Our annual Tree Cutting in Boone, NC

Thanksgiving break is almost over. :( We have had a wonderful time with family and friends. We finished the weekend off by going to Boone, NC yesterday to pick out our Christmas tree. We love going to do this! It was freezing and there was even snow on the ground in some places! Matt and I roamed and roamed because we have this thing about wanting a "fat" tree so it took us quite a while to find our "perfect" tree. Now the fun part of decorating begins!!! Yay!

Here are some pics from the trip.



Matt, Pam, Mom, Dad

Matt and Pam

Charlie and Rebecca

Pam,Matt, Mom

Pam

Almost Finished With School.....Forever!

Hey everyone,

I haven't updated in a while, so I figured I'd post. Things are going well, just busy. I am counting down the days until December 12th because that is my last day of my Master's degree! Yay! I am almost there.......this semester has been by far the most difficult. Writing a thesis is tough stuff! I really think my educational motivation declined this summer. All of my life I have been a great student and always willing to learn....this semester I have really had to "grin and bear it" to get through everything. I think my brain is just tired! :)~
Matt and I are both excited about Thanksgiving next week. Time off from work and visiting with family is going to be great! We are going to be spending the day in Charleston. Then that weekend, we are going to going up to Boone, NC to cut down a Christmas tree (a Baker Family Tradition)!!! We are exciting about decorating our house as this is our first Christmas here!

Happy Birthday and Halloween!

Matt and I decided since this was our first Halloween in our new house that we would have a party! I was excited about seeing how many trick or treater's we would have and was so happy that we had a bunch! I was even more surprised when Matt surprised me by having a cake and everything for my birthday while everyone was there (my birthday was the day before Halloween). We had a blast! It was truly a delight to get to spend Halloween with family and friends!

My birthday cake :)


Jennifer and I


Collins and I


Chris and Lauren


Matt's Parents (We are so glad you dressed up!)


Jean and I


David


About to be surprised by my cake......I was distracted by holding John David and Marcia's little David!

This past weekend

This past weekend Matt and I attended his cousin's wedding at the Citadel in the Isle of Palms. We had a blast! We got to see some of our family that we haven't seen in a long time.



Matt, Jason (the groom), and I



The ladies dancing it up!



The Baker Sisters!!!


Me teaching Rebecca to shag!


Matt and I


David and Jackie


Chris and Lauren


Matt and Rebecca.....can't you tell they are related?


The cutest kid ever! (Matt's cousin's child, Jonathan)

Nike +

Camping

As promised, I am posting pictures from this weekend's camping trip. We had a great time. Most of the Baker clan (Matt's immediate family) came and we had nine of us there. We went camping at Lake Hartwell State Park.



Our tent site........no campers for us






The "couples" Matt and I, Matt's Parents, Matt's brother Chris and his girlfriend Lauren


Matt's Brother David, his wife Jackie, and Matt's Dad


Me being a Goober!!


Matt being "Mr. Excitement"!!

We won!

This weekend we played a tennis tournament out in Blythewood in this beautiful facility in Cobblestone Park. It was absolutely gorgeous. The weather was perfect, a little chilly in the morning, but nice by the time mid morning came around. Friday night we played what they called "social tennis", which means they take all the people who have entered and mix us all up and we play with various people. It was pretty interesting. Saturday, Collins and I played two matches and we won the Women's 6.0 division. Then Sunday Matt and I played two matches and we won the mixed 5.5 division. Yay for us! Everyone we played was just so nice. I must admit I am a little sore today after playing 5 matches in three days. But it was worth it...

I hope everyone has a great week!

Keepin' On

Hey everyone,

I just figured I'd update on life. As of right now, we haven't heard anything on the adoption front. We are just waiting........I'm sure there will be a lot of that. :)
Matt and I have pretty much decided to live life to the fullest in the meantime, perhaps do things that may be difficult when the baby does get here. We have several events coming up that we are looking forward to. For starters, we are playing in a tennis tournament this weekend, I am playing in two events, one with my partner Collins, and the other in the mixed (boys and girls) with Matt. We have played together before, but never in a tournament so this ought to be a hoot! We are going on a camping trip with our family at the end of the September. We also have an out of town wedding in October that will be a blast and it's at the beach.....what more could we ask for? :)
The running is going well. I am currently on week 4, day two. Yay! I am up to running for periods of time straight with no walking. I can't say it's to the enjoyable point yet, but it is getting there. I am for the most part pain free. I did have to ice the right leg Friday night after the longest run yet (around 30 minutes) but it was more for preventative measure than anything else.
Ok, there's my update! I hope you all have a great day!

Couch to 5K Randomness

Ok, so I have set a goal for myself and I'm putting it out there for everyone to see. Ha! Talk about holding myself accountable...... I plan to re-train in running and run a 5K race in November. I am doing the "Couch to 5K" program. I had a stress fracture in my right leg a year or so ago and haven't been able to run continuously since. I decided that it was something that I had been missing and after tons of research (and a visit to the orthopedist) this program was the best chance for re-conditioning. The program starts off REALLY slowly, alternating 60 second jogs with 90 seconds of walking. Then each of the nine weeks progresses until by the last run of week nine, you can run the full 5K (a little over three miles) in roughly 30 minutes. Now, mind you, each week consist of three runs that you perform on non-consecutive days. Right now, I am currently on Week 3, Run 2.
If any of you are interested in the program there are several websites that have tons of info on them. One of my favorite is:
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

One of the best things about this program is that a man named Robert Ullrey has created podcasts (mp3's) that you can download and listen to on your ipod or mp3 player that tell you when to run or when to walk in between mixed music. You can download the files at this link http://www.ullreys.com/robert/Podcasts/page4/page4.html or using itunes if you have an ipod.

