*Laney's Blog Debut*

He's not a proud daddy or anything!! This has to be one of my favorite pictures of all time! I am sure one day she will be hitting softballs like momma and catching fly balls like daddy! Here is a few fun facts about our Laney Bug!

1. She sleeps all night long! Woo-Hoo!

2. She talks, coos, and smiles in her sleep!

3. She loves her Praise Baby DVD!

4. Anything that lights up or rattles will immediately grab her attention.

5. She spits up on daddy then laughs about it!

We are having the time of our lives right now. She is such a joy to us in everyway! Hope you have a blessed day!!

His Leading Part 1

 So far I have written a few lines and have erased them each time. I am just not exactly sure how to even begin to tell you all the things that has happened in the last month. There is so much I want to write and very little that I can actually elaborate on in the detail that I want. I will do my best to fill you in on as much as I can!

    It all started with a frustrating day and ended in a night of agreement in prayer. There is so much the Lord can do when two people come together and agree in prayer. I know this to be true by what His word says about it and seeing it come to pass in my own life. Earlier that day I had been fighting off thoughts of fear and doubt regarding our journey to adopt. I was not in a great place by the end of the day needless to say so going to a softball game to watch Landon play was not my idea of a great evening. It just added to my irritability. Luckily April was there watching Justin play so we left early to get the boys home. As we were driving home I unleashed my frustration. It wasn't pretty but she is used to me ranting on about things so she listened quietly and gave me some words of encouragement. I don't think I even heard her words I was in the "frustration zone". I know you have all been there before so I know you understand what I am talking about.


 I walked through the front door, threw myself on the couch, and started texting Sheena. In my mind I guess letting April hear my frustration wasn't enough. Of course Sheena started giving me words of encouragement as well, it's such a blessing to have friends who know your heart even when you aren't being yourself. Just being able to talk to both of them which I do alot is like my own little therapy session. I walk away being reminded of the Word and being extremely encouraged. They know how to keep me grounded. We all need good friends like that. That is just another part of His faithfulness. He puts the right people in our lives at exactly the right time.

Wow that was sappy...moving on. By this point I am just wanting to crash on the bed and call it a day. Then Landon comes walking through the door. He knew something was wrong. He knew I wasn't myself. I didn't want to talk. I just wanted to cry. So crying is what I did. Being the husband he is just held me close and never said a word. He listened to me cry out to the Lord and beg Him to take this burden that I was carrying so heavy in my heart. After about an hour of me carrying on like a crazy lady, which the Lord was quick to remind me of Hannah in the temple when she cried out to the Lord and they thought she was drunk. My loving husband took my by the hand. We went to our room held hands and prayed. We completely surrendered the entire process over to Him. We realized we could no longer keep trying to make things happen in the natural. We needed to once again Let go and Let God! We reminded the Lord of the things that were spoken over us and this year. We gave thanks for all He has done and All He was doing.

We started to feel the weight being lifted, our Spirit rejoicing, and a sense of His unending Peace overflow onto us. It was a night I won't forget. We feel asleep in minutes. Are you ready to hear the best part?

I got a phone call first thing the next morning. We had a match! God is faithful! There was a caseworker who contacted our caseworker and asked if we would be interested in a beautiful baby girl. Yes...a thousand times Yes!! I knew she was ours! Hope you have a blessed day! It gets better so keeping tuning in. Lots more to tell you!!

*Praise the Lord....It's Offical*

  Well it is official! As of today we are officially adoptive parents in waiting!! I can't begin to express what joy this brings me! It  means we are one step closer to the child that God has for us. The thought of this little one out there waiting for two loving parents to take care of them makes me dream of the day when we will get to meet. God is so good. I know this because He proves His faithfulness over and over again. I am so excited I could just jump up and down screaming Hallelujah!! It I wasn't at work right now typing this I probably would too!!

 As I am sitting here feeling like a kid on Christmas morning I am starting to think about the kind of parent I will be. I know I am going to take one look at this baby and fall completely in love. I can't help but wonder what they are going to look like! Will they be blonde headed with blue eyes or brown with green or brown with brown? I could think about it all day! I can't believe that I  actually get to call myself a parent and introduce this baby as my child.  So this week I will be putting together a diaper bag, picking out clothes, and making sure we know how to put the car seat properly in the car. That could be funny to watch. You should have seen us putting it together. I think even the dogs thought we were crazy. We never know when we will get a call so we must be prepared at all times. This is going to be one of the most exciting times in our life and I am determined to enjoy every moment.

