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).