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!