A Plumb Crazy Life

Happy Gotcha Day!

2011-10-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

So I have been a very bad blogger. So bad in fact, I actually thought I was done with the blog thing. But this week is such a special week for us and it made me realize how important it is to document thoughts, memories, and photos for Tate. So...let's try this blog thing again!:) We will update on what has been going on soon, but for now...

One year ago today we were in Ethiopia taking placement of Tate! Thinking back to that day bring back so many emotions. I remember waiting on Travis to bring Tate over to our guesthouse. The excitement made me crazy! When he finally arrived, he warmed up to us right away and we spent the rest of the day playing, taking TONS of pictures, and becoming a family.

Here are some pics of the day.

Playing with dad.

Look at that face!

Family forever!

First outfit change.

Playing with mom.

We wore him out.

Dinner!

Bath time!

What an exciting and amazing day. So many memories have been rolling through my mind this week about our 5 weeks in Ethiopia. We can not wait to go back.

We love you so much Tate Engida and are so thankful that God brought us together. You are beautiful, funny, ornery, and have brought more joy to us in this past year than I ever could explain.

Happy Gotcha Day!

Bling.

2011-06-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

Happy "Da's"s Day!

2011-06-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

When Tate wakes up in the morning, I go into his room to get him out of his crib. The very first thing out of his mouth is "Da" and he starts pointing to the door. He wants to see his daddy.

And when 5:00 comes around, and Tate hear the garage door going up, he runs to the door and starts yelling, "Da!" as loud as he can.

He is definitely a daddy's boy.

And I am so glad.

I pray that Tate becomes the hardworking, selfless, funny, energetic, serving, God loving, family man that his Daddy is.

Happy 1st Da's Day Brian! I am so thankful that we get to build this life together.

Happy Referralversary To Us!

2011-06-16T15:01:00.000-07:00

June 16th, 2010 was one of the most exciting days of my life. One year ago today we saw Tater Bug's little face for the first time. There are some very important days in my life that have gone by and afterward almost felt like a blur. But not the day of our referral! I can remember every second of it.

I remember being called out of a patient's room for a very important call from my husband (it was the one time in 3 months that I did not take my phone into a room with me).

I remember Brian calling me so calmly telling me to get home and our caseworker would be calling us back at one o'clock.

I remember running to my car.

I remember going back and forth between crying and then just screaming with excitiment.

I remember getting a call from Kellie Carter after she saw my facebook post saying she had met our son and had pictures and video to give me! (Making me bawl like a baby!)

I remember getting home, changing my clothes 5 times and literally running around the house trying to burn up some of the energy.

I remember just sitting in front of the computer waiting for one o'clock to come.

And I remember seeing Tate's face for the first time.

I remember the feeling of recognition, as if saying, "Yep, that's him."

I remember feeling like my breath got knocked out of me when I heard his story.

I remember sending Brian to Walgreens immediately to print off pictures and I remember the printer broke and they printed off over 100 8x10's of Tate!:)

I remember our family and friends coming by for a "referral party" and sharing in the excitement.

And I remember getting on my knees and thanking God for this gift and I thanked him for his timing.

What a wonderful and amazing year it has been.

Dressin' Up: Giraffe Style

2011-05-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T21:02:00.000-07:00

I am spoiled. That is all there is to it.

We did not celebrate Mother's Day here at the Plumb household.

We celebrated Mother's WEEKEND!

Date night with Brian, shopping trip, dinner and carriage ride with my boys, house cleaned, and gifts galore.

Tate even got me a locket very similar to the one that I wore during "The Wait" and gave to Tate's birth mom. In Ethiopia, Tate was fascinated by this locket and it really helped us with bonding.

(The day we met Tate)

The new locket

I am overwhelmed that God choose me be the mama of such a funny, beautiful, entertaining, sweet and precious little man.

Thank you God, for opening our ears and hearing you ~~whisper~~ shout that our son was waiting for us in Ethiopia. Being "Tate's Mom" is the best.

I mean, seriously.

Who could resist these muscles?:)

Birth Mother's Day

2011-05-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

Today is National Birth Mother's Day.

I think about Tate's birth mother a lot. We were lucky enough to be able to meet her while we were in Ethiopia. It was one of the hardest and most emotional experiences of my life. I watched as this young girl loved on a little boy that was a son to both of us. She talked about her hopes and dreams for him. She stroked his hair as she told us she wanted him to become a preacher or a doctor. We promised her that day that we would teach this little boy about Jesus. We promised that we would love him with all that we had. And we promised that he would grow up knowing that he had a mother in Africa who made the ultimate sacrifice out of love.

As we said goodbye that day, we hugged and cried and I felt a connection form at that very moment.

Because of her heartache and selflessness, I get to be the mommy of the most amazing little boy.

She is my hero.

Ethiopia- Part Three: Court

2011-05-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

Our court date was on Tuesday, October 12th. We woke up that morning very nervous since we were one of the first families that had to appear in front of the judge. Luckily there were a couple of families that had gone before us so we knew a little on what to expect.

We were suppose to meet at the Gladney office in Addis before heading over to court. However, we got a little stuck in traffic and by the time we arrived at the office, all the other families were getting in their cars to head over to court. We had missed the meeting! Some of the other families filled us in on the information they received and some of the questions they were expected to ask us. There was still apart of me that felt like we had missed something important and was panicking a little inside.:)

We were dropped of at the court house and walked up the stairs to a little room to wait for our turn. There were about 6-7 other Gladney families with us. There was a little chit chat here and there but for the most part there was a lot of silence. I think everyone was a little nervous. Families were called in one by one. They were gone for maybe 5 minutes. When they returned you could see the relief on their faces. Of course, we were the last family to be called and by that time, I had convinced myself that they had lost all of our paperwork and we were not going to pass!

Have I mentioned that the adoption process can make you a little crazy? Well, it can. :)

We were finally called back to the judge. We had decided that Brian would take the lead and answer all the questions. Bad idea. Not only is Brian a little hard of hearing (he may deny it is true) but Brian also has a very hard time understanding accents. Put these two things together and add a soft spoken Ethiopian judge you get a confused looking Oklahoman leaving a awkward silence after questions. :)

At one point the Judge asked if we understood that this adoption was final and accepted responsible fully for this child. Brian just sat there. The judge looked up with a look saying "HELLO!!". I quickly almost yelled, "YES!". The judge laughed, thankfully!:)

When she finally said the Engida was officially our son, I was unexpectedly filled with emotion. I really did not expect my eyes to fill with tears. All of the months of waiting, and feelings of frustration, anxiety, helplessness had finally lead to this moment. We were finally officially a family!!!!

Although we had initially planned on waiting a few days and and doing some sightseeing before we took placement, we were way to anxious and excited and decided to take placement ASAP. We talked to Travis and made plans to take placement the next morning!

What have we been up to?

2011-04-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

I really do have a great excuse for why I haven't been blogging! Tate has just been super busy!

He's been hanging at the zoo with his cousins...

being amazed at the lions...

learning how to drive the tractor...

reading TONS of books...

playing with his buddy, Drew...

going on his first camping trip...

playing outside any and every chance that he gets...

being goofy...

playing with ANYTHING that has wheels...

hanging out with his dog, Louie...

and making us smile and laugh more than we ever have.

What a wonderful 6 months it has been with our little guy. What did we ever do before he got here? The time where we only knew his face seems like a distant memory.

What a gift he is.

Getting back into the blogging groove again!:)

Ethiopia- Part Two: MEETING TATE!!!

