Been awhile....

I can not believe I have not posted to this blog since June 14th! I guess I have just been that busy. A lot has happened since then...

I decided to get a real full-time job for many reasons, but mostly for financial reasons. I got a job at Reliance Bank as a teller in July. At my interview, I told Allison Phillips, who interviewed me, about the adoption and that we might be getting a baby soon. She said they would work with me and that I would get a maternity leave just as a pregnant woman would. This was great for me.

Well... it turned out that I would definately need that maternity leave because upon being hired I did not know it but I was ALREADY pregnant... only about three weeks, of course. I had been there a week and knew something did not feel quite right. I decided to test one Sunday morning in July and much to our surprise... it was POSITIVE!!! Sometimes, I still can't believe it!

We kept it a secret for a while because of my miscarriage last year. But, I am now almost 18 weeks pregnant and we are finding out the sex of the baby next Wednesday. We are so excited and feel so blessed. It is possible that God had other plans for us or that was His plan... for us to learn more about patience and how to deal with grief and waiting together. It is possible that one day in the future we will still adopt. It is so close to my heart still and I am not counting it out.

So, that is where the McGuire's are right now... waiting on the arrival of our second baby in March. This baby's due date is actually Lilly's birthday, March the 29th! I am still working at Reliance Bank and I love it there. Everyone is great to work with and I feel the Lord led me to this job.

Thank you to any of you who were praying for us to have another baby no matter how that baby came into our lives.

Just to update the story about the baby we got the call about while we were at the beach. The little boy was born and he was severely affected from his problems. He was eating and sleeping and doing what most newborns do but the MRI on his brain told a very scary story. The mother still decided to place for adoption and he went to live with a foster family. The woman of this foster family was a nurse and she could stay home with him full-time, so I felt that he was placed in a loving, nuturing home. The last I heard though they were not planning on adopting him.

~Anna Leigh

Prayer request and adoption update

I know, most of you are thinking "two posts in one day?" I am shocked myself, but I wanted this topic to have its own post and not be with our beach vacation post. I have been hesistant to post a lot of stuff lately and also don't have a lot of time to get on the computer.

Josh and I have said that our beach vacations are good for babies for us. Last year, on our beach vacation is when we surprisingly became pregnant after two years of trying (that is the baby I lost), and this year, we received a phone call about a very precious baby, while we were at the beach.

As most of you know who have been following this adoption process with us, I was really thinking about us switching agencies because the agency that did our homestudy did not have any birthmothers at the time we became approved to adopt. I did a lot of calling around at that time and one of the agencies I phoned was Christian Family Services in Florida. An adoption friend of mine had told me that this was the agency they used and were very pleased. During my phone call with them, I had a very pleasant conversation with the intake manager of the agency. She was friendly but told me that we couldn't be accepted for their waiting list because my husband was not open to accepting African American and most of their babies were either AA or bi-racial (black/white). But, we did talk briefly about a Brazilian girl who had contacted them. Well, I went on to find us another agency, and we applied and were accepted.

But, it was the Christian Family Services agency who contacted me while on vacation about this Brazilian girl. We talked at length about her situation and Josh and I were very interested in learning more. There were several things that sort of made me and the director of CFS feel that God could be involved in this one. I feel kind of bonded to this young girl and her family just through talking with the director about her. This is why I am writing this post asking for prayers on her behalf. The medical profession involved with her have informed them that there is likely a problem with the baby. It could be rather severe or it could be that he isn't as badly affected as they fear. There is a possibility for hydrocephaly and apparent holes in the brain. Because of this news, Josh and I have taken a step back and are just wanting to be kept informed of the developments with this young girl and her baby. She is firm on her decision to place for adoption and the birthfather has already terminated his rights. Please pray for a miracle for this little baby boy. I know, from what the director of CFS has told me, that if he is born severely affected, it will be much more difficult to find him a loving home. This is his birthmother's deepest concern and desire. She even wants to meet with the adoptive family before birth. We had considered a meeting with her while we were in Florida, but held off for further tests to be done.

I know that God can perform miracles and I also know that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord. I feel that something good will come out of this, even if it isn't apparent at first.

