Baby Reid's Arrival

Laney has a new cousin that is two months behind her.  Monday morning, I was feeding Laney at 5:30 and the phone rang!!  I was terrified that something was wrong.  Never would I have imagined that Alison was in the hospital.  It was mama on the phone and she said that Alison had gone to the hospital at 2:00 that morning.  Well... off to the hospital we went.  Things were moving along at a nice pace.  She was progressing faster than I thought she would.  Well, 2:30 rolled around, the nurses came in, the lights came out, and it was time to start pushing.  3:30 came and went, 4:30 came and went, 5:30 came and went~ poor Alison!!  Finally Reid made his début after 31/2- 4 hours of pushing.  He weighed 5lbs14oz.  He was a good size since he was a month early.  He weighed about a pound less than Laney when she was born and he was longer than her.  I can't believe that she was that tiny.  I'm not sure how I wasn't scared to hold her.  She has grown so much.  She looks gigantic compared to him.  We are so excited that they are going to be so close in age.  It will be fun!  It is funny because the two of them resemble each other.  They both have Italian blood in them.  They both have dark hair and dark skin.  Here are some pictures of the two of them.  We are in love already!!

 Nickalous Reid Romagnoli

Alison still loving Laney bug while Reid is napping

 Feeding time- we have our hands full.  Thank goodness for MaMa and PaPa!!

 Look at that big girl compared to Reid.  I dressed her in the same outfit as Reid to compare them!

 Wow~ our family has changed so much over the last two months!!

This picture is out of order..... but Laney had to take a break from waiting on Reid.  It wore her out!! Finally, Mimi and Papa came and got her to take her home.

 

These are happy days for our family.  We are on top of the mountain right now.  I pray that we will savor every moment.  In this life we are not promised happiness always.  Thank goodness that is what we have to look forward to in eternity. 

 "Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life."

Ecclesiastes 7:14

 

 

Just to see you smile... I'd do anything

It's official, our baby girl is officially smiling!! I am so excited.  I have wanted her to smile at me since we brought her home.  Every now and then she would smile, but I think most of them were gas pains.  This week, she seems like she wants to laugh out loud.  If I kiss her, talk to her (it has to sound ridiculous) or play pick-a-boo she will smile.  So.... now all my time is spent trying to get her to smile so that I can capture it on camera. I love this little girl!!!  I know there will be many milestones but I am certainly enjoying this one!! I have some videos, but these pictures are the best that I have for now.  I think I could just take a bite out of her!! 

Let Freedom RING

Well, we just spent the last two days getting ready for our 4th of July celebration.  I must say that it was so much fun.  We invited lots of friends that we haven't gotten together with in a while and their kids.  We had a slide that led to a slip-n-slide, sprinkler, water guns, sparklers, and water balloons.  It was so much fun watching them.  We had lots of good food and a nice time to catch up.  Laney survived her first cookout.  I must say, she did rather well.  We sat in her seat when needed and was held other times. We didn't finish up until 10:30 and she was so patient.  I think we should tire her out more often because she slept from 10:30 until 6:30!!!! It will be fun when she can get up and run around with the other kids, but I am certainly not wishing away this cuddly time when she really just wants to be held!!  I was thinking about her this morning, the sermon I heard yesterday, and our freedom in Christ. I pray that our life will not deprive her of knowing about that freedom.  I want to be an example of what its like to live in freedom.  I want her to hear about how Jesus paid it all (through our words and actions) and all to HIM we owe.  I pray that she will put her faith in Jesus Christ so that she can live a life that is free.  Free of worrying about the future, free of trying to be a better person so she will measure up (because none of us are good, but praise the lord he took on our sins so we don't have to measure up), free of guilt from the past and so much more. I pray that she will fight for her freedom through the pursuit of His word. I pray that because of her freedom she will shine brightly and these words of hope will flow from her mouth so others can experience that freedom as well.  Look at these sweet kids!  There are so many of them!!

Life with a one month old..... life is good (and SO different!!)

 Our sweet Laney is a month old today.  I'm not sure where the time goes.  She is the sweetest little girl.  I could sit and hold her all the time.  She is growing!!  She has gone from 6lbs 10oz to 8lbs 4oz. Lots of her newborn outfits are getting too small!!  She has gone from eating 2 ounces every three hours to 41/2 ounces every three hours.  She kicks and moves her arms constantly.  Laney is also starting to become more alert.  She is starting to focus more.   She is a strong little girl.  She has been trying to hold her head up since we brought her home.  I must say, she is getting better at that~ by no means is she in control of her head but she tries.  She makes lots of crazy noises and makes hilarious faces with her lips. We have changed her formula several times because of crying and stomach cramps.  She seems to be doing better on soy milk. We hope she will continue to improve.  She loves her paci when she is sleepy and hungry.  I am trying to get her to love her lovey.  She likes to lay on her stomach (only napping with us watching) and lying on our chest.  We are trying to start some traditions with Laney.  Every night we give her a bedtime bottle, swaddle her, and read her a bible story and pray with her.  I hope we can continue to do this before she goes to bed every night.  We want her to hear both of us praying for her and telling her the great stories from the bible.  Here is her one month picture.  We are so proud to call her our daughter.  She is perfect in everyway (in our eyes).  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gifts!!!

