Love Remains

Our first Valentines as a family was nothing short of wonderful!

I wasn't expecting much of one since Heath was scheduled to work both Friday and Saturday night. 

To my surprise and delight, Thursday when he came home from work he handed me a bouquet gorgeous roses that faded from deep pink to delicate ballet slipper pink petals.  They were perfect for me.  He even arranged them in my favorite silver pitcher.   He also surprised me with chocolate covered strawberries and a special gift that I completely didn't expect at all!!!

Heath was dressed so handsome in a suit and tie already since he had a big presentation that day, so we decided to use a gift card we had to The Cheesecake Factory and all go for a family Valentines dinner!  I usually cook Italian for the two of us on Valentines Day, but this surprise of going out as a family sounded good to me!  We dressed up the children too, and they looked so sweet.  Yes, our daughter did wear shoes to the restaurant. ;)

We had a long wait there, but never worry, the kids danced enough in restaurant to entertain everybody around!! Especially Sissy, she really knows how to make new friends.  

She loves attention!!  What a little ham we've got on our hands. ;)

He is a little charmer to all the ladies with that precious grin.

I was so proud of my family!

We came home with two very sleepy children, which worked out perfectly for Heath and I to have our own date at home together... Sometimes those are the best kind!

I've decided to never write off any day, because you never know what blessings they will hold. :)

The next morning we set out the kid's little stuffed animals and chocolates, a card, and I decorated with hearts to make things a little extra special!  

Kylie just had to tromp around the house in my heels, from the night before.  

She loves shoes!

I made these yummy little strawberry wafer cookies-- that I happen to love-- extra special for Bubby's Valentines day party for his class.  They are just the sweetest little things!

Just dip half the cookie in white chocolate or bark (I used equal parts), then add your favorite sprinkles! I tinted some of the chocolate with a dab of red food coloring to make them pink.  This would be great with the chocolate ones, too.  Our son helped with some of the sprinkles, and he was so proud to bring them to school!

I'll be making them again, maybe with the little round pastel sprinkles for Easter.  Which will be here soon .....hopefully the snow will be gone by then!

It was a sweet day to share as a family!  Heath and I never put too much stock in the commercialism of Valentines Day, but why not make it extra special sometimes!?  

On Valentines, our family celebrates real, honest love, while the rest of the world may not!

Ann Voscamp just wrote on her blog, A Holy Experience, about this kind of love between a husband and wife.  (She always says everything just the way I want to but never could, so just go to her blog, and read her own words. :)

She talks about love--God's way, which is the truest form--not only changes us but changes with us.  

As life happens: children come along, sleep becomes altered by sweet little ones or work filled nights, schedules get crazy.

Sickness may arise, discouragement can creep in, and unexpected dissapointments cloud idealistic views.

A move, a promotion, ministry, a new church, a new family member or a long- time prayer gets answered miraculously.

Children grow up and move out, grandchildren come, routine changes course.

Life is so full of ups and downs and changes, it seems that change is the one and only constant!

The good news is that Christ IS love!  He is faithful, steadfast, unfailing, and a constant that we can hold onto like an anchor in whatever waters we're sailing.  When a marriage has Him as the center, and His love as the third cord, it will not easily be broken!  I know from experience, this is true!

Are we perfect or is our marriage always perfect?  Heavens, no.  But we make it a priority to be open with one another and always strive make things right.  The love we have makes it worth working everything out.

I love that my man is a true romantic!  I was drawn to that about him, as I am too!  He always has been a modern knight in shining armor to me, and truly goes out of his way to meet my needs.... But mostly it's the pure love we have for each other that draws me so intimately to him!  

On unromantic, ordinary, harried, no gift, dirty hair and left over meal kind of days, we can rest in our steadfast love that doesn't need pomp and circumstance to thrive.

I'll always try to honor what this scripture says about love.  This kind is the example of love our parents have given us and we admire!  This kind is worth celebrating!

"Love is patient.  Love is kind.  Love does not boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on it's own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends.."

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

**I feel I need to add a disclaimer of sorts. No, we didn't name our children Sissy & Bubby!  We may be from the country, but didn't grow up under a rock, lol.  We're keeping their names private for now, on our blog. 

