Introducing...

...Mary Kenzie P*****



Mary Kenzie was born on July 16 so she is a little bit over 6 months old. Even though she looks sweet and chubby in this picture she was only 12 pounds when it was taken at 4 months old. We will be calling her Mary Kenzie!

All of our acceptance paperwork is in Korea, so now we just wait and wait and wait! She should be ready to come home sometime in the next 10-14 weeks!! Isn't she just adorable?!?! We are so in love!

Another Step Down!

If you haven't read in a while here's the latest of what's going on in our family:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

On Thursday we received all of our acceptance paperwork that needed to be signed and notarized. We finished it all yesterday morning and had it overnighted to our agency. They will be open again on Monday morning, and my understanding is they will send it on to Korea Monday! Now all of the paperwork has been completed and we are just waiting for approvals on the American side and on the Korean side. Once we have approvals on both sides our little girl will be able to come home!

We are praying for everything to be processed and approved quickly! The earliest she would be home would be 10 weeks from Monday. That is definitely what we're hoping for!

Thank you for all of your congratulations in comments on here and through email! We are so thankful for so many of you who are joining in our excitement!

More Details About Our Little Girl (Part 3)

**We cannot post our sweet girl's picture until our acceptance paperwork has been turned into our agency. Believe me, we would have turned it in by now except that we haven't received it yet. As soon as we get it, we will turn it in so you can see her picture! I also have not mentioned her name yet...because we haven't decided yet. We were completely thrown for a loop not thinking we'd have to name a baby for about 6 more months and definitely not thinking we would need a girl name! So, we are in discussions and negotiations ;) and we'll let you all know as soon as we know!!**

Here are the previous stories if you're just now joining us!
Part 1
Part 2

First of all, let me tell you that the doctor we talked to gets paid nothing for conferencing with us because we were in a waiting program. So, she takes time out of her FRIDAY night to conference with us. I cannot tell you how impressed we were with her thoroughness and her compassion...knowing that we would be anxiously waiting to talk to her.

Anyway, we talk to her and get all of our questions answered...she gives our girl a clean bill of health and says that everything looks great and she sees no reason not to proceed! I am ELATED and giddy with joy!!! The doctor was very realistic that there are always risks when adopting because we don't know every single detail of her birth mother's life but based on the information we do know we felt very comfortable and at peace with moving forward.

Michael and I were so happy and so excited! It's just a feeling that you cannot even describe because things change so quickly. One day you think that you're in for another long extended wait with no end in sight, and the next day your whole world changes when the child you have longed for and prayed for is finally within your reach.

I had already planned out how we wanted to tell our parents, and it was too late at night to execute the plan I'd had in my mind for 19 months...but I had to tell someone! So, I called my friend Jen and told her that I had had a really long day and I really needed to talk to her so I was on my way to her house. She said they were still up so to definitely come on over.

As soon as she walked out of her garage to meet me, I just started screaming "I HAVE A BABY!!!" She started screaming, too, and we just cried and screamed and cried! It was so fun!! Then, I said, "And, IT'S A GIRL!!!!!" Again, more tears and more joy!

The next morning we were getting together with some friends who we've done breakfast with every once in a while for several years now. I had bought Riley a "I'm A Big Brother" t-shirt the day before, just in case, so we brought him into the kitchen where we were gathering and our friends picked up on it right away. Again, more surprise, shared joy and excitement!

We had been given tickets to a State basketball game by my sister Karoline, and we really did want to go to the game. So we went to the game and planned to go tell our parents when we got back into town. I was SO EXCITED I could barely stand it! Of course, the game had to go into overtime and while I really enjoyed my time at the game all I could think about was the surprise our parents were about to get!

After the game was over, we headed to my parents' house because we knew they weren't going to be there much longer since they had plans for the evening. Riley had fallen asleep so when we came into my parents' house he was snuggled up against Michael and no one could see what was on his shirt. Everyone kept commenting on how his shirt was the wrong color for the game because it was Carolina blue (the ONLY color the store had or I definitely wouldn't have bought it) and our colors are red. Michael and I just kept laughing when they said that! Finally, Riley woke up and faced out so that you could read his t-shirt and my sister Susannah said, "No, really? Are you serious?" My dad didn't have his glasses on so he walked closer to Riley and said, "Are you serious?" He then yelled for my mom who was in another room to come in there because we had been matched.

