The birth of a tree!

Happy Monday everyone!

I don't know why but Mondays are simply not my favorite day of the week. I have a feeling I am not alone in this sentiment. For about a week and a half I've had the pleasure of hosting a great friend of mine, Camille, and unfortunately she had to leave today. We've known each other since we were in 4th grade and it is funny to see how quickly we can go back to being silly kids again with just a re-telling of a story or a silly song we used to sing. It was a lot of fun having her here with us and catching up with her.

While she was here, I was already planning on painting the baby's room and she was gracious enough to offer a hand. Not sure how but somehow the idea of a tree drawing on one of the walls came about and poor Camille got stuck with the task of bringing it to life. I just knew she had what it takes and she did not let me down! In a few days, she took a few colors and put together an amazing masterpiece. I know Ethan will truly appreciate "titi Camille's" gift to him! :)

I have a short video of "titi Camille" painting the tree and a few photos of the process. The next step will be a little scarier, for me. I am tracing some small animals to paint around the tree and I hope I don't disappoint "titi Camille"! :-)

Stay tuned for the grand finale in a few days...

New Bed/Sick Baby

It is so strange how human beings can easily go from one spectrum of human emotions to the complete opposite in a matter of seconds. I'm sure I'm making absolutely no sense to you right now so I will explain.

First emotion: Thrilled!
Jeremy and I found an amazing buy on Craigslist for a crib/dresser combo. I REALLY wanted a Crib4Life set but we knew with all of the adoption costs still lingering we just could not afford it. So I began my search on craigslist for a 'gently' used crib/dresser combo. I came across one that at first wasn't the color I was looking for but the price was just right. I thought, "why not!" So we decided to go take a look at the crib and yep...we fell head over heels with the crib and dresser. The owners had the combo for 10 years and I just could not believe how well taken care of the furniture was. It was just an answer to our prayers. PRAISE GOD!!! He really is in the tiniest of details. While I was away singing in Mexico this weekend, Jeremy and a dear friend of ours from church went to get the furniture and my sweet husband spent Saturday night putting the crib together. Oh, how I love him!! :) He decided the crib was just not complete unless it had a mattress so he headed out to Wal-Mart and purchased a great mattress and some sheets so our sweet Ethan can sleep comfortably and cozy when he is finally home.

Here are some photos of our great find!



























Second emotion: Heavy-hearted
We received word from our agency that our precious Ethan is sick...again. He suffered from pneumonia early last month and it seems it has returned again this past week. Our hearts are just so heavy in knowing across the other end of the world our child is sick and we cannot hold him and take care of him. We know there are nannies and capable medical staff taking care of him but I can't help think how scared he must feel and how much more he needs his mommy and daddy near by to reassure him that everything will be ok. It's been a hard day for me. I really hope you can keep him in your prayers as he recovers from this infection and also pray that our court date can be scheduled REAL soon so we can finally be together with our son.

Lots of love!
Keyla