The Astounding T-Shirt Sale Phenomenon of 2013

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Click Here to: Buy A Shirt



How am I supposed to respond to this? If you could see my face as I type, delete, stare with wide eyes. Type, delete, and stare some more. 

Here is my best attempt to respond to the astounding phenomenon I witnessed yesterday:


Yesterday on my lunch break I called Hubs and asked, "How long do you think we should say we want to do this t-shirt sale to make sure we get the required minimum of 50 shirts sold?" We discussed and decided we would extend the fundraising to run 10 days and hopefully we could get 50 by then. I hit launch and went to microwave my taco soup. Sitting there eating, I looked to see if anyone has checked out the site yet- 2 shirts sold! In 2 minutes! I was elated. We can get 50 in 10 days! Let's do this.

Going room to room, talking to patients and my phone is buzzing off the wall in my coat. I slyly sneak a peak. My friends are a buzz- We've sold 49. I drop a quick FB shout out about # 50 and keep talking about why fried chicken and gravy is not an ideal breakfast food to a patient with Diabetes. My thoughts are really elsewhere. 50! In one day!

I run to "take a bathroom break". 30 people have shared the link on FB already. It's going viral. My phone keeps buzzing, "68"  "You're at $6000!" "This is crazy"  "79!!" "80 and counting" The texts were pouring in.

I am trying to text everyone back but my hands are shaking. 

The final count for DAY 1:

151 Shirts
$9381.00
911 Facebook Likes
38 Link Shares on Facebook
2 Tweets 
9 Pins on Pinterest

The money is one thing. I am thankful and it is very needed. But the support and encouragement. Man. That's what is choking me up. My kindergarten buddy, a friend I would ride my bike up and down the block with pretending we had our driver’s license and were dating members of Ace of Base, shared my link and spread the word.  Dear friends in Kansas, rallied in support. High School peps made shout outs and linked up the site. Fairmont Park was all over the place with links and donations. Old college buddies advocated for this cause and encouraged others to join.  With each share, post, like, sale, donation, and kind word my heart grew a little more and by midnight it was ready to burst!

For a couple who spent the last year struggling with feelings regarding our worthiness and identity- yesterday rocked us!

Thank you!
Hubs and I love you and are so thankful for you friendships and support. We are very blessed. Thank you for the outpouring of love!

9 Days Left. ;)

But We Wait

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Guys- Two more families got dates this morning.  They were given a ONE WEEK notice for court dates as their court date is Oct 3.  So is the story of international adoption. In all they had a 8 week wait from submittal!

Today I am feeling OVERWHELMED with all that needs to be done in 8 weeks.
I know I usually do not discuss the financial part of this journey but it is definitely a shadow looming around every corner right now. Buying plane tickets with a one week notice will not be cheap. Can you guys pray for Hubs and I as we navigate this delicate issue?
I am aslo open to advice and suggestions. I am struggling with the "fundraising" department.

Also thanks for everyone who has been shopping away at AMAZON. You guys are awesome. I checked our amazon associates account today and it had over $100! That was the easiest fundraising EVER. Thanks for remember to link up. Shop on dear friends.







Wait for it

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Urban Dictionary defines the phrase “Wait for it” –
A sentence-enhancing phrase, used to illustrate the epicness of an object/situation/event.