It was SO much fun to see everyone get so excited and be so surprised that we'd been matched! It was a moment I had dreamed about for so long! Then, when the excitement had somewhat calmed I told them that it was a GIRL! More screaming and excitement!! We showed everyone her beautiful picture and just enjoyed every moment!

Next, we headed to Michael's parents. We came in and Michael's dad was holding Riley for a few minutes and then said, "Let's see what your t-shirt says." Then, he read it out loud and said "Why are you wearing this shirt?" Then, he said, "REALLY?" And, Michael's mom also said, "REALLY?" We just started saying "Yes!! Can you believe it?!?!" It was so much fun! Then, Michael said, "Well, do you want to see her picture?" And, Michael's mom said, "Her? Is it a GIRL?" More excitement and we showed them her picture! It was so thrilling!!

It was an amazing weekend...the beginning of the fulfillment of so many dreams. The beginning of the joy that comes after mourning...after intense longing...the overwhelming joy and renewed faith that God does answer prayers. Maybe not in the exact way I would have planned but EVEN BETTER. Even beyond more than my wildest dreams!

More Details About Our Little Girl (Part 2)

Here is Part 1, if you haven't read it yet!

Michael is just about to leave work, so he tells me to forward him the referral file once I get it on my email. He is going to look at it, too, and print it out.

I get off the phone with Michael and refresh my email page a few times and then the emailed referral pops up! I open up the email and read about this precious baby girl. There are 3 sheets of information and then on the 4th page are 3 pictures. I see her picture and I am overwhelmed. What a beautiful and sweet looking baby girl with the cutest, chubby cheeks!

We're supposed to meet Beth and John (Michael's sister and brother-in-law) and their kids for dinner at $1 Taco Night! We meet over there and they can tell something is up, so we tell them what just happened and swear them to secrecy!

We go home and read through the info again and talk and talk and talk and then we forward all of the info to a doctor who offers pre-adoption consultations over the phone. The baby looks healthy from all of her medical info and it looks like she is progressing well. When adopting internationally, it's always a good idea to let a doctor who specializes in international adoption assessments look at the file to make sure you aren't missing anything and just for peace of mind.

We go to bed and try to sleep....I had such a hard time because I was so excited and anxious and nervous and just wanted everything to work out. And, I was already falling in love with her.

The next morning at 8:01 I call the doctor's office and talk to his nurse. She tells me that he is going to be out of the office until the afternoon but maybe he will be able to look at it and conference with us at 4:30. The nurse tells me that she will call me back as soon as he comes into the office.

The day d r a g s by. It is one of the longest days of my life! I look at "her" picture every 10 minutes...I am not exaggerating. Every second that goes by I am falling more and more in love with the sweet baby girl I see in the picture and all I can think about is how heartbreaking it is going to be for me if she ends up having more needs than our family can care for.

You see, we have gone through the heartbreak of a miscarriage before and it is devastating. And, then back in October we were given a file of a baby with severe needs that didn't match what we had said we were open to and after consulting with a doctor we had to say "no." It was another heartbreak. So, all I can think is that I do not want to lose this baby girl who has already captured my heart.

Finally, around 2:30pm I can feel the opportunity to talk to the doctor just slipping away and I call his office back. The receptionist is transferring me to his nurse when "miraculously" the nurse beeps in on another line. I answer and the nurse tells me that he has too much going on today to talk to us and he will be off on Monday, so he would like to set up a phone conference for Tuesday morning. I told the nurse that we can't wait that long so we will try to find someone else.

I get off the phone and I am sooooooooo disappointed that now it looks like we will not be able to talk to a doctor until probably Monday. Laurie, one of my friends I've met through my Korean adoption message boards, tells me about a wonderful doctor in Michigan who specializes in pre-adoption assessments and is very quick in getting back in touch. I have heard of this doctor a lot before...a lot of the families I know online use her when they adopt. I also know that she can be very worst case scenario. But, I am desperate just to talk to someone, so I send her all of the info and then call her to tell her that I've just sent her a referral to look at. She says "ok" and that she will be in touch.

Again, I am so bummed because I don't like the abstract answer of "I'll be in touch." At this point I want to know WHEN she will be in touch...Can I expect a phone call back today, tomorrow, or Monday?

