Congrats and a little pity party...

Congratulations to Nancy & Brian who are now awaiting the first glimpse of their precious daughter, Lily! I can't wait to see what she looks like.

For the rest of us waiting, I'm bummed that they only got through 14 days this month. I keep hoping for a speed up, but it's just not happening.









If they were to actually keep up this pathetic 14 day pace, check out this really ugly scenario:

LID Sept. 9-22 - December referrals
thru Oct. 6 - January
thru Oct. 20 - February
thru Nov. 3 - March
thru Nov. 17 - April
thru Dec. 1 - May
thru Dec. 15 - June
thru Dec. 29 - July
thru Jan. 12 - August
thru Jan. 26 - September
thru Feb. 9 - October
thru Feb. 23 - November (our LID 2/17)

At the current pace, it would mean a referral for us an entire year from now!! That would be a 21 month wait from LID!

Although I'm happy for everyone getting their referral this month, I just can't help but throw a little pity party for the rest of us.

They just have to speed it up, right? It can't actually be a 21 month wait, right?

The suspense is killing me!

For some reason, waiting for this month's referral batch is just killing me! I think part of it is because Nancy will have her referral to Lily and I'm just so anxious for her to see her daughter's face. Also, if you following Rumor Queen, there's been some rumors that the batch may contain a big chunk of September, which would mean Michele could get Ava's referral.

I'm so anxious you would think it was my turn! Doesn't the CCAA know that I've already bitten my fingernails down to the nubs and just can't stand it anymore?

Bring on those beautiful babies!! I sure hope I'm not going to be like this every time a friend is up for their referral....it's not good for my nails or my hips, for that matter!

Time for some changes...

I started with a new look for my blog. The header image is a scan of the wallpaper border and paint colors we'll be using for Lauren's room. We'll be starting the nursery after Christmas and I thought this new blog look would get me motivated and keep me on track. ;)

Before the nursery, we'll be painting and decorating our master bedroom and bath. We have a couple of use or loose vacation days, so we're going to take them early next month to finally get our master bedroom done. We've lived in our house for three years this coming April and that's the one room we haven't done a darn thing too yet. Plus, we want to get rid of our queen size bed and upgrade to a king so there is room for us and Lauren.

Today I stopped in to TJ Maxx and I found exactly what I've been looking for...a king size quilt for our bedroom at an awesome price! I wasn't sure about the color, but I picked it up figuring I could return it. We bought drapery panels at IKEA months ago and I wasn't sure the quilt would match.

Well, check out this perfect match! The drapery panels are the solid red brick color and I think they go great together.

I love when things just click without too much effort. I couldn't have found a better match if I tried!

Christmas is right around the corner...

When Starbucks starts cranking out their yummy peppermint mochas and gingerbread lattes and their Christmas merchandise is in the store, then it's the official start of the Christmas season for me! It doesn't matter that the temperature here in AZ is still in the mid 80's and we're still in short sleeves.

Check out this year's bear couple all decked out in their parkas, scarves and furry boots.

I'm a sucker for their collectible bears and the peppermint mochas.

By the way, do you realize there are only 35 days until Christmas!

Nine months down...

Tomorrow will be nine months since our February 17th LID. I think it's finally safe to say that we are more than half way there now, which feels really good!

Since we've been pretty busy lately, this past month has gone by in a flash. With the holidays right around the corner and referral excitement to come very soon for our friends, Nancy & Brian, I have a feeling it will be our 12-month anniversary before we know it.

I just read Chrisi's post "Reflections of a new Mom" about her wonderful experiences with Abbey during their first week together. It is such a very sweet post and makes me so anxious for our time to come. Sometimes I wish I could just fast forward to our referral call and be on our way to get our sweet, long awaited baby.

On their way!

One of our local FCC families, Kim and Scott, are on their way to China today! They will be meeting their twins, Jadyn and Jenna, on Sunday. I can't wait to see a gotcha day photo of them with their precious baby girls!!

We survived the weekend!

Well, my brother and sister-in-law are back from San Diego and Joe and I have a quite house once again. We survived two soccer games, two parties, bowling and golf land...actually, I can say now that you haven't truly experienced mini-golf until you've played with a four year old boy and his two sisters. It was fun and challenging all at the same time...a real test of patience. ;)

I must say, after three complete days with three kids, that I have a new respect for parents of multiple children. HOW in the heck do you do it day in and day out?? Dawn, how do you do it with four boys?? My goodness, you have your hands full!

