Our Organized Chaos...

Ethiopia and Current happenings

2010-05-27T21:14:00.009-04:00

Well, I missed blogging yesterday so I decided to post the link to my blog journal that I did shorty after coming home from Ethiopia. This will account for yesterday and today's events: click here

That was my last blog entry about our trip so I will be busy the next few days telling you all about my amazing visit to the orphanage and our journey back home with Nathan! 2 exhausted parents + a baby + 16 hour flight = no fun at all

Current Events:

Tomorrow is the last day of school, where did the year go??? Olivia had her kindergarten graduation program yesterday. They performed several songs, announced each child, and then served refreshments. I loved watching my little superstar steal the stage. Olivia was dead center on the front row, of course, and was so animated the entire time. She has the most outgoing personality ever, I don't know where she gets it from but I hope she never changes. Austin is going into the 5th grade which means in a year I will have a kid in middle school AHHHHHHHH! Now that is crazy. Austin had a great teacher this year who has been a huge blessing. Austin is already asking to be in clubs, band, hall monitor(do they even do that anymore?), tv broadcast team, etc, etc. This will be fun! Next year will be a lot of work...

I recently decided to go back to school. I am attending online classes with South University in Savannah to officially get my paralegal degree. It is going great so far. I am able to get my work done once the kids are in bed each night. Half way through my first class and I have a 95. Hope I can keep it up! Next term I have 2 classes so things will get a little more difficult for sure. It is really exciting though and I enjoy it. I feel like I am accomplishing something that will make me feel better about myself and better my career. It has been difficult for me to realize that my dreams of being at stay at home mom were never going to come true. Since I support my family financially I have to make sure that I can continue to be successful in my career and I need a degree to back up my experience. I am on track to graduate in about 2 years. :)

Ethiopia Day 1 - Meeting Nathan!

2010-05-25T09:10:00.010-04:00

Over the next week I will recap the events of our week in Ethiopia. Since I never finished my blog journal after we got home my plan is to do it now.

As we circled over Addis Ababa I could not help but get all choked up looking out the window, knowing Nathan was out there somewhere. We were there!!! We were in Ethiopia!!! I was pretty nervous going through the airport. I knew little Amharic and was armed with my translation book. We made it through the process of getting our visa and exchanged money. When we entered the room to get our luggage it was very crowded and busy! The owner of the guest house we were staying at was going to be there to pick us up, I had only corresponded with him through email and had no clue what he looked like. As we walked out people flocked to us and thankfully we quickly found Zeyede's smiling face holding a sign with our name on it. He took our luggage to his van and we were off. Driving through the streets of Addis is quite an experience. There is no method to the madness. Cars and people are everywhere! There are goats in the medians, donkeys walking down the road, everyone honking and yelling. People walk so close to vehicles as they cross the street and you think for sure they will get run over. It makes New York traffic look like a piece of cake in comparison.

The guesthouse was nice and the staff was amazing! It was a large house surrounded by a huge gated wall and barbed wire. Sounds odd right? That is standard in Ethiopia. UN officials were staying at the house next door and there were several armed guards at all times. Our room was small with a balcony overlooking the garden area and quiet little dirt road. We walked with Zeyede to a small shop and he treated us to a cup of Ethiopian coffee YUM! We LOVE Zeyede! He owns and operates the guest house as well as a touring service and made the BEST honey ever. We received a call that our driver from the House of Hope would be picking us up soon to go meet Nathan! We freshened up and before we knew it a little red car pulled up at the gates.

I am so nervous...just didn't know what to expect. We pull into the gates of the House of Hope. It is an amazing sight! Rows of childrens clothing and cloth diapers are strung up to dry. Everyone is peering over the balcony and through the windows at us. We are led into the office where we meet Teseguy, the director. We speak to him briefly and he tells us his wife has gone to get Nathan ready for us! Right Now?!?!? Suddenly she walks in the door and everything becomes a blur. Nick grabs the camera and thinks he is tapping but he forgot to push record... I try to push back the tears as I hold him, cuddle him, and check him out from head to toe. AMAZING! He is plump, healthy, and breath taking beautiful! A few minutes after Nathan was placed in my arms we were handed a bottle, brief feeding instructions, and back in the car we went. That was IT?!?! Like, I don't need to sign him out or something? We were taken to the guest house part of the HOH and given a room to relax in and spend some time with Nathan. I had worried about him possibly crying, being scared of us, or how well he would bond to me but God's hand was surely at work. He went to us willingly and bonded almost immediately. Not long after we settled into the room he fell asleep in Nick's arms. So sweet! It was like Nathan had been waiting on us and we were finally there and he was exhausted and at peace. He knew that was were he belonged. We ate dinner with another family that had arrived earlier in the day and then headed back to our guesthouse. Once in the room I changed Nathans clothes and finally got a good look at him. His cute personality really came out then as he cooed, smiled, and stretched out on the bed. By this point we had not slept or showered in days. Unfortunately we got very little sleep that night. Every move Nathan made I was jumping up; trying to figure out his schedule and getting to know his signs and what he needed when. You would think Addis would be quiet at night, wrong. There was a night club down the street that played loud music ALL night EVERY night. There were people moving about the guesthouse at all hours making loud noises. UGGGG Now I knew why people recommended we pack ear plugs!

A year ago today...

2010-05-24T15:50:00.006-04:00

A year ago today Nick and I arrived at the Atlanta Airport at 4:00 am to begin our journey half way around the world to be united with our baby boy. It is hard to believe it has been that long. That morning we were so excited and nervous, it was all very surreal that we were actually going to Ethiopia and would soon be meeting our son we had only known through pictures. Neither of us had ever been out of the country before. We had more suitcases than I can remember; stuffed with a few of our clothes, lots of baby clothes/supplies, and donations for the orphanage. Our first flight was on a tiny plane to Washington DC. A few hours after arriving in DC we were boarding the plane to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; which was approx a 16 hour flight. We stopped briefly in Rome for fuel. Unfortunately it was dark outside so we could not see anything. By that point I had no concept of time, whether it was day or night, or what day it even was. I felt like a time traveler.

will continue tomorrow...

Nathan - Baby Idol 2009

2010-04-11T21:18:00.002-04:00

Nathan - Baby Idol 2009

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Vote for Nathan in the Star 94 baby Idol Atlanta's Cutest Baby Contest!

Easter Pics

2010-04-04T20:18:00.003-04:00

Nathan - Baby Idol 2009

2010-04-03T09:38:00.001-04:00

Nathan - Baby Idol 2009

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Back to it...

2010-03-22T09:31:00.006-04:00

I have been so darn busy and have really neglected the blog. So I am getting back to it. For me this blog was supposed to be a diary of sorts for our family events and Nathans adoption. I never even finished my posts on our trip to Ethiopia and we are getting close to A YEAR...how horrible is that?!?! I am going to try really hard to post a least once a week. Hopefully I still have people that will even read it. Probably not... If all else fails find me on Facebook! :)

Last weekend we had a little "House of Hope Reunion" with a group of families that all brought their little ones home from Ethiopia around the same time. It is really awesome seeing the babies playing together and see how much they have grown and changed in such a short time frame. I hope that over the years we will be able to keep the kids close and visit with each other often.

Here is a big group picture of all the babies. Nathan is second from the right

Nathan and Mommy :)

and my beautiful boy!

I "stole" the pics from other families. I did not get very many pics and since my camera stinks what I did get was horrible.

Just pics...

2009-11-21T09:15:00.003-05:00

Nathan says hi :)

Olivia lost her first tooth!

So proud of Nick, he graduated from the Police Academy this week :)

Birthday's, Halloween, etc...

2009-11-02T10:49:00.009-05:00

Once again it has been wayyyyy too long since my last blog post. I am going to post a quick update and some super cute pics. :)

We just celebrated Nathan's 1st birthday and Olivia's 6th birthday! For Halloween Nathan was a pumpkin, Olivia was a witch, and Austin was a boxer or "Rocky". All 3 were sooooo cute!!!! Austin just started wrestling season again so we are very busy with that. Nathan is almost walking, it won't be long now. He stands on his own but won't take actual steps unless he is holding onto something. Nick graduates from the police academy November 17th, he will be on the road starting in December EEEKKK! I am so proud of my hubby. This has been a dream come true for him and he has worked very hard for this. We have our 2nd post adoption visit tomorrow! I can't believe it has been over 5 months since we brought our little man home from Ethiopia. While it seems like he has always been in our life at the same time it seems like we were in Ethiopia only weeks ago. Well, Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, are you ready??? :) This year we are trying to keep our focus on what really matters which is family and the birth of Jesus Christ. All the shopping, holiday decor, presents, stress over buying everyone the perfect gift; it all is NOTHING in comparison. Now...on to the super cute pics :)

The cutest pumpkin ever!

Prettiest witch in town :)

"The Champ"

Long overdue pics of Nathan

2009-09-13T15:22:00.000-04:00

Is he beautiful or what?!?!? :)

I am a bad blogger....

2009-09-10T10:46:00.006-04:00

Yes, we are still here... :) I can not believe how long it has been since I wrote a blog post. We have been so busy and had so much going on. Facebook has consumed any "cyber time" that I do get. This post may be long, I have a lot of catching up to do.

We have had some tough times since coming home from Ethiopia. Nick was laid off from his job and we have had to make some lifestyle changes. He played Mr. Mom for a while when I had to return to work. Nick has always been in the trucking/trailer industry which has taken a hard hit in the recent economy. He decided to pursue the career of his dreams as a police officer. He has recently been hired on as a new recruit with a local police dept and starts the police academy next week. We just moved into a new house this past week, it is in the town I grew up in and my parents live about 2 miles away. I am not sure yet if that is a good thing or a bad thing. :) LOL The town itself is still small but close to all the good stuff. Moving stinks and I have decided I am NEVER moving again!!! It is ridiculous the amount of junk we have accumulated over the years. At least the move is forcing me to clean out and I am having a huge garage sale in a couple weeks. If we don't need it, it's going! Austin and Olivia like their new school and have already made lots of new friends. Sports are starting back up, Austin will be playing Upward Flag Football and Olivia will be doing Upward cheerleading. Wrestling will start back in a couple months and then my weekends will be gone! Even though things have been chaotic over the past few months there is a shining light at the end of the tunnel. I know God has a reason for everything we have been through. I know it will only make us stronger and wiser in the end.

Nathan Updates:

Nathan is doing GREAT!!!!!! I don't remember life without him anymore. It is like he has been with us since day one. :) He is such a "happy go lucky" baby and melts the hearts of anyone he meets with that big gummy grin. He just cut his first tooth last week. He looks like a jack-o-lantern. :) He is crawling everywhere now and trying to pull up, he just has not figured out how to get his feet under him yet. We had our re-adoption court hearing September 3rd which went great. We have officially changed his name to Nathanael Elias Thornton and his new birth certificate and SS card should be on the way! The judge said this was his first Ethiopian adoption and was impressed that we did everything without an attorney. Nathan started daycare this week. He seems to really like it so far. The teachers were amazed at how good his motor skills are and how observant he is. They have cameras in the room and I can watch him online which is sooo cool. It is hard to not sit and just watch him all day. His hair has gotten really long and curly, I am afraid I will have to cut it soon, it is getting a little pouffy. :) So cute!

I think about Ethiopia a lot...I want to go back... I know it may sound odd but I think about Nathan's birth mom often. I wonder if she is ok. I wonder if she thinks about Nathan and misses him. I wonder if she knows he has been adopted and is now half way around the world. I wish I could have met her, I wish I could thank her for the amazing gift she has given us. I imagine what she may look like. I imagine a thin, beautiful, young girl with big dark eyes. It brings me to tears to even think about her. I feel sad for her. Sad that she will never know her son, sad that she will never see his beautiful smile, hold his little hands, or watch him grow up. I love her even though I have never met her. I know she loves Nathan. She was desperate, she wanted him to live, she wanted him to have more than she could provide. I know she did what she thought was best for him. She had to make a very difficult decision, one that we could not even imagine having to make. (Sniff Sniff) I can't wait to go back to Ethiopia. Did I already say that? It is a place like no other. It is hard to explain. Yes, there is tremendous poverty and despair but the things that stick out in my mind when I think of Ethiopia are not the bad. While in Ethiopia my spirit felt a peace that I don't feel here. It is a simple place, a beautiful place, it moves slower, it is more carefree. All of the stress we as Americans live with on a daily basis are really self inflicted as a result of our lifestyle and society. It is difficult to escape and I am just as guilty as the next person of letting it consume my own life. I don't want it to be that way though. I must try harder, remember more... There is a lot we can learn from Ethiopia.

