Getting Practice

Tobin has been getting practice at being a big brother. A few times a week we watch "baby J.J." while his Dad is at work. T and J are exactly one year apart in age. I have found it hard dealing with two so close in age. T has had to share me which is no fun as well as his toys.


He loves "bebe" as he calls him and always can't wait for him to come over. Nap time is horrible since neither of them want to go to sleep. There is just way too much fun to be had. T is getting better at playing the big brother, but he has a hard time. All good practice though for the near future.


T loves to hug J.J. Baby is not too fond of it, probably because he often gets knocked down by the hug.


Most Wednesday nights we have been playing trivia at the near by pizza place where Jared works. It has been so much fun and we have only lost once. Tobin doesn't do great with sitting through it, but he plays around while we try to answer the questions. It has become a fun family get together.


Daddy was in Auburn the other day and brought home a hat for Tobin that matches his (Clark and his whole family are Auburn grads). I have never seen Tobin so excited about a hat. He doesn't want to wear his unless Clark has his on. He loves the fact that they match and likes to look in the mirror.

No Movement

Well, just got our monthly update on the adoption referral wait list. There has been no movement this month so we are still number 15. It is hard to feel like we have not moved at all. I am ready for a long wait though. The courts in Ethiopia are closed now for this month as well as September, which means that families will not get the okay to travel to get their new children. This will also slow down the referrals a bit on the other end. My current estimation is that we could get a referral in November which would put us traveling in January or February. This would work out great for us because Tobin would be older and better able to handle a new sister and they would probably be further apart in age.

Fingerprints!

Well, we finally got the fingerprint appointments for my parents and brother. Approval from home land security is really the last big paperwork thing that has to be done for the adoption before we can travel. You see, to be able to bring an orphan into the country you have to have approval from CIS (formally known as INS). In order to get approval you have to be fingerprinted by the FBI and send in all of this money and paperwork. I sent in all of the paperwork a long time ago and Clark and I have already been fingerprinted. The problem has been getting fingerprint appointments for the rest of the family who is over 18. They didn't tell me what I needed to send in so that I could get them fingerprinted and my agency didn't know either. I have been sending them stuff and having it sent back for two months. Being a typical government agency, there is no phone number to call and ask such a simple question and so I had make an appointment to talk to someone. In the end what they wanted was so tiny receipt that I would have never guessed that they wanted. Oh well. So thank the Lord that we are finally on our way towards getting approval. That still won't happen for a month or two though.

Gatlinburg with the Gollottes

The week after the 4th of July, Tobin and I took our first road trip with just the two of us to Gatlinburg, TN. It took us 6 hours to get there with all stops. Tobin did pretty well for a toddler who hates long rides in the car.

Clark's parents have a time share up right next to the national forest and Addie, Maggie, and great Grandma were there for the week as well. Poor Clark had to stay home and work, but Tobin had fun getting to see his Grandparents, great grandma, cousin, and aunt.

Tobin eats more around Maggie. Must be the competition.

Strolling down the streets of Gatlinburg.

The best part was the national forest with lots of rocks to throw into the river. Tobin and Maggie loved it.

Addie and Maggie up on the rock in the river. Maggie wouldn't look at the camera. Addie is 6 months pregnant with new baby Lily but doesn't even look like here.

It is so hard to get both kids to look at the camera. They were wearing their matching shirts that Grandma bought them.

The next week, Addie and Maggie came to stay with us. Tobin and Maggie had a lot of fun together even though there was a lot of crying and fighting over toys.

I decided to be brave and make cookies with them. Maggie did a great job helping, but Tobin played with a separate bowl of flour.

Every night they had a bath and afterwards put on their towels and ran around. Tobin's little white butt was always hanging out. He looked so funny.

We miss you Maggie and Aunt Addie!

4th of July

Sorry this is so late in coming. I have a hard time getting to a computer that has my pictures on it.

