Occupying Our Time

People are always asking what our status is in the adoption. I wish I had more to say, but I don't. This kind of waiting is very untangible for me. With Hally and Brady, I had doctor appointments, weeks to count, and many other milestones to encourage me that the their beginings were going to occur. This kind of pregnancy is almost like walking in a dark tunnel and trying to find the exit. You know there is an exit and a time when you'll get out of the tunnel, but you just don't know when it will be. Mentally, I keep telling myself that it is going to be a long walk and to just get used to walkin'. In doing that, I'm trying to find the joy of being in the tunnel, and so far I feel like I've been pretty succesful. I meet with an adoption group once a month that I just LOVE!! We all get along like old friends, and I look forward to knowing them more. Being around Jamie Jo, Gabby, and family has helped see what coming out of the tunnel looks like, and helps me to realize God's way or plan is so much better than mine. I have also been planning/designing a fund raiser t shirt and necklace that I will be displaying on my blog shortly. Jamie has also designed a shirt that I have displayed it to the right. Isn't it AWESOME?!!! It will be sold at AnNi Designs http://annifororphans.com/ by June. Proceeds from the shirt will be going to help fund our adoption. My future plans will be to complete our fund raisers and read books on adoption. Pray for us that we continue this whole journey with strength and a great attitude. We covet these dearly!!

I've been TAGGED by Alisa!!

Here are the rules: If you get tagged, you will need to write 10 fact s about yourself and then tag 5 other blogs to do the same. Here goes my 10...


1. I have moved 9 different times in my lifetime... My dad was in the Air Force.

2. The first time I saw Kevin, I knew I would marry him. I even told my parents, and they thought I was absolutely CRAZY!!! That was in 1992, and I was 18 years old; he was 21.

3. I am a Jesus FREAK!! He is the most amazing person I have ever met.

4. I absolutely adore my children.

5. I started off in college as an art student.

6. I love flea markets, purses, photography, i tunes, coffee in the morning, German Shepherds, chocolate, fixing up old things, going on dates with my husband, and t shirts.

7. I'm a Jane Austin junky.

8. I used to want to be in a rock band...

9. I love my church, James River. I love their passion for Christ and for the lost.

10. I love seeing a child do something they didn't think they were capable of doing.

You Know You Should Adopt If...

I stole this from Jana's blog... LOVE it!!

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.
7. You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)
8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.
9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word "Dossier" means, and you can actually pronounce it!
13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.
Author Unknown

Green Doors

For those of you who don't know, the picture above is of the doors that lead to the transition home for children being adopted through AW. Kevin and I will will someday be walking through these doors to meet our child. What an exciting thought!! Thank you, Penelope, for letting me use your wonderful picture. I love reading their blog (Carpenter Family), and learn from their experiences. It gives me a glimpse of what is yet to come.

Mission Accomplished

We have been tracking our dossier, and it is in Ethiopia!! In the mail yesterday we received a letter from AW with copies of the federal authentication. It was so cool to see Condaleeza Rice's signature on the copies; although my husband's only comment was that her handwriting is too messy. We are now in the big wait of receiving our referral. The AW website says we will wait 3-6 months for this. My friend Kristin says that my feet look swollen and that I need to buy more "pregnancy" outfits... I like the way she thinks!!

Godspeed, Sweet Dossier!!

I got an email yesterday from Duni saying that our dossier was shipped off to Ethiopia!! From reading posts from the YG, I think it will take about a week for it to arrive in Addis. I'm starting to feel more official now that the paperwork is now working for me instead of me working on it. I also am getting those funky baby dreams I got while pregnant with Hally and Brady. Last week I dreamt that we received our baby ( in my dream it was a girl) in the mail!!! Oh, if only it were that easy!!!

Bittersweet Goodbye!!

Monday afternoon I took my first trip to the Secretary of State branch office in Springfield to get my 20 some documents authenticated. I got there at 2ish and by 4:30 they were complete. The good news was that all but one came back authenticated. The bad news, of course, was that one had an error on the notary section. The notary who notarized our I-171H put the current year as 2009, so I had to get it re-notarized with the correct year of 2008. I did this on Tuesday and then went back to Springfield to get it authenticated by the SOS. In the scheme of things that was a very minor hiccup. It could have been a lot worse!!!!!

Yesterday at around 4pm I said goodbye to our dossier at the FedEx store in Springfield. What a variety of emotions that I was feeling. I didn't want to let it go, but I certainly did not want to keep it either. It just seemed so weird to hand off almost 5 months of paperwork (not to mention the thousands of doallars that was required to compile them) to a complete stranger. Right now I am so glad to know they are almost in Virginia, and I am excited about what the future holds due to the perseverance and work that went into our dossier will produce. We are getting a CHILD!!!