Thursday, January 31, 2008
Thursday Mail Update
I'm beginning to think it might have been more restful to go to work today! Camden is feeling quite rambunctious after being cooped up in the house for several days. He is alternating between being a soldier, baseball player, police officer (complete with handcuffs and a walkie talkie), singing with his American Idol microphone (thanks again, mom), and being a firefighter. And he's walking around with a long beaded necklace on that I have no idea where it came from. It's pretty noisy around our house today.
Rough Morning
The good news is that Camden and Brian are feeling much better. Camden keeps saying, "I'm so sorry me and daddy made you sick." Camden told me that I better leave quick before my work called off school.
I remember reaching a certain point while we waited for Camden to come home where I just started to doubt it was ever really going to happen. The wait becomes so long and after a certain point, the ache just grows and grows and your child is never far from your thoughts. I am definitely at that point. I am struggling to stay positive and to not spend all my time in tears. At this point, nothing helps. Well, I take that back. If we could ever get the I600 in our hands, it would help momentarily.
I baked a chocolate chip pecan pie yesterday - my first ever. Camden kept saying, "mommy, this pie smells wonderfully." It was pretty good if I do say so myself. Definitely a comfort food.
I did scrap two pages yesterday, although even scrapping doesn't feel fun or therapeutic these days.


Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Wednesday

Tuesday, January 29, 2008
My new Tuesday routine
There's not much else going on here. I did not scrap last night so there are no pictures or pages to share. At least by being home, I can check the mail early for our I600. I really thought that it would arrive yesterday, but no such luck!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Another Monday
Brian is still not feeling well at all. He has an awful cold. He even stayed home from church last night, and I'm pretty sure that's the first time he's ever "called in sick" for that! Camden threw a HORRIFIC two-hour (yes, seriously two hours) temper tantrum last night. Thank goodness he has outgrown that stage for the most part, because it was horrible. He can be so stubborn, but one of these days he'll learn that Mommy and Daddy are just as stubborn as he is and will always win.
This week is a pretty normal week for us. Brian has a faculty meeting after school today, but other than that, we're home every night, which will be nice.
I debated about putting this layout on my blog because of the picture, but decided it was too funny not to. We sent Camden in to get ready for his bath one evening, and when I came back to help him run water, I found him sitting on the toilet looking at a magazine. It was so funny, and I immediately ran for my camera. When I took this picture, he was so engrossed in the magazine that he didn't even realize that Brian and I were watching him.

Sunday, January 27, 2008
16 months

Saturday, January 26, 2008
Baby Andrew



Thursday, January 24, 2008
Posting early
Anyway, didn't really mean to ramble on about that! But that's where I'll be tomorrow. So say a prayer for Kathy and Jamie and baby Andrew tomorrow morning.
No I600 in the mail today, but I'm not worried. Two other Tennessee families using the same agencies received theirs this week and their approval came a day or two ahead of ours so I'm sure ours will follow in another day or two.I'm not sure if the quote of 3-4 weeks until travel starts when the I600 was approved (Jan. 23) or when it actually arrives in the mail. Who knows!
Today was Lunch Bunch day. We were reduced to 3 members this month. Jeff is on a cruise; Rachel just had a baby; Kathy is having a baby tomorrow, and Russell was sick so that left me, Jackie, and Tina. We ate at Red Robin, and it was amazing! I had a guacamole bacon burger with garlic parmesan steak fries. We also made plans to have a girl's night out in a couple of weeks before Rory arrives. I am sooooo going to miss being with my friends on a daily basis!
I've been scrapping like crazy trying to catch up on ALL my photos so that I'll be current when Miss Rory arrives. I'm pretty sure that I will not have nearly the time to scrap, and I don't want to fall behind. This picture is of Brian reading to William, Xavier, and Camden. They sat on his lap while he read book after book. Camden doesn't look too excited to be sharing his daddy, does he.

Almost there
Camden's behavior has been really off all week. For instance last night he got home from school about 4:00, threw a big hissy fit over something little, then fell asleep on the couch. We tried and tried to wake him up several times for supper, and finally succeeded about 6:30. He continued to throw fits until church time (was still crying when we walked over to church), but then perked up after he went to class with Gram. He did wake up in a happy (but very hyper) mood this morning.
I had a very busy day at work yesterday and expect to be busy again today. It actually helps keep my mind off the adoption and everything I still need to do before we travel to Korea so I'm glad for the extra work.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008
No news
Our I600 did not come in the mail yesterday. I pretty much met the mailman at the mailbox to check! It actually made things a little easier to know by 9:00 that it wasn't there for the day instead of sitting at work all day wondering if it's sitting there in the mailbox. Here's hoping for today!
Steven Curtis Chapman's organization Shaohannah's Hope emailed us over the weekend asking us if we would be willing to volunteer at one of his concerts on March 14. That would be so amazing, but we don't know when Rory will be home, and even if she is home by then, I'm just not sure that a concert would be the best place to take her in the first few weeks! I told them that I hoped they would keep us on the list and ask again, though.