2011-03-02T19:20:00.000-08:00

We slept in late on the morning of the 10th ready for a day of recuperation after our trip. The first thing we wanted to do was drive past the Gladney care centers where Tate was staying. We were scheduled to meet him the next morning along with the 8 other families that were traveling at that time.

Our driver drove past the houses and it really was torture knowing that Tate was just behind a couple of walls. As we were "stalking" the center, Travis and Joanna, part of the in country staff, were driving by and stopped us. We kinda felt that we had been caught.:) Travis and Joanna gave us a run down of the week and we got our plan for the next day.

We then went to lunch at Island Breeze. This was our favorite place to eat in Ethiopia. Brian is an extremely picky eater and we probably ate there at least every other day. By the time we left, we new the staff by name! GREAT American food! Our favorite things were the chicken burgers, pizza, fajitas.

The rest of the day was spent buying souvenirs and resting. We were going to meet Tate the next day!!!

The next morning we met the other traveling families at the Gladney care center for our instructions for our visit. It was really cool to be able to meet families that I had blog stalked and had never met.

After our instructions, we were lead to Tate's house. Walking up to the house, I had to fight back the tears when I thought that this was where Tate had spent the majority of his life.

We walked up the stairs and led to Tate's room. Tate was not there but we did get a glimpse of his crib. (his was the middle one)

We walked into the hallway and waited for him to be brought in from "sun time". I was nervous that they would bring Tate in and I wouldn't recognize him in person. I first saw the back of his curly little head as he was being carried upstairs and I knew it was him immediately. The worker walked right by me and I am pretty sure I forgot how to breath. When we walked back into his room he was standing in his little crib.

I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to scare him to death so I just bent down and started stroking his little hair and just repeatedly said, "Hi". I finally picked him up and Brian and I took turns holding him and talking to him.

It took him about 20 minutes for him to warm up to us. One of the caregivers did help bring him out of his shell and got him grinning a little for us.

Our first family picture!

I had received a locket from a good friend right after our referral and had worn it while we were waiting to pick him up. Tate instantly loved the necklace. He loved to open and close it and look at his picture. (Stay tuned for more of the locket story later.)

Our first visit with Tate went perfectly. It was so hard to leave but we knew that he would be with us forever very soon!

Tate's first snow!

2011-02-02T10:47:00.000-08:00

Oklahoma Snow Storm 2011 has had us trapped inside for the past day and a half. We finally decided to get out of our pj's and introduce Tate to the snow!

5 layers on and ready to go outside. It was kinda funny watching him try to walk!)

It was COLD! But typical Tate just turned on his smile and went with the flow.

He was pretty fascinated by the snow, however, I think that he was more amazed by his mittens.:)

Brian was ready to get the sled out but it was just too cold!

Cute boy!

Between the cold and the sun bouncing of the snow, we lasted about 5 minutes. I think it took longer for us to get dressed! For now we are just going to continue enjoying being trapped indoors together! I love being snowed in!

Support Adoption!

2011-01-30T19:28:00.000-08:00

Back when we first started the adoption process, we were invited to an Ethiopian restaurant in Oklahoma City called the Queen of Sheba. Once a month, a group of families from the Oklahoma City area who have adopted or are in the process of adopting get together. We have loved being able to go and meet other families who are or have been in the same shoes that we are in. We also love the fact that Tate will grow up having friends from Ethiopia!:)

A few weeks ago, we went back to the Queen for the first time since we have brought Tate home. It was so neat to be able to introduce everyone to Tate! We were also very excited to meet a lot of new families in the adoption process! These families are so much fun and are doing a lot of great fundraisers to help with their adoption expenses!

The Andrews' are "Recycling Love" highlighting many adoptive families until February the 18th and helping them raise money by selling some really great t-shirts. Families earn $10 for every t-shirt sold! We were able to meet the Linck's, Habuda's and Ellis' at the Queen! So check it out and buy a shirt!

The Linck's are also making some yummy cupcakes for Valentine's Day. We ordered some of the red velvet and they were delicious!

The Ellis's also have a really cute etsy store! Clutches, key rings, coozies, t-shirts, and some other super cute stuff! You must go check it out! I ordered Tate the robot shirt for Valentine's Day! I can't wait to see him in it!

We also got to meet Lindsay and Brian who have some really great fundraising stuff going on! Lindsay also has an etsy store where she is selling some adorable scarfs and headbands! They are also selling some opened eyes t-shirts but you better hurry! The deadline to order those is tomorrow! My friend Laura already ordered hers! (Laura, you are the best!)

Please go and check out these blogs and support their adoptions!

My new favorite book....

2011-01-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

Sunday was baby Sunday at our church. I can remember last year seeing all the new babies and thinking about how we would be up there the next year! I love those full circle moments.

As a gift, the children's minister gave Tate a Bible and the book, God Found Us You.

Now I have seen and heard about this book a couple of times, just never got around to getting it. Tonight I read the book to Tate before bedtime. Let me just say that I should not have read this to Tate without reading it first. Tate even laughed at me a couple of time when my voice went up a couple of octaves as I tried to fight back the tears, unsuccessfully I might add.

If you are an adoptive parent or soon to be adoptive parent, you must get this book.

It really took back to all those emotions that you go through during the process.

"I started seeing you everywhere, in the leaves of the giant oak in the bark of the pine. Even in the stars! How I longed for the day that you would arrive, when God would find us you."

I was talking to Jennifer yesterday who is in the paperwork stage of their Ethiopian adoption when she delivered some of her oh so yummy cupcakes. We were talking about the wait and about how sometimes it does feel like the wait will last forever.

"No matter how much I prayed it would happen, I still had to wait."

"You waited and waited and waited?"

"And waited. But I knew that someday you'd arrive when God would find us you."

I rocked Tate to sleep with tears in my eyes. I remember thinking on some days that he would never get here. I would imagine a little boy's toys all over the place, his laughter filling the house, and it just felt like a dream.

But tonight I sat there with a little Ethiopian boy in my arms and as he sucked on his little fingers and patted my arm, I knew it was not a dream. I pray that I NEVER forget that longing we experienced as we waited because as we were waiting God found us him.

"When God found us you...you made me the happiest mama in the world."

Bath Time = Fun Time!

2011-01-26T21:44:00.000-08:00

Tate LOVES bath time.

When we walk into the bathroom and pull back the shower curtain, he starts laughing and trying to wiggle out of our arms.

We have to wrestle with him in order to take off his clothes as he continually lunges for the water. When we finally get him in, he squeals and splashes up a storm.

He loves the water!

He will stick his face in it and blow bubbles and loves it when it's hair washing day which means we pour water on his head.

We've learned our lesson about how to end bath time. Instead of just taking him out, which use to cause him to cry, we have learned to drain the water. The only thing is that when he realizes the water is going down he he sticks his face in it until he can't reach it anymore.

What a funny little guy!

"Okay Mom, no more pictures!":)

Ethiopia- Part One: On Our Way!

2011-01-19T21:21:00.000-08:00

It is so hard for me to believe that it was over 3 months ago that we were beginning our trip to Ethiopia! In some ways, it feels like it was yesterday.

