A Very Squeaky Update

I figured it was time for a Squeaks update! Seeing as how I haven't posted anything specifically about her since her birthday in January. 

It amazes me every day how smart this kid is getting. If you ask her "where's your nose?", she'll point to it! She also knows where her mouth, eyes, hair, ears, and bellybutton are too! 

We've also started playing with some flash cards that pair a picture of an item with the spelled out word. The box said ages 3+ but I don't care. So far she's pretty good at finding a picture of an item if I ask her for it, but she's still not familiar enough with the corresponding word to match them together. I can see the wheels in her head turning when I match them and read them for her though.

She'll bring me book after book to read over and over...and over. Most of her favorites I can recite by heart.

She's loving the freedom I've started giving her outside. For the longest time she refused to wear shoes. But once she gave in and realized she could walk more places with them on, she now brings me her shoes or tries to put them on herself, and points to the backyard. She's a very steady walker now and rarely crawls (mostly just to go up or down steps). She'll wander around the yard collecting rocks and picking flowers and then proudly bring me her treasures.

Playing ball with Diamond.

Shoes in general have become a fascination of hers. She's particularly fond of the monster feet that went with her Halloween costume.

Dinner in monster feet. It's the only way to eat pasta.

Inside, some of her favorite activities are taking the clothes out of the dresser as I put them in, taking everything out of Daddy's night stand, playing in our pantry (which usually includes taking all the tea bags out of the boxes), and "helping" me load the dish washer. I have to be super careful with the dishwasher cause she likes to sneak things in when I'm not looking. I accidentally washed her digital baby thermometer the other day cause she figured out it fit nicely among the dirty silverware. A similar fate almost came to a tube of chap-stick, but I caught it in time.

Wish I knew what was so fascinating about the boxes of tea.

She continues to have a sweet and silly disposition, in-spite of cutting four molars at once (bringing the total teeth count to 12). Other than the occasional drool, gnawing of fingers, and slight crankiness, she's a peach. 
We have perfected our bed time routine, and most nights she sleeps 11 hours straight, with one nap during the day. Plus, she pretty much eats anything we eat. Josh and I find ourselves hoping that our biological child is as awesome as our adopted one. Ha! Could we be so blessed!!?

Sweet silly girl.

30 Years

I am 30 years old. Wow. My twenties went by really fast, and not at all as I planned them.

My birthday itself was a ton of fun this year. We used my birthday party to announce our pregnancy to extended family, we went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, and went to Disneyland the following day. I wouldn't change anything about my birthday. I couldn't have asked for anything better, or for better people to spend it with. 

I'm not terribly thrilled with the number itself, however I'm really looking forward to seeing what God has planned for the next ten years. That's right. What God has planned. I've said it before, I have no idea what's coming next, and I like it. Truly, if I could go back in time and talk to my twenty year old self, that might be my number one piece of advice. Stop planning crap!!!! Life will happen. God will be in control. Stop thinking you have any say in it! I'm all for prudent preparation, health insurance, savings/retirement accounts, etc. There are obviously some things in life that take a little planning. However, there are some things in life that are totally out of our hands and completely in God's. I think this realization is going to make my thirties much smoother than my twenties. I'm up for whatever God wants to bring our way, and Josh feels the same. 

God has allowed very hard things to happen to us (notice I didn't say He caused the hard things), but He has brought us through and blessed us greatly. I wouldn't change a single thing about how the past years have unfolded. NOT A SINGLE THING. Yes I miss Evelyn, yes not having a left hand is frustrating sometimes, and yes infertility has its own special sting, but all of these things make me me. If Evelyn had lived she would have been a blessing to say the least, loved beyond words. But since she didn't I got to experience the world of breast milk donation, make lifelong friends through it, grow closer to my husband, family, and God, and gained a scar on my heart that matches thousands of other women's hearts. I can rejoice with those women that our babies are with their King, and cry with them when we need to. It's a part of this world that shouldn't exist, but I'm proud to know the women who exist in it and make it through life anyway.

Losing my left hand seems like small potatoes. Frankly, I'm glad it's gone. I think I would have been a vain, impatient, wretch with it. And that's all I have to say about that.

Infertility totally sucks! It puts a marriage to the test like no other. It make you question what it is to be a woman. It bleeds you dry financially and emotionally. If you let it. Oh man does it have a purpose though! All I have to do is look at my daughter and I could fall on my face in sheer gratitude for infertility. And again, I do believe I would be a vain, self-reliant wretch of a pregnant woman right now if I didn't understand the unbelievable miracle that  had to occur to get me pregnant a second time.

Yes, yes, yes, my thirties will contain hard and trying life challenges. I am still human. But come what may, my God is BIG. Bigger than loss, bigger than pain, bigger than death. And He will not leave me no matter how wretched I am.

Celebrating at my 30th birthday party with family.

Disneyland for mom's birthday!

 

Knock Me Over With A Feather

I'm about to type something I never thought I'd type again.

I'm pregnant!

Before I start explaining, I want to make something clear. This blog is not going to turn into a pregnancy blog. I promise. I remember when we were in our wait, I was reading a blog by another hopeful adoptive mom who unexpectedly became pregnant and I immediately had no desire to continue reading her blog. Infertility is not something I take lightly and I do NOT want to step on tender hearts.

I have, however, decided to celebrate this pregnancy as much as I can. That must sound strange to the average person. "Why wouldn't she celebrate a pregnancy?!" Because I'm painfully aware of what could go "wrong". Stillbirth is not something you get over. Ever. The pain fades, but you never forget the experience. So, to chronicle my attempts to look past my fear and trust God (as if He has ever let me down. Oh, Kristen of little faith.) I have started another blog in addition to this one. Follow along if you'd like. Fair warning though, this pregnancy will probably still be mentioned here and there on this blog, because it is part of our lives obviously. I would still like to keep my focus here on adoption.

 When you've experienced trial after trial for as long as we have it's easy to expect more of the same. We know God loves us. We do not doubt His power, grace, or sovereignty. We feel unspeakably blessed to get another chance at a healthy pregnancy. Although it has been said by our doctor that, since Evelyn's passing was undiagnosed, the chances of another loss are present, we remain very optimistic. God is bigger than medicine. Just the fact that I am pregnant again is a miracle! 

So there you have it. Intermission explained. Now go forth, and be gobsmacked at the incredible unpredictability, generosity, and power of God. 

Shock doesn't even begin to describe it.