Wednesday, November 26, 2008

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

My good friend, Jayme, sent these to me and they made me smile...wanted to share =)  Hope that everyone has a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!








A Turkey's Lament...

When I was a young turkey, new to the coop,
My big brother Mike took me out on the stoop,

Then he sat me down, and he spoke real slow,
And he told me there was something that I had to know;

His look and his tone I will always remember,
When he told me the horrors of ... Black November;

"Come about August, now listen to me,
Each day you'll be thick, where you once were thin,
and you'll grow a big rubbery thing under your chin.

And then one morning, when you're warm in your bed,
In'll burst the farmer's wife and hack off your head;

Then she'll pluck out all your feathers so you're bald 'n pink,
And scoop out all your insides and leave ya lyin' in the sink.

"And then comes the worst part," he said not bluffing,
"She'll spread your cheeks and pack your rear with stuffing."

Well, the rest of his words were too grim to repeat,
I sat on the stoop like a piece of winged meat,

And decided on the spot that to avoid being cooked,
I'd have to lay low and remain overlooked.

I began a new diet of nuts and granola,
High-roughage salads, juice, and diet cola;

And as they ate pastries, chocolates, and crepes,
I stayed in my room doing Jane Fonda tapes;

I maintained my weight of two pounds and a half,
And tried not to notice when the bigger birds laughed.

But 'twas I who was laughing, under my breath,
as they chomped and they chewed ever closer to death;

And sure enough when Black November rolled around,
I was the only turkey left in the entire compound.

So now I'm a pet in the farmer's wife's lap,
I haven't a worry, so I eat and I nap;

She held me today, while sewing and humming,
And smiled at me and said, "Christmas is coming..."




Saturday, November 22, 2008

So many pieces!

Well...today we tackled the assembly of Baby P's new furniture...a Saturday of fun...ha!  All in all, it wasn't too bad.  Took us (or Ben I should say) about 3 hours start to finish.  Pretty good...I was impressed!

Here's a pic of the daunting task... (Ben LOVED that I was taking pictures of all this...haha)


...not to mention the fact that Fat Jack was such a HUGE help...


The bed finally completed!


The dresser...




Next on our list is finding a comfy overstuffed glider...  I think we found one today at Lone Star Baby (GREAT selection of everything baby!), but I have to figure out what bedding I'm getting to pick out the material to get the chair covered in.  Another task for another day!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Let the waiting begin...

"Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage." Psalm 14:27

As of this evening, we are officially "waiting" for Baby P.  We just received word that all of our information is now available for potential birth mothers to start viewing (a week early!).  As exciting as this is, we're already realizing that this is by far the hardest part of our adoption journey so far.  The unknown is proving to be more difficult than we imagined.  Wondering who is looking at us... Will we be chosen?... How long will we have to wait?...  and the list goes on.  It's consumed our conversations this evening.  I feel like a broken record, but as it comes to your mind please say a prayer for Baby P and his/her birth mother.  Most likely, she is already pregnant and beginning the whole process of adoption.  I can't even imagine the difficult decisions she is having to make right now.  What amazing courage, strength, and love she must have - completely unselfish.  Please pray for Ben and I as well - that we do not become consumed or discouraged with the wait, but that we remain hopeful and are daily remembering the Lord's provision.  Each time I have begun to feel discouraged over the last several days, these verses in Isaiah kept coming to mind...

"Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God; the creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary.  His understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary, and increases power to the weak."

What comfort...all of this is in His hands.  He is the EVERLASTING GOD...CREATOR OF ALL THE EARTH...no task is too great, and no detail too small.  Do I forget that so easily?  Regardless of the wait, the anxiety, the fear, the unknown...a great joy is coming!  HE IS FAITHFUL.

Monday, November 17, 2008

And...

...I've just decided that I'm completely changing rooms for Baby P's nursery...switching the original nursery room with my office =)  Lots of work to do!!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Baby Furniture

My parents got us an early Christmas gift today...BABY FURNITURE!!!  We love it!  What a fun day shopping and looking!  We ended up getting Baby P's crib and dresser today...still have to find a glider =)

Here it all is in the nursery (thanks to our great friend, Grant, who helped get everything up the stairs!):

As you can see, we have quite a bit of assembling to do!

Here's a picture of the crib we bought...does the whole convertible thing into a toddler bed, etc. (This picture is also the exact color that I got...espresso):


...And a pic of the toddler bed...


...And a pic of the full bed...



And here's a picture of the dresser (but in the wrong color...I got espresso, not cherry wood):


I can't wait to get it all assembled and set up in the nursery...we'll post pics when it's done!


Thursday, November 6, 2008

Baby P's First Gifts

Tonight we had a little impromptu "LET-THE-WAITING-BEGIN-FOR-BABY P" celebration with my parents and sister, Neely (she drove all the way to our side of town..yay!!).  We had a great dinner at a new Hibachi Steakhouse, and they also surprised us with some very special first gifts for Baby P...


