Got a new photo of our little boy!

And let me tell you. He is tooooooo cute. His social worker FINALLY emailed us an updated photo. I'm sorry I can't share, but you understand. He has the prettiest blonde hair, blue eyes, long eye lashes, pretty skin!! The water works started the minute I laid eyes on that picture. I absolutely lost it and was very sad that he wasn't already with us. All I can think is that he is our son! He should be with us! It's amazing how the bonding has already taken place. I don't know how that's possible, but maybe that's the miracle of adoption.

I sent another email to his SW today telling her that I won't be able to travel more than an hour from home soon (I told her 32 weeks but I think it's more like 34-36??? I have no idea. I just wanted to start a fire under her!). That's about 5 1/2 weeks away. Since he is in Dallas and that's a 3 1/2 hour car ride away, we have to start thinking about these things. It's taken 2 1/2 months just to get a photo. I can only imagine how long it will take to actually do something productive. All I'm getting is that she's not the only one involved and things have to happen in a certain order, blah, blah, blah.

I guess I spoke too soon the other day about baby moving like crazy. She's been pretty calm the past 2 days. And I don't like it! It scares the hell out of me! When she's moving I know she's ok. But then I start to panic if I don't feel her for a little while. A friend of mine said she went to the ER 5 times during her pregnancy because she couldn't feel the baby move. Of course, he was fine and is now 7 years old! It's working my nerves!! I'll be really glad to meet her when the time is right.

I start classes again on Monday. It's an online class, pharmacology, and it should be interesting. I am going to miss having classmates though. I'm sure I'll have enough to keep me busy.

Random Info

I'm sitting a the computer, listening to Michael Buble and feeling this little baby kick me like crazy. It's still just the strangest thing. She got me so hard the other day that it actually startled me and I made that sucking in sound that we make when getting startled!! =) I remember seeing a blog several months ago where the girl was so excited to only have 99 days left. She was finally under the 100 day mark. I remember thinking to myself that I would never get there. It seemed so far away. Well, folks, I'm there. 99 days to go. Of course, it still feels like an eternity sometimes. But dang! Only 99 days left to go!! (26 weeks tomorrow)

My husband took a few days off of work just for fun and it's been nice. We spent the weekend in San Antonio and stayed at the Omni RiverWalk. It was nice and relaxing. Well, except going to the River Walk at night. If you've never been, there are sidewalks on each side of the (mostly man made) river. But there are no rails to keep you from falling in. The river walk is "downstairs" from all of the big high rise buildings downtown. If you were walking around downtown you would have no idea where the river walk is! Anyway, it's kinda scary on a not so crowded day, especially if you are a big klutz like me. But at night? Forget it. It was so crowded and people were so rude that I was done! I just knew I was going for a swim. (The water is only 3 feet deep but it's NASTY!) We finally just went up to the street level and walked around. We have been doing chores since getting home on Sunday and he goes back to work tomorrow. Boo!

Here is the view from our hotel room.

Oh, check this out. On Friday, I emailed AB's social worker and asked when we could expect photos of him. She emailed me back right away and said, "I can email them to you if you like." Now, if I emailed you begging for photos, wouldn't the logical thing be just to email the damn things back? I emailed her back saying yes, please do that and I haven't heard from her since. I emailed my social worker today and asked her if this was actually going to happen. I have my hopes up, we have his room almost finished, but if it's not going to work out, I would rather know now. I wish I had more to tell you but I just don't. I've been saying this for over 2 months, but hopefully we will know something soon.

I'll leave you with some updated belly shots!!

And this is what I feel like!!!

Emailed Social Worker

So, my SW thought that it might be a good idea to email ABs social worker to see if that might get the ball rolling. It was really hard to be all nice and crap when I really wanted to rip her a new one. My email basically said that we were really hoping for some info so we know how to plan for summer with trips to Dallas and school, etc. It was a nice but firm email. So, her response can basically be summed up in 4 words. I'm sorry, sending pictures. She didn't answer one question and basically left me even more frustrated than before I even sent the damn thing. She said that every time she thinks that she has everything she needs she is told that she needs something else. I wonder if these people have ever heard of such a thing called a checklist?! Not sure who is telling who what but it seems like the whole ordeal is just one big cluster F. Of course she ends the email with "I hope that we will soon have AB in your home and you will be able to be his forever family". Arrrggghhh!!!! I don't want nice sentiments! I want action!!

This is my husband's response to this email: =)

"Is she sending the photos via e-mail or postal service? It would super cool if we could get them as e-mail attachments. He's probably already grown a moustache..."

Star Trek Anyone?

