While We Wait: And the Hobbies Continue...

I'm back at it again.  No news on the adoption front, so I must throw myself into something that keeps me from going crazy :)

I offered to help out with my friend Lauren's baby shower, and when I was asked to do the cake, I jumped on it!  For the last month I've been plotting and scheming on how to do a cake that went along with Mack's jungle animal nursery.  Here's what I ended up with:

Yellow cake with chocolate buttercream icing.  The dots are fondant and the yellow border is buttercream.  The animals are just toys I picked up at Kroger, and the "risers" they're on are mini cakes covered with fondant. 

Overall, I was pretty happy with the final product, but doing these things on my own has made me realize that I really want to take actual cake decorating classes.  I signed up tonight for the Wilton classes at Hobby Lobby, so starting in April, I'll be taking one class a week through the end of June.  Hopefully by that point I'll have a little more confidence in my abilities and won't consider every cake an experiment!

For Lauren's gift, I made her the hooded towels that I love so much:

Love, love, love these color combinations.

Now that the shower is over and the cake is finished, I'm feeling a little bit of a loss.  You know, what's next?  Well, 1) we're still working on the nursery; and 2) I've never actually decorated our Master Bathroom, so now's as good a time as any! 

Happy Monday, Friends!

While We Wait: Hobbies will keep my mind occupied, right?

I may have mentioned that I've been keeping myself busy by sewing and baking.  Well, since a lot of the sewing projects were Christmas gifts, I couldn't post pictures of them until after Christmas. 

Since my sister is adopting, I loaded her up with lots of baby stuff:

From Left to Right:  Receiving blankets, Taggie Blanket, Burp Cloths and Hooded Towels.

For my mom, Rob's mom and Rob's sister, I made aprons:

Right before Christmas, I also made a set of hooded towels for a sweet friend in NM who just had her second baby:

Then, pretty much as soon as Christmas was over, I started on working on a cake for a baby shower.  This cake decorating thing is a VERY new hobby for me. 

Back in th summer, Rob and I did this cake for a freind's shower:

So I was fairly confident I could do a cake for another friend's shower.  I spent a couple of weeks making flowers and butterflies out of gum paste and fondant...

And was pretty pleased with the finished product:

I also made her a set of hooded towels:

I now have a baby shower in February for which I'm dreaming up cake ideas :)

As I'm writing this, I'm thinking all of this sewing and cake decorating seems kind of obsessive, but pouring my time, energy and thoughts into a creative outlet has helped me focus on something productive, rather than truly obsessing over when we're going to get our referral and the "delays" in the process.  Which means I can honestly say I'm enjoying the time While We Wait.



Seven Months!

Ah, the magical 7 month mark.  At one point very early in the process, I thought we might actually get a referral this month.  Now that we're here?  Not a chance!  For one reason or another, there are some delays right now.  What's funny is that it's hard for me to even call them that.  Delays.  It implies that something should have already happened, but has not yet happened.  You see, what I realized last week was that God never promised me 7-8 months on the waiting list.  He NEVER promised me that our Agency's average wait times were HIS wait time.  Never!  Not once :)  All along I've believed that His timing was perfect.  It just never REALLY occurred to me that His timing might fall well outside of the averages.  Or that something might happen that was *gasp* unexpected.  And while some days I'm tempted to feel sad about that, most of the time it's very peaceful to rest in the fact that He hasn't been caught off guard by the "delays;" He is completely sovereign over this process (and has been since before we even knew we would adopt a baby from Ethiopia); and "our" baby was His baby long before the time He will turn him/her over to us to raise.  It's actually been pretty joyful and freeing to look at it from that perspective.

The previous post pretty much covers what I've been up to for the last month.  As a couple, we've hung out with friends a lot.  Oh yeah, I had the flu/stomach virus right after Christmas.  Not pretty.  Not pretty at all.

And now, to introduce you to his parents, I turn the blog over to Rob...

Thanks, Rebecca.  It would be a pleasure to introduce my parents.

Of all the people that we've featured as waiting with us, I can't imagine anyone that is anticipating Rebecca and I being parents more than my mom and dad.  Now, I have no way of actually proving that, but let me try to explain (and note that if you disagree, you can send all objections to Rebecca :).  I once had a friend explain the expectations from family like this, "Before we were married, everyone wanted to know when we were going to get married; at our wedding reception, everyone wanted to know when we were going to have children."  My parents live in a city in Mississippi, a city in which my mom shares with 4 of her 8 siblings...most of those siblings having been grandparents for around a decade.  So, when we got married, I think the expectations heaped at my parents, whether expressed verbally or merely implied, were, "When are you going to be grandparents?"  All of that to say, the anticipation that would normally come from becoming grandparents is amplified by the famialial environment in which they live. 

All of that being said, we love my parents and we/they won't be waiting forever.  And when the time comes, they'll make good grandparents.

Stay tuned after the break to see what pharmaceutical research of feline bladder infections and East Tennessee have to do with one my siblings.  Rebecca, until then, I hand the blog back to you.

Six Months!

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”) [Matthew 1:23, NIV]

Merry Christmas to You and Happy 6 Months to Us!!!

