Love Potion

We are headed to Austin this weekend (first time to go here together-rather exciting in itself) for a marriage conference.  We have been trying to go to a marriage conference for over a year and a half, almost our entire marriage.  We will post commentary and pictures upon our arrival home.  Have a great weekend!

Memorable Memorial Day

Jeff and I spent a good mix of time at home and time away during the long Memorial Day weekend. We went to the Aeros game Friday (see previous post), hung out at home and went to see the sequel to Night at the Museum on Saturday, and then spent Sunday and most of Monday in Trinity with the Albus clan. As previously mentioned, we met our niece, Kayleigh and held her for the first time.  Lisa, Jeff's sister from Colorado was in town with her hubby so we also got to visit with them.

We also took a "buggy" ride through the pecan trees to see Matt's (Jeff's bro) 3 new horses and mule.   Spending time at the farm has taught me that I love  photographing animals and nature.

The horse with the pink harness is Princess, the only female.  Austin named her.
We each took a turn taking our picture with Hollywood, the horse who has figured out people=dinner time.  

I really wanted to call this post "Half Ass" because that's what Matt told me his mule is, but I didn't want to terrify my readers with that naughty word! The mule, Esther was always with this horse whose name I can't remember. Sorry hubby for using the not so flattering photo of you squinting at the sun, but it was the best one of me and well, I'm the one that blogs.  Guess that's just how the cookie crumbles, but at least I didn't post the one of you squinting AND sneezing!  Darn that Hay fever!

Well, I always worry about Cookie the cat who became a country kitty after several bouts of peeing on my carpet.  Sorry Cookie, but that crosses the line that leads to eviction!  She has now been at her new home with her grandparents for 6 months and it looks like she has settled in just fine!  She was found "sun bathing" on the waterfall in Jeff's parents back yard.  Of course had it been running, this would be an entirely different kind of picture.  She sure is a pretty kitty!

All in all, a great weekend was had by all.

Ms. Grumpy Pants

So, the first day back to work after a holiday weekend is always hard. This morning my alarm went off at 5:30 AM and I made the decision to push snooze. Seems harmless, but I am not a snooze pusher and therefore do not cushion my time for it. I get up at 5:39 AM already needing to hustle to get out of the house by 6:15. Shower goes okay, but then I make the second foolish decision of the morning. I decide to go check e mail/blogs. So, it's now 1o minutes after 6 and I am sitting at the computer reading McMama's antics with my wet hair nearly dripping on the keyboard. I rush in to finish getting ready, kiss my sweet bed head of a hubby goodbye, and rush to make my lunch before heading out the door. Next, I do what I do every morning and push the door to the garage lock from the inside and rush out the door. Immediately after I close the door I realize, my car/house keys are hanging on the hook on the OTHER side of the locked door. I call my sweet bed head:
Me: Jeff, I locked myself in the garage again. My keys are on the hook.
Bed Head: I'll be right there.
I don't know what's worse, that I locked myself in the garage or that it didn't faze my hubby who has been through this with me before. Regardless, I get in the car at 6:39 AM and decide it looks like a toll road kind of morning. 5 minutes after getting in the car frazzled, I hear Jars of Clay's Two Hands, take a deep breath and decide it's going to be a good day.

Pretty in Pink

We would like to introduce the newest member of our extended family and very first niece....

KAYLEIGH!!!  

She's 10 days old and SO pretty in Pink!!!!  We met her this weekend.  Stay tuned for more photos and commentary  from our weekend with the Albus clan.

Aeros Action

Jeff ended up getting to come home a couple of hours early Friday to start the holiday weekend.  We decided to get tickets for the Aeros game since it is their last play off game at home.  I had wanted to get tickets for this game for Jeff for our anniversary, but they weren't selling them yet.  They had to win a couple more games first.  We were pumped to go!  I don't know why more people don't go to their games.  They are really fast paced, exciting, and the tickets are cheap!  

