If you haven't read it yet, Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne is my favorite book! It truly changed my life!

I'll join! I can definitely do a book a month, maybe even two books a month but one of them maybe for grad school. :D

There are a lot of things young children don't want to do, like eat their vegetables and brush their teeth and take a bath, but we make them because it is what we know is best for them. I went to church 3 times a week from birth until I was 16yo. There were MANY times I didn't want to go but it was never even up for discussion. When I was 16yo my parents let me choose and I walked away from church. Sound like a horror story? It wasn't. Because I came back. All that I learned from my parents and from going to church never left me and when I matured I went back. I am SO GRATEFUL that my parents did not let me make my own decision when I was a child. My kids will go to church until they are out on their own and then it is their decision. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6). I am living proof of that verse!

OK, I've run the names by dh and here's where we are right now: Grace Natalie Noelle Lily Lilah Leila Some of them go better with Sarah as a first name (which is fine too). I think Sarah Noelle might be my favorite right now. But I also like Grace, Natalie and Leila (Leila means dark-skinned beauty! and she is Indian in ethnicity). Decisions decisions. Any more ideas?

No we haven't heard anything for sure but I do not seem to know the meaning of "not getting my hopes up" so I am just going to go with it! :D I need a name for her. But I am really picky so I need your help. Here are the parameters: 1. cannot start with K or hard C sound (our one ds is Kyle and we don't want alliteration) 2. cannot start with A (our other ds is Alex) 3. cannot start with F (our last name starts with F) 4. Not overly fancy with tons of syllables like Isabella or Gabriella. 2 or 3 syllables max. 5. Not overly trendy or unusual 6. It needs to sound pretty for a baby but will also sound professional for a grown woman and look good on a resume. 7. it doesn't have to have a special meaning but it would be nice 8. Her middle name will be Sarah (my mother's name) 9. no unisex names 10. nothing that can be shortened into a nickname like Cassandra-Cassie 11. It would be nice if it had the L sound in it since myboys do but not necessary. I think that's it. The challenge is on!

I could NOT sleep last night! I am a whirlwind of emotions right now. You ladies and gents are AWESOME...thank you so much for your prayers. I hope to be able to tell this precious baby girl about how so many people from across the globe were praying for her before we even met her. Yes, I will get a little time off (about a month). We plan to get a live-in ahma (nanny/maid). Most of the homes here have an "ahma's" room which is essentially a small bedroom/bathroom off the kitchen because almost everyone here has an ahma. It is unbelievably cheap too. Hague treaty...yes the mother signs away her rights. In fact, that is part of what we are waiting on. The mother to do the proper paperwork, the courts to verify it, etc. Now I know what waiting on pins and needles really means.

Oh definitely. We know two other families that have adopted while living here and they gave us the name and number of the lawyer they used.

Yes, we have to stay in the country for two years before we can get US citizenship for her but we are going to be here at least that long anyways.

How do I get all this in without it being a really long post? Some of the details I have posted in years past but to review: 1. We have 1 birth son who is now 11yo. It was a miracle we were even able to have him as dh has a genetic disease that has made him completely infertile (it grows worse through the years...he used to be a "little bit" fertile...obviously). 2. We found out about this when we tried to have a second child and were unable. Several specialists later we were told IVF is impossible but we could use donor sperm. Instead we decided to adopt. Hence, ds#2 who is nearly 6yo. It cost a bloody fortune but it was worth it. 3. I want a daughter REALLY BADLY. I think last christmas I posted about my desire for a daughter. But we just cannot afford to do international adoption again. It literally rips my heart out to see baby girls but we didn't know what we could do. 4. Fast forward one year later. We now live in Malaysia and part of the ministry we are involved in is working with local orphanges. About 2 hours ago, the leader of the orphanage called my cell and told me that a 15 yo girl just gave birth to a baby girl today and wants to put it up for adoption. Maria (the orphanage lady) knows that I long for a daughter so she called to see if dh and I would be interested in adopting the baby? AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited I think I am going to faint. Maria is meeting with the birth mom right now to go over some details and if everything goes well we could have this baby girl early next week (like around Tuesday...no kidding!). Would it be cliche to call this a christmas miracle? So I need prayer, lots of prayer. Prayer that this is God's will, prayer that He will give us what we need to take on a newborn with such short notice, prayer that this little girl can join our family and make it complete. Oh, and prayer to come up with a name! :D

my 11yo ds loves his Sony MP3 player we got him!

