Question: What do you get when you take one healthy kid and add a fever and a potential exposure to influenza b??

Answer: One Worried Mama!

We got an email from our social worker today. Apparently she was diagnosed with influenza b the day after our home study visit. After being reassured by our pediatrician’s office that there was very, very little chance that Mackenzie had been exposed and even if she had been she should be protected by the flu shot she had this year, I proceeded with the rest of my day undisturbed. Well, as I was walking into school to pick up Mackenzie she was having her temp taken by the front office lady. BOO! :@( The result??? High enough to be worrisome, but not high enough to warrant a trip to After Hours. Ever have one of those moments where your stomach just drops to your feet??? Yup, I had one of those.

Sad to say but I am kind of freaking out right now. Some kids seem to have fevers every other weekend so their mom’s are well equipped to handle it (Bee, Bear, Bird – I’m talking to you!). However, I can count on one hand the number of times Mackenzie has run one and when she does I tend to fall apart :@(

We’ll know more in the morning….or potentially overnight…but with any luck she will be better in the morning. In the meantime I’m trying to give it over to God and not stress about it…um, yeah, WAY easier said than done! (I seem to vaguely remember something in our last sermon about biblical femininity and trusting God…hmmmm….if only I could remember what that smart guy up front was saying….or I could just click here :@)

In addition to obsessing over….I mean observing….a sick child I am also trying to pull the details together for the Pighetti Dinner and Silent Auction that is only 2 days away!!! Eeekkk!!!! The food has been delivered (HUGE thank you to Kriss and her community group!!!) and most of the details seem to be covered. Just a reminder, dinner is served at 5:30 and bidding starts at 6:00. In addition to the auction items we are also planning a 50/50 raffle.

Stay tuned for some great last minute auction items!!

Post again soon!
~Jeny

Home Study - Round 1!

1st Home study visit is done! Other than the weather not cooperating, it went very well. We met with our social worker and spent some time talking. (Funny, all of that cleaning and she really only glanced around the house!) It wasn’t what I expected, but then again I wasn’t sure what to expect. Almost all of our time was spent talking and we felt really comfortable with her. Our next visit is next Monday and that should be the interesting one as the majority of it will be the one on one interview with me. It’s pretty exciting to be moving forward so quickly. In addition to the home study we will have our mandatory adoption class on the 8th & 9th. Hopefully we will get a good overall of the rest of the process and hopefully meet some other couples that are going through the process as well.

On the fundraising front, the Pighetti Dinner and Silent Auction is just a short 5 days away!!! Can’t believe it is almost here. We have had another awesome donation for the auction. It is a handmade purse with a matching coin purse and key chain. It is a custom piece donated by Lillian Grace Boutique. You can contact Paige at thelgboutique@gmail.com with any questions. Here is a picture:

Hope to see lots of you there!!

Post again soon!

~Jeny

Freaking Out!?!

In case you are wondering, Yes, Yes I am.... Our first home study visit is tomorrow and I feel that we are no where near ready. I understand that the home study is more about our social worker getting to know us that analyzing my domestic shortcomings, but it still nerve wracking! Can't wait to have the first one past us. Post again soon! ~Jeny

We are officially 25% of the way to our ultimate goal!! Thank you to everyone that has helped us get this far – you guys are awesome!!

Quick note on the Pighetti Dinner – if you will be attending and would be willing to help set up, cook, run the auction tables or run kid’s events please let me know.

Post again soon,
~Jeny

Ava Anderson Deal!!!

Awesome deal for all of you Ava Anderson fans!! Our favorite consultant Elizabeth has announced that anyone who places an Ava Anderson order from now until the end of April and mentions our adoption will receive 10% AND she will donate 10% to the adoption fund!! You must email her at NonToxicBeth@gmail.com or call her at 678.773.1406 to get this special deal. Thank you Elizabeth!!!!

Post again soon!
~Jeny

Home Study!!

Homestudy is scheduled!!!!! Well, at least the first two visits are scheduled – for next Monday (28^th) and the Monday after that (4^th). Yes, Next MONDAY!!! As in just 5 days from now! I was so excited when we scheduled it, then almost immediately realized how much we still have to do to get ready and now I’m kind of freaking out! I’m really excited to get started on it though. We also have the Adoption Class that second week (8^th-9^th) and the Pighetti Dinner stuck in there as well. (April 2^nd 5:30 – Winter Park Christian Church just in case you have forgotten :@)

Things are suddenly flying again. They sent us a reminder email about the Adoption Class and it also had a breakdown of some of the things we’ll be going over. Things like putting our profile together, handling the money side of it and details on matching/placement. I’m really looking forward to getting to know some other families and also getting a good handle on the rest of the process.

