Temporarily on hold

We've decided to put adopting on hold for a little while. Not TOO long (don't worry, eager future grandparents!=)... but a little while.

Between trying to get ready to move (!!! yikes !!!) and me looking for a new job, it's just too much on our plate to even consider becoming parents.

To be completely honest... I'm a bit relieved. I go back and forth about this parenting thing. Some days I think I'm ready to add another member to our family, and other days I'm not so sure. Things are... well, they're wonderful the way they are right now. Jonathan, Cody, and I are really enjoying each other. Life is good.

And then I see cute little families carrying their babies in backpacks and think... I want that!

Of course, I know that being a family is a lot more than looking cute while hiking with a baby in a backpack from REI. But I also know that there is never going to be a "perfect" time to start our family. Life won't pause so that we can get all our ducks in a row. =)

I guess the moral of the story is... we're definitely excited about starting the adoption process, but plan to put it on pause for a couple of months. Until we find a new place to live, that is. So... here we go!

Not to compare Cody to a bump on the log, but...

This video just has to go in our adoption portfolio!

Not to compare dogs to children, but...

For 3 days and 2 nights, Jonathan and I did some fabulous road-tripping... WITH THREE DOGS! I'd like to point out that the number of dogs outnumbers the number of people.

We decided that if we can travel from Minnesota to Colorado with three pups (and survive) then that's a good sign that we're ready to be a mommy and daddy =)

Jonathan, Patty, and I did realize, however, that dogs can't ask "Are we there yet?!" On the bright side though, babies don't have to be taken outside to pee at 5 in the morning. A trade-off, I guess.

This kid's being attacked by the spoon monster, someone please help!!

"How Many Children Do You Want to Adopt?"

This was a question that was posted on one of the forums that I sometimes (okay, OFTEN!=) read. I was surprised to see that the most common answer seemed to be FOUR!

Before seeing this question posed to other adoptive parents, I had never given it much thought. I haven't really let myself consider how many children I want because I assumed that the reality would be that we'll have one child (two at the absolute most!) because of the cost and other hurdles involved.

Seeing all those posts that said things like "Well, we already have three, and we're officially waiting to adopt a fourth...." or "We thought we'd have one, but here we are with three!" was sort of... empowering! =) I still have no idea how many kids we want, but just knowing that there are large adoptive families out there feels good.

So Jonathan, if you're reading this, what do you say? Six? Maybe seven?