 We just want to say thank you for all of you who continually keep us in your prayers it means more to us than you could possibly know. This week we are believing for an easy adoption process and for a quick match. I will let you know more when I do!! Hope you have a blessed day!! :)

*And the verdict is...*

  We are still not open. Yep, I said it once again we are still waiting for the approval. After my last post I stated we would be open by that following Monday. WRONG! I received an e-mail exactly 1 hour from my post that let us know they lost some of the paperwork we had turned in at the end of October. They also sent us new forms in the mail to fill out  and send back. I did however send an e-mail asking when we would "officially" be opened but as usually no response. Can you tell I am starting to get down about this whole situation? When we started this process we were told constantly how difficult working with the state was but I never realized it until now. We hear all the time how they need homes for these kids and people need to step up. Well what do you have to say to those who are stepping up but can't get anywhere with your system? I have also heard several people tell us that adoptive parents aren't their priority. Why not? Don't they need permanent homes too?

         If we didn't feel as if this is where the Lord has led us then you better believe I would have quit a long time ago. Anyone who knows me will agree that I am pretty persistant but I can be just as patient as I need to be. I have tried to instill in my mind that patience is a virtue. As I am writing this the Lord just reminded me that He is patient with us, always loving, and forgiving. As his child I am freely able to run to the throne to receive grace in my life regarding patience with receiving our children. I guess you could say that Easter is coming up soon and the devil keeps reminding me that it will be another holiday without a family of my own. The thought of possibly getting to watch our kids hunt for eggs or filling a Easter basket with goodies makes me want them so much more.

      I am so thankful for such great friends and family who have allowed us to love on their kids all these years. It has filled a huge whole in my heart. Even though they aren't technically mine I call each of them my own. No matter what they are all my kids to some extent. I would do for them what I plan on doing for my own someday. I pray that in some small way we can impact their lives in this big world. For now I will simply be content being the best Aunt Cort or Boonda that I can possibly be to all those little ones I love so much. They fill my heart with so much joy!
                       I hope you have a blessed day...sorry for venting! :)

*Something Old, Nothing New*

Spring is in the air!! Oh how I love this cool/hot season. Birds are chirping, trees are blooming, and the windows are always up! Speaking of windows I do have a small complaint about having to listen to trains all night long!! Seriously do you have to blow your engine at 3:00 a.m every single morning?

Starting in a few weeks Landon will be playing softball in a league out at Ben Geren Park. I started playing America's favorite past time around the age of 5 and fell completely in love with this sport. There are still times when I would love to get out there and crush a ball into the outfield while running my legs off to beat the throw to home. As I have gotten older the time to even think about playing has become few and far between. Some of my best memories are of my dad screaming from first base to keep running and my mom jumping up in down while almost losing control of her bladder because of the excitement! We took family vacations but most of the time it was based around where I was playing ball that weekend! This was totally fine with me I got to do what I loved and enjoy the activities in the area! I am so thankful for parents who supported me and allowed me to play sports. I hope that my children like sports so I can wear a shirt that says #24's mom and spend my days getting sunburned! My mom use to never go to the tanning bed because all she needed was one weekend of us playing ball. 
 Landon if you read this you can let the boys have your dull number 15 and the girls get the number of a champion 24!

I truly believe you weren't a great ball player unless you had a nickname! Some of the best names were found while scraping our knees going for a foul or from sitting on the bench while our team batted away! I know girls who are still referenced by those names. I am one of those girls. Nope my nickname never faded out. It has however changed versions depending on which member of my family or friends you ask. To my dad, friends, and coaches it was simply Boonya, my mom Boonie Spoonie, my bro Boondog, my nieces Boonda (couldn't quit get the ya sound so it was replaced with the da) and to my husband Boon.  I assure you they all know my name is Cortney but very rarely do or did you hear that around my house, ballfield, and yes even school. I've already started thinking of a few names to call our kids. We will see what sticks and what stinks! lol!

