Not leaving...

not in 8 days anyway. There is still hope for leaving in 22 days (or so). Honestly, at this point I'd just like to KNOW. Not knowing is probably the hardest part about all of this. We can't plan anything--with the holidays coming, that is tough. I don't know if we'll be here for Christmas or not. True, we could be in Ethiopia with our baby girl over Christmas, but we will be without Gavin and Reily. It's certainly not the end of the world and we'll be thrilled to go IF we get that date, but it's still tough waiting and not knowing. We will know for sure whether or not we leave 12/22 by 12/14. I'll keep you posted!

Our first trip

I never really posted many details from our first trip. I got up at 1 am today and couldn't fall back asleep. So, I figured I could use the time to post some details on our first trip. I have a feeling this will be very long. If you like to read, enjoy!

We arrived very late on Saturday night (10/23). I was a little disappointed that we couldn't see Ethiopia from the sky at all, but it sure felt nice to be landing in our daughter's birth country. The flights were decent. Neither one of us slept much, but that was okay since it was bed time once we arrived anyway. We got our visas rather quickly and made it through customs without any issues. I found the line to exchange money, which wasn't long but took quite a while, and Chris grabbed our luggage. We quickly found our driver and loaded into the van to head to our hotel. It is a little chilly in the evening (about 55 degrees), so I was glad for my sweater. Since it was late, we really couldn't see much, but I tried to take in as much as I could.

We arrived at our hotel and were shown to our room. The hotel was very nice. We had been warned that the beds were quite hard and that hot water was scarce, but there was plenty of hot water at night and we were so tired that even the hard bed didn't phase us.

I woke up early the next morning and just stared out the window for quite a while. The air is thick with diesel fumes and even though our windows were closed, my eyes burned a bit and watered for the first hour, or so. Our hotel was gated, as is nearly every building, and beautiful compared to many of the surrounding buildings. There were lots of shacks made of corrugated metal with gaping holes surrounding this hotel. There were a few nicer buildings scattered amongst the shacks, as well. There was a woman outside hanging laundry and another sweeping the ground. There were several men walking through the streets and a few random animals. It was Sunday morning, so I suppose the men could have been headed to church.

These two buildings are just across the street from each other.Sunday (10/24) was totally a free day for us. We weren't too sure what the plan was, but we knew that we wanted to get out and explore the city. There was another woman at our hotel who was also adopting through our same agency. Her name is Heather and she is from Texas. She was on this trip by herself and we had connected quite a bit online ahead of time. So, we got up and went down to breakfast hoping to find her there. She was there. We met, talked about our arrivals and quickly made a plan for the day. The hotel concierge was so helpful and called a driver for us. Our driver took us all over the place for a very minimal fee--especially when you consider we could just split the cost with Heather.

After leaving our hotel, we picked up a couple that were in the process of adopting an infant girl. they had decided to stay in between their court date and embassy date, which turned out to be about 6 weeks, I believe. We were all a little jealous of their ability to do that. They were ready to get home with their little girl and were nearing the end of their trip. Our driver just had to take them to where their daughter was staying so that they could spend the day with her.

We first visited the National Museum where they house many Ethiopian artifacts that were interesting to see. Lucy is also housed at this museum. She is believed to be some sort of proof in the link between ape and man, perhaps one of the first that walked upright. Evolution isn't really my thing, but it was interesting to see. After the museum, we had lunch at a great little Italian place across the street. Ethiopia once fell under Italian rule, so there are nearly as many Italian restaurants as there are traditional Ethiopian ones. The Italian food is surprisingly good, too. All the food is surprisingly inexpensive.

After lunch, we headed to the Lion Zoo. Sunday is a family day, so there were many children there with their parents. There is a small amusement park for children at the zoo and a few lions and other animals to observe. I think that we were the main attraction wherever we walked, though. Three extremely white people tend to stand out in Ethiopia. We didn't mind, we just loved seeing all the children with their families. The people of Ethiopia are so beautiful.
The weather was beautiful. The average daily temp was about 75 degrees, 55 at night. It was wonderful being outside amongst the Ethiopian people. Their culture is so very different from ours. The people are so patient and don't seem to feel so entitled. Driving is an interesting experience. Intersections are not nearly as governed as ours are and people have to (gasp!) be considerate of one another and sometimes stop to let someone else in. It was quite refreshing to experience a society that was not "all about me" for a while.

