Summer has come and gone!

 

Oh hello there!

Here I am four months since my last post…. I must admit this blog is for me to share about my family and our life together, we’ve just been having too much fun this summer and I haven’t wanted to sit down and write. In saying that, I’m shocked it’s September, how time flies, thankful we get to enjoy our extended summer we have here in the PNW.

This summer consisted of several weddings, lots of time outdoors playing and exploring, swimming, river rock throwing, berry picking, animal visiting at various farms, going to the park, play dates, sprinklers, bubble blowing & chalk drawing. Lots of Matthew’s softball games, gardening, hiking, walks with our dog, barbeques with friends and family, a trip to the zoo and beach! We had a visit with some of Maryellis’ birth family up in Portland, she got to meet her half sister. It was a really wonderful time for us to all be together and get to know one another more. I would say that we all left that day with peace in our hearts, thankful for the time we got to visit and become more comfortable. Other then that we stayed in town a lot this summer, we were very occupied with lots of house projects, and I have still had several appointments pertaining to the healing of my body. I wouldn’t have changed this summer for anything, learning to take advantage of all the many things our town offers.

Maryellis is now 15 months old and very busy, continually keeping me on my toes.

Its hard for me to really pinpoint her personality---happy, easy going but not afraid to say “no”, she isn’t really shy- but takes in her surrounding before really letting her guard down. I enjoy seeing her as she learns more and more each day, she is quite the little explorer. She is no longer a baby, becoming more and more of a little girl. I love to watch her when she discovers something new, or accomplishes a task all by herself, she lights up! She loves to dance and the water, planning on singing up for swimming lessons soon and dance in the near future. Sign language has been a wonderful way for us to communicate, not to mention it has been helping with her verbal communication skills.

I have just been reflecting lately about how the Lord has grown our family, through Adoption. In my dark days of infertility I remember the scriptures that would come to mind,

 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

“For everyone who asks receivers; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Praying and meditating over these scriptures, even arguing with God “You know the desires of my heart, to be a mother, why isn’t it happening?”

Well I have to remember that God’s plans and his way is better then mine. He knew the heartache and breaking that I needed to go through. How blessed I am that he took me on that journey, he has given me the desire of my heart, our daughter- he knew that from the day she was conceived that she would be our little girl. I cannot imagine that my plans would have ever compared to what God has already done. I am so thankful that we got to choose her, yet how her birth parents choose us, they gave us the gift we’ve always dreamed of.

God will give us the desires of our hearts, we have to be willing to ask, pray, and give it up to Him, trusting that he will---and likely it won’t go the path we thought it would.

Our family grows and expands through Adoption, just has he adopted us, we too will adopt and love as He first loved us. 

Blessings. 

A year to remember

This year has been one that has blown me away by the love God has for his children. We were all adopted into his family, he first loved us, chose us as sons and daughters. How privileged we are to share with Maryellis these next few years that "we chose her".

I cannot believe our baby girl is going to be 1! (May 30th) I will always remember when we got the call she had been born, and we rushed ourselves North waiting to meet our girl. Holding her in my arms for the first time I will always remember how warm, soft, and wonderful she smelt. 

You all know how the following three weeks went, when we thought we had lost our girl forever. When we thought she would only be a memory, one we would pray over forever. God is faithful, through those next few weeks he led her back to us. 

Matt and I have learned so much this year, overall it's been amazing, but we did have our moments that continued to stretch us and the friendly reminder we are here for Gods purpose, to let Him use us. 

Maryellis is a gift, a precious one at that. I'm honored & humbled to be her mother, to daily get to spend time with her. I knew Motherhood would be a wonderful thing, but I didn't know how much my heart would grow until I was one. 

We have one year down and prayerfully many more to go! I've heard this next year is a lot of fun, yet one that will be more busy and the tantrums will begin. Oh lord have favor on us and grant us wisdom through it! 

Matt and I have been blessed by a incredible amount of support and prayers, thank you all for joining our family in the adoption process, loving us and most of all, loving our daughter. 

Many have asked what's our plan next with children, well as The Lord leads, we will follow. We pray for more children, looking to see how the doors may open.

Here we go, I cannot believe I'm a mother to a 1 year old! 

Blessings, 

Emily 

Mother's Day

It's been awhile since I've posted and  I will share on the accident another time. For now I want to talk about Mother's Day. 

Growing up Mother's Day was always special to me. My mom did so much for us children growing up that we made sure on this one day we could treat her like a queen. From breakfast in bed to my sister and I picking out her outfit & helping her get ready (which I'm sure she loved, ha!) We would do anything and everything to make her day wonderful, hoping she would know how truly grateful we were. Our mom was a simple women, who always put her children first. 

Then there was that day when we would loose our mom and have several Mother's Day come and go that felt so empty. It became a day more of sadness to me more then anything. As the years went on I was surrounded by many women who had a mothering relationship with me. It would never be the same, but I would choose to celebrate them & be grateful for the years with my mom. 

