Wall-E Reward

Well, Ben and I both finished filling out the "self study" questionnaire that has been haunting us since our last adoption class on May 5th. I was flipping through our packet of needed documents, and we had forgotten about the "Openness Options" questionnaire that we also need. But we've talked through most of those, so it shouldn't be too time consuming.... Anyway, we made BIG TIME progress today... so I'll take what we've done to Elizabeth, our adoption counselor, on Monday. The next step is for each of us to have an individual interview with her, and then we will have our home study. Meanwhile, it is time to work on putting together our profile. That's another time consuming project, but a friend from our class shared a program for the computer that should really help out with the layout.

Our end of the day "reward" for our hard work was to go see Wall-E. It was a great movie. You should know before you go that there is no dialogue for most of the movie, but you don't really miss it. The music and animation were extremely well done, and the story is sweet. It also makes a pretty political point about our messy world and lazy society. I'm not big into the whole global warming scheme, or the need for "going green", but there does need to be some respect for our environment. Point well taken.

See you at church chow!

Whew, I need a break.

This adoption paperwork is down right oppressive. We ARE going to finish it today, though. I'm making great progress. Just needed a break. So far I have 17 typed pages of questions and answers, and I still have several sections to go.

Adoption is just very different from having a romantic night together and having a baby 9 months later, I tell you what! Blood work, fingerprinting with background checks, 911 history check (do you think we might be refused from that time I cleaned the oven while away at church and the FABULOUS East Point firemen had to come?!?), physicals, references from your pastor, references from your friends, references from work, references from a family member, meeting with an adoption counselor, adoption classes, CPR class, no certainty on how long your wait might be - a few months or a few years?!- and a home invasion. Oops, I mean home study. (-;

Seriously, though, Bethany is fabulous and does their best not to make it all as oppressive as it could be. I'm just thankful we're working with them and not some crazy Adoption Facilitator like this lady named Marcia we went to an introduction meeting for. "Pay us lots of extra money, and you'll have your baby in just a few months!"

Speaking of attaining beautiful babies, many CONGRATS to Donna Marie and Mark on the arrival of their precious son Will. His big sister Gwennan is adorable, so no doubt he will be also!

The last boxes

Shouldn't there be a law about the last boxes that go unpacked? I guess we're down to about a half dozen boxes. But we've been down to those for over a week now. And there they still sit. I think I should just throw them and their contents into a bin for Goodwill. I mean, we've lived here two months. The stuff in them can't be THAT important, right?

Meanwhile I did unpack the China into the "new" china cabinet and it looks very pretty. I also got the nursery set up including a recliner, a crib, a changing table and a good bit of the decor for my froggie pattern. Sonny is making good use of it all.

I've pretty much found a place for everything except my two card tables and 8 folding chairs. I think they'll end up in an upstairs closet, but not until I actually FEEL like carting them all up there.

I will try to get some pictures posted of all that maybe next weekend....

It's Jen not Jenn

I don't know why some people want to spell Jen with two n's. The second "n" is useless, unless it is in the middle of Jennifer. Then the 2nd "n" is part of the "nif" part of "jen" "nif" "fer".

The easy way to remember which way I spell it? Well, check out my blog name and email address. But, easier yet, it matches my hubby, Ben. Not Benn. Not that wouldn't make ANY sense, would it?

Speaking of names, I bought a baby name book last weekend. Ben and I have a girl name all picked out. My friend in Maryland has a beautiful name with a beautiful spelling, so we're planning on sharing it. But boy names?!? We just can't figure that one out. Not that there is any hurry. Just weird, I think. When we were first trying to get pregnant, we came up with our girl name pretty early on. But a boy name, not so easy. Two years have gone by, and no name yet! Again, no hurry.

What do you think about Forrest Greenwald? (Greenwald is german for Green Forest). And, YES, I am completely kidding!

FROG

MY FRIEND AIDIE SHARED THIS WITH ME.... I THINK IT'S GREAT ADVICE.... FOR HOME AND WORK

There's an old saying that says..."If the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is eat a live frog, then nothing worse can happen for the rest of the day!" Well, I don't know about you, but I think that's a pretty safe assumption.

your "frog" should be the most difficult item on your things to do list, the one where you're most likely to procrastinate; because, if you eat that first, it'll give you energy and momentum for the rest of the day. But, if you don't...and let him sit there on the plate and stare at you while you do a hundred unimportant things, it can drain your energy and you won't even know it.

