Happy New Year

It's 2013! I wish I was posting something but I really don't have anything to post. The holidays are over and we are starting a new year. Nothing has happened as far as #2 goes. I am hoping for some sort of news in the next couple of months.

Christmas was very nice. It was a lot of fun this year with Parker. He is now "getting it" with Santa and everything Christmas. He did great at his school Christmas program and looked so darn cute. Pictures will be posted soon I hope.

That's about it, for now...

still waiting...

November is almost over and we are heading into December with no real news or updates. I was hoping to have something to share before the holidays but nothing yet.

I did drop the ball and had a pretty big panic attack back in August. I missed the fact that our fingerprints expired and our I600-A was getting close to expiring. After Ethan made a couple of phone calls and after some much needed encouraging words from our agency everything got straightened out. The paperwork got filled out and mailed in, we got our fingerprinting done and I600-A approval came in the mail... WHEW!

I am having a hard time keeping up with dates, paperwork and anything adoption related this time around. It's not that I don't have the time for it, I guess I'm just having a hard time because the wait is so long now. It's hard to be optimistic when it seems like we'll never get a referral.

I'm trying to focus all my energy on Parker and organizing the house. The house thing isn't going so great but I am loving my 4 year old! I can't believe he is 4 years old already! I am amazed every day by him. He loves preschool, cars, airplanes and of course PSY!

For now I am going to sit back and enjoy the rest of the year.

August happenings

Summer is almost over and I have no clue where it went. I feel like we were running everywhere but we really didn't do much at all. Ethan and I did celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary with a nice night out.

We also celebrated our 3rd year as a family of 3! It's hard to believe Parker has been home 3 years now. Where did that time go? We were able to spend our special day with some wonderful friends at the beach. It was a bit chilly, but still very nice.

Parker is starting school in 2 weeks. I'm not ready to get back into "school mode" quite yet. I've been enjoying sleeping in those 15 - 20 extra minutes. I think Parker is pretty excited to go back though. He's been talking about school for over a month.

We are still waiting for a referral. Things are quite slow on that right now. We're dealing with it as best we can. Having Parker is keeping our minds off the waiting most of the time.

I have also been making the hair clips. I am working on a 'Fall Collection'  and plan to start working on Winter soon. Lyn Phillips Salon has been helping out and letting me sell the clips there. I also plan on selling them at a craft show yet this year. I will try to have pictures of the Fall ones soon.

I hope that we will have some sort of referral news the next time I post!

motherhood

I came across this yesterday when I was looking through some old files. I had forgotten how much I loved it, until I read it again.

THOUGHTS ON BECOMING A MOTHER 

There are women that become mothers without effort, without thought, without patience or loss and though they are good mothers and love their children, I know that I will be better.  I will be better not because of genetics, or money or that I have read more books but because I have struggled and toiled for this child.  I have longed and waited.  I have cried and prayed.  I have endured and planned over and over again.  Like most things in life, the people who truly have appreciation are those who have struggled to attain their dreams.  I will notice everything about my child.  I will take time to watch my child sleep, explore and discover.  I will marvel at this miracle everyday for the rest of my life.  I will be happy when I wake in the middle of the night to the sound of my child, knowing that I can comfort, hold and feed him and that I am not waking to take another temperature, pop another pill, take another shot or cry tears of a broken dream.  My dream will be crying for me.  I count myself lucky in this sense; that God has given me this insight, this special vision with which I will look upon my child that my friends will not see.  Whether I parent a child I actually give birth to or a child that God leads me to, I will not be careless with my love.  I will be a better mother for all that I have endured.  I am a better wife, a better aunt, a better daughter, neighbor, friend and sister because I have known pain.  I know disillusionment as I have been betrayed by my own body.  I have been tried by fire and hell many never face, yet given time, I stood tall.  I have prevailed.  I have succeeded.  I have won.  So now, when others hurt around me, I do not run from their pain in order to save myself discomfort.  I see it, mourn it, and join them in theirs.  I listen.  And even though I cannot make it better, I can make it less lonely.  I have learned the immense power of another hand holding tight to mine, of other eyes that moisten as they learn to accept the harsh truth and when life is beyond hard, I have learned a compassion that only comes with walking in those shoes.  I have learned to appreciate life.  Yes I will be a better mother.  

AUTHOR UNKNOWN