A Little about Lillian

 The baby sister.... look at her! Isn't she adorable!? This girl has captured our hearts. We thank God for the blessing that she is to us! Lillian, in comparison to the only other newborn we've had, is easy peesy, a walk in the park! Now I know how I would've answered people's questions when they asked if Adelaide was an easy baby. No! My mom, being a grandmother, likes to put it in nicer terms and says, "she was just very very time consuming." ha! =) Adelaide was independent from the start, a mover and a shaker, and was happiest once she could move her little world! Lillian slept for her first 10 or so days of life. She now is up for many hours during the day and the wee hours of the morning too, and sometimes the wee hours of the evening... oh dear, she's awake alot now. But for the most part, as long as she's not gassy, she's totally chilled out and content.

 She is such a little peanut. People keep saying, "oh you just forget how little they are..." to which I say, "no, Adelaide was never this little!" They started life nearly 2 lbs apart! Her face is so full but her body so tiny. I can say though that she is growing! She has gained a half pound (since a week ago) and looks bigger to me this week than last! I can tell her torso has grown some too... so thankful for this healthy growing girl.

 One thing I remember loving about Adelaide was/is her "kissable cheeks." She had/has some cheek to kiss and I love that Lillian does too!!! Her cheeks are so kissable!

 Here she is hanging out with an elephant while Serge gave Adelaide a bath and I folded laundry. She was very content to be snuggled by the big guy for awhile. How cute is that!? My family is big on nicknames... so far we have litl' lil', lil-lil-ba-dil-dil.

 A partial smile... I know, I know, supposedly it's all related to reflexes and gas at this point but sometimes don't you wonder? Maybe she's smiling because she's sitting on an elephant? Or maybe because she hears her sister splashing in the tub? Or maybe because her mom won't stop clicking the camera? Or because she likes the way her socks feel on her feet? =) I like my reasons better than the textbooks.

Here's a pic in snoozer phase still. I'll post more later about our time in Alabama at this beautiful beach, but just wanted to give a few more snapshots of sweet Lillian for y'all to see! Join us as we give thanks for Lillian! "You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; and I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!" Psalm 118:28-29 



Big Sister Transition

Adelaide is 19 months. Not much of a baby anymore, definitely a toddler and at times it seems almost little girl-ish. She's growing up. Fast. Most recently she's gone from being our baby to being our oldest. She woke up one morning with the attention of four adults. We went to the zoo, she took a nap, woke up, went straight into a carseat and then woke up in a hotel with Grandma and Grandpa. Two days later we were discharged from the hospital and met all back up together and Adelaide met Lillian for the first time. Talk about transition! I wasn't quite sure how she would do. I've been 1.) suprised- at Adelaide's gentleness immediately with Lillian, her sadness when Lillian would cry, and her absolutely needing to say goodnight to her or she melts down :), 2.) challenged- by her flexibility and acceptance of change, and of course also by her disobedience and sticking with consequences while being understanding of this great change in her life, and 3.) greatful- it really could have gone so much worse! :) I'm so glad Adelaide's transition to being a big sister is going smoothly. I love seeing her in the big sister role! It makes me very proud of her (most of the time that is). :)

 Here is Adelaide and Lillian meeting for the first time. We were discharged from the hopsital and went to the hotel where my parents had been staying with Adelaide while we were in the hospital. Upon their first meeting she was immediately so gentle with her-- she softly touched her head, touched her toes, and of course pointed out her eyes, nose, and mouth. She was very interested (and still is) in her pacifier. Adelaide only took one from month 3-month 5 so it's a bit of an odd thing to her. :)

 Initially Adelaide got jealous of the "reallly cool" bottles we were feeding Lillian with... so we gave her one of her own filled with water and she ditched it in a couple of days. :) I often needed to hold both of them to help with the initial jealousy but there is plenty of room on my lap for two! =)

 She loves to kiss her sister.