That night we go to celebrate my sister Susannah's birthday with my family and one of her friend's and her friend's family. It was a fun evening. I was able to eat (which I really hadn't been able to do all day) and we had a fun time being together. We didn't say one word to my family because I really wanted to wait until we talked to a doctor and we knew one way or the other what was going to happen. I was, of course, hoping that everything would turn out great and then we could completely surprise them with wonderful news!

Michael coaches our church's high school basketball team, so he had to head out a little early for one of their games. I left my parents around 9:15 and both Michael and I got home about the same time...around 9:45pm. Of course, as soon as he walks in the door, I launch into a conversation about the baby. I know that he is making the wise decision in not saying "yes" or "no" until we talk to a doctor but I just want to say "yes" so badly. I am so frustrated that we haven't been able to talk to a doctor yet and I am sad because I just know that we won't hear anything or be able to make a decision until after the weekend is over.

Just then at 10PM our phone rings. I know it's probably one of our parents because who else would call that late. I go into the kitchen and look at the caller id and it is THE DOCTOR!!!!!!

More Details about Our Little Girl (Part 1)

The past few days have been a whirlwind! I have SO MUCH to "tell" you! First of all, I cannot post "her" picture yet because we need to send in our acceptance paperwork first. But, we will be doing this very, very soon so that we can share her beautiful picture with you!

This all started on Thursday...I was at home, by myself, Riley was with my mother-in-law and the phone rang at 9:30am. I didn't answer it and no one left a message. I didn't think another thought about it.

Later that afternoon, about 4 or 4:30, I was just scrolling through my caller id (because I am nosy like that!) and I saw that my previous agency had called. I honestly was very paranoid since I'd just blogged about how disappointed I was in our process with them. I thought for sure someone must have read my little ol' blog and was calling me to chew me out.

I finally got up the nerve to email the director and I said that I had noticed someone from her agency had called that morning and was it her? She emailed me back immediately and said "yes" and asked if she could call me at home. I emailed her back and said "yes."

At this point I feel like I am going to throw up because I am so nervous that she is going to be upset with me. I am sure that she is either calling me about my blog OR she is calling to finally tell me that they really can't help us and we need to find another agency.

The phone rings. I answer and we exchange pleasantries and then she says, "Erin, I have a baby for you." I say, "You do??" She said, "Yes, but it is a girl. Is that okay?" "YES!"

She tells me a little bit more about this sweet baby girl and then tells me she's going to email me her file for us to check her out and consult with an International doctor.

I am at home by myself, so I call Michael at work and tell him that we just got a referral. He is just as shocked as I am.

From the Fullness of His Love We Have Received...

One Blessing After Another!!!!!

We are thrilled to announce that we have been matched with a healthy, BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL!!!! We are in complete shock and beyond thrilled!!!

More details to follow soon!!!!

A Couple of "Housekeeping" Notes

Just wanted to remind you that I would LOVE for you to follow my blog! Click on the link in the right hand column that says "Follow this blog." (I promise I will not send you anything in the mail and will not call your house as a telemarketer!) :)

Also, thank you to those who have my blog listed on your own blog! I know that this may seem anal and inconvenient, but if you have my last name listed on your blogroll would you mind changing it? I am really not a paranoid person but I don't really like my last name out there and linked to my blog. Feel free to use my first name or the name of my blog. (I hope this does NOT come across in a bad way...I REALLY do appreciate your listing of me on your blog pages. I am just trying to protect myself and my family!)

Hope you have a wonderful Friday!!! Oh, if you live near an Old Navy rumor has it that they're having their HUGE clearance sale beginning today where all clearance is an additional 50% off!! Go check it out!

A Long and Winding Road (part 2)

If you haven't read yesterday's post click here for the first part of this story/update.

After getting off the phone I spent a while crying, feeling sorry for myself, being very angry, and feeling very devastated. While I was feeling all of these emotions and just dealing with the tremendous letdown, I was also thinking of what we could do next. Our hearts are in Korea and we really feel like that is where God is leading us to adopt our next child from.

We started talking and praying and thinking through what our options were. I emailed the director of Riley's agency and explained what had just happened and asked her if their program had opened back up and what the wait times looked like. She emailed me back immediately, remembered Riley and working with us, and said that their program had reopened and that they would love to work with us again!

We were thrilled! With AIAA you fill out an initial application first which is very brief and then once you are accepted you fill out a formal application which is much more involved. We had already filled out an initial app back in 2007, so they allowed us to skip that step and proceed with our formal application.

