life is good.

 

as i sit here..it's raining outside, rowan is playing with the neighbor girl in the other room, setting up a tea party. Bubba is in Seattle, finishing the last of his individual interview for the adoption.

i sit here and think... life is good.

 

 

bubba took the week off of work to get some things done around here. our lives have been so crazy busy that we have gotten behind in some things.

although even though he took the week off we didn't get nearly enough things done as we had planned because life just tends to get in the way, doesn't it?

 

here is an update on my little seedlings.

 

our sugar snap peas are dying to get outside, look at how tall they have gotten.

bubba was able to build a pea trellis real quick one day and i can't wait to use.

the broccoli is doing well also and rowan's sweet pea flowers on the very right are also growing tall.

 

the plan is to get some of these outside by this weekend!

 

i had hoped to have another flat of seeds planted by now, but that just isn't happening. soon i hope.

 

my boys were snoozing together after rowan went to bed the other night.

rascal blends in with the darkness, he tends to have ninja abilities, but he's there.

 

rowan had her easter program at school the other night.

and i have to say that it was just so adorable.

they sang songs, they each had a line to say about resurrection eggs and then sang a couple more songs.

oh my! i think i had a silly grin on my face the whole time.

 

so cute!

 

me. tackling the bathroom ceiling. not fun. sanding it.. oy! glad that is O-V-E-R.

 

 

 

 

rowan had picture day at school... in march. ha.

why is she so darn adorable?

 

 

us.

Beautiful.

Beautiful day.

Beautiful daughter.

Growing from Seeds

Since I started gardening two years ago, this will be my third year, I like to document what I grow and through the stages.

 

So I just snapped a couple of pics with my iphone while i was thinking about it.

 

this is my first tray of the season.

bubba is hoping to take the last week in march off from work and we hope to get some yard work and gardening done.

at that point i will be planting some of my starts outside and also planting some spinach,beets and carrots soon.

 

here are the sugar snap peas.

we planted a lot more of those this year because they are my favorite thing to grow.

i just love watching rowan be fascinated by how quickly the peas grow.

then watching her go outside to "harvest" them.. and shove them in her mouth.

asking questions, helping, learning, seeing the miracle of a seed plus dirt.

i love it.

that alone makes gardening worth it.

 

tomatoes and broccoli.

i'm hoping not to buy any tomato starts from the store and to use only my plants from seed this year

as for broccoli, i grew them in the fall but found that i had planted them too late.

this is the first year i'm planting them in the spring.

 

onions (bubbas choice) and rowans sweet pea flowers.

 

hoping to see more sprouts soon.

 

i'll be planting another tray of more seeds the end of march!

List of Adoption Books

I thought that I would list some adoption and/or parenting books that I have read or have bought and plan on reading! :)

 

 

Dear Birthmother

 

Adopt without Debt

 

Parenting with Love & Logic

(this isn't adoption specific, it's just a great parenting book)

 

Labor of the Heart: A parent's guide to the decisions and emotions in adoption

 

Raising Adopted Children

 

Setting Limits: How to raise responsible, independent children by providing clear boundaries

 

How to Talk so Kids Can Learn

 

How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk

 

I will add some more books as I come along them and we have a great list of books from our agency!

 

I have some great suggestions for adoption books for kids as well, but i will save those for another time.

Adoption - Individual Interview

I had my individual interview on Tuesday!

Bubba had his on Monday.

Of course I was a nervous wreck before the meeting and was imagining all of these questions that our caseworker was going to ask me and if I would answer them “wrong”

The whole drive up to seattle was exhausting just from all of the thoughts in my head.

I mean this lady, our case worker, is the one who writes up everything about us as a family and presents us to the whole office staff. Puts us on display! How could I not be freaking out about this interview!!

Well, as usual, she was super nice and reassured me that it was informal and that there is no right or wrong answers.

The interview went so well and I actually felt good by the end of it. I thought for sure that I would end up crying during it and I didn’t. only one time I got tears in my eyes, but no tears actually fell. Yay me!

Even though she was nice enough to have a box of tissues waiting on the table for me after bubba told her that I would probably cry during it. Haha!

The questions were simple enough, basically clarification and expansion on questions asked in the autobiography. Surprisingly, some of the things that we talked about were about the process and things that needed to be done and not everything was about my autobiography.

After the interview was over I got the chance to peek at some of the photo books that other couples made. It was so great seeing some examples because I wasn’t all that sure how it’s supposed to look.

Now bubba, he has a “more complicated history” as said by our caseworker so he didn’t get his interview finished in his 3 hour allotment, so he gets to go back at the end of March to finish his.

We also found out that our joint interview, rowan’s interview and our house inspection will all be done at one time!! Yay! All at our house on one day. I’m so excited about this for many reasons!

Another thing done!

Although, I’m finding as we go along with this process, that just as we get something else done I feel like we have more stuff pop up that needs to addressed and gets added to our list.

I now need to get a doctor’s letter and bubba also has to get a doctor’s letter , just make things clear with no questions, to be a part of the homestudy.

While I understand that our caseworker is telling us these things to HELP US and plus it’s her job, it can still be frustrating, but I just try to remind myself that while things keep adding to our list, it’s for our benefit and for our future child.

Now we need to work our parent resource plan, open adoption assignment, and everything for our house inspection (including a fire extinguisher (we have one, just not the one that we are required), first aid kit with certain items, a crib, etc) our photo book and our letter to the birth mother.

I'm also still trying to finish my book DEAR BIRTHMOTHER.

Lots to do !!

Nap time.

I had been busy in the other room and when I walked in the living room this is what I found. :)

DIY Circus Party Supplies

This past week I got some party supplies done for little miss' carnival/circus party!

 

I got some ideas/inspiration from pinterest! love it.

 

 

 

these are .99 frames from ikea with scrapbook paper

i'm going to put labels in them such as "hot dogs" or "cotton candy"

 

these are pieces of cardboard cut and painted red.

hand painted the letters.

and glue with glitter!

 

these bags were my sister's idea and we made them together with kraft paper

cut, tape and used some fancy scissors.

washi tape and a little baker's twine.

these will be used for the plastic silverware for cake and ice cream.

 

 

 

 

These are white lunchbags that I punched with the marth stewart edger.

these will be used for whole peanuts at the party!

 

only a little over a month left to finish planning this party.

lots to do!