Tuesday, January 22, 2008
A Bad Morning
I've decided to look at today as reason number 647 it's better to be a stay-at-home mom: you don't have to make decisions about whether or not your child is sick enough to warrant you missing work. I'm sure I'll also enjoy the scrap time. Oh, and I'll know by 9:00 this morning whether or not Rory's I600 arrived in the mail instead of having to wait until 5:00 tonight.
Someone mentioned that I forgot details about the best part of the weekend - the Cheesecake Factory cheesecake! Brian chose Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough cheesecake, and I had White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Caramel cheesecake. Seriously, a little slice of heaven!

Monday, January 21, 2008
Happy MLK Day
A few tidbits from Camden during his stay with Uncle Michael and Aunt Liz this weekend.
(1) When asked what kind of cars mommy and daddy drive: A Gran Dam (emphasis on the second word) and a Lifesaver (Brian drives a LeSabre).
(2) "I got into a fight with the stool, and it beat me up." (after he fell off the bathroom stool trying to wash his hands)
DWTS was quite entertaining. They were running low on stars - only 3 out of the 7 in the program were there. Monique Coleman from season 3; Wayne Newton (who sort of MC'd the event and did not dance; and Helio Castronoves was there, but only danced two times). Poor Wayne Newton needs to retire because he was just awful! There is nothing left to his voice at all. The older generation who were in attendance really enjoyed himk however. I thought it was a bit of a rip-off that Julianne and Helio (who won this season) only danced twice, but they were very fun to watch. I have a few pictures and none of them are very good. They are straight out of the camera with no editing, but I don't know that they'll get much better even after I edit. We had good seats, but the lights were flashing and VERY bright, plus the dancers move so fast, it's hard to snap a picture. It was a really fun evening all in all.



Saturday, January 19, 2008
Saturday
Tonight we're eating dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (using a Christmas gift card) and then going to see Dancing With the Stars Live Tour.I am so excited! My friend Kathy decided she didn't want to go into labor in the middle of that so she gave me both tickets and so Brian is my date tonight.
Camden thoroughly enjoyed the Veggie Tales Pirates Who Don't Do Anything movie. Brian and I were less than impressed, but I guess it wasn't about us! It didn't seem nearly as entertaining as their DVD movies and certainly not as entertaining as other full-length feature cartoons. But, like I said, Camden definitely enjoyed himself. Although I'm not sure if he enjoyed the tootsie pop, popcorn, Mr. Pibb, or the movie the most.
I've been telling myself since Wednesday when we received the email from immigration saying our paperwork was almost complete that I was not going to get my hopes up that we'll really receive it this week, but it's too late. My heart is definitely set on it. I'm feeling a sense of urgency to get things completed, our trip planned, books on attachment and toddler adoption read, etc. I'm starting to resign myself to the fact that the nursery may not be perfect. All of the basics are there, and it's cute, but I really wanted it to be extra special and I don't have the time (or money) at the moment to put the extra touches on it right away. And who am I kidding. Rory won't know the difference at all - it's mostly for me. I will try to post some pictures next week.
Enjoy your weekend.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Veggie Tales
Other than that, it's a regular domestic Friday for me - laundry, grocery shopping, etc.

