Blessed and So Thankful!

Britten,
You are one amazing beautiful blessing! I can't imagine my life without you!
Love you lots,
Mommy

Adoption....Loving every minute of it!!!!

Mommy could sit here all day and post pictures of my beautiful little baby girl! I love you!!!

8 months and crawling

Little Miss Love Bug Britten is 8 months as of yesterday and Mommy and Daddy can't believe it. She is now crawling and learning to pull up on the TV stand. God, thank you so much for the blessing of a lifetime! Britten you bring so much JOY to our lives!

Finally!

January 26, 2011

WOW! Time flies! This blog post is going to be long but there’s lots this mommy has needed to write for awhile now. My thoughts always seem to trigger at times when I least expect it like shower, bath, potty, in the middle of teaching a lesson, or when someone else is telling me something. If I don’t stop and write it that very moment, it seems to not get done.

So tonight I was taking a shower and all the thoughts, ideas, visions, dreams (and the list goes on) started coming to me. I told myself, “you must sit down and write it out tonight…..NO EXCUSE no matter the time and I don’t care if you feel bad and need to be in bed….you’re going to do it.”

So here it goes………………..

In my head:
• First and foremost, Relationship with my heavenly father needs to get back on track! Doing my quiet time, study, journal…like I was this summer.
• PRAY MORE!!
• Workout—I have NO excuse! Everything I need is right here in front of me, the best trainer, gym at home, what else could I ask for? Oh yeah, maybe eating right and quit my addiction to the drug: Dr. Pepper.
• Britten’s Journal and First Year stuff – just things Mommies like to have for keepsakes….Mom’s you understand this!?!? Started out doing great and I’ve turned into the Mommy I never said I would be when it came to things like this!
• My job – teaching and realizing GOD has put me there to be a light in the children’s path. Being thankful I have a job!
• Been dreaming and praying to start an adoption ministry. Like I have said, there is nothing like adopting. Best journey ever even if we faced lots of red-tape and obstacles. I will do it again!! Thank you “C”…we love and miss you and we’re praying for you!
• Be a better wife, mommy, and friend.

So to all my prayer warriors, please pray for me! This is not the end of it…thanks for listening, reading, and praying. Love you all!

Little Miss Love Bug, Britten is almost 7 months and it doesn’t even seem possible. At her 6 month appointment, she weighed in at 15.5 lbs and was 26.6 inches. She is going to be tall and skinny and so beautiful. Dad has the gun and handcuffs ready! No not really, but she really does have her Da-Da wrapped around her little finger. Yes, I said Da-Da because she said it first. Mommy is sad, but we work on it every night!!! She still wants nothing to do with her baby foods, but we did discover at Cracker Barrel for the first time that she liked crackers and the cheese from mommy’s mac and cheese and the big spoon. She is getting so big and making us laugh till our stomach’s hurt. She put on a show the other night at the Monday Night Prayer Nursery for everyone by yelling her lungs out, but the best part was going to pick her up and Mommy standing at the gate yelling, “Britten, Britten,” and when she noticed me she starting the yelling, being funny, waving arms, and smiling bigger than I have ever seen. This was the first time for us to leave her in the nursery and yes, I did have tears when we left. I survived….Thank you Lord! At church on Sunday, I had to leave with her because the little toot thought it would be funny to be talking and disruptive. On top of all of this, we walked in late because we forgot the “paci” so we turned around to come back home and get one…sorry I am the mommy that doesn’t leave the house without one, and as we walked in, Brandon was ironically giving a talk on video about utilizing the nursery for kids. So when Britten started her talking I had to leave and totally missed the sermon. I did watch it online during the next service though…Great Sermon Chris! Just this morning she started this growling noise and it is so stinking funny. She will straighten out her body and get stiff and then start the growling. We have no idea where this came from.

We had Britten’s GOTCHA Day Celebration on January 7 and it was worth every minute of it. She ended up sick that night so she really didn’t feel well Saturday, but she was a big trooper! Our family and friends…words will never be able to express our sincere thanks for all you! This journey would not have been possible with out your love, support, and prayers! Thanks for being there for us through each and every step! We love you!!!

Her adoption was finalized on December 17, 2010 here in Lubbock at the Courthouse with Judge Ruben Reyes. This was a whole new experience for us. When our lawyer said he would be calling us to the stand…Um…Um….my nerves set in. What in the world would he be asking us? We really didn’t know about all of this business of being questioned by the judge and lawyer! I just remember Landon (our attorney) asking me, “so who do you have with you,” and I responded with, “My DAUGHTER, BRITTEN KARSON MARSHALL!!!!!!” Yes, you are my daughter and forever will be. Thank you GOD and “C” for this BLESSING! Her daddy got emotional on the stand and answered way more questions and sounded so professional! He is the best DADDY! Her first Christmas was also a blast! Thank you Jesus for everything!