After the zoo, we decided to do some shopping. Our agency planned for some shopping in the next two days, but only about 45 minutes and I wanted to get everything out of the way on this trip for a few reasons, so we took our time, got what we wanted and hardly spent anything. Beautiful, hand crafted items just aren't very expensive. We were able to get many gifts for friends and family and quite a few keepsakes for Kayla for her future. My plan was to purchase 1 thing for each birthday, years 1-18, so that she'll have a great collection when she's an adult. I was able to do this with no problem and might have enough to give her until she's 21! We got some treasures for ourselves and our home, as well. Then, we went to a great coffee shop where Heather and Chris enjoyed the coffee and I bought 15 bags of beans. Outside of the coffee shop, there was a man selling traditional Ethiopian coffee pots. We bought two (one for us and one for Kayla--only one made it home in one piece, so hopefully I can get another on our second trip).
(The fact that there is a beggar in the background of this photo was not lost on us. It was extremely awkward to take pictures as "tourists" in this country--smiling and happy. But having photos with us frowning all the time didn't seem like what we'd want to show our daughter in a few years, so we smiled even though our hearts were very heavy. I think this is the only together and smiling photo we got of us out in public. When we were with her, it was very easy to smile!)

After shopping, we weren't too sure what else we should do. Our driver suggested visiting a Christian Orthodox church. We were all happy to do that. It was beautiful. There were many stained glass windows that displayed the stories in the Bible. There were different chambers, some we could see, some we could not. The ceilings were painted beautifully and everything had some meaning behind it. This is clearly a very traditional and reverent denomination.
After all of this, it was time to pick up the other couple we had met and take them back to their hotel and then we were ready to head back to our hotel, as well. We had opted not to have dinner at our hotel, so after spending some time in our rooms we hired a taxi to take us to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant. There is no table to sit at, you just sit around a large, raised basket. It is cultural to wash your hands before dinner, so one of the staff brings around a basin, some warm water and soap. Eating is only supposed to be done with the right hand. Food is typically served in small piles on top of a piece of injera. Injera is a large, round, flat, sour, spongy piece of bread-like food. We all enjoyed our meal and were able to stay for some of the live entertainment--music and dancing. There was one short power outage while we were at the restaurant (not uncommon in Ethiopia at all). As soon as the lights went out, nearly every person on the restaurant whipped out a cell phone and opened it for the light. It was a little humorous, but maybe you had to be there.
We headed back to the hotel after dinner and were feeling pretty ready for bed. In the 5 nights we were gone, I don't think I slept a total of 20 hours, so going to bed didn't really mean sleep to me, but it was still nice to settle in. I knew that we would be meeting our little one in the morning and really didn't think I'd sleep too well with that on my mind anyway.

Monday (10/25) morning, we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel and then waited for our driver. He picked us up and took us to the office building of our agency where we dropped off all our donations (we had taken 2 suitcases FULL) and sat through an orientation on what to expect, what to do/not to do, etc... Then, we headed out to meet our little girl.

When we got to the care center, we climbed the stairs and took off our shoes--trading them for the care center sandals. Then, we waited inside for them to bring our kids to us. Heather got her little boy first. He came down the stairs and they handed him to her. He just hugged her neck and clung to her. He was a bit hesitant to look any of us in the eye, but he was so precious. We expected Kayla to come down the same stairs, but she was just brought out of a room on the main floor (this is where the baby room is). The nanny handed her to me and I definitely got a bit teary. She was so tiny and cuddle-able. Chris was mainly taking pictures and video. We got to spend about 2 hours with Kayla, fairly uninterrupted, and even got to feed her and then put her to bed before we had to leave.

