Detroit Bound and a little more...

The Tar Heels have made it to the Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament for the second year in a row! I am hoping that this team plays better (in this round) than last year against Kansas. Carolina plays Saturday night against Villanova. We will be in New Orleans this weekend so we plan to watch it there with our friends from Louisiana. They have lovingly joked that there will be a blackout there since Carolina beat LSU to advance to the Sweet 16. :)

After the win last night against Oklahoma, the boys were ready to set up our giant inflatable Ramses. It is OBNOXIOUS! The only other time we actually put this out was when Carolina won the National Championship in 2005 against the University of Illinois. That was mainly because two sets of our neighbors went to school there (U of I), and we had a friendly rivalry going on during tournament time.

Well, it was way too windy here in NC yesterday for us to even think about putting this thing outside, but we inflated it long enough for the boys to see it and to get a few photos!

And then tonight we were able to get Ramses out on the front porch...


As mentioned above, JC and I are leaving Thursday for New Orleans. We will be there for a dental conference until Sunday. JC’s parents and my Mom are being so generous and are keeping the boys for us while we are gone.

And last…I just wanted to say thanks to all of you who left kind and funny comments on my last post. I had such a good time writing that and laughing at myself. I am happy that most of you realized that and took the post for what it is.

It's All in Your Mind

"Age is a high price to pay for maturity." ~Tom Stoppard

Maybe it's because I am on the Eve of my Thirty Fifth Birthday - Yes, that's right...the big 3 5! - but I can't seem to stop obsessing about getting older! As my husband lovingly puts it...I will be in my "mid thirties"! Ugh! I've been hanging on to the fact that I was on the side closest to 29.99999999999 years than the side of 40 years of age! No more, 'cause after April 15th, I will be on the downhill slope toward the big 4 0!

Over the past couple of years, several things have started to change for me as I enter this stage of my life. Maybe you other ladies can relate.

For one thing, I am prematurely gray...yeah, I know I have shiny, black hair in my pictures! That's because I pay A LOT of money about every 3.5 weeks for "my girl" to cover those grays with Av*da hair color. If you have naturally dark hair like mine, I would highly recommend this type of salon for color. It is the closest to my natural hair color, and it does not lend itself to red highlights.

Second, I have "crow's feet"! Ugh! Where did those wrinkles around my eyes come from when I smile? I mean, seriously!!!

Both of these traits can be seen in the following photo of myself taken last fall...

If you look closely, you can see those grays in my part!

I digress...

Third, I have high cholesterol! My total runs about 240 without medication. My LDL is ~ 140, and all other "bad" components are low normal. My "good" cholesterol, HDL, is usually between 90-98. That is GREAT, but it pushes my total to abnormal levels. Therefore, I am on CRESTOR daily! That's right...we started with just about the biggest gun out there to lower my levels. It's working without any muscular side effects, though, so I will complain no more!

Fourth, I am still carrying around the baby weight that I gained with Jackson. Y'all all remember this post...yes, he did turn six YEARS old this past January! Why is it that everything I eat sticks to my lower half??? Two months after I had Brendan, I weighed less than I did when I got pregnant with him! And, I exercise A LOT - way more than I ever have in my entire life... atleast 3-4 days a week on the elliptical and 2-3 one hour Body Pump classes per week. I average burning about 2500 calories extra per week, but apparently my body is just accustomed to that now! Ugh!

And Last...speaking of all that exercise...my body is FALLING APART! My back hurts, both of my knees hurt, and most recently I've had some kind of left elbow strain. I got home yesterday, and my sweet husband had ordered me some Biofreez* - as he put it, "for my gimpy elbow"! SERIOUSLY??? Honestly, y'all, that stuff works! All of my patients at the nursing home swear by it; did I just type that???? Now I'm relating myself to my 80+ year old patients!!!!

This shows just a few of the medicinal agents that I use to combat my ailments! I also have a cool elbow brace, but I'll spare you all! (Did y'all know that I am a pharmacist???)

So maybe it is like "they" say: "Age is just a number." or "It's all in your mind." or "You're only as old as you feel.", but I've got some serious tangible evidence to support the fact that I am getting OLD! Ugh, again!

"Don’t let aging get you down. It’s too hard to get back up." ~John Wagner

Stay tuned...this is my 96th post already! I'm doing a giveaway for my 100th post!

