Strep Throat

So apparently it's not just allergies. I went to the doctor after school yesterday and I have strep throat. I haven't had strep in years...YEARS! We have quite a few kids at school with strep right now so I'm sure I picked it up there. I seem to catch everything. Remember the boy in the bubble? I'm thinking I need a bubble. I forgot how painful strep throat can be. My throat has felt like it's on fire even when I breath. I'm finally starting to feel some relief tonight, but still feeling pretty crummy. I'm the coordinating hostess the baby shower of one of my dear friends on Sunday. I need to get to feeling better before then.

Thanks for all your sweet comments in the last post. Just to clarify, I should have said 100 posts, not blogs. Some of you people write a lot more frequently than I do.

Have a great weekend and I promise to be back to commenting soon!

This and That

I've been a terrible blogger and blog reader the last couple of weeks. We have been working on all of our home study paperwork. I'm happy to say that we turned it all in yesterday!! Now we just wait for word from the agency so we can schedule our appointments. I'm so nervous that we won't get approved. I know God is in charge, and I'm trying to trust him, but it is scary.

I'm also sick. I am going to the dr today after school. I have white spots on my tonils so I'm guessing it's tonsilitis again. Ugh! This allergy season has been horrible for me and I just can't seem to get well and stay well. I have been going home every night and working on home study stuff and then just laying in bed watching tv. I have so many blogs to catch up on. So if I haven't commented on yours I am sorry. I promise I will get around to the over 100 blogs in my reader sometime this weekend.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Scrapbooking

I love to scrapbook, but haven't done a good job of it lately. I have so much "stuff" stored in tubs, bags and drawers. I'm sick of all the junk! I want to go digital.

I'm hoping some of you can help me with suggestions of software programs you use for your scrapbooking. I want something user friendly that gives me some layout options, but also allows me to create my own. I am also hoping to use this when I create the book I give to birth families that are considering us.

What do any of you scrappers use? Thanks!

Sleep and Seminar

I can't sleep!  I haven't slept all night in over a week.  I generally wake up between 2:30 and 3:30 and rarely go back to sleep.  It is driving me crazy!!!  I've always been a light sleeper.  Most little noises wake me up during the night.  This is different though.  There doesn't seem to be anything that wakes me up.  I just wake up and then cannot go back to sleep.  I toss and turn and try to get comfortable again.  I turn on my sound machine i.Phone app.  I try everything.  This morning I even downloaded a meditation/sleep file from i.Tunes.  The guy doing the talking has a very soothing voice, but it just didn't help.  I have been really good about not taking a nap when I get home from work and believe me, I have certainly wanted to!  I know that will only make it worse though.  I am feeling like a big time grump and I hate it.  So I ask you, what can I do?  If you have any sleep issues and found something that worked, please share them with me.  Or if you just have a suggestion, share that too!

I also wanted to update on our AES (Adoption Education Seminar).  It was really great!  There were a lot of things that I already knew from all the research I've done.  We talked about a lot of good topics though.  We spent quite a bit of time on Open Adoption.  There was discussion about what scares us about that, how the birth families feel when they make an adoption plan and allow someone else to take their baby home from the hospital.  I'm not gonna lie...I was crying!  It really is emotional when you think about it.  I mean, here is this woman/family who wants her child to have a really great life and is going to trust me to give her child what she feels she can't.  It is a gift I can never be worthy of and can never be thankful enough for. 

Something that was really helpful to me was discussing the role the birth family will have in our lives.  It looks different for every family and of course it can change over time.  It is something we'll discuss with the birth family in the match meetings and decide what we are both comfortable with.  I know it can be scary, but I also know that a child can never have too much love so I just continue to pray.  I pray for God to allow me to feel secure even when I'm scared.  Because even though we won't be co-parenting, there will always be another woman out there who is the birth mother of my child.  I will never be the birth mother, just like she will never be the mother fulfilling the day to day needs my child will get from me.  It's something that is totally new to me so of course it's scary, but I know it is something I can do. 