The Care Center and all their laundry

We had lunch at a golf course. Very nice and again, very inexpensive. There was a random cat looking for scraps. I'm not a big fan of cats at all, but she looked hungry, so I may have dropped a few things on the ground for her. After lunch, we headed to the leprosy hospital where lepers make beautiful handwoven crafts to sell to help fund their care. This was a really interesting stop and quite eye opening into the differences in medical care between Ethiopia and the US. We bought quite a bit here and briefly met some beautiful people. There were even a few cute little kids running around the grounds.
Our driver then took us back to the offices so that we could meet with the lawyer to discuss what would happen when we went to court the next morning. We briefly went over some questions the judge might ask and then our agency's staff went over even more questions with us. It was a little stressful to think about the process, but nice to feel prepared.
Then, we got to see our Kayla again. We were only supposed to have about 30 minutes with her before meeting with the pediatrician to ask about any health concerns we might have. Fortunately, the doctor was quite late, so we got to be with our her for about 1 1/2 hours (this is probably the only time I've ever been grateful to a doctor for being so late!). Finally, it was time to see the doctor and we brought Kayla with us. We asked him questions and learned answers. Some were good, some not so good. She doesn't have any heart problems, which was a previous concern, but her lack of ability to bear any weight on her legs was of much greater concern than we had ever been told. It was pretty disconcerting to only learn this information while we were there, but there's really nothing you can do about it, so we just soberly said our good-byes and went back to our hotel. It was a very quiet dinner at the hotel. I think we were all just trying to process the information that we had been given throughout the day.

Tuesday (10/26) morning, we got up and prepared to go to court. When we got to the hotel lobby, the staff was preparing a coffee ceremony for us. This is a traditional ceremony done for people quite often. Grass is spread over the floor, popcorn is popped, coffee beans are roasted right there and then ground and turned into coffee all while some very strong smelling incense is burned. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay for the whole ceremony as our driver arrived on time. When it came down to being late for court or skipping part of the coffee ceremony, the choice was pretty easy!
We got to the courthouse a bit ahead of our lawyer, so we waited for him. Once inside, we took an elevator upstairs. We then waited in a large square room with chairs all along the edges. We were the first group to arrive, so we thought we would enter the judge's chambers first. Wrong. Two-three groups went through before us and all appeared to pass. Some were Americans, some were European. Our lawyer was getting a bit antsy by then because he clearly assumed we would get to go first, as well. He finally spoke with the judge and it was Heather's turn to go in! She came out 2 minutes later and had passed and then it was our turn. Walking in there is nerve wracking. Sure, you know what she's going to ask and you have the answers prepared, we even knew that pretty much everyone passes, but it's just so final and not passing is a possibility. After about 2 minutes and maybe 6 questions, the judge announced, "She is yours". And, that was that.

Our schedule told us that we were supposed to do shopping and eat lunch and then have a brief goodbye with our kids several hours later. Our driver, however, asked if we'd like to go to the hotel and then the care center. None of us could figure out why we'd need to go to the hotel (maybe to change?), so we just said we'd like to go to the Care Center. Being able to see our kids, legally our kids, right after passing court was awesome! We got to feed them again and put them down for their naps. It was a great visit and a very positive goodbye.
We then at lunch at a coffee shop that is pretty much identical to Starbucks, did a quick 45 minute shopping stop and got the rest of whatever we wanted and then headed to our hotel to pack and get ready to leave Ethiopia (and our kids) behind. We decided to go out for dinner. The hotel staff recommended a great Italian restaurant within walking distance, so we set out to find it. It took a little longer than we expected, but the walk was great. The restaurant was closed and not set to open for at least another hour, so we weren't too sure what to do, but one of the staff spotted us and told us he'd open early for us. Seriously, the people are SO nice. We had a great dinner and enjoyed every minute of it. Then, we walked back to the hotel. Never once did we feel the least bit unsafe or threatened.

Side note: Night life is a whole different experience in Ethiopia than it is here. We never really got to be among the people, but driving through town at night was really interesting. There are little markets open all over the place and people are out in droves to do their shopping. The same 5-10 stores seem to repeat every 5 blocks, or so. This must be for all the walkers--so they don't have to travel far with what they need. Each store sells something different. One store for meat, one for fruits and veggies, etc... It was very interesting to see this difference between our two cultures. Whenever we want something, we just get in the car, park as close as possible, run into Walmart and get whatever we want from toilet paper to clothing to grapes. They have it all. It is convenient. We never saw any place like this in Ethiopia.

After we got back to our hotel, we quickly showered, finished packing and headed downstairs so our driver could take us to the airport. At the airport, we got on some computers to email home and bought some great children's books in a gift shop. Then, we boarded the plane and headed home. It was a MUCH longer trip home than the one there had been (not in actual time, but it felt like it with the weight of all we had experienced).

