Saturday, January 30, 2010

Our Little Man

Although it is something that is common knowledge in my "real" world, I realize that there is something I have never shared with you about Mr. Will. He is African American. When I first wrote about being chosen as Will's parents, it crossed my mind to share it with you immediately. And yet I decided not to. Why? Because I didn't want it to be the "main focus" of his adoption story. The real focus should be his arrival into our family, not the color of his skin.

In every way, this is reflective of the way I want to raise my son. I want to teach him that his race is a part of who he is, but it is not who he is. I want him to find his identity in Christ, in our family, his friends, and in the things he loves to do.

Now, don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that I think race is unimportant, or that I will choose to pretend it doesn't exist. I have already spent many hours in my head trying to figure out how to balance teaching Will to be proud of his history and heritage as an African American with the idea that his race isn't an ultimate definer of who he is. Not sure that definer is a word...but I like it. But...since he's not even here yet I figuring we have plenty of time to figure that one out.

So, for now, we are doing our best to prepare for Will's arrival. Mostly, that means washing his clothes and putting together the crib. But we are also praying and preparing to become a transracial family. Do I know exactly what this means and everything that is ahead of us? No. But I know what is. Great love.

Photobucket

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Getting Settled

We've been on our house for almost three months now, and we're starting to get settled. We still have a lot to do, but here are a few pictures...














Photobucket

Saturday, January 23, 2010

The Man Cave

Just a little sneak peek of Will's nursery!





Photobucket

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

13 Weeks to Go...

Well, we are about 13 weeks away from Will's due date! It's starting to hit me that we are running out of time, and I am so anxious to get the nursery finished...or started!

I picked up the crib and dresser right before Christmas from Babies R Us. I thought it would be a simple little trip up there in Mike's truck while he was at work. Oh my. Can I just say, when the guys load the boxes in the back of your truck, they know what they are doing. I decided the crib was going to break in half the way they had it, so I pulled over to fix it. Ha!! I spent the next hour and a half going about 15 miles an hour down the road while the crib flew up and threatened to blow out of the truck. After three or four rearranging and tying down stops (and one guy pulling up next to me to let me know straps were flying around in the air) I was home. Covered in sweat, shaking, and in need of a Route 44 Cherry Coke. That Sonic ice never tasted so good.

Anyways, the furniture is now in the garage waiting to be put together. And this just makes me laugh:


I'm so glad they reminded me not to use a water mattress. I was going to go with an '80s theme. Back to the drawing board.

Photobucket

Monday, January 18, 2010

Lone Star Visitors

This weekend my mom and sister headed on over to visit us in Mississippi. It was so fun! Mike and I got to take them to all the places we have enjoyed so far, and it was great to spend time together.

On Saturday we started at Natural Born Grillers, and then ended up at the Cheesecake Corner in downtown Memphis. We got there two hours before they opened, so we occupied our time walking through The Peabody, showing them Beale Street (we have yet to actually walk down it since we moved here), and just standing in the window dreaming of what cheesecake we would get once they finally opened.

Sunday we went to church, saw a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad football game, and went to see Leap Year. Kind of what we expected: cute, but not the best movie in the world. Here are some pictures I managed to steal from my mom...


Natural Born Grillers...see all that food?

Now you don't.




Where's our cheesecake???


Mike in his natural state.

Our matching rings. Mine is the man-hand. Sad.

This is what happens when you don't have furniture in your living room. You turn it into a slide. Don't judge me.

Sliding...surfing. Same thing.



Photobucket

Thursday, January 14, 2010

So This Is Love

I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!

I pooled my Christmas and birthday money and purchased this little beauty:



No it's not a giant cell phone/GPS/printer. It's a Kindle. A Kindle is a type of e-reader. You buy books straight from Amazon and they download straight to the device.

I have seen them around airports and different places like that, but I just figured it would never be as good as reading a book. Well, after looking at Mike's at Christmas I decided it was worth a shot.

And...I am in big trouble, because I am addicted. I'm on my third book this week. If you wonder if I have fallen off the face of this earth, I haven't. I'm just in my bed reading. Now excuse me, I need to go download a new book.
Photobucket

Friday, January 08, 2010

Traveling Light

We have been home from Texas for a week now, and I am slowly getting everything back in order in our house. Why is it taking so long? Well, here. Take a look.


This is how our car looked coming back. We were rolling down windows and shoving stuff in. Ha! And we don't even have a baby yet. This is all a result of Christmas presents, after Christmas shopping, hand-me-down toys for Will from my cousin, nursery stuff, and the fact that I can't figure out how to go anywhere for a week without packing about seven bags. Add that to the fact that we were traveling in an Accord, and you have a big ol' mess.

Clearly, we will have to actually ship Will home through FedEx next year. Or institute a limit of some sort with the grandparents. Because I think shipping your baby is illegal.

Photobucket

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Welcome 2010

"...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:28

As I thought about blogging a wrap up of the past year, I realized just how much I have rolling around in my head that I have never shared. So, I am not going to show you pictures of my year or talk about my top moments. I am going to tell you what's on my heart. (Don't worry, I'm sure pictures will show up sometime later.)

I'm not going to lie to you. 2009 was not the best year ever. Now, some wonderful and amazing things happened. The Lord led our hearts to adoption, we were chosen to be the parents to a baby boy due in April, we followed God's call to Mississippi. I am so incredibly thankful for these things. The beginning of the year though? That was rough. Months of infertility became years, my dad was diagnosed with cancer, my grandmother passed away. But you know what?

I have never been more thankful for a year than I have been for 2009.


I am thankful for the trials. I am thankful for the heartache. Why? Because they are daily turning my heart to our Savior. They are daily bringing me closer to His will for my life.

Now, am I saying that I don't ever get upset or sad? Nope. Not even a little bit. I am the first to admit that many days I am what I like to call "reluctantly thankful." But I know in my heart that God is doing a work all around me. And I know that His word says we are to be thankful in all things, not in spite of the hard things.

Throughout the year, whether it be in a Bible Study or in a sermon, I have repeatedly been reminded to be thankful. All of these reminders have affirmed what God has been doing in my heart.

It got me thinking, "Where would I be right now if my life was going exactly how I wanted it to?" Well, I'd probably be in the other room playing with a 15 month old. And I'd probably live on a nice quiet street surrounded by all my perfectly healthy family and friends, because in a perfect world you wouldn't ever have to leave those you love behind. But would I ever have surrendered the plan for my life to God? Would I have ever realized that He has the perfect plan for me?

Would I have ever been available for God to do a miracle in my life?

Because that's what I feel like right now. As we head into 2010, a lot of things have changed in my life. And I feel like I just can't even imagine what God has in store. Are all of these things going to be perfect and wonderful? No. Some of them are going to be hard. Really hard. Some of them are going to be wonderful and amazing. But I will be thankful in ALL things. And I will follow His will. No matter what.

Photobucket