As things stand now, Josh and I are still waiting for a match with a birthmother through an agency in Georgia, Open Door Adoptions. Please pray for a successful adoption to happen sometime this year!

Beach Trip 2008!

We just got back from the beach about a week ago. We stayed in Fort Walton Beach at Waters Edge condos. We had so much fun and I can't believe our yearly beach vacation is already over! It seems like it was just the other day we were getting back from the beach last year and now our family vacation has come and gone again. Lilly really enjoyed it this year, even more than last year. She is getting into swimming and has learned to go under the water. She doesn't need her float in the shallow end where she can touch, so that is how she played in the pool most of the time.



We ate at several good restaurants and Josh went deep sea fishing two different times, catching us some really great fish to blacken a couple of nights. We all agreed that those two meals were our best. It is just my opinion, but I think that Josh should open his own seafood restaurant. He is such an excellent chef!
We went with my sister, Kate, and my parents again this year. That is undoubtedly the best way to vacation to Florida for our family. It is nice having all the family together for a week. Mom and dad are great babysitters when Josh and I want a little time alone. This was the best trip out of the past three years!

I know that pictures show all the fun we had, so here are some for you to enjoy!

Have a happy summer!

Lilly's new haircut

I finally decided to get Lilly a short haircut. Her hair had gotten kind of long and stringy and I felt like I could never get it fixed right for her. I thought it needed to be thickened a little bit. So, after seeing a little two-year-old with a bob haircut, I took her to get hers done. She absolutely loves it and it is much easier to fix. Now, I am not constantly pulling it into a ponytail!

Just a reminder that we are waiting to adopt. It is so important to get the word out to everyone that you are waiting for a baby. You never know if God might decide to use you to help make our adoption dream come true! If you should hear of any situation, please contact us!

Thank you for your prayers as we continue with this process.

Lilly's 4th Birthday!!

We celebrated Lilly's 4th birthday almost a month ago. Her birthday is the 29th of March, which fell on a Saturday this year, so we had the party that day. She wanted to do something girlie, so we did a little girl dress-up party. We didn't invite any of her little boy friends and we had everything pink and girlie! She has some new little girl friends this year from preschool and almost all of them came to the party. She also wanted to invite her church friends and, of course, her cousin, Catherine. I wanted to post some new pics of her, so here are some from her party.










Lilly just got a summer haircut yesterday. Her hair is so thin, so I thought that if I had it cut in a little bob it would thicken it up and be nice and cool for the summer. I will post some updated pics of her soon. She is adorable with her new haircut!

Thanks to any of you who have been praying for us concerning the adoption. I feel much better after my last post and after prayers went up on our behalf. I have decided to meet with the elders concerning some decisions we have to make so that I can be sure that God is involved in every step we take. That is the only way I find peace in making decisions for this process.

Just to let you know the current decision we need to make... we are thinking of switching our information and profile to another agency in Arizona. This agency reaches out to several different states for birthmothers and their average waiting time in 6 months. Our time would already be reduced because we have a complete homestudy and profile done. This is very encouraging. Please be in prayer for this change.

Anybody else struggle with this?

I often find myself struggling with something that I am not really sure how to put into words and I am also not too sure that there is an answer to in this life. Josh, my husband, is often saying to me that he doesn't know why I can't just sit back and let the adoption process take its' course. Well, I feel that I do this, to a certain extent and then I feel like I want to be doing something to make things happen.

This is where my struggle comes in, not just with the adoption, but with other things in my life. How do you know when you are taking too much control of a situation and not letting God have control of what happens for you? I know that I pray daily for God's plan to play out in our lives and I know that I have learned recently to go to Him whenever I am considering a big decision in our life. I always pray that what happens for us will be His will and not mine and happens in His time and not my time.

But then, I think... well, God gave us a brain and the intelligence to do things on our own. I am reminded of the funny email that circulates from time to time about the man in the flood who was waiting on his roof for God to save him. He passed up all the obvious opportunities that God sent his way to save him, i.e. the boat, the helicopter and as he was drownding, he asked God "Why are you letting me die... I asked you to save me!" God replied to him that he sent every means possible to save him and he refused the help, so what was He supposed to do. This makes me struggle with wanting to know if the things that come to me concerning adoption are from God and if I should follow them or just sit back, let go, and let God. What's the difference there?

