Happy Day Of Love!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful day of sharing love and kindness to those around you.  I woke up this morning, showered, and came out of the bathroom to find this letter from my amazing husband.  He loves to write me letters almost as much as I love reading them.  I can't express how amazing this man has been to me.  More than anything I find a security in so many ways with him.  I love that he is writing about our family-to-be.  I love that he is as excited as me to start filling our house with children and to be parents together.  I see so much in what we have and where our path will take us.  Every word in this letter I hold close to my heart because it's what I've wanted and prayed for for so long.  Enjoy!

Navigating

I've had several of my friends inquire about following my blog once I started sharing our adoption journey on my personal facebook account.  I'm still kinda new at this whole "fancying up my blog" thing and hope that you all can bare with me as I try to get everything added.  I've only used my blog as a journal and to connect with other mommies that have been blessed with the gift of adoption so I haven't spent tons of time working out all the kinks.  Now that people I know personally are interested in following I promise I'll work on making it more appealing.  Thanks to everyone who has decided to take this journey with us :)

Sharing Our Journey...

I recently decided to share our journey of adoption via my personal facebook account.  In the past couple of weeks I've had 2 close friends present the possibility of private adoption because they were in a place where this was being discussed as an option.  For case #1, I'm not sure the birth mother will go the adoption route, but it still may be a possibility.  For case #2, the birth mother is very sick and may be forced to sign her rights over because she has no family. 

I don't know that anything will come of either of these cases.  It may and it may not.  Either way DH and I are remaining on the adoption waiting list.  We are currently at 108 days waiting and we know with each passing day that leads us closer to our child.  But we don't want to stop there.  We want more children.  We want a big family.  We want a house full of kiddos and all the excitement they bring!

I want to thank each one of you who has taken even a second out of your day to think about this journey DH and I are taking and our longing to become parents together.  We appreciate you thinking of us when adoption is mentioned and we are hoping to expand our family one bebe at a time :)

Prayers Please!

Yesterday I took a day off work to go visit a Dermatologist.  Four years ago I had a mole removed that was found to be Stage 2 Melanoma.  I had surgery on my lower left leg that now leave a huge hole document this journey.  Luckily all cancer was removed.  After the whole melanoma debacle I feared going back to the doctor because I just "knew" something else would be found.  So it's taken me four years to reach a point where I knew I needed to see a specialist and have my skin checked out.

My awesome hairdresser recommended a place about 45 minutes from my house.  I thought I'd give it a try.  BOY AM I GLAD I DID!!  I walked into the small office yesterday not knowing what would be found or what the dermatologist might say after checking me.  I ended up having 6 more moles removed (for a total of 21).  She didn't seem to think any of them were as serious as the last.  She sent all of them off for a biopsy just to be sure and said I would know something within 2 weeks. 

I'm asking for prayers that all tests come back cancer free!  If any of you have a "weird" place on your skin anywhere PLEASE take the time to visit a good dermatologist.  Life is too short to take any chances!

Day 100

Today makes 100 days that DH and I have been officially waiting for our child to come home!  We feel like the time has gone so smooth and so quick (thank goodness)!  We are both so busy with school (we are both teachers) that time has gone by before we knew it!  Now granted, there are moments where I think about the average wait time being 1.5-2 years and I kinda freak out a little, but I'm hoping God has a faster plan for us.  I'm praying "our" child will come home sooner.  And if not, I know it's His will.  

Please continue to pray that this journey moves along quickly so we can FINALLY become parents to a bebe together :)

Snow Day!

Today was our first snow day of the year!  DH and I got to be very lazy today and we loved every minute of it!  I slept in, took a shower, stayed in pj's until we went out to grab some Chinese for dinner, then back home to put the pj's back on.  All in all it's been a productive day!

I uploaded the pictures from our recent TN get-a-way with my family and thought I'd add them to my blog for all to see how beautiful my family is and how precious they are to me.  So here's a few of our memories...

                                                DH and I walking in downtown Gatlinburg

                                                               My mom and step-dad

                                                       My nephew and his girlfriend

                                    My youngest sister and her boyfriend (and baby in the belly)

                                          DH and I before Dixie Stampede Dinner and Show

                                              My oldest sister, mom, youngest sister, and me

                                                     My oldest sister and her husband

There is nothing in this world better then spending time with families making memories.  I love that we got to spend a weekend together!

Updates...

I realize it's been awhile since my last post.  Life has been CRAZY busy with school, organizing/scheduling/planning our schools Junior Beta Convention, house hunting, and everything involved in daily life.  I have taken the time to stop and read the current updates of those bloggers that I follow.  I do this for several reasons.  The main one being encouragement.  When I need that extra pick me up from the whole "waiting" bit of adoption.  When I need a success story of a growing family via adoption.  When I need someone else who is in my shoes struggling to be a mommy.  I can log onto my blog and find all sorts of amazing women who fit my various moods.  For that, I'm grateful.

My sisters, their families, and my parents had started planning a short get-a-way a few months back.  Because my husband and I are both teachers it made sense to build our trip around our school schedule.  MLK day allowed for us to be out of school today so this is the long weekend we scheduled our trip for.  We left on Friday after school and returned home today.  We had so much fun and made so many memories just being together.  My family is amazingly close and we don't let an opportunity pass by that we can enjoy some bonding time.  We scheduled our trip for Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge TN since it's only about 3.5 hours away.  We swam, ate REALLY good, went to Dixie Stampede, shopped, and enjoyed walking the streets of downtown Gatlinburg.  The weather was beautiful!  I wish we had more time to take trips like that.  I will always treasure these times with my family.

DH and I are still waiting on the bank to make a decision on how much we are able to spend on a home.  We have been wanting to purchase a new home since ours is small and we plan on adding several children.  We want a home that will provide space and enough room for us all to gather at the dinner table every night.  We found a home we really like, but again, we are waiting on the bank to let us know where to go from here.

Next Sunday will mark our 100 day anniversary of being on the waiting list with our adoption agency.  I'm floored at how fast time has traveled.  I have moments where time seems to stand still, but I try to stay positive and focus on school and being as active I can with my job and my students.  I'm praying the time continues to go this smooth.  I don't know when God will create THE baby that is meant to be MY child, but I know He's working on greater things.  Through prayers of patience hopefully I will keep my sanity until the time comes.

I hope everyone has had an amazing weekend!  I hope you have all made memories and done acts of kindness.  God bless!