Sixteen Months

Months on the wait list:

On our sixteen month waiting anniversary, we decided to head downtown right after work. Because the weather in San Antonio finally dropped below 70 degrees, we were excited to go for a walk on the river walk without breaking a sweat. It was actually pretty chilly so we thought it would be perfect to drink hot chocolate while we admired the Christmas lights. You would think that hot chocolate is easy to find, right? Wrong! We walked for an hour trying to find a place that sold hot chocolate. We checked the Chocolate Factory, Haagen-dazs shop, searched through many restaurant's menus, and could not even find a Starbucks...a Starbucks! As we were heading back to the car we noticed a small hole-in-the-wall ice cream shop with the most beautiful sign on the door.

"Warm up with rich & creamy Hot Chocolate!"

    Could this really be happening?

Yes, yes, yes!!!

We were so excited that we had our hot chocolate with marshmallows AND whipped cream, which ended up being way too sweet. (We still drank it though.)

We drank it by the river and watched the different river walk boats filled with families, people caroling, and Santa :).

We even made a couple of friends.

We ended the night with a delicious soup that was waiting for us in my Crockpot. 

Happy tummy = happy couple.

Happy sixteen months waiting!!!

Movember

November is the "month of the mustache", hence the name Movember...brilliant! During this month, men grow their mustaches to raise awareness and funds for men's health, specifically prostate and testicular cancer. Rob found out about this charity mid-month last year and refused to grow out the mustache late. Since then he couldn't wait for November 1, 2012 to arrive. He put together a group of 10 of his co-workers to grow out their mustaches for a good cause. On the first day of November, they all shaved and soon after, the mustache growing frenzy began. Today, thankfully, is the last day. I am very proud of my hubby. I will admit however, that I am not the biggest fan of the mustache :{.

Only 6 out of the 10 guys were present for the final picture.

6 Fun Facts About This Picture

1. Rob is the guy wearing the white shirt.

2. The fourth guy from the left, you know, the one with the paper mustache taped to his face, found out that he cannot grow a mustache. But he sure did grow a beard. 

(Please zoom in and check it out. According to Rob the paper mustache was falling and that explains why he looks like he is about to sneeze.)

3. The fifth guy from the left came up with the idea to pose.

4. The first guy on the right cut out the first guy on the left's knee by trying to edit the picture.

5. The first guy decided he likes the mustache and will keep on sporting it.

6. Although they look upset and borderline scary, there was a lot of giggling during the photo shoot.

Home Study Update

We had our home study update interview today. We spread out all of our chores through out the week to avoid an all nighter and an I-think-I-will-pass-out feeling like last time.

 Santa came early this year and got me a Crockpot on Sunday. Perfect timing, right? I could cook tons of food and just eat that for dinner all week long. I mean, this would save us time and I could clean every day after work without wearing myself out. One of the main reasons why I always wanted a Crockpot was to just throw raw food in it, continue with life and then hours later...tada! dinner is ready. So by Monday I had all of the necessary ingredients to make a delicious chicken in pineapple juice and brown sugar. A sour, burnt chicken smell woke us up on Tuesday morning. Seriously guys, my house STILL smells like burnt chicken. We could even smell it on our clothes at work!  

After some much needed practice, I am sure I will love it.

No stress right? Today, we both woke up at 6 a.m. and started cleaning our already clean house. Rob went a little above and beyond. He organized the garage as soon as he woke up. As I was making our bed a faint smell of vinegar hit my nose. Sniff, sniff. I walked over to where I heard some hard scrubbing and there was Rob scrubbing the hard water stain (a tiny one) in the guest bathroom with vinegar.

Is this not the cleanest toilet you have ever seen?

 So our house smelled like burnt chicken and vinegar. I took a shower and of course got shampoo in my eyes. Seriously, ouch! I think the last time that happened to me was when I was eight years old. I looked like I had some sort of pink eye. I get out of the shower and could not find my husband. I looked and looked and sure enough find him outside in his pajamas, wearing his fleece jacket with the windex bottle and paper towels cleaning the windows. He jumps in the shower and I decide to put some music videos on to lighten the mood:

Me (yelling): "Babe! What channel is Fuse on?!"

Rob: "What toothbrush do I use?!" (BTW for the last ten years we have always bought a blue and a pink toothbrush)

Me: "What?! No, what channel is Fuse on?!"

Rob: "Why do you want to watch the news?!"

By this point I gave up and looked it up. By 11 a.m. we were ready to go. We kept asking each other "Are you nervous? Don't be nervous, I am not nervous." Of course we were nervous! Before the social worker arrived, we started acting extremely silly. For some reason we started jumping up and down like soccer players before a big game. We then started walking like robots all over the house. Until finally we decided to sit on the rug and watch music videos so we wouldn't be sweaty and out of breath when she arrived. To be more exact, the "Top 100 Bangin' Bodies" videos. We then decided to download the TimerCam app and take a picture of ourselves.