Our flight left Oklahoma City at 1:15 pm on October 8, 2010 via Delta with our first stop in Atlanta. My plan was to be completely packed and ready to go by 2pm on the 7th. Well, needless to say, that did not happen. We had been "packing" for the past 3 weeks. By "packing"I mean throwing everything that we think we may possibnly need for a 3-6 week stay in a foreign country into our spare bedroom. Packing was something that had really intimidated me. I had read my packet from Gladney telling us what to take and I had printed off every list and suggestion from blogland. I just felt like I was out of my league. I will admit I had 2 meltdowns that day. One becasue I was so unsue of what to take for Tate to eat, that I was sure he was going to starve. The other, I had bought over 300 size 3 daipers to take and we got an update from Gladney at 4pm that said he was wearing size 4's. So he had to make a last minute stop to exchange diapers. (Come to find out, 3's would have worked.)

When we woke up travel morning, it felt like Christmas. Brian and I just sat in the living room trying to wrap out brains around the fact that it would be the last time our house would only have 2 people living there. We left for the airport 3 hours early, which was a good thing too because we had to turn around twice because I left my iphone and then camera cord.:)

We ended up taking 5 bags, 2 backpacks, and 2 small carry-ons. We did have to pay $250 for the extra bag, but I have no idea how we could have downsized. We ended up staying for 5 weeks, but prepared for 6.

We checked our bags, said our goodbye's, and got through security in about 30 minutes

Brian even got a little nap in while getting creative with the travel pillows!

Our plane took off and we were on our way. First stop Atalanta, then Amsterdam, then Ethiopia!
We were lucky in the fact that our trip went smoothly and quickly. We slept a lot and watched a lot of movies. We kept commenting on the fact that on the way home we would have a son, and we had no idea where he was going to fit!

We landed in Ethiopia after midnight on the 10th of October. We got through the visa line where we were denied a 60 day visa, so we would have to renew that later. We grabbed our bags and found our driver, Hennock, waiting for us. Hennock was also the owner of the BNB guesthouse where we stayed which was actually very convenient for us. He took us straight to the guesthouse. The BNB is located about 5 minutes from the Gladney care center. The first week we stayed in the larger apartment until the Lovin's and Capps' arrived. There were two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom with shower, and a large living room/dining room area. There was actually a lot more room than I had expected.

We settled in and went to bed. Trying to sleep knowing that your son is only 5 minutes from where you are was difficult!

One year ago....

2010-12-24T20:33:00.000-08:00

One year ago, a terrible blizzard came through Oklahoma on Christmas Eve.
Roads were closed. Our plans were ruined.
It was the first time in my life that I did not go to my grandparent's house on Christmas Eve.
It was the first time Brian had not been with his family.
Luckily, we were at least snowed in at my parents house.
It would be a Christmas Eve we would never forget.

We had no idea how true that would be.

Little did we know that on that very day halfway across the world, a little boy was being born.

Our lives changed forever.

Happy Birthday 1st Birthday Tate Engida Plumb!
It brings tear to my eyes to think about the moment you were born.
I wish I could have been there.
But I am so thankful that I am with you now.
You have brought more joy and love into our lives than we ever thought was even possible.

WE LOVE YOU!

A double dose of Santa may be too much.

2010-12-21T20:33:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to see Santa Clause.

Tate did great. At first he just stared at him, but then he gave us one of his trademark big smiles!

Tonight, we made a last minute visit.
I guess we should have left it on a good note.

Maybe the reindeer scared him?

Hope he's not traumatized!:)

It's a Birthday Party: Dr. Seuss style!

2010-12-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

I have a friend that was born on Christmas day and I have heard her horror stories about not getting parties or getting ornaments for presents. I told Brian a long ago that I never wanted to have a child born on Christmas Day. When we got our referral for Tate we were told that he was born on December 24. Christmas Eve. Well, I guess that is not Christmas Day! God makes me laugh.:)

So, in order to try and separate his birthday from Christmas a little bit, we had Tate's first Birthday Party today!

The picture for the invites! Seriously, could he be any cuter?

The cupcakes!

Green Eggs and Ham

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Cat in the Hat

Thing 1 and Thing 2

Luckily we got the picture before the cotton candy melted!

Ready to party!

The Birthday Boy!

Aunt Kelli started things off with "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"

Tate and his buds Drew and Hudson. I have a feeling these three are going to get into a lot of trouble together!:)

Presents!

He liked the cake!

He really liked the cake!

Ok, he LOVED it!

We can't believe that we almost have a one year old in this house! What a fun way to celebrate an amazing boy with wonderful family and friends!

Happy Early Birthday Tate!

We love you!

Excuses...

2010-12-11T18:17:00.000-08:00

So, I could bore you with a million excuses of why I have been terrible at blogging: unpacking, cleaning, playing, holidays, and just enjoying Tate. I assure you that all of them would be true. However, I think the main reason I have stopped blogging is that I feel the pressure of writing about our trip to Ethiopia to pick up Tate. We spent five amazing, hard, short, long, weeks there. How do I describe a trip that completely changed our lives forever? There is no way I could give it justice. So I have decided to take the pressure off of myself and just start blogging again. I assure you that I will blog about our journey, trip, and experience, but it will be in no order. I will tell stories, show pictures, and describe our feelings, but there is no time frame.

Ahhhh. I feel better already!:)

Meet Tate....a delayed post!:)

2010-11-26T19:30:00.000-08:00

Has is really been 7 weeks since we boarded a plane to Ethiopia? Have we really been a family of three for a little over 6 weeks? Has it really been almost 2 weeks since we returned home from a 5 week from a trip of a lifetime? The answer is yes.

And I will say that since we got home 2 weeks ago we have laughed and laughed and laughed and we have played and played and played.

What we have not done is folded one piece of laundry, gone through souvenirs, and, obviously, blogged.

I want to tell you all how amazing this time has been. We were so thankful that we were able to spend 5 weeks in Ethiopia. We truly feel like we were able to fully experience the culture and the time we spent with Tate bonding was something that has been such a gift. More on the trip late but without further delay, I would like to introduce you to Tate Engida Plumb!

Yes, he is as much fun as he looks.

We are really doing it!!!!:)

2010-10-08T08:46:00.001-07:00

We are off! First stopp Atlanta then Amsterdam with final stop...ETHIOPIA!!!!! We'll try to update as much as we can! See some of you guys there!!!!

Nursery is ready!

2010-10-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

Sheets are washed. Pictures are hung. Books are stacked.

Nursery is ready.

Ready for a little boy named Tate.

Ethiopia: T minus 3 days!

Let the packing begin!!!!

2010-09-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

We passed our MOWA date today! What a huge relief! This mean that we officially leave on the 8th of October! We meet Tate on the 11th and our court date in on the 12th. If we pass court on the 12th he is officially ours!!! We then wait for our embassy appointment to get Tate's visa so we can bring him home!!!

The wait is almost over!

Now the craziness really begins!

Showered!!!

2010-09-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

I seriously can not believe how close we are getting!!! During this adoption process, you wait and wait and wait and wait.... and sometimes it feels like that is what you will always do. Wait. But these waiting days are coming to an end! There are some events that have been marked on my calendar and have served as milestones. Slowly those events have passed and we find ourselves 2 days away from our MOWA date! WHAT?!?

A couple of those "milestones" happened this weekend and I have been looking forward to them for quite some time.

The first was a shower hosted by some of our wonderful friends. OU football, hamburgers, gifts and good friends...what more could you want?

Note the Tate in the heart! So cute!

I LOVED the balloons!

"Super Tate!"

Matching mommy bracelets engraved with our kiddos names! Thanks Kelli!

Friends!

Showing off the cake again!

If that wasn't enough, on Sunday our church threw us a shower. And did they ever go over the top! Let me just say that in the 6 years Brian and I have been at Oakcrest, the people there have become like family. We feel so blessed to be able to serve with such amazing people. And I love that people already are praying for and loving Tate!

