Flat Reed: Goodies!

Mrs. Trudy brought a bag into my office today and told me that it was for Abbey and me. I didn't know what it could be because Mrs. Trudy has already done a lot for Reed and us. I opened it up and it was lots of goodies for us to take to Taiwan and on the plane with us.



Mrs. Trudy knows that Daddy is a very picky eater and he is most concerned with what he will eat while he is in Taiwan. It was very thoughtful of her to give us such a neat gift.

Why did she give it to us today? Well, that's because she is going to Cancun on vacation and she won't be here when we leave on Friday. HA! Did you read that? I didn't say "next Friday," because now it is just Friday.

Flat Reed: Daddy's Diaper Bag

What's a Daddy supposed to do? On the one hand, he's got to help with the baby. So, when the baby needs a bottle or maybe a clean diaper is he just supposed to grab the ole Vera Bradley diaper bag and head on into the men's room changing table? I don't think so!!!!

My MIL bought me this "Reed's Daddy" Diaper Bag. It will be a great help to tool around Taiwan with the diaper bag on my shoulders. It will also be nice when I need to go to change Reed-O's diaper in the men's room at Cracker Barrel. Not that there is anything wrong with Vera Bradley, but her patterns just really aren't that masculine.



Flat Reed says, "Daddy looks a lot cooler with this bag on his shoulders than the one that Mommy carries."



Flat Reed had to burp on one of the new burp cloths Reed has! Mommy was careful not to get any stains on it!

Flat Reed: Is that Rain?

Tonight when we got out of choir, our pastor's son came in with what looked like raindrops all over his shirt. He said that it was pouring down rain. He wasn't lying! It was! We were so excited. It's been months it seems since the last time that it rained here.

Flat Reed was really excited. He insisted that we take him outside, even though he's paper.



Can you see the shocked look on his face? He was pale with amazement when he saw the rain coming down.

We're just glad that the grass might actually grow now.

We got the following from Sarah's blog. It's hilarious!

THE ACCIDENTAL ADOPTION
Have you every noticed that you hear all the time about "accidental" pregnancies, but never about couples who experience "accidental" adoptions? Can you imagine: Honey, sit down. I have some news for you. What is it? Well, I don't know how to say this, so I'll just come out with it. I went out to the mailbox today and . . . well, we got an I-171H. A what?!?! An I-171H? As in, we're going to have another baby?!? It looks that way. But how? We've been so careful! I put away all the blank 1-600A forms. Didn't you hide our homestudy update? Of course I did. But don't forget, there was that one night . . . What night? (pauses) Ohhh, that night. But it was only once. We were just messing around. I didn't print clearly. I didn't even use black ink! (pauses again) But it was kind of fun. (giggles) It was, wasn't it? I'll never forget how cute you looked getting your fingerprints. So now we've got our I171H, eh? But that doesn't always mean you'll adopt, does it? I mean, shouldn't you see the agency or something, make sure everything's okay? I already did. And? I'm five documents along. Five documents! And they're all notarized, certified and authenticated, okay? Just great. There was one small scare when the agency couldn't see the notary's middle initial, but it showed up just fine under the magnifying glass. Thank God. And you, honey? Are you feeling okay? I'm feeling fine. As long as I know you're happy about this. Happy? I'm thrilled! It's always a shock at first when something like this happens, but of course I'm happy.

Flat Reed: Chill Out

We heard the other day in our yahoo group that the foster parents don't have air conditioning in there homes. Flat Reed was not pleased with that and in protest, he decided that he would hang out in our refrigerator. Of course, he doesn't think that we really have air conditioning in our house since we keep the thermostat on 78. That's not the coolest temperature in the world if you are in this 95 degree weather we've been having lately.

However, has anyone besides myself felt it? That crispness in the air in the early morning when it is only abour 68 outside? I feel fall coming! It's great!

Interrupting Your Regular Flat Reed Programming...

