A Good Old Fashioned Update

Soooo it's been a minute since I just gave an update on our lives and our goings on.  Since I use this blog to also journal our lives, I've decided it's time.  Dun, dun, dunnnnnnnn...So here we go.

As a whole we are all doing well.  The major things we are working on as a family right now are getting approved to adopt again through LDS Family Services, dealing with the massive amount of leaves that our 2 huge sycamores are dropping, and purging and reorganizing our house to add another little one.

We are almost completely approved for adoption once again.  We are so excited!  There have been some unexpected delays along our approval road (shocking, it's adoption right?), but we are almost up and running.  We have our home evaluation on Dec. 1st, so we are working hard to get all of our end done by then so that we can hopefully be fully approved by Christmas.  That sounds like the best Christmas present indeed.

Our trees.  Oh our trees.  I love them. They are beautiful, and during the summer they provide almost complete shade to our yard, which is divine.  However, in the fall they shed, and shed, and shed, and shed their leaves.  We clean and rake, and by the time we're done, it looks like we've done nothing in the yard.  It's a little defeating really.  But then when summer comes again, I think it's all worth it...right?

Purging and reorganizing are two of my favorite things to do!  I love going through things, getting rid of things and making things look fresh and new.  Jared, on the other hand, has a hard time with purging.  He has done surprisingly well with our latest endeavors though. Our latest project has been cleaning out our study in order to turn it into Max's room eventually, complete with a big boy bed (so weird to me to think about, but I already have the bedding, so I'm kind of excited too. tee hee).  So far we have gone through all of our books and purged enough that we went from 2 book cases to 1, and have completely gotten rid of our need for a desk.  We will be clearing out more furniture and rearranging some more.  I was hoping to have it all done by our home evaluation, but LOST keeps getting in my way.  Might as well be honest about it eh?

Now here's what's going on with us individually.

Jared

Jared always has been, and always will be a super hard worker.  This guy is always on the go.  He is loving his new job, although doesn't love the commute.  He works in a credit union using most every skill he's ever gained working in the financial world.  He also really likes all of his co-workers, which is huge because it helps him come home a happy guy. I love that.

When Jared has any spare time he consults small businesses on the side, volunteers for our local community partnership, and serves as the Elders' Quorum President in our ward.  Still he makes time for us and somehow manages to work out a couple of times a week.  He is truly amazing.  Max loves him more than anyone else.  It's so fun to see Max's eyes light up when Jared is around.  Love my boys!

Amanda

Hmmmm....what have I been up to?  Well as of late work has been insane for me.  Working as a nurse in public health has been interesting during all of this H1N1 hysteria.  I have worked overtime for the first time in my 4 1/2 years in public health, and dealt with more crazed people in a shorter time span than I ever have before.  It has been exhausting.  And may I add here that I'm sooo grateful that I only work part-time right now.  I think if I were working full-time during all of this that I might just lose my mind!  Other than work, I spend my days off at home with my handsome little man and my adorable little nephew.  I love every moment I get to spend at home with Max.  It still brings my heart such joy to get to do the daily things with him.

In my spare time I'm reading (currently reading Jane Eyre and Love and Logic Parenting), running...well at least exercising, and playing soccer.  In between all of that I have added the addiction of LOST to my life.  I'd never watched an episode before, but at the prodding of many friends and family members I started...and now I'm having a hard time stopping.  For those of you that started at the beginning, I have no idea how you went week after week with all of the questions that this show brings to your mind.  Wow.  I do need to stop watching so much though so that I can finish up our adoption blog.  Yah that would be good.  Haha.

I have also gotten to spend some rockin' time with my siblings lately.  Daniel was down a few weeks ago and I convinced them to come out on a walk with me.  I love my family, and love any time I get to spend with them!

Ok, let's move on to the cute one in the family.

Max

 This little love bug is growing up so fast I can barely keep up with him.  He is quickly approaching 18 months of age and lives life in high gear.  He runs everywhere he goes, only laughs from the belly, and is quite passionate about everything he does.  He has most recently gotten over 2 of his major fears.  Balloons and slides.  Random, I know, but the kid has been terrified of both until just this last month.  He used to scream and grab on to me when either were near.  Especially the balloon thing really puzzled me since he LOVES balls.  But he has conquered both fears, and now is a large fan.  Yes, yes he is.

Max loves to read and be read to.  He is learning new words here and there.  He has definitely not hit the parroting stage yet, but is trying new sounds all the time.  He can say doggy, mommy, daddy, nana (banana), ball, bye bye, and ni ni (night night).  Oh and I almost forgot his favorite one...NO!  He definitely has that one down.  The other day I went into his room to find him like this.  Sitting in his basket of books, with books laid out all around him, reading to Winston.  He even showed Winston a picture or two...which I'm sure Winston appreciated....

