Weekend fun!

This weekend we headed to the Deer Lease for some turkey hunting with Adam and Christy and all the kids!! It was a great weekend..the car rides were a little rough on everyone, but we all survived!! This is after 30 min in the car..at the 4 hour mark was when it went down hill!! Why take 2 cars when we can all ride together and save gas!!! All 8 of us piled in together and were greatly entertained!! Especially by the little guy below...love his faces!
This was how Charlie felt by all our laughing at Brady..

First words out of Charlie's mouth both mornings was "Braby..where's Braby"
This is not a great picture of Charlie, but look...he is eating a BISCUIT!!! and he ate sausage and mashed potatoes at dinner the night before..Bradley and I both blissfully talked about how he might be transitioning to real food! How nice that will be for us!! He just recently started eating chicken nuggets...now we have options when were out and about!!

A successful weekend..I got some videos of Charlie and Bradley and the turkey, but cannot find them at the moment. Charlie was not impressed that once he got near the turkey it would not say "gobble. gobble"..I told Daddy to explain that one...

Boys will be boys!

Charlie has a new ball..it apparently is his MOST favorite ball ever..cause he INSISTED on sleeping with it tonight. Fight a tantrum or let him sleep with a ball..that's an easy one!!!

Our first birthmom

So, I have been meaning to and wanting to do this post for a while. I know it will take effort and my energy to get it right and do it justice so I have been putting it off...I know, sounds really lazy huh!
So, I think for some time I may have misrepresented Bradley and myself..we love our birth parents...not ours, Charlies! WE LOVE THEM!! I know there were moments we were frustrated and mad and plenty of overwhelmed moments, but we love them. In talking to a lot of people about adoption the second time around we have heard a lot of people tell us "Maybe you get lucky and they will give you the baby and be gone"..if you have said this to us, we are not mad!! But, that is 100% NOT what we want!

We want all our children to have the same opportunities..you know how I like to keep things equal! If one has involved birthparents we want the same for the other..etc. Everything I have read, know and believe to be true says that Charlie will be a better person because he knows C and M (birthparents). These are good people who come from good people..theses are people who know and love God...people who loved Charlie enough to want more for him then they could give him. I recently sent the BP (birthparents) an email and told them that as we were getting into the adoption stuff again we would be thrilled if our next BP were half as great as them. We do not only love them because they gave us Charlie, we love them because of who they are and the many good decisions they have made. C got prenatal care from 8 weeks on, no drugs, no alcohol, involved family, etc...C and M gave Charlie up for a better life for him and that is not the "cool or the in-thing" to do now. We were told that we would more then likely not get a teen mom this time around because teen pregnancy is so socially accepted that teens are not giving up their babies..so BIG props to C and M for being more mature then most their age.

So, I have always appreciated C and M, but now that we are actually doing all this again..I am really appreciating them.

I'll explain..here is our adoption timeline for this time around...this is one of those things that will be nice to have down on paper, but may not interest you!

10/20/08-request via email to adopt again with same agency
11/01/08-began to fill out paperwork & it still took us a month to get it all together the 2nd time around
12/01/08-approved for a reduced fee this time around
12/06/08-Mail in the 2.5lb paperwork to start this process again!
01/07/09-Fingerprint error caused a slight hold up..error was by me!
02/09/09-Mailed in the last stuff..stuff needed to be approved, but not needed to do the homestudy.
02/12/09-Homestudy. It was a shortened version since we had done this before with them!
02/16/09-Told via email we were ready to show to birthmoms..no official letter this time around!
03/02/09-We were chosen by a birthmom.
03/03/09-Bradley and I declined a match with this birthmom.
04/02/09-Found our that the birthmom we did not go with, did get a family!