During December we worked on gathering and filling out all of our paperwork and sending it off to AIAA. We found out the week before Christmas that we were accepted!!! And, we found out this PAST FRIDAY that ALL OF OUR PAPERWORK HAS BEEN SENT TO KOREA!!

This means that we are back on the clock in waiting to be matched!! AIAA has told us that referrals are taking about 6 months. That makes us very hopeful that we will be matched sometime by this summer and then our baby will be home 3-4 months later.

It has been such a crazy and discouraging process this time around. We do feel encouraged at this point that things are going in the right direction. But, it is also hard to not look back and think of all the time it feels like has been wasted...just spinning our wheels and not going anywhere.

It is also super frustrating because a lot of our paperwork will expire in the next several months and we are going to have to pay and take time to redo some of it.

I know though, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that our baby has obviously not been ready yet. I KNOW that I will look back and although I may never understand why we've had to go through so many looooooooong months of waiting, I KNOW that it will all be worth it.

I know this because I have a precious 2 year old to prove it. There were so many endless days, weeks, months, and years that I longed to have a baby and I would wonder why I was having to wait so long and why things were so difficult. And, then September 13, 2006, Riley was placed in my arms and I know now HE is why God allowed me to endure that painful time. It is so worth it. And, I know that one day (hopefully SOON!) I will feel the same way about this longing and this wait.

I hope you will forgive me for not posting what was going on earlier. Because my blog is public I never know exactly who is reading it! And, I wanted to be sure that all of our paperwork was approved and in Korea before I publicly posted what had happened to us. I also don't want to put the name of the other agency on here at this time, but if you are considering adopting from Korea I would be glad to give you opinions (privately) on which agencies are reputable. As always, feel free to email me!

A Long and Winding Road (part 1)

I have really debated about how much detail I should go into in this update of our adoption process. I don't want you to drown in the details. But, I also want to be real and I also love the thought of more people understanding the adoption process better. So, grab your floaties as I begin to share the details...please don't drown! ;)

It really has been a loooooooong road in this adoption process as we try to add another child to our family. We have now been "in process" for almost exactly 19 months.

We were originally in process (at the beginning of the 19 months) with Riley's agency AIAA. After being in process with them for almost 8 months gathering paperwork, updating our homestudy, being fingerprinted, etc... we got a letter saying that things had slowed down and that they had a lot of families waiting to be matched so they weren't sure when the other families would be able to formally apply. We fell into that category of waiting to formally apply. Here was my more detailed post of what happened back then. The short version of it was that we decided to switch agencies since another agency agreed to take our homestudy and let us apply and they were saying that our wait to be matched would be approximately 0-5 months.

The agency we switched to is very reputable...I know many, many families who have worked with them before and been extremely pleased. They are one of the most well-known adoption agencies, so it wasn't at all that we entered into this blindly.

Month after month has gone by without a match. Finally, in the beginning of November I contacted our director. I had started talking to another friend online who was also in process and we started comparing stories. It sounded like our understanding of the wait and the matching process wasn't exactly how it was currently working. When I spoke with the director she said that we should probably look into other agencies because their agency wasn't really seeing any children come through the program with only minor needs.

(Because we are out-of-state we had to submit a medical checklist describing what types of "special needs" we are open to. The things that we are open to at this point in our lives are very, very minor. Some of the more minor "needs" are things like birthmarks or premature birth at 38 weeks. These aren't even things that we consider to be special needs but they are on the checklist.)

Our initial understanding of how the process works (and I think it really did work like this previously) was that babies who had any of the items on the medical checklist were determined by Korea to go into waiting programs. So, then they would see that we were open to X and when a baby had X they would then be matched with us.

Evidently this is not how it works with our agency. Instead, all of the babies are first matched with families in-state who are in the "regular" program. Then, if none of the regular families accepts a baby's referral, THEN the referral is offered to a "waiting" program family. Usually there are 30-40 families in the "regular" program. Those families are constantly being matched and moving off the list and then new families join the list. So, there are almost always about 30-40 families on the list.

Well, in our case because we are only open to pretty minor "needs" most of the "regular" program families would also be open to a baby with those same "needs" meaning that we never even really have a chance of being matched.

At this point in the conversation I was completely devastated. All I can think is how we have "wasted 9 months" with them, we STILL don't have a baby, and we are going to have to start all over.

