Thursday, February 25, 2010

We are bookin'....

Airline tickets to Boston- check
Red Sox tickets- check
Omni Parker Hotel booked- check
Photographer booked- check

Do you remember my photographer problem the other day? Well after searching through at least 50 photographers in the Boston area, we have decided to go with Jaymes Leavitt. Not only does he do great work, but he is going out of his way to make this shoot awesome and unforgettable! I really appreciate all the work he is doing leading up to this shoot. Working in the photography business, I am very picky about who I actually have to pay for photographs, but Jaymes is already proving to be worth every penny! :) If you are ever in the Boston area, or if you live there, he is a "must use" photographer. I just now have to be patient for April to come. hmmm, yeah, that will be easy now. lol


Ok, that was fun news. In very sad news:


Please be in prayer for these orphans. Please also pray that God will open up some doors to allow us to adopt them. Why again can't we? UGH LOOK AT THE VIDEO! WHY IN THE WORLD CAN I NOT GIVE THEM A LOVING HOME? :/

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Wednesday I Wants

Yesterday I posted somethings I wanted from Fenway for myself.

Real quick: I want YOU to become a fan of my author facebook page, and for YOU to attend my book signing on March 20! (info on facebook page).

Here are things that I want right now for our future kiddos. Yes, I want to buy them NOW, but we are not sure the age, sex or NAME of our children yet! lol (ok we have names picked out, but they may be already named- depends on their age).
My friend Meredith has one of these for her precious little boy, and I knew I HAD to have them for my kids!!! IT'S JERSEY!!! Since we want a large family, what I might do is just get 2, one in red and one in blue- un-monogrammed- so that boys or girls can use them over time.

When I found Little Disciples, I about peed my pants!
When I found this one, I cried- in the store- I cried. Isn't it beautiful? Whenever we get tired when they cry, etc, we just have to read this. ♥
The one above is a must buy, and this one will be bought when we get a little boy- and depending on his age of course. :) LOVE IT!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

15 and Pregnant

Ok, I am not writing about a teenager who is with child. I am just in awe that I know 15 ladies who are pregnant! That has to be a record right? Oh, and I have a friend who is trying and another friend who will start trying this summer. Am I the only one who is not pregnant? LOL

I was praying for all my pregnant friends, but now, I am sorry but I just lift you all up as a group. 15 is a lot of girls to remember in prayer! lol But, one does get a special prayer since she is on bed rest. No fun!


In other news, I was online window shopping at the Red Sox souvenir shop yesterday. Here are some of my must haves/wants/needs. lol

Yes, I am crossing over to the dark side. I am getting a Red Sox SNUGGIE. In April, it will be about 50 degrees during the day, so at night in the uncovered Fenway park- it will be what, about 30 something? Yeah, that's cold! So I was advised to bring a blanket. I will just have to swing by the store there on Yawkey Way and pick this one up! :)


If you know me, you know I LOVE all things Cheetah/Leopard print, (I never know which one it is, I just like it). Normally I wouldn't like this cheetah print, (I am very particular about my prints), but I LOVE this hat! I wanted to get another Red Sox hat since the I one I have is a trucker hat so I have been on the look out. Yeah, I about had a heart attack when I saw this one. Too perfect, huh? :)

There are other"I want" items at the store, but I need to see if they are in stock first. So, I shared with y'all my two must have items. :)

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Wanna join us?

I CANNOT WAIT until we go to Boston!!!

Whenever I travel, I always am too afraid to ask people to take our pics, ya know? Well, I solved our problem- and I can't believe I never thought about this before! We are booking a professional photographer to do a shoot of us at Fenway and other historic sites! I am a genius, right!? ;)

I found a few that have reasonable prices, and emailed them Friday morning- I STILL HAVE NOT HEARD BACK FROM THEM! Umm, hello! I know from experience that photography is a very competitive market, so I am curious as to why I have not been responded to yet. I will give them a week- then I will look elsewhere.

I have 2 photogs here in Htown that I would love if they could accompany us to Boston- hence the title. Since I can't I have resorted to my search of Beantown photogs. Check out the Htown photogs Traci and Steve.

In my search for a photographer, I found one who had shots of Boston. Check them out here. This is not helping in my patience, but I can't help looking! I can't wait!
This is roughly our view at Fenway. We will be in the 7th row, so a little closer. The game may be weird being at eye level with the players' backs, but from these seats, we have a great view of the Green Monster, Pesky's poll, and the part of the park over home that says, "Fenway Park." :)

We CAN'T WAIT to see the Sox beat the Yanks! :)

Friday, February 19, 2010

This makes twice now...

That Jersey has bitten someone.

Jersey is THE sweetest dog in existence! I can even pry his mouth open and take food out of it without so much as a growl from him!

