New Forever Friends!

Yesterday our new friends shared with us the new loves in their lives. They just received their referral. They are also adopting from Ethiopia. I can't begin to tell you how beautiful these children are. The other amazing thing is how much they are already loved. We sat and looked at their pictures together many times over. It is so wonderful to know that these children are wanted and loved so much. We are so happy for our friends and wish them so much luck in finishing up this process so they can hold their children soon. The excitement and the reality of the pictures got us so emotional. It soon will be our turn to see the pictures of our children. The Hubby said this morning "I can feel the change in our family, it is going to be amazing". Nana made some yummy blankets for the babies, however the older kids have tried many times to snatch them. My kids have a thing for blankets. I did buy some really sweet hair bows and some baby lotion last week. I was imaging smelling our new babies. I just love that smell. Yum!

State Authenticated and Overnighted!

Yesterday was an amazing day! After going through our entire dossier and extra required paperwork with our cute Notary, I was on the road. I made a trip downtown to the Capitol Building. Thankfully some nice man gave me directions over the phone. It's all under construction up there and could have made for a ugly trip. I found it no problem. They now have same day service so I was able to wait. Wow, that was a beautiful thing to get State Authenticated. That means the State puts a seal on the paperwork and verifies your Notaries. After leaving downtown and heading south, I obtained 6 money orders and 2 copies of every document we had to produce which was a grand total of 86 copies. I put final touches on our "package" and drove over to the post office and over-nighted our goods! After our agency reviews the goods (24 hour turnaround) then we can receive a call. Daddy-o was so amazed he couldn't stand it. I myself am in shock too! What a relief! Everyone is asking do you know what your getting? So here's the final scoop.....We requested two kids under 3, with at least one girl. These kids will definitely be siblings, however we could also get twins....It's really fun to imagine what will happen next! xoxo

Faith is.......

During the first part of February we were still "waiting" to hear on the licensing of the first agency we chose. Mind you we decided to go forward with our adoption on December 3rd. As we worked diligently on gathering many bits of paperwork and birth certificates and such the time was flying by. During the first week of February, I kept having this feeling that something wasn't right. There still was no good news, the agency had not received their go ahead. We sat down and decided that by Valentine's day if we still had not heard anything, a change needed to be made. On February 15, one last attempt was made and still no license. We made the change and were immediately moving forward with Children's Home, based in Minnesota. I am so grateful for listening to the promptings and the great advice of my friends to change courses. I read the old agencies web page today and they are still waiting!

Yesterday, we received the final pages that will be attached to our doccier and I will be getting them State Authenticated on Monday. I hope to overnight our package on Tuesday and we should be able to get an expected time frame on getting a referral. We talked this morning and we can't even express the emotion as we ponder getting a phone call that says we have a referral for you........ If you go to http://www.childrenshomeadopt.org/ and find your way to international adoption and then go to the photo album you can see where I spend hours looking at these beautiful children who have come home to their families, they are gorgeous! xoxo

Homestudy attached....

Today I hand delivered the hard copy of our homestudy to the INS. That is a great feeling, I must say. Now just more waiting. I am feeling like I am nesting. I am planning a huge yard sale. I will be purging and really getting rid of the final bits of clutter from living here over 10 years. It will be a great feeling. It's a lot of work to have a yard sale but it will keep my mind focused on the babies and I know that will bring me great joy. Last night I fasted during my dinner meal. I just couldn't help but think of our kids, wondering if they were hungry and I am positive they are. It was something I could do to feel connected to them. I hope they can feel my love and prayers. xoxo

It's highchair day!

Well, it's the first day of the new daylight savings time. Lot's of sleepy kids this morning. I must say it will be so nice to have our days lighter three weeks earlier. Yippy! Anyway, great news today. Our agency finally approved all of our "stuff" including the final copy of our homestudy! I should receive the hard copy to deliver to the INS in a few days. This is huge. I can't believe it. I want to go out and buy a highchair today. I know this is something that is going to be used a lot and I don't have to worry about girl or boy yet. And for all of you sports fans I broke my foot Saturday night playing a rousing game of Wally Ball. It is super fun but I rolled my ankle after jumping up at the net. Oops. Thankfully, as far as breaks go it's pretty minor. Honestly, that is so duh! I am so grateful I had my toes done last week. At least they look nice. xoxo

Who's my mother?

This past week I finished a book called "There is no me without you", by Melissa Fay Greene. This book is a compelling story about one woman's desire to rescue Africa's children. I must tell you that the nerve's that will be pierced when you read this book might not come back to life. This book has forever changed me. I have had my eyes opened to things in which most of us would never like to see let alone talk about. These truths that exist half way around the world are real and I pray sincerely for change. Isn't it our hope that we all have the basic essentials to live a happy and productive life? Isn't every child supposed to be able to see their reflection in their Mother's eyes? If not their birth Mother, then who is their Mother? I sincerely hope that you might take a journey and read this beautiful true story. xoxo

Re-arrange, who me?

I know this will be hard for most of you to understand. I have to come clean and admit I was re-arranging again. It was so fun to imagine two little people upstairs with us. We will have the little ones up and the older ones down. A loves having his brother in the next room, I hear them laughing and having so much fun together. C feels truly ripped off but soon he will be so busy helping me. I can't wait to paint and decorate the babies rooms. It will be so fun. I am getting really desperate to buy some baby clothes but I better wait until we find out what we will be getting. I hope to be posting gooshy details later this week. Not our referral but at least what we are requesting and maybe some estimated time frame. xoxo

"a-woo-da-shall-o"

This is the way you say and pronounce" I love you" in Amharic. Lonely Planet publishes a book called "Ethiopian Amharic Phrasebook" that I will be looking for today. It should be found at Barnes and Noble. We will go on a shopping trip. I really want to take a few lines to express thanks again to all of you who are so supportive and loving regarding our "children to be". From the bottom of our hearts "thank you" and we love all of you. Over the past two months we have been required to do a lot of reading regarding racism and trans-racial adoption. It has been wonderful to get in touch with the African American culture and race issues and to be brought up to speed. We are embracing our new knowledge and look forward to learning more. xoxo