Three in Tennessee testing

What has happened in the world since we last blogged...

• Jesus had another birthday.
• I had another birthday - the big twenty-ten (yes, I mean my 30th).
• The Colts won the Super Bowl!! Sorry, Matt and your Bears.
• The groundhog either saw his shadow or didn't?? I don't remember.
• Anna Nicole Smith...I'm slightly ashamed to say that I watched more of her old reality show than the average person should have seen.
  
• Baseball spring training began. Go Cubs!
• Blogger is now part of Google.
  
• March Madness is in full swing.
  
• Oh, and Roy found out that Jim and Pam kissed. I seriously thought he already knew about that. How did I not realize?!?
  

Anyway, here are some details to update you on our adoption situation and where we stand now.

Sorry, if it's a little heavy...

Ok...I promise that we have not fallen off the face of the earth. Many of you long distance friends & family might not believe me! I could hardly believe that it had been 3.5 months since we last blogged. So much has happened. Because of legal reasons we have not been able to share much so we just kind of gave up blogging. It would have been too hard not to spill the beans! :)

Many of you are aware that we were chosen by a birthmom in mid-December. We really enjoyed getting to know her and her family. We were there when the baby was born at the beginning of January, but because of so many legal issues with the birthdad she had to go to interim care through the adoption agency. After several long months of waiting for legal issues to be resolved we have conceded that we are not part of the scenario anymore. That's really all we can say right now. We really and truly feel at peace with what has happened. It is obviously sad and we are heartbroken, but because of our faith in the Lord - we believe that He has brought us through this and we will continue down the adoption road.

I know it's hard for people to know what to say to us, but we've just encouraged people to be themselves. Ask questions if you have them or just do whatever is comfortable. I would rather people know the facts (what facts we can share) and be praying for us. Life doesn't stop for any of us just because Matt and I are going through such an ordeal. It's much, much, much harder when people want to "protect" us by not sharing their lives with us. Matt and I are still "us" - that hasn't changed. In moments of deep pain, we still laugh and are ourselves. That's just us. That's how we do things. We have loved each other almost half our lives and that love runs very deep. Also, our faith in the Lord runs deep - it is our foundation - that's what we build our lives upon. The Lord has totally carried us through this journey so far and He will continue to carry us as we keep walking this road.

We've learned many things lately...one thing I know for sure is that we are definitely comfortable with open adoption. We thought we were and said we were, but now we know for sure. We really like the possibility of maintaining contact with our birthparents. It was very easy to love our bmom and her family. Not only was it easy, it was very natural. Sometimes having an open adoption can't happen - it just depends. Each adoption situation is unique. We'll just have to wait and see. Our profile will be back in the mix next week so we'll wait for another phone call.

We have had so many people praying for us - it's unbelievable. Our small group at church has been a great support system. We love them so much! They are family to us, which helps since we're so far away from ours. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us, called us, sent cards and e-mail, spent time with us, etc...It is much appreciated.

On a much lighter note...

So for now, we'll begin blogging again and bore everyone with our dog stories and pictures. I'll also be anticipating the return of new The Office episodes in April. Go Jim and Pam!!!!!

Oh my word - I almost forgot about American Idol. One of our friends from church is really close friends with Phil Stacey - one of the Idol contestants. Like, they talk to him and tell him what to wear, how to do things, what not to do, etc...It's the closest we've been to knowing a contestant! This year I've tried to spread the love with the contestants. After the Chris Daughtry fiasco of last year when I came "this close" to never watching Idol again (seriously) I decided to dial it down a notch. So, I'm not hardcore into any one person (yet). I think Matt likes Melinda the best. I like Melinda, LaKisha, Jordin and Chris Sligh - not necessarily in that order. Out of those four I think that Jordin would end up selling the most records, but you just never know what will happen. Because it's not sweet, I will refrain from bashing the other peeps on the show who just really need to head home. We all know who they(he) are. :)

Ok, one more tv show comment...Rock star secret service agent, Aaron Pierce, made an appearance in last Monday's ep. of 24. He is my favorite 24 character, sorry Jack Bauer, but it's true. Matt is a little concerned, as it appears I have a teensy, tiny, little crush on Agent Pierce. I can't explain it. Sorry honey! :) I still fear they will kill him off...that might be the end of me. With all the craziness we've had in the last few months that might just send me over the edge!! LOL!

I am trying to be productive this weekend while Matt is in Chicago at a conference for church. He and a couple of guys went up there on Thursday and they'll return tomorrow night. He's been by Wrigley and ate at Chipotle in Wrigleyville. That reminds me that I need to see when the Cubs and Braves play so we can go see them again in Atlanta. We love traditions so we're hoping to make that an annual trip.

Today, I cleaned out our pond. Aside from being really gross and slimy it wasn't too difficult. You can clean just about anything with a Shop Vac! The only bad thing was I almost sucked up a frog. That was gross. He was fighting to not go up the vacuum hose. I shook him off and he hopped away with some slight bruising and a touch of post-traumatic stress disorder, but I think he'll be like new soon. In my defense...he was the same color as the yucky stuff at the bottom of the pond and I don't have great vision. My bad.

Well, that's it for now. Stayed tuned for future dog blogging.