Africa and back in 5 days is not something I would highly recommend. It is a whirlwind of a trip and it kicked my butt. It took me days to recover from the travels and the incredible lack of sleep. I could hardly keep my eyes open past 5:30 that first night back. Now, a full month later, I am just aching to get back and bring home the beautiful little girl that we met, adopted and left behind in the 3 days that we were in her birth country. I can't wait to get back to Ethiopia and experience more of the country and see if I love the countryside as much as I do the city. I am looking forward to meeting Kayla's birth mother, though I'm also extremely nervous about it, too. I can only hope that this week, we finally get some sort of travel news. Not knowing when has been one of the hardest parts of this whole journey.

Her name

I don't know that I've ever posted Kayla's birth name here. Before passing court, our agency had asked that we not post it, but now that she's legally ours, I think I can--for inquiring minds.

Her given name is Habtame. It is pronounced Hob-TA-may (at least that's how I've heard it). We will be keeping this as her middle name once we readopt her in Wisconsin. When we come home, her legal name will be Habtame Christopher Meehan. Once we readopt, she will be Kayla Habtame Meehan. We always knew that our first daughter's name would be Kayla, but never really settled on a middle name. Keeping her given name seems like a perfect idea to us, though. It is the name that her mommy gave her and I want to honor that. It is a way to keep some of her heritage and culture in her life. Also, it not an uncommon name in Ethiopia and if she ever wants to identify more with other Ethiopians, she can always go by her middle name. It means "wealthy woman", but this has nothing to do with finances. It has to do more with richness of life overall--spiritually, family, etc...

So, there you have it. Now you know her name!

Happy Thanksgiving

That's all. I just hope you have a great one.

No news

Just in case you were wondering, we haven't gotten any travel news. I didn't forget to tell EVERYONE I know, we just don't know anything. And, this waiting game is for the birds, I tell ya. Every time my phone buzzes from 11am-2pm my stomach jumps a little before I can look to see if it's THE email. Nope, just another ad from Amazon. Boo.

On Monday, we got an email from our agency...not THE email. Today, we got an email from our agency...not THE email. Don't they know that this gives me a small heart attack only to be completely let down when I see the subject line?

Can you tell I am ready for the wait to be over? Guess what? It's not, not even close. Or, is it? I suppose we could find out tomorrow that we leave 12/8. The last possible day that we could get that news would be 11/30...yep, that leaves 8 days to purchase tickets, arrange everything with work, kids, my parents (who are watching the kids) and pack, but I'd gladly do it with one day of notice, trust me. Of course, we may not be leaving until 12/22 (or January or February, really--no guarantees), so we could be waiting a whole lot longer.

Lord, let me get THE email soon and be able to bring my baby girl home soon. I don't know how much more of this I can stomach.

Packing

I've spent a little time each day over the past week gathering items that I know we'll need for our 2nd trip to Ethiopia for Kayla. Today, I put it all together in one suitcase and she is officially packed. Her stuff takes up an entire suitcase. It is hard to know how/what to pack, really. I don't know what size she is or how many diapers she will need. I don't know what food she might like (if any) or what toys she might be interested in. I promised myself I would only fill one suitcase for her, so it's full and done!

Now, we just wait to see if her packed suitcase will sit around collecting dust for 18 or 32 more days. I suppose I could get packing for myself, too, but I think I'll wait until we know for sure that we're going. Here's hoping that news comes next week!

Chicago

Thanks to many generous families at our church, each of our staff pastors (including me) received a whole bunch of gift cards and cash to use towards a trip. We decided to go ahead and get one last trip as a family of four (at least I hope it's our last one) in before Kayla comes home. We went to Chicago for three days and two nights and did just about everything anyone could ever hope to do and it didn't cost us a thing. We all had a great time and feel really blessed and loved to have received such a great gift.
Train ride to downtown

Chicago Children's Museum

Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier

Shedd Aquarium (both boys LOVED this place. Yellow Submarine is currently Reily's favorite song and penguins are Gavin's little obsession.)

Medieval Times

Swimming in the hotel pool

Legoland--I think Reily was ready to be done with tourism at this point!

Adoption Decree

Today we received notification that our Adoption Decree has been issued and received by our agency. This is great news, because this had to happen before we could be submitted for our embassy date--when we will go to bring Kayla home. December is definitely a strong possibility now that we have received this news! Still praying for the 14th. We could find out any day now, but probably won't until next week. Oh, what a Happy Thanksgiving that would be!

