Just plugging along this fall

I just wrote a long note to my aunt, and so I thought I would borrow from that for a little fall update. To answer your first question, we've heard nothing new on the adoption front. I have stopped calling our agency because their answer is always the same -- "we're doing our usual processes, working with birthmothers, placing babies. No, we don't have any feedback for you on how many times your profile book has been viewed, or what birthparents think of it." Once I had received that message for about 6 months straight, I just stopped calling. For the most part, I'm doing okay in the wait. It is disappointing to not yet have a baby, especially when we'll be with Shawn's extended family for Thanksgiving, and we had so hoped to be able to introduce a new family member to them. But there's nothing we can do about the timing, so we just carry on.

I did spend my Veteran's Day holiday this week organizing the nursery. I will post pictures soon because it looks so cute. I put curtain rods and eyelet window treatments up (still need pull down room-darkening shades); lined the new dresser's drawers with darling blue-flowered paper; washed everything that was washable, from baby bedding, blankets, towels, and all the darling little clothes we've been given--some new and some hand-me-downs; organized those things in the new dresser; and made up both the crib and the bassinet. So essentially we are now ready (except for the shades). I actually felt quite serene and peaceful as I did all that on Tuesday, so I think for now I am okay with continuing to wait for God's timing in this.

In the meantime, we are enjoying our darling new nephew, Trey, who was born to my sister Susanna on Nov 1. He was 7 lbs 3 oz and 2 weeks early. It was perfect timing, however, as my parents were up from Colorado Springs, so they were able to help us care for Susanna's older 2 Jaden (8) and Katie (7) and to meet little Trey just a couple hours after his birth. Susanna reports that he is sleeping great, and it's just a challenge sometimes to wake him long enough to eat. Susanna and all 3 kiddos stopped by Tuesday afternoon while I was home, so I got to see him again, while Susanna tried out my big rocker in the nursery. This weekend my mom and dad are coming up to take Susanna's older 2 out to lunch, then we'll gather at our house for a birthday dinner for my dad, and then my folks will spend the night with us and visit our church on Sunday.

We've been members of a small Anglican church for a couple of years. It's a close-knit church family with a real heart for reaching out to our neighbors-- we have a food pantry that serves a hot lunch every Sunday to the poor in our community. I'm on the church missions committee, and Shawn and I regularly participate in helping out with the service, such as greeting, reading scripture, running the audio-visual, etc. We're also part of a small group bible study from our church with some singles and some other couples. We took dinner to one couple last evening who has a new baby, and another couple is due in the Spring. Once our baby arrives, that will mean lots of little ones around our group.

Now that our major house projects are done for the year (kitchen counters, sink & faucet, and complete bathroom remodel) we're considering next year's projects. We need to do a lot of work on the sprinklers in the front yard, while the backyard needs to be scraped and completely redone, including a new sprinkler system, topsoil, turf, , filling in the old fish pond, working on the shed (painting exterior, cleaning interior, installing a door), and then a woodchip-filled area for a playground. That's a large project that may or may not happen next year. Eventually we also want to re-do the back bathroom near our bedroom and put in a nice deep soaker tub, but again, that may be a year or two off. Ah the joys of homeownership! :-)

On the work front, Shawn has been working as a Financial Representative since this spring and continues to build his clientele. He is licensed in CO, New Mexico (where his mom now lives), and DC/MD/VA where we used to live. We're going to the DC area for 10 days at the end of this month both for family time over Thanksgiving with Shawn's dad's family and for Shawn to begin to build his clientele in that area.

I just had another of my reports published, and am working on a new subject: reimbursement rates for indirect costs paid to research institutions under federally-sponsored research grants and contracts. I was in DC for an initial round of meetings last week, and will have more when I am there at the end of the month. I just keep plugging along until I get to start maternity leave, whenever that may be. I plan to take 6 months off, much of that unpaid, but my agency will continue to fund their part (3/4) of our health insurance premium during that time, which is a huge blessing. Once the 6 months are up, we either will have to fund the entire premium if I continue my maternity leave, or I will need to at least return to part-time work. We'll see where Shawn's income level is by that point to make a decision.

So that's all from here. I hope that all our friends and family blog readers are enjoying a wonderful fall, as we head into the joyous season of celebrating our Saviour's earthly arrival as a newborn baby. We look forward to sharing the thankfulness and hope of this season with many of you in the coming weeks.