Labor of the Heart

I am still here, believe it or not. Sorry it's been so long. There are probably a couple of reasons for that but, if I'm being honest, I just didn't feel like blogging.

It's hard to know what to write when I have no real news to share. I feel that you'll be bored listening to my emotional roller coaster ramblings, but I feel that I need to get back on track and focus this blog on our adoption. I'm sure I'll still fill you in on what else is happening in our lives, but what I really want is for this to be about our adventure of adopting.

So that said...it's been a tough (well, tougher) week for me. The waiting just hit harder than it has in a while and I must admit, a few tears were shed. It's just so hard to explain and until you're in it you just don't realize the impact it has on you...emotionally, physically, spiritually. Our lives are in limbo right now which just emphasizes the importance for us to anchor our hope and trust in Christ. It's truly the only thing that's going to get us through this time.

Lately I've been thinking that I need to get back to setting up the baby room, reading about adoption/parenting, picking baby names and getting excited about all of that. So today I went to the adoption support centre to pick up a couple of books and it felt good. We're also going to keep working on the baby room. Ian has decided to do panelling/wainscotting in there and I'll keep looking for things to make it "homey" for our amazingly adorable new addition (I just know he or she will be cute!)

One of the books I picked up today is called "Labor of the Heart". That's exactly it. This child will be born of my heart. It's amazing how this little person, who we know nothing about, has such a special place in our family already and the day can't come soon enough when we get to meet them in person.

Thanks for listening. We appreciate your support, thoughts and prayer so much!

Holidays

We've been home from holidays for about a week and a half and it's amazing how fast life just goes right back to the hustle and bustle. Ian and I both went back to work the day after we got home and wow, were we ever exhausted. Our vacation was busy, but so much fun!!

Since we only had 4 days, we wanted to get in as much as possible and that didn't leave a lot of time for sleep and rest. We also had incredibly hot and humid weather (felt like +45) which I loved, but at times it was even too hot for me. I'm definitely not complaining, though. We had a fantastic time!! It was so good to have time away, scream on the rides and spend time with each other.

Here are a few pictures...

Mickey Ears...as promised

Day 1 - Hollywood Studios

A car stunt show that we went to

Ian loved this meal! A whole pot of seafood all to himself...

Day 2 -Animal Kingdom

Everest ride

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom

I'm almost always screaming in these pictures, but Ian decided to do something

a bit different. :) (sorry it's fuzzy, but we just snapped a quick picture of the screen)

We were feeling like kids that morning and thought we'd get a picture with some characters

Day 4 - Epcot

Moroccan pavilion

Ian made me take this picture...said it was the real Nacho Libre

You may not be able to tell, but it was POURING! It rained at least once every day

but thankfully didn't last long!

Beautiful Canadian pavilion in Epcot

I had a delicious chocolate croissant at this French bakery! Mmmm...

Downtown Disney

We rented this boat called the Sea Racer, but it was far from a "racer"; think more "tugboat"

Our last night there we went to the show at Epcot which was amazing! This was taken right before we left the park after a long day.

(I just had to put the cheesy pin on our bag - it says "Happy Anniversary")

Well, that was our trip in a nutshell. We had a great time and are looking forward to our next holiday that will include bringing home our precious little baby. Many people have asked if we've heard anything, but no, unfortunately we haven't and probably won't until the referral.

In the meantime, I'm so thankful for a job that I love to keep me distracted, for great support from family & friends and for a God who loves & knows us because the wait is not getting any easier. We continue to pray, trust and enjoy the time we have together!

An evening with Michael

Last night we went to the Michael Buble concert and what an incredible show!! He's a real entertainer and really interacts with the crowd. Both Ian & I love music and to hear such a talented band and group of musicians was awesome!

The opening group was equally amazing. They were called Naturally 7 and do what's called vocal play where they do everything with their mouths...bass, guitar, drums, DJ, harmonica, trombone...it was so great!

