4/28/2010

Busy, busy, busy!!!

I don't have a lot of time to write, but I just wanted to touch base and say that we did in fact get completely moved into our new home and we finally closed on our old house on Monday!!! We were so excited to not be living out of two homes anymore and to be so close to work and most of our friends.
Our new house is awesome! It's huge, we have great neighbors (although we miss the Wasbergs and Tammi) and Allie loves the cats we inherited at our new home!!!! We can't wait to share pictures and stories, but that will have to wait. We don't have Internet access at our new house, but hope to get it soon!
Hope all is good with everyone!

4/09/2010

Within these walls...

Isn't it amazing how hard it can be to move?! I'm not just talking about the ever daunting task of packing up all your belongings only to have to unpack them later. I'm talking about leaving a place that has been your home for so long. As I look around our tiny, yet adorable little home I am reminded of what we've been through within these walls.

It was within these walls that we experienced the roller coaster of emotions often experienced with infertility. It was within these walls that Cory would give me shots every night, only to find out weeks later that all of our efforts were in vain. It was also here where we comforted each other a year later when we learned that our dream of becoming pregnant was over.

Within these walls we decided to pursue adoption as a way of building our family. It was here that we completed the mounds of paperwork, met with social workers, and completed our "dear birthparents" profile.

It was within these walls we learned about Adam (failed adoption) and dreamed of him being our first child. It was here that Nancy and Ray came and helped us prepare for our precious little boy whom we thought would be joining our family. Then ten days later, it was within these same walls that we learned that this dream of parenting Adam was over. We were broken, but we had hope.

It was within these walls weeks later that we learned about "T" and we began to pray hard for both T and her unborn child. It was here that we nervously waited for "T" to give birth and it was here that we brought our precious little girl home 13 days later.

"T" came to meet Allie for the first time when she was a little over a week and a half old. It was an amazing day filled with laughter, joy, pain, and tears. That day is a day that will forever be held in our hearts and it's a day that unfolded within these walls.

Within these walls, we've watched this precious little baby grow into an active, baby loving, talkative little 2 year old who couldn't be more loved and adored. We've made so many memories here as a family of three...waiting and praying to become a family of four.

We will always remember this home for every memory that was captured within these walls. So as we pack our last few boxes, I am thankful for the past 3 years of memories that happened here and we can only hope that the next house brings us as much joy as this one did.

We'll post pictures soon!

4/06/2010

Helping out a friend...

One of my fellow Ethiopian adoption friends recently received their referral! Trent and Katie (who weren't expecting a referral for another year) are the proud parents of a sweet little Ethiopian miracle! Their son was about 4 1/2 months old at the time of his referral! We're thrilled for them and can't wait to meet their precious son!

Now that the two trip rule has been put in place, couples are needing to come up with even more money to bring their children home. Trent and Katie are doing a few fundraisers trying to collect funds to complete their adoption. The fundraiser that I think is great is a Tastefully Simple fundraiser. This fundraiser is so neat because all you do is order your usual Tastefully Simple products, they come to your house, and a portion of the proceeds go directly to Trent and Katie. Check it out!!!

  1. Go to the consultant's website: www.tastefullysimple.com/web/mkrier
  2. Go to "Shop Our Products" and choose the products that you would like to order
  3. Click on "Proceed to Checkout" once you are finished
  4. Before checking out (and here is the important step) click on "Find Host Event" and enter in "Katie Guida"
  5. And now you can pay online and the products arrive directly to your house in about 10 days!!

4/05/2010

Books, books, and more BOOKS!


I LOVE books and as we've been packing, I've started to realize how many books we really have in Allie's book collection. We must have hundreds of books. Because I'm a teacher (at one time I taught preschool for a year), I can order books pretty cheap from the Scholastic book orders every month and I'm pretty much a sucker for any good books. I thought it might be fun to share some of Allie's favorites, my favorite adoption books, and some books we have in baby E's collection already. I'd love to hear about your favorites!!!

Here are some of Allie's favorite books (most of which she could probably "read" herself):











We also have a small arrangement of adoption related books. Here are a few of my favorites:


I've already started a nice collection of children's books for baby E's library. Here are some of my favorites:


What's your favorite children's book? Do you have any suggestions for baby E's library?

4/02/2010

2 year height and weight

We had Allie's 2 year doctor's appointment yesterday. It's always fun to see where she falls on the charts and how much she has grown. I have always known that Allie's tall, but I was shocked when they actually measured her yesterday. Allie is (at age 2) 38 1/2 inches tall and weighs in at 34 pounds even! She continues to be off the charts in both height and weight. I wonder what age she's going to pass me up (FYI- I'm only 5 ft 3 in tall)!!!