October Numbers

I am really running out of creativity for posting new numbers. So instead of showing you a picture I am just going to tell you. (I am really praying that these are the last official numbers that I get.) #4 boy and #5 girl

During my prayer time last night I found this verse, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come, there is life and joy." Proverbs 13:12. This verse really spoke to my heart because to be truthful when I got my numbers email I was a little saddened. I am just so ready to see a picture of my child. Is it a boy or girl, when were they born, how old are they, how much do they weigh? Typical questions of an adoptive parent in waiting. But then it hit me again that God already knows all the things and is holding my baby in His hands. If I am number 4 and 5 for the next 12 weeks so be it because God knows it all and when we get THE CALL there will be joy and life and I will know that beyond a shadow of a doubt I trusted God with my whole heart and knew that His timing is perfect.

On a happy note though with our numbers there were 2 possibly 3 girl referrals yesterday. Yeah for all those families that got to see pictures of their babies. This puts unofficially at number 3 or 2 for a girl.

Another exciting tidbit of news to add is that next week at this time I will be getting ready to go see Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith on the United Tour. I am so excited. I have seen Michael W. Smith perform before but never Steven Curtis Chapman. To see them both on the same stage is just AWESOME!!!

I CAN'T SLEEP!!!

We Are Unofficially #3 on the boy list and #5 on the girl list. I can't believe it!! I am so excited about soon getting to see a picture of my son or daughter! It seems like we've been on the waiting list forever, yet it seems like our journey has been set on full speed. So we will see what this week brings for everyone on the waiting list. Please pray that I don't go insane until we get our referral.

Losing Control.......

Katelyn has decided that she no longer likes the way that I dress her and being 4 1/2 she is now practising her Independence. Today she wanted to go out and play and I told her that it was cold out so she would have to wear sweatpants and this is what she came out wearing. I literally laughed out loud. I think instead of practising writing her name we should go over what colors go together. The many joys of parenting!!

On the adoption front Brian and Autumn got their referral yesterday. I am so excited for them. This now makes us unofficially #7 on the boy list!!!!

Timeline of our numbers

April 24 #24 boy and #32 girl
May 13 #23 boy and #32 girl
June 4 #19 boy and #24 girl
July 7 #12 boy and #14 girl
Aug. 6 #10 boy and #14 girl
Sep. 4 #8 boy and #9 girl

It is amazing when you look at your numbers this way just how fast time has gone, even though it feels like we have been on the waiting list forever!!! Can't wait until next month!!! I hope I move down one on the boys list because that would mean that Brian and Autumn got there referral!!! I am so anxious for them to get their call!!

We got our monthly call today and we are so excited!!! We are #8 for a boy and #9 for a girl. I can't believe how close we are on the girls list. When we first started we were 32 for a girl and 24 for a boy that was on April 24, 2008. We are being very patient and waiting on God's perfect timing. I have found that reading as many books as I can helps pass the time!!!
We will keep you all posted with any news we may recieve!!!!

WE ARE BLESSED

I just got home after a very long day at work, proceeded by 2 hours of grocery shopping. After standing in line for like 10 minutes I then found out that I had gone over my food budget, I still had the money but I've been trying to watch every penny I spend. I was so frustrated and just down about my whole entire day. Then like always I get on the computer and found this news story about Ethiopia(http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-08-17-ethiopia_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip) and I realized that my worst day multiplied by 100 still will never equal to one good day of theirs. We are so blessed to be able to live in this country of such wealth and abundance. We are so blessed to be able to have AT LEAST three meals a day. Followed by a good nights sleep in nice comfy bed in our nice big houses.
Not much is new in the adoption process. We will be getting our bi-weekly update this Friday and our monthly call next week. I can't wait to see what our numbers will be!!!! Please continue to keep us in your prayers because we have some decisions that we need to make for after our adoption is complete.

Not much movement

We got our call today with our new numbers, unfortunately though I was not home. I am sort of glad that I was not home because I think that Kate would have heard the disappointment in my voice. I don't want to be disappointed but can't help feeling a little down. Our new numbers are 10 for a boy and 14 for a girl. It is so hard knowing that courts are closed for August and September and that there most likely will not be much movement until they reopen. When we started this journey in January I was hoping to have received my referral by September 8th. That will be the 11th year anniversary of my grandmother's death. It sure doesn't look like that dream will happen. God's ways are not our ways and I trust that His ways are better than mine, so with that said I WILL TRUST that sooner than later God will reveal to us the child that HE has CHOSEN FOR US TO LOVE AND CARE FOR!!!
A little update on what's been happening around here.... This past weekend we had a yard sale at Matt's parents house and raised $560 towards the adoption. We had so many people give us stuff to sale and we are so very grateful to them. It was awesome. We started setting up at 6 am and had our first sale at about 6:30 and it wasn't supposed to start until 8am. I kept thinking of the movie "Field of Dreams" when he kept hearing in his dream the voice that said "If you build it they will come". We have been very blessed with all the support from our families also!!! We thank you all for your prayers,support and love. We couldn't this without your help. Also this month we applied for a grant through Shaohannah's Hope. We will likely not hear anything from them until November.
This past month has been a very big reading and learning month for me. I normally always read just christian fiction but am stepping out of my normalcy and reading some non-fiction christian books. I just finished "Red Letters" by Tom Davis. Great book!!! Really inspires you to do more with your time and money. Having said that I have joined the 5 for 50 campaign. You can read more about it at www.fivefor50.com Another great book that I read was The Same Kind of Different as ME by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. This was an awesome book with alot of life lessons.
This Saturday is our 6 year anniversary so we have decided to go on an overnight trip a couple hours from here. We are so excited. We have not done this in over 5 years and we feel this is probably our last chance for another 5 years. I will try to post some pics of our weekend.
All in all I am praying that these two months go quickly and that I stay busy to help pass the time. On the other hand it makes me sad to wish my life away. These are two months of Katelyn's life that I don't get back.