Hits: for 11yo ds was his Sony MP3 player, and his Warhammer 40,000 starter set and his new Nerf blaster. For 5yo ds it was his Nerf blaster and RC monster truck Misses: the race track we got for ds 5yo, it broke before we even finished putting it together!

It can be fixed. If it is orange then she may not have left in on long enough...get it fixed by a professional. They can also put a toner on it. It will grow out but it will take a very long time (so I guess it depends on how bad it looks and how long you and your DD want to live with that look). I doubt I would go to the mat on this with your mom but I WOULD tell her not to alter their appearance ever again without permission AND I would also tell your daughters to say no if she tries it again. They are old enough to say no thank you if she offers to get their noses pierced, ya know? :D

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all the wonderful women (and men) of the WTM boards!!! I hope you all have a blessed day. From my boys... What if the whole world knew your birthday? If it was marked in green and red? If they counted down the days to it and then not a word was said. How sad you'd feel that they forgot your very special day. Even though they knew it no one took the time to say Happy Birthday Jesus I'm so glad it's Christmas All the music and lights and the presents are nice but it's all about you. Happy Birthday Jesus. Jesus, I love you.

Well I have been battling chronic plantar fasciitis for two years. I have done all the "conventional" treatments and my doctor in the U.S. told me the next step was surgery. Then I moved. So I saw a specialist here who told me about another procedure to do called "Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy". Apparently it is all the rage in the pro sports world. So today I went to the hospital, they drew my blood, spun it down to separate the platelets from the RBC, then put me under (thank goodness) and injected it into the ligaments in my foot. I woke up to the worst pain (short of childbirth). So I am on pain meds and crutches for a bit but supposedly once it heals in a few weeks, I will be cured. But I have to tell ya, it was a little scary going to have medical work done in a hospital in a foreign country when you can't understand most of the people speaking! But I was pleasantly surprised. It was very high tech, very efficient, very professional. The staff was ultra-courteous and it is probably the best care I have ever experienced at a hospital.

My husbadn's favorite thing on earth is a casserole...any kind of casserole.

Wish me luck. :tongue_smilie:

These people are a couple of whack-jobs. I find their story bizarre but not interesting and can't imagine going to see a movie about it. Hopefully by the time the probation is up no one will even remember them. Considering that their greatest desire is to be "famous" I think letting them slip into oblivion is the ultimate punishment.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Now this is a rule I should consider. I always finish a book...even if it is awful. It's compulsive. And sometimes I keep hoping the book will redeem itself like "it can't possibly be as awful as it seems so it is going to get better any minute now." And here is another confession: I have a strange desire now to look into some of these "awful" books you have all named (like Outlander) just to see what is so awful about them. What is WRONG with me? Sheesh. Is there such a thing as literary rubber-necking?

Honestly, if I had to choose I'd pick Quinn. But no one beats Edward!

I forgive you and I still love you! :D But honestly, better than Twilight? No way. By the end of book 8 I seriously just did not even CARE who Sookie ends up with any more. Blech. I do feel you on the Picoult books though. I have a read a few of hers and the only one I liked was Second Glance. That book was very good but it does NOT have the courtrrom drama that most of her books have (probably why I liked it).

I like surprises that are TRULY surprises...like my dh comes home with a gift in hand and gives it to me as a surprise. But to tell me "I have a surprise for you but you have to wait two weeks to get it"? No way. I use to scour our house as a child until I found where the presents were, unwrapped mine, then wrapped them back up. I never told my parents because I didn't want to ruin it for them but I HAD to know. Even now I don't mind knowing how a movie or book ends before I read it. Knowing ahead of time does not diminish the gift in any way for me. It may be a control/anxiety issue for me too. My favorite gift? Gift cards. :D

Napster

Mine was a tie between The Lost Symbol (seriously, it is time for Dan Brown to retire from writing), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (zzzzzz....) and the Southern Vampire books by Charlaine Harris (just terrible in so many ways...whoever said these were better than the Twilight books has been smoking something :tongue_smilie:).

The Book Thief Outliers The Thirteenth Tale