Sick Bay...Better get my lysol wipes ready!

Here is Bug in a cute dress that her Great Aunt Mel sent her before Christmas. The bottom is shaped sort of like the Irish dancers' dresses. It is a nice dress for winter--what an idea, a dress with long sleeves!! Who would have thought??! Do you know how long and how many places I have looked for a Christmas/winter dress with long sleeves??? Thanks Aunt Mel!!

Anyway, we are all still sick here. DH and I are dealing with nasty head colds, mine is more of a sinus thing. Some days my face aches so much. Ouch!! Bug still has a nasty cold, and random fevers. Our little piglet isn't eating normally either. That is a first.


I really don't have much to say....we haven't been doing anything except coughing, sneezing, and going through Kleenex the past 3-4 days...when is this cold going to end?? I am pretty sure we have emptied about 4 boxes of Kleenex. Our poor noses. I am going to have to get out my lysol wipes and be a crazy woman when we are done with this.

I will leave you with some pretty pictures of our most recent 6 inch snowfall (two days ago)....yeah, it was pretty alright...PRETTY HEAVY AND PRETTY WET. Ask DH, he was the one out shoveling, and snow blowing it!!

A Nasty cold, Perquacky, and a lint picker

Well, Christmas was an adventure this year. We started at DH's family, then went through a nasty blizzard, spent a night at a hotel, then onto my family. On the way home (from visiting my family) on Christmas Day, Bug screamed half of the way home (about 2hrs--last time she did this she had a nasty ear infection...). Now, as it stands we are on day two of diarrhea, and a nasty cold. You can tell in this picture, she doesn't look extremely happy. Through all this crazy travelling and sickness, we still took an extra day and had our celebration of Jesus' birth. It was so fun to just see the wonder and joy in our daughter's eyes. It is a constant reminder of the miracle she is. We are so grateful.

Santa brought Mommy a heated mattress pad...that I will be trying out for the first time in about 15 minutes...Ahhhhhh--Who needs DH for a heat source when you have that! Santa brought Daddy an autographed baseball--Geoff Jenkins. Pretty cool. I guess Santa thought it would be funny to get Mommy the game Perquacky...I hate that game. Santa knows I hate that game, yet, Merry Christmas Mommy! I guess I was on the naughty list this year. I would rather have a raging cold than play that game. Looks like I will get to do both! (hmmmmm, autographed baseball vs Perquacky..) Thanks Santa. Bug is officially a Elmo Freak...She loves her Elmo's! Thanks Grandma Kris, Uncle Dan and Uncle Matt and Aunt Kim!


Bug has started a gross habit--picking the lint from between her toes after we take her socks off. Lovely. Because our little angel is such a good girl, she will actually pick the lint and go put it in the garbage. At least she throws it out, right??? I keep remembering, if this is the worst, she will be just fine! I have learned to just let the minor things go, and in a couple of days she won't be doing it anymore. Geez, I hope that works with this, otherwise there will be alot of teasing in her future!!

Merry Christmas!!

Here is a picture of Bug outside playing in the recent snowstorm we had. Daddy took her sledding while the photographer (yes, it was Mommy--who else??) clicked away...Just for the record, the spot of white on her nose ISN'T frostbite (we were only outside 3hrs!--just kidding of course!)--it was a spot of snow that got on the lens. She just loves to go sledding and loved it also when we would make snowballs and give them to her to throw. It is so much fun seeing the wonder in her eyes...

Adoption update: We are continuing to work on our "homework", our self test (Yes, it is actually called the "Self Test"). It is about 7-8 pages of essay questions. It isn't too bad, although, much harder than I originally thought. One of my references let me know she received her homework, so once our references return their "homework" then we will start meeting with the social worker, to get our homestudy completed. Our 18 hours of classes start in January too, so I think we are on our way.

