Coffee, Chickens.... and a Little Bit of Adoption

Even though Adia is yelling, "Mama! Hey Mama!" every couple of minutes or so from her bedroom, I'm going to sit down and write for a moment. She's my joyful riser - she doesn't mind siting in her crib for a bit.

So after I wrote this post I freaked out a little. All of a sudden, as a few comments came in, I realized that people actually read this blog. And lately, people who I don't actually know actually read this blog. People who only know me from high school as Miss Smarty Pants Orchestra President actually read this blog. I'm going to have to be careful in how I approach some of these topics.

And this morning I had a revelation. I can start with the easy(ish) ones and chew on the rest for a bit.

So let's see...

Coffee

Jodi pretty much hit it on the nose. She said I could write about it as long as I didn't say anything about needing to stop drinking it. Grr. That's how I feel. Every. single. darn book I have ever read about hormones, endometriosis, infertility, PMS etc. etc. etc. has said to not drink coffee. Yah, usually I just sort of skim over that part. Lately though (actually for quite a while) I've noticed that I feel kind of weird after I drink it in the morning. I used to notice it as I was driving to Jazzercise. I would feel like I was going to start crying. Now, unless you've dealt with any sort of worse-than-normal hormone issues, you probably won't understand this. It's a physical reaction, not really anything emotional. Not like I'm thinking about sad things or anything - I just feel like crying.

The problem is that my first cup of coffee in the morning - along with my Baker's Breakfast Cookie (5 points but it's tradition) - is my favorite part of the day. And this whole I-feel-like-I'm-gonna-cry thing is messing it all up! I remember one time my Jazzercise mentor, Karmen, told me that she doesn't drink coffee 'cause it makes her feel weird. Not jittery, "weird." I get it now. But I'm not giving it up. Not yet. I can deal with a little caffeinated weepiness.


Chickens

The grammas are not laying! And since I love to research things I have read a fair amount on what could be going on. The problem here is that it could be a few things. I always say that the first year of having a baby is sometimes hard because things are always changing - too warm, too cold, getting teeth, getting sick, growth spurt, fussy, gas, constipation, tired, over-stimulated.... the list could go on and on. It's a bit of a guessing game sometimes. That's how I'm feeling with these chickens!

One has diarrhea so I've been putting some medicine in their water for that. I've also changed their wood shavings to straw since I read that wood shavings aren't good for chickens. Then the ladies at the feed store told me only cedar shavings are bad for chickens - the fir ones are fine. Oh well, I needed a whole bail of straw in the back of my van anyways. They might need some more light - so I need to go to Walmart and get a timer and hang up Christmas lights in their coop. (Yes, my husband is a union worker and we shop at Walmart. Don't even try it - I know some bad-A kickboxing moves...) They might need walls on the sides of their laying beds for a little more privacy. I'm also going to put a golf ball in there - hint, hint - this is where you're supposed to lay your eggs. I changed their feed which my have thrown them off a bit. I think they're molting since there have been quite a few feathers around - but I'm not sure because quite honestly, I've never seen a chicken molt before - but I do know they won't lay when they're molting. Or they could still be in shock from the move and are on an egg laying strike. Maybe the "a while" that the lady told me they wouldn't lay for actually meant months and not weeks like I assumed. Who knows -but that's the chicken scoop.


Adoption

(This might have to be quick - Adia's yelling has turned more persistant) Like I said, I mailed off our updated Adoption Application on Saturday to our agency. Wow! I haven't stopped by their web site for a while and was sad to see that the slide show they had on there - in which the first picture was of Steele's birth mother - is no longer there. But I was totally excited to see that they are now doing adoptions through Ethiopia. This is exciting since up until this point the agency has only done domestic adoptions. Cool. Anyway, we turned in our application. A friend of mine said it perfectly yesterday when she said, "So basically, you went off birth control." Pretty much. Actually, we've been ready for another baby for quite some time but wanted to see what was going to happen with Steele's birth mother before we proceeded with anything else. For us, this could mean that we get a baby 6 or 9 or 12 months from now... or it could mean we get a baby next week. Seriously. They could call us up and say, "There was a baby born at the hospital last night and birth mother has decided to place him (or her) for adoption. She wants a Mexican mom and a caucasian dad and an older brother and sister. Will you take him? (or her)" Knowing God and the way he's worked in our family so far - it could happen. I'm not gonna bet money on it - but it could happen. We've gone from 9 months with Steele, to 1 1/2 months with Adia. The baby ETA's seem to be getting shorter -drastically shorter. It's one of my favorite parts of adoption though - it's all so exciting!

I know I've said it before - but we believe whole-heartedly that God, only God, plans our family. He knows the children we will have, He has formed and created them, He knows their stories - we just sit back and wait and watch it all unfold. I can't even tell you what a joy and an honor it has been to see His work in our kids' and their birth mothers' lives. He has guided them ever so gently and exactly into our hearts and our home. If you have any prayer for our adoption journey, now is the time to pray specifically for the birth mother - that she would have confidence, peace and wisdom. That she would take care of the little one that is inside her (or about to be inside of her). Pray also for baby's protection and health.

I feel like there was more I wanted to write but I'm feeling like I need to get out of the recliner and off to prepare breakfast.