Happy 1st Birthday Haley! Hard to believe a year has passed since the day Haley was placed in my arms for the first time. It was 48 hours of such great emotion. We fell in love with Haley and also with Mike & Connie and their families. We felt such anxiety waiting to be sure that Haley was to be forever our daughter. We smiled, laughed, cried, wondered, worried, prayed waiting for the signatures that would make her our daughter. We grieved with them at their loss of her. We gave her to God as they gave her to us. We dedicated ourselves to loving her, to teaching her to love God, to making sure she always knew of the great love her birth family had for her.
Hard to believe 8 years have passed since I first felts God's direction that there was another child still to come in our lives and I began praying. This has been a year of loving her, rocking her to sleep, nursing her, changing her, bathing her, teaching her and watching her. A year of tremendous memories I will hold dear in my heart. A year of all her firsts: smile, rolling over, crawling, teeth, words, standing, walking, climbing and signing. This has been a year I will not forget. See her photo chronicle at http://www.preciouskids.org/haley.html
When I began the journey to Haley I had no idea what it would really hold. I did not know about the whole world of adoption friends that I would find online. Open adoption was a scary unknown thing that became a delightful gift to us. We gained new family in Nebraska that will always be a treasured part of our lives. http://www.preciouskids.org/ was birthed in the journey to Haley. I get to help other families everyday to find their forever children. My life is incredibly richer by having Haley as my daughter but also my being part of the adoption world.
Adoptive breastfeeding has also enriched my life and Haley's. She has gained her mama's precious breastmilk full of antibodies, enzymes, nutrition and much love. This year has seen us go from a 20% milk supply to a 100% milk supply with no drugs, only herbs, and prayer, and love. I have also been able to help several other adoptive moms to discover the wonder of nurturing their new adopt child at their breast. Haley and I also got to be part of a TV show on adoptive breastfeeding with Discovery Health Channel. http://www.preciouskids.org/adopt/adoptnursing.html
I need to thank the many people who helped to make this dream a reality. First I thank God for placing in my heart 8 years ago the desire to mother another child and for making it possible. I am still amazed at how He brought us all together half way across our nation. Secondly thank you Mike & Connie for your selfless gift of life you entrusted with us. Thirdly I thank my husband for believing in me and the dream of my heart for this child he named Haley Elizabeth. Thank you Melissa, Jordan, & Allison, my teen children for embracing and helping with their new sister. Thank you Nebraska Children's Society for doing all the legal work, Interstate Compact paperwork and birth parent counseling all for free. Thank you to our social worker Lynn Schwab for the hours put into our homestudy and post placement visits. Thank you to our family and friends who help us love Haley even more.
