Tis the Season....

...to loosen your belt buckle a notch! I baked cookies this weekend with my good friend Lori, her niece Kayla, and my sister-in-law Stephanie. This is the third year we have done this and it's always a lot of fun. We actually scaled back the amount of baking this year, you wouldn't know it by the pictures. They call me taz because I am always flinging stuff, missing the bowls, etc. I don't do it on purpose, but my "station" is always the most messy. I wish I could have gotten a picture of that.

Even my niece Cassidy, AKA Cassafrass, helped out. She turns 7 months old tomorrow. Isn't she just the cutest little peanut? I kept imagining what fun it will be in a couple of years when she and her cousin will be helping together!

I've Been Photo Tagged

Another blogger buddy has photo tagged me. So I am to take the 4th picture in the 4th file on my computer and explain it. These are some of my best friends' daughters playing on the water trampoline during our summer vacation stay up north on Long Lake. Haley on the left, and Sidney in the middle are sisters, and that's Morgen on the right. She has a little brother, but I think he had enough of the "girls" for that day.

So now I need to "tag" 4 other people. I am tagging Kris, Stacey, Cindy, and Becker25.

We have heard from our agency that a few referrals have gone out this past week which is great news. We have only moved up two more spots on the unofficial list, but we have been reminded that not all waiting families are on this list, which means there may have been more movement that what we have actually seen. We are now out of the 40's and we are currently number 39.

Surprises

Sunday, November 9 marked 7th months of officially waiting for our referral. When I say it like that it just doesn't sound right, as we started this process well over a year ago. There was a very interesting discussion on our adoption forum that asked what surprises we have encountered throughout the process. There are several that came to mind immediately:

1. How much I love this little person that I haven't even met yet. I cannot believe how often I think about him/her and what our life will be like when he/she joins Randy and I.

2. The absolute peace I feel that we made the right decision to adopt.

3. The amazing outpouring of support we have received from family and friends. Randy and I are truly blessed.

4. The complexity of it all.... ethically, culturally, spiritually, politically.

5. The diversity of the adoption community.

So as another month passed without any referrals, we are doing our best to take it all in stride. I keep reminding myself that everything happens for a reason, and I know what those reasons are. I hope that others who have been struggling with their wait can find peace in knowing their reasons as well.

History in the Making

To my child I have not yet met,

History was made last night in the United States. America elected it's first African American president. I am excited, optimistic, and very hopeful for the future of this country. I am even more hopeful for what this means to you. Your opportunities are endless. Although you are too young to understand, you will one day learn what all this means.

Love,
Mama

Still 41

Well, not much new to report on the adoption front. We are still holding steady at 41 on the unofficial list which means we have not seen any referrals in about a month. It now seems like the trend is leaning more towards batches of referrals at one time. Lot's of families who have referrals have finally received court dates around the middle of December. This is great news for them and I hope they all make it through court their first time around. What a joyous holiday season that would bring all of them.

My Mom seems to be holding her own with her ongoing battle with breast cancer. She has had two rounds of chemotherapy and for the most part has tolerated it well. She is a very strong woman with a very up beat and positive attitude. She still has a long way to go and Randy and I pray for her everyday.

I am going to sign off as I want to watch more of the election coverage. It looks like change is on it's way!!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I love, or used to love, to dress up for Halloween. I haven't done so in the last couple of years but here are some past costumes.

My girlfriends and I dressing up like the Pink Ladies. That's me as Frenchie. Looks like we are all having a little sneaky peek to get the party started!


My husband and I another year. He dressed up like Ozzy Osborne, he looked great. I was just dressed up in a wig and make up. I think I even had leather pants on.
I have even added some "holiday" themed music for your listening pleasure. Hope everyone has a haunted, I mean, Happy Halloween!

Holding Steady at 41

Earlier this month we saw quite a few referrals so now we are number 41 on the "unofficial" list. We have been holding steady here for a few weeks now and I am not sure when the next batch of referrals will be going out. We also heard from our agency that they have signed agreements with two additional orphanages in Ethiopia so in theory, it seems referrals will speed up. Our specialist told us she is not sure how this will impact referral wait times as this agreement was recently signed. I am torn as I am so anxiously waiting to finally meet our baby, however, I so desperately want my Mom to be able to travel with us, so if we have to wait the full 12 months, then we can wait.

We finally started the initial stages of getting the baby's room ready. We moved our office into the other bedroom so now we can paint, put in new carpeting, and even get some baby furniture. It's all so exciting. I have no idea how I am going to decorate it at this point, but I am positive things will fall into place.

I've Been Tagged!

I have been tagged by a fellow blogger. Here are 7 things about me:

1. I don't like condiments. I always special order my food so it never contains ketchup, mayonnaise, tarter sauce, etc. My friends call me Plain Jane.

2. When I was young, I wanted to be a rock star. I even took bass guitar lessons because I was sure I was going to be in a rock band. Obviously, that didn't pan out.

3. I always wear "press-on" fingernails. I have a bad habit of biting my nails so if I have the fake ones on, I cannot bite them. I used to have them done professionally every other week but now I am on a budget.

4. Right now I have some pink hair extensions in my hair. My hair salon was doing a breast cancer fundraiser and I love pink so why not. It kind of goes with the wanting to be a rock star doesn't it?

5. I have 100 nicknames for my dog Zuko. It just kind of happens, one nickname leads to another, and I will holler one out randomly.

6. I have never lived more than 20 miles from where I grew up. I thought being a rock star would eventually allow me to live in other parts of the world.

7. I do not like other people's feet. Don't ever ask me to rub your feet, and don't touch my feet. Don't let your feet even touch my feet under a table, I totally freak out.

So there are 7 weird things about me. Now I am suppose to tag 7 other bloggers, however, I don't think I know that many so I will tag a few. Also, some of the blogs I read have already been tagged.

Kris http://kfredfamily.blogspot.com/

Mamasweetpea http://www.sweetpeasandsunshine.blogspot.com/

Stacey http://moobearsmom.blogspot.com/

Shelby http://inthebigwoo.blogspot.com/

Oh, here is a picture of me with my pink hair. Fun isn't it?

6 Months and Counting....

Today Randy and I hit the 6 month waiting mark. I have to say, the wait has not been too bad on us. Referrals started going out this week and right now on the "unofficial" list, we are at 46. It's great to see them pick up since we only saw a few referrals trickle through over the summer. Last week we were at 51 so things have started to move again. I am so happy for all those families that have been waiting almost a year.

This weekend I am going out of town with "the girls." There will be about 10 of us. It's our annual weekend trip and I cannot wait to get done with work tomorrow and get on the road. I hope to leave around 1:00. Lots of laughs, food, and drink. We are staying in a really nice cabin on a lake about an hour north of here, and the weather is suppose to be unseasonably warm which will make this a perfect weekend. I am sure I will have some fun "blogging" material after this weekend.

Addition to my blog

You may have noticed I added music to my blog. So far I have only added a few songs as it took me a while to figure out how to add the mixpod. I didn't pick these song for any particular reason except that I like them and they are some of the more "mellow" songs from my playlist. If you don't care to listen you can scroll down the page and hit the play/pause button just as you would for an iPod. I will continue to add songs in the coming weeks to add a little variety.