Our forever girl

On Monday May 19th the final papers were filed and Anaya Grace become our forever girl! We are so excited and relieved to know that she will be in our family forever and that she is our little girl!

She turned three weeks on Tuesday the 18th and I am guessing she weighs a little over 9 lbs. now. She is changing everyday and she keeps us laughing all the time. What a blessing she has been to us and will continue to be. She is our little miracle.

Faith the size of a mustard seed...

I just wanted to thank everyone who has been praying for us constantly. We received great news on Thursday evening...birth father Bruce has signed! We are so proud of him, and he has assured everyone involved that he knows that this is best for Anaya. Papers will be filed Monday morning and Anaya will be our forever child.

God promises us in the bible that through him with faith all things are possible. With all of your faith and prayers our efforts combined did more than move mountains. They changed DNA, hearts of birth parents, and forced us to discover the hidden truths to set Anaya free in our family.

We are over joyed and can not begin to express our gratitude for all who have walked with us though this process. Thank you.

2 Weeks

Anaya was two weeks old yesterday, the time is just flying by. We are having such a ball with her, she is such a miracle in our lives. We are off to the doctor for her two week check up and I cant wait to see how she has changed. She already looks so different from when we first met in the delivery room, she just gets more beautiful with each passing day.

Please keep us in your prayers and the birth father has not signed yet... although he says he will so we are hopeful.

Anaya's a well baby

I took Anaya to her first well baby checkup today. It was exciting to find out her progress over the last week. She lost a half inch in length...her cone head rounded our thank goodness. I am happy to report that she gained 13 ounces in her first week of life. She is such a good eater and she is thriving in every way.

Prayers to defeat an enemy

In this entire process it seems like the there is set back after set back. I know anyone who has gone through an adoption battle can sympathise with what I am saying. The enemy would love nothing more than to win this battle over Anaya. I believe he wants to perpetuate the cycle of children raised children knowing the difficulties ahead for those stuck in that situation. It only makes it easier for the enemy to bring them further down.

We refuse to let that happen. I feel hope and have increasing faith with every set back that God will prevail and let Anaya come home with Brian and I. I know God will turn all things bad into good in order to glorify him, that is my prayer in the name of our father.

So please keep praying for Anaya, Mickaela, Bruce, Shaun and Brian and I.

Anaya's a week old...

Wow, it is hard to believe that Anaya is already a week old. She has already changed so much since birth. So far she is the sweetest baby. She is sleeping through the night, I have to wake her to eat and even then she doesn't wake up half the time and she eats like a champ. In her seven days of life she has only cried twice and she is so happy all the time. We are so lucky! So far anyway.

We still don't know if we will get to keep her as our forever child yet but we are hopeful and trusting that God will do whats best for Anaya. So keep the prayers coming, we should know more by the end of the week.

Anaya Grace has arrived!

Anaya (uh - ney- uh) Grace entered the world via surprise c-section Tuesday April 29, 2008 at 9:20 am. She weighed 7lbs. 1 oz. and was 21 inches long.

Anaya means three things: In Hebrew: God Answers
In Indian: Completely Free
In African: Look up to God

We are so proud of Mickaela who labored for 30 hours before deciding to take up the doctors option for a c-section. We later learned that her decision was wise, because part of the umbilical cord has slipped down the birth canal next to Anaya's head and was being compressed with each contraction causing a halt in the blood flow to Anaya. We are very thankful to God Mickaela and Anaya did not have undergo the c-section in an emergency situation.

I was able to be in the room for the c-section, and hold Anaya the moment they pulled her out. What an experience to witness a c-section, it was so interesting and I am so glad I was able to hold Mickaela's hand through the experience. I then got to whisk her away for her first bath which they let me give her.

I have been rooming in with Mickaela and Anaya this past week helping Mickaela recover and getting to know Anaya. We will leave the hospital today after four days. It will be an interesting day as Mickaela goes home to recover with her family and I take Anaya with me.

The next week with be one of prayer and strength as we determine if Anaya will be our forever child. We know God has a glorious plan in the works and we just pray for his will to be done in all our lives accordingly.