Happy Birthday, little one

Well, our baby girl turns 1 today. While we feel very fortunate to legally be her mommy and daddy and to have met her, it is a little sad that we're not with her today. We do plan to celebrate with her once we get her home and she'll never know the difference (especially since they won't celebrate this day at all in Ethiopia), but it sure would have been nice to just have her home by her first birthday. We've missed so many milestones already, so it's a little tough to miss this big one.

Our solution to overcoming the sadness has been a 3 day trip to Chicago! We have ridden a train, visited the Shedd Aquarium, Chicago Children's Museum, the Field Museum, Medieval Times, there's been some swimming in the hotel pool (and maybe a little shopping) and today, we're having lunch with my aunt and uncle, I'm going to the mall and the boys get to go to Legoland. Talk about avoidance!

I haven't decided whether or not we'll figure out a way to mark this day or if we'll just let it pass and celebrate with Kayla once she's home. I suppose I'll just go with my mood when the moment hits. For now, Happy Birthday, little one. You are very present on our minds and in our hearts today (and every day). We hope to see you again soon!

Our Testimony

It is Adoption Month and Sunday was Orphan Sunday. We took time during our church service to talk about the orphans in the world and to raise awareness--both of the fact that there are so many orphans and on what people can do to care for the orphan. Fortunately, we have a very adoption minded church, so we get to talk about this throughout the year, too, but this Sunday was especially focused on this topic and I was able to share some of our story...

Many of you know that I have had a passion for adoption and caring for the orphan all of my life. I really think this stems from the fact that I was adopted and I always saw adoption as God’s plan for my life to get me to my family and ultimately, into His family.

I married a man that I knew was open to adoption because not adopting was not an option for me! Early last year, Chris and I knew that the time was right to begin pursuing adoption and we decided that an international infant adoption would be the best fit for our family. We started trying to figure out what country we could adopt from and truly felt led to Ethiopia. We went ahead and started filling out the first of a few mounds of paperwork that would be required and started a process that would take a little over a year and a half to complete.

Just about one year after starting this process, on April 6 of this year, I received a phone call that a beautiful 4 ½ month old baby girl in Ethiopia needed a family. Would we like to review her file? YES! She had some medical concerns, but these were issues that we were comfortable with and confident that we could handle—especially because of where we live! We quickly accepted this referral and instantly fell in love with the little face in the photos.

A few weeks later, Ethiopia completely changed their adoption process and started requiring adoptive parents to travel to the country twice, instead of once. The first trip would be to meet the child and then attend a court hearing to declare an intention to adopt a specific child after having met them. One and half weeks ago, we returned from this trip where we stood in front of a judge and declared our intention to adopt our little girl. At the end of that hearing, the judge said, “She is yours.” The second trip would be where a family would bring their child home with all the proper documentation. We hope to complete this trip in December or January.

When this change was announced, we were all but assured that we would only have to travel once since we already had our referral and our paperwork was well on its way to Ethiopia. But, God had other plans. Remember that volcano in Iceland last April? Well, that caused our paperwork to NOT make it to Ethiopia in time to be translated and so we received news that we would have to travel twice. And as hard as this whole thing has been, I truly do believe that it was in God’s plans for us to travel twice.

This is not a cheap trip. When we started this process, I just assumed that we would cover the finances. God has been so faithful to us in the finance department and I knew that He was calling us to adopt, but I never dreamed that He wanted me to rely on Him for the money to do it, too. My thought process was just that He had been so faithful throughout our lives that we would go ahead and take care of the money. I don’t think He liked that! When we found out we had to travel twice (another several thousand dollars), I just knew that God was going to have to provide for that. And, boy, has He! As soon as we turned that part of our journey over to Him, He chose to bless us again and again and again. All in all, I don’t think we will have to pay more than a few thousand dollars out of pocket for this $32,000 child. God is good! We really assumed we’d be in debt for a few years to follow this calling that God had placed on our hearts. But, through our leaning on God for help in this area, I feel like He has said to me, “You foolish girl. Why would I ask you to do something like this AND leave you in debt?” He’s not, we will not be in debt at all.

