Where has the time gone?

So, today is me and Bobby's 9th wedding anniversary....9 years! Where has the time gone? I am incredibly blessed to be married to my soul mate, as cheesy as it sounds, it's true.

He has been my rock, my sanity so many times without even knowing it. He knows what I am thinking without having to say a word. He knows how to make me feel better without even saying anything. I cannot imagine my life without him. We are one of those couples that likes to be together all of the time. He works long hours, so the time our family gets with him is so precious. It doesn't matter if we are out doing something or simply just sitting on the couch watching Grey's (yes, this man is awesome and likes it as much as I do!), just having that time together is so important. We've actually been together since I was 18...that's over 12 years.....and yes, I am giving away my age here :-) I can safely say it hasn't always been rainbows and butterflies, there have been struggles like any marriage has, especially when you meet and marry young and pretty much grow up together. Finances, careers, kids and the general stresses of life add to it. We feel so fortunate we have been able to enter ourselves around what is truly important...and our marriage has actually gotten stronger and better for it!

He has been unbelievable through this adoption. While a little reluctant at first, he has blown me away with how it has transformed him too. In this area, he is truly my rock. I am here sometimes sad, discouraged at how long things are taking and at the lack of movement for anything and he is so calm and certain and at peace with everything....reminding me that things are moving, I'm just not seeing it behind the scenes...and we will have our baby in our arms soon...in OUR perfect timing and not someone else's or just because I'm being impatient and want it now. Huh? Me impatient? Yup, he has to deal with this everyday people :-)

So to the most wonderful man, husband and father I know....I love you more than you can ever know and today I am so blessed and proud to celebrate this day with you!

Stuffed Animals for Emergencies (SAFE)

Hi everyone!

I realized I haven't done a SAFE post in a while and wanted to share some of these great pictures we received. If you have been following my blog for a while, you will know I run a NC chapter for Stuffed Animals for Emergencies. We have many many caring folks that will donate their gently used stuffed animals to us and we clean/sanitize them to give them to children that have been in traumatic situations. I can say from a first hand basis these animals mean a lot and are such a huge comfort during these times.

Earlier this spring, we received thousands of stuffed animals (over 2,500 to be exact) and sorted, sanitized and boxed them up and sent them out to Haiti through a partnering organization called Loving Hugs. I wanted to share some of the pictures they have sent of these donations being shared with the children of Haiti.

For those of you that donated....THANK YOU! A picture is worth a thousand words and these say it all. If you would like to donate or know of an organization that would benefit from these, please let me know. I am trying to make new contacts in the Raleigh/Durham/Cary area, so it's taking me a while to start from scratch again :-)

http://www.stuffedanimalsforemergencies.org/Home.html

I keep trying to get these pictures posted...

Here are the past few weeks in pictures:

Weird to see your kids in front of a great white shark like that!

or a T. Rex!

Kyleigh ready for school open house

And then there is Reece who insisted on going like this....a fair warning to her teachers!

Our tomboy Reece who was trying to make the go kart fly before the course even started!

Reece's first day of kindergarten..seriously, where have the last 5 years gone?

Just a few pictures of the fun craziness around here the last few weeks! I'll post some of the yard once we get some work done on it. Great yard with our house, but SO much work to be done!

And for those wondering, no movement this week again :-(

Getting into the groove

So, it's been a while since I've done a post, but it's been incredibly busy!

The girls started school this past week. Under the circumstances of such a quick move, they did awesome! Kyleigh has already made some friends and seems to really enjoy her class. And Reece, I just cannot believe my baby started kindergarten. I did ok dropping her off that morning, but when I went to pick them up, seeing both of them standing there together with their book bags just tore me up! I am class parent for both of their classes and between that, the school volunteering and girl scouts, I think I'm going to have quite a busy year. I've been so busy these last few days, it's been ok to be home, but I'm sure next week I will be missing them terribly. Reece was so funny this morning...she found out Bobby was off and her face lit up "Mommy, now you don't have to be by yourself, you have someone!" It was so sweet :-)

Another thing I need to start on is making connections in the Raleigh/Durham area for stuffed animal collections/donations. I've actually been able to personally meet a couple of folks that have donated and I've collected enough in the past couple of months to do a sizable donation. I'm excited to be in a new area with such an opportunity to make a difference!

On another note, in the past few weeks I've had a friend I used to work with go through some pretty traumatic weeks. Details aside, she was pregnant with twins boys and had a pretty severe complication. She was rushed to the ER, almost died herself, and then the boys were air lifted to Duke. Sadly, one little man didn't make it. It's just heartbreaking to imagine. The other twin is doing better and has been transferred back to their hometown NICU. He is still being monitored due to the lack of oxygen because of the complication, but otherwise is doing well. This is just one of those times where it is so easy to be overwhelmed and let your mind wonder..."where is God" "why would He let something like this happen". I just ask all of you that are reading to please pray for Shannon and Jaren. She needs prayers for understanding, for healing physically and emotionally and Jaren needs prayers for healing. This family needs to feel an uplifting spirit and not to be overwhelmed by all of the "what ifs" that are out there!

Hope you all are having a good September so far and looking forward to the cooler weather! We get our weekly email for the adoption updates tomorrow, so I'm really hoping for any movement at all!!!!