Merry Christmas all.....

Yes, I realise it's been awhile since I posted. I guess the last post we were waiting to hear if we passed court in Ethiopia.

Well, as it turned out we didn't actually have a court date on the 5th like we thought. The birth mother broke her leg and was unable to get to court. So we got rescheduled for Dec 18th, but still haven't heard if we passed. You will all find out once we know.

We are off to Mexico tomorrow and will be there until the New Year. A great place to be when you are trying to keep your mind off of if we passed court or not. I felt like I wasted a good part of my week when we were waiting to find out if we passed or not, waiting by the phone and checking email. So I will be warming up my bones, swimming and eating salsa rather than racing to the phone each time it rings!

Want to shout out to all who I have connected with thru blogging or other sources of social networking. You guys are a super outlet and understand what's going on. Thanks for taking the time to write your own posts to tell what you are going thru. You guys are real gems.

To all my in IRL(in real life) friends, thanks for supporting us and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Here's to an awesome 2010. Looking forward to what this year holds. Peace out.

Johnny Cash is comin' to town.....

Remember this post? (and don't just pretend to read it...actually read it!) It is such a good way to remember about the true meaning of Christmas.

Once again, I am in a grumpy post CAFAC email. It turns out we may not find out until NEXT week if we passed court or not. BOOOOOO.

As those of you who read my link to my old post saw, it was suppose to be my sister's turn to go to the annual Christmas party. But since she is working, it looks like I will be going in her place!

Good thing, because I need a good dance with Malcom to cheer me up. Except this year, Johnny Cash is making an appearance! What's your favorite Johnny Cash song? Ring of Fire? Get Rhythm? Walk the Line? I will update you on my favorite Johnny song after the big party.

Dec 5th, 2009

Dec 5th. Has almost come and gone....


I actually went about an hour into the day without thinking about Nev's court date.

J had a hockey game and we slept in a bit and had to run around the house like crazy trying to get J and Ad ready for the game! Here is a picture of our hockey star in action!

We then came home and put up the Christmas tree. J has been looking forward to it for awhile now, and Ad was gone for 5 nights so this was a good family time. It's the first year we have a "big" tree and it was fun decorating it. The past um.......11 years we had a 4 foot tree that my mom picked up at Salvation Arm, and it did the trick. It suited our houses because they were smaller and we didn't have a lot of room for a large tree. Now that we are on the farm and have lots of room we bought a 8 foot pre-lit tree. Since Jay has been born we have had a little tree ball that had a picture of her as an infant. This year we hung a photo frame of NEVAEH!! It was so special.

We won't find out for a few more days if we passed or not. I will be trying to stay as busy as possible without wearing myself down! I will give you guys an update once we find out our result.

P.S J scored a goal as well today. What a great day. Hope it is made even a better day by finding out that we passed!

Viva Las Vegas......

Vegas was great! It was a super fun time, but came home more tired than before we left. Vegas is definitely a place with lots to do, and not a lot of down time.

We went down for a hockey tournament for the team that Adam plays on. They played great and got 2nd. Great job boys. A funny moment was when the team pulled up to Caesars Palace in the cargo van. We had rented it for the hockey gear. It was a van with 2 seats, and the rest cargo space. Well the rink was about 1/2 away, so the guys decided to pile in, to save on cab rates. After the one game us wives also piled in and there was 22 people PLUS hockey bags! We pulled up to Caesars for valet parking and piled out of the van! I'm sure the high class people at Caesars wondered what in the world was going on! It was hilarious. Us wives also got a first hand experience of what hockey talk is about. It was definatily a memory I won't forget.

I also made it the whole trip without a brush or a comb! The joys of having straight hair! Maybe I will regret not buying one after I see some of the pictures. (I couldn't find mine before the trip, so we went without one!)

The trip was a great time to not focus on our upcoming court date on Dec 5th. There is nothing I can do to prepare for this court date, other than just pray that it goes well. Yes, Dec 5th is a Saturday, but that's how they roll down there, weekends don't hold the same value that we have up here! We won't find out until the following week if we passed or not, but rest assured we will update you as soon as we know something.

A lot of you ask if there is anything you can do for us in this journey. In the past I have said "thanks, but really there is not much you can do for us, but appreciate the offer." There have been some whom I have taken up on this by having them have J for a play date while doing paperwork or such, and to those I am so thankful.

Now, I am going to take you up on your offers! We would love if you will join us in prayer for our daughter Nevaeh. Please pray that even though Nev doesn't "know" us, she will be bonding with us. Pray that our first time that we meet her, she will feel our love and not want to go back to the caregivers she is used to. Pray that she will let her mom and dad hold her, hug her and kiss her, and that she will be comfortable in our arms. Pray that she will not be majorly affected when we remove her from the home she is so used.

I have been having some anxious feelings the past weeks of how our bonding with Nevaeh will be. Part of me was feeling so sad about taking Nev from all she knows. She will be taken by "strangers" and have no familiar settings to make her feel comfortable. I expressed some of my feelings in my last post. I am so blessed by my friends, both IRL friends(in real life friends) and my blogger friends. You guys totally uplifted me and helped get me back "up".

The biggest thing that made my heart calm down was an experience at church 2 weeks ago. I was singing in worship time and was once again wondering how Nev was doing that day etc.... I looked over and saw the pictures that are on our wall in church. The are ones I have seen every Sunday for the past while, but this time I really looked at them closely. They are pictures of Jesus with children. Ones almost exactly like the ones here. My heart was filled with warmth and I became calm, knowing that Jesus has Nevaeh in His arms, even though she is far, far from us. She is wrapped in His love, and he is going to have His arms around her when we meet her for the first time, and will have His arms around her for years to come. He will be with us in the moment of meeting her, in the moment of taking her away from the CAFAC home, and in every new circumstance. The pictures of Jesus with a bunch of children surrounding Him also made me think about how He is with all the kids in the home, who are waiting for their families to come and get them. Jesus loves the little children (everyone now, start humming it!!!!) but really...HE DOES. And He is with our daughter so many miles away. My heart is warm knowing that Nev is in His arms. **okay, kinda funny that I had Vegas update and Jesus photo's in the same post, but posts have been few and far between, so hey you get what you get!!!**

Hormonal pregnant lady on the loose......

Today I feel like a pregnant hormonal woman.

It's true. Lately I feel like I'm pregnant. And no, I'm not announcing that I am pregnant or anything, I am just "feeling" like I am.

This adoption process is taking a toll on me and it's getting really long. I have all the "extra" emotions that I did when I was pregnant with J. Minus the stretch marks and belly. (okay whose kidding who.....I do have stretch marks, and I do have a belly...so scratch that.)

