Me and My Camera

I talked Shane into buying me a camera with a 12x zoom last year, and he did. We intended to buy a smaller camera soon after to take on trips with us but we haven't yet. So, we keep either lugging this big one around or borrowing my mom's (thanks, mom). I have a Canon IS (I think). I really like it except for the being big part. Shane and I can't seem to agree on a smaller, less expensive one; so, any ideas are appreciated. Anyway, the plants at at the bay house on Tiki Island were so pretty...plumeria, hibiscus and some type of lily. Everyone laughed at me as I tried to get some close ups, which was hard due to the wind from the hurricane, but here goes. Enjoy!

These are yellow plumeria...

Pink plumeria....

Hibiscus...

A type of lily????

Oleaner....

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Well, we are done traveling for now. Jacob and I are both enjoying being home and not having any plans. I am sure that will get old soon enough...one can only play the game of Life so many times. I can't believe there is only one month left of summer and neither can Jacob. Next year, his school starts a whole 40 minutes earlier. That will be hard on all of us as both Shane and I love to sleep in :)

Our Galveston Trip

We spent last week down in Galveston, thanks to my mom and dad, at a beautiful bay house on Tiki Island. Several of our relatives from Oklahoma came down to join us. Even though we had a couple of down days due to Hurricane Dolly and a bad sinus infection (which affected me only), we had a great time. The house had a pool, hot tub, kayak's, paddle boat and a fishing boat. The home is owned by some friends of ours and they were kind enough to let Shane be the boat captain for a few fishing excursions. Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Shane and Jacob on the Seawall

Mom, Aunt Mary and Uncle David Lee (the three siblings)

Notice the big waves (the night before Hurrican Dolly hit the Texas coast)

Mom, my cousin Davena, my cousin Elan and her son Daniel on the ship, Elissa

My Aunt Debbie on Bolivar beach

Jacob and his cousin Zachary

Davena and Sydni

Dad in the "Men's Room." This room is near the pool and has a plasma TV. The girls would kick the guys out of the house to watch TV down here. The weather was so nice that I am not sure who had it better though.

My favorite little buddy, Daniel. Even though he was a momma's boy all week and wouldn't let anyone hold him, he sure did ham it up for the camera.

My cousin Elan, her boyfriend Fred and Daniel at the Saltwater Grill, our last supper.

My cousin Davena, her husband Glenn and Sydni and Zachary at the Saltwater Grill.

My Little Drummer Boys

As many of you know, or have seen, Shane is a drummer. He has been playing since he was 14 years old. I remember a party that I went to where I noticed a cute guy playing the drums back in high school. After Shane and I started dating, we figured out that it was him. When we were younger, Shane played in a band around Houston. Now he plays in the band at our church, Cypress Bible Church. It is so awesome to watch him get in his groove as he worships God. Here is a picture of him playing at his company's 2007 talent show.

And, here is a picture of Jacob following in his daddy's steps. Jacob has been banging on the drums since he was a little boy. Now, he takes lessons and gets to play at his recitals with his daddy. Here is a video of Jacob's spring 2008 recital. It may seem a little boring to some, but he does a great job at keeping the rhythm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np1PC2CGxi0

Sorry that I can't let you watch it here. Shane has it set up a certain way in youtube....will have to check with him on it later.

Also, here is a youtube video of Shane at his company's 2006 talent show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62mLHxE7eBQ&feature=user

If any of you would like to see Shane in his element at church our contemporary services are at 9:30 and 11:00. I go to the 11:00 service. Check with us first to see what the music will be like (i.e. make sure it is a real contemporary service that day).

The Four Legged Part of our Family: Part IV

Riley is the newest and last member of our family. She is a border collie and was born at the end of January 2007. Last December, she followed my neighbor's home from a walk. My neighbor's husband took her back to the spot where she had started to follow them and dumped her there....shame on him!!! When we came home that night, she had made her way over a mile back to our street. We set up our crate in the backyard and gave her some food. At the time we did not have a gate to our backyard due to renovations but she pretty much stayed put. Shane spent all of Saturday driving around Houston to various shelters, none of which would take her. The following Monday, I took her to our vet and they checked her out and vaccinated her. I am sure you can imagine how unhappy Shane is at this point. I sent out e-mail to everyone I knew and asked them to forward the e-mail on to see if anyone might want her, to no avail. We slowly started introducing her to our other pets. It was obvious that she was very scared.

