New Years Eve Eve

I won't be around tomorrow as I am working and we are going to a dinner with the extended family. Nothing better than ringing in the New Year with family.

Last year I did a fun post of recaps and resolutions. I thought it only fitting to recap the year, see how we did on last years resolutions, and what resolutions we have for the New Year.

Here are the resolutions for 2010:

Family:
We Always hope for our miracle and we pray daily for one. But we always remember that we have each other and make the most of it. No Miracle yet. Although we started the adoption process.

Home:
We have a few projects lined up for this year:

• Build Storage in the Garage Fail. This is now 4th on the list
• Remodel the guest bathroom Success! Just need the built in closet done.

Our Resolutions as a couple:

• Be better at the organization and clutter Sorta kinda Success. Although it has been better we haven't mastered it yet.
• Note where every penny is spent Fail. While our spending did get a little better, I bet if I went through the bank statements I'd find frivilous spending.
• Weekly Menu Plans This is an epic fail. We did lots of eating out this year.

My Resolutions/Goals:

• Lose another 20lbs this year by making it to the gym 3x/week Total fail. I actually gained the Freshman 15.
• Make a card for everything that requires a card....No store bought cards We did buy a few cards. But did use some hand made cards.
• Try to make all gifts for the year I made quite a few Christmas gifts but others were store bought.
• Do a least one scrapbook page a week Total fail. I think I did no scrapbooking in 2010
• Learn how to sew Nope. That sewing machine I really wanted for Christmas last year and got, yeah still in the box.
• Go back to School Total Success! Started in March 2010

Cart's Goals

• Run 2 Marathons and the MS Mud Run Success! He did the Disney Marathon and the Marine Corp Marathon. He also did the MS Mud Run
• More DIY house projects This year he remodeled the guest bathroom.

Now you are wondering what our exciting goals and resolutions are for the new year. Since you asked I will share.

Family:

We will be parents in 2011, well in our minds we will be. We are hoping that we'll be matched with a BM sooner in 2011 than later.

Home:

• Do the closet for the guest bathroom
• Closet for the babies room
• Put table top above our washing machine as seen here.
• Storage in the garage.
• Price our the Master bath remodel

Our Resolutions as a couple

• Pay off the major cards
• Follow our budget to a T.
• Spend time with each other when the opportunity arises.

My Goals/Resolutions:

• Lose the Freshman 15 plus some. As a side note when I started back to school I was a Junior however I think Freshman 15 sounds better. But totally doesn't look better.
• Actually Scrap this year.
• Learn how to sew this summer while I only have 1 class.
• Continue to make all A's.
• Be a better wife. We can always do better and I need to learn the balancing game of school, work, husband.

Cart's Goals:

I don't know his goals so I will post those later.

I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year!

Christmas and New Years

Christmas for us was good. Thursday before Christmas we had my dad, brother and his wife over for dinner. It was nice to catch up with my dad face to face. Christmas Eve both Carter and I had to work, he worked during the day and I worked the night shift. Which meant we didn't get to do anything with family on the Eve. We were able to make it to Midnight Mass at my in-laws church. Christmas morning we went over to the in-laws for Brunch, gifts, then we went to see Lit.tle Foc.kers. Afterwards we made dinner and enjoyed each other's company.

Gift wise we had a good Christmas. But the gifts aren't what matters to us. We got to spend time with our families and see our godsons. So it was a great Christmas. There was a gift of note that came from my mom, she bought us our first receiving blanket and bottles. With the hope that we would be matched sooner than later. :)

What's in store for the New Year?

Well I think 2011 is going to be the best year ever (except for the year we got married :) ) First will be our 5th wedding anniversary. Then I'll be turning 30 in June. I will graduate college in December. And the best thing to happen in 2011 is that We will become parents! It will be a busy great year and we can't wait. I've been so excited for 2011 that when I card patrons at the bar if their ID says it expires in any month in 2011 I say "I'm sorry your ID is expired I can't serve you." Of course I realize my mistake and serve them but it makes for some crazy looks.

Here is to 2011! Hope you all have a great New Year!

Thanks ~ Merry Christmas

Thanks for the support about our agency issues. I would love to switch agencies but this is the only agency that got back with us so quickly when we first approached us. They were the only agency who would give us information up front without a fee for consultation. That is the reason we chose them. Go figure that they are doing the opposite now.

I did send an email yesterday requesting that they set up our fee meeting for the week immediately following the New Year. I mentioned in the email that I return to school on the 10th and my schedule becomes very hectic and hard to match up with Cart's so it would be best to schedule that meeting at that time. I am praying that she responds next week.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. Have a blessed day and enjoy all the time with family and friends.

2011 is going to be a great year...find out why real soon!

What is the Agency's Role?