I look back on everything…and I mean EVERYTHING I have been through to get me to this point and I realize God was SOOO preparing me for adoption and to be able to minister to others about adoption. It is a journey, an unmistakable feeling, the chills, the tears, the fears, you name it, but I will go through it all again. The gift of “C” and Britten is perfect!

Thank you Mamaw for sending me a sign that I would adopt an African American girl or boy, or both… 25 years ago! The cabbage patch doll that you see in the picture is from Mamaw when I was about 8 and it hit me one night while I was planning for Britten’s party that my twin dolls were at home. What better way to honor and remember my Mamaw! I had my sister bring them to Lubbock and then I thought I could dress her up in Britten’s outfit that we brought her home in (to the hotel I should say). So this doll sits up in her room now. Mamaw, Papaw, and Granny…I miss you and I can’t wait until we all meet again! I am not going to lie and say that my heart hasn’t been heavy and I’ve shed some tears as I write this because I can’t see or talk to you. Please keep watch over my precious baby girl. We talk about you all a lot. It is hard driving through Lakeview and seeing your houses and not stopping to come see you. It seems this gets harder the older I get! Love you!!

Britten, love bug, you are a blessing to me and your daddy. I can’t even imagine our life without you and we thank GOD and “C” for leading us on the path to you.

Love and Blessings!

Busy December

We hope this day finds you filled with many blessings! December has been so crazy around our house, from finalizing Britten's adoption, to Britten's First Christmas, to planning her GOTCHA Day Celebration, but it is all worth it and we feel very blessed during all the craziness! Looking back over the past five months, I never would have thought last Christmas that this Christmas we would have our own little family. GOD is one amazing man who has filled a void that I had for such a long time. Britten is the one little precious and beautiful baby that has given us many blessings and I wouldn't have been possible without "C." We love you and thank GOD for you daily! What an amazing journey it has been!

Britten Karson Marshall

Just wanted to share more pictures with you. ENJOY!

Blessing the past five months!

Okay, so it’s been 2 MONTHS since I’ve posted anything! We both apologize BIG TIME! Things are a going great and we are so blessed! Time for writing has been squeezed a little! ;-) So here’s the run-down on the last 2 months…a Cliff’s Notes version:

September 29 – Britten had her 2-month Dr. appointment and had her first set of shots. It was VERY hard for mommy and hearing Britten cry like that was heart-breaking. The good thing is it only lasted about a minute and she went right to sleep for like 6 hours! She weighed in at 11 lbs 4 oz and was 23.6” long.

September 30 – Britten belted out her first real laugh…a belly laugh and had a bath in her own pink bathtub.

October 4 – Mommy went back to work…A VERY HARD DAY for everyone!

October 7 – 3 MONTHS OLD!

October 18 – We started adding rice cereal to the bottles. Britten is an eating machine! Nothing seemed to make her full, but the cereal did the trick!

October 24 – Mommy and Daddy dedicated Britten to the Lord at our church during the morning service with several other babies. It was a special day with all the family in attendance! Also, cousin Braelei taught Britten to pull her zebra pull-toy on her car seat! Now she does it non-stop every time she’s in there!

October 29 – Dressed up as a lady bug, Britten went trick or treating with cousins Holly and Hannah at the Ranching Heritage Center with what seemed like 10,000 other people and there kids!

October 30 – First time to drink from a BIG 8 oz bottle!

October 31 – First Halloween…not much going on here…just stayed in and hung with cousins Brooks, Holly and Hannah!

November 7 – 4 MONTHS OLD! Wow, time is flying!

November 12-14 – Went to Perryton for the second time. Started rolling back and forth and slept through the night by herself on a big-girl bed…TWICE!

November 15 – Dad put together a new toy…The Exercaucer! Britten loves it!

November 17 – Ate rice cereal from a spoon and bowl for the first time!

November 24 – 4 month Dr. appointment and 2nd round of shots. Britten was 14 lbs 2 oz and 25.8” long! 50th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for length! Dr. said she could start her 1st Foods, so she had sweet potatoes for the first time…ate the whole jar!

November 25 – First Thanksgiving!
November 28 – New food…Squash!

That brings everyone up to date so far. Britten isn’t far from sitting up on her own…she tries every time she’s on her back. We haven’t quite figured out the sleep-schedule, but we’re diligently working on it and we’ve almost got it! She can get up on all 4’s for a few seconds, so a little rocking and crawling isn’t very far away either! Whew! She’s growing and developing so fast! She’s so long that most baby clothes for her stage are too short…so we have to go bigger and her skinny little body gets swallowed!

We’re so happy and blessed with Britten in our lives! We can’t believe her first Christmas is already here and she’s no longer a new-born! Hopefully we won’t wait so long to update next time! ;-)

Blessings to everyone and have a Merry Christmas!

Jason, Kara and Britten