sadness.

i posted recently about one of my best friends and her fight for her daughter. you can read it here. sadly, yesterday they got news that the birth father has appealed to the kansas supreme court. now it is back to more waiting. in molly's own words,

"We are mostly sad because there was such a clear view of finish line at the end of the process and now we are back into it for at least a little while longer.  We hadn't really settled into winning the last appeal because as long as someone is trying to take your daughter you will not relax.  We had just hoped this would be it.  Wavybel turns two in June and I so badly want to be finished by then.  Now I don't know if that is possible or not. "

please keep my friends in your thoughts and prayers as they continue on this very difficult journey.

hey, i'm in a book club

i love reading but i'm terrible about taking time out to get lost in a book.

about 5 years ago i was in a book club. a book club that rarely read books. it was always more of a social outing, and that was fun, but eventually the girls talked about husbands and babies and things i couldn't relate to.  it was still fun, but i was on the outside of things, and it became less appealing. i'm not sure when it happened, but our "book" club sort of fell apart. 

when i was in college, both at k-state and at baker, i was forced to read.  i was given the opportunity to discuss the books we read, write papers about them, search for literary meanings, etc. somehow, i love this sort of thing.

my friends kelly and julie approached me recently about forming a book club and we just finished up our first book. it was "the help" by kathryn stockett. i highly recommend you pick this one up. it tells the story of three amazing women and the change they brought to their town during an impossible time. 

i had trouble getting started when i first picked it up a few weeks ago, and i ended up reading all 445 pages or so in 2 days. once i got started, i couldn't put it down. 

our book club met to discuss "the help" last thursday. i was anxious about our first meeting, not feeling particularly social, and not knowing what to expect. i was pleasantly surprised. three of the girls are new to me completely, and it was easy to fall into conversation with them. the other girls are all connected to some stage of my life. 

we all loved the book. and i love our book club. 

adam.

finding my way back to blogging is proving a bit challenging. i don't know if the problem is that i have nothing to say or if my life just isn't very interesting. either way, i'm trying to keep the posts fairly regular until this starts to feel natural again and i don't have to think so hard about what to write.

tonight i just want to share briefly about a movie i just finished watching and highly recommend checking out. it is called adam.  i saw a trailer for it last summer and received it in the mail from netflix weeks ago.  i wish it hadn't taken me so long to watch.

in short, it is about an average girl falling for a boy who has asperger's syndrome. i don't really want to give anything else away. it was a perfect little film with great acting and just the right soundtrack.

it has been too long since i curled up by myself on the couch with a good movie that made me think and laugh and cry and want to share about it immediately after finishing. go check it out.

rip.

for anyone interested....we finally captured mcgruber. it has been nearly a week since the little guy left us and there are no signs that he had any friends or family around. we are happy to be mcgruber free.

happy birthday, addy!

today is the birthday of my oldest niece, adelynn. i was at the hospital when she was born and was able to meet her when she was just a few minutes old. today she turned 9. she is this little elementary school super star....not a little baby...or a little toddler.

here is one of my favorites of her from when she was just my little addy.

may 2006

confessions of a super mouse.

i'm already feeling a little weird about the content on this blog.  i need to apologize for all of the mentions of mcgruber.  you would understand though if you were here, with us in our house... and if you could see the skills that he has.

we have tried hard to rid the house of any potential food sources but he just keeps finding his way to the few things we've not put in tupper ware.  did you know, by the way, that mice just eat right through ziplock bags? i didn't.

anyway...i just wanted to share a few of the items that he has feasted on which i am sure has led to his impressive inability to be captured. so, in no particular order....

• fiber one poptarts
• doggy dental chews
• homemade wheat bread
• rhodie's "rejuvenate" tablets (for her arthritis) 

i highly encourage you to mcgruber proof any of these items if they are in your home.  

the fight for wavy.

yesterday i got one of the most anticipated and most wonderful phone calls i have ever had.  it was one of my very best friends, molly, telling me that she and her family had won their appeal and that they would continue to parent their beautiful baby girl.

wavy was born in june 2008 and has been with matt, molly and her sister harper since that time. 2 months after coming home from the hospital, the adoption was contested by the birth father. there was a grueling legal battle, during which the birth father proved what was already suspected -- that he was unfit to parent.

the problem was that the best interest of the child wasn't a factor in this type of case and my friends were repeatedly told that the outcome looked bleak for them... but, after many months and several court dates, my dear friends won their case last march, against all odds. god is good.

unfortunately, the birth father appealed, making an already devastating legal nightmare even more unbearable. during this time, wavy continued to grow and my friends continued to be amazing parents to her and her sister.    life went on... and they had faith...and they tried their best not to give way to fear that their daughter would be taken from them.

the appeal date was set after months of waiting and the hearing took place this past november.  from then on, every friday has been met with a mixture of anxiety and hope- friday is decision day. after weeks and weeks, the ruling finally came.

wavy will stay where she belongs. where god obviously placed her.  with a family that was designed for her. with all of the hopes and possibilities and dreams that she deserves. i have never cried so joyously --- not even the first time they won!

i really believe it is over...and their lives are just beginning. i am so blessed to be a part of their incredible lives.

i haven't gotten to wrap my arms around them yet, which is sad considering they live right around the corner.... but i will. and i can't wait, even though i know it will just start the waterworks all over again.

here is a recent picture of wavy that i stole from their blog...without their permission..hope they don't mind!