While I'm Waiting...

We turned our adoption paperwork in this past Monday; and now I'm on pins and needles waiting for the caseworker to call. If I'm already this anxious, how in the world am I going to handle the wait for the actual baby?! Oh, I need to exercise patience, take some deep breaths, inhale, exhale...nope, not working!

So I guess I'll post some pics of our Christmas up. We had tons of fun at my parent's house this year. My sister came with her husband and baby girl Megan, plus the three dogs, and also my brother, his wife, and kids and one dog. Four dogs plus my two cats = FUN TIMES, let me tell you! My brother's dog just laid around though, and took it all in...good job, Lady. We began Christmas morning digging in to my famous Pepper Jack Breakfast Casserole, complete with a large plate of fresh pineapple. Mmmm! After that, we all gathered round the tree amid sounds of the stereo playing Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas album (yearly tradition), as I began hunting for the "first gift of Christmas." Kris thought he was funny all this time, telling me he wasn't going to get me anything, and then Christmas morning he sends me on a treasure hunt in the Christmas Tree for the first gift of Christmas.

I could not find it, and everyone was getting a big kick out of it. Finally, my nephew Jonathan found it and handed it to me--- I opened it up, and it was a CAMERA! Praise the Lord

because as some of you know, our other camera was in sad shape- most of the images were coming out blurry, we had to put tape on the bottom just to hold the batteries in, etc. So I was pretty excited when I opened that present. (you can't tell by looking at me, but I was!)

After that, it was every man for himself and we all had fun- especially watching the kids opening their gifts. Those kids never disappoint- we heard comments like "Swweeeet!, and "this is what I wanted!"

Here are some fun photos of the boys:

This year we had a very special little girl present with us for her very first Christmas. My little niece, Megan, was just too cute. And though she wasn't too sure what to make of everything, you could tell she was enjoying it.

The only thing that would have made the day more perfect, would have been if our little boy Grant had been there too. Several times during the day I kept picturing him there, playing on the floor with Megan, grabbing for Christmas bows on the floor that had popped off the gifts that people were opening. I pictured two highchairs at the table instead of one, and five little grandchildren perched on the couch for their Christmas photo, instead of just four. This Christmas hurt just as bad as last Christmas, and in some ways, a little more because there should have been two babies this year, not just one. I look at Megan and I know that right now, she is protected from the truth; but eventually she will be old enough to understand that she once had a cousin her age, and she will know the reality of loss. I hope that she will smile when she thinks of him, and maybe, just maybe, she will feel that he is watching over her in a special way.

A couple days after Christmas, I took a few really cute photos of Megan at Grandma's piano. Here is one, along with a video I took of her playing the piano. (Remember to turn off or pause my playlist music at the bottom of the blog so you can hear Megan's video) I think she takes after her aunt, don't you?!