Were done with the room....almost!

Well, I am one door, one door frame and one baseboard away from being done with the room. Below are some pictures of the nursery. Two walls are charcoal grey and two walls are grey strips with 3 tones of grey....there was supposed to be just two tones..long story..and now there are three!! The walls look purple-ish or kacki-ish in these pictures, but grey in person! And the lines look like they are not super straight in the picture...trust me they are. My OCD help me big time..or hurt me if you like!!

They were supposed to be two even strips, but we ended up with three that were...not symmetrical, but there was a pattern that matched on both walls.....17in, 17in, 15in, 2in, 17in. etc...I could measure that and paint it in my sleep!

I was soooooo pleased with Bradley's crown molding!

I got the bedding in last night and it is going back.....agrhhhh! It was not the same that was posted on the Internet..remember the thick green check print...not on the stuff I received. The colors were dull..I was not impressed! So, we may go back to plan one or come up with a new one!!

the original boy choice...same brand so I have the same fear of "not bright enough"

the original girl choice!

Anyway, I am headed to bed...I have been staying up till 11:00-11:30 working on the nursery and then today I got up at 4:45 am to get my workout in before work.....I am tired, I am a Bramlett and you know that means I need 9-10 hours of sleep!! I know, I know...get used to the lack of sleep!! I would like to get caught up though before the baby gets here! Just keep praying for Bradley, me and the birth mom and Dad. We are scheduled to meet birth mom and her mom on Friday at 1:30 and hopefully meet with Dad before that. I ask that you pray for peace for all and for God to calm all our anxious hearts. I also ask you pray for me to be strong and not give into the temptation of letting my mind wander into the "What If" place. However this turns out...I know God is here and involved in every step along the way. He will always provide what we need. Thank you all...your prayers, letters & calls have already brought us so much joy and peace...only 2weeks and 5 days left...

Thank you Granner!

Thank you Granner for our car seat!! We just got it out of the box and out it together...actually it comes assembled, but I learned how to use it. I have discharged plenty of folks who have no freaking clue whats going on and we sit outside in the Texas heat for 30 min and then realize they don't have all the pieces....anyway, its all there and we both know how to use it and tighten and loosen it........what can I say...were gifted!!

Whats been going on..

Well, I am tired...I thought that was supposed to begin in 3 weeks...I guess I am just getting my body ready! I was awake on Friday morning at 3:15 am and got on the computer..then did some laundry..dishes..re-arranged some cabinets because I realized I did not have any cabinet room for all the bottles my friend Shannon is loaning me!! So, now there is cabinet space!! At 4:45 am I decided to work out, shower and then head to work!! Needless to say at 8:00 that night I was dead on my feet.

Then next morning I managed to sleep until 4am....it's an improvement!! Bradley woke up early also so we headed up to my father-in-laws salon and cleaned it and then went IHOP for breakfast. We came back home and slept from 7-9am..so that was better then the day before!! After that we went to Babies-R-Us and registered, bought furniture and a car seat. The furniture should be in in 7-14days...not bad, it could be longer! I snapped some photos of it while we were in the store.

the crib..this pic does not do it justice!!

I think you can see the "distressed" look best in this pic. I felt funny taking pictures in the store, so I was rushed when taking pictures.

We got the dresser and it seems most things they had did not have a changing table as as part of the set..not all, but a lot. So, I guess you just set the changing pad on top of the dresser and pray no one falls or rolls!! We were not going to get one of the changing pad and just use the crib, pack-n-play or floor, but we decided to go ahead and get one...it if gets dirty it is easier to change the cover on this as opposed to a while crib sheet!

I will tell you that we realized that our baby registry is so far kinda boring. We did not pick out any gender specific stuff on there, so it's not super fun yet!! After the baby is born we will update the registry with gender specific stuff.........Which brings me to the sex of the baby.......... We are hoping to find out the sex of the baby next Friday...we are not telling anyone until the baby is born what the sex is. We are not being bratty, we just know our friends and family so well that if we told our parents and friends the sex of the baby then they would want to buy for it. If something went wrong and the birth mom changed her mind...we would be left with a room full of pink or blue stuff. So were not bratty..just guarding our hearts a little! We have decided it will probably be a boy though...simply because we cannot come up with a name!! Our girl name is probably going to be Carly Crisitn Way......we like it, but I think we are growing to love it. We had a really hard time agreeing on a name. I have grown to where Carly just makes me think such sweet thoughts. Crisitn is my middle name....duh... and Bradley suggest it and we think it flows well. When your last name is Way it is hard to pick names that don't sound like streets or rhyme. I used to love the name Ella....sat Ella Way aloud..someone said to me " Get the Ella Way" say it aloud..see my point!! We love the boy name Charlie..there is still major debate as to weather we should name him Charles and call him Charlie or just name him Charlie. My grandfather passed away in November and all of you that know him know that you don't need any explanation as to why we want to name our baby after him...I just teared up typing that! Charlie is a name that will always make me smile and always bring good thought to my mind. What a name he would have to live up to.

