Update...

It is the last day of the month and I just realized that there are no pictures of my kiddos for the entire month of July. Sorry guys...I've been so busy with move related stuff that I haven't uploaded anything in a while. Honestly, I haven't taken many pictures this month to share. I've back dated the month with posts and pictures. Chronological order is necessary for my sanity so you'll have to scroll through July to see them. Now, you are up to date with the Wombles.

Where's Waldo...revisited...

I went upstairs to wake Waldo from his afternoon slumber and found this. Where's Waldo? Where could he be?





Who needs a bed when you have a floor full of pillows?

Eliza's big debut...

Months ago, I asked you to pray for a little girl named Eliza. For a little recap, Eliza was born in Guatemala. Her adoption hit a little bump early on with a missing document. Then, all of the looming Haque Convention changes jeopardized her homecoming near the end. I posted the good news here on our blog when she exited PGN in May and we all celebrated an answer to prayer. Eliza arrived home on June 7th completing the Jones party of 6...joining a Daddy, a Mommy, the Big brother, the Bigger brother and the Biggest brother of all!

I have been making little movies for various reasons over the past several years. I considered adding this to my Peekaboo business and asked Ashley (my friend & Eliza's Mommy) if she would be my guinea pig. She agreed. Fast forward two months... I finally finished Eliza's movie just in time (and I mean JUST IN TIME) for her Welcome Home party on Sunday. With her Mommy's permission, I present "The Journey to Eliza". Just click the play button, sit back, relax and find the nearest Kleenex box (or atleast it was required at my house). Feel free to leave comments for Eliza and her family. I know her Mommy will be happy to know we are all celebrating along with them.

Of course, I am happy to discuss all things adoption with anyone who would like to know more. Of course, I am sure you already knew that, didn't you?

Crazy Busy Busy week...

The past week and two days has consisted of moving, cleaning, purging and unpacking. I am still trying to find my "place for everything and everything in it's place" but I know it will come. Now that I have internet again, I am debating window treatments among other less than blogworthy decisions you care nothing about. Seriously, do you REALLY care which fabric I choose? Probably not, though I may have to take a few polls in the next few weeks if I stay true to my indecisiveness. Classic MMW, isn't it?

They're alive! They're alive!

First, I HATE COMCAST! I have nothing nice to say about any of them EXCEPT the nice guy named Matt in the Nashville call center. He just made my day. The morons, OOPS, I mean intellectually challenged, technical support people in the other six call centers haven't been quite as sharp. Ironically, my own computer genius brother-in-law happens to be a Matt also. Must come with the name or something...
We are here. We are in. We are almost unpacked. I'll be back later for a few pics and a quick recap of our week. Here's one for a good chuckle...

(Sitting at the table enjoying a wonderful spaghetti dinner. J sprinkles something in his hand over my salad)

Mommy: Thanks for the cheese J
J: That wasn't cheese. It was a booger.

Please try to contain yourself...

Blessed...

29 years ago today, I made my entrance into the world at 1:20 pm. When I was a little girl, my Mother would always tell me the story of the day I was born on my birthday. I remember rolling my eyes and thinking here we go again when she would start the "___ years ago today at this time I was ___". Now that I am a Mother myself, I catch myself doing the exact same thing when I think of the birth days of my own children. Funny how you don't always "get it" until you experience it yourself. I'm sure they will some day roll their eyes at me too.

I started my day with a Happy Birthday doughnut. My hubby loaded up our kids at 7 AM so J could pick out a special doughnut for my birthday breakfast. I spent my day completing a project for a very special little girl, unpacking boxes, eating dinner at my favorite restaurant with my husband and children and enjoying a piece of chocolate pie curled up on the sofa my hubby. Nothing fancy or extravagant, but it was perfect. Thanks to all of you who called to send me good wishes. My sweet friend Molly even said she was so glad that I was born. That must be the sweetest Happy Birthday voice mail I have ever received!

