It's Been Awhile...

So sorry that it's been so long since I've posted an update...2 months since my last one.  People keep telling me (and I keep telling myself) that I need to update or I'm going to forget what has happened.  Which is now the case.  The details are starting to get fuzzy and run together, but I'm gonna do my best to recall them accurately.  

Guess I better go back to the end of March.  We received our completed home study on March 28th and realized at that point that there was more paperwork to do in order to submit that completed home study.  The complete set of paperwork that is sent to Ethiopia consists of about 15 different things, only one of which is the home study.  Thankfully, some of those things we already had (like birth certificates), so we set to work on getting the rest put together.  And, in typical fashion, there were plenty of hiccups along the way.  I found myself asking more than once, "why can't anything be simple??"  I won't go into all the details of all the headaches, but to show you what I mean, I'll explain one.  We have banked with the same bank for 18 years, and needed a letter stating simply that we have an account with them and that the account is in good standing.  Very simple.  Two sentences.  And it had to be notarized.  You'd think that would be quick and easy.  You would be wrong.  The bank said they can't write letters like that.  What??  They can't write letters of any kind apparently.  The lady I was talking to tried to help; she printed out a form letter that had the information I needed and way more that I didn't.  It was signed by her.  So I asked if she could please have someone notarize it.  

"Yes, I'll notarize it", she said.

"Um. You can't notarize it if you also signed it", I say.

"Sure I can.  I notarize stuff all the time."
"Yes, but not if you're THE ONE WHO SIGNED IT"

I'm thinking the lady doesn't know what a notary is actually supposed to do.  I was tired of trying to get what I needed so I agreed to whatever she wanted so I could leave.  Figured I'd just call the main number for the bank and see what they could do for me.  I can't be the only person who has ever needed such a thing from this bank!

So she signs the letter, and notarizes it(!!), and I leave.  I decided to call the branch manager once I got home.  I explained the situation and she was very helpful and got me exactly what I needed.  I was so happy to go pick up the letter.  But once I did I realized that the notary commission expired in just a few months.  One of the things that we have been told many times is that the commission of the notary CANNOT expire within a year of signature.  If it does, and someone looks at paperwork that has an expired signature, they will sometimes throw it out and ask for another.  Didn't want to go that route.  And definitely didn't want to deal with the bank to get ANOTHER letter from a different notary.  

Next step: talk to someone I know who works for our bank in Corporate.  They were able to get me a letter.  BUT they couldn't have it notarized.  So, I hired a notary to meet me, Bret, and this person on a Sunday afternoon so that it could all be official and finalized.  Whew!  

This is just one example of all the hoops of craziness that you have to jump through sometimes.  

To continue: At the beginning of April, we mailed off our I-600a to Immigration.  This is a form you need in order to get an appointment to have your fingerprints taken.   I was under the impression that it would take awhile to get that process completed.  At least two months or longer was my assumption.  About two weeks later, we had a letter in our hands stating they had received our form.  The letter also included our appointment time.  The appointment was exactly one week later.  One week later after our fingerprints were done, we received our Immigration Approval.  The whole thing took a month. 

All of the necessary dossier paperwork was completed, on it's way to our agency, and our last payment to the agency was made by May 4.  That means our part of the process, the paperwork part, took 4 months and 2 days.  And even better, that means the bulk of our paperwork part was done.  And that makes me happy.  

The next step was to have our agency look it all over and make sure everything was there and correct.  It was.  They sent it to the agency in Utah who actually holds the Ethiopian license and they are looking it over as well.  Last I heard, that is where our paperwork is at, but I'm not sure if it is still there or has been sent on.  It is supposed to go to DC and then on to Ethiopia, where we wait.  

The agency has told me that the wait once we get our dossier to Ethiopia will be about 9 months.  But I know that God is in control of the time table.  It might be 9 months.  It might be 3 months.  It might be 19 months.  I have no idea, but He does, and I know the timing will be perfect if He's in control. 

Lots of New Bracelets!

I've got so many new bracelets designs to show you!  You can go to the top of the page and click on Bracelets (Pg 1 - Newest Designs) or you can click here.  Here's a small glimpse of some of the new choices:

A few college choices:

A few that might match a new Easter dress:

And Many More on Page 1!