Our agencies in country representatives from Ethiopia will be in the US later this month. They are having a meet and greet for all the adoptive families. I WISH so bad that I could go. If only I could figure out a way to St Louis and back... It would be so awesome to see them again and for them to see "Naty". They truly love and know every single child. They are amazing people.

These pics of the kids are from a couple months ago. I will get some new ones uploaded and posted soon. :)

Summer Fun

2009-07-12T14:10:00.015-04:00

I know I have neglected my blog. I have a lot of catching up to do. Things have just been so crazy around here.

Nathan is getting bigger every day. He is now sitting up and scoots himself around, not yet crawling but he can get where he wants to go. His hair is getting longer and really curls up in the Georgia humidity. He is trying to cut his 2 bottom teeth and any day now they will finally push all the way through. He has such a huge gummy smile, he is going to look so funny with teeth. :)

The kids are ready for school to start back. Just a few more weeks and Austin will be in 4th grade and Olivia kindergarten. I can tell they are getting bored hanging out at home. Soon we will all be back in the routine of work, school, and sports. Blahhhh

We went to a Braves Game with Nick's family. We had a great time hanging out with family. We let my parents babysit Nathan, it was just too hot to take him, which gave us some one on one time with Austin and Olivia. It ended up being a great game, the weather was perfect, and they had fireworks afterward.

4th of July was very busy running from one party to another. It was a fun day of swimming, food, fireworks, and just hanging out with friends and family. Nick's grandfather, Eston, came down to hang out with the family and met Nathan for the first time.

Friday we had a wonderful day at the Zoo with several "Ethiopia Adoption" families; the Carley Family, Head Family (who we were in Ethiopia with), and Coffey Family. We have made so many new friends through the adoption process which has been such a blessing. It will be cool having the kids grow up together.

SUCCESS!!!

2009-06-18T13:15:00.014-04:00

Finally, Nathan slept through the night last night for the first time. We had a busy day swimming again, this time at my aunts. It was very late by the time we got home and I think he was just exhausted! I kind of panicked this morning when the alarm went off and I realized Nathan had not woken me up all night. I took a sneak peak to make sure he was still breathing. :) Hopefully he will realize just how good sleeping all night is and continue it.

I have more pool pictures to share. Maybe I should update my swimming montage. I am amazed at how much Nathan LOVES to swim. He learned to splash yesterday, it was so cute! He would splash himself in the face big time and it would not bother him. The water was pretty cold too and he did not care at all. He is learning new things everyday and when he does something once that is all it takes. He is so smart!

Austin and Olivia both love to swim but do need some official swimming lessons. Austin will not leave the shallow end, even though he does swim pretty good. Olivia screams if you take her off the pool steps but she will hang onto the side and go all the way around by herself, go figure. Most swim teachers are booked solid for the summer. I will have to make sure to get lessons booked early for next summer.

Nathan with his uncle Trey

Olivia posing for the camera, on the steps

Nathan with his uncle Christian

Austin enjoying the pool

Nathan and his cousin Craig

Nathan's first swim...

2009-06-16T22:35:00.003-04:00

Today I took the kids swimming at Grandma's and Granddad's. This was Nathan's first time in the pool and he LOVED it! I am sure he would have stayed in there all day just chillin in his floaty. Austin and Olivia would splash water in his face and he would not even flinch, it did not bother him at all. Austin was wearing a big snorkel mask and Nathan thought it was funny and laughed.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

10 Year Anniversary and Nathan Pics

2009-06-13T22:47:00.010-04:00

Yesterday was our 10 year wedding anniversary. Wow, 10 years have gone by so fast. When I look back on the past 10 years and see how far we have come, how much we have accomplished, and the beautiful family we have made I can't wait to see what the next 10 years have in store for us.

I know, I know... I am going to finish our trip details hopefully tomorrow or Monday. :) I am dying to share details of my trip to the orphanage. I just need some "quiet time" to be able to finish.

I wanted to quickly post a few pics. I have been trying to capture the many cute faces Nathan makes. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

Yes, I did the cheesy blanket background thing but look at that face!

I love this picture. He was sitting in the Bumbo Seat, which he LOVES, and I wanted to post a bunch of these but forced myself to pick my fave!

Nathan has a "thing" with textures and loves to scratch at stuff, especially fabrics. He had just discovered the smooth texture of the Bumbo mixed with drool. :)

Ok, one more. Nathan loves to chew on his "little" fingers and I think he is teething so he is often chewing and drooling on his hand. I love this face he makes as he is laughing while shoving his hand in his mouth.

Part 2 - Journey to Ethiopia

2009-06-10T11:07:00.008-04:00

Tuesday - May 26th:
We ate breakfast at our guesthouse which consisted of bread, meat & cheese, sweet honey made by Zeyede, the best scrambled eggs in the world, coffee, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Yummm, I miss that... Tesfu picked us up early. We drove to the HOH guesthouse to pick up the other families which now included Nathan & Stefany and their baby Jordan; we all headed to the Lion Zoo.

The lions were beautiful but it was so sad to see them just lying in empty cages. No grass, rocks, trees, water...nothing. They had a male and female lion in each cage. There were also a few other animals including monkeys and a very pretty animal that looked like a deer with stripes. They had a beautiful garden with bright flowers. The best part about the Lion Zoo was the garden and trees. You don't see many tress, grass, or flowers in Addis. We then went to the Hilton where we could use the Internet. Our cell phones were not working and we had not been in contact with any family since before we left for Ethiopia early Sunday morning. In knew at this point my family would be worried sick. I sent an email to my family letting them know we had arrived, we were safe, and Nathan was doing great! I later found out that my parents were freaking out and my Dad had passport in hand ready to board a plane for Ethiopia to come find us. :) The Hilton was like being back in the U.S.; there were lots of American tourists, businessmen, and other adopting families. Nathan did great while at the Zoo and Hilton. He loved hanging out in the Baby Bjorn and I think he likes being on the go. He did seem to zone out while in the car and around lots of unfamiliar faces & places. Once back at the house he would get more active and vocal. We ate lunch at the HOH guesthouse; all meals there consisted of lots of veggies, a little meat, and usually a rice or pasta. The food was good and healthy! Nick and I both lost 5 lbs while in Ethiopia, but not due to lack of food just eating healthier. After lunch we met with Teseguy to get paperwork ready for our Visa appt at the U.S. Embassy the next day. We then had the remainder of the afternoon to hang out and relax. We crashed Nathan & Stefany's room and enjoyed hanging out, watching movies, and episodes of "The Office". After dinner we headed back to our guesthouse. That night I started feeling so sick and nauseous. I think it was a combination of the high altitude and smog that did me in. Another sleepless night...

Wednesday - May 27th:
Again Tesfu picked us up early after breakfast and we headed off to meet the other families at the House of Hope, the HOH where the kids are! YAY! I was so excited. I had 9 kids to take pics of and one very special little guy to meet. Teseguy's assistant walked around with us to help me find the babies I needed to take pics of. There was room after room of babies. Each tiny room was lined with cribs and there was just enough room for the nannies to walk through the middle. It was REALLY crowded once we were all in there trying to play with the babies and take pics. It was kind of a weird situation. The nannies were very nervous around the cameras and did not want anyone picking up the babies. Plus we were really rushed about making it difficult to spend adequate time with each baby and take good pics. Every single baby stole my heart, they were all so beautiful and I wish I had known which family each child belonged to. I loved to make them smile, touch their hair, and hold their little hands. It was just such a beautiful day and an experience like no other. I only wish I had more time... We came to one tiny room and I recognized "The Adams twins". I knew Nathan had been in the same room as them, it hit me! This is Nathan's room, this is his bed, OMG this is HIS nanny. I turned to face her and realized she was crying. She took "Naty" and hugged him tight trying to hide her face to keep me from seeing her cry. I hugged her and thanked her, I am not sure how much she understood. I just bawled, Nick was tearing up; it was such a difficult and emotional time. I knew how much she loved him and knew her heart was breaking, my heart was breaking for her. It makes me cry now just thinking about that day and his beautiful nanny. I wish I had learned more Amharic so I could have thanked her properly.

Minutes later we were rushed on to the next room as I tried my best meet the remaining babies while wiping tears off my face. As soon as we got back in the van I started bawling again and just could not stop. We went back to the HOH guesthouse, quickly ate lunch, and changed clothes for our Visa appt.
I felt like a zombie while driving to the Embassy. I was emotionally and physically drained and still felt nauseous. I was afraid I would either pass out or throw up. The U.S. Embassy was scary. You can not take any pictures even close to the embassy and go through several security checkpoints before being allowed in. Everyone is squished into a hot room and you wait for your name to be called. The room was filled to the rim with adopting families. It was neat to see all the precious children and meet the other families from the U.S. Finally it was our turn. A really mean white American lady interviewed us at a bank teller type window. We almost screwed up one question and when she asked about the birth parents I told her that he was found abandoned in Sebeta, she freaked out and acted like she had never heard of Sebeta. She even kept Teseguy after our appt to question him more about it. Later I looked at the very documents that lady had handed me which included his birth certificate and all official court documents. Guess what all of those documents said his place of birth is? Sebeta!!! What an idiot... I think she just wanted to be mean. BTW, Sebeta is a small city south-west of Addis Ababa in the Oromia region. By the time we made it out of there my stress level was at an all time high. We got in the van and everyone was so quiet. That mean lady had given each of us a problem of some sort, but we all passed, that was what mattered most. We could now breath a sigh of relief and prepare for our trip home. While waiting in the van a few young boys, street children I am sure, approached the van excited to see us. One boy came to the open window and was blowing kisses at Elias and waving goodbye, it was such a beautiful thing to see and it made me tear up. I will never forget that young boy, who had nothing but the tattered clothing he was wearing and was covered in sand from head to toe, blowing kisses to that baby through the window. That is an image that will forever be sketched into my mind and my heart. We returned back to the HOH guesthouse for dinner and then back to our own guesthouse. This was the end of a VERY exhausting day!

More to come, Nathan is awake and it is lunch time! :)

Our Amazing Journey to Ethiopia

2009-06-09T09:09:00.008-04:00

We have now been home a week, a week! How weird. The wait to bring home Nathan seemed like forever and now it has come and gone and we are settling into our daily routine of life. I am way past due for this post sharing all of our experiences in Ethiopia and our first week with our sweet baby boy.

Saturday - May 23rd:
We spent the day finishing packing, making final arrangements, and getting Austin and Olivia settled in for us to leave. We needed to be at the ATL airport that night at 3:00 am for our Sunday 6:00 am flight to D.C. We decided to just pull an all niter, my poor Mom was recruited to take us to the airport so that included her. :) At 2:30 am we head for the airport, get there in perfect timing, walk up to the United desk and there is a sign saying they don't open until 4:30 am! What!?!? We had been specifically told to be there at 3:00 am by United Arlines. Oh well, we found a table to hang out at for a while and prayed that out entire trip would not have similar bumps. Our United flight was great, especially since I was scared to death it would be a little propeller plane since I knew it was "United Express". The plane was actually very nice and the flight was smooth.

Sunday - May 24th:
We arrive in D.C and get checked in to our Ethiopian Airlines flight with time to spare. We got a bite to eat and waited for boarding to begin. The plane was huge and I started getting butterflies in my stomach just looking at the plane. Wow, we would be on there for 16 hours and flying over the ocean. This was the first time Nick and I had ever been out of the country. We boarded the plane and off we went. We thought for sure we would sleep the majority of the time but nope, we both were wide awake. We did toss and turn through a few hours of sleep somewhere along the way. I don't know if it was trying to sleep sitting up in squishy seats or the excitement of the journey that kept us awake. I was convinced I was getting blood clots in my legs. Half way during the trip we landed in Rome to fuel up. Unfortunately it was dark so we could only see the lights from the city. Bummer... As we approached the continent of Africa the sun started to rise. It was amazing! The horizon turned orange against the black sky and then suddenly the sun peeked over the edge of the earth. It rose over the horizon so fast and looked like a huge red fire ball. It was so beautiful!