Max has definitely decided he's no longer a baby and is all toddler now.  He must feed himself, does not want to be cuddled, sneaks around to get into things he knows he's not supposed to, and throws all out tantrums when he is upset.  The feeding, sneaking, and tantrums really just crack me up...well most of the time....

But I sure do miss the cuddling.

Ok.  Let me recap this very long post.  Lor, I'm totally stealing your blogginess (and yes that's a word).

Jared: working, consulting, volunteering, hubby-ing and daddy-ing

Amanda: swine flu-ing, mommy-ing, reading, running, and family-ing

Max: talking, running, sneaking, sliding, toddler-ing

Bam.

Life in a nutshell.

Gratitude #16

Just ran across these little gems.

Today I am grateful that we grow out of that awkward phase.

Yes, yes I am.

(And can you believe that neither of us ever ended up with braces?  We're cool like that.)

He Thinks He's Sooooo Funny

Earlier this week I went to my mom's house to pick up Max after work.  I found my mom, Max and Jackson up in the kitchen where my mom was making dinner.  Max was running around throwing a ball and laughing to himself.  As it became time to go I told Max that it was time to go bye bye and we were going to go home.  Max quickly waved bye bye and ran out of the room.  I just giggled at his enthusiasm and grabbed my purse, thanked my mom and went after my child.  As I entered the living/dining room from the kitchen, it was dark and I couldn't see or hear Max anywhere, when suddenly he jumped out from behind the dining room table and said, "Boo!"  He startled me and as I whipped around to see him, he was laughing histerically.  He started running toward me, but just couldn't make it because he was laughing so hard.  He fell to the ground and rolled in laughter.  Ummmm I think I'm in trouble.

Recap: My 17 month-old jumped out from behind a table in a dark room to scare me, subsequently thinking he was hilarious.

I'm in trouble.

Gratitude #13-15

13- Birth moms especially our Ashlee - This weekend, as part of the adoption application process, we attended adoption education classes.  As we had already attended these classes the first time we applied for adoption, I kind of went with the attitude of "been there, done that."  I didn't really anticipate that we'd get tons out of it.  Ummm I was wrong.  Although the information wasn't all that different I was reminded of what my role and responsibilities are in adoption and was truly humbled.  As I listened to stories of other couples, and other birth mothers I was especially reminded of how amazing birth mothers truly are.  I was especially reminded of the love and the gratitude I have for our Ashlee.  My heart is full.  We will never be able to thank her enough for the gift of Max in our lives.  We love you Ashlee!
14- Answered prayers - I did go to the adoption classes with one prayer in my heart.  I have been wanting to make friends with other adoptive mothers in my area for quite some time now and just haven't succeeded.  I went into the classes hoping the get to know some of the other women and hopefully find at least one friend.  During the classes two other adoptive moms came to help with the presentations and both mentioned at different times that they had a group of other adoptive moms with which they get together once a month for lunch.  I turned to Jared and said, "Oh I wish I could get in with that group!"  After one of their presentations I was chatting with one of these women and just mentioned that I'd listened to her speak one other time and had really enjoyed it.  Here it comes, are you ready for what she said?  Just guess..."Hey, we have a group of adoptive moms that get together once a month for lunch.  You should come!  Here's my email."  I then tentatively asked what day they met, praying it was a day I wasn't working, and sure enough they meet on one of my only free days during the week!  I was so stoked!  After she walked away, I turned to Jared with a huge grin and said, "Did you just hear that?  Heavenly Father just totally answered my prayer."  I am so grateful for prayer, and eternally grateful for a Heavenly Father that hears and answers mine.
15- A nap - After such a full weekend, and a busy morning at church today, I am simply grateful that we all got naps.  Ahhhhh, there just really isn't anything like a Sunday afternoon nap cuddled with my boys.

Gratitude #8-12

Woah.  Where did this week go?  When I woke up this morning and realized it was Thursday I panicked a little.  Thursday? Already???  Hmmmm....So let's catch up on the things I'm grateful for this week.
#8- My voice - You really don't appreciate this handy little thing called a voice until it's missing. Mine was definitely missing in action on Sunday.  I had to play the piano and let someone else lead the music in primary because there was no way I could sing.  The whole day I felt like Ariel from The Little Mermaid, except I could at least whisper!  It definitely made me grateful to have a voice.
#9- An awesome sister - Monday I was feeling even worse and came home from work early.  When I got to Celeste's to pick up Max, she had me lay on her couch while she cared for the boys and made me lunch AND dinner.  She totally went above and beyond.  Thanks Celeste!
#10 - Cousin fun - On Tuesday I was running errands and Max and Jackson were in the back seat trying to make each other laugh.  The giggle fest lasted about 30 minutes.  It was awesome!  I love that these two are such good friends already.