Since having communication issues with our agency I've been asking myself What is the Agency's Role in our adoption? The agency asked us this question before our adoption class. I wish I had saved my answers.

But in thinking of this question, I feel they are there for us to answer any questions we have, to get us ready to adopt, and to facilitate the adoption. I think because we are paying them a boat load of money for the adoption that they should return phone calls and emails in a timely manner. I think they should stick to our timeline as close as possible.

We were suppose to have our fee meeting before Thanksgiving. We still haven't had this fee meeting and it isn't suppose to happen until after the New Year. We were suppose to have our individual interviews before the Christmas Holiday and now it won't happen probably until January sometime. We were suppose to be a waiting family by the end of January but now I'm thinking the end of February.

I know adoptions don't go smoothly so don't think I have this misconception about adoption. I just want our agency whom we are paying to do some things when they say they are going to do them. Or at least return phone calls when I have questions.

So what do you feel is the Agency's Role in adoption?

Eye Yuck

But first an update. I sent an email to our SW yesterday about Carts work reference letter and the hoops we need to jump through. She basically said hopefully things slow down after the holidays and they can get us in for the fee meeting. So we wait until after the 1st of the year.

Eye Yuck! Glasses Yuck! Well I woke up this morning with what looked like pink eye and severe pain in my eye. Called work and they said I couldn't work just in case it was pink eye. I went to the eye doctor and turns out I have Keratitis of the eye. Basically inflammation of the eye. Yucky stuff. Crappy part it is the same eye I had an eye ulcer in right before Thanksgiving. I have the unfortunate pleasure of wearing my glasses for at least a week. I'm just hoping I can wear my contacts before my trip to Chicago after the New Year.

I just linked my phone to blogger so I thought I would test it out. Can you see this message?

Talked to the SW

Finally I talked to our SW today. It only took 4 or 5 messages. In regards to my dads letter, she said if he does one great if not she won't hold it against us. Basically my mom did one. My parents are divorced and have been since I was 3 so she has at least one parent of mine. She did say that she would call and update us next week sometime.

My hope is that we can get on the calendar for the following week for our meeting with the Director and then get my one-on-one interview scheduled for the following week while I'm still out of school. Once I start back to school my schedule gets very hectic so I'm really hoping and praying we get some if not all of the meetings done before I go back to school.

Talk with the Agency

We talked with the agency yesterday. It wasn't "the" person we needed to speak with but she was able to accomplish some of the stuff I was requesting.

First, my father hasn't completed his letter yet. Yes you read that right my father the soon to be grandfather hasn't done his reference letter yet. He actually lost it. So the receptionist/secretary/the only one to return calls is going to email it to him. This is the one letter holding up our progressing forward.

Second, we have been concerned about the letter from Cart's work. His boss wrote the letter, however had to send it to HR for approval. His company's policy for things like this is that they are only allowed to say when the person was hired. So if HR doesn't approve the letter then his boss will simply write a letter stating what the company policy is and then give his date of hire.

She then left yet another message for our SW to call us about setting up the next appointment. And there still has been no call back. This is rather frustrating.

I have learned a new word...Patience. So I'm being patient and doing other things with my 3weeks of free time!

Christmas

This Christmas is a little different than others. First, we are not decorating this year. :( It's sad I know. We have put up our Christmas Kinkades but other than that nothing else. I've just been too busy with school to help get anything Christmas out of the attic. Also we are hoping to have our home visit in January and with school starting it would be a lot of stress to try to get Christmas put away and clean my house. Next year will be extra special though. :)

This Christmas we are truly blessed that Cart works for an amazing company! Not only do we have the adoption reimbursement he gets a bonus every December. We are totally blessed he has a great job.

I've been trying to reach our agency to set up our next appointment and talk about reference letters and I can't seem to get a call back. So I'm a little worried and losing patience that they won't call me back. I've left two messages on two different days with no return call. It is quite frustrating.

If I don't update before Christmas I hope everyone of you have a very Blessed Christmas!

Bullet Updates

• First the adoption. It is moving along. We attended our adoption class before Thanksgiving. Our family and friends are completing their letters and sending them in. We are waiting to get a phone call to set up our meeting with the director of our agency to go over the "financial" contracts.
• Thanksgiving was a quiet one. We went over to Cart's parents and had a very yummy dinner and On Saturday we had Thanksgiving at my moms.
• My current semester is almost over. I will be finished on December 15th when I turn in my final assignment. I can't wait! I will then have my first break since I started last May. I'll have 3 weeks off.
• Cart is steadily working on the projects around the house. The bathroom is done. He is working on building the shelving for the linen closet. Then he will be building a "table top" to go over our washing machine and dryer to have more "work space" in there. Then he is going to build shelving for the babies closet.
• Other than all that it is quiet here in the sunny south.

