It's OFFICAL!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, this news is super late in coming, but as of Monday, the Baxter family is officially a family of 3!!! Monday morning we found out the court had received our MOWA letter & issued our "final, final" court decree! I have pretty much been running at full steam ever since trying to get caught up on all the things I have been putting off...it's a little hard to register, have showers, buy diapers/clothes/etc. when you have NO IDEA how old your baby is going to be when he comes home. SOOOOOoooo glad that's over with!!!:)

I wish I could show you all a picture of his sweet little face & announce his name to really make things come alive! However, our agency is extra precautions & doesn't like us to show pictures of our littles until they are safely in our custody....& there is a little debate over what exactly his name will be. It's pretty much set for the most part except we can't decide whether to sneak in a second middle name. I'm for & against it for several different reasons, & Matt is mostly against. So, we'll see how all this plays out! ;-)

Next steps are AGCI will translate our paperwork & make an appointment for our lil guy to have an extra medical exam at the embassy's clinic. Once all that is complete, they can submit us to the U.S. embassy who will then complete their own investigation of our case. The embassy is very strict & only allots certain days that each agency can open files. Ours is Monday. We are praying that our staff is able to get everything done in time to submit our file to the embassy this coming Monday! We know Almaz & everyone will make it happen if they can! :)

Yay!!!!!!!!! Matt & I have been on cloud 9 since last Wednesday {when our case was taken off hold!} I can hardly tell that my head is spinning in 5 different directions- ha!

Roller. Coaster.

So, this post is a little later in coming than I wanted, but now my mind is flooding with ALL the things that I have been putting off! :) I feel the need to take you back to where I was last week, to be truthful of this sweet journey & the majesty of God & our walk to our son.

Today re-read an email I wrote to a friend last week, & I think I'll just use it to fill in the gaps in order to keep this post from being forever long. {For those of you who don't know me well, I'm sure you've figured out by now that I tend to be a little wordy!}

honestly, hearing that someone is praying for us daily is huge. I need to know that someone is interceding for me on the moments/days it gets too discouraging to plead for the exact same thing one more time. We did find out on Monday that the judge issued our written decree, but we still need our MOWA letter before we can move on. we also got confirmation on Monday that MOWA is not cooperating as we suspected. I feel so guilty because I know I should be rejoicing & praising the Lord over this small victory, but I can't seem to get there out of fear that this next hurdle is going to take even longer. ...I just feel so guilty because this is an answered prayer. 

Then that Friday {last week,} one of the other "Southern Six" mommas {that's what we became known as on our agency's list serv} asked if AGCI would be open to talk about making an extra trip to go visit our babies. I'm not sure if they realized that we were all looking at plane tickets for December:), but they agreed to "talk" about it. I dreamed about seeing Little Man again all weekend, & Matt & I started brainstorming on fundraising. Well, on Monday I found out that the option of an extra trip was being taken off the table. We love our agency & they had good reasons, but I was still super bummed because we had no idea when we would hold our baby next. Plus, there still wasn't any new information about why our cases were still on hold & what exactly was going to be needed to get them off even though 2 more of our Southern Six families got their court decrees.

So now I hope you have a little sense of my mental state when the phone rang Wednesday...in fact, don't be surprised when I tell you that I was in bed at 11:00 AM.;-) My case manager told me, much to EVERYone's surprise, MOWA had agreed to go ahead & write our letters!!!! Our orphanage director explained it best, "The steps have been many to get here, but most of all it is God's thing, no one can move men's hearts but God." AGCI expects our letters to get here by the end of next week...Little Man is coming HOME!!! Matt & I are elated to say the least & are truly beyond grateful for each one of your prayers. We aren't really sure about the timing yet. It will depend on when we actually get our letter & how the VISA process goes, but there is a possibility it could be by the end of this year! :)

Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to see these last few years as purposeful refinement, even though I cringed at that thought just 3 short days ago. Thank you for continuing to give me permission to ask for things that may give You glory because I'm beginning to realize the depth of your love for me. I am humbled by your grace in so. many. ways.

so much for not being wordy, huh?! wow, this post took a turn i totally wasn't expecting...here's your reward for making it to the end ;-)

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!!!

One More Stone...

This week we found out that the judge has agreed to go ahead & give us a written decree despite not having our MOWA letter yet. This is very unprecedented - a huge praise! Our agency thinks that this will keep the southern government from having jurisdiction over our kiddos, so therefore, no claims to take them back! One of the families (there are 5 in our same predicament from our agency) received their decree on Tuesday. I was hoping to be able to announce our decree this week too, but we haven't heard anything on our specific case yet. Our agency feels for sure it is coming though - please pray for peace & patience for us & the other families that are waiting daily for new news.