Anyway, I took my trusty camera to document the experience to share with our kiddo in our adoption book.  They have a purse check before you go into the stadium so they checked my bag, clearly saw my camera and said nothing.  So, I zip the bag back up and we are on our way.  When we get to our seats, I con Jeff into some pre-game photos.  I put the camera around my neck ( I know, super dorky.  I'm lucky my husband still goes out with me) and waited for the action to begin.  That's when the middle aged man next to me, points at my camera and says, "you know you can't have that in here" and flashes his media pass at me.  I said something about the lady who checked my bag and didn't say anything, but he put out his hand and told me I had to give it to him.  Yea, right, I'm going to give you my camera because you flashed your (for all I know, homemade) media pass at me.  I start to put the camera away and he tells me he's kidding.  I'm still not convinced he was, but I kept taking pictures anyway and aren't you glad I did.  

This is my attempt at interesting photography with the puck Jeff bought as a souvenir.
Our self portrait that might make it in the adoption book.  We want to show him how we have fun together and what special moments we want to share with him.Being a ref looks like a dangerous job.  He's inches away from some very aggressive men with sticks.
They won the game after two over times.  We won't mention that they kept the Moose from scoring at all up until the last period and then they let them tie it up in the last 30 seconds.  I guess they weren't ready to call it a night and wanted to make it a nail bitter. 
Here's our hometown team celebrating their victory.  Now, they're off to Canada to try to keep the dream alive for a couple more games!  

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words...Here's 6000 Words on our Anniversary

We went here to celebrate....

There's a brand new location right down the street from our house that we've been excited to go to since we watched them build it!

I can't pronounce the name, but this dish sure was delish!  The middle portion of the tenderloin cut into three medallions and covered with three different sauces.  Also included is some unique fried asparagus with crab meat.

This guy sliced, seared, and served it up right there next to the table!

Here we are about to chow down on said delish dish!
This was our yummy dessert trio compliments of the serving staff!

I got these from my fabulous hubby of 2 years!  It's the first time he's ever given me white roses and I love them, especially contrasted with the bright red ones!

2 Years ago today.....

I married my match!
Jeff,
We may not be perfect, but we are perfect for each other! I love you more and more every day and am so blessed to be sharing the journey of life with you. God has already brought us through some difficult times together and I'm sure they won't be the last. But, every time we experience something new I'm reminded of how we complement and challenge one another. I'm sure becoming parents will provide a lot of opportunities for us to grow together in this way. You will be a great daddy and I'm excited to share all the new experiences this year will bring with you.
Love you forever,
B

The Verdict

I'm not going to lie...I was intimidated by Inspector Prater who was sitting in my drive way 10 minutes early in her unmarked dark tinted car with flashy police car lights on it.  I waved, but she stayed in the car. I came back a few minutes later and she rolled down the window, but remained in the car.  She informed me that I still had 6 minutes before she would come in, as our appointment time was 5:30 PM.  She waited 6 minutes, until exactly 5:30 PM and then rang the door bell.  Oh and did I mention, she also was fully uniformed with a gun!!  She told me she thinks that all our neighbors are wondering what we did wrong for her to come to our house!  She was very nice though and politely declined my offer of some water or a soda saying, "you can't offer that to me, people will think you're trying to bribe me."  Man, I can tell she can be one tough cookie if she has to be!  She climbed in the attic, checked every door (including closet doors), and asked me numerous questions like, "There's a tornado coming right now, what do you do?"  I gave the normal, but apparently wrong response that we would hide in the bathroom which has no windows.  She took me in the bathroom and explained why this was a dumb idea.  Anyway, I'm happy that she came and even happier that she left this behind:

Check!

Well today is the day for we've all been waiting for. Every time any of our adoption requirements are checked off our list feels like a very important day and today we (hopefully) get a big one checked off! Today is the fire inspection. I came into work extra early today so I could leave a few minutes early and make it home by 5:30 PM for our appointment with Inspector Prater. The check list we used to prepare had 23 items on it, but I will highlight a few.
1. No more than 6 children in the home - check (as if I'd have time to be writing this if I was the momma to 6 kids!)
2. Written evacuation plan and procedures for meeting potential disasters and emergencies, such as fire and severe weather - check
3. No more than 10 gallons of flammable liquids - check
4. Interconnected fire alarms - check
5. Gas pressure test - $250 down, but check
6. A/C and heater inspection - check
7. 2 working fire extinguishers - check
8. Matches and lighters kept out of the reach of children - check
9. At least one working flashlight - check

Bring it on, inspector lady! We're ready for you!