Being officially submitted indeed elicited celebration and relief; it also pushed us into a season of wait.  One waiting mom made a chart in our online support group that lists out all the people submitted, when they got travel dates, and when they actually traveled.  This Type-A chart, while helpful for getting an idea of when we might receive dates and travel, is also a thorn in my side.  As of today, 15 families are listed ahead of us! I look daily.
‘Did anyone else get dates today? When did they travel? How many weeks did they wait? Where would that put us if we had that long of a wait?’
I count and recount the different templates for possible travel dates and obsess. BACK AWAY FROM THE CHART WOMAN!
Right now we are- WAIT FOR IT-
8-12 weeks until we get on a plane to fly to our lil’ man.
Never have I been more confused about a measurement of time. I cannot decide if that is really soon or very far away.  Sometime I wake up, mind racing, in disbelief that there is only 8 weeks left.  SO MUCH TO DO! Then the next morning I flop slowly out of bed, whining that 12 weeks is sooooooooooooo far away. I cannot wait any longer!
Waiting it out. I don’t know if I am waiting well but every day we get up to wait some more.  I know everyone wants an update…. WE DO TOO!
 Like us, you must wait for it.
Meanwhile, we have 2-3 months to get ready.  I am nesting. Baby D is all a can talk about, think about, or plan about.  While brushing my teeth, I realize I need to find a pediatric dentist and wonder how to brush toddler’s teeth.  In the shower, I make mental lists of bath-stuff we need and wonder if he is going to dislike baths like many adoptive mom’s have blogged about. At dinner, I consider all the feeding options and wonder what bottles/Sippy cups I should pack.  This pattern continues on with driving, cleaning, going out with friends, church, putting my shoes on, etc. etc.
24/7 Baby D thoughts.
I do not know if I can justly illustrate the epicness of this situation. 8-12 weeks.


I told her to make a 'Waiting Face'- Nailed it Roo!



Amazon Associate's Link

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If you are planning on shopping for something or someone on Amazon please keep us in mind!  Access the store via this link or the link in the sidebar of our blog.


and load up your cart with all your desired items and we get a small percentage!

You are getting a product you were going to buy anyway, and now you have the additional pleasure of knowing you are helping bring our baby out of an institution and into our home. Shopping with a cause.

Brilliant!

Thanks for thinking of us!

How we got assigned Officer Jack Bauer

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The only logical explanation: It must have been Jack Bauer working on our immigration case.


WE GOT USCIS APPROVAL. Our officer CALLED ME this morning to tell me the news.

A process that I was told, on more than one occasion, by several USCIS employees, should take 75 days.
24 hours. Jack Bauer style. 
Although he sounded pretty much like a woman and told me a different name. Which was kind of confusing...... but I knew it was him. He is sneaky like that.

At first I said I had no words, but then I realized I haven't shut up about this news all morning. Evidently I have lots of words.  The next question everyone is asking: What does this mean, Carly..... What's next?

A season of waiting.
We wait to hear the words that we have been officially submitted. This could happen sometime in the next two weeks.  We have been sending over our dossier in bits and pieces so that the team there could work on them and translate them. They will have 5 pieces of paper to add now and then they will take all of my paper baby to the court.
We wait to hear our Court Date or Travel Date.  This is the long wait. After being submitted it usually takes 7-11 weeks to find out your court date.  The Court date is usually 2-4 weeks later.
To simplify: We might be traveling in about 13-15 weeks.
So this means I should start looking for winter coats......

Also, credit where credit is due. 24 hours = God's handiwork. That has His name all over it. He must have stirred Jack Bauer's heart to get involved.

Reclaiming April

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"Dreading a due date after miscarriage."

You see, I have googled that exact sentence before.

6 months later the world, even my world, continued to spin around. It had not come to a halt like I thought it might. I had started to heal. My husband diligently worked to purge the mail and email of the reminders and updates I had signed up for to track my pregnancy.  I allowed myself days and weeks to not even consider how far along I should be, or what milestone I should be hitting.  People announcing their pregnancies no longer elicited bitterness (Sorry about that guys).  I had survived.

Then came April. With April came this dread. This was supposed to be a month of ending and a month of beginning. A highly anticipated month, 2 and half years in the making. Boxes of free samples began to showup at our door as I had eagerly enrolled in several online promotions at the start of pregnancy. Hubs was caught hiding all the formula and diaper samples in the guest room dresser.  Gerber, Pampers, Huggies, and Similac were all kind enough to send  "Congratulations on New Baby"cards.

