Poor Louie...

So we thought Louie was overweight, so we put him on a diet.

He got a haircut and we realized he was not a chubby dog like we thought.




We are sorry Lou. No more diet. We promise!:)

FOUR!

Officially four months on the waiting list!!! Woot! Woot! Referrals seem to be going kind of slow, but I have been faithfully stalking the F.B.I. list and hope things pick back up soon!

Does it make sense to say that this month has gone by fast but then again slow? It seems like Christmas was only yesterday, but in our adoption world, time is standing still. Although we are SO anxious for him to get here, we know that there are a lot of things for us that will never be the same. We are trying to enjoy these last couple of months as a married couple without children (i.e. sleeping in late).

I have found myself spending a lot of time doing nursery planning. I think I have looked at every crib bedding set out there. I have also began research on the best baby products to buy. I have found that baby products are kind of like kitchen gadgets. There is some tool for everything you could imagine. But, do we really need a 4 strollers, one for every terrain and occasion? Talk about overwhelming!

In other news, stay tuned for some t-shirts we are making. They are way cool. We thought it would be a fun way to get our friends and family in on the adoption!

Everywhere I look...ADOPTION!

You know how anytime you get a new car/purse/pair of shoes you begin to see them EVERYWHERE you see after you get them? Well, recently I have been noticing adoption everywhere I turn!

For example, on New Years Day we went to see, "Did You Hear About The Morgans?".Without giving anything away, someone at the end of the movie adopts internationally! (It is a really cute movie BTW)

And last weekend, we watched "Baby Mama" with our friends the Hodges (who recently found out they were pregnant!:)) I have seen this movie 3 times and never noticed it has an alternate ending. In the alternate ending, Tina Fay's character adopts! (In my opinion, the alternate ending is much better.)

And this issue of "Babytalk" magazine has been all over my office. We give one to each pregnant women at her first appointment. I found our this week that the 2009 cover winner was a little boy adopted from Ethiopia!

I am loving all this attention about adoption!

Time to say goodbye....

Brian and I have made a commitment that we are going to try and be healthier this year, spiritually, physically, mentally and financially. I am a diet soft drink drinker. Diet Coke, Diet Dr Pepper, Diet Pepsi, Coke Zero...it doesn't matter.

Recently it has gotten a little out of control. Over the last couple of weeks there have been days when I realized that I have only had 1-2 glasses of water! That is crazy! So I figure I tell my pregnant patients everyday that they need to limit their caffeine intake. I mean, I am "paper pregnant" and I think it is a good idea to just give it up!

So here I am, on my second day free from diet drinks! We'll see how this goes the first time I eat pizza.....or hamburgers....or Mexican. (Is it even legal to eat those foods without pop!:))

Oh wait! Does this mean no more Sonic! AHHHHHH!

Catching up on a little reading...

One of my goals for this new year is to read at least 3 books a month. I LOVE to read but usually do not make it a priority. This year I am planning the three books being from 3 categories.

The first category is spiritual. Brian is constantly reading books in this category and talking about them and it is about time I catch up. My first pick is "Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a relentless God", by Frances Chan. In the book, Chan describes at length the sorry state of "lukewarm" Christians who strive for a life characterized by control, safety and an absence of suffering. In stark contrast, the book offers real-life accounts of believers who have given all-time, money, health, even their lives-in obedience to Christ's call.

The 2nd category is parenting. I have never been a parent before, so I need all the advice I can get! :)My first pick is "I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla", by Marquerite A. Wright. It is a book that teaches parents of black and biracial children to reduce racism's impact on their development.

The 3rd category is fiction. I figure I had better read for enjoyment now because in a few months, Dr. Suess and The Little Critter will be the books I'll be reading! The first book is "Plain Truth", by Jodi Picoult.
It is about an Amish girl accused of murder and her lawyer who volunteers to be her guardian and spends time getting to know her in her world. I picked this one because it was on my mom's self at her house during the blizzard and I didn't have anything else to read!

I'll let you guys know how the books are. If you have any suggestions for my next picks, let me know!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy BrIaN!

Happy 29th Birthday Brian! To the best husband, son, uncle, youth minister, father-to-be, and friend. Hope your day was fabulous!

3 months

3 months on the waiting list! (Well, 3 months and one day to be exact.) The beginning of the month flew by and I thought that maybe I was getting the hang of this waiting thing! But the last couple of weeks I find myself thinking how different and wonderful things will be when he is here. I have been thinking about next Christmas full of toys. I have been thinking that next year on Jan. 7th we will be celebrating an Ethiopian Christmas with him! I have been thinking about him playing the in the snow. I have been thinking about a finished nursery with a little boy in it.

