Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Cali

My visit with John and Emily was WONDERFUL.

We relaxed,
watched movies (4 of them),
talked for hours (like 6 hours in a row one day),
cooked,
had a maternity photo shoot on the beach,
relaxed,
talked...
You get the idea.
Little "Baby O" did not make her appearance while I was there. I did not really expect her to. But I hoped that she would. Boy, did I hope that she would.
When I was saying "goodbye" to John and Emily, they mentioned that they would be updating their facebook pages when Emily goes into labor.

So, if you need me, I'll be sitting at my computer, staring at John's facebook status. (Okay, not really, but I believe that my facebook time is going to seriously increase between now and when that little baby is born.)

With the remainder of my time, I'll be channeling my energies toward the stack of paperwork that the homestudy agency sent home with us last week. Sounds fun.

Friday, July 24, 2009

ch-ch-ch-changes.

I'm in California right now visiting my sweet friends John and Emily. I love them and miss them and it is so good to be with them for a few days.

This trip is significant for me. It's a little life changing actually.

You see, for several years now, it has been "just the six of us."

Dave and Holly. John and Emily. Mark and Becky.

But now, John and Emily are having a baby. Any day now. And it's going to be the seven of us.

The birth of this little, tiny baby girl marks the beginning-of-the-end of alot of things. Like staying up until 1am playing monopoly and laughing and drinking and carrying on. And the end of going to the movies on a whim and of doing whatever we want, whenever. And of only ever thinking about ourselves.

This little baby girl is ushering in a new era for us. The era of, "I'll bring the pack-n-play, and you bring the wine." And of stroller-friendly events, mom's night out, and play-dates instead of romantic-dates.

It's exciting, but a little frightening at the same time.

Hopefully, in a few years, it's going to be the six of us, plus the six of us. Six adults. Six (and counting) kids. And things will be so different from how they are right now. I can't even imagine. I think there will be alot of stress and alot of joy.

And how wonderful to have these friends to journey with.

Not Okay

I recently learned that

there are 2.2 billion children in the world

and 1 billion of them are living in poverty.

So basically, for every happy, healthy, carefree child in my life, there is another one out there in the world that is hungry, or orphaned, or sick, or dying.

That's kind of tough to get my head around.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

blessed

Mark and I had our first homestudy appointment yesterday.

We had to fill out a lengthy questionnaire about our childhood, our parents, our siblings, and our marriage. This included many questions that said things like; "Choose the words from the list below that describe your relationship with your mother." or "Choose the words from the list that best describe your father's personality." etc, etc.

I can honestly say that the words I marked were all positive. And I realized that many people don't have many (if any) positive things to say about their parents or their childhood. Or their parents' marriage. Or their current marriage.

And I know that I have been so blessed. Beyond what I deserve. Beyond what I have earned.

On turning Six

My little niece turned six on Monday and celebrated with a swim-spa-slumber party that was a dream-come-true for her and her five young guests.








When the hostess receives a sony stereo and a Jonas Brothers CD for her birthday, there is guaranteed to be dancing.
And oh, there was dancing.
Thanks for inviting me, Arlee. It was an honor.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

I know it's been awhile...

...but I've finally posted new pictures on my photo blog.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

so small

I intended to go to bed 2 hours ago.

Instead, I'm sitting in front of my computer bawling my eyes out.

Maybe it's because I watched 2 episodes of "16 and Pregnant" and that show gets to me.

Or because I miss my grandpa.

Or because I came across this blog tonight and started watching the videos in the sidebar about how they came to be a family of eleven.

I've blown through an entire roll of toilet paper (Kleenex is for wussies) because there are 143 million orphans in this world. 143 million babies and toddlers and children and teens with no mom. No dad.

And I feel inadequate.

I don't have the organizational skills
or the time
or the grace
or the money
to do what Mark and I have been called to do.

I'm not big enough to help. Or to care. Or to provide.

And in order to accomplish anything, I'M going to have to ASK for help. And that's hard.