Adoption Fundraising

Are you still trying to raise money for your adoption? or maybe trying to pay back money for your adoption? I have an opportunity for you to raise more money.

Host a lia sophia jewelry Catalog show!

How does it work?

Step 1: I send you several lia sophia catalogs for you to take to work, have family members take to work etc.

Step 2: You post the party on your blog, on facebook, and via email.

Step 3: Have your friends, family, and readers order jewelry.

Step 4: Jewelry is delivered to me and I sort it and mail it to you for locals and mail it to your readers.

Step 5: You get 10% of the sales towards your adoption. But it doesn't stop there. If your friends, family, or readers host a catalog show, you will get 5% of their show sales towards your adoption. And if one of their friends hosts a catalog show you will get 5% of their show sales towards your adoption.

With Christmas coming up this is a great way for your family and friends to shop for gifts for the ladies without stepping into the mall.

Would you like more information or have questions email me or visit my website at www.liasophia.com/kchapman

Adoptive Parents

Yesterday was our adoption class with our agency. We learned a lot. The brought in Adoptive Parents to speak to us about their journey. Their daughter was only 7weeks old. This particular couple was amazing. The father was hilarious and their daughter was so cute. They talked to us about their most difficult moments and the amazing moments. When they received the call the wife was the first to find out. She was writing down notes and said she apparently was missing details. They were told the weight of the baby was 6lbs 10oz. All she heard was the 10 and told everyone they talked to that the baby was 10lbs. I found out that they didn't set up a nursery. They said when they got the call people came out of the woodwork giving them stuff. I'm still processing that part. We are actually going to buy our crib today. I want to have parts of the nursery set up because that is something I can control in an uncontrollable process. Honestly for the nursery all we have to buy is the crib. I have a dresser in the attic that just needs to be stripped and stained. It was my dresser at my moms house. I also have a little table that my brother and I used when we were toddlers. So we'll just need to buy a mattress and the bedding and then we'll paint the room. (that is a little bit away, the room is still a storage/office room).

The agency also had a birthmother come in. Her story was an interesting story but to me didn't seem typical. I know that in adoption their isn't a typical birthmother or father but hers was very unique. I don't think I could have ever done what she did. And she continues to come speak to groups at the agency. She is an amazing woman.

We also talked about how to raise an adopted child. When to tell your child they are adopted. Our social worker said that we should start early and don't make it an event. She remembers asking an adoptee one day when he found out he was adopted and he couldn't remember, because it was always talked about with him. Cart gained the most out of this segment of the class.

I did ask the name question too. They said that BM and BF only receive our first names. They suggested that on FB I change my name to my nickname and that Cart changes his to his legal first name. They also said that in this day in age you can google anyones name and find out at least where they live, phone numbers and sometimes email. I randomly google my name every so often and not much comes up. I think we'll be safe with just changing our names on FB.

I also found out that our agency has a website for the FL couples waiting with our agency. I skimmed through the couples last night and noticed a lot of couples had links to photos or websites. I was thinking about creating a new blog for this particular purpose. I don't think it would be appropriate to let the BM see this blog so early on. So creating a blog under my business account, in which I can have pictures and our letter to the BM will be good.

Adoption Updates

We've done a few things recently toward the adoption. When we returned from DC we had our physicals at the doctors office. We went on the same day and got it over with. Two weeks prior to this we went and had blood drawn for HIV testing and blood counts.

Our doctor was quite humorous about some of the questions on this form. One question was Expected Life expectancy. He looked me up and down and said "eh 94. What do they want me to say" So he wrote normal. Everything on there he wrote normal with spoken side humor.

The day we returned from vacation we had an envelope from the agency. It was an invitation to a mandatory adoption class along with two more questionnaires. We each filled out our respective questionnaires and mailed those back with our questions answered.

I spoke with our social worker yesterday and found out that our references will be receiving their letters soon. Once they have a few of those returned then they will schedule our first meeting with the director of the program.

Also before we went on vacation I printed all 156 pictures we are using in our book. I'm sure I won't use all of them but most of them.

For now the next step is the adoption class on November 20th.

Picture Post

As promised because I know I'm horrible at follow through. Here are a few of our pictures from the Marine Corp Marathon.

This was Friday before the marathon as we headed to the Air Mueseum.
Don't mind my expression. I took a self portrait in front of the Washington Monument. It's still a cool pic despite me not smiling. :) This was during the Marathon.
Look at all those people. There were a total of 35,000 runners and it took them all 30minutes to cross the start line.
There is Cart running past me on the National Mall. He had just passed the Smithsonian Metro Station. Green Shirt, white hat.



There is Cart running to the finish line. He finished in 5hrs 19min and 38sec.

