BIRTHDAY BASH!

I can't believe our little girl turned 2 years old yesterday!!! Last weekend we started by celebrating by taking Maddie downtown for an overnight and swimming in the pool at the hotel. Maddie enjoyed having the pool all to herself and she also enjoyed warming up the in sauna. It was pretty hysterical how much she enjoyed herself!

Then on her actual birthday, which was yesterday, we had an ELMO party for her at our house with family for a low key evening. We opened gifts, ate some yummy dinner, and then had some Elmo cupcake with cream cheese frosting that I had made. We had a great time of laughs with Maddie as our entertainer! She is one hilarious little girl who loves being around people! I believe she thrives in big groups! Hmmmm I wonder who else in our family likes to be in groups of people? LoL. Like Mother like Daughter. We are so thankful for Madeline Grace's Life and how much joy she has brought to our whole family. She is such a miracle and it has be so incredible how the Lord has blessed her life and how far she has come. I know there are BIG plans for this little one. So, with all that said here are some pictures from her party yesterday:o)

LIFE IS A GIFT

I have been given a wonderful opportunity to talk with the counselors at CareNet about Maddie's Story. CareNet is a place where they help guide young girls into choosing life and not aborting their babies. The doctors gave us an option to abort Maddie more than once, because she was missing her arm, and they weren't sure what other problems she might have.They probably thought we didn't want to have a child that only had one arm, so it was easier to just get rid of her. Abortion was never an option for us and we knew this was God's child and he has a plan for her. Our plans were different than His plans, but he makes no mistakes in creating us. We just had to trust Him at all times.

So with all that said, I am going to be sharing my story about Maddie; the hard times we went through during the months of awaiting her birth, our fears, how we got through it, and why we choose life and not abortion. I am so thankful to be given this opportunity to share with the counselors so they can help the girls they mentor by telling them my story. I have always prayed that God would get the glory and that we would use this as a testimony to share with others, and this is just one thing that he has lead us to. There are so many unknowns in life and sometimes is it very hard not to worry, but God does have a plan and he makes no mistakes in the way he creates us. Also reminded that "pregnancy is not about a disability or an illness, it is about a little child."

One more thing I wanted to share with all of you? Have you seen the picture of the little 21 week old fetus grasping the doctors hand during surgery. Here is a short video and a picture of the baby holding on for life. Very powerful. Keep in mind while watching this video that in IL you can abort up to 23 1/2 weeks. Maddie was the same age as this fetus when they gave us the option. Makes me sick to my stomach that this is legal in our country. So sad.

Friendship

It has been quite sometime since I have posted anything so I thought it was about time:o) Every time I think to write an update there are other things to be done like laundry, cleaning, cooking, and most importantly taking care of Maddie and chasing her around:o)

These past 9 months of living in Elmhurst have been wonderful. Maddie has developed quite the personality and is never afraid to meet other kids (older and younger). She loves all people and is very outgoing. Maddie's arm has caused her to get noticed by a lot of kids. It has been interesting to see the different behavior of children in response to Maddie's arm. Some are curious, some sympathetic, some encouraging, some look at her as a project ("look mom-check out this girl's arm") and others even appear terrified. None of this seems to phase Maddie, by the way.

In the middle of all of this it has been great to see Maddie develop many good relationships with children her age. We are blessed to live in a great town with a lot of wonderful friends who have gotten to know Maddie for who she is and enjoy being with her. We feel so thankful to have moved to such a wonderful community. We have wonderful friends, fabulous neighbors, a great community, and family just a few miles away. Here are a few pictures of Maddie with her good friends. My husband and I were commenting that it reminds us of how thankful we are for the friends God has put in our lives.

Proverbs 17:17 " A friend Loves at all times."

Here is a picture of Maddie And Georgia. They live in Chicago, and when we get together Maddie and GG love to hang out with each other. They pretty much held hands all the way through Nordstrom!
Maddie and Her other friend Georgia Grace. Two friends with the same name! first and middle so funny! I met Georgia's Mom through MOPS at our church. We are both the same age and both hairstylists. We get together with them at least once a week to hang out. They have a ball together.
Here is another picture of Georgia and Maddie and Georgia's brother Noah. Maddie also has quite a crush on little Noah and always wonders when she is going to see him next. They all have so much fun hanging out.
Maddie has developed a little crush on Noah:o)
This is Maddie with her buddy Gavin. These two can't get enough of each other. They pretty much let out a high pitch scream when they see one another. It's pretty cute how they interact. Gavin's mom and I went to HS together. She was one year ahead of me, so it's neat how We only live 3 blocks away from each other in a town we didn't even grow up in. Gavin and Maddie are 5 weeks apart.
Maddie and Gavin enjoying their suckers at the mall.

Thank you all for making Elmhurst such a wonderful place of lasting friendships!