My Celebrity Look-Alikes

http://www.myheritage.com

How fun is this! I tried a picture with Dan and I wearing hats and it came out that both of us looked like Billy Bob Thorton! :)

Go Tigers!!

I am so excited to see the Tigers going to the World Series tomorrow! I grew up in the Detroit area and have been a fan of the Tigers forever. The past decade or so, they haven't been too exciting to watch, but boy are they hot now! My grandpa was the biggest Tiger (or baseball for that matter) fan I have ever met. He watched the Tigers religiously most of his life. He could tell you story after story about them. A few years ago, he pointed at the game we were watching together and said, "Inge.. he's gonna be good." Well, sure enough, grandpa was right, Inge is VERY good! :)
Oh, how I wish Grandpa could see the Tigers this year. He would be glued to the T.V. tomorrow. Unfortunetly, grandpa passed away suddenly last year. To know him was to love him. So, I say, Grandpa this ones for you! Go Tigers!!!

Yeah! Gifts From My Awesome Secret Pal!

How fun is this! My secret pal sent me a cookie pops pan. You make cookies on a stick! Lauren and I will have so much fun with these! Attached was a personalized "Moon Cookie" recipe card. (She has always added special touches in her gifts).

The book by Amy Tan, "The Moon Lady" was also included! The book is illustrated so vibrantly, I can't wait to cuddle up with Lauren and read it to her. My secret pal even inscribed inside the cover, "To Lauren Love, Mommy's Secret Pal". I will always look at that and think of these rare, special "waiting" months and how fun this secret pal exchange has been.

Well, I'm off to bed to read my new book, Goodnight!
Mardi

Becoming Parents....it's a wild, well worth it, ride.

I'm a huge fan of roller coasters and I love the feeling you get in your stomach when you drive on hilly roads... but lately I have been getting that feeling in my stomach just sitting still...and I feel like I am on the never ending roller coaster. :)

It's an amazing thing... becoming parents. There are definite up's and down's. I feel the up's whenever I am with my nephew Gavin. His smile is infectious and when he hugs you, there is no feeling like it. I can only imagine the day Lauren says "mommy" for the first time, or when she reaches out to me for a hug. I am not normally a person who tears up easily , but when I read of Gotcha days on other blogs or think of Lauren in my arms for the first time, tears flow.

I see the hard times of parenting when I see the lack of sleep on my co-workers faces who have been up all night with there little ones, hear a screaming child in a store, or a teenager rolling her eyes at her parents.

There are days when Dan and I talk excitedly about our future and vacations, trick or treating, daily life with our little Lauren. Then at times I am reminded that we will be going from double-income-go-anywhere-anytime....to single-income-watch-Barney-one-more-time.

Yet, my friends who had a baby with colic and didn't sleep for a year are expecting for the second time now. And we are saying, yes, let us on this roller coaster journey with unlimited unknowns. Becoming parents, it's truly a wild, well worth it, ride.


As all is quiet in Adoption, bloggy land, I thought I would share my thoughts lately.

Horray We're Half Way!!

Today marks 7 months since our L.I.D. !! We are being told the wait is 14 months from L.I.D....so that means we're half way to Lauren!!

On a side note: Check out Steph's awesome new online adoption store at www.cafepress.com/jiinkinkids

A Wonderful Birthday Weekend

What a wonderful husband I have. It was my 33rd birthday yesterday and Danny surprised me with a weekend away in Flagstaff. We started our trip with a 7 mile run on the beautiful Arizona Trail. As we ran, we saw a group of Antelope ahead and since our trail was winding, we kept running into the same group several times. I'm sure they thought,"hey, we're trying to nap here!" This is us on the trail. The Tree's were beautiful in full fall bloom.





We then checked into our hotel in Flagstaff and a tray of wine, cheese, and grapes was brought to our room just before dinner. So nice!



This is our chef at dinner. We had sushi and Tepanaki. We also had the craziest Tapanaki chef I have ever seen! :) He not only set a huge flame at our table, but he outlined our table and the one next to us with fire! We were surrounded by a fire ring! It was amazing!


My Japanese birthday cake. :)





To cap off a wonderful weekend, we went hoseback riding this morning. It was beautiful. I always say, if I could live life again, I would be a rancher. Horses are such beautiful animals. It's so therapeutic any time I spend time with them. We hope to own a few someday. We always joke that since we had "Lauren" and "Steven" picked out as our children's names. We will adopt Lauren and name our first horse Steven. :)