Golfing in March?????

So yesterday Randy and I and another couple went golfing. Yes, golfing in Wisconsin on March 22. It was absolutely beautiful. The snow is completely gone, however, the grass is still brown. There are no leaves on the trees, and if your ball landed in the water, it would just sit atop of the ice. But days as nice as yesterday don't come around too often this time of year so it was wonderful to be able to swing the clubs. This weekend it's suppose to snow. The saying around here is "if you don't like the weather, stick around for five minutes."

Adoption news; we are now sitting at lucky number 13 on the "list". I know we are so close to getting our referral; it's driving me nuts. Since my last post we hit 11 months of officially waiting. I am doing what I can to keep busy. This weekend I am going out of town with the girls, we are heading up to the Dells for the weekend. There will be lots of food, drink, and a ton of laughs.

Your're So Vain

Well, it has been a while. I don't really have a reason as to why I haven't posted in a while, I guess some of it may be because I am on a computer all day long at work, sometimes the last thing I want to do is come home and be on the computer. Another reason may be that I just don't think my blog is that good. I have been reading some really great blogs and mine is just, well, kind of boring. OK, really boring. For all I know, no one is reading this thing anyway. Well, I know I have some family and friends that read it, so I will continue on.

Since my last post, we had several families pass thru court. This means that in the eyes of the Ethiopian government, that child is legally theirs. The kiddos were absolutely adorable and I thank those families that have shared pictures. Also, some families had their court dates moved up from May to April so that is wonderful news as well. Not sure why, but all the sooner these families can be united. And on the referral front, we have moved up another three places on the "list" so we are sitting at 15. I heard from my specialist this week that more referrals are going out during the month of March, however, she doesn't know when or how many.

Today a great discussion was had on my agency's forum about using hair appliances such as a blow dryer or flat iron when at the guest house in Ethiopia. (The guest house is where we will stay while in country). I for one, cannot live without my blow dryer. I am just that vain. I heard stories about sparks flying out, adapters blowing up, losing all power in the building due to blow dryers, etc. I guess I'd better save some room in my luggage for bandannas, head bands, hats, you name it. Maybe I will try one of those travel blow dryers that has the duel voltage. Who knows, I will probably have more important things on my mind that week that I won't even think about my hair.

OK, It's Getting Tough

Well, I have to admit, the wait is becoming more difficult by the day. It must be the closer we get to referral, the more excited and anxious we get. Today I damn near had a heart attack. I was in a meeting at work and when I got back to my desk, I saw an email from my specialist. My heart started pounding, she never emails me out of the blue...something must be up. Well, nothing was up, she was just checking in and wanted to go over the time lines with us once more. Nothing has changed, we were told to still expect 12 months give or take until referral, which for us will be the first part of April, and then another 16 weeks until travel, which will be sometime in August. I really appreciate her checking in, and I have to remember we still have several weeks before referral. I shouldn't jump every time she needs to contact us.

All in all, as I have said before, the wait has gone by pretty fast. A lot has happened to our family over this past year. We lost my Grandfather last February, our dog had surgery to remove a tumor, my niece was born in April, my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in August, I turned 40 in September, the holidays came and went, my Grandmother broke her hip a few weeks ago, and well, I guess that brings us up to date. I can just imagine what this year will bring us!!!!!!!

Finally Taking Shape

Last week our baby furniture arrived and over the week we were able to put it together. I did most of it; believe it or not I am the more handy one when it comes to this kind of stuff. Randy did help a lot when it came to needing 4 hands, tightening screws, etc. You can also see our new carpeting we had installed last month. I know we have a long ways to go, but I don't think I am going to go much further until we know if we are having a boy or girl. I have looked and looked at gender neutral bedding and nursery decor, but I think I want to do girly girl if it's a girl, and boyish boy if it's a boy. Also, this will help pass the time between referral and travel, which by the way will probably be more stressful than waiting for referral.