All in all, Joe and I had a great time with the kids and we feel lucky to have them living close by enough so that we can spend time with them. They are great kids and will be amazing cousins to Lauren. By the way, they are so excited about Lauren and talk about her a lot. They have so many questions about her, and love looking through the books I have on China.

Saturday afternoon, my Mother picked up the kids for a trip to Chuck e Cheese so that I could visit with Julie, here from Minneapolis. Nancy and I met Julie for lunch, then stopped by Nancy's place so Julie could see her totally adorable nursery. After that we went scrapbook shopping...a huge store I haven't been to yet, but will definitely be back.

Here we are at Nancy & Brian's place (left to right...Julie, me and Nancy)...


and here's Max looking so cute on the top step...

Bedtime Friend...

Well it looks like Lucy found some new bedtime friends. She's very comfortable on the air mattress with Emily and Josh.

Gee, I guess the kids won't be going to sleep anytime soon!

Whirlwind Weekend Ahead...

My brother and sister-in-law are heading off to San Diego on a well deserved weekend of fun and Joe and I are taking care of our nieces and nephew. Since I have Friday off for the Veteran's Day holiday, my official call of duty starts after work tomorrow and ends Sunday night. Between the three kids, they have two soccer games, three parties, piano practice, and homework that needs to be done during the time we have them! Gee, life was SO much simpler when I was a kid! We would spend the weekend outside playing with friends each day until we were called in for dinner.

In the middle of certain chaos this weekend, I get to take a break and visit with Julie who will be in town on a family visit. Nancy, Heather and I will get to meet up with her for lunch and some scrapbook shopping. I met Julie on my Utah Waiting Momma's Summit and I'm looking forward to seeing her again.

All in all, in should be a fun, but very busy, weekend with the kids. I almost wish I would have taken Monday off though, because I have a feeling I'm REALLY going to need it! I'm sure I'll be ready to drop by then!

New Momma!

Christi finally has Abbey!!! Click here to see a photo of the proud momma and Abbey's beautiful little face! What a great day!

Fun Costco Find...

Yesterday Joe and I were in the Costco Christmas toy aisles and look what they had.

Isn't she pretty? She's made of porcelain and comes with a little snow globe with a panda bear. We just had to get her to put away for Lauren. Someday when she can appreciate collectable dolls we'll give it to her as a Christmas or birthday gift.

They had them themed for several other countries too...Russia, Germany, Ireland, Africa.

Referrals & Halloween Fun...

Referrals are on their way and the CCAA actually made it through August 25th!! Can this be an indication of a slight speed up??? I sure hope so. Congrats to my bloggy friends Julie and Lisa who made the cut-off this month. It was nice to move them on my sidebar from Patiently Waiting to Waiting to Travel...soooo cool! I can't wait to see what Tess and Baby S look like!

On the flip side, my heart goes out to my friends Nancy and Brian, who missed the cut off by one darn day! Nancy was so hoping that this would be the month, but was also trying not to get her hopes up too much. But, how can you help it?? This wait is so dang long, that it much be just torture towards the end. Nancy, I know you are going to get totally sick and tired of hearing this one, but at least you KNOW you are next and I can't wait to see Lily's face next month!

My friend, Jennifer, had her annual Halloween pumpkin carving party again this year and it's tradition that the night before we get together and make caramel apples and treats for the party. This year we got together at my place. The first task was unwrapping bags and bags of caramel. As you can imagine, not all the caramels made it into the bowl!


Here's my niece, Katie, and nephew, Joshua, dipping the apples...


The best part is eating the left over caramel after all the apples are dipped!!


Next we made these adorable little marshmallow witches made with chocolate wafer cookies, mini peanut putter cups, and Hershey kisses as the hats. We had an assembly line going...


On Sunday, it was off to the park for the pumpkin carving party. The weather was beautiful and everyone had a great time. Here's some of my favorite pumpkins...


One of the party guests happened to be a balloon artist and he created this monkey in a tree hat for my niece, Emily. That's one talent you need to keep to yourself unless you want a long line of kids by your side!