Filed under: Thankfulness
Hmmmm…. today is Thursday. Time to count our blessings. Here’s my list:
1)I’m thankful for comments on my Blog!
2)I’m thankful for the crib and mattress and other fun stuff I’ve gotten recently
3)I’m thankful that our families are more than just supportive; they are genuinely excited about this adoption
4)I’m thankful for Karen and Jason inviting us to the lake for the holiday weekend
5)I’m incredibly grateful for the peace God has given us through this process
6)I’m thankful for the children I know God has for us
Now it’s your turn…what are you thankful for? Post a comment and let me know. Even those of you who are just “lurking”, what are you thankful for?
Filed under: Preparing for kids
Awwww….it’s starting to look more like a baby bed! Mom and I went shopping (Thanks, Mom) and she got us a mattress for the bed and we may have picked up a few other little things. It’s hard to tell in the picture, but the outfit on the right is light green for a girl and I also had to get one for a boy. They are both size 3/6 months so I’m hoping we’ll be able to use them…if not, Oh well. The room looks better with baby things in it! The horse, book and two stuffed animals are gifts and the little ballerina at the top makes music – mom found that! The Care Bear in the corner is one my grandmother crocheted many years ago. Oh, and the blanket on the bed is Holly Hobby – it was on my bed when I was little. It’s going to hold us over until we get our bedding. I’m so bad…I bid on bedding on Ebay – very cheap, but something to put on the crib until we get our baby (ies) and can pick out either boy stuff or girl stuff!
Filed under: Preparing for kids
That’s what Daddy-O said the other day. “I feel like we’re 8 months pregnant now.” 
He’s very excited about the adoption and can’t wait. We’re even having serious discussions about names.
We were looking at diaper bags in the store the other day and he said, “I am NOT carrying anything pink or frilly around when I take the kids out.” Those of you who know me understand his predicament. I love all things pink and frilly and my biggest obsession is with purses. A diaper bag is like getting another purse! Woo-Hoo! If I go through diaper bags like I do purses, I should go ahead and buy stock in Babies R Us now because I have a lot of purses. And I have to tell you, I’m pretty stinkin’ excited about getting a diaper bag.
Anyway, Daddy-O kept saying, “where are the camoflauge bags?” Of course, there weren’t any….but I did some snooping on the internet and I found one for him. I ordered it and it should be here this week – I know he’ll be excited! A camo diaper bag? Really, now…who ever thought of that?
God is so good.
I want to share something with you that comes from the very bottom of my heart. I don’t want to get pregnant. There, I said it. AFter 3 1/2 years of trying desparately to get pregnant, I can tell you honestly that I don’t want to be pregnant anymore. I am so HAPPY to be adopting that I can’t imagine having a baby any other way. I know it’s hard to believe and even harder to understand, but it is my truth. It is a testament to God’s Grace and nothing else.
Many people have said to me, “well, now that you’re adopting…….you’ll probably get pregnant!” What I don’t think you understand is that I really, truly do not wish that to happen. If it were to happen, it would show us all that God does have a sense of humor! But it isn’t what I desire. I tell you the Truth, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4. Throughout our struggle with infertility, we prayed for God’s will. We prayed first what He has for us and we prayed the He would help us not to settle for anything less.
Some of you may have heard me say, “I only want what God has for me. EVEN if that means I don’t have a baby….I know that God’s plan is better than my plan.” I feel like I repeated it like a broken record. But those were not just words, they came from my heart and I believed them. I’ll admit that I prayed those words with tears streaming down my face on many occasions, but I meant them. And God has changed the desire of my heart. I know, now more than ever, that what He has for me is far better than anything I could ever want for myself. Praise God for that blessing!
On Sunday, our sermon was on “fighting the good fight”. You know, putting on the belt of Truth, the shield of Faith, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of Salvation, the feet of Readiness?? (i think) and the sword of the Word. Very close to that if not it exactly – my apologies to any Bible scholars who might be reading this! Anyway, I feel like that is exactly what we are doing right now. We are fighting for our children.