We realized 5 seconds does not give you enough time to pose and look nice.

But 10 sort of does.

Finally, the interview began at 12:33 p.m. and ended at 1:21 p.m. It was not bad at all...again. We knew that too, I don't know why we stress ourselves out. On the plus side, my house is already clean for our Thanksgiving dinner and we are in the process of being approved to adopt siblings or an older child :) :). 

We love you son (or son and daughter)!

Fifteen Months

Months on the wait list:

 Current longest waiting family has been waiting for (months): 

29

We are about number 67 on the list and 56 on the single child list.

We hit the 15-month mark on Sunday. I am not going to lie but this month was not an easy one for me. I did not feel like going out or talking to anyone but my husband. Let me tell y’all, he is amazing. He has been laying with me on the couch, sometimes all day, watching Netflix and just letting me have my boo hoo moments. Yes, moments not moment (there were a few). The thing is that I really miss our son. I don’t know if he has been born yet or what kind of hardships his family might be facing. I don’t know when we will meet him. I don't know how he is doing. I just feel so incomplete without him. What I do know however, is that he is in God’s hands and I trust that He will assure him that we love him very much and we will be together soon. I know He is also watching over his beautiful family.

Now that I am done venting, let me y'all how we celebrated the big 1-5. We woke up and we cooked what each one of us was craving for breakfast. Rob had scrambled eggs with leftover fajita from the night before and I had pancakes.

This waiting mom does NOT wash dishes on Sundays.

 I have to show off my cute coffee mug

Thanks Danni!

We then started working on the puzzle that we bought the day before at Half Price Books.

After that we layed on the couch yet again and around seven o’clock, Rob basically shook me and said “c’mon, we are going out. Take a quick shower”. I obeyed and we decided to go to Wine 101, a small wine bar not too far from our house. It was perfect! It was extremely romantic and delicious. Have I mentioned that I love cheese? Really? I haven’t? Well, I loooove cheese. We had the cheese tour with some wine. 

Plus olives, artichokes, grapes, and french bread.

We sat outside by a small fountain surrounded by oak trees and perfect weather.

I really don't know what I would do without this man in my life. I love him so so much.

 Happy fifteen months waiting!!!

Here We Go Again...

Some of the paperwork that we gathered for eight months is on the verge of expiration. It is not quite as dramatic but it is time to update our home study, CIS approval, and some dossier documents. We are actually pretty excited to be doing something that is adoption related. Plus, we missed that FedEx smell and the nice lady at the bank who has notarized all of our paperwork. The last time she saw us was when she notarized our CIS approval letter on August 1, 2011. I had promised her we would come back with our son so she can meet him. As soon as we walked into the bank, she remembered us and greeted us with a huge smile. Her first question/yell was "how is everything going?!". We had to explain why we were there and she never lost that smile. She never sighed or angrily asked why or gave me a sad I-just-saw-a-puppy-get-hurt look. She is still so happy for us, which makes me even happier.

I thought it would be cute to compare pictures of us holding the envelope from today to the one here.

Here we go:

October 2012

April 2011 - yikes!

I realized that we either age very well or have thankfully changed our sense of style.

Fourteen Months

Months on the wait list:

On our fourteenth month waiting anniversary we went to see Willie Nelson at John T. Floore Country Store in Helotes, TX. Helotes is 15 minutes from my house but it makes it sound so much more exciting when I say Helotes, TX. We had never been to Floore's Country Store so we decided to glam up the night by eating at a nice Italian restaurant before the show.

Our waitress was so busy we had to ask a hostess on our way out to take a picture of us and our leftovers. Because we were standing in front of the restaurant during rush hour, we were too embarrassed to hold our 1 - 4 with our fingers.

We then headed off to see Willie Nelson.

Rob is totally wearing his "cowboy" shirt and boots.

Willie's tour bus.

Floore's Country Store is exactly what you are imagining. Dirt floors (I constantly had tiny rocks in  my shoes), wooden benches, antlers mounted on the walls, porta pottys, and humidity. Where all of the fun is outside amongst tons and tons of people. It was quite adventurous actually. My in-laws were there with us. They showed up at 7 to save a good "standing" spot. As people continued to arrive they converted our nice "standing" spot into a "crammed" spot. We were so close to everyone by the time Willie actually came out, that I ended up singing along to "Crazy" with my nose in some random person's hair.

People everywhere!

