Finalization complete

Picture #1: With judge

Picture #2: Outside courtroom

Picture #3: Night before in hotel

Our finalization was completed on April 23rd. That will forever be Abigail's "Adoption Day". We are so blessed to have her in our life and God has truly shown His faithfulness. Our arms are full of a precious gift.

Here is a short story of how last week went. As the previous post showed...we saw Abigail's birthmom on Wednesday. Then Thursday afternoon we drove to Dallas to stay in a hotel so we could be up and at the courthouse downtown by 8am. Thursday night was special because we were just enjoying our away time as a family and reflecting on the last 6 months. So much has happened!! :) Jerry was laughing at me because almost everyone we saw in the hotel and in the restaurant I was telling them why we were in Dallas. I was so excited!! and....i like to talk to people....imagine that!

Friday morning went great. Sweet baby was up and fed and ready to go by 7:15am. Mommy didn't sleep well due to anticipation and anxiety that at least 1 of the 3 alarms I set would go off on time. Heaven forbid we sleep through this very important date.

We made it to the courthouse without a traffic delay. Amazing feat right there. God parted the Dallas morning traffic just for us to make it to the courthouse, right? I think so. He can do that you know.

We went through security including the metal detectors and then we waited. Abigail was doing great. So far so good...she was awake, alert, and adorable. We met another man who was finalizing he and his wife (and baby boy's) adoption. The went through Generations as well but they live in Missouri so he made the trip by himself. Their little boy was born near Dallas 2 days after Abigail. Their story was quite different than ours. Short story....they got to take the little boy home from the hospital but had to stay in Texas for 2 weeks before the out of state paperwork was completed. They stayed in a hotel for 2 weeks with a newborn! Yikes! So...everyone's story is different but very special.

Our lawyer talked to us before we went to meet the judge. He reviewed the questions the judge would ask and told us to just say "yes" to all of them. Keep in mind our 6 month old is still awake and playful. Well, the judge was running late.....Needless to say by the time they were ready for our case our sweet little girl was asleep. At least she wasn't crying!! How would that look to the judge...unhappy child?! Praise God she wasn't crying and she was very comfortable in Daddy's arms.

I didn't get teary-eyed until we walked out and I looked at the pictures. It has been an amazing journey. I have been in awe of how much God has placed in our hands and how many people have been there to support us. Our journey will just continue and our life with Abigail has begun.

**On a Mommy note: I have been writing a lot lately. Mostly my spiritual journey but also letters to Abigail. Maybe one day I will share some with you but for now...they are going in Abigail's adoption keepsake box. **

God bless each of you every day.

love,

Jenny

Reflections on an amazing day....

Ok today was amazing! Before I tell you what happened let me preface a little bit. Last night I was reflecting on all the events that have occurred in the last year. Last April 2009 we had filled out all of our paperwork and were waiting for our orientation and home study to be complete before we were officially "waiting for baby". As some of you remember our orientation was moved up because of the need of more adoptive parents. April 23rd 2009 was our orientation with Generations Adoptions. One year ago we were preparing for an adoption fundraiser and garage sale. One year ago we were praying for our baby and birthmom. AND Friday of this year 2010 APRIL 23rd we will be finalizing our adoption with Abigail Elizabeth Snider. We will stand in front of a judge and swear to be the best parents for her and hold her in our hearts forever! WOW! There are so many of these amazing dates and some would say coincidences on our journey to Abigail. But you know what? They aren't coincidences.......they are God's PLAN!! It takes my breath away everytime I think about it. Don't worry I will put our story in book format and one of these days i will get it complete and all of you will get a copy. :)

so........Today........wait...let me preface a little more...
According to our semi-open adoption agreement we are suppose to send monthly pictures and letters to our birthmom and have a 6 month visit with all of us and the social worker. Well, we hadn't really heard from our birthmom in a couple weeks and didn't think it was going to happen. We really wanted to see her and show her Abigail. We have been praying for her every day and hoping that she was doing ok. I prayed selfishly that I would be able to tell her in person how much we appreciate her and her brave decision. I wanted to take a picture of her for Abigail's baby book and I wanted to give her a hug! All those things I wanted, right? Well, Monday afternoon our social worker called and said the birthmom wanted to set up a visit this week. We were super excited and nervous all at the same time.
We met with her this morning and it was amazing! It was a complete answer to our prayers. She was so happy to see Abigail and she wanted to hold her right away. She asked permission and was very polite and gracious! She said she was so happy and that Abigail was beautiful. She let us take a picture of her and Abigail and another one with all of us. And........she let me give her a hug! It was so wonderful. God was so present and is so present in this whole story. The look on the birthmom's face was one of contentment and sincere happiness for our family. She asked if our family was happy to meet Abigail and if we had a party when we came home. I told her that we have had several parties and 5 baby showers. She smiled really big. I pray that she is content and even happy with her decision and that (again..selfishly) she thinks I am doing a good job being a Mommy to her little girl.
so........without writing a million more sentences......I just want to say outloud how grateful i am for all the blessings we have and of course all of the wonderful family and friends that are praying for our situation. Please continue to pray for our birthmom. She is about to graduate high school and has a lot of life decisions ahead of her. Pray that she sees God in us and that we can be a good christian influence on her even if from afar. Let her know that God is present in her life and let her feel Him near her and her future.

