Jimmy * Esther * Zeke * Lilly

We went to see Santa in early December-

Lilly was indifferent to Santa. She looks a little scared here, but she wasn’t, the photographer just took that picture before she smiled.

Zeke was another story. This picture was taken about 15 minutes after the first. It took 10 minutes of convincing Zeke, and luckily the line was only about 5 minutes. He didn’t want to go near Santa, but after he saw the treat Lilly got from Santa, he decided he would go up if I went too, but he didn’t want to talk to, or touch Santa.

Cute Lilly in a festive dress. This is another dress that I bought years ago, and just so happens to fit her at the right time, how lucky! :)

Family pictures taken on Sunday.

Lilly didn’t smile in any of them because we propped the camera on the couch and used the timer mode, so there was no one taking the pictures to make her laugh. She still looks so cute! I love little Zeke’s smiles and eyes too!

Lilly’s pink stocking says “Baby’s 1st” on it. Zeke had a blue one just like it for his first Christmas.

Yesterday morning we finalized Lillian’s adoption in court! So what does this mean? We legally have a daughter! Lillian Belle (We changed her middle name from Lucille to Belle for a few reasons- Lilly Belle is so cute and fun to say, it reminds me of a little Christmas bell, Belle means beautiful, and we call her “our little beauty”, and Belle is one of my favorite Disney princesses, along with Cinderella, but Lilly Cinderella didn’t sound as good as Lilly Belle ;)

It was a wonderful day. Zeke and Lilly were so good during the court, and the judge thought they were so cute! The judge was excited to hold Lilly for a picture, but Lilly was scared of him and started crying really hard until he handed her back to me.

Next to me is Kris, (one of our caseworkers), and our attorney, Todd.

Our family and Todd. Todd helped us with Zeke’s adoption finalization too, he is great!

My friends Kendra and Ryan’s baby girl returned home to heaven. I am so heartbroken for them. I can’t imagine how hard this would be, and the magnitude of pain they are feeling. I’ve been following their blog with updates these past few months, hoping for a miracle for them, and all along, their precious daughter was their miracle. Though her life was short, she gave her parents a lifetime of lessons, and love with her strong little spirit.

Their blog address is found here. I love the beautiful things little Makenzie’s mommy would write to her, and about her. Please pray for this family, that they may be comforted, and carried through these most difficult times.