Carnival

I haven't posted in awhile because it's been a bit crazy around here.  We have been making lots of bracelets to sell at a local carnival.  My pastor offered to buy our booth and I'm so glad he did, because I hadn't even thought about selling the bracelets like that.  So for the last three weeks I have been busy getting ready.  We made over a hundred bracelets to take with us.  My friend, Konnette, made a ton to help us out and I'm so glad she did!  She probably made close to half of what we took.  Life. Saver.  (She also sat in the booth with me the entire time.  Thank you again, Konnette!)  

Our booth and signs

We did well and sold over $500 worth!  (I also learned a lot too, so if we do this again elsewhere, I'll have a better idea of what to do and not to do.)  Lots of our church family was there since this carnival is a yearly event that we help serve, so it was a beautiful day filled with friends sitting with us and buying bracelets.  My church family has been so supportive of us in this process, not only financially but prayerfully as well, and I'm so grateful for them.  

A little glimpse of the merchandise..and me eating.

Yesterday was the first day in a month or so that I didn't touch a bracelet.  It was kinda nice. I have orders to fill from the carnival and will be starting on them today.  

I'm also going to be posting all the new bracelet designs I had at the carnival, but haven't posted yet, so check them out!

Adoption update:  Home study should be done this week.  It would have been done last week, but one of the key players was out sick. 

Beautiful

It's a beautiful day outside!  73 Degrees.  Blue sky.  Smell of cut grass in the air.  

I think we need to mow

The girls are outside having a picnic, eating a lunch that Alexis prepared all by herself.  They've been wandering around the yard looking for the perfect place to put their blanket, with the cat following along behind them.  

What is she doing with the binoculars??

My windows are all open and I know I'll have pollen all over the place by this afternoon, but I don't care.  It's too pretty to feel stuck inside when you have to be inside.  The field across the street is being mowed and it smells great.  The girls did school this morning and have more to do, but it's nice to have a break.  I'm trying to get a few things done in here, namely laundry.  Ugh.  :)

Blue skies and cut grass

In adoption news, the final draft of our home study report was sent to us this weekend.  We edited it and sent it back.  Hopefully it will be finished soon and we can start on the immigration paperwork.  The social worker said that the girls might have to have a TB test.  I'm hoping not.  I didn't see that in the list of things we had to do, so I didn't have it done while we were at the pediatricians.  I really don't want them to have to get stuck or for me to have to take them back for another appointment.

Great news about the bracelet sales!  Every year our church helps with a community carnival.  We help with the food and water sales, and the moonwalks, and anything else we can do to help.  There are always vendors set up at booths there along with the food and games.  My pastor asked if I'd like to have a booth to sell bracelets at and said the church would pay for the booth!  I've got LOTS of bracelets to make, but I'm so excited!!  Thanks, Paul!! 

That's about it for an update!  Enjoy your day!!

A Few Spring Colors

Getting new fabric to make new bracelets is so fun!  I've never been a big fan of fabric stores before now...mainly because I never knew what to do with the fabric.  Not that I really do now either.  But I can make one thing so I guess that's better than before. 

These four I'm posting today were actually found by Konnette and given to me.  They are darker colors but still remind me of spring.  I think they go well together and of course, look good by themselves as well.  Maybe you have a new Easter dress that one will match.  And if not, check back!  I've got lots more spring colors coming...including a sparkly one with bunnies that would be great for a little girl's Easter basket.  

This is a special one.  I absolutely love the colors.  They are beautiful and vibrant...just like who it's named after.  Audra is one of the biggest reasons that Ethiopia is our country of choice for our adoption.  Audra was born Ethiopian and was adopted a little over a year ago.  She is a sweet light in our world.  

I don't know how your computer shows these colors, but on mine, this almost looks like camouflage.  It's not.  The background is a swirled chocolate brown and the green is a bright-almost-lime shade.  It looks much prettier in person, but probably could pass for camo if you're into that print.  :)  I called it Sprouts because it reminds me of the first green sprouts that come up at the beginning of spring. 

This one is a darker purple background with some vine-like green running through it.  It's got some bright spots that remind me of the colors of a sunset. 

A bright pink with little green and white circles.  

Hope you find something you like!  Thanks for stopping by!!

Baby Room

This past Saturday I went to The Woodlands to do a little shopping with a friend.  One of our many stops was to Joanne's Fabrics.  This particular store was moving and so everything they had was on sale at least 33%.  I went in to look for some fabric for bracelets and I found several that I liked and that you will see here soon.  

