Some Holiday Photos from Kyle's side & Baby News

Hi All,

This past weekend we had an impromptu visit from Kyle's side of the family. We were all supposed to get together Christmas night and Friday but my brother-in-law was sick so we planned a last minute shindig at our house on Saturday. I have several pics to post. Some are better quality than others b/c they were on my phone. I really want to buy this new camera that our Niece Alyssa got for Xmas. It is super small and also does videos. If I get it, the photo quality on our blog will improve immensely.

OK, the first picture is of Rosie with her favorite Xmas present from Uncle John. It is a stuffed Bison. How cute is she???

The 2nd picture I had to take because I just can't resist how darn cute she is!!!! As some of you may know, our living room and dining area are one big room. Whenever I go into the kitchen and Rosie is lying on the couch she always peeks her head out to see what I'm doing and if it involves food!!!! You can also get a pretty good shot of our new TV and the new stand. We LOVE our new TV. I must say that I am enjoying just as much as Kyle. The picture quality is amazing.

The 3rd picture is our niece Alyssa and Rosie. Alyssa Loves Rosie. She brought her Wii with her

and we had fun trying out different games.

Ok, the shot to the left is of Kyle's mom, Caryl. Kyle's sister and her daughter Alyssa made Caryl this awesome breast Cancer ribbon fleece blanket. It is so soft and cozy. I want one!!!! I guess they have all different patterns at Michael's so I may just have to check them out!

The last photo is of Rosie chowing down on her Christmas candy cane from Heather and Alyssa.

Baby News

On the baby front, we are still holding out until we make the "official" announcement but we were notified b4 christmas that we are going to be parents!!!. Once we get the first ultrasound, I'll feel a little more comfortable telling people. I have not told work yet. We are just very cautious b/c there is always the risk of the birth mother changing her mind up to 12 hours after the delivery.

What I can tell you is that the baby is due on 5/11/09 in Kansas. We will have to go to Kansas for about a week. We don't know the sex but we will find out. We have talked to the birth mom on the phone and the conversation went well. She seems very strong in her decision to give her child up for adoption.

I need to vent for a minute about something!!! If one more person asks me, "are you sure you want a baby and not a toddler" I am going to snap. We want a baby. We want to experience all the stages of development for our child. I think some people think that b/c I am disabled I won't be able to care for an infant but I am determined to prove them wrong. I am a fighter and when I put my mind to something I can do it. There is a ton of adaptive equipment out there and I plan to utilize it! We plan to modify a crib and buy other things that disabled mothers have suggested. I know many women with less function that me that have raised multiple children. I am also blessed to live near family and they will be an amazing support system. Will there be limitations? Yes, of course. I realize that the first year will be the hardest and that I most likely won't be able to go anywhere alone with my baby but I am ok with that. We want to be parents and we will do whatever we need to. Sorry but I needed to vent. I just get tired of the prejudice out there. If I were able to have my own child would people still say these things?

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We have so much love in our hearts to offer a child.

Baby It's Cold Outside

We hope Santa was good to everyone this Christmas. We had a great day and are enjoying our time off from work. Kyle had Christmas Eve off and this year we spend Xmas eve night with my family. We usually go to Kyle's aunt's in NH but she is no longer able to host due to age and health issues. Therefore we went to my brother's house. It was really fun. All 10 of our nieces and nephews on my side were there and they were so pumped for Santa! My Sister-in-law is an amazing cook so we got to try lots of yummy food and we even got leftovers! Whooo!

Whoops, I almost forgot to explain the first pic here. My sister Maura arrived on Tuesday night at 11:00 pm. Kyle picked her up and she slept over our place. The picture to the left is Maura and I lounging in our bed drinking coffee. We had a great morning. Maura helped me organize our presents and wrap a few things for Kyle. Unfortunately the 2 pics that I'm posting today are blurry but you'll get the gist of them.

Here is Kyle & Rosie with our new TV and the new TV stand. I know it is blurry but you can still see it right?

Overall we had a great Christmas & Christmas Eve. It was so great to spend time with family and friends. Yesterday Kyle was able to spend the majority of the day with an old buddy of his that he had not seen in 3-4 years. There is nothing better that getting together with old friends. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Winter Wonderland

This past weekend I was housebound for over 2 days b/c of the non-stop snow. It snowed for 2 days strait. I decided to to finish up my Christmas baking and since I had sooo much time on my hand I took pictures. Below are the thumbprint cookies.

Below is the finished product. They are delicious!

Here is the way I wrapped up the bread and cookies. I also made delicious coconut macaroons half dipped in chocolate. We made up some plates for our neighbors and they were happy b/c they were snowed in too!
The last shot is one of Rosie taken a few weeks ago @ my mom's house. It was a really cold day and we visited my mom and my sister Maura. My mom's house is very cold and she has hardwood floors which tend to make it feel even colder!! Rosie would not get comfortable on the cold floors and she was driving me crazy. When my mom went in the other room to watch TV, Kyle, Maura & I played Scrabble. Little Missy decided she had had enough of the uncomfortable floor and Queen Bee parked herself right in my mom's favorite chair. It was the funniest thing b/c until she got in the chair she would not settle down. Once she got comfy she was out like a light. Boy does this dog have a lot of personality!!!

Remember our 42 inch TV that I blogged about? Well we had the furniture/tv stand delivered last Thursday. Thursday night when Kyle got home he took the TV out of the box and put it on the new piece of furniture. He plugged the TV in and there was no power. After spending a great deal of time trying to figure out what was going on he came to the conclusion that we were given a defective TV. Needless to say, we were annoyed. After having that huge box in our office for weeks, we are so ready to have everything set up. We were really looking forward to lounging on the couch and watching movies while we were snowed in. Kyle was going to exchange the TV on Saturday but they were closed due to the snow and were too short staffed on Sunday. We are now planning to go on Xmas eve, just what I want to do on Xmas Eve. Thankfully we both have a light work week. We are both working Monday & Tuesday and are off the rest of the week.

We may have a big adoption announcement coming soon. We are being extra cautious b/c we've had some recent disappointments that thankfully we did not announce. I'm just asking for everyone to please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and as soon as we feel safe announcing it we will. Ok, so lots of prayers please and hopefully 2009 will be the year we are finally parents.

For Moriah

Here is the entertainment center we are getting but for now we just bought the bottom piece. We can't afford to buy all the pieces at once and we don't have the room either. I will post pics when it is all set up.

Our Tree

We bought our

Christmas tree last Friday night. When we got it home & Kyle put it in the stand he was disappointed as it was not as full as last year's tree. I knew it would look better once it was decorated and I kept telling him that "every tree need a home." So, the first is a shot of the tree from outside our condo and the other is a close up shot. I think it is so pretty :) Can you believe how expensive Xmas trees are? We paid $45 for this tree. I think $20-$25 is more realistic. I'm wondering if trees are expensive everywhere or just in the Northeast? yuck!

I have not really felt in the Christmas spirit. I have completed 90% of our shopping but since I have not felt like shopping I've mainly bought gift cards. One advantage of buying gift cards is that my spare bedroom is not overloaded with gifts!!!

Kyle and I bought a new 42 inch plasma TV as a joint Christmas gift. Kyle has wanted this for several years. We got a fabulous deal on it for 40% off. It was hard to resist with that price. We also had to buy a new stand because our current TV is much smaller. So, now the new TV is sitting in my office monopolizing the entire room. Ugh! The new stand is being delivered next Thursday so we'll have it all set up by Christmas. We are excited to watch movies on the new cool TV.

Before I close I had to post a picture of Rosie with her Christmas Antlers. She does not look happy but boy is she precious? We love her to pieces :)