I started to write this on Monday 9/16, and then it sat here in my drafts. I'm sorry for the delay, but life has been a little crazy lately! I also apologize for not having anything profound to say at the moment. More [important] updates to come soon, but for now, some minor happenings:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday mornings we have been going to obedience classes with Mendon. She is a very well-behaved dog, but we are working on her focus and recall when she comes across other dogs on walks (especially yipper ones who bark at her rudely). It's been fun; we have a small class and it's held where Col works.
The neighborhood boys hate us. Or in some weird elementary-school-boy way love us enough to torture us. Col said he'll write about the experiences we've had lately, so I'll leave you with that.
We had a new woman move in next door to us, and another down the street. We were hoping for some young families on our block, but since they aren't, I'll settle for the fact that they will be quiet neighbors.
We started to register for Little L over the weekend. My sister-in-law went with us, and we had a fun time. Before we got out of the car, I asked her if she was ready for this, because once before when Col and I went in the store to look at crib sets, I got a lot of obvious and confused belly glances. However, we were blessed with a man for our registry rep AND I was extremely surprised and pleased to see that on the registration sheet there was a box to check if we were adopting! Seriously made my day. I gratefully exclaimed thanks, and other than a few looks which I barely noticed, we had a fun time registering :)
Community Group through church started up again, and we are with a different group that previously. It was extremely hard to part ways with some of the couples that we have been with for years, but we have been having a great time getting to know lots of new people. Our new group is already quite large, but we've already started to form some new friendships, all while applying sermons to our lives and praying together.
We had a fire drill at church a few weeks ago. I was volunteering in the bookstore that morning, but my shift was cut short as we all had to exit the building at the beginning of the sermon. Unfortunately we were never able to go back in for that service, but thankfully there wasn't a fire. Check out our church's blog for more details.
Mom and dad came up for a Sunday afternoon of football, shopping, and pizza. It was so nice to be able to have an impromptu day together now that they live closer. Dad and Col watched football while mom and I went shopping, then we reconvened for dinner. It was a relaxing time catching up, and they were happy to only have to drive about an hour back to Grandpa's house (where they are staying right now) instead of over 2 hours.
I enjoyed some country time visiting my friend's house. She has done an awesome job re-doing the place, and it was great to see the progress. Reminded me of my love of wide open spaces and old farmhouses.
We celebrated our oldest niece's 4th birthday. I hate how fast time flies by as we get older! I can't believe that she is already 4 years old! Happy birthday, sweet, sassy, outgoing girl!
We braved the drive-in with our friends one more time despite the cool fall temperatures. We all sat outside bundled up head to toe for the first movie, but due to a difficult time hearing it and freezing our toes off, we sat in the car for the second. It was a great trip out there, and I'm so glad we got to go again and spend time with them.
Col and I also took advantage of the super warm weather this weekend and went mini-golfing with a Groupon that was about to expire. We hadn't played the course in a long time, and the place has changed a lot (for the better) since Col worked there. We had a great time, and it was nice to slow down and have a little date together. Sidenote: we recently hit our old dating anniversary. We've officially been together for 6 years :)
Lastly, the Amazing Race started back up! Sometimes it's hard to tell from the first episode, but do you have a favorite team? I'm still deciding, no one's jumped out at me yet.
That should keep the blog from dying for now. Stay tuned for some much more interesting material soon! :)
Sunday, September 29, 2013
4th puzzle update!
.JPG)
Special thanks to:
Dawn and Jim
Dawn and Jim
Whitney and Spencer
Mom and Dad
Kristen and Andy
Keegan
Monday, September 23, 2013
our whirlwind week
It was Monday (9/16). Just your ordinary crazy-busy Monday. Col called, and I thought maybe we were being profiled again, which was exciting in and of itself. We never called each other at work until we became a waiting family. So I knew that it had something to do with our adoption.
I ran upstairs with my phone, and Col asked if I was ready for a whirlwind...well, who isn't (or is, depending on how you look at it)? He said that we were chosen by the birthmom from our latest profiling call! We had just heard about this case on Friday (9/13), and here it was, 3 days later, and she had already chosen us. Not only that, but a few important details had changed. But the real kicker was this: she was on her way to the hospital because she might be in labor! My oh my, how the body and mind kick into gear when needed!
We rejoiced in being chosen so quickly and decided to accept. Then we got to work gathering information about what being 32 weeks preemie would mean for baby. And we tentatively planned dates with the agency to sign paperwork and go out to Syracuse to meet birthmom when she was released from the hospital if she gave birth this week.
