Taking a Break from Laundry

Well, I am spending this week cleaning my house from top to bottom. Literally in that order. Yesterday I spent the day cleaning our bedroom and the bathroom(s). I still have to vacuum and shampoo the carpets but I have decided to do all of the vacuuming and shampooing in one day so I have an excuse to be out of the house for a whole day. Aaron was so shocked to come home and see our bedroom. Clean, crisp sheets on the bed. All of his drink bottles thrown out. Bathroom was scrubbed and mirrors polishes and even bleach running through the Jacuzzi. I had so much laundry done that I realized we need more hangers. I am still doing some laundry and will soon have dinner cooking (we are having Zuppa Tuscana, greek salad but with asian dressing, garlic french bread and turtle brownies all from scratch). Then I will run upstairs and tidy up the hall bathroom, K'nex room, nursery and loft. That should take up a few hours. Then I will be downstair till Aaron comes home.

I want to have the living room and dining room completely cleaned and table set for a romantic care free dinner by the time Aaron comes home. I even have sparkling cider chilling in the fridge.

Well, that is about as much of a break as I can afford. I need to get back to work. Aaron will hopefully have tomorrow off and I don't want to feel compelled to get up and clean and waste time I could be spending with him.

Well, Well, Don't I have a lot to catch up up

I guess that I can start off by sharing with those who don't already know (if there are any) that Aaron and I are finally going to be parents. We finally got our adoption paperwork and home study done the first week of June. We took off to NC and SC for my family reunion only to come home to the phone call that we had been waiting for. Aaron was in Utah for some training and I was at home watching TV. I got a call on our house line which typically means telemarketer. I answered it just in case and a woman told me that a birth mother had chosen Aaron and me to parent her baby girl. I was in shock to say the least. I said yes and called Aaron. Sadly, Aaron was still in class and didn't get to his phone for several hours. By the time I finally go a hold of him the neighbor and all of my family knew that I got the wonderful call. Aaron thought it was a joke. When I assured him that I was for real he was just in so much shock that he was speechless.

Since the call we have talked to the birth mother. Amanda, several times. I try to call every other weekend. Aaron and I have finished the nursery and started shopping. I have registered at Toys R Us since my best gal pal Liz is throwing me a baby shower on August 27.

On a non-baby related topic, I was started Weight Watchers. I am currently on week 6 and have lost about 9 pounds. I don't know how much I will lose now with the medication I was put on yesterday. I went into the doctors complaining of stabbing pain in my tummy, pain in my back, and some other stuff I will not go into. I had plenty of tests done and my doctor thinks that I have an intestinal infection. It has caused my intestines to swell up and not do it's job. My whole digestive system seems to be suffering due to it. I can not process food correctly which just sucks. I am on some really nasty pills; one of which I have to coat in caramel just to get it down. I also have to cut down my food intake and am on a mostly liquid diet. I guess to get my body to process the food that is blocked before it gets stuck with more. I just hope that I am better by the time we leave to pick up Anya (October) seeing as I doubt I will be better by my birthday (in 6 days).

So much to catch up on......

Let's see. Where to start?

-We no longer have Zeus. He ran away or was stolen, we don't know. We adopted a new puppy. Her name is Cubby.

-I was pregnant, for like a whole week and a half.

-Fell down the stairs (which is how I found out I was miscarrying again) and fractured my right foot and busted my left knee. I will be in the brace boot for another 2 months it looks like.

-I am now I Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I am about to have my first workshop this coming Friday night.

-We have paid $10,000 towards the adoption and still have not been chosen. Guess it may be a good thing cause one we are matched with a Birth Mother we will have to pay another $15,150.

-It looks like Tricare will be sending me to either San Antonio or D.C. to go to one of the military fertility specialists. If I go through them I can get IVF (In Vitro) for about $3,500. Plus airfare and hotel of course. We are having to think about everything right now. It is a hard decision when we are already paying so much for the adoption.

-We are working on the nursery and it is coming along very nicely. We even have a baby seat, bouncer and soother. We are getting the car seat and stroller next month. We figured since we never know when the call will come in for us to pick up a baby, we wanted to make sure that we have everything that we will need already prepared. Once the nursery is done Aaron will build the crib and dresser/changing table. I have a friend here who is already planning to throw me a baby shower once we get matched...or bring home the baby.

-I have finished my temple prep class. I was going to have my interviews this month, but the 5th miscarriage rocked me to the point I cancelled that idea. I will still go through with it and Aaron and I will be sealed sooner or later.

I will add photos once I upload them to the computer. Just wanted to update.

