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:)

Sun, pool, friends...and an injured foot??

Two of my favorite people came to see me this past weekend. My dearest and oldest friend since childhood, Christina and my long time bff Samantha. It was so nice to have theme here. I swear we laughed the whole time!! These are two of the funniest girls, ever!

Somehow though we all managed to injure ourselves. Samantha got off easy with just a scratched up knee. She fell when trying to gather too much of our stuff when we were leaving the pool for the day. Poor Christina was trying to do water gymnastics and lost balance and fell...on her face. Ouch! She has a cut on the bridge of her nose and a cut right above her lips. My injury landed me in the emergency room. I was playfully pushed in the pool. However it was the shallow end. Only 3 ft deep. I landed hard on my right foot. Really hard. I knew my foot was broken. Turns out it is not broken, just a really bad internal bruise. It hurts so bad. I have to wear a special shoe and walk on crutches for 7 to 10 days. That is why kids, you don't horse around at the pool :)


They are so sweet. They had gifts for me when they arrived on Saturday. Christina brought me some Peach Jelly (there's a story to that) a cute magnet for the fridge and a really pretty frame for a super cheesy picture she and I had made together when we were about 13 years old at Walmart! It's just too funny! Samantha brought me something for Sam. She bought him the cutest little pair of khakis that can be rolled up as long shorts or rolled down to pants. So cute. Then she got the cutest little shirt I have seen. It says 'get your own mom, this one is mine'. Love it!!!

We have had a busy summer so that's good. It will make time go by a bit faster. Sam and Christian left yesterday and my MIL comes in today. I think she is staying just until Tuesday, then she is leaving for Atlanta to visit Rich's sister, Sally.

We are about 6 weeks into our wait for our little boy. We have SO much longer to go, but I just keep thinking that time will go by and before we know it we will be looking at his picture.

The Best Time Spent...

Is vacations spent with family. And here we all are at our best. Err, well maybe not our very best, but here we all are together just the same (well, minus my cousin Michael who was missed!)

Every year for as long as I can remember our family all goes to the beach to spend a week together. At first (when we were all much smaller) we would rent a condo. The grown ups would get a room and the kids would be scattered through out. Some of us even would sleep in closets! As you can see we have grown and I don't think many of us would fit into closets anymore so now we all share a big house on the beach. I look forward to it every year!

This is me helping my grandmother cook( I know, really bad pic of me!). Actually all I did was stir. She along with my mother and my aunt did most of the cooking, but it was fun to pretend I was helping ;) Cooking for all of us was a really big job! But it is so fun to have everyone gather in the kitchen at dinner time. Nothing brings people together like food!

This was our entertainment for a couple of nights. My cousins and my brother singing and playing guitar while we all listened and sang a long. Good times!



My cousin Lindsay has two small boys. Edward is about 16 months and Luke who is about to turn 3 in August. Now I know I may be bias but these are two of the cutest boys you will ever meet. Lindsay and her husband Brian are so good with them. They definitely keep them buys.

This is a picture of Edward playing in the sand. He is the happiest baby and he just loves everyone. He is so adorable!This was taken 4th of July. We were outside on the beach watching fireworks. Luke and Edward don't look too thrilled about the having a picture taken, but they had a really good time.

I was hoping to hear about more referral news when we got back but no such luck. Oh, but I did see the new baby added to the waiting child list. He is so precious. I know someone will scoop him up really quick!!

Yesterday Rich and I finished our Because they Waited series. The last test were essay questions. I have to say that the questions on Richard's test were much harder than mine. I found the last module to be the most interesting. They mentioned a technique called "holding" when a child is in the middle of a sever tantrum. I have never even heard of "holding" before. Well, there is a lot I have never heard of before. I have a lot more reading and research to do, but I have plenty of time to do it. One month down, possibly 14 more to go!