The longtime debate...

THUMB VS. PACIFIER



















The winner for Selah..either will do! She sucks on anything that is near her mouth :) It is really cute watching her find her thumb though. Otherwise you will see her smacking away on her paci.

Selah will be 4 weeks this week. My how time flies. She had her checkup last Friday and now weighs 9 pounds! She is doing very well. She gets up every 3-4 hours and eats like crazy, but overall she is a very laid back girl and loves just hanging out.

Becky, PICU nurse

Laura, PICU nurse

Kelly, PICU nurse practitioner

Here are the girls that we met for lunch last Wednesday. Selah and I had a blast. We also got to see the other girls at the hospital...Angela, Kris, Ann, Priscilla, and many others. We love you all and I enjoyed being able to share Selah with you!

Adventures...

Things have been going well for us here at home. I forgot to mention that on Oct. 16th we actually took Selah to the covered bridge festival. Both grandmas went along too. It rained on the way there and the way home, but the day there was great weather. It was really neat walking around and just enjoying a day with the girls :) We also got to have lunch with the girls from the PICU on Wednesday. It was great to see them again and show Selah off. Thanks for getting together girls and for the gifts! We also went up to the PICU and got to see even more friends...what a day of fun. Of course, Selah slept through half of it. I will be adding pictures from that day later on too.

Covered Bridge - Oct. 16th

Photographers

Well, it is getting to be that time when I need to decide where to get Selah's pictures taken. We got Laynie's taken when she was a month old along with us and got some great family pictures. Now I am asking if anyone knows of a great photographer that isn't outrageously expensive :) Or if anyone needs a baby to practice taking pictures on! HA! Anyways, just looking for feedback because that is the only way you know if someone is good. So send your comments on in if you know where to go!

Life's little pleasures

I felt this picture summed up our weekend pretty well so far....Taking it easy. I can't believe that Selah is two weeks already! She is growing so fast. This picture makes me laugh. Every time Selah wakes up from a nap she is soooo dramatic. She has to ssstttreeettttccchhhh and squirm and then give a BIG yawn a few times before she lazily raises her eyelids to peek at what is going on.

This is the picture we took before our first Sunday at church. It was great to be able to be at church with all of our friends and family. I guess this is our 2nd family picture :)

Can you believe Christmas is in 10 weeks! Get those shopping wish lists ready. Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I love getting together with family. And this year we have so much to be thankful for. It will be bittersweet...the first Thanksgiving without Laynie, but a blessing to have Selah here with us. That just amazes me. God is so faithful. This last year has been a year of ups and downs, joys and sorrow, tears and laughter...But through it all we continue to strive to serve Him more each day and share His love with our daughters and with those around us. We love you all! Have a great weekend.

Pure Joy

The only words that can describe that last few days...pure joy! Selah has been the best baby. She is sleeping well and is so well tempered. We literally have to pinch her to get her to cry :) J/K! Here are some pictures from the last few days. We have loved all the visitors and time spent with family and friends.











The pure miracle of life..
Selah's tiny toes

and tiny fingers...

What a chubbers...she weighed
8 lb. 3 oz. at her one week checkup!

Here she enjos her first "tub bath"











a picture is worth
a thousand words!

















































Wide-eyed, Selah is so alert and is constantly
looking around when she is awake.











Selah's friend Haley came over to visit
and gave her a big smooch too!


Happy Birthday Haley - the big #1!















Selah and her cousin Brooks.













Selah and her cousin Addy. It is so neat to see
Addy interact with Selah, she loves holding her.

Breathe...

What a day! I took Selah to her pediatrician for her one week checkup today. He checked her over and at the very end thought he may have heard a slight systolic murmur. Needless to say, "just to be sure" he wanted her to have the same workup Laynie did... After talking with Dr. Shah (Laynie's cardiologist of whom we trust immensely) he said he could fit us in and just to come over to the hospital and he would check her out right then. Thank the Lord because having to wait to hear any kind of news would have been miserable. He listened to her first and didn't think he even heard anything. He said he would go ahead and do the echocardiogram just so we could all say that she was A-OK and not to be worried about it. After the echo, we got the news that she would be just fine. She did have slight mitral valve regurgitation, BUT normally if it hadn't been for everything we have already gone through he wouldn't have done the echo in the first place AND it could just be from the stress of labor, etc.. Either way, all of her anatomy was fine. Her mitral valve was normal and everything looked fine. He was going to see us in 3 months to again check and make sure everything was going well. But, in his words "treat her like a normal child..she is fine!"

Lots of emotions flooding through today though. We were blessed with Laynie...she was one in a million (somewhat literally because of her heart issues) and thinking for a moment that we could be going down that road again really pulls at the heartstrings and causes you to question...Lord, are you serious? You really think that we are strong enough to deal with this again. But in the end He provides and He is in control. And even if something unforseen comes into the picture He will provide the grace EACH day to deal with whatever life throws at us. For now we are SOAKING in each second with Selah. She is so beautiful I literally have to stop and just smell her, smooch on her, and love her with all that is in me.

So, give your kids and extra hug and kiss. Life can be so short and we have to take every second to tell those we love how much they mean to us because in an instant things could be turned upside down!

For now, we continue to breathe...in and out...and enjoy our Selah Malia! I will try to add more pictures soon when things settle down :) For now I am snuggling up with Selah to take a nap (that is - if I can steal her away from her daddy!)

Home Sweet Home!

People would say that I am one that loves going on vacation and staying at a hotel, but lets just say this has not been the case this time :) I am so ready to be home..and tonight we will be sleeping in our own beds. We are just coming up to Champaign and soon we will be carrying Selah into our house. It just makes things that much more real. Court went well today, it was actually more like an appearing. The next step is that we have to have a post-placement visit done here by our home study agency within the next month and then the adoption can be finalized in Indiana at the earliest 31 days from Selah's birth which would be Nov. 3rd. This is a lot different from finalizing in Illinois which the wait is 6 months, so for that we are thankful. To make a long story short the attorneys in Indiana then go to court for us (since we made our appearance today) and do all of that for us!

