Our first little get-away!

We had our first little get-away to McCall this past weekend. It was beautiful with the snow and mountains and the frozen lake. We were in my parents timeshare, which always feels like home to me since I have been going to those since I was 3! It was fun to take Peter there for our first family retreat! It was quite a project packing for us three...and not wanting to forget any important baby things. Peter slept the 2 1/2 hour drive, which got his night a bit confused (he was up at 4:30 am wanting to play!) but it did make for a nice drive. He has been sleeping 8 hours straight, so we are getting spoiled. We both felt the lack of sleep Saturday. I'll post a few pictures. We walked around down-town McCall and enjoyed relaxing in the condo. It is fun being our little family of three!

Little Tid Bits

I will try to update our blog spot more often now that the holidays are over and ... hmm ... I think I am getting the hang of life with a newborn! What a huge wonderfully amazing life change has taken place in our home with the arrival of Peter Henry! He changes every day and we love every minute of it. He is so happy and content. He smiles more and more every day. He loves when we sing to him. We think he will be right handed, since he likes to use his right hand to bat at toys and just wave around like a little dictator! He loves to eat and he loves to kick and S...T...R...E...T...C...H! Yes, constant entertainment!

I hope you enjoy the letter I've posted here and the updates I will try to add more often.

The Kasprzak 2008 Family Letter

God has orchestrated an amazing event in our family and we are so excited to share it with you!

Our son, Peter Henry, was born November 10, 2008.
Peter was brought to a Safe Haven hours after he was born, and I happened to be at this facility. His birth father was distraught as he explained that he and the birth mother could not care for their son and that they wanted him to have a better life then what they could give him. His tears flowed as he explained his situation and how he had delivered his son in a bath tub while reading the instructions from a medical book. His umbilical cord was tied off perfectly, as we saw when I had the privilege of putting his first diaper on him and holding him for about an hour as the police, paramedics and child protection services were notified. Such a cute little guy, only 6 lb 12 oz, black hair and a button chin and oh, so content.

I knew that Henry and I would be overjoyed (to say the least) to be able to call this boy ours, but I also knew that as he became custody of the state, the likelihood of that becoming a reality was pretty slim, since we were on a waiting list to be matched for an international adoption at the time! We began praying for Peter, that he would be placed in the home God had for him. Meanwhile, we gave a copy of our current home study to Health and Welfare, showing that we are a state approved adoptive family, and letting them know that we were VERY interested in adopting this precious baby boy.

When we were told that there were already 10 foster approved adoptive families who wanted an infant, we knew our chances were pretty slim, until a few days later we found out that we were one of three family choices for Peter's placement! The weekend that followed was the longest weekend we have ever experienced, as we prayed, desiring God's will for Peter, but also praying that if he could be our son, we would be so very thankful.
We tried to guard our hearts while we waited, knowing that we couldn't really do anything to prepare for the possibility of becoming parents in a few short days (literally), and we fervently prayed. In the next days we were hardly able to sleep. We had amazing support as we shared the story with just a few close friends and family members, asking for prayer. We weren't the only ones dealing with sleepless nights.
My stomach and heart ached, and I realized that in that short time I had spent with Peter, I had fallen in love with him. The ache in my heart was a feeling I remembered having only one time before, that being when I fell in love with Henry over 13 years ago. So much for guarding my heart. ;-)

We had been told that a choice for Peter's placement for adoption would be made Monday afternoon, exactly one week after I had held him and put that first tiny little diaper on him.
Before I go on, I want to mention that during the week preceding Peter's unique birth, God worked in so many ways, connecting dots with Henry and I in ways that only HE can do. Just the fact that I was at the facility where he was brought was a miracle, since I am rarely there. I felt blessed to have had the privilege of meeting Peter's birth father and having the opportunity to share with him that I would be praying for him and the baby's birth mother, as he tearfully said his last goodbye to his son, who was placed in my arms.

It was an answer to prayer when I was able to share with the main social worker “Peter's Story” and tell her that I trusted that they would make the decision that is right for Peter. I expressed to her that if we were not chosen to adopt him, I wanted to have the opportunity to share with his adoptive family the story, so that he would grow up knowing how much his birth parents loved him. It was the most surreal experience I have ever had and one I felt privileged to have witnessed.

When my phone rang Monday afternoon, I was at our shop and motioned for Henry to come into the office. We were overwhelmed with thankfulness to God as we were told that we were chosen to be Peter's parents! We were also told that our social worker would come to our home the next day at 9 am to do a quick license for legal foster care. It quickly sank in that we needed to be prepared for our baby that could be in our home by the next day! Well, as you can imagine, Babies R Us was quite happy with us, as we shared that we needed everything for a baby...tonight! What a fun whirlwind shopping experience that was! Following a late night of putting together baby furniture and loads of laundry, we took our dogs for a walk before going to bed. That night we had a restful, peaceful sleep.
“For this child we prayed, and the Lord has granted us our petition.” 1 Samuel 1:27

Peter Henry was in our home within hours! We had planned to have our first evening with our son by ourselves, but we were so excited for our family to meet Peter, that we were quickly calling our family and telling them they could come over!
Since that time, it has been an amazing, wonderful experience of bonding with our son. He is a miracle from God for which we are constantly expressing our thankfulness. He is really spoiling us, as he is such a content, happy boy.
We have been told that the adoption process will be complete in 6 months and possibly as quickly as 3 months! We still pinch ourselves, wondering if this wonderful dream of 8 years is truly a reality!

Everything else about our lives seems really unimportant at this point, but just to fill you in...
Encore Auto Repair & Sales continues to grow as we experience the challenges and blessings of owning our own business. We began this business over 2 years ago. I had been the full time office manager until I suddenly became a full time mom! Now I do what I can from our “satellite office”... our home office, with a few hours at the shop here and there.
A big “milestone” for me was turning 30, during which Henry took me to the beautiful Sawtooth Mountains so I could mourn in solitude! Ha! Really, it was a wonderful vacation and little did we know that our son would be born 3 days later, and our lives were to quickly change forever!
We are enjoying lots of snow this winter...mostly from the inside as we sit by the fire in rapt attention of our new source of constant entertainment. What a wonderful surprise blessing from God we received for this Christmas Season!
“You have given him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.” Psalm 21:2