While Glo and I were away, several friends stepped in to help with Noa and Martha. Eric also took some time off and spent a special day at Disney (thanks to a kind friend who works there) with our big girls. He had told them they would go on a “special birthday date” for Noa while I was gone and this was certainly that. Enjoy the photos (I sure did!)
"this was our fist time to see Cinderella ever" ~Noa
all tuckered out.
Yep, it was a day for princesses. 
Noa on her birth day.
I just don’t know how we got from this tiny (8lb. 12oz.) baby to this
gorgeous 5 year-old.
But I know I’ve loved each moment in between!
one year old Noa
one and a half
Two
two and a half
Three
three and a half
Four
four and a half
FIVE YEARS OLD
Three weeks ago we celebrated the birth and life of this precious girl. When we first laid eyes on her and held we couldn’t imagine loving her any more than we did in that moment. Yet, as we have had the great privilege of watching this little personality take shape, we’ve come to love our first born in a fuller and sweeter way. We are SO GRATEFUL to God for our Noa-girl and greatly anticipate all he will do in and through her life.
I’m working on posts for these two birthday girls, whose special days fall 2 week apart.
I always thought Noa and Martha looked alike and Glo was the one who looked a little different, but as I looked back on Noa’s photos from when she was around 2, I can’t believe how much they resemble each other at this age. Here is our Noa when she was around 2:
And here’s our Glo-worm
Whose who with Aunt Hannah?
Love these cuties.. and amloving celebrating their precious lives!
When she isn’t totally consumed with the role of her alter-ego, Princess Noa…
My sweet firstborn just wants to be a little Mama.
So, while I was a little surprised, I shouldn’t have been when she started crying when she saw the new photos we got of Jonathan and David a few weeks ago.
When I asked her what was wrong, she said, “I just wanted them to be tiny babies! They’re so big now.”
It’s true. The new photos show both boys with sweet little rolls on their arms and legs, and the most kissable rounded cheeks. They’ve both gotten so much taller in the last several months since our last photos, and they look quite healthy – all wonderful signs and we praise God so much for this.
I thought what Noa said was sweet and cute and shared it with a chuckle with several friends. Still, when thinking about it later I couldn’t keep my own tears at bay.
Yes, we want them to grow and flourish, but we so wish they were doing that growing here. I know that Noa, like me, doesn’t want the boys to stay tiny forever, she just wanted to know and love and care for them as tiny babies – as did I.
I remember back in April, when we were only a little over a month into our wait of knowing the boys and hoping to go to court for them, I remember sharing with my sister-in-law that I felt so despairing regarding the boys. It wasn’t that I doubted if they’d come home, but I just hated thinking of all the time we were missing with them. I LOVE all the big and little changes in my babies in their first year, and I just hated the thought of all we would miss. And that was when I thought we were only 1-3 months away from bringing them home.
Now, as we approach Jonathan’s first birthday in November, over six months into our wait for them, I still find my heart tempted to despair. On top of still hating every day of their babyhood that we’re missing, we also face the huge fear of missing their lives and never getting them home.
It just strikes me as almost comical how naive I was going into this. I never dreamed I would ache and cry and hurt so much through this process. I never thought I would come head to head with despair so often and many times feel like I am losing the battle. I never thought about how the hoping and waiting and disappointment would hurt the tender hearts of the sweetest little big sisters that I know.
Seriously, friends. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers. And, please keep praying. We have felt them and we believe and hope the Lord will bring great fruition from them – in the lives of these precious babies, and in our own hearts as well. I can’t imagine walking this road without so many shoring us up through their love and care and most of all prayers.
Now,
… in the car, looking out at a graveyard with tons of flower memorials in it, Noa said,
“Oh, I just wish I could run through that beautiful field singing, ‘the hills are alive with the sound of music.’”
And the other night as we were cuddling before bed,
“Mommy, I am so glad Daddy found you, and married you, so that you could have me.”
I’m so glad too… SO GLAD. She makes me smile every day.
Please keep in mind that when we began praying about adoption we shared a lot of what we were thinking through with the girls and we praying about it as a family. We prayed (and still pray) often for the children in the world with no mommies and daddies, and we also prayed (and still pray) that the Lord would provide a way – especially the money - for us to bring one or some of them into our family. Also, keep in mind that Noa has been convinced from day one of this process that we would adopt boys.
One night we invited a family over who we didn’t know very well. The daughter, a sweet middle school-aged, engaged our girls and was awesome to play with and entertain them for evening. I literally laughed out loud when she came up to me and said,
“Uuummm, Noa just told me that baby boys are really expensive.”
I bet you’re thinking the same thing after my post earlier today. 