But I also found the cutest material for a baby boy's room!  Since it was such a good price, I went ahead and got it and some matching fabrics to go with it.  I had no idea how much to get since I don't even know yet what all I'm going to do with it.  And there's the small detail that I don't even know how to make anything with it.  But apparently this bracelet making has given me courage to try.  

I love that I made a quick decision about this.  Normally I would have looked at hundreds of prints and stressed over which one was cuter and worried about how much money they all cost.  And in the end, I would have painted the walls blue and used some sort of boy colored blanket we already had laying around here.  Not that there's anything wrong with that; it's certainly the cheapest choice.  And it's pretty much what I did with my girls before they got here.  (We didn't find out beforehand what we were having so the room was done in neutrals.)  We had no real "theme" for the room, and of course it stayed the same for daughter #2.  Honestly I hadn't even thought yet about what I would do for his room, so I was happy to find something I liked, happy the decision was made, happy that I can try and make something for this special boy.  

Want to see what it looks like??

Sorry that the picture is sideways.  I don't know what was going on, but I couldn't get it to turn like it should have, but you get the point.  I love the animals and the colors and the matching fabrics.  

Now, let's just hope that I can turn it into something cute.  :)

Special thanks to Konnette for finding the print and slyly showing me all the matching ones and silently encouraging me to get it and subtlely implying she would help me!!

It's In The Mail!

I'm so relieved.  All of our home study paperwork is finally completed!  I'm sure there will be something I missed or something additional to fill out, but the long list of items to do to complete the home study is finished.  It's so nice to sit down and not think of all the paperwork that I should be doing.  I don't like having things hanging over my head. 

I put it in the mail yesterday, so the next steps (that I'm aware of) are: home study paperwork has to be gone through, making sure everything is correct and included.  Home study finalized and sent to Lifeline (our adoption agency).  Once our home study is complete, we can fill out the immigration paperwork and get our appointment to have our fingerprints done. Not sure what's after that exactly, but that's okay.  Just getting through the next few steps is enough for me right now.  :)

I finally finished a book I've been reading but haven't had a lot of time for.  It's called There Is No Me Without You and I highly recommend it for anyone adopting from Ethiopia... or even if you're not.  It's got so much information on the history of Ethiopia, HIV, orphan, etc.  

That's all I've got to update on right now.  Hope ya'll have a good weekend!

Striped Citrus

Spring time is almost here and I think some bright colors are needed!  This new one, Striped Citrus, will look great with some of the others already available.  

More spring colors to come very soon!   Thanks for all your support!!

This Is What God Has Been Showing Me

Tears streaming down my face.  I found this video on another adoption blog, Joining The Journey, and knew I had to post it here.  It says so much about how I feel about why we are on this journey.  God has given me so much and it's not for my comfort...it's for me to give to others.  If I know there are hurting people out there, why would I sit back and do nothing?  How will my little one (and others!) learn about the love of Jesus if I never act as His hands and feet?  Those are just some of the things that God has lain on my heart.  I pray that if He is speaking to you about such things, that you will be open to hear it and willing to obey.

40 Bags in 40 Days

So here's what I'm doing for the next 40 days!  As with most of you, my house has plenty of clutter and plenty of stuff that can be purged.  So, each day I'm going through my house and filling a bag of stuff to give away.  I have a feeling it won't be hard.  At all. 

Then, after I've gone through my whole house, we will be having a huge yard sale.  Some of the ladies at church are going to be having a yard sale to raise money for orphans.  We will donate the proceeds of the garage sale to HELP, and help rescue kids in places like Haiti, Zimbabwe and Uganda.  


It's a win-win situation: I de-clutter my house and help others in the process!  I'm off to fill my first bag!  Anyone want to join me??

Animal Prints!

You asked for 'em.  Now you got 'em.  Animal prints are here!  Wish I could have had more animal print options for you to choose from, but they're hard to come by around here.  Hope you like them!  

Things are moving along nicely in the adoption realm.  We are thisclose to having all our paperwork done!!  I can't wait to have that off my to-do list.  I don't like having things hanging over my head.  

Ya'll have a great week!

NEW!

NEW!

NEW!

Auction News!

