Bye Bye February.... Hello March!

So, how are things going?

Just fine ......I guess, thanks for asking :)

A more detailed response, lets see....

Things are going well for Peter at work. Hard to believe it has almost been a year since that dreadful day he was laid off. He really enjoys his job and I am so glad for that! His company is approaching their year end so I imagine things are going to get pretty busy for him soon! He just took another CPA exam yesterday. We're hoping for good news in the coming weeks on a couple different tests he's taken.

I had a long work week this week. I am not used to 50 hour work weeks anymore and it wore me out! I am still trying to distract myself from the waiting with different activities - cooking and baking has been a favorite distraction right now. I also have scrapbooking and piano playing ready for when the baking becomes less appealing.

Juno took another trip to the vet this past week. She has been keeping us up at night and just been really itchy. We have actually seen her conditions worsen since the food switch but we aren't sure if it was the food or the unseasonably nice weather we've been having that is making her miserable. We decided to go ahead and have the allergy testing done and forgo continuing with the food testing. It was quite expensive but in the long run spending $130 a year on shots will be much cheaper than spending over $50 a month on special food and I think she will be much happier. She has quite the bruise on her poor little neck right now to show for it. A trip to the vet is always traumatizing to her. They are testing her blood for over 40 allergens and hopefully we will have results in a few weeks. From there we have to learn how to give Juno shots and we will start out doing that every couple of weeks. For the time being she is on 6 pills a day to help with her itchiness and she is also on antibiotics once again for the staph infection that never goes away. In the coming months she will also need a biopsy on a spot on her head. Whew, it never ends for our poor little girl. And to think she isn't even 2 yet!!!

Nothing to report on the adoption process this week. To the best of my knowledge no referrals went out this past week. We have been waiting for our referral for 4 months now. I will get my monthly update call from my caseworker this week and I am hoping to ask her some more questions about this lag in referrals. I also plan to ask her about the referral process and just what we can expect when we get that amazing phone call telling us we have a son! The good news right now is that courts seem to be running smoothly and quickly. We do not want to get caught up in a long court process. So hopefully the courts will continue to run smoothly and after referral we'll be over in Ethiopia before we know it!!!

Weekly Randoms

I realized I haven't updated our blog for awhile..... sorry if read the family blog!

The last few weeks have been pretty good. We've been plenty busy with little projects. I've distracted myself from thinking about the waiting (lies, lies, lies). Okay, I've TRIED to distract myself from the waiting and while the distractions do help, nothing can completely help. We are #9 now so still sloooowly getting closer to our little man!

Now lets talk about another precious little man. I was able to spend a few hours with my sweet little nephew last weekend. He was almost 6 weeks old. He is getting more interactive which I love! He is starting to coo and smile and is just adorable. It has been way to long since we've had a baby around.

So cute!

Last weekend we tried to make a Mardi Gras King Cake. I come from a lineage of bread makers but I've never had the guts to try it for myself. Homemade bread dough intimidates me, but I figured I would give it my best shot. Well everything worked out well except for a minor glitch while it was rising. Okay so the minor mistake caused me to have to start over, but the second batch of dough turned out much better so it all worked out! I tried and I conquered!

Our finished King Cake

Also my grandma finished a blanket for Baby Dash! I absolutely love it and it looks awesome in his room!!!

So that about covers it. We hope to take advantage of the nice weather today and pull weeds and trim roses and cut the grass (earliest grass cutting EVER!). The weather is gorgeous and you have to take advantage of it before it disappears for the next few months. I have to work overtime this week (yuck!), Juno has to have surgery (more on that in another post), and Peter has an exam on Friday (yuck!). Yep, quite the week ahead.

Seeking Sanity

My sanity is gone. If you find it, I would love to have it back!!! Alright, I admit it this adoption process has gotten the best of me! I have gone nuts!!!

Waiting is not my strong point and with this "waiting" phase of the process taking way longer then we expected it too - I am no longer having fun :)

I fortunately have an awesome adoption support group - some families who are way ahead of us in the process (like home for years with their children) and some way behind us (like considering signing on to adopt). A fellow blogging family who was instrumental in guiding us in our decision to adopt has been a great source of encouragement as I lose my mind! I appreciate the advice and the encouragement of friends and family but honestly, unless you've gone through it - you just don't understand.

People tell us "well, just know it will happen in God's timing." I totally understand that and I KNOW that completely, but that doesn't help while waiting on the perfect timing. I have actually had people tell me "Think of yourself like a woman who is trying to get pregnant and tests negative every month." Okay, for the record - I've been that woman and this feeling is NOTHING like that feeling. You see, I actually have a child out in this world right now that I know nothing about. I don't know if he's sick, or if he's getting fed, or if he has anyone to hold him and comfort him when he needs it. Totally different when I am wondering if my child is being taken care of.