Normally, a poignant post on what it means to turn 29 would be in order here. I could search for the perfect words to describe how I feel OR I can let this say everything my heart feels about my life at this very moment. The video is a little cheesy but the words are perfection.
My favorite part:
When I'm singing my kids to sleep...when I feel you holding me...I know, I am SO blessed...and I feel like I've found my way...I thank God for all I've been given at the end of every day...I have been blessed...

Our new neighbors...

If they are flying south for the winter, it's a little early. This LARGE family of geese arrived about the time we did and have been hanging out in the backyard most every morning since.

J: Mommy, those geese are rude
Mommy: Why?
J: Because I said hello to them and they didn't talk back
Mommy: Honey, they probably didn't understand you
J: Yes they did, I can speak geese
Mommy: Oh yeah? How do you speak geese?
J: Like this...QUACK QUACK QUACK...QUACK QUACK QUACK (as he looked straight at them as if having a real conversation)

Out of the mouths of babes...

Spaghetti Night...

"MMMMM"...said very quickly in a deep voice. "MMMMM". "MMMMM". From the looks (and the sound) of it, I think Spaghetti night was a winner this time.

a Welcome Home surprise...

This was a surprise house warming gift from the mortgage company. They called to ask if they could send a delivery on Wednesday. I expected it to be a nice house plant. You know, the kind of plant that will die in my house because my thumb is so brown. Well, imagine my surprise when I met this at the door. Isn't that the cutest idea ever? I thought this place sold decorated birthday cookies. Apparently, they make lots of cute things for many different occassions. For those who care, they were quite tasty too! I see these in my gift giving future.

There's no place like home...

Adios to the four big hefty moving dudes and the truck they came in...they were our heros. Home...it's a great place to be!

Monkey See...Monkey Do...

How do two children entertain themselves the week of a big move when most of their toys are packed?

Quick Update...

This week has been a nightmare to be quite honest. At this point, it looks like we ARE going to close on Friday. Ceiling has been inspected and repaired. Island was inspected and cleared. Lighting was inspected and cleared. Hardwood floors, well that's a different story. Hardwood contractor says leave it alone and be patient. (Obviously he doesn't know me very well). He doesn't think it's bad enough to warrant an entire replacement of all the floors. He is pretty sure that with time most of it will lay back down. At that point (3-6 months from now) they will come back and sand/stain/poly the area. I have a hard time believing that it is going to repair itself. Then again, I know nothing about hardwood floors. So, my darling husband has decided we should go with the hardwood guys recommendation, move in and wait it out. I go on record saying I think we are going to regret this decision in the next six months. In this case, however, I will gladly be wrong and my husband right. Gladly.

The above photo is for Kara and Sonja. I, like most people, have no photographs of myself with a frustrated/hacked off face. I'm sure it would include raised eyebrows, huge eye balls and my hands on my hips. Or at least when J imitates me that's what he looks like. Anywhoo, I decided that I probably looked like George half the week and the baby the other half. I looked for a picture of Condi just for you Sonjie but nothing quite fit. This was the best political icon face I could find. To Kara, you were right, this photo does bring out a little chuckle. A little comic relief is not a bad idea after this week. Thanks for the laugh. It's amazing what you can find on google when you search "angry frustrated face".

I am now officially on blog hiatus until after the move. Catcha on the flip side...

Laughter...

Is there anything sweeter than the sound of laughter from your babies?

It's my bloggy and I'll cry if I want to...

