Adoption Update

Many of you have asked what is going on with our adoption journey---all we can say is that it is all in God's hands and we are on His time schedule.  Yes, I admit, I wish he would "hurry up" but what can we do??? He is waiting to place the right and perfect baby with us, and for some reason, that perfect baby isn't ready to be known yet.  We are still "waiting" for a potential birth mother to choose us to parent her child and are actively on the waiting list of families.  We have been officially on this list for 8 months now---so if I were pregnant, I still wouldn't be having the baby yet!  Keep praying for the birthmother to be healthy and be at peace with her extremely courageous decision---she is the one to be praying for, not us.  Without her, we are nothing.  Trust me, when we know something, EVERYONE will know!  Thank you all for the thoughts and wishes---keep them coming!

Goofing off with my 2 favorite kids!

My parents were in town for a brief visit--so we had dinner at Phil and Karen's--here is some pix of Addie, Kevin and me goofing off after dinner.  Aren't they getting soooooo big??? Addie is going to be a Junior in High School this year and Kevin a Freshman! Man, where has the time gone??????

Garden Bounty

We've had a few mis-steps with the garden---mother nature not fully cooperating with us as well as the squirrels and chipmunks thinking our yard and garden is their own personal playground and buffet...but nonetheless, we are picking tomatoes daily and have a few really good crops of cucumbers and squash.  We just planted round 2 for a late season crop of lots of yummy veggies---we tried broccoli, brussel sprouts, collard greens, cabbage as well as round 2 of peppers, tomatoes and squash.  Lettuce will go back in once this awful heat stops and we get a little cooler weather.

Buffalo visitors

Matthew's niece Liz was in town for work and we had the great pleasure of having her and her friend Susie (or Sujo) over for dinner and a little laundry.  They both work for Bank of America doing loan modifications for people and travel like CRAZY!  It was great to be able to see them when in town!

homemade pickles

my neighbor received a bunch of produce from her niece and didn't know what to do with it all and asked for my help-----so I took the case of cucumbers and made bread and butter cucumbers!  Wouldn't have been possible without the help of Aunt Nancy and her recipe---thanks Aunt Nancy!  Now I am ready for when my garden comes up to make more pickles and can veggies later this fall!

Look what I did!

another "passing the time" activity ---I took up knitting again and kinit this baby blanket!  I haven't held knitting needles since I was about 10 years old----so I found a yarn store, found a fantastic lady named Betsy who was VERY patient with me and re-introduced me to knitting and gave me the pattern to this blanket---and was on call when I needed her--like how to weave in the tails when changing colors, or how on earth do I bind off???? 
in the end, I'm very proud of myself and the end result of my new hobby!!!  dish cloths for everyone for Christmas this year!  ;)

Spring in North Carolina! it's garden time!

Trying to stay busy and eat healthy all at the same time----one of the easiest and most enjoyable things we've done this year!    Matthew's  been a busy guy building these raised beds--even though we have the land, the drainage is a killer and we lose more plants than survive, so we went mostly raised beds this year.  Here are some pix of our gardens----soon to be filled with tomatoes, peppers (5 types), cucumbers, squash, onions, potatoes, radishes, etc----also pix of our herb garden--I'm very proud of this because I have been totally "winging it" and it keeps coming back and I get to use all of these herbs in cooking! YUM!  Matthew enjoyed making the stepping stones with our neighbor David last year.   The other pix is a box filled with 3 types of lettuce--guess what we are having for dinner??!?

 Also, tonight as I went out to take these pictures---look what I saw slithering across our driveway! YIKES!!!! luckily a great neighbor came over after hearing me scream like a little girl and scooped him up and tranferred mr snake to the end of the road. The gorgeous flowering plant is a lenten rose given to me by a dear friend a few years ago and it is finally blooming--they take a few years to bloom and settle in---I thought I had killed it, and instead it rewarded me by the beautiful sight this year. 

Babymoon

We needed to get away..it is that simple.  Time to de-stress and go at whatever pace we wanted.  We've been so wound up jumping everytime the phone rings, crazy-eyed staring at construction projects to be done, a to-do list a mile long, it was time to get away before we drove each other crazy (ok, before I drove Matthew crazy).  So we headed to the mountains of Asheville, NC for the weekend.  For those that have never been, it is breathtakingly beautiful and as close to New England as we're going to get down here in the semi-south.  Asheville is known for being the home of the Biltmore Estate--the largest home in America with 250 rooms built by George Vanderbilt. 