Let's go...

CHARGERS!!! We're getting excited about the game tomorrow! Hope the winning streak will be kept alive! Tomorrow I am going to try to blog about the latest with our adoption process, so stay tuned!

Here are some flashback photos showing Riley's Charger pride! :)

Thank you!

Thank you guys for your encouraging comments to yesterday's post! I have SO much to share with you very, very soon! (No, we haven't been matched yet but I do have more "adoption" news that I will share in the next little bit...bear with me!)

You Never Let Go

As we're getting back into our routine it's becoming more apparent to me that our family is missing someone. I think a lot of it has to do with how much more independent Riley is becoming. He goes to the potty by himself; he feeds himself; he can pretty much get himself dressed (not to the point of picking out his clothes...I'm too much of a control freak for that one!); he can play by himself, etc...

During the holidays I tried not to really let myself and my heart think about just how disappointed I am to not be matched or have my baby home yet. I remember thinking at the last Christmas (at that point we'd already been waiting for 6 months) that surely, we would have a baby home by this Christmas. When I realized this was not going to be a reality I allowed myself some time to grieve and some time to feel that disappointment, but I didn't want to miss the joy of the season by constantly dwelling on it. So, I shut it away as much as I could and jumped into the season.

Now that we're back and life has slowed down, my arms and my heart ache to be a mom again. Today I wasn't feeling well (sinus stuff--yuck!), so while Riley napped I was watching Adoption Stories on the Discovery Health Channel. It happened to be a story about a baby from Korea coming home to her mommy, daddy, and brother. As I saw the escort hand the baby over to her mommy in the airport tears just started coming as I relived the feeling of that very moment when Riley was handed to me for the first time. I can remember that feeling of absolute joy and awe that my dream of being a mommy was REALLY coming true!

Honestly, there are moments where I just want to throw in the towel and say forget it. I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of having my life be so uncertain. I'm tired of worrying about whether our baby has been born yet or not and if he/she has been born are they okay, are they being loved on, what am I missing, etc... I'm tired of all of the ups and downs in the waiting. Simply put, I am tired.

But, as I remember that moment in the airport a little over 2 years ago. As I read to Riley tonight and gave him one more snuggle and cuddle before he went to sleep. As I held him in my arms tonight and we sang. I know that it is all WORTH IT! I know that God is faithful. I know that He meets me where I am and even when I may not have the strength to reach to Him, He NEVER LETS GO. And, I am reminded that we are right where we are supposed to be...nothing escapes God's notice.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won't turn back, I know you are near

I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear
Whom then shall I fear

Oh no You never let go through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go in every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go, Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see the light that is comin' for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to the struggles
But until that day comes, we'll live to know You here on the Earth

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear
Whom then shall I fear

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
and there will be and end to the struggles
but until that day comes
*STILL I WILL PRAISE YOU
STILL I WILL PRAISE YOU*"

Written by Matt Redman

So Sad

Tonight we were on our way to the YMCA to work out along with I think everyone in our town--seriously no other time in the year is it hard to find a parking spot nor is there usually a wait for the equipment. We drove by a yard with the huge Christmas light balls still in the trees. I confess that I did think "C'mon, people it is January the 7th. If you haven't had a chance to take them down at least don't plug them in!!!"

BUT, I didn't say one word. Out of the blue, Riley pipes up from his car seat, "Mama, that is SO SAD. They still have their Christmas lights on and it's not even Christmas."

I tried to get him to explain to me why he thought it was so sad but he just kept repeating "It's just so sad and it's not even Christmas!"

In an effort to not come across as judgmental I will refrain from stating that I think it is "so sad" that a 2 year old knows better than a homeowner when it's time to admit that the party is over and the lights should be pulled. But, that would come across mean and judgmental so I will just keep that little comment to myself...

Check Them Out!!

I am the oldest of nine kids and two of my sisters also blog. I thought you might want to check them out! Both are single, would love to be married, and would be incredible catches to two lucky men! No, no, I am not condoning polygamy what I mean to say is that EACH would be an incredible catch to one lucky man. You know what I mean! Neither of them are desperate for just any man--they have high standards and remember these men will have to assimilate into our crazy family! But, even if we're all a little crazy we are TONS of fun--just ask my husband! ;

Susannah is a nurse in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She is an incredible nurse and loves loving on those sweet babies. One of her most famous former patients can be read about here. I do have to tell you about one character flaw of Susannah's...she does root for the UNC Tar Heels. Now that may seem harmless to some but for others it might be a deal breaker! (I'm just joking...relax!)