Wordless Wednesday

I Heart Faces

Over at my Project 365 blog...Through Mom's Lens, I entered my first photo contest today. I have absolutely no chance of winning this contest, but I thought it was fun to participate. This contest is held once a week at I Heart Faces.

This week's contest was for a photo using No Flash. Since I am still on "auto" settings, this was a little hard, but I talked Jackson into helping me out!

Go check out my photo blog to see my entry!

Weekend Recap

Adoption Update First

Our paperwork was officially registered in St. Petersburg today by our agency representatives in Russia. We still have two additional forms to resubmit, but we are awaiting those to be forwarded from St. Petes as well.

Weekend Recap

On Friday we drove to Wilmington for a weekend birthday celebration! H turned SEVEN years old this year, and we had a Star Wars party Saturday night. Enjoy the following photos - warning: there are a lot!!!

Jackson's Thoughtful Thursday

College

So Jackson gets home from school yesterday, and he is very excited to tell me all about COLLEGE. He starts out by telling me that he is going to work hard at school so that he can go one day. I get all excited because Jackson is our happy, go lucky child. I'm not sure being the teacher's pet or being at the top of the class will be at the top of his "most important things list".

Anyway, he starts going on and on about how he learned all about college at school and how he really wants to go. He told me, though, that "the saddest thing about going to college is not being able to live at home with your parents"!!! Did you read that??? He thinks THAT will be the worst thing about going to college!!!!! Ok, sorry Mom, but that part was at the TOP of my list when I was a senior in high school! I'll let the verdict stay out on Jackson's theory. I'm sure my precious little boy will change his sweet, little, innocent mind one day!!! So I am grinning from ear to ear while I ask for more. I ask him what the best parts about going off to college will be. This is how Jackson answers...I wish I had this on tape. Reading it will not do it justice.

The best parts in Jackson's words:

"Well, you get to stay up late - like until 4 o'clock in the morning."

"You get to eat your dinner in your bed."

"There's about 4 weeks before you would get in trouble." - Not really sure what this means!!!

"You get to go to concerts and have roommates."

"You get to do whatever you want."

"You get to knock furniture off the roof." - Again...where is this coming from???

"You get to go to basketball and football games."

When he was telling JC about all of these things, JC asked Jackson a few follow up questions like "why do you go to college Jackson?" - His answers were "to have fun" and "you get to go because you grow up." Seems reasonable to me. And then JC asked, "what do you do at college?" and Jackson answered...

"Well, they do have classes, but you can play tennis or air hockey there." Looks like my son is already playing down the academics part!!! It's gonna be a LONG 13 years I can see!

And there you have it: College through the eyes of a Kindergartner!

Wordless Wednesday: JC and Our Goddaughter

Update

Just as expected...

Our adoption agency called today. We have to redo our "Request to Search and Identify a Child" form for St. Petersburg. This will be the 4th time that we have redone this form.

We also have to sign a Power of Attorney allowing the agency representative in Russia to present our paperwork on the 24th. Yep - that's in 7 days!!!

I will be hand-delivering these documents to the agency on Thursday. Let's hope they get them to Russia ASAP!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Y'all!

A Taste of Emma's Room

Before Church this morning, JC put together Emma's crib. It is the same crib that we used for Brendan from 2001 to 2003. Since Brendan was only 20 months when Jackson was born, we had two cribs for a short while. I must admit that it feels a little odd having a crib set up in our house again, but it's a good feeling...a feeling like we are one step closer to Emma coming home.

Cyndi at Waiting for Lilly Rae asked me about the colors we are using in Emma's room since I just posted about the PB Kids matelasse crib bedding yesterday. I thought I would share a few elements that we already have in her room with you all today. Enjoy the photos...

This is the fabric that we will be using for draperies. My MIL is making these for us! Thank you!!!

This is the soft pink chenille rocker that we have in Emma's room already:


I have already posted this photo, but below is a wall monogram in chocolate that we will hang at some point


Here is the sleigh crib in white that we are using



I found this cute little table at Pier 1 Imports this winter:


This is the rug we are using, and it also came from PK Kids


I also found a cute little shabby chic wooden frame in lime green and pink at TJ Ma*x. I added Emma's monogram using a transfer method used in scrapbooking.



and last, I ordered this custom tassel from this very talented lady. I have it hanging from a delicate lamp that I purchased at T*rget.

