Passport has been applied for.......

Oh my....oh my..... word is Lauren's passport has been applied for.  Those typically take about 2-3 weeks to get issued .... at that point, we're probably going to hear we are approved to set travel plans.  Our agency said, it could POSSIBLY be in June :) 

Things are getting busy at work ... June / July are the two busiest months of the year for us :)  Not to worry, when travel approval comes..... I'm going!  We have a game plan in place and I'm certain all things at work will be fine.

We had a great Mother's Day -- as a family.  I got up early (not on purpose....just woke up)... and did some Bible study, ate a protein bar and started my day off to a healthy eating plan.  THEN Joshua woke up, came downstairs and said, "Mommy, daddy is going to the store so WHAT would you like for breakfast?"... as I sat and struggled with the thought of saying, "I already ate"... I opted for the other alternative, "you know those little white powdered donuts that YOU love so much?..... how about some of those, some milk, and why not throw in some peanut butter toast?"..... his eyes lit up - because he knows we don't eat those powdery donuts very often :)   So off they went and upon return came back with a plate of donuts, toast, and milk.... along with flowers (one in a small pot that Joshua has been working on growing from school)... the other a beautiful bouquet from Brad :)  Love my guys' heart.

The rest of the day was church, lunch with mom -- at Smashburger!  - and then Orange Leaf with Joshua later --- so much for the protein bar breakfast :) - Church sermon was another great one - on being Supermom and Proverbs 31:10-31.  It's not what you think.  Pastor Chris challenged families to put our lives in proper priority: 1.) God, 2.) Spouse, 3.) Family, 4.) Extended Family, 5.) then whatever else we spend all our time doing....career, facebook :), shopping, friends, entertaining, blogging :)..... etc., etc.   He really is a gifted pastor with the courage to tell us things ... we might NOT want to hear... but his grace and love sharing the Word of God in humility is beautiful ... and it's what we need on this journey of life. 

Then in the afternoon - we packed luggage for our trip.  This might seem strange, given we don't have a travel date -- but I'm a planner - and I needed to see how much room we have for OUR stuff :)  - We have two large suitcases, and one small already -- ALMOST full.... but we can fit in our stuff -- and we plan to take one other smaller one.  One large is for orphanage donations - can't wait to give these things to BAT! The other large is for Lauren - and it's mostly care items, pullups, etc... stuff on our travel guide list - with only a few outfits, dresses, PJs, and shoes.  I had to scale back a bunch to make sure there would be room for our clothes too - but no big deal, especially since we know about how big she is, we know what sizes to bring.  Joshua loved helping pack -- and for a brief moment, we discussed how badly we want him to go too - but that's not part of the plan.  He's fine and said, "that's ok - because I get presents" -- UGH, yep he's right, when we leave to travel overseas for any length of time - we leave him small gifts to open about every other day with notes, letters, etc.  It helps the time pass -- and he LOVES it!

My mom's ankle is healing - but she's still on a cast - pray that all gets better before we leave.  Brad's mom is also planning to come down while we're gone -- isn't it great to have TWO wonderful moms??

So for now .... counting the days until school is out, busy with church, and life ..... passing the time until we hear ... "Passport has been issued"!  (let it be June....let it be June.....let it be June) :) 

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the moms....in adoption world, and otherwise.  Our Lord LOVES your sacrificial heart ..... isn't it the GREATEST job on this earth???