The cross reads "For this child I have prayed... I Samuel 1:27"...and we will get it monogrammed with Baby P's real name (when we know what that is!).  It will look so cute in the nursery!  And, of course, the 'Guess How Much I Love You' book (with the little teething bunny to go with it) - probably one of the greatest children's books ever =)

.
And, last but certainly not least...I was re-gifted "Todo"...  This ugly little dog was as close as I ever came to a doll (yes, I was a tomboy)...and man, was I attached to him!  So special that my Mom saved him for all these years!

Ben and I are so incredibly thankful for both of our families and all that they have done to help.  They have shown unconditional love and support towards us and our decision to adopt.  It has made a world of difference to Ben and I - we couldn't have made it through this entire process without them.  We love you!

We are DONE with the home study!!!

YAY!!!   A huge thanks to everyone who posted comments, sent us messages via email and facebook, sent texts, and called this morning...  We truly appreciate your thoughts and prayers!  Just to fill you in... the home study went really well!  It was definitely nothing to be anxious or nervous about.  Kris Miller conducted the interview (we LOVE her by the way) - she is the Executive Director for the Little Flower Adoption Agency and Law Firm out of Dallas - and she was so great and helpful.  She basically just sat and talked with Ben and I for several hours about our lives growing up, our families, our view of adoption, about birthparents, etc.   Plus, we love the fact that once we are matched with a birthmother through our facilitators and attorneys, she's there to also provide additional guidance and counsel as well.  She made us feel very comfortable and was so easy to talk to.  Everything went really smoothly...she has already received our FBI clearances and background checks...so now it will be about a week until we have an official "approved and completed" home study.  All she has to do is write-up her report!

And...some more exciting news...  we spoke with our adoption consultant today who told us that our online profiles will be ready for birthmothers to view no later that Nov. 22nd...only two weeks away!  We will receive an email when the profiles are ready with our usernames and passwords where we can go in and look at them for ourselves and see how often they are being viewed.  It's all really happening...so hard to believe!!  We are officially "waiting" for Baby P!

And...I had to post this great picture of The Boys...brotherly love!  They definitely won over Kris during the home study =)


Wednesday, November 5, 2008

HOME STUDY TOMORROW

We have our in-home interview TOMORROW (Thursday) morning from 9am until 12noon with the social worker.  She'll be looking through our house and neighborhood to make sure that we can provide a safe environment for a child.  She'll also be asking us a bunch of questions over a period of several hours about ourselves, our background, jobs, family, child-rearing, etc.  This is our last step until we are officially "waiting" for Baby P!  Any prayers for our home study and that it would go smoothly would be greatly appreciated!  

Monday, November 3, 2008

Blessings in the midst of a storm...

Ben and I were talking over the weekend about all of the blessings that have come out of our adoption journey so far.  It's amazing the work that God can do in the middle of what we consider a "storm".  One of our huge blessings have been the unexpected friendships and bonds that have formed with other couples going through similar situations.  I received an email this morning from one of these new, dear friends detailing the emotional struggles and pain that she experienced over the weekend (which are all too common with anyone who has dealt with infertility).  My heart goes out to "B" and I have been praying for her and for her husband all day long.  And, I know that many of my blog readers are dealing with very similar issues...so, I wanted to share the words (from another Katherine Barnes song, of course) that I just love listening to on my hard days.

Who knows what tomorrow brings,
What joy or tragedy,
may be around the corner in this life of faith I lead?
Will a love be found so dear and pure,
to fill the deepest part?
Or will a cloud of desperation settle in my heart?

Regardless of the circumstance
that tries to cloud my soul,
These trials are for a purpose
and a time for me to grow.
The testing of my faith 
will produce a greater love,
more genuine to glorify 
my Father up above.

Dreams may seem forgotten,
Or lost along the way.
Sacrificed and broken down,
and traded for dismay.
And a heavy heart grows weary
of enduring through the flames.
Oh, but only through the fire
are we worthy of His name.

Regardless of the circumstance
that tries to cloud my soul,
these trials are for a purpose
and a time for me to grow.
That the testing of my faith
will produce a greater love.
More genuine to glorify
my Father up above.

And, though, for a little while,
I may suffer grief and trials...
This I know...
This I know...

That regardless of the circumstance
that tries to cloud my soul,
these trials are for a purpose 
and a time for me to grow.
That the testing of my faith
will produce a greater love
more genuine to glorify
my Father up above.

Baby P = Baylor Bear

Ben and I had a wonderful time at Homecoming this weekend - it's always great to spend quality time and catch up with old friends!

And, as you can see, we had some fun shopping for Baby P as well... =)



We went to the Baylor Bookstore looking for new shirts for us, and I just happened to come across the little BU Cap, socks, and bib (they are so tiny and cute!!).  Well...that, of course, spurred my little Baby P shopping spree and we went to two more stores where I found the newborn onesie and then the BU blanket.  Too cute!  If Baby P turns out to be a girl...then I'm definitely going back to get the little Baylor Princess onesie and the little cheerleader outfit (Ben is thrilled...haha).  So fun!