Back to Work...& Thinking....

So, I have been back to work for two whole weeks now. So far, I really like my job! I have a wonderful supervisor who is doing a fantastic job training me. I have learned so much about candy and sales ( I work for Hershey as a part time retail sales merchandiser- mainly in convenient stores & food stores). I can honestly say this is something I would have never ever seen myself doing, but so far, it seems to be a great fit :) The schedule is great, Caleb seems to have adjusted well, and the extra money is really helping out.

We have also really been thinking a lot about adoption lately. Most likely because this past weekend we led an adoption seminar at our home church and I represented AWAA at an amazing adoption fair at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky. I was able to speak to so many young couples interested in international adoption and gave out all the info I had with me! Praise the Lord! The most exciting time came when I recognized a family that I had met at an AWAA seminar in Frankfort a few months back- they recognized me as well, and came over to chat. During the course of our conversation they told me they had submitted their application to AWAA'a Rwanda program about a week ago!! I was so excited I just wanted to jump up and shout! So, back to our "thinking". We are really thinking about what God would have us to do in terms of adopting again. We both feel it is in our hearts to adopt again, we are just unsure when to start exactly and of a few other details...like country (most likely Ethiopia or Rwanda) and age/sex. We are praying through all this right now. We would be honored if you prayed with us!

Happy Halloween!!

Caleb had a great time dressing up for Halloween! Isn't he just the cutest little lion you have ever seen? We decided to dress him up as a lion because his most favorite stuffed animal, Mr. Lion, goes everywhere with him and Caleb sleeps with him every night. So, a lion just seemed like the natural thing for Caleb to be :)

The upcoming week is going to be a difficult one for me- I really am going back to work for sure this time, and even though it is part time, it will be the first time in almost 11 months that I will be leaving Caleb on a consecutive basis. I am so thankful that God provided our family the opportunity for me to stay at home with Caleb for such a long time- I feel very fortunate. I can see how much the time has meant for both of us, and for that, I am sooo thankful. Caleb has adjusted so well, and I know he will be fine without me for 20 hours a week. I will just miss all the little special times with him, like putting him down for his nap and being able to hold him when he wakes up, saying his prayers with him before "bite bite time" (lunch), you know, all those sweet moments. I guess it will just make every moment I do spend with him even sweeter :)

Also, this weekend is the AWAA Spirit of Adoption Seminar at our church. I have really been praying that God would speak to hearts and bring folks to this seminar. He can do anything, and I trust that he will! Oh, and good news- one of the families at the last AWAA seminar has sent in their paperwork to AWAA for the Ethiopia program! Praise the Lord!!!

One Year Ago Today....And Updates!!!

One year ago today I received a phone call that I had been praying would never come- One year ago today we found out that we did not pass court. I still remember listening to Duni tell me why we didn't pass and being in disbelief. I remember calling Zack and through tears telling him the news. We would have to wait until December to try again, and hopefully we would be able to travel before the new year. My biggest disappointment came in the fact that we would not hold Caleb in our arms before he turned one year old. For some reason, that was such an important thing to me back then. I didn't know how we would make it through the next couple of months...but we did. Actually, it wasn't near as bad as I had thought it would be. It is so hard for me to believe that all that transpired a year ago....that means that Caleb has been with us for ten months now! Wow! I have no doubt that us failing court was all a part of God's sovereign plan and that he knew exactly what he was doing. Once we saw Caleb for the first time, none of it seemed to matter- he was ours, and would be with us forever!


Just a few updates on Caleb (sorry, no pictures this time.....more of our fall family pics to come soon, though :)

-He is a whopping 27 pounds now and is around 35.5 inches tall- not too bad for the little fella!

-He is beginning to put two words together! For example, he will say "Up momma" when he wants me to get up in the morning. Or he will identify his toys by name and color, such as "yellow ball".

-He is in love with football. That is all the boy wants to watch! So, his birthday party is going to be, yep, you guessed it- football theme!

-He is beginning to say his numbers, 1-10 and his ABC's

-He loves to throw a ball, kick a ball, and he has just learned how to do a somersault!