We are unofficially 9th on the waiting list for a boy according to the F.B.I. list. I received an email from our caseworker Mary this week letting us know that the average wait time is about 7.2 months. I find myself already stalking the F.B.I list and hoping that by some wonderful miracle, our referral will defy the odds and happen in 3 months and 1 day (or whatever day it is)!:)

But 3 months is 3 months closer than we were 3 months ago!

On the first day of Christmas...(2 days later)

What a great and awesome Christmas. I've got the Christmas is over blues. Counting down the days until Christmas 2010! Luckily January is a busy months for us and there is a lot to look forward to! Instead of write what we did on Christmas day, I thought I would show you. (Warning there are a lot of pictures !)

Christmas morning at mom and dad's.

Brian's Sports Illustrated OU frame!

Lauren wanted "Baby Mama", not "Mama Mia". My mom got the 2 confused, but we made a Wal-mart trip last minute to fix it!

Video camera! Big surprise and so excited!

Mom and Dad

Traditional Christmas breakfast! YUM!

Brian's parents driveway was blocked with snow, but nothing would stop Christmas!

Ralph saves the day!

Looks like someone has been good!


Anna

Jace loved his hat.

The girls are patiently waiting for the kids to finish opening so they could start!

Carson, aka Mr.. Photogenic

Ashlyn's special gift for her BFF/cousin Carson, homemade bookmarks. She was so proud.

Baby Plumb got gifts too!

"It's like a million dollars!" Ashia's reaction to 50 $1 bills was priceless.

Mayhem:)

Baby Plumb really made a killing!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. It is such a great time to remember the birth of a son who came to this earth and sacrificed his life for our eternal happiness. Hope you take this time to count all your blessings, both little and small.

2nd Day of Christmas.. Christmas Eve

Oklahoma Blizzard 2009 has definitely put a cramp in our Christmas Eve plans. First time EVER that I won't be going to my Grandparents house on Christmas Eve!:( No Christmas Eve party at the Puckett's house.:( But we did get to enjoy a day of relaxation at my parents house.

Hoping that the things clear enough tomorrow to get out and keep our Christmas plans! Wishing every one a Merry Christmas Eve!!!!

3rd day of Christmas...

Every year since I was little, my family has had a our own little Christmas party. We cook TONS of our favorite junk food, play games, and watch a movie. Yesterday night we started off with buffalo chicken dip (which is easy and amazing! if you ever need a quick party recipe, you need this one), sausage balls, cheese dippers, chicken wings... the list goes on. We did add a veggie tray just to make ourselves feel a little better.:) Lauren and Mark Mom and Dad

The Plumb's

The movie this year was Four Christmases which is such a funny movie. I also got to open up an early Christmas gift. One things you may not know about me is that I love to play games. We have quite a collection at home. My sister bought me a new game, True Colors, that we played last night. It was great for a lot of laughs!

Another tradition that we have is drawing names and exchanging a gift. Usually we each buy an ornament that reminds us of the person that we drew. This year we changes things up a bit and exchanges pajama bottoms. I was extra excited because these pajama pants were long! :) No high waters for me!!!!

Dad and his polar bears

4th day of Christmas...

Tonight we met up with some friends and went snow tubing at the Bricktown ballpark. We have been wanting to go for years and were so glad our friend Misti got things together!

Getting ready for some tubing!

The boys

The girls

We really had such a great time! Hopefully we will have some real snow here this week! "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas"!

5th day of Christmas...

Last night my amazing sister-in-law had a wonderful Christmas idea for her 4 girls and we were able to be apart of it. They all watched Polar Express the movie yesterday afternoon. Last night, the girls were put to bed and my brother-in-law got them up for a trip on the "Polar Express". They stayed in their pajama's and had hot cocoa and cookies in the car and drove around looking at Christmas lights. How much fun is that! We were a surprise at the end of the drive. They got here late and got to spend the night! It was so much fun seeing how excited they were telling us about the whole night.

Did I mention they were were footie pajamas?!?! My favorite!!!

When the girls got here, we made an Elf Yourself video with their faces.. They laughed for 15 minutes straight! It was hilarious!

The Polar Express Night was such a great idea! I am definatley stealing this idea when baby Plumb gets here!

6th day of Christmas...

