our world has gotten a little crazier!

Well, yeah... the collective "world" has gotten crazier, I'll give you that... but I mean our ADOPTION WORLD has seriously heated up this past week!

I'm gonna give you the short and sweet update version for privacy reasons and because it's late and I'm wiped out too. We received a call Thursday night from a friend who told us that there is a woman that is due soon that lives in our state and is a friend of a friend... and she wanted our adoption profile to send to her so she could view it over the weekend. We forwarded her our profile, and it was sent along! And after a long weekend of waiting to see if she likes us or not, we got a call yesterday saying that she loved everything she saw in our profile!!!!! We were floored, because there could have been a number of reasons why she wouldn't like us.. too many kids, didn't want a Christian home... yada, yada. But we prayed that there would be something that stood out to her. And I can't wait to meet her and ask her exactly what it is she likes about us.

There is so much I wish I could share with you, but we are SO excited and are guarding our hearts because we know so much could happen. But this precious birth mama is set on adoption, and as it seems set on us!!! I'm dying to know her due date... I know she is due in the next couple months and we won't know if the baby is a boy or a girl. She didn't want to find out because she knew she would be placing the baby for adoption. We love and respect this woman already and are praying fervently for her and this little life. Will you join us in praying??? Thank you!

We are hoping to hear from her in the next couple days, she wanted to show our profile to her Dr. tomorrow before contacting us. We are expectantly waiting for more news.. and trusting in God's big picture. We couldn't be in better hands.

the Shred

Exercise has been a part of my life since I can remember... and I really enjoy it. But if you've been pregnant, you know what havoc it wreaks on a body! After each kiddo was born, I've mixed things up and tried new things... after Drew, 9 years ago, TaeBo was all the rage. Gavin was born just a year and a half later, and TaeBo was still it for me. After Morgan? Turbo Jam was the new deal! All of these helped me get back to where I was before pregnancy. But after Annika, the at-home videos were boring me to tears and I needed something different.

So I started going to an amazing gym that is close by and is all ladies that offers killer classes! So after 11 months of classes... and a BIG break from working out this summer it was TIME. But I knew going back to gym wasn't an option with us trying to save for an adoption... and I was just so over dragging the kids there each time.

I'd been hearing about Jillian Michaels lately, and since we don't watch TV... I didn't know much about her. But I heard her workouts were killer and that is was a lot like the classes I'd been taking at the gym. So I ordered a couple of her DVDs and am loving it! I even ordered one for my sister for her birthday, so we could do it together. You see, my sis and I used to be accountable to each other with exercise when they lived here, and I figured distance shouldn't stop that! And no, she didn't hate me for getting her an exercise DVD for her birthday. But husbands and boyfriends beware, this is not a safe practice. Nor would I recommend it.

The DVD I do most days is the one at the top, 30 Day Shred... it has 3 levels and each workout is 25 min. long. So far, I'm switching between Levels 1 and 2 and they are amazing and my body is changing already! You need weights for this one. This video pictured just above is about 50 min. long and is all cardio. I do that once a week. So far, I've been working out again for 5 weeks, 4-5 days a week. And I just finished my 2nd week of 30 Day Shred. I was doing some other DVDs before that. It feels so good to be moving again... the other BIG change I've made is that I get up earlier than usual and do this in the morning. Some days, the kids are still sleeping, some days they're all up and playing around me, and some days little Annika is still in sleepyland. But nevertheless, it happens. And it feels OH SO GOOD to be all done exercising and be showered when we start our day. But it's HARD to get up and workout, those of you that have done it know... it's no picnic. But it's worth it, and I love it once I'm doing it. It's so hard to get to night time and have the motivation to workout. For me, it just doesn't happen! My goal is 13 more pounds... and I'll be lighter and more fit than before all 4 kids!!!! WooHoo!