Easton is out other boy name and has been for 2.5 years now...we both love it! I think we love the name Easton more maybe, but love Charlie for familial, symbolic reasons...anyway, tell me your vote!! Bradley and I are curious what name people like best!

1. Charles Easton Way..call Charlie

2. Charlie Easton Way

3. Easton Charles Way

4.Jake ______ Way

Jake is another one we like, but real doubtful it will win! Anyway, here are some random pics I had but have not posted yet!

We bought this bassinet when we were pregnant so it was nice to already have one here!!

My diaper bag that I got at Canton last month..it just happens to match my car seat...which was totally on accident. It is one of those that are cover in that plastic material..I love it!!

Bradley and my brother-in law Derrick......Derrick told me to label this picture"destruction"..does that say enough about how the crown molding is going!!

We found this rug for $4 at Target yesterday and got it for the back yard..we always joke we are the "Right Way".....we thought it was funny!!Our car seat...exciting huh!!

I going to be a mommy!!!!

We got the call today that we are approved and matched!!!!! Our baby is due on August 19th!! I cannot tell you how much I have jumped, screamed, cried, prayed and screamed so more..and prayed more and cried a lot more!!!! This was such an answered prayer..I know you all know that, but I just cannot say enough how God has blessed my family. I have prayed for 2 years for a baby and since we started the adoption process I have prayed very specifically for certain things I wanted..I wanted the baby in August since our baby was due August 25th..I wanted it either 3 month before Laura or after so Allene could have time with both her Grandbabies.....so she could spread out the excitement of a newborn.....I wanted it while Amber and the kids were here so we could finally have a baby with all the family and grandkids together..it could only be made better by Aric being home. I was specific to God because He ask me to be and He answered all my prayers with a yes and I am so grateful for that. He "is able to do immeasurably more then we can ask or imagine" and this is witness to that. I am asking for prayers for everything to go on without a hitch or hold up. Nothing is official until 48 hours after the birth of the baby. I hesitated to post this because if it did not go well that is more people I have to tell it did not work out, but we choose to post it and ask for prayers.



When we were pregnant we told the whole world knowing it would maybe not end well, and it did not. But we told people anyway. A friend of mine told me once that her daughter told her she was pregnant early one and then lost it days later and those few days when she knew she was on cloud nine. She was grateful for those moments of joy before the sorrow. So we share our joy with you and ask your prayers....for the love, pray for me to calm down..I was actually unable to eat today..I am a bramlett/sikes girl at heart and that is not normal!!! Anyway, here is what we know!!



*due Aug 19th

* do not know sex of baby

*baby is 1/4 African American..is that right..mom is white and dad is 1/2 black and 1/2 white.

*dad has already signed away his rights

* mom is 16 and dad is 17

*pictures of baby bedding is below..will post pics of black furniture once we buy it on Sun



We will meet with the birth mom, her mom and birth dad next Friday and hopefully have more information.....



Anyway, we will keep you updated...keep those prayers comming!!

I am old for writing this post...

Okay, so I went to upload my pictures from Bradley's b-day weekend with our families and realized I only took 10 pictures and.....they almost all stunk!! I am not a photo person at all....the ones of Noah outside were fuzzy...I did not want to beat Bradley down and ask him to pose and smile for pictures....the group ones were all the backs of peoples heads...so the two pics I took of the flowers in my parents back yard are all you get!! So boring..sorry!!! We are headed to Fort Worth to stay the weekend there and play with some of our friends so hopefully I will learn to suck it up and ask people to smile..and ignore the eye rolling that will surely follow!!

This is a purple passion flower that my parents got from my Granddad's house and transplanted to their house. Actually, Addison and Grandaddy (my dad) planted all these. Since they came from my Grandad I want some at my house a little more now! I was telling the girls at work today...cause we were talking flowers like old people....and I was trying to describe it....I said God spent a lot of time on this flower and got real creative!