A day late on the 6th day, and the 5th day will be a day late too, but I will catch up!:) Yesterday was one of those jammed packed kinda days. This afternoon we went with my parent to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert at the Ford Center. The music was great and the light show was amazing! And I have never seen a group of people throw their hair around like these people did! They LOVED their hair!:)

Getting ready for the concert.

Here is a little peak of some of the excitement.

After the concert, the youth group had our annual Christmas party. We did a regressive party this year. We went to 4 families houses with a meal at each house. The difference with a regressive dinner is that we started with dessert and ended with the appetizers. The students also dressed up "backwards". We had summer clothes, close worn inside out, and other fun outfits.

The Sr. High

The Jr. High

Love these guys. They always make for a great night!

7th day of Christmas...

Today was a very relaxing day, but filled with Christmas happenings. We started the day out waking up around 10, and watching Home Alone. We are trying to enjoy sleeping in late as much as we can because we know that that won't be happening in a few months when a certain someone gets here!:)

We then decided to get creative a build a Gingerbread house. Now we did cheat a little bit and bought a pre-built house.
The icing was so annoying. There was no way I would have been able to make a bow like they showed on the box! No way!

Brian concentrating hard!

The finished house!

Well, I thought we were finished. Brian kept finding more things in the kitchen to add!

8th day of Christmas...

Tonight after eating dinner and looking at Christmas lights with some friends, we turned on the fire, cuddled up on the couch, and turned on out favorite Christmas movie.... No matter how many times we watch it, it always makes us laugh! And we love finding new things that make us laugh that we have never noticed before!
Brian's favorite lines: Clark: "Hey kids, I heard on the news that an airplane pilot spotted Santa's sleigh on its way from New York City?"
Eddie: "Are you serious Clark?"


My favorite line(s): Eddie: "She falls down a well, her eyes go cross. She gets kicked by a mule, they go back. I don't know."

Put your Christmas hat on!

Have I mentioned that Brian LOVES Christmas? Anything that has to do with Christmas, Brian loves. And the tackier the better.:) A few years ago, he started to collect Christmas hats. Let me show you some of the collection. The traditional Santa hat.

We call this the "Eddie" Christmas hat.

(Eddie from Christmas Vacation)

Santa's helper.

The beard hat. This is kind of a famous hat. You may remember seeing a guy from Oklahoma wearing it on the Today Show a couple of years ago.:)

And here is the newest addition to the collection! A hat that sings and dances! How much more fun can it get?!?!?!

9th day of Christmas...

On the 9th day of Christmas we went shopping and we are F-I-N-I-S-H-E-D! Yippee! We were going to get everything done on Saturday but something told us there would be a lot of people out getting that shopping list done. It is kinda sad that all the shopping is over. Brian and I both LOVE buying gifts!

I even found a new addition to our baby library! (Did I mention that I LOVE children's books!)

Brian shopping. I think he looks good in hats, don't you?

So we have been Christmas shopping, light gazing, goody making, and choir listening. Wonder what the next days of Christmas will hold!

10th Day of Christmas...

Tonight's Christmas task was looking at Christmas lights! It is something that Brian and I both have wonderful memories of doing with our families when we were younger.

Brian "ooooooo"ing and "awwwww"ing over the lights!

I am the driver because all the stopping and going makes me sick. I was the passenger last year. It did not work out. This video was at some church friends, The Cochran's, who have a Christmas lights show at their house.

Christmas lights will definitely get you into the Christmas spirit.

11th day of Christmas...

Tonight was Christmas baking night. Well, I guess we didn't actually bake, but we did make some Christmas goodies. Brian and I (and when I say Brian and I, I usually mean me:)) always try to make something little for our coworkers. This year, I found a recipe for a gourmet popcorn. Really easy and REALLY good. Even Brian joined in on the fun!

The ingredients for 30batches of popcorn crunch

Stirring, stirring stirring.

The most annoying task was picking our the popcorn kernels. Butter everywhere. YUCK!

Brian, don't stand too close to the microwave. There are studies out about that you know!:)
The finished product. Why does it always sound like more fun being in the kitchen making Christmas goodies
than it actually is?

P.S. I am never going to eat popcorn or almond bark again!:)

12 days of Christmas!

Can you believe it! Only 12 more days until Christmas! Where is the time going? I feel like we haven't even really enjoyed the season yet. Brian and I have decided that for the next 12 days, we are going to do something Christmasy every day. Try to savor the season!

Tonight, we went to the Westmoore choir concert to listen to some of the youth group sing. They were great! At the end, the director invited anyone who knew the song, "Hallelujah" to come on stage and sing along. Brian jumped right up! Keep in mind, he did not know any of the words. He just figured that he could just move his lips and fit right in.