I may be rambling throughout this entire post and you may have no idea what I am talking about. This is just a hard time, waiting for our baby through adoption. I guess that's because we have our homestudy completed, and now I am finding it hard to just sit and wait on the phone to ring. Is that what I am supposed to do or am I supposed to be getting out there and working to help the process? Or, maybe a little of both? And, how do I get my husband to see that I am not rushing things, just trying to follow God's plan to bring a baby into our lives?

Pray for us. Help me to see the difference between letting go and letting God, and doing somethings on my own.

Also, I've got some pics of Lilly's birthday party and Easter coming soon. Sorry I haven't posted pics in a long time.

Life with the McGuire's right now...

I need to apologize to my fellow bloggers because I have so neglected doing this. I do miss it and try to make time to post, but life gets in the way. Thank you, Tesney, for reminding me that I need post more often. You are so good at it and I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog!

We have been so busy lately. It seems like all I am doing is coming and going. I started a new job at the beginning of March. I was so tired of working 40 hours a week for NO money and having to spend so much time away from Lilly. So, when I was offered a sort of "nanny" position, I jumped on it. It is only about 30 hours a week and I get paid more than I did at my old job working 40 hours a week. I am still working my old job at Vintage Sports Cards, Inc., in the mornings, until May, when the kids will get out of school. I saw this as a blessing from God because we needed a way to start saving money for the adoption. So far, it seems like we have needed the extra money as it always goes for various things, but I feel that we will be able to save some of it. This new job will work out even when we get a baby because the children's mother does not mind me having a baby to care for while watching her children. There are three children, by the way, the oldest being in 1st Grade and the youngest is 2 and a half. It is working out well and Lilly is really enjoying having someone to play with. I will bring more exciting stories at a later date about how she is adjusting to suddenly having three siblings in the afternoons. Let me just say now... boy, is it an adjustment!!

Now, for the adoption... God is so good. He helped me get our portfolio together, which was a daunting task. It took me like two to three weeks, but I was so proud of it when I had it completed. I had a wonderful girl at Staples, who was undoubtedly placed there for me by God, to help me get the pictures looking perfect. Thanks so much to Amanda, who is a great employee for Staples!! Then, we got the call that we had been unofficially approved to be a waiting family with Catholic Family Services. The reason it is unofficial is because there is one last meeting that has to take place in the Birmingham office before we will receive the official approval letter. But, our social worker, Laura, is one of the head directors and has told us that basically, "the buck stops here" with her and that if she approves you, the officialness of it is just a formality. So, a sigh of relief!! We are now to the waiting part of the adoption, which I will have to admit, is already the hardest part for me. I am getting impatient and am starting to feel so ready for this new baby to come into my life. Any of you who have adopted or are adopting can perhaps provide me with some supportive words that will help me to deal with this part of adoption.

I am also feeling a little down because my due date is coming up for the baby I lost, April 16th. It hits me each week when I get the ridiculous email that I signed up for at the beginning of that pregnancy. The title is "Your Pregnancy, 36 weeks!", or whatever week I am supposed to be in with that pregnancy. Plus, my cousin who is due several days after I would have been is hugely pregnant with a little boy. It is so hard to see her, even though I am so happy for them. I then realize that we could be having a baby is less than a month. That is so hard to swallow at times.

Well... there is a brief update. I am so sorry again for neglecting this. I think I just feel that I am not that good of a writer, so none of you are missing anything. I will try to do better because BOY, did this feel good!!

love to all of you!

Winterfest weekend!!

We are headed to Gatlinburg, Tennessee today for Winterfest this weekend. Our church sends a youth group along with chaperones to this event every year. A couple of years ago, Josh and I went as chaperones, but we quickly figured out that with Lilly being so young, we needed to be able to stay with her. Our time will come when she is involved with this and we can be chaperones.

So, we are just going up there to stay and attend the conferences at our leisure. We REALLY like attending that way. Our props go out to those of you who are chaperones. You do a great job!

