Goodbye 2008 - Hello 2009

I'm not the party type on New Year's Eve but I do like to look back and reflect on the 12 months that have past.  2008 has been full of wonderful firsts with Zane...first tooth, first words, first steps, first haircut, first birthday and a ton of other firsts in between.  This year has been so much fun!  I love being a mom and love Zane more than any love than I've ever known.  Zane is obviously the 'theme' of 2008.  While nationally and in our own lives there has been financial struggles (we even paid for more than $4/gallon for gas!) we hardly noticed with the joy that Zane has brought us daily.  We know how blessed we are and we thank and praise God every day for His gracious gift of Zane to us.

Some other wonderful news, I have seen several of my local and online friends bring home their children - by birth, by domestic adoption and international adoption from China, Taiwan and Africa - it's been so wonderful to see these families grow.  Unfortunately I also have 2 good friends that had adoptions fail this year - a heart breaking experience.

The obvious sad news is that we are only 71 referral days closer to Mia than last New Year's Eve.  "The wait" will reach 3 years in March.  We can easily imagine it reaching 4 years by time we see our referral.  Will Mia be born this year?  Will she even be conceived this year?  Of course we won't know these answers until a referral which we do not expect to see in 2009. Hopefully 2010?  2011!?  But as I said to Mike the other day, God always had a plan for Zane to enter our lives, He has a plan for Mia and we will continue to trust (and try not to question) His plan.

For now, we celebrate the goodness of 2008 and welcome 2009.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!