the gifties keep rollin' in

Merry Christmas to our sweet baby darling deer.

we did not ask for any presents this year that were not baby oriented.  after all, we need tons of things before this little one gets here!  everyone entertained us and purchased items off the registry.  super helpful, so we will be ready whenever we get this process started.

our dear friends delaine, alex, and caleb sent a giant box of prezzies last week - all of which were for the sweet baby deer!

this box was chock full of cloth diapers, diapering notes, and washes.  the adorable little giraffe goes ever so sweetly with the giraffe mama and papa taylor gave us back at my birthday.  delaine took special care to write notes on each type of diaper and wipe, and even pre-washed items that required extra laundering!

Christmas this year was at will's folks.  his folks got us the baby monitor and diaper sprayer from our registry and also picked up some additional books for the baby's growing library!  (we are heading out this afternoon to check out some sales on shelving to get the things out of what was formerly the craft room closet to get this back into the baby zone.  we need a place to put all of these wonderful things!)

so touching how so many people have given us such special treasures before our little one has even been scheduled to arrive.  we cannot thank everyone enough for their love and support through this process.  all of this preparation has helped us to finally see how this is really happening for us, and that after all of the years of planning we really are nearing a family of three.  Merry Christmas indeed.

making Christmas merry

sometimes when things are difficult you take what is right in front of you for granted. 

not being 100% sure why, this Christmas just seems more difficult than any other has ever been.  last night i walked past a picture in our bathroom that we took on a trip to the ilse of palms in sc after having to cancel our trip to mexico when we found out our first sweet baby was probably not going to make it into this world.  i see that picture every day.  we were so happy - even with the news we'd been given - because we held out hope that the dr. was wrong and that this precious baby inside me would grow to term and spend it's life with us.  looking at the picture last night reminded me of all of the stepping stones we've used to get across this river, and that no matter how raging the river was, that will was there - right beside me - holding my hand.


i know that there is a possibility that this will be our last Christmas alone, and so i hope we can take it slowly - minute by minute - and treasure every single thing that unfolds between now and then.  will is my protector, my best friend, my soul mate, my reassurance, and the daddy-o of our future babies.  i hope on this Christmas, more than ever before he knows how wonderfully remarkable he is, and how i just cannot wait to raise babies with him.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2010!

books

i've never been a big reader.  my folks never really read us too many bed time stories and i when i had spare time, i was sure to find something "better" to do than to sit down and read a book.

however, i love reading books to children.  i love adding the voices and inflection to help keep the story interesting.  when i worked at a pre-school right after college i made sure to have story time every day.  will and i have chatted about how we plan on reading bed time stories and keeping a bookcase full of books in the baby's room.  hopefully our teaching our baby to love reading will help me regain appreciation for it as well.

it was a great surprise when kathy and mark gave us this story book for the baby last night.

i attempted to make my way through the story while we were making dinner last night.  i got a few pages in and found the tears were making it too hard to read.  this is the page that hung me up.

will took over and finished the remainder of the book.  such an amazingly sweet little story about God matching the adopted baby to the perfect family.  even though i know this is exactly how this is supposed to work, i was still getting antsy about the pace at which things are moving.  we are not even at the point where we are on a wait list (nor will we be for some time yet), but i was already getting worked up about the waiting game.  however, this story book will help me remember that this is all happening at God's pace - and God has the perfect plan in store.

baby it's cold outside

in the patience there is a stillness.

sometimes GOD gives us this wintery mix to slow us down, remind us of what is important, and show us how beautiful our world is. 

so thankful for the slow down so we could refocus today.

patience

got an email from Bethany Christian tonight.  i was hoping for a packet - the next steps - the seminar - something.  it was a Christmas card - and don't get me wrong, it was wonderful - just not what i thought we needed right at that moment.

seems like we've had lots of lessons in patience through the years.  i mean, it's not like we just showed up on this journey without a lot of hard work to get to this point, and it took us 6 years of being infertile to know we were on the right path.  however, now that the initial paperwork is in it seems like we need patience now more than ever.

we know there are going to be things we cannot control - the time line in which everything happens on everyone else's end is one of those things - the critical one of those things.  we are just so over the moon ready for this to happen it seems like we're in the home stretch, when really we have not even begun.

so - we're going to work on our patience, and trust in GOD to know that when the right baby is born HE will send us right to them.

generosity

lots of things begin for us with food.  we're what you call - foodies - so it's only natural that one of my goals this past year was to become YELP elite.  YELP was a way that i could justify my fascination with taking photos of food, and we figured it would be a great way to get out and meet people with common interests.  when i received the honorary YELP elite status i had to call those family members who'd even know what YELP was, so they could help me celebrate my new status. 


we went to multiple elite events, husband even received the elite status himself - yet we never found anyone at those events that seemed to mesh with us.  being a nosy nelly i find myself interested in other's profiles.  you can learn about people, see what their favorite food groups are, what they like to do outside of their food obsessions, and see what you have in common.  i'd friended a gal  a while back who seemed to share common interests in her profile, and we'd briefly chatted on the website, but nothing had gone beyond this. 


that all changed a few months ago. 


i'd stumbled across her profile again - i really do not even know what lead me back to the page - but i'd noticed that she'd changed her settings talking about her "new son".  i'd followed links before to her blog and found myself wrapped back up in her family's story.  come to find out - they'd just adopted.  i reached out to her, not knowing what type of response i'd get, but knowing that we had nothing to loose by trying to touch base and make a connection to another local couple who'd been through the adoption process.


cathy and steve surprised us with their welcoming open arms approach.  we shared emails back and forth for weeks - just getting to know each other.  we met them for lunch, they introduced us to their sweet baby, brought us gifts, shared their profile book with us, and really connected with us and where we were in our journey.  will and i were in awe of how tremendously giving they were - even after the first time we met them.


we've continued to email back and forth and they've been a constant source of inspiration for the use of cloth diapers, guiding us to answers for questions we did not even know we had, sharing their struggles and triumphs with us, and encouraging us every step of the way. 


last night we met them again for a meal at their home.  knowing that our friendship all started with YELPING, we knew we had to come up with a tasty little dessert.  will and i baked up a nice little batch of cupcakes and resisted the urge to sample them on the way over to their house. 

they welcomed us in, let us play with their son, gave us instructions and more advice on cloth diapering (my new favorite topic), cooked a delicious meal for us, and sat and chatted with us for hours.  we could have gone on chatting the entire night, but we knew we had to let them to go bed sometime - after all, they have a newborn!  they blew us out of the water with their genuine caring for our situation and their generosity.  we left their home with a custom made adoption ornament, a gift bag with a plethora of burt's bees products, and some g diapers.  the abundance of amazing gifts was unbelievable, but we were even more touched by their openness and willing to connect with us on a personal level and provide support to us when we've needed it most.  they know what we've been through, what we're going through, and what to most likely expect next.  they reminded us in their Christmas card to never forget their support is here for us.

steve does amazing work for burt's bees and gifted us some amazing products!  the abundance of products will keep us out of aveda and the drug store and saving even more money for our adoption!

cathy told me about cloth diapering when we first started chatting.  i initially thought it was not something we could "handle", but cathy brought me diapers and showed me how simple they were, and really encouraged me to investigate it more.  last night she showed me about 6 different types of diapers and gave us some that she'd used up to this point.

cathy handed us a wrapped gift along with their gorgeous Christmas card.  we could not believe it when we opened the box to find a custom made adoption ornament. ( just thinking about it, makes me start to cry again.)

we just hope that what they are doing for us we can thank them enough for, and can someday do something similar for someone else who is in the "adoption pre-game" situation.  it's people like this that make you stop and realize just how life altering a simple decision can be.  it was my desire to share my foodie photos with people and our hope to find new friendships that led us to YELP which led us to the friendship with cathy and steve.  we've gained so much more than what we sought after, we just cannot be thankful enough.

request for additional info...

today we got an e-mail confirming receipt of our initial application.

wahoo!

not quite...

they also requested additional details for one of the questions we answered affirmatively.  we figured this would happen, so we're not totally devastated.  however, i was just excited to have us moving on to the next stage.  i was hoping this email with attachment was the GIANT application, but maybe we will get that shortly!

in other news - we're set all up for Christmas.  will said this was the most excited he's ever been to set up the Christmas tree, and he helped from start to finish.  (hopefully he will have that same enthusiasm when it's time to take it all down.)

our most favorite thing is our nativity scene gifted to us from will's folks a few years back.  it is made from olive wood and each piece is hand carved.  above is the sweet baby Jesus - the reason for the season!

hallelujah

we've officially begun the adoption process! 

after a year of seeking, researching, chatting, reading blogs, friending "strangers" on the internet, and submerging ourselves in God's plan - we've finally reached a milestone.  today was the day when we took or initial application to the post office.

we requested the paperwork back in july, but felt we were just not ready to decide which agency we were going with.  after further research and connections with fellow adopters who were working with Bethany Christian Services, we decided they were the agency we'd like to go with.  we're very happy with their work with the expectant parent(s) and feel like their mission is aligned with ours - to find the baby that God wants us to parent.  we know now that we needed the additional four months to get to the right spot on our journey and we can both tell you that we are SO READY to be PARENTS!

it did not take us very log to get this stage of the paperwork completed.  however, i tried to be extra diligent in requesting doctor's letters etc. for any questions that we answered affirmatively on the initial paperwork regarding our medical conditions etc.  we are hoping that the more diligent that we are initially, the faster this process will go.  only time shall tell!

we'll keep you posted with each step, but at this point we're just stoked to have gotten the first set of paperwork into the mail, and to really be in the works!

this is our packet of papers for the initial application.

this is the special padded mailer we purchased to ensure our photo and papers would arrive safely.

here we are!  right before going in the post office to get this paperwork into the hands of the mail carrier!

here we go!

giving thanks

we're packing our bags and heading to be with family for thanksgiving.  we're taking some important things with us this year - and it's not turkey and stuffing!

• initial adoption application
• doctor's approval letters
• printed photos of us
• padded mailer

we plan on taking the time this next week to officially finish our initial application and make sure we are ready to get this thing in the mail by December 1.  we're so excited to finally be at this stage of the game.  since we've been fighting infertility since 2004 it seemed like a baby would never come, but now we can both not only see why we're on this path, but why we needed to wait, and why adoption is how we'd be building our family.  we're both so hopeful and assured by God that a baby is on the way.

i feel like putting the application in the mail box is going to feel like getting a positive pregnancy test.  i remember talking with will last thanksgiving.  we were standing in his parent's yard discussing our Christmas letter, where we were announcing the plans for preparedness in adoption for 2011.  we talked about how open we'd be with family and friends so as to not deprive ourselves of the feelings and support that expectant parents have all along the way.  i do not think either one of us dreamed how not cheated we'd feel by this process, and how much more amazing we feel right now than we ever hoped we could.

so much to be thankful for this thanksgiving.

orphan sunday

Bethany's facebook just reminded me of the following:

Bethany Christian Services:

"It's Orphan Sunday - remember God's words: 'Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.' Matthew 18:5"

being so thankful for this day - everyone at church who is being so supportive on this journey - and for my wonderful husband who has a pure heart and is so ready to love "our" child.

november = adoption awareness

november is here.  hard to believe -

however, it's great because november is national adoption awareness month.  we figured it was the perfect time to request our initial application and plan to do that on friday.  we're excited to finally be at the point where we feel we are ready to fill this out, and seriously get the ball rolling.

God speaks in whispers for most of our life, but lately He has been yelling (hollering if you are from the south) at us.  friday night we found out about a haunted house alternative that was focusing on adoption.  we arrived saturday night and found tables filled with pamphlets, brochures, and informational cards about sponsoring women and children who were needy, helping to foster, and adoption.  also this weekend we saw the sweetest thing - a dad with four pre-teens at dinner.  each of the teens was of a different ethnicity.  each one of them called him daddy.  they all laughed, hugged, and played games with each other.  the daddy was teaching them about vegetarianism and what they could order off the vietnamese menu.  two of the four were rocking mowhawks and i told will that i hoped that was a snapshot of what was to come.  he agreed this is where we want to be in 10 years.  sunday morning we got in the car on the way to church to hear a radio show about adoption in nc.  we both just looked at each other and smiled.

we heard all of this because we are aware.  we are in a place where we are open to what is going on around us and are paying attention to everything adoption related.  we pray daily for the mother that will carry the child we will adopt, the child that is probably not even born yet, everyone in their lives, and orphans around the world.  it's opened our eyes to a new way of seeing things.  we're seeing more and we're seeing more clearly.

we know God has gotten us to this place.  the most wonderful feelings of satisfaction with our choice, but not really that - more like the satisfaction in knowing that we are finally listening to God, and following the plan he has for our lives.  we are stoked.

you cannot wrap up october without an obligatory pumpkin posting, so here is a smattering of what happened.

here is the tale of our halloween pumpkin.

i am the drawer of the designs.

will has mad knife skills.

will surgically removes the guts.

then, together we carve the designs.

this year's trick-or-treat message:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
--- James 1:27

Encouraging everyone to adopt and find the love that we see is on the horizon.  If you are not in the position to adopt, please sponsor a needy child or assist family in your area or overseas. 

Sponsor a child through Bethany Christian Services

Sponsor a child through World Vision

Cosponsor a refugee through Church World Service

Support children's disaster services through Church of the Brethren

photo shoot - take 1 - and that's a wrap!

we received our photo disc from kaitlin this past week.  http://www.2point5d.com/  we were overwhelmingly excited to review the disc and see how everything turned out.  everyone has been asking how it went and is interested to see the pics.  we could not have been happier with how our story and message will be conveyed to the birth parents through these photos.  for this reason, we've both decided that we'd like to keep our photo shoot pictures private until we complete the profile book to submit to our agency.  the purpose of the photo shoot is to convey the story of our lives, what we see for their child's future, and the love we share with each other and with their sweet baby.  we think it best to work to create the book privately and then to share it with everyone electronically when it is fully complete, so that everyone can understand the purpose behind the photos we've selected.

to throw everyone a bone we picked one sample picture to give you a taste of what's to come. 

thanks again to GOD for getting us on this path and walking with us in this journey.  a million thanks as well to our photographer kaitlin roten (former jmu alumni), all of our friends, and our families for all of their love and support as we prepare to begin the paperwork portion of our journey.  we'll be requesting our packet mid-november for a december first submission.  we're ecstatic to be on this journey and are so looking forward to what is about to unfold.

lil' red rocker

stumbled upon this little red rocker the other day.  i thought this was just the perfect addition to the nursery. 

my two sisters and i used to love to sit in our little rockers and watch some tv.  lori would actually sit in hers until she was about 13.  she was the only one who could still fit her little booty in it.

husband also loves rocking chairs.  he's always been a huge fan; just loves rockin' it up!

can't wait to see our little one rockin' and rolling!

phase I complete

yesterday was the big day - the day that all of this hard work has led up to.  we had to get the nursery ready for the photo shoot, and the photo shoot had to be october 9th since it was the last session our photographer would have before taking time off for her own maternity leave.

we had long check lists, we had hundreds of things to do, everything needed to be "perfect".  for months we had worked on the yard, the house, ourselves.  but we made it - everything on the check list got done.  time for the photo shoot arrived and we were surprisingly calm when we met kaitlin (http://www.2point5d.com/).  she was sweet and helped us relax.  husband and i both commented that we did not even feel like we were being photographed - a definite sign of a great photographer.  we cannot wait to see how the pictures turn out.  we know they will reflect our love for each other, our hope for the future with our baby, and the fun and joy that we have in life.

so the big reveal of how the nursery turned out is now due.  below are my own photos of the finished room.  we still have to arrange to pick up my mother's rocking chair, but everything else is in place. 

now we can breathe easier knowing that this phase is behind us. 

we can focus on our paperwork and getting things ready for our initial application submission.  we'll keep you posted on our progress and where we stand in the process.

connections and opportunities

there's been a lot of connecting with strangers lately.  we've opened up and when people ask us what is going on with us, we talk about adoption.  people are curious.  they want to know things about what is going on with the process.  some things we can explain, and others we just do not have answers for.

here is what we know:

• how lucky we are that God has selected this path for us
• we've decided we're doing a domestic infant program in the US
• this program means we could be the proud parents of an infant between the ages of 0 - 3 months
• we've decided we're open to a baby of any gender and any ethnic background
• we know we are ready to love any baby that God calls us to adopt
• we pray for the birth parents and baby on a daily (and sometimes hourly basis)

here is what we are unsure of:

• we don't know how long the process will take once our paperwork has been approved
• we don't know how long it will take to complete all of the paperwork and complete the home study
• how we will handle a match if it falls through
• we don't fully understand how our lives will change with the addition of a new life
• we've had discussions of what will change, how things will work differently, and what we need to be prepared for - but i don't think we will fully understand this until it happens

i went into our small downtown area friday night to pick out a new wreath for our front door.  while there i chatted with the shop owner about preparing for our profile book photos.  she told me how "admirable" it was that we were adopting, since so many babies needed homes.  i've really felt badly about this ever since.  i should have used that opportunity to tell her that i am just doing what God wants me to do, and that it is me who is on the receiving end of something that is admirable, and that the person who should be most admired is the biological parent(s) that are choosing life for their child and loving them enough to give them up for adoption.  but i did not say any of this, i just blew it. 

but, i guess the fact that i cannot stop thinking about it proves that all of my reading may finally be paying off -

because i will be ready next time.

this life

how does this life go so fast?

while i work from home on my laptop there is a desktop with a photo screen saver scrolling through photos in the background.  a few of the photos from Christmas 2009 just scrolled past.  at first i thought - oh wow - there is my nephew with his guitar at Christmas.  then i thought - oh wow - he was 9 when he got that.  then i thought - oh wow - he has had a birthday since then (that was in february).  then i thought - oh my goodness it is almost october!

my question is - how does time go by so quickly?  if things are flying by this quickly now, before we even have a child in the mix, how quickly are those moments going to speed right on by? 

scary thought.

cherish every moment.

work in progress

we're running around like crazy people. this past week was a whirl wind with us being out on vacation the week before. we still have not found time to go to the grocery store to get restocked. (you may ask - is blogging more important than the grocery store? it's not that it is not important, i am just so exhausted, i do not think i could make a lap around the store.)


we're attempting to get everything in tip top shape. everything includes work, our relationship with each other, our relationships with God, our home (inside and out), our finances, and our physical bodies. this past week and this weekend we successfully accomplished all of the following:- caught up on the work at our jobs - this is something that has been a daunting task. we've both been working overtime, nights, weekends, and working until 4am last night. it's just crazy.

- we joined the gym and are working to eat more healthfully. this is an ongoing battle and we want to set a good example for our child.

- created a plant bed in our front yard - we needed to get our yard in top notch shape for our profile photos and are working with a drought in the area, so hopefully these little plants will drink up the gift of rain over the next three days.

- hung all of the nursery art on the walls - each piece was carefully thought about, so that our baby's room would be filled with art work that would help him/her grow, find joy in life, love their family, never forget where they came from, be respectful of God's creatures and other human beings, and be excited for the future.

- were gifted the most amazingly wonderful changing table from our dear friends mark and kathy. mark found this piece for us at his work and has been working diligently to get it restored. we've just got a few finishing touches to put the a&w touch on it. it's so fantastic, i just cannot wait to get some pics up here to show you. (stay tuned!)

- spent time together at a matthew west concert on friday night. this evening transformed our lives in an emotional and spiritual way. matthew west's tour speaks of "the story of your life". will and i felt every song that comprised the album spoke to our lives and our journey to this point. the song "the healing has begun" was something that solidified the reassurance that we are on the right path. i know i've said it 100 times, but everything is speaking to me lately reaffirming that we are following God's plan. however, this song reminds me that even after all we've been through that God is not done with us, and through the adoption of this child we will have fulfilled a part of God's plan for our lives.


Matthew West Concert - The Healing Has Begun - YouTube clip

will and i both know that our healing has begun and we are well on our way to being where we'd like to be. while one's journey is never over, we at least know we are being healed and are on the right path. we're healing from emotional wounds where we felt we were "damaged" in not being able to have children of our own, we're healing from physical ailments that have plagued the both of us throughout the past 15 years, we're healing in our knowledge that God's grace is here for us.

we had so much fun friday night!

 

below are some snapshot segments from the nursery walls!

 

this is a series of three child like cut outs that hang to the right of the nursery window.  these were created by artist sandy mastroni.  these little girls are a symbol of the love that my sisters and i share for each other.  although we are different in so many ways, we love each other unconditionally and are always there for each other.  we want our child to always be reminded how important family is.

 

this is the series of artwork that will hang directly over the changing table on the wall across from the crib.  each one of these pieces was created, or hand picked with a purpose.  here's what we've got:

je t'aime - i created this piece from scrapbooking supplies to always remind our child how much they are loved.  it's written in french to also be a reminder that there is more out there than what we see in our day to day life, and to be excited to go - see - and do.

harrisonburg map - this map was found in a box that my mom carefully packed for me with memoirs from college.  will and i met at james madison university in 1996.  we met, fell in love, and never left each other's side.  we lived in harrisonburg until will graduated jmu in december of 1999.

"growing horns" - this print by Leah Duncan is a reminder of growth and of course my "sweet darling deer".  this past week will screamed for me to "come quick" into the keeping room and look at the deer.  there, in our back yard were a mother and baby deer feasting on our cherry trees.  (some people would be upset about their trees, but we moved onto their land, so how irritated can you be?)  i carefully tried to snap their photos without using the flash, just grabbing their shadows against the neighbor's driveway lights, but couldn't.  i sat and watched them for over twenty minutes until they decided to move on to another place.  there's just something about the deer that we gotta have in the room.

family portrait - by artist Jordan Grace Owens is a custom made set of moveable dolls framed on the nursery wall.  the artist is going to create a baby to join the family once we send her word that our special arrival has joined the family.  we hope this little family portrait will always remind our child of the support that they have from our family and the togetherness they will always feel in our relationship with them.



baby fever

everywhere i turn and every facebook update i seem to run across this week is announcing someone else's pregnancy. i imed husband at work today to tell him that i just found out someone else is preggo. i then followed up by telling him (just in case he forgot) that we are more pregnant than we've been in a long time with the adoption on the horizon.

putting together the nursery has helped us to see how real this is all becoming. the baby bedding just arrived last night. we ate our supper and ripped into the boxes to get the bedding out and see what we'd created. we worked together to get the skirt on and lined up, the sheet tucked in, the bumper ties tied, and the blanket folded just so.
then - we just stood back and admired our work.
we were happy with the colors we'd selected and what it says about us and the type of environment we want to provide to our little one. we're happy that it’s colorful, it’s whimsical, it’s non-traditional, and it’s fun.

while we were at the beach last week i finished reading our latest adoption book. it’s been so great to just focus on gathering so much helpful information to get started (before we actually get started). we found out we needed to get will a new ssn card, we got a new copy of our marriage license, and we got some documents from our general practitioner. we're wrapping up a refi on the house and stocking up on things when they go on sale. we're more ready for a baby to come into this house than we've ever been before. so much more than we ever were when we were previously actually physically pregnant.
a dear friend sent me an email today that quoted the following:

The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.  To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did. When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.

this could not be more of the truth. God has steered us down this path, encouraging us all the while. He has built us up as individuals and as a couple to prepare for this most amazing journey of our lives. pregnancy is "carrying" a baby.  with all of this knowledge and preparedness we are totally "pregnant".

sneak peak

(we'll post more photos when the room is completely done.)

date nights - book 'em while you can!

this past weekend was the labor day holiday.  will and i looked forward to a weekend of rest, a weekend of getting things done, a weekend of being together.  friday night started out with a "date".  (you may be asking yourself why a married kidless couple has to plan a date, but when your poor dh works around the clock at two different jobs and maintains a church website, you have to get in there when you can!) 

dh got off work early on friday and we headed out to a pottery painting studio.  i had a platter that i'd picked up at the local goodwill store for $4 and i was looking to get that painted up for a surprise for a special someone this thanksgiving.  dh wanted to make something for the nursery.  we scanned the store and he decided on a little hippo bank.  he liked the idea of me giving him a color palette to choose from.  he did not want to have to play the matching game with the rainbow room.  we stayed until they closed and were both very happy with our art work.  the pieces will be ready this friday, and we cannot wait to see how they turn out.

dear husband paints

i paint too

after painting we headed to a local seafood restaurant and dined al fresco on the patio while enjoying some live music.  the fella had a really nice voice and we really felt like we were at a jimmy buffett concert on numerous songs.  the weather was nice, and the company even nicer.  we had a great time enjoying each other's company.

it's hard to imagine someone else being in our everyday lives.  we're so ready for that little person to join us, but it's just hard to imagine how each waking moment will be.  i guess it's something you are not fully prepared for until it happens.  until that time comes, dh will be working around the clock pulling in extra money for the adoption, and i will keep busy on etsy, artwork, and blogs to stay out of his way.  today as we shopped around target at the baby sale dh exclaimed "we're getting a baby!"  as a dear sister of mine loves to say "mano-mano-mano-witz" - we're getting excited!