I dreaded the end of April.  Because I knew my April was suppose to be different. As April 31 arrived, I retreated away from friends and family.  I was unfairly angry at them as they were falsely condemned  for not remembering this date (and sorry about that too).

"This was NOT MY APRIL!"  
April had come and gone.  I had been robbed.

Should Be's and Suppose To's are the curse of a miscarriage. They sneak around grabbing moments with- I "should be " finding out the sex today or I am "suppose to be" greeting my baby today. They are quick to injure as we yell out, "This is not how it is suppose to be!" And I think it ok to allow ourselves that cry. It is ok to allow yourself  a chance to re-grieve as this dooming due date approaches.

 I let the Should Be's and Suppose To's rob April from me.

Yet with the ever 20/20 hindsight, I see it differently. I was suppose to be finishing up my spring semester and talking to my husband about going part time or quitting my job soon.  I was suppose to be pouring into friends and community and growing friendships and family that would soon change my life. My heart was being prepared for thing I could not see. April was exactly what it Should Be. It was indeed MY APRIL.

Because then came May. 

In May we decided to adopt Baby D. Would I have had MY MAY without MY APRIL?
Maybe, maybe not.

Contrary to how I felt for several months, I did not deserve or give myself a miscarriage. I might always wonder how differently my life might look today and I do not always believe "it was for the best". I still struggle analyzing the suppose to's or should be's.  But I do believe that God redeemed the loss. He redeemed April and used it to bring me May.

State Clearance, USCIS and Jack Donaghy

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State/FBI Clearance update:

Just got off the phone with Shirley (new friend over at the state dept):


Fingerprints were received and the clearance was put in the mail TODAY!

Let the dancing begin!


USCIS update:

They accepted our application this time. Excellent. It is still in route to the National Benefit Center, which they call NBC. The man on the phone only laughed a little at my joke asking if Jack Donaghy  was going to be my assigned officer or if I could request Liz Lemon instead.  Everyone start praying that the 75 day estimate for processing/approval he gave me is more like 2 weeks.   I want Christmas snuggles people!!!






Shaking him off

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Florence + The Machine
We got up early on Friday morning and got re-fingerprinted for the state/FBI clearance.
The next morning in the mail-box I found a giant envelope from the USCIS. Is this happening? Soo fast? We are already approved?! How can it be?! My heart was pounding. 
NOPE. Bump-Bump.
They sent back EVERYTHING. During the process of applying they updated their forms.  
"The application was filled out on an outdated version of this form.  Please resubmit your application on the current version of this form with the appropriate fees."

 We re-sent in, for the 3rd time, our USCIS application, on the "updated" form. Which, oh by the way, is exactly-100%-the same as the version we sent in. Even down to the typos. The only difference is the small revision date on the bottom right corner. hmmm. But we obeyed.

 Now we are waiting again.

 Thanks friends and family for the encouragement and support over the weekend. I was caught off guard with the amount of doubt and frustration these back-to-back bumps brought to the surface. Community had my back, though.

 Gonna shake him off and keep dancing.



Bump

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I made a rookie mistake.  Back in May, we went to get fingerprinted for our state and FBI background checks.  I had heard it can take 5-7 weeks so I wanted to check this off my list early.
Remember when I was saying I needed to slow my roll........
I should have listened to myself.
I have been waiting and waiting and waiting to receive the notarized copy of the report.  I was not stressed. We had other major things to wait before we were ready to submit. No biggie.
Biggie.
I was waiting for something that was never coming.  I had filed for fingerprints under some Adam Walsh Act instead of the boring ole international adoption application. Why did I file this way- because this was the paperwork given to me by our SW doing the HS. She needed background checks for the HS.   But under this heading- THEY WILL NOT SEND YOU THE RESULTS. PERIOD.

Conversations on the phone with Shirley (S) this morning at the State Dept.  