Karoline is a first grade teacher in an inner city charter school. She is passionate about reading and really takes an interest in the lives of her students. Karoline has a crazy fun personality and has a thing for the Amish. It's kind of strange actually. She also makes a strange goat impersonation now that I'm thinking about it.

Anyway, go give some bloggy love to my sweet sisses! Check them out and feel free to leave them comments! I know they would love it! And, shhhhhhhhh this part is just between me and you--but if you have any single guys in your life you can always give them the link ;)

More PJ Party Pics

Click on this link and you can see more pictures of the children in Mexico enjoying their Christmas PJ Party! Evidently, some of the children (at least 5) came to church yesterday in their pajamas which Barbarita (the lady who lives in Mexico and helps these families) said means they probably have not taken them off since they received them!

Thank you again for your generosity!!

Winter Whine

I don't really like the winter. Yes, I know that winter is the best time of year because we all get to celebrate my birthday! ;) And, then there's also Valentine's Day (anyone notice that the stores are already stocked with Valentine propaganda goodies?) and then my wedding anniversary. But, despite all of these cheery spots on the calendar, I really dislike the winter.

The days are too short; the weather too cold; the afternoons too dark too early; the sicknesses too abundant.

Sigh. I think I miss the beach!!

Whew!

What a day! We packed up, left our beach house this morning, and drove home! We had such a fun week; it's always a little depressing leaving after such a nice vacation! We came home and unpacked all of our stuff. (Did we really need so much stuff?!? It seemed reasonable when I was packing it to go TO the beach but after spending so much time unpacking I'm not so sure!)

After unpacking and putting away all of our stuff we then moved on to de-Christmasing our house! :) We took down all of the decorations, undecorated and tossed the tree, and packed everything back up and loaded into the shed.

Riley got a train table for Christmas, so next we moved to his room to re-arrange his furniture and toys to make a good place for his train table.

Now, we are watching the Chargers football game and relaxing as we settle back into "real life!"

Here are a few more pictures from this week. Riley and his sweet Aunt Annie

Christmas Beach Week

Today I was taking a nap with Riley. When he woke up he rolled over and snuggled up to me and said, "Mommy, I like cuddling with you because we is best friends!" So sweet!

(Notice I'm choosing to not blog about the tantrums, screaming, hitting, and otherwise bratty behavior that Riley has taken part in this week. Ugh--I think the "Terrible 3s" are rearing their head a few months earlier than expected!)

Here are a few pictures from our week at the beach:


Chilling on the way to the beach


Playing in the sand with Riley's cousin Mason (2)


Bike riding with Daddy


Bike riding with Pops


"The little bachelor" playing in the sand


Build-a-Bear with cousin Mason and Carson (one of Riley's best buds from home)


The whole family

An "Alarming" Start to the New Year!

Last night about 10 minutes after the ball drops the fire alarm goes off in our building. (We are still at the beach with my entire family.) Not only does everyone evacuate the building in the freezing cold, but my parents had bought all of the girls matching pj bottoms for Christmas. We were just getting ready to take a picture with all of the girls in their pants. So, all of the girls (yes that would be 9 of us minus baby Laila) are all wearing our matching bright lime green pj pants with bright pink hearts when the alarm goes off. As we file out of the building, running into all of the many people sharing the building with us we wonder what they think of all these girls/women coming out of the same unit wearing the same pants!

The firemen came with their huge firetruck as we are all sitting in our cars trying to stay warm while the alarm continues to blare. After a while the alarm goes off and we're told that there was some water pressure problem on the fourth floor that set off the alarm because of the steam. We were never worried that there was really a fire; because it was so close to midnight on New Year's Eve we thought someone had pulled the alarm as a prank.

We get out of our cars and some of us get into the elevator to go back up to our room. The elevator then gets stuck! The elevator is crowded with some of our family members and then other strangers. We are packed in like sardines. Someone hits the alarm button and we call my dad on the cell phone to tell the firemen not to leave! As we're talking to my dad the elevator just opens up. We run off and take the stairs to our floor!

If this is what happened the first hour of the new year it looks like it will be an interesting year!