Post-Race Recovery...

I feel like I've run a marathon. Every night I've gone to bed early and I still feel like I could sleep a week.

We've had something or multiple somethings to do every day for over a week, on top of parenting our crew and having fun with Auntie Karon and trying to keep my house from getting too trashed. For a homebody like me, that kind of schedule is a big deal. Add in the medical stress and drama and we not only ran a marathon, we ran it in the mountains.

I have alot of posts in the works, but right now, I just need to recover.

The neurologist yesterday said this would be a long term thing with multiple medical appointments and tests. He encouraged us to take care of ourselves and make sure we don't run ourselves too low. I need to heed that advice.

Limping to the recovery station,

Stephanie

Monday Musings

Just a little note about where I've been!

Last Thursday, I saw the first rough draft copy of our homestudy. I was thrilled to pieces! I marked it up and placed it in a folder with the medical forms for the boys. (New patient forms for the doctor x 2, 2 physical forms the doctor needed to sign for the homestudy.)

I laid out clothes for all of the children and myself for the next morning.

Friday, I got up eeeearly (6:45am.. craziness I tell you!) to get ready for the homeschool convention. I had a lovely chat at the Heart of Dakota booth and really feel confident about this school year. I was given the reassurance I needed and did some troubleshooting. I also got information on two music programs in the Richmond metro area. Still praying and thinking about those.

Brandon took the children to the doctor's office but there was a problem. I told him the wrong time! (Sorry BABY!) So he had to wait 40 minutes before they could be seen, with four children. Not the smoothest experience for sure!

He got the forms filled out, went by the agency to drop off the folder, and took the kids to get lunch and to pick up steaks for dinner.

I got home and helped finish up the last minute details before our company came. We enjoyed an evening with our friends, Dan and Amy, and their youngest child, Lydia. They were in town for the Homeschool Convention. Lydia is 1 month old and so cute and snuggly! Amy and Dan even shared some snuggle time with me!

Saturday, I was feeling rough. I wasn't sick, just very fatigued and I was reminded that I needed to slow down a bit. I held down the fort and started typing up a planner for Lainey's school this year.

Sunday we laid low. Brandon has a summer cold. (UGH! Can we get a break?) But I did have to go out to Walmart to get some groceries.

Today, I found a second rough draft in my email box! YIPPEE! It should be finalized this week! As soon as it is finalized we can send it to our placement agency!

And now we wait..

I didn't realize until last night how much adrenaline I've been living on these past few weeks. It's been a flurry of paperwork and checkmarks and "doing the next thing." I stole that phrase from a mom of many, after a conversation we had when I felt overwhelmed with three children. She told me to just do what is next, to not look at my crazy lists, to not worry about tomorrow but just "do the next thing." I laugh now thinking that I was really overwhelmed with three. A little distance from something sure gives you perspective, huh?

Anyway, so yesterday we woke up and hauled four children into our doctors office. Brandon and I completed our physicals one right after the other. Then we stopped into the agency to drop off four of the six physical forms that are required. I also asked if my fingerprinting card had been found and was told that it had indeed been found. I danced right there in the office.

We ran a pile of errands and then we came home. I laid down on my bed for just a few minutes and the next thing I knew Brandon was waking me 2 hours later. When I woke up I thought back to the last few weeks, trying to figure out how I was that tired. Well, I've been working late into the night to complete our profile book. (I ordered it at 3:05 am on Tuesday.) Then waking up with the children. And I've been working on paperwork/making appointments/networking during the day too!

But it's all done. *I* don't have anything else to do. Brandon is taking the boys to their physical appointments on Friday while I go to the homeschool convention with some friends and then we are having company on Friday night. He's even promised to drop those forms off at the agency that afternoon. And then we wait. We wait for the reference forms to be received. We wait for the draft of our homestudy to be written for our proofing. We wait to receive our profile book in the mail. And then we start The Big Wait.

I'm so thankful that God gave me endurance for this busy season in our lives.

And I am so excited!! Excited to see WHO God has chosen for our family. In the meantime, I plan to read some books I checked out at the library, take lots of bubble baths and I plan to get to bed at a decent time. I also plan to enjoy my four children and to reconnect with Brandon. We will be trying to find some normalcy as we wait for the next whirlwind.

~Stephanie

PS: Check out the timeline on the right...I've been faithfully updating it!

First Homestudy Appointment

Today we had our first homestudy appointment. It went smoothly and I had all of our paperwork that was requested. We still have to do our physicals. Oh and we signed a release of information for the agency to send off to Georgia to request our CPS registry check paperwork.

Afterwards, we went to the VA State Police office for fingerprinting. The picture (above) is the bottom half of my fingerprinting card. When I sent a picture to my aunt, she said "Have fun getting the ink off of your hands." I got to explain to her that it is all done electronically now. It looks like a photocopier that you put your fingers on and then another screen shows your fingerprints and says whether or not they are "acceptable." All of mine went smoothly except for 2 fingers that we did a few times.

Then they printed them onto my card and I went back into the lobby where Brandon was waiting. After a bit, they called Brandon to do his.