Please be in prayer for our youth this weekend and for the rest of us going along.

Sidenote:

My dog is missing. Our husky, Kota, who stays with mom and dad. She got away last night and, of all weekends for her to not come home, she hasn't showed up today. We are very worried to leave town with her missing. Pray that she comes home safely. We really do love her!

Special Disclaimer for all readers

I truly wish I did not feel compelled to leave this post, however, due to a hurtful remark; I cannot withhold this disclaimer. An anonymous person left the hurtful remark, so I have also since adjusted my settings so that comments cannot be left anonymously.

This blog was mostly intended to keep a running log of our adoption process. The very first blog that I posted was intended to inform my readers why I was attempting to blog. I started this blog right before our first adoption appointment. I felt that if I did not keep a written account of our adoption process, then I would quickly forget the events that took place. There have been many ways that God has worked in my life over the past year and I felt that I wanted to document that so that all glory would go to Him and I would readily see how much I am blessed. This has helped me to be content in whatever situation I am in.

I have also felt compelled, in the past, to document cute aspects of my child's life. She means so much to us and we are ever so thankful for her. Due to an increased business in my life at work and at home, I have not had the time to post much of anything, nor have I felt as compelled to. It has strictly been for documenting progress in the adoption and the couple of times I was tagged.

This post may seem to have no point to most of you... so the point is, I did not start blogging to give a detailed account of what is going on with us or what is on my heart. I simply do not feel compelled to write all of that for the world to see. I feel that my friends, who know me well, know this about me.

So, thanks to all of my friends of have supported me in this endeavor. I really appreciate the positive comments. I believe that we all need more positive things in our lives and the positive friends to support us. Life is hard enough!

I am truly tired of negativity and I think it is the devil's foothold. There is simply nothing good that comes from it. If an anonymous person was afraid to leave their name, then it is apparent that this person felt their comment was negative as well. I have always liked the saying, "If you have nothing good to say, then say nothing at all."

Adoption progress

It appears our home study is coming to an end. I can't believe we are close to being an approved family waiting on our baby soon. It seems like we just began the process. Time really goes by fast.

As some of you may have read my last post, you might be wondering why I am sounding much more positive. Well... God always takes care of us and always provides us with peace even when the circumstances are less than desirable. Our home visit was supposed to be last Tuesday night. I was upset because our social worker had to cancel to due to car trouble. When I got home that night, I was cooking dinner and the phone rang. It was Laura, our social worker. I was surprised because I really didn't expect to hear from her for about a week or so. She told me that she could come the next night (Wednesday night) if we were available. I quickly agreed and told her we would be ready. So, Wednesday it was. It went great! Both Josh and I came home from work early so we would be relaxed and prepared. I had talked to Lilly about what this visit meant and prayed she would be on her best behavior.

When Laura first arrived, Lilly didn't know what to think about it all, her being a new person and everything. She did not behave well, but, it gave Laura a chance to see how Josh and I handle discipline, so it worked out okay. We had to put her in timeout two times, the second time being more drastic because Josh handled it and she always gets her feelings hurt more when he puts her in timeout. She cried and cried until I fixed her some milk and a small snack, which probably meant she was just hungry.

Josh and I did well answering her questions and I felt a peace in the room with us. I am so thankful that that part is over with because I was very anxious about it.

The only thing we are waiting on still is our clearance from the FBI and ABI, which Laura expected should be coming soon. It has been about six weeks or so since she sent off our fingerprint cards. I also had to have Tuscaloosa County courthouse mail our marriage certificate, so we are waiting on that.

We started working on our portfolio, which isn't as hard as I thought it would be. So, it is all coming together and I am so excited. Josh is too and Lilly keeps asking when is God going to send us a baby, so she is getting excited too!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

~ALM

Having a bad day...

Okay... I have that song playing over and over again in my head today. Y'all know the one that they played when someone was kicked off of American Idol... "Had a Bad Day". Well, I guess I am feeling like I have had a bad couple of days and I am getting a little discouraged. I am determined not to let the enemy creep in and take my peace and joy, so I am blogging to remind myself how blessed I am.

