Catching up...

Another month has come and gone (again). I can't believe how fast April went. We left on April 4th for Flordia (more on that later), then to Indiana for a reception, and ended up their longer for Gpa's funeral. That was very sad but it was also a wonderful time because I was able to see all my siblings. That was fun!! So left on April 4th and didn't get back until late April 20th, finished up all my homestudy work and before I know it the 27th is here. Wow!

Florida was awesome! The campground was pretty much a parking lot jammed pack with RV's and pop ups but we had a great view of the Santa Rosa bay (I'm not sure that's what it was called). The weather was nice the first couple days and then it go very, very cold. I'm talking 30's at night (mind you, we were in a tent). But the best day was when we drove to Destin, FL to Henderson Beach State Park (where we will stay next time) and we took little man to the ocean. He loved it!! First we were up on the beach flying kites and letting little man play in the sand. Then hubby took him down to the water and the fun began. See pics.

Thankfully I'm a master packer and fit everything in the Subie


Our dandy little campsite


Our view from the site


Destin, Fl


Kite flying (which little man still talks about "dad, kite, fly"


Little man being onery





Little man checking out the girls with G'pa's binoculars


Little man's first swim in the ocean (and loving it)




Air Force Museum where little man said "Pane, Airpane" about 1000 times


Thanks G'ma and G'pa for spoiling me. I loved the ocean!! Love, little man

Where does the time go?

Well it's 11:15 a.m. (been up since 6:40) and all I've accomplished is breakfast and dishes from last night. Some days are much more productive than others. Right now I'm catching up on adoption stuff and watching little man take all the contents of my wallet out and is now shoving them under the couch cushions. At least he is entertaining himself and is happy! It is so funny watching how seriously he is taking all of it and his intense concentration.

Amber, Emily and the kids passed through last night on their way to Texas. They showed up a little before 10 pm and we let the kids run around and burn some energy. Being the "cool" parents that we are we allowed little man to get up and play with his cousins. At first he was cranky for being woken up but then he was running around, playing swords and crawling on the floor laughing with them. We had little man back to bed and the kids settled for a movie by midnight. When I went to bed at 2:30 Cadyn was still roaming around. Apparently spending the day in the car had not stimulated him enough so he was wide awake. Then back up at 6 this morning. CRAZY. That kid has an insane amount of energy. I only wish I had some of it. Anyway, we visited this morning and they were off by 8:30. Little man and I watched PBS and I cleaned the kitchen. Since then, not much of anything. Ready to tackle lunch and get little man down for a nap.

It's absolutely beautiful outside today. I was going to load little man and the car and head out to the house and mow but I'm afraid on 4 hours of sleep I'd be dead tired and regret leaving the second I pulled out of the driveway. So I'll push, push and push away tomorrow mowing the lawn. It took me 6 hours last time to most of it so maybe I'll break it into 2 days.

Little man is 18 months today! I can't believe how quick it has gone by. He was eating his lunch today, then spitting it out and laughing so hard. It really was hilarious watching him. He's some pics of my guy.



Have a happy weekend everyone. I hope Lee's new job is going well, Samuel's interviewing is successful and Keel & Brian's inspection Monday is good. More news later,
Chatter

One step closer!

Well after JUST entering the last post I figured I'd better do a follow up with something a little more up beat!! So I will talk about the fact that we are one step closer to bringing home our next little one :). I faxed over the homestudy to CHSFS today. It will be reviewed and if all looks well we can finish up our dossier and send it in to our agency. Once they receive it we will "officially" be waiting. I'm so excited for that day!

The house is slowly coming along. Right now it's just studs but hopefully in the next 4-6 weeks we will start drywalling. We are installing windows the weekend of the 19th (May) with the help of the MTA guys again. Jeanne and Tom will also be showing up that weekend. A big Thank You to them! It will be nice to have the extra hands. Maybe we can pick up the pace a little come the month of May and June. Here are some recent photo's from the house and property. It's so peaceful out there. I can't wait until it's officially our home!

It's just one of those days...

Since I started researching adoption (nearly one year ago) there are certain days that I feel emotionally overwhelmed and to say I feel "sad" is an understatement. Today was one of those days. It started as a happy day because we faxed in our homestudy to CHSFS and once that is approved we can send in our dossier and "officially" start the wait. However, sending in my homestudy has me wondering if we are making the right decision on age, choosing the right country, should we have requested siblings...??? I think about all of the countries in the world with children in need and it makes me so sad. Should we adopt older? What about those waiting? But I know with an 18 month old and only being 26 adopting an older child probably isn't the way to go right now. Maybe in the future...

But back to the day, then I watched American Idol tonight because the episode was geared towards "Giving It Back" and they were raising money all night for charities in the US and Africa. Well they showed footage of Africa and it just broke my heart. It's so sad that people have to die, every second, of every minute to AIDS. Or that a 12 year old boy and his 7 year old sister have to live by themselves because their parents died. Or that children even younger that that are orphaned every single day and living on the streets. What about in America? They did a segment on a family in Kentucky and the mother can't even read. It just breaks your heart. And days like today I can hardly handle...

With that I will try harder to become more frugal, give back to others, educate people around me and most importantly be a better person and mother. I read a blog tonight from a young lady that is a senior in high school with seven siblings. Me trying explain it would not do it justice. You can check out her blog at http://afamilyoften.blogspot.com . I hope I can raise my kids to have such compassion for each other and the world.

Sorry to be a downer tonight. Normally I keep these days to myself but I thought I'd share tonight. I'm going to try to write more frequently because it feels good to get my feelings out.

With that I had a WONDERFUL time seeing my family back in Indiana. I can't believe how much closer we all have gotten as we've gotten older. Not that we weren't close before it's just that the intimacy is changing. Thanks to all my siblings for being such a LARGE part of my life. I wouldn't be me without YOU!

And of course to my wonderful husband, who has a way of making the aches and pains more bearable and for walking down the path of life with me, specifically parenthood. You are such a wonderful father and husband. It's been amazing watching you with little man and I can't wait to see you with the next. I know, life with you, only gets better! I love you!!! thanks for all you do for us.