I had a thought this morning

It's so rare I have thoughts that I had to document this one...no really it's a good one - it got me a little choked up, excited, scared...all kinds of emotions.

Naturally it's about adoption because at this point really what else is there in my life? CSSM says the average wait is 10 months and we've been told because we are currently childless it's likely we will be place more quickly. So, that being said...wait for it...our baby very well could be growing right NOW!!! Somewhere is Montana there is a baby waiting to come home to us.

HOMESTUDY DONE!!!!

Nothing to do but wait...

It was great!

HS #2 DONE!!

We had another great meeting today. We chatted more about our next steps in the process, about parenting and discipline. We're having nice easy chats, it was almost like she was running out of things to discuss...had to save something for tomorrow...
Betsy liked our album and gave me the go ahead to order so I've done that and they are on their way to Helena. We had a few changes to make to our letter which I've done and will show her tomorrow.
That's it for now.

Jr's Room

The weekend before last I got a little fire in me and decided to work on a changing table for Jr. We're pretty happy with it, we think it will work just fine. It's amazing what can be created when one is resourceful, just a few days before I was trying to come up with a way to dispose of the piece. Below is the end result.

Portland Pics

The view of the atrium from our room.

The Urban Farmer Restaurant - totally hip and totally a blast!

Our Room!

More of our room

Me in our room!

Mom street walking in Portland

I'm BACK!!!

Portland was great - Saturday and Sunday night we stayed in the coolest hotel call The Nines. The Nines is located on floors 6-14 above 5 floors of Macy's in downtown Portland. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into and so stoked about what worked out. The Nines is a very modern, eclectic, chic, vibey place - the decor, food and drinks were great. I would stay there again in a heartbeat (doubtful I will ever get the chance since we got a screaming deal which I don't think will ever be matched).
Wednesday through Saturday morning we were at the ever so standard Embassy Suites at the Airport. It was nice enough, I feel a little bad for Mom since she was pretty much stranded on Friday while I was in meetings all day. The convention/meeting was fine.
Our weather throughout the trip was manageable, raining and cloudy but mild. I don't really have any pictures but of The Nines - I'll get them posted sometime soon.
Back to the grind....

Off to Portland

Will report back next week!

1st HS DONE!!

OMG!! My head is pounding!!! The residual effects of adrenaline are almost debilitating! (notice how I'm illustrating my excitement with exclamation marks!!! )
Our meeting was great! Betsy was very welcoming, we covered a lot of points. Betsy feels we are sitting pretty as far as our restrictions/limitation/parameters/expectations etc. She thinks we may be the only one or one of only two couples who are in the pool (which we are not yet-but will be soon) who don't have any children. Families without children tend to be placed more quickly. She anticipates we will be in the pool my mid April!!! Ahead of the schedule I put on us.
Our next meeting is a week from Thursday, we'll discuss more about adoption and parenting.
Our third meeting will be a week from Friday, the day after our second meeting, we'll discuss our childhood/autobiography's we wrote - interview separately and do the home inspection!
For the love...this is surreal! When we started this process it seemed like it would be an eternity before we got to this stage - now we're here and realistically we could be placed at any time (I'm telling myself to be prepared for a wait). It has happened where a placement occurs B4 the homestudy is complete.
Bottom like we have to be ready for ANYTHING at this point.

also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. CROTZER!!!

1st Homestudy tomorrow

Will let you know how it goes....

Happy Friday Y'all

I spent the majority of yesterday in classes. The first eight hours were in a Commercial Casualty class which left me feeling horrified of all the potential exposures of all my clients and anyone really who has a business and a life...yikes!
The last three hours of a day were spend in an American Heart Association Heart Saver CPR class which left me feeling confident that I could make a solid attempt to save someone in need of CPR or choking assistance. It also left me with a desire to provide an AED (portable defibrillator) to everyone I know...too bad they cost $3,000.
It seems the more you know the more you realized you're lacking.
Am thankful it's the weekend. DH works this weekend (again) so I'll be prepping for my jaunt to Portland and just fiddling around the house (bet you didn't know I knew how to fiddle - ha). Things are supposed to warm up, comparatively speaking to the sub zero temps we had earlier in the week.


------New subject....ADOPTION (surprise surprise)------

For those who would like a better idea of what it's like to go through the adoption process please feel free to check out this adoption board I follow (link below). Most of the people who post are in the midst of the process, occasionally adopted children and birth parents post their stories as well. It's a great place to share the struggles and successes of the process.
http://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/4236700/ShowForum.aspx

Some of the folks who post really struggle with the process. I think DH and I are of the of the rare breed who are thrilled to be in the process and embrace the trials and tribulations of it. We at times will become frustrated with slowness of the paper craw but are of the mind set that what will be will be.

Can't live with 'em...can't live without 'em

Betsy our Social Worker called today!!! We have three appointments tentatively scheduled...just waiting for DH to confirm with his schedule so I can firm up with Betsy. I know his schedule but he needs to think he's got a little control - bless his heart.

St. Patrick's Day hopefully will be our first meeting...many reasons to celebrate that day; it's also my favorite father-in-laws BIRTHDAY!! Plus, I love corned beef!

Then possibly two more the following week. I'm so stoked we are finally at his point! My trip to Portland next week will be a nice distraction between meetings.

Hip hip hurray for progress!

How cool am I??

Did you hear that?

It sounded something like of photocopier...supposedly our file is being copied and put in the mail to Betsy the social worker in our area! After her review, my understanding is, she wiill call us to schedule our homestudy.

Room-4-Rent

With the down turn of the economy DH and I have decided to rent out a room in our house!

Small room, perfect for a resident under 3 feet tall...

Just kidding...

I spend a couple of hours this weekend working on Jr.'s room. Still have a lot of cleaning out to do. If nothing else we have crib for wee visitors. Maybe we will actually get some of our family to visit with their babes!

I managed to make it through most of the weekend without moving much around the house. I did a lot of 'naked eye' cleaning - that's the cleaning no one with a naked eye would notice...I cleaned all the magnets on the fridge, dusted the tops of all the door jams, the slats of the blinds, the baseboard molding...blah blah blah. I need to get a life!

I slipped on some ice last Thursday and sprained my ankle so I'm not really mobile, couldn't get out and do much else this weekend.