Let me tell ya, Mr. Willie Nelson has all kinds of fans. All shapes and sizes. I saw an 80 year old lady dressed up standing front row wearing the cutest hat. I saw several Willie Nelson look-alikes, teenagers dressed up in cute boots and dresses, children on their parent's shoulders, and of course, many, many cowboys. I am talking cowboy boots, hats, tight jeans, buckles. It was awesome!

There he is.

Here we are! Big 1- 4

My poor mother-in-law had been wanting to see Willie Nelson for 30 years now. So what does she go and do on Monday? She fell and fractured her wrist :(. Now try to save that "standing" spot I was talking about while making sure no one bumps her arm and hurts her. Scandalous!

This picture was taken after we threw in the towel and gave up on saving our "standing" spot.

Happy fourteen months waiting!!!

Some Exciting News

We have some exciting news we would like to share with everyone. Rob and I have been talking about this for a very long time and we have come to the conclusion that we would like to extend our age preference range from 0-6 months to a 0-24 month old boy or 0-48 month old boy/girl siblings. That's right, siblings. What are the chances that we will receive a referral that involves 2 little ones? Very small. In fact, it will probably not happen, but we are letting God decide that for us. The referral wait time for siblings is much higher than for a single child. Why, you may ask? Well, there is so much paperwork involved now a days for a referral to be ready * 2 = long wait. Only God knows what our future and the lives of these babies’ future holds.

Because you asked for it, here is the story on how we came to this decision. I will start on why I really wanted a 0-6 month old baby. I am going to sound selfish but it is nothing but the truth, so I apologize in advance. I wanted to experience the whole nine yards with my children. I wanted to change poopy diapers, get vomit on my hair, and have my baby sleep on my tummy as I watch TV. I had a list ready for what would be needed for the diaper bag, whether we were going out of town or to the grocery store. I wanted to buy a beautiful crib and feed my child with a bottle. I wanted to be there, front and center, with a camera when my child took his first steps and said his first words. I don’t remember the exact date of when I asked Rob “what do you think of an older little boy?”, but I will not forget his response. He calmly told me that he would love to adopt an older child, even a 5 year old…what? That is how selfish I have been! I mean we both prayed, talked, and pondered about the gender but the age preference, it was all me. Sad, I know. But Rob is one of the most easy going, accommodating people you will ever meet. Plus, he spoils me a little too much. We have since prayed, talked and pondered on the age preference. We are getting approved for a 0-48 month old but have updated our age preference with Gladney to a 0-24 month old. One step at a time folks! Since we made our decision I have started to awkwardly stare at 2 year olds. I would like to take this time and apologize to any family I have made feel uncomfortable at the local store or restaurant. We have nephews in that age range and I try to imagine us with our son at that age and boy am I excited. They are so funny and full of energy. Rob even tried to teach our 2 year old nephew how to fish this past weekend, which by the way is one of his dreams at the moment, to take his son fishing. So yes, we are ecstatic with OUR decision. Yay!!

God, if when I meet my child or children they are either 2 months old or 4 years old, I will be just as excited and thankful. I will love my child or children so, so, so much, whether I get to change a poopy diaper or not. And let me tell you, I can’t wait! If we do get to meet our child when he is 2 months old, bring on the poopy diapers. If we get to meet him when he is 4 years old, bring on the fishing trips. And if we get to see two little faces on the day when we get our referral, then we shall change poopy diapers on our fishing trip. See, we have a win-win situation here :).

We already knew we wanted to increase our age range when we went on our vacation in August. Therefore, we bought our son a 2T t-shirt and of course, a sea turtle stuffed animal (wink).

Thirteen Months

Months on the wait list:

On our thirteen month waiting anniversary, we went to work. After work, we tried our hardest to find an Ethiopian or even an African restaurant here in town, but there is not a single one...boo. So, we decided to go to the movies. It took us an hour to figure out what movie to watch. We watched the trailers to every movie that was showing and of course, had to read the reviews. We ended up going to the Alamo Drafthouse and watched Lawless. We ate some popcorn plus Rob had a philly cheesesteak and I had the macaroni and cheese with green chiles.

In other news, we got back from a much needed vacation a couple of weeks ago. We had so much fun!! It was nice to spend some time together away from our normal day-to-day routine. Of course, our camera broke mid-vacation but we were able to capture the following:

The view from our room 

Kayaking  

We spent a lot of time relaxing by the pool and the beach 

Playa del Carmen 

Snorkeling

Rob is officially a sailor

Celebrating our wedding anniversary, again

The highlight of our trip was when we had the opportunity to release a baby sea turtle into the ocean. We got to name our turtle and we received a certificate as proof of the event. I named my turtle "Blake" and Rob named his "Mr. Turtle". Because we were in Mexico, they misspelled his poor turtle's name on its birth certificate.

:(

Happy thirteen months waiting!!!