I am short with the one's I love, bawling over teenie bopper movie, starting to get into the "nesting" stage (which, by the way, is not going real well when you don't have a functional basement to put all the stuff that is suppose to go in the basement.) I am frustrated that I can't get the room that is suppose to be Nevaeh's cleaned out. We are waiting until we officially pass court to start decorating her room, but still, it needs to be clean before we can even start to decorate it.

I am totally overwhelmed right now with it all. I am starting to worry about the bonding we will have with Nev. What if she cries and cries when we meet her, because we are total strangers to her. What about the 12 hour straight plane trip. How will I react to being a parent of a baby again, when I am so comfortable with the stage that J is at. I don't deal well with not sleeping(okay all who know me well, understand that is an understatement!!) and what if I hit the "wall" I hit with Jayden and get the blue's again. (again "the blues" is a major understatement.) How will I spread my time between two children when one needs me, but so does the other.

I am so tired of waiting, it feels like I am 42 weeks pregnant...WAY overdue. Actually, technically I am 82 weeks overdue. (2 years and 4 month =122 weeks - 40 weeks(normal pregnancy)=82 weeks OVERDUE. No wonder I have a few stretch marks and a belly.

See, I told you I feel like a pregnant hormonal woman today. And for the last weeks. Someone who has been there done that...please tell me it will get better. Oh....and book Molly Maid for me.....

For like a week straight.

Mark your calendars......

WE FINALLY HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!

Dec 5th, 2009 will be our court date(hopefully the only one we need). Yeah!!!! Not much else to say, but we are really glad to have a date, and have something to focus on.

Hoping that the time passes quickly. We leave for a little week long vacation next Thursday. Vegas Baby......We are travelling with 29 people from the town that we live in, and the guys are doing a hockey tournament down there. Should be fun. And it should keep my mind off of waiting for our court date.

Still waiting......

I feel like I could just resubmit this post, and call it good. Back to the impatient feeling of wondering WHEN, WHEN, WHEN are we going to get a court date.

I thought that once you finally receive your referral and find out who your child is, the hard part of waiting is over. I WAS WRONG!!! At first it wasn't too bad, after we found out who Nevaeh is, we were still on the high. We'd look at her photo, and talk about her. THEN, our friends sent us video footage of her.

She moves. She blinks. She coo's. She chews her hands. She breathes.

After seeing that, I have started to slowly, but surely start to go a bit loonie. I have forgotten things, put things in wrong places, you name it, I may have done it. The video made her so much more real. It probably sounds so silly, of course she is real, but all I saw was 3 pictures of her. She never moved or blinked, or took a BREATH.

So I have concluded that the post referral wait is a different type of hard. Pre referral its a depressing wait. Post referral, it's an agonizing wait.

But the wait will be so worth it.

Hey....

It has been too long.

Sorry guys, it has just been a crazy month or so with unpacking, school for J, trying to finish harvest, our fundraiser garage sale....and the list goes on.

And speaking about our fundraiser it went GREAT. We had a whole bunch of stuff for sale, and hosted a soup and bun lunch. All pricing was on donation basis, so not a lot of time had to be spent on pricing things. That was so nice to not have to do that. We raised around 1400$ and that money will be used for when we go to Ethiopia, hopefully for the orphanage that Nevaeh was found in. A huge shout out to everyone from my home town who came and supported it. Lots of people really embraced it, I even had some who just sent me a cheque in the mail because they couldn't make it. AND they are still filtering in!! What a great community we live in.

On the adoption front, no court date yet. Getting a bit antsy, but nothing I can do on our part will make the date come sooner, so just trying to chilllax. Trust me, I will post as soon as we get a date. On the upside some friends are getting referrals, Lyndsey and Kevin, and another friend but she hasn't posted it yet, so I will keep it on the down low, I want to let her post the proud news first, so congrats to you guy. I know the feeling of getting the call and am so happy for you guys.

**update-Steph has now posted, so you can head on over there and congrats her and Lynds...**

***updated-update!! Hazel posted that she passed court...1st time!!! She is officially a mom. What a good day in the adoption circle!!***

I also had the chance to have a weekend away and do scrap booking in Watrous. It was so great. I got 38ish pages done and even got some sleep in days, oh, it was fun. I have to get my butt in gear and get going so I can be caught up on J's albums before I have 2 that I have to scrapbook for.

That's it for now, hopefully sooner than later I will post again!!

From the lips of little orphane Annie.....

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There'll be sun!

Just thinkin' about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
'Til there's none!

When I'm stuck a day
That's gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,
Oh!

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You're always
A day
A way!


THE COURTS OPEN IN ETHIOPIA TOMORROW!!!!! Here's hopin' a court date comes our way soon. So come on everyone, bet your bottom dollar on us getting a date soon.

Any 5 month old babies in the house??!!

Nevaeh was 5 months old yesterday!

With J, I wasn't great at keeping a daily journal of her milestones. Oh, I would write down big ones, like first tooth, crawling, walking, things like that, but not the everyday little things.

So I need your help here. Anyone with a baby that is around the 5 month old mark, what are they up to? I know each babe is different, but I just want a bit of an idea of what Nev may be up to over in Ethiopia. I totally forget what J was doing at this stage! (All my sentimental things are packed, so I don't even have any reference to pull from!) Are they rolling over, laughing, things like that. I want to try to get to know Nev, even though we're not with her in person.

Thanks guys, I know you will pull thru for me here!

Boxes......

Post are a little slow around here. Things are a bit crazy, but thought I would give you a little update on what's up.

We've moved! Back to the farm house that I grew up in. We have been so looking forward to this for awhile now, and it's actually happened. My mom built a house in town in order for us to move out to the farm. Since we full time farm, and have cattle it made the most sense.

So much of my summer included packing, packing and more PACKING. Really, if I see another box or have to haul loads back and forth, I think I will have a break down! It was pretty overwhelming, but worth it. How do you help someone pack up a house that she had lived in for 45ish years. The burning barrel was going non stop it seemed! And let me tell you, we are going to have one heck of a garage sale soon! (the money raised will go to a project when we go over to Ethiopia.) It was emotionally hard for my mom at some times, but we made it through. I am so thankful to be here.

The day we actually moved was about 1 1/2 weeks ago. Adam came in to the old house and said "we're caught up combining and I have the day to move. Let's do it!!!" Uhhh, ok. It was a hectic day, but we got most things out here.

