One year ago today...

We got THE CALL saying that we had received a referral for a healthy baby boy from Guatemala! What an amazing day that was, and what a blessing we were given last Christmas! And though of course it was a LONG wait until we held him in our arms...or even got pictures for that matter...it was so worth it!

Can you believe this little bean is the same boy? How fast they grow up!

Ok...so I didn't get the vacuum...

I got little Cameron this cute learning lawn mower instead. It just seemed more interesting and had more features for about the same price. I'm just being practical, you know?

That doesn't mean that Santa can't bring the vacuum toy though...

The spirit of the season

What a difference a year makes. I can hardly believe looking back to one year ago that we were just finishing up our homestudy and gathering the final documents for our dossier. We were still up to our necks in paperwork and didn't have our referral yet. Christmas was kind of an afterthought last year, and honestly the whole holiday season caused me more angst knowing that we were so close to the family we had been dreaming about but yet still so far away. We hardly did any of the usual decorations, and we didn't even put up a tree last year other than the light-up ceramic tree that my Grandma had made me the year before! It served it's purpose but was kind of hard to put gifts under since it was only about a foot tall! ;)

So here I sit one year later, and it's amazing how life has changed! It's our first Christmas as a family, and I feel like the spirit of the holidays has found me again after years and years of being depressed and glum through it all. And while the decorations are still a bit sparse this year, (though we do have a brand spanking new fake pre-lit tree in our dining room!) it's more because our curious toddler is into EVERYTHING and the less stuff around the better and not because I'm being all bah-humbug! This year I'm looking forward to Christmas, to spending time with family, and to watching my son's eyes light up as he opens his gifts! I ordered him this cool Christmas stocking from Mayan Traditions too that was made in Guatemala that I think is so perfect and special for him! I can't wait for it to arrive so I can hang it up! (Now I just have to figure out what the heck to put in it since he just go so much stuff for his birthday!)

But besides the fact that it's our first Christmas together, the other thing that I'm super excited about (and now don't laugh at me for saying this) is that we get to send out Christmas cards with a picture of our precious boy on them! For years at Christmas I had to cringe everyday as we would get card after card with cute little baby pictures or happy family pictures with all those smiling faces taunting me, saying "Look at our perfect happy family, too bad your body is a barren wasteland and you're spending yet another Christmas without a child you infertile loser freak!" Ok, perhaps that's a bit extreme but that's how it felt some days! Now this year it's my turn to send out the cute pictures!! I know, it's kind of stupid but it makes me happy!

So anyway, I think this post is turning out kind of dorky and sappy but oh well. On another note, the other exciting news is that Cameron's Social Security card came in the mail today! As far as I know, and for those of you who have BTDT please tell me if I'm forgetting something, but I think I can say we are officially DONE with the paperchase! Ok, we still have to do our post placement report at 1 year home and there's this crazy tax season to deal with, but that's IT! Woo-hoo!

Now to change the subject completely, I have a question for the masses (or for the 6 people who still read my blog). Is it ok for me to buy my son a vaccuum toy for Christmas or is that too girly? The kid is obsessed with our vaccuum cleaner and he will literally follow us around the house while we're using it, and when it's off he puts his toys on it and next to it and likes to poke at it and stuff. So those stereotypes of boys play with trucks and girls play with vaccuums are out the window nowadays, right?? 2-In-1 Giggle Vacuum