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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Spoiled Rotten!

Yesterday was my birthday and I have to say that it ranked high in comparison to others in recent years. Nothing huge happened; it was just a cheery and good day, if you know what I mean. I arrived at work, flipped on the lights in the office and my desk and work area were decked out with balloons and Happy Birthday banners. I rounded the corner and there were a dozen bagels and brownies from Panera Bread. Betty, the designer of these festivities had made sure to request plenty of the Cinnamon Crunch bagels in this bakers’ dozen. She knows they’re my favorite. But I will let you know that I did only eat 1! Then when Allison came traipsing in, she was bearing a gift for me and a VENTI (that’s the enormous one) sugar-free vanilla latte from Starbucks (and also a slice of coffee cake, unaware that there would be a dozen bagels on my desk)! So after all this, did I feel special or what!! So all day, with my office décor displayed, people would ask the number . . . my age. When I proudly said 28, I would normally hear a gasp followed by “I would have guessed 22 or 23!” I’ll take that.
Side note: When I was 21 and constantly being mistaken for a 16 year old, it was a bit annoying.
This was especially difficult during my substitute teaching days. But now at 28, people can mistake me for 5 years younger all they want!

So I get home from work yesterday to another Happy Birthday banner! Jeremy did a bit of decorating for my birthday?? This is so unlike him! He had run home during his lunch break. On the table were all of my wrapped presents and some pretty flowers AND a birthday cake!! It was a quick celebration as we both have obligations at church on Wednesday nights. So I opened my presents, we ate a quick dinner and enjoyed the cake once we returned back home. It was a very special day. Many wonderful people made it that way for me! And here are some pictures that were taken at home to capture the day.

Do you see this cake? Well, let me tell you a little about it. It is from Cold Stone Creamery. It is an icecream cake! It has always been one of my childhood favorites that my parents would often get for my birthday. This one was cake batter icecream, red velvet cake, and whipped cream icing! Delicious! Can we say – day of sugar!

And notice the tiara? You may not notice from the pictures, but it has blinking lights on it. Not sure what the story on that was, but he told me to wear it and so I did.



Monday, March 24, 2008

Lonely Girl, Here

Life is getting a tad bit lonely. Jeremy has been working overtime for the past 2 weeks and he is about to start week 3 of it. Don’t get me wrong, the extra cash is coming at no better time with the adoption and all, but I miss him. Now, I don’t have much of a right to complain. This is very rare that he even gets an opportunity for overtime. He is normally 7:30am-5:00pm and every other Friday off. This is just one of those projects that needed to be completed . . . yesterday! Something about China and radars and signals. I did catch the key words of his explanation! But recently it seems like his work hours have been endless and he hasn’t gotten much of a weekend. On the up side, he has been able to do the overtime from our home. But still, there are no evenings of walking the dog on these nice spring days, no playing golf (the card game we are now ADDICTED to), no cuddling on the couch for a night of television and so on. He comes out of the office for dinner and that is about it. I am usually asleep when he finally makes it to bed. I know he is just as tired of it all as I am.

So all of that to say, I’m lonely. Give me a call!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Thought before Easter Sunday

And now, the night before we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, I will leave you with a verse that Jeremy brought to my attention last week.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

Wow! Perfect sense!

The Nursery is Ready

And here she is in all her glory! So it looks like we’re ready, right? I think so. Furniture has arrived and Jeremy did a great job putting the crib together. So the room is somewhat in place and everything else will just have to wait until we have more details on our baby. Nana is still working on some pieces, but things are moving right along.

So now we are just supposed to sit tight, live life and not think about the WHEN part!! We’ll see how that goes!















Friday, March 21, 2008

The Letter

We returned home from work yesterday with an envelope in our mailbox from our adoption agency. I assumed it was a request for some sort of payment. We tend to get those often. And it was . . . BUT it also included a letter. Basically the letter said our home study has been completed and we have been approved for adoption. So now we know that my fingerprints have come through and we are cleared. We hugged and kissed and I got all teary-eyed . . . again. This means we are officially in the pool of waiting families. So it could be any day . . . literally. It’s a wonderful feeling to be finished with our portion and we can just wait on God to bring us our child.

So last night, after a celebration dinner at Alfredo’s, we put together the nursery. The furniture just happened to come in this week (good timing!) and we haven’t had time to work on it. So as of last night, the nursery is somewhat ready. I will post pictures later this weekend.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

My TOP 5

So I was going to do a TOP 10 like David Letterman, but really couldn’t think of that many things. You see, when we get our baby, life will be changing for us in many ways. I know, I know, no more sleeping in on Saturdays. And no more spontaneous date nights. But completely worth the gift we will have! So I have been thinking about my future adjustments, which will be a little more significant than Jeremy’s. I will be leaving my job, to stay home with our little one. Currently, I am up at 5:30 and we TRY to be out the door by 6:30am in order to get to work on time. Then after work, we’re off to the gym and typically home by 6:00 or 6:30pm (depending on how long Jeremy plays wally ball – such a sissy sport!) Just kidding babe, it’s manly! I am kind of a homebody, so those days really seem like long ones. And yes, our dog has been trained to “hold it” for 12 hours straight. She is amazing in that way and probably a little neglected due to these long hours home alone. So I am definitely looking forward to more time at home, especially with our new little baby. Jeremy, if you’re reading, thanks for being so supportive of this goal to have me home.

Anyways, here are some things I am looking forward to. Also known as my TOP 5.
1. I want to exercise in the morning on an empty stomach. I think it's more productive.

