My Project

This is just to show you all what I've been keeping busy with lately. I'm getting very tired of this project--but know that I'll be glad I did it once it's done and my house is put back together. :) Top picture shows one round of painting in the garage yesterday--this is about 1/3 of all the trim I've painted so far and I have more than this left yet I think. I'm also doing all of the interior doors--and you can see below what the front door/closet door look like in the living room now. You should be very impressed, if you're wondering what you should think when you see it. :P

And the final picture shows the baby's room--yikes!!! But please notice the little bit of the door that you can see and the window trim is now white--that's part of the project! And the fact that the door is back on its hinges is another step in the right direction--late last week and earlier this week we had no doors to any of the rooms or closets in our house. Not a big deal when it's just the two of us, but definitely something that needed to be taken care of before my family arrives next week for Rogers Convention! I'm sure they'll be thankful. :P

On another note, I ended up not going to Mia's doctor appointment yesterday. Everything is fine, however, and she said the dr. was happy with her blood pressure and all--lots of fluid/swelling on her ankles, but that was the only "complaint." So far, so good with the baby updates. Should he decide to come at any moment, I really am mostly ready--despite what his room looks like right now! :)

Adoption Update!

We have some updated news--and I'm attempting to bring you, my loyal readers, the brief version. :) Our match with the birthmom due in December fell through a couple weeks ago and we were told about another possible match in the same phone conversation with our social workers. Although it was disappointing, the last two weeks have been exciting with the new possibility. I talked to the birthmom on the phone a few times and we hit it off really well.

She's in Little Rock and invited us to her dr. appt. that was today so we went down on Saturday evening and stayed with my aunt & uncle who live near there. Last night we met her (Mia) and took her to supper where we spent a couple hours talking and getting to know each other. The three of us get along great and enjoyed spending time together! This morning we picked her up and took her to the dr. appointment with a high-risk dr. (blood pressure issues) where we got to see the ultrasound! That was an awesome experience although we would have had no clue what we were looking at if the dr. hadn't narrated--and we can't really make heads or tails of the pictures we brought home. :P

We know that it's a BOY, due October 8th, but will probably be delivered early due to mom's high blood pressure etc. But time will tell. He's about 3 lb. 9 oz. today--hopefully he grows enough before the next u/s or else that will be reason enough to speed up his delivery date for sure. We'll continue to talk to Mia and I plan to go down next Wednesday for her regular check-up then we'll both go down the following Tuesday for her follow-up appt. and u/s with the high-risk dr. again.

The social worker will call us in the next day or so to come sign the official match paperwork and we'll plan on having a baby sometime in the next 2-6 weeks as much as we can unless something changes the plan. :) So for us, the adoption process just continues to move along. Whether or not this will lead to our "forever family" is something that only time can tell--but it definitely feels like we're headed in the right direction!

Have a great week, everyone!

A Different Trip to the Same Place

I've found another awesome description--this time about adoption! It definitely speaks for itself, so there's no need for me to explain...enjoy! It makes me thankful that there are different ways to get to the same place. :)

A Different Trip to the Same Place

Deciding to have a baby is like planning a trip to Australia: You’ve heard that it is a wonderful place.You’ve read many guidebooks and feel certain that you’re ready to go. Everyone you know has traveled there by plane. They say it can be a turbulent flight with occasional rough landings, but you can look forward to being pampered on the trip.

So you go to the airport and ask the ticket agent for a ticket to Australia. All around you excited people are boarding planes for Australia. It seems there is no seat for you; you’ll have to wait for the next flight. Impatient, but anticipating a wonderful trip, you wait…and wait…and wait.

Flights to Australia continue to come and go. People say silly things like “Relax, you’ll get on a flight soon.” Other people actually get on a plane and then cancel their trip, to which you cry, “It’s not fair!”

After a long time, the ticket agent tells you, “I’m sorry, we’re not going to be able to get you on a plane to Australia. Perhaps you should think about going by boat.”“By boat!” you say. “Going by boat will take a very long time and it costs a great deal of money. I really had my heart set on going by plane.” So you go home and think about not going to Australia at all. You wonder if Australia will be as beautiful if you approach it by sea rather than air. But you have long dreamed of this wonderful place for so long and finally you decide to travel by boat.

It is a long trip; many months over many rough seas. No one pampers you. You wonder if you will ever see Australia. Meanwhile, your friends have flown back and forth to Australia two or three more times, marveling about each trip.Then one glorious day, the boat docks in Australia. It is more exquisite than you ever imagined and the beauty is magnified by your long days at sea. You have made many wonderful friends during your voyage and you find yourself comparing stories with others who also traveled by sea rather than by air.

People continue to fly to Australia as often as they like, but you are able to travel only once, perhaps twice. Some say things like, “Oh, be glad you didn’t fly...My flight was horrible...Traveling by sea is so easy.”You will always wonder what it would have been like to fly to Australia. Still you know that God blessed you with a special appreciation for Australia and that the beauty of Australia is not in the way you got there, but in the place itself.
Enjoy your trip!!!

