Baby 2

"Baby 2"

This is the term Kurt and I have, affectionately, given to our next little baby.

And that little baby, is in the works. Sort of.

Now don't get excited, we haven't been matched or gotten a call or anything. We've just....begun the process. We actually began a few months ago, but for some reason I didn't feel the urge to blog about it yet. It still feels weird to blog about it. Surreal, actually.

Officially, we've completed our formal application and will proceed with the homestudy in the next few weeks. My guess is that we'll be actually "waiting" at the end of summer/beginning of fall. And then...it's in God's hands.

I predict it could take longer this time, to get matched. We're going with Bethany Christian Services again, of Minnesota this time. The MN branch doesn't seem to have the same activity that the Iowa branch did. Plus birthmothers typically prefer to place with a childless couple. These factors, combined, make me think it could be awhile before we're a family of four. And I'm okay with that, I'm okay with whatever. I'm just along for the ride.

My heart is ready for another baby. Mary is so not an infant anymore! It will be good for her to have a little brother or sister as she's very spoiled with my attention all on her. Kurt is itching to hold a newborn again. We both have dreams of a big family and, in order to have that, we need to get the ball rolling again.

We're going into this so differently than last time. Less naiive, more sensitive to birthparents, more demanding of ethical and fair practices, more cautious....

....but at the same time, this tiny place inside of me is jumping up and down with excitement. Ready to grow my family, ready to hold my new little one, ready give my heart to a child all over again.

My new venture...

Well, I've already announced it in real life...so I suppose I might as well announce it in my virtual world too.

I'm starting a business. Let me rephrase that, I've already started a business. I'm now the head cheese of Capturing Moments Photography. I even have a website to prove it: http://www.capturingmomentsphotography.net/

Check it out and let me know if I can be of service to you, photographically speaking. Also, if you have a website and wouldn't mind - I'd love if you put a link to my site on yours. It helps spread the word and makes my business comes up on search engines more frequently. At least that's what google tells me.

I'd love to hear any feedback you have! Thanks!

get it together!

Mary is almost 14 months old.

Today she is wearing a size 18 months skirt and a size 6-9 months onesie.

And both fit perfectly.

Go figure.

Clothing manufacturerers....you all need to get it together!

waterbug

We started swim lessons this past week. At first I wasn't sure if we were doing it for Mary's sake or mom's sake. I mean...what can a one year old really learn at swim lessons, right?

Turns out, they've been fairly good for her. Although Mary loves the tub, she's a fraidy-cat when it comes to pools. It took ten minutes for her to walk up to her knees on the first day (it's a zero depth pool). It took twenty minutes for her to force out a smile.

The next day was better (5 minutes). And the next even better (3.5 minutes).

Hey maybe by the end of next week I'll have a future olympic swimmer on my hands?

crybaby

I don't know if it's because she knows she wants something but just can't say the words or what her problem is but Mary is one big whiner lately. Seriously! Whine, whine, whine.

"Mary what do you want?"

(whine whine whine)

"Do you want to get up?"

(whine whine...."up")

So I pick her up.

(whine whine whine)

"Do you want to get down?"

(whine whine "DOOOOOWN!") she is fairly dramatic afterall.

So I put her down.

(whine whine whine)

And the cycle continues. Any suggestions?

As if there was ever any doubt...

Last night...in a nutshell...describes exactly why we felt the call to move up here.

I stopped by my parents store in the afternoon to grab some sweetcorn and other fresh goodies. As soon as I walked in, mom scooped Mary up and began showing her off to anyone who was willing to listen. After finishing up there I came back home where 'grandpa' was working outside. He stopped to play with Mary for a bit when up the driveway comes Uncle Tim and the twins. Of course the boys promptly mauled Mary over (not that she was complaining) and they all proceeded to giggle and run in the grass for a bit.

After they left, Kurt came home from work. We ate our sweet corn outside, sitting on the picnic table while the dogs ran around the yard. After finishing the tasty supper, we (Kurt, Mary and I) went for a family four-wheeler ride down to the pond and through a new trail that my dad had cleared. We enjoyed watching two young deer chase each other round and round. On the way back up I noticed some black-cap bushes and while Kurt gave Mary a bath I ran back out to pick a bowl-full.

After putting Mary to bed, Kurt and I sat on the couch and munched on berries (that I picked) and peaches (from my folks store) and just talked about how good life here is.

I just feel so blessed. So very, very blessed.