Speaking of referral, we haven't heard much this past week. Still holding at number 18 on the unofficial list. This past week we hit the 10 month mark of officially waiting. We are still being told to expect right around a 12 month waiting mark but I have this feeling that it will be longer. I am solely basing this on the list activity and hopefully I am wrong. The closer we get, the more I day dream about getting that call. The call that will change our lives forever.

We Cracked the Top 20!

I cannot believe it. Today we are number 18 on the "unofficial" list. Last April we started at number 103. I have talked with both our social worker and our CHS specialist and they are still advising us of a 12 month wait. That is only 2 months away. 2 months away from finally seeing that beautiful little face. We are getting so excited. We finally ordered our baby furniture and it should be here tomorrow. We are busy Friday and Saturday so hopefully Sunday we will be able to put it together and get them set up in the baby's room. Wow, to even say the "baby's" room is something special for us.

Can I Cook?

Today is Randy's birthday. All he wanted to do tonight was stay home, relax, have a nice dinner, and a few cocktails. I really wanted to make him something special for dinner. So I asked him what I could cook for him. I told him I would make anything he wanted. Can you believe all he wanted was Tater Tot Casserole? Maybe I am not as good a cook as I think I am.

Nothing much new to report on the adoption front. Hopefully the next batch of referrals will be coming through in the next couple of weeks. I would like to offer my apologies for those families who did not pass court this week. I don't think it was anything to do with paperwork, it's just some of the government offices moved into different buildings so their appointments were rescheduled, however, most of them didn't get rescheduled until March. Hugs to those families and here's to praying they make it through court next time.

Proud to be an American

No, No, I am not going into the song. However, I am extremely proud today. That's it, enough said.

Finally a Nursery?

Well, we finally put new carpeting in what will be the baby's room. We picked it out a couple of weekends ago and they came and installed it last week. I just love it. Our next step is to buy some baby furniture. I think I know exactly what I want so it's just a matter of taking the next step and buying it. I cannot believe it's actually starting to happen. Once we get some furniture, it will really sink in. It's just so hard to believe that this is truly happening after so much heartache. I mean, I know we are still a few more months away from referral, and then a few more months after that, but it seems like no time at all when you consider how long we have been trying to add to our family.

Not much to report on this week regarding referrals. We are at number 25 on the "list" so we are inching our way to the top. I have heard the next batch probably won't be here until early February. I am however, hopeful that the families waiting for court dates will hear some news real soon.

9 Months and Counting

Last Friday Randy and I hit the nine month waiting mark. When we started this process well over a year ago, I was certain we would at least have had our referral by now. But, if it's one thing we have learned through this whole process, it's to expect change and to be patient. I have to be honest, the wait for us is going by fast. I cannot believe it's been nine months. Not to mention we are not even close to being ready. I wonder though, maybe I am OK with it because I know we are in the home stretch. We should have less than three months to go before we can see our baby's face. Oh, we did do something constructive this weekend, we finally bought carpeting for the baby's room and it will be installed on Wednesday. I cannot wait. It's really starting to hit me that soon we will be parents.

Oh, that's me with my new hair color.

New Year, New Do!

Well, I have been wanting to do this for a while now, but I finally decided it was time to change up my hair color. I have been wanting to go to a dark color so I took the plunge and I now have reddish brown hair. I would say it's kind of drastic since I was so blonde for so long. So far I just love it. I went to a new stylist and she did a wonderful job.

I have to give a big shout out to my blogger friend Cathy who received her referral today. I have been following her blog from the beginning and I am just so happy for her. Her and her husband also live somewhat close to us so someday I hope we can meet her and her family. There were other referrals this week as well so we have moved up the unofficial list to number 27. There are several families ahead of us waiting for siblings so really we are like number 19.

Just a quick update on my Mom, she is still tolerating treatment pretty well. She has ten weeks of chemo and six weeks of radiation left. She had a little rough spell over the holidays but is now feeling much better. Still hoping and planning on her taking the trip to Ethiopia with us.