After we found her, I posted her information on petfinder.com and craigslist. That same day, I received an e-mail from a woman named Dawn who was looking for a dog that met Riley's description. Apparently, a man had been keeping her in an empty house in Heatherwood, the neighborhood next to ours. A family had been working on the home and, I believe, they conveniently "lost" her. Since she was so hungry and dirty I did not want this man to have her back and he agreed to let us keep her. Here is a picture of Riley as a puppy that Dawn sent me.


Dawn rescued Riley and her litter mates when they were new puppies. Riley was born on a farm off of FM 2978. Apparently, there is a mean old farmer there who lets his pets mate and then dumps the litters around the area.

One day, Riley's mom was defending the puppies from being stepped on by a cow. This angered the mean old farmer and he shot and killed her. Then he dumped the litter next to Dawn's office. Dawn found homes for all the puppies. Riley was harder to place and Dawn was unsure of the man who took her. She had reason to be unsure. The man, whose name I forget, neglected her. She had never had a bath, was malnourished, had worms, had never been in a car or on a leash. Everything we have done with her has been a first for her.

It has taken many months and some pretty extensive training/boarding; but, she has become an awesome pet. She loves to go on walks and ride in the car. Border collie's have lots of energy so we have had to adjust to this. She will run behind Shane on his bike at 20 miles per hour for over 15 miles at a time. She is very interested in our cats, none of which are interested in her. She is terrified of baths but will run into any body of water that she sees. We just recently taught her how to play with a ball. It was so neat to see her playing like a puppy. I really think she spent the first year of her life on concrete, being ignored. To give her a good home is so rewarding.

We have many years to look forward to with her.

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We just returned from a fun week in Galveston, despite Hurricane Dolly. I will have some pictures to share as soon as I can get them on the computer later on today.

Hugs to all!

Our Adoption Journey

I thought I would fill you all in on what is happening with our adoption process. Right now, we are in a waiting pattern and have been for a couple of months now. We were approved last May and will be called when we are selected by a birthmom. The waiting is hard. The not knowing is even harder. I am a planner and someone who likes to know what and when and that is just not possible when you are adopting. I do have a list of things that we will need right away once the baby is here and we do have a new car seat. The other items are either loaned out to others or will need to be purchased.

There are two possibilities when you are adopting. One, you may get a call that you have been selected by a birthmom and get to go meet her and, hopefully, get to establish a relationship with her and possibly the birthfather before the baby is born. Second, you may get a call that the baby is born and you have been selected. So get your you-know-what in the car and come NOW. As you can see, this is where some planning needs to be done. I can just see us having to stop by Babies R'Us or Target on the way and purchasing some much needed items and deciding on a baby name on the way there. BTW, we do have some names that we like and Jacob loves to put in his two cents but we will save it for a surprise when the time has come.

There is also the possibility of a disrupted adoption, where the birthmom decides to keep the baby. If this happens, it will be heartbreaking for us. But, our prayer is that the birthmom makes the decision that is best for her and her baby. If this is what happens, then it was a part of God's plan and as hard as it may be to accept, that is what we will have to do.

As for Jacob, he is very excited. He asks about once a week if we have been picked and if and when we will get to meet the birthmom and the baby. He will sometimes say "Mom, we don't have a stroller. We need to go to the store NOW." He is definately learning about patience with this process, and so are we.

As for us, we are also very very excited. We can't predict what the outcome will be. It is all in His hands; but we pray faithfully that the Lord will keep our birthmom and baby safe, happy and healthy. The thought of being a new mom and dad again is so overwhelming, but in a good way. This time, we know we won't get any sleep for a few weeks but to get to experience all of those firsts again...we just can't wait. And giving Jacob the sibling he has always wanted is a true answer to prayer.

And for those of you who are wondering what took us so long to finally adopt...well, let's just say it was all God's timing and not ours. The time was just not right until the last year or so and then we had to decide international vs. domestic and what agency to use. All in all, the process was not long and we just love our agency and know that God had us pick them for a reason.

In addition to praying for our birthmom, please pray that we will find the patience needed during the waiting process.

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On another note, today on MTV ( I never never watch this channel but would never miss this) on Made at 5pm, our friend Kendra will be on the show. She will be racing the girl who wrote into MTV and asked to be Made into a motocross rider. Kendra is riding our neighors bike and racing her, so they are excited too.

