Exciting Things on my Mind

There have been lots of things happening lately but none more exciting than...

1- The birth of my new baby nephew this past weekend! I have to “tell” you the short version of the story since it’s so cool. Trace and I were driving to Tulsa for his sister Gigi’s birthday party and when we were 30 mins out I got a call from my brother in law that my sis Nickee was at the hospital because her water broke!!! She was 3.5 weeks early so this was TOTALLY unexpected. So, Trace took me to Nickee and Marcus’ house so I could help him pack for the hospital (Nickee had most things in piles, so she wants it to be known that she was mostly packed) and we headed to the hospital to get ready to welcome Micah James into the world. Nickee was amazing and didn’t complain during labor but ended up needing a c-section at 1:30am. There are lots of amazing details, but I’ll keep it short and say that God is good and Micah was born healthy at 6 lbs and 13 oz! Trace and I waited in the hospital room during the c-section (me pretty impatiently because a nurse told me baby would be out within 15 mins and they were gone for a good 40…) until Nickee, Marcus, my mom and MICAH came back! Here are a couple of pictures from the big night/ morning:

Nickee is cute even when she in labor!!! Hopefully that is genetic cause I might be able to use it someday :)

Trace and I with little Micah. I am smiling for the picture but Trace is taking his “holding of the baby” privilege very seriously and is pretty focused.

2- We are puppy FREE!!! After 8.5 weeks of cute puppies in our house they all have wonderful families and moved to their forever homes. It was a blessing to have them, and while they overflow with cuteness, they also demanded a great deal of my time and made our house smell other than good. Trace boycotts our office once the puppies hit the 5 week mark, so he is thankful to be able to go in there again :) I look forward to the extra time I have now to devote to other things…like organizing my garage. No really, I need to get to that…

3- Still so thankful for how our raffle turned out!!! This weekend I heard from/ of several people that wanted to get tickets but forgot to get them in time for the drawing. If that is you, and you are reading this blog, don’t worry, we just might have another opportunity for you to get involved in our adoption in the upcoming months :) But honestly, Trace and I are still overcome by the generosity of so many incredible people!

4- I have recently connected with several other AMAZING women that are adopting through the same agency we are. This means our children are together in the baby home in Ethiopia and will have a very special bond when they are placed in our families someday. These women are such a blessing to me and I already value their friendships greatly. Trace and I have been blessed with family and friends that are supportive and genuinely excited about our Ethiopian adoption, and these women are a new type of family to me as we are experiencing a really wild journey together. I thank God for them!


5- I am looking forward to Christmas in a few days! I can’t wait to see all my nephews on the Jones’ side experience Christmas now that they are a little older and more able to understand what’s going on. Christmas is so much more fun with kids around and these little guys are simple adorable!


6- Families in our adoption program have been getting referrals and we *might be* close to 9 on the waiting list!!! Our agency does not have a strict list of who is where, so I can’t be entirely certain, but based on the fact that we were 14th on the list when our dossier was sent to Ethiopia, and at least 5 families have received referrals since that time (maybe 6) I do think it’s safe to say that we have moved down on the list! Of course this gets me super excited, but it is a cautious excitement because we still may be waiting the 6-8 months to be matched with a child. I did want to give you an update as this is DEFINTIELY on my mind :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!