Then again.......Maybe NOT!

So sitting with our caseworker yesterday made it seem like this will be more difficult than we thought. She told us 'realistically' we are looking at 2010 before 'kiddos' could be placed with us. I was under the impression that there were tons of kids out there waiting for homes.....and there are....but the process is 'long and arduous'. I guess, because Dan was adopted and we have 'shady' people in our family......it is a much longer process. They have to look much deeper into our past than they usually do. So, our excitement is not as strong as it was. We are still looking forward to the end product.....but we know that we have a lot of time to prepare. The funny, and actually scary thing is........Our children have not even been taken from their biological parents yet. Is that sad or what? I do hope this process gets easier.....

Blog to you soon....

The blindspot ends

Today is the day that we will have all of our questions answered. Our caseworker is coming by this afternoon to meet us. It is amazing to me that we have been working on this since January. And even more amazing that by Christmas we will have a family. This is the longest pregnancy ever. Do any of you ever feel that way. I remember one of my friends telling me that they were so excited for their baby to be born so they could come out and play. We really feel like that. We are so excited to meet our new family. We don't even know how big or small it will be. We don't know if it will be all girls all boys or a mixture. This brings new meaning to not finding out what you are having until you are actually giving birth. :)

Blog to you soon....

Ryder Adelbert Otten

I have a new nephew. He was 9 lbs. I was so happy to be able to hold him. If he had weighed one more pound he would have been beyond my weight limit. It was great to see my sister turn into a mom. It is so amazing to me what instincts women have. And when they kick in. She still needed some assistance in her learning process. Some people were overwhelming her with information, and I think that frustrated her. You HAVE to do this, and you HAVE to do that. I found that all of my sentences began with "I have a friend" or "one of my friends....". She thought that was pretty funny how much information that I had attained from all of my friends. Mostly from book club.....Thank you. We spent four days with her, helping her out and letting her rest. It was nice to be able to sit and hold Ryder. I love holding babies when they are sleeping. It is an amazing relaxation technique. Of course I had to give him up, which was sad. But it was a great baby fix. I'm looking forward to more baby time this year with the arrival of my friend's children.

Blog to you soon.....

My Friends are AWESOME Mom's

I cannot believe how hard it is to shuffle kids and have a life on the side. I have been watching two children for some friends of ours for the last two weeks. OI!!! I never realized how time consuming it is. And how exhausting it is. I now know why my friends all looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned we wanted a sibling group. But, I tell you....I have the recipe down for Play Doh and all the cookie cutters to go with it. And kids love to play outside in the water and pick flowers and color with crayons and bake.......Oh and nap time. LOVE IT!! I have never been a nap taker.....but do I ever now. You almost have to to keep up with these little ones. AmyJo asked me if I wanted to go on an outing with her and the girls.....I don't think I'm up to going outside yet. I have a hard enough time keeping them in order indoors. Of course I am sure that all of you have control of your own children and that it is just difficult for me because they don't know my language yet. At least I hope that is the case. This has been a great eye opening experience for me. It has made me think more about what age of children would be good for me too. Little ones are very tiring. I wonder if I could keep up with them. If I have the energy that all of my friends seem to have. I need to know what your secrets are. Is there some kind of food that I'm supposed to eat right before bed to get energy the next day....or is it in liquid form? I would love to know how you all do it.

Blog to you soon....

Our Newest Family Member - Officially

For those of you that don't know...and I don't think there are many of you...Barbara is officially a member of our family (And her little dog Ara). As of August 1st she was given permission to stay in our home and attend McKay High School for her senior year.

We figured this would be perfect with the adoption process and all. Of course we seem to be going backwards. Most people adopt young children......we are starting with the oldest and working our way backwards. She will be 18 in November. She and Dan have the same birthday. We are trying to come up with a great birthday party idea for the both of them.

We are very excited to have her here. And she is very excited to be a big sister. We are all looking forward to the changes in our lives over the next few months. From what we hear....it could be a very quick process. We'll keep you informed.

Blog to you soon!!