Cutest cake ever! Our sweet friend Kim spent hours making this special cake for us! She also did our wedding cake over 6 years ago. And it tasted just as good as it looked!

You may recognize the cake from these prints that are hanging in Tate's nursery!

There was one person at the shower that actually has met Tate! Kellie shared her story about meeting and playing with Tate even before we had ever seen his face. (And few tears were shared at this point!:))

Our parents even got gifts of t-shirts with their names on them!

The wonderful hostesses minus Kim.

The only bad thing is that now I think we are going to need a bigger nursery!:)

We feel so thankful that we have so many people in our lives that love and support us!

We are blessed!

2 days until MOWA!

10 days until Ethiopia!

Busy Little Bee's

2010-09-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't blogged much in the past couple of weeks, but we have been getting some serious stuff done around here.

In the past 2 weeks we have painted the nursery, put together a crib, cleaned the garage, had a garage sale, finished the nursery (pics coming soon), put together 4 bookcases, finished our adoption videos, assembled a new entertainment center (one more baby friendly with doors), and done some serious spring-like cleaning !

It has been so nice to get somethings off of "the list".

Red walls+ paint with primer+ 4 coats= Blue walls

The skills I acquired through my summer painting job when I was in high school and college have proven very helpful. It also reminds me how much I hate to paint!

I think he has it covered!

Good job guys! So what if you took you 4 times to get the hinges on the door the correct way. We won't tell anyone:)

You would think that getting all of this stuff done would put me at ease. Now I have consumed myself with preparing for the trip. I seriously have written and rewritten a list about 27 times of things we need to pack!

I will say that I am ever so thankful for this blogging community right now. Whether it be by looking at the blogs of those who have traveled ahead of us or talking to those that will be traveling with, it has kept me sane! I can not WAIT to meet all of you who we are traveling with! It is going to be such a fun time! I feel like I already know so many of you as I have stalked your blog over and over throughout our journey! It is going to be a blast!

We are asking that you continue to pray for our MOWA date on the 30th, court on Oct 12th, a quick embassy appointment following court, and safe travels for all of us picking up our babies!

29 days until Ethiopia people! :)

A change in plans!

2010-09-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

There have been a little bit of a change in plans for us involving our stay in Ethiopia! We are so excited to say that we have decided to stay in Ethiopia until our Embassy date, which is typically 3-6 weeks after the court date! YAY! After saying this, if our embassy date is going to be 5-6 weeks after court we will have to come home for work but we are planning on staying the whole time and praying that our embassy date is sooner rather than later!

Although we are very excited about this, it is also extremely stressful! This is something we have just decided in the past week and it changes our whole thinking on our trip. What and how much do we pack? I mean, diapers alone could take up a whole suitcase! How are we going to make housing arrangements? What activities will we do while we are there? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

However, I did have a sign today.

Don't you see it?!?! It's Africa in the tomato! Brian thinks I am crazy!:)

But don't you think it is a sign!:)

32 days until Ethiopia!!!!!

Why Ethiopia?

2010-08-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

When people find out that you are adopting a child from Ethiopia, you get a lot of questions. I love the fact that people are curious and we are able to share a little about our journey. I have addressed some of those questions before, but there is one I wanted to answer again.

"Why adopt from Ethiopia?" was one question that I could never really answer in a way that truly relays our reason. I would try to answer with, "it was a country that we meet the age classifications for" or " we were so moved by friends who have adopted from Ethiopia". And sometimes I would just reply, "It just felt right".

Now while all of these answer are true, it is not the reason. We now have the answer. One that we got on June 16, 2010. His name is Tate E. Plumb.

The moment we saw him, we instantly knew that God had lead us to this little boy. His face felt like home. I have never been more convinced in my life of God's plan for us. He perfectly orchestrated bringing a family together through a little boy in Ethiopia and a couple in Oklahoma.

We didn't choose Ethiopia. God knew that our son was there. Ethiopia chose us. I am just so thankful that we listened.

Tate update!

2010-08-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

We got an update on Tate today! I can't tell you how great it is to get to hear a little bit about who he is with each update!

"I found E. chewing on one of his favorite toys today when I walked into his room. He just looked at me as if to say, “Hey.” E's never shown any signs of stranger anxiety, so he and I have this kind of familiar relationship where I can just walk in and we just pick up where we left off. I don’t have to keep a formal distance from him in order to help ease him into our visit. He’s always ready to hang out for a while—mild-mannered, relaxed, content—no worries and just happy to be around people with a good toy to chew on."

I just stare at each picture until I have every little piece of it memorized. We have picked up on the way that he bites/sucks on his bottom lip. And that he raised his eyebrows when he is looking at people as if to say, " Can I help you?". (I like to think that he is actually saying, " You're not my mom or dad, but I guess you can hang out with me until they get here.":))

I'll leave you with a picture of his beautiful brown almond shaped eyes, because they are one of our favorite things about him...along with his thick curls...and his perfect pouty lips...and his precious little nose...and his chubby little wrists...you get the idea.:)

Time to register!?!?!

2010-08-02T21:21:00.000-07:00

So I have really been itching to get some stuff done around here. I mean, there could potentially be another human living here in about 14 weeks! Most of the time, that seems like forever away. But I am still freaking out a little about there being so much to do! When we first got on the waiting list back in October '09, I made a list of all the things we had to do. I can honestly say that we have not completed one thing on that list! Seriously?!?! What have we been doing?!?!

I would LOVE to get started on the nursery, but we are still waiting for our baby bedding that we ordered off etsy! It was suppose to be here about 8 weeks ago, but the person who is making it moved, so she is running a little behind. Trying to be patient...

This weekend, we decided to go register! Maybe it is a little too early, I'm not really sure. But that is the thing, no one has ever wrote a book about registering for a baby with an adoption. Not to mention that there are no checklists for registering for a 10 month old. So we are making up our rules as we go.

YAY for registering!

I have no idea what I am doing. I seriously don't even know what I am looking at.

Brian stole the gun. He looks like he means business.

Brian with the gun meant I had to pay VERY close attention. I caught him almost registering for this spoon that you put the food into the handle and squeeze for the food to come out. Oh Brian.

No words.:)

It took us two nights. The first night, we were there for 2 hours and registered for 35 items. When I took the gun back, I told the lady that we had only registered for 1/2 the store. She said with 35 items, it shouldn't even be half! To which I replied, "How much do babies need!?!?!?" And I was serious!

I will ask that you do not judge us by our registry!:)

We really have no idea what we are doing!

A little time away was just what I needed.

2010-07-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

So I have been away for awhile, but I have a really great excuse this time!

A couple of weeks ago, I was really having a tough time. Work had been crazy busy. We were still waiting for our bedding so we can start our nursery (grrrr). My to do list is not getting any shorter .With Brian being a youth minister, that puts him gone about 30 days during the summer, and I was missing him. And not to mention the thought of Tate not being here. Needless to say, I was feeling anxious, overwhelmed, tired, and sad.

So we decided that it would be worth it to sacrifice some of the days I have been saving to go on the Sr. High mission trip with the youth.

I am so glad that I did.

We took about 45 people to an intercity church in St. Louis Missouri to put on a VBS, a basketball camp, and just serve the church and community. We cleaned, sweated, laughed, worshiped, cried, made new friends, and were blessed beyond belief. It was so wonderful! God was everywhere! Here are a few pictures from the week.

It was so great to build new relationships and love on the kids of St. Louis.

