It’s been a while since this little piece of cyber space was updated. Apologies to the few people who actually come here and keep up ! LOL   BUT I’ve come back with some exciting news, (does that count for something ?! )

WE HAVE DECIDED TO ADOPT !!!!!!

Yup that is right. After much debate, and some trips to fertility clinics and such we have decided that Adoption is the way the Toomeys are going to expand our little fam !  We just  found our agency and started the process at the end of February. When we first decided this, we needed some info, in a BAD sort of way. I mean everyone knows how get pregnant the traditional way, but when the baby eludes you after the traditional  ”bottle of wine and some lovin”  You discover there is a whole new universe out there to explore on how to become a family. International adoption, Domestic adoption, state foster/adopt programs, Agency, Attorney, facilitator ?! It’s all SOOO much info. We ended up deciding on a domestic agency adoption because we felt like we needed to be guided through the process and liked the idea of having them handle pretty much everything paperwork wise, and having it nice and tidy.  We also decided that an open adoption was what we would be best for us as well. This is when the birthmom picks the family that will adopt the child and sustains some sort of contact through out the child’s life.  it was a little scary to consider at first, because of all of those stories you hear about adoptions gone wrong, and truly feeling like a “parent” as an adoptive parent when the birthmom is around. In the end I think these fears are unfounded. I think it will just add another great dimension of love to our family in the end to have some sort of relationship with our child’s birthmom.

Our first “weekend intensive” weekend was informative. We were a bit nervous going in. You feel like you’re going to be judged by the people at the agency at all times, and a. (or is that just me ?! ) and don’t want to do anything they may think makes you “unfit to parent”  for fear that at any moment they can kick you out  like the soup nazi “no baby for you!!” So we arrived at the offices early in the morning, and went through the general process. In a domestic agency adoption the steps go something like this:

1st: attend info sessions/research like crazy/decide on Agency

2nd: Apply to agency

3rd begin home study and MOUNTAIN of paperwork, write large checks to agency

4th Go into pool of “waiting families” and wait to be matched with a birthmother write more checks

5th match/meet with birthmom write more checks

6th Take baby home

7th finalize adoption write more checks

The home study involves A LOT of paperwork.  You have to give financial information, autobiographical information, medical information/physical, get fingerprinted, let a social worker into your home for a “safety check” If I had a 1st born, they’d probably ask for the kid so we could adopt,  the list goes on. the average time to wait for a baby AFTER all the time it takes to get the paperwork done is about 18 months, so there won’t be little pitter patter at the junction for a while still, which we are ok with.

It is all quite daunting, and at first it ruffles your feathers a bit to be so under a microscope when no one does this inspection on the aforementioned people who have children on the “bottle of wine and some lovin’ plan”. However,  in the end it is in the best interest of the children to have “screened” families, PLUS if this means I don’t have to have morning sic

kness, I guess I have to do SOMETHING that’s not fun in order to get to the end result of child rearing goodness ? Right, right ? Absolutely !

So almost a month ago was our one year anniversary. I know I know I’m a horrible blogger to not update about this sooner. I am attempting to blog more regularly, and will be catching up on things I have intended to write about for a while now ! I can’t believe it’s been one year since we got all dressed up and attended the party of our lives at the Zoo Sept. 6th 2008. It was such a fabulous day, in fact, We decided that we wanted to celebrate by sort of “recreating” our wedding day.

It started out on Sunday morning. I got up early and set the table super nice . I even folded the napkins and used our china which was given to me by my mother  as a wedding present. Those are our toasting flutes on the table as well. They were filled with Mimosa for the first toast of the day.

I made yummy omlettes with ham, sharp cheddar, onion and pepper. (No pics, we gobbled them up too fast !!) I also cut up some fruit and made a simple fruit salad. It was quite tasty, and hubs was happy, even though he picked out the pepper.

After our meal we exchanged gifts. The wrapping is the same paper we wrapped our bridal party gifts in.

I gave him a book I made on Shutterfly entitled “Why I love my husband” 12 months of love.

It has a reason I love him for each month we’ve been married with photos to support my reason.  =)  He loved it, and I thought it was an appropriate “paper” gift.

He must’ve been on a similar wavelength as he got me a notebook with a nice leather cover that said “What I love about you” embossed on it. He then wrote out the poem he wrote in the first card that he ever gave me.

The next page had both our wedding vows written in it.  There was also a note written about our anniversary. By the end I was a teary mess. It was such a super thoughtful gift.

Next it was off to the zoo !When we arrived as we were walking to the entrance we passed a service entry gate and saw none other than the catering manager who had been our contact for the wedding. She remembered us and that it was our anniversary even ! She then shuttled us inside, and told the people at the gate to stamp our hands and we got in for free !

We wandered around, saw the animals, had a snack ,and even saw a baby gorilla.

We ended the day at the African Savannah exhibit where our cocktail hour had taken place, and saw them setting up for some one’s ceremony that evening !  The catering manager was over there overseeing the set up and told us to also go check out the great hall to see the reception set up. We did and the wedding was totally cool ! Polka dots, black and Magenta. Centerpieces were feathers ! Super cute. The pic I got wasn’t super great… but here it is

After the zoo Hubs told me he had something planned for dinner, and such but I had not been made privy to this info. Turns out he had gotten us a room at the Fairmont (where we spent our wedding night) and made reservations at First Crush (a special place for us, as he took me there for a special birthday dinner our first year of dating.)  So we took a quick walk on the beach after the zoo (just like our wedding since we did that after our ceremony for photos !)  Then we were off to the Fairmont. We checked in, went up to our room and changed for dinner. I wore the dress from our rehearsal dinner.

We walked a bit around downtown, then went back to our hotel room and called it a night. The next morning we ordered breakfast in bed (and ordered the same thing we had the night of our wedding ! )

Yummm… french toast made with Brioche bread TO.DIE.FOR.

Hubs had the two egg breakfast. I tried his eggs. They were fluffy and delish.

After sufficiently  stuffing our faces, we lounged around in bed and watched TV. (A luxury for us, as we don’t keep a TV in our bedroom. ) We then went and walked around a bit more, and went and explored the hotel a little bit. (they actually have a whole little history of the building and hotel in the hallway down in the basement level.

We then checked out, had the valet bring the car around, and headed back to reality.  It was a great way to spend the weekend and celebrate our marriage.  Not a day goes by that I am not SO SO SO happy about the marriage that was created that day last year.  I can’t wait to spend many more happy years celebrating the most joyous day of our lives and our growth together !