It wasn't until I was driving to the farm with the last load, while driving past the cemetery that my dad is buried at, (only about 1 mile from our farm) that it hit me. The only reason we were blessed to be able to move to the farm house was because he was gone. If he was still alive, we would not be moving. As I stopped by the grave, and had a huge bawl, I remembered how much I miss my dad.

The first night even though I was dog tired, I was wound up. It was a little weird sleeping in mom and dad's room. But such is life.

Now I am UNpacking, Unpacking and more UNPACKING!!! Once I find my camera I will post some pics of our new home.

Oh and then on top of all the other stress of moving, we got a puppy!! She is cute, and did well with the transition. But really, let's just add more to the pot!

Until a few more boxes are unpacked.....

Nocturnal

Every night while we say J's night time prayers, we pray for Nevaeh. To keep her safe, healthy, to know who we are even though she hasn't met us...etc. We pray that she has a good day, since she is awake when we are sleeping.

Last night J asked an interesting question...

"Why in Nevaeh nocturnal?"!!!!

I got a facelift....

Isn't it perdy! I figure now that we received our referral, and it seems the outlook on everything seems brighter, I needed a new blog design. Thanks to Lena, I got this new look. I love it. Thanks Lena. She even set it all up for me, since I'm so non-computer savey. You guys should go check out her site, she is having a wicked great promotion. She is a fellow adoption blogger, and does this great blog design as well. So do me a favor and check out the site.

Hold the truck....

We are so blessed to have a couple who have said that they will hand deliver a package to Nevaeh when they go over to Ethiopia to pick up their children in the near future.(hopefully next week right Lisa&Jason!) We are forever grateful for you doing this for us. We will pay it forward and take packages for others when we go.

I had a fun time getting the package together. Right away I knew I wanted to make a blankie for Nevaeh, so off to the fabric stash to pick something out. (**note-for future mom's making a blanket to send in the mail, do not use MINKY! It's too bulky. But that was hind sight, and I picked minky with pinkish binding. Also to those fellow quilters you will appreciate this next bit.

Since we are in the process of moving all of my quilting supplies were packed up so here's how I made Nevaeh's simple blankie. Cut out 2 pieces of minky with SCISSORS. We had no rulers, or rollers, so we eyeballed it to try to make it square. (my mom was helping me.) We also had no pins so I just sewed without them. Those of you who have worked with minky know it is VERY slippery. Some seams had 1/2 inch seams.....and some had about 1 inch seams!! I trimmed them with my scissors and made do. The binding was picked out by J, and we sewed it on.(no pins again!) I then proceeded to do hand stitching binding. My close friends will know this IS NOT my favorite part of quilting, but I did it. I was tempted to send it over to my friend M,(you know who you are!!!), but thought, nope, do it my self. Take a look see. No close ups of my blankie, cause it is not square, the binding is funny but MADE WITH LOVE!!!

All the time quilting I was thinking of what we were going to call our baby girl. Lots of names were going thru my head. The night I finished the binding was when we decided on Nevaeh. We love it. Quilting is a relaxing thing for me to do, and it allowed me to focus on her name. The blanket turned out just great in spite of all the little "quilting faux pas"!!

I also bought 2 onesies(that say- mommy and daddy love me) with a pair of pink pants, one sleeper, 1-one piece outfit, 3 socks and a little birdie shirt. Oh and a pair of Robez owl shoes. (most from the 2nd hand store.) I was on the hunt for a little toy and a friend from here gave me one of her daughters(thanks S), but because my blanket was so bulky, I couldn't fit it in :( Also the same pal hooked me up with laminating paper. I just mentioned to her that I wished the school was open so I could laminate some picture of us to send to Nevaeh. Well low and behold, I check my messages the next day, and she had talked to the ladies at the place she works, and even though they didn't have a laminater, one of the ladies offered her own laminating paper for us to use! Wow, I love small town. It worked out great.

The last thing I put in the package is a little note to Nevaeh. Yeah, I know, she's only 4 months old, but work with me here. Maybe the letter will get tucked away and it may come home with her. I can then scrapbook it for her to read at a later time.

Oh yeah, about holding the truck. So I get this all squeezed into a freezer zip lock bag and look at the time. It was just about the time the mail truck leaves. (Okay it was already a few minutes after) I called to the post office and ask if it has left yet.

"Well it's just pulling out. Is it an important package?"
"Well kinda...it's on it's way to friends of ours to send to Ethiopia...."
She cut me off and said "I'll run out and stop him....come down right away. We will get that package out today."

Again, I love living in our small town. Who flags down the mail truck for you!! Love it. All for you Nevaeh. The package made it out, and now en route to Ethiopia.

Cheers,

PS. If you zoom up on the picture of all the items, you can see that the minky has a paisley print on it. Paisley was one of the names we were deciding on. But Nevaeh isn't a Paisley. She is a Nevaeh.

4 months old......

Today Nevaeh is 4 months old! Oh to give her a hug, lay on the floor with her, and rock her to sleep.(actually we didn't do any rocking to sleep past 3 months with J, unless she was teething or sick etc....) but with Nevaeh, we will roll with the punches. Trust me, the first while there will definitely be rocking to sleep if she needs. Anyhow, that's not what I'm posting about so.....

Those of you who have your infants, your 4 month olds', or any age for that matter, don't forget to give your "babies" a squeeze, in fact give them an extra squeeze today, for those of us whose babies are still not in our arms. I can honestly say I took precious moments for granted with J. So give an extra hug tonight.....and say a quick prayer of thanks for your kids....and an extra one for Nevaeh, that she will be healthy and happy today.

Cheers,

At home with the caregivers

I was getting a massage(sigh....relaxing...actually not really cause I'm having shoulder/neck issues..so more therapeutic, but still...sigh) and near the end of it my therapist asked "How many kids do you have?"
"Two" I replied. "Two girls." (How awesome does that sound!!!!! Two girls!) Anyhow.
"Oh that's great" she replied as she was finishing up with the last few stretches. "They must be at home with a caregiver?" She then wipes off the oil and is done with the treatment.
"Yep, they are with a caregiver." Obviously there wasn't enough time to explain that they are with caregivers, just one at home, and one in Ethiopia!!!!