*Adoption update*: In my last post I stated there was so much I wanted to say but couldn't yet. Well just forget all about that it didn't work out. :( We were suppose to be officially open as of 2wks ago but due to our homestudy guy not turning in our report that didn't happen. I actually knew nothing about what was going until today and the 5th e-mail that I had to send to get a response. Yes, I sent 5 e-mails in 2wks and as of today I was determined to send one everyday until they answered me. Persistance paid off because our caseworker finally contacted us back only to say we will be open by Monday! What that officially means I couldn't tell you but I do know it makes us one more step closer. My emotions have been running high this week just because no one would answer my questions!! I will let you know more as soon as I do! Hope you have a blessed week! Praying for a good response on Monday! :0)

*Today's Useless Knowledge....*

 So I have this gadget on my google page at work that says "Useless Knowledge". Every so many minutes it posts some new uselessness. At this point in time we can't decide if we walk away feeling smarter or just like we ran into a door while looking the other direction. I decided some of this uselessness was worth blogging about so to make your day I will post a few. You can decide for yourselves if you feel smarter or not.

1) Never crush a wasp after it stings you. It's stinger lets off a scent that signals other wasps to come sting whatever is in the area even after it's death.

2) Male swans are the only birds that have a male genital part.

3) War II, the free-tailed bat caves near San Antonio were guarded closely as part of top-secret Operation X-ray. The U.S. military attempted to train the bats to carry small incendiary bombs and release them in Japanese buildings. During one test, bat bomb carriers escaped and set fire to barracks and a general’s car. The project was later scrapped.

4) Mozart once composed a piano piece that required a player to use two hands and his nose in order to hit all the correct notes.

5) Babies have tastebuds all over the insides of their mouths not just on their tongues. Adults and children do not have tastebuds on the middle of their tongues.

6) The sound a camel makes is called nuzzing.

7) From the early Roman Empire until eighteenth-century Europe and America, urine was a main ingredient in toothpaste, because the ammonia in it is an excellent cleaner. Ammonia is still a main ingredient in many types of toothpaste.

8) A rat can go without water longer than a camel can.

9) A rat can fall from a 5-story building without injury.

10)  It takes 3,000 cows to supply a single season’s worth of footballs for the National Football League.

Do you feel smarter yet? Hope you have a blessed day full of useless knowledge to share!!

*Good News!*

I have some exciting news to share with you all!!! As of yesterday our HOME STUDY is complete!! We should be open to receive a waiting child very soon!! Praise God!! We have such an awesome testimony to tell everyone about but as of right now we can't go into too much detail. I can tell you though that the Lord is faithful! Did you know that the Lord wants to show out in your life if you would just let Him? Well this has been a true revelation for me these past couple of weeks. As soon as I made the decision to let go and let God do His thing He has proven Himself faithful every time. All it takes is a little obedience and crucifying of the flesh. Just like Pastors always say it Pays more than it Costs to obey.

I guess I could give you a little more detail instead of just leaving you hanging. This is the short version minus major details but enough for you to know this was the Lord's doing not mine. So here goes.....we have been trying to get our home study since January 13th but no one ever contacted us so we called our case worker and when she sent our information to the home study man it got lost in translation...Imagine that stupid devil...well as of yesterday we were contacted by 2 case workers....and we were contacted by the home study guy.....he was at our house in 20 minutes....In the Natural this is unheard of...Doesn't happen...But I know who was behind it! MY GOD! He has great plans for us and for the child that is suppose to be ours.

Right now we are praying for the right child at the exact time that the Lord wants us to meet. So much I wish I could say but this will give you a reason to check back! Hope you have a blessed day!!

*Taking the Pressure off...*

           Well today is Valentine's Day so I pray if you're reading this that you have a wonderful day feeling loved not only by your husband but by your Heavenly Father. As I sit here I start to reflect on how much I have changed just by knowing how much God loves me. It has been something I have always known in my heart of course but sometimes as Children of God I think we need to get a true revelation of how much He does. If I could I would spend the entire day just sitting in His presence just letting Him love on me and Me love on Him. I truly believe the Lord loves those times of us Loving on Him too. It's not just a one way street.

