July 2, 2008....

God answered our prayer for a child even though we didn't know it at the time. On this day our miracle was born...even though she wasn't born to us. Her mom struggled with issues of her own and at birth Madison was brought to a woman who was a friend of the family. This woman we owe enormous thanks to. She took our Madison and raised her for 2 1/2 years. This woman didn't just raise Madison...she ADORED her! She kept her from many things that could have hurt Madison. If it had not been for her, Madison would not be the innocent child she is today. I will forever be grateful to this woman...God used her to watch over our Madison until she came to us. I don't know why she wasn't born to us...only that maybe she was an answer to prayers for the woman who raised her as well.
On December 22, 2010 Madison was taken from the woman who raised her and sent to a foster home. She left the foster home in mid January 2011 and was sent to live with a great aunt. And on March 23, 2011 we welcomed Madison as our daughter into our home and hearts. I won’t forget one single second of that day. She showed up looking lost and scared…today she is all smiles, laughter and gives her Mommy and Daddy tons of kisses each day. She is our little diva…insisting on make-up, jewelry, perfume, purses and girly clothes. She is everything I dreamed our little girl would be and more. She is Daddy’s girl and Mommy’s sweetheart. With a heart of gold, a smile and laugh that is contagious and dimples to boot…she has stolen our heart. God has blessed us beyond what we asked for and more than we deserve.

This past Wednesday we took Madison to say goodbye to the woman who raised her, her aunt and her 3 sisters. Her aunt never showed up with her 3 sisters. We talked to the woman for about 2 hours while our girls played and listened as she told us about Madison’s first 2 ½ years. Madison was born on time and was a laid back, easy baby. This is no shock…she is still laid back and the easiest child I have ever known. She was born with her bottom two teeth, she stood up at 6 months and crawled at 9 months. She was a late talker and walker…not doing either until after she turned 1. She then began to run and has never walked since. This is a true statement. Everywhere Madison goes…she runs to get there. We have given up telling her to walk inside the house. She didn’t talk until after she turned 1...this doesn’t surprise me as well. She has tons to say now but is quite the observer. She takes it all in and has the memory of an elephant! The scar on her left knee is from continuously climbing on a glass coffee table until she fell and cut her knee open on it. Her biological father has never been a part of her life. She proudly told the woman that Ronnie was her Daddy and pointed to him! 8) Madison has three sisters who are 13, 9 and 7. All 4 are beautiful!!

We were given a CD with pictures of Madison from birth until 2 ½ years of age when she was taken, a letter, some of her clothes, her toys (some from her 1^st Christmas and some from her 1^st Valentine’s Day). She took pictures of Madison with us and we took pictures of Madison with her on her camera. We gave her a CD we made with all of our pictures since we have had her. The woman bought a copy of all of the movies she used to watch with Madison to send with her and a stack of books her aunt and uncle had bought for her. We talked and exchanged email addresses and then we said goodbye. We thanked her for loving our Madison and keeping her safe. We thanked her for raising her to be such a sweet, loving child with wonderful manners and who asked to go to church to see her Jesus. She hugged Madison and told her that we were her Mommy and Daddy and she would be with us forever, that she would be safe and loved and would never be taken from us. She told her she loved her and hugged her goodbye. She had tears in her eyes as Ronnie walked her to her truck. I felt horrible for her. It’s a weird feeling…elated that this child no longer has to go back and forth and have uncertainty and that she is OURS…and heartbroken for this saint of a woman who made sure Madison was loved and safe and now had to walk away from her. I thought about telling her we would bring Madison to see her occasionally but thought better of it before talking privately to Ronnie. We loaded our girls up and Ronnie said, “How do you think it went?” I told him good but that I felt bad for her. That I thought she was sincere in her love and devotion to Madison. He then said, “I started to tell her we would bring Madison to see her but didn’t think I should until I talked to you first.” 8) God is good isn’t he? We discussed it and have decided after the adoption is final we are going to go pick up the woman every 6 months and take her to dinner so that she can visit with Madison. I will email her updates every week and leave pictures of Madison at the DHS office for her to pick up. It’s not much…but how do you repay such a debt? I want to share some pictures of our Madison with you from the first 2 ½ years of her life…before she came to her forever home.

My cup runneth over....