It was also so great to spend time with the youth group and just have fun!

So I am back! Refreshed and ready to go!

Court Date!!!

2010-07-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

Our caseworker called us today to let us know we have a court date! What a surprise! I really wasn't expecting to hear something until after rainy season!

Our first date with MOWA (ministry of women affairs) is scheduled for Sept. 30. We are hoping they give our file a favorable opinion so that we can appear for our court date on Oct. 12. If all goes well, looks like we will be in Ethiopia from the 10th-17th!!!!

I am so thankful! It is so nice to have a time frame! YAY!

Just what I needed!

2010-07-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

I was really not looking forward to today.
The weekend went by way too fast, and I new I had a full schedule in the office. Not to mention that I have really been missing Tate this past week. If you have ever wondered if you could miss someone you have never really met, trust me. You can. So much it hurts.

But first thing, I opened up my email to find that we got our first update on Tate!

When I found "Tate" today, he was enjoying a deep sleep on a cold, rainy afternoon. I regularly wake up babies if I need to in order to visit with, but as they begin to reach the toddler age range, I use a bit more caution. You don’t want to wake a sleeping toddler! "Tate" defies this old bit of wisdom. I woke him today and all he did was smile. He even smiles and takes things in stride when woken from a good nap on an ideal napping afternoon! He’s got a really pleasant, gentle disposition and is such a delight to visit with!

I could not quit smiling reading this. I seriously have read it about 30+ times today. I absolutely love hearing about his little personality! It's like getting to experience a little piece of him.

And tt is so good to hear that at least one person in this family will be happy when they first wake up!

Care package.

2010-07-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

You know what makes us happy?

Knowing that baby Tate is getting a care package from us this week via Shannon!

And there is one coming again next week via Tamara!

Thanks guys! It means the world!

Making lists...

2010-06-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

I thought waiting for our referral was hard. This waiting for a court date just plain stinks.

I have memorized all 30 pictures of Tate. I am haunted by the timeline on the side of my blog that shows Tate getting older everyday that goes by. He is 6 and 1/2 months already!

When I really start thinking about it, I get sick to my stomach. I emailed my blogger friend Joanna today and told her I feel like I am a bad mom. That I have abandoned my baby. I logically know that there is no way I could get to him any sooner, but in a way I feel like I have let him down in some way. I just wish I would wake up in the morning and he was here.

So I have tried not checking blogs as much and not searching baby times on the computer. I have tried not looking at his pictures a million times a day. I thought maybe it would help.

I didn't.

So what do I do when I am a anxious. waiting mess?

I make lists.

Lots of lists.

So many in fact, that I have made a list of lists I have started.

1. Thinks to do around the house

2. Registry items

3. Top diaper bags

4. Things to do in the nursery

5. Books to read
6. Pages to include in Tate's Adoption Journey book

7. Books to add to Tate's library

8. Activities to do when Tate gets here

9. Favorite Etsy baby items

10. Travel items

If you think of anything I missed, let me know. I take suggestions!:)

P.S.- I just reread this post before I posted. I'm not a complete hopeless mess. Life is good. God is great.

It is all about the journey!:)

So, what's next?

2010-06-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to update for awhile but every time I sit down to the computer, I am just not sure where to go. We are so in love with our little man. So much so it hurts. I find myself looking at his pictures and just cracking up at his beautiful smile and wonderful curls.

Other times, I want to burst out in tears! It just kills me to think that he is half a world away. He is growing so quickly and we are missing it! I think the hardest thing is is that we love him so much, and he doesn't even know who we are!

But if there is one thing that God has taught us through this whole process is that his timing is perfect and we trust that it will be!

We did get some wonderful pictures today sent from the Bottomly's who just arrived home with their adorable Olive! We needed to see his face today.

So for those of you wondering, what we are waiting on now is a court date. Usually this take about 2-3 months. The catch for us is that in Ethiopia there is a rainy season where the courts close for about 6-8 weeks sometime in August through October. So if we do not make the deadline, it looks like we won't travel for our court date until Oct. or Nov.

So now we wait.

I still have lots of thinks that I never want to forget about our referral week, so stay tuned for those posts!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to two of the best Dad's in the World!

We are so thankful for the Godly examples you have been!

We love you!

And to the Father-to-be, I can't wait to see you in action!

You are going to be one great daddy!

Blog face lift

2010-06-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

So with all this new excitement in our lives, I figured it was time for a new look for our blog. Becky over at digital design does an AWESOME job and and is super affordable! She created Lindsey and Julie's new blog looks, which is where I got her info! And to make things even better, she is using her skills to raise money for their next Ethiopian adoption!

Go check her out!

Feeling the love...

2010-06-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

I really can not believe that it has almost been two weeks since we have revieved "the call".

In some ways it feels like it was yesterday.

In other ways, his face feels like home. Like we have known in all out lives.

I don't ever want to forget that day and I want Tate to know how special it was. Not only for us, but so many people who have been praying and waiting with us.

After we received the call and Brian and I had some time to process it all, we could not wait for our family to see his face! We invited everyone up to "unveil" Baby Tate. I proboblay made it a little dramatic but give me a break! I have been waiting for this day for 8 months! :)

Unfortunately, my dad out of town and could not make it. So we decided to e-mail him and my mom the pictures at the same time. I had this vision of them both receiving the email at the same time and opening to see their first grandchild's face. Well, we were having some email trouble because the file was so big. We spent about 15 minutes trying to get it right. Finally my dad received the e-mail and opened it. So he begins gushing over all the pics while my mom my mom is about to cry listening to him because she can't open hers. It was quit anti-climactic and stressful but pretty funny!

The rest of the family came up to meet their newest grandson, nephew, and cousin.

The girls anxiously waiting for everyone to arrive

After the slide show (yes, I made a slide show:)), we had pictures printed off and passed them around.

Funny thing, Walgreen's made a mistake and accidentally printed off 998 8x10's . The stack was HUGE. Too bad they were only going to discount the extra prints $0.50 each.

I am sure that everyone we know wants an 8X10 of Tate in their living room...right?:)

Our call occurred on a Wednesday and we were fortunate enough to have some of our friends from church come over after class to see our little guys. I can not tell you how great it is to have such a supportive church family! We really love these guys and are so thankful Tate will have them to spoil him!

It was really hard to go back to work the next day. But I could not wait to share the pictures with my wonderful co-workers. I arrived to find my office all decked out! It was so great!

Between the visits, text messages, blog comments, facebook messages and calls, we felt so blessed and loved! Thank you all!

Tate- I want you to know how much you are wanted and loved.
Not only by your mom and dad. So many people are praying for you and anticipating your arrival. I think we have enough babysitting offers to get you through college. :)
June 16th 2010 will forever be a special day for us.
We are so thankful so many got to share it with us!
You are one loved little guy!

Here's how it went down....

2010-06-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

So you know how they say that the day that you least expect it, it comes?

Well that is exactly what happened folks.

I will be honest, everyday for the past week, I thought the call would be that day. So everyday, from 9 to 3, I sat on my phone. I checked blogs every time I sat down at my desk. I felt like butterflies were all over my stomach.

But not today!

I woke up this morning and just knew that today would NOT be the day. And I was ok with it!

I was seeing a patient for a new OB intake. I had left my phone in my office because, like I said, I just wasn't thinking about it today. I am almost done with my patient, when the receptionist knocks on the door.

"Your husband just called and said you need to call him back NOW!"

Me: "Are you serious?!?!?"