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Tomorrow we leave for a family vacation to Galveston. Our relatives are driving from Oklahoma to Galveston as we speak. Pray for their safety on the road. It should be a great and fun time for us and the kids.

The Four Legged Part of our Family: Part III

I am more of a cat person than a dog person although I do love my dogs. So when a stray cat came to live on our street, I did not hesitate to bring her home. Shane, on the other hand, did not want me to do this. So, I will admit, I did do it in a sneaky kind of way.

Apparently, she followed one of our neighbor girls home from a walk and decided to make herself at home. It was obvious that she wasn't too healthy and there was a possibility that she was pregnant. So I captured her one day and took her to our vet. Not only was she pregnant, she was due within the next two weeks. Meanwhile, the girls on the street had named her Moose. So I arranged a quiet room for her upstairs and slowly moved her home base to our home. She settled in quite nicely except that she had obviously never been around a dog before. We did have some issues her first month in our home with her being mean to Sadie and Sidney but that eventually stopped.

I watched her tummy grow bigger and bigger. I loved to just sit there with my hand on her tummy and feel the babies move. When she hadn't gone into labor, I took her to the vet who wanted us to just give her one more day. Well, that one more day was a bad idea. The next morning I took her to the vet to induce labor, which didn't work. She ended up having a c-section and gave birth to six kittens, five black and brown girls and one all black boy, just like his mommy. The girls all died within hours of birth and the boy died about two days later. It was so hard. Shane was out of town and Jacob and I would go to the vet and sit and hold the kittens, trying to keep them alive to no avail. Since pregnancy and giving birth are such big "issues" for me, I was so excited to experience this and was crushed when it didn't happen.

She finally came home from the vet and quickly made herself part of our family. She loves, and I mean loves, Sadie. Sadie is not sure what to think of a cat who loves on her. She sleeps in Jacob's room and loves to play with him. In fact, one of his chores is to play with Moose every day. We estimate her to be about three years old, so we are looking forward to many more fun years with her.

Road Trip

Jacob and I just got back from Longview and Dallas. In Longview, we joined my parents and visited a few times with my Grandmother. She lives in an assisted living facility. It was great to see her and hard at the same time. I love her lots and hate the thought of her leaving us. I pray each day that she will not dwell on the number of days until we see her again after she is gone but on the fact that she will be with our Father God.

While in Dallas, we stayed at my best friend Karen's house with her mom, Sherry, and two boys, Steven and Jack. Jacob is like a little brother to them and they treat him just like one. Karen and I have been friends for 30 years. She lived two houses down from us in Norchester for just a few short years. I sure did need another girl on the street as it was me against about 10 boys. She moved back to Dallas right before Hurrican Alicia but we continued to fly back and forth to spend summers and Christmas break with each other.

Last June, Karen brought the boys down and we took a day trip to see the San Jacinto Monument and the Battleship Texas down in La Porte. It was fun and educational. I recommend this for kids but wait until it cools down some. The Battleship really holds heat and there is no a/c inside of it. You can also take an elevator up to the observation floor in the monument and see for miles around.

The Four Legged Part of our Family: Part II

This is Sidney. She is our oldest cat and has been with us for a little over two years. We believe her to be about 14 or 15 years old. She is a sweet and loveable kitty as long as your name is Mommy. Otherwise, she could care less, although, she does let Jacob pet her occasionally. She is always in my lap when I am sitting, sleeps next to me in bed and loves to be in my way when I am working on the computer. She replaced what I was missing most after our last cat Jaycee died, which was a lap cat.

She does have one funny quirk. She attacks me when I sing. Apparently, she doesn't like my voice to sound like anything other than a talking voice. She has charged me from across a room and attacked me (luckily, she has no claws on her front feet). This has turned into a family laugh fest many a time as we love to taunt her.

Jacob and I will be leaving town tomorrow morning to drive to Longview to see my Grandmother. She is 93 years old and her age is catching up on her. My hope is that seeing Jacob will brighten up her spirits. She and Jacob have always had a special bond. Grandmother loves to make crafts and Jacob will sit with her for a long time and learn how to make them. She is a special woman who has a strong love for the Lord. Sometime within the last year, she told me that she can't wait to go to Heaven to see Grandfather. He passed away when I was pregnant and because I was on bed rest, I was unable to go to his funeral. I know that she is looking forward to that day when she gets to see him and Jesus Christ. It will be a sad day for us but a glorious one for her. Please pray for safe travel and that we will have a fun and uplifting visit with her. We will be staying at my Uncle Ralph and Aunt Patsy's home. They are on vacation at the condo in Colorado. My mom and dad are staying there while they are gone to help take care of Grandmother.

