Boy Names, Just in case!!

We have been really struggling to come up w/ a boy name. If you remember awhile back I thought we had agreed on Stryder. But I guess a nod yes while watching tv, is not really a yes I love that name after all. Mark says there is no way on this earth he is naming his son Stryder. So I told him he had to come up w/ something better. His suggestion was Simeon. Not Simon, but Si me on. I started to do some research on it and the more I searched, the more i liked it.
Simeon means God has heard. That right there gets my attention! And then in the New Testament this is who Simeon was: (from Luke)
25Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss[d] your servant in peace.
30For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
32a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."

33The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."

So, there you have it. Of course i have heard this story before, but as I reread it, I was just very moved and thought it was a really neat name for a child that we have prayed for, and that will be such a blessing to our family. Of course he may still be she! And hopefully with in the next week the question will be answered!

The NeverEnding Month

Will it ever end? I have no doubt we will be getting our referral in this next batch. (If we don't, just lock me away, PLEASE!) But now the question is, WHEN?? I have been counting on it coming mid week next week. That would follow the trend of the last few months. Then I saw a rumor mentioned that they might be mailed THE END of next week. That is bad news for us. Mark has training out of town, and we were going to follow along. I REALLY REALLY wanted to be here when the call comes. Being in the same town as our home office means that I can drive over to the office and pick up our package instead of having it mailed to me. And of course we want to be here to celebrate w/ our family and friends who have prayed and waited right along w/ us. I had been even holding out a little hope that maybe they might come early, maybe this week, so that we could celebrate our "gift" on Fathers Day. I am really going CRAZY!! Maybe I should get busy cleaning my house since tomorrow is the update on our homestudy and our social worker will be back here. That should keep me occupied for today at least! By the way, we have come up w/ a boy name, no thanks to help from you all! Well, we have come up w/ another possiblity I should say. But I will post about that later. It was Mark's idea and it is growing on me...

Happy Anniversary To Us!

For some reason this scanned in horrible. We have been married a long time, but not long enough to have our pictures looking that bad! 12 years ago today, I married my highschool sweetheart! i was 19, sounds so young now! We celebrated tonight w/ a movie & dinner at the Melting Pot, our favorite. Don't we look exactly the same? Give or take a few pounds, and ALOT of hair! hehehehe!

Girl, Boy or Both??

As you probably know, when we turned in our paperwork to China, we stated that we were open to a girl OR a boy from China. We knew the chances of getting a boy were slim, but we still said either as we felt that God would choose the sex of our child, not us. Because we honestly did not care. And at first, I thought in my head girl or boy. But as the wait went on, I felt convinced that we would get a girl. Bought girl things, called her Sage and have become very attached to this little girl in my head and heart. But every once in a while, i have doubts and think, what if it is a boy? I have friends who are convinced we are getting a boy. One of my dear friends even dreamed this week we got a boy referral. Now Malaine, our 3 year old, is convinced we are getting a girl AND a boy. No question about it. And their names will be Sage and Tanner. There is no doubt in her head that this is what she will have for her new siblings. We are not sure where Tanner came from. But she does not talk about Sage w/ out Tanner. The rumors have started. They say referrals will cover through 6/23. I am good w/ that! Though I wish they would go farther and cover all my June friends. There is also rumor they will be here this week, next week etc.. If trend follows as the past few months, I am expecting to hear on the 20th. That will be our 1 year LID anniversary also! This week would be a GREAT surprise of course! But I can make it one more week. I think! So not only do we wait to see when they come, we wait to see, Is it a Girl, A boy?? How old? Where from? This is my most anticipated ultrasound yet!

By the way, we are perfectly fine w/ a boy. I know that God will give me the child that is MY child. But I do need a boy name!! Any S names out there for me? You know a few months ago i said Stryder. Mark says no way now. The only thing we agree on is Xander. Szander. Zander. HELP!!

And are we ok w/ twins if Malaine knows something that we don't? It will be a miracle if that is what we get. And mark will pass out I am sure! But like I said, we trust God knows what we need and whatever baby we are referred, we will know is a gift from Him.

Last Day of School

This was Makenna's last day of school. We have been out for 1 week now! the pictures are out of order. Her teacher is the last one of course. We take a picture every year under the Victory sign to see how much we are growing! And lunch that day was Denny's, Makenna's pick. Hard to believe 2nd grade is over. Next year when school starts life is going to be so different! 4 kids, 2 of them in school full time! WOW!

Kansas City Part 2

Mark's Brother Brett's Children Graham celebrating 2 !
Tyler is 4!!
Party Fun!!
Swinging Around!

