Olivia's New Glasses

A few weeks ago Olivia had an eye exam done at school and came home telling me she needed to "get her eyes fixed". She brought home a form saying that she needed to go to a professional eye doctor for an exam. Nick insisted there was NO WAY she needed glasses and I just figured she had goofed off during her testing. I did not think much of it until I received a phone call from the lady that tested her at the school insisting I HAD to take her, that her eyes were pretty bad. She threatened to call me repeatedly if I did not take her. SOOOO...just to keep her from calling me again, no seriously, I figured it was better to be safe than sorry and take her. She went Friday, the day before her birthday, and sure enough she needed glasses. I was shocked! She did great through her exam even when they put in all the eye drops. The doctor was very impressed. It took me forever to pick out her glasses. We had a huge crowd of workers and other customers watching and helping us pick them out. She really put on a show and had everyone wrapped around her finger by the time we left. I guess it is not often they see little tiny 5 year old girl getting glasses. She got 2 pairs, one is more traditional and the other is a stylish pair. I really wanted some cute girly fuchsia pink glasses but they did not have the best selection. She also got a "Hanna Montana" case which she was really excited about. We went today to pick up her glasses and she is so cute in them!!!! She really has the face for glasses. Of course all the ladies that work there came running when she walked in and basically the entire store stood still for her, watching her show off her new glasses. Ok, now I am taking bets on how long until they are broken... :) Good thing I purchased insurance.

We are officially a waiting family! :)

Our case worker with our adoption agency contacted us today to let us know our paperwork, A.K.A. Dossier, was back from Washington and we are now officially a "waiting family". Now the countdown begins. I am so excited. When I look back at the past 9 months we have been working on the adoption process it actually seems to have passed quicker than I thought. Now we are just waiting for our phone call saying we have been matched with a beautiful little girl. It will more than likely be a long wait but that gives us time to get ready. Since I no longer have mounds of paperwork to obtain, have notarized, authenticated, and certified I will focus on spending more quality time with Austin and Olivia, learning Amharic, and getting all the info I can to help us prepare for the adoption and transitions when we come home with our little girl. It is really exciting but also a little scary. Soon we will be traveling across the world to Ethiopia, a land so different from ours and meeting our little girl who will find us strange and probably a little scary. It will be an opportunity and experience of a lifetime and we look forward to every step of this journey.

Happy 5th Birthday Olivia

Today was my little baby girls, I mean big girls, 5th birthday. Boo hoo! Five!!! She is five!?!?!? I will use one of Olivia's favorite phrases, "you have got to be kidding me". :) Wow, how fast she is growing up. She is loosing all of the babyness and is turning into a beautiful, smart, and unbelievable young girl. If only I could turn back the clock a few years. I feel like I missed so much along the way. While I miss the baby years having a "big girl" is really fun. Everything is all about Barbie Dolls and gymnastics now. Her funny jokes, famous phrases, and animated personality make us laugh constantly. Even when she is supposed to be getting in trouble she always says something totally hilarious and somehow weasels her way out of it. I love that she is so unique and such a people person, I know she will carry that wonderful personality throughout her life.

For her birthday party we had a cookout at the park with family and friends. It was a blast. The weather could not have been better. The kids played on the playground and threw the football while the adults hung out. "Barbie" made a special happy birthday phone call to Olivia, which we thought she would just love, but instead she made a snotty face and acted like "who in the world is this crazy person on the phone". It was sooo funny. I got it all on video too. I think she as just too smart for the cheesy recording of fake "Barbie" singing happy birthday. :) After dark the park had a free "movie on the lawn" and we hung out with our friends and watched "Horton Hears a Who". We were all ice pops by the time we left. It was so fun and we will definitely be doing that again. :)

Austin's Flag Football and Olivia Being Silly

Nick gave me a new video camera for my birthday so today I tried it out at Austin's Upward flag football game. Ok, so I need to work on my camera skills but it's a start. Olivia was hamming it up for the camera as usual. I could not get her to do something "normal" for the camera, she just wanted to goof off and make weird faces. :) Austin was practicing before the game and trying to play it cool with the other boys. Poor thing, he runs so funny but he is really fast. Unfortunately I did not catch any spectacular plays on video today. A few weeks ago he made his first touch down, of course it was the one game I missed due to being out of town. :(

WWWOOOHHHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

We are finally done, we really are done this time! :) Every document for our Dossier is notarized, authenticated, and certified and ready for the trip to Washington and then the Ethiopian Embassy. I know the lady at the Secretary of States office thought I was nuts, I gave her a big hug after she certified the last document. I am just so excited to get the Dossier out of my hands. We will officially be a waiting family in about 2 weeks. :)

It is really hitting me now, this is really happening. My little girl is somewhere out there right now. It makes me wonder what she is doing this very minute. I can't help but imagine and play out different scenarios in my head. Hopefully she is happy and healthy and enjoying the love of her birth mother right now. I know difficult days are ahead for my little girl until she comes home. She really needs our prayers. I just can't wait to see her face, know her name, and hold her in my arms.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to ME! Today is my 28th birthday.

One More Page.... again

Well, I thought we were finally going to be done with our Dossier and be able to hand it over to our agency for the final processing and again one little piece of paper is holding us up. I went yesterday to the Secretary of States office to have all the documents certified. My birth certificate is a certified copy that I just received from the department of vital records but they did not HAND SIGN it so the Secretary of States office will not certify it!!!! If I had not had my friend there with me for support I think I would have lost it. So now I have to drive to the north side of ATL to get a new "hand signed" birth certificate and then take it back to the Secretary of States office. UUUGGGGHHH! I am not sure if Satan is trying to frustrate me or if God is trying to slow me down because it is not time yet.