As far as MOWA goes, they have not changed their position to our knowledge. We continue to hope that once they see the judge moving on our behalf, they will follow suit. This seems to be still really complicated, & I don't really understand what all is going on with this part yet. Although, I do know that it has the possibility of holding us up for a long time. Please, please pray against this!! Another one of the families involved said they are being bold & praying for our little ones to be home by Halloween. ...This is actually the timing Matt & I had thought would be possible when we first left for Addis Ababa on Aug. 2. So, when she said that I thought, why would I not keep asking for that myself?:) Will you join me?? It would take several miracles, but I think He's getting us use to asking for those! ;)

THANK YOU so much!!! Honestly, every single intercession means the world to us.

A Smattering of News

The most popular question we get is "is there any news." The short answer is no. The meeting that we were told was going to take place never did. The idea was to approach MOWA directly instead, & so far we still have not heard of such a meeting. Yet, our case manager told us last Thursday that an American adoption network is going to have a meeting in ET. That's the reality of the news we get- very vague & translates into nothing tangible. We have no idea who the meeting is going to be with, when it is supposed to take place, etc. We know God is big & our prayer doesn't change - we pray that God will bring unity to the situation so that by the time the court opens back up in mid-October, we can have our MOWA approval letter there & be passed to the U.S. Embassy part of the process. To be completely frank though, the potential of that happening is just as equal as the potential that the Southern Regional Government shuts down adoptions from their area for good. Not that anyone thinks that is going to happen, it is, however, the realness of the complication of the matter. Our case manager told me it was best to not expect any definite news on whether or not MOWA would review our cases until the courts reopen. I don't want to come off as a 'debbie downer' because we do have hope despite this. The Lord was sweet to me, & reminded me of a favorite childhood hymn last Sunday at my grandmother's church & I have been clinging to it ever since...Standing on the Promises of God:

	Standing on the promises of Christ my King,

through eternal ages let his praises ring;

glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,

standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,

when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,

by the living Word of God I shall prevail,

standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,

bound to him eternally by love's strong cord,

overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword,

standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,

listening every moment to the Spirit's call,

resting in my Savior as my all in all,

standing on the promises of God.  	

We are also blessed with a very caring director of our transition home. She sent us {the families that are being effected by the freeze on the Southern region} a sweet note 2 weeks ago to let us know that everyday she is on the phone trying to figure out what is going on & fighting for our cases. She told us that everyday she is personally sitting down with our children, telling them how much their mommies & daddies love them... i cannot begin to tell you how much this means! As promised, she sent us a special update last week. While I can't show the pictures, I will brag a little & tell you what she said about Little Man. :)

Our sweetest spirit & with grown up soul baby. He is growing & doing so well. He laughs & smiles all of the time. He loves his food & loves being held & intensely listens & looks at your face.

This just makes me smile...he is the perfect combination of Matt & me...LOVE :)

Also on the news front, I have decided to pursue actual completion of the nursery. I've been doing bits here & there for the last year, but I haven't really worked toward any sort of completion. I've had this huge fear {there's still some left} that I'll have a room that's ready with no sign of my baby coming home, then will have to look at a finished room day after day. I came to the realization last week that I may be holding on to this fear a little strongly. So, I had a talk with the Lord & told Him I would let go & step out in faith a little farther. To be clear, I am still in no big hurry but do think moving forward is the right thing to do for now.

Ready for a sneak peak?? This is a project I completed last spring with some BIG help from a great friend & her gracious client! ;) Matt's grandmother's couch had been sitting in a spare room at his mom's house for a while. I have always had my eye on it, so when I first started thinking about the nursery, it immediately came to mind! It was actually a great fun, retro print, & if had known we were going to get a girl, I might have worked around it. Instead, I wound up painting, recushioning, & reupholstering it.

The Before

{you are actually getting a bonus sneak peak of the fabric I fell in love with ;)}

The After...well need to touch up some of the paint!

