Its been awhile ....

I apologize in my neglect for updating how we've been lately! This fall has been full of lots of fun and many new firsts. First trip to the pumpkin patch, first Halloween, first cold, trip to Central Oregon, first Thanksgiving and so on... I must say our calender has been packed full and tight! Maryellis has been a trooper and for the most part enjoyed it all.

October was the kick off for the festivites to begin! Maryellis had her baby dedication at church that first Sunday, such a wonderful celebration for her and our family. We chose a verse for her that means a lot to us, and pray that she sees the importance of it as well as she grows up. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2. The Lord has placed this baby girl into our lives, we couldn't be more humbled by this gift of life. 

Going to Central Oregon as a family was so much fun! Maryellis joined in celebrating our 5th year anniversary, cannot believe its been 5 years! Woah! We enjoyed the 65 degree weather the end of October brought, it made for wonderful hiking, family walks, and sitting outside on the deck for dinner! 

This little girl is growing like a weed, I cannot believe how fast the weeks go by, 4 months, 5 months, now 6 months....slow down please baby girl! Tummy time is fun, we're not crawling yet but shes moving her limbs like a turtle in my opinion. She loves to stand, jump, walking while holding on to your hands, rolling over, big belly laughs, sitting up by herself and of course her "reverse planking" move. I love that when I go to get her up from a nap, I never know where she will be in her crib, shes so sweet when she sleeps. Not to mention the ever changing "bed head".... I love it!  She started saying "ma ma" around five months and "da da" is coming along! Maryellis is really taking a liking to her dog, whenever Fisher comes in the room she will squeal in excitement! Fisher is gentle with her, I think once Maryellis is more mobile she will give the dog a run for her money! 

We started oatmeal at five months, at first she wasn't too sure about it, but then quickly realised it was a good thing. Maryellis takes after her mamma and isn't the neatest eater in the world....I think we both need to work on this. At six months we introduced her first foods, I'm so thankful that I am able to make her food. It is so much fun, I'm thankful to know excalty what she is eating, knowing that there are no substitutions in her meals. We started in this order: sweet potatoes, green beans, avacado, brocolli, pear and spegatti squash. Each new food she's seem unsure the first few bites but then digs in, however she was thrilled from the beginning with the green beans. 

Maryellis had her first "snow week"....yes it was beautiful but it stayed too long for me! She wasn't really thrilled by the snow, nor did she dislike it, more or less just "mer" as I would say. What was fun with the snow was going on a family hike, as well it made it feel more like Christmas with our house being all decorated for the holiday. The week at home forced me to slow down, and be thankful for the warmth and many blessings we have. Learning that I have to take everyday one day at a time. "Lord this is that I would like to do today, please guide us that we are doing as you want us". Trying to be sensitive to the Lord in HIS plans for our day. We recently had a fun Christmas dinner with friends a new tradition for our families, 6 adults 4 toddlers and 1 infant. It will be fun to see how each year we grow and how the memories will be made. Maryellis went to see "Santa" with her cousins that were up from California, we will be having a late Christmas with them January 1st.

I am looking forward to the next six months of her life, I know that we soon will be needing to baby proof.....a little nervous but excited to see whats to come! 

Thank you all who keep up to date with our life, my New Years resolution is to maintain the blog and share more this next year as to whats going on.

Life as of lately

I honestly don't know where the time has gone, Maryellis is 4 months and its already October! My goodness the days just fly by. We are loving the transition into Fall, the changing leaves, crisp air & warm yummy meals with some of the best fresh produce of the year! It was a treat the first of September to go as a family to the coast for a day and a hike. We wanted to take Maryellis before the weather turned! 

The end of August is always brings around high emotions among the family, its the anniversary of our mother's death. This year marked the 9th year shes been gone. Every year is different how I personally "feel"- this year there was something sweet about it. I know my mom would have been the best grandma, but the Lord took her to rest early, a role she'll never get to play. She will be Grandma Ford in Heaven, whom I can share all my memories with Maryellis about her & teach her things my mom would have taught her. There have been days where I think to myself, "mom would have done this", or "I so feel like mom today". Being a mother has been a desire of mine for as long as I can remember, I'm so thankful the Lord blessed us with Maryellis. (Secretly I love the resemblance she has with my mom!) We went on a hike with Laura & Brett on our mom's anniversary, went to where her ashes are, and out to lunch. A beautiful day to remember & celebrate her!