I am so thankful that Nevaeh is being taken care of by our agencies foster home. I know that they will give her the love and care she needs until we can get to her and start giving it to her ourselves. I'm sure she is gaining weight and starting to do the stuff a 4 month old would do. It is so hard knowing that she is going to roll over, and start to sit up by herself, and we won't be there to share it with her, but this is how it rolls when you adopt vs giving birth. You have to wait to share those firsts. (I did have someone say to me....."oh aren't you lucky...you get to skip that first stage of sleepless nights, spit up, and all that baby stuff." ARE YOU KIDDING ME....is what I felt like saying. I would give anything to have Nevaeh here right now and be doing all that "baby stuff" myself. Yes....I do love my sleep, but would give that up over and over again to have Nevaeh in my arms at night soothing her back to sleep, and wouldn't mind being covered in spit up(which by the way I would be very used to....J definitely was a spitter upper!)

But for now, the caregivers in Ethiopia are doing that for me. I am so very thankful for them.
In fact...it is 9:28 am in Addis right now. They are probably getting Nev dressed for the day and giving her a bottle.....

Cheers

Without further ado......

I am so excited. It was a long weekend(literally!), but we finally came to a decision on our daughters name. It was a tough task for us this time around. With J, we had picked out that name before we were even married. No choosing necessary. But this time around, man it was a little more difficult. I love what we picked and it totally suits her.

Nevaeh Chaltu

Not a lot of explanation needed, other than it's heaven spelled backwards. For a nickname it will be Nevi, or Nev. We are big into nicknames!

We had a hard time deciding if we were going to keep Chaltu as her first name. We knew we wanted to keep her name her mother gave her in some form of her name. We decided that we would choose a name that our family picked for her as well.

I wish so badly that I could share pictures with you so you could all see Nevaeh, but until she is legally ours, no such luck. She has big brown eye, big lips(yes, Benj you are right...she does have the Lawson lips!), lots and lots of hair, and she is perfect.

Cheers,

What went down that day

Started out being a normal day. I did a couple massages in the morning and then took J and my niece and nephew down to the lake for swimming lessons. I was planning on helping my mom do some packing out at the farm, all of which has been my typical summer day. Before I headed out to the farm I actually phoned my social worker to give her my mom's phone number, just for the future since I am out there quite frequently packing. We had a good chat and I told her that I thought we were getting closer to being at the top "pile" and was hoping that next batch of referrals we would maybe get our referral. She ended the phone conversation with "talk to you later," and I replied "hopefully sooner than later!" We both laughed and hung up. On with the rest of the day.

Adam needed some help unloading a semi load of fertilizer, and so I did the farm wife thing and started to help him do that. While we were unloading, which is incredibly LOUD, Adam felt his cell phone vibrate, but couldn't get to it in time. He looked at the number and I could tell on his face he was trying to figure out whose number it was. I asked and he said...***-****. "WHAT...***-**** is our social workers number. My heart rate was getting rapid, but thought, well she is probably just going to tell me she lost the piece of paper with my mom's number or something. I went to our truck for some silence and looked at my cell phone which is where is usually is, on the passenger side. 1 missed call. And the number was the same! Certainly she wouldn't try both our cell's, unless is was important! Adam told me to get his attention if it was the call, but otherwise he wanted to keep unloading if it was just a normal call from her.

I called the number. Voice mail. I called again. Voice mail. See my hubby is so practical, he was getting work done as I was calling over and over! Finally I got her on the phone. She said, "I can't believe it, but I just got your referral email." Total shock. "Its for a 3 month old little girl."
I then begin HONKING and HONKING my horn to get Adam's attention. Nothing. The noise of the auger was overpowering my honking. I then begin waving my free arm out the window to try to get his attention. Nada. Nothing. He is making sure the bin doesn't overflow. FINALLY he catches my motions and comes over and gets in the truck. Meanwhile my mom comes flying into the bin yard and tells us our adoption worker is trying to track us down. She could tell by my face that's who I was on the phone with. She drives away to give us some time, and I was literally shaking, and...yes crying. I couldn't believe it. A 3 month old. I was always thinking around 1 year old or so. But such a little baby.

Our SW told us to go check out the paper work and picture and to get back to her. Before hanging up she says "I never imagined I'd be calling you this soon!" Adam got out of the truck to go turn the semi and tractor off he let out a HUGE HOLLER of excitement! Then off to the house! That was the fastest I think I had ever driven between farms!(which is only 1/2 a mile!) We went down to the computer and opened the email with tons of paperwork, and at the bottom we finally saw her face for the first time. She is a doll. We knew right away she was who was suppose to be in our family as our 2nd daughter.

So that's it in a nutshell. We showed my mom her picture, phoned Adam's dad, who passed along the great news to mom. We then called my sister, where J was at for the day. We told Jayden we found out who her baby sister is and her African name in Chaltu. She was excited and passed the news to my sister who immediately got on the phone with excitement! Also gave a few shout out to my other sister and sister&brother in laws. Then had to call my life line friend Sarah, but she wasn't home.....boooo. So I text her to call me ASAP, asap! Within minutes she called and I was able to share the great news.

I called Rana, and she picked up and says "I'm just in our meeting, can I call you back." "Totally, but we got our referral!!!!" "WHAT...no way..I'll call when we are done!!!!! CRAZY" (or something along that lines, I really was in a no focus zone!) She called back later and we were so excited, 1 day apart referrals. Our babies are buddies in the CAFAC home. And if I can just put a plug in for them.....he is sooooooo precious!

Phhewf. That was an emotional day. Like I said in the earlier post we were so caught off guard that we haven't a name picked out yet, but stay tuned...soon and very soon I will post her name. Those who know me well, know I'm not the most organized person in the best of times, so I figure I was off on the DTC(dossier date to country) date by a couple weeks. This is why I was certain we would be in the next batch of referrals. I knew we were getting up there, to the top of the pile, what a nice surprise. Nice surprise....shall I say AMAZING surprise! Funny thing is when I was pregnant the Dr's had my due date for Nov 11, but on Oct 30th they measured her by ultrasound and said..."ohh she is measuring at 11lbs...you need to be induced TODAY!" So we got a early surprise for both our daughters!

Long post I know, but what an awesome day. Calls for a double again!

CHEERS, CHEERS.......

FINALLY.....

This is crazy. I am posting the best of news today.

We received our referral of our baby girl yesterday!!!!!!

Get this.......she is only 3 months old. She is a itty bitty little beauty. Her African name in Chaltu. We were not expecting to get a referral this batch, so we are now just deciding what her Canadian name may be. Or maybe keep it the same.....we are not sure........just totally stoked.

I don't have time to post details, I am off to the city today, and didn't get home from the farm until later last night, but will definitely give more details soon.

Even better news to top that one off, my good pal Rana and Yvan ALSO received their referral the day before us!! Our babies are already friends in the Ethiopia. The are probably roomies at the CAFAC home. This is too cool. They are going to have a neat connection in life that's for sure.