I LOVE ELEPHANT EARS!!!! Bradley took this picture and it stinks.....he was not interested in taking my picture with the big leaf...I wanted to be next to it so you could see how big it was! I love elephant ears, but I do not have shad to grow them in, so I live through mom. She planted these from a bulb this year and they got this big within a few weeks..maybe a month with all that rain. I so wish I could grow these at my house!

It's Tuesday and no word yet...

Well, it's Tuesday and we were hoping to hear from Christian Homes today, but no luck. I told Bradley that I would wait until next Monday and then call them...I am trying not to be pushy!! He said for me to call on Fri..so if we have not heard from them by Fri then we will call before we head out for more birthday fun weekend stuff!! Keep it in your prayers...wouldn't it be nice to get the call we are approved and matched on the same day!!!! It can happen...it's just really, really rare!

I will post tomorrow or Thurs on my off days and put up some pics from Bradley's birthday weekend!

3 dogs is not that much work...

I have been begging Bradley for another dog..I tried the " But I cannot have kids, cant I at least get a puppy"!! He had no problem telling me NO! Anyway, my brother and sister went out of town and we got to dog sit their 4-5 month old puppy, Max. He was so cute and laid back and well behaved..this may have worked to my advantage....Bradley now knows that 3 is not really that much difference. And no, I don't want to hear your comments if it is to tell me not to get a third dog..I cant have kids.....can I use that for everything!!! Anyway, here are some cute pics of Bo, Luke and Max.

Max..in Luke's bed..

I thought this was so funny..Luke was afraid of Max...Luke is not afraid of anything. So, first night at our house, Max takes Luke's bed...and Luke lets him!! Too Funny!! Luke came and slept next to my side of the bed so I was okay with that. He does that when Bradley is out of town or when he can sense I cannot sleep. I do feel better with him between me and the door so I do sleep better, but I just think it's funny that he knows those things. See, I love my boys....but they need a sister!!!!!

Have a great weekend..we start the celebration for Bradley's 28th birthday this weekend so hopefully we will snap some pics!

Our Home Study is done!!!!!!!

YEAH!!!! Our home study is done!! Our caseworker left our house after 4.5 hours of question/answer. She was so nice and so easy to talk to..I was real relaxed and it was just exciting to talk to her and get to ask questions. We are just one step closer to getting our baby now!! We should hopefully be approved within a week. We may not be on the Internet for another week, but we will be in the book as soon as we are approved! Please keep us in your prayers, this process also and whoever God has chosen for our birthmom in your prayers. We know he has his hand in this process and he will bless us in his perfect time!

This is our happy face!!

Catch up..

Alright, less words more pictures is the theme for tonight! We spent the day at Hurricane Harbor...wet-n-wild for us "old" people. We went with the youth group and we lucked out cause we always had great kids around us. Addison went and was tall enough to ride almost everything..and she did it all with out fear. Where as her Aunt Amie....I was praying for God to calm my anxious heart as I climbed the stairs to the Der Stuka..I then apologized for taking up his time with that prayer..seriously! Anyway, it was a great day, but I am tired and I came home to finish cleaning house...the Home study is tomorrow and my OCD is in full throttle! And my fabulous husband gave me the greatest present to help me out in that adventure!!

I have been asking for the "Animal" for like 6 months now.....don't ask me yet how I feel about it...for $550.00 I should be way more impressed then I currently am. I also have not vacuumed in 2 weeks..so embarrassed..with my 2 60 pound dogs that is really like 2 months to the rest of the world! Anyway, maybe once I get up all that hair then later I will be more impressed!

Anyway, here are some fun photos from when Sage and Noah spent the night..it was so much fun. It has been so great having them close all the time. Sure am not looking forward to November when they go to Florida...we are for sure making the most of our time this summer!

Sage, Bradley and Noah at dinner

Sage and I...when all 4 of us were together it was all about Uncle Bradley!!

Sage and me working out..this pic she is smiling, but she really was working hard!

Love this picture..they love their Bradley. Bradley would want me tell you that he hates this chair and we are getting rid of it....I am not even fighting him..kinda agree with him, but I cannot tell him that !!

They love and miss their Daddy who is in Korea with the Air Force for a year.....so do I.

