Spring Break Bliss

Spring Break at our house is a gift to not only the kids, but mom too! Truly I believe that it must have been a woman, a stay at home mom kind of woman, who said one day "I can't wake up one more morning, pack one more lunch, assist with one more assignment until I have a full week of rest, or two" and thus the Spring Break Fairy was born. Because of the county we live in we are granted not one but two weeks off. Bliss.
How have we spent our days? The last official day of school my oldest and I attended a Girl Scout overnighter..much fun indeed. So totally exhausted when we came home I crawled into bed at 5:30 and didn't get up until the next morning. The next few days were spent just hanging out, sleeping in late, trying to get the house in order. On Tuesday we decided to take a road trip! Yay! Thursday we headed to Illinois, stayed 2 nights in Lisle, IL, right outside of Chicago. We took the train into Chicago, had a dinner party with our American Girl dolls (hubby was sooo stoked about that!), and visited the Adler's Planetarium. Then we drove down to Indianapolis, stayed two nights and enjoyed our time there with a trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum and an indoor water park. While there my hubby had searched out an Ethiopian restaurant, and aside from getting lost in the area we are quite sure was not visitor friendly on the not so great side of downtown, the experience was Fantastic and the food wonderful.
We've been home for 3 days now. My youngest seems to have picked up Fifths Disease from someplace..my best educated medical guess (all moms come with a license to diagnose). No worries there, it has not slowed her down. My oldest is enjoying her last few days of lounging. We all stayed in bed until 9:30 a.m.! It's 5:45p.m. and we're eating popsicles! I don't have a clue what I'm making for dinner..what's the rush? The sun is still shining and the day just seems to linger on. I. Love. it. Hoping the hubby gets home with enough time to enjoy some of this laziness..maybe he will declare a Spring Break for all others, encouraging all workers to take a spring break. He could be the modern day Spring Break Fairy!! Guessin' he won't find the joy in that title the way I do.

Ethiopian Gov't passes new travel requirements..

We received word today that the Ethiopian Government has changed the way it's doing adoptions and as of today if you are adopting from Ethiopia you will be required to travel on 2 separate occasions. Yikes! The first trip is expected to only take 3 days, just enough for you to see the child and accept him/her in person. Apparently there has been some instances where adoptive parents arrive to pick up their child and decide against the union..for whatever reason. I know, I know..what the *&#@! are they thinking? But since we don't really know the whole story we'll just have to pray the kids have found their forever families as was meant to be. Let me back up...up until today you filed paperwork for adoption in Ethiopia, got on the 'list' (that's where I am..incase you haven't read the latest), and the next step is your referral. The agency contacts you with a referral, you have a few days to review it and either you accept or decline. The instances of declined referrals are minimal because of all of the up front paper work you fill out with all of your requests, including all of the medical issues you are willing to tackle with your child..it really is quite a mental drain but there is a reason for it and your referral should reflect what your dossier paperwork has approved you for. Once you accept the referral, then your agency has someone in country to represent you at the court hearings, which will be scheduled somewhere around 2-3 months after accepting the referral. Have I lost you yet?..hang on I'm almost done! Then after they have had the court date and you have been officially, legally declared guardian , THEN you make your flight arrangements and head over to Addis Abba Ethiopia to pick up your little gem! Now, we looked at MANY different avenues, explored both domestic and international adoption..private and open..same race and interracial..boy or girl..etc,etc. You can't imagine the possibilities until you have it right in front of you. We knew we were meant to adopt, very much convinced it was part of our family plan from the beginning, but we didn't know how or where or who or when or any of that stuff..so it took us a while. In the process we learned that travel was an issue we needed to address with regard to having 2 young children staying behind. Ethiopia was great because the travel was minimal..7 days max. In and out. Our girls would think they were enjoying a vacation, not separation. Perfect! We looked at other countries that required 2 or 3 separate trips to the country before you were able to bring your child home. Also a few others required you to stay in country for weeks, some months before allowing you a court date to take your child home. Now I should say that all of these countries have their way of doing things and many people adopt from there every year so it's not a bad arrangement for some..but it wasn't what we were comfortable with. Again, Ethiopia looked great! But as I mentioned today has revealed a new chapter in our adoption story. We will be waiting to hear more from our agency, to get the details and to find out if this is permanent for the country (one who needs adoptive families worse than anyplace I can imagine) and praying that it does not deter others from choosing this path. So where do WE stand now? Funny thing..when I rec'd the email I was a bit shocked and thought 'oh no, wonder what my husband will think about that" and immediately I said to myself..if one of my daughters was across the world I would travel there every week for as long as they'd let me in order to see her and bring her home. Of course we'll go there, he's there and that's what we are meant to do, we must go to him as often as we can until we can bring him home. We'll just need a new plan, one that includes a little more money, a positive attitude and as always prayers. Oh and for my husband..he came home and said to me "kinda stinks but I'm excited to have another opportunity to visit..maybe we can turn it into some sort of mission trip too, see what we can help out with while we're there." That man..he's got my heart in his hands.