Marine Marathon Weekend

Cart and I have been in DC since Wednesday. We arrived early that morning and had to Metrobus/rail to the hotel...which took 2hours to accomplish.

That afternoon we went to the Smithsonian American History Museum. The best thing we saw here was the very first flag. It was huge and so delicate that it is layed flat and you can't take pictures. I would have loved to get a picture but security was standing very close. (yes I'm one of those who would sneak a pic if I could.)

On Thursday we rented a car and went to the Baltimore Aquarium. The driving there and back was interesting and I'm just glad we didn't wreck in the multiple times that we were close to. The aquarium was very neat but I'm still partial to the Tennessee aquarium. Although this one had the Dolphin show. Here are a few pics from the aquarium:

Cart and I in the Aquarium.

Cart and I outside the aquarium right after lunch

One of the dolphins. This was too cute.

The three flippered Turtle. He was huge!

On Friday we went to the Marathon Expo and to the Air and Space Museum and then out to dinner with a friend from high school. My friend A and I hadn't seen each other in 11 years. It was really nice to catch up and I really wish I had gotten some pictures of the event. :(

Saturday was a day to relax since Cart was running the next day. So we found a sports bar and went to watch the Gator game. We ended up leaving at half time because we needed to rest.

Today, Sunday we were up at 4am to get ready to leave for the Marathon. I took a lot of picture which I will have to do a seperate picture post. Cart had a great run and finished in 5 hours 19min and 38secs. I hoofed it all around DC to watch him pass and try to get some good shots of him. I think it is time to invest in a nicer camera if he plans to do more marathons. I'd love to get my own great shots of him so we don't have to spend a small fortune to get the professional ones.

Look for the picture post in a few days.

Just Life

I figured it was time to post more life stuff. We've been busy. Really I have mostly :)

We haven't heard anything since we sent off our adoption application. I really should email her to touch base and see when she'll send the reference people their letters. We have actually drafted our first birthfamily letter. It is totally a first draft and needs some work. We have chosen pictures for our profile book. Is 156 pictures overwhelming?

I've been busy doing my pre-internship. I go twice a week and help/work with students in our friend Mrs. H's classroom. I'm really enjoying this and am becoming very comfortable. This experience has shown me 1. patience 2. kids say the funniest things 3. kids do the craziest things 4. kids truly do learn on totally different levels. 5. I really want to be a teacher.

I just finished another class. I'm waiting for my grades to be posted for it but I'm pretty sure I got an A. If I didn't get an A then my paper was horrible. On a side note, I'll be ready for school to be done so I don't have to write any more APA papers. Yuck!

Our Harley dog just recently had surgery. Poor guy had a cyst on his neck. It had been there for several months and would pop etc. I know really gross. At first we thought it was a zit or ingrown hair but it got worse. So the vet said he needed to surgically remove it. We saved up for it and had it removed. By the time it was removed it had flattened out and they had to cut a 3 inch incision to get all of it out. During this surgery they also cleaned his teeth, flushed his ears (apparently he has a very bad yeast problem with his ears), cut his nails and did all his vaccines. We are horrible parents and torchered him for a whole day. He is doing better now and back to his hyper self.

We are getting ready to head on vacation to DC. Originally we were going to drive but I found super cheap tickets, so we are now flying into Baltimore and then Metro-ing it to our hotel. Cart isn't ready for the race. He keeps saying though that he isn't doing it for the time, he is doing it for the experience.

In bathroom news, it still isn't finished. It is a functioning bathroom for the toilet and sink. But no one can shower in there because he still hasn't put up the curtain rods and the closet shelves haven't been installed. But that is all minor things. I'll eventually get to a final reveal post (maybe by Christmas).

We did clean out the nursery closet last weekend. It wasn't too hard and we'll have a lot of things for the garage sale in November. We still need to paint and rearrange our bedroom, so we can move the desk and filing cabinet in there. Then it should be ready to paint and start getting furniture in there. That is the part I'm excited about. :)

Name issues in adoption

I have been working on our birthmom letter. In writing this letter I have thought about my name and whether or not we should use my real name.

I may or may not have mentioned this before but I have a very unique first name. I may have even told you my real name. If you put my name into face.book there are only 143 people with my name. So if you know my first name and the area I live in then you can find me and our full name.

We would like an open-adoption experience with the birthparents. But we don't want them to know where we live. I'm concerned that using my first name they would be able to find me and thus find our address.

So I'm wondering how your open adoption works? Do your childs birthparents know your first and last name? How do you protect that information? Do your childs birthparents know where you live?

I do know that I need to check the privacy on my face.book account.

And if you are now curious about what my first name really is email me and I'll tell you. Breen is a nickname that I got in high school from a friend. People still call me Breen to this day.

