A couple weeks ago a girl in my girls' club at church asked if I was adopting a kid. I told her I was planning to adopt a baby. Wednesday we had another meeting, and when I arrived this girl was there with a present for me. One of the other kids asked if it was a birthday present, and she said it wasn't. (My birthday is tomorrow. I'm turning 30. I can't believe it!) I asked if I could open it right away, and she said I could. Inside the bag was a small green crocheted baby blanket. I thanked her and set it on the floor by my other things.

Later when I was doing the Bible study with five 3rd and 4th graders, we read a verse about gentleness. The verse spoke of how the Lord is like a nursing mother gently caring for her child.

The girl who gave me the present then asked me, "Do you want to be a mother?"
I said, "Oh, yes."
She said, "Do you really want to be a mother?"
"Oh yes," I said again.
"I think you'll make a good mother."
"Thank you, I hope that I will."
"Do you know if you'll have a boy or a girl?"
"I'm not sure, it could be a boy or a girl."
"Do you have any names picked out?"
"No, I have some ideas though."
"I have some good ideas for some girl names..."
Then another girl gave me an idea for a girl's name, and I tried to steer the discussion back to the Bible lesson. I'm not sure if it's a compliment for a nine year old to tell you that you'll make a good mother, but it sure made me feel good.

Below is a photo of the baby items I've recieved: the green crocheted blanket, the fleece blanket with rabbits and squirrels, and the burp clothes.

I had a parent-teacher conference on Friday with the parents of my student who is adopted. Their daughter is doing well in my class, so we had some extra time to chat about other things. We talked about adoption and how hard it is to wait when there is nothing to do. I mentioned how an aunt had given me burp clothes. The reaction from the mother was much more negative than I expected. She kind of sighed, like she didn't think it was that good of a thing. I tried to say that it was a nice thing, but hard too, because you don't know when you'll used them.

I didn't even tell her about the blankets I've gotten. I figured she wouldn't find them as encouraging as I do. I know that this woman didn't buy any baby stuff until their first child was in their home, so I assume that giving her gifts before she had a baby was probaby something that she didn't like.

One thing she keeps stressing to me is that sometimes things don't work out how you expect them. They brought home their youngest at age 2 �. She was from a family with a not-so-good history, which was not something they originally planned to do. I think this is all part of God's plan to prepare me for whatever child he has in store for me.

Yesterday afternoon I picked up 300 prints of photos. They are the best of the many photos I have taken with my digital camera since I got it in late November of 2003. I figured it would be a good idea to put them into photo albums. Why? Well, while in Montana my cousin was saying how she didn't like digital cameras because people keep the pictures on their computers and never get prints. Because of that, she never gets to see the pictures people say that they will show her. It inspired me to get prints of my pictures, so I can show them to people. I'm especially thinking about a potential birthmom. I've heard that at the first meeting, it's not uncommon for the potential adoptive parents to bring along photos to show the potential birthmom.

I also talked to a friend on the phone yesterday afternoon. She asked if there was anything new on the adoption front. I said I hadn't heard anything from the agency lately, but that I figured there would probably be an update soon if anything was happening. Then, last night, who did we run into at the local burger joint??? Our case worker! She was there with her daughter's soccer team. They had spent the day in another city at a tournament. We found out that she spent spring break in Florida, and flew back home on Monday, just like I did. She said when she checked back at the agency they told her there was nothing new. There will be a staff meeting on Monday (See, I knew there was one coming up soon.). She didn't expect there to be anything new, but she said she'd let us know if there is.

Besides my photo albun project, I have other projects in the works. I've started working on knitting the shoulder strap of my knitted bag, which I plan to felt and sew in a zipper. I may use it some day as a diaper bag. Of course, it depends on how it turns out. It's all my own design, so I can only picture in my mind how it will turn out.

I've been thinking about my summer projects too. I think one thing I want to do is make cotton/hemp squares of cloth that can serve as newborn diapers or as diaper stuffers or doublers for infants. I have to find something to do while I wait for my baby to come home.