To top it all off, Ian got us 10th row seats on the floor and we were right at the end of the row. At one point, Buble was walking down the aisles and giving hi-fives as he went by. He walked RIGHT passed us, but unfortunately missed my hand. Not wanting to let the opportunity pass by, I decided to grab...I mean pat...his shoulder. He just turned around and smiled. :) (I am laughing at myself for how this sounds, but it was pretty exciting!)

Anyway, I had a fantastic night out with Ian! We will definitely go to a concert of his again! Here are a few pictures from the night. Enjoy!

Very excited to be there!

Naturally 7

There he is!

I get a kick out of that woman's expression! I'm sure I looked much more calm than that.

Ian snapped a quick picture as he went by

It's booked!!!

We made our vacation decision and our flights are officially booked for Orlando! We're hoping to spend a few days at Disney and then possibly one at Universal Studios. We actually leave next week already, so we're super pumped!!

I also only have a week and a half left at the optometry clinic and then it's back to school right after we get back from our holiday. (To be honest, I miss the kids and am looking forward to seeing them again.) I really can't believe the summer has gone by so fast, but Ian keeps telling me that it's not over yet, so I'm going to keep enjoying every minute of it!

This is totally a side ramble, but we're also getting our driveway poured this week. I have never been so happy to see rebar and a bobcat in the yard! No more shovelling gravel for us (I mean Ian) in the winter!

Another thing I wanted to mention was that, if you have Sasktel Max, check out our friends adoption story in the Local on Demand section. You can find it under Saskatchewan Stories and it's called An Adoption Journey. What a great family! Ian & I really look forward to participating in this event next year.

That's it for now. I'll be sure to post pictures of Ian in his Mickey ears when we get back!

To go, or not to go...

Maybe the better question is where to go...

We really need a vacation. We've been holding off because we're going to be in SA for about a month and want to keep saving and building up our holiday time, but I don't know if we'll make it! We both like to travel and feel like we need to get away, especially before I start into another school year.

There are about 5-6 days we can hopefully take at the end of August and part of me wants to just splurge and fly somewhere fun (maybe Disney World??). Then my practical side kicks in and I try to think of something a little more budget friendly.

If anybody out there has any great suggestions, we'd love them!

I hope you're all enjoying the summer!

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I'm not too sure what's going on with our blog. Is the layout looking weird to everyone else? I tried to change it, but am having some trouble since I haven't done a lot of this before. Anyway, if anyone has any tips, I'd welcome them. I'll try to get it fixed up soon!

Waiting & Running

It's been a couple of weeks since we were able to meet with the social worker from S.A. and with the directors of our adoption agency. I don't think I've felt so nervous in a long time, but honestly, I had nothing to worry about!

We met in a room at a hotel in Regina and at first, sat and listened to both Gordon (director) & Robyn (social worker) speak about the program, their commitment and the changes that are happening. It really reinforced our confidence in the agency and in the program. They are passionate about what they are doing and they really desire to see things move along. This was very encouraging for us!

After that, we were able to have a good, long chat with Robyn one-on-one. I really believe that this will only be to our benefit as we are not just names on paper to her anymore. People have asked if we were given any kind of timeline...oh, how I wish. We're hoping before Christmas but, as we heard from Robyn, there are no guarantees. They really try not to give any kind of timeline so that we are not disappointed if it doesn't happen by then. There are so many factors that come into play (the mom could change her mind at the last minute, the child's paperwork could fall through, etc.) that they just keep it all quiet until that baby is ready for you. In many ways, I'm thankful for that because I know that when we get that phone call, it's a for sure thing and we can start packing out bags!

We were also able to talk quite a bit with Gordon and his wife (Dianne) and it was so great. They are a fantastic couple who truly care about the families in the program.

So, we continue to wait. I've got a good job for the summer working in one of our friends optometry clinic and we're hoping to go camping at some point as well. It's also our 5 year anniversary in August and I think that calls for a spontaneous weekend getaway!

One more thing...some of our other friends who adopted from SA (they just brought home their beautiful son) are running from Regina to Saskatoon (143 miles for 143 million orphans) to raise awareness about adoption as well as funds. We want to support them in this and spread the word. To find out more information or to donate, you can visit...

www.run143.com

(They already started the run, but it's not too late to get involved with what's happening!)