Rodents and stuff like that...

So, I know it's been a while. I am Adrienne. I am the author of this blog. Just reintroducing myself, you know, in case...

The last month plus has been a whirlwind. January 12th came and went, as it does every year, but it was special, as it has been since 2007. Our friend Gina apparently launched a stealth operation prior to the holidays and the collaborative effort is beautiful! She and some other friends, and many of you, sent in pictures of ways God has impacted your lives through the story of Noah on posters or pieces of paper. They set it to music and soon, after a little editing, I will post it here. It was a true surprise and an encouragement to our hearts of the ripple effects that happen when we truthfully and candidly share our stories. Thank you all who joined in by sending pictures and your love. Jason and I were speechless...

January 12th was such an emotionally draining day, not because it was the anniversary of when Noah died, but because Jason had an interview at Compassion International on that very day. For the last year and a half Jason had launched out with a friend to start a software company. It's doing well, but anyone who works for themselves knows that the boss gets paid last or not at all. It's been a difficult time for us in many ways, but the final outcome was Jason's pursuit of another career. Well, after several call back interviews and meetings with many a team member, while we were in Arizona visiting my Gramps and my parents,

"Louie" my Gramps who is creeping up on 93 in a month.

Jason received the call from Compassion that has truly humbled us and given us a new excitement for what God has in store...

He is the new Director of the Child Survival Program which means his job is to essentially lower the infant mortality rate in 3rd world countries by working with their local communities to get clean water, medicine, micro-lending, health care, etc, to pregnant mothers and their babies. I am so proud of him I could burst! Did you know that 25,000 babies die each day around the world from preventable causes! It's mind-boggling and I'm going to help as well by contributing funds from my jewelry business, bebe & boo, to the Child Survival Program. Details to come on that...

So, anyway, back to the title of this post...

Jason and I were out on a date in January because Em was having a sleepover at her friend's house. Well, we called her to say goodnight and tell her we loved her and how much we missed her (I missed her...she was having the time of her life...). I talked to her first and she gave me the rundown of all the excitement and the fun things they had done already. Then she wanted to talk to daddy. Squeals and higher volumes came through the phone at this point and I heard Jason say, "We'll see...maybe...we'll talk about it..." Jason was smiling when he got off and said, "Sunny's hamster had babies and Em wants one...I think we should consider it."

WELL, I hate rodents. I'm not a fan. They do not get a "like" from me on Facebook or anywhere else. Come to find out, my sweet friend, Em's friend's mommy, was mortified when only after two weeks from purchasing a hamster for her daughter, out popped 8 tiny rodents. She's sweeter than I am and doesn't refer to them as rodents, but you get the gist here. She so sweetly told Em that she was more than welcome to have one once it was able to be separated from its mommy. How sweet of her to offer. (Wink. Wink. Love you, babe!)

So get this...Em gets off the phone and tells my friend that she asked her daddy because his 'maybes' mean yes but her mommy's 'maybes' take too long and usually mean no. The kid is workin' it, fo shizz.

Back to the rodent/hamster/thingy...The next day when we picked Em up from her friend's house, she lovingly convinced her "Daaaaaaaadddddddyyyyyyy" to take her to the pet shop to look at cages and supplies...you know, she wanted to be prepared just in case daddy's 'maybe' was a yes. Baby, it was looking more like a yes and all I could imagine was wafts of urine saturated cedar wood chips filling the air...ummm, freaking awesome...

Sorry, I get distracted. So, Em and Jason came home from not only the local pet shop but the library with many books about "How to Care for your Hamster" and "Your Hamster and You" and "Caring for your Rodent"...or something like that. We all hunkered down on the couch and started flipping through the books, learning all there is to know about their origin, how they became domestic pets, how they don't like broccoli, and if the babies were with their mommies too long they would become dinner, so it's important to separate them...which, incidentally, happened with Em's friend's hamster and by the time they were ready to be given away, there were 6 babies. I just don't think I'd ever be that hungry...

Now, understand, the last 3.5 years have changed my life in many ways. I am now a disease research hobbyist and am intrigued by contagious disease and its spread...In fact, did you know that the Mayo Clinic released a statement that upwards of 98% of all diseases are a result of a bacterial infection? Uh, yeah! This is why I therefore went directly to the "Diseases Hamsters Carry" section of one of the books. I was grateful they didn't candy coat what these little buggers can catch, carry or spread...

...And there it was...MY TICKET TO FREEDOM! MY OUT! MY SURE FIRE SIGN THAT OUR HOUSEHOLD WOULD INDEED NOT BE GETTING A RODENT...

After a list of some pretty grody stuff, it read:

"Note: Pregnant women should avoid any contact with hamsters."

She bawled, I'm not going to lie. She wanted a hamster not a sibling...but now she's elated and can't wait to meet her little brother or sister mid to late August. She kisses my belly every night and says "Hi!" to my belly every day. She also thinks she gets to name it, but that's another story...

So now you know...which is why I've chucked my blog for a while now because I'm not a good liar and didn't want to come out with the news until I was ready...and I knew I'd blow my own cover because I'm just that excited!