We made it!

To what, you may ask?? To being #1! ;) Our June numbers are:

#1 for boys

#8 for girls

This means we are THE first in line for the next baby boy ready for referral!!!!! Now, this could be today, tomorrow, in 2 weeks, in a month; there's no way of knowing, but we are rejoicing over our new placement!

I wanted to capture a few thoughts I had this morning on our waiting. I by no means pretend to know the Lord's intentions, yet I can see that He is using this time for our betterment in several ways. Matt & I have been relishing our time together, especially these last few months. Just simple things like spur of the moment float trip on the Kings, bike rides at night, lounging on the couch watching TV/movies {which reminds me I should really do a post on thoughts I've been having about that as well...}, etc. We know that we have a relatively simple life & that our time can be devoted to each other without the distractions of a munchkin to take care of. As I was making the bed this morning, I honestly just felt the need to praise God for the ability to genuinely enjoy these opportunities. Back in March/April I'm not so sure I could have...thankfully Matt wasn't available then anyway! ;)

This time as also forced me to think about my time, i.e. what to do with it. The Lord has me at a place where my current work load is dwindling. Back last winter, I found out that Ginny {who owns the jewelry biz I run/ran} was going to be adopting & thought it best to take a break early summer in order to get their little girl & build their new family. At the time, it seemed perfect. I would be close to having my little one home as well & would need the time to finish getting ready too. Then came March 8th & where we are now. Addition is officially on break, & I am no where near having baby home. So, long story short, the thought of grad school kept popping in my head. I'm starting a class next month - an African history class! I am super excited not only to be learning again, but to be learning about my child's heritage. I think this will be an invaluable use of my time as I wait to get my "little man" {starting to allow myself to go there now :)} home. I enrolled as a non-degree seeking grad student, but the thought is to pursue a history {or similar} degree in order to teach part time on the college level. I would only need 30 hours & have 6 years, so I'll be taking my time. :) I in no way want to make my family any less of a priority than it should be, thus this is just a plan & we'll see how it goes. I've been praying over this decision & will continue, but God has been faithful. For example, the professor that is teaching the Africa Today course has good friends that also adopted from Ethiopia, is considering adopting herself at some point, & was excited for me to enroll! You just can dismiss little details like these. :)

Last, but not least, I want to ask you to join me in praying for my friend, Ginny. You can see her blog {Orbit of the Mooney's} on the blog roll to the side & get more details. Basically though, they have a tremendous opportunity to hit a window to pick up their little girl, Lena, by the end of this week! Lena is a special needs orphan in the Ukraine that is about to age out of the orphanage, meanwhile, the Ukraine is changing their adoption procedure. In order to get Lena home at the earliest time, the Mooney's need to be able to have their adoption papers go through before the July freeze! They should find out on Thursday & could be leaving as early as Friday! Will you please join me in praying (1) that the timing will work out & they will get through before the Ukrainian changes take place (2) for her family {there are 2 little ones home} as Matt & Ginny travel. Thanks!!! I don't have much time to go into all the reasons we love the Mooney's & Lena, but trust me in that your prayers will be coveted.

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 :)

Happy 5th!!

Five years ago today, I married this guy, & my life has not been the same since. :)

Have I mentioned that I grew up in a house full of girls? Needless to say, the most adjustment to marriage was figuring out how to live with a boy...oh, the stories I could tell ; )

I love this man. The Lord knew what He was doing when He created him for me; he compliments me so. Matt's patient & laid back...I am a perfectionist. Matt is fun loving & can easily relax...I am a planner & have a constant "to-do" list running in my head. Matt likes to be funny...I laugh at anything. Matt is a starter...I am a finisher. Matt loves the Lord & recognizes his constant need for saving...I do too. We are not a perfect couple, but we realize God ordained our marriage so that He can have glory & He uses us to refine each other.