Thursday, January 17, 2008
DWTS
So, my big news is DWTS. Otherwise known as Dancing With the Stars – the Live Tour! My very pregnant friend Kathy managed to snag free tickets to the show on Saturday night and asked me if I would go with her. Of course I said yes since this is one of my very favorite shows to watch. It’s so fun and entertaining, but not something we would ever spend money on to see live. I should mention that Kathy has been having contractions for days now so who knows if she’ll make it there or not. With our luck, her water will break right in the middle of it!
Another piece of good news is that Kathy has asked me to be in the delivery room with her when baby Andrew is born, and I am so excited about that. So I'm attached at the hip to my cell phone, and my camera is now riding along with me everywhere I go so that I'll be prepared when they call!
My newest update in the roller coaster ride of adoption is that the immigration office is in the final stages of reviewing our paperwork and it should be issued next week. If this is true, then we’re looking at about 4 weeks to travel (down significantly from last week’s prediction of 9-10 weeks). I’m trying very hard not to get too invested in that news and to just keep planning for a longer wait. It’s better to be surprised, right?
I think we’re *this* close to being ready for Rory. The nursery is very close to being finished. The wall letters arrived Monday (see paragraph below for my review of them), and I’m pretty sure I know what I want to do to finish off the wall decorations. I’m ordering my diaper bag today (if any of you remember the diaper bag saga from Camden’s adoption, you’ll know that I had too many bags to count for him; I’m only allowed one this time LOL). I’m ordering a baby carrier this weekend (a Chunei for my fellow adoptive parents who might be interested). I’m buying our first pack of diapers when I shop this weekend (they are 2 for $16 at Target!). Yesterday at lunch I hit the jackpot at BabyGap and bought several pairs of girly p.j.’s for next to nothing, and I bought three outfits from Gymboree that have been on my “must-have” list since before Thanksgiving. (Yes, I think I should lock up the credit card for a while!)
So. My wall letters. You know, the ones I have been eagerly anticipating for over 2 months now. I am so disappointed in them! The paint is thin – you can still see the wood through them. On the letter that has little flowers, you can see the pencil marks where she drew the flowers and then didn’t cover up the pencil marks. On another letter, she must have started painting with a darker color, because there’s a splotch underneath the white paint. The good news is that when you look at them hanging up on the wall, you don’t notice these mistakes – you would need to be pretty close to see them. It drives me crazy, though! I am certainly not going to be leaving her good feedback, and I’m really tempted to just paint over them.
Brian was so disappointed to wake up this morning to rain. It snowed a bit last night, and he was really hoping for a snow day. Walking home from church last night, Camden was ecstatic. He kept saying, "Oh, I'm so, so glad there is now." He and his Gramps even put together a few snowballs.
I think I mentioned a while ago that the first thing out of Camden’s mouth each morning is, “mommy, daddy, look how much I growed.” Seriously, every morning. Last night when I put him in the bathtub, he made me stop and look at him (n.a.k.e.d. of course) and said “wow, I really growed at school today.” Then when I got him out of the bathtub, I was drying him off and he said, “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! I can’t BELIEVE how much I growed in the bathtub!”
I scrapped this page over the weekend. This is Camden, Emily and Meredith (Kathy's girls) during their sleepover back in November. Aren't they cute in their p.j.'s!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Tuesday
I don't really have time to blog this morning. Somehow I thought that I could add making a batch of Spinach Parmesan dip I need for a shower tonight into my schedule this morning, and I'd still have plenty of time to get ready, but that was a bit ambitious so I'm running late. Camden just woke up and is C.R.A.N.K.Y. so I think I'll just cut the blog post short.
But stay tuned for exciting news tomorrow!

Monday, January 14, 2008
Real Bowling
Saturday night Brian was participating in a fundraiser for the college and was on a bowling team so we all tagged along with him. There was a lane for the kids to bowl, and Camden had a blast. He bowled for about an hour and then we spent the second hour watching Brian and his team bowl. Camden was the coach. He was so funny because every person who would come up to bowl, he would call them over and then whisper in their ear, "go straight down the middle really hard and you'll get a strike." Thank goodness they're our friends so they endured the "coaching" for every single frame! When it was all over, they gave Camden a prize of new tennis balls, and he immediately said, "we've got to buy me a tennis racket right now." And then when we got in the car, he said, "Real bowling is so much better than Wii bowling! I loved the balls, the Diet Coke, winning . . . "
Today marks 13 weeks we've been waiting for Rory.
I scrapped these pictures of Camden, Matt, and William on Saturday. The picture quality isn't the best, but they were so cute playing together that I really wanted to scrap them anyway. For those of you who scrap, I used Jessica Bolton's new kit Brighten Up Winter, and it's only $2.50 for Sunday and Monday.