And I'm going to have to believe -- REALLY BELIVE -- that God IS big enough. And I have to trust -- REALLY TRUST -- that he is faithful.

You know, the kind of trust and belief that get you into a holy-cow-i'm-going-to-be-in-deep-doodoo-if-God-doesn't-come-through-here kind of situation.

You know. That kind of faith. The kind that only crazy people have.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Hospitality

Mark and I had dinner at our friends' house on Saturday night.

After dinner, we were sitting in the living room enjoying some conversation, when their two-year-old daughter looked at us and said,

"Do you need to go potty, guys?"

What a good little hostess.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

garage sailin'

We've spent the past two mornings out in front of Mark's mom's house.

We helped her with a garage sale, she donated the money to our adoption fund. It was a sweet deal all around.

There were a couple of items at the garage sale that were...well...amusing.

For example, there was this...
And I can honestly say that I have never, ever seen a remote control with only four buttons. Never.
And finally, this may look like your every day rolling-pleather-office-accessory,
but it actually serves many purposes. Who knew?
If you are now feeling very sad about missing this yard sale, have no fear. I'm sure there will be a couple more Kyle-adoption yard sales within the next year. However, I can't guarantee that we will be able to make a rolling potty chair available for your purchase ever again.

You, Me, and Apollo

Brent's tour is in Colorado right now.
We went up to Ft. Collins on Thursday night to see his show and celebrate his birthday.
You know when you have a friend,
and you believe they are so talented,
and you are so proud of them,
and REALLY, REALLY want to see them be successful?

That's how it is with Brent.
For those of you who live in Colorado Springs, he is playing a show at The Loft tomorrow night at 7:00pm. You should definitely be there.

To review, that's
Sunday, July 12th
7:00 pm

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Zoo Day

I took my niece and nephew to the zoo today,
along with my friend Tonya,
and her sweet little boy, Ryver.
There were lots of animals out of their cages that the kids could touch and hold. Katey and Micah even got to help a zookeeper prepare the food for ravens and the owl.
I love having a membership to the zoo. Every time I go, I see something new. My personal favorite today was the 6-week-old mountain goat. He was precious.
Can you guess what the kids favorite animal was?

The creature that elicited the most excitement,
that brought the most joy,
and made their eyes light up with wonder...

...was Stanley McHopps.


Wednesday, July 8, 2009

most generous

I just finished watching Michael Jackson's funeral.
It was intriguing And long. (I fast forwarded through most of it.)

There were alot of warm-and-fuzzies and Michael was idolized as only American pop stars are.

But there was one part that stood out to me.

One of the speakers mentioned that Michael has been recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the pop star who has supported the most charities.

Michael was a little weird, for sure. Most people will never forget that. But I find it interesting that he will also be remembered as generous. Most generous, in fact, among his peers.

I think that is how I would like to be remembered some day.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

So, tell us a little bit about yourself

Things I'm really terrible at:
1) paperwork
2) understanding my health insurance
3) talking on the phone with customer service representatives
4) getting myself to the doctor

Things I've been doing lately:
1) see above.

Since Mark is working this summer and I am not, my plan is to get as much of the adoption paperwork done as I can without distracting him too much. However, it turns out that I don't know as much about my husband (or my finances, or my health insurance company, or my extended family) as the-powers-that-be think I should.

So I fill out the applications and mark the "things I need to ask Mark about" with purple stickie notes. From the looks of this application, it seems that a "Kyle family meeting" is in the near future.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,...

I went to the doctor today for my adoption physical.
Apparently, you must be free of all communicable diseases before you can bring home a baby.

They drew blood draw and asked a million questions. But my favorite was when the nurse circled the place for my TB test in black sharpie marker. I wonder how long that mark is going to hang around.
While waiting for the doctor, I was informed by a poster on the wall that going to the bathroom more than 8 times per day might indicate a problem. Good to know.

Understood

The Southern Baptist Convention gets it.

They understand that something must be done.

And they're committed to taking action.

Click here.