Paperwork...

out the wazzoo!

We received a bunch of paperwork at our last appointment and we have been busy filling it out while doing our other daily tasks.

We have filled out the application, gotten paperwork notarized, gotten fingerprints done. Tomorrrow I'm going to get the check for our application fee and typing up our questions and hopefully getting everything in the mail on Saturday.

Next step is all our references getting letters and sending their letters in. We'll have an appointment sometime before Turkey day to meet with the Director of the program and at that meeting we'll be making all our interview appts.

This process is starting to feel more real.

Meeting with Social Worker

Last night we had our first one on one meeting with our social worker. She is amazing. She makes us feel so comfortable and we can ask her anything and she'll answer. One of the amazing things we found out last night that in regards to the birthmother changing her mind. She said that the birthmother has to sign relinquishment papers before she leaves the hospital or 48hrs after the birth of the baby. The reading of the papers is a long process but they do a lot of repeating so the birthmom at anytime can stop ask questions etc. Once she signs the papers and we take the baby home we have post-placement visits for 90days and then finalization takes place usually 1-2 months afterwards.

Last nights meeting was to go over any questions we have and all the paperwork that we need to fill out. Our next step is to fill out the application and send that in with our fee. Then we have a questionairre to fill out, fingerprints to be done, background checks to be done. All that fun stuff. Once they have gotten back our fingerprints and background checks along with several reference letters then we have a meeting with the program director to go over financials. After that meeting we schedule all our appts with the social worker. We'll make 3 appts: 1) for me to meet with her for an "interview" 2)for Cart to meet with her for an "interview" and 3) for her to come to our house for the final visit. After that we are considered a waiting family.

As of now we are hoping to be a waiting family by the end of January.

Besides filling out paperwork over the next 3 months, we'll slowly get the nursery ready (the room currently is our catchall room) so some serious organizing needs to be done. I'll also begin organizing all our pictures so I can make our profile book. On top of all that I'll be working to finish this semester and take a much needed break over the Christmas Holidays!

Hopefully from here on out I will post more now that we are in the midst of getting the house ready and at the beginning of the adoption journey.

Patience

....is a virtue. I am learning patience very well. For the last several weeks I've been working in a friends 1st grade classroom. I've only been doing about 8hrs a week.

I've been starting to learn patience.

But the best thing I've learned is kids say the darnest things.

For example "Come on already" and "Give me a break". Where oh where do they learn stuff like that.

I've been having fun and learning alot. I've been working with one little man on a one on one and he impresses me and tests the patience. I'll definitely be learning from him this semester.

In other news the bathroom is almost complete...that has tried my patience.

And only one week until our first interview with our social worker more patience being taught but in waiting. :)

1st Adoption Interview

We have scheduled our first Adoption Interview with the agency for October 5th.. They call this the Official Application Interview. I'm pretty sure at this meeting we hand over our first check of $400 to them. I think this is the same meeting in which we get the book of paperwork we need to fill out.

I'm a little nervous but I know we will do fine.

In other news...the bathroom remodel is going good. We are almost to completion. I can't wait until it is done.

School is busy...I'm completing 8hours a week in the classroom which is going very well. I love it. This is the hardest semester yet but so much more informative than the last several classes I took.

Adoption and Race

When we went to our initial orientation meeting with the agency and filled out the first form for "race" we put undecided. We had talked about this topic before but hadn't come to a complete agreement on what we were both comfortable with. We've been going back and forth on the topic and still haven't decided.

The other day while I was doing field experience at a school I was told that one of the African-American girls in the class was adopted by a white couple. Later I was told that this particular little girl came up to her teacher and said "I wish I was white."

This really made me think about the challenges we would face if we adopted an AA child. What if our child made the above comment to her teacher. What would her teacher say to her? What would I say as a teacher if a child came up to me and said that.

It is a lot to consider and make a decision that is best for our family and the best interest of any child we plan to adopt.

Congrats Mrs. Frig

I just want to take a moment to say Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Frig on the arrival of their son. Mrs. Frig made the trip to Korea to pick up their son and will be heading home in a few days.

Feel free to take a moment to say a few words to them. I'm sure she'll be sharing her "gotcha day" stories when she returns. Here is her blog.

Congrats Mrs. Frig! Big Hugs and I can't wait to follow behind you :)

We WON!

Remember this post where I asked if you would vote for us?

Well We Won! I thought we hadn't won because the rules said we'd find out within 3 days of judging. It's been over a week so I wasn't thinking about it.

So today after my nap I headed to work. As soon as I clocked in someone handed me the phone. It was Cart. He only calls me at work if it is really important (I thought something major happened either with the bathroom remodel or Harley). Then he tells me we got a call about this contest but they wouldn't speak to him since I entered us in the contest. I took the number down and immediately called back.