I have mentioned this before, but long story short- Jersey was traumatized by the Petco groomers. He still LOVES Petco, but he HATES all groomers or vets. It is very sad actually. Anyway, he bit a vet assistant one time cause he was so stressed out. It was his first official bite, and while he did not draw blood, it was a bite to cause pain/defend himself none the less. Not like him at all!

Well, yesterday, I had A at my house and we were watching movies and eating popcorn. Jersey kept trying to steal hers- he would sneak behind one of the hand chairs in the playroom to do so. I would get stern with him to stop and he would, but then temptation got the better of him and he ignored me.

Since he was behind the chair he was kinda wedged in there. I reached back to swat him our from behind the chair and he nipped me. Ok, no sir, you are getting out now! Well, when I reached down to pull him out, he bit me and punctured my hand. Ok, that's it! When I reached down again he bit me so hard that this occurred:
This is his second time to bite a person, first time to bite me, and his first time to break skin.

Now, it was really my fault. He had his leash on so I could have just tugged a little and he would have come out from behind the chair. But, I thought that pulling him up from behind it would stick with him better so he would learn not to do that anymore.

It looks like Mommy got the lesson today instead of her child.

I know I am not the first mom to do something like this, and I am sure that whether with your furry or human children you can relate. lol

{ps, Jersey is still the sweetest dog ever! I am not the least bit worried of how he will be with my children, so please do not let this incident deter you from bringing your little ones over for a visit- remember it was really my stupid fault anyway}

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Pain, Pain, Go Away

Ok, since March 2005, I have had chronic pain in my lower back. 2/3 weeks ago, I had pain in my leg- a tell-tale sign of a pinched nerve or something in the like.

I had an MRI last week, and I got the results yesterday. I have a bulged disc. Basically, a herniated disc would push on the nerve at all times. A bulged disc only pushes on it sparatically. Still painful but apparently it will go away. Now, I don't know what is causing the chronic back pain, or if it will ever go away. :/ Maybe this is my "thorn in my side."





In other news, my books signing is MARCH 20th, from 1-3 in Lake Jackson. Please let me know if you plan to attend, and know that I will be sending out more information and an official invite later. :)

Ok, so for my book signing and since it is 2 weeks before our anniversary, I wanted to get my hair done then. I am thinking about chopping my hair off again.
My hair is about this length at this moment. Except it is blonde and damaged so it has much more body. In this pic it looks really nice, now- not so much.
Here it is back in 2006, a little longer than it is now, and I am not a fan of it... are you?


I was thinking about chopping it again, and I want your opinion.

This was day one on my hair cut and it is really short... and styled by professionals.
This was not too long after the hair cut. I didn't do too much to style it, and I know it shows. So this is an example of this cut with a bad hair day. (oh and please excuse all my veins- no idea why they are all showing so much lol)
Here is a day I styled it myself, and I think it looks pretty cute.
My roots are horrible here, (they are worse right now lol), but here is another pic that I styled it myself.

So, if I can style it cute like the latter two pics, or even when I have a bad hair day like the second pic- do you think I should chop it again? :) Opinions appreciated!!!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

1,♥44

We have been married today, Valentine's Day, for 1,044 days! While I am so blessed to be loved by my amazing husband, I am so much more blessed to be loved by my Savior. Without knowing Him, I would know no love at all.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

"Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 3:35, 37-39

"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

"Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love." John 15:9



It is the most amazing thing in the world to know Christ, and I only know true love and happiness because He loves me. You too can know Christ if you trust Him and Him alone for salvation, repent of your sin and follow Him all the days of your life.

Seriously, it is that easy. However if you choose not to trust in Christ, y
ou are in BIG TROUBLE. If you trust in Christ you will go to Heaven, if you don't you will go to HELL! PERIOD! It doesn't matter how "good of a person you are." If you do not know Christ, then God will not know you!

If I have struck a nerve, or if you want to know more, feel free to ask! I want you to! I want everyone to go to Heaven. I do not want any of you to go to Hell!



" If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." Jesus -John 14:15

In light of the love of Christ, we can know love for our fellow brothers, and if we are blessed- then with our spouse too. ♥

Just a reminder to everyone, whether you apply this to your spouse or to your neighbor:

"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails...But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8,13

Saturday, February 13, 2010

FINALLY- Adoption News Revealed

So 2 weeks ago on Thursday, I mentioned some BIG NEWS on the adoption front. Well, it fell through. We were gonna get an angel or two from Haiti. With what happened with the Baptists in Haiti, the adoptions there has been put on hold for at least 2 years.

Then exactly 2 weeks to the day from that news, we got news about another Haitian adoption opportunity. That fell through too. It just seemed like too much of a coincidence that both Haitian opportunities occurred within 2 weeks of each other on a Thursday- ya know?