So, here's your assignment: for the next 30 days take a look at your list, circle the frog, and eat that first.

baby gear

Well, I found a beautiful Bonavita "Jamie" white crib on Craigs List. We got it over the weekend. That's in plenty of time for Sonny's visit. Of course, Sonny would be fine in a pack and play for 3 or so weeks, but I thought it was a great reason to go ahead and begin to furnish our future nursery. (-: And if you have a crib, you need the crib bedding, right? No one wants a naked crib. So I went to Target and got the stuff I've been eyeing since Christmas. Also ordered a white changing table from Target. Later, probably once we have actually been choosen by a birthmom, we'll also add a white dresser to complete the room. Keeping it gender neutral on purpose-- even when picked, there is always the chance it won't work out. And, maybe one day we'll be getting a second baby of a different gender than the first. (-:

So, here's the adorable "Tiddliwinks Froggie" look I am going for:



And, no, Ben and I have not yet gotten all of our adoption paperwork turned in. We've made progress on it all, though. Hopefully having a crib will get us motivated to get it all submitted this week. Then we'll do individual meetings with our adoption specialist, then she'll come do a home inspection and -hopefully- do the final, official approval of us, then we'll finish up our profile and it will start to get shown to birthmothers, and then we wait. It's typically the birthmother's choice that determines which baby goes to which couple. I hope to try to work on our profile while Amie is here. She's very good at layouts and stuff, and will probably take no time to figure out the scrapbooking software an adoption class friend shared with me. No doubt in our hearts that God already has our future baby picked out, and that his timing will be just right-- even if it's not the first time we get picked. We are doing an open adoption, which typically means you get to meet with the Birthmother while she's pregnant, then be at the hospital during and after the birth, and then take the baby home on the 3rd day. Things become final- in other words legally bound- on the 10th day of the baby's life. But we will still stay in touch with the Birthmom and she still gets to see the baby a few times during the first couple of years.

Anyway, my day today is packed full. Stanley Steamer already came and cleaned our former coffee couch and our living room area rug. Larry came by so we could talk over the ways he can "clean up" our slightly overgrown yard next week. (Looking forward to that progress!). I have plenty of laundry and cleaning to do throughout the house today, but also need to go get my allergy shots and run to Home Depot. I'd thought I'd try to get a pedicure squeezed in, but not so sure there will be time for that today. I'll also be meeting with John who will service our A/C. So, I best be gettin' goin' so I can "ENJOY" my day "OFF"!

May God grant you peace and rest today and every day.

Get Thee to the Movies!!!

Wow. There are some great movies right now. Ben and I love going to the movies for our Friday date nights. Kung Fu Panda was awesome. Find a kid to take, or go without one like we did!

We've seen most of the current top rated Rotten Tomatoes Movies, and we agree with those ratings!

93% Iron Man
87% Kung Fu Panda
85% Forgetting Sarah Marshall
78% Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!
77% Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Anyone seen either of these? We haven't... yet....
92% U2 3D
78% The Bank Job

What's Rotten Tomatoes? Are your serious? You don't KNOW?!? Only the most reliable way to choose which movies to go to.... and which to wait to get on Netflicks.... http://www.rottentomatoes.com/

Visitors

Amie and Ben are going to be our first overnight guests in our new home next week. They hope to close on the sale of their condo Wednesday morning, and then they'll stay here a night, and then Ben will head on up to Wisconsin. Ben and I get to enjoy Amie's company until mid-July, and Sonny will be joining her about a week into her stay. He gets to go to Grandma Keck's during the crazy moving week. It's a little bittersweet, really. Sooo excited for them to visiting, but sooo sad that means they are moving soon. We did figure out that Madison, WI is just a few hours from Dubuque, so we'll have to somehow include them in a family visit to Iowa next year.

We had Suzanne and Jasmine over briefly before going out to dinner with them Sunday eve. I was supposed to make dinner, but, well, I didn't get to that. Did make huge strides in making the house more presentable, though. Anyway it was great to see them.