I have some great news!  My sweet friend, Kristan, called me the other day to tell me about a friend of hers who owns a business.  A few times a year this friend, Brittni, has an auction to raise money for people in the adoption process.  Even though this gracious lady does not know me, she is going to help organize an auction (with Kristan) and give us the proceeds!  I am beyond amazed!!  There is a lot I don't know yet, but as details emerge, I'll let you know.  

One thing I do know is that they ask vendors to donate items to the auction.  (It's so amazing that people help strangers out in this way!!)  So, some of you reading this might be one of those vendors, sent here to check out the blog and read up on our story.  So I'd thought I'd summarize our story for you here.  

We started this journey a year or so ago when the Lord started laying on my heart the idea of adoption.  I figured I had just lost my mind until I said something to my husband about it and found out he was having the same thoughts.  It was so surprising to us because we have two girls and were finished having children...or so we thought.  But we decided we should at least be praying about it, so for the next several months that's what we did.  Then God brought a dear family into our lives; a family who had just adopted a little girl from Ethiopia. Then a close friend of mine revealed they were thinking of doing the same thing...something they had never considered before either.  As much as I didn't think these things were coincidences, I needed to know for sure that this was what God was asking of us.  I kept praying and hoped God would just write the answer in the sky or something but apparently He doesn't do that.  ;)  I tried putting it out of my mind, but He never let me forget it.  Finally, I "gave in" and realized that this was not some crazy idea, but something that the Lord was asking us to do.  Was I going to ignore it?  Not hardly.  


We are adopting a baby boy.  A sweet little thing from the beautiful country of Ethiopia.  Right now we are in the process of completing the paperwork to finish our dossier.  Thankfully, we are almost finished with that part of the process and then we will wait for our referral, where they tell us who our son is.  I don't know how long this whole thing will end up taking, but I know that God is in the middle of it and that's exciting.  Our girls are so happy about their "baby boy", as they call him, and can't wait for him to get home. 

I thank you so much for visiting my blog, reading our story, and considering donating to the auction.  God bless you!!

The Bracelets Are Not Contaminated

Hey Ya'll!

Thanks to all of you that have placed orders for bracelets!  I'm super busy and super happy about it.  But have I mentioned how un-crafty I am?  It's a good thing you can't seem me trying to type this post.  I can only use four fingers on my left hand and it makes for lots of backspacing.  I can't type well right now because I managed to roll the fabric cutter over one of my fingers.  Smooth, I know.  I won't give you the gory details, but you can rest easy that no blood got on the fabric.  

We are still chopping away at the paperwork.  It's mostly done, but I discovered another online training we have to do that will take 8 or more hours.  Once that is done, we have all our part done and will just be waiting on paperwork (like birth certificates) to get here so we can send it off.  

I've got three more bracelet designs to add to the selection!  Check 'em out!

Bracelets

Months ago, while shopping online for Christmas, I came across some beautiful bracelets for sale.  I fell in love with them and ordered several for Christmas presents.  They were being sold by a family in the process of adopting a baby girl from China.  The bracelets were being made to help them raise money for the adoption and they called it the 3,000 Bracelet Campaign.

I knew that the idea had been given to them after another family had used it to raise money, so on impulse, I asked this lovely lady to keep me in mind if she needed someone to pass it on to when they were finished.  As you can see, she agreed.  They have the money they need so she has graciously passed not only the idea along to me, but her leftover materials as well...including all the pictures I posted!  Thank you so much!  

The bracelets are $12 each for adult sizes and $10 for child sizes.  There are three adult sizes to choose from: Regular, Large, and Extra Large; and two child sizes: 2-4 and 5-9.  If you purchase more than one the price per bracelet goes down.  Please check the drop down menu on the right for your options. When you place your order, please specify by name which bracelet(s) you would like. If there isn't enough space there, you can leave the bracelet info when you check out in the section titled "instructions to seller".

In the tabs above, you will find four pages of bracelets available.  Hopefully you will find one you like, and if not, check back soon.  I have three more designs not posted yet and I'm sure more will follow.  

Please feel free to leave a comment here if you have any questions. 

Thank you SO MUCH for your willingness to help us out in this way!

Fundraising Announcement!!

Some of you have seen me wearing one of these.  Now you can have one too!  I will be making these in order to help raise money to bring our little boy home.  Details, pictures, prices coming soon!!

Not Much To Update

I realize that it's been awhile since I've posted.  It's mostly because there hasn't been much to write about.  We are really busy, but it's with all the little details that the adoption paperwork requires.  