{picture lots of fun pillows ;) also, disregard the wall design...we haven't painted yet!}

My Favorite Part

{apparently you are supposed to sign & date a piece when you reupholster it....so, i wrote a little note with mine...actually, i wrote 2 notes because i forgot to take a picture of the 1st one! :)}

May Numbers

#4 for boys

#8 for girls

I had a long conversation with my case manager last Thursday night. It was encouraging to hear that even though our agency is recognizing that there may be significant delays ahead, they have not seen any yet. This includes cases that have been referred before & AFTER the new March 8th announcement. We are so very thankful for this movement, but we're still in the boat of "you just have to wait & see" how things continue to play out. There are several families from our agency that are going to Ethiopian court in the next several weeks. Please be in prayer for them - that all of their paperwork will be ready {including the all important MOWA approval letter} & they pass. AGCI thinks the way these cases go will be very telling in predicting future timing.

Sorry for the delay in getting out the May update...blogger wasn't working last Friday morning when I tried. Plus, I had to jet off to see these little girls in action:

They had their dance recital & did a tap dance to 'We are Siamese' from Lady & the Tramp. It was precious! We also celebrated my mom's birthday & went to Old Folks Singing on Sunday {...if only I had thought to take pics...OFS deserves a whole post for itself!} Anyway, here's a few more pictures from the recital:

Pretty girl!!

P.S. Those are chopsticks in their buns ;-)

Asked her to sit on the steps so I could take a picture, & this is what I got! HAM!!!

Look at Olivia's face...makes me laugh every time!

Meet Kati Morrow. I nannied for her the summer she & her twin brother were born. I'm old! Just another set of children {along with their ornery older brother :)} that I consider "mine."

Love this picture of my mom & Grace.

& can't forget about this cutie!! I am blessed :)

March Numbers - Worthy of Praise

Our March numbers have been late in coming... For the 5 people who read this blog ;), you've probably heard directly from us the news on the Ethiopian adoption front. In case not, I'll give a quick run down. MOWA who is in charge of reviewing all international adoption case in Ethiopia, decided it best to decrease their daily case flow due to a lack in staffing & to help guard against any corruption. From what I understand {feel like I need to caveat because I sometimes think I know better than I really do, ;)} they review the cases to make sure everything about the case checks out fine. If so, they "approve" it, & pass their ruling on to the Ethiopian court who makes the final judgement of whether or not you can adopt your child.

No MOWA approval = No court approval = No taking your baby home anytime soon :(

The unfortunate thing is that it was a drastic reduction from reviewing 40-50 cases a day (worldwide) to 5; thus, basically decreasing the amount of approvals made, some have said, up to 90% a year. Obviously this is a huge deal, but I don't want to speculate on it too much because the implications have yet to be figured out. And, that's the point. Our poor, sweet agency has been working overtime to get answers & help encourage a change where it can, that they have had to delay getting out updates on referral numbers.

Ok, ready??

#16 for girls

#10 for boys

We are THRILLED beyond words for this movement!!

Are you ready for some MORE good news? We got our letter today from Show Hope, Stephen Curtis Chapman's amazing orphan care organization. We got approved for a grant to cover some of our adoption costs!!! The Lord is so good, & we are so thankful! I was about to write that I haven't been that worried about the finances, just trusting in God for His provision, but that's a lie really. While I have been confident that the Lord would make it work for us to afford to adopt, I've been stressed at times at how we were going to afford everything else that comes along with having a baby. Of course He'll cover the adoption, that was His will for us. {Speaking of, I have another blog post that I have thought about doing telling that story. Someone of the 5, hold me to that because we all can see how great I am at posting! Ha!} However, the hard part comes when it's time to trust God with the "extra" desires of my heart. Is it merited that I want a reasonably cute nursery? Will the Lord provide for that AND formula & diapers?? I have to continuously remind myself to release all of the desires of my heart to the Father. Let me be clear, I struggle with the answer to these questions, but what I do know is that He is GOOD whether any of my desires are met or not. Yet, I believe He is our Father, & He wants us to trust him with those thoughts, which He already knows anyway. :) So, thank you, Lord, for your provision in this way. It reminds me first & foremost to give You the glory & secondly that my faith needs to be bigger.

BTW, I know I glossed over the MOWA delay above, but in all honesty last week was a REALLY hard week. I just felt so lost in it all - hurting for my child & the other children over there that would be left in injustice by the longer wait times & confused with how the Lord is shaping my days in the meantime. Someone tweeted out the verses Psalms 68:5-6a:

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

God sets the lonely in families

I have been clinging to that & to other Promises, realizing that God loves these children more that I can ever imagine to love them so He has to have a bigger picture/better plan with all of this. After spending time praying through these verses, I am resting easier in Him & His control. {Also, for all of you praying, KEEP IT UP! There's a rumor that MOWA is considering increasing to 20 cases a day!! Still less than half of what they were doing, but MUCH better than 5!}

See what I mean? He IS Worthy of Praise!