Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Who knew?

A week ago, I took Steven to the airport at 4 a.m. Then, Maggie went to preschool and we came home and took a long nap. We had a meeting at church that night, so I took her to Applebee's. While we were eating, my Social Worker called with 2 potential children. To keep them safe, I'll call them J and R. J is a 2.5 little girl. R is a 18 month old little boy. They needed a home and hopefully we will be able to adopt them. For right now, we are still fostering them.

In a week, my life has changed. I have seen them everyday since Thursday. They have a visit with bio mom tomorrow and it will be the first day that I haven't seen them. It will be weird, but I have so much to do to get ready. It will be nice to have some time to work!

They are wonderful. I wish I could share pictures with you, but I am trying to be safe. If I know you and you send me an email, I will be glad to share pics with you.

They are moving in next Saturday. There have been so many great little stories so far.

Today's story is a little rough. I had them most of the day. R was so tired and needed a nap, but has never been laid down for a nap before. I would rock him to sleep and try to put him down and he would scream. Over and over. i was getting frustrated that he had never been in a crib before. Anyway, I finally got him to sleep and went to check on maggie in her room. She asked me for some stickers earlier and I snapped at her to get them herself. J was laying on the sofa resting.

I went in to see Maggie and I was holding R so he would keep sleeping.

Guess what Maggie was doing? She was making me a scrapbook. She found a Cinderella scrapbook. Put pieces of paper in it and found pictures of me when I was little and of her when she was little. Then decorated each page with stickers.

I started crying. It was so thoughtful of her. Steven returned from lunch to check on us. Finding me hugging and bawling with Maggie while holding R. He said, "got this mommy of 3 thing under control?".

She took the scrapbook in the car to work on it some more and was showing pictures to J in the backseat. I could hear her saying, "here's a picture of Daddy 'apetizing'(aka baptizing) Mommy". Guess who started crying again?

Saturday, September 27, 2008

The Zoo




We went to the zoo last weekend with Tanya, Aiden, Evan and Emma. The dads were at a men's retreat doing manly things. We went to Chick Fil A and to the zoo. It was a lot of fun even though Maggie threw up in Tanya's car. She had just taken some pepto bismol and so it was a beautiful, pink throw up!

Here's some pictures of the day!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Ummmm...ewwww

PETA Urges Ben & Jerry's To Use Human Milk
Group Says Move Would Help Humans, Cows


WATERBURY, Vt. -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.

"PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves," the statement says.



PETA officials say a move to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health.



"The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn't make sense," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Everyone knows that 'the breast is best,' so Ben & Jerry's could do consumers and cows a big favor by making the switch to breast milk."

"We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child," said a spokesperson for Ben and Jerry's.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

I guess I won't be buying items from Lifeway Bookstores anymore

http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2008/09/18/gospel_magazine_pulled.html


Gospel Today magazine pulled from Christian bookstores’ shelves
Fayetteville-based publication features women pastors on cover
By CHRISTOPHER QUINN

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Smiling women on the cover of a slick magazine. Sold from under the counter. Must request it from store clerk.


That’s not something a buyer would typically find in a Christian bookstore. Not unless it’s one of the more than 100 Lifeway Christian Bookstores across the United States, including about six in metro Atlanta.

Gospel Today, the Fayetteville-published magazine, was pulled off the racks by the bookstores’ owner, the Southern Baptist Convention. The problem? The five smiling women on the cover are women of the cloth — church pastors.

Southern Baptist polity says that’s a role reserved for men.

Teresa Hairston, owner of Gospel Today, whose glossy pages feature upbeat articles about health, living, music and ministry, said she discovered by e-mail that the September/October issue of the magazine had been demoted to the realm of the risque.

“It’s really kind of sad when you have people like [Gov.] Sarah Palin and [Sen.] Hillary Clinton providing encouragement and being role models for women around the world that we have such a divergent opinion about women who are able to be leaders in the church,” Hairston said. “I was pretty shocked.”

Chris Turner, a spokesman for Lifeway Resources, which runs the stores for the Southern Baptist Convention, said, “It is contrary to what we believe.”

It bases those beliefs on their interpretation of New Testament Scriptures.

Southern Baptist representatives at national meetings have adopted statements saying women should not be pastors, but each church is independent. A few churches have selected women, such as Decatur First Baptist, where the Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell preaches each Sunday from the pulpit.

Pastor Tamara Bennett of California is one of the featured pastors on the magazine cover and talks in the article about the challenges of breaking through the stained-glass ceiling.

“God’s assignment is that no souls are lost and all are saved,” Bennett said. “Gender is not how God sees it. We are about winning souls, period.”

Southern Baptists are not the only ones to frown on women preachers. Catholics, the largest Christian denomination in the nation, do not allow women priests. And some conservative evangelical groups, such as the Presbyterian Church in America, do not ordain women.

“We weren’t trying to pick a fight,” Hairston said. “We just did a story on an emerging trend in a lot of churches.”

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Family pictures




Lori Kelly took our family pictures yesterday. Here's a few!

Monday, September 15, 2008

weird

Last night, I had a dream that Steven and I were in the audience listening to Barack Obama. After the speech, Michelle Obama came up to Steven and asked him to go on his speaking tour. She said that Steven was such an enthusiastic audience member that he would be great for Obama's speeches. It would be good for the video clips to see him in the background.