          For the past couple of weeks the Lord has been teaching me about my love walk. So every night I try to meditate on the Love Chapter. I asked the Lord to show me ways I can love others the way that He loves. It has been so much easier for me in my job since I have realized that loving people despite their attitudes can change the outcome of any situation. In my heart I want to be one of those people who explodes with the Love of God for others. Which for those who know me best I am not much on telling people I love them because I am more of a giver. I guess you could say it's my love language. Whether it's time, gifts, or just doing something nice for someone it's just easier for me. Although there is nothing wrong with this the Lord has shown me that I have to be willing to let that vulnerable side show once in awhile. It's how people know you are real and can relate to you. I am still a work in progress but as Landon would say "We are Graced to run our race in this area of our lives too". Love that man so much.

     So still wondering about the adoption? We did have an appointment with Bethany on the 4th but the snow post poned it. To be honest we were actually relieved. Why you ask? Pastor Nate talked on Sunday about us being adopted as God's children. He continued on to say that God adopted us so He could love us and gives us a better life beyond our dreams. This made us realize a few things about our adoption process. We want to adopt to give a child a better chance at life. I think when we started this journey in our minds we thought we will finally be able to have a family. This became a real faith check for me because I still believe we will have biological children of our own now more than ever. God is no respector of persons so what He did for other woman in the bible and woman I know personally He will do for Me! Does this mean we don't want to adopt anymore? UM NO! Our process is just more focused on adopting through the state and not with a private agency at this time.

     As of right now this is where we will continue on until the Lord releases us otherwise. I say that because before we knew about the snow both of us had this uneasy feeling like the timing wasn't right it had nothing to do with the agency. We will use them someday if the Lord leads us back to adoption through an agency. So our home phone is being installed today and we will get our fire extinguisher then we should be ready for our home study which will take place in just a few weeks. Looking forward to continuing on this journey with the Peace that only God can give us. Praying for a child whose life we can change, love, and add to our little family of two.

                    Today I will remember Love is patient. Dear child your parents are here patiently awaiting your arrival........
                            

*Interview's to be continued..*

            I am sure you are wanting to know how the meetings went. Well sorry to tell you our meeting with Bethany had to be rescheduled due to the lovely snow. Yep! I know I can hear you all sighing..me to! I even cried a little because I was so excited to finally get to go after all this time. On a side note it was rescheduled to February 4th. Praise God! We don't have to wait a whole 6 more months. So again please keep us in your prayers on that day and thank you for your prayers on the other days. It blesses us so much to know you are all standing with us as we take each step further down this journey.  We did however have our first interview with the state. All she did was ask a few questions, had us sign some papers, and told us they would contact us in the next 45 days to schedule our homestudy.

            There are only a few things in our house we have to do in order to make our home ready for a child in the states eyes. We have to get a home phone, fire extinguisher, and put up a fire escape route on our fridge. I don't see how a baby would need a fire escape route but,  I have seen some pretty genius kids in my day. I know we have said we are waiting patiently for a little girl and I have been asked before why not a boy....Well the answer to that is we will be happy with whatever child God has in store for us Boy or Girl.

        We actually had this conversation last week about  getting a call for a little boy. Would we say no? The answer was pretty clear it would be YES in a heart beat! I am not limiting God. My vision for my life is His desires and honestly we just want a child. I don't want to be so closed minded that we miss the direction God is leading us in. Besides there are two rooms in my house one is done in all girl and the other can be turned into a little boys room in minutes. You will be happy to know that I don't have nearly as much stuff for a boy so no one can complain because they can't bless us with anything. I assure you though that my buying for boy things is about to get started so watch out Target and Kohl's I know how to find the good deals.

          I absolutely loved how Pastor Nate on vision Sunday posted the picture of the stars in the sky and asked can you see it? I could always see my little girls room and by the pictures I have shown it's exactly how I dreamed it would be. Now my vision has turned to my boys room. How do I see it? Oh the things my heart is starting to imagine for him. Looks like we will be having an Arkansas Razorback room full of footballs, basketballs, and baseballs. I have the bedding already too! I picked it out years ago and have kept it in a plastic cover all this time. I dugg it out just last week. Still smells like new! Anyway I will keep you posted on our meeting with Bethany on the 4th! If your reading feel free to drop me a comment. I know you are out there lurking....Be Blessed! :)

* It's Christmas Time in the Parker Home...*

         I know these are late but here is a few of my favorite things about decorating our house for Christmas!! So here is the age old question real or fake tree??? I go for fake all the way, less mess, and easy to decorate. Landon however chooses a real tree every year because of the smell. Seriously you pick a tree for that? I tried getting pine scented candles but he had to have the real deal. So to satisfy each of us I get a fake on in our room and he gets a real on for the living room. It works out great except I put all the best ornaments on my tree!! lol!!