Abbey here. Just wanted to take a minute to share how blessed I (and I'm sure, Jeff) feel right now. Are you ever almost moved to tears thinking about how much God has provided for you? That's where I am, completely overwhelmed, completely undeserving. We are blessed in so many ways, and just want to give God the glory for it. He continues to amaze me and meet our needs in ways totally unforeseeable. God is teaching me so much, sharing so much, bringing delight in so many ways...and we haven't even gotten to meet Reed yet! So, for all those who might be discouraged, especially on the adoption/infertility front, have faith. I promise it gets better...a whole lot better.

9 Days and Counting

No pictures because I forgot the computer charger and the battery is dead. The cord is at work in my briefcase. That doesn't matter because what's important is that we are going to Taiwan in 9 days!!! We're in the single digits!

Flat Reed: Daddy's Home

For several years now, I have dreamed of the day that when I walked in the door after being away that my son would come running to hug me. Well, tonight when I got in from Phoenix, Flat Reed ran to the door to hug me.



He was so excited and I was excited to see him. He had a good time while I was gone. He played upstairs the whole time I was gone. He just never gets bored doing the same thing.



He really enjoyed riding on my suitcase around the living room.


Weekend Report: Phoenix was nice but it RAINED! I was in the desert and it rained! Why won't it rain in Tennessee!?!? Then on the way home we couldn't land in Atlanta for a while because, yes, it was pouring down rain!

Flat Reed: A Trip Down Memory Lane and a Survey

Dear Mr. Taiwan Judge,

How is the weather in Taiwan. I am sure that it is really pretty. I have heard that Taiwan has the most incredible pineapples in the world. That is really great because my Daddy loves pineapple. Maybe after you let us get baby Reed we can all go out for some pineapple. If you are too busy, don't worry, my parents will probably be obsessed with the baby anyway.

I've been meaning to do this for quite sometime, so I have finally gotten to it. This is a post from July 5 at 8:14 PM. That is July 6 in Taiwan and July 6 is the day we got our first ruling (unbeknownst) to us!

Read it and then check the question at the end of the post. We're interested in your thoughts.

My reason for writing is simple. Will you please go ahead and make not only the first ruling, but the second and final ones. My mommy and daddy are SO ready to come and get their baby. Technically, I am not a real human, but I've become quite the part of the family, so I too would like to meet my brother.

It has now been 1 month since you first heard our case. Is there any chance that you have already made this decision and our caseworker just didn't hear about it? That is fine, especially if mommy and daddy are going to get a phone call in a couple of weeks telling them to come to Taiwan.

Anyway Mr. Taiwan Judge, I am sure that you understand the urgency of this situation. Your immediate attention is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Flat Reed

P.S. In case you've been really busy, my brother Reed is the cutest little baby you've ever seen. Can't you tell that he wants to be home with his mommy and daddy?

________________________________________

Some of you may have noticed that when some people get home from Taiwan, China, or the hospital with their babies, they quit posting. I am not going to call any names, but you know who you are!!!! Others like Kobi's mom are pretty good at posting regularly.

The questions:

How many times a week do you think we will post when we get home with Reed?

What sort of things should we post?

We're interested in your feedback.

P.S. Here's where to get the Blogged Onesie.

Flat Reed: We've Got Tickets

We're pretty stoked around here because we got our tickets to Taiwan in the mail today. Flat Reed is not so excited because while he recognized his name on the ticket, he did not see "Flat" written before it. He is beginning to wonder if he is going to have to travel in the suitcase. I am pretty sure he has no idea that he is going to be staying at home while we are in Taiwan.



He's having a lot of fun playing with the tickets and the ticket holder.

We had dinner tonight with some friends, Andy, Kari and their babies Drew and Anna. It was a great time. It was a lot of fun getting to spend time with them. It's been a while since ...

Uh. Oh. Gotta go, Flat Reed just put the tickets in his mouth.

Flat Reed: Are We Going Somewhere?

I know Flat Reed has only been around for around 5 months now, but he's quite the smart little piece of foam core. One thing that he has noticed is that Mommy doesn't do the ironing very often. Daddy also told Flat Reed that he hasn't seen mommy doing the ironing much in the past 6 years.