Anyhow, gotta go, but isn't this just amazing. Now you won't have to hear me go on and on and on and on.........about waiting.(for a referral that is....maybe a little talk may come about waiting to travel or something! 6-8 months or so until we would be able to go pick her up.)(I'll explain more later when I have time)

This deserves a double,

Cheers........Cheers!!

Another way to be "Green Friendly"

On the lighter sides of things,

I have a new "tip" on how to become more Green Friendly.

This tip is to save on laundry. I've heard of turning your underwear inside out, if in a pinch. (a real big pinch in my books, but whatev.) Not even knowing it I created a 3rd rotation to get an extra day out of wearing your underwear! Early yesterday (okay early to me, 9am) the door bell rang and I was still not dressed for the day. I threw on some underwear (clean, that is), sweats and a t-shirt and ran to the door trying to look as if I didn't just get out of bed. Went on my day and had a great one at that. Notice it felt like my underwear may have been a little tight on my hips, but didn't give it much thought.

UNTIL I was getting into the bath, undressing myself, I noticed that I had my underwear rotated 90 degree's the wrong way! Or would that be 45 degrees? I would insert a picture, but......well no need for that!

There you have it. A new way to stretch your underwear wearing to 3...yes 3 days if you have to. I certainly hope I don't ever, EVER have to do that.

**Edited- Posted this and noticed on my ticker today is 18 months...... Good thing I posted this lighter sided post BEFORE I noticed it was 18 months. Sheesh.**

Cheers,
**well it was cheery until I saw that stupid ticker.......**

Puppy advice

Okay, first off....awwwwhhhhh.

We are looking into getting a puppy for when we move to the farm. Should be soon. This is a puppy that is in one of the neighbouring towns. It is a cross Rottweiler/Kelpie. Anyone had any interaction with this type of cross? Or with either breed? I know Rotti's can have a bad rep, but have also heard a lot of good things about them if they are trained proper. But seriously, I just can't help but love this little pup...

We have a 5 year old and *will* have an infant/toddler*soon*, and want the best type of dog for kids. We also do have cattle and cats on the farm, so we need a dog that won't chase other animals, other than the obvious harassment of cats vs dogs!

Have at it people...a good farm dog, good with kids, and not overly aggressive. What do you think. If you have other suggestions, bring it on.

*note, I am sending subliminal messages to.......well anyone actually, that we WILL have a infant/toddler.....SOON. Hope it works.....*

**Updated-decided no on the puppy. The one that was left was not the one in this picture, but the sister, and had quite a Kelpie look to her. Cute, but not Rotti look, which is what we fell in love with. Plus found out the mom has hip problems, which can be inherited. Plus it was ready to go now, and we won't be on the farm for a few more weeks, and just can't have my mom do the puppy training!**
Cheers

What I can do....so can you

Many of you have been worried that our agency is the one that has gone bankrupt. It isn't. We are so thankful, but our hearts are so saddened that this has happened to others who are waiting to become parents. Adoption is such a hard process to begin with, and then with this happening....it's just awful. Some one commented to me..."Well, at least these parents haven't actually met their children, it's not like they have actually bonded yet...they are just out money." I didn't even know what to say. Really, not bonded? Read this post, and then tell me you have to meet in order to bond. Or read this post of someone who has been waiting and doesn't have a referral yet. This process is so hard, and to have it taken away like this is devastating. To those of you who are in this nightmare, I am so sorry. I don't even know what to say or do.

What I can do is to ask you who follow my blog is to go to this site and sign this petition. The petition will help the parents bring their children home. OR

I would ask that if you feel you want to help further, you could go to this site and donate to help the caregivers and children who are waiting for their families to come and pick them up. (They have set up an account with paypal and it's really quick and easy.) Any amount would help. Even $5 goes along way for them in Ethiopia.

It's all I can do, other than pray for peace for these families and that God will help them thru this hard time.

Jumping the Gun

**UPDATED--I am now not jumping the gun as we know who our baby is!!!! Yeah. Now some serious input is needed so I can get on the way of decorating.**

I think I'm jumping the gun....ok.....I KNOW I am jumping the gun, and it's probably a recipe for disaster, but I am thinking of how I want to do our daughters nursery. I know, I know, let's get a referral FIRST, then think about that. With our being a broken record, the process is going a lot slower than first thought, so I kinda need something to get me thru this waiting for a referral stage.

We are moving to a new house in about a month and the room that we will be using is a avocado green. I am thinking about accenting in brown and pink. All the walls are this green, which I love. I found this website that has a African tree. I have been googling African themed stuff and came across this. I'm wondering if it's a little over the top for a nursery, but want to try to integrate some of her culture without overdoing it. What do ya think. Honestly. Maybe simpler is better.

Maybe I should just wait until we get our referral to get crazy about nursery design. It's not like we have to travel within weeks once we get our referral, we have plenty of time. But still give me you opinion of the tree.

Cheers,

Dinner, Movie and a Razor

I finally met my first blogger friend Rana. We have been trying to connect for the last little while, but it just hadn't happened. This past Friday, I was in the city and we decided to meet for supper and a movie.

First impressions are big...Right. Well, here is the hoe down on my big impression I left with her. We meet, we hug, and get ready to walk to go to supper. Good, great, walk is going well, until we are a few block away and I realized that I forgot the movie tickets in my truck. Go back, get tickets, after fumbling to try to find my keys in my "mom purse." Got tickets, back on our way to the restaurant, which by the way was amazing. I had the best salad I have had in a long time. If I could remember the name of the restaurant, I would promote it, but after you read the rest of my post you will see, I'm not that organized and have forgotten it already! Anyhow the conversation was great, but my lips are a bit dry so I search in my mom purse again and low and behold I pull out a razor, not my lip chap! Back to eating, did I mention it was the best salad ever? Oh yeah, I did. Anyhow finish eating and start our journey down to the movie theatre. Me, who doesn't really think much before I ask things, I just blurt out a pretty personal question, not thinking, hmmmm, maybe I should save this question until I know her a bit better, OR give some insight to my problem as to WHY I am asking the question!! But no. Just ...WHAM!
We sit down to watch The Proposal and have to turn off your cell phones. Of course, your in a theatre. Well after searching thru my mom purse for about 2 mins, I finally find it and turn it off. The movie was cute and funny, I'd recommend going to see it. We walk back, and after searching for my keys...AGAIN, we say our farewells, and that about sums it up.