It has been amazing to see how instrumental our complimentary personalities have been/still are in our adoption process. When we started the process in January {2010,} the paperwork was overwhelming. We were using 2 different agencies, 1 for our homestudy & 1 for everything else, so we had things to go through for our homestudy to make sure it complied with both agencies, paperwork to put together for our dossier, plus a ton of education materials to complete. I became paralyzed every time I even thought about where to start. As Matt noticed this, he began to quietly work on things- he sent off for all the official paperwork we needed from the state, drafted his biography, etc. It gave me time to sort through all the details in my head & get a grip on all of it. By the time tax season came into swing mid-February, I was ready to take charge {& have been point person ever since.} While details get me bogged down & at a loss to start sometimes, Matt is enough removed where he can just jump on in. On the other hand, it is sometimes the details, especially in this process, that make you successful upon completion...& this is where my personality comes into play.

There is no other person I would rather have by my side as I wait to bring home my little one. He reminds me to be patient as he listens to me on the days the unkowns are too much for this planner, & he's good to keep me grounded when I start going down the "what-ifs." There are times that I would rather not have to remind him that I'm trying to be serious, but the fact that Matt can always make me laugh is a true gift from God. In fact, there is a list that I made in a high school Bible study of characteristics I would want in a husband & "sense of humor" is one of the tops. :)

May the God who gives endurance & encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart & mouth you may glorify the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:5-7

Thank you, Father, for this happy day!

April Numbers

We got our April Numbers last night!! We're...

#11 on the girls list

#5 on the BOY list

We are getting so close to a referral! & I do believe we just might end up with a BOY! :)

Not much time, but just wanted to update on the news! Please join us in thanking our Saviour for this movement!

How 'bout we celebrate with a little Single Ladies? :)

Feeling a Little Lonely

Ok, first of all, I am cracking up. I've found that there are some more readers that I didn't know about...I don't know how you all find me {because I've purposely haven't really "announced" that I even have a blog,} but I'm glad you did! :) Also, I'm laughing at myself as I look at my poor side bar with the blog roll. I can promise you that I check in on more than just those! The ones listed are from when Matt first designed the blog, & I'm sure they are the only ones he knew to put there. I want to update with it more blogs but don't really know how. I'm sure I could figure it out relatively easy- it just takes me so darn long to actually write a post that I keep thinking, "i'll get matt to do that later." :)

In comes the loneliness & the "later"... Matt is a CPA tax accountant, so isn't home much these days. By this time most busy seasons, I've gotten used to being home alone & start to kinda like it...you know, watching the things on tv that i want to, doing projects & reading, eating dinner with girlfriends, etc. Apparently, I didn't plan very well this year. I am coming off of a fun-filled month of seeing friends & family, so now I'm a little sad that I'm back to being by myself. {Let's not forget to mention that I have a child weighing heavily on my heart that I have no idea when I'll get to bring home. :( } Before you get to feeling too sorry for me, let's also remind ourselves that Matt's actually the one doing the work! {Is it sad that I have to constantly put that thought in my head?! :)}

I want to share some of the fun I had last month with you all.

The first week of March, I tagged along with a friend's little sister {Katie, who has also become a friend in her own right :)} to go visit Jessica & her family in Norman, OK. This is one of my nearest & dearest. I don't get to see her near enough, so to say the least, I had a GREAT time! Jess & I got out on our own for a bit, & she took me to the neatest little boutique where I found this:

It's a new line of purses & bags from Fossil, & I'm going to use it for a baby bag!!! {Jessica, who is about to be the mother of 3 in a few short weeks, graciously helped me think through & confirm that it would work.}

Next stop in my March travels was home to Benton for 5 days. I had been trying to get home since February to see everyone & celebrate my birthday, so it was long overdue!! First stop, surprising these chicas from MDO & making a Sonic run.

These are my darling nieces! {I am sure my sisters are going to kill me because this picture doesn't show half their cuteness!} Anyway, I spent most of the time seeing family, saw a few friends {had to meet one's brand new baby!}, & snuck in a day at the races with my dad!