2. I want to have a real breakfast. By real, I just mean something other than a premade protein shake or cereal bar. Right now I go for convenience. But the thought of sitting down, even for 5 minutes, and having cereal . . . well, that would be wonderful!
3. I want to cook extravagant dinners daily. Now, by extravagant, I mean recipes that call for more than 3 ingredients. Currently in this area, I also go for convenience.
4. I want to do daily chores so that I don’t have to dedicate an entire day to a messy house. I can do a couple of hours of housework per day. Like: Monday - dust, Tuesday - floors, Wednesday - bed linens, Thursday – bathrooms, Friday – dust again (we are in Oklahoma you know. The dust is horrible!) Okay, so I know that I missed some of the household chores, but you get my point.
5. I want to finally be able to join a women’s bible study at church.

For all of you stay-at-home moms that are reading; there is no need to make comments such as, “yeah right”, "keep dreamin" or anything of the sort. I am hopeful to accomplish these things once we get into a routine. Yet I am sure you all have something so bright to share with me in your infinite wisdom. But I’ll pass on it and continue to be hopeful. :)


Wednesday, March 12, 2008

God is good all the time!

Oh that title makes me think of the song. And I do love that song! I honestly know this to be true. I mean, I know it deep within me. And sometimes it’s a hard truth for me to swallow. And then there are other times, when it is the only thing that can give me peace.

During months and months of infertility, I might have been a little bit of a basketcase. You can check with Jeremy on that one. Some days feeling so optimistic that God was in control and not me and not doctors. At times that was a huge source of encouragement. Then there were other days that I couldn’t figure out where I was or how to pray. I think I still struggle sometimes with how to pray. I want to walk so closely with Him, that the Holy Spirit directs me in how to pray. That I am not always just asking for my own desires or sending a generic prayer up such as, “let your will be done.” But that I am connecting with the Holy Spirit to pray for the things that He is laying on my heart. Jeremy and I have both been very convicted to pray for specifics and really seek God’s guidance in what our requests should be. It’s gets hairy and complicated sometimes, due to our humanness.

Sorry, I am getting way off subject here. I was really going to share the newest with us and this adoption stuff. So yesterday, I get off of work and turn on my cell and have a voicemail. It is from our social worker. The message sounds something like, “Melodie, I need to speak with you about your fingerprints . . . if you could give me a call back . . .” Well, she had already left the office when I returned the call and I was just going to have to sit overnight with that message . . .wondering what the deal was. So obviously, I knew there was an issue. Jeremy had not received a call, and so we assumed his fingerprints had come back fine. And I knew it wasn’t a problem with my background . . . unless of course someone found a way to steal my fingerprints. Which I think, I was almost hoping for last night. It seemed to be a better option than the alternative – flawed prints, which would mean another 6-8 weeks of waiting. We began praying for anything BUT flawed prints. And Jeremy specifically prayed for something that would not delay this process any further. We were completely praying for our own desires. We weren’t really sure how to pray, except in this way.

You see, this adoption process has gone quicker than I ever expected. I have just had this feeling that it has been happening quickly because there is a baby right around the corner for us. So when we received this voicemail last night, I have to say that I was discouraged. Still praying and trying to be hopeful, but definitely feeling a bit of defeat. Well, this morning I spoke with the social worker. She said that my prints had come back flawed BUT, OSBI would redo them at their office and rush them through the system. So the results should be back to the agency in 1 week. Wow! A huge sigh of relief. I even sigh again, as I type this. I am going today to have the fingerprints redone.

So back to the thought - God is good all the time. I think when things are going well, it is so easy to believe it. And then maybe you question when things aren’t just right. But I also know the sweetest times with my Jesus are when things have been hard. Those are the times when my need for him is greater than any ability or control on my part. The past year and a half He has taken us down a winding road that we didn’t plan to explore at this point in life. And it has been a sweet time of growth, stretching and learning to trust. And you know, I couldn’t have chosen a better road for myself. God is good all the time. I know it. I believe it. I will cling to it no matter what!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Waiting, Waiting and More Waiting

Well, we are still waiting. I pray so hard that waiting is not the theme of 2008! We are waiting on a phone call or email or writing in the sky that tells us that the results of our fingerprints have come back and we can officially begin waiting. And there is that word again . . . WAIT. But this next wait will be so much more exciting. And the anticipated phone call that comes at the end of the wait will completely change our lives forever. But this fingerprint waiting is just another stepping stone to get there. Email is something I check often now. And the phone is the first place I go after returning home, to check for new messages. It’s probably a good thing that I don’t know our answering machine code to check our messages while away from home. I might wear out that machine.

The agency said the fingerprinting normally takes 6-8 weeks. Tomorrow is 7 weeks. So I know, I know. I am a little overly anxious. I think my biggest fear is that we will be told that there was a flaw in the prints and they need to be redone. And we will begin another 6-8 weeks of waiting. I know people wait YEARS to adopt internationally and sometimes it is the same way with domestic adoption. And let me say . . . I can’t even imagine!! We basically started this process 7 weeks ago and it has moved so quickly. Thank you, God!

On another note, they are predicting 7-10 inches of snow here in central Oklahoma, beginning tomorrow. I’m ok with that. Never really been in a blizzard and that is sure what 7-10 inches sounds like to me! But my parents are supposed to be heading this way tomorrow. And I will be TICKED OFF if those plans are interrupted because of this idiotic/bipolar weather. I have been anxiously awaiting this visit. It is always a good weekend when we are able to spend it with family!!

Well, I’m off to check my email for the umpteenth time and see if our social worker received the fingerprint info today! :) Thanks for listening to me whine.