I say “fighting” because sometimes i feel like there are one thousand reasons why we should not move forward in this process. It’s scary and very uncertain. And it seems that just when I’m at my weakest, someone feels it necessary to “share” a story with me about some horrific experience someone they know had when adopting. (i mean, really, when you find out a woman is pregnant do you tell her about every woman you know who has had a miscarriage?) We’re fighting the fear and the uncertainty….the unknown.
Here’s our biggest fear: that we will have a baby placed with us and he/she will not become eligible for adoption and will eventually leave our arms. This is not only a possibility but a very real likelihood. I know that we cannot even imagine the pain that would cause us – but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my God is BIG enough to get us through it. I trust Him enough to carry us when we can’t stand on our own. We have to remember that when a baby goes home to his/her birthmother, it means another family has survived. We have to trust that God is doing something in her life that we may not be able to see. We have to know that we are blessed to part of God’s plan.
God is so good. Have you met Him? I mean, have you ever really met Him? Come face to face with Jesus? He is dying to meet you. You don’t have to change who you are or “clean up your act” to meet with Jesus. The cool thing about Him is that He meets you right where you are. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” He is the fullness that fills all the empty spaces in my heart.
P.S. we are going to be parents. It seems so close yet so unbelievable! There is a crib setup in our house. I can’t believe that. Sometimes I go in the nursery and touch it jsut to be sure….
Don’t stop the Comments! Keep ‘em coming!
Filed under: Preparing for kids
We picked the crib up today from BabiesRus and started putting it together this evening! Just to show we (well, Daddy-O) really did put it together, here is the before shot. By the way, am I the ONLY person who DIDN’T know that when you buy a crib it does NOT come with a mattress?
Filed under: Preparing for kids
Here’s Daddy-O hard at work. He kinda looks like he’s in jail, doesn’t he?
Filed under: Preparing for kids
The finished product. It doesn’t seem real, but it is. We have a crib up in our nursery! How CRAZY is that?
Filed under: adoption
Here’s a great site with lots of books on different types of adoption. If you’ve been to the book store, you know there aren’t many adoption books out there. So, for those of you who are looking for adoption books, adoption baby books, etc….check out Tapestry Books!
Filed under: Comments
Thanks so much for your posts! Tina, Amy, Chantel, Melony, Stacy, Mom and one other (i don’t know who posted it) You have all made my day! Whenever someone posts a comment, I automatically get an email….and I smile every time! I appreciate it more than you know!
Keep ‘em coming….
Filed under: Comments
Ok, guys, it’s time for a little participation. You’ll notice in the lower right hand corner of each post, there is an underlined word: comments . I want you to click on comments and leave me a message. When you click comments another screen will appear and you can type your message into the box that is in the upper right hand corner. (Above the box, it says “Leave Your Comment”) You don’t have to sign in or register or anything. You don’t even have to give your email address. Once you type in your message, below the box you’ll see “Choose your identity“. If you don’t have a Blogger account set up, or you don’t want to use it, then just click the circle next to anonymous. When you’re ready, just click the blue box with the caption Log in and Publish. Don’t worry, it isn’t logging you in to anything, it’s just sending me your message!
C’mon, I want some action here. Only a few people have left me comments and but several of you have told me you are reading my posts. Look, if mom can figure out how to leave me a comment, so can YOU! (sorry, mom, no offense!)
It’s nice to you’re out there and my notes aren’t just floating around in cyberspace. Sometimes, I start to feel like I’m talking to myself.
Ready…..Set……COMMENT!