love you all so much! thanks for walking this journey with us.
p.s...i wrote all this down in letter format to Abigail so that someday she will be able to read about her meeting with her birthmom.

~Jenny

6 months old today!

i am 6 months old. Wow...i can do lots of things.

i can touch my toes and hold on tight.

they are really fun to look at too.

i can roll over from my tummy to my back.

my favorite way to roll is to turn my head and swing my legs to the side.

it is really funny...i laugh every time.

i really like to talk and make loud noises.

my favorite word is "oohhh"

the louder i talk the more everyone laughs....heehee..

i really like to giggle.

most of the time i giggle at my Daddy.

he is so funny!

i can also do a push up.

i am really getting good at it too.

maybe i will learn how to scoot around soon.

i keep hearing something about crawling...maybe i will learn how to do that!

when i am hungry...feed me right away.

i love my milk (i call it neenee)

i eat food now too.

the rice stuff was a little hard to eat at first but now i like it a lot.

the green stuff...well...it isn't that bad i guess.

momma makes funny faces to try and make me eat it.

i sleep all night long.

i like to fall asleep listening to music and looking at the picture on the ceiling.

most mornings i wake up smiling and happy.

oh and i LOVE my pacifier. but if it falls out...my hand tastes pretty good.

i like to hold things in my hands too.

i can almost reach out and grab the things i want.

my favorite thing to do is hold your hand.

i get upset when you let go.

please don't let go....

love,

Abigail

getting so big......

April ...wow!

It is April and the sun is shining! Yippee!

We have really been enjoying the weather. Thank goodness it has been nice the last week so we can get out and play. Little Abigail has loved wearing her sun hat! And of course she looks adorable in it. :)

What an exciting few weeks we have had. Abigail's dedication at church was amazing! We were surrounded by wonderful family and friends. Of course Mommy and Daddy, Grandma, Mimi & Granddaddy, Great Grandma, Nanny & Da, Uncle and 2 cousins, close family friends and Abigail's wonderful transitional care family! We met at church and took up an entire row. It means so much to us that everyone was there to watch Abigail's special moment. It was obvious that God placed us all together there at that very moment. And...she did great in church. She was dancing to the music and wide-eyed during the dedication. What a cutie! (I will get a picture posted as soon as possible.)
Sunday after church we took all of our family and friends out to lunch to continue the celebration. Then Abigail and I followed the family back to Boerne to visit a couple more days. It was a great visit! I cherish the times with family and know that Abigail is a true blessing to all of us. She lights up the room with her smile and laughter and it is in those moments that I know God placed her in our life at exactly the right moment for all of us.

A couple days ago....the weather was perfect for our first family walk dogs and all. Jerry and I loaded sweet girl in her jogging stroller and off we went. It was a sight! 3 different cars stopped to comment on us walking with 3 dogs and a baby. That sounds like a movie title...haha. It was pretty funny...but it was also a reminder of how blessed we are.

Abigail's Birthday Party Invite: Last weekend....we went to our best friends' 2 year old birthday parade. That's right...parade. It was really cool. Everyone was instructed to BYOB (Bring your own bike....or stroller in our case). We decorated the stroller with streamers and a pennant with Abigail's name on it. Then the neighborhood firetruck lead the parade. There were over 20 kids and parents in this parade. It was a blast! Then as we rounded the corner to head back the CLOWN showed up. So here we were....Firetruck...decorated bikes/strollers...and a Clown. It ws a great time.

This is just another example of how our life has changed. There will be many more kid's birthday parties in our future and we can't wait to spend them with our little girl.

Yesterday, Abigail went to her first Lady Aggies Softball game. It was a sunny afternoon and she looked great in her maroon overalls and sun hat. So far she been to 2 lady aggie basketball games and on softball game. Future Lady Aggie???.....you betcha!

Special note: We are suppose to hear from Abigail's birthmom this month. Please pray that she will be able to set up a visit with us. Stay tuned for more details on that later.

Take care and God bless,
Jenny
(will send pictures soon....)