Monday - May 25th:We finally arrive in Ethiopia at Bole International Airport at about 9:00 am. The view as we landed was surreal and I choked back tears in awe at the beauty and the thoughts of Nathan waiting for us somewhere out that window. It was then that everything really hit me (tears in my eyes). We were really in Ethiopia and would really be holding Nathan in just a few short hours. Wow, the moment that we had waited almost 16 months for. The airport was nice but very small. I was so nervous; what if we did something wrong, what if we can't find our luggage, what if our driver does not arrive? We get U.S. dollars exchanged to Birr, get our Visa, make it through customs, and thankfully find all of our luggage. As we approach the doors going outside the view was a little overwhelming. There were so many people... Nick spots our driver, the owner of our guesthouse and our good friend Zeyede, whew. We takes us and our luggage to his van, a few young men come up and eagerly help put our luggage into the van and then turn for a tip. I later find out I tipped too low. :(
We arrive at our guesthouse, Melkam, which was in a nicer part of Addis. The house was surrounded by a large concrete wall topped with barbed wire and a large metal door with a guard posted there 24 hours a day. All of the nicer homes in Addis have walls around them and metal gates with guards. You will have small shacks nestled between these homes. After we settled into our room we walked with Zeyede onto the streets and to a little coffee shop were he treated us to a famous cup of Ethiopian coffee. The House of Hope driver was due to pick is up at about 2:30 pm to go meet Nathan. As we eagerly waited in our room I started feeling nauseous from being so nervous and excited. Tesfu, the HOH driver, arrived right on time and drove us through the busy streets to the HOH. That drive was quite an experience. This took us through some of the most poverty stricken areas of Addis. Small shacks made of sheet metal held together with sticks, mud, and wire were everywhere. They seemed to be connected to each other sharing walls. Thousands of people were on the streets walking, sitting, or working. Cars EVERYWHERE! There are no street lights, stop signs, or even lines to keep traffic separated. There are lots of blue and white taxis busting at the seams with people. Cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys freely walk the streets as if they know where they are going. We came close to hitting a cow, 30 people, and 50 cars while on the way to the HOH. You basically close your eyes and pray you make it there in one piece. Cars honk at each other constantly, but not to be mean, just to let other cars know they are there. People walk right in front of vehicles and come within inches of being hit and don't even flinch. The sights, sounds, and smells while driving through Addis are something I will never forget and I will share more later.

After driving down a bumpy dirt road we arrive at the HOH gates, I don't think I was even breathing at this point. We are here! Nathan is here! The gates open and there are lines of laundry, kids clothing, and cloth diapers hung out to dry. We are led into Teseguy's office, he is the director for our agency and the HOH in Ethiopia Teseguy is very nice and it amazes me how he knows even the smallest details about each and every child. There were about 56 children there at that time. I felt uneasy and unsure of how the events will unfold. Then he tells me his wife Almaz has gone to get Nathan or "Naty" as they called him. Then she appears in the door with him. I don't even know how to put into words that first time seeing him (sniff). Amazing... He was a chunky, healthy, little boy not the scrawny, malnourished, tiny baby we had expected. He have us his big, gummy, grin and came right to us. I held him and kissed him and was in absolute disbelief that I was really holding him. I felt instantly bonded to him. He was very relaxed with us, he would stare at our faces, smile, and coo at us. I felt like he knew Mommy and Daddy were finally there. After spending a few minutes with him Almaz gave us a can of formula, feeding instructions, and said we could go to the HOH guesthouse where we would be more comfortable to spend time with him. What? That was it? Do I need to like sign him out or something? It was so weird, they hand him over with a can of formula and he is all ours! He seemed a little zoned out in the car and falls asleep in Nick's arms soon after arriving at the HOH guesthouse. After his nap we changed his clothes so we could return the outfit for them to use with other babies. He was in a Mickey Mouse Baseball outfit, I got that off and he had a toddler size Batman muscle tee underneath. It was so cute! :) Wow, he had rolls everywhere and his 6-9 months clothing fit great! Not what I had expected. At dinner that night we met another family; Lorrie, her sister Sherry, and baby Elias. Nathan was very quiet at dinner and just starred at everyone. We returned to our guesthouse and once alone with Nathan he seemed to really open up and show his true personality. He smiled, laughed, and screeched in excitement. We had a sleepless first night. There was constant music from a nearby night club and it was noisy both outside and inside at all hours of the night. Nathan was a little restless as well and woke up numerous times through out the night.

Nathan is awake from his nap now and I am taking the kids to the movies today. I will resume this post on our trip shortly! :)

Link to Pics - Ethiopia & Nathan

2009-06-04T22:37:00.004-04:00

I still have not had a chance to make a video with our trip pictures and sit and type up everything I want to share about our amazing journey. Here is a link to photos on my Picasa Web Album in case you want a sneak peak: http://picasaweb.google.com/sherthor0612
There is a folder with pics from our Ethiopia trip and a folder with pics of Nathan since we have been home. I will still be typing posts with details from our trip. I may just need a couple more recoup days. :) I still feel so tired and run down.

We Are Home!!!

2009-06-03T07:22:00.004-04:00

Yes, we are home at last with our beautiful little boy, Nathan. We got in Monday, I am just now getting a chance to make a quick post. Our trip to Ethiopia was an amazing experience and I will be posting pics and details over the next few days. Nathan is perfect, absolutely perfect. He is such a beautiful, happy baby and we are head over heels in love with him. We are so blessed...

We had a big group of family and friends that met us at the ATL airport when we arrived. Nathan greeted everyone with his big smiles! He is such a great baby and loves everyone. He was not afraid of the large crowds, unfamiliar places, and new faces at all.

I have lots of families waiting on pics of their little ones that I took while visiting the House of Hope (HOH). I HAVE to get those to them today. Guys, I am working on it now! :) The children are so loved and well cared for at the HOH. The entire staff is amazing. Since there is now a separate guesthouse for the traveling families we did not get to visit the HOH and spend time with the children as much as I would have liked to. The new guesthouse is awesome, very nice, but it was a bummer being separate from all the children. We literally only had about 45 minutes at the HOH before going to our Visa appt. That was it. :(

Here are a couple pics, there are lots more to come! :)

Visa appointment and coming home early.

2009-05-27T09:50:00.002-04:00

Just got some texts from Sherry. The Visa appointment was good today and Naty is doing wonderful. Sherry, however, is feeling a little under the weather.

They will be coming home early. They will leave Addis on Sunday and will arrive in Atlanta Monday at 2:30 pm.

Angela (for Sherry)

"Nathan is amazing!"

2009-05-27T08:31:00.003-04:00

Sherry texted yesterday and said that they were doing well. Nathan ( or "Naty" as the call him at HOH) was sleeping on her chest.

They are having some phone and power issues but are very happy that bonding is going great.

I will post more as soon as I hear more.

Angela (for Sherry)

2009-05-24T09:32:00.001-04:00

We are in DC and will board Ethiopian Airlines in approx 10 min!!! YAY! Nathan here we come.

and we're off...

2009-05-23T17:38:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it is here! We leave in the morning for Ethiopia to bring home our son. We actually leave tonight since we have to be at the airport at 3:00 am! Our flight leaves at 6:00 am from Atlanta, we arrive in Washington DC and then our flight to Ethiopia leaves at 10:00 am. It will be 8:00 am Monday morning when we arrive in Ethiopia. A driver will be at our guesthouse around 9:30 am to pick us up and take us to the House of Hope where we will meet Nathan. He will be ours from that moment on... I can't wait to see his sweet face, touch his little hands, and kiss his tiny toes. It still does not seem real.

I just kissed Austin and Olivia goodbye, which was VERY difficult to do. They will be going with their grandparents to dinner and a movie to help keep their mind off us leaving. I know Olivia will be fine, I am a little worried about Austin though. He has been glued to my side all day hugging me and telling me how much he will miss me. Olivia is just the type of kid that is good no matter where she is or who she is with. I do wonder how long it will take her to really start missing us. I am sure Austin will run the cell phone bill up calling several times a day, which is just fine.

We have had all sorts of visitors and phone calls today keeping us busy and now that the house is quiet I am really thinking of our trip and the amazing journey we are about to take. I have another load of orphanage donations on it's way right now from my cousin Kira and then we will be all packed and ready. I have been thinking of the first time I will see Nathan and wondering how he will react to us. I have been thinking of the situations we will encounter and the people we will meet. Thinking of the street children, beggars, and all the children at the House of Hope currently waiting for their family. I have been thinking of my friends who were supposed to be going with me. This will be an emotional journey... I feel blessed that God has given me the opportunity to have this experience in life and to have Nathan as my son.

Please continue to pray for our family; that we have safe travels, that Austin and Olivia are safe and happy while we are away, that Nathan is healthy, that he bonds to us and adjusts quickly, and that God will work through us and speak to us through this amazing journey. Thank you Lord for blessing our family.

I will be attempting to update my blog while we are in Ethiopia! Be sure to check back. Our return flight arrives in Atlanta at 2:30 pm on Wednesday June 3rd!

Need a little help...

2009-05-19T10:45:00.002-04:00

We recently found out the babies name is spelled different than we originally thought. On his referral documents it was spelled Nathenael and on his official documents Nathnael. On one form it was spelled Natnael, which is actually the traditional Ethiopian spelling of the name. We want to shorten it to Nathen or Nathan as a nickname but we need to decide on spelling first. I was already stuck on Nathenael but now I am not so sure. Nathanael is the biblical way of spelling it. I want his name to have some significance and I really wanted his name to be a traditional Ethiopian spelling but... Natnael would be hard to shorten to Nathen/Nathan plus the pronunciation is different. I don't know what to do but we have to decide!!! the name means "Gift from God" no matter how it is spelled. I am now leaning toward Nathanael (Nathan) since it is the biblical spelling. I think I have decided on Elias for his middle name, which is the name I originally I wanted to give him and it is a traditional Ethiopian name meaning "The Lord is God". Ok, are you confused yet??? I am! :) Help me here. On the side bar there is a place where you can vote for which spelling you like best! :)

The picture of my little guy above was a picture we got at referral and I love it. He was so tiny but there is so much character and expression in his face.

Cleared for take off...

2009-05-18T11:31:00.007-04:00

AHHHHH!!!!! I am on cloud nine right now! We are cleared for take off!!!! All documents are ready and we have the May 28th Visa appt. (UPDATE: our Visa appt is actually May 27th, the 28th is a holiday in Ethiopia so they moved it up one day) We are leaving THIS Sunday May 24th and will be back June 3rd. I can not believe it is here. We leave in 6 days! This time next week I will be holding my beautiful baby in my arms. :) Wow, am I glad I booked our flights Friday. We have our travel call today.

Oh, and we are spelling the babies name wrong. It is Nathnael. I am trying to decide if we are going to shorten it to Nate or Nathen or what we will do. Maybe we will just stick with Nathnael.

Wow, I have to get busy. So much to do...

Update on Nathen...

2009-05-12T14:31:00.004-04:00

Today we received updated height and weight on Nathen! He weighed 15.7 lbs and is 26.3 inches long. That puts him at 50% percentile for his height and 25% percentile for his weight. That may not seem like a lot but compared to his previous measurements this is awesome! Before he was never even on the charts. I am so excited to see how much he has grown. Hopefully we will get new pictures in the next few days. :) Oh, I think I forgot to post his age before. They have Nathen's date of birth as October 26th 2008 but that is only a guess. He was found abandoned so his "real" birth date will never be known. So right now he is approx 6 months old, almost 7 months old. Our case worker also said she needs to find out about the correct spelling of his name. She said it can vary and may not be spelled the way we originally thought. I guess I better wait to hang those letters on the walls of his room until I know for sure! :)

We still don't have any travel dates confirmed. UGGGG I hate not knowing until the last minute. It could literally be just a few days before we are scheduled to leave before we know for sure. We have another round of paperwork to do and lots of last minute things...

Last Friday was a bitter-sweet day for us. We finally got details on the devastation that has affected so many families adopting from Ethiopia right now. Earlier last week another agency attempted to pass a large group of children through court that raised red flags. It appears some or all of the children were not legitimate abandonments and the courts are now suspicious of ALL abandonment cases. The courts have decided to halt all proceedings of any child that was found abandoned inside the capital city of Addis Ababa until further notice. No one knows when or if these cases will ever go forward. The only way we were able to pass court is Nathen was found outside the city in a town called Sebeta. We know how easily we could have been on the other side of the table. Unsure when or if our child was ever coming home. Families are devastated, worried, and confused, as would be expected. More than likely the courts will put new procedures into play and the cases will eventually go forward but there is no guarantee for anyone. For now they must wait, again... I can only imagine how they are feeling. Some of these babies have urgent medical conditions. I feel guilty that I am able to bring my baby home when so many others can not. It is so sad. All we can do is pray that the judge finds a quick solution and the cases are rescheduled QUICKLY! Please pray for these families and the children.