Bug update: Bug's new word is "No". I knew it would only be a matter of time. Yikes...She will answer no to any question you ask her. It is kinda funny in the beginning, but we have learned to not laugh at it anymore. It hasn't taken her long at all to know when not to say "no" to us... She also had her 18 month check-up the other day. She is still in the 75% for height, but has come up in weight to 35%. She also had two shots that day, and was miserable. No side effects, just super clingy, and fussy. If anyone, I can sympathize with IM shots....they suck! So, being the good mom I am (and pushover when it comes to my baby being in pain...), I let her open a early Christmas present, that I knew would take her mind off of her aching legs. It worked...now I just have to listen to her play a elmo piano book for a couple of months!! Gee...sometimes I wish I could just lay my "reverse" card like in UNO and take it back.....!Here is Bug with Daddy during the last snowstorm...for the record, again Daddy does not have frostbite--just snow on the lens.

Ellen update: I got an email with my prize form, that I signed, scanned and emailed back to them. My friend Tess (from the Ellen show) said that they are on "hiatus" from the show starting Friday. They are going to send me the information on how to book my Vegas hotel, how to get my $400 massager from Brookstone, my fancy-schmancy $70 candles and my $300 skin/hair care package. Hello, EBAY!!

For crying out loud...Who needs a candle that costs that much??? I am certainly the last person that needs such a fancy candle. I am going to ebay this stuff, and then all the "donations" can to to our adoption fund. Lord knows we will need all we can get. As far as the Vegas hotel is concerned, I may have come into some generous plane tickets, by a very generous person (you know who you are...). We will see where that goes...

Just a note--Condolences to the family of my old bank President, Marty. He passed away from a long battle with cancer. He was one of the most fun, humble, great guys you will ever meet. For sure the best boss I have ever had. He taught me a few lessons along the way, and in such constructive ways. Never harsh words, even when you know you screwed up. Heaven gained a real gem on Monday night. Rest in Peace, Marty.

As we are getting closer to celebrating the birth of Jesus, we want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and may God bless you and yours.

My favorite daytime woman....Ellen!!

I got a awesome call tonight. I had been out shopping when (I guess) my cell phone rang. Because I was on a mission to get what I needed to get and get the heck out of the stores, I must have not heard the phone ring. Anyway, I got home and my cell phone beeped to let me know a message was waiting. I checked the message, and this is what it said.."This is Mark calling from the Ellen Degeneres Show, calling to let you know you have won Day 6 of the 12 Days of Giveaways sweepstakes.." He then proceeded to give me instructions on how to get my prizes. Prize value is over $1400!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Among the prizes--Two nights at the Red Rock Luxury Resort in Las Vegas (including a massage at their spa)! Check out the website to see my name on the winners list and see what else I won!!

http://ellen.warnerbros.com/12days/day6.php

So, I got this call at 8pm--it is now almost 11pm, and I am still so excited I can't go to sleep! Of course, DH is sound asleep. He never gets too excited about anything. This is crazy--I still can't believe I won this...ya see, I have never won anything...I mean ANYTHING in my life--well, except the cabbage patch doll when I was in 3rd grade. Anyway, that is my news for today.

Tomorrow, DH is planning on being to the stores at 7am to shop for me and Bug for Christmas. The only other thing we will be doing this weekend is baking some cookies and relaxing....and of course I will be planning what to do in Vegas next year!!! Thanks Ellen!!!

Lots of cute pictures....

We got to visit with Santa this past weekend. No tears were shed...Mommy and Daddy were amazed. Bug just stared and scowled at Santa.

We had a nasty ice/sleet/snowstorm yesterday. The morning began with Mommy and Bug flying out the door (late) to a photo appointment for Bug in her Christmas dress. That was the best experience I have ever had with JcPenney! Everyone else cancelled their appointments because of the weather, and we were in and out in less than an hour. It was wonderful. Everything was perfect....except...Bug refused to smile. Out of all the pictures taken, she smiled in two, and one of those was a genuine smile. Grrrrr. O-well...After we got home, Mommy and Bug played in the snow. Mommy also put her in her little toddler sled (has a back to it and a belt to keep them from flying out!), and gave her her first sledding ride (up and down the sidewalks and driveway). After our outdoor fun, I volunteered to snowblow the driveway and sidewalks. I know it sounds crazy, but I actually don't mind. Daddy was happy to stay warm inside and play with Bug. Bug LOVED the snowballs we made and especially her sled ride!

