Today.

Perfect for today.

Autobiography complete!!

 

I DID IT!!!!!

 

I made it through those horrendous, personal, self reflecting, thought provoking, novel of questions!!

 

I felt so happy on January 17th when I proudly finished my autobiography.

 

33 pages later.

 

 

now... if bubba could just pick up the pace so we could submit them together. haha.

Toy drive

 

we love giving to the foster kids drive that sleep country always has.

foster kids are near to our heart being as we are working towards getting our foster license and potentially doing a foster-to-adopt adoption!

We love that sleep country does different types of fundraisers! This one was before Christmas for the Santa toy drive. Rowan always has such a great time picking out things for these drives!

 

I hope that you are inspired to find a way to give also. It doesn't take much.. it can even be one thing!

 

Right now they have the pajama drive going, we found a bunch on clearance at target for a great price and look forward to donating those items soon!

Christmas

 

A glimpse of Christmas.

We had a great and quiet Christmas. Our first Christmas ever spent at our house and it was a nice change!

Christmas morning.

with skeeter who loved riding in the car.

he wouldn't even hop out when rowan got out.

i guess its close enough to the real thing.

too bad she can't go fast enough to where the wind blows through his hair.

 

Rowan singing "away in the manger" and playing the guitar while aunt terry played the piano

Credit of picture: to my amazing Uncle Jeff!

Cupcakes

 i love to bake.

i especially love cupcakes. love. love. love them. there is just something about them. i've had an obsession with them for many years now. don't they just make you happy?

if i had the money time energy to bake, then i would bake every day.

 

 

 

I made these for new years' eve.

chocolate cake - mocha frosting - sanding sugar- sugar cookie with edible pen.

 

 

i got this cute north pole cupcake idea from pinterest!

i baked this for our family Christmas eve party!
white cake - buttercream frosting - sanding sugar - peppermint stick - frosting on the back of the printed paper and Voila!

 

 

p.s. these pictures were taken last minute with my phone. excuse the horrible lighting and placement.

Ice skating!

 

So we didn't make it to our open adoption training class. I was totally bummed because our case worker was the one conducting the class and there was a couple who went that we had met at PRIDE training, that I was anxious to talk to again.

But with our babysitter calling in sick just a few hours before the class it was hard to find someone else who could babysit on short notice.

 

GOOD NEWS... there is another class next month and we will be taking that class on the 11th! We will also be doing our CPR/First Aid/ Bloode Borne Pathogens class all day on Saturday the 9th at a hospital in Tacoma.

So the most awesome news of ALL!?!? All of our required training (if everything goes to plan) will be completed by February 11th!! How amazing is that?

 

And here I thought that the classes would be holding us back!

I'm so excited to get this part done :) Another step closer to my baby!!

 

So now.. I have these pictures taken the beginning of January with a trip down to my mom's house in southern Oregon. We had a great time, like always, and enjoyed time skating. Rowan has gotten so good and the last time she skated was when she was 2!

the paperwork.

is awful.

 

this part of the process is so frustrating. and in a lot of different ways. but right i'm annoyed. and frustrated and i find it hard to not get angry with this process sometimes.

 

when having ot include the last 3 years of tax returns... i have 2009 and 2011, but can't find my 2010 anywhere. and when you try to request a transcript only to have your address not match with their records...

to try old addresses...

to call the irs and hear the same recording over and over because you select a different option and then it hangs up on you.

to call the irs to request a transcript only to get the right option but the address doesn't match so it disconnects you.

to call the irs for the millionth time and not get a real live person!!!

 

do biological parents have to provide tax returns?!?!

 

i have it.. its just to GET it.. and this is the part that is frustrating.. a biological parent would not be having to scan and email pet vaccinations, marriage certificates, 3 years worth of tax returns, have to get a physical and doctor approval of any addictions or chronic illnesses, fill out financial statements, 30 pages of autobiography questions and get 4 references.

 

ugh. this IS worth it. it will be worth it. i know it.

 

but right now - i'm frustrated. and annoyed with the process.

 

"if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" Matthew 21:22

Transracial Training

Last night we walked into a room full of people during a video - with all the lights on - 20 minutes late.

we were THOSE people.

between dealing with babysitter changes, traffic, and issues with directions.. we finally made it to our training class!

 

It was a 3 hour class about adopting transracially. This is part 1 and there is a part 2 class, but only the part 1 is required to complete our homestudy.

 

we had heard from another couple who had already done the class, that they had learned more from PRIDE than they did from the transracial training, and i have to agree.

 

we watched some videos, did some discussions, and then did some small group activities. It was pretty simple and it was good to get some insight and some tips on transracial adoption. I think that at this point we aren't planning to go to part 2 unless we were to be placed with a child of a different race than us.

 

Next we have our open adoption training! on Monday!

 

After that.. the only required training left for our homestudy is the CPR/FIRST AID - blood borne pathogens class.

 

Apparently, the blood borne pathogens is a 4 hour online class. Then we need to go the 8 hour first aid.

 

To think that we would get our training done before the paperwork! I thought that the training was going to slow us down.

but it's not.. it's this long long process of paperwork.

 

credit

 

saw this is on pinterest! :)

 

fits PERFECTLY.

Family

This is me. and my family.

i love them.

 

 

don't you see room for another one squeezed in the middle?

{photo by miss rowan!}

Happy Birthday Jesus!

 

So we started a new tradition this year, back at Christmas! The past few years we have given to Samaritan's Purse (which IMHO is a great organization with a very low overhead cost) for their gift catalog that comes out every year. We decided that by doing this, it would be our birthday gift to Jesus! It's such a fulfilling way to give... not that giving isn't fulfilling, but this just seems that much more.

 

So we decided as a family to give money towards chickens, blankets, and water! The awesome part about this is that it feels like shopping! Like going through a catalog and picking out your favorite thing!

However, it can be a very humbling experience, when you realize that clean water is something that we take for granted every. single. day.

and that there are people out there who die from their water.

 

but this is why this is so awesome. because you can help!

 

they have suggestions for a "gift amount" but you can give any amount that is comfortable to you.

 

And then rowan decided that she wanted to use money from her giving jar that she has been saving up. And she decided to put money towards a goat!

I find this to be an amazing (and easy when the holidays are so busy!) way to show our little ones how to give and the meaning behind it!

 

I write this post as to hope to give other people ideas and ways to give.

The feeling behind giving, it's the best, so why not give all the time?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!