Gabriella Dawn

I don't even know what to say anymore. A MONTH has passed since we brought Gabi home. Some of you knew this was coming, some didn't, so to make a long, torturous story short....last January I came home from work on a Saturday and Frank told me he had received a phone call from his cousin whose little sister was pregnant. They were asking if we would adopt her baby.

Much excitement, prayer, nervousness, etc later ....we felt like it was something the Lord wanted us to do, so we agreed. Well, Gabi wasn't due until September 4th, so we had A LOT of waiting to do (sort of like every other woman goes through when she finds out she's pregnant, but I THOUGHT I wouldn't have to go through that!). We found out around April that we were expecting a girl (YEAH!) and we just prepared for a baby, what else can you do at that point?

At the very end of May we found out that Gabi's birth mom had just found herself basically homeless, and we had planned on flying her out here for the adoption anyway, so we extended an offer to come spend the summer with us. She was excited to come get to know us a little, so she flew to Utah in early June. Gabi was born a week late on September 11th....it was a long summer. Certainly a trial in compassion and patience for me.

We agreed to an open adoption, since her birth mom is technically family, which means she can visit and meet Gabi, Gabi will know that its her Birth Mom, and she can be a part of Gab's life, as much as she can from Georgia. We're still working out what, exactly, that will mean in terms of frequency and methods of contact, and that, too, has been a trial in compassion and patience for me.

Our two adoption experiences COULD NOT BE MORE DIFFERENT. Frank and I were present as Gabi entered this life, a most bittersweet moment for me. We sat in silent support of her birth mom for two excruciating days in the hospital, desperately hoping that we weren't wrong in thinking that the Lord intended for us to raise this baby girl. We all came home from the hospital on a Monday afternoon, and first thing Tuesday morning the relinquishment papers were signed and Gabi was ours. HUGE SIGH of relief.

Aaron had a really rough 2 weeks following her birth; not only did he have a new baby in the house, but he also quit going to Auntie Kaylie's every day since I'm on maternity leave. We've learned to get along since then, Kaylie and I get together most days so that Aaron and Kelsie can play and get energy out, and Aaron is, well, 2. He LOVES his baby sister. His "Gabi" sounds more like "Gobby" and he gets mad if I call her Gabriella. He gives me minute-by-minute updates of her baby status:

Gabi seep.

Gabi wake.

Gabi seep.

Gabi wake.

Gabi wake.

Gabi wake, Mama, Gabi wake! Haha. Gabi wake.

Gabi binker. Mama, Gabi binker. MAMA! Gabi binker.

He kisses her SO sweetly, and when he kisses her mouth and she tries to suck his lips he squeals with laughter and tells me "Gabi yick!" (that's lick) We're also talking about potty: although he's nowhere near potty training, he likes to talk about it. We've established that everyone poops and everyone farts, so Aaron likes to tell me "Gabi poop. Gabi park." (that's fart) One day Aaron was hitting me with a spoon and when I asked him to please not hit me, he actually said, "Gabi. Hit. Me." I'm glad that he's learning to put sentences together, I don't love that he's already making things up! He's very protective and possessive, he'll shove another kid away from her carseat so that he can get a frontrow seat. He stands on a box by the changing table when she's getting a change and tells me "EEEWW! Gabi stink, Mama. Eeeww." First thing every morning, when he walks in rubbing his eyes, he asks me where Gabi is, and if he can't see her and thinks we've forgotten her somewhere, he asks where she is, and sometimes when she's sitting right in front of him, he asks me where she is....

Gabi is a beautiful little girl. She's been trying so hard to hold her head up and look around like a big kid. Her eyes are wide and bright blue. She eats and sleeps like a DREAM. Have you seen her hair??? She's kind of a big baby, just like Aaron was, so she only got to wear some of her teeny newborn clothes once before packing them up, but we're so glad she's here and healthy and ours.