We're still here! BIG news!

Sooooo.... I'm not doing such a good job with my new years resolution to blog more. I find myself these days pulled in so many directions and with the girls being sick this last week- well- any "spare" time has been spent snuggling, wiping noses, getting drinks, giving medicine and napping (to name a few). In fact- here is my Facebook update from the other night:

3 sick kids, 5 infected ears, 1 set of red eyes, 1 fever, 3 coughs, 2 wheezing= 3 doctor's appts, 3 antibiotic prescriptions, 1 eye drop prescription, 2 on breathing treatments every 4 hours, LOTS of tylenol, 1 home from school tomorrow and 1 tired mommy!

Yep- its been rough this week. But I am full of HOPE that February will be better and I will be blogging more!

January ended up being a CRAZY month! Words can not express the highs and lows we went through in January- stress, laughter, tears of sadness, tears of joy- wow, we had the whole gambit. The end result.....

My best friend in the whole wide world and her husband (whom I fondly refer to as Hubby #2) are PARENTS!!!!

You may remember this post I wrote about in September 2008. Hope! On January 15th Michelle and Mike's hopes and dreams were answered with the birth of their beautiful baby girl, Emma Madison.It has been a very long road for them to get to this place. I have always said that I believe deep within my heart that Michelle and I were MEANT to find each other when we did and become friends. We've run this road to parenting together, supporting each other along the way, picking each other up when one stumbles and cheering the loudest when good news was received.

Adoption is NOT easy. It's a miracle, its a selfless act and its beautiful but its not easy. My heart goes out to Emma's birth mother. What an amazing woman. She also was MEANT to find Michelle and Mike.Emma is PERFECT. She's beautiful, happy and sheer joy! I had the honor of picking the Jarboe family up from the airport on their return. To say I cried like a baby is an understatement when I saw Michelle and Mike come out of the elevator with TONS of baby gear and this little bit of heaven in her arms. I just love this little girl and I love the joy she has brought Michelle and Mike.
With everyone home we are all in baby heaven now. The girls love holding her (though they were a little uncertain at first about her size). Maddie asked to hold her the other night when they were visiting us and when Mike put her in Maddie's arms she started to sing the "ABC" song to her- just like MY DAD used to sing to Madeline almost 6 years ago when she was a newborn! It was a tearjerker moment for all of us for sure!We all love her so much and being sick has made us sad because we can't see her until we are ALL better (girls are almost 100% but I'm down for the count now). We have fun and exciting plans ahead of us! Can't wait to share them all with you!!