Happy Birthday Ruby!

Happy Birthday Ruby!  Today she is one year old.  I remember the joy and anxiety of her actual birth day.  She was about an hour old when we got to the hospital, and we were in time to see her get her first bath (which she did not like), and placed under the heating lamp (which she loved).

We spent two full days getting to know her birth mom, and getting to know Ruby.  The hospital was gracious to give us our own room during that time, and we spent the hours passing Ruby back and forth between our rooms, and visiting each other.  Anyone who has experienced an infant adoption knows the uncertainty, fear, anxiety, hopefulness and utter lack of control that surrounds the situation.  We relied on the Lord for every second of those days.

I continually had to remind myself that while Ruby's adoption day was one of the best days of my life, it had the potential of being one of the worst days of her birth mom's life, and we wanted no part in making it any harder on her.  So we prayed over her, and we prayed over Ruby.  We had family and friends praying.  Our whole church prayed.  Not only did we pray, but we reached out to Ruby's birth mom.  We met with her and talked for hours.  We encouraged her, answered her questions, and hopefully eased some of her fears.  We may not have made that day better for her, but I believe with all my heart that God met her in that difficult place, and gave her peace, and assurance, and hope.

And in this past year, not a single day has gone by that I haven't thought of her, and prayed for her.  I can't look at our little Ruby without thinking of her, and her amazing choice.  She blessed my life beyond all imagination when she entrusted her baby to me, and placed Ruby in my arms.  It is with all the love I possess in my heart, that I say thank you to Nicole today and we celebrate Ruby.

On a lighter note, we had Ruby dedicated on Sunday by our wonderful Pastor Wayne Taylor.  He has been my pastor since I was a little girl about Sammie's age.  After the dedication, we had a BBQ Birthday Party for Ru (and of course Dave made an incredible spread!).  Here are some of the highlights of the day:

the dedication:

Ru and Great Grandma Joyce

Ru and Grandma Leslie

Sissy loves cake!

obligatory baby cake pictures:

"this whole piece is for me???"

Daddy's girl

Digging in

"Num num num" (as Ru likes to say)

The final outcome of Ru vs. Cake.  Ru won!  (and no, we didn't let her eat the whole thing!)

Baby Dress

A few weeks ago I did a little baby shopping and came across this adorable sun dress. I just couldn't pass it up, and now every day I look at it and imagine how adorable our baby is going to look in it!

Just about 5-8 more weeks to wait! (Don't you just love that babies come when THEY want to, and not when we do! LOL...)

Go Disney!

Have you heard about Disney's upcoming movie "The Princess and the Frog"? I just heard about it today and I am so excited. This will be Disney's first animated film featuring an African American princess, and it so long overdue.

The movie is set in the 1920s in New Orleans, and the main character is Tiana. I've added the trailer below so you can see a little bit for yourself. It looks fantastic. Isn't that little frog a hoot? I love the music too.

Another reason I'm so excited about the film (and Princess Tiana) is because our new baby girl is African American. We are big Disney Princess fans, and I'm so happy that there will now be a princess that physically resembles our baby girl. Whether she picks Tiana as her favorite princess or not will be up to her, but getting to have that choice means a lot to our family.

Joyful

Today is Evan's first birthday. Above is a picture of Sammie holding Evan the day he was born.

For those that don't know our story, last year we were in the process of adopting a baby boy. Everything seemed to be going fine, and our birth mom sure about her decision. We took Evan home and spent five amazing days together. On that last day, however, his mom changed her mind and we had to give him back to her. You can read about it if you go back through my blog archives.

Today could have been a very difficult day - a very sad day. Today we could have focused on our loss, and disappointment, but we are not. We serve a God who is good, caring, loving, and a God who brings hope. Our God knows the desire that we have for more children, and He will soon fulfill that dream.

Yesterday we got a call from our social worker Liz. A birth mom in Texas saw our profile and picked us to parent her baby girl! She is due to give birth in July and we are so very thrilled! I'll share more as I can, but for now please keep us and this birth mom in your prayers! We are so excited and trust that God will continue to work just as he has this past year.

Psalm 30:11-12 - "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever."