Monday, May 11, 2009
What's Your Sign?
WOW! What an emotional video. A blogger friend of mine, as well as a "waiter" who received her referral for her son recently, posted this song. Her blog from Mother's Day is so eloquent; the title of this blog will take you there. I watched the video for the first time this morning and just sat in front of the computer and cried. Chris and I could have been the ones holding so many of those signs. Others that we'll never get the chance to hold. Right now, we're honored to be holding one that states "Becoming parents through adoption." One day, we will hold one with our child's name on it. I just needed to share this awesome, powerful video with you.
Happy Mother's Day
In my previous blog, I stated how this Mother's Day was going to be bittersweet...well, Chris just made it a whole lot more sweet than bitter! I was getting ready for work on Mother's Day morning and came downstairs where I noticed a card sitting on the table, addressed to me. I opened it up and it was a Mother's Day card that Chris had bought. As if that wasn't sweet enough, he asked his friend's brother (who lives in Korea; I believe he teaches English there) to help him translate Happy Mother's Day into Korean!!! They don't actually celebrate Mother's Day in Korea, so they don't have a direct translation for it, but they do celebrate Parent's Day. The brother sent Chris a link to some Korean Parent's Day cards and he copied that onto the card and then signed it from our child. By the time I actually took this all in, I had tears running down my face and ran back upstairs, where he was waiting with a grin on his face because he knew I'd be back up!!! So, what I thought would be a rough day turned out to be a beautiful one!
picture caption: close up of what roughly says "Happy Parent's Day, Thank you for all your good wishes" and "Love" on the second line, in Korean
We also bought a frame last week that we are saving for the first picture we receive of our child when we get the referral. I was excited to hang it up this morning and start turning one of our spare bedrooms into the nursery. I can't believe I just wrote that...we're going to have a nursery!!! I didn't think this day would ever come! I know a picture frame isn't much, but it's a start and so very exciting!! Chris found the frame after hunting through a bunch at Kohl's. Isn't it precious?
Can't wait to do more!!!
picture caption: close up of what roughly says "Happy Parent's Day, Thank you for all your good wishes" and "Love" on the second line, in Korean
We also bought a frame last week that we are saving for the first picture we receive of our child when we get the referral. I was excited to hang it up this morning and start turning one of our spare bedrooms into the nursery. I can't believe I just wrote that...we're going to have a nursery!!! I didn't think this day would ever come! I know a picture frame isn't much, but it's a start and so very exciting!! Chris found the frame after hunting through a bunch at Kohl's. Isn't it precious?
Can't wait to do more!!!
Friday, May 08, 2009
Rainy Day Blog
So, I'm just waiting around for the guy to come give an estimate on how much it will be to extend the driveway out to the side next to our garage to that we can park our pop-up camper there. It will be sooo nice not to have to try to get it through the soft ground in the spring and fall...and it will be great to have the whole garage back for our vehicles!!!
My friends Sue and Blake met their son yesterday in Korea!! She's posted pictures and video of their new family, and their son is so cute...and seems so comfortable with them already. He was just meant to be theirs!! Congratulations, my friends. Can't wait to see you when you get home! I do believe God blessed you with the child that was meant to be yours.
My hubby got a new haircut this week...short! And I love it!! Here he is grilling this week, since it was so nice out. What a handsome guy!
My good friend, Rita, and her family are going to be moving next week. Her husband just graduated from vet school and got a job in Chicago near her family. They are definitely going to be missed. "Miss Maeve" and "Baby G" are going to be so much closer to their grandparents and cousins living there, but we'll miss seeing them grow up. :( Rita, you'll just have to send a lot of pictures and visit often!!!
This is a bittersweet weekend...Mother's Day. I celebrate my mother this weekend and thank her for everything she does for me. She has been the best mother anyone could ask for, and has grown into a good friend as well. She has given me so much support and love my entire life. There are really no words to express how much love I have for her and I hope she knows just how much she means to me.
I look forward to sharing that same kind of love with my child(ren), if so blessed with them. Growing up, I never dreamed that I might not become a mom, yet these last 4 1/2 years have shown me that nothing is guaranteed. Chris and I have struggled with this dream to become parents and, at one point, even decided to live child-free, but I guess that decision never felt completely right to us. After being drawn to become parents through adoption, we have gone through a gamut of emotions: excited ("we're going to be parents!"), scared ("oh my gosh, we're going to be parents!"), impatient ("when are we finally going to be parents?"), among others. I look at moms this weekend and think, "Will I finally get to celebrate this holiday next year from the other side of it, or will I still be waiting?" It just hurts my heart to think that I may still be in this limbo a year from now. I will keep hoping and praying for our paperwork to go through quickly and for a referral as soon as possible after that, so that next year we can have a double celebration on this weekend!! Please, please pray with me.
Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there!!
My friends Sue and Blake met their son yesterday in Korea!! She's posted pictures and video of their new family, and their son is so cute...and seems so comfortable with them already. He was just meant to be theirs!! Congratulations, my friends. Can't wait to see you when you get home! I do believe God blessed you with the child that was meant to be yours.
My hubby got a new haircut this week...short! And I love it!! Here he is grilling this week, since it was so nice out. What a handsome guy!
My good friend, Rita, and her family are going to be moving next week. Her husband just graduated from vet school and got a job in Chicago near her family. They are definitely going to be missed. "Miss Maeve" and "Baby G" are going to be so much closer to their grandparents and cousins living there, but we'll miss seeing them grow up. :( Rita, you'll just have to send a lot of pictures and visit often!!!
This is a bittersweet weekend...Mother's Day. I celebrate my mother this weekend and thank her for everything she does for me. She has been the best mother anyone could ask for, and has grown into a good friend as well. She has given me so much support and love my entire life. There are really no words to express how much love I have for her and I hope she knows just how much she means to me.
I look forward to sharing that same kind of love with my child(ren), if so blessed with them. Growing up, I never dreamed that I might not become a mom, yet these last 4 1/2 years have shown me that nothing is guaranteed. Chris and I have struggled with this dream to become parents and, at one point, even decided to live child-free, but I guess that decision never felt completely right to us. After being drawn to become parents through adoption, we have gone through a gamut of emotions: excited ("we're going to be parents!"), scared ("oh my gosh, we're going to be parents!"), impatient ("when are we finally going to be parents?"), among others. I look at moms this weekend and think, "Will I finally get to celebrate this holiday next year from the other side of it, or will I still be waiting?" It just hurts my heart to think that I may still be in this limbo a year from now. I will keep hoping and praying for our paperwork to go through quickly and for a referral as soon as possible after that, so that next year we can have a double celebration on this weekend!! Please, please pray with me.
Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there!!
Monday, May 04, 2009
Weekend days...
First of all, a huge congrats to my friends, Sue, and Blake, for receiving their travel call to go pick up their son!!!!! They will be home before long and they will finally be a family of three...or four, can't forget Sage, their dog! Please keep them all in your thoughts and prayers as they go through this huge transition in their lives. This also makes me long to be at this part in the process as well; I can just hope that these months pass quickly for us and smoothly for our paperwork so that we can finally be mama and papa.
Two weekends ago, we drove to Ohio for my big sister's engagement party. It was sooooo much fun getting the entire family together and celebrating Brenda and Nathan. They were both very surprised by a scrapbook we put together for them; the whole family did a page or two about them, their courtship, their engagement, etc. She did the same for both me and my little sister when we got married and what a treasure!! I have NO PICTURES of that weekend because guess who forgot her camera?!?! Yep, ME! I couldn't believe it when we got to Brenda's place and I just then realized I didn't have it with me. Aaagghhh!! So hopefully I get some sent to me that I can put on here.
Even though I was not at work that weekend, I got to put my nursing skills to work on my nephew; he ran into a table edge at the restaurant with his forehead and had a little gash in it. His mom, my little sister, I think wanted to cry along with him. Trying to put butterfly bandaids on his forehead really did not work; the way he wrinkles up his forehead (so cute) is a real detriment trying to keep that type of bandaid on. So we just slapped a regular 'ol bandaid on it..which worked. They said it looks like it's healing well now. Poor Caleb!
This picture is a few weeks before the head ordeal...he's our class of 2030 from Notre Dame!
This past weekend finally felt like spring. It was overcast on Saturday, but the rain held off...yeah! I ran some errands and then got to spend some time at Jo-Ann Fabrics where I purchased the material I need to make the world quilt for our baby. My mom gave me the two big pieces of material, one with the world on it and the other with the USA. We are going to *try* to put this together in two weeks when she comes to visit while Chris is in Belize with his class. I will get some pictures up of the process, but it will probably depend on how smoothly it goes! :)
On Sunday, Chris and I pulled out our pop-up camper and got it ready to go for the summer. It is now parked in its spot in the garage, which takes precedence over either one of our vehicles! We are so looking forward to going up to our land in the UP of Michigan and spend some time there to make this wait for our child go faster. We now have electricity up there, so I won't have to worry about wearing out flashlight batteries reading at night!! Anybody wanting to come spend time with us there is more than welcome; we'd love to show off our little piece of paradise to you!
Two weekends ago, we drove to Ohio for my big sister's engagement party. It was sooooo much fun getting the entire family together and celebrating Brenda and Nathan. They were both very surprised by a scrapbook we put together for them; the whole family did a page or two about them, their courtship, their engagement, etc. She did the same for both me and my little sister when we got married and what a treasure!! I have NO PICTURES of that weekend because guess who forgot her camera?!?! Yep, ME! I couldn't believe it when we got to Brenda's place and I just then realized I didn't have it with me. Aaagghhh!! So hopefully I get some sent to me that I can put on here.
Even though I was not at work that weekend, I got to put my nursing skills to work on my nephew; he ran into a table edge at the restaurant with his forehead and had a little gash in it. His mom, my little sister, I think wanted to cry along with him. Trying to put butterfly bandaids on his forehead really did not work; the way he wrinkles up his forehead (so cute) is a real detriment trying to keep that type of bandaid on. So we just slapped a regular 'ol bandaid on it..which worked. They said it looks like it's healing well now. Poor Caleb!
This picture is a few weeks before the head ordeal...he's our class of 2030 from Notre Dame!
This past weekend finally felt like spring. It was overcast on Saturday, but the rain held off...yeah! I ran some errands and then got to spend some time at Jo-Ann Fabrics where I purchased the material I need to make the world quilt for our baby. My mom gave me the two big pieces of material, one with the world on it and the other with the USA. We are going to *try* to put this together in two weeks when she comes to visit while Chris is in Belize with his class. I will get some pictures up of the process, but it will probably depend on how smoothly it goes! :)
On Sunday, Chris and I pulled out our pop-up camper and got it ready to go for the summer. It is now parked in its spot in the garage, which takes precedence over either one of our vehicles! We are so looking forward to going up to our land in the UP of Michigan and spend some time there to make this wait for our child go faster. We now have electricity up there, so I won't have to worry about wearing out flashlight batteries reading at night!! Anybody wanting to come spend time with us there is more than welcome; we'd love to show off our little piece of paradise to you!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Happy days...
So much exciting news lately! There have been 4 referrals...yes, FOUR...in the past 10 days! I'm sure those families are so excited to get pictures and information on their new family additions. This also means that everyone else who is waiting on the list moves that much closer to receiving their own referrals and getting to feel the overwhelming joy, excitement, and exultation of finally knowing that we will be parents!! Congratulations to my "waiting buddies"!
I am now also 1/4 of the way to my goal of 100 squishes! Between seeing Chris' family two weekends ago and my family this past weekend, we are now up to 25 squishes in hand!!! I do have pictures of them all up on the website, so watch the slide show and enjoy. I don't plan on starting to put this project together for a few more months, so there is still plenty of time for more squishes to come in (hint, hint). :)
A project I *will* be working on, with my mom as she can't wait to do something with me for the baby (yeah!), is a smaller crib quilt. This will (hopefully) prepare me to do the wish quilt without many problems. (fingers crossed) Mom bought the material; one has a map of the world on it and the other has the United States. We are going to be placing them back to back, so then our child can see where they were born and where they live now. They're both very colorful, done in primary colors, and it will look so good once it's done! I will definitely put a picture on here once it's complete.
Here's to more referrals coming in quickly! And travel calls for those waiting to go pick up their children!!
I am now also 1/4 of the way to my goal of 100 squishes! Between seeing Chris' family two weekends ago and my family this past weekend, we are now up to 25 squishes in hand!!! I do have pictures of them all up on the website, so watch the slide show and enjoy. I don't plan on starting to put this project together for a few more months, so there is still plenty of time for more squishes to come in (hint, hint). :)
A project I *will* be working on, with my mom as she can't wait to do something with me for the baby (yeah!), is a smaller crib quilt. This will (hopefully) prepare me to do the wish quilt without many problems. (fingers crossed) Mom bought the material; one has a map of the world on it and the other has the United States. We are going to be placing them back to back, so then our child can see where they were born and where they live now. They're both very colorful, done in primary colors, and it will look so good once it's done! I will definitely put a picture on here once it's complete.
Here's to more referrals coming in quickly! And travel calls for those waiting to go pick up their children!!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Made with Love
Thanks, Great-grandpa!!
Chris and I went to visit his family this weekend and were surprised by his grandparents with a gift for the baby...his grandfather, who is 88, made this amazing wagon for our child! It's great!! We can't wait to paint it and get some toys to put in it for the baby. (Grandma told us that he put some other business off in order to have this finished for us this weekend.) This really means a lot to both of us and we can't thank them enough for this priceless gift!
Saturday was a beautiful day, sunny and warm and almost no wind. Has spring finally arrived?! Yep, 'cause today it rained!
Chris and I went to visit his family this weekend and were surprised by his grandparents with a gift for the baby...his grandfather, who is 88, made this amazing wagon for our child! It's great!! We can't wait to paint it and get some toys to put in it for the baby. (Grandma told us that he put some other business off in order to have this finished for us this weekend.) This really means a lot to both of us and we can't thank them enough for this priceless gift!
Saturday was a beautiful day, sunny and warm and almost no wind. Has spring finally arrived?! Yep, 'cause today it rained!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Gobble, Gobble!
I know, I know, it's Easter, not Thanksgiving! But it WAS turkey-hunting season this past weekend and Chris got one...yeah!!! I don't know why, but the man loves to sit out in not-so-good weather, "calling" to those birds so they will come to him. Well, I guess he loves it when he gets one; not so much when he doesn't! No picture, though :( even though I sent the camera with him for that purpose.
We have received a few more squishes and I will hopefully be getting the pictures up on the slideshow here in the next day or two. Thank you so much to those who have given us squishes and also to those that I know are coming. They are so adorable and thoughtful...and I can't wait to have them all so I can start working on putting the quilt together. I need something to do to pass this time when we have no paperwork to do and are just waiting!
Other good news is that some online friends of ours who are waiting for their children from Korea are moving forward in the process and getting soooo close to having their little ones in their arms finally! We are all hoping that this week brings a lot of good news: visa interviews, travel calls, and referrals. Our social worker is (hopefully) finishing up our home study and it will be off to DCFS and Immigration Services soon! Keep those prayers coming.
Happy late Easter greetings to all!
We have received a few more squishes and I will hopefully be getting the pictures up on the slideshow here in the next day or two. Thank you so much to those who have given us squishes and also to those that I know are coming. They are so adorable and thoughtful...and I can't wait to have them all so I can start working on putting the quilt together. I need something to do to pass this time when we have no paperwork to do and are just waiting!
Other good news is that some online friends of ours who are waiting for their children from Korea are moving forward in the process and getting soooo close to having their little ones in their arms finally! We are all hoping that this week brings a lot of good news: visa interviews, travel calls, and referrals. Our social worker is (hopefully) finishing up our home study and it will be off to DCFS and Immigration Services soon! Keep those prayers coming.
Happy late Easter greetings to all!
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