Surprise..... we are a family of THREE!!!!!

Well it has been a while since I have been on here I know!!!  I can honestly say that the last month has been awesome!!!  Most of you know that we are now parents to sweet Laney Marie!!  I will post that story later.  It is one of the most obvious God stories in my life so far.  Stay tuned for the story.  We certainly have SEEN God at work in our lives.  His timing is perfect.  The last month has been AWESOME, rewarding, hard, busy..... the list could go on and on.  Just wanted to post some pictures of when we first brought Laney home.  Our families are in love with her.  She is going to be so spoiled.  We have had countless visits, calls, texts, emails, cards and prayers.  We have truly felt that our friends and family are genuine in their joy for us.  There have been lots of tears shed over this precious little angel and her story.  We are overjoyed to bring her home and are humbled to be able to raise her. We are also honored to tell her the wonderful story of how God brought her to us!! Emma and Evan didn't know what to do with Laney at first.  I will never forget Evan's face.  He starred at her for the longest time!!  Emma wants to stuff her paci in her mouth.  She is a little mama.  Then the big cousins came to visit.  Gray was out of the car and in the kitchen before the car ever stopped moving.  She is obsessed with babies.  She was ready to take on all the responsibilities of a mother.  Let me just say.... she is pretty good with her to only be in the third grade.  She has been practicing on her baby dolls for a while now.  Both Emma and Gray both changed their baby's name to Laney!  I am so glad that they all have a cousin now.  It won't be too long and we will have another cousin in the family (sweet baby Reid)!!  It was so much fun to send out a massive text to all our friends and family.  My phone has died several times~ it was on overtime with all the texts and phone calls that were going through. 

After lots of waiting...... our families finally get to meet Laney!! It feels good to be a family of three!!

God is good!  His faithfulness endures forever!!!  Until next time!!

It's been a year........

Oh my, I can't believe that I am posting about our one year anniversary of waiting!! I really didn't think we would have to wait this long as we were going through this same process a year ago.  BUT- here we are.   On March 31st we had our home study update.  We have gone through a few workers since we have gotten on board with Bethany.  We started out with Jeanette, who was so sweet and we really liked her.  She completed our initial home study.  We got a notice from her that she was leaving.  Then we received word that Sheri was going to be working with us.  We spoke with Sheri but never got to meet her.  Not too long after that, Sherri was leaving.  So our update home study was completed by Tricia.  We were so blessed by her.  She stayed at our house for about 2 hours.  Our initial home study didn't last that long.  I guess we didn't really know what to expect therefore, we didn't have much to say or ask- just excited.  Tricia made us feel so confident.  We (mainly me) have worried a lot about the choices we have made over the last year.  You may not be aware of how all this works.  We made a profile book that is at the four Bethany offices and the expectant mothers choose us.  Well if there are any red flags that the mother wants the awaiting families to be aware of..... Then she might choose to  send out a recruitment email.  This is where you read a brief summary of the situation and respond if you are okay and willing to adopt that child even with the circumstances.  Most of the time you have 2-3 days to respond.  It is so hard to respond to those emails,  usually we have known right off in our heart if we were or were not ok with the situation but it is still very hard to not respond.  I always question the decisions that we make.  The what ifs set in and I worry... Because I certainly don't want to miss out on what God has planned  for us.  Thank goodness for Matt.  He is the one with the backbone who has to remind me that we made decisions about what we were ok with and what we we're not ok with in the beginning.  With all that said......... My main point is- this is hard and Tricia made me feel so much better.  So at the beginning of this process last year, God really showed me to seek him and let him handle all the details of the adoption.  So I planned to serve him and wait on him to act.  I can say that this last year has been one of the most rewarding as far as my walk with him.  I am at a place I have never been before.  He has spoken to me in so many ways and I have felt him alive through my bible so much that I can't even began to explain how awesome it is.  Last summer I started a bible study at my house.  This has been such a blessing to me.  I have learned so much from the ladies at church.  One of the gifts god has given me is hospitality and opening up my home to study his word has been a fun experience.  We have just recently started a new study and God linked our ladies with some of my good friends at another church.  So they have joined us and it is so much fun to talk, fellowship, and connect with other ladies through bible study.  I am excited to see what God has in store for us.  We have almost outgrown my house but I love it!  I have also experienced God through the woman's ministry at church.  We usually plan a women's entreat every year at the cove. This year, we decided to do a mini retreat at our church.  I was in charge of decorating the tables for the event.  It was a lot of work..... But so much fun and boy did I learn a lot from other women at my church who led the sessions.  I am so fortunate to be a part of  what God is doing at church.  I also am on the pastor search committee.  Talk about a daunting task!!!!!  I have also had the great privilege to serve alongside some of the most knowledgeable and faithful people I have ever met.  We have had the privilege of seeing God at work in so many ways.  We are still early in the process but feel God at work.  Three Sundays ago, we finished up a series on prayer.  Since we had be doing a prayer series, we spent the last portion of our time just praying.  One of the ladies, prayed on our behalf (crying and pleading ) for The Lord to bring us a baby.  I felt that she truly was sharing in our pain.  It was such an awesome experience  to known that we have so many people praying for us.  I get regular texts that remind me that we are being prayed for.  So as you can see, God has given me lots of opportunity to serve him.... And the best way I have served him through all of that is getting in his word and talking with him on a daily basis.  If you don't have a quiet time... I highly encourage it!!!  So as we continue to wait..... My prayer is that my face will shine bright with God's glory!  I pray that I will come into his presence daily and that my face will continue to radiate his light.  I read about Moses and the Ten Commandments and how his face would glow after he had been in the presence of God.  BUT-  he had to veil his face because the glow would start to go away.  Thank goodness for the new covenant that Jesus provided for us and the opportunity I have daily to come into the HIS presence.
 "And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of The Lord .  And as the Spirit of The Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more."  2 Corinthians 3:18  I am ready for a baby but I am so thankful for the waiting.  God has taught me more in this time of waiting than I could have ever imagined.  It is my prayer that even when we do get a precious baby that I will continue to love and serve Him with all my heart, mind, and soul!  Thank you God for all your gifts.  You knew just what I needed.  I pray that I will continue to draw close to you.  I want to leave a legacy behind that leads others to you~ especially my baby.  Please help me to stay focused!

