A Trip Down Memory Lane.....

Two years ago on May 3rd, the most beautiful blue-eyed little baby was placed in my arms for the first time. This was the day that Brooke Marie would come to visit me for the first time. Here she is on that day. Can see why I fell in love with her - she was such an easy baby!

She is almost 3 months old in this picture...

A few days later I was able to keep her overnight for the first time. Amazingly, she actually slept through the night, but I didn't! I had to check on her ever 20 minutes or so just to make sure she was still breathing. Talk about a worry wart! I loved it when she would lay on my chest like this and go to sleep - the smell of her baby shampoo and her soft skin against mine, the sweet little breathes and sounds that she made. She had me wrapped around her finger right from the start!

Here she is on May 7, 2007 (3 months and 1 day old)

I took her home to meet my family the week of May 20th - this was the first time anyone got to meet her. Granny Great was ready with this brand new outfit! My Grandma loves this little girl - she carries on about her like you wouldn't believe. You would never know that Brooke wasn't our own flesh and blood. Yoda was a bit jealous and he wasn't too thrilled about having to share grandma's lap.....

And then here is the princess in August of 2007 - the first pictures we had made of her. She wore this cute little outfit to my Aunt Shelly's wedding. You should have heard everyone taking on about her! One thing is for sure - while I am not a dress kinda girl myself, I do love to put this little princess in them and anything else all cutsey and frilly!

And here she is last week at a program we have here at the park called, "Bubbles, Bubbles, Everywhere". She had alot of fun and so did I! The greatest thing about this type of classes is that she gets to socialize with other kids. But I didn't include any of the other kids in the picture because ...well...she's the cutest! :) KIDDING! Anyway, Brooke is really very social, she talks constantly, doesn't seem to meet a stranger, and will put on a show for anyone who will watch. We try to get out around other kids as much as possible so she doesn't feel like she should be the center of attention all the time.

What's to come?

Next week is an important week in our lives. Please pray that Brooke's biological dad will agree to sign papers to allow for us to move forward with the adoption. He has recently threatened to try to get custody of her.... we think he just did it out of anger because he is mad at Jennifer. My hope and prayer is that he will agree to this and we can move forward. It's time!

Please pray Monday and Tuesday that things go well and that Brian's (dad) heart is filled with so much love for this little girl that he has never known that he will do the right thing. In the following days and weeks, please pray for Jennifer (mom) that she will follow through and please pray for Karen (grandma) that she will be comforted by the fact that Brooke will be in a safe and loving home and that she trusts me when I tell her that she will also be a significant part of Brooke's life.

This little girl is the light of my life and I don't know what I will do if all of this falls through - so I trust that God has a plan and I'm just in the passenger's seat. He'll lead us all where we need to go.