Journey to Nathen Video

2009-05-08T16:27:00.002-04:00

Our Son, Nathenael Thornton

2009-05-08T15:34:00.008-04:00

See the video I will be posting below!

This an been a very emotional day for us and so many of our friends. 14 families were scheduled for court today, only 4 passed. I am thanking God right now that we were one of the lucky families that did pass. If only everyone knew just how lucky we are. There has been devastating news from our agency today, I am not sure how much info I can share. My heart is breaking for the families that have received this horrible news and the babies that will be without them for even longer. I am praying for you guys and I will do all I can for you and your little ones. God IS with you during this difficult time and He will carry you through this.

I humbly would love to introduce everyone to our new son, Nathenael. His name was given to him by the orphanage director and means "Gift from God". He truly is a gift from God and I will be forever grateful to him for such a precious gift. We will be keeping his name and will call him Nathen for short. We decided after much family discussion that the name Nathenael is a really long name and would take forever for a 5 year old to learn to spell so... His name is spelled a little different than we would usually spell it in the US but I like it that way.

We know little about him other than he was found abandoned and was turned into the orphanage on Christmas Day. He started off VERY small and malnourished but has thrived and grown so much since being in the care of the orphanage and the House of Hope. He does have a birth defect to his left hand. The fingers are just shorter and stop at the top segment or nuckle, from what we have been told and can tell from photos. It is likely due to ABS or "Amniotic Band Syndrome" which occurs when the limb of the child gets tangled into the amniotic sac and that part of the body is unable to develop. We expect him to do well and gain as much use of the hand as possible through occupational therapy and maybe finger lengthening surgery as he gets older.

We have been told from traveling families he is very smiley and happy and is doing great! We can't wait to get him home. We are still praying for the May 28th Visa date, if so we will leave May 24th and come home June 3rd. If not the Visa appt will be June 11th. We should have our travel dates confirmed in about a week. Wow, we could be leaving in only 2weeks!

Please pray for the other families who's adoptions are in jeopardy right now. I will post more info about the situation once I am able to and have more information.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

2009-05-08T09:51:00.002-04:00

NICK WRITING-

I just want to wish my wife a Happy Mothers day. To the greatest mother on earth!! Austin, Olivia, and Nathen are very lucky! She is a blessing!! Happy Mothers Day to all others out there! Relax this weekend.....You deserve it!

Today is a big day for us!! My faith is overflowing this morning! Praise God!! God continues to bless us...................

Tomorrow is THE BIG DAY!!!

2009-05-07T09:22:00.003-04:00

Here is one more piece of the "Nathen Puzzle". :) Can't wait to kiss those cute little toes!

Well, this morning Nick asked me what I would blog about today. Hmmmm I just don't know today. Today I am depressed, stressed, and worried when I should be happy and excited. There is just too much right now...

I had this huge, long post typed out here about all the issues I am going through with the adoption process right now. But I decided to delete it...

I just really need prayers and encouragement right now. Please God let our court hearing be successful tomorrow.

The day after tomorrow...

2009-05-06T09:18:00.004-04:00

Wow, hopefully the day after tomorrow Nathen will officially be our son and we can start making final arrangements to bring him home! Since I can not post any pictures or identifying information on Nathen until after we pass court I thought I would give you a little sneak peak! Surely he can not be identified by that sweet little hand. Hopefully Friday I will be able to share all of him. :)

Today I wanted to share facts about Ethiopia directly regarding the children and orphans there. We have soooo many people question us on why Ethiopia and why not adopt a child here in the US. Most people just don't get it or see the reality of the world. You are lucky just to be born in the US. Even the poorest people in the US have it better than most people in Ethiopia and other 3rd world countries around the world.

In the US children eligible for adoption are mostly given up at birth through private adoptions and agencies. There is a steady line of families waiting to pay $50,000 or more for these "perfect" infants. Children that enter the states foster system are usually taken from their parents due to abuse or neglect and not ever eligible for adoption. There is a small percentage of children eligible for adoption through sate agencies, it takes years for them to be cleared for adoption, and most are older children/sibling sets. Our government makes it very difficult for these children to ever be adopted. Private adoptions are very risky! Of course living all or most of your childhood in a US foster home is not ideal it is better than hundreds of children living in an orphanage or on the streets, trust me!

There are approx 4 million orphans in Ethiopia living in orphanages or on the street. Newborn and child death rates in Ethiopia are among the highest in the world. 1 in 10 children die in infancy and almost half will die by age 5. This is due to disease, illness, and starvation. Children often die from minor illness such as diarrhea due to the lack of medical care available. 1 in 4 women die during pregnancy or childbirth. Only 6% of births are assisted by a skilled professional. Girls are married as young as age 14, resulting in high risk pregnancies with these young girls trying to carry a baby and giving birth. They just do not have the access to birth control, medications, vaccinations, and basic medical care. Try comparing these facts to American statistics! I can go on and on... Most Americans can not see past the "world" they live in and see the World as a whole and just don't understand or don't want to.

Nick and I physically can have children, we just chose not to bring another child into this world when there are so many already born that desperately need a family. Adoption is something that I have always known I would do. My parents kept foster children through a private adoption agency from the time I was 3 until I was 15. They had infertility issues and were unable to have children after my birth. They were never able to adopt a child in the US due to, guess what, the extreme difficulty and cost of it! Although When I was 16 a miracle happened and my brother was born. A couple months after I was married another miracle happened and I now have 2 biological brothers! BTW my Mom and I had babies 4 months apart! Yeah, it is kind of weird but cool! So I am VERY familiar with the adoption process both domestic and international. WE chose international because we felt that was where we were needed most and the right path for us. God led us to Ethiopia because he knew that was
where Nathen would be waiting for us.

Ok, so I will stop now and turn my attention back to the VERY important event in our life happening in 2 DAYS!!!

3 DAYS!!!!

2009-05-05T09:23:00.004-04:00

I am trying to keep my mind busy instead of obsessing over each minute that counts down to our court date. So today I thought I would share some interesting facts about Ethiopia.

-Ethiopia is situated in the "Horn of Africa" and is as large as France and Spain combined

-Ethiopia is thought to be the oldest country in the world and is referenced throughout the Bible

-Ethiopia was never colonized and is one of the few African countries never to have lost it's independence

-Their government is a Independent Federal Democratic Republic with a President as Head of State and Prime Minister as the Head of Government

-Ethiopia's currency is Birr, one Birr is equal to approx $9-$10 US Dollars

-The main religion in Ethiopia is Christian - Orthodox Church and also has a large Muslim population

-Holidays include Christmas, Easter, and "Meskel" which is to celebrate the finding of the true cross that Jesus was crucified on

-The capital is Addis Ababa which means "New Flower"

-The population of Ethiopia is approx 70 Million with approx 3 million in Addis Ababa

-Ethiopia enjoys a moderate climate year round due to the high elevation but it does get very hot in the low land areas

-Ethiopia is over 2,500 metres above sea level, this high elevation can cause headaches, shortness of breath, and fatigue based on your level of fitness

-Ethiopia is the home of coffee and it is a very important part of their culture and is celebrate with a "coffee ceremony"

-Their main national food is "injera" which is a flat pancake type bread made from teff grain. It is usually laid out on a tray with morsels of meat and veggies on top

4 DAYS!!!!!

2009-05-04T11:34:00.002-04:00

4 DAYS until our court date!!!

I am so excited! The days have been flying by. I am worried the next few days will start going in slow moe now that we are getting so close.

I am almost done purchasing everything on the packing list. I went to Babies R Us twice over the weekend, which is dangerous. :) My purchases included sleepers, onesies, diapers, and a cute Baby Einstein book that you put pictures in for the baby. I am going to put a picture of Nick & I, Austin & Olivia, the cats, and others in it so Nathen can start learning the faces of his family.

We have had a hiccup with paperwork,one more thing to stress me out. We found out our updated home study approving us for a boy instead of a girl did not make it where it needs to be. The Atlanta immigration office said they sent it on April 3rd so it has had plenty of time to get where it needs to go. They finally had me fax over another copy of our documents this morning and they are supposed to send it RUSH! I DO NOT want this one document to cause us anymore delay!!!

Please keep praying for us this week that our court hearing Friday is successful, we get the May 28th Visa appt, and this document needed gets to Ethiopia in time. Continue also to pray for Nathen's health, that he continues to grow strong and healthy. Also, please pray for the Carley family, they should be on their way back from Ethiopia right now!

7 DAYS!!!!!!

2009-05-01T10:19:00.005-04:00

If all goes well Nathen will officially be ours in 7 Days!!! I am so excited. I can't believe how close we are. When we received our referral the wait seemed so long for our court date and travel but WOW, it is almost here. That was not so bad. It really has gone by fast. I can't wait to post his pictures for every one to see how beautiful he is. Our case worker promised she would let me know as soon as she heard something. Hopefully the power will be on and the Internet will be working in Ethiopia so we can find out ASAP. Since they are 7 hours ahead of us court will actually be going on while we are sleeping Thursday night. We will also receive updated pictures and measurements within a few days of passing court. I can't wait to see how much he has grown. I am so excited at the thought that he may finally be in my arms in just a little over 3 weeks. So cool!

Prayers Please...

2009-04-29T12:40:00.004-04:00

Ok, we really need a lot of prayers you guys! I spoke to our social worker with our adoption agency today. They are unsure if we will be able to travel May 24 or not. We won't really know until the last minute. It is really hard to explain, especially to someone that is not familiar with the international adoption process, but I will try.

There are currently 14 families including us scheduled for court in Ethiopia for May 8th. (We do not have to appear in the Ethiopian court. Our agency rep will be there) Once we pass court Nathen is officially and legally our son. This is the largest group they have ever had at one time. Usually there are only 3-5 cases at a time. There are also several families that just passed court currently waiting to travel. They are trying to pack every one in before the courts close for the rainy season.

The next step after court is the Visa Appt at the US Embassy in Ethiopia. This appt clears Nathen to leave Ethiopia and enter the US and determines our travel dates. There is a lot of paperwork that must be completed between court and Visa appt. Well, the Visa appt schedule has JUST changed from every Thursday to every other Thursday. Plus they will now only schedule 10 appts at a time! Do the math, when you schedule 14 families for court the same day and only have 10 spots open for Visa appts there are 4 families NOT GOING. Plus there are several families that just passed court that will get first dibs on the May 28th visa date. Meaning even more from the May 8th group will have to wait. We are praying we will get the May 28th Visa appt but if we don't we will have to wait until the next appt day which is June 11th. Or worse the next which is June 25th! OMG I don't even want to think about that!

Ok, so some of you are thinking big deal right? Only 2 week difference. Well we have plane tickets on hold that must be booked or we loose our great price. Plus we have a guesthouse on hold and if we have to change our dates they may already be booked. Plus we are trying to make arrangements for people to take care of Austin and Olivia while we are gone and let our jobs know travel dates. UGGGGGG!

Also, there are 2 very special families with the same court date. (You know who you are) The 3 of us are determined we are traveling together to bring our boys home. If we get separated someone is going to have a nervous breakdown... We are like sisters and have been a huge support for each other. We stay up till late emailing each other travel plans, packing lists, fears, worries, excitement, encouragement, and baby tips. We look forward to the long plane ride together, getting that priceless picture of all 3 boys, shopping at the market, taking tours of the country, and just being there to support each other during this journey. :) We are a team! They just can't split us up...

I am so ready to meet Nathen, hold him, kiss him, see that big smile and introduce him to his very excited big brother and big sister. :)

So PLEASE pray for us and the other families. We MUST pass court next Friday, we REALLY need the May 28th Visa appt, and we JUST HAVE to travel together as a team.

Weekend in Hiawassee

2009-04-28T14:17:00.015-04:00

This past weekend we went to my cousin's wedding in Hiawassee. It was so beautiful! The reception was at a place right on the river, it was picture perfect. Everyone had a great time dancing, playing football, eating, and hanging out. I did not want to leave... It is my dream to live somewhere like that one day.

