Sunday, January 27, 2008

Abrazo Orientation Weekend (Jan 25-26)

Well, here we are with our new friends in San Antonio, Texas!! Can you believe we are here??!!

We were one of eight couples here. Three have already adopted children through Abrazo, the other 5 couples are "newbies." The first night we sat in a circle and talked about our stories.......Newbies first. Of course, that part is easy for me---talking. Jonny did great too! The head "Abrazo Chick"--Elizabeth--encouraged us to start acting like we were pregnant.........start telling everyone, get your nursery ready, register, etc....... She was very inspiring.....and for the first time it really began feeling real. I got a little emotional and began to get very excited. This is really the first time I have let myself get even a teensy bit excited!!
After a small break, the "againers" gave their stories. All of them LOVE Abrazo and could not stop talking about how wonderful the girls are! (I should tell you that all the Abrazo girls left the room when the againers talked---that way they would be candid.) The stories these couples had to tell ripped my heart out......and made this excited girl sober up. This is certainly going to be a roller coaster ride.....but I love roller coasters. I've paid big money to go to a few in my life. This one will certainly be the most expensive by far, but I have a feeling it will be the most worth it. Several (including Space Mountain at age 10) have brought me closer to God through my prayers begging Him to let me get off alive ......and I know for fact this one will certainly bring me closer to God....no matter what the journey or outcome is like. And for that, it will be all worth it. The stories tonight included failed adoptions, children that had to be returned, a terminally ill child, birth parents that took advantage, attorneys that were not honest, and several more tragedies...........But they are all back..........because they said it was all totally worth it!! It scares me to death....but I know that everything in life that is wonderful usually is hard.
Keep praying.......we have alot to learn and alot of growing to do!
And pray for our baby...he or she is very likely alive and growing inside of someone who is about to go through some of the hardest days of her life......Pray for her too!
Here we are after dinner on the last night...after a LONG DAY! Wow! Talk about information overload!! What a day! We got to meet an adoptive parent and a birthparent, we traveled to the Abrazo office, we visited Abrazo housing (for the birthmoms), toured the local hospital's birthing area, practiced talking on the phone so we will be ready to say the right things when prospective birthmoms call, (acutally, we were learning how to not say the wrong thing....), learned about what all the money goes to, learned lots of legal language, discussed our "Dear Birthmom" letters, planned our Adoptive Parent Profiles, and said our goodbyes........after a nice, big Mexican Dinner, of course!
What a worthwhile trip!! I feel so much more educated---and so uneducated at the same time! We have a tall order ahead of us.......they want us to have the rest of our paperwork in, our homestudy started, our profiles finished and copied ten times, and $8,000 to them in the next 10 days. February 5th is very close....... !!
They still have not received our application......and we had to write another check for the fees. Pray that little package arrives fairly soon! It's getting me nervous!!
We will leave sometime tomorrow........not sure if we will sightsee at all or not......We have so much to do!
I think we are going to be spontaneous and drive home a different way---through Houston, Louisiana, and up through Mississippi. We may take a small detour in Southern Mississippi to see the Jefferson Davis house (Rosemont)......the house ours is patterned after. We hope to be in Lake Charles, Louisiana tomorrow night, and home on Monday evening.This is Elizabeth--The head Abrazo chick! And below are some of the other Abrazo chicks!! They were amazingly helpful, informative, candid, and encouraging!


Here are some of our group members role playing how to talk on the phone!
The Abrazo chicks had cupcakes to wish me a happy January Birthday!! We got a little silly with them!! (It had been a long afternoon!!)Here we are touring one of the Abrazo housing apartments for the expectant mothers.
Here we are in the hospital, learning how to assist our birthmom when she is in labor and other hospital ettiquite.
And, of course more eating!! We really enjoyed our time with these fun and wise people!!

ScrapFAST 2008 (January 18-21)

It is that time of year again!! All the girls in the Green and Davis families were invited to come and scrapbook as FAST as they could scrap!! This was our second year---and this year I got to host!! It was so fun----but it was SO COLD!! The coldest weekend we have had in our new house!! But, for the sake of the thin-skinned, we turned the heat way up!! As you can see, my den was transformed into a scrapbook wonderland.We had two groups of scrapbookers this year----the paper scrapbookers and the digital scrapbookers. The digital scrapbookers got off to a rough start!! You can see by the look on my face, I am considering crossing back over to the paper side!!
Joann probably did the best in the virtual world....and poor Karen had the hardest time! Her computer probably shut down on her 30 times before she got her first page finished!! But she was SO PATIENT!!! Joann and Karen were the only mamas allowed to bring kiddos---since they are still dependant on their moms!!
Ahhhh--the paper side of the room! Here Christy and Keri were making us all jealous with their tangible progress!!
Melanie got tons done too---plus her new wonder-machine, the Crickit, was a huge hit!!
It's a wonder Johnna got anything done---as cold natured as she is! But she was a trooper! In the end, she and Christy finished well over 20 pages each!!I got to spend lots of time preparing meals and being hostess!! (I blamed that on why I only finished 5 digital pages all weekend!!)
We all rejoiced with Karen when she finished her first digital page. Her computer shut down 3 seconds after this picture was made! Fortunately, she had saved her work!!!
We had a great 3 nights and 4 days together!!! We hope to do it again this year, but we will certainly do it again next January!!! (Mela's already offered to host!!)