I brought my mom back to Fayetteville with me for her spring break. We had lots of fun running around looking for nursery things. We found some fabrics that are options for a crib skirt, fabric for curtains {on sale!!}, & a paint color for the walls. There are some things you just need your mom for, & these are some of them!

Heather {my oldest sister} came up for the weekend to hang out, work on taxes, & take Mom home. For those of you who don't know, Heather has twin girls, Grace Amelia & Olivia Lauren, who are 5. Let me just say that I was very entertained the whole weekend! There were modeling shows as the girls tried on outfits while we were shopping {seriously, they would walk a "runway," pose at the end, & my mom would pretend to take a picture of them!} Then, there was the "play" Olivia wrote & directed & the singing concerts the girls gave. Matt took some video from his phone of the girls singing:

This one is a little dark at first, but their passion is precious, I had to share!

We turned on the lamp! :) Also, please note the balloon art...Aunt Millie decided they needed a treat after shopping! ;)

There's a video of them singing & dancing to the 'All the Single Ladies' {the Chipette (sp?) version} that was too big for Matt to email me. He said he could put it on YouTube to upload, so maybe next time because honestly it's the best!

I'm also sad because THIS one turned 3!!! She is Blaire, & I had to miss her party! :( {I know the pic is super pixilated. I stole it off of Lauren's facebook page. Isn't she the cutest?! Had to use it regardless of the quality!} Is it obvious that none of my nieces lack for confidence? ;)

Hope to be back soon with new numbers for April!!

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!

I'm Back

Well, I'm back for another post. After getting busy with work & holidays...& thinking that no one really knows about/reads our blog, I'm now taking advantage of the snow (all 17" of it!)

A few reasons for coming back: 1) a few people have mentioned that they actually check it. {Hi, especially to Julie- Matt & I miss running into you guys on the SEC circuit!} 2) I do think it's important to record our movement. I know that each month the growth is Purposeful, & it's my hope that one day we can look back with our child & God will kindly allow us to see the story being unfolded on both sides of the globe.

So, on to the numbers...

In Nov, we had another HUGE jump.

18 for boys

37 for girls

In fact, we got spoiled & a little big for our britches, thinking it was confirmation we would get our referral by March as we were hoping.

In Dec, back to reality.

18 for boys (that's right, no movement)

32 for girls

To be honest, it was a hard Christmas. It was hard to swallow that there wasn't at least ONE boy referral that went out that month. Plus, the closer we get to March {the month we- or at least me :)- were holding out hopes to get our referral,} the more "we" have had to swallow that that's more than likely NOT the case. I know I keep saying it; I honestly do mean it with ALL of my heart, mind, & soul, the timing is His Timing...it is Good, Perfect, Purposeful, & I truly believe it makes us the happiest...even in these moments. But, I cannot describe the loneliness there is while you wait. With that said, the Lord sweetly reminded me of the birth mom in this Christmas month. While I may be facing some hardships these few months, this courageous woman will know a lifetime of loneliness, wondering, & longing. Perspective is always helpful!

In Jan, back to the normal.

15 for boys

27 for girls

Feb. Again not much movement.

15 for boys

25 for girls

Now that you're all caught up, the big question in our household is: Will the girls catch up with the boys??

Speaking of girls, there's been lots of questions about hair! The Lord & I have had our own talks on this subject too. :) It's one of the biggest barriers between our cultures, & thinking about it, can make me nervous about being a mom to the little Ethiopian cutie! Boy or girl, there will be lots of new things to learn. Therefore, I'm posting a link once again to the We Love our Lucy blog. Kristi did a whole post on tips & products she uses on her little girls & has asked others to leave comments with their own suggestions. I know I'll need this resource later. Plus, I thought that it may help answer some questions of friends & family who are just as curious (& clueless) as me! :)