random little bits

Things are getting done around here. Thank you, fellow bloggers and adopters for all your encouragement and support. I got some good things from you guys! For instance, I'm officially setting a goal. I kinda had one in mind but only because our agency requests that you finish your dossier paperwork in 4 months. But now, I'm officially claiming to the world (or at least the www) that I want to be done with our homestudy paperwork and dossier paperwork by Valentine's Day. Then hopefully we can get our home visit done by the end of February and mail off our stuff by March 1. I know those are some pretty big goals, but I'm feeling a pretty big amount of love and determination lately.

My sweet friend Angela is going to be induced with baby no. 2 tomorrow morning. I missed my weekly phone call from our agency because I went with her to her last doctor's appointment. But I'd sent an email to Julie letting her know, and this is what she wrote back: "Thanks so much for letting me know. I hope you have a great appointment—this is exciting—you are both pregnant! :) " And yep, I'm starting to feel that way a little.

I couldn't sleep last night and so I did what everyone does at that point...I prayed. Go ahead and admit it. You're just lying there and all of a sudden you say, "Lord, I'd really like to go to sleep now, so whenever you're ready, feel free. Oh, and while I've got your attention....blah blah blah." It's ok, He understands. I fall asleep most nights saying my prayers but last night's seemed so different. I'd had lunch with some friends who all have babies/little ones and they were asking all about Ethiopia and adoption, etc. When really forced to think about the suggested timeline, I think we could have our little one home for Christmas, even with the court closure. Yippie! It's not so far away.

I know that I am often overwhelmed by all the paperwork and precise expectations about paperwork and that gets me down. Well, maybe it just slows me down. But then I realize that the speed at which I do my paperwork doesn't change the fact that God knows exactly who He has picked to be part of our family and that it all works out in His time. Thank goodness for that.

My hubband* and I still cannot agree on a girl's name. We just know too many people who beat us to having kids. I'm not kidding you when I say that everytime we agree on something, one of our friends steal the name before we get to use it. This has happened more than once. No joke. So if anyone out there has some good suggestions that you're not using, let me know. Thanks.

*Hubband is not a typo. That's his little nickname. It's a new vernacular that I'm trying to spread around, so if you want, feel free to use it with your hubband. : )

And because posts are not-as-fun without pictures, here you go.

This is Justin at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Fort Worth inside a really big metal sculpture. He's waving hello! This reminds me of a "Where's Waldo" picture except there aren't a million other people and he's not wearing stripes. But otherwise...