This time last year….

…Todd and I were coming home from our camping trip at Cumberland Island. It wasn’t until the day after we got back that we even found out about the “opportunity” in Colorado… we Fed-Exed our book that evening to the social worker who received it on Saturday (the day Mercer was born)… and found Sunday that we were selected. We were on a plane Monday! Wow… what a whirlwind that was. What a year it has been!

We are really grateful for this opportunity and are – admittedly – exhausted, but so happy. We struggled for a number of years when not being able to start a family of our own, but all-in-all, we feel that it worked out the way it was “supposed to.” It was the “right” time, as we mostly got the house renovated, traveled a fair amount, and socialized a good deal. Now, however, we’re GLAD to spend not-so-quiet nights in (instead of out) … and do know that we’ll continue our travels, but will make modifications to our “pack-it-in” mentality that we used to have. We’re definitely a lot more settled down now and are glad for that.

I started this post on Friday – in Savannah. I was teaching a class – to SCAD architecture students, no doubt! It went well and Todd was our “helper” for the class so he could sit in on it. Todd’s mom is down and hung out with Mercer all day.

I’m finishing this post on the way home Saturday and will upload when we get home. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to hang out with any of our former classmates. Todd and I are a little bummed that we didn’t get to see the city either. There just wasn’t the time. No walking around town b/c we were in the class all day. The professors were pleased with the class and at the end said they’d like for us to come back this fall… we’ll plan more time to hang out, hopefully on the next trip!

Some interesting things about Mercer:
- He’s starting to stack blocks instead of trying to only tear down the “structures” that Todd or I build. We also have a wire-mesh ball with big holes in it. Mercer will stick a solid ball through it. It seems as if he’s learning relationships with multiple objects now.
- He’s a PRO at using his walking wagon. SO CUTE. Check out (watch in high quality if you see that button!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxUL7T9FCvY
- He’s scaling the walls like Spider Man… he “walked” around the corner and then started playing peek-a-boo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT_Kf2orEww&feature=related
- He also thinks it’s hilarious to “hide” behind his crib rails… then laugh and crawl away when I come near. It’s definitely a game for him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW744Z2TBTU&feature=related

There’s a lot going on. When we get back home, my mom’s coming into town. Danielle is flying in too. We’ll be celebrating Mercer’s first birthday with our out-of-town company and a few of the families in the neighborhood that have kids / who we hang out with. We don’t want it to be too large b/c we don’t want to overwhelm the birth mother… but there will be plenty of action and (I’m sure) LOTS of pictures. I’ll post mid-week after all of the company leaves to report how everything went. This, too, will be an adventure!

Oh – before I go – something “interesting” happened last week…. The cousin of a friend asked me if we were interested in adopting again. (Of course we are!) but – this birth mother is due in June… mmmm… a little soon for us, but wow. We hadn’t ever gotten a call like that! We were thrilled that she was thinking of us – and – want to put the word out to the blogging public that we’re thinking about starting the process again at the beginning of next year (2010). So, please do keep your ears open for any situations!

Have a great week.
Candice