Busy Month

I have definitely been busy this month! I purchased a crib, painted and started designing the closet, painted a mural on the wall, and painted a nightstand table for the baby room. I also started what will hopefully be my stay-at-home job when the time comes. I am very excited about all of this! I keep telling Cory I just have a feeling it's going to be relatively soon. He doesn't agree. He thinks this is going to be God's way of teaching me some patience. Oh, I hope not! I do worry I only have this feeling because we are actually starting to get prepared. It's just hard to wait on something so exciting, especially when you have no idea how long the wait might be. I am praying for patience, but I'm also praying for a baby now :P

Adoption Tax Credit

I have been anxiously waiting to hear whether or not the adoption tax credit would be extended, and it appears not only that, but it will be made permanent. There will be some changes it it. It will no longer be refundable, and it will not be quite as big as it was, but hey, every bit helps! I am really excited about that and just wanted to share. Here is a link for more information.
http://adoptiontaxcredit.org/2013/01/02/adoption-tax-credit-is-continued/

Nesting?

Wow. I haven't written on here in ages. I never was very good at sticking with new things for long. Christmas has come and gone, and the New Year is just around the corner. Both of my kids were pretty sick for a few days with stomach bugs and bad colds, but I think everyone is finally recuperating and enjoying our time together just hanging out! Other than all that, we had a wonderful holiday! We are so very blessed, and I have been reminded over Christmas how good God has been to us. Sometimes in the hectic rush of life we fail to notice all the little and even big things He does for us.

Now that all the Christmas decorations are coming down, and things are getting back to normal, I have the sudden urge to start getting ready for this baby! Maybe it's the fact that I no longer have Christmas to look forward to and so I'm focusing on the adoption now. I knew that once we started the waiting part, it could be a long while. It was weird because after waiting just a very short time, I got extremely discouraged and felt like it was never going to actually happen. I've been buying diapers here and there, but I haven't actually started looking for things like a crib or car seat. My sweet sisters gave me some baby things for Christmas, and I started really thinking about how unprepared we are. I think part of me was worried that if I set everything up and then have to wait a long time it would be harder, but my "nesting instinct" must be kicking in. I hope it's a good sign. Time to start crib shopping!

Home Study Final Draft

We finally received our final draft of our home study today. We reviewed it, made a couple corrections, and I'm mailing it back tomorrow. Once the changes are made an the board approves it, we are officially waiting!
I hope our family book comes in soon. Not that I'll get to see it really, but that's what the social workers show off.

Sunday afternoon we went to visit some friends who had their baby girl last week. Holding that sweet little newborn made me so impatient. As we were pulling up to the house, talking with the boys about how everyone is probably tired so we need to be quiet, etc. Ryland asks, "But when are we going to get OUR baby sister?" I wish I could give him an answer. Chase didn't seem as interested in the baby as he was his friend and toys, but Ryland just thought she was something else. He kept grinning and rubbing her head, and wanting to look at her itty bitty feet. He just can't wait.

I just remembered something funny that had happened. A little while back when the boys were having their checkups, we had to fill out the adoption physical forms, so we were talking with the pediatrician about the adoption. She has two bio sons had actually adopted a little girl from China the previous year. She was telling us all about her and how her brothers just loved her so much and just "eat her up!" I hear Ryland's breath just catch, and he turns and whispers in my ear, "Mommy, we can not eat our baby sister!" It was so funny. Kids really do take us so literally. My Aunt is always talking about how she remembers things people used to say to her when she was little and used to scare her to death. She said her dad's friend used to say he was going to buy her from her daddy. We do have some crazy expressions and there's no telling what sorts of things are going through their heads.

Lazy Saturday

So we've had a small holdup on our home study paper work, but it's on it's way and should be here early next week. Once we get it, we review it, make any corrections, and mail it back in. A final copy is printed, goes to the board for approval, and then it's official. Then it's hurry up and wait.

I suppose I could start getting things I need. I did buy our first pack of diapers the other day. It was a very exciting moment because it felt very real and official. I got them early in the morning and when I got home, Cory was still in bed. I hopped on the bed and woke him up waving them in his face. I'm guessing he wasn't as excited as I was because he just grunted and rolled over. I never bought diapers early with my other two, and I have no idea why. But from now on, if I see them on sale, I'm going to start buying them.

On a different note, this morning was so much fun with the kids. I woke up to Chase climbing in bed. He was laying behind me playing with my hair, which is very relaxing. As he's doing that, he's playing and talking to himself, and starts saying, "Hey, what's in here?" and starts digging around in my hair like he's searching for something. It was pretty funny. I love lazy Saturday mornings. We started building one of Chase's lego sets, and turns out some of the pieces were missing. That turned into a crazy search, that only turned up half the missing pieces. But it's still fun to just build things. I can't believe I was deprived as a child of these things. I guess it's because there were four girls in the house and no boys. Having boys has been such a learning experience. So far I have survived. I'm really just hoping that in the near future I won't be as outnumbered.

Thanks!

Our last home study visit went really well. Now we just have to wait a few more days for the paper work to be finalized and then we will officially be approved to adopt and waiting to be matched! This went by so much quicker than I had anticipated. Its very exciting!

I worked really hard on our family book and finished that up last night. As soon as she mails in our home study, she can order it and then she'll have to to show off. I'm really happy with the way it turned out and I most definitely have to give a shout out to my friend Tony who donated his time and photography skills to take the beautiful pictures of us. Thank you so much for your generosity!

Speaking of generosity, thanks to those who have participated in our fundraising. We got our first check in the mail yesterday. It is really very touching that there are so many of you out there that support us, and so graciously gave to help make this happen. We appreciate it more than you know! God has truly blessed us with some awesome friends!

Yard Sale

Last Monday night we had our second home study visit and our final one is tomorrow afternoon. I am so excited to finish up this phase, and begin the waiting phase. Although, I don't know if I'll feel the same after waiting a while. I am so thankful that everything this far has gone so smoothly, and I know that God has been in control from the start. I need to start thinking about what I need to get for this baby. I have very little baby stuff. Maybe I'll get a bassinet so if nothing else is ready, at least she'll have somewhere to sleep.

 I am trying to explain to the boys that although we are finishing up our part, we still could be waiting a long time. I think Ryland is so excited to get baby sister home, he asked if he could bring home his baby cousin and make her his baby sister. It was cute! I love that they love to tell other people about what we are doing. When people ask about it they just get the biggest smiles. I can not wait to get that call!

So I've been thinking about having a yard sale to make some money. The only other yard sale I've participated in was a community one, so I didn't have to worry about signs or advertising or any thing like that. It was all taken care of and it was nice. Anyways, if anyone is planning on de-cluttering, please let me know. I will gladly take your treasures. =)