Trip to Park Lawn School

Last Friday in Oconomowoc, my nephew Tyler was having a special ceremony in his class for meeting his targeted goals. He was very excited and asked his Aunt Jill and Uncle Mark to attend. The first picture is what greeted us outside his classroom..........


Tyler explained how he met his goal and we all clapped. Then he "sealed" his goal with his handprint.

Then it was off to his twin brother Brodi's classroom because he wanted to show off Lucy. We were a little nervous at first, but Lucy LOVED the attention, and he was so proud!

Mission Accomplished! Happy cousins all around!

Pumpkin Carving at GG's

We are home from our vacation in Wisconsin, & tonight we headed up to GG's (Jill's grandma) to eat pizza and carve the first of our 3 pumpkins. Despite having a double ear infection and a sinus infection, Miss Lucy seemed in good spirits! (Sorry about the quality of some of the photos, but I must point out that I have never claimed to be a good photographer! ) I hope to get some more pics of our trip up soon.

*Fat Cat Update*

Fat Cat's owner would like me to point out that none of us would be flattered by a shot of our behind. LOL!

Fat Cat

My mom was recently married, and this "thing" came with her new husband. In all seriousness Jessie is a wonderful cat, but my husband will be the first to tell you that this cat is as wide as it is long!!

Reunited...and it feels so good!

On our way out of town for our vacation, we stopped in Lafeyette, Indiana, and our best friends were kind enough to put us up for the night. Mark, Lucy & I were very excited to see Jim, Emily & "Becca Boo". We were sorry our time together was so short.

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by my friend Amy.

1. I am insecure. I know, I can admit it...I always worry that I am not a good enough mom, & wife.
2. I hate fruit. Yep, all of it. Can't stand it. Love veggies, but no fruit.
3. I want to adopt from China again. I am not eligible now as I have taken Prozac in the last year, but I am hoping we can do it in the future.
4. I miss my dad. He died suddenly of a heart attack at LOWES and I have never recovered. I am so sorry that he missed me having a family.
5. I wonder if I am crazy to want another child!! Can I love the second one like I love the first? Will Lucy be mad at us for adopting again? AGH! I know it will all work out, but I still worry!
6. As a stay at home mom, I kind of miss working!
7. I am a Christain woman who loves The Lord!

I'm tagging the following people.

Emily

Shannon

Karin

Jonni

Kim

Jan

Amy

Circle S Farm with Karin & Kaylee

Catching Up

Outside last night gathering leaves

Jim's visit from Purdue University

Lucy's first pets (other than our 5 cats and dog!)

OOPS..clarification!

Oops! I'm sorry, I think I may have not explained myself right......
I will be keeping our URL because, well, I just can't even fathom not having it. It was where we started, and it would break my heart to change it. (scary that I am sooo attatched to something that simple , hey?) So, I am looking for a new title at the top of my blog. Like I said before, something cute and catchy.
Thanks!!

Seeking creative ideas.............

I need help guys! Some of my friends may call me creative, but when it comes to something like this, I am NOT! Obviously when my (our!) son arives, my blog can no longer be named "All For Lucy". Almost all the blogs I follow have the cutest titles, and of course I would like to have one too. Some ideas I have are: "Divinely Diverse- the story of our family", or "Divine Diverstity", also "Life with Lucy Lou & _____________" (insert boy name here). I am also open to ANY and ALL suggestions. I am desperate and looking for something fun and cute! Like I said....HELP!!

P.S. I know you are all here to see pics of Lucy, and I promise to get some up soon. We have been quite busy, and I have not been feeling well. Lucy got her first "pets" last week, and she was baptized on Sunday. Our friend Jim came to town last night to do some recruiting for Purdue and met us for dinner. We have a class tonight at Children's Hospital, but I'll try to get pics by tomorrow night!

It's Official! We're going domestic!!

Okay guys! Here's the scoop! Our paperwork is done, all we have to do is take an infant care class (next Wednesday) and our profile will go to birth moms! Because we are open to race the wait should be short. The last two families were matched in one month and three months! She also told me they have seven files of families (including ours!) open to race, and seven mothers in different stages of pregnancy that meet our criteria. We are beyond excited...but a little scared. We have NOTHING for a newborn. Toddler yes....newborn no. Money is TIGHT after this adoption and the failed Taiwan attempt so I am trying to buy things slowly. We have asked for a boy, so I am trying to put myself into boy shopping mode. I am still stuck in the pink and bows stage, so I am trying to switch gears! We plan to get the crib up this weekend, and I need to go buy an infant carrier/car seat as well. Please keep us (and Lucy as this will rock her world!!) in your prayers!

New Albany Classic Invitational Grand Prix & Family Day

Today we headed over to beautiful New Albany to the home of Les Wexner (think The Limited) for their annual New Albany Classic. It was a beautiful day, and the turn out was huge. Lucy had a ball riding the rides, and petting the animals. (Thank you aunt Leslie and uncle Tom for riding the spinning rides with her!!) Enjoy the photos!
*Please note, I was advised that the horse in the last pic WAS just sleeping as he had had a long day!

