Month 8 is Going to be Great!

Last Saturday, Carter turned 8 months old.  Seriously.  Already?!  He is doing something new everyday and cracking us up all the time.  He thinks he is BIG stuff, because he gets to hang out with the big boys and play basketball like this:

And especially now that he can do this:

Mark my words.  This kid is going to walk before he crawls.  Probably before he even attempts to crawl.

Carter is eating anything and everything that we give him.  We are soon going to be trying different things with a few chunks.  So far, he has gagged everytime he gets something with substance in his mouth.  I thought he could practice with the Sweet Potato puffs that melt to get used to having something in there.  This week is sippy cup week at the Vonderau house.  They are different.  They are not his bottle.  They do not look familiar.  He does not like them.  We'll see about that!

That's about it.  Life as an eight month old couldn't be better!

Adoption Day!!!!!

Last year, before news of Carter, I decided to start a sort of prayer journal.  I wrote letters to my someday child.  Here was the first entry....

"3.2.09- Jeremiah 29:11- 'For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord.  Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'

As I sit here thinking, I am unsure how to begin this journal.  I don't yet know you.  I don't know if you will be a boy or a girl.  I'm not even sure if God has even created you yet.  All I know is that I am very excited to meet you.  Your dad and I have wanted a child for awhile.  One day you will fill our lives with so much joy.  Until then we will continue to hope and pray for you.  Love, Mom."

Well, it just so happens that on that date, Carter had been created and was growing and getting ready to become part of our family.  Today was the culmination of waiting, prayer, and hoping.  Today we went to court to finalize our adoption.  We hadn't met our lawyer, Andy, before today.  I really didn't even know what to expect.  The strangest part of it all was being called as the second witness to answer a few questions. Carter was a trooper-smiling and talking the whole time:)  In a short (and I mean short) session, it was all over.  Praise the Lord!

To celebrate this big occasion, Mommy, Daddy, and Carter went out to lunch.  Carter was so exhausted from all the excitement at the courthouse, he slept the whole time.

We had cake for dinner.  All of us.  Even the little guy.  I know he is supposed to wait until his first birthday for that, but I thought this was a big enough event to cheat a little.  Enjoy the videos below:

I try, but could never express the joy and love I have experienced since Carter came into our lives.  I may not have been made to give birth to babies, but I was made for this.  Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you!!

Slacker

Here are Carter's pictures for last week. I was a slacker. He's still cute!

We have fallen in love with taking baths in the sink.