 

God's Grace, Cookie Crumbs, & Cabin Fever

Hiya Folks!  My name is Leslie, if you've forgotten since we last talked (forever ago!).  :)

I've really missed writing here and catching you all up on our lives!  Blogging has become so easy and enjoyable to me now that I've done it for over 4 years now.  Mind you, it's only for pleasure and no profit as some beautiful and amazingly delicious looking blogs are, but nevertheless it's a creative outlet for me that I enjoy!  I wanted to start off this year--2014--more simply.  One of the easiest ways for me to do that is lift some of the pressure off myself to blog as often.  One of the awesome things about keeping this blog and The Cozy Little Kitchen, is that I have no obligation to write... Therefore all that I say is very truly from my heart! 

Why do I feel the need to relax?  Well, for one thing (if you want to know something brutally honest about me), I can almost be compulsive about things.  I really, REALLY strive to do all things diligently, thoroughly, faithfully and to completion, and if I don't I am disappointed with myself.  I'm still learning that it's impossible to do anything without my Lord to help, much less doing things perfectly!  I think once I moved out and married Heath, with our own place and all, I developed a (tiny) bit of perfectionism.  I'm not OCD at all, but I can have too high of expectations of myself.

Example: 

I always have to clean up the kitchen perfectly every single night before sitting down to enjoy anything!  I like for all the pillows and throws to be just right on the couch before bed so I'll wake up to an aesthetically pleasing living room.  I usually always feel the need to fully put makeup on and fix hair to go out for errands.  I blame being a hairdresser, where that was literally part of my job description.   Please know these things are only me, not Heath!   He is amazing at never adding pressure to my load, but being a help and stress reliever when I try to do too much. I think he noticed my perfectionist tendencies even before I did!

Those examples are a just few things to give you an idea of how within 9 years of the same kind of routine I was able to --sometimes painstakingly-- accomplish almost any housework duty, work obligation, church responsibility, family- friend commitments, and personal goals that I made.  Almost, but of course not perfectly!  ;)

Enter 2 tiny, energetic, rambunctious, beautiful, loving children.  

Everything changes!!!

In order for my sanity to stay intact I have been asking God to help me "loosen up" on some of my high standards of cleanliness, appearance, and always naturally perky demeanor.  I have also had to ask and receive grace from Him for my stinky attitudes, pity parties, and less frequent Jesus quiet times, which is probably the answer.  

Now I need to ask you, my family and friends, for patience as I am not calling y'all nearly as often, not quick to reply to your texts, emails and messages, not as available for to you on your sad or sick days, or your showers and parties, and in general stammering just to get sentences out for lack of opportunities to talk with adults!  (I feel like a lame friend.)

I am having to accept that I am in a very fruitful season but also challenging season of life (with 2 growing little children and a busy hubby) that requires more patience, more need for grace, more of my attention and energy, and less cleanliness in general.  Ok, yes crumbs in the kid's car seat cup holders are going to happen, pillows will be scattered around the house like ants at a picnic, my hair will sport more buns and dry shampoo, and laundry will get piled up if nothing else but for the fact it's in the basement!  Thank you cards may be forgotten and volunteer opportunities will be passed up.  It's okay if I have to rely on breakfast bars some mornings or if the cookies we make aren't from scratch!

When we make and decorate cookies (embarrassingly) my tendency would be to make sure they don't make a mess, but they are 2 & 3!!! This is the only time in their lives when messes can me made and it's really okay.  It's part of the fun, and now that I expect that... I love it and have the best time getting sticky and messy myself!   They're challenging me to get back to my childhood days of my own messes in the kitchen in order to make delicious cookies with my loved ones!!

Life happens.  

Life is happening!!!  That's what I don't want to miss.

I don't want to miss the sweetness of my  daughter "makin" in her kitchen, tiny kisses on my leg, or funny moments when my son tries to make me laugh, because I'm constantly whirling around while trying to keep up with everything!  I think if I did, I would look back with so much regret and say how it's just not worth it!!!  I'm asking God for help as I continue to adjust to my new normal.  I LOVE being mommy but with it comes so many changes, and I want my life to flow with those.  I need to lean into the changes instead of resist.  I'm trusting God will help me re-balance my life to fit my family.  He did it once, and He'll do it again!!

This blog is such a blessing to me, just being able to share my heart across the miles!   I have had so many pics and heartfelt stories to share of the kids, but I can't blog about them all.  Luckily, if you're a non-blog world friend you see many on Facebook.  My posts may not be as frequent as I would like, because it's not worth making a blog happen if it means taking away the time I need with Heath after the kids go to bed or a nap when they're laying down to revive my body.  