ME: Shirley
S: MMMHMM.
Me: I have given you my name. The account number. And you are telling me you found the report.
S: MMMHHMM.
Me: Print out that report. Notarize it. Send it to me. PLEASE!
S: I Can't.
ME: Shirley, IT IS RIGHT THERE. YOU ARE READING IT NOW.  Hit the print button. Walk over to your secretary's desk to have her/him notarize it and put it in the mail. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND.
S: Sweetie, you have to redo it.
Me: But why, when you guys already did it?  You have it. It is done. What a waste of time, resources, your money and my money.
S: It's that Adam Walsh Act you filed it under. 
CRYING. (me not shirley)
S: Dont Cry.
Me: Shirley, I'm not mad at you. I just do NOT understand. You see, my baby.... my baby.....is stuck oversea's with special needs. No one helping him learn to talk. No one helping him learn to walk.  He has DS. What if he has a heart condition?  Everyone keeps asking me if it is difficult to work with the *** government (Baby D's country). But the truth is the only people making me cry is Texas and the US.  
Crying. (Shirley this time.)
Me: I'm sorry Shirley. It's not your fault. This is just our first major bump. I just do not understand. It seems so simple to fix.
S: You will get over the bump sweetie. Just go redo it ASAP.



BUMP.

Advantage us

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"The only way to care for the disadvantaged – is to disadvantage yourself –which is guaranteed to turn out for your advantage."
-Ann Voskamp

Here is the deal. I love that everyone thinks I am awesome. Mainly, because 1) it might be true 2) the encouragement is appreciated 3) My self-esteem has greatly improved (something I sometimes struggle with). HOWEVER,  the response I hear frequently after sharing our story is, "You guys are awesome." or "He is so lucky."  I get that sometimes people might be at a loss for words and this feels like a good place to start.  I mean really, what is the appropriate response to finding out about the orphan crisis in Eastern Europe and then hearing we want to adopt a child with DS?

Can I confess a little something? I feel a little burdened by the awesomeness. I love the encouragement  but let me interject with a quick disclaimer. While I do whole heartedly believe we are saving his life, he in return, is saving mine.
We will never require him to be grateful for what we have done. We are grateful he is ours. He is my gift from God. 

We struggle with awesomeness.  There are days I fall quite short of it actually. Days and weeks where I wrestle with this decision and my future. Moments where I do or say completely un-awesome things to my husband or think less than awesome of the people around me. Once Baby D is home there will be days where I am frustrated with him and parenting in general.  I can only imagine the  amount of awesomely-bad-parenting-decisions I will make.  Thankfully, our AWESOME GOD  can supply grace over all this awesome unawesomeness.

Further, what would be truly awe-inspiring is if we could turn a country upside in their structure and beliefs so that families would be equipped and encouraged to keep their babies with special needs in the first place. That his mama, and the other mama's, would not be afraid or shamed by their baby's extra chromosome or disabilities and be given the tools and education to love and raise their children. I feel like we are simply putting a band-aid over a dehiscing wound that needs someone to suture it up.

The other response I frequently get is "Could you guys not have kids of your own" or "Do you struggle with infertility?" or The best one yet.... Ready..... it is good:

"Do you not want to try for your own kids first?"

Well nosy-pants. We do struggle with infertility. The journey through infertility has been bumpy and long but it led us to a place where our heart were open to this adoption- for which I am incredibly grateful.  But I have news:

This not our replacement child. THIS IS OUR OWN CHILD.
Who knows how or when God will choose to grow our family in the future?


The bottom line here: Advantage us.



And he shall be called

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BABY D!

I know, I know. You want a name. Golly, we do too! Octavian is not his real name. While awesome, it is simply an alias to use during this process and we do not plan on keeping it.
Don't be sad. I know it is cool.
We do not get to know his given name until we are probably over there.