I then just leave the patient in the room! I kinda wondering what they were thinking!!:)

I then call Brian back and he tells me that Mary had tried to call me, but I didn't answer and that this was it!! I hung up the phone and flew out the door!

I spent the next 30 minutes of my drive home smiling, screaming and crying!

W got home and waited for Mary to call us back. She had a meeting, so we had to wait for about an hour. During that time, I changed clothes 3 times, did dishes, swept the whole house, and scared our dog about a million times with my screams!

Our last picture together before we see our son!

I was supper excited!!!

Please ignore my crazy bending thumbs. Weird, right?!?!:))

Brian is excited!

I can't even explain to you the feelings we felt when we saw him.

We knew he was ours! Remember those crazy vivid dreams I have been having? Well, I saw his hair in my dreams. Soft, beautiful curls.

PERFECTION!

He is a 5 and 1/2 month old ball of joy! Mary repeatedly commented on how he was such a happy and smiley baby! She told us that he smiles with his eyes, and does he ever!

Our friends, the Carter's, got to meet him last week and Kellie told me that we has such a happy baby! She sent me some video and pictures and I can not tell you how much joy it gave me to see them loving on him.

It was such an emotional call. We were so excited to see his face, but there was the part that was extremely sad for his past as well. Even though they told you to be prepared for this, I really just wasn't .

We have chosen the name Tate for our little man.

Tate means, "cheerful", and we thought it was fitting.

I so wish you could see his face, his eyes, his smile.

We are so in love!

God is so faithful and we feel blessed beyond belief!

Our first family pic!

(Sorry, we can't post his actual picture until we pass court!)

What a great day! To top it off. Joanna got their referral today too!

I just knew we would get our news on the same day!:)

For all those waiting, your time will come, and it will be amazing!

REFERRAL!!!!!!!!

2010-06-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

We just got the call!

We are over the moon!

I think my dog thinks I'm crazy because I can't stop screaming!:)

Waiting for Brain to get home so we can see our baby!

More info to come!!!!!:)

A girl can dream, right?

2010-06-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

Still no call.

I did get some prints I ordered off etsy for the nursery today!

Aren't they cute!?!?!?

Maybe they will be good luck!

I am doing an awful lot of dreaming these days.

The past 3 nights, I have had very vivid dreams of our son.

I can see him.

I can feel him.

But the dreaming doesn't stop there.

Every morning, I dream about what it will look like if we get the call that day.

I dream about Mary calling me.

I dream about calling Brian and giving him the news.

I dream about calling our families.

I dream about seeing his face.

It is pure happiness.

Dreaming is nice, but the real thing would be even better.

So, one more day down and one more day closer to Baby P!

Welcome Home Elliott!!

2010-06-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

Last night we got to go to the airport to welcome home Baby Elliott! What a precious little boy and such a beautiful family! We are so thankful that the Carter's are friends and can rely on them for tips when we travel! We are so excited that our boys will get to grow up together!

Welcome Home Elliott!!!

Here we go again!

2010-06-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

So it is time to start another week.

Another week of waiting.

I really hope this week is not as bad as last week. I THINK I have convinced myself that it is too early to be this anxious and it will probably still be a couple of weeks. I mean, I should at least wait until we are #1!

But just in case....

Camera and computer are ready.

My phone is "practicing" for the call! :)

So, do you think if I stare at my phone long enough it will ring?!?!

Just kidding......kind of.

Trying to convince myself...

2010-06-10T07:43:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning with the feeling that we were not going to get our referral today.

It just doesn't feel like the day.

It doesn't even really feel like the week.

Maybe this will keep me from stalking the F.B.I. list.

Maybe this will keep me from checking my phone every hour.

Maybe this will get those dang butterflies out of my stomach.

Maybe this is my attempted to trick "the call" into actually coming today! :)

The part that is the hardest is knowing that our son is probably already in a Gladney care center.

They are probably just trying to get paperwork worked out. So there he sits, half a world away, waiting. And here we sit, waiting too. Every day that goes by feels like I am missing another precious day of our life together.

Then come the fears.

Is there anyway we can still get through court before rainy season?!?! If not, that means just WAITING another 6 weeks for the courts to reopen. BUMMER!

I know that one day, I will read these post and laugh to myself about how impatient I was.

That when he is here, none of this will really matter.

But right now, this stinks!

Hoping that this day brings some good news to Joanna (#1 on the list)!

Here I am....

2010-06-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

Two important points I need to make.

1.We have been on the list for a little over 8 months!

2. I have officially hit "crazy" mode.

I actually thought that I was going to skip this stage of the wait.

The part where you begin checking your phone repeatedly.

The part where you wake up every morning wondering if it is going to be "the" day.

But here I am.

Having dreams about the referral call and seeing his face.

Having a small anxiety attack every time my phone rings during the day.

Making sure the house is clean enough for our "referral party".

Looking at my patient schedule everyday and planning out what to do in case I have to cancel appointments.

Seeing everything as a "sign" that the call is coming soon.

My stomach feels like butterflies are just living there.

Everyday around 4, I count the day as a loss.

Every night, I hope it will come tomorrow.

I am sick of "crazy" mode.

I am ready for baby mode.

6 years

2010-06-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

Six years ago today, I married my best friend.

It was such a fun and memorable day!

Actually the past 11 years have been that way! My Senior Prom, 2001High School Graduation-2001Engagement pictures- 2004Wedding- 06-05-2004Church Pictures- 2005Thanksgiving-2006Christmas- 20072010

I am so thankful that I get to share my life with this man and I am so excited to start the next chapter of our life, "parenthood", together!

Number 2!!!

2010-05-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

We are now number 2 on the unofficial wait list!

Just got the news that Tracy got a referral for 2 little boys! (YAY!)

My stomach is full of butterflies! I think Brian summed it up perfectly. When I gave him the news he asked, "Shouldn't we be doing something?!?!"

My thoughts exactly.

Shouldn't we be:

narrowing down a name?

fixing up the nursery?

finishing watching our training videos?

reading every parenting book out there?

organizing closets?

having a garage sell?

making Baby P's life book?

(and unfortunately the list goes on!)

Guess we better get busy!

Joanna, you're next and we will be right behind you!!!:)

6 weeks

2010-05-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

Six weeks from now we hit the average wait time for referral for children 0-12 months old!

Within the next six weeks, we will hopefully have a picture of our precious son!

In six weeks, I hope I will no longer have to just look at adorable clothes and hats, but will get to start shopping!:)

When people ask me where we are at in the adoption process in six weeks, I hope I will be able to smile and tell them his name!

In six weeks, I hope I am no longer waiting for a face, a name, and a story, but rather a court date!

Six weeks could turn a family of two into a family of three.

Six weeks can change everything.

And we are ready...

Happy 80th!

2010-05-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

This week Brian's grandpa celebrate his 80th birthday! This weekend, we surprised him with a party! All of his friends came out and played music. Grandpa Jack plays the mandolin and it is one of his greatest joys to play. I hadn't seen him so happy in such a long time.

"Surprise!"

Sandbox fun!

The girls!

Grandpa and Sherri on the mandolins!

P.S. .I am fully aware I have not been keeping up with the 20 posts in 30 days! Oops! Maybe I can do a little catching up!

Some things aren't always as the appear

2010-05-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

This morning started off as a bad day.

First off, I was running a little behind going to work , and I got stuck in traffic for 20 min. There is never traffic on my way to work! About halfway there I realize I forgot my phone at home. now I am not super reliant on my phone, but when I don't have it I feel kind of like I am going to miss something important.