Just wondering if any of you saw the new Star Trek movie. I have never been a fan of Star Trek, but I LOVED this movie. Of course, it doesn't hurt that there were some insanely hot guys in this movie. Mainly, this one:

I mean, seriously?! What is it like to be that absolutely gorgeous? I wonder if he walks around all day just thinking about how hot he is? Oh to be that pretty and rich!! =)

My husband is a huge Star Trek fan and wasn't a huge fan of this movie. I wonder if had tons of hot girls instead if he would have liked it more!?

But, I digress...

Nothing new on the adoption front. STILL WAITING!! That's all I have to say about that.

This whole baby growing business is exhausting and of course, emotional. She moved a ton yesterday! I felt her all day long. The day before? Barely felt her at all. Today so far? Hardly anything. I thought for sure once the movement started that my nervousness would ease up. Yeah, right. For seconds at a time. =) Last night I was in bed and she was having a party in there. I told my husband to put his hand on my belly and she gave him a good kick! He was all, "EWWW!! Oh my gosh! That is soo creepy!! Ok, I'm done!!". It was so funny. I told him he should have felt it from the inside! Oh, and I actually felt her squirm. It wasn't a kick or a poke or a tap. It was a wave of squishiness. It was sooooo weird!

I'm grateful, I truly am. And I'm blessed beyond words. I am praying that all of you get to experience this one day soon. I think a big milestone for me will be 30 weeks. Only 5 weeks to go!

Updates: 24 Weeks and Adoption

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday and everything went well. I've gained 7 pounds (4 in the last month!). I know this may not seem like much to most, but I'm already overweight. I really shouldn't gain over 20 total. It's sooooo hard to take off. I just have to get a grip on my eating frenzy that I've been having! The NP was very encouraging and said not to worry. Just try to keep the weight gain at about 1/2 lb per week. Fun times. I go back in four weeks and after that I go every 2 weeks. I still can't come to grips that am actually going to have a baby.

I am super frustrated with this whole adoption process right now. I talked to my social worker on Wednesday just to vent my frustrations. We are waiting on AB's social worker to do her thing but she is dragging her feet. It's been 2 months since we were chosen and she still hasn't done anything! We should have at least had our big meeting scheduled by now. Once the referral came to us and we accepted she waited 3 weeks to let us know that she needed additional paperwork completed before we could schedule the meeting. We received it a week later and had it back to her in 3 days. THEN, three weeks later, she says that she needs copies of our 1st aid and cpr certifications. WTH? Why couldn't she have asked for all of this 2 months ago? My social worker is about to strangle her and said that if we don't know something by Monday that she is going to call her supervisor. It's fine that he's not with us yet..he needs to finish out the school year. BUT! At this rate he will get here just in time to start school in the fall. I would like to have him here for a few weeks before school starts. Oh, yeah, and that little detail about me HAVING A BABY!! I just need to stop 'cuz I could go on for days!

I took my last final exam today! Woo hoo! I've finished my first semester! I ended up with an A and a B in my classes. I'm happy with that. This was a stressful semester and it has flown by. I'm so glad to be done. My house is finally going to be clean again! I am taking one class online this summer. I wanted to take one more but every class is full. This really puts a damper on my plans but hopefully a class will open up this summer. There is no way I can take a class in the fall. Especially since they start on August 25.

I'm looking forward to a fun weekend with my husband! We haven't had any time to relax and just hang out in forever. It will be fun!

It's been a while!

I've been soooo busy! Sorry I've been MIA. All is well, this semester is coming to a close, and summer is quickly setting in here in Texas. I'm sure this summer will be fun. I'm already feeling the effects of the heat and it's only 95. Once we hit those one hundred degree days I'm sure I won't want to leave the house!

Still waiting on news about AB. I'm frustrated but there is nothing I can do. I know he's safe and well taken care of. That's the most important thing. He should finish school by the end of May and at this point we probably won't be here until some time in July. We actually bought a bed for him today! We've been talking about what we wanted to do for his room but never actually did anything about it. So, my husband wanted to look today and we found a bed for him! We are going to tweak a few pieces of furniture we already have and then we'll be good to go. Other than bedding of course...still waiting to see what he likes. It makes it seem more real for some reason. =)

I am 23 weeks and 3 days pregnant today. Wow...I never imagined I would be here. And no, the freakouts haven't stopped. Baby is moving through out the day but nothing constant. I feel her more in the afternoons and evenings. If I go to long without feeling her I start to panic a little. I'm still very grateful that I have the doppler. I'm still using it from time to time. I have my 24 week appointment next Thursday. Crazy!

So, several folks have asked for belly shots. I figured I might as well post one. Not the cute round belly that some of you have! But I'll take it!!

Not much else to report. I'll have more time to blog after Thursday. Please say prayers that I pass all of my finals and get good grades in my classes!