Finally got our medical releases done.  We had to take a notary to the doctor's office with us; that was fun.  The girls go tomorrow to get their immunizations up to date and get the doctor to sign off on their good health.  They realized the other day that that meant shots.  And AJ is already crying.  Bret was going to go with me because I fear she is going to have a meltdown.  (She wouldn't even stay in the room when Bret and I were getting our TB tests.) Turns out he can't go so I'm planning on offering ice cream or some other treat as incentive to just get it done.  Yes, that's called bribery.  And yes, I'm perfectly fine with it in this situation.  Although, truthfully I think a better word is "reward" for getting through the shots.  

The girls and I went to the courthouse yesterday to request a copy of our marriage certificate.  Thankfully, I had been told to bypass the long line and go to the Clerks office.  The other line was incredibly long and the clerks office had no one in it.  Paid my $7 and they will mail it to me in a few days.  Check that off the list!

We are still reading our assigned book and I'm working on the online training.  Our internet is so slow out here that it takes longer than it should.  But I'm more than halfway done!  

Between adoption stuff, homeschooling, daily household duties, errands, bible study preparation, and other miscellaneous stuff, I feel like I have NO time for anything else.  Occasionally I get time to play a word on Words With Friends!  But as far as reading a good book, watching a show, or catching up with friends...none of that is happening.  I miss my friends.  But once the paperwork is sent, hopefully some of that will slow down some.  Until he gets home...and that's a whole other story.  :)

Home Study Visit

This past weekend was busy for us.  Spent most of the day getting ready for the social worker who was coming to do the home visit.  Everyone in my house (all three of them) kept asking why we had to do so much.  The truth was that we didn't do anything overly special, the house just needed a really good cleaning!  And I got all my Christmas decorations out of the guest room (soon to be baby's room) and back in the attic.  So relieved that is done!  

So Sunday at noon we snuck out of church as soon as the pastor finished, and headed home to grab a quick bite to eat before the case worker got here.  Of course, she got lost, because almost everyone does trying to get here for the first time.  It's not hard, but sometimes people get turned around.  

The girls were nervous because they had been told that they might have to talk with  her by themselves.  They were getting a little worked up over it and since I didn't think they would actually have to do that, I told them it was very unlikely.  That settled them a bit, thankfully.  Turns out though, that I shouldn't have said that.  They did have to talk to her by themselves but did great.  I was a little afraid the youngest would get upset and not talk, but all went smoothly.  She was very nice and put us all at ease.  After about two hours, we were finished and she left us with the next step: more paperwork!  

I spent most of today off and on the phone with our doctor's office.  I called to make an appointment to get a physical done so that the doctor could fill out a physician's report and give a statement saying we are healthy enough to parent.  All was fine until I told them that the report had to be notarized.  That's was when I was told, "No, we can't do that."

Me: "What do you mean, you can't do that??  You are the only doctor we have seen for the last 15 years!  If you can't do it, who will?  You have all my medical records!"

I couldn't exactly go to an unknown doctor and ask for this.  I think they might find that a little weird and think I'm hiding something since I'm not asking my real doctor for this info. The issue was that they don't have an in-house notary, so we are taking one with us!  Fun, Fun for all!  After about 8-10 calls back and forth to and from the doctor's office, with other issues about this cropping up along the way, we finally have an appointment to have blood drawn and another to get the results, the report, and the notarization.  Whew!  Who knew it would be so much work for a little signature!  :)

Got our marriage and birth certificates ordered, registered for some online training we have to take, started reading a book we have to read for the process, took pictures of us and the house, got reference letters/forms prepped to give out to a few people, copied TDL's and SSN's, filled out more paperwork, and got another notarization.  It was a lot to do but I have felt so productive over the last two days!

Please know I'm not complaining and I really hope it doesn't come across that way.  I'm wanting to document the process, the aggravating issues and the smooth issues.  I knew going in there would be a TON to do and that's no lie.  But you do what you have to do and this is it and I'm good with that.  

Orientation Interview

So, we had our first interview today.  Bret and I spoke on the phone with Brittney, our caseworker at Lifeline.  She asked us a ton of questions about ourselves: Have you had cancer?  How do your kids feel about adoption?  How long have you been working for your employer?  Have you ever been arrested?  Have you ever used drugs?  Do you drink regularly?  Have you ever been involved in a domestic violence situation?  And the list goes on and on.  Fortunately they were easy questions and easy answers.  And she said there were no red flags that she was concerned about for the home study portion of this process.  WooHoo!  First test: Passed!

