2009

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe it's 2009. It seems just like yesterday that we were all waiting for the world to end when 1999 became 2000. We've come a long way baby!!! We quietly rang in the new year last night in Tennessee. We watched Carolina play and win and then we watched Times Square go crazy. Big night! I went to bed so thankful for a great year of change and anticipating a new year with many changes coming. I can confidently say that our family will be one larger in the year 2009. No, we haven't gotten "that" phone call yet, but I know that this baby is coming. It's strange sometimes thinking about being a new mom again but realizing how different that will be than when we had Benjamin. No recovery from a C-Section so more involvement from the very beginning. Benjamin says things like, "when the baby is here I'll teach him to..." He's very excited and initiates conversations about the baby on his own. I love that because God is preparing his little heart to not only love a new baby but also to become the big brother. He has always been very independent but we see now that he is stretching his wings to fly more and more. He will be 5 in 3 months......sniff, sniff.
It will be a very happy 2009!

The Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It has been a couple of weeks since I blogged and frankly I have just been so busy that I haven't had a moment to collect thoughts to write down. It has been a great Christmas season and I couldn't feel more blessed by family and friends. We had an incredible women's banquet at church where 51 women came together to chat, eat, and enjoy one another's company in the presence of our King. It was alot of fun and a night I will remember for a long time. Benjamin enjoyed all kinds of activities at church and school in preparation for Christmas and we observed advent each night as a family. Slowing down enough to really focus on the true meaning of Christmas was especially important to us this year as Benjamin is really into Santa and the "stuff" he wanted for Christmas. He did get his Hot Wheels Bike from the big guy and already rides it like a champ (with training wheels of course!). He has also had a couple of crashes--I'm trying not to over react when it happens. It is natural of course for him to wreck--it's part of the process. Breathe.
Benjamin is really questioning and exploring his faith. He is thinking about things more and more and I think is starting to gain understanding about why God sent Jesus. He's at the point where he sees others' sin and points out their need for forgiveness. He hasn't quite seen his own flaws but who among us really wants to do that? However, it is exactly where we need to begin.
It definitely challenges me to look at myself. I find that I am more anxious and impatient to see our baby. I had hoped that we would have him/her by Christmas or at least know that we had been selected by an expectant mom. You can imagine the disappointment that I felt when we didn't get that call and even when I called the agency they didn't have any news they could offer. The only thing I know for sure is that they have shown our profile several times. Someone out there is contemplating adoption and has seen our faces and read our letter. The word wait is such a hard one for me. I feel like that has been the message I have received from God for almost 5 years now. We have been trying to get pregnant again since 6 weeks after Benjamin was born. I have come to grips that we will probably not enlarge our family through another pregnancy. That was hard because I so loved being pregnant. I know this adoption is what God intends for us because He planted the desire in our hearts even before I knew we would have trouble conceiving Benjamin. There is peace and excitement but also impatience. Help me Lord.
But in the meantime of waiting for our baby, I am soaking up every second with my family. I love our son and I am so honored that God gave us such a miracle.
Please pray for the birthmother and our baby.
Thanks for reading such a long blog!!

I stand in awe!

Hi everyone! I do stand in awe just as the title says. I wish I could say that I have baby news....I don't :( but I am so very excited about the 14th. We are having our 2nd annual women's banquet. Last year was a big undertaking for our little church and we had a good turnout. THis year, however, we have experienced alot of growth and there will be 48 women at this banquet. I am amazed at MY GOD!! He is awesome and so faithful. My prayer is that God will change these women's lives forever. I know He will do it.
Keep praying for the birth mother and our baby. We talked with a couple tonight who adopted 18 years ago. I have known this lady for a couple of years and had no idea what their story was--or that there was even an adoption story in their lives. God orchestrated their adoption as He does each one, and tonight served as a reminder that our time is coming. Come on baby Hill....we already love you so much!

So much to be thankful for!

Hi everyone! We had a great Thanksgiving. Probably the best ever. Benjamin was so much fun and is beginning to understand being thankful too. It was a great time with family. It was hard to believe that as Nate and I were talking we realized that the next Thanksgiving will include a new Hill in the family. We should have a baby by next year at this time and it will totally change everything....yay!!!!!
Please keep praying for the birthmom and our baby. She has such a difficult decision to make. We haven't heard anything so far but we expect God to connect us with the right mom and baby. Nate and I have dreamed of this baby and have seen "him" . In each of our dreams we saw a boy. Don't know if that is because we only know "boy" things or what but I guess we'll just see what God has in store! Thank you for your words of encouragement! Feel free to comment...hint, hint. I love to hear from you!
check out
www.agadoptions.org
We are a waiting family!

Finally on the website!

It snowed enough today to cause school to be cancelled!!! Whoo-hooo!! We had a family day and it was so nice! We, however, did not have enough snow to even throw a snowball............. but it is still early in the year!
This week we finally made it onto the agency's waiting families list. We really don't know how many moms have seen our profile yet but we have faith that just the right mom will see us and feel a connection. Thank you all for praying for us even when my blogs haven't been very frequent lately. News has just slowed down on the adoption since now we are just waiting. We have chosen names for the baby ----maybe I'll post these later and we have picked out colors for the nursery too. As we head into the holidays I am hopeful that the best present we could receive is the addition to our family. What a precious time we would have. God knows the timing though so we wait patiently.
Pray for the birth mom and our little one!!

Is it November 16th?

Not that the date is significant but wow where did this month go already? We have been so busy which I guess is to be expected as we enter the holidays. I don't have an update to offer except that we know the agency has our profile book and will show it any opportunity they have. I suppose this is the hardest part...the waiting but I guess for us it doesn't feel much different than what we have been doing for almost 5 years. As you know, we began trying to conceive again right after Benjamin was born and he will be 5 in a few months. We feel we have the waiting scene figured out:)
Anyway, here lately Benjamin has been the one with the "baby bug". He sees babies and says, "Oh look at the baby!!!" It's funny because just as we were about to find out we were actually pregnant with Benjamin years ago we kept getting little signs. On Friday, we received a sample of Pampers in the mail. Why in the world we would receive diapers I can't guess so we are taking it as another sign!! Laugh if you will but we are going to hold on to that hope!

THE HOME STUDY REPORT!!

It's November! So hard to believe! We had a great weekend and Benjamin got to trick or treat with his cousin. We got some great pics of them together and our neighborhood was very safe with all the super heroes running around!!! Today we got 2 very important reports. The first being Benjamin's first report card and the second was our home study report. EVERYONE PASSED!!!!

What a great day!

Please pray for the birthmother and our baby. We are closer now than ever!