I share this for a couple of reasons. The first is that I want everyone to know that adoption can be affordable. Don’t let money scare you away. The second reason I’ve shared this part of our story is that I want to make sure that people know how blessed we have been through this process. God has chosen to bless us with this beautiful baby girl. God has chosen to bless us financially through this process. God has chosen to allow us to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves. Stephen Curtis Chapman of Show Hope put it best when he said…”I just pictured God pouring out His grace, inviting us to bring another child to stand under it”. How lucky are we to be participants in God’s plan for this little girl?

Adoption is such a wonderful gift. It is a gift to the parents, the extended family and the child—and it is a gift that is hugely on the heart of God—one that He is directly involved with as much as we will allow. I am so glad that we have been forced to allow Him into every part of our adoption. We have been blessed and I know the blessings will keep coming—especially once we get to bring her home!

John 15:5 is a scripture that has come to mean a lot to me through this process. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” With God, I believe that I can do anything, including handle all the road blocks and challenges that have been thrown at me through this adoption. Without Him, I would not have made it this far and would be in debt up to my eyeballs. God is amazing and so is walking in His plan.

To-do List

Well, realizing that we could be leaving in as few as 29 days to pick up our daughter has motivated me to get moving on my to-do list for trip #2. Of course, we might not be leaving for 69 more days, but since we'll likely have less than two weeks notice, I can't really wait to tackle this list until we get our notice!

Today I made and ordered a photo album for Kayla's birth mother. A huge part of the reason that we chose to adopt from Ethiopia is that it is possible to meet the birth parent. As long as she shows up, which most birth parents do, we will be able to meet her during our 2nd trip. It has been recommended that we bring photos of our daughter to share with her. While it is possible that she won't even recognize the healthy, nearly one year old baby girl in the photos (compared to the very sick 2 month old she relinquished), I want her to have these photos so that she can see how well Kayla is doing. So, I put together an album with around 45 pictures of Kayla--mostly from our first visit.

My hope is that the book brings joy to her mother, though I'm sure some sadness will accompany the joy. There are photos of us holding Kayla. I hope that those bring her peace in knowing that her little girl is loved, but I am sure that part of her will wish it was her holding her baby in the photos.

Meeting my own birth mother was something that I always knew that I wanted to do when I felt I was ready. I was about 20 when I felt ready and I was as ready as any adopted child could be for that type of meeting. I was finally able to find my birth mother when I was 22 and meeting her answered a lot of questions that I had. Of course, it also opened a kind of Pandora's box that could never again be sealed, but it hasn't been all bad. I was able to thank her for giving me up for adoption and that was my real goal. I was saddened to learn that she didn't feel that she did this for me, but rather out of selfishness, but I still think she did it for me, too--whether she can admit that or not--so that I could have a better life and I am so grateful for that. I also got to see her face and experience a little bit of her personality and yes, I got some of my looks and some of my personality from her. Meeting her was like finding that last puzzle piece that you need to complete the picture.

I don't know what the likelihood is that Kayla will ever have the opportunity to meet her birth mother, if she wants to. So, I realize that I may be the only link between my daughter and her birth mother and I want to make sure that I thank her birth mother for the sacrifice that she is making. I also want to make sure that I ask her some questions that I think Kayla will want answers to. Whether or not she answers is up to her, but at least I will be able to honestly tell my daughter that I tried. I also want photos of her birth mother, so that Kayla can see her face one day and know who it is that she looks like. If you've never had to wonder, you have no idea how much that can matter to a child.

I hope that her birth mother leaves our meeting with a feeling of peace that her baby girl will be loved and cherished by Chris and me. There are many other things that I hope for this meeting, but I don't even know how to put them into words, so I'll leave it at this for now.

Tomorrow, I'm tackling that drawer full of clothes, some with price tags still on, that I've been avoiding for a long time. I am not real sure what size she'll be in, especially since we don't really know when we're going, but I have a variety, so I need to get it washed and figure out what I want to take with us.

Did you catch that we could be leaving in as little as 29 days?!? Pray with us for that, please! We want our baby home.

Reily's Birthday

Reily is four!We don't always get to have a birthday party on a birthday, but we always take the birthday boy to McDonald's for a Happy Meal.

This is the "nurse kit" that Reily got for his birthday. Now he can be just like daddy.

Because it was Kacey's birthday too, we had a joint party this weekend. The kids loved it. There was lots of noise!

It was a fun weekend.