On a sad note, we went to a good-bye dinner for a couple of our good friends from church tonight. I have mentioned her on my blog before. Elizabeth and her husband Todd will be moving to California later this week. I will never forget the first time I met Elizabeth. We actually met for the first time in my kitchen. Right after we had Jack our church family set up a “Take them a meal” thing and Elizabeth signed up despite the fact that they were new to the church and they had never actually met us. It really impressed me that she reached out to serve a couple that she had never even met. We are definitely going to miss you guys!!!

Post again soon!
~Jeny

~*~*~*~*~EDIT~*~*~*~*~

Totally forgot to mention the latest donation for the Pighetti Dinner and Silent Auction!! We now have a $75 gift card for Gators Dockside up for bidding!! Thanks guys!!!

Well, remarkable we have made it through the weekend. Woohoo! Definitely deserving of a medal over here!

Saturday was Mackenzie’s birthday party, wow, talk about craziness! We actually had a pony….yup real life pony… DJ has a client that owns a farm so we got the pony on trade luckily. We also planted wildflower seeds in pots AND I managed to bake and frost 48 cupcakes and turn 24 of them into bumblebees. Somehow we managed to get everything pulled together in time (Thank you Naomi for helping out!!) Mackenzie had a great time and everything went off without a hitch. Next year is definitely going to be more low key.

Sunday was the one year anniversary of losing Jack. Wow, really hard to believe that it’s been a year already. Amazingly enough I was mostly zen-like through the day. I think I got most of it out on Saturday night, it was NOT pretty. I lost my cool a couple times with DJ – not proud of that. We hung low most of the day, church in the morning then lunch with friends and missional training with church that night. I really prayed for peace and for God to take my anxiety and I really did feel it. I also know that we had a lot of people praying for us and we truly appreciate you guys!! Glad to have that milestone behind us. Apparently the weekend took its toll on me because we ended up going to bed at 8:30 last night.

On the adoption side, things are coming together for the dinner and silent auction. It is seriously right around the corner!!! I finally got the flyer made up, not sure how to post it here, but if you would like a copy just email me at info@calledtoadopt.org and I will send it to you. The details are starting to come together and we have had another donation for the silent auction. Elizabeth Hood has donated an awesome Ava Anderson body care basket!! If you haven’t heard of Ava Anderson just scan back through the blog, I have bragged on their products frequently as they are AMAZING!! Check out her website here.

Just a reminder that the Pighetti Dinner and Silent Auction is scheduled for April 2^nd at the Winter Park Christian Church in Winter Park. Dinner starts at 5:30 and the bidding starts at 6. Hope to see you all there!!!

Post again soon!
~Jeny

Apparently I am having one of those days. You know the kind, where you wake up and everything seems to be going well, but as more things start to add up you realize that maybe you should have stayed in bed.

I finally decided to call the agency to see what was up with the homestudy. (Last time I spoke with them the Admin Asst said that the lady that would be doing my homestudy would be out of town until yesterday but would call me when she got back to schedule our appointments.) Today when I called she told me she wasn’t sure who would be doing our homestudy but that they were really busy and would call me at some point, but if they didn’t get it scheduled before the class (IN APRIL!!!) that it would be ok. I don’t know exactly why, but as I hung up the phone I started crying. I was just so frustrated. I keep trying to remind myself that it is God’s timing and His timing is perfect, but apparently patience is just not in my skill set. Grrr…..

The icing on the cake actually came later that night at Mackenzie’s ice skating practice. I struck up a conversation with one of the other moms that was new to the class. As she pointed out her kids I noticed that it was pretty obvious that they were adopted. This naturally led to a conversation about adoption and I shared with her about our upcoming adoption. I was expecting an uplifting conversation with a like-minded individual…I was wrong….very, very
wrong….

Evidently her trigger word is Domestic (her children were both adopted from Guatemala). Up until that moment I had yet to meet someone so adamantly opposed to domestic adoption, nor had I met someone so intent on making their own opinions known. She shared with me her horror story about their failed domestic adoption with a shady agency and despite my reassurance to her that we are dealing with a very reputable agency with great references from others who have used said agency, she continued to overwhelm me with her negative comments.


What was entertaining about the conversation was her husband standing right behind her trying his best to not only change the subject but provide positive stories about domestic adoption. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut and not say anything mean back at her. Shortly after this lovely conversation she and her husband went off to another area and we didn’t speak any further.

Sad to say, but I’m still struggling with her remarks. I’m trying very hard not to take them personally and trying to understand that she has obviously been hurt and probably doesn’t get that her comments were hurtful as well. Part of me is wondering why I even let this lady rain on my parade but that dark place in the back of my mind is wondering if she’s right. I hate that dark place. It’s evil and spiteful and always has to throw in its two cents. In this dark place resides all of my insecurities, my guilt, my shame and my brokenness. It festers there feeding on all of the bad things that have happened to me and all of the wrongs that I perceive people have done to me. Needless to say this is NOT a happy place. Ultimately I need to remember that my identity is not wrapped up in this adoption, my kids, this lady's negativity or anything else of this world. My identity is found in Christ alone. He is my rock and only He knows the plans that He has laid for me.