I think I found a pretty and well made, safe white crib that's actually available on Craig's list... There had been another, Pottery Barn set, but I wasn't quick enough to get it several weeks ago. I guess that makes me officially addicted, doesn't it? Two great finds in two weekends?!

Somehow my weekends keep filling up. I don't think I used to be this busy. Nor this social. It's a little strange, a bit fabulous, and a tad tiring all at once. After working OT last weekend and working a full week this week for the first time in awhile, I'm truly looking forward to next Monday off!

China Cabinet

I was really excited about our new China cabinet. In fact, it is gorgeous, just what I wanted, and was a spectacular Craig's list deal. 'Cept we had to go to Hiram, GA to get it. And we bought it from an older gentleman, so I wasn't exactly sure how Ben and I would get it into my Dad's pickup on our own. So I suggested Ben call Charles and see if he could help.

Well, turns out the entire Spoelstra family of 3 felt like going on a drive, and Dawn wanted to see our new house anyway... so, they went from Marietta and we went from Dunwoody, and we met up at this Hiram Guy's home. Strange when you think about it... all 6 of our lives momentarily converging in Hiram, GA. Anyway, I do love the china cabinet and will one day soon have a blast unpacking my beautiful China into a place where people can see it.... but it turned out to be a great day because we got a great new China Cabinet AND we also had a terrific visit with Dawn, Charles, and Leif!

We're home!

We really enjoyed our visit with Linda and Louie, and we got to see our niece Taylor, our nephews Zachary and Brandon, as well as Ben's brother John and his wife Amy. I'll post a few pics soon.

We're home now. Kinda weird to come home to our new house.... but didn't take too long to get used to the idea. (-:

I got lots of my half of our adoption paperwork done on the plane ride home. Maybe I'll feel up to typing it all into the computer tomorrow. Maybe not, but I'm ready to be done with our part and into the waiting phase.

Well, even though my body thinks it's just 9:30, I still feel tired so off to bed for me!

BORING BABBLE...

Our cats really like their new house, I think. They have lots of room, not to mention stairs, where they can run and chase each other. And last night, Ben and I were watching TV and they just snuggled and snuggled with one another. They hadn't been snuggling as much once we got our old house de-cluttered and on the market. Maybe they could sense the stress and impending change. So happy they seem happy! They also have (at least) two random cats that show up at our sliding glass doors to peer in. Hysterical to watch them all try to sniff through the glass!

In the morning, we have our CPR certification class. One of those things potential adoptive parents have to do. Once that is done, we will have to work on our paperwork. There are lots of introspective questions to answer on long, individual questionnaires. I'm thinking I might take mine with us on our trip to Iowa over Memorial Day weekend to try to get a running start on it all. Then we'll have individual interviews with our adoption counselor, and then the last step before "just waiting" is to put together the profile all the prospective birth Moms will view.

Our house got cleaned today, and we had worked on getting boxes more in order earlier this week. We still have a long way to go, but it's starting to feel more comfortable. A lot of the boxes are books and files that just need to be put in their place in the office. I'm hoping to make progress on that and hanging all the towel bars, hooks, etc over my long weekend. I'm really hoping we won't move for at least 15 years... I'm not such a fan of this moving thing.

I only have to work 3 days next week and 3 days the week after. Monday is my regular off day, and then we leave for Iowa on Friday and fly back Monday evening. I took Tuesday off as well because I do lots better when I have a day at home after a vacation.

I'm looking forward to our trip to Iowa. We'll be visiting Ben's parents, and hopefully get to see a niece and nephews as well. Hadn't realized it, but I had only been to Iowa in the cold months. It should be neat to see it this time of year.

My new job is going very well. I had a performance review today that was very positive. In comparison to the office from whence I came, the new office is better managed, we (the claims representatives) have more time to work our work, and the overall positive morale in the office are all great improvements! Interesting news.... my prior boss (whom I did NOT particularly
like working under or with or around... ) announced her retirement. Sure hope they get someone positive and good down there in Morrow!

Talk at you later! Enjoy the weekend, y'all!

Mothers Day

Isn't it great that Mothers' Day celebrates all the awesome Moms out there? I know both my Mom and mother in law are incredible Moms, and deserve all the celebration, appreciation, and gifts they can get. And I have lots of girlfriends who are awesome Mothers. It's fun to watch friends learn to be Moms. You know, you knew them before they were ever married, then they got married, and now they have little ones....