Sunday, January 13, 2008
Toe Fuzz
Me: (becoming frustrated) "Camden, hurry up. There's no more toe fuzz."
Camden: (now he's becoming frustrated) "But I have to get it. If I don't get it, where is it going to go?"
Me: "I'm not sure. Where do you think it might go?"
Camden: "I think God just takes care of it for me."
Friday, January 11, 2008
Finally Friday!
I woke up this morning at 9:04! Can you believe that? I seriously think it might have been college since I slept that late. Of course I was up until 2:00. With the exception of Tuesday night, the last 5 nights have been rough. I just cannot sleep. Maybe this week will be better.
I went to Old Navy this morning and had a blast shopping. Their annual fall/winter sale started today - extra 50% off all clearance, and I bought a ton of things. The most I spent for anything was $8 for a winter coat for Camden for next year. I bought him jeans for $3.49. The most expensive thing I bought for Rory was a dress for $4.24. Can you believe that? I came home with three shopping bags FULL. Retail therapy is always good (and I've had quite a bit this week).
My sugar-free week went well. There were definite moments of temptation, but not too bad. With the exception of one day that I had half sugar/half sweet-n-low in my coffee, I have had absolutely nothing sweet. I am having ice cream tonight, though. There's no way I can do sugar-free indefinitely, but I'm thinking if I know I've got a dessert coming on the weekends, I can make it through without anything for the other 5-6 days of the week. Next week's goal will be no snacks after supper.
Last night at supper Camden told us the story of Sampson and Delilah (he had a little trouble getting out Delilah). It was so funny. The servants in the story were "serpents" (he insisted!), and when it was over, we asked him what he learned from that story. He looked at us and said very matter of factly, "nothing." I never realized how ruthless Bible stories can be until you hear your 4 year old tell them.

Thursday, January 10, 2008
Dr. Park
Poor Camden is having difficulty with all of the "Parks" in his life right now. He thinks they're all related. His teacher is Mrs. Parks (and he ADORES her). Rory's foster mother is Mrs. Park, and the speaker last night was Dr. Park. He can't figure out why they have the same name, but don't live together.
Yesterday was a very good day for Rory's closet. My friend brought me 2 brand new winter coats and a snowsuit for next winter (and they are so cute - think fur and suede). I went to Target on my lunch hour and bought several shirts for $1.75 and a pair of jeans (her first pair) for $4. I also bought FOUR pairs of shoes and a pair of boots (see below). Are they cute or what! Then when I got home, my Old Navy clearance order had arrived. I had bought several pairs of tights, a cute denim jumper, and a couple of shirts - all heavily on clearance. One of these days I'll have to start buying mundane things like p.j.'s, diapers, wipes, etc. But I'm holding off for now!
The Boots!

Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Manners
Camden's K-4 teacher is clearly hitting the manners class hard as they returned to school this week because Camden has been constantly reminding us to mind our own manners. Last night he asked if he could put my plate away and throw away my napkin, and I told him yes (of course he can work!! LOL). As he was taking it, he said, "Aren't you forgetting to tell me something? Aren't you forgetting your manners?"
Brian and I watched The Biggest Loser last night. We've never watched it before, and I can't decide if it's inspiring or depressing. The fact that these people could spend 8 hours a day exercising with trained professionals and nutritionists and only lose 1-2 pounds doesn't bode well for us!
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Tired
I spent almost an hour on the phone with my friend Kim last night who is waiting for their daughter Emma to come home. They have been waiting for over 6 months and have had a paperwork nightmare. I'm so frustrated for them (and terrified it will happen to us!). The people who tell us (adoptive families) that we've got it easy because we don't have to go through labor and delivery are crazy! They have no idea the emotional anguish that accompanies the adoption process.
The wind is freakishly strong this morning. It sounds like the house is going to fall in on us! We're expecting severe weather to start (and I quote), "between twelve noon and twelve midnight." Seriously, the best the newscasters can give us is a 12 hour window as to what time the bad weather could start? We're having record high temps again today.
Okay, that about wraps up today's exciting news. Here is one more Christmas page I finished up over the weekend, and I've still got a ton of Christmas pictures to scrap. I think I'm just about tired of Christmas pages!

Monday, January 07, 2008
A new week
Camden spent a couple of hours with his Gram and Gramps on Friday so Brian and I ran some errands, got the car mirror fixed and went to see I Am Legend. It was in a word: SCARY. We both really enjoyed it, though. And since it’s scary in an unrealistic, alien kind of way, I’m okay with it. I’m not okay with anything scary that is realistic.
Friday night we took
Saturday was pretty slow. Well, slow in the way of entertainment. Not really slow when I think about the SIX loads of laundry, I washed, folded, and put away.
Sunday Camden woke up sick. I’m still not really sure if he just had a touch of the stomach flu or what. He never threw up, but was very pale and shaky and pretty pitiful. He also had the chills for a while. The two of us stayed on the couch until almost 11:00, and then he ate a piece of toast and napped for 2 hours. By late afternoon/early evening he was feeling quite a bit better, but I kept him home from church and put him in bed early. He starts back to school today after more than 2 weeks off (as does Brian) so I wanted to make sure he was going to be feeling well. He was so funny because he kept telling me he was seasick!
That about wraps it up! Here’s a page I finished using a picture from this year’s church Christmas program.

