Our CRAZY FUN day...

First of all, we want to express how truly humbled we are by the number of you who have commented on my blog, on Facebook, on Myspace... those who have called and texted... I think we currently have 161 emails to read in our inbox... WOW!!!  What incredible love and support you have shown - we are forever grateful, and know that we would not be where we are today without your prayers.  We love you!

With that said... today was CRAZY, CRAZY, CRAZY!  But we had such a wonderful time!!!  

I do have to start this blog off with another adoption miracle we received to start off our day...  As I mentioned in my last post, finances have been a huge strain because this all came so quickly and is costing us more than we had originally anticipated.  The plan for this morning, was that our parents were meeting up over at our house for a quick breakfast then heading out to hit the stores and REGISTER!!!  Well... when my parents walked in, they held in their hand a piece of paper... a piece of paper that they had completely forgotten about.  It was a life insurance policy they had taken out on me as a child...and it has sat...and accumulated cash.  And wouldn't you know that GOD IS SO GOOD... it was the exact mount of money we needed to complete the adoption expenses this week.  Who would have ever thought that this seemingly useless  policy started 29 years ago, would finish out the funding we need to bring Baby Boy P home!?!?! PRAISE THE LORD!!!  We firmly believe that there are no coincidences - the Lord knew 29 years ago...when Ben and I were both babies ourselves... that this money would be used to start our own family and bring our little boy home!  It literally takes my breath away...

So today...CRAZY!!!  We registered like mad dogs (still not done quite yet) and also bought a whole loot of baby gear that we will need immediately to bring Baby P home.  You can see the picture below =)

 

What amazes me, is that this is only the very tip of the iceberg...things that I apparently can't live without when we get Baby P.  It's astounding that a little person so small, could need so very much.  Ha!  But...we have to confess... Ben and I are both shopaholics - we loved every minute of it!  All of our parents were so gracious and helped out as well - they've gone above and beyond - and then above some more...  It's our prayer that we are able to do that for Baby P as he grows up.  We're so ready to meet this little boy and kiss those chubby little cheeks!

Officially 9 days and counting...!!!

Introducing Baby P!!!!

"WE HAVE PRAYED FOR THIS CHILD, AND THE LORD HAS GRANTED US WHAT WE ASKED OF HIM.  SO NOW WE GIVE HIM TO THE LORD..." 1 Samuel 1:27

Tears are streaming down both of our faces as we write this post and stare at this precious sonogram pic for about the thousandth time tonight...  

We are blessed beyond measure and proud to announce that we have been picked as the parents for this sweet, beautiful, baby BOY!!!!  That's right...Baby P is a BOY!!!!  How wonderful it feels to know that...to say that... to see this little face that we have been praying for for so very long!

And here is the greatest news of all... buckle up because this one has definitely taken us for a ride tonight!!!  Baby P's due date is JANUARY 20th!!!  In case you're as shocked as we are, and having trouble doing the math in your head at the moment... THAT'S ONLY 10 DAYS, FOLKS!!!   HOLY COW!!!  Deer-in-the-headlights doesn't even begin to describe us right now. =)

Obviously, we wanted to tell each and every one of our precious friends and family in person who have been so faithfully praying and walking beside us through this journey...  However, Baby P's birth mom could literally go into labor at any minute, so we are on obvious baby over-drive of making all of the necessary arrangements.  We pray that you forgive us and understand that we are not able to tell anyone in person outside of our parents and siblings - everyone else is finding out RIGHT NOW.   We can't wait to give you all huge hugs and thank you for your support in person!  This is COMPLETELY blowing our minds...WE'RE GOING TO BE PARENTS IN 10 DAYS OR LESS!!!!  WOW!!!

There isn't a single detail that I want to forget about this afternoon and evening...I will do my best to give a very brief synopsis right now, but will most likely be adding further details as the week goes by. =)  

Ben and I both had normal work days today...  About 4:00pm this afternoon, Ben called me to come pick him up at the car dealership because the Volvo had to go in for some repairs.  I picked him up, got home about 4:20pm, and then sat down in our room thinking I had a good hour or two before having to get cleaned up for a dinner at Esparza's with some friends tonight.  About 4:25pm Ben came running into our room where I was catching up on "The City" (I'm not ashamed...), and frantically told me that our adoption consultants/attorneys were on the phone and needed to speak to both of us on speaker.  Right then and there, I knew we had been picked.  HALLELUJAH!!!  Tears were immediately streaming down both of our faces...