Filed under: Adoption Process
Well, both Daddy-O and I have completed our interviews now. They were much easier and less stressful than we anticipated. I simply can not believe how close we are to being finished. We should do our last home study visit next week, after we’ve “baby-proofed” the house. Here’s a list of some of the things we have to do, in case you’re wondering what it takes, legally speaking, to “baby-proof” your house:
- we have to have outlet covers on all the outlets that aren’t being used
- we have to have a 6lb fire extinguisher that is visible in the kitchen
- working smoke detectors in the kitchen and hallway outside the bedrooms
- a screen in front of the fire place
- all medicine must be locked up (we’re going to use a tackle box with a pad lock on it)
- the gate to the pool must automatically close
- the guns have to be locked up
- the ammunition has to be locked up (separately from the guns)
- we have to have an evacuation plan (that’s so we can be licensed for foster care)
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. We’re going to have a work day this weekend and see if we can’t knock out most of this list.
On a much more exciting note, I want to have a painting party! Doesn’t that sound like loads of fun? I can only do some basic stuff, but I need to paint the play room and I also want to paint the baby’s room. While we’re at it, we may as well go ahead and paint the toddler’s bedroom, too. (Assuming we also get a toddler – if not, it will be the guest room.)
I’ll post some pictures of what we want for bedding – so you can get ideas of what color we should paint the nursery. I’m sure you have nothing better to do than wonder what color I should paint the nursery. Right?
Filed under: Preparing for kids
If we are lucky enough to get a girl….
Filed under: Preparing for kids
If we are lucky enough to get a boy….
This is my nephew Wes. He was baptized last Sunday and we are SOOO proud of him. He spent a few days with us a few weeks back and we had a blast. He’s such a great kid and so much fun to be around! We love you, Wes!
Filed under: Preparing for kids
Thought you might want to see the crib we have selected for our nursery! We hope to order it this week and I think it will take it about a week to come in! I can’t wait to put it up in the room!
Filed under: Day after day
This is Cassie…she is the 18 month old who stayed with us for the weekend, along with her brother! They were sooo much FUN and soooo much WORK!
Filed under: Day after day
This is what my sweet husband gave me for my birthday! Isn’t he the best?
So tomorrow (Thursday) is actually our birthday. Yes, I said “our”. If you didn’t know already, Daddy-O and I share a birthday. I can’t think of a better birthday present than to be making progress toward adoption. Happy Birthday to us!!!!! Woo- Hoo! What are we doing for our birthdays? Well, we are both working all day (yes, I am REALLY working) and then we have class tomorrow night. Not too exciting but we’re going to celebrate next week sometime.
We had our first home visit tonight and it went pretty well. The worst thing about it was that the lady tried to scare us to death. I guess part of her job is to make sure we are really committed to this. Sadly, part of her job must also be to try and get us to adopt older children because they are so hard to find homes for. One thing that is heavy on our hearts is the fact that it is possible that we’ll have kids placed with us, then they’ll go on to live with a relative or something. It is a very real possibility that we have to be prepared for.
Please pray that God will prepare our hearts for whatever lies ahead. Pray that we will “trust in Him with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding.” A friend recently reminded me of 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” We know that we would be devastated to lose a child that was placed with us, but we also know that God will carry us through any hardship we face. We trust Him to give us what we need to get through and part of what we need is you! We know we have friends and family who love and support us and we are so incredibly grateful for that. Thank you for your prayers, your words of encouragement, and for your genuine excitement! We love you!
The second part of the homestudy is where we do our individual interviews. Daddy-O goes for his on Friday morning at 9:30 and I go on Tuesday at the same time. After those, we’ll have to make sure we get everything done on our list for “childproofing” and then the case worker will come back out to go over everything. Once we have that final meeting, she’ll present us to a committee who will either approve, deny, or ask for more information. Assuming we are approved, all that’s left is for the case worker to come back out one last time along with our adoption worker and introduce us. From there, they starting looking for our children!
just think, next year, I should be able to get Daddy-O a Father’s Day present! Woo-Hoo!