We received the paperwork for the home study process; it's extensive.  They weren't kidding when they said there was lots of paperwork.  And we have barely begun.  I know there's no time frame we have to have this done by, but I feel like I have to fill it all out as quickly as possible.  Obviously, the sooner we do, the sooner our boy can come home.  Brittney told us today that once our dossier is completed here and sent to Ethiopia, we will have to wait about 6-7 months for a referral.  The referral is when they have a child picked out for you.  I didn't know it took that long, but apparently that's actually fast.  Feels like a long time.  

On Sunday we will have the first visit to our home by our home study caseworker, Jo.  That's a little nerve wracking.  I'm glad it's only two days away; less time to get worked up over it.  The girls will be here and will talk to Jo too.  Already praying about what is going to come out of their mouths! 

I know I'll be cleaning all day tomorrow too!  I was told by a friend who has done this that they don't come to look at the cleanliness of the house...but I'll be scrubbing toilets anyway.  :) This is actually a really good thing because all my Christmas stuff is in the guest room right now.  The guest room will become our little boy's bedroom.  I'm thinking that room should be a little more presentable and so it's great motivation to get all the Christmas stuff back to the attic where it belongs.  (Aren't you excited about that, Bret?!)  


Next on my list is to get stuff like birth and marriage certificates, read a book they asked us to read, and start some online training we will need to have completed.  Plus fill out paperwork.  The journey continues!

Somewhere A Tree Cried

Well, we received our Ethiopia Adoption Manual and several other documents.  Printed the whole thing out (lots o paper) and signed the appropriate papers.  I scanned in all the needed docs and tried to send it to her via email, but apparently the file was too big.  So I'm guessing the hard copy mailed to her will have to do.  

Guess I didn't mention who "her" is.  We met our contact at Lifeline and her name is Brittney!  She is very nice and helpful and I'm looking forward to working with her. 

I tried to pay our first payment online and had issues.  So after phone calls and emails, it's on it's way to being fixed.  Paypal is so much fun. (Can you hear my sarcasm?) We'll have to try again in a few days.  Crazy how I'm so anxious to pay out large sums of money. 

I think we have found the social worker who will be doing our home study.  I was given her name a few weeks ago and we've been trying to figure out if she can do the work for us since she is an independent social worker.  Think we've got it straightened out finally.  Our agency is located in Alabama and they do not have social workers here that they use.  They advised me that I could find one online, but I felt better contacting someone who was referred. 

I'm learning that there is so much to this adoption process that I never even imagined.  The rules for a social worker, the tasks we will have to do for the home study, etc.  And I know I haven't even scratched the surface yet!  I'm not complaining; I don't mind doing all these things.  There is just so much that I never knew!  

Bret and I talked the other day about getting siblings instead of just one.  I felt like it was something I'd be open to, but Bret wasn't on the same page as me.  So for once, my crazy thoughts didn't go any further and I was fine with that.  We are not sure that this will be our only adoption, but we are only going with one this time.  

Thinking about and praying for our little boy is hard sometimes since I don't even know if he's born yet.  But I pray for him and his family, specifically his mother.  I don't know how or why she will have to give up her precious boy, but I know it will be terribly hard and I am so sad for what that will be like for each of them.  I wish it didn't have to happen, I wish that he could stay with her and remain happy, I wish there were no orphans for us to care for and take in.  But Christ was clear that there will be orphans , and we are the ones who need to step in and do what He is asking us to do in order for them to be cared for.  Whatever that may be.  

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. James 1:27

Never Say Never

For those (all 7 of you) that read this blog only to be up to date on our adoption journey, look away.  This post won't have much to do with adoption.  I'm finding this blogging thing to be a bit therapeutic, so I wanted to occasionally write about other things.  Forgive me.  It won't be the least bit interesting for ya'll...except maybe my mom.  (Hi, Mom!)

One of the reasons I titled this blog the way I did is because I've gotten to the point where I never know what to expect next.  God has a way of bringing things into my life that I never thought I'd do.  Like adoption.  Like homeschooling.  (I've definitely learned to stop saying the word 'never'.  Just one example of many: I once passed a street named Flax Bourton.  When I saw it I said, "What a stupid name for a street.  I will never live on a street named Flax Bourton." A few weeks later we moved into a house on Flax Bourton.  True story.)  