 Now that we're at home Adelaide LOVES to hold Lillian. I have to be rather quick on my feet because she will often try to pick her up on her own... so I quickly tell her no and she says, "PEAS, PEAS, PEAS" (please) so I tell her to go sit in a big girl chair and then she can hold her. I love seeing these two together and can't wait to watch them grow up together and hopefully become great friends! Though we've had some challenges with her in the transition, we are overall SO, SO proud of her...

Adelaide is becoming a great big sister!

January 10, 2013

Back in September Serge and I attended the Together 4 Adoption national conference knowing going into it that we wanted to pursue adoption, just weren't sure which avenue. We left the conference with more questions than answers (in a good way). Anyway, we crossed paths with a couple here in Simpsonville who has adopted a couple of times and referred us to a lawyer here in Greenville. We then met with him, had our homestudy visit done in October and it was completed the week after Christmas. A homestudy is when a social worker comes into your home, scopes it out, interviews us on everything and then says whether or not we can bring a little one/little ones into our home.... good thing we were approved since Adelaide was already given to us! whew! =) Anyway after an approved homestudy we then wait to be matched. In most cases you have advanced notice (birth mom is 6 months along for example), time to prepare, nest, think about, name, and tell the whole world about the new little one. In our case, sweet Lillian was well on her way unbeknownst to us but well known to our God: Psalm 139:13-16 "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." We've been praying for our new addition for quite some time... sometimes we prayed thinking they were already born, sometimes wondering if there were any abnormalties in a womb, praying and wondering who God would entrust us with, who He would immeasurably beyond our grasp bless us with. On January 9 I prayed several times that day, specifically, that we would hear soon, have a new family member very soon... actually I remember saying "please, Lord," several times as well. After all, I was raised to always say my please and thank yous. On January 10, my parents, Adelaide, and I decided to go to the zoo. Serge decided to stay back and get a ton of work done since the days are dwindling down until Ice Cream Station reopens. We had a good time at the zoo, saw animals galore, ate a picnic lunch at the playground, and then left as Adelaide drifted off to naptime in her carseat. On the way home, my phone rang... I saw it was Marion, the woman in charge of "matching" at our lawyer's office. She said, "Well, I have a feeling I might overwhelm you, but here it goes..." and she told me of a child, yet unborn, but mere moments away from being born. We knew she was in Alabama, did not know if she was a he or she, or how many. We knew there was no prenatal care and knew they had no idea how far along. I called Serge on my way home, talked about it once I got home and we called back immediately to ask what we do next. Pack. Pack our bags and leave asap. Pack and leave before you know it will go through, get to the hospital asap. Trusting in God's sovereignty we packed. As we were packing we received news of a 6lb healthy baby girl! We made it to the hospital around midnight went straight into the nursery, received our wristbands, and went to a little office room to be with her for the rest of her stay in the hospital.
Meet Lillian Rose Guillot...

And one picture at the zoo. =)

There are countless more details I want to share. Hopefully I will post many more in the upcoming week. (hopefully! I'm busy adjusting to life with two now!) The timing could not have been any more perfect... my parents being here when we got the call, Serge getting work done that day, Serge being "off" from Ice Cream Station right now, and on and on it goes. The Lord knew what He was doing. It may have seemed like a whirlwind to us and many others but God knew all along who He would entrust to us next. We are thrilled... a little sleep deprived, but thrilled about January 10, 2013... the birth of our newest daughter!

December Fun

 Some friends told us about this park in Mauldin so we checked it out and loved it! It has a great playground, miles of walking trails, and connects to the swamp rabbit trail for biking! We did notice, however, that it looked like snake heaven so we might be choosey about what time of year we visit.

 All ready for Christmas Eve service at Southside Fellowship! Christmas Eve was nice and relaxing for us. We just stayed home, had a nice dinner, and watched It's a Wonderful Life which both of us had never seen in full before.

 Christmas Day we went out to Grandma and Grandpa Guillot's and got to play outside for a bit.

 Adelaide got a ball pit from Grandma and Grandpa Guillot for Christmas. She loves it!

Serge and I both got bikes from my parents for Christmas along with this bike trailer... she looks uncomfortable in this pic, but we got it adjusted right eventually and she went on her first ride this morning and loved it! There's plenty of room in there for a sibling! =)