I have to be okay with not doing it all, all of the time!!

With that being said, I also think a little less e-time will free me up to do what I've put on the back burner for a couple years.  Reading real books! :)

I've already finished my first book, Balancing It All by Candace Cameron Burre.  It was just what I needed to read!  Fantastic book about her life from the beginning to the present and her real life struggles with keeping a balance on priorities.  She certainly has a full plate, but God has given her wisdom to how to do life where it gives her joy and glorifies Him!

I'm starting to burn up the library with our kids, and in fact that's a goal of mine for this year.  Lots of library time!  I grew up there and we checked countless books out every week.  I want my kids to have those memories, too!  Right now, our daughter is really into Clifford's First Autumn and The Little Engine That Could's Valentines Day Surprise and Our son loves these two dinosaur books that's probably over his age, but are fascinating!  He is really into dinosaurs now, so we watched The Land Before Time (XIII) this week and they loved it!  I can't wait until they're old enough to appreciate history museums!  We'll have to visit Taylor in Chicago and go to the Fields!

Today I made chicken stock for the second time, and I'm loving it!!  I use what's left from rotisserie chickens I buy, add veggies, garlic, herbs and water to simmer for 4 hours.  The house simply smells amazing as it reduces down to flavorful stock.  Perfect for a pot of soup this week!  

The snow has been a constant almost the whole month of January, and I must say it was gorgeous!!!  We so much love to watch it fall and bundle up to play outside!  Sometimes it's hard for me to want to do all the bundling, layering, and getting outside (with empty bladders), but it's always fun and so worth it to play with the kids!  Heath and I usually make cocoa with marshmallows when we come in from playing on the cold snowy days!  I have to admit I almost got a serious case of cabin fever with as many single digit temps as we've had, but I've been trying to get more creative by building tents in the house, baking and decorating cookies together, and playing marching band, or hide and seek!

As January closed, I can't help but be excited to look forward as Heath will have a little more time at home this month and we'll be celebrating our baby girl's birthday!!  Good things are here and more to come thanks to my Redeemer.  I need Him to be any sort of mom and wife at all!!! 

Please stay warm out there and, oh,

Happy February!

~Mommy

Yes and Amen: Our Adoption Journey, In a Nutshell

Tuesday was a very special day in our lives.  Monumental for our family, for we officially, legally finalized the adoption of our children!!!

It's all finished.

Done.

Nothing can turn reverse this adoption!  (Just to clarify, once an adoption is finalized, a birth family cannot take the baby/child away.  I've seen tv shows and movies that twist this truth, I guess for entertainment's sake.)

Sissy & Bubby (as we like to call them) now share our last name, and we're a forever family!!!  They have new birth certificates and social security numbers, too.  The fingerprint on our precious children's lives is just as changed as ours is.  We go forward in life together, from here to eternity!

Let me rewind and share with you some of the journey that lead us to our children. I know that every single adoption story is different, and each family has a different experience.  Ours was shorter than most, but had it's share of ups and downs. I don't have time to write nearly all the details in just one blog post, but this will give you a good idea of how fast things changed and the reason behind it all...

We really had no clue last Christmas (2012) would be our last without children, but once again we were hopeful for a miracle.  That's exactly what we received!   After 6 1/2 of years of wanting a baby either natural or adoptive, we started this process with gusto back on January 6th 2013.  

11 months ago, I remember we went online to apply for the real application to start our home study, and while we thought we had an idea of the route to take to get to our child, we really didn't. Lol!  We did know that we wanted to adopt because we had so much love we wanted to share, and we knew it was time to start.  We also knew we wanted a baby under about 13 months old.  

We began doing an international adoption homestudy with the intention of adopting from South Korea.  This was after prayer and extensive research on the different countries, requirements, age range of children and parents who apply, wait time, and the travel time.  There is a lot to consider when honing in on a country!  I journaled a detailed prayer for this child and began praying that.  Day after day.  

In February we got some startling news that we didn't expect.