Officially on the List!!

Last Thursday, March 4th, we received the email from Children's Hope International stating that our dossier made through the U.S. Secretary of State and the Ethiopian Embassy and now has returned to St. Louis (C.H.I.) and we are officially on the list. Yay! This was very exciting news. We really didn't expect the call until the next week, possibly another full week. What a blessing! So what does it mean to be 'officially on the list"? It means that instead of running around gathering documents, you get to wait..officially. Hmm. Not a very patient person by nature, but this is a process I'm trying to embrace. My friend Angie has already pronounced me prego and has encouraged me to 1. no heavy lifting 2. eat like a maniac and 3. indulge, indulge, indulge! Definitely sounds appealing! But I'm hoping with this 'pregnancy' I don't lose my mind and my waist as I did with the last 2!
Back to 'the list'. My first response after reading the email was to pick up the phone and call the agency for more details. She informed me that we were #60. What??!! (elated!) I thought we would be around #100, that is what we have heard is pretty typical. But #60!! We're 40 spots ahead of the game!! Another blessing..absolutely! And then on Friday three more families rec'd referrals that week, so now we're #57! On each Friday our agency sends out this wonderful email updating everyone on new referrals and all sorts of great information relating to the process. We love these emails! Now, because I know my #, I can use that information and move myself on down the list. Fridays just got a little better. There is a trick though, and it's complicated..the easiest way to explain it is that if 10 referrals are handed out, it doesn't mean those who hold spots #1-#10 get the referrals. The children get matched up to the families based on their needs and that which the family has been approved to provide for. So for now we'll use the Friday emails to keep check of our progress and when we get down to what we believe to be #30 we'll call our agency, get our accurate # on the list and from then on we'll probably call every 10 referrals or so. Our agency said they would give us our number any time we wanted..just needed to email or call. That was NOT a door they need to open for me...I'm going to show considerable restraint to NOT call weekly!
Right now the average wait for a baby boy (we are requesting 18 mos or younger, we hope for under 12 months old)is approx 11 months. After the referral is given, then we wait 3 months for travel. But WE are #60..oops #57!! Praying for less than a year for the entire process. Here's something to consider..in Feb 2010 they had a large number of families matched..16 familes (19 children total) were matched. Do the math..if we can average 15 families a month (a pure guess based on one month I know, but go with me here) then we could potentially get a referral sometime this summer. I KNOW, I know. Keep my head right? Stick with the average, 11 mos referral. But I can't help it. I'm pregnant remember..I'm indulging!

Off and Running

Our paperwork did arrive as the FedEx guy promised before 10:30 yesterday. Nicky (our adoption coordinator) emailed me to let me know. After she combed through it she found one issue that was easily remedied with a notarized letter from Brian and I clearing up the confusion. So it's off and running..literally! They sent it by courier to D.C. to the Secretary of State for certification yesterday. After that it goes to the Ethiopian Embassy and once they review and certify then back to our agency and we'll be notified that we're officially on the list! YAY!! Very exciting times here!

$35 gets it going...