Monday evening we told our parents and siblings, tried to breathe, and attempted to figure out what we needed to do right away. I kept saying how there was so much we needed to do, but Col kept me sane by reminding me that we "also need to eat." Tuesday morning we waited for an update and received word that it was just false labor and she had already been discharged. Phew! All day Tuesday I was giddy and excited, as I was able to really take in the fact that we had been chosen by a birthmom. It had all sunk in since our timeline for baby being on the scene went back to the original November due date. We continued to spread the news to our families and close friends. All week I felt like I had a million phone calls to make and couldn't help but share the news.
Each day brought about new information from the agency. Tuesday (9/17) we had our "match call" where we went over all of the medical/background information and the fees again so that we had everything once more. We also discussed dates to meet birthmom, as she wants to do so before she gives birth.
On Thursday (9/19), our whirlwind week continued as our family advocate called once more with additional information. When Col called I was nervous, but when he told me, we both just laughed. We had been told the gender of the baby but were keeping it on the down-low. However, after birthmom's visit in the hospital, they weren't sure anymore! Col told me by saying that our [insert one of our name choices here] might be a [insert other gender name choice here]. It was relieving to hear that this was the only update and that everyone was healthy.
Everything has happened so fast. I feel like this all happened so long ago, and yet it was one week ago when we received that exciting and information-overloaded call. We already have a meeting set up with birthmom, and while I'm really nervous, I'm also so excited to meet her. And bonus: I get to brush up on my Spanish so that I can speak with her :) How funny that God knew I would use my Spanish degree someday, even after all my hedging about it. Pieces just seem to be falling into place, and we are so excited about this next step in our adoption journey!!
I ran upstairs with my phone, and Col asked if I was ready for a whirlwind...well, who isn't (or is, depending on how you look at it)? He said that we were chosen by the birthmom from our latest profiling call! We had just heard about this case on Friday (9/13), and here it was, 3 days later, and she had already chosen us. Not only that, but a few important details had changed. But the real kicker was this: she was on her way to the hospital because she might be in labor! My oh my, how the body and mind kick into gear when needed!
We rejoiced in being chosen so quickly and decided to accept. Then we got to work gathering information about what being 32 weeks preemie would mean for baby. And we tentatively planned dates with the agency to sign paperwork and go out to Syracuse to meet birthmom when she was released from the hospital if she gave birth this week.
Monday evening we told our parents and siblings, tried to breathe, and attempted to figure out what we needed to do right away. I kept saying how there was so much we needed to do, but Col kept me sane by reminding me that we "also need to eat." Tuesday morning we waited for an update and received word that it was just false labor and she had already been discharged. Phew! All day Tuesday I was giddy and excited, as I was able to really take in the fact that we had been chosen by a birthmom. It had all sunk in since our timeline for baby being on the scene went back to the original November due date. We continued to spread the news to our families and close friends. All week I felt like I had a million phone calls to make and couldn't help but share the news.
Each day brought about new information from the agency. Tuesday (9/17) we had our "match call" where we went over all of the medical/background information and the fees again so that we had everything once more. We also discussed dates to meet birthmom, as she wants to do so before she gives birth.
On Thursday (9/19), our whirlwind week continued as our family advocate called once more with additional information. When Col called I was nervous, but when he told me, we both just laughed. We had been told the gender of the baby but were keeping it on the down-low. However, after birthmom's visit in the hospital, they weren't sure anymore! Col told me by saying that our [insert one of our name choices here] might be a [insert other gender name choice here]. It was relieving to hear that this was the only update and that everyone was healthy.
Everything has happened so fast. I feel like this all happened so long ago, and yet it was one week ago when we received that exciting and information-overloaded call. We already have a meeting set up with birthmom, and while I'm really nervous, I'm also so excited to meet her. And bonus: I get to brush up on my Spanish so that I can speak with her :) How funny that God knew I would use my Spanish degree someday, even after all my hedging about it. Pieces just seem to be falling into place, and we are so excited about this next step in our adoption journey!!
Monday, September 16, 2013
.JPG)
Sunday, September 8, 2013
3rd puzzle update!
The border (and more) is complete!
.jpg)
Special thanks to:
Nells and Scottie
Elyse and Dave
Peter and Karen
Jackie
Laurie
Denise
Linda
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
we need your help!!
Family, friends, readers, strangers! We need your help! We have hit a brick wall with our puzzle fundraiser. Unfortunately, we still haven't even finished the border and have a ways to go! We've been reminded lately of just how quickly things can change and how fast we would need to be ready with payments in hand to pick up Little L.
For those of you who have already donated : THANK YOU SO MUCH!
For those of you who are thinking about it : why wait?
