So Excited!!!

Adopting a child is filled with emotional highs and lows.  Although we have only recently begun the adoption process and are still waiting to be matched with a child, we have already run through a gauntlet of emotions.  We have been overwhelmed by the love and support we have received from our friends and family-it is unbelievable how so many people are praying for us and working on our behalf to bring a child into our home.  We have been excited by small leads that could turn into a child of our own, and we have been disappointed by some doors closing.
Today we are feeling incredibly excited and hopeful!!!  Our lawyer met with a couple who may be considering us as potential parents for their unborn child.  Just the idea that birth parents are interested in us brings me to tears!  The feeling that our dream to become parents may soon be a reality is beyond awesome!  We are extremely hopeful that this couple finds a connection with us and that they feel we would be the right people to raise their baby.  We are hopeful that in a matter of a few, short weeks, we could bring a baby home, making us a family.  We are hopeful that after all these years and all the attempts to conceive a baby on our own, we could finally hold a baby in our arms.  Yes, without a doubt, today is a day filled with excitement and hope!!

Mother's Day...

Mother's Day, to say the least, has been a hard day for me the past few years.  It is a painful reminder that I am not yet a mother.  However, there is a bright side to Mother's Day...I get to celebrate my mom, who is without a doubt, the best mommy in the world!
She is my First Friend (which is WAY better than a best friend!!), she is my biggest supporter and cheerleader, and she has provided me with love and compassion my entire life.  I have wonderful memories from my childhood with my mom...from the way she would read me stories every night, to the sweet notes she would put in my homemade lunches, to coming to every sporting event I was ever involved in, to being the best, most willing listener...she has always made me her first priority.  I deeply appreciate her teaching me to love God and how to be a strong Christian woman, the way that she held me accountable for my actions, and for being a model of how to be a good wife and mother.  I have learned so much from my mommy and I thank God that He gave me such an amazing gift in my life!

Now if you look at this picture of me and my mom, you can clearly see that we do not necessarily look a whole lot alike.  She is petite and tiny with beautiful brown skin (she is Hispanic after all!)  while I am tall and super pale!  People often do a double take when they see us together and don't always believe that we are a mother-daughter pair!  But we are, we love each other more than anything and it makes no difference to us that we do not look that same.  I bring this up simply because there is a high likelihood that the child Scott and I adopt will look nothing like me.  While that may be an issue for some people, it does not even phase me.  I've spent my whole life not looking like my biological mother.  For me, it's not about how we look, but the bond and the love that we share.  I know without a doubt that I will love the child that is placed with us completely, despite them not looking like me!

In addition to not looking alike, my mom and I have very different interests and talents.  She was a cheerleader, she loves to dance, and she is boisterous and outgoing.  She had all sorts of ideas and plans for me when she found out I was going to be a girl...she put me in dance classes, gymnastics, dressed me in little dresses and tied pretty ribbons on my hair.  I however, wanted NOTHING to do with any of it.  I liked sports-anything that involved kicking, hitting, running, or jumping was perfect for me, I can't dance to save my life, I quickly became too tall to be in gymnastics, and I hated dresses and having my hair in ribbons.  So my mom had two choices...be disappointed that I didn't like the things she liked, or support me in my interests.  Needless to say, she supported me 110%.  She loved me completely and it didn't matter to her what I liked or didn't like, she was right there encouraging me to try anything that interested me.  What a gift!!  I plan on being the exact same way with my future children.  It makes no difference to me what their interests are...music, sports, drama, art...I will support them and love than and help them reach their dreams and aspirations.  My mom has been an incredible model of this and I am so thankful for her letting me be the person I am today!

I love you the mostest mommy!!