If this were not my family blog I would probably be inserting a few ugly words right here. Instead I'll just insert this: !@#$%%^*$^@$*%>":#*@$@&*$#%&@*#!@#*%&$%#. Translation: I AM SO MAD RIGHT NOW I THINK I COULD HIT SOMEONE!!!!!!!!!! I can't recall ever hitting a real person but today might just be a milestone. Moving date is indefinite at this point. Little plumber boy who hooked up the upstairs toilet didn't even CONNECT THE PLUMBING!!!!!! So, there wasn't a trickle of water...there was an outrigth SPRAY of water!!!!!!!!! Apparently, our GC thinks we should wait it out to see what's going to happen before we decide what to do. Hmmm...a damaged ceiling and bumpy hard wood floors...I don't think they are going to fix themselves. They clearly aren't thinking this is such a huge problem. You know, because it doesn't matter to THEM if our life is put on hold until they get their stinkin act together. It doesn't matter that every day we delay closing at this point it is costing US money. They could care less that everything about our life has to be rearranged until further notice. Hey, let's just let wooden floors and sheetrock dry naturally (AKA TURTLE SPEED) for who knows how many days before we assess the damage and formulate a plan. That sounds like a great idea. I'm sure in a few DECADES this will be comical, but today, it is NOT. It is REALLY NOT. I guess the Womble's drew the short straw again. OK, vent over...well atleast for now anyway. I have a feeling I'll be back.

P.S. Aren't you all glad I am venting on my blog instead of calling and yelling in your ear? Just consider it the only gift I can muster up today.

Houston, we have a problem...

A water leak five days before closing...not good. I am sick about it but I think/hope/pray that once things dry out it won't be as bad as we think. We'll know more tomorrow after the ceiling leaks all of the water. It was looking better tonight so hopefully it will continue to improve. Hopefully! Long story short, someone turned on the main water supply on Saturday and forgot to turn it off. This afternoon at 3 pm some people were looking in the windows and discovered a nice little rain storm INSIDE our kitchen. The culprit...a leak from the upstairs bathroom. The water was leaking through the ceiling and island light fixture onto the island and the newly poly'ed hard wood floors. My beautiful hard wood floors... AHHHHHHH! Can you say a little frustrated? Once you get past the ceiling photo, I threw in something without stress to show for the day. This is pretty much the final pic of the outside. Not much will change outside after today though we are not sure when we'll be able to inhabit the inside at this point. But hey, let's look on the bright side, at least we found out today and not two weeks from now. I would have been beside myself if I woke up to a wet sofa or a warped dining room table. Now that would certainly bring out the ugliness in me. I'll keep you updated.

To my friend...you know who you are...

This week a very dear friend of mine made a HUGE life changing decision. Through much prayer and research, she and her husband have decided to leap into the world of adoption. I will not mount my adoption soapbox today, no time for that. I just wanted to leave this for her as I know she checks our blog daily. (She will remain nameless at this point so please don't ask me who it is.)

To my sweet friend...I am so thrilled for you and your family. BEYOND THRILLED!!!! I promise you I'll be here to listen for how ever long it takes. I'll be the one cheering you on and supporting you in whatever way I can. I'll be the one filling up your Inbox with all up-to-date adoption info (Oh, wait I already do that). And you can bet your lucky stars that I'll be the one at the airport with the BIGGEST WELCOME HOME SIGN YOU HAVE EVER SEEN when you bring your sweet baby home. You can count on every word.

This prayer is from "The Complete Book of International Adoption" and it certainly speaks from my heart.

PRAYER FOR ALL CHILDREN

I pray that all children will be loved for who they are, for no reason other than that they are.

I pray that all children will be loved as first best, not second best, and that they will be loved with an intensity that can move mountains, because life will present plenty of mountains that will need to be moved.

I pray that all children will have someone who will
....seek them, and only them, out of the crowd on the stage
....push them to reach for their goals and discover their unique gifts
....hold them accountable for their actions with love and dignity
....advocate for them through this maze called life
....explain the unexplainable, and
....smile when they walk into the room, just because they did.

Mostly I pray that all children will have someone who knows them well enough and loves them deeply enough to see the divine spark that is unique to them.

I pray that this be the birthright of all children throughout the world. And since the birthright can only be fulfilled by parents, I pray that each child, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, finds their parent and each parent finds their child.

Thanks God.
Amen.

Here's to your family finding the child that God has already chosen just for you. I love you friend and Congratulations!

A crazy crazy week...

This week has been crazy. We've been dealing with last minute details for the house. No photos to share but hopefully I can take some today or tomorrow. We're getting closer...