Willow continues to thrive. She is developing very well for her age and is SLOWLY gaining weight. At 8 weeks she is now weighing in at Over 7 pounds!! She is getting nearer the birth weight of her brothers! We are adjusting to the routine of an infant and I no longer am startled or shocked by the cry of a baby in my house. Although we had known that a "baby-born" (the baby is born, go get it) situation would be a possibility, it still did not mentally prepare me to have an infant literally overnight. Of course, if you have read all my posts on here, it is what I had wanted since I have little to no patience. It was still a huge adjustment from having a great deal if independence to having a very small infant and virtually being on house arrest.

  I have been asked if I feel different towards Willow than I do towards my boys. I can honestly say that I have never saw any of my boys on the day they were born and thought they were either cute or that I was in love with them. I know some people say they do. Maybe, I was called to adopt because  I was created this way. To me, love is a choice. I chose to love them and protect them and eventually I was to the point that I truly did. For me, it wasn't an instant attachment. With Willow, when we saw her she looked like a preemie. She had a small body, small head, and HUGE eyes. To be honest, she was not real cute. Neither were my boys! Squeak's first impression of Owen was that he 'looks like a troll'. However, with all my kids, Willow included, I have an overwhelming desire to protect them. I felt an instant desire to protect her from the cruelty she had already in her short life endured. She was exposed to drugs, dealing with a withdrawal, and left at the hospital by 2(!!) families. So, no. There is no difference to me. They are all my kids. Not because I carried them in my stomach, but because I am their mom.

  Switching topics, Squeak and I would like to thank those that have donated towards our adoption expenses! We had initially not intended to adopt an infant due to cost, but slowly the other options were ruled out and we were left with no other choice. I am not saying that we are not happy about it. God was definitely behind this, as we would have never thought adoption was for us financially. You can read in a previous post how we were led to adoption and how the doors closed. My point is that if we knew at the beginning the expense that we would be getting into (>50k), we would not have attempted this. God is good and He has made it possible. We do have a LifeSong account for anyone that is interested in financially assisting us. PLEASE do not feel obligated. I know that some people have a heart for adoption and want to help.  If you are not sure of what LifeSong is, I will give a very basic description and a link to research for yourself. http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/about/our-story/ or http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/adoption-funding/adoption-grants/ LifeSong for Orphans is an organization that helps with raising funds or offering grants and loans that enables potential adoptive couples to reach their financial goal of helping an orphan. 100% of all donations to Lifesong for Orphans will go to caring for orphans (no administrative costs will be deducted). All US based fundraising and administrative costs are paid for by TMG Foundation and other partners. Another thing to note is that no money is given to the adoptive couple unless they have a receipt of paid expenses. Usually, LifeSong will pay the billers directly from the individual families account. In other words, we will not be making money off of our adoption! In the event that a family would raise MORE than needed for their adoption, the excess donations will go into an account from which LifeSong can donate to another adoptive family. Squeak and I, along with Mark and April Dotterer, are starting a branch of LifeSong in our area! We have named it "For This Child" which was taken from 1 Samuel 1:27- For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted my petition made to Him. While we were in our adoption process, we had numerous couples express a desire to adopt with only the cost holding them back. We will try to raise funds to enable other couples to heed the call of adoption where they may have otherwise thought themselves to be financially unable. So, any donations made to our individual account will go towards our incredible expenses. If we were to raise enough to help with our adoption expenses, the overflow will go into our For This Child account to continue to help those in our area that would like to adopt. Also, any yearly donations that exceed $250.00 will receive a tax deductible receipt directly from LifeSong. They will honor donations from donors that would like to remain anonymous, they will still get a receipt but the account holder will not know who donated to their fund. For those that are interested, our LifeSong information is as follows.

All checks can be made payable to : LifeSong for Orphans with Riggenbach #3089 in the memo line.
Mail to:       Lifesong for Orphans
                   PO Box 40
                  Gridley, IL 61744
To donate to our LifeSong account online, follow this link: http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate/

Another option would be to donate directly to our For This Child branch of LifeSong to help a local couple adopt, the check can be made payable to: LifeSong for Orphans with For This Child in the memo line.

This is listed as the Method of LifeSong: We seek to mobilize the church, His body, where each member can provide a unique and special service: some to adopt, some to care, some to give. Each of us fits into the above three categories. Some of us are called to adopt, some of us are called to give, and some of us are called to care. If you don't feel called to adopt, and you don't feel called to give, then please feel called to care. There are SO many orphans that could use prayers! We all have an important part in the church.