One of the most interesting things- He will point to other black or bi-racial children and say "Bubub" which is what he calls himself, since he can't pronounce a the cuh sound. He also identifies himself with the black children in his books, as opposed to the white children. Needless to say, he is a very observant child.

Fall Family Pictures :)

This past week we went to the Rockastle River Trading Post and had our fall pictures/Caleb's 2 year old pictures (he will be 2 in December!!!) taken. We could not have been more pleased with how they turned out. Our photographer, Kelli Baker, did an amazing job! Check out her blog. She is awesome!

Fall Fun.....

Fall is here in full force and we are loving it as you can see from the pictures. This past weekend we moved out of our home and in with my parents. Yes, we moved out of the home we worked so hard on :) But, the timing was right and the Lord blessed us with the sale of our home-we did buy it as an investment, after all, I just don't think we were planning on cashing in on it so soon :) So, we on the lookout for a new home! It is exciting, but I am hoping we can live in our next home a little longer....moving is no fun!

The AWAA seminar went great last weekend as well! Zack and I were supposed to just be training at this seminar, but unfortunately, just a couple days before the seminar the leaders son became ill (he is doing much better now) and I became the leader! Thanks to lots of prayers and the support of my family, it went great and I had a wonderful time talking with the families about adoption. God truly moved in hearts!!! Can't wait until the next one!!!

Welcome Fall and Welcome Opportunities!

Welcome Fall! My most favorite season of all! I love the crispness in the air, the football (Go Cats!), the beautiful colors of the changing leaves- yes, I would be happy if it were fall-time all year long! We are looking forward to Caleb enjoying his first fall with us as well. Fun, fun, fun!

God has also given us some amazing opportunities lately. Zack and I accepted the opportunity to be Associates for America World (our adoption agency) in the state of Kentucky. This means that we will be leading seminars for families interested in adoption as well as representing America World at various adoption seminars/workshops throughout the state. This weekend, we are co-leading a seminar near Frankfort, Kentucky, and on November 7th, we will be leading a seminar at our home church. We are praying for God to use these seminars in a mighty way, in hopes that more families will welcome children into their homes through adoption!

I Just Can't Do It....

So, it has been a long time since the last blog post- we have been very busy- spending lots of time with family and friends, doing things at church, and looking for jobs. Speaking of jobs, in the last post, I wrote about going back to work, and, well, I just can't do it, at least full time. I was planning on going back to work, and though I had searched and searched for something part-time, but all I could seem to find was full time work. I had recently accepted a full time position with our local hospital and actually would have gone back to work today. But I just couldn't do it. Even though we really, really could have used the extra money and it would have been a great job, with each day that went by I just knew that I couldn't leave Caleb all day, every day. I had promised myself that when I became a mother, I would do my very best to stay at home with my child. My mom had stayed at home with me, and I treasure those times. I truly treasure them. So, as it came closer and closer to my start date, I felt more and more sick about leaving Caleb. These last 8 months had already passed so quickly.... I called the hospital and explained the situation. I couldn't leave my son full time. I admit, I had doubts if it was the right thing to do in terms of our finances, especially with this economy- was I crazy for turning down a job? At the end of the day, I was at peace with the decision and prayed that God would once again show himself faithful.

The very next day, something very amazing happened. My very sweet mom who is always praying for me had asked some of her co-workers to also pray for a part-time job. Long story short, one of my mom's co-workers had a connection with someone who knew about a part-time job. She mentioned that I was looking for a part-time job and the friend said she would mention my name. The next thing I know, I get a call from the supervisor of the position, basically offering me the job! I would have never heard about this part-time job otherwise, and it was a great position- perfect hours, in my degree field, it was too good to be true. It was evident that God had orchestrated it all! Once again showing himself faithful. It was one those moments where you just had to lift your hands to God and praise Him!

In other news, Caleb is doing really well going to the potty. He is not anywhere near being potty-trained, but he is making great progress! Tonight he even told me he needed to go pee-pee! As soon as he got on the potty, he went! Okay, enough potty news :) He has also been going to "school" as we like to call it- it is really a Mother's Morning Out program twice a week- we think he might already have a girlfriend!!