That was an odd dream.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

She's totally cool


You should go check out my mom's blog and show her some comment love!

EDIT: Have I mentioned that I don't know how to link blogs? http://bugslife-memaw.blogspot.com

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Maggie's nicknames

Margaret Elizabeth Cole has many nicknames:

1. Maggie
2. Maggie Moo
3. Moo Moo
4. Moomer
5. Squirrel
6. Poodle
7. Bucket Head
8. Boo Boo Chicken
9. Moomenator
10. Moolicious

I wonder if she will have identity issues when she grows up?

Friday, September 12, 2008

What's been going on in our house

On Friday, a CPS worker came to our house and did our 2nd to last home visit. She talked to us a little and showed us the pictures of kids who were available for adoption. We got to look at lots of pictures and background information. It was cool, but strange to try to pick a child for our family.

We both really liked one little girl who is 7 months old. We submitted our interest and our case worker told us that we would hear back on Tuesday.

After a very long day, we heard on Wednesday that we weren't matched together. She was placed with another family.

I was very upset, but I have to know that it's God's plan. My mom said that there were so many people praying that it had to be what God wanted for our family and for the little girl. I really will keep praying for her and for her protection. She is a cutie and deserves the best after a rough start to life.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Contest winners announced

Drum roll please....

Maggie picked 2 random numbers and the winners are:


Rochelle and Sarah!

I will send everyone who wanted one an online code.

Rochelle and Sarah, please send me your addresses. You can email it to me or message me.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Contest ends tomorrow

Be sure to enter the drawing for the 2 books and codes up for grabs. Leave your name/email address and I will draw tomorrow morning.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Breakfast in bed

This morning, I could not get my lazy butt out of bed. I was so tired. I was in and out of sleep for about 30 minutes til my wonderful husband brought me eggs and bacon and a coke zero in bed. How sweet was that? Maggie suggested that he make breakfast for me in bed and he followed through on her suggestion. How sweet.

Sweet dreams

This morning, Maggie woke up with a smile on her face. She said that she had the most wonderful dreams last night. She dreamed that she had a magical pink pony with pink polka dots. It took her on a trip to see it's mommy and daddy and it could fly. I wish she had those kind dreams every night. She was so happy when seh woke up!

Friday, September 5, 2008

Things heard at adoption orientation meetings

Last night, we went to an orientation meeting at another agency. We are considering switching agencies. We have another home visit with CPS tonight, so we shall see. It's a very tough decision, so in order to stop pondering the seriousness of this....

FUNNY THINGS HEARD AT ADOPTION ORIENTATION MEETINGS:
1. Last night, there was a couple who didn't speak very good english. They asked about 15 questions last night and they were so incredibly random. For example, "Let's just say that there is a baby born in the boon docks of Yosemite, but the mom is from San Diego. What do you do about international adoption?"

I am so serious. That was verbatium. I wrote it down.

I started giggling everytime he would raise his hand.

2. "do you ever adopt children Belgium?

I would guess that there is not a large population of children needing to be adopted from Belgium. That one's not as funny written down, but maybe it was just the moment!

3. Our orientation guy was telling this story about how he has adopted 7 children. He had 7 children to begin with and2 of his girls have major issues. He was telling us about how those 2 girls don't have any contact with them now because of attachment issues. Not really a funny topic. But, from the other side of the room, the belgium guy BUSTS out laughing. I don't know why. It was so awkward.

4. From our first adoption orientation meeting a year ago, my favorite all time question:

"If my children were taken away from me by CPS, can I become a foster parent now?"

WHAT?!

For a good time, go to an adoption orientation meeting!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Book giveaway


I joined MomSelect. Occasionally, they will send me emails to see if I am interested in reviewing a product and giving away the product. Right up my alley!

I have 2 books to give away and 5 web access code cards.They are scratch-off cards for a FREE premium "Rainbow Membership" trial on PreciousGirlsClub.com.

The book is really cute. It's about a little girl who has an guardian angel that only she can see. Maggie and I have been reading a chapter at a time. She begged to read some more of it tonight. I like the references to God and praying for guidance. Of course, an imaginary friend really resonates with Maggie.

The website isn't ready for us yet. We preregistered to be a part of the website. It looks cute. It's a virtual reality site, kind of like a webkinz site. You have a world and decorate your room and play games. Very girl friendly.

The book is called: A Little Bit of Faith. If you are interested, post a comment and I will randomly select the winner and send the winner an email. Be sure to include your email address in your comment. I have 2 books to give away.

I have 5 web access codes. The first 5 people who post that they are interested, I will send a code to them.

Monday, September 1, 2008

I go in waves

Why do I want to post like 3 posts in one day and then I can't think of anything to post for a while? I guess I get them all out and then I have nothing to say?

What did you do for Labor Day? Steven played golf and Maggie and I went to the mall and looked around. She got a new ariel dress for her build a bear. I got some new lip gloss.

I bought a tri tip for dinner and cooked in it in our persnickety oven. It was so yummy. I know that tri tip is not only available in California, but I had never had it before we moved here. It's so yummy.

We have been watching Gustav on the news today. I'm from Houma and Morgan City where it hit. My dad is in New Orleans and decided to stay. He's fine, just lost power. It's weird to see Houma and Morgan City on the news though.They are pretty small towns! I bet they wish that they weren't on tv for this though.

Now, I'm off to have some peppermint tea and watch our wedding video with Maggie