Christmas Goo

My life is slowly returning to normal. Boxes have slowly made their way out the door, and pictures have gone up on the walls. Moving can be rough. Especially when you do it twice in two months. But such is life.

Now, though, I have new boxes staring me in the face. Boxes of Christmas decorations. And I'm not going to lie. I feel like they are mocking me. I mean, I just started getting things decorated for normal, everyday life. I don't want to change it all just for one month of cheer. That sounds kind of bitter, huh? And yet, decorate I will. Because if I don't I'll wake up on December 20th or so and really regret it. And, I really do love to decorate for Christmas....I'm just a little overwhelmed by it this year. BUT...I am only getting out the stuff I really like and I am not going to spend hours trying to figure out the exact right place for everything.

Although usually I am so excited to decorate for Christmas, maybe my attitude this year is just a little reminder to keep it simple. Enjoy the season with family and friends. If you decorate, do it because you want to and because it makes you happy. Not because you feel like you have to.

Okay, in completely unrelated news I feel the need to report that my entire dishwashing life has been revolutionized. Maybe I was raised this way, but I have always been one of those rinse the plate completely clean before you put it in the dishwasher people. Well, no longer.

After some late night dishwashing, I decided to experiment and put some not completely clean dishes in there. As in, I am tired of cleaning baked on pork chop and cream of mushroom goo, and I just want to go to bed. Woke up the next morning, and poof. No more goo. The dishwasher had taken it all away. I know this is probably the strangest thing I have ever written, but I just had to let you know.

Life is too short. Stop rinsing the goo.

The Paperwork Continues

Even though we have already "met" Baby McD and we are no longer waiting to be matched, we still have a lot of paperwork to get done before the end of the year. We are in the middle of our homestudy, which includes doctors visits, bloodwork, essay questions, references, financial statements, and on, and on.

Although we have already sent off our FBI fingerprints, we also have to have the county sheriff sign off that we have no record in the county we live. You know what that means. Back to the sheriff's office. Yay. Why am I so happy? Because of this. Notice the sarcasm.

We also have to go to an expectant parent class. I am so excited about this part! We will be learning about bathing, feeding, car seats, pediatricians, and so on. This is stuff I definitely need some help with!

Our home study consultant suggested that we ask to take the class privately, since we don't need the childbirth part. We are very fortunate, though, to have a woman's hospital in our area, so they have lots of classes. This class is completely separate from the childbirth classes. I mean, I love the pushing and breathing as much as the next person, but I am glad to have a class so tailored to what we need.

I think one of the reasons that the home study consultant suggests private classes is to be sensitive to women who have gone through infertility and the fact that they will be in a class with lots of pregnant women. I think that is a very legitimate concern in many cases, and I definitely understand women who would prefer not to be put in that situation. That being said, in our case I am really just not worried about it.

I feel like God has so prepared our hearts for adoption and has led us to such a peace that it is exactly where we are supposed to be. I am so thankful for that! So, tune in mid-December to find out how the class went. I can't wait!

Happy Fall

Outside of our new church there is a ginkgo tree. Since we have gotten here everyone has told us about how pretty the tree will be in the fall, how the leaves will all drop within a few days, and how everybody rushes up to get family pictures, etc. in the leaves. Well, I was driving by the other day and low and behold, it really is a beautiful sight. So...here's a little bit of fall in Mississippi for you. It looks a lot like fall in Texas. But with a lot more trees.

And the Beat Goes On...

We have had family here this week, so not much unpacking has been done. What a great break, though! We have had fun, and we are wrapping up our visit today. More posts to come, soon! Here is just about the only part of our house that looks presentable right now: the front door! Could I use a few more exclamation points?!?

I saw this Welcome sign on Bless Our Nest awhile back, and I thought it would be fun on the black door. I got it from Scribble It...check them out!

Or if you are my mom...spend some time thinking about how you could totally make this with your Cricut.

We Are Going to Be Parents!

We have some very exciting news to share! Yesterday, we found out that we were picked to be the parents of a baby BOY due April 18th!!! We feel so blessed!

It is so crazy to be able to say those words...to know that in 5 short (please be short!) months, we will have a son! We were able to talk to Baby McD's birthmother on the phone today, and we are so excited to form a relationship with her and walk with her through her pregnancy. It was wonderful to be able to listen to her story, tell her more about us, and to share with her how thankful we are that she chose us as her son's parents.

While sometimes I think 5 months just sounds like forever, I keep reminding myself that it will be here before we know it! With all of the craziness and transition in our life right now, I am so thankful that we will have time to get settled and prepared for Baby McD's arrival! We also still need to finish our homestudy and all of the other adoption details. I think that the truth is starting to sink in a bit, but honestly it still doesn't seem very real!

Someday, I want to be able tell our son all of the details of how we found out we were going to be his parents, so I want to record it all here. I may ramble a bit!

Mike and I were shopping for our church's Wednesday evening meal yesterday when I got THE call. Yes, I got THE call in the middle of a Sam's Club. AND I MISSED IT! I listened to the message from our agency asking me to call, but I just didn't think much about it. I actually figured I may have done something wrong...I was worried I was in trouble! I called back, but I was unable to get ahold of anyone. For the next hour, my mind started churning thinking, "Could it be??" but I convinced myself there was just no way.

I went on my merry way, leaving Mike to head out and run some errands. I had just about decided to call the agency back when Mike called and told me the good news...we had been picked! So, I found out that we had been picked walking through the bath rugs at Bed Bath and Beyond! I spent the next 30 minutes wandering around Bed Bath and Beyond in a daze forcing myself not to call everyone I could think of. We decided we didn't need to tell anyone until after we got the call with more information and details.

Later that afternoon, in the middle of cooking lasagna for 50 people, we got that call. We ran to Mike's office and sat and listened as we found out we were going to be parents to a sweet baby boy! We will fly to Pennsylvania in April, hopefully be present for his birth, and then stay with him there until it is time to come home.

We got lots of other information too, but we will not be sharing most of the details. We feel very strongly about protecting our son's story. When he is ready to know all of the details of his birth family, we will let him know, and then he can decide what he wants to share with the world!

We cannot tell you how much we appreciate your prayers! Thank you for all of the support you have given us, and please be in prayer for our baby boy and his birthmother (we'll call her Miss C)! Please pray for health for both, peace and comfort for Miss C, and for us as we prepare to become parents!