Catching up after the holidays!

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone! Worse still, I can't believe my days off of work are slipping away so quickly! The holidays were so nice this year. It's not that the past ones haven't been nice but after the past 3 years of being ... Consumed (for lack of a better word) with becoming a family, this year I just knew in my heart that by next Christmas we will finally have the baby we have longed for for so long. When I miscarried two years ago this past Oct., I didn't even want to put up a Christmas tree. I know this sounds pathetic because Christmas isn't all about us but rather about the birth of Jesus and our celebration of his life. But it is one time when you can count on coming together as a family be it in person or on the phone and let them know that you love them. This Christmas when we were at my mom's I couldn't help but think how different things were going to be next year. We'll have two babies crawling around! Children seem to make the season so much more enjoyable.


I enjoyed the entire evening but one thing did happen to surprise me beyond any expectations! Geoff and I got a gift from Sara, Chris, Jenna and Charlie. Inside was a beautiful scrapbook that they had made. It detailed a project they had worked on since last August! Apparently when I told Sara about the adoption I mentioned that we didn't have all of the money but I wasn't worried about that because I knew God would help up find a way. Well she got her mind to work and found a fundraising website called A Mother's Love Fundraising. It is a site founded by a woman who also has adopted and now she organizes fundraisers for others who need help finding the money to adopt. Sara and Jenna quietly went about fundraising over the past months. Sara even sent out letters to friends and family telling them what we were doing. She received orders for products and donations from friends and family. Some of the most touching responses came from Chris' family whom I have only met once at their wedding. One woman wrote us a beautiful poem. All of the cards, letters, emails, receipts, and bank statements are in the scrapbook. As Geoff and I flipped through the book on Christmas Eve, I was so touched by their kindness and everyone's response that I just teared up and continued to cry throughout the entire book. They presented us with a check of $700, which actually would have been $1200 but the communication with John in Iraq was lost in translation and he just told Carolyn to give us a check for $500. That money is already in our Lexi Savings Account. One can only imagine how proud I am of Sara for coming up with the idea. A mother could not ask for a more thoughtful daughter. I'm also taken aback when I think of Jenna's contribution because just after they began the project is when she was diagnosed with cancer but yet she continued to help Sara. These girls are true blessings. And anyone reading this post that contributed, we'd like you to know that we really appreciate your help in making Sara's act of kindness successful. It's true, God does guide the way and we all will be blessed by Lexi's presence in our lives one day soon.