Waiting Stitches

Jon has been offered a job!  We are thrilled!!! The job sort of came about out of nowhere. Without any knowledge of the job, Jon went to an interview for a different position (that he had waited two months to hear back from) and instead was offered an even better position with hardly any interview!! Thanks to previous experience with the organization and an obviously awesome recommendation from a friend, Jon landed a fantastic job. Not sure if I could have picked a better job for him myself! He will be the new executive director for the Barron county Habitat for Humanity!!!  Yey! Thank you to all of you who have been praying for him. We have dealt with job loss/changes in the past, but with the adoption process taking place at he same time, it seemed much more stressful. We are so very thankful God has provided in a fairly quick fashion (even if it did feel like forever) and that it is a job that fits almost everything Jon was looking for.  And with that, we should have p...

Last night I had my first adoption dream. I've had quite a few pregnancy dreams in the past, but never an adoption dream. What struck me funny though, was it was not an international adoption. In my dream I met a young lady, maybe in her early 20's, who had recently learned she was pregnant and asked if we would consider raising her child. Of course, as dreams go, not everything was clear. I think at one point of time I was "in the body" of the girl that was pregnant and thinking about giving her child up for adoption. I was also "myself" and a wide range of emotions plagued me, even in my dream.  Why do you think I had a dream about domestic adoption? And why is it that I haven't dreamed about adoption up until this point?  Dreams are odd things.  On a bigger picture, I've been daydreaming about our time when Little C comes home. I was thinking about next Christmas and how maybe we could have the work party at our home, and then I remem...

If you've ever been pregnant, you understand the feeling of bearing a child. Yes, there are the aches and pains, the foot in the ribs, sleepless nights, and the pressure on the bladder. But there are also the flutters, the kicks, the flops & turns - the knowledge that you are one with your child. Being pregnant was one of the greatest blessings I could have ever been given. The gift of pregnancy is truly something I am thankful for every day. The fact that I was given that gift is a miracle, one that I do not take lightly.  The anxious arrival of a baby, is, well, just that - anxious. However, there is a sense of certainty about the whole world of pregnancy. Gestational period is 9 months, therefore you have a pretty good estimate on when the baby is joining the family. Books, upon articles, upon other Mom's, inform you of what to expect and what life is like those 9 months and beyond. I found comfort, even through the anxious times, knowing that although this journey m...

(*These two are from Thanksgiving - Three generations! - Had to share the great pictures!) So what do you do on a Daddy B-day Snow Day!?! Enjoy time with Daddy of course! Started the morning with his birthday present - a coffee mug, to add to his ever-growing collection. Caleb and I picked this one up in July at an art fair.  We had to give him his present first thing so he could drink his morning coffee with his Birthday muffins!  Birthday muffins are a tradition that Jon's Mom started. We have continued the tradition and very much enjoy it! Out of Jon's, Caleb's, and my birthday, I think only once in the last 12 or so years we haven't had muffins. We followed muffins with a bug puzzle that was difficult but fun and relaxing to do as a family. After lunch, Jon went for a snowshoe hike giving Caleb and me some time to make Daddy's cake! Caleb came up with the idea... can you tell what it will be?... A football! Caleb was so pro...

Today is a very special day, it is my best friend's birthday!!! Happy Birthday to my dear Husband!!! We have gotten lucky and get to spend the whole day with him, due to a school snow day. Maybe he won't be excited to put up with us ALL day, but at least this way I will be able to get dishes done, make a special birthday cake, and actually get time to sit down with him for our traditional birthday breakfast. Yey! I see great things in this coming year for Jon. I truly believe God has some new things in store for Jon that will be amazing. Please keep praying as he goes through a job search. He has an interview in a couple weeks for a great job that would be perfect for him. God's will be done, of course, but if I was to handpick a job for Jon - This would be it!!! And of course, we are praying that in this new year of his, we will bring home our second child! Last night we made our trek to the local police department to get updated FBI fingerprints. We are current...

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to our Friends & Family!  We have been blessed to spend some time with extended family that we don't see too often. It is always fun to catch-up and shoot the breeze. Today I'm feeling lazy, sitting around talking and getting some sewing projects worked on. There is a part of me that wishes I was getting a lot of things "done" right now, and the other part of me is so very thankful for the time to relax and just be for a day or two. The last couple weeks have been filled with work, preparing for upcoming concerts, swimming lessons, daily upkeep in life, and now more adoption paperwork. I started feeling a little like the burning of my candle at both ends, was turning into a full out fire. My candle was burning out a little too quickly. It's busy times like these where I realize it is hard to find what I'm thankful for, instead it is easier to feel stressed and complain about the little things. With Thanksgiving around the co...

Caleb helped us take our paperwork to the notary today. There is a big rock outside of the office that he loves standing on. Every time we pass it he asks for his picture to be taken. He is such a stinkin' cute and goofy kid! It was a huge relief to get the paperwork done and sent in the mail today. This means that we should have our dossier paperwork by next Tuesday so we can start to tackle it all. Can't say I'm looking forward to the dossier paperwork, but after looking at the upcoming checklist of things to do, it all felt very doable. Having just finished the Ethiopia dossier, I feel familiar with the documents and know which steps we should take first to help it all go smoothly. I kind of wish I could get started tomorrow! But realize it will be good to have a couple days to breathe and not think about the paperwork. Instead, I plan to do things like this... I love spending time playing games with Caleb and Jon! Tonight we played Train Dominoes, a game we just...