Kansas City Part 1

Stephanie, Ginger & Shannon Mommy's in waiting, and waiting, and waiting!
Kianna & Makenna
Malaine, Tucker & Sawyer

We had a great time in Kansas City last weekend. We had the chance to lunch w/ Stephanie, who is LID 6/22 and waiting for her baby girl Tatumn. We are FOR SURE travel buddies! She has 3 boys, 1 of them above. Taylor, Tanner and Tucker. I know their little girl will be a perfect fit in their family and turn their world pink!! ;) Ginger and Danny also joined us, they are LID 6/10. We had hoped and prayed that we would all travel together, but that was not God's plan. Kiana and Makenna had a great time, and though they won't be in China together, they will still be able to visit and remain good friends. Kiana is offically a big sister! They have a 9 month old baby girl waiting for them in China! We are so excited to see the pictures of their new daughter!

Sawyer Graduates PreSchool

Sawyer & his Buddies! Twins Ty & Trey
Have to love his Fake Smile!
Getting his diploma.
Now this is a real smile! Gift certificates for free game rentals from Grammy & Papa!

Beauty in our Future!

This was taken from our porch, we get to see this beautiful sunset often, when we actually take the time to stop and look. Seeing this picture tonight reminds me of the beautfiul plan I know God has for us, i just needed to stop and look. It was a difficult day Tuesday. But after I got over it, I have felt much, much peace. We have no doubt we are next. We don't have to wonder and wait out the month to see what is going to happen. Referrals have been running on average at 4 weeks. That puts us at June 20th. I can make it till then. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, i am sad that we do not get to travel w/ some great friends we have made, but I know that this was Gods plan all along. As we have learned over and over again, our plans might not be His plans! And we will be traveling w/ a great friend I made way back at the beginning of the "process"! Stephanie is in Kansas City, so we have had the chance to meet and I swear I feel like I have known her forever!
It has been a long road. Much, much longer than we could have ever dreamed. But we are almost there! I see the finish line! Thanks for hanging in there with me. I can't wait to share my sweet, sweet Sage w/ you! Or my boy w/ no name becuase we can't agree! Time to get serious, we only have 4WEEKS!!!

Referrals are in, but not for me...

It is official, referrals have been made up to June 15th. So we missed it, again. The good news, WE ARE NEXT!!! No doubt in my mind, no wondering, we will be next. And our friends have babies on the way! So I will live through them for the next month. But oh, it is going to be a long month. My apologies in advance to those around me.

Wild Weekend & More Rumors

We had a busy, but fabulous weekend! The highlights, and more details w/ pictures to come...

• Sawyer Graduated from Pre-School on Friday morning!
  
• Celebrated at Chuck E Cheese along w/ at least 1 million other children.
  
• Drove to Kansas City in Rush hour St Louis Traffic & stayed at 2 different hotels due to our original double booking us. Thanks alot Cardinal Fans for making KC a hotel nightmare! Go Cards, anyways!
  
• Had lunch at my adoption friend Stephanies(LID 6/22) beautiful home & met her family!
• Also met adoption friend Ginger(LID 6/10) & her family. Their daughter Kiana(8) is traveling to China so we are PRAYING that we will all be together so Makenna will have a travel buddy!
• Celebrated Birthdays with my neice Tyler(4) & nephew Graham(2), saw their new home for the first time, and had lots of fun playing.
  

We have lots of great pictures so will hopefully post those over this next week. Makenna will be out of school on Thursday, and we hope that means life will slow down! HA!
Ok, on the rumor boards... Have I mentioned that I LOVE rumors when they benefit me, but boy, if they don't, I HATE THEM!!! So, Friday morning, right before I head out to Sawyer's graduation, I read a posting from Spain, saying they are cutting off at the 15th. Yes, last week spain said the 20th. They are not allowed to go backwards. NOT ALLOWED, I tell you! So which is right? I have no idea. I am literally sick to my stomach over it. Now that Makenna has met Kianna, she is sick over it! She really had a great time w/ her, and really wants to go to china w/ her. I am trying to remain calm, and remember that God is in control. I know He is, and His plan is bigger than our plan for sure. HOWEVER, I also BELIEVE that God can perform miracles here, and He can send our referral. It is going to be a long week, and I just want to get it over with, so we can know one way or the other. Is May our month? Please, oh please, oh PLEASE, let it be our month!

Let The Rumors Begin....