Anyway, so that what I have been up to..work, play and cleaning has been my life the past few days. After the Home study is done I feel certain some wine and sushi will be in order!! Oh yeah , we are also babysitting Bo ans Luke's cousin Max and I will certainly have pics of him up soon..he is a 5 month old puppy..who hopefully will be on his best behavior until the Home study is over!! Will blog after the Home study and update!

My little man is getting so big!

Okay, I have lots of fun pics from Sat, but my sister just sent this to me and I had to post it. Brady is so freakin cute!! And I know he looks small to the rest of the world, but he looks big to us! He is 9 months old. Stay tuned for pictures from Sat...

How we got here....

Okay, I thought that I was "super communicator" when it came to fertility/infertility..apparently not! After I sent out the email about the blog I got numerous responses.."your adopting???".....sorry! I thought I had kept everyone "up" on our business, but I guess I slacked! So, if you have heard this story a million times or if you are just not that interested there should be pictures on here by Sat or Sun..so come back then!! Sage and Noah are spending the night tonight so there should be great times ahead involving the sidewalk paint!!

We started try to have children in Mayish of 2005..the Docs count since Feb 2005 since that's when we got off the pill. I went to see my OB after 6ish months cause I knew something was not right..girly suff!! Anyway, he gave me Clomid..cause that is the fix all in the fertility world. After 4 months..any many thrown objects later..that stuff will make you crazy.. he sent me on to a real doc...I know I am not being nice, but he made me mad and acted like I was just impatient. Where as, I feel I was self aware..if there is a prob then lets fix it. I would love to inform him now that I was not impatient...just barren!!!

Anyway, the "real" Dr.. a reproductive endocrinologist..saw us and began the test. Bradley was fine....perfect rather...I had issues...if you want details feel free to ask! What I know now 2 years later is that on my very first visit on day 1 they knew there was a prob. The measure an antrofollicle count..it is a measure of your resting follicles...how many eggs could you make all at once if need. Norm is 20ish...I had 7. That is a sign of advanced aging of the reproductive system...decreased ovarian reserve....But, they did not tell me that until way later..which was good.

We did 3 unsuccessful IUI..intrauterine insemination..look it up! We did our first IVF..Invitrofertilization..in July 2006. It did not go good at all. They mentioned to me that maybe I was not getting enough meds..so they gave me the amount of meds they would give a 40 year old. The first one was not successful..so we took 4 months off, I lost the 20ish pounds I had put on in the year from fertility meds.....comfort eating......and we headed back in. I was also on a fertility diet to help...please tell your friends to not waste their time! Anyway, we started off with our new Dr...same clinic, just different Dr. Her name is Dr. Anna Nackley and she is amazing and we loved her and would recommend her to anyone. She is one if the best/greatest Dr's that I have met, known or worked with!! She was awesome....she started us off on higher meds..I think 400 units was the highest dose of this particular med..that is the 40 year old dose. You are supposed to be on that for like 2 days and then lower the dose... I was on that amount for 2 weeks..old eggs!! Anyway, half way through the IVF she finally broke the new..I have "old eggs"..I am 27, but for some reason my eggs aged faster then me and are the quality of a 40 year old...seriously...shut up!!!


Anyway, that IVF worked and we were pregnant for 8 and 1/2 weeks with a little boy!!! We knew from the beginning there was a good chance for things to end in miscarriage..due to my old eggs. Old in the egg world equals poor quality and high likely hood of miscarriage or a baby with problems. Our miscarriage confirmed the old egg theory. My body can hold a "good" pregnancy and produce needed hormones, but most my eggs are not going to be capable of producing an healthy baby. That does not mean I will never get pregnant on my own...I am about as likely as any 40 year old out there...it can happen, just not likely!!!

So, Dr. Nackly told me the best chance of having children would come from adoption...adoption of an egg, embryo or infant. She wanted us to do egg or embryo...and we plan to head back to her when our adopted baby is 6 months old and begin the process of egg/embryo adoption. Egg adoption is using someone else's egg and mix with Bradley..I carry the baby in my tummy and unless I tell you it's "not mine"...you'd never know. Embryo adoption is totally someones "baby"..it another woman's egg..another man's business..we carry the baby, but its not genetically either of ours......crazy what they can do these days! And no, I will not use someone that I know eggs..I am going for the tall, blond, skinny, small waist egg donor...oh yeah, good IQ would be nice.....not as high of priority as that small waist thought!!!! Kidding Bradley..