Gymnastics

Gymnastics classes started again this past Friday, and Lucy was so excited! We originally had joined the class last year to help her build body strength, but she seemed to fall in love with it, so we continued. It almost scares me how well she does on the balance beam......future Olympian maybe? After class on Friday I ended up moving her to the Tuesday class because there was a REALLY annoying and RUDE mom in the class, and I thought if I had to deal with her the next nine weeks I would hit her. And I DON'T consider myself a violent person!. Let's just say people wonder what is wrong with society today.....well, its moms like her raising children! Anyway, I won't have to deal with her, and Lucy won't have to be pushed around by her daughter! Life is good!

Arts in the Alley

IKE BLOWS!

Or should I say sucks....... Last Sunday the remenants of Hurricane Ike came through Columbus. We had winds exceeding 75 miles per hour. It was truly crazy. I was with my family, seperated from Mark and Lucy, and by the time I got home I could tell we were in trouble. We had lost quite few shingles on our house and shed, and the backyard looked like a war zone. We also had no power and no phone. But that was nothing... People on our street had trees in their houses, poles sticking out of windows, and cars smashed. Some were missing their entire roof! By Monday morning we could drive around and see most of the devastation. No traffic lights, still no power...... I did find a McDonald's that had power for Lucy and I, but the wait was 20+ minutes long. The price of gas went way up, and ice and batteries were no where to be found. Well, here it is Thursday and we JUST got power! We are the lucky ones as half of the city still does not. Columbus Public schools are still cancelled (although some suburbs went back yesterday) and are not expected to be fully functioning until next week.
As much as I have complained and struggled this past week, I know we are extremely lucky to not be in Texas. What we have gone through is nothing compared to those poor souls, and this has been a great reminder

Gotta' Love JibJab

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Crazy Silly Life......

Just when you think you might have a grasp on life, things can take an interesting turn.
This morning our new social worker came out to meet us. Although our homestudy update was done a few months ago, there were some new documents she needed to do the re-write, and obviously wanted to meet us (the people she would be writing about) as well.
We liked her. Really liked her. And she was here for almost 3 hours. She's on the ball and friendly.
During her conversations with us, she asked if we had ever thought about domestic adoption. Honestly, it has crossed our minds, and been the topic of quite a few discussions around here. Frankly, the thought of our profile being in a book being perused by birth parents and hoping to be picked, makes us feel like dogs at the shelter. Not something we really wanted to do. Then she asked if we were open to bi-racial or African American babies........well, yeah.....we had thought for a while about Ethiopia. Apparently there is a shotage of parents willing to take bi-racial children here in town. WHAT?
We were intrigued. Really intrigued. A baby? Yes, a baby. How old? A few days old. All because the child is bi-racial.
We wouldn't have to fly overseas. We already have a lot of the paperwork done. Intersting huh?
Here is some more interesting news. When Mark and I sat down the for the first time with our old social worker for China back in 2006, we had never heard of the special needs program. Our social worker brought it to our attention. We applied to both programs, and Lucy came off the special needs list. Now our new social worker goes and does the same thing. Crazy!
What does God want us to do? What is he trying to tell me (us)?? Just when things start falling into place, and I really mean in place, with this current international adoption, I am thrown a curveball.
Where does God want my (our) next child to come from?
Like I said...crazy silly life.

What.....I have a blog?

Okay guys....I know I have been slacking and I am sorry. Things have been a bit hectic around here, and blogging has been put by the wayside. I have been meaning to post for a while, but something else always keeps coming up.........it has been a hard summer for me, and I am really looking forward to fall. We start singing class tomorrow, and gymnastics next week. We have been keeping busy this past summer with playdates, friends, and family. Lucy will finally be baptized in October, something we have meaning to do since we came home last year. We also have been paperchasing. Yes, I am finally admitting it........ We have been so hesitant, because so many things have, and still CAN go wrong. Our house has been a whirlwind of (gotta love the new Hague laws!!) parenting classes (12 hours), FBI checks, doctors visits, and psych evals. Oh, and did I mention we have a new social worker???? (ours left for a new agency) Our homestudy visit is this Friday. Keep in mind we already did our homestudy update in May but since it is not country specific, we need to pay again to have things added. By the grace of God we have gotten financial backing (loans) and pray that He will make sure funds are available to repay them. On a funny note...I am being asked to provide documentation on an underage drinking ticket from 16 years ago for Immigration. The Police Dept. in Wisconsin laughed at me when I asked for it. I honestly DID NOT think that would come back to bite me in the butt!!! Anyway...I am not going to release any more info until we are further along. I will tell you all though that we are crushed that at this point, we are NOT expecting Lucy's sibling to be from China. Hope everyone is well, and please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we move forward. Thanks Dawn for giving me the push to get my act back in order!!

Fun Gym

A day at the Park

Super Baby