While in Asheville, we did enjoy a wonderful gift of a FABULOUS brunch at world renown Grove Park Inn.  http://www.groveparkinn.com/Leisure/Dining/BRDR_Brunch/    Built in 1913, it has become a home away from home for many dignitaries and celebrities.  During the summers of 1935 and ’36, author F. Scott Fitzgerald resided in our Room 441. He’s just one of the American luminaries to have stayed here, a list that includes Harry Houdini, Will Rogers, George Gershwin, Thomas Edison, Eleanor Roosevelt and Henry Ford. Not to mention presidents — William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard M. Nixon, George H. W. Bush, William J. Clinton and Barack H. Obama.  This list doesn't include the celebrities and famous golfers who have also stayed.

The view is FANTASTIC and the clean air demands relaxation as soon as you drive onto the grounds.  What we loved the most was the HUGE fireplaces.  Here we are in the Great Lobby. There are actually elevator shafts built into the back of these fireplaces to hide them to be discreet to the guests.  amazing.

Anyhoo, the weekend was amazing.  The weather was great---a bit chilly, but sunny so we didn't care.  We walked around the downtown area of Asheville for the day checking out all of the cool stores, art galleries, general store, etc. Never had so much great, inspired food in one weekend.  And it was just what the doctor ordered---rest, relaxation and away. perfect. Now we are refreshed and ready to go!

Now, if only Doris would call to tell us there is a baby waiting for us..................................

Getting practice putting things together

Trying to stay occupied while in waiting stage, I've been trying to not go overboard and buy everything for the nursery---it's hard to keep walking by a full nursery with no idea when it will be occupied----however, still need to be ready for "the call"....so we purchased the pack-n-play. Our thoughts are to have the baby in our bedroom for the first x # months anyway, so this was a necessary purchase (I have to rationalize things somehow!).  Here is Matthew putting this together.  What you don't see, is once it is all put together, we went to move it to the nursery AND IT WOULDN'T FIT THROUGH THE DOORS!  after catching our breath from laughing so hard, we semi-collapsed it. So, in preparation of parenthood, we are learning that the 15 minute tasks do often take MUCH longer than anticipated!

Far Away Friend comes to visit!

Luckily my friend Paula is a whiz at getting deals and utilizing frequent flyer miles!  So she came down for a weekend to visit from Boston before the baby.  I put her right to work because what are friends for but to help pick out lighting fixtures??? Plus, I knew Paula's great decorating sense, so we headed out and visited WAY too many lighting stores on a quest for new sconces we were having installed in our living room.  It was great to see and catch up with Paula while she was here.  I guess the good side of being a grown up is to be able to still see those friends in far away places.

Still Waiting!

I realized I haven't posted anything for a while---and it is only because nothing really new to update!  We are still waiting patiently for the phone to ring.  In the meantime, I've given Matthew a "honey do" list to get some projects completed around the house that needs to get done before the baby arrives! For instance, hanging new ceiling fan in nursery (check/done!), spreading the HUGE pile of mulch sitting in our driveway (we are both doing that --but mulch is like chinese food, you can keep spreading and shoveling, but the pile never seems to get any smaller!), paint the back hallway (ok, that is my task), get new lights installed, etc--you get the picture. 

Just wanted to let you know things are still good --we're still waiting---keep the prayers coming for the Birthmother!  Hopefully we will have news soon!

for all the world to see

Each step gets us a little  closer---I know we told you we were all set just waiting for the phone to ring---and that is true---but there are so many other steps that actually happen that we are learning as we go along....one is us being posted on the agency's website for potential birthmom's to preview.  Well, as of today, we are officially on the website.  I dropped off our profile books to the agency yesterday, got a reading list from Doris and DVD's to watch in preparation and NOW we just sit back and wait for the phone to ring--I don't think there are any other steps we need to do---if we do, we don't know what they are! 

We are trying to stay calm---and get our house to-do list complete because who knows when we will have the energy to paint rooms and do minor construction again?  I'm trying to get my address book squared away, and in the meantime solve world peace. (sarcasm). We have a really long to do list and who knows what will and will not get done?? but who cares????

so as we go into the holiday season, don't just pray for us, pray for the birthmother  that is carrying our child that she is safe, healthy and at peace with her decision to place her child with adoption.  Praying for her will lead her to us.