Birth Mother Letter

To the Birth Mother

Hi, we are Aaron and Sarah. We just wanted to thank you so much for taking the time to consider us to raise your child. We know that it can’t be an easy decision for you, know that it takes so much courage to do what you are doing. Please know that we have dreamt of nothing more than having a family for so long, caring for and loving your baby would be such an honor and great gift.

It is such a great pleasure to introduce ourselves and let you know a little about us. We have been married for 3 years. We met at church and a few months later got married. We have grown more in love every day since. We are a very energetic, fun-loving and slightly sarcastic couple. We love to just get out and do anything. We love the zoos and aquariums the most though. We are huge animal lovers; which would be why we have rescued 2 dogs from pounds and 1 more from someone we knew. We also scuba dive' which has blossomed our love for the ocean and all marine life. We do everything together. Whether it is diving, archery, bowling, horseback riding to motorcycle riding; we are always together (when he is not at work, of course). For a little more insight into us individually:

Our Dogs

These are our babies. The Chihuahua in the boot is Zeus, he is the newest addition. Jack is the brown and black pup. He was abandoned on the side of the highway in LA and melted out hearts, it was love at first sight. Sierra is the black and white dog. She is the oldest and our first rescue. She was a dog in a wild pack running around Fort Bragg. We had to wait a while for her to be tested before we could adopt her, but she was worth the wait. All of our dogs have helped make our house a home.

AARON

I am the oldest of eight kids. I have 5 brothers and 2 sisters. I am very close to my family. My father was in the army while I was growing up and it helped to influence me to join the military. I have been in the US Army for 9 years now and if it wasn’t for the military I know I wouldn’t have met my wife so I’m very thankful for that. I am from Tennessee and when I get a chance we are always going back there to see family. I have a lot of outdoor hobbies which I have tried to share with Sarah. My favorite hobby is scuba diving because I find it very relaxing in the water and I also love to swim. I look forward to sharing my love of the water with our children. I love working with my hands like doing carpentry work and I have built a few of the pieces of furniture around our home. I am currently trying to learn to play the guitar. I am also trying to get involved in the churches Boy Scout program so I can help the young men get their eagle scout like I did when I was younger. Also, I can never get through the day without telling my wife I love her.

SARAH

I am the eldest of two children. I was raised mostly by my grandparents. My home was always filled with family. In my house there were my grandparents, my mother and sister, as well as my aunt and her four children. Family means everything to me, even now that I live so far away I still call my sister everyday and my grandparents twice a week. I was raised with an emphasis on the Three F’s; faith, family and fun. Those have transferred into our home now. My grandfather was a chef and taught me a great love for the art of cooking. I love to cook, especially bake. I was born with the love of music. I have learned to play the cello and violin and plan to learn the piano. I have also sung in many competitions and choirs, I still sing in the church choir. I also have taken photography classes and use those skills to compliment my scrapbooking. I do love outdoor activities such as camping and fishing. I was a substitute teacher before we moved for a few years, but now want to focus on being a stay at home mother.

We have recently purchase our first home. Before we moved to Texas we lived on military installations, but we thought that a child deserves more space than the military gives you. So we bought a new 5 bedroom home and an awesome large backyard. Thanks to the fact that Aaron is still a kid at heart, there are already plenty of games and toys for kids in this house. There is so much love in this house it is busting out the seams. Our new neighbors have even caught it.
Please know that your child would be so loved in this home. We will give him or her everything that they need and that they will never want.

Random Pictures Just For Fun

These are just some pictures of the great view in El Paso. Can't wait to call this place home.

This is the jacuzzi in the master bath in our soon to be new home.

Zeus loves to be loved! Funny how our hair matches though isn't it?

This is Aaron and I on the floor of our "hotel" room watching TV.

Like my blue tips?

The kids just acting up at the mall.

Aren't these just some of the cutest kids in the world?!?!

This is my new bow. Gorgeous isn't it?!

Some nice underwater pictures from Florida. Happy Birthday to me.

Our New Home

This is the house that we have just signed the contract for. This home is 1983 square feet. 5 bedrooms and 3 baths. One "bedroom" is actually a loft which we are turning into a gaming area.
It is an Energy Star home with refrigerated air. Double sinks in master and hall bath. Jetted tub in master bath. Lawn will be landscaped prior to move in.


This is the view from one of our bedroom windows.


This shot was taken from our loft of our seating room.



Obviously, this is the kitchen. We have picked out our stainless steel appliances that will go in right before we move in. The home comes with either an allowance or our choice for stainless steel dishwasher, stove and micro/hood. We upgraded our appliances for a small difference. We still have not picked out our fridge. We have one in mind, but are still doing some comparison shopping.

We are SO EXCITED!!!! El Paso here we come!!!