The first thing this guy said was Congradulations! Then asked me if I was a resident of FL and over the age of 18. Both a definite yes and he said Congrats again and then told me he was emailing me some docs that I had to have notarized and fax back. I'll be taking care of that tomorrow.

This $5000 couldn't come at a more perfect time. We'll be using the money for the adoption expenses. Since Cart's work reimburses up to $10000 we'll be able to roll this money twice. I'm so excited!

Adoption Meeting

Our Adoption Orientation went very well tonight. One of the reasons we weren't very sure of domestic infant adoption was because of the risk. This agency put our fears at ease with how they handle adoptions. If they know a birthmom's(BM) intentions aren't sincere then they turn her down for adoption services. There will still be times when after birth the BM changes her mind and in those situations it can't be helped.

We covered all the expenses and the "major" expenses are split into lump sums at match, placement and before finalization. Which is good. They also monitor very closely the BM's expenses. If she says she needs her electric bill paid they write a check to the electric company not the BM. Also they try to use all the community resources available to the BM before using the escrow money.

They only handle at most 15 families. They don't have a time frame either...they said it could be as soon as a few days or 3 years. It all depends on the BM's they counsel and our "criteria".

The next step is the application meeting. We filled out a preliminary info sheet tonight. In a couple weeks the social worker (SW) will call us to set up this meeting. After that meeting we start the homestudy process. We'll then complete two seperate individual meetings with the SW and one home visit. After our homestudy is approved we will be a profile waiting family. They say it will take about 3 months to get through the homestudy. But we are looking at several weeks before we start the homestudy.

Updates

I haven't posted a lot lately. We've been really busy and it just seems to boring to post about. So I thought I'd update on use in a lovely bullet format.

• Adoption Orientation tonight. YAY! So excited about it
• Summer Semester Ended just as Fall Semester started. 3A's and 1B for summer term.
• Fall term is going to be a busy one with just two classes at a time but 3 classes total for the summer. I will be spending a minimum of 8hours a week in a classroom. So excited about that! And the coolest part is I get to go to a family friends classroom.
• We almost bought a crib. Yup no adoption contract in place and we thought we'd buy a crib. Tar.get had a crib on sale with changing table free. So we headed in to buy it and were told it was recalled. After research found out the associate was misinformed. With a phone call to the store manager the next day I was offered an apology and a raincheck (despite the ads strict statement of no rainchecks). The crazy part is the raincheck is good until January 5th!
• The bathroom project is still underway. With having to peel paint off the wall we've had to remud the walls. That is almost done and hopefully we'll be painting by the weekend. Which means tile can then begin and we'll be able to get it back together.
• The most important piece is our need for vacation which will happen in October when we head to DC for the Marine Corp Marathon. Cart is running in it and while the training hasn't been going very good he's still doing it. We leave on a Tuesday and come home either Monday or Tuesday. So excited and ready for Vacation!

Adoption Orientation

is September 7th!

We are pretty sure we know that we are going to use CHS for our adoption. They are the only agency that gave us the initial information that we were looking for. We were suppose to get the information on this orientation last week sometime but some how got shuffeled between desks and mistakenly left off the list.

But that is corrected now and we'll find out all about adopting with this agency next week!

Our first step to get the process started!

GE and Best Buy= FAIL

Oh my what a day. First I'll start off by saying that we had to buy a new washer and dryer.

Why?

Well our washing machine flooded our kitchen AGAIN! Harley loves the swimming pool in his domain. However, Cart and I do not.

How old was this machine, you ask? Just 5yrs old. Yup that's right our 5 yr old machine flooded our kitchen for the 4th time today. The first time was in November of 2007 and they fixed something on the machine. Then in May 2008 it did it again. They replace 2 parts...the 1st part didn't fix the machine then they replaced the entire tub. And it was fixed.

But didn't you have a warranty? Yup a 5yr warranty. That we are 3 months past the expiration. So our fabulous machine doesn't qualify as a Lemon because it is past the warranty.

So I called an appliance repair man because I knew we were out of warranty and he suggested that since it most likely the tub again that we just buy a new machine but before we do that we contact GE to see about a replacement due to lemon.

I call GE and they tell me that if the tub was replaced in 2008 that it would still fall under a 5 yr parts warranty. But we have to prove that the tub was replaced. Next phone call was to best buy but guess what...their paper work just says that a part was replaced. It doesn't say what freakin part. GE doesn't want to help us in anyway except for us to pay $80 to have a technician come out to the house and tell us what is wrong and tell us how much to fix it. But here is the kicker...if the tub was under warranty we'd still have to pay the $80 and Labor! Ummm No.