So, lately, Mommy has been ironing Daddy's clothes and Flat Reed is beginning to think something is up.



He doesn't think that it is that odd, because Mommy is just ironing Daddy's uniform (well, it's not an official uniform, it's a self-imposed Polo with Khaki's.), so he didn't know if he had cause for concern.



But, then I noticed him staring at the suitcase. I wasn't sure if he was worried that he was going to be put back in it or whether he was suspecting something. Finally he came out and asked and I had to break it to him. He wouldn't be making the trip to Taiwan. We love Flat Reed, but that doesn't compare to the real thing!

We're so excited we could pop. He's a breakdown of where we are. We've received our travel information and our in-country guide's information from our agency. We have flights reserved and our hotel room. I am trying to make sure that everything is done at work and Abbey is doing the same at home.

Flat Reed: Foster Family Gifts

A while back we went to Loveless Cafe (one of the 1000 places you are supposed to go before you die). We had been wanting to find something special for the foster and agency gifts, so we thought we might find something there. We were looking around when Abbey spotted these guitar shaped gift baskets. Since we live in Music City USA, it was the perfect basket (By the way ... I have an eerie feeling that I have already blogged about this, if I have, forgive me!).



We filled the basket with goodies and items specific to the Volunteer State and the lady fixed them up nicely. We are going to give one of them to the agency and one of them to the foster family. My mom, Reed's Enna, is also knitting a red afghan for the foster family.

We are so excited. Our flights really came together today. I called the Atlanta office of the airline we were wanting to fly and this nice lady was able to get us a really good price on the flights out. So good, in fact, that we were able to get seats in elite delux class both ways! We are really going to appreciate having that room.

Other people have had a hard time getting flights lately. I am so thankful that ours came together so quickly.

Now, I am going to work on the hotel!



Nearly 3 years ago, when we first decided to start a family, I bought this diaper bag for Abbey for Christmas. It is so hard to believe that we are finally on the brink of using it. I think God was waiting until we were able to put Reed's name on it. He certainly has a plan greater than our own.

Flat Reed: I'm Coming Home!

It was not expected really (ha!), but all of a sudden in my inbox there appeared an email from our caseworker saying "Good News." When we opened it, it said, "Your final ruling has come today. Please plan to be in Taiwan on September 9, your AIT appointment is Septmber 11."

We were crying like two babies. Apparently, 4 months and 3 weeks worth of looking at the baby boy who stole our hearts is a long time to wait on getting our baby. It also kind of makes me wonder what we are going to do when we actually get to hold him!

We celebrated by a trip to Dairy Queen!

We're so excited. Please pray specifically for:

1. Our travel details.
2. That Reed's little heart will be prepared to accept us as his forever caregivers and that his anxiety will be low. He has no idea what he's getting into, but he's one lucky little guy if I do say so myself.



It's getting close to the Flat family's exit! Check out the lilypie ticker!

Flat Reed: My Girlfriend Raleigh

Thursday night, Jeff W. called and wanted us to go and eat with he and the girls. We were wanting to go to Chick-Fil-a so we asked him to go with us. They came and Ashlyn was pretty excited that Flat Reed was in the car when she got in.

When we got to CFA, we met up with Sheila and Holly (+ Raleigh)



Flat Reed (wearing his "My Entire Life Is Being Blogged" onesy) was excited to get to see Raleigh. He was just thinking she should be a little less pink. We're getting about as impatient to see her as we are to see Reed!



Later we went to Target, but I am not allowed to post anymore pictures of the person in this cart. Can you get who it is?

On the news front: it finally rained, it was only 6 drops, but it rained!

Flat Reed: Where's Reedo?

One of my coworker's gave us this quilt the other day at the shower. It is perfect for Reed's room and will be a great blanket for him. He's going to love all of the animals on it. It has the same animals and has the same colors as his room.



After playing on the mat for a little while, Flat Reed would get in one corner and lay as flat and still as possible. You would be surprised how hard that is for a six-month-old inanimate object. They don't make those flat children they way they used to when we were kids.

