Family of 4 pictures!

6 months!!

Today my baby turned 6 months old! 6 months ago today, sweet little Gracie came into this world-- half a world away from her soon to be mommy and daddy. I looked back at my calendar and saw that I had taken Jake to swimming lessons that day. I wonder if I thought more about our referral that day. Was she born yet? How old will she be? What will she look like? But, it was probably just a typical Friday for us.... who would have know that the most precious and beautiful little girl had just been born! Well, fast forward to 6 months later and our lives have been blessed more than we could have ever imagined!!! Thank you Jesus for giving us the gift of Grace! Happy Birthday baby girl!

I Love Fall!!

Fall is my absolute favorite season... especially on days like today when it's sunny and 70*! I took to the kids to the pumpkin patch with our MOPS group a few weeks ago, but it was cold and rainy and Grace slept the whole time in the front pack, so I didn't get many good pictures. So, today I had the kids pose with the pumpkins in the front of the grocery store!! I couldn't miss Grace's first Halloween without pumpkin pictures!

Just so happy!

Nothing new or exciting to post. Just had to post a few new cute pictures. Grace is finally tall/long enough so her feet actually touch the bottom of her exersaucer and she can really enjoy it. She is such an easy and happy baby... and becoming quite a chunk (who would have ever thought!! Woo Hoo!! And maybe someday we'll actually be able to see her neck-- I think she has one. :)

The 1 month mark!!

Have we really been home for a month? Time has flown by and it's been wonderful. Grace is truly a blessing. I'm asked about the bonding/attachment "issue" and I can honestly say that there isn't an issue. Being Grace's mom feels no different to when my son was born and I became his mom. I don't know if it was the 2 months I had her picture for and I was able to love, worry, get excited over, etc...... this little girl who was my daughter? I don't know, but all I know is that when Almaz placed Grace in my arms for the very first time it was an instant bond. This was my daughter... the one God had chosen for our family... no doubt about it!! Praise God! Now, since being home, I have had a few odd comments. One- a gal actually asked me if I was babysitting!! And when I told her that no, this was my daughter, she looked at me in amazement and said, "oh, then you must have adopted her??" I just smiled. Another woman paused at our grocery cart and oodled over Grace and then asked me if she was mine! Again, I just smiled and said, "yes, this is my precious baby girl and this (my son) is her wonderful big brother!! And, speaking of her brother, he's in love with her and Grace is enamored with him. It melted my heart last night when he peered over the side of her crib and said, "Good night baby sister. I love you!" With that being said... there's been some issues of adjustment with him. He spent the last 4 years ruling the roost here at home and I know that he's searching a bit to find his new place in our family. At one point he did tell me that Sophie (our cat!!) had told him that she wanted baby sister to go back to Ethiopia because she was afraid that she might scratch the baby!! Hmm... the cat really told him that?? And, I guess I can't leave out the adjustment to the lack of sleep again! We've had a good couple of years of uninterrupted sleep, but truly we can't complain. Grace is down at 7:30, wakes around 4:00 for a bottle and then again at 7:00/7:30 (right when brother wakes up!) So, there's our first month in a nutshell. Grace is definitely a Redman and has her mommy, daddy, and big brother (not to mention grandparents, other family, and friends) wrapped around her finger!!

**Though I am trying to wait a bit for the dust to settle and the memory of the million hour plane flight home is a distant blur before I start seriously talking about the next adoption with Mike!!! (even though I know he's thinking about it too! :) But an older child the next time.

And now our little peanut is 5 months old!!!!