Back To School

Well, another summer is gone.  It is so sad to think of how fast it has passed (taking three graduate courses will make time fly!)  But I do feel very blessed to have had some time off.  I am looking forward to a new year and even more so to the fact that after this fall semester I will have completed my Master's degree!  Woo Hoo!   This year hopefully my working schedule will be somewhat better but I will be teaching at two schools instead of just one so that may be interesting.   Either way, the kiddo's come back on Tuesday.....so let the games begin!

Home Study Approved!!!!!!!!!

All of our adoption paperwork came back and has been approved!!!!    So, from here on out, it can be any day, week, or month that we are chosen.   We are just so thankful that is the last of the paper work until placement!  :-) 

Please keep our family in your prayers!

Celebration of friends

I just thought I'd share some pictures from our weekend.  Our friend, Tia visited America (she's from Wales) for several weeks and we were thrilled to get to spend so much time with her! 

"Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends."

~ Richard Bach

"Never shall I forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend,
as you will always find me yours."
~ Ludwig van Beethoven

Memory Game

A fun game to pass the time:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you (it's ok if you don't have a blog, you can still play)  :)

New Shelf

We got a new shelf for the nursery. :-)

Homestudy Complete

Hey everyone! I just wanted to update and let you all know that the homestudy went great! The social worker came over yesterday and stayed for about two and half hours. It really wasn't bad at all! She came in and took a tour of the house. Asked lots of safety questions (fire alarms etc).....we showed her how our meds and cleaners are all on top shelves. :) Then, she sat down with us and went over all of the items that will take place from here until placement. As well as prepared us for meetings, and legal stuff. Overall, it was nice to get to meet with her in a personal setting like our home. I think it made us get a new feel for her as a person. From here, she has to officially type up all the paperwork and submit it. She informally told us that we were approved! Yay! As soon as everything comes back, they will post our profile on their website and disperse our family portfolios. :) Thanks to everyone for all their kind words, thoughts, and prayers! We made it! Whew!

Profile Video

This is a sample of a video portfolio that we have put together.

Homestudy Here We Come!

Hey everyone.  I apologize for not posting frequently, but during this stage it is very much "hurry up and wait".  That is probably the most frustrating part about adopting (especially if you are a control freak like me).  We finally heard news back from our social worker and we are scheduled for our last and final interview and the big homestudy this Monday at 3pm.  We are so excited.  This is the last hurdle that Matt and I have to do.....everything else is out of our hands!  I will post again on Monday after our social worker leaves to let everyone know how it went.  I hope you all have a great weekend!

A big week!

The verdict is in.....we are having our individual interviews Monday afternoon and our home study done Tuesday or Wednesday evening. We are so excited to finally be getting this part of the "wait" over with. The home study isn't as bad as it sounds (they won't be sneaking and peaking into every drawer and cabinet)....the social workers are mainly checking to make sure there is adequate space in the home for a new family member as well as all the safety precautions taken for the new little one (fire alarms, cleaning products up high etc.). They will probably ask tons of parenting preparation questions, but mainly they talk about child care plans, finances, discipline, and daily life. Then Matt and I have to give our agency copies of our portfolio (basically a scrapbook) that they keep at each agency location around the state to show to birth mothers. After the home study is finished and typed all we have to be is chosen then! The waiting game continues............

References are in!!!!

We just received notice that all of our references are in and we are ready to move on with the process.  Yipee!  I'd like to personally thank all of those people who took the time to write a reference on our behalf.  We truly appreciate it!  We heard word that our social worker will be in touch with us the beginning of next week, and will set up our home visit.  :-)

Reference Letters

We are almost ready to start the individual interviews with our social workers. We were just waiting on the last of our references to come in. The next step is for Matt and I each to have an individual interview, then we have our final home inspection (the social worker comes to see our home, checks for all safety items, etc.). We are looking forward to the day we are approved and officially waiting!

New Nursery Stuff

  I just thought I'd post that we got a rocker for the nursery!  Yay!  Matt's mom, my mom, and I purchased a few things for the nursery.  We are really in need of some color.  The pictures that I have attached aren't great....but you will see what I am talking about.  We have some pictures on the wall from a book called Mommy's Best Kisses.  You can check it out herehttp://books.google.com/books?id=Okew6ruoBA8C&dq=mommy%27s+best+kisses&pg=PP1&ots=f2L0wQrAu-&sig=w4Qhiix3D1E-zsfh6Kv6_A89iGM&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Mommy%27s+best+kisses&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPP1,M1

Make sure to look at the illustrations, they are so sweet.  And they really can be used for both a Mommy and a Daddy.  :)  

Anyway, so we got a rug and some soft animal wall hanging things. We also got a cute giraffe diaper hanger that I couldn't pass up.  So basically we are homestudy ready!!!

We have a social worker now!

Matt and I got the call yesterday that we have been assigned a social worker.  I have spoken with her twice now and think she will do a great job.  We have our first official interview on Friday, April 4th.  So be thinking about us as we are quizzed! :)  

Nursery

We have began the process of setting up a nursery for our home study.  As part of this process we basically just have to have a crib.  We have purchased a couple items for the baby's room and I will try to post some pictures here too.  We don't plan on getting too many items since we will not know our baby's gender right now.  It makes things seem really exciting and "real" now that we actually have a room for the little one!

Application Almost Complete

Matt and I plan on submitting our formal application tomorrow!  Woo Hoo!  It has been a long process.  We have answered all 30 pages of essay questions, had the medical exams, and even hung out at the Lexington County Detention Center to get our fingerprints done.  This is our first huge step in the process!  Our next meeting will be March 14th and it is an all day meeting that goes over all of the legalities of the adoption process.