Anyway, he would lay still and see if we could spot him on the quilt.



Were you able to pick him out?



You still can't see him? Hint: Look between the tiger and the monkey.

In other news, Flat Reed has what we plan on being his final face. That's right, since we are aniticipating our final ruling any day now, we are hoping that we are done with updates and on to travel plans. It's amazing to look and see how much he has changed over the past few months.

Flat Reed: The Beetle Convertible

Flat Reed had a great time in Mississippi this past weekend. It was really hot, but we had already decided that we would rent a Beetle convertible. The first day, we rode with the top down for about an hour out of Nashville when we realized we were getting sunburn.



We forgot to take any pictures of Flat Reed with the convertible, so I asked Abbey to take some pictures with him in the convertible before she returned it. I asked her to take the top down, but she said she couldn't figure it out! Hmmm.



It was a bazillion degrees, so we pretty much only took the top down at night. On our way home on Sunday night we left the top down the whole time. It was a beautiful drive.



Abbey was, however, VERY scared that Flat Baby was going to fly out, so we had to put him in the floor board.



The above is a picture of our first house we bought several months after we got married. We looked at it 2 days after it was complete and really loved it. It was a great house, but it didn't take us long to realize that it was small!

Reed's Latest Video

Reed's Latest Update

We got pictures just in time for Reed's 6 month birthday tomorrow! Yeah! One thing is for sure, this baby is NOT hungry! They are taking excellent care of our little guy!

The email today from the caseworker read: "Thanks for wiring the balance of the adoption fee. I wish to have you an AIT appointment very soon." SO DO WE!

He is 18 lbs and 26 inches.

Flat Reed: Mrs. Beth

We were in Mississippi this weekend for me to teach a conference at our former church First Baptist Brandon. It is our home church as a married couple. The people there mean a whole lot to us. One of the most important people there is our children's minister Beth. She's also one of my writers. She's such a great inspiration to Abbey and me.

She's been so excited about getting to meet Flat Reed and she wanted to be the first one to let him use the big boy potty.





It looks like he did a good job. He got the ole "thumbs up" from Mrs. Beth.



You are supposed wash your hands after you go to potty and Mrs. Beth wanted Flat Reed to do just that. I hope that she didn't get his hands too wet because they are nothing more than foam core and paper.



"Cleanliness is next to godliness, Flat Reed!" says Mrs. Beth.

Coming tomorrow night: "Flat Reed: The Beetle Convertible."

Flat Reed: Daddy's Work Shower

Today, my wonderful coworkers threw Abbey and me a giftcard shower in honor of baby Reed. It was a tremendous blessing. Reed will be set for a quite some time. It was "airplane" themed! Here's all the passengers.





Our pilot, Captain James, put together a very funny routine that explained all of our "safety" options.



Mommy and Flat Reed took part in one of the games of trying to guess who some of my workers were as babies. I didn't do very well and I see them everyday! Notice the plane windows on the wall.



Here's a game where Abbey and I competed blindfolded to dress a baby doll. Guess who won? Not me!



Above is the champ in progress. She did WAY better than I did!



The flight attendants served soft drinks and snacks. We were certainly not on Northwest Airlines. They didn't charge for the snack. Also pictured in this picture is my good friend and Reed's Nasvhille "Uncle Bill."

The hosts and hostesses of the shower:


James - Editor in Chief (younger curriculum), Trudy - editor (all ages), Patty - Editor in Chief (broadly graded), Kay - Editor in Chief (middle children - she's also Abbey's editor!), Peggy - Technichal Specialist Extroardinaire (preteen team), Flat Reed - best baby in the world, Me - Editor in Chief (preteen curriculum), Abbey - best wife and mommy ever, Andrea - copy editor extraoardinaire (preteen team), Jessica - Graphic Designer Expert (preteen team). I have a great team to work with! They did a wonderful job on the shower.



Us in front of the window!


Gifts and giftcards


Super cool diaper cake!



Trudy (AKA Trixie) taking our boarding pass.

more gifts and giftcards