The funny thing is, that evening kinda sums up who I am. Not super organized, always misplacing things, just ask what I'm thinking, but yet having a great time. If you think you wanna hang with me, you have to be ready for...well who knows what I'll find, or lose in the course of an evening! I had a blast getting to know someone who I already feel like I know, and the evening was super fun.

We will see though, the razor may have been bit over the top!

Cheers,

Can I get a Holla

Tonight I am solo. My hubby is at a farm show and is away for the night. Sleeping solo makes me think about a lot of things. We spent a lot of time apart in our first years of marriage, due to work, but lately we don't spend a whole lot of time apart any more. Yes some nights when farming is in full swing, we don't spend a lot of actual time together, but not the less, he at least rolls in for a couple hours! It's making me appreciate how much I love spending time with my dear hubby.

I am so thankful at how supportive he is in every aspect of our lives, especially during this adoption process. He is such a rock and balances out my ups and downs. Mostly the downs. We have crazy laughs over stuff that others would think is really dorky, have good talks about things that are going on for us and just really know each other well. I could never get through life with out him by my side. He really deserves a "Holla". I don't express it much, but he is so amazing.

I also think that there are many others who don't always get a "Holla" when they deserve them. So I'm giving some shout outs to some other "peeps" who mean so much to me. My family is so great, both my side of the fam. Actually they all are my family because I feel so close to his side, they just feel like my side. (did that make sense??!!) My friends are pretty darn cool too, cause I can talk to them about all this stuff, and even though they don't know how it feels to go through it all, they do a darn good job at making me feel better. Especially my posse crew. I think I'd go insane if I didn't have my best peep, 11:11. She totally gets me. Seriously, she deserves a "Word to Big Bird" shout out because when a girl finds a friend who is such a kindred spirit(yes had to get some Anne of Green Gables lingo in there), you truly are blessed. I mean if you are committed to do this(picture on right) you know you have a good friendship! What are we doing you might ask....well I didn't have a finished picture, but that is me with the tattoo on my foot of eleven stars, and her with the word eleven on the back of her neck.

I also really have found so much comfort in my blogging "friends." You guys totally get a major "holla" because you truly get how I'm feeling, and you are right there offering encouragement, or even just saying you know how it feels. It means a lot. I would never of thought that I would get so excited for someone else to get good news of a referral, when I haven't even talked to most of you. I feel the pain that you guys are feeling, and truly am disappointed and hurt for you guys too. We all know exactly what it feels like. Yeah we are all in different time frames, but we all get it.

I guess I just wanted to take this time to say thanks to all of you who are in my life and are helping support through our adoption journey. I am not an overly emotional person, and probably don't say thanks often enough. You guys all have a significant role in my life, and you deserve a shout out.

Can I get a HOLLA. Holla back.

Cheers

A pick me up for Monday

Okay Just a little humor to pick you all up. This one is for you Rana. Hope it makes you smile today, being it's a Monday and it starts a new week of wonder.

This table was for sale on eBay.
How can you tell it is being sold by a man?
Can you solve this little riddle?
First look and guess.

You will find the answer below, but don’t cheat!

Know the answer? If not, scroll down now……

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

OK, Look in the mirror…

Remember, if you are posting a picture on the world-wide web…

WEAR CLOTHES when taking the picture…

AND IT WAS POSTED ON eBay!!

Cheers...actually double cheers for this one!!!!

Being a mom sometimes a hard thing.....

Being a mom is sometimes a hard thing. When your child comes home from school and tells you that the girls in her class walked by her when she was by herself at recess, and stick their tongues out at her and tell her that they are cool, and she is not......your heart breaks. You want to go walk by those girls and tell them that they in fact are the ones who are not cool. Being a mom you have to tell your daughter whose heart is sad, that it's okay, and not to worry about what others think about you, when you really want to say, "those brats...who do they think they are." I mean really how can you not think that this girl is not cool. She is so cool. Of course I know that next Kindergarden day it will all be forgotten and things will be fine. In fact, by tomorrow morning she will have forgotten and she will want me to phone those girls and see if any of them can play at our house. It's me who has a hard time letting it go. When someone hurts the ones you love, it's hard to forgive. What I will learn from this though, is I need to have forgiveness like a child. They let things go, and will be friends again the next time they see each other. But tonight, it's tough to be a mom. The little one I love so much has a broken heart, because she thinks she isn't cool.

Seriously how can you not think that J is not the coolest little girl you have ever seen......

Cheers

Blinds up or down

You know some days you wake up and you feel like just leaving the blinds down and not letting the sun shine in? Well today I decided to raise the blinds and let the sun shine in. Which did you do today? Blinds up or down?

Cheers

Sweet Sixteen

I figure this adopting process is like the picture above of someone running a race. You are so pumped and excited at the start. Every thing is going well, you have adrenaline pumping and you start with a bang. You feel like you know what you are up against and you are going to do it with no glitches and nothing will bring you down. Bring it on race, I'm going to tackle you with no problems. You feel like you are passing and gaining on some. It's still going good, and it's early enough in the race you still are strong and going for gold.

Then you hit the mid section of the race. You are getting tired. People are passing you. You might start to feel like you are getting an injury and really start to feel like giving up, or is this race EVER going to end. You might even feel guilty because you should have trained harder. But then, you see the face of someone you care about, cheering you on, giving you hope and inspiration. It gives you the fuel to keep on plugging away, and not stop.

Finally you see the finish line. You get that blast of adrenaline again and you push forward and give it your all. Your friends and family are cheering and so happy for you cause it's almost done. They know how hard you worked, and how hard this race has been for you, and know you are probably in pain....but they are so excited that it is almost over for you. You sprint forward and finish strong.

Ahhhhhhhh. The finish line. You cross it, and it's over. Joy, the pain you felt mid way is washed away with the overwhelming excitment you have that you did it.....It was worth it. You proved to yourself you can do this race....It's over.

To those of you who are not in this adoption process yourselves....This is how it feels when you go thru the journey. The start of it when you are doing paperwork, you are so excited and pumped that you just go forward with such joy and enthusiasm that it seems so great. You tell everyone, your going to adopt and it's so great. You might even start a blog. Once your paper work goes to the country you are adopting from, you start to wait.....and wait. Everyone is trying to be supportive and tell you positive things, but it just starts to drag on. You feel like it will never end. It feels like everyone else is getting referrals, and you are not. You get down, and even depressed about it. You feel pain, because you know your family isn't complete, and you are wanting to know who your child is. You get tired of talking about it, because everyone asks the same questions. It feels like you have nothing to blog about because if you posted about how you are feeling or what's new, it would be depressing and the same old story. Or you think no one even reads your blog, so why do it. You feel like giving up...but know you would never do that. People who are pregnant only have to wait 9 months...but we are waiting over 2 years. Some guilt might set in because you want to feel happy for everyone who is having babies, or getting their referrals, but we have empty arms. Family and friends pull you thru by encouraging and just keeping our minds off things.