#11- Having a day off with Jared - Both Jared and I had the day off of work yesterday for Veteran's Day and we spent the whole day together!  It was awesome.  In the morning we took Max to the local children's museum, then grabbed lunch and headed home to do house projects together.  It was an awesome day.  We got lots accomplished, and had fun together.  Soooo nice to have a day off together!

#12- Music - I love music.  Always have, always will.  But there is something about being at a live performance that makes music even better.  Tonight my mom and I are going to the symphony.  I am totally stoked.  I hope to be able to pass my love of music on to Max, just as my mom has passed her's on to me.

National Adoption Month

It's that time of year again to celebrate adoption!  I loved what I did last year, in answering your questions about adoption.  It was a great time to reflect and really realize what a blessing adoption has been in our lives.  This year I have been mulling over what I want to do in order to celebrate National Adoption month here on my blog.  As we are in the proccess of getting approved to adopt again I wanted to do even more!  Here is what I've decided.

1. Link people's adoption blogs to my site.  So if you're trying to adopt leave me your adoption blog in the comments and I'll link you in!  The more people that know the better right?
2. Share your stories of how adoption has blessed your life or the lives of someone you love.  So don't be shy and share by emailing me here.  I will be posting your stories periodically throughout the month!
3. Answer more questions, but this time with a little help.  I've talked with our Ashlee and she has agreed to guest blog and answer questions that you may have for birth mothers too.  So here's your chance.  Ask away.  You can either leave your questions in the comments or email me and we'll get to answering.  After all, we heart adoption.

30 Days of Gratitude

Last year my friend took the opportunity to blog about something she was grateful for every day of November.  I thought it was a great idea, but didn't ever get around to doing it.  Then this year another friend of mine, challenged her readers to the same task again this year.  I decided that instead of just thinking it was a good idea, that I would do it this year.  I may be a little late getting started, but better late than never right?  So without further ado, here are the things I am grateful for this first week of November 2009.

Nov. 1 - New Budgeting System - Sunday night Jared and I sat down to budget and he introduced me to our sweet new online budgeting system.  It comes complete with email warnings and reminders and the best of pie charts and graphs!  I've never been so excited to budget in my life. Thank you technology.
Nov. 2 - Simple Truths - Monday night Max and I had family home evening together sans Jared because he had to work late.  For family home evening Max and I talked about prayer, and about how to pray.  As I sang a primary song about prayer I could feel the truthfulness of what I was teaching Max.  It made me grateful for simple, beautiful truths.
Nov. 3 - A BFF - Tuesday Lori and I had a webchat date.  Even though we're now thousands of miles apart, she's still the best friend a girl could ask for.  I am truly blessed to have her in my life.

Nov. 4 - Good friends here - My sister and I both work part-time and just so happen to work opposite days.  So on our days off we watch each other's kiddos.  Well this past Wednesday (one of the days I work) Celeste had to work and so I was short a babysitter.  My friend Emily swooped in to the rescue and took the little man for the day.  She will never know how grateful I am for that and for her friendship.  I have been blessed with great friends around me.
Nov. 5 - My patient dog - Max loooooves Winston and decided to maul him on Thursday.  Winston just stood there and let him.  Winston has never once growled, barked, or snapped at Max.  And let me tell you, Max has deserved a few times.

Nov. 6 - Discovering the world through Max's eyes - Friday Max and I went for a walk.  On our walk we found big piles of leaves, which absolutely delighted Max.  It was so fun to watch his thrill as he crunched the leaves as he walked, kicked the leaves, threw the leaves, and then turn around so that he could do it all over again.  Watching him Friday made me more appreciative of the beauty of the world.

Nov. 7 - Open Adoption - Today my mom, Max and I went to a walk supporting adoption.  There we were joined by Ashlee and her mom.  We spent the morning visiting, playing with Max, and of course walking.  Having us all together made me once again so very grateful for open adoption.  It really is the best!

Philly = Family Time: A Photo Essay

Grandma and Grandpa rolling Max in to Independence Square.  Yay for such awesome family!

The whole clan waiting for our tour of Independence hall to start.  It wouldn't be a real family pic if everyone's eyes were open would it?

The grand Independence Hall.

All the boys hanging out. (Jared, Grandpa, Dave and Max)

Max totally digging the games Grandma was playing with him.

Jared and his dad are always talking about something serious.  Lighten up boys!

More play time.  Max loved having so many people to pay attention to him!

The Liberty Bell.  Jared didn't want to block it with his giant height, so he stood as far away as possible.  Tee hee.  He also wanted to make sure that Max knew that he'd been to visit the Liberty Bell.  Hopefully someday he appreciates that.  As for this day? He was more interested in eating his blanket...

The End.