Update on Life

Well, it has been awhile and I'm sorry. Lauren is doing wonderful and is growing fast!!! She had her first mini vacation with grandpa and ma Sommers, Uncle Dwight, Aunt Beth, mom and dad, still think it is weird to type mom and dad, she did great. Quite the little trooper I must say. We went to the Wright Patterson Airforce Base, shopping and a lot of driving. She also went to a farm and was very intrigued with the goats. I have posted a picture. Of course I missed the best picture when she reached out to touch the goat and her face when a goat sneezed all over her. I will give a description though...all scrunched up and what was that look.
On our way home we stopped at Easton and made her first Teddy Bear at the build-a-bear workshop. Allen and I had fun doing it for her but she slept thru the whole process. When we finally got home she slept, ate and poohed for a few days. She was just plain tuckered out from all the excitement!!
Allen and I are still enjoying this precious one and I hope you will enjoy the new pics. God Bless

Just lovin'life

Well, all is going great, and we are loving our new stage of life. Allen and I are learning a lot about change and sleep habits that, I can tell, will never be the same at least for awhile. Lauren is sleeping now so I am glad to be able to let you know how things are going. Miss Lauren is becoming more alert and with each passing day we see changes in her. She looks around a lot and seems to be a very strong little one. It is neat to hear the noises she makes and just yesterday, as she slept, I heard her and went to check and here she was giggling in her sleep. I had to wonder what God was having her dream/think about. She also was sound asleep and when Allen came home she heard him talking and was wide awake. It is so awsome to know that she is learning the sound of our voice and responding to it. WERE BONDING!!!!!!!!
This weekend we are going away with family. We leave tonight and well it is our first trip with a little person. I just wonder....... how it will go!! If you happen to think about us send up a prayer I am sure there will be trying at times. Well, so long for now and talk later.

My First Shopping Trip

FUN FUN FUN!!!! Lauren did great. We needed to go to the baby store and get a few things, exchange a few things and have our first photo shoot. If you want to see, she has 3 pics. Go to
kiddiekandids.com Click on the MyStudio in the far corner in the next window type the following

1. Sitting Number: 571029750 Sitting Code: W3A4W42

You do not need anymore info and then hit enter and you will see them. We had a great time together and with Karen, Maddie and Cade Keim, but, let me tell you, I was tired!!! Today, Thursday, we are staying home for the most part and catch up on some much needed rest and cleaning. I can't believe how behind I get. I get into something and I have to stop and take care of Lauren and by the time I'm done tending to her I have forgotten what I was doing and where I am going. I chuckle as I write this cause, well, its funny. Not complaining I am loving all the aspects of motherhood. Nights are still long but I welcome any sleep I can get. Well Lauren is asleep and now I can work on a few things before she wakes up. God Bless your day.

Life is Good

I am still in awww about this precious little gift that God has given to us!!! We have had a busy week so far and Lauren, to my suprise, is doing beautifully. She still likes to be wide awake at 1:00 in the morning but I guess we can rack that up as normal. We had a quick trip to Church, I just had to go. I just needed to thank all of those dear ones for all the prayers sent up on our behalf and also for Laurens. Words cannot express how it feels to know that someones got our back and to know that if all did not go well the support would be overwhelming. We went to grammy and pappy's over night and fun, fun, fun. I have included pics of our outing. Thanks to dad staying up till 1 instead of me, I was able to get a good sound 4hrs of sleep. On Tuesday I had a hair appontment and then went to Kohls, I had a coupon, and of course nothing for myself all for Lauren. I just marveled about being in the store pushing her around and being the one with the baby. I have waited so long to be able to push a little one and shop, fun fun fun. Last night however was I just want held and if you put me down I'll scream, and she did. Funny thing though Allen became wide awake and took over for the first time. It is amazing how God can take away baby fear when someone is in need. Allen fed, burped and changed his first diaper. God is Good. I was able to sleep. What a hubby...three cheers to my man!!!

