You've got the magic touch...or something like that.

In the past few years I have been told by various people as I am holding a baby.

You have the magic touch...
You're the baby wisperer...
Wow they're asleep already?...
She doesn't like anyone but me, but likes you alot...
You look natural holding a baby...

I usually respond with...Yes, another one of my useless talents.  This conversation occured again yesterday, for the first time, I did say this was a useless talent, but followed it up with...But not for long!

I just hope my magic does not wear off before it is my turn to be a mom ;)

A little get away

We celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary last Friday. We went away for a long weekend in Door County WI for a little rest, relaxation and escape from the day to day. I am amazed at how fast the last 6 years went, I keep telling myself the next 6 months will go just as fast!

The picture of us that we added to the blog is us in front of our favorite restaurant on our Anniversary, I am getting pretty good at taking pictures of us by just turning the camera around blind.

We had a nice time and got to stop at many of our favorite spots while we were there. I was happy to find a few adoption books in some of the shops. We got a cute one about what an adopted child does when she has to tell her life story as a class project. There is a very positive message at the end.

Even though we were escaping it all, our child remained in the forefront of our minds, even though we have yet to see his or her face for the first time.  The rest was nice and helped to focus on the important things in life.

Rummage Sale Success!

The adoption fund raiser rummage sale was very successful!  We met and exceeded our goal to put toward our adoption expenses, we had signs out that said all proceeds would go toward our international adoption. All of the folks that came through were nice, and several told us to keep the change from their purchases, we wish to thank them very much!  We had many people ask about our adoption and had all positive comments.  We even met another adoptive mom from our church who has adopted 2 girls from China.  We chatted for a while and exchanged numbers.  We were glad she stopped by, we had seen  their family at church  many times, but were too shy to approach them.

We also wish to thank both sets of parents who helped us work the sale.   It was nice to see a few other family and friends come through as well.  A weather forcast that called for rain both days held off for the most part and we had plenty of people come out and help us accomplish what we set out to do.  We even got our garage put back together!

 Now we will be able to relax and enjoy our 6th Wedding anniversary next week!

A few pictures are below.

New outlook....again

The emotions with the adoption process are cyclical.  Many highs and lows, very painful and joyous.  It has been easy to encourage others on this journey, and we appreciate all of the return encouragement.  The difficult part is taking your own advice! 

Again, I am going to try to take my own advice and keep my head up, live my own life and not wish my days away.  I still have to LIVE while we wait, or what kind of mother will I be??

The positives in my life (that my sisters kindly reminded me of, I sure they want to shake me!):

- Happily married
- Safe and secure
- We are both employed (finally)
- We WILL have a child eventually
- We have the time to enjoy our time just being the two of us, until we bring our child home.
- We get to plan for a trip and research our child's birth country of South Korea.
- I have the time to work on the best me possible; perhaps I should start with a good attitude:)

Our Basement is a Disaster Area

Next week we will hold a rummage to raise funds for our adoption expenses. About 6 months ago we asked close friends and family to give us things they would otherwise give to goodwill. You can see the results of this solicitation in the photographs. We got a very generous response.  Some went out of their way to meet us with things halfway between our home and theirs.  Others dropped things off at the house while we were at work.  We don't even know what's in some of these boxes yet!!

We wish to thank all those who donated stuff for the rummage.  It will be neat to show our child these pictures one day. He or she will be able to see the stuff we got to help bring him or her home.  Our child will know he or she was loved before anyone even knew who he or she was. We will post pictures of the rummage as well. It will run on Friday and Saturday June 4th – 5th.

We are looking forward to having several of our family and friends come through on this Memorial Day weekend to help us set up/organize for next week, and enjoy some grilling out. We are very grateful for all the veterans who paid the ultimate price so we could have it easy.

 Have a happy and safe Memorial Day Holiday!

When something "catches" you off guard

As a fisherman, Mark is used to waiting on something for a long time, sometimes without moving for what seems like an eternity, but when he gets "the" fish he is waiting on it all makes it worth it. 

In a way our wait for our referral is the same way. Lots of waiting and it seems like time has stood still.
Sometimes the wait makes you feel uneasy or antsy.  I know what triggers my emotions and anxiety,
I know I need to have my guard up when I am going to be around a baby or see someone pregnant.  I am good at "dealing" with it.  We can't account for when something catches you by surprise when you aren't expecting it to. 

On Saturday we took a walk near a lake after we had gone out for dinner.  There was a man and his son fishing, they had caught a fish, the dad went running back to the car for something, as he ran past us I noticed he was Asian, the little boy about 3 ( also Asian) yelled to us, "we got a big fishy!" and waved it around...still on the line.  We congratulated him and told him good job. 

As we walked away we just looked at each other.  It hit me like a ton of bricks.  Mark loves fishing, and we have often talked about he and our son or daughter going fishing together.  The little Asian boy put me over the edge, I can be a good waiter sometimes and other times....not so much. 

Project to keep us busy

We have been trying to keep busy as we wait, tackling or creating projects around the house.  After I was done painting the nursery I was looking for a new project.  When we were assessing what we needed for the nursery we were talking about whether or not we needed a changing table.  We were also trying to find a way to utilize a very old ugly beat up dresser we had, so we painted the dresser and will use it as a changing table! The drawers don't work very well, so we plan to put the next size clothes or extra sheets and stuff in it.  Here are before and after photos.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

We plan to add a changing pad, and a basket.  The colors are two from our safari bedding we got. 

Our next project...THE RUMMAGE SALE...more on that later!