Officially Waiting
It is Official we are on the waiting list for 1-2 children... either gender... 0-3 years old.  Gavin is still hoping for a big sister.  He clarified big in size not age. We are to the moon excited! Its about a 6 month wait give or take a few.  Which I am fine with 6 months. In the next 4 months we are moving, celebrating 2 birthdays, an anniversary, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I don't think this will feel at all like waiting more like prepping.

Today I opened a fortune cookie and it said "you will be traveling and coming into a fortune"....that is going into someones baby book! :)

Due Dates 

 

With pregnancy there is a clear start and a clear finish.  The due dates stands as the end point. The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.  You know that even if you go past that day (for instance by 10 days like Gavin did) that it won't be too long.  You know!  When you walk around people can see you growing and they know your time will come.  Friends, family and even perfect strangers can share in your joy and your excitement. They can all take notice and make comments on your progress, however inappropriate those comments might be.  Like the time I was told I must be due any day and I was only 7 months pregnant.  The point is there is a clear finish line.  With an adoption there just isn't. You can't say for your sure whether you will be holding that baby in your arms in January or June. You can't make plans for taking the baby to this thing or that thing because you just don't know when you will have the baby in your arms.  No one else can tell you either. No one knows you are "expecting," unless you tell them and everyone wants to know when. They can't mark your progress by the changes in your body or the changing of the season.  No one but God knows.  So you wait. You fill out your papers, meet with a social worker, notarize things, meet with a social worker, mail things and wait. 

We got an email from our agency the other day saying that our wait will be longer.  Things in Uganda have slowed down for a great many reasons.  I don't do well with processes. I like starts and I LOVE finishes. I don't like the middle. The ups the downs the not knowing. It isn't that I want to take a baby home tomorrow. Oh NO! I mean Owen is still 1 for goodness sake.  I just hate not knowing. I hate not being able to plan things.  Right down to how we spend our money. Will we need that soon to spend on the adoption. Can we go on a vacation? Will we need to save Mike's time off?  I don't know!

The intense excitement and love I feel is building for this child whose face I won't recognize, whose name I don't know and whose world I have never seen. Those are days I want a due date. A light at the end of our tunnel. I can't imagine how the orphans feel. Does God have a family somewhere across the world waiting? Many of them don't. Of the 2.3 Million Orphans in Uganda only 69 of them went to forever families last year.  My heart breaks for the orphans. 

Please remember to pray for the Orphans! 

EASTER IN PICTURES


We started the weekend with Valley Real Life's Easter Egg hunt and Carnival. Which to be honest I didn't want to do...but turned out to be a great time! Then Sunday our sweet friends Paul and Heather asked us to join there family for a wonderful Easter dinner. Thank you to you and all your family for a great time with great food! Oh and a special thanks to Jesus who has a rock song in our house written and sung by Gavin called "Jesus Dies." You make my life beautiful and I am so glad I can tell Gavin you came back to life!
 

Our sweet friend Linda doing face painting on the boys.

Owen looking so big in his chair.

Daddy Love!

He just wanted to use the egg as a shaker music maker...not quite getting the concept.

Big brother showing him how it's done.

Same response to the Easter bunny as last year.

Owen didn't mind.

Gavin and his sweet friend Morgan holding hands at the starting line.

A boys view.

The parents weren't allowed on the field. I saw  the soccer Mom in me coming out.

Sweet Hannah helping the kiddos.

Showing Daddy his loot.

One of my favorite pics.

Do you think he knows she wants his candy?

Eating during the hunt isn't wise but he doesn't care.

It's a Farm Party! 

After running a 5K in the morning. I came home and got busy setting up baby Owen's first birthday party! Oh the fun we had!

 

With a look like that you would think he ripped that hat right off....but he didn't. He ended up wearing it for the entire party!

I was a crazy Mama and took on making his cake. I am very proud of how it turned out but must say it took a long time!  Worth it for my sweet baby!

Every Farmer must have his own vegetable garden!

Grandma helped us deck our birthday boy with this adorable bib, onsie and the crown!

Hey, whose party is this?  Gavin kept saying "It's my birthday party... I mean baby Owen's Birthday party!"

Both brothers were here.

 

My Aunt Kathie and Uncle Frank came as well and we were so grateful to have everyone! 

Thank you everyone who came and made this a very special day for my baby!  

I can't believe it's been a whole year! 

Here go right into another!

Happy Birthday Owen!

One year ago on April 16, 2010 Owen joined the world.

 Then 3 months later...

3 months after that...

 3 months more pass us by...

And here we are! One year later celebrating your first birthday!  

Mommy, Daddy and Big Brother sure do love you! 

You are one goofy guy who makes us all laugh!  

Hitchin' a Ride!

 My two little rascals are just starting to really play together and with that comes fighting....laughing...pushing...not sharing....sharing....hugs....kisses....apologies....quiet moments that cause Mom to search the house for the naughty children who have surly found trouble.  These new found friends have also found creative ways to play too. Like this one...