Olivia is my dancing queen! She loved the DJ and danced all night. She knows the dance moves to the party songs. She got up in front of everyone and did the chicken song dance and even joined in on the conga line! :) I wish I had her personality, she is so outgoing. At the end of the day the DJ offered me his lake front property, his truck, and all of his equipment for Olivia!!! Then later that night at the hotel pool a couple that was there swimming tried to take her home with them, I asked them what they had to offer. Ha! Ha! She really is a cool kid and has a one of a kind personality.

So, we can officially say our court date is NEXT WEEK!!! I am so excited! I can't wait to show off Nathen's beautiful pictures. A family that also lives in the ATL area is in Ethiopia right now bringing home their baby boy. She will get to love on him for me. :) I am determined to get Nathen's room finished this week. I am picking up various baby items each time I go to the store. Today I got a pack of burp cloths and a powdered formula dispenser. I am kind of bummed that no one will be giving me a shower. I don't want to sound selfish or greedy but if I was pregnant I would have had like 3 showers by now. I hate to admit it but I get jealous when I see that others have had baby showers. I hate that people view adoption so different. That is what really bugs me about the issue. Not that I want gifts but that adoption is viewed and treated different. It is hard buying ALL the baby gear and trying to finish paying for the adoption all at once though. My aunt brought me the orphanage donations to the wedding which was awesome! I have a huge box of stuff which really helped a lot. I am trying to not stress though, I am really trying hard. Before I know it the day to leave will be here and before I know it we will be back home and settled into the everyday routine of life. I want to savor every minute of this awesome experience. I just can't wait to finally hold Nathen in my arms...

2 WEEKS!!!!!

2009-04-24T10:00:00.005-04:00

Our last family picture before adding our new addition!!! :)

2 WEEKS until court!!! Hopefully 4 WEEKS until we leave!!!!

Lord, please help court on May 8th to be successful and for us to have the May 28th Visa appt. Please keep us safe during our trip and help Nathen to continue to grow strong and healthy. Give me the strength to not be stressful and fearful as we prepare to make this journey. Please keep Austin and Olivia safe and happy while we are gone to bring home their baby brother. You are blessing our family in so many ways, please help me to keep my focus on that. Amen

Ok, so I am stressing. Yes, I am a worry wort and stress often but wow! There is so much to do, so much to buy and not enough time or money to do it all. I really need to finish Nathen's room. I have started packing but it is really stressful trying to figure out what to take and what to leave. Every one's advice is to travel LIGHT! Take more stuff for Nathen than us. Babies need A LOT of stuff! 10 days without my hairdryer though??? I know it will probably blow up the first time I plug it in anyway, that would be my luck. I have gained so much weight I hardly have any clothes that fit, I will probably end up having to re wear dirty clothes. :( I will make sure to take lots of deodorant and body spray! I know, I just need to diet and exercise right? That is easier said than done when you are a "stress eater", are never home forcing you to live off the baseball field concession and fast food, and no time or energy to exercise. I am a little confused on what is appropriate to wear in Ethiopia. I get mixed info from different families. Ethiopia is very conservative, the opposite of what most people think. It is questionable at this point if open toed sandals and short sleeves are ok for me to wear. Capri's and pants or long skirts only. Plus the temperature there is not what you would think. It gets cold at night and only warms up to the 70's maybe low 80's during the day. So we need cool stuff for during the day and warm stuff at night. The power goes out for days and we will not have the luxury of heat or air so layering clothing is a must. For Nathen I am taking a mixture of stuff. For Nick he can wear shorts, jeans, t-shirts or whatever so it won't be as difficult to pack for him. We need to take a lot of medications for both us and Nathen "just in case". Plus the orphanage donations... I hope we get though customs with everything and I hope all of our luggage gets there ok. I am worried if my "Global Ready" phone will actually work like I hope it does while there. And what if I am unable to charge my phone??? Then how do I contact the kids at home??? I have my phone set up to blog from it while there, so as long as it works like it should, I will be able to keep everyone up to date while we are gone. I am confused on travel converters and adapters. I don't have a clue what to get! I am SCARED of flying!!! I will be a nervous wreck. That is really my biggest fear other than something happening to the kids while we are gone. Plus several families that traveled recently have had nothing but bad stuff to say about Ethiopia Airlines. Now I am nervous, the other airlines are way more expensive so we just can't afford to change our flight plans to a different airline. I really need to get busy learning Amharic. I bought an Amharic computer program, which is crappy, but I really have not had the time to sit and do it. Ok, have I covered everything now??? I will think of more stuff in a little while. :)

Yes, my blog template totally freaked out on me. I tried downloading other cool templates and finally gave up. I know this black one is kind of dull but it is easy to do and clutter free. I am trying to minimize and declutter EVERYTHING right now so I am just going to leave it like this until I have more time to mess with it. :)

Updated Info on Nathen :)

2009-04-20T13:58:00.004-04:00

I got an update from Hollie today who was just in Ethiopia to bring home her little boy Amani. Here is what she said about Nathen:

I wanted to let you know that I was able to see your little guy twice. One time was in his room and the other was when he was taking a sunbath with all the babies. Too, cute! In the baby room, he was in a crib next to the Adams twins. He is VERY light complected and very smiley. He seemed very happy and Tsegay was able to get him to do big smiles. He was also very happy when I saw him getting his sunbath.

I could not help but cry reading this. I can just imagine him laying there smiling in the sun! FYI all the babies get a daily sun bath. I can't wait to see that in person, so cute. It is so awesome to have these little stories about him. I can't wait to see his beautiful smile! :) THANK YOU HOLLIE!!!!

Oh, my blog is a mess right now. Something went really wrong with my template so I am in the process of trying to get everything switched which is a pain... So some link may not work and some stuff is missing. I still can't figure out how to get the date to show on my posts.

3 WEEKS!!!!

2009-04-17T13:15:00.003-04:00

Only 3 weeks from today is our court date!!!! AHHHHH! I am getting so nervous. If all goes well we hopefully leave in 5 weeks to bring Nathen home. Oh my, so much to do... We are praying that court is successful on May 8th and that our travel dates will stick so we don't have to run around crazy re booking flights and guest house etc. There is a family traveling the same week as our court date that will be taking pics of Nathen for us. I can't wait! Another family that lives close by is leaving in a week to bring home their precious little boy and although she won't be taking pics she will hopefully get to hold him, give him lots of kisses, and tell us more about him. It is so exciting!!! :) Please continue to keep Nathen and us in your prayers.

Happy Belated Easter!

2009-04-15T13:30:00.002-04:00

Hope everyone had a great Easter! Our weekend was full of one Easter egg hunt after another. Saturday Olivia went to the party at our church where she had her face painted like a butterfly. She was upset when we had to wash it off in the bath that night. It really was beautiful. Both Austin and Olivia participated in the egg hunt at the baseball fields later that day. Then we had our family party Sunday after church. Everyone had a great time playing baseball, riding bikes, eating of course, and just enjoying each others company. The weather was perfect, windy, but nice. We have had nothing but rain for weeks so the timing was great for sunny mid 70's weather. :)

We have 23 days until our court date!!!! AHHHH! I can't wait. My aunt Cindy, who is a nurse, is able to get medicine and medical supplies at cost for us to donate to the orphanage. She made a really nice letter and passed out to the family at Easter and gathered money to purchase the supplies. It was so cool! It sure helps us out a lot and the discounted prices will able us to take more stuff. We still have so much to buy and get done to be ready for Nathen's arrival!

New Pictures!!!

2009-04-06T20:11:00.002-04:00

We did get our updated pictures of Nathen today. He is AMAZING! She said he is "strong, healthy and very smiley". I wish I could post the pictures... He has the cutest grin ever. He has changed so much and gotten so big. I can not wait to finally hold him and love on him and give him lots of kisses! :)

on pins and needles...

2009-04-06T12:07:00.002-04:00

Another adopting family traveled last week to bring home their 4 year old twin girls. They were supposed to check on Nathen for us and take pictures. They came home yesterday!!! I am on pins and needles just waiting for pictures to appear in my inbox. I am trying to not get so anxious, I know they are VERY busy getting the girls settled in, but it has been 2 months since we have seen Nathen. It drives me nuts to think about how much he has changed and grown since then, we are missing so much! I am praying they were able to hold him an love on him for me. I can't wait to hear details about him! :)

Nick and I worked our booties off this weekend. We painted the bonus room and Austin's room. We then moved Austin's room into the bonus room so we can put Nathen in Austin's old room. :) Austin now has the coolest room ever! It is the biggest room in the house complete with a foosball table, computer desk, couch, tv, wii, etc. It is so weird seeing Nathen's room with all the baby stuff in there. It makes it all seem so real now. I will post pics of the room once I get it completed.

5 Weeks!!!

2009-04-03T09:36:00.001-04:00

5 weeks from today until our court date on May 8th!!!!! :)

Busy, busy, busy!

2009-03-25T21:41:00.007-04:00

I have been wanting to blog but we have been soooo busy! So I am going to "back blog" a little, ok a lot.

March 14th - STATE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT!
Austin did AWESOME!!! We are so proud of him. He won his 1st match 11-0, 2nd match he lost by 1 point in overtime (should have won that one!), 3rd match won by pin, 4th match won by pin, 5th match lost by in points!!! Wow what a day. He had a huge crowd of family cheering him on. It was such and intense and long day. I just love watching him wrestle. By that 5th match he was exhausted. He was so close to making it to the finals which would have landed him at least 3rd place. Nick and I were so excited to see how well he did. This is only his first year wrestling. What an accomplishment. Of course Austin was upset after that last match but after explaining to him how awesome he did and how cool it was he even made it to State his first year he finally starting perking up. By his last match it was only him and the coaches son left out of our entire team. How cool is that! The coaches son ended up placing first in his weight class. I will post a match or 2 on the blog soon.

BASEBALL is in full swing!
It seems we are now at the ball field every single night. Olivia did great at her first game. She got a great hit and did well playing short stop. She stopped a ground ball and held the runners at one point. She did just as well as the boys on her team. She was always "baseball ready" while the others were busy kicking dirt. I am wondering if she will do a little better hitting with her glasses on. I honestly don't care if they are broken. They are insured and I really want to get her a new pair to match her spring outfits. :) I got the cutest pictures of her.

Look at that awesome swing!

Yes, that is as far as it went...

Austin's team has now had 3 games. Poor boys, they try so hard and just can't get a win under their belt. They lost the last game by one stinkin point. They are really starting to play as a team now and I think they will win the next game. They are such a great group of boys! Even when they lose big they are still smiling and having a good time, that is what it is all about. They deserve a win though... Austin is playing great and getting good hits. He has made a couple goofy errors, not sure what he was thinking at one point, but I think his girlfriend was a mental distraction at the last game.

Yes, I said girlfriend! Little Isabelle is cute as can be. Her and Austin met at the baseball field last year, Austin was not even playing he was watching his uncle play. Since then they have been boyfriend/girlfriend even through the long time frames of not seeing each other. I have never seen 2 kids their age act like they do together. They will walk around the baseball field for hours just talking, what about I have no clue. It is sweet though.

ADOPTION UPDATE
We are getting close! Only 6 weeks left until our court date on May 8th. As of now our tentative travel dates have actually moved up one week, we are currently scheduled to leave May 24th and return home June 3rd. We won't know for sure though until May 8th. There is a chance that our travel dates could get pushed back to the second week of June. Even further if we don't pass court on May 8th. All of the families recently have been passing court the first time so that is very encouraging that hopefully we will have a successful court date and will be bringing Nathen home very soon. Wow, I really have a lot to do to get ready. The past few days they have been without power in in Ethiopia. I did get an email from our social worker a couple days ago saying that Nathen is doing well, no actual updated info or pics though. I have a wonderful family traveling next week, to bring home their 2 little girls, that are going to take pics of Nathen for us. I can't wait to see how much he has grown and changed! I really hope she will be able to hold him and play with him to give me more info about his personality and development.

We really want to have a good amount of supplies to take to the orphanage and our agencies transition home. Here is a list of supplies needed if any friends/family would like to donate items for the orphanage:

Childrens Tylenol/Advil
Infant Tylenol/Advil
Childrens Benadryl
Infant Bendaryl
Vitamins-Chewable or Liquid Drops
Ambesol
Lice shampoo
Anti-itch creams
Cloth Diapers
Onesies
Blankets
Socks

NEW COURT DATE!!! AHHHHHH!!! YAY!!!

