Another Step Closer

I hold in my hands our approval from US Citizenship and Immigration Services!!! One little giant step closer to our baby.

Now I need to get in gear for real. We pretty much have everything we need for our dossier. Just need to write a couple of things, get some help putting it all together and get everything certified. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks! And I am a procrastinator!

Can't believe how close we are to being a "waiting" family!

My Entertainment

Adoption update: 1-600A is filed! And they cashed our check. Now I move on to the dossier...and pray that I filled everything out on the 1-600A correctly.

Momma's Day

This is what Dave made me for Mother's Day this year.

To match this one he painted last year.

Can't wait to see what next year's looks like :)

Lake Time Is Here!!

My favorite time of year. B and I spent Sunday on the lake with my family while Dave studied for his last licensing exam. It is officially lake season and I am delighted. My sisters and I are ready to move our families to the lake for the summer!

B is wild on the boat :)
My sister and her kids. Wow, they are getting big.

Every boat run involves a candy run. B is digging this tradition.

Cameren is the best babysitter!!

Notice the chocolate on his face. He's a mess.

A note on our adoption: We are still moving along. We were accepted into Mugisha Ministry's program, which felt like a huge leap in the direction of our baby. MM is a ministry that will assist us as we walk through our independent adoption process. We also received a draft of our homestudy. We should have that finalized within the next week or so. Then we will apply with the US government to adopt internationally.

This adoption has been an emotional rollercoaster for me. I went into it thinking it wouldn't be. Like I had everything under control. Ha ha. I have felt pretty attacked the past few weeks and have honestly wanted to quit. But I want to be obedient to the Lord. And I already love my baby. And for them, I will do anything. So we move forward. Please pray for us.

Someone Did the Math Wrong...

I am pretty sure they're wrong, but they tell me I turned the big:

this weekend. I guess I could check one of the 45 copies of my birth certificate we have lying around the house (thank you adoption laws), but I'm starting to think they might be right since gray hairs are invading my head like Target shoppers on Black Friday. So, I'll just live in denial. It's a good place to be :) But anyway, if you must turn 30, this is how I suggest you do it.

Start your Friday hanging out with this girl:

She is a fantastic friend and I love her. And Brecken thinks she's pretty darn funny. And she helped me get some fun pictures of my little man in a sea of bluebonnets. But that's a post for another day. Except I'll just post one.

Or two:
He looks like he's swimming in bluebonnets. They have been especially fabulous this year.

Then have lunch with your bff from law school, Z. Didn't get to take a picture b/c the child was running crazy at this point. But that's what we have Facebook for. You can always get a random picture of your friends :)

Love you, Z. And we missed you, MK.

Dave came home from work early on Friday and we spent the evening at the Austin Arboretum, complete with picnic dinner.

Saturday we got up and had family time. Took B to a park, had pizza for lunch. Then we went home to get ready for the big fiesta.

My baby sister, Candace, lives on the 33rd floor of a condo overlooking Town Lake. We had a bunch of:

and a mariachi band:

and some mustaches to boot.

Thanks to all my friends and family who came out to celebrate. Love you guys! (and I missed all of you who couldn't be there).

So, I'm thinking at this point I am maxed out on birthday fun. But Sunday really took the cake, if you know what I mean.

Church was, well, there are no words. Powerful, moving, heart breaking. Nope, I tried, but I can't describe it. Just know it was one of the best church services I have ever been in. You can hear it at austinbible.org. We had a former Rwanda street kid, who is now a musician, Enric Sifa, give his testimony. Wow... Wow. He was a child during the Rwanda genocide. His father was murdered. Separated from his mother. Hid in the jungle. Heard killing all around him. Ended up at a refuge camp. Reunited with mom. Tried to go back home after the genocide. Mother beaten. She died a few weeks later. Now homeless. Hungry. Love for music. Beaten by strangers. Lonely. Hopeless. Found a church. Found Africa New Life Ministries. Found Jesus. Was sponsored. Sponsor sent him a guitar. Taught himself to play. Won the Rwanda "Idol." Moved to Portland. An amazing and talented musician and man of God.

(Photo compliments of...you guessed it. Facebook.)

Then he played one of his songs for us. It was written for children who are hurting. There were lots of tears and a standing ovation. Oh Lord, break my heart for the things that break yours.

His testimony was powerful for child sponsorship through Africa New Life Ministries. Check it out here: anlm.org. And check out Enric's music here: www.enricsifa.com. He is So. Very. Talented.

Then we got to hear from these amazing people.

Charles Buregeya (pictured with his wife, Florence) is the founder of Africa New Life Ministries and a pastor in Rwanda. It is absolutely amazing what that ministry has done in the lives of Rwandan children. His sermon was about dreaming for the Lord. About how God can use us for so much more than we can even imagine. About coming to the end of your life and being able to say to God...I have accomplished all you had set for me to do. Again, my words are inadequate. It was seriously powerful stuff. Please listen to it when it is up on austinbible.org.

After church, we headed to P.Terrys, an Austin favorite. B played in the sand box for forever. Candace and I went to see a movie (Steve Carell + Tina Fey = hilarity) and we topped the weekend off with a family dinner night, with these fabulous people:

and my sweet parents (not pictured, since the picture above is not from last night. We don't usually all wear black tops with jeans. I promise. And, I should really do a better job of remembering my camera), complete with fajitas and cake.

So, all in all, if this is what 30 is going to look like, I'm all in. In all seriousness, I am grateful for the first 3 decades the Lord blessed me with. I only hope that the next 3 are all about giving my life completely away, for His glory.

Oatmeal

This is what happens when you forget to close the pantry door while doing the laundry checking your email.


At least the kid loves to vacuum.

I'm taking this as a sign we should have donuts for breakfast tomorrow.

Introductions

So, I've gone and done it. Jumped on the good-ole blogging bandwagon. I guess I'm doing it because I see that there's value in sharing your story. So here it goes. The introductions:


I'm Reagan. A twenty-something (and yes, I will cling to that age til the very end) female. Wife to Dave. Mom to Brecken. Non-practicing attorney. Practicing stay-at-home mom. I have amazing friends. A fantastic family. I know I need Jesus. I have a major sweet tooth. I love orphans. I'm a germophobe. My happy place is Lake Travis. I'm far from perfect. I prefer jeans and no makeup. I'm just starting to really "get" how temporary this life is.


This is my husband of almost 7 years, Dave. Gifted artist. Servant husband. Silly daddy. Architect. Lover of all things clean and modern. Knows he needs Jesus. Green (like dig through the trash to see if I have accidentally thrown away anything recyclable, green). Gardener. Music Buff. Brecken's personal guitar player. Optimist. Laid back and opinionated red-head all in one.


This is Brecken. 18 months. My first born. My treasure. Makes my heart swell and overflow with joy (also occasionally makes me want to pull my hair out if we are being honest here). Lover of outside, brooms, books, guitars, elephants, and anything with a motor. Non-lover of bedtime, vegetables, and anyone leaving the house without his permission. Reminds me to be thankful. Crazy, intense, deep love for my best little buddy.


These are our dogs, Zoe and Stella. 9 and 7. Our red mutts. Hobbies=sunbathing, sweeping the floors, keeping our yard free of other mammals, and hiding from Brecken.


This is Rwanda. A country in eastern Africa. The land of a thousand hills. Amazing people. Recovering from genocide. Home to 1,000,000 orphans and other vulnerable children. Lord willing, the birth country of our next child. We are in the beginning stages of a Rwandan adoption.