It is a difficult day for a lot of people, though. Yesterday I was at Costco with about half of Atlanta. It was a zoo- especially in the flower section (the reason I personally was there). I saw a middle aged lady driving down the isle crying. I wanted to go to her and give her a hug, but resisted because I didn't know her from Eve and thought I should not invade her privacy. I understand, though. Mother's Day is really hard if you've lost your Mom recently, or if you've always hoped to be a Mom, only to find out that you aren't going to be able to have any kids. Worse yet, think about the almost Moms. Women who are mothers, but lost their babies before they were ever born.

In adoption class last Monday, they reminded us about an entirely different group of people to remember on Mother's Day. There are many, many birth Moms out there that chose life for their babies and then, out of love and graciousness, gave their babies up for adoption. No one gets to give them a card, a hug, or a even a thank you. They probably aren't comfortable standing up or getting a rose at church. But they are some of the best and least selfish Moms around.

I thank God today and everyday for the birth Mom of our future child or children. I pray that God loves her and takes care of her, and helps her know just how special she is. And I thank God in advance for the sacrifice she will have to make in a time of crisis in her life in order to chose life for her unborn baby.

Happy Mothers Day.... to all of the mothers, birth mothers, and adoptive mothers!

Settling In ... at least a little

Hi everyone.

I have finally been catching up on my sleep, so I am feeling much more myself. Our bed continues to be AWESOME and comfy, even in its new home. And we no longer have airplane noises to put us to sleep.

We got our new washer and dryer today. They're the neat new high energy front loading kind. We used consumer reports to decide which ones to get. We're already doing our first load. Also, the DISH network is here setting that up for us. Dad very generously gave us another of his HD flat screen TVs, so we're looking forward to some great TV viewing. No worries, Dad upgraded at his house, so he is not doing without. (-;

My computer is all hooked up now, and our office is coming together a little at a time. It is nice to have my desk in place and mostly set up. I can relax here! (-:

Thanks so much to our Lifegroup who came and helped us for a few hours on Wednesday evening... they unpacked some of our boxes for us.

Yesterday, Erika and my sister came by. My Mom has been helping a ton-- which included yesterday. We got my kitchen underway. I have so much kitchen stuff, though. It fit in my prior kitchen, but that was new construction. Having some issues in this 1970's house, but I expect to get some additional furniture to use as a pantry, so that will help a lot.

We'll get our kitty cats this evening.... Baxter is such a crazy and curious cat that it just hasn't been safe for him yet! We'll do a bit more kitty proofing and then go get them from Grammy and Grampy Julyan's!

communication breakdown

I haven't checked e-mail in days. Feels like an eternity! Ben got our Internet up last night, but I haven't set up my computer yet.

Also, our cell phones barely work at our new house -- oh, btw, we did close, move in, and finally got our power on. We slept here last night for the first time. Anyway, if you try our cell numbers and miss us, you can leave voicemail, but you may also want to try our new home phone! (-:

Well I am typing this on my iPhone, so I think that is as much updating as my Ambien influenced right pointer finger can take...

Call or come by! We have plenty of unpacking left should you find yourself with nothing to do...

SOLD!

Hooray! We closed on the sale of our East Point home!

We will close on the purchase of our Dunwoody home tomorrow.

Movers Scheduled

Our closing is scheduled for today at 4 PM, and they actually have the packet at the attorney's office. Hooray!

Our movers are moving us tomorrow (Tuesday). I have been approved for leave on both Tuesday and Wednesday, so I will be returning to work on Thursday.

We would love and really appreciate some help getting settled in on Wednesday and/or this Saturday if you happen to be available... just shoot me an email. (-:

Thanks bunches for your prayers!

Clear to Close!?!?

I'm not 100% convinced, but apparently Bank of America has pronounced our buyer's loan clear to close and the "packet" is on it's way to the attorney's office. We're scheduled for a 4:00 closing today. I think I'll fully believe that once everything is signed, but I will call to start arranging the movers and utilities as soon as Scott, our realtor, calls to let us know that the packet is in the hands of the closing attorney's office, and it is in time for the 4:00 closing to happen.

