REFERRAL!!!!

Friday was a wonderful day for our family! Gracie is officially a big sister. After 14 months and 3 days of adoption waiting we received "the call"! We have accepted a referral for a beautiful baby boy. He was born on December 31, 2009 and is healthy. He weighed 16.5 pds at his 6/1 well-baby check up.

As many of you know, wait times from referral to 'travel call' are pretty lengthy right now. The earliest (due to the back up) that we will be able to travel will be Feb. But, it will more likely be late March or April. In the meantime, our baby is being cared for by a loving foster mom and dad. He will check in with the agency monthly for medical check-ups and foster family updates.

Please pray for....
our little guy; that he continues to thrive and grow during this wait,
the wonderful foster family who is taking care of him during the wait,
and the birthmother who had an unfathomable decision to make.

Thank you to all of you that have been so supportive during this long roller coaster of a wait. We know we have a ways to go with a different kind of wait but, we can't even to begin to express the excitement we are feeling. I still feel like I'm going to pee (from excitement) and puke (from the surreal feeling). Yippee!

Meet Jackson .........don't you just love his sweet little bald head!












Happy Father's Day KJ!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a wonderful weekend this turned out to be. I got the call on Friday morning at about 9:30AM. Of course, I wanted to jump in the car and head up North to LL's office right away. But, I knew Kirk had meetings all day. Luckily, I got a hold of him at work right away and we were able to work out a meeting with our SW at 3:30PM. I can't even begin to describe the wonderful feeling I had all day. But, man was it hard to occupy myself for those few hours in between. It worked out that Grace was away Baba and Grandma in MI this weekend so, I had the whole day to myself . I did a little shopping and cleaning but, mostly, just counted down the hours. Anyways, the meeting was great. Seeing Jackson's picture for the first time was amazing! I still can't wipe the smile off my face. After all of this wonderfulness, we leave the office with our cherished referral paperwork and step into the worst storm I have been in in awhile. We actually pulled off the highway and waited it out in an office building lobby, laughing and smiling at each other the whole time.....made for a very memorable day.

Two Fun Weekends

I love Summer Weekends...

Last weekend Gracie and I ran in the Running for Hope 5k/Kids Dash benefiting Children's Hope Hospital and the Ronald McDonald Charities. This was my first run with my BFF and my first 5K since before I was pregnant with Gracie. It was a great race for an even GREATER cause. The best part of the day for me was the 'Kid's Dash' which Gracie and my BFF's kiddos ran in. As you can see from the video, they did great and are so excited to get their medals. So precious :)

A little red but, pushed hard and finished with a decent time.

This weekend was recital weekend. I love recital weekend! Gracie had two dances on stage this year; one ballet and one tap. She loves dressing up and being on stage. Her ballet dance was to The Climb and her tap dance was to Pretty Little Angel Eyes. TPDC put on a great show that we enjoyed along with Neena, Uncle M & A, Scottie and Grammy.

Look at that sass.....Hmmmm, not sure what to think about that at 5 years old.

Gracie was excited to finish off the weekend with an overnight at Neena and Poppa's house so KJ and I could have a night out together.