We decided it would be best to just buy a new machine. We headed to hh gregg and they gave a great deal on a Samsung front loading machine and paired with a new dryer. We figured that it would just be wiser to buy a new dryer now because it would be cheaper as a set than replacing the dryer seperately. Craigslist will be listing both old machines for us. We'll sell the washing machine as is and the dryer for a higher price.

The good news in all this...Our swimming pool never reached our wood floors. Thank Goodness!

Bronchitis

Doesn't that sound exciting?

It's totally exciting! Last Friday on my drive home from campus I felt my sinuses start to drain down the back of my throat. My first thought, Yay me a sinus infection. I head to the store and buy some Mucinex and some Halls. And thought lets do what the PA at the docs office always tells me to do...Mucinex, "homemade" Chicken Noodle Soup (because when you are sick you really want to make soup), and curl up on the couch. On a side note I didn't make soup but I did have Cart get me Panera chicken soup. I did this routine on Monday and Tuesday. But to no avail I ended up at the doctors office bright and early Wednesday morning. I met with the new PA in the office and he was great. Spent more time with me than the other PA ever did.

And it turned out I ended up with Bronchitis! So now I'm on all kinds of meds and did you know that asthma makes it worse. Oh yeah I've had to leave work early the last two days.

So to my dear body please take a hint and recover with all this resting I'm doing. I need to get back at it.

Please Vote

Cart and I are members of Compass bank. They are holding a contest through Oct 16 called Help Build my Savings! Part of the judging is based on Votes. Could you please click the link and then click view gallery. Our entry is "Adoption Savings". When you click on our picture you'll have the option to vote.

We have the chance to win $5000 to go towards our adoption fund!

Here's the link: http://apps.facebook.com/bbvacompasscontest/

Thanks!

Bathroom Pic Post

The Before Pictures

The Room after Demo

Bathroom Remodel

Yesterday we started the remodel of the spare bathroom aka future kids bathroom. Step one was demolision. We carefully removed the vanity, mirror, toilet etc. It was a rather fast process and day 1 only required 2 trips to home depot. Well today will be trip 3 to take back a scraper that was broken.

We were just about done with the demo minus scrapping off the glue from under the lenolium when I realized that there were areas that the paint was coming off the walls. So I pulled and HUGE sheets came off the walls. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to peel it off. But then I thought about one day having a toddler running around our house and the thought of he/she peeling paint and eating it...So we proceeded to take it all off. They say when you remodel that there are always issues that arise. And the paint would be issue one. Our house is 14 years old and when they put the paint on the wall in there for some reason they didn't properly prep the walls. That will be our job next weekend. Just got to figure out how to do it. LOL.

The next post will be a few pictures of the progress. I'm hoping this remodel doesn't take forever.

Adoption Cost

I'm constantly going over our budget to see what we can cut out or reduce so that we can save the adoption money faster. I know we don't need to save the entire amount thanks the the adoption benefit through Cart's work. But when that money runs out we have to have the rest saved up.

The other day I talked with the Director of the program at CHS. I was able to get some more answers to our questions like
How much does it cost with CHS
Will we be able to use the references we used for the first homestudy.

We still have to go to the orientation on the 7th and we'll get an "overload" of information as she put it. But she did tell me the cost was $15,100. To me that is a little more reasonable than some of the other agencies fees. The good news is that amount isn't all due at once. It happens in stages with the bulk due at placement and before finalization takes place. So that is the good news. We can start sooner than later. But right now we are hoping to start the homestudy at the end of the year/ in January.

The other news is that while we can't use the reference letters that were sent in with our last homestudy we can use the same references. We want to change some of the references but not all.

Now I do have a question for you who have domestic infant adoption. When did you start to set up your nursery? Cart and I were talking about getting it set up when we start the homestudy. I'm scared that we would get the call and not have anything for the baby. But I'm also scared if we set up the nursery it will jinx us. Are these normal fears? So what did you do?

One Car...

Can we manage?

Last April we traded in both our cars and bought one car. We basically cut out one whole car payment and cut our insurance in half. So it was a great money saver. We did this because Cart had a company vehicle that he was able to use for work only. And we have managed with one car.

Since Cart will be moving into the service center for 30days he will lose the company vehicle. So we'll be a one car family. The good thing is that I only work 2miles from the house. So I am able to ride my bike to work or even walk to work if needed. Cart will be borrowing one of his parents car if needed so it will ease some of the pressure.

But if Cart moves permanently inside then we'll be with one car for a while. We have worked out a system that we hope will work for us and avoid another car payment and increase in insurance.

3 days a week I'll ride my bike or walk to work and 2 days I'll drive him to work. Those two days I'll be doing my field experience in the classroom and then have class at night. So when I pick him up from work he'll go with me to school and we'll go home together.