Then came not only the Mother's Day of mourning the loss of my mom, but the fact I couldn't bear children. I disliked Mother's Day even more. It's a holiday that brought so much grief and heartache for me. To grasp a bit of happiness I would try to focus on the memories with my mom, but all in all it was a day that came with much sadness. 

This year is my first year as a mamma. I'm humbled by the gift The Lord has given us in bringing our daughter into our lives. Maryellis has made me a mom. I've felt overwhelmed with emotion these last few weeks, the joy I have when I look at our sweet baby girl. God is good, he is faithful, he's answered my prayer in a way I never dreamed of, His plans are perfect. 

For me Mother's Day will always been a day with many emotions, one of remembering my mother, one of putting to rest my fertility and lastly the joy of celebrating our daughter. 

He gives the barren women a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise The Lord! 

Psalm 113:9 

Happy Mother's Day! 

Baby Food 101

When we first were able to feed Maryellis solids I was so excited! We did hold off on the baby cereals until she was 5 months, once we started we opted for the baby oatmeal. Our personal preference, we understand everyone has their own timeline and preference of when to begin. 

Maryellis did a few weeks of the oatmeal two times a day. She is definatly not the neatest of eaters- (maybe she's learned from me?!!) But all in all she eats and is happy! 

Around 5 1/2 months we started her on homemade baby food! I really enjoy cooking, being able to have the opportunity and time to make her food is so much fun for me & a blessing. I know what she's eating, and it does save us money. The time to make it honestly doesn't take too much time out of my day and I would say it's worth it. 

A good friend of mine recommend the book "Be'be' Gourmet". It's a wonderful book, inspired by a French mother, who desired to make her children's baby food and with a hope they would become adventurous eaters. I would say so far it's been a wonderful read and guide for me in the kitchen with preparing food. She gives recipes, tips & tricks, wonderful wisdom and all together practical cooking for or family. 

My goal is to that Maryellis will have a balanced diet, rich in nutrition and that she too will develop a love for cooking and healthful food. I won't deprive her of all the treats in the world, but high fattening foods & loads of sugar will have it's limits. (Sorry grandparents- I'm already looking and debating on what her first birthday cake will be.... Something I can create that's for sure!) 

Maryellis is a lover of vegetables, like her mamma! Fruit is coming along, and she's had some meat too which she's enjoyed. Today I'll share a favorite of hers: Green beans & Kale. 

I have frozen green beans and kale from the summer's garden that I rinsed and steamed  in water for about 5-7minutes.

Once they've been cooked I then put them in the blender with some of the leftover water. I also add a tablespoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of some Italian herbs. Makes for great flavor and encourages her to like flavorful
food at a young age! 

Other spices we've tried: 

Cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, garlic, curry & rosemary.

Then blend away! You can also use a food processor, but this was a much easier route for the amount we were making. 

I have little containers that I put in the freezer which makes for  easy storing and the perfect portion to pull out the day of and thaw for lunch! 

Then we eat! And she is happy! 

Who wouldn't want to eat this? It actually is yummy! She clearly thinks so too! 

Blessings to you! 

Emily 

Swim Lessons!

We had a wonderful time doing swim lessons with Maryellis, she did lessons two times a week for 5 weeks, "Water babies" sure was an adventure.

We had a few other friends who had their babies in the class as well, which added to the fun. Each time we had a lesson the mammas typically did the swimming with the babes. We had lots of songs, baby fetch, wall crawling, jumping off the wall, blowing bubbles, learning to swim with arms, learning to kick, floating and kicking on their backs....and the best/worst part of all: The Dip! I'd say Maryellis did "well" she sure didn't like going to the instructor to dip her, and coming out of it she seemed to shake it off quickly. Towards the last lessons the parents got to dip your baby, that seemed to be better in our case. Our girl is a natural "kicker"-this was her strong suit!

Each class was fun, though some nights she was more tired then others and indifferent about the whole thing, over all we enjoyed them all.

I learned a lot about myself through this, on the evenings that she was having a harder time, I just had to go with the flow, not get sad that she was unhappy. Remembering shes a baby and were going to a evening class to swim in not the warmest of water, so I understand the little cranky moments that she had. Thankfully in the setting we were in- and by the grace of God I didn't ever feel the "parent competition" factor....which I know (unfortunately) is a reality of being a parent >>> feeling judged for how your child is doing, how you are reacting, etc. Its amazing what I can learn from a swim class.

The last class was a play swim, the instructor encouraged the dads to participate too! The babies went on a boat ride...which Maryellis wasn't too sure about at first, took some coaxing that it was fun. Then we each took a turn to go down the slide! Oh it was so fun! The dads did a good job at going down slow with their child, but I'd say the mom's struggled in this. Yikes! Thankfully everyone did well and there were no tears.

 

I'm looking forward to doing swim lessons again with her, I know there is so much more for her to learn, this will be the first of many lessons she'll take. I have lots of memories from doing swim lessons growing up as a young girl, then doing swim team with my sister. I sure hope Maryellis develops a liking to it as her parents do!

blessings,

Emily