1st Gotcha Day

Here are a couple pictures of Zach at the Park. I was trying to figure out what to do today for our first Gotcha Day and realized that going to the Park (which Zach loves) is probably the best thing for him. We had a great time. It is so hard to believe that it was a year ago today that I held my sweet baby for the first time! Some days it seem like it was just yesterday, but other days it feels like he has been with me forever. We had a great day playing at the Park, McDonalds (at his request), playing soccer in the back yard all afternoon and then out to dinner. It was a great day. I am still so excited to be "Zach's Mom".

Mother's Day

Here is a picture I took with my phone yesterday! Is he cute or what!! It was a wonderful first Mother's Day with Zach. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to wake up Sunday morning knowing I had my little guy in the next room. Finally a Mother's Day that wasn't sad. I still did my traditional visit with the Angels on my memorial bench, but this year I took Zach with me. I tell him that they represent the four little angels I have in heaven. I know he doesn't understand yet, but he will.

We had a great day! We went to my sisters for a bbq. We celebrated Mother's Day and her birthday (which is today). So if you are reading this Aunt Tete, Happy Birthday! It was the perfect day spent with family. I am truly blessed with the wonderful family that I have!

This is a picture of Zach's Foster Mom (and her two daughters) in Guatemala. I did not want to forget her on Mother's Day since she was Zach's "mom" for the first 15 months of life. So, we sent her the flowers, candy, lotion and powder. The service I use to deliver them takes a picture to prove that they received what you sent. I could not imagine not including her in our celebration even though we are so far apart. I also remembered Zach's birth mom in my prayers yesterday. I am so grateful to her. I do wish there was a way to let her know what a great little boy he is and how well he is doing.

I hope all the Mom's reading this had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Re-Adoption Day

Yesterday we had our re-adoption hearing. Here is a picture of us with my lawyer Bob and his wife Julia. They are our friends from church which made it more special. The hearing consisted of the Judge coming in, saying he had reviewed our file and the home study and then he signed the papers and gave them to Bob and told us congratulations! Bob was amazed that I didn't have to say anything. He said it was the first adoption he has done where a parent didn't have to speak! Thats just because the adoption was meant to happen! It truly was an amazing day!

Here are two pictures of us holding the "Official" papers. One in the court room and the other outside of the Court House on the steps. Now, my sons legal name is Zachary! I am so excited! The only things left to do is our last visit with our Home Study agency next month and when Zach's new birth certificate comes in, we can apply for Citizenship! Then we can just concentrate on being a family and having fun (OK, we already do that, but you know what I mean).

Just look at that little face! I am so blessed! I am honored that the Lord chose me to be Zach's mom! I can't help but think about his birth mom on this day. I will forever be grateful to her. And even though she doesn't know me, I pray that she knows that he will always be taken care of and loved so much! I also think of his foster mom who took such great care of him for the first fourteen months of his life. I am also grateful to her. I am still in touch with her frequently and I send her pictures so she can see how good Zach is doing and how much he grows. My wish is to one day be able to take him back to Guatemala to visit her and her family.

The Gift of Life

I didn't give you the gift of life,

But in my heart I know.

The love I feel is deep and real,

As if it had been so.

For us to have each other

Is like a dream come true!

No, I didn't give you The gift of life,

Life gave me the gift of you.

Serious Life Magazine

I wanted you to know about this publication I’m a part of called Serious.Life Magazine. They just published a new issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It’s a very high quality magazine… you’ll really like it.
The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content. The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has Leukemia (www.riggsfamilyblog.com). The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries. Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.
Again, the subscription is FREE, and I know you’ll enjoy the magazine, so take a minute to check it out and sign up to get future issues. www.seriouslifemagazine.com

Praying for Stellan

Please pray for Stellan. To learn about what is going on with his little heart click on his picture to the right. He and his family need our prayers!

Zach is 2

My little man is 2 now. Here are some pictures I had taken at Penney's. They turned out so good. His birthday was such a special day. I am so happy I got to spend his 2nd Birthday with him. I got an e-mail from his foster mom wishing him a happy birthday. She said last year she was with him on his birthday and misses him terribly this year. She asked if I was going to teach him Spanish and if so maybe he could call her when he gets older. I think that would be so wonderful. They took such great care of him for the first 14 1/2 months of his life and did such a great job. I will be forever grateful to them! I will ask her if she minds if I post the pictures of her family on here so that all of you can see them. She has two beautiful daughters.

We have a court date on April 9th for Zach's readoption. I am so excited about that. I can get his name changed everywhere and the Doctor's office can finally call him Zach! The next step after the readoption is to apply for his Certificate of Citizenship. We have his last home visit in May and then EVERYTHING will be complete for him and we can finally relax and not think about those things anymore.

Thank you to everyone for your support. I am very lucky to have all of you in my life. I love you all!

If you have not checked out the story on my little friend Abby, please click the button on the right hand side that says "Praying for Abby". She is a sweet little 4 year old that was adopted from Guatemala. She is a very sick little girl and is going through very strong chemo. She needs our prayers along with her family. They are the most amazing christian couple you will ever meet. Abby's illness has brought them even closer to the Lord. How amazing is that! Me and Zach says prayers for Abby every night. (It's cute how he says Abby).

First Snow

Here are a couple pictures of Zach in the front yard playing in his first snow. Grandma said at first he wasn't sure about it and didn't want to get his boots wet. But she told him it was alright to get them wet and he had a ball. As a matter of fact, I think she had a hard time getting him to come inside. I love the picture where he is making a face! That might have been when she told him it was time to go in and he was letting her know he didn't want to.

My friend Stacy gave Zach this big bear. The past week or so he has been sitting on its lap and sometimes he puts his other stuffed animals on there with him and jabbers to them. Grandma snapped this picture of him.

I tell you, I am so blessed. I know every mother says that. Actually, thinking about it, every mother is blessed to be a mother no matter if you gave birth to your child or you adopted them. It seems like I waited so long to have my son, but at this point, I do not remember a time without him.

He is my little sponge right now. Everything I say or do he tries to do. It is so cute. He loves being around people. We got together with a house full of people at my brother and sister-in-laws for the Superbowl. Zach loved it! Of course no matter where we go he is the center of attention. While watching the Superbowl, Zach would yell at the TV when we would and often yell "Touchdown". He loves any form of ball. I took him to his first basketball game to see my nephew play. He was mesmerized!

If you get a chance, please click on the link to the right and read the story about Abby. She definitely needs our prayers. She is only 4 years old and is so sick. Please keep her in your prayers and ask your friends to pray for her also. She is going through too much for anyone to bear let alone a 4 year old. Thanks!

I guess that is all for now. Zach will turn 2 on March 1st, so I will be posting pictures then. Everyone take care and God Bless!

Zach's First U.S. Christmas

Well, as I am sure you have all guessed, we had a wonderful first Christmas. This picture is a little blurry (sorry) but you can see he has lots of toys! When we got up, I was so excited and showed him the presents under the tree. He looked at them and then spotted his balloons (from the night before) and pointed and said "BALLOONS". Once I sat him down by the presents and showed him how to start opening them, he got more excited. The funny thing is that every little piece of tape and wrapping paper had to be off the box before he would get excited about the present. It was kind of cute! Between me, my family and my friends he now has enough toys to fill his room and the living room. The garage in the picture was his favorite! Now, he goes from one to to the other and loves them all! It was definitely an awesome day. Of course, like I have said in other posts, I got my present May 19th. That's the day my life changed and I thank the good Lord every day for it!!