When we got that call that we got picked in March..that was when we realized how lucky we were with C and M. On paper they were perfect, we realize now that what we have with them is rare. We always known that God blessed us with them and only now are we able to appreciate it on another level. The birthmom we were presented was a good person, just was not a good match for us. And I can tell myself that till I am blue in the face but it still hurts..you never want to turn away a baby...or a birthmom. I was happy to see that some other family got to get their baby though! So, after we have been through that experience I just feel even more ready for the next one...I know God uses these little things along the way to prepare us for "the one"!!!

All this said..I love C..I love M..and we are more then lucky and blessed to have them in our lives. My specific prayer..one of them..is that we are able to bond and connect with our next birthmom...our ability to connect with her trumps race, gender, social background, drugs, etc. I am also aware that things like drugs and alcohol use may affect our ability to connect, but sometimes they wont. But our relationship with her is highest on our priority list. We want a life long relationship with her and we are anxiously awaiting the birthmom that God brings our way!
..and just so you all know I am normal, I am trusting God, but that does not mean I am not MORE then ready to have another baby!!!! I only check my phone..20 times a day..to see if I missed a call from the agency! I can only imagine what it's like when you have waited 6 months, 12 months, 18 months or 2 years....2 months and I am a little anxious!

March of Dimes

I was lucky enough to get to participate in the March of Dimes walk this year. I am a bit embarrassed, as a NICU nurse, that it is my first time to walk. Count me in again for next year..just maybe at the Dallas location! My friend Abbe made the trek to Ft. Worth to walk this year and it was not the most..stellar location for a walk..a bit narrow in places..leading to lots of stopping:( Oh well, it was a great day with my work friends outside of work!

Not everyone is lucky enough to love their job.. I LOVE my job. Always have and I %100 recognize how stinkin lucky I am. I get to save lives and even though some of you call me at work and ask what I am doing and I reply "saving lives" as I put my book down or log off the Internet....I do get to save lives and be a part of these families lives at one of the most difficult times in their lives. Working as a nurse is a thankless job...in 99% of the hospital. I get thanked every day by these parents and I reap the benefits of our hard work, when after 130 days we get to send a baby home that was told more then once would not live. Not every day is roses and not everyday we send babies home to their families. My job has it's rough days, but 90% of my job is wonderful and uplifting. I work with a Dr that I respect and enjoy andI think he is a genius as a Neonatologist...find me 5 nurses that will tell you that about a Dr they work with!!! I work with some of my best friends..one who has been a best friend long before this hospital...I AM LUCKY... this I know.

One of my favorite all time NICU stories was about a set of 23 week twins. Depending on the hospital your at 23 weeks is barely viable...these babies came to us and fought for their lives for a few days or weeks before they were headed in the right direction. Over that time we knew these were the kind of parents you were lucky to have and I don't think anyone did not LOVE them. One of the girls was well over a month old before her parents ever got to hold her ..she was still on the ventilator so it was a bit of an effort to get her to her mom, who was waiting in a recliner. As soon as the baby was in her moms arms the dad got down on his knees and grabbed moms hand and began to pray..thanking God for his blessings and miracles..not a dry eye in the room! Those girls are in Kindergarten now and it is by grace of The Great Physician that they are just like any other Kindergartners..even without the preemie head!!

To be a part of those moments in strangers lives..strangers who become like friends sometimes..is a true joy. So, with all that, I encourage anyone else who wants too.. join me next year in the March of Dimes walk!!

Melanie, Claire, Me, Charlie, Abbe and Avery before the race!We were impressed that they were all looking the same direction!

At the end of the race..the time was 1 hour and 14 min which is crap..but what do you do when there is lots of standing and minimal movement!

Avery chillin..love how he props his leg up..he did this the whole time! Cracked me up every time I saw it!

Can we say cheese face!

Miss Claire chillin..this was before she ate played with her sticker!!

Easter part 2..