For those of you who are unable to at this time : please pray for us that we will be able to continue saving on our own and for continued faith that the Lord will provide...we know He will!
Please check out my original post for details on our puzzle fundraiser.
I would love to someday be able to show Little L all the names of the wonderful people who brought him or her home. Would you like to be one of those names? Let us know! THANK YOU! :)
For those of you who have already donated : THANK YOU SO MUCH!
For those of you who are thinking about it : why wait?
For those of you who are unable to at this time : please pray for us that we will be able to continue saving on our own and for continued faith that the Lord will provide...we know He will!
Please check out my original post for details on our puzzle fundraiser.
I would love to someday be able to show Little L all the names of the wonderful people who brought him or her home. Would you like to be one of those names? Let us know! THANK YOU! :)
part 2 : supporting adoptive families
Posting Part 2 of one of my favorite blog posts ever. I posted Part 1 back here, but wanted to do the next installment as we are now waiting.
Millions of Miles: Supporting Adoptive Families
2. Once families are in process:
•Check in with the adoptive family's (from here on out called A.F.) emotions! Adoption can be a very emotional process. There are days where you are in the dumps and days when you want to celebrate. Give the A.F. the space to talk about their feelings and their frustrations. When they call super excited and say, "I got my I-171h", pretend like you know what they are talking about and jump up and down and throw a party.
• Throw a baby shower just as if the A.F. was pregnant. Make a big stinkin' deal over the mom to be. Obviously, don't play the how big is your belly game. But do everything else the same!
•Support A.F. fundraisers. They need your help! Better yet- host a fundraising dinner, pancake breakfast, auction, raffle, etc. to help the family raise the money to bring their child home.
•If there are other children already in the A.F. offer to babysit them leading up to traveling so that mom and dad get a few last dates in before the new addition.
•If the adoption is international, educate yourself about the child's birth country.
•If the adopted child will be of a different race, educate yourself about transracial families by reading articles, books, etc. Just googling transracial families will bring up a wealth of information. Also (and no one should do this anyway!) do NOT make derogatory comments about the child's race, birth country, or culture.
•Offer to keep siblings, pets and housesit for the A.F. when they are traveling.
See the whole post here.
Millions of Miles: Supporting Adoptive Families
2. Once families are in process:
•Check in with the adoptive family's (from here on out called A.F.) emotions! Adoption can be a very emotional process. There are days where you are in the dumps and days when you want to celebrate. Give the A.F. the space to talk about their feelings and their frustrations. When they call super excited and say, "I got my I-171h", pretend like you know what they are talking about and jump up and down and throw a party.
• Throw a baby shower just as if the A.F. was pregnant. Make a big stinkin' deal over the mom to be. Obviously, don't play the how big is your belly game. But do everything else the same!
•Support A.F. fundraisers. They need your help! Better yet- host a fundraising dinner, pancake breakfast, auction, raffle, etc. to help the family raise the money to bring their child home.
•If there are other children already in the A.F. offer to babysit them leading up to traveling so that mom and dad get a few last dates in before the new addition.
•If the adoption is international, educate yourself about the child's birth country.
•If the adopted child will be of a different race, educate yourself about transracial families by reading articles, books, etc. Just googling transracial families will bring up a wealth of information. Also (and no one should do this anyway!) do NOT make derogatory comments about the child's race, birth country, or culture.
•Offer to keep siblings, pets and housesit for the A.F. when they are traveling.
See the whole post here.
Monday, September 2, 2013
annual weekend getaway
This past weekend we had our 7th (WOW!) annual weekend getaway to Katie's family's cottage. We keep growing each year, and this year was Katie and Aaron's newlywed summer, Mendon joined Buddy as dog guests, and Jeremiah joined us for the first time (well...he was there last year, secretively ;)).
We attempted for two days to get Mendon to swim, but she wasn't having it. She did enjoy playing in the water, as long as she could still stand. We could tell she wanted to get in so badly, and at one point she fell in off the dock due to her own curiosity. We learned that she can swim, but she immediately booked it to shore. At least she likes to play in the water. That's what we get for having a mastiff I guess :)
We had a blast, like always :) Even though it rained some of the time, we had a great time playing games and catching up. We ended the nights with bonfires, swam in the lake, and went to the annual dinner spot, Ye Olde Pizza Pub!
[Col & I, John, Christine & Jeremiah, Aaron & Katie]
We talked about how it will be fun to see our annual pictures as we continue to expand. We also said it would be funny in 20 years from now to see how we look (and it was crazy to think that we'd then possibly have some kids in college!). Thanks again for sharing your cottage, Katie!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)