We are still in the mid section of our race. We haven't a referral yet, so I can't talk about the finish line too much, but can only imagine what it will be like to get the referral call. I know it will give us the strength to get back in the game and sprint forward. It will still be a long wait until the "gottcha day" in Ethiopia, more paper work and court dates....but it will be like racing to the finish line because you have a visual of who your child is, so you can go full speed, knowing you can see the finish line.

To hold our child in our arms the first time, will be our finish line. Awesome, rewarding, joy, love, and so much more will make this race worth every second. Family and friends will be there to cheer us on. What a great day that will be.

This story can also be applied to many different "races" in all of our lives. For me it also is like my personal relationship with my Heavenly Father. I have up's and downs, and sometimes feel like it's not going well. Thank goodness that we have a Father who is there to forgive and pick us up again. It's my personal faith that gets us through these hard times. Prayer of others for us also gets my spirits back up.

This race is also how my journey of weight loss is. I worked so hard at losing almost 120 pounds. Now have gained back......come on now as if I m going to say how much!! But I will give you a hint......10 pounds....nope. 20....uhuh.....30.....uh....not it either 40...well getting close!......I will stop there! Ahhhhh so frustrating. But I'm getting back on the saddle and getting those number to go down.

Maybe you don't have these "races" but I'm sure you've struggled thru you own race and can relate what I am talking about. The main thing is that we don't give up on our races, and we finish it.

We have hit the 16 month point. Is it sweet. Nope. Will it be sweet. You bettcha.

Cheers

Not me Monday....

Are you feeling ashamed for letting your child go to bed without brushing his teeth...again? Did you Twitter on your cell phone during a meeting without anyone knowing? Feel bad for screaming at the cat or eating Pop Tarts and coffee for breakfast? Are you embarrassed that you are far from perfect? We'll don't be. Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I'd rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing! check out Mckmama's blog who is the author of Not me Monday's..........

When I was laying in bed on Sunday morning, after coming home late Saturday from the drive in, I did not think about skipping church because I was so tired from being out late, and not sleeping well...Nope, not me.

Since I'm trying AGAIN to lose weight, I most definitely did not eat a 1.89 Litre of Rolo ice cream in 7 days....by myself, because that is like........12000 calories(well hopefully not that much), that would not help in the weight loss program. I am SO glad that I didn't do that, cause that is how I got where I am, emotionally eating, so good thing I DIDN'T DO IT.

Oh and I did not obsess over checking people's blogs or adoption boards to see who was getting the referrals this week. Never would I check every hour to see if someone had posted about receiving some sort of news, that would waste a lot of my time, interrupting what I was doing just to check. I mean, why wouldn't I just check once at the end of the day instead... Nope...not I.

I would Never ever tell my 5 year old daughter that her favorite #3 cow was getting SOLD instead of telling her the truth that in fact he gone because he is going to be in our deep freeze, providing us with meals for the year...that would be dishonest..so good thing I didn't do that.

I wouldn't even think about checking out this website on barrettes and buys some for my daughter who I don't even know yet. That would be impulsive and I certainly am NOT and impulse buyer. It's a good thing I didn't do that..No, not me.

I didn't call my adoption agency this week, and ask them if they thought I shouldn't be booking a trip to Mexico at Christmas, hoping that they would say, ohhhh you better not, you might be travelling to Ethiopia instead. I would NEVER think about bothering them, when they are busy getting referrals out. And I didn't almost swear, when they told me to go ahead, because they thought that it wouldn't be a problem. Nope not me...

And lastly, I certainly did not tell myself at Christmas 08 that it would be our last Christmas with just the three of us.....No....not me.

Cheers

Losing my fingernails

Okay. So I have a "free day" at home today. No working, just a lot of stuff I want to get done. Packing, baking, etc. But I keep checking back to all my friends pages, to see if any referrals have come in, and I'm not getting any of my work done!!! I"m not nervous and thinking that we will be getting a referral, but I am truly excited and anxious for my friends who have been waiting so long. They are so ready and so deserving of getting their babies. The waiting game is nothing that you can explain to someone who hasn't gone thru it. They are real troupers...and it's thier time.

So come on CAFAC, let's get these ladies some babies!!! Or any other agency for that matter. Cause lets be honest, the more that get referrals this time.....the closer we are!

Cheers.

Not me Monday..

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
It's time to 'fess up! Not Me! Monday is here again.

Okay, so this is my first attempt at doing a "Not me Monday". So let's give it a whirl. MckMama is a real life friend who is seriously an amazing blogger. I think her last "big" number of hits was 11 million...for real. Go check her blog out, it truly is a great blog with an amazing story. Here we go....

I did not snap at my hubby when he woke me up to give me a good bye kiss.....at 5:30am....no not me.....

I most certainly did not cry at Survivor and Grey's Anatomy, that would be silly...

I definitely did not throw away a bunch of my daughters kinder garden crafts when she was out playing baseball....that would be so not right.

I didn't almost post a depressing, woe is me post about how long this adoption process is taking. That would mean I am getting impatient. Nope not me.....

I most definitely did not think about phoning my adoption agency and ask....so how many families are ahead of us. No not I...

And I most definitely did not lay in bed and think about our daughter, who we don't know yet, and think about how cute she will be..think about girl names....No way..I sure didn't...

Lastly, I did not get my hopes up slightly that maybe.....are we going to get a referral in the next month or so....Nope, not me..

So there you have it....Me being brutally honest about the things that I normally wouldn't share. Kinda refreshing being honest with myself and with you all.

On a different note, I hear a new batch of referrals are on their way in the next week or so. I really hope that there are some blog posts about some of you guys getting them. We are still a few months away I'm sure, but a girl can only hope right!! I truly am excited for all of you guys who are going to finally find out who your child is.

Cheers

Part of our family goes to Ethiopia today......

Today, my father in law heads for Ethiopia! He is going there for around 4 weeks, and will be teaching at a school in Southern Ethiopia. Oh how I wish we were going to Ethiopia as well, but to pick up our daughter! When Dad told us he was going to teach over there, originally we said how cool it would be to overlap if that was when we were over picking up our daughter....Then we thought how cool it would be to send over something for our daughter, a quilt that I have made for her to snuggle into, and keep her warm, and perhaps some little sleepers etc.....NOW, we think it is so cool that our daughters grandpa is going to be living in Ethiopia for a month, and he can soak in all different parts of their culture, and some day...hopefully sooner than later....can tell our daughter about being over there. He has been there a few times in the past, but not for this extended of a period. Grandpa can tell her bedtime stories about the people he will meet...the different animals he will see....the children he will meet....the bright colors and beauty that he will see. It will be a cool connection that Grandpa will be able to share with our daughter. How cool is that.