Current Contemplation

In a recent e-mail to a friend I tried to summarize my current feelings in anticipation of our son coming home.

" I am so excited to become a mommy in an unconventional way, but all my other mommy friends will be parenting babies and I'll be in a whole different stage with my kiddo. It's just a weird and kind of lonely feeling, but I don't question at all that it is what we are meant to do. Make sense?"

Any thoughts/encouragement are welcomed!

Home Sweet Home Study

In preparation for our up coming home study in a few weeks (hence the clever title), we have been making some changes to our home decor. I have been looking for curtains for our living room for several months now. I finally found an idea for curtain pairings at JC Penny and then recreated the look by purchasing the accent panels as a splurge at JC Penny and ordering the rest from Walmart.com. But after I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy the accent curtains at JC Penny, they put them on sale for half the price! YAY! I got a great deal and love the way the curtains transform the room!
Our bedroom furniture for our lil' guy was delivered Saturday. We arranged it just the way we wanted and Jeff did a great job putting together the book shelf for his toys! I helped by handing him tools and reading the directions. It will have those canvas drawers in it once lil' man picks out his bedding and tells us his favorite colors. The room is definitely coming together! Jeff and I need to put together the other bookshelf and my sister offered to make the letters for the scripture on the wall. After that we will have done all we can before we meet our little guy!
What do ya'll think!? I just can't wait to see him in there making the room his own!

In other news, we are scheduled for our fire inspection for Monday, May 18th. That is just one day before our 2nd Wedding anniversary! When the inspector called to schedule yesterday, I was so excited I nearly squealed!

Journey Journal

I wanted to blog this last night, but didn't have a chance.  Maybe I should have done it when I woke up at 3:45 AM and couldn't go back to sleep, but alas better late than never!  I have posted several updates on the adoption process, but not as much about my feelings during this process.  I don't really know why I haven't shared them other than I don't think I really understood some of them until recently.  I decided I want to do some more in depth documentation since this blog is the longest running "journal" I've kept in my life!  I hear right brained people tend to be great starters of things, but not as good at following through.   Anyway....

I have had a flood of weird contradicting emotions over the last few weeks.  There has been a lot going on as you can tell from my posts lately, but one thing is constantly on my mind, or should I say one person.  He's faceless, nameless, but so very real to my heart.  I've busied myself with everything I can possibly "do" to prepare for him, but so much is out of my control.  I am very grateful though that God is using this time to endear me to my child, His child.   He keeps drawing me to this scripture, which I pray often for our little man:

Isaiah 43:1

But now, this is what the LORD says— ...
       "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; 
       I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

God reminds me that our child is first and foremost His child and He has chosen us to have the privilege of helping him to understand and accept his ultimate worth as a chosen child of God.  It is my prayer that as our child begins to understand his adoption into our family, we will be able to point him to the ultimate adoption we have all experienced through the sacrifice of Christ.  The aforementioned scripture in a simpler form may end up on our child's bedroom wall.  I want him to know from the beginning when he is confused by the numerous people who have been "parents" in his life that He is Christ's kid.  I'm sorry if my thoughts are scrambled, but that is how it has been lately.   

Last week it struck me on my way home from work, just like a lightening bolt - intense sadness, perhaps grief.  I cried and cried, but I didn't know why.  I cried for the fact that we would not have a baby dedication for our child, or any baby pictures, nor experience many of the firsts that come in the toddler stage.  I became fearful that my tears meant this was not what we are supposed to do.  It wasn't until a day or two later that I began to understand.  I was grieving for the first few years of our child's life that we were not able to share with him.  I spoke to my friend who works with post adoption families and she said it was okay.  In fact she said that the kids grieve the years they have not shared with their adoptive families as well.  It was then I realized it was another way in which God is growing me and preparing me for being the momma to such a precious boy who has endured so many difficult circumstances.