2009-03-12T21:09:00.003-04:00

YAY!!! We are so excited!!! We just found out our court date in Ethiopia has been MOVED UP! It is now scheduled for May 8th! I know that is only 4 days but it can make a difference on when we travel. We should know if our Visa appt and travel dates will change in the next few days. Even if we don't travel sooner at least he will officially be our baby sooner. :) I don't know why we were rescheduled but I am not complaining that's for sure. Several families were rescheduled for May 8th. Court dates had been getting delayed due to one judge being out on maternity leave, and now that she is back I think they are trying to push families through court quicker. Now we have less than 2 months until our court date! GOD IS GOOD!!!

We have hooked up with 2 wonderful families with the same court date, we are all trying to get on the same flights. One family is here in GA also, which is really cool. Plus our babies are all about the same age. It is going to be so much fun!!! I can't wait...

I am currently working travel arrangements. Plane ticket prices are insane but we are working with a wonderful travel agent who got us a great price. We have tickets on hold right now pending travel date changes. We are trying to decide on a guest house. We figured staying at the House of Hope will be difficult so we are going to book a guest house just in case.

So, what's going on?

2009-03-07T18:30:00.003-05:00

Austin has been so sick!!!! He is going on almost a week now. It started with throwing up and now the "other end". He is so weak and pale. I can't get him to eat or drink anything. He missed wrestling practice all week and I am worried about the State tournaments coming up next weekend. Of course he also missed school most of the week. I have heard from other parents there is a bad stomach virus going around lasting 10-14 days! I don't know what to do. There is no way he will be able to compete in the tournament if he does not get better soon. His little body will take some time to recoup after being so sick. This is actually a bad picture from our trip last fall to Callaway Gardens but this is about what he looks like only a few shades whiter.

Olivia is also playing baseball! She is on the T-Ball Giants. I went today and bought her pink/black cleats, pink/black glove, and pink/black batting gloves. It is so cute. I never thought I would let my prissy little girl play baseball. She is so excited though. She did really well at practice and I was surprised at how well she hit the ball off the tee. The coaches were impressed she knew how to run the bases and in the right direction. :) She has another little girl on her team, which I was really glad about. Now she just needs a pink bat, bag, and pink helmet.

COURT DATE!!!!! :)

2009-03-03T14:12:00.003-05:00

We have a court date!!! I am so excited!!! May 12th is THE DATE!!! This is all coming together now and it is like "wow this is really happening". We have an estimated Visa/Embassy appt date of June 5th so we should be traveling May 31st to June 8th. I hope our court date goes well and is finalized on May 12th or they will reschedule it pushing back our court and travel dates usually about a month or more. Nathen, we are coming... :)

Austin's Dog Crunch Cereal Commercial

2009-03-03T11:00:00.000-05:00

Dog Crunch Cereal

Snow Day Pics

2009-03-01T16:22:00.004-05:00

Snow Day

2009-03-01T14:22:00.004-05:00

We never get snow. The news has been saying for several days we would get a few inches today and I really figured they would be wrong as usual. It was 70 degrees here yesterday! Well, I was busy cleaning house this morning and realize it is snowing! It quickly starting snowing harder and harder and sticking to the ground. I still needed to go shopping, we were out of everything. Olivia and I loaded up and headed to the store, Nick and Austin were at a wrestling camp, and I was surprised at how bad the roads already were. Kroger was a mad house. Everyone acts like we will be snowed in for a week, in reality this will all be gone tomorrow. If people would just get what they need and get out it would make things so much smoother. The lines to check out were insane. I had 7 buggies in front of mine. It is really pretty, here is the view from my desk I am looking at now.

Austin had to do a cereal commercial for a school project. I thought it would be so cute to have Olivia eating the "cereal" in her pj's. Well she would not cooperate, as usual. It was pretty funny though to get her bad mood on video. I tried to get Austin to coax her but it just made her even more grumpy. Enjoy! :)

Austin is Going to State Tournament!

2009-02-28T13:49:00.000-05:00

Austin is going to the State Wrestling Tournament!!! He placed 4th at the state qualifying tournament today landing him a spot at the State Tournament! He should have gotten 2nd place but... He was so nervous and just did not do as well as we know he can. 2 of the guys he wrestled he should have easily beat but simple mistakes cost him precious points, he was never pinned though. One of the guys that beat him we later found out won 1st at the state tournament last year, and Austin had actually done really well against him! He only lost the match by a few points. Austin's first match he won with a pin which was really cool. We are so proud of him!!! Just to go to State his first year wrestling is so awesome! I don't care if he gets last place at State, though something a little higher would be cool, I just want him to have fun and enjoy the experience. :) Wish him luck at the State Tournament on March 14th!!!

Just thinking...

2009-02-26T09:32:00.003-05:00

So, as I'm driving to work this morning I start thinking about my baby boy. I am wondering "what is he doing right now?" It is a weird experience having your child half way around the world. Does he need a diaper change? Does he need a bottle? Is he laughing? Is he crying? Is he sleeping? I often figure up what time it is in Ethiopia and imagine what he may be doing right then.

I really hope we get a court date within the next week. It will be nice to have "a date", something to count down to. A group of families that accepted their referrals just before ours were given court dates last week, they all seem to be for that first week in May. I am estimating we will get court date of mid-late May and travel mid-late June. Unless of course something goes wrong and our court date is rescheduled which would majorly stink!

Ok, I am not supposed to share any "identifying info" on our little guy until after our court date but I am dying to share at least little tid bits! I have been reading other blogs to see how much info others are giving on their children. I hope I don't give more info than I am supposed to but here we go. I can't release his name, since we are keeping the name the orphanage gave him, but I will call him "Nathen" for now. He is so beautiful, I can't wait to share pictures. :) He is now approx 4 months old. He is healthy but tiny due to his previous circumstances. He is gaining weight fast though. He he has a slight birth defect which we feel is very minor. We have been doing a lot of research and joined a group for parents with children that have limb differences. He is perfect to us! We are just so excited and can't wait!

I found a great website that makes all kids of t-shirts and apparel. They have a huge selection of stuff geared towards adoption and specifically Ethiopia adoptions. Here is the website: http://shop.cafepress.com/ethiopia-adoption I am going to end up with a hefty bill from this place. They have the coolest stuff! It is so hard to pick just a couple things, I want it all. :) This is too cute!

Getting ready...

2009-02-20T18:54:00.002-05:00

Monday we went for our travel immunizations which equaled to about 5 billion 4-inch needle shots. Ok so I am exaggerating it was only 5 shots, but the needles were 4 inches! Plus we got our prescription for Malaria medication. I took my shots like a trooper, Nick on the other hand yelped like a little girl. Hee Hee! We were sore for several days and I can just now hold my arms up past shoulder height. We are now immune to Polio, Yellow Fever, Tetanus/Diphtheria, Hep A & Hap B, and Typhoid. We go back next week for another Hep A/B shot and then again in 2 weeks to make us totally immune. Monday's visit took us 2 1/2 hours so I already warned the health dept they better have me in and out this time.

Ok, so as we are going over the list of needed immunizations with the lady at the health dept she continuously mentions, as she names each illness and how horrible it is, that it is "rampant" in orphanages and we must get the immunization if visiting the orphanage. HELLO! My child is in that very orphanage, what is protecting him???? The thought had never crossed my mind until then. I don't have a clue what vaccinations, if any he has gotten. So I emailed our social worker asking that very question. Unfortunately I have not yet heard back from her. I know they have had a very busy week, 3 referrals came in this week and I am sure she is busy answering all of the parents questions just has she did mine. At the same time though I am a little worried. I will feel much better once I know he is at the House of Hope. I know the nannies at the orphanage are taking great care of him but it is just different at the HOH. I am praying daily that God takes care of my little one until we get him home. He is half way around the world and we are months away from being able to hold, comfort, and care for him.

Austin has wrestling qualifying for State Tournaments next weekend. I really hope he does well. It would be awesome just for him to make it to State his first year! Plus it is costing a lot of money just going to qualifying so it will stink if he loses and we end up with a really short day. He is a natural at wrestling but I think he will improve a lot next year. At practice he does all the different moves perfect but in an actual match he does not always think about what he needs to be doing. I think this will be "his" sport though. Baseball is now starting which is running together with wrestling, things may get a little complicated over the next few weeks. Nick is coaching Austin's baseball team so it adds another level of difficulty since he has to be there to coach even if Austin has wrestling. We need to start thinking ahead on this sort of stuff before signing up for everything.

Between now and the end of the school year we will be sooooo insanely busy. At least that should make the time fly until we travel to Ethiopia and bring our little one home. Then we will have the nice slow summer to just relax and enjoy spending time together as a family. GOD IS GOOD...

Ok, so I have seen many fellow bloggers that do "favorite photo Friday". While I honestly just can't keep up with them on this I would like to post a great picture of Austin and Olivia when they were little. I was looking back on how cute they were when they were little, what happened?!?! :)

It's A Boy!

2009-02-13T13:12:00.003-05:00

I have not posted in a while because we have been VERY busy! :)

We are very excited to announce that we have received our referral for a beautiful baby boy! I can not yet release any pictures or details about him until after our court hearing but I will sum it up in one word AMAZING! Hopefully we will have details about court and travel dates in the next few weeks. We will be keeping his name so unfortunately I can't release that yet either. I am dying to tell everyone everything about him but I can't... Not yet anyway. I will probably have a 2 page blog entry once I can tell all. :) Until then please pray for our little guy as he waits to come home.

Ok, I know what you are thinking...I thought they wanted a girl. Truth is God had other plans. We really did not care if we got a boy/girl or what age. Since we had put an age range of 0-4 we assumed we would get a referral for an older child. Since our youngest is a girl 5 years old we figured another girl would be easier. I still have Olivia's clothes she has outgrown and they could even room together. Well I had been telling Nick for a while that I "kind of wanted a boy". I just had that mommy gut feeling that told me a boy was right for us. Then one day a little baby boy was posted on our agencies waiting child list. He took my breath away... I immediately called Nick and had him pull up the info and pics. It was love at first sight. Something told us this was the child God intended for us. There are a few significant dates that connected us to him that I felt were God signs to me. Maybe they are just a coincidence, who knows, but it meant a lot to me. He has a few medical "issues" that put him on the "waiting child list", but we felt the issues were minor and that he deserved a family just as much as the "healthy" babies. The reason we wanted to adopt in the first place was to help a child in need. We knew adopting a child from Ethiopia would have risks and those risks we are willing to take. God blessed us with 2 biological healthy children and now he has blessed our family with an amazing little boy. Well, after having doctors reviewing his medical and researching everything possible to make absolute sure we were making the right decision, finally the day came and we officially accepted our referral, yeah! Even though this has been like a 2 week process I guess today is the day I can finally switch my "Lilly Pie" countdown ticker from "waiting for our referral" to "waiting to travel to Ethiopia and bring our little boy home". :) We are so excited and can not wait. We recently received some comforting information regarding his medical issues and he is growing like a weed. I can only imagine how he will change and grow between now and when we travel to bring him home.

Monday I just about had a nervous breakdown though, we found out our home study was about to expire. I did not even realize it expired! I knew our fingerprints and CIS approval expired but did not even think about the home study. So, we are now in the process of running around like chickens with our heads cut off getting fingerprints done, background checks, medical reports, etc all over again. My social worker with our agency gave me some comforting words, you are almost there... :)

Just need to vent...

2009-01-29T10:53:00.004-05:00

OK, so I have been majorly venting on the yahoo group today, it felt good to just get it out, so I thought I would continue my pity party here. We are coming up on a year since we started the adoption process. We never thought it would take this long. When we started we were told we would be home by the end of the year with a baby. We had major problems with our CIS office and set backs with our Dossier. This caused the waiting list to get longer and longer ahead of us. I am just getting frustrated and feeling like the day will never come. I know it will but it's so hard waiting. I have actually done pretty good about waiting until now. I guess I am thinking about it too much. During our long wait for our CIS approval I really tried to think very little about the adoption. I have been thinking about it A LOT lately and I am driving myself nuts over it. I am such a pre-planner and just not knowing when we will travel, what age she will be, etc.... This is very hard for me. I guess this is one of Gods little lessons in life, he is trying to teach me patience and not to be such a control freak. :) The thing I am most worried about is more set backs. With the longer wait times for a referral and the longer wait times for a court date once we receive a referral this process could get REALLY long. Courts close again in August for the rainy season. It is taking 4-4 1/2 months right now for families to get court dates. It could get even longer... This means in order to get a court date before they close in August we MUST get a referral by the end of March or first of April. Even then we will be cutting it close. We can still travel during the rainy season it is just getting that crucial court date before then. Plus with the increase in adoptions from Ethiopia the court dates will just keep getting pushed back further and sometimes court dates are rescheduled. Also our CIS fingerprints and approval are going to expire and have to be redone. I honestly don't know how long our home study is good for. Wow, I really hope we don't have to do the whole thing all over again. The upside is our agency has been getting a lot of referrals lately. Hopefully they will keep rolling in. I personally hope they get a few toddler referrals in so that will boost us up the list in that age range. I totally don't care if we get a 2 month old or a 3 year old.