Today marks 6 months of waiting for a referral.  And let me tell you, the closer it gets, the harder the waiting gets.  And since I KNOW it will be harder to wait for a court date once we have our referral, I'm trying to chill and not get too worked up about the current wait. Sometimes it's easier said than done.  However, God continues to remind me that His timing is perfect.  He has been vey kind to remind me this Christmas season that He is, indeed, Immanuel, which means "God with us."  He is Immanuel to me, and He is Immanuel to our baby.  And that brings me a tremendous amount of comfort, encouragement and peace. 

The last month has been filled with lots of holiday festivities.  We spent Thanksgiving with my family in TN.  And since we're now in MS spending Christmas with Rob's family, we had Christmas with my family at Thanksgiving, or as Rob is now fond of calling it, "Thanks-mas-ing".  So, "Thanksmasing" kicked off our holiday season with a bang.  The weekend after, I had the Ladies' Christmas Tea, our Life Group Christmas party and Missions Day at church.  The next week we attended the Deacons' Christmas Banquet and I volunteered with my co-workers at Cowboy Santa "shopping" for Christmas gifts for families in their toy warehouse.  As I look back over our calendar, I see that we've had several meals with friends, which we really love.  I have also stayed busy baking and sewing.  Several gifts for family involved my two favorite hobbies, so I've been a happy girl :) 

One thing we did NOT do this year was decorate the house.  We didn't even put up the tree.  When we looked at the calendar, there really wasn't a good time to do it, and since we aren't even home for Christmas, we decided not to stress out about getting the house decorated for Christmas.  And, while this is NOT a new tradition, and I'm SURE we'll decorate next year, it has been such a good change of pace to not feel like there are so many things I "have" to do that I'm exhausted, stressed out and not enjoying any of it.  It's SO NOT what Christmas is about.  I think - at least in part - changing up what we always do has helped me realize that Christmas really should be all about Jesus.  I mean, really, what's the point of celebrating Christmas if it's not about Him?  What's the point of all the busyness, stress and exhaustion if it keeps us from focusing on Him?  These are the questions I've wrestled with this month.  And I can vouch that less busyness has really helped me appreciate the season so much more.

OK, so on to the fun stuff :)  More people who, along with us, are eagerly waiting for our little one to be home....

My sister, Jen, and brother-in-law, Daniel:

This is Daniel's version of a "6," not a gang sign ;)

We love them very much.  As God would have it (I don't really believe in luck), they are also in the process of adopting a baby.  They are doing a domestic adoption through Miriam's Promise, and will likely adopt a black baby.  I get kind of choked up when I think about our children growing up in our family, knowing that they are loved regardless of the color of their skin.  I feel very blessed that God has given us this gift.

So, since this is my blog, I get to shamelessly plug both Jen's and Daniel's businesses, which I love to do!

First off, is Jen's business, The Photographix.  Jen and her business partner, Ann, primarily do wedding, engagement, family and kid photography.  Living in the Nashville area, they have had the opportunity to  photograph lots of celebrities including Sheryl Crow, Sara Evans, Ronnie Dunn, Jessica Simpson and Joe Don Rooney (Rascal Flatts).  Our Christmas gift this year was a photo session.   Here are just a couple of the pictures...

Our family's very sad attempt at "the worm"

Yeah, we're rock stars :)

If you were to check out her website, you would see that the rest of her photography rocks just as much.  So, friends in the Nashville area, call her and set up a photo shoot for your kids or family; and for my friends in the DFW area, she will be happy to do some photo shoots when she's here next summer (*fingers crossed*) to welcome home our new little one.

Now for Daniel....  Daniel and his dad own and operate a company called The Bath Works.  They restore antique bath tubs.  I know, very specific, but very cool, right?  You may have seen Cameron Diaz in one of their tubs in The Holiday...

I hope there will come a day when we can own one of their "baths."  I do love them very much. 

Well, that wraps up the 6 month post.  Stay tuned for the 7 month post where I will very likely tell you about the progress we've made on the nursery :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas, Baby

We're praying for you, Baby, and hoping that by next Christmas we're singing the LAST verse of this song...



There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
Where the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
And we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his life
And prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart, and I'll you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas

While We Wait: Another Crazy Dream

I had another dream about our baby the other night...

She was Chinese.

Enough said.

While We Wait: A New Christmas Tradition

Last year our church began a new tradition: a Ladies' Christmas Tea.  I wasn't able to attend last year's Tea due to a previous engagement, but since I'd heard about how awesome it was, I was really looking forward to attending this year's Tea.  On top of that, I had the great honor of being asked to be a hostess this year.  Being a hostess meant that I got to pull out all of my china and decorate a table!  This is SO right up my alley.  I started planning my centerpiece and buying the few things I needed almost immediately. 

Needless to say, we had a great time.  Above is the picture of the ladies from my table - all really sweet ladies and good friends.  The food was fantastic, as was the speaker.  We had such a sweet time of fellowship, that this will definitely be a new tradition for me - whether or not I'm ever asked to be a hostess again ;)

Enjoy a few more pictures I took of the table...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!