That is Brian right in the middle. Green and blue striped shirt. Pretending to read the music notes. I am so proud. :) Enjoy your 12 days of Christmas!

2 months!

2 months on the waiting list?!?!?! That is it?!?!? I have to admit, this month has gone by VERY slowly waiting wise for me. Maybe it is the fact that we have seen some Oklahoman families get their referral (yippee!), which make me even more excited for ours! I am just ready! Some days it feels like we have already been waiting forever! But everyday is one day closer to our baby!!!!

Eat Mor Chikin

I should tell you that Brian LOVES Chick-fil-A. In college, he would split a tray of 50 nuggets with his best friend. It is even a staple at the Plumb family Christmas. So he was super excited when we saw that there was a Chick-fil-A opening on the south side!

A couple of days ago, two markets came to the church to promote the restaurant opening this week. I guess Brian got pretty excited about the free sandwiches and coupons they brought. The next day, the manager came by and asked if the youth minister was there. He had heard who excited Brian was and came to personally invited him to the invitation only grand opening. Isn't that hilarious! We went and had a great time! Oh, and there was free food!:) We love the way the restaurants close on Sunday. They even had prayer before the meal! We were seriously treated like royalty. By the end of the night, I was thinking about quitting my job at the clinic and applying to work at Chick-fil-A

The invitation!

Brian had a chicken sandwich, med french fry, 6 mini chicken biscuits and a peppermint shake!

Yum!

It was packed!

Our grand opening goodies!

In adoption news, 2 Oklahoma families that their adoption referrals this week! So excited for them! It makes us excited! Can't wait until it is our turn!

I did it!

30 straight days of blogging! I am sure you are getting tired of me by now. I will admit, it was tough! But I will say that this has made me a little more excited about blogging. And although I will save you from my daily rambling, I promise I will not go back to blogging once a month! Thank you guys for following these last 30 days!

This 30 days of blogging has gotten me to make some other challenges. Brian and I have started a competition to see who can work out for 30 minutes the most days in a row! I have really gotten out of the habit and need a little motivation. We are both competitive, so it will be interesting to see how this turns out!:) Stay tuned!

Oh my! I just say a commercial for American Idol starting in January! Can't wait!!!!!

Still thankful

Even though Thanksgiving is officially over, this time of year really gets me thinking about all the things I am thankful for.

- My savior who died so I might live

-A wonderful husband who makes me laugh, is my best friend, always puts my needs or wants above his and has a heart for adoption

- A wonderful family who I really LOVE to spend time with

- An awesome in-law family who has always treated me with one of the family.

-Adoption!!!!

-A house full of stuff we do not need

-A church family who loves us

-A job

-Our health

-The fact that I do not have to worry about if I will eat tonight

-Christmas!

-Freedom

-Rainy days

-Naps

-Clean water

The list goes on and on. We have really been trying to pay attention to the small things that we often take for granted. We know that there are parts of of the world, such as Ethiopia, that struggle for the very things that we waste. Thank you God for your grace and blessings in our lives!

Thanksgiving 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Black Friday

Last night after Thanksgiving with the Plumb's, me and Brian, along with his brother and his wife and his sister and her husband, went out to find those Black Friday deals. We left at 1130 and headed to Toys R Us. It was crazy!!! It always blows my mind at how many people will actually cut in line! After waiting in line for about one hour, we hadn't even gotten in the store yet! We wimped out and headed to Walmart to get an early start. We shopped and shopped and shopped! We finally got home at about 9am. We probably in the end do not save a ton of money but it is just the thing to kick off the Christmas season!

Brian and I getting ready to head out. He has worn this hat the past 3 years on Black Friday! He honestly loves it!

Amy and Ralph getting the shopping plan together!

John and Kelli are ready to go!

I made them do a cheer for Christmas deals!:) They know I am cheesy. They are supportive!:)

In line at Toys-R-Us.

John was really excited to be out shopping at midnight.

Wal-mart!

We had a great day today and got a lot of shopping done. It's officially Christmas season! The most wonderful time of the year!!!!:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a day full of family, friends, food and fun! Can't blog for long. We are on our way out the door for Black Friday shopping. Pictures tomorrow!

A Thanksgiving tradition

I love traditions! Every thanksgiving Eve for as long as I can remember, we have gone to a movie. This year we went to see The Christmas Carol in 3D.