Its been really fun to have "play dates" with Madeline, we just enjoy the time seeing the girls (9 days apart) together. Rebecca is Madeline's mom, I've really enjoyed the friendship with her & being able to bounce questions off one another as our girls are so close in age and development. We are so blessed by the community around us and all the babies, and girls might I add, a whole flock of them!

Its been really fun to continue hanging out with Miss Shanan, we are getting together a couple times a month. Shanan is so good with babies! I'm so happy that Maryellis is creating a bond with Shanan, for she will always be apart of our lives.

At Maryellis' 4 month appointment she came in at a whopping 14lb 7oz. (74%) and 26 1/6" for height (99%). Thus far she is long and lean, a healthy little girl. Shes giggling like crazy, talking up a storm, and loves to stand. She is a pretty strong girl, mom and dad are thinking shes going to be a little athlete! Not sitting up fully on her own, but she will be there before we know it. Maryellis' personality is a sweet one, she has a very mild temper and seems to be very easy going. I just love the gummy smiles she greets me with, with those rosy red cheeks.

I sent our first "updated" letter to our adoption agency last week, pictures as well. It was the first of four letters & pictures I will be sending this year for the birth parents to have the option to know how Maryellis is doing. I basically sent a one page letter filled with what we've been up to, the development of Maryellis, what she likes & dislikes, so on and so forth. I also again thanked them and reinforced the fact that both Matthew and I never knew we could love her so much. Our eyes have truly been opened by this experience. I cannot tell you the amount of opportunities the Lord has provided for me to talk with either people who were adopted, a young women I am an acquittance of that placed her son for adoption 2 years ago, meeting random young girls in places like Target that are pregnant and came to say "hi" just to see Maryellis, as well as other couples & women who are interested in adopting and curious about our journey. The Lord is definitely using Maryellis in our lives, not only to change us to become more like Him, but as well as furthering the Gospel in ways I never thought. Until I was 16 (when I lost my mom) my life was pretty "perfect", loving parents, we were "comfortable", raised in a christian home, fun siblings, etc. I never knew so much in my life would change in the matter of 9 years. God has used my mothers death in my life to help me grow and develop in ways I never probably would have reached for.  I'm thankful that I know someday in Heaven I will see her again. These next 9 years we will see where the Lord takes us, only time will tell, but I imagine the journey will be life changing.

Sweet Summer Time

These last few weeks have flown by, I know they say as you get older time keeps speeding up, I never really believed it until now.

Maryellis is growing like a champ! At her 8 week check up she was 11lb 11oz 84 percentile,  in length she measured 23 1/2 94 percentile, and her head circumference was in the 40th percentile. Shes got the strong body to keep her neck and head up! Her doctor was very impressed with everything in her growth and development. We also gave her Maryellis files and in utero history making things clear for the doctor as Maryellis continues to grow. Maryellis did so well with her shots, I was one impressed mamma! She had them all done as they suggest, our personal choice we're comfortable with the guidelines. Thankfully too there were no reactions or negative side-effects from them...just a little more tired that day.

Our second "Post Placement" check in with he adoption agency was a few weeks ago. There's not much to it, our social worker comes over for a one hour

scheduled visit. She holds Maryellis, asks how she's doing, doctor updates, how we are doing-home life, etc. They go really well, we're  grateful for a wonderful social worker who makes us feel

comfortable. There's also opportunity for us to ask questions or pose any concerns we may have... thus far none. We have one more meeting with her to go! 

We've had a lot of fun going to my Aunts farm and getting produce, or the local market not far from our house. Maryellis joins me in the garden....gotta teach her while shes young. We go on lots of walks, down to the river, enjoying the sunny outdoors as much as we can!

We couldn't have been more blessed by our family & friends that threw us a shower a few weeks ago. It was a wonderful time, beautiful decorations, tasty food & drinks, and joyful conversation that filled the air. We left with our car full to the brim of clothes, diapers, books, wooden toys and many beautiful hand crafted gifts. (My friends are so talented!)This little girl is surrounded by so much love---so blessed to raise her with such a wonderful community of people. She has yet to know how many people have been praying for her, and for such a long time, long before she was ever born.  

Daily life: Making sure that Maryellis is continuing to thrive as she continues to grow. We do lots of tummy time, try to stimulate her senses, reading books, listening to music, talking to each other, oh the bumbo is something new she is growing into---her full thighs make it comfortable for her. We are blessed with (as of now) such a mild tempered baby. She does well on her eat, play, sleep schedule---making life easier to plan, as well as knowing what she "needs"/"wants" at that time.

