new pictures are here!

AND WE ARE IN LOVE with this beautiful child.

you guys are gonna think i'm crazy for posting any part of her picture after everything that happened with our first referral, but i can't help it because i think she is so beautiful and i am such a proud mama. and i suck at keeping secrets and such, so here is a little itty bitty look at one really adorable little girl!

NEW PICTURES!

and we are IN LOVE with this little cutie. She has changed sooooo much from her initial referral picture (it must have been when she was only a few weeks old).

Some Little things I've noticed:

She lost her hair (or maybe it was shaved, a very common practice in the orphanages)

she's a total little chub! Her cheeks are so chubby and cute

She's really alert, and seems to be enjoying her tummy time!

anyway, cris and I have been looking at her pictures and oooohing and ahhhing over how adorable she is. i just can't wait to bring her home!

no new June-Bug pics

i have to say i was dissapointed today that i didn' have any new email from our agency. i was really hoping to get some new pictures today. The one we have looks like she is maybe only about 6 weeks, and now she is 4 months, so i am really anxious to see how she is changing and growing.

and speaking of changing and growing, here is my 25 week belly! Nova baby is definately growing and moving and kicking. she is really active about this time at night. Everything is still going really smoothly with the pregnancy. I think i still have a while until i start to get uncomfortable and tired of working these 12 hours days, but as of right now I have tons of energy and i am really thankful that i am feeling so great.

no new June-bug pics

i have to say i was dissapointed today that i didn' have any new email from our agency. i was really hoping to get some new pictures today. The one we have looks like she is maybe only about 6 weeks, and now she is 4 months, so i am really anxious to see how she is changing and growing.

and speaking of changing and growing, here is my 25 week belly! Nova baby is definately growing and moving and kicking. she is really active about this time at night. Everything is still going really smoothly with the pregnancy. I think i still have a while until i start to get uncomfortable and tired of working these 12 hours days, but as of right now I have tons of energy and i am really thankful that i am feeling so great.

1/6th of the way done...

one week down, and 5 weeks to go before i head back to my own little house and my awesome husband. This is really a great rotation overall. I've been getting to do lots and lots of surgery, and basically no "busy work" (paperwork, notes, coding etc). so that part is great. I just really miss being away from Cris for so long. BUT i do get to look forward to seeing him, and the whole Stickley and Matus crew in about 2 1/2 weeks, which is really exciting. By then little Nova will be 7 months along!

yesterday i drove over to Nashville to take my yearly OB/GYN Residency exam. It is only administered at sites that have a residency program, and Vanderbilt is the nearest location. It's a 6 or 7 hour test, with lots of crazy and obscure OB related questions. Not really a pass/fail type of thing, just a way to gauge each persons knowledge base compared with all the other OB/GYN residents around the country. it's a little stressful, but really doesn't matter too terribly much. I have never been to nashville, and i didn't really have a chance to check it out at all yesterday, but in a few weeks i am meeting my sister in Nashville for the weekend and to explore a little bit.

Cris has been busy collecting Data for his research project. I think he may be able to be done with his PhD by December, which would be amazing. We are hoping he can get all the Data collection phase completed before we travel to Vietnam. And, he is only a week away from turing 35! Our time in hawaii has just been flying by. it's so hard to believe Cris will turn 35 this year, AND we will be celebrating our 3rd anniversary! We have really been blessed with so many wonderful things in the last few years, and we are so thankful that we have so much to look forward to!

Tagged and more

Today was a great day. It started with sleeping in until like 10 am (which is super late considering i usually get up at 4:30 or 5:00), then bumming around my little apartment. it was awesome to just have the day to do nothing. The Dr. i am working with here is super super nice. it's just that he wants me to hang out with his family like 24/7. which is fine, but i really really like my own time. and i had lots of it today!

i'm still dying with excitement about our referral. i have a feeling it's going to go really smoothly from here. i've spent the whole day feeling like pretty much the luckiest girl in the world. A million gazillion blessings are all around me! I have an awesome husband, a beautiful new daughter in vietnam, and this little life growing in my tum. Not to mention like a million other things i have to be thankful for. I'm hoping for some news and pics from Vietnam in the next few days, since our agency director is in Tam Ky.

Also, I was tagged by Angel over at A Fractured Fairy Tale.

4 Jobs I’ve Had:
1. Newspaper Girl
2. Working on the line in a factory (in the summer between 1st and 2nd year of med school)
3. Veterinarian Assistant
4. OB/GYN resident

4 Movies I’ve Watched Over and Over:
i HATE watching movies more than once. fortunately i have a ridiculously bad memory, so sometimes i end up watching a movie a few times, but forgetting i've seen it before. but i can't remember any move i actually would choose to watch more than once.

4 Places I Have Lived:
1. West Virginia
2. Ohio
3. Hawaii 4. that's it!

4 Shows I Watch:
1. Scrubs 2. Lost
3. Family Guy
4. Simpsons

4 Places I’ve Been:
1. Cuba
2. Pakistan
3. Alaska
4. Italy

4 People Who Email Me Regularly:
1. my hubby
2. the Gyno-Girls (other residents in my class) - tracy, torie, benny, sai
3. my sister
4. the adoption yahoo groups

4 Favorite Things to Eat:
1. anything fried
2. potatoes fixed any way (see #1 especially)
3. sushi
4. chiptole

4 Places I’d Rather Be:
1. Vietnam (Tam Ky to be exact)
2. my own house
3. a cruise ship
4. getting a massage at the spa

4 Thing I Look Forward to this Year:
1&2. Juneau and Nova
3. starting my last year of residency!
4. living it up in my last year of being in my 20's!

there you have it
In honor of my referral i'm tagging the Quang Nam families i know (i'm sure there are a bunch i'm missing!). i know most of you have already been tagged, so if you have you are off the hook!
Kelly from Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Kelleyo from Bunny's mom - it's been a while since you posted anyway! Guess you have your hands full with 4 kids now!
Susan of From God's Arms
Laurie of Pho for Four (only a few weeks until it's Five!)
Sherri of Finding Gracie

If you have a kiddo from Quang Nam leave me a comment so i can check out your blog!

It's a match!

On wednesday we got some great news from Vietnam! We wanted to wait a few days before posting to be sure that everything was ok, but we now are excited to announce our NEW REFERRAL!

Our agency director is in vietnam, and has a beautiful baby girl waiting for us at a small orphanage in the Quang Nam Province. Here are some details!

Vietnamese Name: Nguyen Thanh Thi Nga (she is called Baby Nga by her nannies)

New Name: Juneau Iris Stickley (of course!)

Birthday: September 21, 2007

Healthy!

Waiting for us at the Tam Ky Baby Orphanage in the Quang Nam Province of Vietnam

We are told that travel is anticipated somewhere between Apr and June (just about the time we expect little miss Nova to make her appearance!)

And, of course, here is our first glimpse of our beautiful baby girl (strange digital picture frame courtesy of the orphanage photographer in vietnam!):