Baby B's Christmas Presents

Christmas was great! Our son received his first Christmas gifts :). We had already decided on a safari theme for what will be his bedroom. Therefore, he received his first:

Giraffe stuffed animal

Lion socks

Monkey blanket

And we bought him a little present from Mexico 

Wooden elephant pencil holder

Thank you Jesus for blessing us with great family and friends.

Crying Is Good

Our agency has monthly conference calls. That is their way of providing us with any updates about the process. Lately, they have a guest family speak at the end of each call (love it). On last month's conference call one waiting mom explained that the way she copes with the wait is by giving herself time to cry. That granted me permission to cry and to tell everyone about it. I was afraid to tell family and friends that I have cried during this process. Afraid that they would come to the conclusion that I wished our situation was different. Since I stopped holding back the tears, I just forewarn Rob with an "ok I am fixing to cry in three, two, one..." and he just hugs me. Sometimes he is driving but the support is still there.
So there you have it. I cry. I cry a lot. Not because I am mad or disappointed but because sometimes I want to put a face to the little boy I so pray for every day. Sometimes from the overwhelming feeling I get from the thought of how blessed we are to be experiencing such a wonderful journey. The journey of adoption. Sometimes I cry for two minutes and sometimes I need the whole evening. But I now know it is ok. I am not the only one and I have a lot more crying to do :). I hope I don't run out tears. I mean, I still have many more emotional experiences coming up: the referral and meeting our son. :) :)
 

Cousins/Friends

You know that cousin/friend you can talk to about anything? Sadly, mine lives many miles away. I remember as little girls we would stay up until sunrise just talking about "life".

December 2000

After nearly ten years, she finally came to visit us and boy was it nice catching up.

 

December 2011

Pop-a-lock

I love Fridays! I always wake up in a good mood and yell throughout the morning “TGIF! TGIF!”. Today was especially great. I finished my last final exam on Wednesday and I knew this weekend was going to be full of goodness without a worry about homework. I woke up, made coffee, blow dried AND flat ironed my hair (never have time) and headed off. I get in my car and notice I need gas. As I am singing to Christmas songs I stop at a Sam’s gas station. I was pumping gas still humming Christmas songs in my head thinking of what a great day today was. When I finish and try to get in my car I notice my keys, wallet, phone, jacket, and coffee all inside my LOCKED car :(. Right away the gentleman who works there lent me his phone as he nodded his head at me and handed me a pop-a-lock business card. I call Rob which of course asks me to stay where I am at and heads out my way (he works 40 minutes away). I walk to Sam's and knock on their sliding doors and ask kindly if I can wait by the hotdog machine for my husband. About ten different employees asked me “what happened? You locked yourself out?” um, “yes!” and they nodded their head as they walked away. I sat there for an hour, rob got there with a slim jim and tried to break into our own car (he refused to call someone for help and pay an “outrageous” amount of money for something he can do himself). He did not succeed. The same gentleman who lent me his phone gave it a shot.. nothing. (By now it is 9:45). FINALLY we call pop-a-lock and a man with torn jeans, three missing teeth, and a cigarette in his mouth came to our rescue. He opened my door within seconds and the “outrageous” amount that it cost us was a whopping $35. I ended up getting to work with my beautiful hair in knots (from the 2-mile walk through the Sam’s parking lot in the winter wind) and extremely late. At 10:45 am to be exact.

Happy Friday!

First attempt

Second attempt

Success!

Four Months

Months on the waitlist:

Current average wait time:

17

On our four month waiting anniversary, we picked out a tree and decorated it while we drank eggnog and watched Saturday Night Live reruns.

Happy four months waiting!!!

Trip to Mexico City

We visited Mexico City this past weekend for my grandma's birthday party :). We love Mexico; the culture, the food, the people, the music...

Ahh Mexico! The only place where you can find

And finally,

Thank you Albarran family for showing us a good time and sharing some much needed laughs :).