Easter Camping 2012

Just returned from our annual Easter camping trip. It was SO MUCH FUN! I love this tradition. Husbands and babies have been added over the years and we have many more little munchking that will be added next year too! It was so much fun getting to spend time with some of the most important people in the world to me. It was also fun getting to watch my wonderful friend Roxanne be a mommy to her two little girls. She is such an inspiration to me of what a Godly christian Mommy looks like!! I don't get to see her much so everytime I see them it seems like her girls have grown like crazy!!
We got some great swimming, hiking, talking, laughing, eating, and sleeping in (maybe just Lance and me) and I am already counting down the days until next Easter. We counted and we are anticipating 9 kids next year!! Can you say craziness!! I think so! Can't wait. There have been very few events where I have been able to say, "Jane will be here next year" but I do think she will be here by next Easter. I cannot wait for her to jump into this family tradition!

We missed the Blackburns, Campbell's and Goforths! Our group was a bit smaller this year, but it was also great to have some good "catch up" time with the Bradford fam!! Next year we will all be back together again! Can't wait!! :)

Max in his "cage" playing

Rox and her little Cameron

Betho enjoying some coffee

Cody playing with the munchkins

Lance loving on little cameroonie

Me and the little silly monster

Best friends for over 15 years!! Love these girls so so so much!!

#32 or #33 I don't know :)

I posted #33 on facebook and #32 on here. I was told on the phone #32 and was told on the official email list #33. Who knows! But I have been asked to keep some people updated right away hehe so thats where we are! :)
On a different note, I am SO pumped about Max's first birthday. A good friend of mine reminded me to soak up all these nephew moments, because no matter how much I want to, I won't be able to spend as much time with him once Jane is here. I'm trying hard to stop and enjoy the life that I am living at this very moment. Trying to soak up as much maxwellie time as I can, and just overall time with Lance and my family. I don't want to wish away any phase of life, because once it is over it is over.

I am bad about this. I am the kind of person that thrives on change, I love moving, changing jobs, redocorating the house, and doing anything else that provides something "new". But there have been definite times in my life when a chapter has ended and I have thought..."Man I wish I would have stopped and enjoyed that time".

So that is my goal. I have a suspicion that God has some big stuff planned for the Agan family and I can't wait to see what it is. But right now I need to thank him every day for the happy, neat and tidy peaceful little life that I am living now. :)

#32

We are now #32. Not the most exciting thing ever, but better than not moving at all right! I had a long phone conversation with our agency and here is what I got as far as waiting goes right now.

She said that the the people waiting for infants that are about to be matched have been waiting for 9 months. All southern Ethiopian Orphanages are shut down and that has caused a bit of a slow down. She said that our dossier arrived and we were officially placed on the waiting list on Feb. 18th. So, if we are going by the notion that our wait should be no longer than 9 months we are looking at 7.5 more months of waiting. I was told that some months they have an influx of children and that some months they only have 2-3 come through which was the case this month. She said at times they have 10 referrals a month so we could drop from #33-#23 in one month. She said it is hard to give exact numbers b/c you never know how many children on any given month are going to come into the orphanages and be "adoptable". SO in a nutshell, if we have 7.5 more months to go we are looking at being matched with a baby in Oct-Nov. It could be sooner I suppose too. She did say that she had a family that was #20 and got a referral the next week b/c they got so many babies in. This is not typical however, I am not going to underestimate the power of prayer!! Please join us!! :)

Adoption video :)

I think we figured out how to post our adoption video. Here is our story so far! Can't wait until we can finish this story!! :)

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Glue

One of my VERY best friends had a baby today. I got on facebook and saw her little girls face and just started crying at my desk. The tears were 100% tears of joy for her! Carli and I were each others glue, keeping the other one together for the two grueling years we were in grad school. God made us friends when Lubbock was so far from all that was familiar to me. And we became instant friends.

Two years passed and school ended. We both went through some really hard fertility stuff and continued to be each others glue keeping the other together through long phone conversations, letters and prayer. Carli continues to be my "glue friend" with my current circumstance and our adoption.

She can empathize because she has been there and she knows just the right thing to say ALL the time because she has lived it in her own life! I have to believe that God puts us in situations so that we can empathize and serve as others GLUE when we feel like we are going to fall apart!!

I thank God for this sweet friend! I am glad God chooses to place just the right people in our lives at the right time!!

Congrats Lance, Carli and baby Layne!!! We love you down here in Houston!!!

Adoption video disaster!

So I made a really cute video of our adoption so far, spent like 2 hours messing with the pictures and then posted the URL on here. I came back to the blog a few minutes later and realized that when you went to my video it took you to my account and revealed my credit card information!!! GEEZ!! That is scary. So now my cute little video is gone. So sad. Hopefully I can figure out how to get it back up here. The site wouldn't even let me download without a $3.99 per month membership. Thinking I wasted 2 hours! :) Oh well, happy Monday!

Something New A-Z

A is for age: 27 Today! Choosing to be happy b/c I am NOT getting old....right!?
B is for breakfast today: Cup of coffee
C is for currently craving: Cheeseburger.....always a craving!
D is for dinner tonight: Don't know. Hubbies are taking me and Betho out for a surprise birthday weekend!
E is for favorite type of exercise: Swimming!
F is for an irrational fear: Roaches....can't handle them!

G is for gross food: Shrimp.....been trying to like it for 20 years...thinking it's never gonna happen!
H is for hometown: Missouri City
I is for something important: My Family!

J is for current Jam: I am loving Hillsong United right now

K is for Kids: Waiting for our little Ethiopian angel, Jane Jordan, to be home with us!!

L is for current Location: Sugar Land

M is for most recent way you spent money: Starbucks birthday coffee for Betho....we don't go all out for each others birthday's hehe!

N is for something you need: Help painting my bathroom and landscaping the back yard!!
O is for occupation: Speech Language Pathologist
P is for pet peeve: People with a victim mentality and people who drive under the speed limit!
Q is for a quote: Well this is a verse, but it is what I strive to base my life on......"Love one another, share in each others burdens, and actively encourage one another in the body of Christ. Reach out to the lost and care for the down trodden".
R is for random fact about you: I have to have a cup of ice water AND a cup of coffee at my desk every single morning or my day is thrown off! Seriously.
S is for favorite healthy snack: Bananas
T is for favorite treat: The rare Saturday that Lance and I can sleep in and then go out to breakfast in our sweats and eat pancakes and drink coffee!!
U is for something that makes you unique: Our "first born" will be an Ethiopian....and I am an identical twin.
V is for favorite vegetable: Celery...I think that is a vegetable.
W is for today’s workout: Nada......it's my birthday so I think I can skip! However, not sure what my excuse was yesterday ;)
X is for X-rays you’ve had: Just had one of my lumbar spine.....I have had HORRIBLE lower back pain for six straight weeks and still no answer to the pain. HELP!
Y is for yesterday’s highlight: Went to my first ever movie by myself and snuck Chik-fil-a and water in in my purse. Sat in the back row and sunk into the comfy seat for 2 hours after a REALLY physically demanding day at work. I loved it! :)
Z is for your time zone: central