Anyway, on the 4th Mom was in Oklahoma visiting her parents and Jared was in Mexico on a mission trip. That just left Clark, Tobin, my Dad, and I. Clark went camping the night before on the AT and the next morning we met him to go hiking. It is nice living only an hour and a half from the mountains and the start of the Appalachian trail. The place we hiked was so beautiful and we had never been there before. Almost the whole trail was walking along a stream.

Changing a diaper on the trail.

Tobin had so much fun throwing rocks that he got his pants wet and had to diaper it!

Later that day the Browns and Serita over for BBQ and fireworks for the kids.

Tobin and Destiny get into trouble together

I love this picture! It was a great evening.

New Bed

After years in our beautiful bed we finally had to say goodbye. I love that bed. My parents bought me the bed frame when we moved to Atlanta. It was going to be the guest bed and mine when I came home during the summer from college. I think that they were trying to make up for taking my room away in the house in N.C. once I left. They said that I could take the bed and the frame with me when I got married. Little did they know that such an event was only two years away. The amazing thing is that my parents bought that bed back in L.A. when I was 10 years old. It is really comfortable still.


Tobin was a bit up set when we started to take the bed apart and move it into the new guest room. We have grown out of the queen and needed to move up into a king. Clark and Tobin take up too much room and I get smushed.


Look how much room there is for me! Oh the new bed is like heaven! We have all slept so much better.

Clark and I both grew up with parents who believed in the family bed concept. We never planned to do it much because we knew that we won't have the room. We even bought a really cool co-sleeper crib so babies could be close at all times. Then we had Tobin and he came into this world screaming and wouldn't stop screaming unless he was being held up against my chest. I slept sitting up for the first 6 months of his life and after that he has been right beside me. So we started the whole family bed thing out of pure need for sleep and to make the crying stop, but now love it!

I love getting to sleep with Tobin right there. It is a great way to bond with a toddler that never stops moving during the day. Tobin and I are really connected and a big reason for that is that we get to bond all night long. He is easier to deal with during the day because I know him so well and we are so connected. Tobin (as anyone will tell you) is not an easy kid to be bonded and connected too. He is very sensitive and doesn't let people into his little world easily.

We do hope that the next baby will want to sleep with us when she is a toddler, but we have a crib if she doesn't. It is an experience that I don't ever want to miss out on with any of my kids. I know that many people don't like it because then you can never get them out of your bed or they are afraid that it will ruin any private times for the parents. But, it really doesn't bother us and it is really all about being sensitive to our child's needs and connecting with them. Only in the west does each child have its own bed. Families through out history slept together or at least the kids did. Maybe there is a reason besides just being poor or cold for that?

Tobin is slowly starting to transition to his own bed for at least part of the night so that the new baby will be able to get some attention. But, I am sure that each morning will find us all snuggled in bed together as one big family. Oh, such mornings are so great that the little feet in your face the night before doesn't seem so annoying.

July Wait List Numbers

Got a call the other day from Kate at All God's Children and we are now number 15 on the waiting list for a baby girl. I could not believe it! I know that there have been a lot of referrals this months but I thought that we would be closer to #19. I guess that I am not as good at calculating our wait list numbers as some of the other AGCI moms (other blogs that I read). So that means that in 1 month we have moved 11 spaces (from 26 to 15).

I was excited to be moving so fast, but also a little worried. We have been having some trouble with CIS (home land security and formally called INS) and getting fingerprint appointments for the other people living in our home. So we can't even accept a referral right now if we even wanted to.

Still things could slow back down and next month we might not be moving that fast through the waiting list. I think that October is a good guess for when we might get a referral. I really hope it will be later in some ways because we do want Tobin to get a little older. The great thing is that God knows the perfect baby for us and His timing is always right.

Sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. I am going to get back into the habit of posting once a week, so please keep checking. I am not sure if anyone really reads this blog, but it is nice to put my feelings down into words.