Zoe Update

Since this was originally a blog about our journey with bringing Zoe into our family, I think it is time to give an update on Zoe. Zoe means life and she fits her name well. She is full of life. She definitely colors our life way more than it would be without her. Her favorite things are eating, playing with her sisters, reading books and laying on our dog Piper. Thankfully, Piper is a very patient dog. She seems advanced for where I think she should be, but maybe I am biased. She seems to understand a lot, she "talks" a lot, and every once in a while a sentence will come out of her mouth. When she was 12 months old, she was standing by the step down into our living room. She held out her hand to me and said, "I need help." I really couldn't believe my ears. That seemed so young. But then later that day I was holding her and I had on a necklace that has a picture of Hope and Gracie on it. Zoe was looking at the necklace and said "I see Gracie." Again I couldn't believe it. I didn't think a 12 months old baby could say anything more than maybe one or two words like mama or dada. I have come to the conclusion that she is really saying stuff with her babbling and we just can't understand it. But once in a while it comes out clearly. Today she said (she is almost 16 mo. old now) "I need to get that" about something she was pointing to on the floor.

She continues to be a big girl and weighs 27 pounds, but the chunkiness fits her personality. Below are some recent pictures of Zoe who brings so much joy to our lives...

Falling asleep at lunch as she transitions from 2 naps to 1

Zoe wanting to try on her sister's glasses

Zoe at the Smithsonian National Art Gallery

This is such a Zoe look

Zoe with her two sister and wanting to be part of the action

Transitioning of My Blog

Transitioning this blog into one about our family and how God is working in our lives has been on my mind for a while, but since writing is not something I particularly enjoy, it has mostly just stayed in my mind. However, to truly remember what God has done, how He orchestrates things together in ways we could never have seen, to not forget His faithfulness, and to keep a grateful heart, it is important to write things down. (at least for me)

But it wouldn't be right without first giving an update about Zoe, our snowflake baby. This blog started out with our journey through embryo adoption and the end result was Zoe! It is fun and amazing to look back through my entries and see all the twists and turns this story took, and how it all came together according to God's sovereign plan. It still is surreal to look at her and think about how she was frozen as an embryo baby over 10 years ago, how I was able to carry her even though she shares none of our genetics, and that technically there are 3 other fully genetic siblings somewhere in this world that were conceived at the same time, yet are different ages than her. It's crazy. I remember thinking when I first learned what a snowflake baby was, "Is anything too wonderful for God"? I wonder if that is even close to how Mary felt when she was told by the angel that she would be the mother of the coming Messiah.

Can I just tell you what an absolute joy Zoe is?! She is almost 8 months old and is a very happy baby. She sleeps about 12 hours per night and usually takes a 3 hour nap in the morning. She smiles all the time and loves to move, move, move! I will not be surprised if she skips the crawling stage and goes right to walking in the next month or two. She has cut 4 teeth and has figured out how to give those big sloppy open mouthed kisses. She says mama and dada and even signed the word for more a couple times when she was eating those puffs that easily dissolve and taste like flavored air. Zoe is very curious and also determined. She is also quite the comedienne. I love her fat cheeks, her little tongue that always seems to hang out, her mohawk, everything about her. Take a look at some of the recent pics of her....