I'm not going to go into all of the details that our adoption consultants went over with us for several reasons.  The first, is that this is Baby P's story and above everything else, we are protecting that for him.  Of course, we will disclose every last little detail he wants about his birth family as he grows up, but it will be his decision about what he wants the world to know and what he wants to share.  So... all of that to say, if you have any questions... you can just ask him one day. =)

But these few details I will share... WE ARE INCREDIBLY BLESSED!!!  "Blessed" is the word that keeps ringing in my heart and head in regards to Baby P's birth family.  We truly could not have asked for a better situation.  There are some very specific things we have been praying for... and let me tell you, friends... GOD IS SO GOOD... SO FAITHFUL!!!  

Baby P's birth mom (whom I will refer to as "S" to protect her privacy)... S and S's parents are a wonderful, close, loving, CHRISTIAN family - Prayer #1...answered!  And... please remember that we have been open and approved to adopt anywhere in the United States...but...  Baby P is being born right here in AUSTIN, TEXAS!!!  Prayer #2 - answered!!!  And finally... the third answered prayer that I will share with you (although there are many, many more)... Ben, myself, and our families have been welcomed with open arms to be at the hospital at the time of Baby P's birth.  AMAZING!!!  I could go on and on about the love and respect we have for S... and for the maturity and grace she has shown in making all of her decisions....  We can't wait to share her wonderful story with Baby P!

To sum up our call with the adoption consultants... we were floored to receive over 40 PAGES of background information on Baby P... medical records all the way through his great-grandparents on both sides... WOW!!!  The kicker, was that we had to make a decision to move forward within the hour, due to the impending labor that could take place at any moment... At first this was hard for us to fathom...ONLY AN HOUR???  TO MAKE THE BIGGEST DECISION OF OUR LIVES???  The reason we had such a short time span, is that S chose only us.  See, usually the birth moms are made to choose 3 families so that there are some "back-up" plans (especially in a case like S's where she is due at any moment).  If we would have decided to not move forward, then tomorrow they were beginning the grueling process of starting from scratch to find another family.  But, S wanted us...she chose us - she said that she KNEW we were supposed to be this precious little boy's parents!  How forever grateful we will be to her!  Words cannot even describe... 

So here's how the rest of our evening went:

4:25pm - 5:25pm - Phone conversation with adoption consultants and attorney's

5:26 - 6:00 - HAPPY CRYING...PANIC CRYING...ONLY AN HOUR???... LOTS OF PRAYER... and some very wise counsel of two very special social worker friends.

6:15 pm - Conference call with all 4 of our parents... more crying =)

6:20 pm - oops!!  Need to tell our friends we won't be making dinner... can't talk to them in person... just sent a text (they all probably thought we were fighting...haha!)

6:35 pm - We called back the adoption consultants and happily agreed to parent this beautiful, healthy baby boy!!!  We have finally met Baby P!!!

6:40pm - Holly' parents arrive at the house... more crying... 

7:00pm - All go grab a quick dinner where Ben's parents meet up with us... more crying...more hugging...  Ben calls both of his brothers - Uncle Jeff, Uncle Joe, and Aunt Candice (we wish you all were here in person!!!)...

8:00pm - Back to our house... Aunt Neely and Craig arrive... more crying and hugging... are you seeing a theme???

11:00pm - Everyone leaves... and our shock of reality once again sets in... WE'RE GOING TO BE PARENTS... IN 10 DAYS!!!

Needless to say, the next few days are going to be C-R-A-Z-Y!!!  But wonderful!!! 

Tomorrow (Saturday) we'll be running all over town with our mom's to get all of the necessities we will need to bring Baby P home.  Not to mention registering, booking arrangements for our Austin stay, making arrangements for absence from work, etc...  My head hurts just thinking about all of it... but I am SO EXCITED!!!

THREE HUGE PRAYER REQUESTS for the next several days:

1. We get to meet S this Monday at 1:00pm!!!  Please pray that we are able to lift her up, encourage her, and have a beautiful start to such an important relationship.