One of the main reasons we decided to not buy another car is because of the adoption. With trying to save we thought another car payment would put stress on the budget.

Job Woes

Cart has been with his current job for 5 years. He's held a couple different posititions and all his bosses love him. His current immediate boss is no exception. He's a little spacey but likes Cart. It's the big boss that seems to be nit picking Cart's work. This takes his "rating" down and he has been under review for what seems like the last 6 months. Things were going good until this boss picked all of Cart's file with no room for movement and changed things that Cart couldn't change himself because the computer does the computation.

So he's being transferred inside for 30 days instead of being in the field. It's frustrating because Cart doesn't like to be inside he'd rather be in the field. But he knows all the people he'd be working with and likes them so no real biggy.

I've suggested that Cart might want to change positions in the company to get out from under this particular boss. I've also suggested to maybe look outside the company for a new job. Please pray that things work out the way that they should. Whether a new position, a new job, a new city whichever just pray that God directs us in the direction we should be going in regards to Cart's job.

Adoption Orientation

We talked to the third agency today. The lady I spoke with was very nice and very imformative. She talked to me about the three types of infant placements they do. And the first steps in the process. The first step we need to do is go to an orientation. The next one they are doing is September 7th and we are signed up for that. If we fill out the preliminary form with our intent then 6 weeks from then we sit down at the agency and go over the whole adoption packet. After that meeting it would be a couple more weeks and we would start the homestudy process.

She wasn't able to give me pricing but this is the agency that was doing our homestudy originally. Back then they told me it was going to be about 15-20,000. So I couldn't see that it has changed much from that pricing.

We will see everything about this agency in 4 weeks.

My First Angel

Throughout my blogging I have mentioned our IVF loss and the loss of our two embabies and actually talked about those losses. I was recently reminded about my first loss and wanted to share as it has a place in the journey of Cart and I.

In 2002, I got married. I was young and my ex was also young. A month after we got married I found out I was pregnant. He was a marine and I was seen by a wonderful doctor at the naval hospital. (I know not many people can say that about military hospitals). Something wasn't quite right with the pregnancy. They sent me in for repeated betas, and I had multiple ultrasounds. There was one night, in February 2003, that I had to go to the emergency room. My ex I think was on duty and so my close friend Eri took me. My ex arrived a little later and we actually saw the heartbeat that night on ultrasound. They gave me a large picture of our little bean. Since everything was okay my ex went back to base and I was to follow up with my doctor the next day. That is a day I'll never forget.

I went in and he did yet another u/s. He had the monitor facing him and wouldn't let me see. Then he excused himself from the room to go get the senior doc. He came in and did another u/s and then they asked me to get dressed and they both left the room. Then they came in with another lady and told me the reason that they had the senior doctor check was for double verification. Our baby had died, there was no heartbeat. I was devastated. We had names picked out and I always thought that the baby was a girl which her name would have been Brianna Nicole. My ex was at the gun range and after a call to his cell they sent him home. That was a hard time for me. My first pregnancy, I didn't know a lot (like what I know now) about my body so I didn't know what to expect. I did start bleeding and the doctor told me to collect any clots for the lab so they could find out why I lost the baby. I was 12wks when the baby died. It was very hard on me. This is my first angel baby and I found her picture they gave me that night in the ER. I thought it was lost in the multiple moves. Finding that picture sparked my memories of her and that time.

A few months later my ex and I went through some hard times and seperated. We finalized the divorce later that year. I always felt that God knew what he was doing. i wasn't suppose to be married to my ex and it was a blessing in disguise for both of us. That is what I used to think.

Fast forward to May 2004, I met Cart on Match.com. We fell in love and were basically living together a month after we met. Shortly after we got married in March 2006 I went in for my annual exam and the doctor asked me about TTC. I said that we were starting but we had not been preventing for the last two years. he asked and you haven't had an "oops". I said no. Normally at this point I would have been sent for testing. But since I had been pregnant before the sent Cart first. And we all know the outcome for those tests. I think if I had not been pregnant before I would have endured all the tests before Cart. So my baby girl was here for a very specific reason.

Then after the loss of our IVF baby they were able to do a recurrent loss panel because I had a previous loss. If this had been our first loss they wouldn't have done the testing and we wouldn't know that I have a clotting issue that requires me to take daily baby aspirin when pregnant and possibly lovenox or heparin injections depending on certain blood test results in early pregnancy. Once again God knew what he was doing.

My baby girl came into my life for specific reasons that I didn't know at the time but have finally made sense. Brianna would be 7 this month had I carried to term.

People who have never experienced infertility would never understand that angel babies carry a special place in our hearts. They are our children no matter when they went to heaven. And one day I will get to meet them.