Maryellis was able to meet most of the Imlach family a few weeks ago. We had to make a sudden trip down to Redding for a sad event, Matt's grandmother passed away. I will say the best thing about it was not only being with the family, but Maryellis was able to meet them all while she was still young. One of Matt's cousins shared that the day their grandma found out she had the brain tumor, was also the day we found out that we had been chosen to be placed with Maryellis, for her and others this was a comforting thing to cling to.

There was one day this week while I was getting ready- Maryellis was entertaining herself, happy as could be. I thought to

myself and said to God, not only

are we unbelievably blessed by the gift he's given us, but how unworthy I feel

to have recieved such a blessing. I've longed and dreamed of the day I'd

become a mother, and that day has come. Thank you Jesus for giving us the desires of our heart, in your perfect plan and journey. 

Blessings to you all. 

Weeks 1-4

We've now had Maryellis for a month! Crazy to believe how its flown by. The first 8 days we spent together as a family in Washington, which at the time it seemed to take forever to get home, but we count that time as a blessing. Those of you who know Matt and myself, well we are go-go-go kind of people....if we would have been home any sooner I know Matt would have been back to work right away. Rather, we were blessed with this time to allow bonding to set in. We were able to be in Seattle area as our own little family, no real schedule or "house/chores/cooking" responsibility. We stayed in West Seattle with (basically family) whom allowed us to truly be at home in their home.
We yearned to be home---never realizing at the time what God was creating for us, time to be still, adjust, and relax just us three.

Week 2: The morning we got the call we were allowed to cross the border to go home (you have to wait for both states, Washington & Oregon to agree on the Adoption placement before allowed to cross borders.) we were packed up and in the car within 30 minutes I kid you not! We felt so loved & welcomed when we got home by our family & friends.....granted we know everyone was just there to meet Maryellis. She had already grown & changed from just the first week in Washington....out of the newborn diapers, still wearing some newborn items of clothing, but just getting bigger!
We took that week at a full swing, from going to church at Ekklesia Springfield for her first time, walks with her "sister" Fisher, daddy's softball games, family dinners, 4th of July with friends,  errands with mom:Costco & Target, etc. This time in her life shes sleeping so much, making it fun & easy for me to just take her along with me! Maryellis is a big fan of baths, she gets them almost nightly followed by a bottle, some cuddle time, reading her a story and family bed time prayers. Its a sweet time that is so precious to us.

Week 3: We still had friends who were yet to meet Maryellis & having the occasional visitors here and there. Were beyond blessed by all the family we have around us, giving us the flexibility to have "baby sitters" /or just the perfect aunties to go on walks and hikes with!  We took Maryellis to  Ekklesia High School group, we introduced her and shared her with the students. It was a bitter sweet night, we were there for our last time as leaders--taking this time to step down and enjoy being a family. Maryellis also went to her first wedding Friday night and Saturday to the Price family barn dinner/dance. That Saturday morning when I went to get Maryellis up for her feeding, the sweetest thing happened, she was wide awake,  I said "good morning baby girl" and she looked over to me from her crib with the biggest smile, tears welled in my eyes, for she recognized me, her mamma- a feeling I have dreamt about my whole life.

Week 4: I have also begun doing hair some on the side for family & friends which has been fun  for me to do. Its an art I still love, blessed by the flexibility and the small extra money that is coming in from it. Not to mention the connection with people I love, its a fun little break in my day!
Maryellis had her first "play-date" with Madeline, our friends Kyle & Rebecca's daughter that is just 9 days older then Maryellis. Granted there wasn't much playing going on, one would fall asleep and the other would wake her up, etc. Rebecca and I had a wonderful time talking, interacting and just being new mammas together! Maryellis went to her second wedding this weekend, and was quite the bell of the ball, we didn't know many people before going to the wedding, but I think had met most by the end of the night. It was wonderful! Maryellis is so much more interactive and responsive these days, she knows our voices and seems to really be settling in well. I love the "cooing" noises that she makes, the happy faces, confused, playing with her tongue, and even the face she makes right before she cries, "muah".  She is overall a very calm baby, happy most of the time, sleeps great....shes 7 weeks old and time isn't slowing down!  I know this infant stage is short, overnight she grows and changes---trying to soak in as much time with her as we can.

 We are beyond blessed for our little miracle baby, thank you all for your prayers & support throughout this year. Cannot imagine our life without her!

Meet Maryellis

How are story has drastically changed in the last few weeks.

Here we are thinking that we had lost this beautiful baby girl we thought was once ours. Little did we know that Lord had different plans for how our story would unravel.