Owen turns 1 in a few weeks! I can't believe it. I also can't believe that he can chow a whole bowl of easy mac by himself. I would never have imagined giving him easy mac but when he was screaming at his brothers bowl I clued in and decided to give it a shot.  Low and behold the boy loves him some Mac 'n Cheese. Can't blame the kid! Between walkers and bunny hops (Owens form of crawling) I am a busy woman. I am truly loving MOST moments with these adorable boys. Gavin starts soccer again soon and is now officially enrolled in Preschool!  I can't believe it!

The days are just flying or should I say driving or maybe hopping by in the James House! Choose any of those the days are just plain going by too fast!

The James Family

As Designed by God

We have been on a journey of adding to our little family.  In October God began to stir in our hearts that we weren't done with two kids.  This at first concerned my poor husband. It always takes him a while to warm up to a new idea. Adoption was on our minds and in our prayers.  I have always wanted to adopt so when Mike looked at me one day and said "I think we should adopt," I was off and running. Researching and looking into what that would mean for our family.  

November was a month of going back and forth on the idea.  November was questions month.  How? How long? When? Where? A girl? A boy? Which agency? How many agencies are there!? How do you choose an agency?  How would that affect our family? Can we afford it? You get the idea.  It is a huge decision and we didn't take it lightly.  

Our friend and Children and Families Pastor at our church was kind enough to meet with us and talk over the whole topic of adoption. Brad and Jamie (his wonderful wife) adopted a sweet girl named Lily who I had the privilege of having in a Sunday school class. Lily I would say has the ability to capture any ones heart.  At this point we were strongly considering a specific agency. Brad asked if we would want to join him and Jamie to meet with the International Director of Lifeline the agency they were going through. Thirsty for information we said "Of Course!"  

Early December we had applied to Lifeline to adopt through their Uganda program.  What a scary feeling that was!  Honestly it felt a lot like when we decided to try to get pregnant for Owen.  I felt very unsure. Unsure of my capability to love 3 kids and take care of 3 kids. Unsure of timing and unsure of the process.  However we jumped in with both feet and left the rest to God.  I was giddy when we got an email back from Lifeline with our next steps and the 100+ page manual. Then I printed the manual and thought "what have we gotten ourselves into now?" Which again was how I felt both times we found out we were pregnant. 

January started meetings with our precious and very encouraging social worker Melissa.  These meetings made us anxious and they made us think.  I appreciated Melissa's ability to encourage and enlighten all while making us feel comfortable with the process.  Did I mention the paperwork?  No...hmmm well there is a lot of paperwork.  Which I guess you figured by the 100+ page manual?  I am grateful for all my time spent working in administration because paperwork doesn't scare me. Unless of course it is pages and pages of a trans racial questionnaire. 

We are now finishing up the Home Study phase of our adoption. We still have paperwork to finish up. Surprise! We still have another meeting with Melissa and probably some things I am overlooking or just plain don't know about but I am excited and anxious for the next phase. 

This process is very similar and very different to being pregnant. Some days it shocks me how similar the feelings are. I often find comfort in realizing that I felt the same ways while pregnant for either one or both of my boys.  We are already in love with this child. We don't know if he even exists yet. What is different from a pregnancy is how you love your child.  

Right now how I love each of my children looks different. How I love Gavin is through hugs, kisses, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, special juice, reading books, finger paints, trips to the library and to the potty. Just to name a few. How I love Owen is through stolen kisses, games of peak-a-boo, nursing him when he cries, cleaning up countless spills of sweet potato or banana, dirty diaper changes and lullabies.  How I love who we call Baby Uganda is through hours of online training sessions, reading books and articles, filling our endless mountains of paperwork and of course what we do for all our kids pray.  

Please join us as we pray for Baby Uganda.  He is out there somewhere and he joins the over 147 million other orphans in this world who have no family to call their own. They all need our prayers. 

Please feel free to stop by this blog as we journey along to grow our family as God designed through adoption.

Let's play catch up

January was a fun month busy with lots of new things that I will tell you all about later...most of you probably know already. The end of the month we took a trip to Missoula so Mike could work and we could play in a fun kiddie pool.  Then hurried back home so I could hop on a plan and have a fun girls + Owen weekend in Seabrook, WA. I had such a great time but can't wait to go without my sweet baby boy who doesn't sleep and is a little persnickety about letting other people hold him or letting me out of his sight.

February was a month full of sickness.  It started with Gavin followed closely by Owen and then myself. The only one to escape is Mike.  The cold turned into infections for all three of us and now it appears we have caught another round of a cold.  I told Mike we can't catch a break but we sure can catch nasty virus'. I think I have been to the doctor and the pharmacy at least 4 times in one month. 

March...hmmmm what will march bring? I can't tell you yet but I will tell you that I want to be a better blogger. I had to laugh at myself when I was hearing about a professional blogger. Yes they have those. People who get to blog for a job. People who get paid to sit at home in their pajamas and write.  I was longing for this and then realized that my blog sat lonely and neglected.  That is just no way to treat a blog.  So while I probably don't have a future in blogging I do however plan on trying to show my blog a little more attention. How much? I can't promise you anything!