Well with the first news, it seemed like FOR SURE it was gonna happen. We were FINALLY going to be parents. It was quite a let down, but a blessing as well.

Ok, if you have been a faithful reader, then you know that for the better part of a year and a half+ we have been on again off again with the adoption process. Well we are FINALLY, TRULY beginning a domestic adoption!!! We were so excited to be parents to the Haitian angels that PK said we were gonna adopt NOW! :)

On Wednesday we began the paperwork, and I immediately became discouraged. THIS IS GONNA TAKE FOREVER! Then yesterday I got a calendar from the agency that took that discouragement away! Before our home studies, etc, we have to take classes, 11 classes. Yeah, can you see why I was discouraged? Well, the calendar showed me that we could get all 11 classes done in March, and we could begin the rest of the process in April. That is what I am talking about!!! :)

Lilypie Waiting to Adopt tickers Lilypie Waiting to Adopt tickers

The ticker on the left showed how long we have been waiting to begin the process. The new one on the right shows how long we will be waiting to have our baby come home with us. 3 days and counting- Lord willing, it will only get up to about a few months. ;) Though, I probably will still make a new one when we know FOR SURE when our baby(ies) will come home. :)

Right now I am sitting in the play room making a "Have fun baby making" gift for my friend who is TTC soon, and I am watching "Meet the Robinsons," dreaming about when our angel(s) will come home. :)

Please join us in prayer! Not much longer and Jersey will no longer be an only child ♥

Thursday, February 11, 2010

1 month, 3 weeks, and 3 days...

TILL THE BIG GAME!!! 1 month, 3 weeks, and 2 days till we leave for Boston! :) YEA!!!!

Since the game is on our actual anniversary, I wanted to look nice... like nicer than a tshirt. I bought this little number:

Pretty cute, huh? :) Well, they only had 2 sizes. I tried one and it did not fit at all, and the only other size would have been too big, so I sent it back.

Major bummer! UNTIL:
Cute enough, right?
OH YEAH BABY!!! On 4♥7♥07 I became a Keierleber! :) LOVE IT!!! Won't this look nice with these?!

Stay tuned for adoption news... ;)

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Something was missing...

From the playroom that is. Did you notice? There were no toys!! What kind of playroom is that?

The only toys I had were Beanie Babies, and one Spider Man Mr. Potato Head. hmmm...

Yesterday, I went and bought this cube cause I needed a place to put the Beanies and the future toys. I knew Lowes had these zebra cubes, so instead of just settling for solid color baskets at Target, I had to go to Lowes. So worth it though. :) The Beanie Babies are in the baskets, and Spider Man Mr. Potato Head in behind the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads. (Had to buy them at Target... 3 is better than one... now there will be no fighting over the lone spud). :) If you notice on the top left is a basket of food I bought a Walmart yesterday. Kids of all ages, boy or girl, love to play with food, so it was a must buy... and do you see the bowl on the far right...
Soft food!!! :) Had to buy these. Walmart has a clearance section, and that is where I found these babies, and this one too:
They are little lego like builders, but for kiddos 18 months and up! This was a steal, and if it wasn't it still would have been worth every penny!
Somebody is used to being the center of attention. When I was trying to get pics, he stepped in! lol
Scrabble board finally up on the wall where it belongs!! :) Do you notice the Chutes and Ladders adn Life scrapbook paper that are around it? :) {they are not officially put down yet, so they are crooked}

Oh, and we are looking into adoption agencies as we speak!!!!!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Play Room Revamp and Updates

Sorry I have been absent on here- I have been revamping the playroom all week, and this weekend we had winter camp with the youth. Winter camp was awesome! I got so much out of it, and will be working hard to implement it in my life!

No news on the adoption news from the other day, but we have other big news: if the BIG news falls through, we are still pushing forward with the adoption!!!! I got this phone call this morning, "Hey Honey. Today, can you run the dishwasher and {here I think, oh what else} start researching adoption agencies so we can get the paperwork done this week." Oh yes, this I can do!!! :) Lord willing, the playroom and kids' rooms will not be empty for long!!! Please keep us in your prayers!!!

Ok, without further adieu the revamped playroom:


TADAAA! I bought the blue "oops paint" on a whim, with the full intention of not painting above the scrapbook paper. Well, when it was all done, it looked weird without another color on top. PK picked the orange. If I could change it, I would put the orange on bottom and the blue on top, but oh well. This is supposed to be a fun room for the kids, and they could care less about which color is on top. :)
See the blank spot on the wall...
That is where this will go :)
Family rules- LOVE IT!!! I took VeggieTales paper and put 2 quotes on them: "God is bigger than the Boogeyman!" and "He's big, but God' bigger! With His help little guys can do big things too."
Still love my pom poms!
I remember when my sister, Tracie got these chairs and ottamans. I wanted them too, but she had more room for them in her room, and the colors went with her decor. I was a little jealous, but I got something that trip which you will see later... Aren't they so perfect for a playroom? :)
The bookshelf. I will be buying another one of these storage kits for the Beanie Babies I have.