The two weeks we spent the time grieving our loss, trying to move on and keep trusting the Lord. I felt such a strong connection to her when we met the day of her birth, May 30, 2013. After loosing her yes I was heartbroken, but I knew that she was  the little girl I was committed to praying for. Praying that she would be cared for, loved, and come to know the Lord in her lifetime, changing that family forever.

I was on a morning run one Saturday morning, praying and thinking about baby girl and how she was doing, for now she was two weeks old. I thought, "Lord, I wonder if we were in Seattle in ten years, walking around downtown, and we passed by her, would we recognize her? Would she be "familiar" with us?" I prayed for her and continued on my run. 

We went for a bike ride out in Cottage Grove that afternoon, it was Matt's birthday weekend, and we had a fun filled day ahead. Coming home we received a phone call from our Case Worker, she had been reached by the BM Case Worker, inquiring if we still wanted to adopt baby girl. We were so taken back by this phone call, I knew that there are those "stories", BM changes her mind after a few weeks, so on and so forth. I never wanted to put my "hope" in that possibility, we knew that we needed to move on---not dwelling on something we didn't think would happen. We told her we wanted to talk about it, pray about it and that we would contact her the next day.

My heart dropped, could this be, are we really being asked to be placed with this beautiful baby girl again? What if they back out again? .....But then I remembered that God wouldn't take us through something like this again if it wasn't to continue to change us.

At church the next day, it was Fathers Day. We had a guest teacher that morning, who spoke on Fathers, God as our Heavenly Father, how he adopted us as his children. It struck a nerve in the both of us, as we had just had this phone call inquiring us to be placed with baby girl. We felt called to her, that she should be our daughter. After much time praying, discussion and trusting God, we told our Case Worker we were wanting to be placed with her. (There had also been mention that the BP didn't want us to change her name, but they thought it was ok for us add to it.)

We were told that placement would happen Friday June 21st up in Seattle at 11:00am. You have no idea the excitement yet, the fear we had in our hearts. The fear, would they back out...again? Would they change their minds over the weekend before "rights were terminated"? We put our full trust in the Lord, moving forward to get our baby girl.

Friday morning was an early one, we left Eugene at 4:00am, the car ride was pretty quite the drive up. We prayed, and had some discussion of what to expect and "our plan"...but the majority of the time we were quite. It was nice, we both needed that time, of just silence.

We got into town early and headed to our destination of where the placement was taking place. A Starbucks, can you believe it? That was what they had requested. I can only imagine what everyone was thinking throughout our time there, what an event to see. Matt and I were able to see both the Case Workers, sign some papers and ask questions before the BP had arrived.

When the BP arrived (as well as the BM grandmother) she immediately handed baby girl off to me. Oh my heart was so full, this beautiful baby girl, her full locks of hair, was sleeping in my arms, and she was to be ours. We all sat down, had an update on how baby girl was doing, how the BP were doing, everyone was doing over all great. I cannot believe the strength they all have. We discussed the "openness plan" what that would look like, and how we want the future and such to go. We all agreed, feeling very comfortable with one another. Both the BP apologized for what had happened at the hospital the day she was born. We had a very intimate conversation, they shared with us the overwhelming effect that took place, and the support that they now have from both their families to place her with us. We told them, we forgive them, yet we are so happy that this was a hard decision for them, that now they know and believe what they are doing is right. The BM grandmother even shared what a gift this is all around, for us and for baby girl. We all laughed, cried, took photos of all of us and overall had a nice time. It was bittersweet for them, but they were strong through the end.
           
               ................................................................................................................................

We spent had to spend eight days in Washington before we were able to come home. It took time for all the paperwork to get assembled from various places (since we weren't placed with her directly from the hospital.) Parental rights were terminated at the courts the following Wednesday, and we got the phone call we could cross the border to go home Saturday June 29th! It felt amazing to head home, we were blessed with a wonderful time in Washington bonding together as a family, but were eager to get into the nest of our own.

So yes, we come to a close, its final she is ours! Praise Jesus! Thank you all for your prayers and support! I will continue to do blog updates and share photos. For this journey is not over yet!

Please meet our daughter: Maryellis Adsen Tyler Marie Imlach.
Adsen (Name both BP agreed and liked, pronounced Addison)
Tyler (BF middle name)
Marie (Family name from BM)

Yes its a long name! Her school, medical so on and so forth will be Maryellis Adsen Imlach. Shes a doll, and we couldn't be more blessed by her. Thank you Lord for the gift she is.