Me and My Hair...

I am beginning to think this blog is more about me and my crazy hair...lol! I just went in today to get a trim and a color rinse to freshen up the red tones I had, and I saw the receptionist at the salon and LOVED her hair! So...needless to say, I changed it again. The cut is similar, but it has more choppy layers. The color is almost black brown and a small part of the top is a red. I love it! Wait, let me say it again, I LOVE IT! Miles noticed it too. He told me, "Mommy, your hair is black and red," with amazement. All I can say is why not? I have to keep myself occupied with something other than obsessing over our adoption, right? So, I think our referral better come soon, before I go pink! LOL!

Taking a Snow Day!

I'm sure you all have heard about the "ice storms" in the mid-west. We did get some ice, but then we got snow. This is our first time as a family to play in the snow. In November we had about an inch, but this time it's probably almost 6 inches in some areas! Miles got all bundled up and we played with his neighborhood friend and Mommy and Daddy. He LOVED every minute of it!

10 Referrals Yesterday!!!

I believe this puts us in the single digits as for our waiting list! Could it be, that we might receive a referral by the end of February??? How amazing that would be! We will have a better idea of where we are exactly by Friday. The time frame from referral to travel is looking at about four months.
So I was in a really great mood today, thinking of possibly getting our phone call soon, and I made some bread. Check this out!

My Little Salior Man

Miles has a new love for greens! I just had to document this. Tonight was fresh spinach and man he got down. A few nights ago, I made some turnip greens and he ate two servings. I'm so proud of my little man!

Happy One Year

Today marks the day that we sent in our adoption application. One year ago, we switched agencies from the Foster Adopt program in Texas to international adoption in Ethiopia. We actually were talking about changing in October of 2007, after being with the states program for a year. We prayed for wisdom, guidance and direction. God reminded us that our children were in Ethiopia and not in Texas. After many disturbing issues with the Foster Adopt program, we mailed in the application and got very excited. When we started with CHI, there were only about 20 families on the waiting list and by the time we turned in our paperwork, we were number 74! We are much lower than that now and I am optimistically expecting our call within the next two months! I know, it has been three years of me saying that!
Our agency was closed two weeks for the holidays and we are hoping to hear of some referrals today.

Real Tear Jerker...But Great to Help Others Understand a Little

16 Things about me...

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you have to write a note with 16 random things, shortcomings, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 16 people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. You have to tag the person who tagged you.

1. I'm overly zealous. I'm excited easily and very passionate about a lot of things.
2. I am truly grateful for my husband! He is so amazing and I can't say it enough.
3. I love Springfield, MO. I really do. I know, back to number one...lol. But we really are thinking about retiring here!
4. I used to have really low self-esteem.
5. I talk a lot, sorry, I can't help it, I have a lot to say.
6. I would really like to do some missionary work. I think I might go to Ethiopia a little early and pair up with some missionaries while I'm there.
7. I tend to over analyze things way to much, like... did I say something wrong, etc..
8. I check facebook, myspace and cafe mom everyday at least once. I know, I need to drop one of these babies. Oh, and I maintain a blog. Yeah, one of them HAS to go....hmmm, which one?
9. I love my God, I really do. I know what grace is and have experienced an awesome level of forgiveness and truly appreciate it.
10. I interrupt people all the time. I hate doing it, I just talk too much (#5). I'm working on it. Oh, if I ever interrupt you, please let me know...kindly...lol!
11. I cook everyday and I bake at least two times a week and I LOVE it! It's never been a chore for me except for when I worked outside of the home. I just got my kitchen aid mixer, so watch out Martha...here I come!
12. I secretly...okay, so it's not much of a secret, want to live off of the land. Like, really. Solar panels, gardens, animals and all. I even want an alpaca, for it's fur, so I can spin and knit sweaters with it...lol, seriously!
13. I scrapbook everything. I even scrapbook pictures of me scrapbooking! Thank you Aunt Leslie for introducing me to it! And Chawn, you better get those pictures to me soon, or I'm not going to have time to scrapbook Jordan's album until he's five...lol!
14. I have no regrets for the life I have. Sure I have some "what if's," but not often. I'm so content with my circumstances. It's taken me awhile to get here, but I'm here.
15. I love coupons! I joined this coupon exchange here in Springfield and LOVE getting coupons everyweek! So if you want to mail me all your coupons, I'll take them! I saved $40 last week!
16. This was surprisingly really hard for me to come up with 16 things!

Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful day it has been! Here are a few pictures of our morning. More pictures will follow. Miles absolutely LOVED all his toys and was really excited to get a truck! He also got a remote control dinosaur that is out of this world, we will picture that soon. Miles received many movies, books, games, and clothes. He was lavished with gifts from Santa and the many relatives and really enjoys everything!
He went outside this morning to pick up his friend Tyler in his Hummer, it was hilarious. He drove Tyler to the house to check out his new loot! When Tyler was showing Miles how to work the remote control dinosaur, that is almost 3' tall, Miles jumped on the couch and almost wet his pants with fear. It was so funny.
And.........guess what I got? A Kitchen Aid Mixer!!!! And it's the Professional one. I was so excited, I whipped up Jesus' birthday cake with it and couldn't wait for Brandon to document it. I promised him that this mixer will last so long, it will be passed on to Marley...lol! My parents and Brandon's parents bought me this, what an amazing gift!

New Hair Again...Merry Christmas!

I LOVE coloring my hair! I am hooked! I went to The System again and saw my favorite hair dresser for the last time. He is graduating in January and moving on to bigger and better things. So Mikey, if your out there, make sure to let me know when you get to a salon and I'll shout you out on here to get your clientele started! If any of you are in Springfield, you HAVE to go to The System for an amazing Stylist and an amazing price! This color is AMAZING! I almost have the same color as Meg. Let me know what you think. I got the reds for Christmas.
By the way, we are officially, number 15 on "The List!"

5 MONTHS WAITING!!!

Today marks our five month waiting day! To be honest, it hasn't been that bad. Well, I suppose if you look to our past posts, you might think differently. But overall, I'm feeling pretty calm and collected about it.
We had almost 3 weeks of no referrals at our agency and I was getting a bit antsy, but so far this week there have been Eight referrals, yes I said EIGHT! Here's the breakdown of the eight: Boys, 7 weeks, 2 months, 10 months, 2 months, 5 1/2 months. Girls, 2 years, 19 months, 2 months.
Where are we? I still don't have a definite number, but it's around 14 according to my calculations, which are never really right...lol! One of my blog friends is #9 for sure, for girls under 12 months and #4 for girls over 12 months and we are just a few families behind her....so YAY for us!!!!!! Optimistically, I am hoping for some more referrals by Friday because our agency will be closed for two weeks over Christmas. I know, I can't be that greedy, eight referrals in one week are AWESOME!

Shout out to my dear friend Audrey! Yesterday, I talked to my dad. He will be in a rehab/nursing home for 80 days and they will care for him until my mother heals from her broken ankle. It really breaks my heart everytime I talk to him. But anyways, I asked him what he needed, since my mother can not drive and relies on friends to take her places. He, very humbly asked for a few things and to avoid the Christmas mail chaos, I called someone I knew would help me get this stuff to my dad. I can't wait to hear about his reaction! Audrey, you are so amazing and I really love you for doing this for me! My dad is all alone right now and you bringing him this stuff is such a blessing to us! Thanks again!