Adoption update: Our first batch of paperwork is officially submitted. Now we just wait till our references get their paperwork back to the agency, and then the agency will start scheduling our home meetings. We have our first adoption class in January.

Here is a cute picture of our sassy little Bug...she loves listening to music through Mommy or Daddy's earbuds...

The other big development: Bug went poo-poo on the potty!!! Mommy did the poo-poo dance!! It was so exciting!! (I never thought I could get so excited about a pile of poo!) It is amazing what M&M's can get a toddler to do!!
I think that is all for now...Bug woke up too early from her nap. Sounds like it will be a nice afternoon....

Salt piles...

This is what we woke up to this morning....Ummm, this is what I call a "get in your sweats, get my coffee, get ready to play with the same toys you play with everyday (Bug) cause' we are not leaving the house" day. Fine by me. No sense in going out in that if you don't have to right??? As Ellen says...Am I right Ladies??

I love watching Ellen (most days), and Bug loves to bust a groove with Ellen each day. Bug loves to dance. Each day I happen to be watching Ellen, I try to catch Bug dancing when Ellen does her intro, so I can email the clip in. Every so often Ellen will show clips of little ones dancing to her show. It is hilarious! One of these days, Bug will get her 5 seconds of fame!!

Adoption update: We met with Bethany Christian Services (BCS from now on because it is too much to type!) yesterday morning. We are for sure going to use them as our agency. We are very excited and happy to finally find our agency that will be able to bring us together with our next child. We can't wait. We also now have the mound of paperwork to get started on. We have to have it done in 30 days, which sounds like a long time, but if you saw the amount of paperwork, you would think otherwise. This, folks, is exactly why all of my Christmas stuff is done. I love to plan ahead---much less stress.

This morning I woke with a nasty headache. Before I could take my happy advil pills, I needed to eat, and before that I needed to throw some laundry in. While sorting laundry, I could see Bug out of the corner of my eye, being very quiet, and very still. Why, I wondered...bear in mind, my brain was pulsing because of this headache, and maybe subconsciously didn't want to know what she had gotten into. But I turn around and this is what I see--

Bug had emptied the salt shaker onto our bedroom floor. I know this is nothing compared with what she will probably be into by next year, but the morning had just started, and I felt like my head was going to explode. The salt piles (and vacuuming at 8am) didn't help things...

I have a prayer request: Please pray for little Anna G. Her parents are good friends of ours. They just found out she has to have open heart surgery. Pray for guidance for the doctors, and strength for Anna and her family. Thanks to everyone...

A New baby for Bug...

Here is Bug watching her first snowstorm, that dropped about 5-6 inches of snow, covered with ice. That was a fun time. We pretty much didn't leave the house the entire weekend.

We made our reservations for our trip to Florida. We are so excited to get to some warm weather (Daddy), swimming (Bug) and DISNEYWORLD(Mommy)!!! We will be staying with Rob's grandparents for half the time, and we will also be visiting some friends of ours that recently moved to Tampa.

Bug's "Uncle" Dave and "Aunt" Jen (good friends of ours) came over yesterday. We exchanged Christmas gifts, as we didn't know if we would see them again before Christmas. .. This is what she got:

She does LOVE her new Cabbage Patch Newborn. The baby's name is Katelynn Tracy. I guess Bug decided to name the baby after her Aunt Tracy!! It is so cute, though, and just the right size for Bug. She takes Katelynn everywhere!! Thanks Dave and Jen!!

Another bit of of good news...I got a call this morning from the billing office of my IVF doctor. The recent IVF is finally settled with the insurance company. In the past DH's insurance (through his employer) never paid anything related to infertility. Today we received a bit of an early Christmas gift....news of a future refund check. Let's just say it would pay for a couple of family vacations to Florida. It's not going to though, it will get turned right around and go to the adoption agency. It was just such a surprise, because when we did the IVF we "knew" that the money was going to be gone, regardless of the results. I guess his insurance was feeling generous the day they paid my claims...