I did not include all the pictures of him hunting eggs again..you've seen it once and I assume your good!! We did not get that many pictures cause we were playing the entire time!! We decided to hunt eggs at the park and I am pretty sure the big kids had more fun then the little kids! It was raining and there were poopy dippers, but we played on!! There were these things at the park..and I am about to make myself sound really not smart by my description..you stand on them and hold on above your head and you spin..and spin and keep going faster..we were loving it..till some of us got a little nauseous and pale!! Not to worry, when we got home Bradley and Adam some people got some medicine and soon felt better!! Group shot without Mom and Dad..if there was anyone else there at the park we could have had a family shot..but I am guessing the rain kept most away! I thought this was a cool picture!
For my sing song peeps!

Love Katie in this picture!! That girl cracks me up!!

Busy day tomorrow..headed out in the morning to the March of Dimes Walk in the morning and then in the evening..........HANNAH MONTANA and a sleepover with my favorite Bedford girls....since my girls are all over the place, I now have to preface it with their location....I also have my favorite Florida girls and favorite Boyd girl!!

No news in the adoption front. but I am planning an update post soon..nothing exciting, just one of those timeline things for my benefit!

Easter part 1

We broke our Easter up into Sat am with the Ways and Sat pm with the Bramletts..it worked out well, and that left Sun to us! Which means I got a nap finally!!!!! I am having camera issues so I am thankful to Laura and Allene for part 1 pictures and my mom has said she'd have part 2 to me by Tues!! He was into it this year and was all about carrying his own basket and throwing the eggs in..until at part 2 when he discovered candy in the eggs...it was all down hill from there!
Sharing great as usual..you can read that with sweetness or sarcasm..however you choose!!! They actually play and share together really well!!!

What up? Real men wear bunny hats.

I love the pictures from behind!

Sweet Libby posing for pictures!! At least someone wanted to cooperate!

Libby eating the cake pops I made...yum, yum, yum..I will be making them again for sure!!

Group picture...OMG..everyone actually looks good on the first picture!!

Papa and Mutti with their babies!..I can still call them babies right???

Laura, Me and Ang..pretty good for staring right into the sun!

We tried to get some pictures after church this morning..you can see how well that went!!

Still no luck..we will try some with Daddy..

Yeah, no luck here either!

Alright, forget it!!

Ridiculous

Every Tuesday..this is ridiculous..I LOVE Tuesdays and get excited for them a little bit to much. Why you ask? I'm only slightly embarrassed to say it's because of The Biggest Loser!! I LOVE this show and I now schedule Charlie's naps on Tuesday so we can get him to bed early and watch uninterrupted Biggest Loser...I have the full support of my husband on this one, cause he finally likes a reality TV show!! Anyway, it's ridiculous that every Tuesday at 9ish..I refuse to watch live TV..my shirt looks like this...

EVERY week I cry..every stinkin week! This week my favorite contestant got sent home and I have no shame in admitting I bawled...well, a little shame!! I usually have to wait 30 min after the show is done to go to bed so I can let my face and sinuses return to normal!! IF you have never watched..it is a MUST see!!

Anyway, most of you only care about the little man so here is one from this weekend!!
I love this one of Charlie and Libby..and chose to post it over this one..
(they are not forced to hold hands..they love holding hands and if one lets go, then the other usually insist on grabbing the hand again!)

At this age..will we ever get a cute one of them together..from the front!!!

Adoption Tax Credit

We were super pumped this year to use our adoption tax credit on our income taxes...when you are spending close to $30,000 on an adoption..you will take any help you can!

We got back a large amount... in comparison to our usual amount..thanks to the Adoption Tax credit...(and our "tax lady" that we love!!) We have talked about how/when/if we will adopt again for our 3rd child and the only way that would be possible would be if we got the tax credit for our second child...this tax credit make adoption much more realistic and much more of a reality for those who are wanting to start a family/grow their family. If you have a second click on the new button on the right and take a moment to email your Representative in Congress. If your are not sure what to put email me @ amieway@yahoo.com and I can email you a general letter that would work! Thanks!