We found out the very long running, reliable adoption program in Korea was changing, and not for our benefit.  This was really disheartening, but we prayed about it.  We decided it was too risky for us to continue to pursue Korea, sadly.  We weren't sure where to go from there.  Meanwhile, this entire time we were trucking through loads of paperwork, fingerprinting, background checks, home visits, etc.  Heath was busy with work, but as a homemaker, the adoption process sort of became my job.  I was organized from the start, because I knew it was the only way I could have the patience and ability to get through all the paperwork. I highly recommend using a huge binder here, complete with folders, and keep a planner kept just for your adoption timeline and appointments. 

Not many people know this, but last February we also went to a few meetings on fostering (to adopt) while still in the homestudy process.  We decided this was not for us for a few reasons that I won't expound on here, but I think that was probably a tiny seed God planted in our hearts to even consider the idea of adopting an American child.... A different route.  Up to this point over the years we had only had strong feelings towards international adoption.  This is why we must be open to His plan, my friends!

God was leading...

So as we continued our home study we went from pursuing South Korea to looking into the Marshall Islands.  If you can't tell already, we've been very drawn to sweet Asian children.  But not only that, there you can adopt babies, which is almost unheard of within the international adoption community. We met all of the requirements, too.   We were happy to get back on track, but in April we found out that the Marshall Islands had a crazy waiting list, so much that they aren't taking anymore applicants right now.  Kind of strange, right?!

But God was leading...

From there, we were told from our adoption agency that there is a large population of Marshallese living in Hawaii.  Many babies there are up for adoption, so we began to research it through a local attorney that has done a few of them.  

This change of plans was just another kink in our decision.  We felt a little uneasy about this route in HI.  We never truly had a peace about it...

You know, when you have a decision to make (in our case, a big one), and there is just "something" that just feels uneasy. I know now that it was the Holy Spirit.  In this case, there were just too many unanswered questions, but we knew this particular adoption was going to be a whole lot of money because it's not done through an agency, but an attorney only and because it's Hawaii.  Even more than Korea, it would be around $35,000 + the cost of 2 trips to HI and back, + this route could possibly expedite quickly so and we would need lots of funds and fast!!

I know money can be an uncomfortable subject, but let's face it, it is a factor.   Although, we knew if God was leading us to a baby from there, He would provide the way!  At least, that is what He kept reminding me in my anxious days that I had.  Speaking of, yes, I had many stressful days last winter and spring.  God helped me overcome them all, but at one point I was having pretty severe  pain in my neck, shoulder, & going up inside my ear!  I even went to a clinic, and they couldn't explain it.  I looked fine from a medical standpoint so they said it was probably due to stress.  It lasted about 3 weeks.  Now looking back, we both agree it was stress causing me to stay very tense, even in my sleep, that lead to awful pain.  Thank you Jesus for my healing.  

The adoption process is exciting because you know you're getting closer to your child, but it can be an intense process on many different levels!  You --and your husband--are carrying the baby in another way... Emotionally. Mentally. Financially. Just not physically.

It was mid-April, we still were on the fence with the country,  and our homestudy was about to be complete.  If we were going to go with HI, we would need to revise some of the hard work of the past 4 months and complete a domestic homestudy instead of international.  A big change!

But God was leading...

So as we and our parents were praying about the entire thing,  we felt lead to do "straight up" domestic.  Not a HI Marshallese baby, but a lower 48 states baby, from a pregnant mother who chose life and adoption (instead of abortion).  Domestic like this is getting a baby from the hospital, willingly from the birth parents.  The downside of this can be that usually in most states there is a waiting period of so many weeks that the birth mom can change her mind and keep the baby, before it's finalized.  This had always scared the patootie out of me!    It's one of the main reason I've always preferred international adoption, personally.   

But God....

We both agreed, after SO much prayer and intercession with God.  Seeking His plan for our lives that we would do a domestic adoption from the lower 48.  We had two very reputable agencies in mind.  We knew families that had successfully adopted babies through these agencies.  

(On a side note: There are so many questions you may have about adoption just from reading this post.  I'm sorry that I can't go into all the details here if I want to finish writing this in one day.  Soon I'll write a post sharing with all of you some adoption trivia, facts, and definitions of terms to help you understand the process more clearly. :) I know how you may be getting lost on this detailed description of our journey, but it all leads up to this week!)

It's now the end of April, we're sending out announcements, and our home study is complete!!

We're at the point that we need to send in the name of the agency--along with our homestudy--that we're wanting to go with.  So it begins.  