So for now we are breathing a sigh of relief, thanking our God for His mighty hand in all of this, and praying for a great night's sleep.

A day in the life...

So far so good :) Selah has been an angel. Half the time I have to wake her up even to eat. She was started on soy formula at the hospital and today after talking with her pediatrician are switching her back over to regular formula. So far she doesn't seem to mind. She slept really good last night and right now she is taking a nap and so is her daddy :) This hotel life isn't the greatest. It is nice in the aspect that we get to spend time together just the three of us, but we definately will be excited to take her home for the first time! We did get a court date for Wed. at 3 pm so hopefully after that or by Thursday we will be able to come home. We are ready to get back to see all of our friends and family too. It just confirms how much we appreciate all the support we have. We truly are blessed and don't forget it for an instance. I just keep watching Selah. It still seems a dream. She is gorgeous and I can't stop thanking God for once again blessing us with an angel from above. Babies are so perfect in every way - I don't know how someone can't believe that God doesn't exist - all you have to do is look at Selah!

Hope you are having a good start to the week. For those of you that are new bloggers. If you click on the comments at the end of a post, you can enter a message to send to us. There is also a new feature I added called "come back and visit soon." There you can subscribes to new posts like caringbridge I believe. I am new to this too so please have patience if things seem to be slow. Love you all!

More pictures

Leaving the hospital






















Getting kisses from daddy!
















This is her hospital picture outfit.

















Such an angel!
















Checking out this big ole' world

Intense

That is the word that best describes this night, for all parties involved. But, we are now in the car headed towards our hotel in Indianapolis and should be there around 9:30-10 or so. Tiffany actually handed Selah to us personally, which was an experience I will never forget and cannot even begin to put into words the emotions that were going through our heads. But, the intenseness of the whole day was worth it because Selah continues to amaze us with her perfectness and we cannot wait to be able to love her every minute of every day and to be able to share with her what a wonderful and amazing birthmother she had that put aside every selfish desire to give her the best life possible.

If you are writing in comments, can you please put your first and last name so we know for sure who is writing in :) Thanks. We are just getting used to this new site and it may take a little while. We love hearing from all of you though!

More pictures :)

Selah Malia

Pictures

The proud daddy

Isn't she cute?

Our first family photo

Mommy & Me

So peaceful!

Our first visit

We just got back from the hospital! The papers are signed and we got to see Selah! Aaaahhh, we are almost there. She is so precious. She was sleeping for most of our visit. She has a full head of soft black hair. And of course 10 tiny fingers and 10 tiny toes. Children are such a miracle. Still in a daze. We get to go back tomorrow around 10 to get her "hospital" picture taken with our outfit and then she will be discharged around 5-7 pm. From there we are heading to Indianapolis where we will be staying in a hotel until our court date and the OK to leave Indiana. Right as we were beginning to leave she opened her eyes! It looks like she has dark brown eyes at this point. She has a few dimples too that are very faint at this point, but Tiffany says when you look close you can see them. The meeting went very well. Just continue to pray for Tiffany and her family as they will have a rough day tomorrow to say the least as they say their goodbyes. Pictures are coming within the next hours - I have to download them first :)

To sum up the time spent... She is a pure miracle!

SIGN HERE

Well, today has been a day of mixed emotions. The legal process of adoption can be so mentally exhausting at times. From our past experiences I try to prepare my heart for anything "bad" happening. You try to guard your heart for the unexpected. Tiffany has agreed to go ahead and sign her rights over today around 2 pm, but is asking to be able to care for Selah and keep her in her room at the hospital until they are both discharged tomorrow. It is very hard not to get defensive and protective. We completely see her view of not wanting to part with Selah, but at the same time our hearts are yearning to be able to hold her as "our own" and be the caretakers. Technically she is ours today when we go see her at 3:30, but yet we will be asked to leave her there with Tiffany for one more day. Please pray for strength... I want to be able to fully look at Selah and bond immediately with her, but until we are taking her home with us it cannot fully sink in that I am her mommy! It is so hard to try to be the understanding one that acts like it doesn't matter at all when Tiffany gives up her rights, because inside we would love to have her this second.

I have been trying to think of a mother in the Bible that went through "adoption" and finally came up with Moses' mother. She had to put him in that basket not knowing the outcome and literally thinking that she would never be able to care for him again. Of course the queen that "adopts" him is not looked upon in a good manner in this story, but it helps me to put in perspective the thoughts that Tiffany has to be feeling. I think the struggle is because I will never be able to experience a childbirth, breastfeeding your baby, being able to be that first one to hold your child to your chest after giving life to them... that desire is what I have to put aside and be able to think that we God willing will have a lifetime with Selah and I need to have patience and do what God wants me to do...Be still.

Like I said before we hope to go see Tiffany and Selah today at 3:30 and meet her sister for the first time. Hopefully we will get some pictures and be able to put some on the website soon. Thanks for your continued words of encouragement and prayers of support!

It's a Girl!

She is here! Selah Malia (Say-la). She weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 20 inches long. She has dark black hair and looks beautiful - although we are a little bias :) She was born at 3:26 pm. Indiana time. We are both still in a shock, doesn't seem quite real. We are hoping to go see her tonight and are waiting to hear from Tiffany again. Consents cannot be signed until 3:26 tomorrow and that is cutting it really close for the courts that close around 4:30. If you can just continue to pray that this process goes smoothly and quickly...we are trying to remain patient and wait on him! We will be adding pictures as soon as we get some.