Well, I guess we should update.

Hello all! It's been busy around the Burks household. Holidays, getting back to work, getting over being sick, and taking care of the Lily.

She's getting big! She's over 11 pounds now, and around 22" long. She's started smiling, grasping things, and holding her head up more, and looking around. She's also started going to daycare. It was hard at first to be apart from her, but she really like it. The workers are awesome, and Lily really likes her crib mobile and the swings.

As far as sleeping goes, it's getting better. She only wakes up around 3 and goes back to sleep after a diaper change and bottle. She likes all the comotion at daycare, so she only catnaps there, and usually passes out once we get her home.

We've uploaded alot more pictures to the album --> More Pictures!

Here are some of our favorites...

Thanksgiving outfit - From Lily Faith

Chatting with her friend Ruby Grace - From Lily Faith

Go Hogs! Beat LSU! - From Lily Faith

Off to the first day of daycare - From Lily Faith

So strong! - From Lily Faith

Smiling! - From Lily Faith

Mommy protection - From Lily Faith

That's all for now. Christmas is coming, and we'll have more pictures. Also, the next doctor visit is coming (the one with alot of shots) and we'll find out how she's doing.

We're legal and more pictures

Our court appearance went really well. Lily Faith is legally ours now! Accoring to the judge, it's law that the judge holds the baby to make it offical. LOL.



As for an update, she's already 9+ pounds, and loving the bottle :) She's spending more time awake during the day, and sleeping better during the night. We spent last Saturday at cousin Hether's taking pictures all day. We snapped a few, but the ones Hether took will look awesome.

Lily enjoyed her first Halloween. She was a Bee, and was very cute.

Anyways, we've uploaded more pictures to the album ---> Enjoy!!

10 Days

Well, Lily is 10 days old today. She's doing great, and actually doing ok during the night (for now).

Also, 10 days marks the end of the waiting period for the adoption. That's right, it's FINAL!!

We go to court tomorrow for the legal bits, and we meet with the Birth Mother one last time.

Thanks for all your prayers, support, visits, and meals (yum!).

More pictures soon...

More Pictures!

We've uploaded all the most recent pictures to an album.

Take a look here ---> More Pictures!

We're home

We are home! Lily enjoyed the car ride, and got the grand tour of the house. The dogs and cats are still a little unsure, but once she starts crying more, I'm sure they'll get it, and be interested. I'm waiting on Pete to howl along with the crying, much like he howls with the tornado siren.

Before we left the hospital, we had the Birth Mother Honoring Ceremony. Let me tell you, there wasn't a dry eye in the room the entire time. It was the perfect finale to the process. The experience we have had has left us speechless. We are so grateful that this adoption went so smoothly, and that we believe that God has truly touched our lives in ways we've never imagined.

Keep the Birth Mother in your prayers (she needs them), as well as our Lily.

It's a GIRL!

Lily Faith is here! Born last night at 6:58, she's 8 lbs, 1 oz., 20 inches long. She's perfect, and the birth mother did (and is doing) great.

Enjoy the pictures. We're still at the hospital, but we get to go home later today.

Fire Drill

We got the "It's time!" call at 6:15 tonight, so we rushed home, gathered our things, and joined the Birth Mother at Baptist around 8:30. We sat around and the contractions just weren't there like they need to be, so we got sent home. :(

We enjoyed the time with our Birth Mother, though. She's having a hard time (physically) here in the last few weeks, and is ready to give birth to Lily, and she was so hopeful for tonight. Please keep her in your prayers.

Stay tuned!!

The nursery is coming together

Slowly but surely we're getting the nursery ready for Lily. We're going with a green, pink, and white theme with lots of ladybugs. :)

We've had one shower, and more to go! Lily will be here in 5 weeks or less. We're excited and anxious to meet her. We are so grateful for everything that God has done (and will do) in this adoption process.

Enjoy the pics of the nursery. We're not quite done yet.

Nesting for Baby Burks

Hey everyone, Josh and I have been really busy getting Lily's nursery together. We have painted the room a sage green and will soon add pink polka dots on the focal wall. We have gotten a glider, dresser and are currently painting the crib. We are using black furniture that looks really good with the green and pink. We are also using a ladybug theme.

Lily is now 4lbs and has a large head and feet. We know that she will be beautiful and grow into these larger features. We are very excited to meet her. We will have some showers soon that will help us get ready for her. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Baby registries are fun!

It's been a busy weekend around the Burks household. The nursery is almost cleaned out and ready to paint.

Also, we've registered at a few places. Here's some links to them:

Babies R Us
Target
Walmart

IT'S GOING TO BE A GIRL!!!!

Hey everyone, we found out today that we are having a girl on October 29th. The ultrasound went really well. We are very excited and are looking forward to getting the room ready. Please continue to pray for our birth mother and our baby girl.

Update

Hi everyone, we still haven't found out the sex of our baby, but at least we can see it grow and countdown the days using the baby ticker at the right. We are making as many preparations as we can without knowing the sex. We are also in the final stages of submitting our cookbook and it should be out next month. Thank you for all of your continued support.

And the sex of the baby is...

Delayed!

Our Birth Mother had problem with her Medicaid billing, therefore no ultrasound was performed today. :(

We'll find out soon, though. A new appointment is being scheduled for a few weeks.

Ashley and I are kinda bummed, but it's OK. The mother and baby are still doing good, and we're thankful.

We're matched!

That's right! We've been matched with a Birth Mother. She is due on October 29th, and we find out the gender on July 1. We are very excited and still in a daze that everything is happening so quickly. We truly are thankful for these blessings, and know that all this was made possible through God, and your thoughts and prayers.

Also, Bee Movie was a success. The stadium was awesome, and the weather was perfect. If you weren't there, you missed a great time, and lots of raffle prizes. We raised $2500 to help with Birth Mother expenses, and raised adoption awareness among a lot of people. For those that came and donated to the cause, we THANK YOU!

Blessed to Adopt

Thank you for visiting our adoption blog. We are very excited about this process. We can't wait until we are matched and are able to plan for our new little baby.

I wanted to give a little background about why we are adopting. Josh and I have been married for almost five years. We have always know that I shouldn't get pregnant because of a heart condition. So Josh and I have been considering ways to have a baby for about three years. We finally felt that God was telling us to adopt about a year ago. We started the process around January and here we are. We have chosen to go with Abba Adoption agency and feel that they are the best match for us.

We feel that we are very blessed to be adopting. We think that God has chosen us to go through this process for a reason. We have seen so much support so far, and we know that He has his hand in every part of our process. It has taken a lot of Faith to get this far, and we may not know when or how, but we do know that He will take care of us.

We want to say thank you for all the support and prayers we have received. It is so amazing and is very much appreciated. Please continue to pray for our baby and it's birth mother. Thank you.

Ashley Burks

Bee is for Baby Movie Night

Adoption Fund

Outdoor Movie Night

Featuring BEE MOVIE

Saturday, May 17^th 2008

War Memorial Stadium – Little Rock, AR

• Gates open at 6:30 pm, movie starts at dark

• $2.00 Suggested Donation for Admission

• Refreshments available

• Blankets and Lawn Chairs are recommended

• A love offering will be taken to benefit Josh and

  Ashley (Ponder) Burks and Cory and Shara Rickett's

  adoption funds.

We're adopting!

That's right, we're adopting! We're matched with an agency, and the ball is rolling. We're doing a domestic adoption, and the baby will probably be born here in Arkansas.

We've been praying hard about this, and we thank everyone for their past and continual support.

If you'd like to donate via PayPal, just click the button here on the site.