ready...set..Wait!

Here we go again....the waiting game. We completed our home study and are now waiting for the official approval. We hope to "be waiting for baby" by next week. Oh my goodness!!! Jerry has a more laid back approach and (duh!) I do not! I want to clean the carseat, paint the room, get the bassinet set up and buy diapers. Not that I think we will get our baby that quickly, i realize it could be months or even a year, but at least I will be ready, right? So this weekend we will at least get the ball rolling. Again, I remind myself, that it is NOT my timing it is God's timing and it will be perfect. So......as I take a deep breath I sit here listening to my sweet Abigail breathing as she naps. I want to enjoy every second with her. She is becoming such an independent little toddler. Just as I am in awe of how big she is getting she will come and lean up and give momma a kiss. Oh my, that is the BEST thing ever! She still wants to snuggle with me at nap time and bed time..which is amazing but I realize that won't be forever. Speaking of the best times: In church one day our pastor was preaching on financial peace and what is really important in life (not money!). He said if you could close your eyes and picture your happiest moments what and where would they be..Jerry and I both exchanged answers later on the way home... *Abigail kisses & waterskiing.... maybe not at the same time but you know what I mean..Amen! Yesterday Abigail turned 18months! I can not believe how the time has flown by. Last year we were planning her finalization and official adoption with the judge. wow! She is amazing and hilarious. So to top off her 18 month "birthday" she decided to color all over the back door. Yep! I have the picture to prove it. Will post it later..... She was coloring on a large piece of flipchart paper and then just trotted over to the door 2 feet away from me and colored a masterpiece. Hilarious...but wrong! "Only on paper, Abigail." (nods her head...ok) Today is my sweet Baylie girl's 10th birthday. She has been an amazing puppy and I love her so much! The 3 pups are so great with Abigail. I couldn't have asked for more. Abigail's newest thing (other than coloring on doors...) is to act like the puppies. Yep, she is laying down with them and licking the windows and even trying to drink out of the their dog bowls. Thankfully we have caught her before she achieves that. Yummy! not.. Always an adventure in the Snider house. Stay tuned for more updates....Please pray for patience, peace, and God's timing. While you are praying please add health and strength for family and friends recently diagnosed with cancer. Yuck! God bless, Jenny

final stages....

Our profile letter and pictures are complete. Our scrapbook came in the mail last week. It was fun doing our family scrapbook. I took the previous scrapbook I made on Shutterfly and updated it with pictures of Abigail. Wow...we have a lot of pictures of Abigail! It was so hard to choose which ones. I had to remind myself that it was not a scrapbook about Abigail; it was a scrapbook introducing our family to our future birthmom. After many, many hours of editing, it is complete and in my hand. We will give it to our caseworker tomorrow when we do our home study. Yep, the final stage before we are officially approved and waiting for baby is the home study....tomorrow!!! I am much more laid back about it this time. I know it will go great and I just have a few more things to clean to be completely ready. Jerry has been so helpful too. He put all the child safety latches on the cabinets and played with Abigail while I cleaned and dusted. This week I plan to dig out all the newborn baby stuff and place it in the guest bedroom. The bassinet is in the attic and it will come down so I can clean it. I know...I know...it could be months and months until we are matched and we have our sweet baby but.....I like to be ready, ok? :) God knows exactly when we will have our new addition...we just have to trust him and wait upon Him. Please pray that I will have patience and understanding as we start our journey to a family of 4! Thanks and God bless, Jenny

What's New?

We have a lot going on right now. Friday we completed all of our paperwork and inspections for our second adoption. The only thing left is to schedule and complete our home study. Can you believe it? :)

I was outside this afternoon and Abigail and Jerry were walking around the backyard. I stood back and looked at Abigail and realized she is a little girl now. Where did my baby girl go??? I can't believe how grown up she looks.

To be honest, I have been a little conflicted about when to start the 2nd adoption process because I didn't want to "take away" anything or any time away from Abigail. Today I realized that she is a little girl and is more independent every day. It is bitter sweet. Isn't it funny how God prepares us at exactly the right moment. Now I know that if we get a call about a baby that I will be ready to care for an infant again and that Abigail will be just fine. In fact, now don't tell Abigail this but, her "baby" time with her pacifier is about up. We are attempting to take away her pacifier and is now only using it at bedtime and naptime. But when she turns two we hope to not need it anymore. We pray that she will handle that ok. Stay tuned...

Here are a list of things little miss "independent" can do.

*put her pajamas on....granted it may not be one leg at a time or even the straight but she is attempting it. :)

*put her shoes on....now this she is getting pretty good at..except she likes to take them off just as quickly as she puts them on.

*feed herself (and the puppies)

*drink her juice (and carry it all over the house)

*walk, walk, walk, walk!! (more of a waddle but still affective)

*tell us what she wants...(we are working on the manners too)

*wash her hands and her hair

*love on her baby (she is gonna be a great big sister!!)

*put her toys away (and take them right back out)

Here are a few words she can say:

please, juice, outside, mama, dada, thank you, go..go..go..go.., row..row..row..., nods yes and NO!, Hi and Bye-bye.

Knows the sign for: please, thank you, more, eat, kiss,

She understands Everything I say: She just doesn't always listen... :) Again, we are working on manners. She has such a kind spirit and she loves to share. Oh, I could go on and on but basically she is growing up so fast and is just an amazingly beautiful little girl. I continue to be in awe of her.

We hope all of you are doing well. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers for the 2nd adoption. Only God knows our next step and it will be in His perfect timing that we will be a family of 4 (plus 3 pups). ;)

Love,

Jenny