Another step completed in the process!

It has been a while since I have had time to post. I have been so busy with Christmas shopping and parties, completing adoption forms, and work. We have been swamped at work, so we haven't been getting to leave early, or even just breathe while we are there. So, during all my off time, I am shopping and trying to get ready for the holidays.

Josh and I have also completed another step in the adoption process. After our individual interviews, we were given a good bit of paperwork to complete. We set a goal to turn in this paperwork by the 13th and we did it! Well, we actually turned it in the morning of the 14th, but close enough. It seemed like God helped us get everything done because it all went so smoothly. Josh and I even said one night as we were getting everything together that doing all of this has been so much easier than the infertility treatments and doctor visits were. We can't help but feel that there is a reason for that. Everything has just fallen into place so far. I know we might face some difficulties, but I feel God's peace and I know He will get us through anything.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and remember the reason for the season. I have been thinking a lot about that lately. Growing up in the church I was in, we didn't focus on Christ's birth at all because we don't know his exact birthdate. But, now, as an adult in the church that I am in, I am so thankful that we do focus on Christ's birth this time of year.

Merry Christmas!! Please be in prayer that our fingerprinting cards are returned quickly and that we can be an approved family waiting for our precious baby by February.

Our homestudy is underway!!

It is official! We have started our homestudy. Josh and I both had our individual interviews yesterday. They went great! Laura, our social worker, is very easy to talk to and she made me feel comfortable instantly. I felt at ease answering her questions about our life. Josh said the same thing when I asked him how his interview went. She gave him all the paperwork that must be completed at this point, which includes the fingerprinting, lifestyle questionaires, medical release forms, the child abuse and neglect forms, and all the information we need to put together our profile. I have set a goal for us to have all of this completed and together two weeks from today, which is the 14th of December. She seemed to think that we could have our homestudy completed in February. I am hoping for that to be the case! That means we could be an approved family waiting for our baby in just two and a half short months!! I feel so good about all of this. I have such peace that I know has come from God. I feel like we are right where we are supposed to be in the process... nothing feels rushed.

Josh is excited too and that is a very comforting feeling that we are doing the right thing, lead by God. Lilly can't wait until she gets her brother or sister through this process. She is telling everyone, "Mommy is adopting a baby!"

Please be in prayer as we prepare all this paperwork and get our profile together that we can do this and do it well. I am nervous about doing the profile because I know that it will be shown to birthmothers and that is how we will either be chosen or not chosen.

A small sidenote:

Lilly is loving preschool. She already has her first crush! She got in the car on Tuesday, after her teacher told me that she was going to have to move Lilly's seat if she didn't stop talking, and told me... "Mommy, you know what... I'm in love with Caden!" I didn't know what to say except laugh. Needless to say, this is the little boy that she is talking to when the teacher asks them not to talk. I am glad she is enjoying preschool and hopefully she won't be the class troublemaker!

I have so much to be thankful for...

I have always loved Thanksgiving, but I have never thought about what all I do have that I need to be thankful for. This has been on my mind more so this year than ever before. I feel like I am always thankful and I do thank God every time I pray, but this year, around this time, it has hit me hard that I need to be so thankful because I have more than I could ever have imagined. God has blessed me more than I could ever sufficiently thank him for!

I went to our church service, which was held on Tuesday night, so we all could have Wednesday to start preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. I enjoyed it being on Tuesday night and I also thoroughly enjoyed the service. There weren't a lot of people in attendance, but that didn't matter because our church family is so close that we are actually like a big family. We all shared what we were thankful for this year. Each of us had a chance to speak and most everyone took that opportunity to share their thoughts of Thanksgiving. Just hearing everyone tell what they were thankful for made me really realize how much I have to be thankful for.

I am so thankful for Christ, more so right now in my life than ever before. He has brought me so far and held my hand through so much. I do not deserve what all He has done for me, but, boy am I thankful that He chose to do all of that for me!

I am so thankful for my family. They are so loving and we are all so close. My parents help us out whenever we need it and never turn us down. My mom is there for me, day in and day out, to take care of Lilly, so I can work to help us out financially. This is something that I appreciate more than she will ever know! Josh and I are also blessed with his wonderful parents, who are very accepting of our life and never cease to be supportive in all our efforts. I realize there are people out there who do not have parents like we have.

I am thankful for Josh, my husband, who works so hard to provide for Lilly and I. He is so good at what he does and his work ethic is stronger than mine will ever be. He has finally found a great job and we are so thankful for that, because he has worked jobs that were extremely hard on him and our family. I appreciate what he does for us more than he will ever know.