Happy Baby Day!! (January 17th)

Today we mailed in our 2nd batch of paperwork to the Abrazo Adoption Agency in San Antonio, Texas! We are now officially on our way to getting our baby!! So, we decided to celebrate! We bought an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins and had a party with the Smiths, Joann and Ariana, and Jen, Al and the boys! (Joann and Jennifer were in town for ScrapFAST 2008!) Here we are blowing out the candles......Well...Jonny seems to be blowing Lizzie!!
The cake was really yummy! Sara Kate's best friend was whoever had any cake left in their bowl!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Happy Birthday! (January 11, 2008)

My day started with beautiful daisies, a precious card, and a 500G hard drive!! Jonny always treats me like a princess on my birthday........And that was just the beginning!! Well, my 6th graders (now 7th graders) did it again----They threw me the sweetest surprise party!! This one didn't take me all over the city of Memphis like last year---but it still made me realize what a special bond this group and I will always have!! They made my day so special!!

My third graders celebrated two events in one party----They bought me a yummy cookie cake....and they celebrated their mathematical genius by eating the ice cream sundaes they earned by learning their multiplication tables! What a yummy afternoon!!


Jonny's parents, Jane and Gilbert, came in for my birthday! They took us out to dinner (Bonefish Grill!!) and spent the night with us! Such a treat!! I had a great birthday!!

Livin' in our house......January 2008

Well...here are some pictures of our house! We have lots more to do....but it will stay this way for a while. We just want to live in it and enjoy it before we do anymore!! Come see it in person sometime!! We have creative ways of sleeping as many as we need to!




Happy New Year 2008!!! (January 1st!)

Crazy us.......we practically missed ringing in the new year.....We were too busy posing for the picture!! (Only Jen and Al were paying attention!!)


The kiddos didn't know what to think.....They thought the adults were going nuts!


Ariana's first new year!!

Christmas In Kentucky (Decmeber 2007)

Well, here we are in Kentucky for Christmas---Round Two! This year was full of firsts..... Our first Christmas with Ariana.....
The first time (in a LONG TIME....if ever) that we had Grandmother's dinner on Christmas Day!
Our first Christmas with PanKe and Baby Anna (and Ariana....again!). (No firsts in this picture!!) TeeHee!
The first time Luke and Austin joined the "Boy Room!" (I think it was the first time!!)
The first time we had to fit 28 people in Grandmother's living room!! (and we were missing Laura and David!!)

The first time we learned how to digital scrapbook....Thanks to AL's vast knowledge of computers!
The first time Dad played online---looking at Judge Judy's website!!
And........the first time our mom Rocked Out to Guitar Hero! What a Christmas!!Not to mention....it was the first time we passed around that Godzilla virus!! Glad we're all over that!!

Christmas in Mt. Juliet, TN (December 2007)

Well, we rocked out this Christmas---RockBand was a huge hit....as you can see here! We even got Jane in on the action!! I have to admit....I got a bit carried away when Metalica was on! "Enter Sandman" is now affectionately known as "Enter Ju Ju!"

Our scrapbook was a hit again---Thanks to Johnna for all the prodding to finish on time!
The girls had a night out at Olive Garden-----We had a ball discovering how we eat Andes Mints! Some of us suck, and some of us bite!! :) And old habits die hard!

We almost don't fit at this table anymore!! We had to take two pictures to fit us all in!!

It is crazy to believe this is Ben's first Christmas with us....it feels like he has been a part of this family forever!! Look at sweet Hannah laughing at her Aunt Ju Ju!!
Adam, Melanie, Grace Ann, and Baby are celebrating this year especially!! They are Tennesseans again!!

Ahhhhh, the newlyweds....who stayed at their own apartment! Can anyone blame them! We love you, Andrew and Ashley!!

This picture is just too cute not to add.......Will and Alex, you are adorable!!

Aunt Ju Ju and Uncle Jonny could not be more proud of this bunch!! What a bunch of cuties!!