HOLA, Nigaragua

As I am blogging tonight, I am sitting in my den all by my lonesome.  The last couple of days have been crazy.  God has been at work in our lives and so has the devil.  Matt was supposed to leave to go to Nicaragua early Saturday morning (1:00 am) for a mission trip.  Last week, we were so busy preparing for him to leave.   He and two friends from church were going with a group from Georgia.  We went to several prayer times and had lots of people pray over us.  Thank goodness they did.  Well..... Friday morning, Matt woke up with an awful virus.  Matt never gets sick!!! So he pondered all day, Do I go or not???  He was left with the thoughts of flying, being in a foreign country, not having the comforts of our home, not knowing what he would have to eat, the list went on and on.  So as the day went on and he wasn't feeling any better, Matt decided that he wouldn't go.  He was upset and I was sad.  As Matt made the phone calls~ I began to pray that God would tell us HIS will.  I didn't want him to miss out on what God had in store for him, but if it wasn't God's will for him to go, then I certainly didn't want him there.  Anyway, as Matt slept and was in and out.  I opened my bible to the place where we had left off.  I begin to read Romans 10.  This is what I read right after I had just spent time praying for God's will to be revealed.  "But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him?  And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?  And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?  That is what the scriptures mean when they say "How Beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10: 14-15   Coincidence?  I don't think so! 

As I continued to read this passage over and over, I knew what God's will was.  I read it to Matt.  He drifted back to sleep, not really wanting to hear that he was going to Nicaragua.  It was 12:00 now and Matt's friends continued to text him to make sure he wasn't feeling up to going.  Anyway, he continued to say I just don't think I can go.  Finally, I asked him if he heard what I had read, I reread it, and then he decided he probably should go.  So he started to get the remainder of his things packed.  He looked awful!  I packed him some chicken noodle soup, some Sprite, and he was ready.  We said a prayer and I cried the entire time.  Then he left.

Then fear struck..... he can't go.... he is sick.... what if this happens.... what if that happens.  I cried and cried.  I just didn't want him to be miserable.  I wanted to go get him and bring him back home.  So I told you that God was at work, but I also believe the devil was working overtime to get Matt to stay behind.  I am so glad he went.  I have gotten to talk to him each night.  He is feeling better and is glad that he went.  This experience just reminded me that even though trusting God is sometimes hard (especially when you think of the what ifs) he has our best interest in mind.  I am glad we let go our plans and embraced God's plan.  I am thankful again, that God spoke to us clearly.  It is good to know that God hears our prayers and works on our behalf.  I can't wait to hear the stories that Matt will have. Please pray for the remainder of Matt's trip and that he will have safe travels coming him.   Stay tuned...for the rest of the story!