Feel like joining in? Let me know if you do, I'd love to know who wants to Shred with me and my sis. :)

Oh yeah.. one more thing... ***My disclaimer***

On 30 Day Shred, Jillian said a** twice! Once in level one... and once in level two. She said, "you will literally be kicking your own a** AND if you're a bada** like her..." UGH... the kids aren't really watching it when I do it, but I have the remote closeby to mute it when she says it! Other than that, it's great!!! She is much more mature in the other DVD I got, and it's great!

the fundraiser

Boy, do I have to play catch up! Last month, I participated in a fundraiser for our local pregnancy center. They are hoping to "go medical" in the near future and are raising funds to purchase ultrasound equipment. My buddy Shannon organized this open house fundraiser in her home, in hopes to help their fundraising efforts! Above is a picture of my little booth. A while back, I posted a picture with stacks of fabric... well this is what I made! Loads of bags/purses (including little girl size), rice hot/cold therapy bags, and burp cloths. I sold a good amount that day, but still have 6 or 7 bags left, along with a rice bag or two and a couple sets of burp cloths. 100% of what I sell now goes toward our adoption!! Let me know if you'd like to purchase something for yourself or as a gift!!

Bags $20

Girl Bags $8

Rice Bags $6

Burp Cloths (set of 3) $8

My favorite little buddy that came to visit that day! Can you beat that sweet smile? I gave him one of the pumpkins from our garden and he was pretty happy I think!

early mornin' neon bowlin'

A few weeks ago, our homeschool field trip group took to the bowling alley! We got to walk behind the lanes and see how the balls and pins work behind the scenes too!!! We had a great morning, and it was Friday, so Jeremy got to join in the fun! We had a super morning, and were definitely awake after the 10am start with music, strobe lights, and neon!!! Drew even won a prize for answering the correct height of a bowling pin... a $10 gift card to bowl and a real pin!

Our field trip group RoCkS!

long overdue...

This post is long overdue... and maybe you're bored by now of seeing our new pictures, and maybe you haven't seen them at all! But I wanted to take the chance to post a few of our new pictures taken by Carrie Lambing this Fall! I will never bore of them, they are treasures to us! I started this post 3 weeks ago, and since the pics were having trouble downloading each time I started again, I gave up... but today I'm pushing through! I love these pictures for so many reasons, but mainly I wanted to capture Annika at this age, these are the first "official" family pics she has been in! Our last run at family pictures were two years ago, when I was enormously pregnant with her!


And we also wanted some new pictures to add to our adoption profile which is now in the hands of many great resources for us.. including friends, 5 clinics that deliver babies both in Alaska and outside, our lawyer's office for potential birth mothers to look at.. and the list goes on! Much of my time recently has been getting our family profile "out there" in the hopes of a birth mother choosing us for her child. Our homestudy has been rescheduled for next week, and our fingerprinting is done and is being turned in soon as well. Once those two things are completed along with the paperwork we're turning in at our homestudy, we'll be "done." Our fingerprints will take a couple months we think to clear in the federal realm, but state is pretty quick we hear. We just play the waiting game, and will continue to get our profile out! Next up? We plan to cover all of the clinics who deliver babies that will take our profile and is within southcentral AK and other referrals out of state that we've received. With all of that said... here are some of our favorites from our photo shoot with Carrie!

Blogging in itself has been a bit of a challenge for me lately. It's been hard to put into words what is going on with us/me! There are SO many things to say, where to start? Well, here's one place to start:

This adoption journey, even though we are just at the beginning, and are not "waiting" for our baby to be born, communicating with birth mom, or any of those other nerve-wracking details... is still consuming. The questions that are forever swirling around my brain are these:

• is this baby already conceived?
• will we have to travel to meet our birth mom and to be there for the birth of the baby?
• when will this happen?
• will this happen?
• can my messed up back and neck handle toting around our precious new babe?
• is our birth mom taking care of herself, and therefore taking care of her child growing within?
• will we have the money we need, when we need it?
• what if it happens next week and our homestudy is not done and our fingerprints have not cleared?
• what kind of relationship, if any, will we have with our baby's birth family after the adoption is finalized?
• will we have to face the heart ache of an adoption not going through if a birth mom changes her mind before the waiting period is up? (every state is different, our state has a great law in place)
  
  
  Now, hear this... some of those thoughts may make you think I'm worrying and not trusting God. Not so. I am completely excited about all of the above, no matter how daunting and unknown each of them are. And I know God has placed us on this journey, and we are confident in his loving care of us and our unborn child. But, it is hard not to think about those things... so right now, I'm going to take every thought captive, trust in His plan for us no matter how bumpy it may get, and enjoy the ride toward our newest family member. Bring it on!!!!