Lists of pros and cons.  Headaches. Trying to (start and) finish our profile book we were told to make when we decided to switch over to domestic.  I was beginning to raise money with a derby pie fundraiser that was amazing but exhausting only because I was making dozens of pies a week on top of completing the pivotal profile book, on top of preparing for my very first speaking engagement (speaking not singing) at my Aunt's church the following week, on top of getting prepared to host my brother's Law School graduation party.  All awesome things, all at once!

I just began to really feel pulled in a million directions.  And yet the decision needed to be made, which agency to go with.  Sigh.

But God....

It was May 2nd, and the speaking engagement came and went.   I was left more changed than probably anyone who listened to what I had to say!  Not many know this, but accepting that invitation to speak was WAY out my comfort box!!  It was one of those things that was right up there with the "going to school naked" nightmare!!  As much as I wanted to avoid admitting it, I knew He had been preparing me for something more.  He was stretching me.

God... said, Do it!   I said yes.

I knew the Holy Spirit prompted me to speak.  I was to speak out of obedience to God. The very night I spoke at this lovely ladies banquet, there was a tangible breakthrough in my life that I could feel.  I knew something was different, and God was behind it.   I had grown to a place in my relationship with God where I completely put all my trust in Him for the first time in my life.  Free-falling is scary, BUT you know what I learned?

Obedience brings breakthrough!!!

One week exact after speaking at the banquet about my testimony, I was beginning to recover from the worst flu I've had since childhood.  I'm a bad doctor's wife who has never gotten the shot, and for no good reason.  

Why I took a pic of myself so sick, who knows, I was probably delirious. Literally! 

Did I really just show you guys that!?!! Ughhh.

Honestly, I think that the previous 3-4 weeks really took a toll on my stress levels and reeked havoc on my body.   It was apparent when I very suddenly became incredibly sick with the flu in May.  I think my poor body needed a release and forced me to stop everything.  Little did I know it would be the very last "break" for a very long time!

As I was saying, exactly one week after speaking at the banquet and overcoming -- up to that point-- one of the scariest thing I've done besides giving birth to my deceased daughter, God stretched me again.  

It was 10:00 pm, I was on the couch and my husband came in the room with an expression I've never seen before.  He was moved... excited... hopeful.  He just listened to a voicemail from the agency who did our homestudy.  They called us, out of the blue, going out on a limb considering our preference of a baby, and anxiously told us in a hurried message about 2 local siblings, a precious little boy and a little girl who needed a home right away!  They wanted, despite all our criteria, to approach us about these children, just in case.

Wha!!????!!!

I could give you all the details, but the next few days are sort of a blur.  I remember we knew hardly anything at all about them that night from the message, but we said God could give us enough love for 2 children, although their ages of 2 & 3 did scare me a bit.  I was mentally prepared for a baby!  Lol, I remember telling Heath jokingly how if we became their parents that my mom would probably need to move in, ASAP!

So, forgoing every prior intention and priority we wanted, we answered God's leading and told them we wanted to be on the list of hopeful families!  The next day, out of the 5 couples, the birth grandparents chose US!!!!!  :D

That night, my family was in town for my brother's graduation and while my parents knew the big news, I was able to share it with my grandparents face to face at a restaurant we met at.  I didn't feel real good physically, but next to my wedding day it was certainly the most exciting day of my life, and I had to share the news!!  I was bursting with excitement, joy, and wonder of the unknown.

On May 11th, we met those innocent, big eyed toddlers 2 days later (yes, I was recovering from the flu, yikes!) and they stayed in our home overnight.

This weekend was all so surreal....

It was supposed to be the weekend I was hosting my brother's party, but it quickly turned into the weekend we met our children!!!

The next week is almost a complete blur of cray-cray preparation, but with hard works and lots of support from friends and family, our house was ready for our 2 little blessings in only a matter of about 4 days.  4 DAYS from having a house fit for 2 adults and NOTHING for toddlers, to a newly painted room that was decorated, with all new beds, bedding, clothes, baby gates, car seats, etc!  See, had we continued down a regular domestic adoption for a baby, we would've had months after the homestudy to prepare!  Btw, Thank you to all of our supporters, you know who you are!!!  You helped us tremendously!

So it was Mother's Day night when they returned to their bio family after one weekend together, the way it was planned, and the next Friday morning we picked them up to come back to our home. Permanently!!!

This is the morning we got them and took their precious little hearts to their new home with us.  We were basically strangers to them, but God was beginning to do a miracle in their own hearts, too!

