Random post referral thoughts!

The last week and two day have been some of the fastest, sweetest, and most stressful days of my life. I am sorry I have failed to write a post before now, but I will try to bring you all up to speed on our journey to sweet Baby M!

Adoption News:
~For my fellow "time line obsessed" friends, we waited 7 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days from D.T.E. to referral date!

~We received Baby M's medical file and more forms to sign on Wednesday. When the mail came at 3:00pm I was determined to get everything done so things could be back in the mail before 5:00. We both signed at least 30 documents (truly, we had to sign each page of the medical file), we answered essays, we ran to the bank to get something notarized, we transferred money, we sealed the envelope, and made it to the post office before 4:30!

~We have received so many kind notes and words of encouragement! Thank you to all of you! Being the cheesy momma that I plan to be, I have kept each kind word to share with Baby M at just the right time!

~We have realized that our adoption is very unique. We are adopting internationally and also domestically to some degree. We have spent much time talking with and praying for Sarah and Jack as they work through this grieving/ letting go process. My next post will be of prayer requests, and they will be a huge part of our requests. We care about them so dearly and we recognize they are experiencing great sadness, mixed with joy.

~Baby M is in great need of prayer... see my next post.

~We have begun the painting party! Baby M's room will have very classic boy colors. We opted for blue on top/cream chair rail/brown on bottom. We were going to make it blue and green, but decided he will quickly be a big boy and the brown might be more grown-up looking and also practical for covering little boy finger prints :)

~We have filled our fridge with sweet photos and shared them with family and friends. We are falling hard for this little guy we have cared about for so many months.

~This week we had a celebration dinner and took photo we hope to include in the welcome bag we are sending next week.

~I am going to *try* to resist calling our agency until October 8th. If I learn of other news before that date I will pass it along to you, otherwise, it might be a little wait for all of us!

Non-Adoption News, Why this easily overwhelmed woman is feeling stress:
~The Women's Bible Study I am leading started last week! I am very excited about the group of women, who don't know each other now, but I hope will get to over the fall. The beginning of a class (when you sort of write your own study) can be very stressful, but it is so worth it!

~Our church's new children's outreach ministry starts this Wednesday. I have a special role in the ministry. I run the welcome room. It would take a long time to explain it, but long story short, I share the gospel each week with all new children who come (and the friend who invites them). The children are in three groups. I am busy trying to write my 20 minute lesson for the 3 age groups! I am also excited about this, but will be thankful to have the prep work done.

~Our church's adoption ministry is having a huge family event at the beginning of October. This event is the subject of 20-50 emails I receive each day. I am thrilled to be helping with this, but it does add a level of stress to things. If you are curious about this, send me an email!

~Our house is still under construction. They are just finishing up little things, but it does seem to involve multiple men in my home daily!

~We still have no blinds on the windows, but hope to be taking action on that soon! I never realized what a private person I was until I was without window coverings.

~We are hoping our dishwasher will be delivered and installed next week. It is incredible how much time it takes to wash and dry dishes. Yes, I use a lot when I cook, but on average it takes a full hour each day. I will be SO excited when we have a new dishwasher! So. VERY.Excited.

~As mentioned above, we are painting both the nursery and the guest room! We have paint supplies trickling throughout the upstairs.

So as you can see, an abundance of very exciting, special, joyous things, can still lead to stress and cause me to lose sleep and suffer from total lack of appetite. We stand in awe of God with each thing. He is so great!