Gratitude Practice 2015 Day #26: My Little Family

To say that 2015 has been a big year for Burke and I would be an understatement. This year we have seen God's love manifest itself in our lives like I did not know was possible. Years and years and years of prayers were offered to prepare our home and our heads and our hearts for the chance to be parents followed by years and years and years of equal parts waiting and work. And then last October, after what seemed like we had hit rock bottom and things were beyond bleak we individually both concluded that maybe kids would not be an option for us...and in time we would reconcile life as just the two of us. Without question, what I am most grateful for this year are the blessings and joy connected to our adoption that miraculously fell into our laps once we peacefully but begrudgingly turned everything over to the powers of the universe. We had to make peace with our battle to make room for our blessings. And now a year later, thanks to the courage of a brave almost 20 year old woman, Burke and I have become THE happiest Mama and Daddy to roam the earth. This year I have learned that sometimes life requires a big nasty complicated internal external battle to prepare you for blessings that exceed your expectations. We look at this sweet baby whose chubby cheeks just never seem to end and we look at each other and wonder if all this really happened and the best part is....IT DID! Adoption is a blessing beyond belief and our hearts continue to explode with gratitude. Our home is now full of squeaky toys and teething rings and we could not be more happy or more grateful. This weekend, instead of placing two modestly sized carry-on bags in our car for a few short days away our now family friendly car was literally bursting with baby gear. The love generated by this squishy happy smiling baby just continues to ooze and I feel so very lucky to be her mama. Our brave and brilliant and talented birth mom will forever be part of our family and we would not have it any other way. Sometimes when your heart is so full, saying thank you seems trite, so on this day dedicated to celebrating the year's abundance... we just say....I love you instead...and I'm beyond grateful for that.