I am not sure if I can really get excited over this yet or not. I want to, I really really want to. However, am I setting myself up here? Rumor has it that referrals will go through June 20th. For a few days I heard through the 21st, now today Spain mentioned the 20th. And for some reason, Spain is in the know. I am praying, you know I am. With all my heart,soul and being I want it to be true. Sage is so close and I can just feel her! It is kind of like being in that last month of pregnancy. Of course I have been there for way longer than any pregnancy. but you know how it is. You are so crabby, tired of being pregnant. you signed up to have a baby, not to be fat, swollen, sleepless. You just want to see that tiny face and meet that little one who has been kicking you in the gut for the last 9 months. So maybe I don't get the big ankles, or big belly. But Sage has been kicking in my heart for well over 9 months now. She is as real to me as if she were about to come out of my own body. I could not love her anymore if she were tucked away safe inside of me. She is mine, and has been long before she probably even took her first breath. My arms ache to hold her and find out exactly who it is we have been waiting forever for. I am way beyond my 9th month of pregnancy. It is like I have been stuck in the delivery room now for months. I don't get the pleasure of an epidural to dull the "pain/wait". All natural for this baby!
So please, continue to pray for a may miracle! My fear is that they will go to the 19th of June. I am not going there. I am trusting and believing that God is going to bring a miracle, and that my time to "push" is almost here!

Are You Still Adopting?

This is a common question I have been asked recently. It is almost getting to the point where I am embarassed. Here we were last year, just sure we would have a baby by January or at least a picture. People who I have not seen in a long while, will ask, weren't you supposed to get a baby? YES we were, and YES we are, someday. I swear it is not all made up, though I am pretty sure Malaine must think we are telling a big story to her!
Now it is May. Almost 1 year ago we were mailing off our paperwork to China. But I am praying for good things this month! Monday, Malaine and I were at Target. We went down the cabbage patch aisle and she insists I read everyone's name to her. Well what do you know, the first doll she pointed at was Sage! I would have bought her if she did not have red hair and blue eyes, not the vision we have of our Sage! But I did check out her birthday which was May 23. And it went through my head, that is our referral day. Now the chances of that happening are very, very slim. But you never know I suppose. Then later that day, a laybug flew into our car! I was very much enjoying my first day of May!
Tomorrow is National Day of Prayer. On my yahoo group we have asked everyone to pray together at 9am and 6pm. Join us will you in praying for a referral to come this month!

Do you hear the music?

So I am not that great on the computer, we all know that. I can send e-mail, I can google, but I don't venture much farther than that. I was proud of myself for setting up the blog at all. I am trying to figure out how to add links to other blogs and all that fun stuff. Mark finally helped me set up music. Isn't that fun? Turn up your volume! This is our theme song right now, or one of them. Pray w/ us for a May Referral!

I hear you say your heart is aching
You've got trouble in the making
And you ask if I'll be praying for you please
And in keeping with conviction
I'll say yes with good intentions
To pray later making mention of your needs
But since we have this moment here at heaven's door
We should start knocking now, what are we waiting for?

CHORUS:
Let us pray, let us pray, everywhere in every way
Every moment of the day, it is the right time
For the Father above, He is listening with love
And He wants to answer us, so let us pray

So when we feel the Spirit moving
Prompting, prodding and behooving
There is no time to be losing, let us pray
Let the Father hear us saying
What we need to be conveying
Even while this song is playing, let us pray
And just because we say the word, "Amen"
It doesn't mean this conversationi needs to end

Let us pray, let us pray, everywhere in every way
Every moment of the day, it is the right time
Let us pray without end and when we finish start again
Like breathing out and breathing in, let us pray

Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence
As our prayers draw us near
To the One who knows our needs
Before we even call His name

Let us pray everywhere in every way
Every moment of the day, it is the right time
Let us pray without end and when we finish start again
Like breathing out and breathing in, let us pray

June Jitterbugs

I am part of a yahoo group that is made up of people from all over the world, who have a LID (log in date) from late may through early July. We are called the June Jitterbugs. Well, even though it was not me getting a referral this month, it has been very exciting in my group for that first week of June. We have lots of baby jitterbugs now! Check out the website for our group at :
www.junejitterbugs2005.homestead.com
Hopefully that will work and you can see the sweet little faces. Click on referrals and turn up your volume!

Jumping Fun!

This is our newest form of entertainment. After YEARS of Mark saying no to a trampoline, I found us a deal and he agreed. As you can see, he is enjoying it as much as the kids!
Referrals are pouring in today. They did indeed go from May 31st through June 6th. Still a long way off from June 20th. I really have no comment today. Just trying to look ahead to the end of May, and then probably the end of June, and who knows, it might even be the end of July. Sigh...

