GOTCHA day!

One year ago today we became a family. Today is our GOTCHA day! November 20, 2009 we became Abigail's parents. The parental rights were terminated in the court and we got to take our precious baby home before Thanksgiving. What an amazing God we have that He could bring us together in His perfect timing! She was 35 days old and less than 7 pounds- a tiny and beautiful gift!

Today at 13 months old she weighs just over 17 pounds and is crawling everywhere. She "talks" all the time and is into everything. It is amazing to see how she learns and discovers things.

How will we celebrate today?
*first and foremost-we thank God for our precious gift. Without Him Abigail would not be here with us.
*Eat blueberry pancakes for breakfast. (done and yum!)
*enjoy playtime today & maybe take a walk with the 3 puppies
*watch ATM play Nebraska tonight...whoop!

Thank you for celebrating with us. As we reach each milestone we continue to be in awe of how amazing it is to be Abigail's Mommy and Daddy. Let us not forget that her birthmom chose LIFE for her and she knew she couldn't provide a stable home for her baby. She chose US to be parents. That is the most unselfish gift! Through God's guidance this beautiful girl was placed for adoption and I am her Mommy!!! Wherever the birthmom is we still think of her and sincerely hope she is doing ok. May God bless her always.

Have a wonderful day-We know we will.
Love and blessings,
Jenny

Time Goes by too fast...

*The picture was taken today at Kristi & David's house. Kristi takes the best pictures and always catches her smiling. Thanks!

I can't believe it is November already. We are fast approaching our "gotcha day" on November 20th. Everyone told us last year to enjoy every moment because it would fly by and ........they were right! I can't believe how big Abigail is getting.

She is constantly chatting and making noise. She nods her head and agrees with most of everything. :) Currently she is trying out her authority and we are using ours. She is a sweet, sweet girl and we are learning that she really, really, really loves to share her food....with the puppies. Of course the puppies are VERY accommodating too. Every day is an adventure and every day is a blessing. She continues to make us smile and laugh.

We both agree that she is fairly close to walking. Maybe by Christmas but we aren't sure. She loves to pull up on everything and is attempting to climb onto things. (Oh dear!) Her balance is improving some and she can stand unassisted for 2 seconds sometimes. All that to say....we are not rushing her to walk. She loves to crawl and we are really enjoying her mobility.

We know that the holidays will be amazing with visits to Baton Rouge for Thanksgiving and Boerne for Christmas.

We are in the process of reviewing her 1 year old photos and hope to get those out and ready for Christmas. Of course we will have a family pictures with all 3 of us and of course the puppies. STay tuned for more.

May God bless you and your family.

Love,

Jenny, Jerry & Abigail........and the pups.

Hope Gala

Tuesday we went to the Generations Hope Gala. That is our adoption agency's annual fundraiser. It was amazing!!! Here are a few highlights:

*Since we were one of the families that adopted last year we were one of the VIPs. :) We were able to go up on stage and be introduced. As we were walking up on the stage they introduced us and people clapped. As soon as the audience clapped guess who clapped and kicked her legs??? Abigail!! It was hilarious. Everyone laughed. She was so excited and happy. She clapped after every name was announced. There must have been 20 families! She truly lights up a room with her smile!

*We also were so blessed to see the doctor that delivered Abigail and the nurses that were there in the hospital when she was born. They said that it was an amazing experience to be a part of. I can't wait to share this with Abigail as part of her "birth" story. We took pictures with them and introduced them to my parents.

*We sat at the same table as Abigail's transitional family, Kristi & David. It is amazing how God brought them into our lives. They will be a part of our family forever! We cherish them so much.

*We talked with a few other adoptive families and many of our friends from church and around Waco were there to celebrate the occasion.

All in all it was an amazing night. We were so proud to show off our little angel and share with everyone how God brought her to us through adoption. It was extra special to share that with my parents. They hadn't met anyone from Generations and it was so neat to bring both sides of the story together.

That is all for now. Dinner is waiting to be cooked......God bless you all.

Love,

Jenny

Birthday pictures

Abigail's smash cake....homemade by Mommy

pink puff in a swing!

Birthday party fun at the park

Amazing...

What an amazing few days! I still can't believe how that last year has flown by. I find myself thinking..."last year at this time....we didn't have our sweet Abigail".


This year we do! On her birthday Jerry picked her up out of her crib and brought her to me. What an awesome way to wake up! She was smiling which of course made me smile too. We sang Happy Birthday and had a special moment with her before we had breakfast. I made her a giant pancake and she loved it. Then we opened her presents. Jerry's mom came to visit and so we opened her presents too. Abigail was having so much fun tearing the paper that she hardly noticed the little kitchen set that her Grandma gave her. But she soon figured it out and now she loves it too.

After a fun, relaxing day at home we headed to the rodeo. She really enjoyed petting the animals and clapping for the cowboys. She did take a quick nap during the rodeo but woke up just in time for the bullriding. :)

Although I think she had fun she may have partied too hard...The night ended with her being overly exhausted. She didn't get to sleep until 10pm or so. In fact, she was quite cranky and had a low grade temperature. Poor baby girl! (She is also cutting 3 teeth at the same time.)

The day after her birthday we just hung out at home and recuperated. We wanted her to be rested and ready for her big birthday party on Saturday. She was feeling a little better but not quite the same. Those darn teeth hurt I bet!

Party day!
Dressed in her tutu and princess crown she made quite an entrance. Almost 30 of her friends from Waco and 3 grandparents came for this awesome celebration. Jerry and I were so proud of our beautiful little girl. We had prayed for this for so long and God answered our prayers. I still have to pinch myself sometimes.....this is MY little girl! wow!
A few things we did:
swung on the swings for the first time....(hilarious in her tutu by the way)
dove into her cake with both hands
opened her presents
played with her friends
All in all a wonderful day! We are so blessed. Thank you all so much for sharing this day with us. We miss you guys that weren't able to come and hope to see you real soon.
Stay tuned for more pictures to follow....

love,
Jenny