And we have decided, at least for right now, to hold up.  We have a name that we think we might use, but I really want to know what his given name is first.
He has lost so much.  I want to see if there is a way to give him that connection to his birth family, his country, his heritage. Try to respect any progress in development he is making and if he learning his name I want to celebrate that milestone with him. We might try to use his given name or a version of the name.

That being said........

Some of the names in his country are quite difficult to pronounce, spell, or say.  There is also fear in keeping a difficult or funny name that other children in the US cant say or will laugh at. He needs a name that all of his friends can call out when playing on the playground.  He might even have trouble writing, learning or spelling that name.
I might not be able to pronounce it correctly.
He might not even know his name yet.

This decision is tripping me out.
Names are important.  My first taste of parental responsibility and I am wigging. Shows how ready I am.
I don't want to mess this up before we even get started.

So he is called.......

 Baby D

Lil Peanut

Chunky Monkey

Octorable

Lil Buddy

Lil Dude


Oh and in case you were wondering, I say all of those in my "squeaky voice"








Fat locusts

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I feel like the locust are eating everything!! "Get full and swarm on all ready you guys", I whine at night.
People keep encouraging me that soon Baby D will be in my arms. I will feel like everything went crazy fast and we will have the rest of our lives to catch up.
True and encouraging.
But still.


Then I read another book. While they are great in helping me prepare and making me a knowledgeable mamma bear that can advocate for my child, they also elicit a response of fear.
They propose that in DS the first couple years are the most critical.... oh no.
They suggest that the longer a child is institutionalized the more difficult attachment can be..... oh dear.
In  response I shout: WE HAVE TO HURRY!
But this is a process and we can only go so fast.
The LOCUSTS keep eating.



God keeps settling my fears. Whatever these fat locusts keep chopping away at God is going to restore.
Soon this empty room will be filled with a crib, toys, books, a chair, and A CHILD.

God can take care of the destroyed fields those short-horned flying grasshoppers leave behind. He promises to restore the missing time, however long.

 Praying for the faith to believe that promise.


Unless

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Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
Dr. Seuss, The Lorax




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What a difference Love and Support makes.
UNLESS.
Well, I care an awful lot.


Come on Home Study. 2 weeks today. I am hoping our social worker sends us a draft to read over next week.  Our state side facilitator can then proof it and if it looks good.......


AUSTIN. First we have to get the home study apostilled. Then it is goes to the USCIS.

Then we WAIT AGAIN. boo. We wait for the USCIS to approve everything and schedule us a finger printing appointment. (Sadly this process as been taking longer than usual. One persistent mamma recently kept on receiving delays so she had her senator write a letter on her behalf to speed it along. I am willing to resort to similar tactics if necessary)

Then we send  that approval and home study across the ocean, to Baby D's home land, and wait for them to announce our court/travel dates.

I really would like to celebrate Christmas with my baby. Like A WHOLE AWFUL LOT.

Warm fuzzy feelings thinking about that---Christmas with my baby.  Dwelling there a moment.

Still Dwelling.



Buying the field

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"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."




I found it. And it is confusing, and a little much for some to watch because for the FIRST TIME EVER, I am truly willing to joyfully sell everything and buy the field.



First time?! 

For years I have been approaching God with my first held tight to certain areas of my life. I knew that if I really had an honest conversation with Him, He would ask me about them. 
"What'cha got there?" 
So I limited the chatter. We could have a quick chat at church. I could drop Him a Thank You here and there. Maybe discuss a sick kid I was taking care at work or sing some praise songs, but I was careful what topics we approached. Songs or whispers about surrendering everything made me uncomfortable  Lifting hands high, proclaiming Him King got me nervous. He could wreck shop. I have read Irresistible Revolution and Radical. I know what happens to people who say things like that.  
What would my life look like? 
Deep down, I knew it would look different.


Saying Yes to this adoption started the conversation up again. I am loosening my grip and letting him peek at the treasures clinched in my fist.  I mean, really he knew what was there all along right.

