Ch-ch-changes....

Wow! Maggie is changing so fast!

It is impossible to believe that she is already a month old!
Make it stop!!

Cute girls....

Lil' Miss Kayley...

She's getting spunky...can you tell?

Getting big...

It is hard to believe how much Maggie has grown in just the last few weeks. She is becoming so alert and attentive. She just looks at you with those dark eyes... Tracks you as you move around. She loves to just hang out and watch you. She especially finds her big Sis to be entertaining... Such a fun little girl. We love her so much!

Multitasking....

Everything I learned about parenting I learned from my Mom...
For example - how to multitask...
Here is my Mom eating toast, talking on the phone, and feeding Maggie a bottle...

Two babies at a time... So cute...

Can you find the Hidden Mickey??

I'm a sucker for a good hidden Mickey!

Can you find it???

Miss Maggie...

We were so blessed while in Mesa to have our pictures taken by Kristi Ellingson. Kristi is James' roomate (David) from colleges' wife (Debbie's) sister. Lol! Did that make sense? Anyway...Kristi heard about our adoption story from Deb and offered to take Maggie's pictures while we were in Arizona waiting for ICPC to clear. The pictures speak for themselves. Kristi is a FABULOUS photographer! If you are ever in the area...or for my many, many Arizona friends...you should totally look up Kristi!

To view even MORE pics of Maggie be sure to hop on over to Kristi's blog!!!
(I've included a link at the end of the post)

Thanks so much Kristi for your kindess.
It was a long morning (Maggie peed all over the blanket in the naked baby pics, pooped the diaper and had to eat 2x's!) but these pics are to die for!

Don't forget! There are several more pics on Kristi's blog! Go check it out!

http://designsbykristi.blogspot.com/

Penguin Watching...

I whipped up Kayley some of these binoculars today from a paper towel tube...then told her..."You could go bird watching!" She she grabs Gramma and tells her she wants to go outside to go bird watching. "I want to see a Penguin!" she says! Gramma tells her, "Oh...I don't think we would be able to see a Penguin...penguins only like to live where it is really cold!" Dissapointed, Kayley and Gramma head to the door... As they are looking it starts to fog up. Kayley says, "Whoa! The window is fogging up!?" Gramma says, "Yes, it is because it is cold outside..." To which Kayley responded..."Oh!!! So we CAN see a Penguin!!"
Hahaha... such a smart kid.

I love my girls.

Maggie.

Maggie with 'eM and her Sis... We love our 'eM!

Our illustrious caseworker, Hannah!

Maggie & Mina

It was great to see Melissa and Geoff with their new baby (now 3 months old!) Mina...we had to put our cute babies together... We joked and thought that maybe Maggie was whispering in Mina's ear "Heavenly Father said Hi!"

The Non-Shower Shindig (aka Meet Maggie at the Mineer's)

A million thanks-you's to Karen and Connie for throwing me a little shindig before I left town. First of all the FOOOOD was awesome!!!! 2nd of all...the people were even more awesome! and lastly - thanks so much for the lovely gifts!!!!

Sun glare...

Nothing quite like sunglare to make the drive home a little more unbearable....

Big Helper...

Home...

We made it home late-late-late last night.
So good to be home.
Love you all--
James, Stephanie, Kayley
and
Maggie...
(we are going to need to change the name of our blog!)

Still in Arizona...

Hello! Here is an update on how we are doing:

James went home on Friday...he couldn't miss more than a week of work and I was really grateful to have him with me for 9 days. He said that Kayley was so surprised to see him when she woke up the next morning. He told me she had grown since he has seen her last...what?! Noooo! She is not allowed to grow without me. :)

I miss her so much. It is funny...I am homesick, not for my home, but for my sweet little Kayley. (Oh, and I miss James a little too...but he just left so not nearly as much *yet*. LoL!)

I am still hanging out here in Arizona. I am so thankful to my dear friends Connie and Glen for letting me impose on them for the past 9 days (and more to come). They have been gracious and helpful.

My mom is coming out on Tuesday afternoon to help me drive back home. It looks like we should be able to leave Thursday morning...Yay!

Maggie- ok...I have to tell you about this amazing little girl. It is hard to believe that she is already 8 days old! She rarely cries. Seriously! She just hangs out, stares at me, looks around, sleeps, eats and quietly 'requests' a diaper change or help with an air bubble... Last night she ate at 10pm, slept until 2am, drank 3oz, zonked back out, slept until 6am, drank 3 more oz, fell back asleep and slept until 10am! Am I spoiled or what?! :) :) :)

She is alert in the mornings, usually enjoying a couple of hours of awake time. We just hang out and chat. (ok, I'm the one doing all the talking...but she is really a GREAT listener.) She likes to have her hair washed...her eyes roll up into the top of her head. (Mine do too when I get my hair washed!). She likes to lounge in her swing and patiently and calmly tolerates my insistence that she get some supervised time on her tummy 2x's a day. (Trying to avoid the flat head, bald spot and general tummy time meltdowns for the future). She is also a trooper in the car seat and has enjoyed her 2 trips in the stroller. (She slept the whole time-haha).

She loves her Soothie binky. My attempts at getting her to enjoy a Nuk or Button have failed and looks like we will be staring at the big, round, green, (ugly), binky for a few months.. (I did notice that they come in "fashion colors" at BabiesRUs...)

Anyway, that's where we are. Still waiting for ICPC to clear, but looks like it should happen early this week! I can't wait to get home. I miss my Kayley.

Adoption is LOVE

Through the miracle of Adoption we are once again

proud parents of a baby girl!!

Magdalena Angelica was born January 2nd, 2010 at 6:29am.

She weighed 6lbs 5oz (tiny baby!) and was 18.5" long.

She is gorgeous with a full head of jet black hair and dark blue eyes.

Thank you so much for all the love and support.

When I logged onto Facebook minutes ago,

I had (I kid you not) 92 well-wishes from family,

dear friends, aquaintences and strangers.

And that is just from today.

Our hearts are full.

We are so grateful to 'eM and the trust she has placed in us to raise and love this beautiful little girl. Thank you will never be enough to express what a birthmom does for an adoptive couple. Our only hope is that we can continue to live worthy of such miracles in our lives. Adoption is truly an example of unselfish, pure, christlike LOVE.

We love you 'eM.