So the best piece of REAL advice on how to endure this crazy wait is: distract yourself the best you can. So I'm working on a list of distractions. Actually, my mind was working on a list of distractions last night while I was sleeping. Seriously, I was literally making a mental list of distractions while I slept - I have gone crazy!!!

So as of yesterday here's where we stand:

For a girl we moved 5 spots last month to: #26

For siblings we moved 2 spots last month to: #12

For a boy we moved 5 spots last month to: #11

So assuming we are getting a boy we have 10 families in front of us that we are waiting to get kicked off the list :)

Just 10 families to reach all these goals that I am setting for myself. Okay, in reality I hope that we DO get our referral before I am able to accomplish all these goals, but if that does happen I have a whole other phase of waiting to battle through and continue on with my goals!

And I promise to keep you, my loyal blogging friends up to date on how it's all going and how close we are to getting that call.

So with that being said, here are my goals:

1) Clean the spare bedroom so it can be used for future goals

2) Catch up on scrap booking in family album

3) Start on Dash's Baby scrapbook and get it current

4) Baby proof all rooms in our house (one room a week) which includes:

Downstairs Bathroom/Laundry Room

Living Room

Formal Dining Room

Kitchen

Family Room

Stairway/Hallway's

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Mickey Bathroom

Nursery

Spare Bedroom

5) Finish Nursery

6) Lost 7 more lbs (workout, workout, workout)

7) Finish reading Adopted for Life

8) Finish reading Clear and Present Danger

9) Try out 10 new recipes

10) Stock the freezer with freezer meals (goal is 2 full day cooking sessions by time of travel which would total over 75 meals in freezer!)

11) Get back into piano playing (goal of refreshing at least through 2 more levels)

12) Get dogs on track with obedience. (note: They've been doing so well on knowing their domain and following the rules of staying off the bed. I know if we work with them they will do great!)

13) Start budgeting in categories what we will actually be allotted to spend after Dash arrives and I stop working. Example of areas we are cutting back: Eating Out, Grocery (not counting our separate budget for diapers and formula), Entertainment, Misc.)

Yep, those distractions should keep me busy. While the wait is taking longer than we expected there are some pro's to it taking longer. Every month that passes we are able to contribute more and more money into our adoption account to try and help with the $6000 we still need to travel. Every month that passes we are able to contribute enough money for me to be able to stay home without working at all for another month and that is going to be invaluable time with our little one!

Also this week Peter found out his company will allow him to take off 6 weeks paid when Dash comes home. That is going to be such an awesome blessing. Dash is going to need as much time as possible with both of his parents home and you really can't ask for much more than 6 weeks of paid paternity leave!!!

June Bug's Troubles

Our sweet little hairless baby always seems to find a way to keep those vet bills coming! If we were able to, she is definitely a pup that could use that pet health insurance.

First it was a staph infection

Then she ripped off a dew claw

Then she had other skin problems that she went in for

and now I had to take her in because she had a really bad ear infection. Juno hates going to the vet, but she actually did really well this time with them.

Apparently ear infections are quite expensive and $230 of our hard earned cash later we were on our way home. It is all worth it for our much loved puppy but it doesn't end there. Now we are doing allergy testing on her because she is consistently having skin problems. So she is on a special diet of bunny food (literally it is bunny and potatoes) for the next 8 weeks with no treats or scrap food and hopefully that will help fix her itchiness. Otherwise we will move on to some other tests and we don't want to have to do that.

They also want to do a biopsy on some bumps she has. The vet said he had never seen so many little bumps on a dog but he believes it could very well be just a part of her skin condition. We will eventually do that but with that costing $350 it is not high on our priority list right now.

Just when you think you are getting somewhere financially - stuff happens. We need to finish up on this last $6000 we need for the adoption travel expenses. Plus did you know baby stuff is really expensive? At least we've done a really great job of getting most of the baby stuff taken care of before now. Peter married himself a planner and while people may laugh, I sure am glad the baby's room is ready and we've got a closet full of diapers, wipes, formula, clothes, bottles, baby lotions - we're ready :)

We are starting to feel like we are entering "crunch time". I am doing everything I can to put myself into a position where I will not have to return to work after the baby comes home. We've been doing our best to save money so I can take at least 3 months off of work completely (saving is REALLY hard when you are also raising money for an adoption) and then if we can get our darn Jeep paid off - that will also release a lot of financial stress on us. It's going to be a close call on that one, but even if we can get that thing CLOSE to being paid off it will be a great victory :)

I am so glad we were introduced to Dave Ramsey's program a year ago!!! His program has given us a lot of peace of mind that we can and will have financial freedom someday!!! Being a stay at home mom is going to be a lot of work for our budget, but I know we can do it and it is definitely a decision that we will not regret!!!

The best thing is that my little June-bug is feeling MUCH better tonight and is on the mend!!!