I am not a huge fan of 3-D movies. They make my eyes feel funny and I have a hard time really seeing the little details. Anyways, the movie was a little creepy. Definitely not a little kids movie. There was some stuff that was scary! It also got a little long in parts. But it is The Christmas Carol! Such famous Christmas story! It def got me in the Christmas mood!

There is no place like HOME!

One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving and Christmas is the time that we get to spend with our families. Even though we only live about 30 minutes away, we always make it a point to come home to Shawnee for a couple of days.

Isn't it funny that after 6 years of marriage, 1 apartment and 2 houses of our own, I still think of my parents house as home. Brian feels the same way. It is sort of like a mini vacation. You can just relax. It doesn't hurt that we are majorly babied! I mean, my mom cooks our fav foods and does some of my ironing! I know! I am tempted just to move in!

And there is just something about being back in my parents house that totally makes me regress. There was a time about a year ago that we stayed with my parents while we were waiting to move into our new house. I am a little embarrassed even to admit this, but the first night we stayed, I managed to leave the oven onall night, forgot to lock the door, left 2 cabinet doors open in the kitchen and left my cup in the living room without a coaster. The next night, my mom left me post-its all over the house for reminders!

Tonight, when I walked into the room where we stay, I found a collection of things that my parents have started to buy to stock up for the baby! It is so exciting to see how excited our family is for baby Plumb!

Hopefully this time next year, we will have a little one to enjoy the holiday with!

Prayer request...

Tonight I need a favor. Prayer for the Stephens' family. The 2 girls are in our youth group and their dad is having some health problems. He is in need of a liver transplant. This whole family is wonderful. The two girls are the sweetest and their mom has been a great friend. Prayer is powerful. Please pray for healing for their dad.

The weekend..

What a busy and fun weekend! It seems like we did so much , but it doesn't feel like it is time to go back to work. A lot of time with the youth group, we like to share Pow's and Wow's of the week. Pow's are the lows of and Wow's are the highs. So I thought I would share our weekends Pow Wow's.

5 Pow's

1. Waking up early on Saturday.

2. Missing the Queen of Sheeba, an Ethiopian restaurant in OKC where families adopting or who have adopted from Ethiopia meet up occasionally.

3. Brian and I have both had sinus headaches today. Boo for allergies!

4.We were out of American cheese for our lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches today. Swiss cheese just was not as good.

5. I can't think of another Pow. It was a good weekend!

5 Wow's

1. Had a slumber party with our awesome nieces! They are just so much fun.

2. Got to spend lots of time with my mom and dad. I am so ready for them to move from Shawnee to the south side of OKC! They say just a couple more years!:)

3. Dinner with my parents, sister, and her boyfriend at Hideaway. Best pizza ever! We always laugh so much when we are together!

4. A nap!:)

5. Brian had the whole house cleaned and the Christmas lights up outside when I came home Friday from work! I know, I am so lucky!

Hope your week has more Wow's than Pow's!

Baby pictures

30 days of blogging. It is getting tough. I don't know if I can keep this up!:)

I was looking through some pictures on my computer tonight and thought I would share some pictures of Brian and I as babies!

He has always been so cute!

I guess my mom liked ruffles!

If you have any blog post ideas, don't hesitate to make a suggestion. If not, I may just keep posting randomness!:)

A few things I learned tonight...

So my four nieces spent the night tonight, and I thought I would share a few things that I have learned.

1. The quiet game is really just an invitation to yell at the top of your lungs for 5 minutes straight.

2. When sitting down with 4 kids under the age of 10 to eat dinner, there is a good chance that you will only eat half a piece of pizza, but still manage to have pizza sauce all over you.

3. 4 and 2 year olds are scared to death of life-size Santa's that sing and dance. (But their 10 and 8 year old sisters think it is funny.)

4. Spending $15.00 on tokens will win you 236 tickets that will buy 1 corn popper, 2 plastic rings and 1 rubber ring. (Which BTW takes 25 minutes to pick those 4 prizes out.)

5.A cartoon figure of Sammy Davis Jr can be mistaken for President Obama by a 10 year old girl.

6. There is nothing sweeter in the world than to hear a little girl say, "I love my Shannon". Precious!

7. You shouldn't laugh at a 2 year old when she keeps yelling at the top of her lungs at a restaurant. No matter how cute her yelling face is. It just encourages her.

8. 8 year old girls don't get sarcasm when you ask them to "please move over for your sister", they say "I don't want to",

you say "Thank you",

and they say "You are welcome".

9. It is really hard to take a good picture of 4 kids at one time.

10. It is never to early to open a few gifts under a Christmas tree!