2. Finances!!!  This seems petty during such a happy time, but this has happened MUCH more quickly than we ever expected and we are definitely short in the financial area.  I mean...9 WEEKS PEOPLE!!!  It will only be 9 WEEKS from the time we were eligible to adopt to the time that we get to bring Baby P home.  How wonderful that it went so quickly!  But, that means that we will have only had a total of 9 weeks to fund the ENTIRE adoption.  Financially, we were planning on having a little more time (ha!) to save and prepare for the funding that we needed.  We are confident that God will provide and it will work out, but prayers in this area would be greatly appreciated!

3. Please pray for our sanity... We are over-joyed, overwhelmed, CRAZY HAPPY, and scared out of our minds!  All normal emotions at the prospect of becoming parents... but all in need of prayer, none the less =)

I can't tell you enough about how much we love each and every one of you... even those faithful prayer warriors whom we have never met in person, but have followed our adoption journey via the blog.  THANK YOU seems so inadequate to describe our feelings...

Here are a few more pics from the evening...  Just a small warning...I look HIDEOUS... no make-up, baseball hat, crying... Apparently, this is my attire for the huge events in my life - I looked the exact same in all the pics from the night Ben and I got engaged - ha!!  But I don't care... I treasure each and every moment!

Ben and I with "Doc", "KK", and Aunt Neely =)

With Ben's parents... Grandma and Grandpa-to-be!!!  We very much missed having Uncle Jeff, Uncle Joe, and Aunt Candice with us tonight!

And here he is again... Baby P!  Hoping you love seeing this sweet little face that we have been praying for for so long! 

Welcome home!!!  WE LOVE YOU, BABY P!!!

Happy New Year!!!

So I'm way behind in blog posts...  I don't have time to fully catch up today, but I did want to post a few pics from our FABULOUS NEW YEARS EVE!  (photographs compliments of Jayme and Sayard)

We started off the evening with dinner reservations at Fireside Pies...

Pictured: Shaun, Ben, Me, Jayme, Grant, and Jill

Benjamin and I =)

Then we headed over to "the biggest party of the year"... The New Year's Eve bash at John and Amy Bain's house...what a blast!!!  Tons of our friends were there and it was so much fun to ring in the New Year with everyone. 

Angie, Me, Jill, and Sayard

And, of course...there was LOTS of dancing...

This is actually a kind-of embarrassing photograph of me that Sayard happened to catch...but I thought it was too funny not to share - looks like I was having a good time!

I hope that you and your family had a wonderful start to the New Year as well!  Ben and I are so excited for all that this year will possibly hold... hopefully our little family will finally get to welcome Baby P!

Tagged

I was tagged by my sweet friend, Melissa... so here's 8 THINGS ABOUT ME...

8 TV Shows I Watch:

1. The Office

2. 24

3. Grey's Anatomy

4. Private Practice

5. Brothers & Sisters

6. Criminal Minds

7. The Fringe

8. The Hills (I'm not ashamed...)

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Hibiscus

2. Bob's Steak & Chop House

3. Coal Vines

4. PF Changs

5. Taverna

6. Piranhas

7. Ferre Ristorante

8. In & Out Burger

8 Things That Happened Today: 

It was a VERY exciting day...hahaha!

1. Development meeting/work stuff

2. Laundry

3. Checked on Sammy (my in-laws dog)

4. worked out

5. cleaned the upstairs

6. ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A

7. talked to my mom, sister, and Jayme (have several more mesgs to return...I haven't forgotten you all!)