What I have found was unexpected. I now say "I surrender all" and then not only expect him to wreck shop, but desperately want him to.  I did not understand before. When you find the Kingdom of heaven you buy the whole field and YOU WANT TO. This is not driven by guilt or fear of what He expects of me. It is driven by the JOY of finding the treasure in the field in first place. 

Can I get a little mmmhhhhhmmmm... AMEN!?

I am buying the field.  It is going to marvelously wreck our lives. 




Closer.

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My Paper Baby made it across the pond and is now in the correct hands in the country where my Human Baby waits. Get Excited!

We now our waiting for the social worker to write up the Home Study (2-3 weeks) and then we will submit to the USCIS for US immigration (can take up to 75 days). Once we get that green light we submit Home Study and USCIS approval to our baby's country and wait for travel dates.

Closer.

Baby D's freshly painted closet. It is ready to be stocked up  with Baby D essentials.

Happy Suture Day?

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School likes to throw in surprise mandatory classes, labs and assignments. For example, on Wednesday night at 4 pm they announce there is a mandatory suture lab Saturday morning 9-12. Oh. Good.

After flaking out on people I had made prior commitments to, I show up at 8:45 to learn how to throw a good knot. This is kind of an exciting lab. People who know me, know I weirdly love blood, pathology, surgery, etc.... It is why I found a path in the medical field.

Fake blobs of flesh and fat sit in front of us and the instructor at the front of the class begins to demonstrate two commonly used stitches. Simple enough.
Let's Do This. I am greeted by a friend with a hearty "Happy Suture Day!" 


I begin piercing through one side of flesh, digging to fish out my now missing suture lost in the middle of the fake gaping wound in my pound of fatty flesh on the table. It is awkward. I feel awkward and unsure of myself. I want to excel. I look at my finished work and cringe. I would get sued for sure. Keep your scrapped up babies away from me unless you want a tough looking scar to scare other children away.

I try again. I want someone to come help me but there are 100 students and only 3 instructors and I, as usual, have sat in the back of the class.  What can I do to make this look better? Is it my hands? Is it how I am holding the needle driver (which was actually a hemostat that keep locking on me)? Do I need to go deeper or farther away from the wound? Could I please just get a little more guidance?

 Frustration!

My friend next to me helps me adjust my grip on the instruments and is trying to walk me through it again. She looks at me and begins comforting me, telling me it will be OK and that we can practice more later. What?!? Why is she saying these thing? I know it will be fine and of course we will practice more. DUH. Then taste a hot salty tear on my tongue. OH DEAR- AM I CRYING? Seriously. At Suture lab? So thankful for my lab buddies who quickly helped me recover with laughter and distraction.

Regroup, suture up the various degree of wounds on the blob and leave lab as quickly as possible. I did a whole lot better on the last two when I quit over thinking it.

I have yet to really cry about the adoption, its process, our child........ really any of it. I never cry when it would be appropriate. I share the story and the people around the table look at me with glistening eye and ask me how I am doing emotional. "I'm ok."

When I am talking about it, planning for it, filling out forms; when I am moving forward; I am ok. It's the regular days. It's suturing lab. It is today. It is when I have three assignments to write with no motivation. All I keep doing is blog hopping, reading other's adoptions stories. Tears stream down my face as I soak in the pictures of families meeting their children for the first time. I laugh and my heart swells as I watch a posted video of a father and his son bounce a ball back and forth outside the orphanage.

Is there such a thing as adoption hormones?



Sweet Lab friend who was quick to share her  wisdom and  encouragement.
Her Blob looked fantastic! Ain't gonna dehisce on her watch!




How the D's do Home Study Day

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7:30- Shower. Clean. Print out our Evacuation Plan and pics of the floor plan since we forgot to do this last night. Straighten, organize and quickly mop the floors.