So, anyway, I'm in a state of wondering what God is up to in my life.  He's been bringing lots of things to my attention lately and not just about adoption.  I feel like He is in the process of showing me things that will drastically change up the way I see things, the way I do things.  In general, just messing up my nice comfortable life.  Part of me wants to bury my head and go about my business.  And part of me wonders what it all means and what do I do about it.  


I'm hoping and praying that He won't let me miss it.  Which is silly because I know He won't, not if I truly want to know His will and become more like Him.  So, I keep on, fighting my tendency to be lazy (not winning that battle much) and just live my life, tending to only those things that need daily attention.  But I feel like there is something more. 


On an adoption note: AJ has decided on three names she likes for our little boy when he gets here.  Squinkie, Marsupial, and Santa.  Hmmm.  Can't say any of those are doing it for me.  We'll have to keep searching. 

 

Stay Tuned...

I think we might have a fundraiser for this adventure!  

I am NOT crafty, creative, handy, or artistic; nor do I have the skills (read: desire) to learn to be.  At least not at the moment.  

So when I thought about all the cute and creative things that people have done to raise money to bring their children home, I was at a loss.  

But a month or so ago, I came across an idea that someone else was doing.  On impulse, I asked her if she would consider handing the idea over to me once she was done raising money for her daughter in China.  

I got an email last night about it and she has decided to let me take over!  We will be talking soon about how to exchange materials and for her to teach me how to do it.  

Hopefully I'll be posting our fundraising item very soon!  Stay Tuned...

It's a Boy!

Did I mention we are getting a boy?  I don't think I did.  Duh.

Yes, we have two beautiful, intelligent daughters and I'd be happy with more.  But Bret would like to have some more testosterone around here.  (Even the cats are female.) So it was pretty much a no-brainer when it came to choosing a sex.  (And while we have a child that loves to play outside, climb trees, owns a pocket knife, and has a boy as a best friend...she still has hormones that cause DRAMA!) Bret and I both would like to NOT add to the theatrics around here.  

I've had several people ask about how long this process takes.  There is really no definite time frame.  The average, they say, is 12 to 15 months.  But I know some that are shorter and others that went on much longer.  Hoping that since the Ethiopian program at Lifeline has just reopened, our wait time might be shorter.  But God knows and I'm trusting in His perfect timing.  

Today is the day I'm mailing (digitally) the agency application.  The first of many milestones and much paperwork.  Where's my binder??

Picking a Country

We couldn't decide if we wanted to go through this process independently or through an agency.  Independent is significantly cheaper but it's virtually impossible to do (in my opinion) without some sort of contact on the other side of the world.  How do you know if the person you are wiring money to is legit?  You need someone on the other end to help you with those sorts of details.  


We contacted missionaries we knew in Latvia, Russia, and India.  All three, we found out, are Hague countries.  Which basically means that they don't allow independent adoptions.  That seemed to settle that question for us: we would go through an agency. 

But what country?  What agency?  How do you decide where to get your child?? 


Of course, by this time, the holidays were upon us.  With the craziness of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, not a lot of conversations about this were happening.  Finally on Sunday morning, New Year's Day, I sat on the bed before church and said, "What are we going to do?"  Our options, we felt, were Eastern European or Ethiopia.  Those were the two areas we felt drawn toward.  Bret's only hesitation with Russia or other areas in that region, was the length of time we would need to stay in the country.  We weren't sure we could stay a month or more.  Bret's response, "That leaves Ethiopia".  And again, just like that, the decision was made.


Apparently that's how we do things: don't make a decision for days, weeks, months...and then decide in five minutes.  At least I know we had been praying about it or I'd worry that it was a rash decision.  

All of our parents and siblings know about our decision to adopt.  Everyone who we have told has been supportive and encouraging, and I can't tell you how grateful I am for that.  


I filled out the initial application for the adoption agency today and will be emailing it in the morning.  We are planning to use Lifeline as our agency.  It is Christian based and they recently re-opened their Ethiopia program. 

I'm praying that we get just the right caseworker, home study agent, etc.  But most importantly that He will send us just the right little boy for our family.  Any prayers you say for us and him would be greatly appreciated!