A little perspective

A little over six years ago if you (or even God himself in a loud voice from heaven) had told me that Ian and I would need to wait until February 5, 2007 to meet the love of our lives, we would have told you that the wait was too long.

Many times during the stretch from December 2000 until now we felt despair followed by hope, frustration followed by peace, impatience followed by anticipation.

It was the prayers and encouragement that so many of you bestowed upon us over this time (allowing the love of God to flow through you) that helped us survive. It was letting us play with and love on your children that has helped us to prepare for the incredible responsibility that now lies in front of us.

Now I realize fully how if we had become parents any other time we would have missed Kylie! When I hold this baby in my arms I realize that no other child, no other time would have been right. I mean, we got a champion sleeper, very inquisitive little girl who LOVES to be outside.

And as I write, my eyes are honestly filling with tears again. From here I can see and hear my sweet baby girl peacefully sleeping still in her little crib. Nothing that I've ever experienced before prepared me for the moment I finally saw her for the first time! It is not a great photo of me, but it captures the overwhelming emotions I felt on Monday afternoon and for that reason, I'll share with you the photo of me reaching for her.

You can see that when she first was handed to us, she wasn't very sure of what was going on.

There was a LOT of commotion in the room as 10 other families were united with their children for the first time.But what a difference a day makes. Here's a shot before we went to bed last night. This was about 28 hours after we first met Kylie. I think we are going to be just fine...

So I will give a detailed run down of the past two days soon ~ afterall, this is my journal. I just had to get some more shots of Kylie on the blog, hope that makes an aunt who will remain nameless happy! :) The family leaves tomorrow, so please keep Mama, Mom, Traci & Adam in your prayers as they come home.

From Ian...
Just looking back over these pictures brings tears back to my eyes as well. It truly is amazing and a blessing how well the three of us fit together! Kylie was a bit apprehensive at the start, not sure what to think of all that was going on, but little by little her fears, and the confusion are being replaced by the love we're pouring (more like gushing) all over her. She still has that quizzical curious look in her eyes, but gone is the look of confusion and fear. The bottom picture of Kylie laughing is one of my favorites. This was an incredible moment of absolute comfort for all of us. We were simply sitting together relaxing and enjoying one another when Kristi started playing with those cute little cheeks. Kylie started to smile... then giggle.... then laugh and a full fledged tickle party started. As Kristi said... everything is going to be just fine....