I’m exhausted and ready to go to sleep so I’m going to make this short. I talked to our home study worker today and asked if we could schedule our visits so we can work our schedule around them. She said she could be here Wednesday!!!! As in THIS WEDNESDAY!!!! So, please remember to say a prayer for us at 5:30 on Wednesday, June 15! She will be coming to our house (luckily, our wonderful housekeeper comes that morning) and we’ll meet for about an hour. At that time, she will give us the list of what we need to do to this house to get it “child-proofed” and then we’ll have a couple of weeks to do it before she returns.
Each of us will meet individually with her for about 2-3 hours after this initial visit. Once we’ve done that, she’ll meet with us jointly again and then she has to present us to a committee that will decide if we are “accepted”.
We’ll keep you posted!
Filed under: Uncategorized
i’ll post pictures of the nursery later, we still need to straighten a little in there!
Filed under: Day after day
Here’s another shot of the craft room – can you tell how proud i am to have this organized?
This is going to be the guest room. Yes, I know the curtains do not match and I also know the bedspread is not big enough for the bed. (that was for you, mom 
) We will turn this into a toddler’s room if we are lucky enough to adopt siblings!
Filed under: Day after day
I couldn’t figure out how to turn the image so just turn your head sideways to see this one – this is the closet in the “craft” room which is now doubling as my office.
Filed under: Day after day
Okay, for those of you who have seen my “craft” room – this should AMAZE you. I have carpet in there that you can actually see now. Notice all of the containers – i know it looks like a lot of junk, but believe me, we threw out about 20 garbage bags full of junk!
Filed under: Preparing for kids
This may come as a surprise to most of you but I hate for my house to upside down! I still have stuff in three different rooms that needs to be sorted and stored in one room. I’ve made so much progress but still have a ways to go! I should have taken before and after pictures so you could see the difference, but i’ll just still post after pictures once we’re finished.
Once i get the rooms all settled, I’ll be ready to start painting – we really can’t paint the nursery because I want to wait and see if we get a boy or girl before we do that. However, we can paint the play room – I want to do a mural on one wall with big blades of grass coming up from the bottom and the three or four daisies coming out of the grass. On one side, I want to paint a little ladybug flying around one of the flowers. The playroom will be the room where the dining table is now so it is the first room people will see when they walk into my house. I realize this means people will be greeted with this mural but I DON’T CARE! I think it will be cute and i know this room will probably be a bit cluttered with toys and stuff – again, I DON’T CARE!
This brings me to an excellent point – do any of you know how to paint murals? I think we all know what would happen if I tried to do it myself!
Filed under: Day after day
We had a great time with my nephew this week – he’s at such a fun age (6) and we really enjoyed having him here. This coming weekend, we are keeping two of our friends’ kids – ages 1 1/2 and 3. I know we’ll have fun but i’m thinking it will be a lot more work than it was with my nephew!
Our friends are going away for the weekend so we’ll have the little ones from Friday early afternoon until Sunday afternoon. It will be interesting to see how, if at all, this weekend changes our feelings on adopting siblings. Don’t be surprised if you see a post on Monday that says we are no longer considering siblings and will be looking to adopt only one child at a time! ha ha ha!
After the weekend, we’ll get rid of the bedroom furniture in one of the bedrooms and start getting the nursery set up! How exciting is that? Next week is our last week of parenting classes so we are really moving right along!
Stay tuned!
There are so many children in and around the Houston area who are awaiting adoption. We hear about the statistics in class but i never remember them so i’ve finally looked them up. You can see for yourself the sad reality of these orphans. They are, in fact, orphans. They have no parents – if they are awaiting adoption, their parents’ rights have been terminated. We don’t often hear about orphanages here in the US, but we definitely have orphans. These are the kids in the Houston area – this list does not include even all of Texas. 800 kids awaiting adoption. 800. Eight hundred children without families to call their own. 800 reasons to pray. I ask you often to pray for us and our children – today I’m asking you to do something different. Stop right now, wherever you are and whisper a prayer for these kids. Many of them will never have parents to call their own. Sure, they’ll be taken care of “by the system”, they’ll be prepared for life on their own. Where will they go for the holidays?
