Rewind and Fast Forward ~ Morgan

OK... I admit, starting at the "beginning" is too ominous a task for me to complete... I will tell Sophie's adoption story as I can... in the meantime... it is too hard to not share how wonderful my children are right here and now.

My children are growing up so incredibly fast!! I am in disbelief that my first born baby, Morgan, will be turning 15 in just a couple of months!! YIKES!! It truly was only yesterday that she was born!! Tonight, on my last birthday in my 30's (GULP), my precious baby girl is on Freshman Retreat with her high school homeroom. I wrote her a retreat letter about how and when she became "real" to me, to go along with the theme of her retreat "The Velveteen Rabbit". It was very difficult for me to sit down and start that letter to her, but once I started, it all came out and I ran out of the allowed "legal size" paper they provided before I really finished telling her how much she means to me. I can remember all those precious little moments of her life from the moment she first took a breath in this world. She was the most amazing little miracle and I was in awe that God gave me such a tiny, perfect little daughter... I had dreamed of her my entire life.

Here is my baby, Catherine Morgan, at one day old... isn't she beautiful?

I smile when I look at her newborn picture... it looks like she is doing the hula dance and actually smiling!! That was a good prediction for her personality as she grew...

She would not be alive today if it weren't for pasta... this child has eaten pasta almost every day of her life!! The variety when she was little was the shape of the pasta!! Look at this picture of her when she was two enjoying her "pasketti".

Luckily, she ate every kind of fruit grown and would eat those "tiny green balls" (aka peas).

Now, my girl is a young woman and stands taller than me (thank goodness) and I am as much in love with my "baby" as I was the day she was born.

I love this child and would give my life for her!!!

This song says it all...

Love and FROG,

Sarah

The Beginning

I am still getting used to this blogger and want to begin posting a regular journal but cannot figure out a good way to start. So, I think I will start off at the beginning when we became a family of four.

Morgan, Grant and I were three peas in a pod making our way through life pretty well after my divorce from their dad in 1999. We had developed a pretty nice system and the kids were thriving after a few years of struggling that I will not rehash. There was something in me that was just not quite complete... for months, I had struggled to figure out what it was that could make eveything right. On a trip to Cancun with the kids and my mother, I know that I heard the whisper of a power much bigger than me give me the answer... one I had been praying about for many, many years. I talked about it in length with my mother on that trip and was surprised to hear her say that she thought the idea of adding to our family through adoption was a wonderful idea. Morgan and Grant were the perfect age... independent enough to not need my attention all the time and young enough that they would be be home several more years before going away to college and beyond to be able to enjoy a sibling and understand the blessings it would bring to our family. This is a picture of our "last" Spring Break in Destin Florida as just a family of three...I am sitting here in amazement that they were once that little and stunned at how big they are now. Was this really just a few short years ago??

In January 2005, I made the now clandestine decision to pursue an international adoption. I knew since I was a teenager that I was going to adopt a child and I also knew that the child would be born in a Latin American country. I began the beginning of what would amount to mountains of paperwork (called a dossier) necessary to complete an adoption in Guatemala. There is so much that I could never have imagined that goes into an adoption... Fast forward to May 23, 2005... my agency director, Sue calls and tells me about a beautiful baby girl born May 3, 2005 in Guatemala City, Guatemala. She was born with a heart condition where she has two holes that should have closed within a couple days after birth that have not closed on their own. I was stunned at first. Not sure what to think. Could I handle a child that may or may not have special medical needs? Suddenly, I was on top of the world... I received her pictures via e-mail. There, wrapped in a little receiving blanket was a vision in pink... my daughter, Sophia. God had led this beautiful miracle of a child to me through a miriad of events that may have taken her on a completely different path. Of course, I would accept her referral!!

Only He knows the perfect child for me and there she was right in front of me. I would be there to take care of her needs, no matter what they were... there are no guarantees in life. If you have a child biologically, you would not say I do not want this child because of whatever imperfections that they are born with. Luckily, as His hand led me... I spoke to a top pediatric cardiologist within hours of her referral who assured me that if he were the one adopting, he would have no hesitation accepting her. He felt that her holes would close on their own within a couple of years and if not, he could correct them surgically.

There was no doubt in my mind from the moment I received that phone call and saw that precious face that this child was my daughter. The medical information was mere small stuff that made Sophie who she is and something for me to make sure she got the best possibly treatment for. I could not wait to meet her in person! We made the plan to go visit her in July 2005. What an amazing trip that was! Again, my mother, Morgan, Grant and I made the trip together.

I will never forget how nervous I was waiting in our room at the Marriott in Guatemala City for her foster mother to arrive. My stomach was in knots and the anticipation was killing me! Finally, the time arrived to go down to the lobby to wait for the baby. Then, there she was... it was like something out of a movie. Everything was moving in slow motion and it felt very surreal. Then, I was handed this tiny little bundle. I was amazed at how tiny she was at 10 weeks old... she was smaller than my newborns ever were, it seemed. We spent what seemed like forever talking to her foster mother and the translator. The language barrier was a tiny obstacle, but we were able to understand each other much better than we thought we could. I just kept marveling at this beautiful tiny baby in my arms... it felt as every bit a miracle as when her brother and sister had been placed in my arms shortly after their births. Our souls were connected immediately... this was my daughter. Not born of my womb, but born in my heart.

Morgan was so excited to have a baby sister and the look on her face when she first held Sophie was something that still brings tears to my eyes. I just love how happy she looks and little Sophie is just taking her forever big sister in...

Morgan continues to be almost a second mother to Sophie... she enjoys all the little things and is amazed at all Sophie's firsts right along with me. I pray that they will feel the sister connection that I have always dreamed of (I have 3 little brothers and always wanted a sister).

Grant was more excited than I have ever seen him. He did so well with her and was so tender and gentle. He continues to be so proud of his baby sister and she adores her big brother!

In this picture of their first meeting, you can see the love in his face. This baby is his baby sister and nobody better ever do anything to harm a hair on her little head!

This picture of my three children together just makes my heart skip a beat. My three perfect miracles that call me Mom and I am so blessed to have been given the gift of being their mother.

I will end this post with our first family picture of the four of us with Nana...

FOREVER FAMILY!!

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog... it is being created to stay in touch with friends and family to follow the life and times of our family. I am a single mom with three amazing children... a teen, a tween and a toddler.

Here are my three blessings:

Grant (age 12)

Sophie (age 20 months)

Morgan (age 14)

Love and FROG!

Sarah