Happy 2012!

Ever since I had my first baby, almost 13 years ago, I've been saying, "On Monday I'm going to start my diet". There's just something about Monday's... But several have come and gone and I'm still not at my goal weight. I guess I thought the pounds would just fall off by carrying my chunky babies around. No such luck for me. New Year's Day is like the ultimate Monday. I've never really had any resolutions before, but this year I do. One of them is to read more books. Reading is one of my favorite things to do, but I haven't been taking as much time as I'd like or need lately to do it. Here is my first pick of the new year:

I've also decided on my word for the year. It is LOVE. It was an easy pick. I have felt led to pick this word before and chickened out. It means that I have to give up some old habits. I am a mercy person and I am also very forgiving, but when it comes to doing everything in love, I fall short big time. I have a discerning spirit and STRONG personal convictions. Sometimes this can cause me to become opinionated, critical, & judgemental. I try very hard to keep that under control, but I slip up from time to time. Our kids went Christmas shopping at school for gifts for us. (With money that I sent in:) and Ansley just so happened to buy this for me:

It solidified my decision. I hung it up on my bathroom wall, right next to my mirror, which is the first thing I see in the morning. :)

Ok... and then there is our sweet Ashlyn Li Hui McKee! OH MY GOODNESS!!! This is the year y'all! It's really coming!!! She is coming home in 2012! I no longer have to say, "next year..." It's THIS YEAR!!! We are talking a short 8-10 months from now. My desire is to have her home by my birthday, which is in September. We were out on the town today and I looked at the clock. It was 12:09 PM our time, which is 1:09 AM her time. The Chinese New Year is a BIG deal in China. I have a feeling she was up doing whatever they do to celebrate. Oh, please, please, please pray for her heart. We SO want for her to like us. I know that sounds so silly, but I know she's not going to love us right off the bat, but just to have her "like" us would be fine with me. I had a lovely chat with our social worker the other day. I was asking her opinion of our girls bedroom setup. We have planned to let all three of our girls share a room and it has been set up this way since we moved into this house 5 years ago. After reading the "Adoption Parenting" book and talking with a BTDT adoptive mom, I became nervous about this for obvious reasons. I have very keen senses. I keep a close watch on my children and monitor very closely any contact they have with other people. Sleepovers are reserved for only those people we feel very comfortable with. We have had "the talk" many times and I know my kids would alert me to any inappropriate behavior, but you just never know. We also have a video baby monitor set up in that room which will come in handy. I told our SW that I felt like she would be more comfortable sharing a room with the girls since she has been used to sharing a room with others all her life. I feel like putting her in her own room would be isolating and scary for her. She instantly put my mind at ease and said she totally agreed with me and that she just feels in her heart that we will not have to worry about this with Ashlyn. She has been doing this for years and has seen all sorts of crazy stuff. She has adopted several times herself. But she is saying the same things that several other people have said to me and that is that there is just something about Ashlyn's countenance. I can't tell you how many times I have flip-flopped back and forth in my mind, trying to prepare myself for issues like this. I think of the worse case senarios and then I look at her picture and think, "Is that sweet face really capable of doing these things?" I know she is, but I just have a strong feeling she won't. We are still preparing as best as we can for the worst and still hoping for the best. I feel like we'll end up somewhere in the middle. At any rate, we are so excited about what 2012 will bring for our family. I have a feeling that many changes are coming our way.

We had a great time tonight with our family and neighbors. We lit off some fireworks and ate lots of food and played cards and watched football and the Times Square special and wished we were in NYC with my bro and his wife. They live in the Chelsea Village area of Manhattan... Hopefully scoping out a place for us... :) I LOVE NYC!!! I doubt I would ever hang out on TS during New Years though. What craziness! The talent was horrible too. Maybe I'm just getting old. Anyhow, Happy New Year!!!

What's your word for the year???

Blessings,
Rebecca