What traditions do you have for the holidays? Many of these kids have none. Where did you go to first grade? Do you remember your teacher’s name? Do you have a photo of your first day of school? Many of the kids do not. Do you know stories of things that happened when you were born or were a toddler? Maybe funny things you said or did? Many of these kids do not.
A few days ago, i was having a hard time thinking of something to inspire me. Today, i can think of 800 reasons.
PS Here are the statistics for all of Texas.
Filed under: Thankfulness
Ps 105:1
Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness.Let the whole world know what he has done. NLT
I don’t want to lose sight of the little things. One thing I’ve learned in the past few years as we have struggled to start our family is that we should give thanks in all situations.
Prov 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart,And lean not on your own understanding;6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,And He shall direct your paths.”NKJV
I believe that God is in control and I trust Him with my life. Believing that with my whole heart means I can thank Him in any situation – even when we were in the midst of infertility. I never want to lose that valuable lesson so I’m borrowing an idea from a friend on making Thursdays Thankful. I hope you will use the comments feature to share what you are thankful for.
Here’s my list for today:
1. I’m thankful for shorthorns
2. I’m thankful for my nephew coming to stay with me for a few days this weekend!
3. I’m thankful for all of the wonderful friends who have offered to let me borrow their baby/toddler stuff
4. I’m thankful that Daddy-O’s mom will let us use the day bed in our nursery (this is so when you come over, you can sleep in the baby’s room and get up with him/her so that mom and dad can sleep in a bit)
5. I’m thankful that I can soon use words like mom and dad in reference to Daddy-O and I! That’s sounds REALLY wierd, though!
6. I’m so incredibly grateful for this path we’re on, for the people God has used to bless us along the way and for what He has for us – for whatever child/children He brings to us!
So, what are you thankful for? Just so you know, if you click on comments below, you can leave your mark on this site – you don’t have to register or anything. Just be sure to click anonymous before you click publish your message. Have a great one!
Filed under: Day after day
So, i was thinking of a title for this post and all i could come up with is this. Chicago 17, 1980 something……a great band and a great song. Hearing it makes me want to go roller skating and i don’t mean in line skating – i mean the real thing. Roller skating – 4 wheeels with big, obnoxious looking, orange stoppers that never work. For those of you who I grew up with, you know I’m thinking of Skate City…..THE place to be when we were what, 12? 11? Who knows. Before i skate along any farther down memory lane, i guess I’ll get back to what i came here for.
Inspiration – what exactly is it? I haven’t posted in a week now because I’ve been waiting for something to inspire me. I wish i had the discipline to come straight home from class and write because that is when i feel most inspired (except for tonight after our 2 hour discussion on psychotropic meds). It would be accurate to say that my inspiration for writing this post is a lack of inspiration. Does that even make sense?
So, before i lose you, if i haven’t already done so, i’d like to give a shout out (yes, i said ’shout out’) to my shorthorn buddies. You know who you are. I’m glad I’m not the only one who can’t pass a T/F test on psychotropic meds without some extra help! The shorthorns are our class buddies – they share a table with us and make us laugh. (sometimes when we’re not supposed to be laughing – aren’t those the best buddies to have? )
As for the updates of where we are, we still have a few weeks of classes left before we do our home study. Daddy-O installed a new garage door opener over the weekend and I’ve been working on rearranging rooms. By the way, I welcome any help in that department so feel free to drop by and lend a hand!
Prov 27:17
17 As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend . NLT
I was looking up that verse to find the reference for it and i noticed the two verses before it. They made me laugh and i had to share them with you – you guys will appreciate this.
Prov 27:15-16
15 A nagging wife is as annoying as the constant dripping on a rainy day. 16 Trying to stop her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or hold something with greased hands. NLT