Friday, January 04, 2008
Friday
The guy didn't fix our driver-side mirror yesterday so we're heading out to meet him in a few minutes. Hopefully, he'll really be able to fix it this time. We're hoping that it doesn't mess up our plans for a movie because Camden is spending the day at Gram's. Then we need to grocery shop, pick up a birthday present for the birthday party Camden is attending tonight, go to Gram and Gramp's house for supper, then off to the party. Sound exciting?
I'm feeling fairly discouraged today because late yesterday afternoon we got an email from our caseworker saying we should expect our I600 to take the full 10 weeks to process instead of the faster time we were hoping for. If it really takes 10 weeks, then we're looking at at least another 10 weeks before we travel, which puts us into mid-to-late March. I am so frustrated by this! I keep repeating to myself, "God is in control. God is in control." I know that He knows about this, but it doesn't really make me less frustrated! I just keep thinking about how each day we're apart from Rory makes it more difficult for her transition into our family and how we are missing so much. She is already 15 months old. We've missed her first birthday, first 2 Christmases, first steps, first words. The list can go on and on.
No layouts for me. I actually haven't scrapped all week (all this week's layouts were from the weekend). I'm wanting to slow down a bit of my scrapping so that it doesn't take up so much time in the evenings. I should be spending them doing more productive things like cleaning and laundry. Unfortunately, while I slowed down the scrapping this week, I didn't really pick up on the cleaning bit. Since we have no plans for tomorrow, I'll catch up then.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
ELEVEN degrees
Remember how I said that the car wash broke off my driver's side mirror? Well, I've been riding around with it duct taped to the car the last several days. Classy. Brian is taking to have it fixed today, though.
I don't have any layouts to share, so how about a picture from Christmas of Camden sledding. He had so much fun! We thought he would be scared, but he headed on down the hill over and over laughing the whole way.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Wednesday already?
Here is a picture from the Christmas parade we went to in early December. Camden kept watching for the parade to start. He couldn't believe he was allowed on the street!

Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Happy New Year
Brian came home from the lock-in sick. His voice is almost totally gone. Well, not completely - he sounds like a mix of Alvin the Chipmunk and a girl. It's hilarious, and we've gotten quite a few laughs from it. I do hate that he's sick though. My own throat is sore this morning, and I was hoping it was just sympathy pains for him, but since it's not going away I may be coming down with something.
I wanted to share a cute Camden/Uncle Matt story. Uncle Matt was Camden's new favorite relative this trip, which was really sweet. Uncle Matt would arm curl him (which Brian discovered is much harder than it looks!), and the first couple of times he did it, Camden would just laugh and laugh, and at one point said, "Uncle Matt, you must eat alot of vegetables and drink lots of milk to be so strong."
Let's talk resolutions. I don't normally do these, but I am feeling the need to do so this year. These few things have been on my mind for a while, and I want to just put them out there (I just might even scrap them) to help keep me a bit more accountable. (1) The first and most important one to me - Try to be more patient and less of a perfectionist where Camden is concerned. For those of you who know me, that one is pretty self-explanatory. (2) Live a healthier lifestyle. Notice I didn't say "lose weight" (don't want to set myself up for failure!), but I do want to make better eating choices and make sure that I am exercising on a very regular basis. (3) Read through the Bible again. I have done a much better job this year of daily devotions, but I want to go ahead and just read the Bible through again - it's a good way to keep myself accountable, and I have a feeling that with the responsibilities and busyness of a new baby, I'll need the extra motivation. (4) Get back to regular piano practice. For those of you who don't know, I took piano lessons for 13 years and the piano is VERY meaningful to me, but ever since Camden arrived, it has most definitely taken a backseat, and I have lost some of my skill, so I want to try to focus on that a bit more. (5) Last, a frivolous resolution - to keep current on my scrapbook pages so I can keep them printed out and we can enjoy them rather than letting the pictures waste away on my computer.
Here are 3 layouts from yesterday.


