have those, so we are ready! As of a few days ago, our social worker informed us that if the BM does go back in the hospital, she will stay and the baby will be born. So, now we are waiting! Thankfully, we have tons of things to occupy our time right now.

Sawyer's (did I mention that is the baby's name) room is finished. YEAH!!! We let Brennan choose the color scheme (mostly b/c I am extremely indecisive). She chose pink and chocolate. Her bedding (a gift from Nana) is a few shades of pink and chocolate....YUMMY! Michael thinks the walls look like ice cream, since they are pink on top and chocolate on the bottom with white molding in the middle.

We will update again soon! Happy 4th of July!!!

What an amazing week!

We have had a few new developments this month. We learned about a month ago that is was very important to our birth mother that she and I actually meet before the big day in July. GULP! I decided to look at this whole trip as something I could do for her, to make her more at peace with her decisions. After Michael and I talked about it we decided I would make the trip, without question and whatever happens, happens. We decided to make a girl trip out of it. My mom and Brennan flew down with me and we had time to swim and of course, go to Downtown Disney (one of Brennan's favorite places). It seems like the day we would finally meet came so quickly. She and I spent the day going to a doctor's appt, ultrasound and lunch. I got to watch the baby in action on the ultrasound. Technology is amazing, she was blinking her eyes! In the end, I got so much more out of the day! I really thought I was doing this for her...well, it affected me so much more than I thought it would. I met our birth mother! Now keep in mind, the entire day felt very surreal. I felt like I was watching someone else's life and story unfold. I am so glad I met her. Just to get a glimpse of who this little person will be in a few years. I really enjoyed it so much more than I could have ever imagined. We will be very blessed to have this precious child have her outgoing personality. But, in the end, it is her decision. We are all at peace with this entire situation. There was a period of time when I let "all the questions" consume me. But, God knows how this story is going to unfold. He already knows how this will end and if this is the child we end up with. He knows all this! If we were to let all the negative thoughts consume our lives, we would be miserable and it would in NO WAY affect the outcome. I could worry all day, every day, but in the end it is her decision....not ours! I am praying for peace for this mother. She is in a hard place in her life and is ready for this to be behind her. It breaks my heart for what she is going through (not because this could be our child, but because she is another human being in a bad place in her life).

Time has flown by SO INCREDIBLY FAST!!! I was worried in the beginning that I would be watching the clock and crossing off the days. Now, I wish time could just stop for a bit and let us catch our breath.

Lots to update on

Well, quite a few things have happened in the past few months. We have learned more about this precious child and the birth mother. She is due by c-section on July 9th but cannot sign her paperwork until July 11th under FL law. The birth mother and I have communicated by e-mail (through our social worker only) over the past couple of months. This situation took a while to adjust to (the fact that she and I would communicate). I have since accepted it this way...should this child end up ours, I want to soak in all I can about the birth mother so that one day I can tell her what she was like. Because, as much as everyone wants to believe she won't, one day it would be only natural for our child to want to know what her birth mother was like. I want to give this woman all the credibility I can. She is worthy of our respect! I cannot imagine the emotions she must be going through and I won't pretend that I know. But, I do know that she is doing the most selfless thing a human being can do. She has pushed all her own emotions aside and is trying to do what is best for this child. Of course, she can change her mind and she possibly might. But, at the end of the day, she could make that decision and there is not one thing I can do about it. We have chosen to not let this consume our lives. I could worry, cry and be obsessive every minute...but that will in no way affect her decision in July. If this child is meant to be with us...God will place her in our arms. And if not, there is another baby who needed us more. We have chosen to look at this whole situation in a positive light and take each day as it comes. Thanks for checking in on us!