 

We finally finished all of our paperwork! YAY!! So yesterday I spoke with my agency, we went through all of my paperwork and she declared me officially ready to send! YIPPEE! So she says..."If you send it to me and it gets here by tomorrow before 3:00 then I'll be able to review it and send it on to the courier service who will take it to Washington and then to the Ethiopian Embassy, after which it will return to me and you'll be officially on the waiting list." I said..no problem! Headed to FedEx where I spent $10 coping everything and felt terrible each time I messed up thinking about all of those trees I was wasting. My guilt is due to my oldest's declaration to not use so much paper during Lent, which seems innocent enough except I think she may have a ulterior motive that has something to do with homework. Anyhow... Then my friendly customer service FedEx guy helped me package it. At first he suggested an envelope, my furrowed brow must have clued him in that I needed something more sturdy...and since his armored car was not an option he proceeded to bubble wrap it and box it up with additional wrapping tucked in for good measure. For $35.00 he has promised me it will arrive in St. Louis by 10:30 a.m. today (Thursday), giving my girl plenty of time to look it over and get it on to the courier. So now...I just wait. All this time I've been saying how doing the paperwork chase has been the most difficult, the wait should be no problem since I have 2 little ones to keep me busy. But the truth of the matter is I'm already wondering if she'll email me as soon as she gets it!!?? Or should I call her to confirm..at 10:30? Oh the waiting!!!

New Year's Resolution

So midnight came and went and so did my 'Declaration for the New Year'. My hubby and I had discussed that we were definitely ready for a kitchen clean out and diet reorganization. New Year's Day was on Friday. Not a good day to jump start such a venture, atleast that's what we thought. So Sunday was the day to clean out and Monday was the launching day. We enjoyed our last days of snacking and gluttonous behavior and then Sunday arrived. Lots of stuff found the trash can and I could actually see the shelves of my fridge! Monday (4th) started great for both of us...Tuesday equally good... Wednesday not so good (church group meeting, b'day celebration)..Thursday started over...Friday morning good, lunch good, dinner blow out! Then it's Saturday. Our diet makeover was intended to work Mon-Fri, but Sat and Sunday we figured we'd lighten up a little, enjoy our weekends with the kids meaning eat freely. The thought was that we would get ourselves under control Mon-Fri and by Saturday making good choices would be easier for us. Saturday- bacon, eggs for b'fast, lunch at Abay (lots of injera and beef tibs), dinner at Wasabi (excessive amt. of yummy rice, shrimp, veggies). Sprinkled in between were cookies, candy and even topped of with volcano cake (in my defense it was a low calorie cake!). Sunday I went to 2 baby showers honoring 3 different ladies...ate cake at both, enjoyed sugary punch and dipped anything I could find in the rich Ranch! Oh...and I finished off the Wasabi meal from the night before. Dinner was broccoli and Crab legs...and LOTS of water!
So here it is Monday and I KNOW I have to get my head on straight. So I started out thinking "Gym Today". Ended up going upstairs and pounding the treadmill. 2 miles on that machine is torture! I can't stand it! But I did it...2.25 to be exact. Ran half walked half. Felt so motivated that I then came downstairs (after a 20 minute panting cool down, standing still) and registered myself for the Moosic Dash (Purity Dairy, downtown). The choices were 5k or 10k. Must have jostled my brain in my 2.25 mile punishment because before I knew it I had hit 10k, paid the fee and committed. What?!? OMG!! My friends Jen and Jo are doing it...must have been peer pressure? Wish me luck! Better yet..go sign up and join me! www.puritydairies.com/dairydash

First Snowfall of 2010

Though we were hoping for 3 inches of snow, we received barely a "dusting" of snow. But these girls weren't at all disappointed! From making snow angels to making a snowman, catching snow on the tips of their tongues and just plain scooping up a handful to have a frozen treat (yikes!), frozen toes, fingers and frozen noses! They both came in shivering with chill in their bones and excitement in their eyes. It may be just a dustin' of snow, but to these snow angels it was a Winter Wonderland!