Can babies go Fedex?

Funny how something as simple as a cardboard box brings so much joy to a child's life...especially in comparison to all the fancy toys in the world! I love her so much.

Quick Adoption Day Slideshow

An absolutely amazing day boiled down to just 68 seconds!!!

Happy Adoption Day!!!

I'm sorry to those of you that follow this blog about my deliquency in posting current updates and pictures. All I can say is I'm a daddy now and bound to make some mistakes...please forgive me!

Today was a great day...it was adoption day!!! The day when Kylie officially became ours forever! The cool thing that we learned is that Kylie will get a brand new birth certificate, with her new name and with our names as her birth parents. That is such an awesome picture of what God does for us when he adopts us as his sons and daughters. Our names are changed as well and all evidence of our previous life is erased and we are completely new!

After the official ceremony, Mommy wanted to commemorate this special day with pain....I mean beauty. Krista wanted to get Kylie's ears pierced. Daddy needed some convincing...but eventually gave in. (I have a feeling that this will become a more common occurrance in my life.) Needless to say, and true to form Kylie did great and looks so pretty. Check the video below for the play by play.

We then decided to head on out to lunch with Krista's family to celebrate the day's events. The most ironic thing happened when the waitress came up to introduce herself..."Hi, my name is Kylie and I'll be your server today." One reason why Krista picked the name Kylie was because it was unique. So either there are a lot more Kylies out there (which I'm sure there are) OR God has a sense of humor? By bet would be a little of both...but more on the second one!!!

What an amazing day!!! God is so good!

A Smile that Lights Up a Room

There is just something so real, so genuine, so engaging about a baby's smile...don't you agree?

Kylie's Shower Slideshow

Hey guys-

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted anything. We've been so busy running all over the place with Kylie. It's been so wonderful how awesome everyone has been and especially how generous everyone has been with their time, money, and gifts. We can't thank you guys enough. It's amazing to think that she was 8 weeks old this past saturday. She's changed so much already...check out this slideshow I put together for a Shower we had in Chattanooga last weekend to see how much she's changed. Thanks again. Love you guys!!!

Kylie busts a move!!!

While Kylie is technically unable to walk...unbeknownsed to us SHE CAN BUST A MOVE!!!

What are you thinking?

Since becoming a father (which is incredibly weird to just say), I've begun to think a lot more about me...what I say, what I do, who I am. I have these eyes that follow me around with this intense stare. I want to ask her, what are you thinking??? What are you staring at? Of course, there's no response, but I know something is going on inside that head of her's. She definitely taking it all in...and that's what scares me. It's like that new geico commerical with the money that just stares the guy down with that song playing in the background. I can't wait until she starts talking so she can tell me what's on her mind...well maybe I can, cuz she awfully cute just the way she is now...although...it would help to know what's going on at 3am when she wakes up crying....I'll take my chances though. I'd rather have her in a crib beside us screaming than out with a boy, but that's a whole other commentary for a whole other day. Isn't she getting chunky? I love her so much!

Kylie vs. Baby Doll

When we first got her, everyone said that they thought we were carrying around a baby doll. Last weekend, my mother-in-law gets the idea...well ...you see!

SHE'S OURS!!!!

There's not much more to say than that for now...actually there is, but unfortunately I don't have time to write it all down, but I will!!! We are just so happy right now! There's still a lot of paperwork and visits to do before it becomes official, but the stress is off for now. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers!!!

By the way, just to keep everyone up to date, Kylie had her 2nd doctor's appointment yesterday and she's up to 6lbs. 7oz.(up a full pound from a week ago). So, she's packing it on!!!

Love you guys...thanks again for all our prayers...Look forward to talking with everyone and showing off OUR little girl!

Kylie's First Week Slideshow

I put a slideshow of Kylie's first week together...She's been so Wonderful!!! God is so good!!!

Kylie First Real Bath!!!

You'd think after spending 9 months submersed in amniotic fluid, a 5 minute bath wouldn't be so bad. Actually it wasn't...check out this video of Kylie getting her first real bath.

Kylie's first attempt at sucking her thumb!!!

It's hilarious at how uncoordinated she is...I don't know if it's right to laugh at your children in the midst of their struggles, but I just couldn't help myself. Check it out here!

By the way, she finally got it. It wasn't pretty but it worked. I'll upload that video later. Enjoy!

She's so tiny!!!

Here's one of the first photos from the hospital. The tiny teddy bear was given to us by Jordan Boots and you can see, she's about the same size. It's amazing that she'll be grown up to be an adult some day. Lord, I pray that will take a long time, because I'm not ready to deal with boyfriends and girlie emotions. :)

God is Good!!!

Who would have thought...only 3 weeks ago we turned in our adoption profile to Mike Jennings (our adoption attorney and friend). Everyone who's embarked in the adoption process has told us that the process takes a while and don't get frustrated. We were already in Chattanooga this past weekend visiting our in-laws. Sunday afternoon we were eating at Burger King when I got the call from Mike asking if we'd be interested in a little african-american girl born the night before. Mike said that he still had to talk with the mom, but he'd get back to us, but to talk with Krista in the meantime.

My mind was racing...talk about not being prepared...we had nothing! We got back in the car and started the drive back to Nashville. As we were pulling out of the Burger King parking lot, I turned to Krista and said "that was Mike Jennings." Krista turned to me with a look I'll never forget and said "AND..." I said "He said that he might have a little girl for us."

Needless to say, the next 100 miles was an emotional rollercoaster. Krista and I were like one of those old scales that has weights on both sides to equal out...the only problem was that one of us was up while the other was down...each one of us encouraging the other that yes, we could make this work! So, when Mike called back and asked if we were still interested...we both never doubted it for a second. We got to our house in Nashville, unpacked, repacked, and was back on the road to Chattanooga. Krista got on the phone to her mom and told her what was going on. Within minutes Kathy (my mother-in-law) had notified half of Chattanooga about our little girl and by the time we got back to Chattanooga we had enough formula, diapers, clothes, blankets, etc. to clothe an infant army...God is good!

OUR WONDERFUL ADDITION!!!

On March 14th, 2009, our newest addition, Kylie Nicole Longenecker was born at Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga, TN. She was born 5 lbs. 5 oz. and 18 inches long.