Rumor Time

Well it is that time of the month. Rumors say that referrals are ready to be mailed and that they are going up to June 6th. Better than May 31st, the original rumor. But that is only 4 days of LID's they did in an entire month.
Just a quick lesson on how exactly referrals work. Once a month, typically the end of the month, China mails over ALL referrals. So everyone across the globe gets their referrals at the same time. Our agency might get on average around 30-50 at a time. Not sure how many come over a month as a whole. And they go by calendar of when you have a LID. (log in date) this is when your paperwork was logged in to china. Our date is June 20th. So they go through in order and end w/ a certain LID. If rumor is true, they will be sending referrals over from May 31st up to June 6th. So then we wait another month, and see how many days of June they make it till. At this rate, not such good news for me. And I am not happy. I am starting to panic because if we end up not traveling till August, we chance missing either Sawyers birthday or his first day of kindergarten. Very big deals to me.
Your guess is as good as mine. I am tired of the wait, really tired. And I am just having a hard time seeing the end in sight. Our paperwork went over to China last May. So we are nearing one year of waiting. I just can't believe it. I am trying to make sense of the lesson God is trying to teach me. Really, I am....

Sick of Sickness

Yes, I am sick again. Stomach flu. I guess from Makenna who had it 11 days ago. Is that possible? I started late last night. During the middle of tornado warnings, might i add. And of course Mark is out of town. I was debating on what to do. The wind was so strong, the lightening neverending. Do I wake up the kids, take them to the basement and bring down a bucket for me? Thankfully it blew over before i had to do that. And you know what I was worried about? Our new trampoline blowing away. The kids would have died if they lost their new favorite toy. Me to. I have waited about 20 years to get a trampoline. It is great exercise for all of us. So why am I so sick every month? I am starting to see a trend. Always happens the end of the month, which is when rumors begin for referrals. Is it connected? You have to wonder. I am tired of being sick. I am tired of waiting for my baby. I am just plain tired. I think I need a shopping weekend again!

Happy Easter!

Makenna waving her palm branch at church as "Jesus" came in on the donkey.
Cousin Fun!

Sawyer singing in the childrens choir at church.


Daddy picked out the Easter outfits this year. Didn't he do good?


Is it Christmas or Easter? Lots of FUN!

I am OVER the hill and losing my mind!

Last year I turned 30, and it was ok. I knew I had to be 30 to move forward w/ our adoption, that is the rule in China. I guess at 30 they consider you mature enough to parent. And i remember turning 30 and thinking, I will have 4 children before I turn 31. Well yesterday I turned 31. And guess what? Yes, I am still waiting. But it is ok. I HAVE a child out there, and she was born before I was 31. And I WILL HAVE HER HOME BEFORE I AM 32!! Oh can you even imagine? I don't know, at the rate we are going I am starting to think Makenna might be old enough to adopt her own baby by the time we get to China! So what does a Mommy do to celebrate her birthday? Spend the day at Chuck E cheese of course! Makenna is on spring break, and that was one of her requests for the week. It just worked out for us to go yesterday. Actually it worked out great. It was empty there. The kids played, I sat and read for awhile. Then Mark took us to dinner at the Macaroni Grill. YUM! So 31. I can't believe I am 31. Just writing that makes me feel OLD! ;)
No new rumors in adoption world. Which is fine w/ me. I refuse to listen to ANY rumors at all. Life is so busy here. Makenna just got over stomach flu. We are way to sick to go to China! It is just one thing after another. I swear, I do clean my house. The smell of lysol is crazy here. That is all you can smell. Well that and the burnt toothbrushes. I am having an issue w/ the toothbrushes. You know we have all been ill, alot. And if you know me, you know I am NOT a cheap person, really I enjoy spending $!! So instead of buying new toothbrushes at every illness, I have tried to boil them. But no more. Last night we were watching a movie, and all of a sudden I asked my family if they smelled anything. No of course they don't they never do. Then I look over and notice smoke. Let me tell you, it still did not hit me that I had started boiling those toothbrushes like an hour before! Finally Mark does smell it and we all jump up to find our toothbrushes liquified. And burnt onto the bottom of my last good pan. Because I already did this during one of our rounds of strep and ruined another pan. After we threw the pan outside, aired the house out which took forever and I can still smell the burn plastic smell now, Mark says" I am pretty sure new toothbrushes would be ALOT cheaper than new pots and pans. " I guess the mind is the first thing to go...