Our house is still for sale, going on six months now. We had it listed with one realtor, who did nothing for us, for about five months. Now, we have it listed with a new realtor and she is wonderful, but it seems like no one wants to look in our side of town for a house. I know that six months isn't that long to have your house on the market, but I am getting anxious about it selling. In addition to this, we found the most wonderful house in a great neighborhood this past weekend. We made an offer on it, very hopeful that the couple would accept our offer contingent on the sale of our home. But, we got bad news last night that the couple received two offers yesterday and the other people didn't have a house to sell, so it was a "no brainer"... they were chosen. I felt so disappointed. Josh came home and told me that he would have expected me to just say that this obviously wasn't the house God had picked out for us and move on. I am trying to hold up to that faith, but sometimes I get discouraged.

Then, our home visit was scheduled for today. I was so excited because this is nearly the last step in the home study process, meaning we are so close to being an approved family waiting on our phone call. I got up very early and made sure the house was spotless and the dog was bathed. Well... another bit of bad news... the social worker called to cancel. She was having car trouble and the part for her car didn't come in before today. She would have to call to reschedule when the part comes in. I felt so disappointed again that I cried.

Thanks for listening to my pity party. I just needed to get it off my chest. The Lord will lift me up again!! He is so awesome and I know He understands disappointment and heartache firsthand. We will sell our home in His time, find a new home in His time, and get a new baby in His time.

Love to all!
~ALM

Scattergories

I have been tagged by another friend to play this little game. It sounds like fun, so here it goes.

RULES:Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following.Your answers have to be real names, places, and things and you can’t use your own name for the boy or girl name.

What’s your name? Anna Leigh
Car: Accord
City: Athens
Boy name: Adam
Girl name: Ashley
Occupation: Accountant
Something you can wear: Apron
Celebrity: Angelina Jolie Pitt
Food: Apple
Reason for being late: Accident
Cartoon character: Arthur
Something you shout: Alright!

Now, I tag Anna, Lisa, and Tesney.

This one is for Mandy...

Okay, I have been tagged and I thought I would post eight things about myself because I like it when people respond to me when I tag them. I enjoyed reading Mandy's post about her eight things. I think it is interesting to learn little random things about each other this way. So, here it goes...

1) As most of you already know, we are going through an adoption process. We are in the middle of our homestudy and I have to admit that I am getting a little impatient, thinking about the wonderful day we get our phone call with a match.

2) I love Christmas and the time between Christmas and the New Year. My wonderful boss gave us two whole weeks off with pay!! Yeah!! I have enjoyed this time with Lilly and my family so much and I think I will be energized when it is time to go back.

3) Just as much as I love this time of year, I hate the months of January and February! The time between the New Year and spring seems to drag on for me and I get so antzy waiting on warmer weather.

4) I am going to steal one from Mandy... I love reading my friends' blogs and I wish all of them had one.

5) I love to clean my house. I know... I am weird and I get on Josh's nerves... but, I can't stand for my house to get junky. I am constantly pulling out the vacuum and I find it therapeutic.

6) Okay, I just asked my husband for another random thing about me and he reminded me that I am a hypochondriac. I hate being this way and I am getting better, but I do tend to try to self-diagnose any problem or sickness I have by worrying about it and calling others to find out what they think is wrong with me. This is annoying and I am not proud of this characteristic. I know that worry is a warning light that my faith isn't as strong as it should be!

7) I love to laugh! I have always been this way since I was a little girl. I can start laughing so hard at something that I am crying and have this silly look on my face. I did this way last night with some friends that we got together with for New Year's Eve and I am still laughing about it today.

8) I can not wait to go back to the beach this year! We always make a family trip to Destin, FL around the end of May, beginning of June and it is the most fun trip of the year. We stay for eight days at a nice condo and enjoy relaxing on the beach, swimming, and going out to eat. I am already looking forward to that trip this year.

I hope you all enjoyed reading these things about me. I am going to post some pics when I get back to work. I have all my pics downloaded to my work computer. I want to show you guys what a blessed Christmas we have had.

Happy New Year!!