Text Test

I'm trying this out via text message. Spoke to Portia Tonight. Home study draft will be in the mail tomorrow! We should have it by monday.
xoxo, Sarah

The Good, The Bad, and The Mysterious.

PRE-BLOG NEWS FLASH: IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ORDER PAMPERED CHEF FROM OUR FUNDRAISER, WE ARE CLOSING THE SHOW THIS FRIDAY! SEE LINK ON LEFT TO SHOP!

We live in an ever changing world.....Tonight when I came home from the rummage sale (post immediate bath) I signed on to talk to you and let you know how things are going since I missed a night and MY HOW THINGS CHANGE!
I saw a "Russia Update" on my e-mail before signing onto the blog, which in past experiences is never a GOOD thing. I read the LONG e-mail, then re-read it. I'm really not sure if it's good or bad, mostly mysterious. With a lot of things I just don't think we are getting the big picture...... Recap- things are slowing down more in Russia (bad), but the failure of Russia's foster system with the increased world financial disaster, things could start to speed up (good, well kinda). C.W.A. is still very strong and highly admired in Russia (good) but the Harrison Case Verdict (see blogs past) still looms heavily in Russia's courts (bad). If you don't ask for a specific boy or girl it's faster (good) and if you raise your age requirement it's faster too (good). However, some regions are starting to change their requirements (BAD) and we'll receive a phone call if we are being effected (BAD and MYSTERIOUS). Anyway, I'm just not going to sweat all this. It's whatever. I'm more upset that we haven't gotten our home study draft back yet. All of this just sounds like more things that are out of our control. And when you're not in control of anything, what's a few more things you aren't in control of?
The last paragraph of the e-mail was interesting though, it basically said "It's not too late to change to another country or adopt a sibling group, since they are so difficult to place" The part about the encouragement to change to another country was interesting me (Mysterious).
OTHER things that have changed- I can now update the blog from my e-mail and cell phone. How cool is that? I am looking forward to the day when I can text the Blog from abroad to say "Got Baby. Bringing home baby Deetz" However, that could be in 6 months (good).....in 12 months (bad) or from Ethiopia instead of Russia (mysterious). In the meantime, we'll just stay the course- it's all we can do.

Rummage

Every night this week after work I'll be volunteering at the Youth Rummage Sale (set-up), so I cannot guarantee a blog every night, but I will try my best.....last night by the time I got home after 9:00, I wanted to take a shower (it's amazing how filthy you get digging through "rummage") and go to bed! It was a very LONG day. Basically, we get in 100's of items every hour that people have donated. We carry them in if Chad and the boy crew pick them up at donor's homes, sort them by price, place the clothes on hangers, price the items, and carry them to the appropriate section. After one night, our huge gym is 50% full already and people can drop things off all week! Yikes. I'll definitely take a few pictures by the end of the week so that you can fully appreciate the magnitude of this project. All of the proceeds benefit the Youth Mission Trip this summer to New Orleans. Then on Saturday (the day of the actual sale, I'll work 6AM-2:00 or so. Awe Rummage!#$&*#@
Maybe this week we'll have some good news about the home study draft..... In the meantime, I'll continue to rummage my little fingers to the bone. I love the word rummage, I think it works well as a noun, adjective, verb. It's great. Digging through 100's of people's junk, not so great.

Easter in Pictures.....

We started out the day worshiping, Christ has Risen! Youth praise band did a fantastic job playing the music in our contemporary service. It was definately one of the most lively Easter services I have experienced! We were so thankful to share the day with mom, dad, and Britt. It was nice to have family here....

Then we opened the baby's Easter baskets......(and presents) yes, I did say basket(s). This will be the world's most spoiled Grandchild on the face of the planet.

Then we made the traditional Easter bunny cake (Annie, Uggie, and Me)

Daddy made sure Easter dinner wasn't poisonous......

Chad serenaded us with some lovely music............While Alex and Mommy kept a lookout for the Easter Bunny.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Happy Easter's Eve!

My Mom and Dad are in town this weekend for Easter and today, our main goal was to find a crib. I know it's early, but we wanted to get a jump on nursery shopping. That way when we are having our BIG wait, we'll have months to get everything ready and take our time with painting, matching fabrics, redoing the bathroom, you know fully taking advantage of a longer than 9 month "gestation" period. Well, that, and I just want one!

So we got up early and headed out to Greenville with 4 stores programmed into the GPS. First stop- Baby USA. Brittany was hoping that no one thought either one of us were pregnant (thus looking pregnant when neither one of us really are!) I told her if anyone asked, we would say Mom was having a baby....

Anyway, Baby USA had beautiful stuff! Every nursery was set up in a little room- all painted and decorated. Then we went out to Babies-R-Us, we saw one set that Chad and I could agree on "kind of liking". Then to some posh place called "Nest" yeah, I saw a onesie that cost $65. I don't think so. Then off to "Wood You" seeing what unfinished pieces they had for baby- uhhhh, none. So we headed back to Baby USA. I liked their stuff the best because the wood was very durable, the hardware was all hidden, and every crib converts into a toddler bed and then into an adult bed. A definite plus not knowing how old our baby will be and how soon a toddler bed will be needed. We walked around and around and around. We narrowed it down to two models. They have these huge comfy rocking chairs set up all over the store, at some point Britt, Mom, and Chad were sitting in rockers, I was sitting on top of a baby table, and Daddy was sitting in one of those mini-kiddie recliners (which was hilarious) and we were having a furniture debate like we were deciding the next president of the United States. Our conclusion? We were all starving, so we walked next door and had some Sushi. THEN we went BACK to the store and finally made a decision.....DRUM ROLL PLEASE........