Limbo Land

Well, as of close of business on Friday, our closing attorney's office still had not gotten the infamous "packet". Which means we are still completely in limbo.

Our kitties are with their Grammy and Grampy Julyan, as we took them there when we thought we were going to close at 4:30 Friday.... which, of course, did not happen. This house is lonely without them, but it doesn't seem fair for them to have to spend an hour in the car to bring them home and then take them back a few days later. Good news is that they thrive there. My parents spoil them with affection, and are home more than Ben and I are.

Our house is a catastrophe, which puts me even more on edge. Boxes everywhere, things half-packed, odds and ends that have been removed from their official place, but not yet gotten to a box. We figure we might as well pack a little here and there because that will mean our movers will cost less.... we will be charged an hourly rate for 4 guys, so the more we do, the fewer hours they'll take.

At this point, I've told our realtor not to call us until the packet is with the closing attorney and we are ready to schedule a closing for certain, or if it becomes certain that these people won't be able to close at all. The hour by hour updates and what if's were way to stressful, and literally wasted both Thursday and Friday away. Not going there again. Not gonna do it.

We cancelled the turn off of our major utilities and our internet/TV, and didn't even bother to guess when they will need to be turned off. We postponed the delivery of our new washer and dryer, and the set up of our new TV and internet. Our movers kept our deposit since we cancelled last minute- luckily that was $170 and not more, and we did not reschedule them either. We decided we won't rearrange any of those things until the closing is final. Unfortunately, when (or if!?!) we do close, it will mean a lot of scrambling to arrange the utilities, et al. But better that then having to call to change it all a third time. (Our original closing was supposed to be on April 10th, so I'd already done the first round of changing dates before doing this second round on Friday!)

It hasn't been a fun experience at all, but we'll make it through eventually, I guess! We do trust that God will work it all out in his time, and that He turns ALL things to GOOD. The interim just sorta sucks!

We're grateful for everyone's prayers, and the support of our friends and family. Thanks so much! We love you!

No Closing Means No Moving

Well, our buyers weren't able to close again today, so we've called the movers to cancel them. They say they can close on Monday afternoon, but at this point, I'll believe it when I see it. We are starting to have doubts about if they'll be able to get their mortgage at all, as all we keep hearing is that the lender hasn't been able to finalize things and they won't be able to get it ready by whatever the last time we'd come up with for a closing. We really don't KNOW what is happening and why the bank keeps delaying things.

We absolutely will not move until we've sold this house. I certainly feel horrible for the people we're buying from, and pray that somehow we'll still be able to get this one sold and move there soon.

I think our home phone will be cut off on Sunday, so be sure to call us on our cell phones until we get to move to the new house.

The one good thing to come from all this is that now, I won't have to miss Midtown's Ladies Retreat this weekend.

Please pray for Ben and me that we'll continue to trust God's timing, and that He turns ALL things to good.

Just a partial closing today....

The buyers' lending company for our house didn't have their act together, so we spent most of the day on the phone trying to ascertain if they could close today-- which they kept saying maybe, but they never committed to it. It was hard getting any information for the majority of the day. Of course that was pretty stressful considering we had a closing scheduled to buy a house at 2!

Meanwhile, we did close "in escrow" for the house we are buying. That means we went and signed everything so as soon as the money from our sale gets wired, that will be a done deal and we can just go pick up the keys.

The "good" news is that the buyers' loan is fine and should go through. We're waiting now to find out if our buyers' lender got their "packet" to the closing attorney's office before close of business today. If they did get it in, we will close at 9 in the morning. However, I am assuming they did not since we haven't heard anything and it's almost 7. Hopefully, then, it will get there first thing in the morning. If it does, we should close at 11AM, and then the money should be wired to our other closing attorney's office, and once they get the wire transfer confirmation a few hours later, we can pick up the keys and start moving stuff in to our new home. I'm guessing that will be around 1 tomorrow. But no guarantees.

It's been pretty yucky today-- we certainly hoped that since we'd given them a week longer than they had asked for that our buyers' lender would be ready-- but, alas, that wasn't the case. God will work it out.... just hoping he does tomorrow since it's too late to cancel our movers on Saturday! (-;