Then God turned this blah day into the BEST day!

At work today, I got some fantastic news!

We found out that our friends, The Carter's, passed court today ! YAY! You must go check our Baby Elliot, Baby Plumb's future BFF!:)

The Buster's got their referral for a 4 month baby boy!!! I have been stalking their blog hourly, and when I saw the REFERRAL post, I started to cry! YAY EMILY!

And then, about 10 minutes ago I am looking through the unofficial wait list and realize that another family got a referral today! The Schumacher family got a referral for a baby boy!

That's right people! If you did the math, that puts us at number 3 on the unofficial wait list!

WHAT!?!? I am jumping out of my skin!

We are so close! It is starting to feel real!!!! :)

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name: make known among the nations what he has done" 1 Chronicles 16:8

Thank you Lord for this awesome day!

Storm Season

2010-05-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

It is definitely May in Oklahoma.

We had our first major tornado watch here in Oklahoma , and there were some bad ones. I left work in Shawnee a little early in order to get home, and I made it just in time. About 20 minutes after I got home, the tornado hit the path I take to come home and destroyed the gas stations at Choctaw Road!

The hail started about 5 minuted after I got home.

This was just a very small piece of hail that I was able to get without leaving the porch. I was NOT going to chance getting knocked out, even for a picture. There were some that really were softball size! Crazy!

We were prepared to head to the cellar with all the necessities. Food, light, a cell phone and ,of course. our passports. I kept thinking, if our house was destroyed how will we get our home study updated next week! Thankfully we don't have to worry about that! Brian had the TV and computer going trying to keep our family in Shawnee and Tecumseh updated because they were without power. Thankfully everyone was safe. My parents, who live in Tecumseh, watched it form and go past their house!

Praying for all those who lost so much today. Many of my coworkers at the clinic had damage to their house, and a few houses were completely destroyed.

7 months!

2010-05-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

7 months down!

Still number 5 on the unofficial waiting list!

So in honor of 7 months, I thought I would go through my emotions this month through the seven dwarfs

Happy: we have been waiting for 7 months!

Sleepy: this month I have had some very vivid dreams about getting our referral. A couple of times I've woken up wondering if it really happened!

Sneezy: my allergies have been terrible! :)

Grumpy: that we still have 2 months to wait. GRRRR!

Dopey: we still don't have a name picked out, and as soon as I think we are getting close, we add 10 more!

Doc: we did order our baby bedding and I have read 2 1/2 parenting books this month.

Bashful: not really sure about this one. Not the bashful type.

Hoping this months is full of referrals, court dates, and passing court for lots of families!!

A Day at the Zoo....

2010-05-07T20:33:00.000-07:00

Today we got to tag along with Brian's sister, Amy, and our nieces to the zoo!

Ashlyn, Brian, Amy, Anna, and Ashia.
A bird went to the bathroom on Ashia. Poor Ash!
Anna, Amy and me catching the sea lion show.
Brian with the girls.

I think we wore Anna out!

So now that I am in "learn everything I can before Baby P. gets here" mode, I thought I would include a couple of things I learned today for our future trips to the zoo.

1. Do NOT wear flipflops, no matter how comfortable they are! You will get a blister.

2. DO bring snacks. They will save the day when a 3 year old wants to pet the monkey's.

3. Do NOT go to the zoo on a friday in May. Apparently every school in Oklahoma will be there.

4. DO get a map. You may get a little lost trying to find the giraffes.

5. DO always have you camera ready to shoot. You may just catch a reaction from being peed on by a bird! (Priceless!)

We always have such a great time with the the Puckett clan! Glad we got to spend the day with them!

Showing off the t-shirts... "Plumb" style

2010-05-04T20:43:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics of Brian's brother's family sporting the shirts. The boys favorite part of the shirt was the "Team Plumb". They loved that it said their name!

Beautiful family!

Thanks John, Kelli, Carson, and Jace! So thankful to have someone to teach our son about spiderman and manies!:)

Can't wait for lake trips, slumber parties, and pizza night at the Puckett's with one more boy!

Stay tuned for more family and friends in the shirts!

If you got a shirt, I need your picture for Baby Plumb's Life book!

If you want a shirt, we still have a few more and will be placing another order soon!

Slacking off....

2010-05-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

So I have been kind of slacking off in the blogging department lately. As I mentioned in my letter to Baby Plumb, I have really been trying to stay away from the blogs as much as possible. I was getting a little obsessed at checking blogs on the unofficial wait list. Like every hour people! But today I realized that we are number 5 on the unofficial wait list. There are 2 "either gender" and 2 "boys" ahead of us! Seriously!?!?!

Here's 5 high fives for being number 5!

Can you imagine that we are almost parents?!?! :)

I guess I had better get to blogging to document these last couple months as a family of 2!

So stay tuned for some fun posts!

I think I am going to challenge myself to 20 blog entries in 30 days!

Dear Baby P.-

2010-04-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

Dear Baby Plumb-
You have been on my mind lately. A lot. I can not believe that we have been in this process of getting you home for over a year now. It seems like only yesterday that we went on a camping trip to pray about what God's plan was for our family. And now here we are. Officially waiting for you for almost 7 months. You are so close.

I will be honest, I have been trying not to think about how close you are. Maybe it will make the waiting easier. In this, I have failed. Everything sends me back to thoughts of you. Saturday mornings make me think of making you waffles and going to the park. Family Zoo day at the church takes me to thoughts of taking you to see the giraffes. We go to the mall and I find my way to the Children's stores daydreaming of dressing you up in little hats. I see the little boys next doors playing in the mud and I can't wait for you to get dirty and dig up worms.:)

But being this close is bring on so many questions. What do you look like? Is your hair straight or curly? Will you be a picky eater like your dad? Will we be able to comfort you when you are crying? Will you like us?

As we wait, we are preparing. We are narrowing down names. Getting ready to put the nursery together. Reading books. Watching videos. Researching toys, strollers, and diaper bags. Making plans.

We have not seen your face or your smile. We do not know your name. We have no idea where you have come from or the hurt and grief you have already experienced in your little life. But we love you. More than anything. You have already changed our lives. Can't wait to see your face, kiss your checks and hold you tight. We will see you soon!!!

Love,
Mommy

Six!

2010-04-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

Has it really been six months?!?!? I don't know what else to say except that every month that goes by, I get more excited and this process feels more and more real. It is easy sometimes during this process of waiting to feel like nothing is happening. You are just waiting. But as we get closer it is easier to let yourself imagine a car seat occupied, or trips to the zoo with a stroller, or dropping off a child at the nursery on Sunday mornings instead of fighting those images.

Good bye month 5. Get ready month 7.:)

He Lives!

2010-04-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" 1 Peter 1:3

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Nesting....

2010-03-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

"Around the 5th month of pregnancy (or referral waiting), the 'nesting' instinct can set in. This is an uncontrollable urge to clean one's house, brought on by a desire to prepare a nest for the new baby, to tie up loose ends of old projects and to organize your world."- pregnancy weekly

So, we are 5 months and 3 weeks into the waiting game, and I am beginning to feel a lot of pressure to get things done. I will not call it crazy. I will call it nesting!:) Around the Plumb house we are organizing drawers and closets, changing pictures in picture frames, and trying to knock of some "To Do Before Baby Gets Here" tasks.

I actually had a panic moment a couple of nights ago.

We haven't picked out a name yet.

I can't find the perfect baby bedding. (I know I mentioned in a previous post I had bought bedding, but it wasn't perfect enough!:))

Baby Plumb's Life Book is no where near finished.