I got this for free with purchase of the VeggieTales, "Minnesota Cuke and the search for Noah's umbrella." I didn't know what I wanted to do with it, but I think it looks nice on the tv. :)
When Tracie got the chairs, I got this lamp. Also perfect for a playroom, huh? :)
Another look at the scrapbook paper that started it all. Look above it... do you notice the border on the wall? Ok, so I am not in love with the border, nor would I have chosen to do a border but...

1. We ran out of orange paint and didn't want to buy another quart.
2. This border is a sticker- sooo easy to put up.
3. It was the only print that kinda went with the decor.
4. IT IS A PLAYROOM FOR THE KIDS!!! They don't judge decor, they just enjoy it! :)

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Baahston

Still no news to report on the adoption front.

Whether this adoption works out or not, we will still be moving forward with the process.

That being said, we reconsidered our anniversary plans. For those of y'all who don't know, we were gonna take a 7 day/6night vacay to New England, (3 days in Boston, 1 day in Philadelphia and 3 days in NY). This would entail 3 different hotels, two sets of train tickets, and PK taking off 5 days of work, (and being away from potential kids or at least Jersey for 7 days).

We decided to cut the vacay shorter, and just stick to Boston, (which is the place we were really the most excited about anyway). :) Just by doing this, we have already saved over $300, and PK will only have to take off 4 days of work. :) {considering if the adoption happens, we will have to buy crib(s), car seat(s), etc...so it is hard to justify spending so much on ourselves ya know?}

We will leave for Boston on April 6th and head home on the 9th. (We will arrive on the 6th in the morning, and leave on the 9th at night- giving us all day on all the days). 4 full days to explore Boston sound pretty great to us!

We are ready to go:

Plane tickets- check
RED SOX tickets- check
Hotel booked- check

We will be staying at the Historic Omni Parker House. We love history, and so that added to the draw of this hotel- it was built in 1855, and read below about Parker's restaurant for some cool history facts...

Being in New England, we knew we could walk everywhere... which would be a big money saver. The hotel had to be near the airport and other locations, especially Fenway! This one is located SO close to everything! Here are just a few things its website lists:

You can start the Freedom Trail when you step out of the hotel!

Old South Meeting House - 0.1 mi
Boston City Hall - 0.1 mi
Boston Common - 0.3 mi
TD Banknorth Garden -0.5 mi
USS Constitution Museum -1.1 mi
Bunker Hill Monument - 1.2 mi
Fenway Park - 2.1 mi

The airport 2.2 mi.

Cheers Bar (Bull & Finch Pub) – 4 blocks

"Boston Cream Pie, Boston Scrod, and, of course, Parker House Rolls all originated—and are still served—at Parker’s, the hotel’s renowned restaurant. John F. Kennedy proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier at Table 40."

Pretty cool huh? :)
We are hoping that our room has this view too! Pretty cool, huh? :) I believe that is the Hancock tower we are seeing up front... ?


Please still be praying over our adoption!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Lessons from Veggies, George and Gideon

Look below for a preview of the revamped play room- more pics soon! :)

On Thursday when I heard the adoption news, I spent the whole day in tearful worship of God; in awe of His love for me and His power- full of faith and hope. Now it is Monday and my hope is fading. Whether this works out or not, I will be ok. I know God is sovereign, and He has a perfect timing for our family. It is just the unknown that kills me. It is always the unknown that kills me. It always brings me hope, and then leaves me low like this.

I just want to know one way or the other.

I am watching my favorite VeggieTales to soften my hopelessness.
It shows us the story of George Muller. He had an orphanage in Bristol, England. Over 10,000 orphans have gone through his orphanage. He is one of our worldly heroes. He never asked for any kind of help, everything he ever had for the orphans came from God. It is an amazing story of trusting God!

Secondly, we meet Gideon from the Bible. He has to trust in God to defeat the Midianite army who are MUCH larger and stronger than the very small army he leads. My favorite part is a dialoge between Gideon and the angel:

Gideon: Do you ever have a hard time trusting God?
Angel: Me? No. I see Him every day. I know how glorious He is. I know He never breaks His promise... It's easy for an angel to trust God. But you have faith in something you have never even seen.


I know God is sovereign and He perfect plans for my life. It is just that if the adoption pans out it will be amazing display of His glory. I want it to happen almost so much just so I can say- "Look at what God did!"

Please pray for the whole situation... for all the orphans out there, for the orphans who will one day be ours, for us to be prepared as parents, and for my patience.