*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!! :)