January: The Age of Adeline

Understandably, January has been dominated by the arrival of the cutest baby ever (I think we are allowed to be biased). January 11th at 1:48pm our beautiful baby girl, Adeline Louise Kreiss, arrived into this world. We praise God for the healthy delivery for Audrey and Adeline, and celebrate God's goodness as we enter into this new season of life.

It is truly an incredible feeling to be parents now. We feel so incredibly blessed. It is true what they say about better understanding the love that God has for his children once you have a child of your own. We love Adeline dearly and deeply, and it doesn't matter how many poopy diapers or sleepless hours we get. Thank you to everyone who has supported us through prayer, through donations, through words of encouragement, and for being there for us with offers to do whatever is needed or asked. It was truly amazing to see so many people from the Highlands community show up and support us through this process. Teachers, students, former students, and parents came to support us and hold baby Adeline.

So far Adeline is a very good baby, and she eats and sleeps very well (something we are super thankful for). She is very comfortable with others and enjoys when people come over to hang out and hold her. She enjoys going to the park with her dad, sharing morning coffee, and getting burped by him.

Thankfully the recovery for Audrey has been pretty smooth, especially after learning we had to do delivery by C-section when the doctor found out about the umbilical chord being wrapped around Adeline's neck back on January 10th. Praise God it wasn't a major emergency. Nevertheless, the recover is a tough one, and your prayers are appreciated. Adeline loves to spend time just being held by her mom. She can easily pass the time by just starring into her mother's eyes and feeling her comforting hold.

Another praise has been the two weeks off for Mark to be at home and help take care of Adeline and Audrey. He returned back to work last Tuesday, the 28th, but thankfully Audrey's mom arrived last Monday to help out with the transition.

God has been really good to us in so many different ways. One major way has been the love we have received through others coming to help out and through others donating things we would need to help take care of our precious bundle of joy.

The next couple months should be an interesting one, and we know we must continue to rely on God and His providence over everything. He has already done so much to bless us and provide for us a comfortable way to go through this season. The new apartment we moved into last December continues to be a blessing, as does the way in which the school community has supported us. We also wanted to give a special "shout-out" thank you to Galena Bible Church for their support and encouragement for us during this time. With so much support from so many different avenues we stay encouraged and energized to serve here in La Paz and further God's ministry here.

Please continue to pray for our adjustment to this new season and for God to continue to work through the new circumstances we find ourselves in. May the love we have for Adeline be an avenue to talk about the love that God has for his people. May we be able to find more opportunities for God to work through broken vessels like us. Thank you for taking the time to stay updated with us and pray for us.