Earlier this week our agency received a referral for a little 5 month old baby boy who had been found abandoned and was severely malnourished. It broke my heart to hear his story. I would have gotten on the plane that day to go get him if I could have. They are considering him special needs and trying to find a family for him that would be prepared to take on his possible disabilities and medical care. Nick and I have been considering requesting to be considered to adopt him but they are very unsure how he will grow and develop due to everything his little body has been through. It's a hard decision. You just never know, he could end up catching up on his growth and development with the proper care, medical treatment, and time. Then again he could have a lot of permanent disabilities. There are just so many unknowns with him. There is NO health guarantee on any of these children that are referred. They usually know very little about their background and really all of the children have been malnourished to some degree at some point. Of course his case is more extreme than the others. We decided to wait and see if anyone was matched with him. We would have to get our home study updated to say boy or girl, since we had requested a girl. The agency really wants a family that is totally ready to go so they can get him in the States ASAP and get him the medical care he desperately needs. I am dying to know if anyone has been matched with him. I hate bugging our social worker but I may just have to give her a call today and find out...

Adoption Update

2009-01-16T13:04:00.004-05:00

Well, it looks like we will have to wait even longer to bring our daughter home from Ethiopia. It stinks but I am trying really hard to stay positive. I guess it gives us more time to get ready. Originally the agency was getting court dates fairly quick and you would travel to pick up your child 2 to 3 months after receiving you referral. There are now so many people adopting from Ethiopia that it is flooding the system and they just can't accommodate so many applications so they are now pushing the court dates back further and further. They are now estimating after receiving a referral we will have to wait 4 months or more to travel. I hate the thought of seeing her face, her name, and knowing I can't hold her for 4 months! I would rather wait longer for a referral that wait longer to travel. I am glad so many people are adopting from Ethiopia, there are so many kids there who desperately need a home. I am just praying that they will add staff and judges in Ethiopia to speed up the process and bring these little ones home. There are so many documents that will probably now expire and have to be redone due to the longer wait times. Hopefully we will get our referral soon so we will not be too far down the waiting list for a court date. Realistically it will still be a while though. I am not sure how many are ahead of us on the waiting family list requesting a female in the 0-4 age range. I know there are a lot waiting on infants. I am really just holding onto the fact that it is all in Gods timing and it will happen according to his plans for our family. Period...

Grand Marnier AKA "Ginger"

2009-01-07T14:21:00.003-05:00

Christmas weekend we added a new family member, a retired racing Greyhound. Her racing name is Grand Marnier but we decided to call her Ginger. She is 3 years old and did really well in her racing career. She raced a total of 47 races in less than a year, winning 1st place in 4 of the races. She is such a good girl and has adapted well to life off the track. Ginger is a huge couch potato! :) When she gets comfortable laying in her doggie bed and we want her to get up we literally have to pick her up and make her stand up. It's like trying to move a mule. We are really enjoying having her as part of the family. She is such a sweetie!

Austins First Wrestling Match

2008-12-07T23:21:00.003-05:00

Austin had his first wrestling tournament today! He did awesome, he won first place and brought home a gold medal. He was so excited! When we first got there he was so nervous. He would not talk to anyone or move off the bleachers. After warming up with the rest of the team he loosened up and was not as nervous. I was able to video the entire first match which he won. I was shaking like crazy the whole time. I was more nervous than he was. The 2nd match he won by forfeit because the boy he was supposed to wrestle left, I guess Austin scared him off. :) The last match was the best and very intense, which he won. I thought I was taping the entire time but when we got home this evening I realized I had not pressed the button to actually record. How stupid could I be?!?! I pressed the button to "stop" recording after the match which actually started the recording instead so I got great footage of the floor as we walked around after the match. :( I am so upset that I did that. We had a great time, it was a long day but so much fun. Olivia made friends with a little boy wrestling that was her age, it was really cute. They hung out together the whole day.

Christmas Pics of the kids

2008-12-06T23:41:00.001-05:00

Is this a great picture or what???

2008-11-30T23:39:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-11-30T23:14:00.005-05:00

Thanksgiving weekend was very busy this year! My entire family was at our house for Thanksgiving Day, we did survive, and we spent Thanksgiving night and most of Friday with Nick's family. I love having everyone at our house for the holidays. It is a lot of work getting everything ready but it is worth it. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. You get to just enjoy spending time with family and eating all the yummy food! :) We just returned from our weekend trip to Callaway Gardens. We rode the trolley through "Fantasy in Lights" Saturday and visited the other attractions including the butterfly center Sunday. It was really fun. The lights were awesome and the kids really enjoyed the Christmas Village were they had their picture made with Santa.
Olivia had her face painted and loved visiting with all the various Christmas characters. Austin just wanted to shop and thought he was too big to get his picture made with the Christmas characters. The weather was rainy at times but could have been worse. We look forward to going back in the spring when the weather is better and we can enjoy more of the events at Callaway.
HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT THANKSGIVING!

Fern Bank Museum

2008-11-04T23:38:00.001-05:00

Since the kids were out of school Nick and I took the day off work to spend some time with the kids. After voting we took them to Fern Bank Museum. I had not been since I was little kid. The kids loved all the exhibits and the hands on activities. Austin's favorite was the dinosaurs and the science exhibits. They had different science experiments that you could try. Olivia loved the polar bear and penguin exhibit. They had an area where the kids could "dress" like a penguin and slip down a wavy slide on their bellies. It was really cute. We also watched an IMAX movie that was really cool. It was about the Ocean and based on a specific area off the cost of Africa. It was beautiful, informative, and interesting. I loved it, that was my favorite part. It was nice having a day to just hang out with the kids.

Halloween Fun

2008-11-03T19:15:00.004-05:00

Halloween was a blast this year. We participated in "trunk or treat" at our church, this was the first time we had been to a "trunk or treat". I decorated the back of our car in a spider theme and had a kid friendly Halloween CD playing. Austin dressed up as "Anakin" from Star Wars and Olivia was "Vida" one of the fairies from Tinkerbell. Austin disappeared half the night and I thought for sure he was in the jumpy thing but I found him later sitting in the "trunk" of another car playing PSP. Olivia was given a set of scary vampire teeth from one trunk and immediately put them in and wore them the remainder of the night. She loves those things. I did get some cute pics and video though. It was fun doing something different than just walking miserably from house to house. We got to hang out with friends and meet a lot of people in the community. You could tell some of the kids that came really did not have a lot and had pitiful costumes if anything at all. It was nice to see the church providing a free fun event and seeing the smiles on their faces. Along with the candy from trunks the church had provided 2 jump houses and lots of food. This will be a yearly event for us from now on. I just love our church! :)

We joined our church only a few months ago but in the short time we have been there it has changed our lives. It amazes me everyday to see the difference in my life, my kids lives, and our relationship as a family and our marriage. I have always grown up as a christian, active in church, and once Nick and I married we attended church regularly. I now realize the difference in attending church and really being an active part of a church and submitting my life entirely to God. It has changed everything.

Olivia's New Glasses

2008-10-29T21:39:00.011-04:00

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! :)

2008-10-27T22:29:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-25T22:00:00.003-04:00

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

2008-10-18T21:13:00.003-04:00

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!!!!!!

2008-10-14T15:46:00.004-04:00

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

2008-10-03T10:10:00.003-04:00

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.

Oh Happy Day!

2008-09-07T09:09:00.000-04:00

We received our corrected approval from immigration Saturday!!!!! :) :) :)
I am waiting on 2 documents that I had to send out to be county authenticated and 1 piece of paper I had to send to Texas to be state certified then I will take everything to the state of Georgia to be state certified and then we will be done!!!! It will be a huge relief to finally have this part of the process done and be officially waiting on a referral.

Sponsor a Child

2008-09-06T09:22:00.002-04:00

Nick and I had been thinking of sponsoring a child in Ethiopia and we finally did it. We wanted to help a child to be successful in their own country also. We have sponsored an 8 year old little girl in Guraghe Ethiopia named Atelo through World Vision. For only $35 a month it provides food, water, medicine, education, etc. for her and her family. We chose an older child because they really understand more and she will even be able to write us back and forth. We chose a girl because girls in developing countries have even less opportunities than boys. She is beautiful and we hope to meet her face to face when we travel to Ethiopia to pick up our daughter. I urge everyone to sponsor a child. By not eating out once a month you can provide so much for a child. We will be choosing another child to sponsor in the next few weeks. Click on the "Sponsor a Child" title above to learn more and locate a child to sponsor.

Happy 30th Birthday Nick!!!!

2008-08-31T10:32:00.000-04:00

For Nick's 30th birthday we went to Athens for the UGA opening game. Nick had never been to a UGA game and was very excited. It was ridiculously hot but we had a great time. They unveiled the new UGA bulldog which as pretty cool to see. We had a blast and had awesome seats. When we got back home we went out to eat and hung out with family.

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY NICK! Love ya!

CIS Problems! More Waiting....

2008-08-27T10:11:00.000-04:00

Well, after being so excited about receiving our approval from CIS/immigration we realized that they put my maiden name on the document and not my married name!!!! UGGGGGGG! How frustrating. There is no way to get a person on the phone to have this corrected so we had to make an appointment with CIS. We figured since we could not send in our dossier until we had the approval corrected we might as well have any changes made in the meantime. We had our social worker do an amendment to our home study approving us for a little girl up to 4 years old. We thought about requesting siblings but decided 2 under the age of 4 at one time would be difficult, especially with me working. We are thinking a toddler or older child might be better for us than an infant since Austin will be going on 9 and Olivia going on 6 when the adoption finally takes place, due to the extended wait times. We also hope that with such a broad age range we may get a referral a little faster. We'll see what happens. We are just so ready to get our dossier processed and in the country. There are so many families that started the process much later than us that are already on the waiting list which is difficult to think about. Dealing with the CIS has been ridiculous and has held up our entire process. I know it is all in God's timing and that there are reasons for the delays but it is so frustrating not being able to control the situation at all.

Austin's 8th Birthday

2008-08-22T10:28:00.001-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN!!!!!

I can not believe my little boy is 8 years old! It is weird to even think about. Wow, how time flies by. We had family and a few of his friends over for a "surf party". We had a kiddie pool, slip n slide, and water sprinkler for the kids and cooked out. I think everyone had a great time. The weather was not very good but it worked out fine. The kids did not seem to mind a few sprinkles since they were already wet. :)

IT IS HERE!!!!!! :)

2008-08-13T17:51:00.003-04:00

OUR ADOPTION APPROVAL CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!!!!! Whoooooooooo! :) I have never been so excited about a piece of paper in my life. It was a long hard 4 months, but we made it. Now the long wait for a referral begins. More prayers please. :) We are considering increasing our age range or possibly siblings. Who knows what blessings God has in store for our family. Right now I am just celebrating this huge step forward!

First Day of School!

2008-08-06T21:00:00.000-04:00

Today was Olivia's first day of Pre-K!!! I can not believe she is now going to "big girl" school. I did good though, I did not cry. I teared up and had a huge lump in my throat but I did not cry. She was so funny, she did not want me to walk her to class. She made me walk behind her and the whole time she was telling me she could go by herself and not to come with her. She is miss independence. She was so excited when I picked her up and had a good note from her teacher. :) I knew she would do well.

Austin had his first day of 3rd grade, oh my goodness. Where has the time gone? He is really growing up fast. It seems like just yesterday was his first day of Pre-K. He loved his first day of school and also came home with a good note. He was glad to see his friends again and excited to move up to the "big kids" playground.

It is so sad to see how fast they are growing up. I am afraid that it will start going even faster.