Before:                      After: 

Here are a few pictures of some of my favorite ornaments and one special stocking that my lovely Mother-in-law had made for us. It was really special getting to hang this stocking on our mantle. It kept reminding us how faithful God is and that one day we will be filling it up with Christmas goodies for our new little one.



This is one of my favorite ornaments! I saw this in the store and snatched it up! I put my amazing dad's picture in it so that even though he is in Heaven I can be reminded of all the Christmas's we had together. I am thankful that I got to have him in my life as long as I did! He was a walking, talking,  miracle and gave all the Glory to God!



Smore's anyone? I started collecting these ornaments a few year's ago and now I can't stop. They have so many different ones to coose from. There is only one place I have found that sells them too and that is the Christmas store in Silver Dollar City!! So when we get a chance to go to Branson I always buy  a new one! Here is my newest one!! He's Fishing!!



Here is my most favorite thing of the year! My new stocking....



It's so sweet!! I almost cried when she gave it to me but I held it in! I am not one to show my emotions but I got teary eyed after she left. All in all it was a great Christmas and we were extremely blessed! Here is a picture of all our stockings on the mantle! We bought a matching one so our two kids will have matching stockings! They will always remind us to believe God in all things even when the situation seems impossible and trust me we have been told by many people it will be impossible for us to have a family! We will one day prove them wrong! Praise God!!

We haven't put the hooks in yet so we had to hang them on the snowmen! haha!!

*Oh Baby....*

        We finally made a decision regarding our adoption and I am sure you were all wondering. It's funny I know people want to know how things are going but it seems they are afraid to ask. I am here to say, Don't be Afraid!! I can't even began to describe how exciting this time in our life has been and we are just getting started it seems. It helps us to feel normal when we can talk about our journey to adopt.

 We decided that we are going with a Christian Adoption agency in Northwest Arkansas called Bethany. Last August we had already filled out our pre-liminary information and were invited a few months later to a meeting because we were approved. At the time we had started out adoption process through the state in hopes to adopt a child who needed a home through foster care. The only problem with that is after we finished the entire process they informed us that we would be waiting an extremely long time. The reason being is because we wanted a baby. I know there are a ton of older kids and if God leads us that way one day that would be great but we are new to this parenting thing plus we want to experience every stage of life.
     
  So basically we finished the program through the state but never heard back anything further since October. We never even met with an adoption specialist or had someone call us about coming out to meet with us to open our home. Well we missed the interview with Bethany but here is the cool part. I sent them an e-mail at the end of December asking is they were going to be having anymore meetings anytime soon but they let me know probably not until later next year. This is how cool God is. 

 On Tuesday my wonderful Husband celebrated his 26th birthday and I received an e-mail from Bethany asking if we could come to a meeting with them on January 21st!! Also get this yesterday I was contacted by the state asking to set up a meeting with us on January 13th! Are you kidding me??? We go from being frustrated and feeling like we are starting completely over to getting the privilage of meeting with two places that could bring a child to us. God is good!!  That is favor if I have ever seen it. The lady with the state did tell us to keep in mind we might be waiting awhile but she doesn't know Who my Daddy is!! The King of Kings and Lord of Lords! He will make it happen whether we go through Bethany or the state! 
  
   I know it's an emotional roller coaster but one well worth riding. I am sure I will be posting about both meetings so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers on those two days. Be Blessed!

*Promise I will.....

  I know I haven't blogged in a while but I have a good reason I promise... I have been busy, on vacation, and party planning away. I have a lot to blog about and pictures too!! That's exciting I usually never have pictures but I have to start getting camera happy!! We have a scrapbook to make people!! At least that's what we were told!! Keep checking back I should have a few new posts in the days to come!! :)