We went to pick up the children and then raced to Walmart to buy two $50 money orders to accompany our fingerprints for our VA background checks. Then we raced off to the adoption agency to turn them in so they can be mailed off. Our next appointment is June 8th and that is for the home visit portion of our homestudy.

Then we went to the post office (4 minutes before close!) and then the chiropractor.

After dinner, I filled out our application for the agency we are hoping to use for matching and placement.

PHEW! What a day! But it feels SO good to have everything going. Praying our paperwork comes back quickly!

~Stephanie

PS: Now I'm off to pack for the weekend!

Easter/Anniversary Recap

Sadly, we didn't make it to church since I was up with cramps/braxton hicks/contractions for a few hours in the night. I drank alot of ice water (thinking I was a bit dehydrated thus causing an irritable uterus) and that caused me to need a potty break every hour on the hour afterwards. It was a long, lonely night, but I was SO relieved that things seemed to settle down.

So no church. :( I was greeted by a very romantic anniversary card when I woke up. Brandon and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary today as well as the resurrection of Christ! The kids checked out their buckets and treats.

We slowly got moving and dressed and then headed out to Williamsburg. Brandon found out that the same chain restaurant we ate at on our wedding day, also has a location in Williamsburg so that is what he planned for our Easter/Anniversary meal. It was WONDERFUL!

Before going into the restaurant, we used the beautiful grounds to take some pictures. They turned great!

We ate prime rib, crablegs, peel and eat shrimp, along with various sides and then had quite a few dessert selections to choose from. I had fruit fondue.. YUM!

The girls got a kick out of 'James Madison' coming to talk to our table. Lainey wasn't entirely sure who James Madison was but she still held a little conversation with him and asked him a few questions. She was tickled that he said he owned horses and rode his horse named Virginia to the restaurant.

Afterwards, I showed Brandon a historical resort that I thought he might be interested in. I met my friend, Angie, there the weekend we moved in and thought Brandon would like to see it. Then we drove to Colonial Williamsburg to inquire about the activities there. We are thinking about buying annual passes there (with a sweet discount for being homeschoolers!) sometime soon.

After checking out the information desk and a quick diaper change for Xander, we loaded back into the van and headed home.

Once we got home, the girls did a quick egg hunt with plastic eggs in our yard and a little while after that we colored eggs.

It's been a full day. But I'm SO very blessed to have a wonderful, active family to fill my day.

I hope your Easter was lovely and meaningful.

So loved... by my husband and the King of Kings!

~Steph

Our Crazy Life

We are on the go again... Go Go Go!

Brandon and I have prayed over moving to a larger apartment (if we are to stay here in Richmond, which is up for discussion right now.) We feel that we are being led to move to a bigger apartment, to spread out a little and set up some roots. We found a great one, one complex over. The apartment is 1667 sq feet. It's a good bit larger, has more storage space, bigger bedrooms and a room that can be used as a school/playroom (while still leaving us a livingroom and a diningroom.) Right now our diningroom serves as our school room part of the day, and our closet under the stairs is where we store our toys. It's tight but we've made it work.

Another plus to the new apartment is that there is a playground for the kids, a very nice swimming pool and a kiddie pool, a 24 hour fitness room to work out in, and the apartment is a FLAT! After THREE (yes.. really three!) back surgeries, stairs are not very nice to me anymore and it would be a much larger issue if I end up delivering via csection. Another plus is that since the space is much larger we could potentially be approved to adopt again.

On a side note.. wanna hear a crazy cool God story? In December, I went through a major nesting/decluttering spree. I literally went through every drawer, every paper, every closet and cleaned things out. But I never came across our homestudy. And it grieved me. It kept me up at night. I tore the apartment apart a second time and STILL couldn't find it. Having a homestudy done was part of Xander's story. Plus I didn't want to pay for ANOTHER copy so we could have it updated at a later date. Updates are much cheaper than original homestudies.

The other night after Brandon and I discussed the new apartment and prayed.. guess what I found? Our homestudy... in a manila file folder, on a bookshelf that I use... every.single.day. I had cleared that entire shelf before and it wasn't there. Could this be a sign of things to come? Did I find it now because now we might actually be able to do something about it? Only time will tell... but I'm excited to find out!

We are being let out of our current lease without penalty, which is HUGE and totally a God thing. So everything is all set up for us to move March 20th.. right before our big trip in April. LOL It's how our life works, ya know?

And we've been busy with other things too. Brandon started a new shift this past Monday, with a new set of employees so that is taking some adjusting. I've been battling it out with the Social Security Office here and plan to return in just a bit for round 2. I'm gonna win this... if anything I'm a persistent person that doesn't give up very easily.

I've been doing our semi-annual clearance rack searching so I can save oodles and still have clothes for everyone. (More on that later!) I'm also trying to use up food in the pantry and freezer so that we don't have so much to move, scheduling the transferring of utilities, continuing homeschooling, growing a baby and keeping up with the housework.

Oh yeah.. and we are starting to pack, so we can unpack, and repack for vacation. Fun times!