By Diane Armitage

Article Link

I guess there's nothing like introducing the elephant in the room...after it's already crashed the party. If that doesn't make sense to you after reading this, don't worry about it--it just seemed a fitting introduction to this topic in my mind at least. :P The link below is to a very interesting, informative, and thought-provoking article about infertility and how to support couples dealing with it. It's long, so you might want to wait until you have several minutes to read it--but it's well worth the read. Although infertility truly is one of those things that you can't possibly understand unless you've been through it, this article does an amazing job of explaining how it affects people. It was good even for me to read and helped validate some of my feelings and understand how I can best support others in the future. We have been very fortunate to have the support of our friends and family and I am not pointing fingers or in any way insinuating that anyone in particular needs to read this. I just ran across it and thought it was too good not to share. Another note: please don't feel sorry for us or anyone else who has dealt or is dealing with infertility issues. Pity isn't at all helpful, but your love & support is!

http://www.resolve.org/site/PageServer?pagename=lrn_ffaf_ie

Iowa Nephews!

I promised pictures of our northern nephews (lol--I know iowa isn't that far north, but it sounds neat and they're north of us for sure) but I've taken my sweet time getting them uploaded. I think we got some really good ones--especially considering we were really only with them about 6 hours or so. :)

Meeting Liam Anders for the first time--needless to say, we're hooked!

Awwwww--I want one! :) There's not that's much more fun that cuddling up with a sleeping (or sleepy) baby. The awesome thing about this picture is that I had plenty of sleep the night before so I could enjoy it! Come December the cuddling with a baby thing might look a little different from a middle of the night viewpoint. :P

Love this face--a little bit of happy, ornery, and fun all at once. This was probably after Elliot called Ryan "grandpa"--no, it wasn't but we're still laughing about that. He just wanted to get his attention and apparently "grandpa" works for some people. ;) It was pretty cute. I don't think Ryan minded--he was just thrilled that Elliot wanted his attention!

Uncle Ryan & Elliot reading one of his new birthday books. I love how "comfy" and relaxed this picture is.

And one more that I just can't pass up--how cute is this!

News Bulletin!

This will only be news to some of my readers, but it's exciting all the same. :) We are expecting a baby in December! The day we signed our activation agreement with our agency, we were told about a birthmother and possible match. Last week we heard that she liked our profile and had chosen to be matched with us--yesterday we completed the paperwork and are now officially matched! We anxiously (and excitedly) await the December 19 due date! We can hardly believe how smooth this process has gone for us so far, but we know there could be bumps in the road ahead yet--and we'll face them if they come. For now, we're very excited and feel like we're living a day dream...kind of a wierd, surreal feeling that I can't even describe...but if I use a few more exclamation points maybe you'll get the idea!!!!! ;)

We had a great trip to Iowa & Wisconsin--it was a lot of fun to tell our families the news in person--we never quite knew if it would work out to tell them in person or if it would have to be over the phone, but it worked out perfectly! We were able to tell my parents & siblings about the possibility the last time we were there--then Ryan's family on this trip. Unfortunately, my extended family will have to find out online and by phone, word of mouth, etc. but that's how it goes when we're all spread out I guess. I'll post some pictures of our time with Elliot and Liam later (when they get downloaded from the camera). For now, I'm going to let this be all--thanks for sharing our excitement with us and I'll update whenever we have additional info. Hopefully it will be an uneventful pregnancy and we won't have much to update--but we'll see.

Busy Summer

I'm sure everyone is having a busy summer--seems like the days are flying by. I keep thinking "only a few more weeks until school will be starting" and then I realize that this year that affects me less than it has in the past! Of course, I am hoping to do homebound tutoring and subbing as much as possible when school starts, so it will affect me--but in a much different way than I've been used to. :)

We are headed to Iowa this afternoon when Ryan gets off work (2:30) and will spend tonight and part of tomorrow with Farron, Cheri, and their boys! We can't wait to see them all and meet Liam! Tomorrow is Elliot's 2nd birthday so it will be great to be able to share it with him. :)
Tomorrow afternoon sometime we'll head further north to Wisconsin and spend a little time with Ryan's parents and family there. We'll have to head back home on Tuesday, so it will be another quick trip. I guess we should be getting used to the flying trips up north by now--seems like we haven't been able to stay very long for a few years--does that mean we're adults and "grown ups" now?! Yikes, that's a scary thought!

Okay--enough from me. I'm just killing time here in the last hour before we leave--that always drags out the most for me. I should probably go take out the trash and run the dishwasher so we don't come home to a smelly house...and make sure my flowers have at least a sip of water--although I'm sure they'll be wilted by the time we get back. HAPPY WEEKEND, everyone!