"For I know the plans I have for you, " declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

Ok, enough whining; now enjoy a cute pic of my cute kid ice skating :-)



Post again soon (perhaps when I am in a better mood??)
~Jeny

I am happy to announce that we officially have a location for the Pighetti Dinner! Woohoo!! We will be using the facilities at the Winter Park Christian Center on Lakemont Ave in Winter Park. I’m working on getting some flyers made up so hopefully I will have those done in the next couple days. How exciting to see everything starting to come together. We have also had another donation to the silent auction by Laurie Dullmeyer who is donating some Mark makeup products. Check out Laurie's website Here. To see a list of all items up for bid visit our fundraising website Here.

We’ve had a pretty busy weekend. Saturday morning we got some home study cleaning done. We were blessed by the help of a good friend and were able to get so much accomplished in a short amount of time. In the afternoon we spent some time at my niece’s birthday party and then traveled out to Winter Garden to hang out with some of my cousins. One of my cousins from North Carolina was down with his wife and his daughter who is 3 months younger than Mackenzie. It was so great to see the 2 of them playing and bossing each other around. (Hmmm….wonder which side of the family the bossiness comes from???)

Tonight was our night with the Beta Center girls. We made stir fry with rice and egg rolls and played a rousing game of Just Dance 2 on Wii. (Nothing more entertaining that watching your husband get roped into dancing to “It’s Raining Men.” – Thank you honey for being such a good sport! :-) I feel so blessed that they have allowed us to be part of their lives. God continues to grow our relationships with the girls and I continue to pray that we will be a positive influence in pointing them to Jesus.

Hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Post again soon,
~Jeny

Random Ramblings

Wow, so I guess it’s been a bit since I have last blogged. Sorry guys, sounds like such a cop-out but we’ve been super busy. Biggest talk around the house has been about a certain little person’s upcoming birthday. Wow, so not ready for her to be 5 already! The party is shaping up well. The biggest thing I am struggling with is reining myself in. I feel this overwhelming need to make up for last year and I am really struggling to keep it in under control. I’m also trying to focus on keeping it as stress-free as possible…best of luck to myself on that one! LOL!

Things are creeping along with the adoption stuff. We have all of our paperwork in (including the last minute questionnaire they sent us when we finally got everything in!) and are waiting on our assigned social worker to get back from vacation so that we can schedule our homestudy dates. They have recently changed the way they do the homestudy so now we will be meeting with the social worker 4 times in our home. As far as building a working relationship it will be great, but it does mean that my house has to be homestudy ready on 4 different occasions!! Eeekkkk! We are VERY excited about moving on to the next step though.

On the lifestyle changes side we have received and are happily using our new Ava Anderson products. Mackenzie really likes them and it is really neat to see her take an interest in her hygiene (for lack of a better word). It has also been a good teaching opportunity as well about the kinds of things we want to put into/onto our bodies and things that we should avoid to stay healthy. It’s so amazing to watch her grow and see her blossom into a little woman.

That being said I have a confession to make….I have stopped using deodorant. :::GASP::: I know! What self-respecting woman living in Florida would do such a crazy thing!?! Well when the alternative is coating my armpits with some really disgusting and possibly cancer causing chemicals I’ve decide I’m making the jump. Instead I have been using toner from the Ava Anderson line. I know! I really didn’t think it would work either!!! I have been doing it now for 3 days and it has really worked! It doesn’t stop you from sweating, but it stops you from stinking. The first day was a little nerve wracking but I made it through. (Thank you to my awesome co-worker Melissa for voluntarily sniffing me in the afternoon to reassure me that I was not offensive!)

Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox now :-)

Post again soon….I PROMISE!
~Jeny

So not ready....

Yeah, so today is March 1st. Besides the fact that this year is absolutely flying by, today I realized that I am just not ready for it to be March already. I'm not ready for it to have been a year already...

It just sounds like so long. I can't believe that Jack has been gone almost a year. I feel like it's been so long but at the same time it still feels so fresh. I was looking over pictures of Jack tonight, something that I rarely do as it is still so difficult. I pray that someday soon God will heal my heart enough that I can look at them and not be so overwhelmed by loss and longing for my little man.

At the same time I am absolutely amazed at where God has brought us in the last year. He has done incredible things in our life and has surrounded us by wonderful people who have supported and loved on us through all of the ups and downs.

Sorry to bring the heavy, but in reading this you get the good and the bad...

In an effort to leave you with a smile I'll share this pic of Mackenzie cheesing it up from our recent New Orleans trip :-)

(Yes, she dressed herself, "scarf" and all!)

Post again soon,
~Jeny