Noelle Dreams & Beyond

Well, we're not exactly official yet. Our new social worker called last week to tell us our file is on hold because we haven't done CPR and first aid training, which of course we would have done had we known! Apparently, this is a new requirement that was created after we took our classes last spring, and the information never made its way to us. We're actually not that irritated - maybe it's because our expectations are just so low at this point! Having said that, we received a call from the program director yesterday out of the blue, apologizing that we were not informed, which was nice. It's honestly not a big deal - we're doing the training next week (which is something I've been planning to do for a long time anyway), meeting with our social worker the following Tuesday, and then we really will be official. Supposedly you can get the call pretty quickly once you're licensed, so perhaps this one last delay is even a good thing as it gives us a ...

Well, folks, we finally have that piece of paper in hand we've been waiting on for months. Our foster parenting license arrived in the mail on Friday. We're a bit guarded in our enthusiasm considering it's been such a long, bumpy ride -- within a couple of months it will have been a YEAR since we started that process. Whew! We really weren't expecting it to take that long....sound familiar? We've also hit the two-year mark since beginning our journey to Noelle. Perhaps things will come a little easier for us this year than they have the past few. One can certainly hope. It's a new year, and it looks to be a BIG one on MANY fronts. So here's to 2008!! P.S. I was reminded this past week of a wonderful, old African proverb: When you pray, move your feet. Amen to that!

Whew! It's been a busy few weeks since Thanksgiving. I celebrated my 33rd birthday this past Monday and haven't had time to blog about it until now. I'm working 4 days a week again at my day job (temporarily, until we hire another replacement for me - don't ask), and I've been feeling pretty wiped out between that and teaching yoga and holiday preparations - not much energy left to blog. But I have some updates, and I want to share some birthday pix. Turning 33 was not all that fun for me, I must admit. Chris and I certainly thought we'd have kids by now. I was actually a bit glum when I woke up Monday morning, knowing that we'd be spending another Christmas without children and without any idea of when there would be children in our lives. But with Chris' help, I pulled myself together and made the best of the day. To start off, he gave me the loveliest gifts - two scarves from my favorite store, Ten Thousand Villages, and a hat to match one of ...

I've not been a very good blogger lately. If anyone actually follows my blog regularly, I apologize, and I do hope you'll keep coming back. There's just nothing much to report. We have had a pretty low-key October - the warmest I remember ever - and the driest - thank goodness for the rain this past week! (After re-reading my post, I realized our October was busier than I thought!) We made our annual trip to the state fair this month, which is one of our favorite things in the world. We love to eat all the bad-for-you food and people-watch. We even enjoy all the displays and demonstrations, which are basically the same every year. This year we actually rode a couple of rides - a ferris wheel, which was much slower than I remember them being - and some crazy spinning thing that made me scream. It was quite the rush, and I was dizzy when I got off, but it was a lot of fun. We have some traditions that we follow every year, and this time was no different: Stopping by...

As I posted last month, my sister Jessica had her second baby, and just last week my friend Jessica had her first baby. Both are girls and both weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz. at birth! And they both have gorgeous names: Maia Soleil and Ilsa May They even rhyme! I'm in baby heaven. Now if only their future baby buddy would arrive. I wonder if it will be a boy or another girl...Any bets out there?

Many, many, many thanks to our friend, Danesha, who made this baby quilt for the child we will foster. We love it! Thank you for your thoughtfulness and generosity. I will have to think really hard to come up with as special a gift for you and your wee ones to come. Give me some time, OK?! XOXO

A lot has been going on! First and foremost, we have some wonderfully exciting news: Our niece, Maia, came into this world on Saturday, August 18. She was born at home under the care of two midwives, and everything went perfectly. I'm so proud of my sister for following her heart and having the beautiful birth experience she envisioned. Everyone is doing great, and I can hardly wait to meet Maia this weekend. We have had quite a busy summer with trips to Colorado (vacation and friend's wedding), Ocracoke Island (long weekend getaway), Winston-Salem (cookout for adoptive families), Charlotte (visiting w/ sister and fam), Waynesville (visiting w/ sister and fam), Wrightsville Beach (friend's birthday day-trip), Atlanta (Chris-work and visiting w/ friends), Enfield (Chris' brother's engagement party) and Hyco Lake (visting with friends). We've had a blast, but I have to say I'm looking forward to sticking close to home this fall, and I think our doggies will be...

Children grow so quickly! Our niece Savannah is 3 going on 4 (or is it 13?) this October. Her brother Byers (the one with the short haircut) is 2. In this picture he's trying to tackle Uncle Chris - he's quite the little scrapper! Ben is 2 and will be 3 in November. He's such an independent fellow these days. Here he's watching Uncle Chris fly-fish. Pretty soon we'll be adding a 4th angel face to this crew - my sister Jessica (Ben's mom) is due with her 2nd baby (a girl!!) in two weeks! And the 5th (our 1st) might come pretty soon after that! We had our 2nd home visit with the foster parent licensing worker yesterday, and she thinks it will take another month or so to get everything finalized with the state. After that, we'll just be waiting for the call. It should be an exciting few months!

Chris and I made a big decision this spring. We decided to become foster parents while we wait for Noelle. Since then we've taken the class, completed our paperwork, gotten fingerprinted, had our first home visit, and just today we had our fire dept. inspection - all that remains for us to be certified is a trip to the doctor for a physical, a final visit from the social worker, and paperwork processing by the county to make it official. This means that in another month or two we could be getting the biggest call of our lives - to become parents to a child. Even if it's temporary, we couldn't be happier about this prospect. A couple of weeks ago after meeting with the social worker, we began gathering the baby items we didn't already have - bottles and bibs and blankets and burp cloths, to name a few - and tonight I've begun washing clothes sent by my sisters. We don't know whether it will be a boy or girl, so I'm getting prepared for both. We're a...