My first Tag!

Yay! Okay, this will be fun :) Thanks, H at Star Light Star Bright!

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged & to read your blog!

Janelle-

J-June. June is the month Rich and I were married.

A- Anticipation. My aunt Denise used to tell us on Christmas Eve the best part of presents was the anticipation. My mom says anticipation is what makes good moments, special moments. I don't think the anticipation will be the best part about this process. The best part will be bringing Samuel home.

N- Not laid back. I like to worry. I don't actually like to worry, but I do worry. A lot. I just want everything to be perfect.

E-Easter. I was born on Easter day. I was born in March so Easter has only been on my birthday twice.

L-Love. Love the idea of being a mommy!!

L-Laughter. My favorite thing to do is laugh and luckily I am married to the funniest guy ever!

E-Eat. I love, love, love to eat. Also, Exercises. With all that eating, I have to exercises!

Okay- I am supposed to tag 7 people. I think H has tagged most of the people I would have tagged so I will just check their blogs to see what they wrote :)

Welcome Baby Margo!

3 weeks ago Richard's cousin, Caroline and her husband Aaron brought home their beautiful daughter, Margret May. We were able to visit them today and all are doing well. Margo is the most beautiful little girl and has a head full of hair. This is a picture of me and my mother in law admiring her beauty.

Weekend Project!

This Saturday Rich and I painted Sam's dresser black. It was a big job and took us all day!! But it was lots of fun. This was our very first home improvement project so we learned a lot. We didn't have time to get to the crib so I hope to do that in a couple of weekends.

This is the before shot. Well, minus the hardware and feet. We had already taken them off before the picture was taken but you can get the idea.
And this is the finished product! It's not exactly perfect, but we are very pleased and look forward to painting the crib:)

Weekend Update

Hi! We had our Pre-Adopt class today at CHI. It was very interesting. We had speakers on the medical aspect as well as attachment. We are super glad we went. And for attending we got a nifty certificate showing that we completed 4 hours of class. The certificate is a photocopy of a computer print out. Very official :)
Later that day I ran by Macy's. I had a gift card for them that I had never used and thought I would look at stuff for Sam. I bought two cute pair of camo shorts (a boy can never have enough camo shorts) and a cute hoodie. I took a picture of the small amount of things I have for him so far. A sock monkey, shorts, snoopy socks and a really, really cute shirt from my bff, Samantha.



I have mentioned the shirt before but took a pitcure so everyone could see. So adorable!

"Get your own Mom. This one is mine!" Love it!!!

What's in a number?

Hi. Just a quick update.

I sent an email to CHI yesterday just to get our updated number on the list. I know the number doesn't really mean anything because the referral time is still the same, but it had been 2 months so I was curious to see where we were.


We are now 164 on the list. We have moved up 12 spots in 2 months. It sounds like a lot of movement, but does it really mean anything? Does it really matter seeing as how the referral times have not changed? She did mention that the wait times for boys have not been extended, but that they could be. I hate hearing that. I know that is the case, but I hate hearing it just the same. I know they haven't been extended yet, but the uncertainty is nerve racking. Did I actually just say that? What did I expect from international adoption?? Uncertainty is what it is all about, right? I guess I still have a lot to learn and a lot to get used to. And I better get used to it fast because it is WAY too early for me to start getting panicky.

I know everything will happen in it's perfect time. In God's perfect time and not one day past due. I just have to keep reminding myself of that every day.

2 Months and counting...

Today has been 60 days since added to the waiting list. Gosh, we have so much further to go. At times I don't know how I will be able to make the wait. I am already so preoccupied with thoughts of Sam. I just can't wait to have that little guy in my arms.

In reality Rich and I actually need the next year to prepare for Sam. 1st I have no idea where we will even be living. Rich will obtain his PhD by next May. Then depending on whether or not he decides to stay in academia, we will be moving. Moving out of state unless he accepts a position at Vanderbilt. We haven't decided yet what we want to do, but the idea of moving is exciting to me. Before it really scared me to think that we would probably move even further away from the Memphis area and all my family and the majority of my friends, but now it seems like a great opportunity to move and travel and to live in and experience as many different cities, states as we can. I may be changing my mind once we have a baby home with us and no family in driving distance to lean on. On the other hand I love Nashville and would be happy to stay. It's only a 3 hour drive from my family and friends. That is a huge comfort. At this point we really have no idea what is going to happen or where we will end up in the next 9 months. But I do know we will land exactly where we are supposed to be :)

Oh, I almost forgot! We purchased Sam's nursery furniture a couple of weeks ago!! I work for a new home builder for the greater Nashville area and whenever a community sells out, we close out that model. When a model closes my company will have a model home sell, usually in the form of an auction. Well this particular model was staged with a nursery in one guest room. I was so thrilled. It is maple and just beautiful! We got the dresser (which can also be the changing table just by adding the padding) crib, mattress and bedding for $275. We don't have a truck so we had to fit everything in our wagon. It took us 2 trips and we had to diss-assemble the crib to get it home. Richard is so super sweet he agreed to put the crib back together in the dining room so I can dress it with the bedding and take pictures to show everyone before it goes back into storage until we move into a 3 bedroom. I will also post pictures of them here. I hope to have the pictures taken this week or this weekend

The bedding is originally just what I wanted. Soft, comforting colors. Greens, blues, beiges. Very pretty. But I knew I wasn't in love with it. I thought it was pretty enough though and having it would save us a lot of money. Yesterday we went to Babies R Us for fun to just look around. We saw so many cribs and it confirmed what a great price we got!!! But, I kept looking at the black nursery furniture and loved it the more I looked at it. I didn’t mention how attractive I thought it was to Richard. Out of the blue he said "Ya know, I really like the black. It looks really modern" He suggested we paint the maple and we can add brush nickel handles/knobs. I love the idea!! With black I think it will also be easier to add pieces if we need/want to in the future. So, now that we have decided to paint the nursery furniture I HAVE to have new bedding =-) I mean the colors of the bedding simply would not do on a black crib. I am now on the hunt for beautiful bedding. I must be very, very picky because it is really hard to find something I like for a little boy. There is so much for a little girl, but I haven't really seen anything that just screams out to me yet. The hunt continues and Lord knows I have a while to look.

Here is an example of one that I like the most so far...

Today I finally got rid of the crutches (Yay!), but I am still in a soft cast and walk with a very noticeable limp. Can you believe it?? My injury happened on the 21st and I am still not healed. Christina (the culprit who pushed me ;)) feels just horrible. It's okay, Pancake. I know it was an accident =-P

I went back to the doctor last Wednesday and she put me on a cycle of steroids and then told me to wait a week. If still not better she will have to send me to see my orthopedic surgeon. Last February I had to have a bone tumor removed in my wrist. Very painful and I was with just one hand/arm for almost 2 months. It was so very tuff and I can't imagine being with just one foot/leg for much longer. I know if I do go back he (Ortho. surgeon) will surely not be expecting to see me back again so soon. But I have seen some improvements since I started the steroids. Again, I am off the crutches so that is a start. I really hope to be out of the cast by the end of this week. Finger crossed!!! Silly, freak injuries like this really make you thankful for your health and well being. I think of people who live their lives on crutches or worse and I feel so bad to complain that I have not been 100% mobile for a few weeks. I am truly blessed in so many ways. I have no reason to complain about a temporary inconvenience and I work really hard to remind myself of that!

This weekend we are going to a Pre-Adopt Class at CHI. I am really excited about it. It is so wonderful they offer these classes to waiting families. It reminds you that you are and expecting mommy and daddy :)! I love to say that…Mommy to be:)