Steven Curtis Chapman

2008-08-05T10:04:00.001-04:00

We went to the Steven Curtis Chapman Concert this past weekend at Turner Field. It was an amazing experience. Check out the pics and videos on my Picasa Web Album. After an unbelievably hot day at the Braves game with no rain in the forecast a huge storm blew up during the first song of the opening act and John Smoltz giving his testimony. Perfect timing huh? Huge dark clouds, awesome lighting, strong winds, and heavy rain rolled in. I felt something was trying it's hardest to keep the concert from going forward and so did Steven Curtis Chapman. After about 30-40 minutes of the storm he came on stage, just him and his guitar, and announced that due to safety issues his band could not perform but that Satan was not stopping him from doing the concert. He put on an intimate concert singing, playing his guitar, and speaking to the audience alot. He spoke often of the adoption of his 3 girls, and the recent death of his youngest daughter, Maria. He told the story of how he came to meet Maria and bring her home. He told of her personality and how she lived so passionately in those short few years. He sang "Cinderella" and I am sure there was not a dry eye in the house. I cried through 90% of the entire concert and even thinking of it makes me cry. His wife and children were there and he said it was the first concert they had been at since the tragedy. Seeing the Faith in a family that has gone through the worst situation imaginable was inspirational. It really makes you think about your own family and faith. Would we have the Faith if faced with a similar situation?

The night before the concert Austin had asked me some difficult questions while I was putting him to bed. I stayed up until late talking to him. He is such a deep thinker, it scares me and brings me to tears. I am convinced he will do great things in ministry some day. He asked me to tell him the truth about EVERYTHING; the tooth fairy, Easter bunny, Santa Clause, God and Jesus. WOW! I knew right away I had to tell him the entire truth and hold nothing back. Nick and I had discussed this very issue last Christmas. We were afraid the kids would believe Jesus was all made up just like Santa Clause. Well, need less to say Santa will not be in our house anymore! Austin was upset I had lied to him about Santa, the Tooth Fairy, etc. He of course started asking deeper questions like why we can not see or touch God or why when he prays to God for help he does not actually see him helping. These are hard things to explain to a 7 year old. I found a great book in Barnes and Noble yesterday and sat right there in the store and read it to him. It asked/answered a lot of the same questions Austin had just asked me. I am glad he thinks about it so much, but he really thinks on a much deeper level than most his age. He may struggle in some areas but I think it is because his mind is so busy on other areas. I would rather his faith be strong as a rock than be on the honor roll any day. I am grateful that God has led us to a wonderful new church that will support our entire family to grow stronger in our faith and build a strong foundation in our home.

Ok, to give an update to the adoption, we are STILL WAITING on our approval from the CIS/Immigration, it has been 4 months now! We need prayers! Please pray for us that our approval will come soon so we can officially be on the list waiting for a referral. Also please pray that we will be led to the child God has chosen for us. We are struggling with what age of child to request.

Still no word...

2008-07-14T09:40:00.002-04:00

Well, 3 months has now come and gone and still no word from immigration on our approval for the adoption. I am getting a little concerned. I am praying it will come any day now. I am so ready to start the next step of the process and it is so difficult waiting 3 months for one little piece of paper!

Braves Game

2008-07-07T12:13:00.005-04:00

We took the kids to the Braves Game yesterday and had a great time. No, we did not stay for all 17 innings, but did stay for 15. I thought it would never end. I love baseball but not after 17 innings. All 4 of us were on the "big screen" which was really cool. Olivia thinks Chipper Jones is "cute" which was funny and scary all at once. We had great seats but got even closer once the game went into extra innings and the place started clearing out. It was raining soooo hard when we first got there, it always rains when we go to a game, but ended up being blue sky and perfect by the time the game started. It was nice just spending some time with each other and the kids after a very busy 4th weekend.

Happy Birthday Paw Paw!

2008-07-05T18:00:00.000-04:00

We had a big party today to celebrate my Paw Paw's (grandfather's) 70th birthday! It was really nice and I got to see family I had not seen in a while. I do not think he was surprised, I think he figured something was up, but I knew it meant a lot to him. He has always been a big part of my life and someone I look up to. He loves his grandkids and great grandkids and has always made sure to spend time with each of them. Austin and Paw Paw will get in deep conversations for hours and Olivia adores him. Love you Paw Paw, Happy Birthday!
This is such a great picture of Paw Paw and Mee Maw!!!

Mary Kay

2008-06-28T09:06:00.003-04:00

Ok girls, I am now offically a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant! I have posted a link to my website. I will currently be putting all of my earnings towards the adoption and then hopefully be in a position with my buisness to quit my job and stay home with the baby by the time the adoption is complete. If anyone would like to host their own "Skin Care Class" or "Color Insider Party", or a one on one complete facial and makeover let me know! I am eager to get started and offering lots of bonuses for girls that help me get my buisness started. I will be having a Mary Kay Buisness debut party at my home on July 11th at 7:00 pm, and would love for you to join us!

Kenny Rogers!!!

2008-06-20T08:49:00.002-04:00

Nick surprised me yesterday with tickets to the Kenny Rogers concert at "the Fred"! I was so excited, I love Kenny Rogers. If you have not noticed I had named our blog after my favorite Kenny song, "Through The Years". I honestly did not even realize he was still doing concerts. We had a great time. He was really funny and interacted with the audience a lot. His wife, who is probably 22 years old, and his 4 year old twin boys were there. I guess he had the face lift for his very young wife, but I still think he was much better looking before all the surgery. It was really neat and lots of fun though, and it was sweet of Nick to surprise me with the tickets. I added lots of pics and video from the concert to our online photo album.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T22:57:00.005-04:00

Happy Father's Day to... my Dad who is THE greatest man and father ever! I love you Daddy!!! And to Nick, who is an awesome, fun dad and wonderful husband. The kids and I love you very much. Sorry your card did not work... :) And to my father in law who is always fun, laid back, and a blast to be around.

This father's day weekend we went fishing on Saturday at my parent's church. Nick almost caught a bass, no one else caught a dang thing. We have not had good luck fishing lately. It was so much fun though just hanging out with eveyone by the lake. Sunday we went to my in-laws to go swimming. The kids had so much fun swimming, we basically had to drag them out.

Changes on our blog

2008-06-10T21:20:00.003-04:00

We decided to expand our blog to have more info on all of us and not just the adoption itself. We have changed the name, outline, and info of the blog and will also do some back blogging. While we are still making the adoption a big part of our blog, we felt it made more sense to make it our family blog. I wish I had started this a long time ago. We also decided to no longer do the "blog name" thing and just put our real names. Yes, now you know who we are :)

Not a happy camper....

2008-06-09T20:19:00.003-04:00

I am not a happy camper today! It has been 2 months since submitting our application to immigration. I emailed the CIS this morning to check status and was told we are looking at another month!!!! What?!?! They are just now processing applications whose fingerprints were done in April, ours were done in May. Our Dossier is done and just waiting on one stinkin little piece of paper. I know it is all in God's timing, I am telling myself that constantly, but for a control freak like myself (who also may be a little OCD and ADD) :) patience is not a part of my vocabulary. I just like having things all planned out. This whole process is turning into a much longer time frame than we first thought. It just keeps getting longer and longer. I am so ready to hold my baby and see her sweet face... I know I will at least feel better once we are officially on the waiting list. I just hope the extra wait will allow me time to prepare to be able to cut back, or totally cut out, work by the time she gets here. That would be nice.

With all the recent news coverage on the famine in Ethiopia it makes me even more anxious to get the adoption going. I wish I could do more to help the people there but I just don't know what to do. It breaks my heart to see the pics and hear the stories of children and adults starving to death. I can not even imagine. We have to choose to buy white bread or wheat bread but they have to choose which child to let starve hoping to save the other. Please read my article links if you haven't already!

We took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda this past weekend. I think I enjoyed it more than the kids. I love great animated movies! I think I am going to have to buy myself a "Po" stuffed animal. :)

New Family Member

2008-06-05T23:14:00.003-04:00

We were the last people in Petsmart tonight and left with a new family member, a rat. Yes we actually paid for a rat. He is really cute though. He is grey and white and really sweet. Austin has been begging for a while for one and we finally broke down. Austin is just like me and loves all animals. If it were not for Nick keeping us under control Austin and I would have a whole farm by now. Oscar thinks he is a new toy. He has sat by the cage all night and they touch noses. Maybe tomorrow we will let him out of the cage and see what happens...

Not a Good Day

2008-06-04T20:30:00.003-04:00

Ok, today was not a good day. It started off with a phone call from Mom. My Dad's doctor had called. The results from his biopsy showed he does have malignant melanoma skin cancer, as we had feared. He is having surgery and further tests on June 18th. The doctors feel they have caught it early and hopefully it has not spread. I will never tan again!!!! Now I am obssesing over every mole and spot analyizing and comparing them to pics online of skin cancer. I will have to go to the doctor for piece of mind before I drive poor Nick nuts. My Dad is only 47 and has already had a heart attack and now skin cancer. If he wasn't so freakin stuborn and go to the doctor!!! I am starting to feel like I am the parent.

CIS approval for the adoption did not come again.... We are coming up on 2 months since submitting our paperwork and a month since our fingerprints. Maybe tomorrow. I hope I am home when it comes, I think I want to take the delivery man's picture, like others have said they did. I know it sounds silly. The morning we had our fingerprint appointment was VERY dramatic and I wish I would've had my camera that day. The mad rush to get there in ATL traffic, standing in the long line unsure what to do, and then sitting and comparing which CIS worker was going the slowest taking fingerprints. Seriously, I could have done the whole room in about 30 miniutes! It is funny the things you go through having a biological child vs having an adopted child. I actually like going through the whole process, paperwork and all.

Still Waiting on Approval From Immigration

2008-05-29T22:30:00.003-04:00

Well, we are still waiting on our approval from immigration. We did our fingerprints and have our dossier documents ready to go. I am soooo ready to get on the waiting list. Plus the dossier iteslf will go through a month long process before even arriving in Ethiopia. I do wonder what I will do with my time once we are officially waiting... I guess there will be a whole new set of paperwork to start on. We are trying to think of a way to raise money for the adoption expenses through a fundraiser of some sort. Plus I want to get our friends and family invloved. It is really sad thinking of all the negative reactions we have had when telling people we are adopting from Ethiopia. I have to be on guard with my whole spill of how there are so many kids starving to death, living on the streets, in orphanages, etc. It has been the people that I thought would be excited and uderstanding that have been the most critical. I know that we are doing the right thing, that God will reward us for our strong loving hearts, and hopefully people will see how great it is and beauty of it once we bring her home. Ok, I will stop with the mushy stuff now. Oh, if anyone is wondering what Jennah is all about we are planning on calling her Jennah and will keep her birth name as her middle name, unless she is closer to 2 years of age then we may just keep her birth name, or if we happen to like her birth name we will keep it.

Spirits High and Looking Forward!

2008-05-14T21:54:00.004-04:00

I spoke to our case worker with our adoption agency today. She is great and always gets my spirits lifted. She gave me hope that our wait for a referral will not be painfully long. I am so happy that more and more people are making the decision to adopt from Ethiopia. I just hope the increase in applicants will produce an increase in referrals, orphanages working with agencies, and agencies working within Ethiopia. The quicker we can get these kids off the streets and with families the better. It is sad to think we are going there to bring home one child and leaving so many behind. If I could stowe another child in my suit case I would.

A family that lives close by recently came home from Ethiopia with their 4 year old daughter. She is such a cutie and has the biggest and most beautiful smile ever! We enjoyed reading thier blog about the trip, experiences in Ethiopia, and their wonderful daughter. I went from crying one minute and laughing the next. It is great to have others close by going through the same process for support.

It's Mother's Day - Waiting, Not so Patiently

2008-05-11T11:06:00.000-04:00

We just completed our fingerprints this week for the CIS. Hopefully we will receive our approval from Immigration soon. That will allow us to finish our Dossier, get it to Ethiopia, and be officially waiting for our referral. I hope that by next Mother's Day I will be celebrating with all 3 of my children. I was bummed to learn that there are now 64 people ahead of us. That means the waiting list has doubled in the last couple months. I am sad that we will have to wait even longer but I am trying to remember that it is all in God's timing. I know he has it planned out for us already. Maybe he knows it will be a while before our child will be born and ready for us. Maybe he is knows when financially will be the opportune time.