I am so very thankful that Lilly is as healthy, smart, vibrant, beautiful, loving, helpful, tenderhearted, and happy as she is. I can't believe how much she has grown and everyday I am amazed at what she is learning and doing. I am also thankful that she is strong willed, because I do believe that will help her later in her life. It does drive me crazy right now, though! :)

I am very thankful for our church family and our new friendships that we have developed. These two things are so important to help one live their life for Christ just a little better. We are all just trying to do our best for God, never measuring up to what we should be. These loving people at church help me to really do the best I can!

I am thankful that my Grandmother, dad's mother, has been given another year so that we might show her how much we love her. She is scared of death and it makes me sad for her. I pray that she can gain more peace in this time she has left on this earth. She is headed to a far better place!

I am thankful for the road of adoption that God is leading us down. I never imagined that this would be something that we would really pursue, but, boy am I thankful that we are pursuing it! I am so thankful that my husband has embraced the desire that I have to grow our family this way. I am thankful for the peace that God has given me about this process.

There are so many other things that I am thankful for, but we would be here all day and night if I listed them all. I just wanted to share a few of them with my faithful readers. I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving and holiday season!

With much love,
Anna Leigh

Decisions... decisions...

I have found that decisions (the important, life changing ones) are so hard to make for me lately. I am doing a lot more praying about things in my life than ever before. I can tell that God is leading our life and I am thankful for that, but... it makes it hard for me to decide if things are happening because I want them to happen, or if things are happening because God wants them to happen. I know that we have had this discussion before in my ladies' bible class, but it is hard to know for yourself, no matter how many times you hear others talk about it.

Anyone who is reading this blog knows that we are adopting. This is a slow process, especially this part of getting it started. We are still waiting to hear from the social worker at CFS about our application and about setting up our individual interviews. I spoke with her last week and she told me that the next thing she needed to do was to set up those interviews, (which a friend of mine told me means that we have been accepted? Yea, maybe!!). She told me to call her by yesterday if I hadn't heard from her yet, because she is so busy with so many other duties at CFS besides just adoption services, that it makes it easy for her to forget what she needs to be doing. So, I waited all week and then I called today... she had left the office early today. :( So, then I begin to question... am I trying to hard to make things happen?? I have been reassured that, YES, Laura is extremely busy with her job at CFS. She is one of the directors over all five areas in Alabama. But, even though she is busy doesn't mean that she won't "bend over backwards" when there is a baby for us. This does make me feel better and I know that things can be happening even when I am not doing anything. I also feel very confident that we will get our baby when God wants us to, no matter what. But, I just want to make sure that God wants us to... hence the whole reason for this post!

Then, there is the issue of our house being up for sale. We put it up for sale in the middle of the summer, then got a realtor towards the end of August. We have only shown it a few times with no luck. Everyone comments on how cute and clean it looks but we haven't found the right person. I think that this delay is actually good and a God-send because we have changed our minds about the house we want to buy next. When we first moved here, Josh was working in Florence, so we bought a house on the west end of town or Clements school district. Now, he is working in Huntsville (totally opposite end of everything). He loves his job and isn't going anywhere, so we are thinking we need to move either into the heart of Athens (city school district), or Madison. This decision has been driving me nuts!! I don't know what to do. I have been praying so much and I can't tell what God would want us to do. I do believe that He cares about the little things in our lives, like this, so it is important to me to know what He would want us to do. If we moved to Madison, then our lives would change a pretty good bit. Josh would be closer to work, it would save us on gas money (which is a huge positive right now!!), and we would be close to just about anything we wanted to do (because Madison is bigger than Athens, with more places to eat, shop, play, etc.) But, if we moved to Madison, then we would be farther from my parents, so mom couldn't keep Lilly as easily and we would be a farther drive from our church home, which would be bad because we would have a longer commute, making Wednesday nights harder, and we aren't changing churches. We love our church!!

Okay... I know I rambled on in the post... but I am confused right now about where life is taking us. I just needed to get it off my chest. Goodness knows, my poor husband is sick of listening to me! Ha!

If anyone has any advice, I welcome it, that is, if my entire post wasn't too confusing!

Thanks y'all!

Trick or Treat!!

We had a wonderful Halloween night last night! This was Lilly's first experience with trick-or-treating and she did great. She was shy, at first, when we would walk up to the door, but she quickly learned to say trick or treat and get her candy. Everyone commented on how pretty "Snow White" was and Lilly loved that!