I'll spare y'all the the rest for now, but for time purposes--as they say--the rest is history.  6 1/2 months later they are Cates!!!  We've doubled the size of our family this year in one swoop!  Our love is so deep for our children now, and their future is so bright!!!  In this time, we've taken enormous strides in how close-knit our family has become.  Our home is their home, and we're a family, and they know that now! :D

God is a redeemer, faithful, and if you pray and seek Him, you'll be lead to where He wants you to be.  That's most definitely the best place you could ever be, because that is just how much He loves us.   

I could talk to you about our adoption journey all day and night, but I've got to get to bed!!  Keep reading and you'll probably see more of that story unfold in future posts.

:)  

~Mommy

Winter Wonderland Weekend!

  

What a surprise blessing to get a snowy weekend in the Christmas season, for once!!!  We've been in a winter wonderland here since the ice and snow began on Friday, and the deeply cold temps have kept the white blanket from going anywhere despite the sunshine yesterday.

Pumpkin pancakes were in order for two excited children!

What's better than eating pancakes in a dining room with a Christmas tree and frosty windows?!  Well, the kids didn't care less as long as they got lots of maple syrup!!

Christmas decorations are basically finished!!  But are they really ever done?... I find myself moving and tweaking all month long. ;)

I. Love. Our Christmas tree!

Not because it's the best, but it is beautiful in our red den, and it's chock full of memories hanging on each branch.  That and really cute, fluffy ornaments, too!

This house may be 68 years old with it's share of quirks, but it really shines this time of year!  It brims with traditional red and green, garland and cinnamon pine cones, ribbon and wreaths, and more than plenty snowmen and gingerbread!!!

I took these pictures while the snow was coming down, and the world outside was hushed by silent falling of fluffy flakes.

(Just want to insert here that I know that only by God's  grace and through His love do I have a warm, cozy home to keep.  I need to remember this every time I complain about our heating bill.  At least we have warmth, when some don't even have shoes. My heartfelt prayers go out to those people.)

 

Our kids were napping.  I had my new Thriving Family magazine to read and huge mug of hot chocolate to drink.

This was a very rare snowy day- perfect moment for this mommy.

Our advent calender in on the mantle.  We are actually getting use of after owning in for about 6 years.  I think the charming German gingerbread style house is adorable!  Reminds me of ones we saw in Rothenburg!! 

When the kids awoke, the snow had fallen and I knew it was time!

Time to do what I've dreamed of my entire life.  

Playing in the snow with my own children!  God is SO faithful!!!

My snow angels!  :)

This was pure joy our faces!  We all had a big time!!  Daddy even managed to make an adorable tiny snowman despite the powdery snow.

We came in, stripped off our many layers, and toasted our toesies by the fire!  

Of course this was the right time to drink some old fashioned hot cocoa with marshmallows!

Yesterday I made a huge batch of caramel popcorn to deliver to loved ones.  The season of giving is here.

Last night, despite the weather, we bundled up to attend Cookies and Cocoa party at our friends, the Dunns!  I'm so glad we did.  We enjoyed confections from cookies to cake and all between!  There was even a game of hide and seek our children managed to arrange with a few adults, haha!  Fun memories!!

We came home with full tummies and sleepy heads.  That doesn't mean there wasn't time to admire the magical lights of the Christmas tree before bed.  

I want to talk to those of you who are trying and struggling to have a family like we did, please,  please hear me on this.

I know Christmas can make your struggle harder.  We were in your place for 7 Christmases, and a few of them included many sad days, especially after losing our Bailey.  

I don't ever want to wave a "look what I have" flag, because for a long time I could hardly imagine my life on this side.  The deceiver told us we were the ones was without a "family" since we didn't have kids. Lie ...

First off, just you and your spouse make a family.  I will always believe that!

Second, your day is coming.  (I know you've heard this before.)  It's SO hard now, but it won't always be if you allow God to carry you and trust His plan!!!

Third, you're not alone.  Many others mourn losses this time of year, and in my opinion, infertility certainly feels like a loss.  Turns out, there were several others in our circles dealing with the same struggle. 

I will especially be remembering you, because I remember what it felt like just last Christmas!

Lastly, everything can change in a heartbeat. :D  God is a God of Wonders!

Luke 1:38, 45

"For nothing will be impossible with God.

 

And blessed is she who believed that there would be fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."