Twelve Months

Months on the wait list:

Current longest waiting family has been waiting for (months):

26

We were fortunate enough to meet another gladney mom a few months ago (hi Jean!). She has been on the wait list for a year more than we have and she told us that the way she deals with the wait is by looking at the adoption process in 3-6 month increments. That gave me an idea. Due to the one-year mark, I will include a more detailed post of where we are on the list and how long the longest waiting family has been waiting for, every three months. I think this can help our family better “see” where we really are in the process but not obsess over it. Thanks to my OCD, I will start with this month in order to have an even four detailed posts within the next year. 

 

There are currently 78 families ahead of us, 16 of which are waiting specifically for siblings. Therefore, we are about number 62 on the single child list. (Remember, this does not mean that after 61 we are next. We could be skipped or we could receive a call before the families ahead of us when we get closer.)

On our twelve month waiting anniversary, we relaxed by the pool and grilled some burgers. My sister graduated yesterday and my nephew's birthday is tomorrow. Therefore, we are spending the weekend with family in Kingsville, TX.

Happy twelve months waiting!!!

Hitting the One Year Mark

We finally hit the one year mark tomorrow!! It really did fly by. I will admit however, the first 2 months were emotionally difficult. It felt as if time stood still. But time did keep ticking and now we are 12 months closer towards meeting our son. Referral wait times are still increasing but everyone, from our agency to the embassy, is working their behind off in order to provide a more ethical and stronger adoption program. That does not mean that times have been easy. Some days I get sad, some days I get frustrated, but most days I am hopeful and excited. I know in my heart that things will start to stabilize. I see us with an Ethiopian little boy…I see it! I know it will happen, maybe not tomorrow, but it will happen. Why else would God plant this little seed in our hearts?

I am anticipating the day when we will meet our son and officially become a family of three. Oh, man I can’t wait for that day to come! To witness such a beautiful miracle unfold before our eyes is going to be life changing. The love that we have for our son keeps growing with every day that goes by. We are and will continue to thank God everyday for walking with us on this incredible journey. Waiting this long for our little boy can only mean that we will forever cherish and love him. That the day when we finally get to hug and kiss him will be even that much sweeter. Once he is with us and we begin to live THAT life, the one with homeworks, school recitals, vacation trips, soccer practice, family dinners..., we will absolutely, no question about it, appreciate every single second of it.  

I have never made a prayer request...until now. Will you please pray with us? Pray for the process to start stabilizing. For all of the families that are waiting with us, especially for the ones that have been waiting a lot longer than we have, to feel at peace during this hard wait. For the children to feel loved and protected while THEY wait to be united with their new family. Finally, for the birth families of these children. I can't even imagine what they must be going through. Pray for God to guide them through the most difficult decision that they will ever make in their lives. 

Special gifts our son has received so far

Celebrating Our Anniversaries

WARNING: Picture overload!

Last night we decided to celebrate both our 11 month waiting anniversary and our 10 year wedding anniversary. Because there were two different celebrations we went out to eat at two different restaurants. We couldn't decide whether to go bowling, visit a museum... but our love for food is too strong to pass a nice dinner. (Remember this?)

To celebrate our 11 month waiting anniversary, I chose the restaurant where we had a nice appetizer. I LOVE cheese, love it!! Therefore, we went to the Melting Pot and had a traditional swiss cheese fondue with a nice glass of red wine.

To celebrate our wedding anniversary, Rob chose the restaurant where we ate dinner. It was our first time to Tre Trattoria. It is a beautiful contemporary, tuscan-inspired restaurant. Rob had the slow roasted pork belly and I had the goat cheese pizza with pistachios...delicious!!!!

Ten things we love about us:

1. We have a good laugh at least once a day.

2. We are each other's best friends, by choice.

3. After all of this time, we still kiss with our eyes closed.

4. We tell each other "I love you" multiple times a day.

5. We have fun together. We will make a Saturday night watching a corny lifetime movie into an adventure.

6. We eat lunch and dinner together, email and text throughout the day, and we still miss each other when we are apart.

7. We are madly in love.

8. We can read each other's minds and emotions.

9. We respect each other.

10. We love our son, truly love him.

Here are ten pictures of us throughout the first ten years:

Our first dance as husband and wife

Celebrating our six year anniversary

First visit to Las Vegas

Celebrating New Years

Silver mine tour

First time hosting Thanksgiving dinner in our new home

Guanajuato, MX

Visit to Lake Tahoe

Haunted house

Sea World

All of the challenges that we have had to conquer together have brought us closer to each other. I love the life that we live. I thank God everyday for letting me be your wife and I cannot imagine my existence without you. You truly are the love of my life and I am so in love with you, ALL of you. I adore you and can’t wait to have our son be a part of our little world.