It is getting close to time to update some adoption documents.

We still have some training videos to watch.

And the list goes on.

So motivation has hit. Let's start crossing tasks off the list!

Brian will be so excited.:)

Oh, and Brian wanted me to add that he is awesome. Whatever!:)

T-shirts are in!

2010-03-22T20:27:00.001-07:00

We got the t-shirts!

I will be contacting you guys who ordered shortly to get your shirts delivered to you!

We also have some extras!

If you got a shirt, we would love it if you would send us a picture of you in your shirt!

We would like to put it in Baby Plumb's life book.

(We may even sneak them onto the blog, with permission of course!:))

Thanks again everyone!!!

Family photos

2010-03-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

I don't have a whole lot of pictures of me and Brian over the past couple of years. I seem to be the one that takes the pictures in our families. Brian and I haven't had our pictures made since our wedding day almost 6 year ago! So, a few weeks ago Jennifer fixed that for us. Thought I would share a few of our favorites!

She really did an awesome job! I love them! Thanks again Jennifer for taking our last official family of 2 photo !

And in referral news... there has been 2 referrals for baby boys in the past week! We could not be more excited for both families, especially our friends the Carter's!
Yippeeeee!
Movin' on up!

Is this good news or bad news?

2010-03-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

We got some unexpected news on the adoption front yesterday. The Ethiopian government announced yesterday that all adoptive parents must travel to Ethiopia for their court dates in order for adoptions to become finalized. This means that we will now have to make 2 trips to Ethiopia, once to appear in court and the second to pick our son up and bring him to the U.S.

The first trip will last about 5 days and we will have a chance to meet our child and appear in court. The second trip will be after the adoption is finalized and will be to appear for a U.S Embassy interview to process our son's immigration visa. The second trip should occur 3-6 weeks after the first. We are still not sure of all of the details, but should hear more from our adoption agency soon.

I must admit, yesterday I had a really hard time with this. 2 trips! Really! We definitely had not planned for this extra expense. And having to travel twice so close together! How is that gonna work with our jobs? And probably the worst part, having to meet our son, begin bonding, and then have to leave him behind!?!?!? Oh, I can't even imagine!!!

All of these thoughts became a little overwhelming and I will say, I threw myself a little pity party. I just started feeling a little down about the fact that the average wait time for referral has gone from 7.5 months to when we first got on the list, to 9 months at this point. There also just doesn't seem to be a lot going on with the unofficial wait list! And now 2 trips!

But the optimistic Shannon did find her way out eventually! Now we get to take 2 trips to Africa! We also get to meet our son 3-6 weeks earlier than we originally would have gotten to! God has blessed us so much, and we know that he will make this all work out.

Brian reminded me that when we get our son, nothing else will matter.

FIVE

2010-03-09T17:34:00.000-08:00

Why is the number five so important?

Well, there is The Jackson 5

You can split lunch with a friend for $2.50 each, which makes $5.

(Sing it with me folks, "5....5 dollar....5 dollar foot loooong")

There are 5 Olympic rings.

James Monroe, our fifth president.

"Five Golden Rings!"

And we have been on the waiting list for FIVE months!

Wooohoooo!

This calls for a high five!:)

Where is our baby from?

2010-02-25T21:40:00.000-08:00

Books for February

2010-02-23T10:00:00.000-08:00

Finished the 3 books for January, and thought all of them were great picks. Definitely would recommend Crazy Love. I actually want to read it again soon! It had so many great thoughts and it was hard to absorb them all. Here are the books for February, just in time to get ready for March!

A friend of mine has been encouraging me to read these for awhile now and I finally have given in. I have already read the 1st one when we were snowed in for a couple of days and LOVED it. It was a quick read geared towards teens about a group at teens in the future that are forced to fight to the death on live TV to remind society of the power of the "Capital" . I know it sounds kind of demented, but it's was good. I read this during "Winter Storm 20010".

I got this book from the library and am almost through it. The funny thing is that the author is actually one of the guest speakers on one of our Ethiopian training videos and I wasn't even aware of it before I began it. I will def be buying this one for my library. SO much great information, hard to keep it all in!

I've always wanted to read "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis and I figure there is no time like the present!

Most of the time...

2010-02-23T08:14:00.000-08:00

Most of the time we are keeping this waiting period busy with church, basketball games, family and friends.

Most of the time I am able to appreciate this time Brian and I have together. The last few months that we will be a married couple without kids.

Most of the time it feels like time is flying by. Wasn't Christmas just yesterday?

Most of the time, I try to not plan the nursery too much or look at baby clothes. It seems to make things a little harder.

BUT

Some of the time I can't stop thinking and planning.

Some of the time I have a weekend where I do the very things I said I wouldn't. Buy a crib, dresser, and nursery bedding! (My mom and I got a little carried away!)

Some of the time I get down about the lack of referrals lately. (Where are they BTW!)

Some of the time we have an evening, like last night. There is no laundry to fold, no cleaning to do, no activities to go to and it is quiet. The kind of quiet that only a child, OUR son, could fill.

But ALL of the time I know that God is in control. He has our child picked out for out family and he will be here at the right time, whether that be in 6 months or 2 years! (but definitely praying for closer to the 6 months!!!!)

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."- Jeremiah 29:11

And thanks to everyone for all the support through our t-shirts! We will be placing the order the end of this week!:)

T-shirts!!!

2010-02-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

Brian and I LOVE t-shirts. I mean, I think we have a billion between the two of us. Everything from Bethel shirts from when we were in high school to a nice little collection Brian has accumulated from Goodwill (which I sincerely hope some of them are never seen in public!). So we thought it was time to make some shirts about the thing we are most excited about, our adoption!

The verse reads, "Above all these virtues put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity." Col. 3:14

The shirts are black and are unisex. They will be $20 for adults and $15 for kiddos. All proceeds will go for humanitarian aid.

If you want a shirt, email me at shancat35@yahoo.com. We will be placing an order in the next couple of weeks and we will set up payment options later!

Geography fair

2010-02-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

Last week, my nieces were in a geography fair for their home school association. Each family picked a country and set up a table full of the information that they learned. They picked Ethiopia! It was so neat to see them learn about Ethiopia and the culture. We even went to The Queen of Sheeba Ethiopian restaurant and picked up some injera and beef stew for their booth.

Ashlyn serving up the injera.

The Ethiopia booth!

Ralph trying the injera and stew.

Anna LOVED the injera! She had 4 pieces!

Thanks girls for learning about Ethiopia and getting excited about your future cousin!

Speaking of excitement, super excited for our friends the Andrews who passed court yesterday and are officially the parents of a beautiful little girl and precious little boy! You must check out their adorable faces! Yippee!

Poor Louie...

2010-02-09T21:06:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-02-06T20:49:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

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....

2010-01-11T20:31:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-01-09T20:55:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-08T20:59:00.000-08:00

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

3 months

2010-01-07T19:03:00.001-08:00

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)

2009-12-28T19:22:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-24T18:39:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-22T20:27:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-22T20:01:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-19T20:57:00.001-08:00

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...

2009-12-18T20:36:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-18T19:53:00.001-08:00

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...

2009-12-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-14T20:01:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-09T19:50:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-11-30T19:07:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-29T19:05:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-28T20:51:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Black Friday

2009-11-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-11-26T21:14:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-25T21:10:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-11-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-11-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

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..

2009-11-22T19:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-21T19:54:00.000-08:00

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!:)