8:45 -I hear the click-clack of the doggy door and for some reason think "eeeee...I hope Roo doesn't get muddy." Two minutes later I realize I have jinxed myself. Click-Clack. She bolts back through the door with mud dripping from her bearded mouth and chunks of grass and dirt trailing her every step. The social worker said she would arrive between 9 and 9:30. Remain Calm! Hubs scrubs her face and paws while I pin them both into the laundry room with the new baby gate we got to impress the SW. I quickly sweep/mop  the trail she left in her dart through the house. We regroup, pour ourselves another cup of coffee, and station ourselves to the couch so we can hear the awaited knock (We really need a door bell).

9:45- SW calls. Her plane is stuck taxing, waiting for a gate. I curse Southwest for the first time in my life. We jump into the car to pick up a cheese/cracker and veggie plate from HEB in an effort to curb her hunger. I do not intend for her to do this home study cranky with low blood sugar.

10:15- Once home, we return to our stations on the couch. Every vehicle that passes Hubs jumps up to check to see who it is.  We pour more coffee. In hindsight, we probably over did the caffeine but at the time it felt right.
Peeking to see if the next vehicle is her. False Alarm.

10:45- SW texts Hubs that she is picking up her rental car. We each make a run through of the house again to see what else we can straighten or hide. I was not that nervous earlier, but the waiting is giving me time to over think.

11:00 - Still perched on couch. Walking nervously between rooms to peek trough windows. 

11:30- Car pulls into driveway. I awkwardly cannot figure out where I should sit. I jump back and forth between couch and chair..... wondering how long I should wait after she knocks before opening the door. She knocks. I mistakenly choose to open the door too quick... mid-knock. Awkward. We greet and discover she had tried a new airline and did NOT fly Southwest. I knew it, Southwest would not do me dirty like that.

11:40-1:30 HOME STUDY SLAM DOWN

She assessed, asked, prodded, warned, admonished, encouraged and then deemed us FIT to be parents of a special needs child from Eastern Europe. 
I made a point to drop Dr. Purvis into convo a couple times since I know how social workers love them some Connected Child.  The social worker was wonderful! She has a heart for adoption and has worked with Eastern Europe and RR before. We feel like we are in good hands. She also ended the study with a great and GLORIOUS sentence: "Give me 2 1/2 to 3 weeks." WHAT?!? I was warned that this might take 6-8 weeks. I will give you 2-3 weeks with pleasure.

2:00 Made it to the 2 pm showing of Super Man - Man of Steel. 
Celebrating another finished step with  my Super Man. 


Thanks everyone for covering today with your prayers and thoughts. We felt it and appreciated it. 


Loving a Paper Baby

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So here you are looking forward to a post about perhaps loving a baby that I only know on paper- which is indeed true- but not what this is about.
I said goodbye to my paper baby today; sent it on a journey that is now out of my hands. It is hard to let go.

40 documents. Signed. Notarized. Apostilled. Now traveling overnight, alone, to its next destination.

The scared UPS man sealed the envelope while I instructed him for about the 5th time how I might DIE if this gets lost. I have been reading all about attachment issues and adoptions, but I have yet to come across the chapter regarding the attachment issues related to these paper babies.

The trip to Austin was quick and successful. For something I had never heard of before, apostilling seems to be a pretty legit and frequently used government service.

Next we went and saw Baby D's Aunt Amanda. Heart Happy.

Apostilling my paper babies And Hugging this girl......
Good Day Indeed!


Mom spent the week busy doing her Mom thing- making lists and organizing a game plan.  We tackled a couple projects, including an impromptu painting of Baby D's closet. At one point, I walked into the living room and found her with the couch pulled out from the wall cleaning the baseboards. Baseboards were not on my list but somehow they must of made it onto Mom's. Word on the street is that a home study does not equal a white glove inspection but it can't hurt to have a good first impression right?

Friday is the day.
I have some tricks up my sleeve.....
1. Go with the eyelids
2. Offer a snack
3. Bring the A game

We got this.