We made a couple of stops to visit. We stopped at Mark and Phyllis Whitt's house to see Daniel, Jennifer and their precious baby, Stella. Jennifer had made her costume, a star. Stella looked adorable. Phyllis fed us, which we weren't expecting. The chili was delicious! This gave us the energy we needed to finish out the night, running after Lilly as she went door to door. Josh and I laughed that she could have trick-or-treated all night long! She never seems to run out of steam.

We didn't get home until about 9:30 and then it took me forever to get Lilly in the bed. Josh wanted us to finish out the night, after Lilly was asleep, with watching one of the horror movies that was on. I think we watched one of the Friday the 13th's. They really are cheesy, so I fell asleep on the couch.

I think the night was very memorable as Lilly's first real Halloween experience. Thanks to my hubby for going with us!!

I've been tagged!!

Here are the rules--1) Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.2) People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.3) At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.4) Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1) I can not stand for things that should be closed to be left open. Let me explain... for instance, the laundry room doors... these should always be closed. If you open them, you should close them because that is the way you found them. I feel the same way about cabinet doors, drawers, shower curtains, closet doors, etc.

2) I love checklists! I always make a list of anything that I need or need to do and I love to mark it off after I have done the particular task or have bought the particular item. I feel the same way about calendars. I always mark off my days throughout the month.

3) I absolutely love the show Friday Night Lights! I watch it every Friday night and I watched every episode last season. I feel it is a good family show, even though it has a realistic take on high school kids. I think it is important for parents to know what their children face in high school. It would be good for a parent and teen to watch it together so they might be able to talk about certain situations.

4) I have a B.S. degree from the University of Alabama in Early Childhood Development. I wish I would have taken it one step further and done education, but I didn't. I, actually, now wish I had my degree in something totally different, like counseling or social work.

5) I was six weeks pregnant with Lilly when I graduated so I really have never used my degree except for about two months after graduation. Sad, I know! But, I wanted to raise my children before focusing on my career. That is how I have always felt. All I ever wanted to be was a mother!

6) I have many fears. Actually, I am prone to panic attacks. I have a very weird fear of vomiting and also of closed-in, tight spaces.

7) I am a big Alabama fan! I am not what one might call a "fair weather fan" because I love Alabama football even when they aren't winning, but I am especially fond of Saban!

8) When I was somewhere around five or six years old, I got this great idea to "skate like a dog" with skates on my hands and my feet. Needless to say, this was NOT a good idea. I fell and knocked both of my front teeth out. This was just the beginning of my teeth problems.

Now, I tag Tesney, Lacy, Carly, Kelley and Mandy. I do not know enough other people that blog to tag eight!

We turned in our application...

We have done it! We got everything completed on our adoption application and Josh turned it in on Thursday to Laura at Catholic Family Services. I do not know how long it takes to find out if we were accepted to the program. I am afraid that it will take awhile because the application has to go to the Birmingham office to be reviewed by the top guy there and then we will hear something. I have heard that it is all formality, but I am nervous until I know that we have been accepted. I guess once we have been accepted, I will know for sure that we are doing this. I will know that we aren't just talking about doing it. I mean, I think about doing things for the Lord all the time and I don't follow through with them. I don't want this to be like that. I want to adopt a child for myself and for my family, of course, because I want another child. But, I also feel that God chose me to adopt, so I could do it for Him. "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, My brethern, you did it to Me." (Matthew 25:40) In fact, I want to do this for Him.

This is testing my faith and trust in God. I am praying everyday that we are doing this because He wants us to and has planted this in my heart and not just because I want us to. I talked to a close friend on Thursday because I was anxious about turning in the application and handing over the money to apply and not knowing, for sure, that we would be accepted. This friend, who has been through this process, reminded me of something very important that I needed to hear and it convicted me. God is in control of this whole process!! I can't tell you how comforting that is for me to hear. I can't imagine not believing that God was in control. I know that I have been through some rough times, but I also know that I am happier now that I have been in two years. I believe that God brought me through all the struggles with wanting another baby to make me depend on Him, which would make me happier. My friend reminded me that it didn't matter how long it took to get approved, or even if we were accepted by this particular agency or not, because when God wanted this to happen it will. She fully believes, just as I do, that the Lord already has a baby picked out for our family, who will fit perfectly with us. She learned this through her own difficult experience with adoption. I felt like the world had been lifted off my shoulders when I hung the phone up that afternoon.

I must remember... God is in control of when we get our baby. I feel like He is teaching me how to pray about something and truly let go of it. This is a lesson that I needed to learn. God knows me so well that He has picked me for this.

Please continue to be in prayer for us through this process. Once we are approved, we will have a second meeting with the social worker and find out when we can begin our home study. Thank you to all of you who ask me about this process all the time and to those of you who come to me with your encouraging stories of adoption. You don't know how much that means to me. I feel that you are sent by God to remind me that He is taking care of this and to show me that I can do this.

