Nursery Update

How 'bout a little nursery update...and some other random subjects? :)

I painted the nursery this week. I had the color picked out since March, so it was probably about time to mark that off the list! ;) It's Benjamin Moore Gray Mist, OC-30, but I used Behr Flat Enamel Paint per the recommendation that it is completely scrub-able. I am really pleased with how it turned out!! {P.S. I got the scrub-able tip from the interior design blog Urban Grace. If you don't know about it, you should check it out...it's my favorite!}

It's a really light gray with more of a green undertone than a blue. I think that will complement nicely with all the blues that will be going in the room.

To be honest, painting the room was a daunting task. It was something that I really wanted to do. As I talked about before, I want to actively move forward in completing his room, but I was overwhelmed to get started, afraid of the rush of emotions I knew would come. So, after several mornings of saying I was going to do it, I decided to jump in & start at 11:00 pm Monday night! That's right, P.M.!! For some reason, it just seemed easier to tackle at night. I put on some worship music & pretended I was on Ethiopian time {they are 8 hrs ahead.:)} It turned out to be a sweet time of prayer, & of course some tears, but I was happy to get a chance to feel connected to bringing my son home.

On another note, we got 5 new pictures of our little man this week. I wish so badly I could share them with you all!! {Maybe someone can share with me how to do those little hearts over the faces?? Not sure if that's even worth it as far as seeing him, but maybe I'll play around with it & see.} Trust me though, he is super cute!! ;) His hair is thickening & the curls are coming in...it was pretty much board straight for the first 6 months. He has the biggest round brown eyes & the greatest facial expressions! Even though we also found out he has a viral infection in his lungs & ears, he is still big smiles like he has been since he's been at Hannah's Hope! We really are so lucky that he is cared for so well. Of course I zoomed in on every square inch of the pictures, & I do believe he is about to have at least one bottom tooth come through. He was drooling & chewing a lot when we were there back in August, & now his bottom gum is a bright light pink right in the middle. It stands out really well against the purply pink of the rest of his little gums. :) There was a family that traveled this past weekend for their court date who took pictures & asked some questions for us...looking forward to getting an update from her next week!

Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts & prayers! I know the business of life, so each thought & prayer genuinely means so much to us.

Hope you all have a great weekend!! We'll be celebrating my dad who turned 60 yesterday!!!

Notice any resemblance?? ;)

We got an email today with a note from our in-country director. MOWA is still stating that they won't approve our cases until the southern region releases them. It's been 2 weeks since the one family in our group got their written decree from the judge. The note confirmed that the judge is saying that she will eventually approve all the cases where both the birth & adoptive families have given consent before the orphanages were closed, but she is in training & not reviewing cases right now. So, our director is hoping that in the next few weeks the judge will be back to work completely & things will start moving more. Almaz is waiting on the judge to issue her decree so that she can have something tangible to use with MOWA.

This is a very tough spot for all of the families involved. Every single morning we wake up wondering what the day might hold...either (a) hear that we have the judge's decree but still left with tons of questions on timing & validity on whether our adoptions can still really take place; (b) hear that MOWA has decided to write our letters & actually have a clue about when we can bring our babies home; (c) hear that our children were in fact taken back to the south & try to figure out where to go from there; (d) hear that the whole adoption is going to fall through; or (e) hear that there's no news to report & repeat all this the next day. That is A LOT to process over & over every. single. day. The best way I know to describe it is that I feel like my life is paralyzed.

Where is Wonder Woman when you need her??! :)

Seriously, though, I do want to praise God... after learning more about what is going on with cases from the southern region & hearing more stories of other families with referrals who had not made it to court yet {mostly from other agencies,} it is becoming even more apparent how crucial it was that we made it to court when we did. That 'miracle of miracles' the Lord blessed us with is our saving grace right now. It has put us in the position where we still have a chance to bring our little man home, & it continues to be a constant reminder of Hope & answered prayers. Praise be to the Father!!!