We decided to do infant adoption..so my body could get back to normal...happy to report that I am back to normal...mentally and physically.....well, as mentally normal as I was before!! Plus, even though this takes a while, there is a definite end in sight..not the case with fertility stuff. So that is how we got here.....what a blessing from God it has all been!!! Stay tuned for pics from our play time with Sage and Noah!

$3 sidewalk paint and I am a hero!

On Sunday afternoon Addison, Katie, Brady and Christy and I went swimming over at my mother-in-law Allene's pool and had a blast. I taught the girls Marco Polo and other pool games and we had a blast...Katie never got the idea that you are supposed to keep your eyes closed when playing Marco Polo. After church that night they spent the night and were so good and enjoyable! We woke up this morning and played with this $3 sidewalk paint that I got at Canton and I was informed by the girls that "This was the most fun they have had all summer long"!!! Mind you, they are spoiled with people always taking them to do fun things...but I will never turn down a compliment to have provided them with " the funnest day ever"!!

Katie and Addison

Katie and Addison

This sidewalk chalk was fabulous and I recommend everyone purchasing some next time you or anyone you know goes to Canton, I had as much fun with it as the girls did!! Noah and Sage are coming over this weekend and I get to play with it again and I cannot wait!! You paint it on, but within 5 seconds it dries and looks way better then regular chalk. If you have any doubts I am returning to Canton in August...or at least I was until Bradley read this...and will happily get you some if you let me know!! After the painting we hit Chick-Fila and then went to my Aunt Charla's to swim..love Aunt Charla's pool!! Minus Noah's numerous attempts to drown it was a great day!! Here I am with my favorite 5 children..I know I am partial, but they are all to cute and they all bring so much entertainment to any day!

Katie, Noah, Sage, Brady, me and Addison

Hope you are all enjoying your days as much as I am!

Already making changes..

Okay, it's Saturday at work, which means I am not doing much..although I did have one of my twins at work spit up all over me and his brother decided to pee on me..nice. Anyway, in my free time I play on the internet, unless someone ask and then we say " just saving lives..not reading books". So I found a adoption ticker that counts up till the arrival of the baby. I made it and it said 3 months....that's all. We turned in the paperwork in November..got references in Jan and Feb, but it did not technically start until orientation in March. Anyway, to make myself feel better I put another ticker at the bottom that counts from the moment we started try for kids..2 years, that's what I'm talking about!! And yes, one baby is white/tan and the other is black. We don't know what race our baby will be so I choose to represent all!!

Let's give this a try...

Okay, I type slow and not often, this should be a sign to me that this may not be a good idea, but we will give it a try. I figured since I trashed talked "my space" for so long that getting one of those would for sure lead me to receive crap from Bradley, Aric and Amber. Blogging was the way to go..especially since I am not 12yrs old. The whole idea was that you could follow our adoption saga with us..and we could get away with telling the same story maybe 10 times to our friends as opposed to 30!!! Anyway, we will keep you posted and SOMEDAY soon this page will get a lot more fun and exciting...when we can put pictures of Charlie or Carly...and no..those are not official names..that was for you Bradley!

Our home study is scheduled for July 17th and hopefully we will get all the interview stuff done and get our approval. Then we will be in "The Book" and birth moms can consider choosing us. So, the new goal is to be in the book by the end of July...original goal May..then June...please July! We are wrapping up things at the house to get it ready for the home study and getting the nursery and anything else related to baby done. As soon as the crown molding is up in the nursery I will post pic's. For those of you who want see the nursery sooner...email/call/bug Bradley to put up the crown molding!!

Notice the ticker at the top of the page..they actually have an adoption ticker!! The only downfall is that you have to input the day your adopted baby is due..well, wouldn't that be nice to know! I just put in a year from now since they say it is usually 12-18months from approval. See, I am again assuming the approval will come in July! So, when the birth mom does choose us I can change the ticker to reflect the birth moms due date. If I hit next July without a baby then I will adjust it to the 18 month time line..or I will snap..one of the two!! Anyway, next post will have pic's..it just seems boring without them. I think the kids....the ones I claim as mine till bedtime or when they are cranky..are going swimming on Monday. Should get some fun pics then. I also intend to post some pics tonight when I get home from work...please feel sorry for me having to work on the weekend..it would be nice to get sympathy somewhere!!