I hope you've enjoyed this little tour of Emma's room. It is not officially complete just yet. I will post more photos from the finished room later.

Dossier Presentation

I heard from our adoption agency yesterday that all of our amended paperwork is on its way to Russia. The agency representatives in St. Petersburg will present our Dossier to the Russian officials on March 24th. If we get approved we can start making arrangements for our first trip over to meet our little girl. I asked our coordinator about the timeline for our paperwork being approved, and all that she would tell me is that the St. Petersburg region is "very difficult". I think this means that we shouldn't get our hopes up, and that more than likely there will be more paperwork that has to be redone before we are approved to move forward with our adoption. Please say a little prayer for us that everything goes smoothly!

On another note, I won this crib ensemble on eb*y today:

It is trimmed in light pink and consists of the crib skirt, bumper and a fitted sheet. I don't think we'll need the bumper, but this set is now sold out at PB Kids.

Hope y'all are having a great weekend.

Seeking Leprechauns

My boys have been very excited about St. Patrick's Day. Jackson has come home each day this week telling stories about the sneaky little leprechaun that he has in his kindergarten class. The students have not spotted the leprechaun yet, but he pulls pranks and leaves them notes. Last year, Brendan made a leprechaun trap in his first grade class, and he assured Jackson that he could remember how to make another. So this afternoon, we made leprechaun traps baited with gold glitter and rainbows.

Enjoy the photos...maybe, just maybe, we'll catch one of those sneaky little guys!

Back to Reality

I am back from Atlanta. We all had a great time catching up. It had been almost five years since all four of us had been together, but it felt like yesterday. When we left, we all promised to make this a yearly visit and not wait so long again!

Aside from the time changing this week, life is starting to get a little crazy here. Like so many of you have already mentioned, spring sports are starting, and we are very busy! Brendan has little league baseball practice on Tuesdays and Saturdays and games on Sundays. Jackson has soccer practice and games on Wednesday nights. JC has basketball starting at the YMCA in 2 weeks, and that will be two nights a week! YIKES!!! Somehow we will have to fit the rest of life in somewhere.

I am very excited about this spring though, and I know that it will fly by once we settle in to our new routine with the boys!!!

Girl's Weekend

I am going to Atlanta this weekend to visit my college roommates and one other girlfriend! The weather is supposed to be perfect!!!

I hope y'all have a fabulous weekend too!

Adoption Update

Since we received "the call" one week ago yesterday, we have been busy completing paperwork specific to the St. Petersburg region. These amended documents were notarized and apostilled, and they were Fed Exed back to us today. Tomorrow I will send these to our agency, and they will forward these documents to St. Petersburg for approval. Once approved, we can make arrangements for our first trip over. As most of you know, when adopting from Russia, parents have to make at least two trips. On the first trip, we will be able to meet our little referral, and we will sign paperwork stating that we want to adopt her specifically. At that time, our chances of completing the adoption increase. Once we sign those papers, only a blood relative may come forward to claim parental rights to our referral. Before the first trip, we could still lose her to another Russian family or to the foster care system. We are hoping to be able to travel toward the middle to end of April. My birthday is April 15th! What an awesome birthday present that would be for me, if I do say so myself!

I ask for your prayers as we anxiously await the delivery and approval of this very important paperwork. We also continue to pray that this little girl (whose face has already captured our hearts) will someday soon be a part of our family!

Wordless Wednesday - Ammunition

The Pull of the Ocean

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds on in its net of wonder forever."
~Jacques Yves Cousteau

With all of the rain and snow and cold weather, I am ready for the summer more and more. I came across this quote today, and I love it. There is something so magical about the ocean and the beach to me. It is my safe place...it is where I would choose to live my life if we could move. Maybe one day I'll win the lottery...if I do, the VERY FIRST thing that I would buy would be my very own beach house!!!

One very hopeful bit of information though...Daylight Savings begins in just 5 days!!!! I will be so happy for the sun to shine just a little longer each day!

Snow Day

The rain finally turned to snow around 8pm last night. The boys went to bed with their plantation blinds open so that they could see the snow coming down. This morning we awoke to five to six inches of snow! Both of my guys were very excited. We kept them indoors until about 8am, and then they were ready for the first round of playing in all that white stuff!!!

Enjoy the photos:









After a morning of play, both boys were excited to enjoy homemade snow cream! Thanks for the recipe Kristen!