After a couple days in Longview, we will be driving on to Dallas to see my friend Karen and her two boys, Steven and Jack. On Friday, we return home only to pack for another trip to Galveston. This summer has been crazy and I am looking forward to a more laid back month in August.

Steps of Hope and Infertility

Today I thought that I would go deeper and let you all in on my life. One of the reasons that I started this blog was to be honest about my life and to possibly give others hope if they are suffering from any of the same ailments or issues that I have. So, here goes: I am infertile. I have suffered with infertility for over ten years. It is a cruel and depressing disease. There is nothing harder than having life given to you and then to have it taken away. Or, to let yourself be hopeful and happy and then to have to grieve when a cycle doesn't take. I am lucky that I am not on that roller coaster right now. I spent over six years on it, enduring ten IUI's (intra uterine insemination) and five IVF's (in vitro fertilization). In the midst of that, I had one miscarriage, one ectopic pregnancy and one vanishing twin. Obviously, something beautiful and wonderful came out of it, Jacob; but, the pain that I suffered to bring him into the world and the pain that I still have waiting for me to be healthy enough to transfer our last two frozen embryos was and is hard. Our embryos have been frozen and waiting for four years. They are not the best quality of embryos, so I don't hold much hope. But, God can work miracles.

One lesson that I have learned over the years is that God's timing is not at all what I would like it to be, but, He has His reasons. In Ecclesiastes 3:11, Solomon wrote, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." This is one of my favorites (we just happen to be studying Ecclesiastes in church right now). We tend to live in the micro-moment of our lives and to not see the big picture, which inlcudes our lives on earth and our eternal lives in Heaven. This is something that I struggle with, of course, as I am somewhat of a control freak, and I want to know just when things are going to happen. When will I be able to transfer the embryos? When will I bring home my beautiful adopted child? Only God knows. In the meantime, I am to "put eternity" in my heart and live a faithful life to God, trusting him fully in times of pain and despair. This is something that I really struggle with, so, please pray that God would give me a patient and trusting heart.

Some of you might be wondering where the picture above came from. Shane and I were lucky enough to take a romantic long weekend May 2007 in Monterey Bay, California. It was so beautiful. We stayed in a bed and breakfast in Carmel-by-the-sea. The very last day we were there we spent a quiet morning eating breakfast and then exploring a beach called the Carmel River beach. It is listed as one of the top most beautiful beaches in the nation. I sat on the sand and played with the granite rocks while Shane wandered off to take pictures and he found this cross on top of a hill with steps leading up to it. How beautiful! A few short months later, we were asked to mentor a couple going through infertility in our church. That led me to confess to Shane that I had been thinking for a while about starting a Christian based infertility support group. The group was started and is growing. Maybe the best part about starting the group, for us, was getting in contact with a leader of a group in Irving, TX. She is the one who told me about the adoption agency that we are now using. God works in the most amazing way. If we had not started this group, we might have never found this agency. And, we might not be on the exciting and amazing journey that we are now on...to add to our family through adoption.

We named the group Steps of Hope and our goal is to mentor to couples experiencing infertility and/or pregnancy loss. Here is a link to our website: www.cypressbible.org/infertility.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13

My Better, or Other, Half!

As many of you know, Shane and I were high school sweethearts. We met while Shane was a senior and I was a junior. We had a class together and at one point, before we started dating, he and I were given an assignment together. He never said a word to me, except to ask me my name. I thought he was such a jerk. The truth was he kind of liked me already and was just being shy. How cute! We eventually went out on a date and that was the end of that story. I remember telling my mom when I was eighteen that I felt that Shane and I were meant to be married some day. She must have been shaking in her shoes as I was so young. We did get engaged at nineteen and married at the young age of twenty-one. Thank you Mom, Dad, Rich and Gail for being so supportive of us. I know you all had your doubts, but look at us now:) Here are pictures from Shane's prom in 1988 and my prom in 1989. And, please don't tease Shane about his mullett. Love you babe!

The Light of our Lives

Of course, how could I start blogging without talking about Jacob? He gives us so much joy and is the center of all activity in the home. We are so blessed to be his parents. Later on, I will tell the story of bringing Jacob into the world, but, for now, I just wanted to post a few of my favorite photos of him over the years. Enjoy!