A Visit from Muffy and Poppy!

Lilly got to see her Muffy and Poppy on Monday night. Most of you are probably wondering who Muffy and Poppy are... they are Josh's parents. They have been living in Germany for over a year and we rarely get to see them now. Lilly has always been crazy about her Muffy! Muffy will play with Lilly all day long everytime she sees her. They took us out to eat at Olive Garden on Monday night. Our dinner was great and Lilly got a few gifts from them. They gave her the cutest Cinderella dress up gown. Lilly has worn that almost everyday since Monday. She also got some new clothes that are so cute.







I have to tell this funny story...

Yesterday she got to spend the afternoon with Muffy again because she was in town and wanted to keep her for my mom while I worked. Lilly was getting ready at my mother's house to go see Muffy and she was going through my mom's jewelry box. Mother had told Lilly several days ago that one day, when she died Lilly could have all that jewelry. Lilly told mom that she liked that but didn't want mom to die soon. Well, as she went through the jewelry yesterday she picked out a bracelet that she liked. Mom told her to put it back. Lilly argued with her because she wanted to wear it for Muffy. Mom agreed and told her she could but she would have to give it back as soon as Muffy saw it on her. Lilly frowned, like she does so well, and said, "Well, I can have it now... it doesn't matter, you about to die anyway!" My mother laughed hysterically but Lilly kept on frowning because she did not think she had said anything funny. She was serious! My child comes up with the most amazing things to say, as I am sure all of yours do too.

I hope you all have a blessed day!

An adoption update: we almost have everything ready with the application packet to turn it in. Our goal is to turn it in on Monday. I do not know how long it takes to be officially accepted to the program. I am praying it only takes a week or two. Please pray for this as I am nervous until I know we have been officially accepted and we are on our way to our home study.

So Into Halloween!

My precious Lilly is so into Halloween this year. She has been into it a little in the last two years past, but this year, she couldn't wait to get her costume and she has figured out what Josh and I are going to be. She started talking about wanting to be Snow White about a month ago. She switched from Snow White to wanting to be a witch and then she switched back. My sweet mother found her the most adorable Snow White costume at Sam's (believe it or not) for a good price. Lilly then decided that she wanted ME to be the witch and Josh to be the Prince so she could marry her daddy. I thought that was precious! Now, I just need to find Josh and pair of blue tights and a red cape! Ha! (Yeah right!) I will be lucky to get him into something that remotely resembles the Prince from Snow White.







We were invited to a small Halloween party last night for a few children and she couldn't wait to wear it. I gave her a bath and blew dry her hair very nicely. I then put a little make-up on her so she would have rosy cheeks and pink lips like Snow White. She got dressed and we painted her finger nails and toe nails. She looked so "romantic". (That is her new word.) She was the only little girl at the party and the two little boys her age fought over who got to hold her hand. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. It makes me want to cry!

We all had a good time and Lilly really enjoyed being Snow White for the evening. Now, we just have to wait for Halloween night and I have to find Josh and I something to wear to be the Witch and the Prince.

My Sweet Lilly

Lilly is getting so big and I wanted to share a few things about her. I also wanted to add more pics of her to my site so you all can see how much she looks like a big girl now, instead of a toddler.

-Lilly loves to color. In fact, it is her favorite thing to do. She can color all day long. She is very good at it. She stays in the lines and holds her crayon the right way, already. Her favorite color is red (right now).

-She loves her little television programs. Her favorites are "The Backyardigans" and "Scooby Doo".

-She likes to eat fruit, like bananas and apples, goldfish, cheezits, pop tarts, cereal, bacon, pancakes, pudding, and anything chocolate.

-She started preschool this year. She is learning so much already. She has made three special friends that she talks about constantly; Eli, Emma Lynn, and Cayden.

-She has an imaginary friend, named Andrea. Andrea goes everywhere with us and she is always sick. She throws-up in her mommy's bed all the time.

-Lilly is crazy about her Mimi and her Muffy. (That is my mom and Josh's mom.)

-She is somewhat a drama queen.

-She loves animals.

-She makes up crazy words and dances around saying them. She talks constantly and has a very good vocabulary for a three-year-old.

-She fell and hit her head on our bed and had to have stitches right in between her eyes. (See the picture above.)

-Lilly loves her little cousin, Catherine. She is like a sister to Lilly.

I am so proud of my little girl. I am amazed by her everyday. I learn a lot from her and her little personality is so wonderful.
She is just as excited as we are about the adoption. She wants a baby so badly. She did want a baby girl, but changed her mind this morning to wanting a baby brother. She said she already had a girlfriend, so she needed a boy around.

