Grab Your Heart Band-Aids and Head over to 'A Special Family'

Please join me in offering some love and support to our sister over at 'A Special Family'. She is really going through a tough time and she is alone. She is one of the most amazing people I have met in blogland, so I am very worried to see her so low. I'm sure that prayer would be helpful also.

Saturday Morning!!

This Saturday Morning post is dedicated to our good friend Headmeister. When I saw this graphic, I about wet my pants. She's a true fan of DH. Good Morning Heather, Stacey, Steffie and anyone else who drops in this morning.. Leave a comment and I'll visit you! If you are a fan of 'The Hoff', check out hoffgallery.com.
The coffee is brewing, but it looks like rain.

What's Up This Weekend???

Tonight (Friday), it's just Tim, Kate, Eli and myself. I'm going to get some laundry caught up and go out for a boat ride.

Tomorrow both of my sister-in-laws are coming to stay over with 6 kids between them. We'll have 13 in the house. We'll be tubing on the boat and swimming. Grilling dinner. You know, traditional summer. (This is my 4th weekend in a row with a packed house).

Sunday I have a baby shower to go to and the Great Grandparent's to visit.

What does your weekend look like?

Congratulations to Gwen and the Oatsvall Team!!

Join me in congratulating Gwen and the entire Oatsvall Team on the referral of their newest little princess, Maggie Tara Chang Oatsvall.

They are asking for prayer for a quick arrival for their TA and a smooth attachment process.

Their blog is 'Oatsvall Team', I know they would love to hear your words of encouragement!

Please Pray for Jay...

Nikki from 'Life with Lily Lin' is asking for prayer for her husband. He is going in for a cat scan soon. There hasn't been a diagnosis of anything yet, but Nikki is obviously concerned and nervous. I know that they would appreciate any kind words.

Searching for an Identity as an Adopting Mother...

When I was expecting the boys, it was easy for everyone to see that I had a child on the way. People were so happy for me. They smiled and asked questions about when I was due and what names I had picked out. Now that I am adopting, I feel like I am missing out on the attention and joys that I experienced before my children were born.
No one can tell that I have a little girl on the way. No one seems really excited about it now that the wait is taking so long.
I drive into the babies r us parking lot and look at the expecting moms parking spot, I keep moving on until I find one for the 'normal' women.
No one asks me how I'm feeling or if I need anything. I do need some moral support from time to time.
It's like nothing is happening.
That is making me miserable. I want some way to proclaim that I am expecting! I want Sophia Jane to be just as anticipated as Zach,Tyler and Eli were. I'M PARKING IN ALL OF THE EXPECTING MOM SPOTS!! Any other ideas??

Ask Me Anything...I'm an Open Book...

I have had a couple of comments that have caused me to think that you all may not really know me, or that the part of me that writes this blog isn't exposing the full me. Does that make any sense? There are a lot of aspects to me and my life and a lot of different facets to my personality. So, here's your chance...ask me anything. If there is something you would like to know about me, leave a comment and I will address it completely by leaving a responding comment here on this post. My life's book is wide open, there is no taboo (unless it will cause my family to die of complete shame). Be creative and dig deep. This is an incredible opportunity...I'm a little nervous about crazylady and secret agent. But I'm up for it..Bring It On!

Enjoy Your Wednesday!

Well, at least I'm halfway through this week. The days have been flying by pretty fast. Today seems to be about money. I have to pick Zach up around noon and take him to the bank so he can learn how to access his account and deposit his birthday money.
Tonight we meet with our Ameriprise Financial Advisor. He's going to map out a plan so that maybe we can retire one day. I'm hoping that I don't end up depressed by the realization that we can never retire. We also have to get more life insurance and find a lawyer to draft a will. Not so much fun, but necessary.

Thank You Secret Agent!

Thank you so much to my dear friend at 'Loud Secrets'. This is a really awesome squish! I love the fabric and your wish is inspiring. For those of you wondering what Secret Agent's name really is...I know and it's very cool, I think I'm changing my name to hers.

Sending Hugs to Steffie...

Let's all send a hug to our dear friend Steffie at 'Never Too Many'. They were not matched this time around for a child on the Children of Promise List. Their LID is fairly new, so she knows that her time will come, but it is still hard. We all know just how hard it really is.

Quote for the Week...

Happy Birthday to My Son..

This morning I talked to God on my way to work. There were tears running down my cheeks. I thanked Him for blessing me 15 years ago today with the gift of my oldest son Zachary. I thanked Him for the miracle of his smile and the warmth in his eyes. It has been a priviledge to be his mother. One of the greatest blessings in my life... to walk beside him through his life, to be the one who held his small hand and guided him. He is my sunshine. My first pure love.

Normally I spend my sons birthday with him. But not today. Today I had lunch, just lunch. I sat accross the table at Olive Garden looking into the face of a young man. My boy was gone and there was this beautiful young man in his place. Just lunch, because I had to work and tonight he has his first hockey practice which can't be missed. He has his own life now with practices and commitments to be met. His life isn't meshed with mine anymore.

That's ok (I type that while I'm crying), because I have cherished every minute. I have hugged and kissed and cuddled. I have read books, watched all of the Disney movies and sang the itsy bitsy spider. The boy lives forever in my heart. The young man and I begin our next adventure together. We still walk side by side, but he opens the doors now and carries things for me. We talk about current events, relationships and life. He's driving me in the car. When I looked accross the table at him today, I knew that things were never going to be the same. Somehow today marked a new era for us.

To my son who sometimes reads my blog:
I love you . I love you. I am so proud and blessed. I remember being in the hospital when you were first born and watching you as you slept and I knew that the most incredible part of my life was beginning. But I had no idea how amazing and beautiful you would be and how much I could love another. You are such an outstanding young man. I love spending time with you talking and laughing. I am so impressed with your wit and intelligence. In you I see the makings of a great man. You carry my heart with you everywhere you go. For the third time...I love you.

No Sleep!

I can't get any sleep in my house! Usually if I can get to sleep before my husband does I'm fine. He snores. If I fall asleep before the snoring starts, I'm fine. If I don't it's a night of battling. I'm constantly poking at him, telling him to roll over. He mostly snores on his back (which is his favorite sleeping postition). Now Eli, our 2 year old is waking up every night and wanting to come to bed with us. He tosses and turns and I end up having to move to the couch. We're working to steer him back to his own bed-not working well. On the weekend mornings, I usually end up waking up earlier with Eli. Somehow the husband sleeps through him waking up-I think he ignores it and pretends to sleep until I break down and get up.

So, at this point, I think I have slept maybe 15 hours in 3 days. I'm exhausted.

The Family Nickname Meme...

I have been tagged by Kimber at '3 Peanuts' to reveal our family nicknames. Which is kind of funny because Kimber is one of my nicknames. You see the children all of the time as they are today, so I thought I would show you all how they looked when they were babies since that is where most of the nicknames began.

This is Zachary who is turning 15 tomorrow. He loved bubbles. His nickname was Juji. Don't ask why, it just was.


This is Katelyn. Her Grandmother called her Kateydid when she was little.

This is Tyler our 11 year old. His nickname was Poody which evolved into Poody Loo. This nickname followed him for many years until he demanded that we stop calling him that. Poor kid.

This is little Eli. His father calls him TJ sometimes for (Tyler Junior) since he's so wild like his brother.

I tag: Search and Destroy Twins, My Three Sons and a Little China Girl, Living the Florida Life, Always Wanted Four, With Six You Get Eggroll, What's Katie Doing Now?, The Monkey King, The Princess Diaries and Sophia + Alyssa.

Sunday Post...