We also got the dresser in the second picture (without the hutch) because you can use it as a diaper changing table now and then it converts into a plain dresser (gone are the days of a diaper changing table that you only use for a few years). It's a beautiful curvy piece, the picture really doesn't do it justice. Our struggles- All the cribs now look so "mature" they are very sophisticated. And- Chad likes darker wood (Normally I do too, as all our furniture at home is dark) but when it comes to baby furniture, I am a big fan of white or antique white. The problem with white is- it's very girly, which is o.k. for a tiny baby boy, but not so nice for a 8 year old boy.

With the "Espresso" finish it will look great with baby blue/brown combo or pink/brown combo. So we made the first compromise (of many) and went with something more practical than a white crib. AND don't get me wrong- its a beautiful piece of furniture. AND it takes 10-12 weeks to arrive in the store, you think maybe be then our home study will be done? Sorry, I was doing good and I was going to try not to mention it, but I just can't help myself.

So the tradition continues- My mom's grandmother bought her crib, my grandma bought my crib, and now my parents made that purchase for our baby too! I didn't think this moment in our lives would ever come, and to be honest with you, as many times as we walked around that store that was easy to believe!

Thanks Mom and Dad....... I can't wait for you to be Grandparents!

Strong as an......

Something you may not know about me.....normally I am pretty together, but when I get too much on my plate that's the first thing to go. I start forgetting things, I start losing things, I walk into a room and forget why I'm there...."O.K. I'm in the kitchen, but I'm not hungry or thirsty.....why am I here?" Well now I can add a new problem to the list- my brain forgets familiar phrases and I forget where my thumb is. Let me explain.

On Wednesday I lost my keys. I found them today smashed into the car seat. Today we were waiting for a table at the Mexican restaurant and I left my pursing sitting where we were waiting. I got finished eating and all the way out to the car before I even missed it. Chad told me I had sour cream on my thumb at lunch and I stared at my fingers looking for it with my thumbs tucked in thinking he was the one that had lost his mind....then I remembered "thumbs are the short ones below the fingers, you know the ones on the SIDE of your hand".

So the phrase thing, I signed up for this cool new thing (thanks Heidi) called ShopItToMe.com. You basically input your sizes and brands that you like and it emails you clearance items in your size, your husbands size, your kids size. So I sign up for boy and girl clothes, size 6mo-24mo and twice a week they send me super deals on clothes. Well, there were these onesies marked down to $3.74 from Children's Place..... here they are.....

Then I get to this one.......

And I think to myself- "no wonder that only costs $3.74! That's a typo!

Strong as an bull! How can they even sell that! That teaches children grammatical errors! AN BULL?

I was even talking about it with dismay on the way to the concert this Wednesday. Brittany then says "uh..... isn't it "strong as an OX?"

Oh Yeah. An ox. hmmmmm....... that makes sense.

Hopefully I won't completely lose my mind before this is all said and done and I'll break myself of the habit of losing things before the baby comes!

Eggs and Bowling Balls

Tonight it was so good to be back in church for Maundy Thursday Services. I think part of my funk has been being away from our biggest support system, our church family! With Spring Break and Chad and the leadership team being gone to New Orleans, we haven't had normal church activities in almost two weeks..... I really missed being able to talk to people that I know are lifting me us up in prayer and want to know all the juicy details of the adoption. Bob said he has been reading the blog daily and was concerned for my sulking mood, he said he could tell I wasn't myself!
Then to complete the night I caught up with Chad's mom, for our usual LONG weekly conversation and then talked to my mom for our short DAILY conversation. (I think I talk to them both equally as much, just for different durations throughout the week, I'll have to start keeping track of that. It may be an interesting science experiment while we're still waiting for our stinkin' home study draft) Anyway- my parents are in route to our house! They will be here tomorrow! Yippeee! I am so excited- I can't wait to see them, I haven't seen them since Christmas I think. Wow. On Saturday we're going nursery furniture shopping, I can't wait!
Anyway, when I was talking to Donna on the phone tonight, we talked a great deal about transition, as they prepare for retirement and are getting ready to do some serious traveling; And as we prepare for this adoption journey, not just the burden of the here and now, but having a son or daughter in our lives forever! We agreed that the biggest challenge (whether it's R.V.ing cross country or jumping through bureaucratic hoops) is letting go of your routine, your life that you have a death grip on, and grabbing hold of something new, something unknown. Right now we are both juggling, trying to keep all of the balls in the air while adding in some new ones.
It reminds me of something we saw on our family cruise last September. We went to a stage show where these two amazing guys do all these stunts. One of their acts was juggling a bunch of eggs back and forth to each other and then throwing a bowling ball into the mix. Imagine the light touch needed to juggle 3 or 4 eggs (OK, I can't even image juggling 2 eggs, not much less 4 on a rocking cruise ship) AND then adding a 10-15 pound bowling ball into the rotation. Your hands would have to handle the eggs with such care and gentleness and then your muscles would really have to kick in to keep that bowling ball flying around. Adding a new element into our life is a lot like that- tossing around a bowling ball, we have to keep our routine in balance without making a mess; While at the same time, show this new heavy monster so much care and attention to keep it in flight. Check this out.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ79vY-TgVs for a rough idea.
Fortunately, Chad and I rely a big God, have a loving support group of friends, and an amazing family to help us when everything around us is about to drop! And when it does drop (and it will) we have so many people to eat some scrabbled eggs with and then go to the bowling alley! We are so blessed.....