8. will be taking down the Christmas decorations tonight

8 Things I Look Forward To:

1. MEETING BABY P!!!  =)

2. Our 7th wedding anniversary

3. Trip to Maui in March

4. The New Year's Eve "Party of the Year" =)

5. Visiting Joe & Candice in NYC

6. Having all of the Christmas decorations down (it will be quite the undertaking)

7. A lazy weekend ahead

8. My 30th Bday

8 Things I Wish For:

1. The phone call from our attorney telling us we've been chosen by a birth mother!

2. A good relationship/meeting with the birthmother.

3. Continually growing and seeking the Lord

4. Always "keeping it real"

5. Continued health for our families

6. Unlimited travel funds

7. A housekeeper =)

8. Our little company to take off 

8 Songs I Just Listened To:

1. Be OK - Ingrid Michaelson

2. On Call - Kings of Leon

3. Diamonds on the Inside - Ben Harper

4. That Dress Looks Nice On You - Sufjan Stevens

5. A Dustland Fairytale - The Killers

6. I'd Rather Be With You - Joshua Radin

7. Phantom Limb - The Shins

8. Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch

8 Movies I Love:

1. Love Actually

2. Spanglish

3. Tombstone

4. Garden State

5. The Princess Bride

6. Office Space

7. The Departed

8. Reality Bites

8 People I Tag:

1. Neely Floyd

2. Candice Peterson

3. Kym Tucker

4. Blaire Bender

5. Shelly Vandiver

6. Jaime Ferguson

7. Amy Burchfield

8. Amanda Christian

Christmas 2008

Wow...I've missed blogland!  Is that sad?  Haha.  So much to update about our wonderful Christmas...I don't even know where to begin!  Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of pictures yet...most of them were taken by the family photographers (my sister, Neely, and my mother-in-law, Carol).  As soon as I get some pictures, I will be sure to post them as well.  To keep this as concise as possible (and due to my obsession with making lists)...  I'll narrow down our fun memories to the following...  

TOP 10 HAPPENINGS FROM A PETERSON CHRISTMAS:

1.  ROTAVIRUS

Ok...so this first one isn't so fun.  I kicked off our holiday break with the oh-so-lovely Rotavirus.  Ugg.  N-A-S-T-Y is the only word to sum it up.  If you don't know what this is, pray that you never do.  Our good friend from college, Brenner, was staying at our house during these couple of days and I didn't get to spend any time at all with him.  I was quarantined to the back of our house and I don't think I left the bedroom one time.  I would just text Ben with what I needed and he dropped it off outside the door...sweet husband. =)  Thankfully, neither Brenner nor Ben got the virus... and after several days of recovery and bleaching every last thing I touched... we finally moved on and were able to enjoy the rest of the holidays.

2. THE MEYERSON SYMPHONY CENTER

My mom, Neely, and I had a fabulous girls night when we went and listened to the Dallas Wind Symphony's Christmas Extravaganza.  It was beautiful and so much fun!  We got to sit in the choir loft behind the orchestra and I truly enjoyed every minute of the program...even our overly excited neighbor sitting next to my sister who whooped, laughed, and gave us her commentary through the entire program.  =)  We got some great pictures at the symphony center... so send 'em on when you can, Neely!

3. PETERSON/FLOYD GAME NIGHT

My family and Ben's family all got together on Tuesday evening for dinner and a VERY competitive double 12's game.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to finish the entire game because Ben's youngest brother, Jeff, was literally falling asleep at the table due to lack of sleep from his camping trip...  so we still don't know who the true winner is.  And just in case you're wondering, it would have been me.  Haha.  In all seriousness, I love that both of our families get along so well and can have fun evenings like that - we are truly blessed!

4. CHRISTMAS EVE

Ben and I spent Christmas Eve with my family this year and had an absolute blast!  We went to the FBC Keller Christmas Eve service where we enjoyed seeing a lot of old friends... then we headed back to my parents house where Mom started a new tradition...  She catered in Hot Damn Tamales for Christmas Eve dinner...YUM!!!  After dinner, we spent the next several hours opening gifts... which brings me to #5 in our list...

5. THE WHITTEN FOOTBALL

...that's right... my Dad got Ben a signed Whitten football...which you can see from the picture he absolutely LOVED!

As usual, both sides of our family did way too much Christmas... I can't say enough how truly blessed we all are.  

6. CHRISTMAS DAY

Christmas continued for Ben and I as we moved to his parent's house on Christmas Day.  Again, what a wonderful/relaxing day and an absolute blast!  We started off the morning with a great Christmas breakfast... then spent the next several hours opening even more gifts...  then eating even more food!  Carol cooked a great Christmas lunch/dinner - there was so much food that we couldn't even fit everything on the table... isn't that what you're supposed to do on the holidays??? Haha!  We had a wonderful day and are so grateful for everything!

7. BABY P

...and in case you're wondering... BABY P RACKED UP!!!  This first grandchild (on both sides) won't be spoiled at all! =)

We even got gift cards from Ben's parents and Joe & Candice to get Baby P's bedding made...cannot wait!!!