There was also a lot of discussion about transracial adoption.  Our agency does a lot of transracial adoptions.  I think so many do now because there is just such a need for it.  They don't pressure anyone into it because it really is a personal decision.  We spent a lot of time discussing what kinds of changes some people make after they adopt a child of a different race.  What is best for the child as far as support?  Where you can find resources to help with any issues that may come up?  How is parenting a child of another race different?  I know a lot of people like to believe that it really isn't any different and I think in many ways, it's not.  You love your child no matter what.  But, there are differences.  Unfortunately, we live in a world with cruel people and those people aren't just cruel about race.  We live in a world where people are not as accepting of differences as they should be.  People say mean and stupid things all the time.  It's important to have a plan of how you will handle these types of situations when they arise, because be assured, they will arise.  It's also important to know when you will react and when you will ignore.  What you will say to your child.  How you will let him/her know that it's ok if they ignore people, but it's also ok if they say something.  It's something to spend a lot of time planning for and of course thinking and praying about. 

I think the most important thing I gained from this seminar was just that I need to educate myself.  I don't ever want my child to feel like an outsider because he/she is adopted.  I want him/her to see other families that are like ours.  Whatever our family looks like and how our family is made doesn't matter to me as much as it will matter to outsiders.  I need to make sure that my actions and my words always tell my child that I am proud of how he/she came to us.  That adoption is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

Decisions, Decisions!

We've made a decision on the agency we want to use for the adoption. It's the one that we really liked after the informational meeting. It just felt right and after talking to other agencies and getting lots of information we decided this was the right one for us. We are really excited.

After I went on the retreat instead of going to the Adoption Education Seminar, we were told we'd most likely have to wait until the end of May for the next seminar. I was bummed, but wasn't freaking out. We are just praying that God will give us a sense of peace during this entire journey and so far He has! Well, yesterday I got a call from the man at the agency that is in charge of the seminars. He left a message telling me they decided to have another seminar this Saturday because they have gotten several new birth mothers in the last week and a half. They want more families to complete the seminar and then the home study so they can have more profiles to show to these birth mothers. He asked if we would be willing to attend since it is kind of last minute. I was like....HELLOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Of course we want to attend! So we are signed up for the seminar this Saturday.

It feels like things are really starting to fall into place. Of course it's not like we have a baby or anything and even if we are approved, we aren't guaranteed that one of these birth mothers will choose us. BUT, it's still pretty exciting. We are going to be one step closer to our child. I really feel God's hand working in all of this. The money aspect is a little stressful, but even that seems to be working out.

So now that you all know what I'll be doing Saturday, who else has some exciting weekend plans? Or maybe just some relaxing plans. I know I could use that too. Oh well, I think I'd rather sit in a room for 8 hours than sit at home reading for 8 hours. :)

Easter Weekend

Wow...the weekend seems to have went by in a blink. Just wanted to give a quick update...nothing too exciting is going on right now. I've been away from the computer just about all weekend. Except to update face.book on my i.phone.

We spent the weekend with family and friends and it was wonderful! I had Friday off and spent the day finishing up my Spring cleaning and getting ready for guests. Barry's brother and his family came Saturday afternoon and stayed the night so we could all be together for Easter. It was so nice to get to hang out with them and just talk. We don't get to do enough of that. They have three kids and the kids keep them so busy. Sunday I got up early and got some stuff ready for Easter dinner. We went to church and our worship service was wonderful! It was so great having our family there with us to celebrate the real reason for Easter. Barry's parents arrived just in time for worship.

After church we went back to our house for a cookout. We opted not to do the traditional Easter dinner. The weather has been so beautiful and you can't go wrong with burgers on the grill. We had Barry's family and several of our friends who didn't have anywhere to go with us. It was just so very nice to spend time with our family and amazing friends. We are so blessed to have friends that are just like family to us.

After everyone left I was exhausted. I cleaned up the house and then took a nap. It was great! I don't get enough of those. Spring in Texas is not a good thing for this girl and her allergies. I tell ya...I have been miserable! I'm heading back to the doctor this afternoon because I'm pretty sure I have another sinus infection. I'm ready for Summer!! Of course not just because of my allergies. I'm ready for summer vacation. This has been a tough year for me at school. I'm ready to open our pool. I'm ready to spend some time just relaxing and getting some projects done.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Tell me what you did. I love to hear how other people celebrate holidays.