couldn't resist

I have been saving boxes to wrap to make more bag boxes.  They were kinda taking over my guest room so I wrapped these up tonight. 

I like them so much that I am having a hard time using them for gifts.  They are so cute that I am thinking about selling them (that one's for you Mr. Burley). :)

the one with all of the reunions

I love my friends.  I hope this next statement doesn't make anyone in my family mad, but I would say that most of my friends are as important to me as my family.  This weekend I had an opportunity to spend time with several of my friends and some family too. 

Friday night, my little sis, Bekah, came out with some of my girlfriends from church.  We went to a new yummy restaurant in town and a make-your-own-yogurt shop.  We always have a good time, but it was only the beginning of a friend-filled weekend. 

Saturday, two friends that I used to teach with came over for lunch.  Sharon and I taught on the same team at my old school and Hannah taught special education with us.  She brought her two sweet kiddos with her and we had a great time talking and playing.  Since we were at my house, I snapped some pictures of this reunion.

 me and Hannah

 Hannah and Sharon

 Claire and Hannah

 Claire and Grayson wanted to play "let's pretend to go to sleep."  This is Claire covering her eyes.

 This is Grayson covering his "eyes".

Claire and Grayson listening to me tell them a made-up story about them.  Apparently I am quite the storyteller because I held their attention for a whole 30 seconds.

Saturday evening, I went out with some college girlfriends.  I am always amazed at how a group who rarely sees each other can pick right up in conversation like no time has passed and no distance has separated us.  Sarah, Jennie, Anna, Maricary and I sat for almost 4 hours just talking away.  Everyone has had or is in the process of enlarging their families.  The three ladies who already have little ones at home kept Maricary and I wide-eyed in disbelief at their stories of nursing, childbirth, and diapers.  We had a great time and vowed to not let 5+ years go by again without us getting together.

As I pulled out of the Olive Garden parking lot, I couldn't help but quitely sing,

 "I'll be there for you

When the rain starts to pour

I'll be there for you

Like I've been there before

I'll be there for you

'Cause you're there for me too."

Ahhhhhhhh!

Our adoption worker called us today...our home study has been approved and we are officially on the market!  Here are a few words to describe how I am feeling right now: excited, scared, concerned, pensive, freak-out. 

As I write this (and feel this), I know the absolute only way we are going to do this is with prayer.  I do not ask for prayer often, but I am asking now.  Pray that:

-God will make it abundantly clear to us who this wonderful person is that He designed to fit perfectly into our family,

-expectant mom (and dad) feel some peace about their decision to make an adoption plan and that expectant mom will take good care of herself and little one, and

-Jeff and I don't let our emotions run wild through all of this.

Some assembly required

According to the adoption books I have been reading, I am nesting.  I am furiously cleaning out our house.  I have done some spaces 2 and 3 times.  In all of this cleaning out I have once again realized that our house does not have enough storage: no attic space (that we can actually get to) and super tiny closets.  In an attempt to properly nest and help with this lack of storage issue, I bought a couple of pieces of furniture.  And I assembled them all (many of them today).

 linen shelf to store linens in our bathroom and free up the hall closet for baby stuff

 a console table in the entryway...looks really cluttered right now because several items are waiting to leave our house

 small wicker shelf to store some photo albums

And (drumroll please)....I put the crib together today all...by...myself!  It is not that Jeff would not help me, but I think he totally trusts me to do these things by myself now.  For those of you who do not know Jeff, he is a bit of a control freak when it comes to anything akin to building/painting/repairing stuff.  But I love him for it because everything that he has done in and outside of our house always turns out wonderfully.

And because I couldn't resist, I went ahead and put the skirt, sheet, and bumper in the crib and snapped some pics. 

what to do when it snows.2 & 3

You can do this...

 painting little one's room

or this...

 J working on a loft to hold pieces of wood in his man cave

or this...

 snow and ice will not stop the coupons

or more of this...

or 2 whole days of this...

and yes, even some of this.

Here is J finishing up in little one's room.  If all goes well, we may be putting a crib together later today.

What to do when it snows

You can do this...

or make this...



 corn chowder in the crock pot for dinner

or this...

 pumpkin chocolate chip loaves

or this...

 gingerbread cookies and lemon poppyseed muffins

and of course, there's the obvious.

 Jeff is in the background wandering down the street to check on our neighbor.

Festivities

We have been participating in several celebrations lately.

There was New Year's with the Quinns...

 Me and Leah, who conveniently woke up to ring in the New Year

 Happy, upside-down Leah

a 6th birthday party with Alyssa...

 this sweet little thing was only 1 and a half when we met her

and Paulie's 30th tailgate-themed birthday party.

 we all wanted copies of this picture that was on display

 Carolyn and me...they will be moving soon so we will be adding a map to Raleigh to our collection

Jeff, SE, Carolyn, and Paulie