Sunday Project

I was feeling a bit crafty today so I made these. Well, I actually made the signs for the boys a couple of years ago, but Reily had colored all over them with a permanent marker at some point so I just fixed those, but Kayla's is new. The most fun was mixing colors--all I have is white, red, yellow and blue, so I really had to mix colors to make something more girly.Kayla's has three ribbons hanging from it for all of her hair bows. There are 54 of them. Yes, I realize that having this many hair bows for a child who is not living with me may seem a bit extreme, but shopping for her has helped me keep my sanity in her 7+ month absence, so I'm okay with it. Unfortunately, you can't even see the cute ribbons hanging down. Maybe I'll have to add a couple more! Good thing she finally grew some hair.

Exciting news!!!

Well, it's still Reily's birthday, but he's napping, so I don't feel too badly for hijacking his exciting day to bring you this news...

Our agency has finally started giving families dates to return to Ethiopia to get their kiddos AND it's not taking as long as they first predicted for many of those families. This means that 12/14 and 12/28 are still good possibilities for us to return to Ethiopia to bring our baby girl home.

HUGE congrats to my friends who are leaving to pick up their babes in just 19 days!!!

Please pray with us for 12/14. It means that she would be home for Christmas AND that we wouldn't have to ditch Gavin and Reily over Christmas. Of course, we'll be happy to go 12/28 if that's the date we get, but 12/14 would be so much nicer. Oh, this would just be a Christmas miracle. This mommy is excited right now! We'd be leaving in like one month and 3 days. That would be amazing.

Happy birthday, Reily!!!

My baby boy is 4 today. This child was a total surprise to us, but I can't imagine my life without him in it. He is, without a doubt, the most loving person I have ever met. Sometimes he is so overwhelmed by the love that he feels that he'll sort of charge at someone and practically knock them over. His hugs are fierce and his kisses are precious. He offers forgiveness very freely and never holds a grudge. His mind works in such a unique way--he can explain how anything works and it almost always makes sense. He constantly amazes me and I am so lucky to be his mommy.

Happy birthday, Reily. I love you!


It's also cousin Kacey's birthday. These two little cousins were born on the same day, just hours apart. It was a total coincidence since they were due weeks apart, but we always make sure to get together around their birthdays and celebrate. We're looking forward to their visit this weekend. Happy birthday, Kacey.

Still waiting

Well, we will be waiting for a very long time, so that's not really a news flash! We're a little over 1 week into an 8-12 week wait. We're pretty much planning to have our baby girl home sometime in January. In the meantime, I'm doing my very best to remain positive and optimistic about life. There are so many things to be grateful for that it hasn't been too hard to be content while we wait. Ask me again in 5 weeks, but so far, so good.

I do have to say that I am so grateful that we have two kiddos at home already. They keep us very busy and offer so much love that I don't really feel like I'm missing anything. This wait without my boys would probably kill me and my heart does ache for my friends who are waiting to return to Ethiopia to pick up their only child.

I am also thankful that we're in the holiday season. Reily's birthday is tomorrow (he'll be 4!!!), then Thanksgiving and Christmas. There will certainly be enough going on in between all of that to keep us busy and focused on our present life rather than on what/who we don't have. Sure, I wish she was just home already to experience all of this with us, but there's nothing I can do to get her here sooner, so I might as well just enjoy life in the wait. And, I am. How could I not enjoy life with these two beautiful boys calling me "mommy" and hugging me all day long?

Waiting

So, I'm pretty much the most impatient person I know. So many people have commented on how patient I've been through this whole grueling adoption process. I just think to myself--if they only knew!

One week ago today, I finally met my baby girl--after nearly 7 months of waiting. One week ago tomorrow, I left her behind in Ethiopia. One stinking week and I miss her like crazy. I have to wait another 9-13 (at least) to bring her home. I know that doesn't sound like a long time to most of you, but it feels like an eternity to me right now. Especially because we really have no guarantee that she'll be home in that time frame even. Additionally, we will have, at most, 2 weeks notice to make the trip to bring her home. This means, we pretty much just have to sit around waiting for that email telling us to get ready and go. Not being able to plan life because you have to stay focused on this one thing certainly doesn't help keep your mind off of it!

So far, I'd say I'm doing fairly well with the wait, but it's fresh. Ask me again around week 5 when I still haven't heard anything about going back. I'm sure my patience will be well worn by then, even if I don't show it to most people.