"Second" 9 Months

Our baby girl has reached another milestone...

Ruthie is 9 months old!!

She has a smile that melts your heart, a squeal that could possibly shatter glass, and a laugh that you can't help but adore.  She's babbling like crazy especially her favorite (and first!) word - "Da Da!" .  She gets from place to place rolling around in the floor and she's eating like a big girl all by herself most days.   Our Ruthie girl is a JOY :)


I remember when we reached the 9 month milestone with Turner and Calvin I thought "they have now been with us on the outside just as long as they were with me on inside..."

Of course with Ruthie that's different.  
Ruthie's "first, first 9 months" were spent with her birthmother, "B".


As I gave Ruthie a bottle today the Lord brought Ruthie's precious birthmother to mind as he so often does when I am still.  I thought about the incredible love I feel for my Ruthie after being with her these 9 months... and I was reminded of the great love B felt for Ruthie as she grew inside her for the same amount of time.  As I exchanged emails with B leading up to Ruthie's birth I remember that one thing was clear, she LOVED her baby- deeply. 



B, so loved Ruthie, that she made the sacrificial decision to give her a family and a life that Ruthie could not have had otherwise.  Then she stood by us and fought along side us when legal issues arose that threatened our family... she fought and prayed with great love.  

I know that the day will come when Ruthie will have to face sad feelings and difficult questions regarding her birth mom's relinquishment... and it will be my privileged to walk alongside her through that.  But I pray she will always know, at her core, that her birthmother loved her deeply.  And not only was she greatly loved by her birthmother but the Lord was with her during those "first, first 9 months"...

For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 
Psalm 139:13

Ruthie has her birthmom's, beautiful, curly hair... 

I pray, with God's help, that she will grow to have a self-less heart like her as well.

As we celebrate 9 months with our Ruthie, I honor the women that sacrificially chose LIFE for 9 months and gave us the gift of a lifetime of joy and memories.