Rayya - 11 Months

I sat down to write this post about Rayya, and instantly welled up with tears. Note to self: "Do not post monthly updates about the kids with PMS". I am an emotional person at the best of times, so this particular time of the month is even worse!

Eleven months of having Rayya in our lives has honestly been EASILY the best eleven months of my entire life. I am living my dream. In my dream I lost my patience a lot less though, and somehow the housework and cooking get done on their own. But besides that, and a few other bumps in the road that I am dealing with, life couldn't really get much better!

Just over two years ago now I clearly heard God say, "You are carrying the baby that your heart desires. SHE will be strong, and SHE will be courageous". I can't type that without tears - joyful, thankful tears. Though the timing was not in our hands, and the time between hearing those words and having a healthy baby girl placed into my arms was long, it was worth every second of waiting. I love that Rayya's name reminds me daily of the gift that she is.

Rayya - "to no longer be thirsty"

Katherine - "Pure"

Faith - "confident belief or trust in the truth"

The past 11 months have flown by faster than any other time in my life. We've been busy, mainly with just the everyday things that families do. I can say with all truthfulness that being a mommy of two has been the hardest, most challenging, overwhelming, and sometimes gut-wrenching, faith-testing thing I've faced. On the other hand, I could not be happier. I have a little boy, and a little girl - every moment is precious.

Rayya is a beautiful child - and she possesses the qualities that God told me she would have through-and-through! She is STRONG and she is COURAGEOUS! These qualities will probably be more beneficial in the future - as right now they just get her into all sorts of trouble! Emptied drawers, baskets, and a continuous quest to get up the stairs before I can catch her are all part of the regular daily activities! She wants desperately to chase and run away from her big brother - so she spends much of her time working on standing. So far she only gets to jumping on her knees, but is also getting around on the furniture too.

She has (knock on wood) also been sleeping good twelve hour nights for a couple of months now! Praise the Lord! We all needed that sleep - and now I am feeling a lot more like me, and not a walking mess anymore. This girl also refuses to be fed - and HAS to feed herself. One word - messy. I think we need a puppy, just so that all the food on the floor doesn't go to waste! At this point I think we're just getting used to walking around with crumbs stuck on the bottom of our feet (ick).

Rayya loves her big brother to pieces. She follows him everywhere (if she can keep up) and wants to be doing whatever he is doing. When she gets her way and he lets her play with his things she's happier than a "pig in a mud puddle". She loves all things dirty - crawling in the grass eating twigs, dirt, sand, water - nothing slows her down. She loves swimming with daddy, being carried around by mommy, playing with grandma, and giggling at her grandpa. She has even proved to be a good traveller as we recently flew to Calgary for a few days. She handled the transition quite well.

I don't want to get too sentimental - due to my emotional state - but Rayya brings us joy like nothing we've ever known. God has been gracious to us - and we are so thankful to Him. He knew what He was doing, and has proven to us again and again that we can trust His ways in FAITH.