8. JOE AND CANDICE

Although Christmas was wonderful, we had some bittersweet moments as well... We had to say goodbye to Joe & Candice. (Joe is one of Ben's brothers and Candice is the greatest sister-in-law in the world!)  Joe and Candice moved back to TX in June after 4 years in the San Diego/La Jolla area...and it's been so much fun having them here for the last 6 months...we've been spoiled getting to see them every weekend and hang out whenever we want!   We are very sad that they are leaving this week and moving to NYC for the next two years... but so proud because Joe got accepted to start his MBA at Columbia.  This is such an incredible opportunity for them and we can't wait to visit the Big Apple this spring!

9. MOVIES

We are HUGE movie people... and during the holidays we like to catch up on movies that we may have missed.  Here's a few that we watched:  The Day the Earth Stood Still, Valkerie, Tropic Thunder, The Hulk, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Wanted... and the list goes on... 

10. THE WILDEY'S

We ended the Christmas holidays with a visit from Rex, Jen, and their two sweet boys - Maddox and Lincoln.  It was the first time that all of us got to meet Lincoln since he had been born - what a cutie!  Both of our families got together for the Cowboy game (ugg) and a great steak dinner last night.  The party included Ben and I, my parents, my sister, Lea Wildey, Tyler Wildey, Jen & Jason DeLaPorte (with little Keagan and Kyler, of course), then Rex and Jen (and Maddox and Lincoln).  It's always fun to have this whole crew together... and hilarity always ensues when our moms insist on the annual "kid" picture.  I'll post those when I get them as well, but at what point are you no longer a kid???  We all thought it would end at 30... or when we had kids of our own... but I guess not. =)

If you made it through this entire list...you're a trooper!  We had a lot of fun and made some wonderful, life-long memories... never forgetting the true meaning of Christmas - that our Christ was born in the town of Bethlehem - our Saviour, King, Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, and Everlasting Father.  Hope you and your family had a great holiday as well.  Wishing you a blessed 2oo9!

Missing Baby P

Although we are incredibly blessed by wonderful families, friends, and a Savior who was born and gave His life for us...  There's a part of me (a very large part) that is greatly missing Baby P this Christmas.  It hit me last night as I was finishing all of our wrapping and putting the gifts under the tree.  I had a little pity party for myself, and sadly thought that there should be gifts for one more tiny person under there.  

For all of you who have experienced problems in getting pregnant or having children, you'll understand when I say that this Christmas was my cut-off point.  I often thought to myself, that if we aren't pregnant by this Christmas, then something must be wrong and we need to go see someone.  (Secretly, though...I just KNEW that we would have a third member of our family joining us this Christmas.  Clearly God has other plans.)  Obviously, by somewhat of a fluke, we found out much earlier than this Christmas that there were some problems.  For that, we are thankful because it allowed us to start on the adoption journey for Baby P much earlier.  I keep telling myself that that means we will be holding Baby P that much sooner.  =)  

Some good news on the adoption front... Our attorneys have purchased the rights to several more adoption websites which will be featuring us as a waiting family after the holidays.  This gives us more exposure, although it is bringing more paperwork...and pictures.  Ugg.  So worth it, though.  Other good news, is that they are making placements of newborns almost EVERY DAY...which is encouraging.  (A little side note here... I am crazy competitive, so when I see another couple disappear off of the websites because they've been picked, it kind of brings out the worst... just being honest.  Prayers, please!)

As of TODAY...we have been officially waiting for one full month.  Not a long time, I know...but I am dreading what could be a long wait of months to come.  But...despite all of the waiting... we have great hope.  This wonderful season of Christmas reminds us of that.  

"For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders.  And He will called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

We are truly enjoying this Christmas, though, and having some fun...  Ben was amazed at the amount of gifts Baby P is giving this year - amazed that someone who has not yet joined us, could push us so far over our Christmas budget...oops! =)  Hope you and your family are having a wonderful time as well!  Many thanks, time and time again, for the continued prayers!

WAT Marketing / Community Team Christmas Outing

Last night the DFW WeAreTeachers Marketing & Community team went out to dinner to celebrate the season and enjoy good friends, food, and of course...desserts.  Video is compliments of John Costilla.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our WAT Team to you!