I decided to keep this post positive, rather than dwell in the fact that indeed my father in law is going to Ethiopia.............

And we are not..........

Not yet, that is.

Cheers

Barefoot.....

This is a video that talks about raising awareness for children that have no shoes. Please watch it an really think about the facts that they are presenting.



This video spurred me to get back on the horse and start collecting shoes again. If I was blog savvy, i would get you to click on a word and it would take you right to that post, but I don't know how to do that. (Feel free to enlighten me anyone!) You can click on my donations post titles, and that will get you the same place. I just found this video yesterday off a fellow bloggers' site , and the go barefoot day was in fact yesterday. But it can still raise awareness and make people think outside their box.

Last year I began collecting croc shoes for when we go over to Ethiopia to get our daughter. When I say croc shoes, I mean any type of plastic shoes. A person can pick them up now at the dollar stores. They will be good for any type of weather over there, and they are actually quite comfy. They are also very easy to clean. Plus they will be great to pack, they are so light, and you can stuff the little ones inside the larger ones! The response I got was awesome. I believe I got around 75 pairs. I was so excited, thanks to all who donated last year.

Well it looks like I have another spring/summer season to start collecting them again! Something positive to keep my mind off of things. And now this is the COOL part. I contacted Croc's and they have a donation program. (I actually heard about it thru Celebrity Apprentice. See it pays to watch reality TV!!!) Anyhow, they have a donation program and they are willing to MATCH however many shoes I collect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For real. Isn't that awesome. Makes me want to go get a pair of those rainbow colored shoes and wear them all over town.

So again, I am asking if you feel you would like to contribute to my shoe project, you can contact me and I will give you some more info. I do have a lady who runs a dollar store and she said she can get me those shoes at cost, so that makes it easier for those of you who don't live here. Thank you so much if you have donated in the past, just keep me in mind if you are in the dollar store, or anywhere else that these shoes are sold, and remember that your one pair=two pair, or 4 pair=8pair. Or if you feel you would like to donate thru Tom's shoes, that is awesome as well. A shoe is a shoe, whether it is crocs, Tom's, prada....etc. If it is donated for someone who has no shoes, I am all for it.

I feel that this will give me something positive to focus on again. I am glad for that. Yes, I am sad and anxious about our referral situation, but I am going to focus on some good things that can benefit others, those that are less fortunate.

Thanks guys. Just go to my profile if you are interested in contacting me regarding what to do. I also am willing to do a sister program, if you want to do the leg work in your community and collect shoes yourselves, then we can meet up and I can take your shoes and add them to my total. The more the merrier! Its amazing how people will rally with you on something that you feel passionate about. This is something i definitely feel passionate about.

Cheers

Valley's...

At the beginning of this adoption process, I was definitely on the top of a mountain. After about Christmas of this year, I started to repel backwards back down the mountain. I truly thought that we would have a referral by then. My repelling rope is slowly still slipping downwards. I feel almost non emotional about the whole process right now. When people ask me if we have heard anything yet....I spit out the same speech. " Well, we are still waiting for a referral, and should be by Christmas...then oh should be by spring..now....should be by summer." (If I have to start saying...it should be by fall or winter....well we just won't go there. But really....if I had heard something don't cha think I'd let you know? Don't you think you would know by the perminate grin on my face. Sorry to those of you who maybe have asked me that question lately. I know you're just trying support us and show you want to know what's up....but trust me....I will let you all know when we have finally have gotten our referral.

Anyways.....repelling downward. I'm not stuck right in the depth of my valley.... I truly believe that having our daughter makes me in the middle, instead of right down in the valley. She keeps me busy, and is really getting grown up FAST! She's learning how to read, and is always wanting to play school so she can practice her printing and reading. Oh and of course we have to have gym time and art! So truly she keeps me going so I don't fall too far down the mountain. Plus I have my family and great friends who are a great support to us as well.

I also have people's who's blogs I follow who are going through valleys, but some who are also on top of the mountains too. It is great when you read that someone has just gotten their referral, or just going over to pick up their child. It keeps me motivated that it will be "that day" for us soon too.

Anyhow, we are off to go for our Easter egg hunt. I am very, very surprised that the High School Musical chocolate Easter egg that I bought for J has actually stayed in its package.....something about chocolate that seems to make a person feel better! until you step on the scale....

Cheers

Off to BC

So we are doing a quick trip out to BC. I am driving with Adam to deliver meat to relatives and customers. This is the first year of marketing our beef and we had great luck with BC people. The only downside is that we are leaving Friday afternoon and driving thru the night so the meat stays good and frozen! So I will miss seeing the mountains cause it will be dark! Oh and that my eyes will probably be shut. Jay is going to have a fun time with Grandma and Grandpa in Lethbridge.
It will be a good time for Adam and I to chat and catch up on our feelings about our upcoming addition of our daughter. What color are we going to do her room, names, how we are feeling about it being closer and closer. It will be a good chance to get some good visits in. Plus we will get to see some family as well.
Now that BC marketing is done, now on to SK and AB!
Cheers

Im back again

Okay this is so how I roll. I get into something and go at it gungho, and then it fades off. Obviously this applies to my blogging as well. It has been awhile, but unfortunately there is nothing new to tell, on the adoption journey at least. We have had a busy few months here, so I guess I will blog a bit on that later.
I hope you are all still here? Let me know if you are still checking in or if I blew it by being away for so long.
Just to justify myself, my wind got taken out of my sails. Our dossier has been in Ethiopia for over a year, and I had convinced myself that we would have heard who our daughter is by now. But I can't change the system, and so I have kicked myself in the butt. What a sight that would be if I could get that in a picture! Anyhow, I am back to being excited that it is getting closer and our time will come soon to hear who our daughter is.
I am really excited to meet up with a group of girls who are also waiting to adopt from Ethiopia. I have been busy the last few times they have gotten together, but I really am hoping that I can make it work. I talk about them like they are friends....which they are....but I have never met them! So this is something I am looking forward to. They will know EXACTLY how I feel, and yeah, it will just feel good to vent to them.
I will try to pick it up and blog a little bit more, so here's to a new blogging attitude.
Cheers