See all of the blue tags in the paperwork I am holding... that my friends is ALL of the spots that our Notary Public will have to sign & seal - 26 spots to be exact. Yikes! Bless her heart! She is a friend of ours and we are going to owe her a HUGE piece of chocolate, or something amazing, by the end of it all. Poor gal is going to have a hand cramp! So why all the papers? There are two different sets of paperwork here: the official paperwork putting us into the Philippines program with AGCI and the paperwork saying that we accept the Referral of Little C. Typically the referral paperwork is done AFTER the dossier, but we are doing it all a little backwards it seems! Once these things are turned in, along with the fees that accompany them, we will get all of the documents we need to work on for our dossier - that will be step 3. I have already spent two long & late nights working on Step 2 paperwork - not so much looking forward to Step 3, but I feel such a rush trying ...

After three weeks of not hearing anything, we have gotten our answer - We are to Go Ahead with our paperwork to adopt Little C!!  Yes, his name is now "Little C". We must keep privacy until he is officially home, but his name does start with a "C" and since Caleb also starts with the same letter, our new little one for now will affectionately be called "Little C"! I am thrilled! This an answer to prayer. Unfortunately though there is still some uncertainty. Our next step is to accept Little C's referral and then submit our dossier to the Philippines (which will take a couple months). Once they have our dossier, there is still a chance that we could be denied the adoption. The chances are small because they've already accepted our profile, but just knowing there is a chance, does make me nervous.  But enough about nervous thoughts! When all goes smoothly and government things move fast and social workers are timely... ;) We will bri...

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween night. Caleb had a good time mooching candy off of the area folk :). It was a rainy, damp, cold night. Sure not fun for the parents! But it was worth it I guess - I mean, I did get one... Ok, maybe more than that... Yummy pieces of candy out of the deal! While Caleb got a lot of treats today, Jon and I felt like we were tricked. :( We have gotten an email now two days in a row forwarded by our agency from the Philippines. These get my heart racing and hopeful, just to learn nothing new. Yesterday they emailed to say they do have our profile and it is being looked at. Yes, it is good we know they at least have it, but I wanted a yes or no response to go along with it. Today we were told that tomorrow is a national holiday in the Philippines and then Mon-Wed they have a conference so no one will be in the office. This means we have to wait at least another week. Not a treat at all. Just a mean ol' trick. So much for getting this little bo...

No news is good news... Right? I'm about to burst waiting to hear back from the Philippines. We thought it'd be at least a week, so I got through that just fine. But now that I've waited a couple days past that, ick. No fun. Luckily work is keeping me busy. My third graders are putting on mini-concerts the next couple days and on top of that I've been working with the other Elementary music teacher to pick our winter concert music. It's enough to keep me busy during the day, but at night-I have time to think.  An answer that is Sooner, rather than later, sure would be nice.  Thanks for the prayers that I know so many of you have been lifting up for us. At this point God knows what is best for the little boy and I have to trust that knowledge... Albeit hard to remember.  I am reminded of my favorite bible verse: These three still remain: faith, hope, and love - and the greatest if these, is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13 I know God is moving moun...

As I sat in church today, I watched a baby boy drinking from his bottle, playing with a little toy, and looking into his mother's eyes... and I thought, can I really do this? Can I really miss so many milestones in my child's life? How many life milestones are there before age 5? sleeping through the night... cooing... smiling... sitting on own... laughing... eating solids... standing... walking... talking... running... singing... jumping... Those are the main milestones, but what about all of those small ones? There are too many to count. So many that Jon & I will miss when we bring home a child, versus a baby. I do not doubt that I can love the children that we bring into our home, as I know that I already do love them, even though I do not even know who they are. But I do wonder what my response will be to the knowledge that I was not able to share in their milestones. I will not have pictures. I will not have "proof". I won't have stori...

As of Sunday, our profile has been sitting in the Philippines awaiting its yey or ney.  What does this mean? Well, let me try to explain, as it is a little confusing. The way the adoption system works in the Philippines is almost the complete opposite of how it works in other countries, including the one we know the most about, Ethiopia. In many countries, we are paired with the children and then we decide ultimately if we want to accept the referral. Then the child goes through court dates to make certain that he/she is an orphan that can be adopted. We would attend some of the court hearings and then ultimately bring the child home when all is settled. The Philippines starts from the last step Ethiopia does - it gets all of the child's "ducks in a row" and makes absolutely sure that the child is an orphan before the child can be put on a list that shows he/she is available for adoption. In my opinion, this is great, because there is no doubt that the child will some...

The last couple months my husband and son were very generous and let me go to be Mara , instead of Mom . My husband likes to say that I like to be a "Thespian" when I can, and yes, I do enjoy becoming a different person, playing dress up, and entertaining people. But the fun antics of other "thespians" are what I really enjoy! A lot of our craziness is something that only theater people can understand, trust me-we are a bunch of odd ducks - but I love that about theater. It's a place to let your inhibitions loose. A place that I don't feel judged. A place I can let my hair down and worry very little about everything else-well, other than remembering my blocking and lines! The last couple weeks have been performance weekends for "The 39 Steps", and among it all we have been trying to figure out the adoption steps for the little boy in the Philippines. The theater is what has kept my nerves at bay. When I have time to think about all of the ...

Mother's Day is fun, yes, but October 18 means even more to me than Mother's Day ever could, because that is the day I became a Mom. Five years ago I started my journey as a mother. This is by far the greatest journey I could have ever been blessed with. Each and every day I am thankful for the miracle I was given, Caleb is my everything, I can't imagine the last five years without him. At one year I couldn't believe how much he had grown. He already seemed like such a "big boy" and yet I look at these pictures and see how little of a peanut he was. His smile has always been infectious - he can melt my heart so quickly! Two years later we were into the full swing of parenthood and I couldn't get enough of being a Mommy! The terrible two's didn't really happen... that "stuff" began more at three  :)   There are so many days I'm excited to come home to this giggle, this smile, this love...  It's hard to believe th...