My First Day Out

After a long night, yes Lauren thought she should be awake instead of asleep last night so you can imagine how much sleep I got!!! Today Lauren and I went to A Day Set Apart at my church. It was fun to go out and actually have a baby to mess with and all the stuff that goes along with taking a baby along. Everything was going great until I remembered I didn't grab the nipple for her bottle and had to have Allen bring them to church. I told Allen sorry and he said it probably won't be the first time. HAHAHA The day went wonderful and Lauren didn't even cry but she smiled a lot. I think she is tired because she is still sleeping. I also had a nap and caught up on some much needed sleep. My brother is here for the weekend and is a proud uncle, which you will see a picture of. Yesterday she had her first Dr's appontment and checked out otay!! She now weighs 6-7 and Dr Stutzman says she looks great. Until another day in our new life---God Bless.

Still in AWWWWWW

Lauren is doing wonderfully!! She is eating and sleeping beautifully and I enjoy just being able to care for her even in the middle of the night. I know this may change but I welcome her beautiful blue eyes looking up at me at night and needing fed and just held. It is amazing to think that Allen and I are mom and dad. It seems that for so long we have waited for this dream to come true and now that it is, well, words just can't come near enough to express how I feel. I always wondered why about the one falling through in April but now I realize that, even though painful, God meant that total experience for growing, trusting Him more and for preperation. Even though Lauren came fast we were somewhat prepared. She does however have a mind of her own and knows that she does not like silicone nipples and we were not going to change her mind otherwise. So Allen had to do a walmart run, I'm just wondering how many of those will happen in the couple weeks. Until another day may God bless all!!

WOW.....Is this real????

We still cannot believe this weekend and what we have come through. A friend figured it out that we have officially been at this for 9 months. We sent out our profile in Dec. and have a baby in Sept. Now I have to say that is a major God thing. We look at her and still cannot believe it. I have been reminded that I need to put the stats out so her they are:
Weight 6-6 Lenth 18in Head and Chest 13in Apgar 9 on enfamil and is doing great. I think I have remembered them all.
Our nights are wonderful!! Especially for Allen, he sleeps, I don't. But I have to say she does very well and you won't catch me complaining!! We love visits so please do not hesitate to call or come. Little Miss Lauren Hope is happy to meet everyone.

WHAT A DAY!!!!!!!

Well we are finally home after one hard day. For me, I had a hard time relaxing. Allen on the other hand was cool as a cucumber!!! Which helped me out a lot. We enjoyed so much visiting Lauren up at Lakewood. The nurses were wonderful and helped us out a lot. With each night came a little sadness to leave but we were glad to have a couple nights of relaxing and good sleep. Amy, our social worker, came in around 6:45 to do some of the paperwork and then left to do the surrender. This was the time that was hard. It was so nice to know we had a lot of prayers going up for us on our behalf. Amy called at 9:10 and said, "Go get your car seat your going home," then we cried. Allen and got out of there and could not believe that we had this small wonder in our car and it was ours. God is Good!!!

Now let me say about this first night. Loved it and I laughed at myself. The baby slept more than I cause I laid there in ahhhhhhhh. I also heard every coo and so forth and could help but listen. Finally I fell asleep and at 3:30 we were wide awake and I have to say, "I am so excited." Of course I like to get more sleep but I'm okay with holding her a lot!!!

Thank you sooo much for all your prayers. Believe me they were felt. Can't wait for everyone to see her face to face.

Lauren Hope means---Guarded by God/Trust in the Future/Understanding Heart WOW!!!

GETTING READY

Well today was busy. We had to first go shopping and get a seat to bring Little Miss Lauren home in and an outfit. Getting things together and ready are fun and we just love Gods sense of humor in the 2 days to get everything ready. After we went shopping we went to see our little sweet love. The hospital said she had been fussy in the AM but she was fine when we got there. She has responded to her name when we say it and moves her eyes when we talk like she is listening intently. We were able to see her eyes for the first time, which are still blue.
She smiles alot at us and no it is not gas!!!! We are enjoying this little life so much and cannot wait till we get to bring her home.

A Roller Coaster Ride

It is amazing how things work out in our lives. You think, God what is going on and boom something like this happens. We received an email regarding getting a baby that was due around September 9th. After excepting the situation we waited. Friday evening the parents would be looking at our profile and at 10:30, this was a very very long day, at night we were called with the good news about being chosen. Then Amy, our social worker, saidl she was born Thursday......we were in shock we just couldn't believe it. We set up our meet time for Saturday and met the parents and a grandmother. Then we went to meet our potential little girl, hopefully all goes well Monday evening please pray, and here are the pictures. Hope you enjoy!!!!