We've made the first step...

We successfully got through our first appointment with Catholic Family Services. It went pretty good. We loved the social worker, Laura, and she was very informative. She is a talker, like me, which I like. She made me feel very comfortable with the whole process.

Josh and I realized, in front of her, that we weren't seeing eye to eye on one issue concerning what we would accept in our adopted child. That was a small bump in the road. I feel that we got through it and we discussed the issue with her, which was a good thing. This process may be like marital counseling for both of us, too. We are really having to use our compromising skills. This is such an important decision in all of our lives, including Lilly's, and we all need to come away from this feeling very comfortable and happy. So, it is good that we are really talking to each other about this and each of of us are having to give and take.

We have our application packet. We are going to try to get it completed and turned in within a two week period. The longest part of the application is going to be writing our autobiographies. We each have to write one. I am looking forward to writing mine. Hopefully, Josh can find the time to write his between his job, working out, watching NFL football during the week, and watching college football on the weekend. He is very busy during football season! ;)

I can already tell this entire experience is going to be such a blessing for everyone involved. It is hard to believe that we are actually moving forward with this. We talked about it for so long and now we are working to make it happen. It gets me so excited! Lilly is well aware of what is going on. She keeps talking to us about how she wants to get a girl and that she won't come from mommy's tummy. She is also stuck on saying she wants a baby from China because she saw this in one of her little television programs. We are not considering international adoption at this point, though I think it is wonderful. Hopefully, Lilly won't be disappointed.

Our appointment is Monday!

We have our first appointment with Catholic Family Services on Monday, the 1st of October. I am very excited about this appointment, though, it really is just an informational appointment for all of us, the adoption specialist included. She is going to talk to us and find out what we want out of adoption and we can talk to her and find out how she can help us with our adoption.

She will send us home with an application. We will have to formally apply to the program and then we can begin our homestudy process. (I hope!) As you can tell, I am very ready to get this process moving. I have never felt more Christ-driven in my life. I feel like I have a purpose right now. All I can think about is this adoption. I am even dreaming about it at night.

I have to give my appreciation to my sweet husband right now, too. I feel like he is taking a leap of faith with me. He isn't as "gung-ho" about adopting as I am, though, I think he feels like it is right for our family. In fact, I am sure he feels like it is right for our family, or else, he wouldn't have agreed to move forward with it. I want to thank him for his trust in me. He has always trusted me that if I said, "I feel like we should do this", whatever it may be, he allows us to move forward with it. He trusts my intuition and my heart for God.

I do feel like God has called me to do this, even a long time ago. I have always wondered exactly why God put me on this earth and I have always thought that it was to save children and animals. Every stray animal always finds its' way to my doorstep somehow and I always try to find a way to find it a home or I keep it myself until I have it a home. (This drives my husband and my family crazy, by the way.) But, it has always been an urge that I can't control, so I feel that it comes from God sometimes.

Now, I feel this urge with wanting to adopt a child. It seems like everywhere I go and everything I watch is about adoption right now, whether I know it is going to be or not. Last weekend, there were three movies on Lifetime about adopting and then last night, Without A Trace was about adoption. I told Josh as we went to bed that I really felt led that we were doing the right thing. I have had it affirmed to me almost every single day. Just this past Tuesday, on the front page of the Athens paper, was a family married for 23 years who just adopted a baby girl. Their story was amazing. I long for the day when we can share our complete story and give all the glory to God for it.

Well... wish us well on Monday. I am sure I will post about it on Tuesday. Pray for us through this journey that we will listen to God and ask Him to guide us. Pray that we will find a way to finance this adoption. This has been something that I have just felt like God is going to take care of for us, so I am not at all worried. I really do not feel any real worry right now at all about this entire situation. I have learned just recently that God is in control and He will take care of me and my family no matter what. We just have to wait on Him, which is the hardest part.

I found a quote today that I want to share with you all, whoever is reading this blog, as I close this post out.

"Adopting a child won't change the world; but for that child, the world will change."

I don't know who said that originally, but I love it!

New to blogging

I guess I am going to try this blogging thing. I have been reading so many others' blogs and have been wondering if I can do it. I am going to try. I love reading about others' lives and hope that mine will be as interesting, though I feel like it will not be. I don't know if I am as talented a writer as some of yours I have read.

I am not sure how to upload a pic to my profile. I will have to try to figure all of this out. I have a myspace page to keep up with friends from high school and college. This doesn't seem as easy to arrange. I hope I can figure it out.

I will try to post fun things to read. Hope you all enjoy.