9/11

I watched the 9/11 anniversary events with tears in my eyes.  We all remember exactly where we were when we heard the news ten years ago.
Five years ago, on 9/11 we moved from the Washington, DC suburbs to our new home.  A bittersweet move but it allowed me to stay home with Igor and Rob to work full time.  In hindsight, the move was a huge blessing for our family.

Three years ago on 9/11 we received our second referral from Ethiopia.  The picture of Henry was grainy and blurry but the smile on his sweet face was precious. 
This year we celebrated Henry's referral anniversary and Ethiopian New Year (which is on 9/11).  It was a sweet reminder of how precious Henry is and how grateful we are to call him our son.

We have a referral!!

Our family coordinator called- we were referred an adorable 18 month old girl.  She's soooo little!!  She has the sweetest smile and she looks cuddly.  We cannot wait to meet her, hold her, kiss her chubby cheeks!
We can't show you pictures until a successful court date so for now imagine Henry's body type with a cute girly face. 
So what's next?

• our agency to obtain/prepare our documents for court
• The Ethiopian court to accept our paperwork
• get a court date
• fly to Ethiopia to meet our daughter and go to court
• Fly home
• Our agency to submit paperwork to the US Embassy
• US Embassy to perform an investigation and release a VISA
• Fly back to Ethiopia to pick up our daughter.

We don't have a time table yet. It could be weeks before our documents are submitted to court.


There are a lot of things to pray for- finances, paperwork, the boys and our daughter's adjustment and so much more.

We are very excited to see our daughter's face!!

One year ago today

One year ago today Rob and I filled out the application for adoption #3!  Our Agency could call any day now with our daughter's referral.  We cannot wait to meet you little one.

Two years have flown by

Two years ago we received a referral and a picture of Henry.  His shirt said "Captain Chaos".  I wondered what we were in for.  Chaos means- a state lacking order or predictability.  Henry has been predictable in many ways- he is always an early riser.  As Rob and I slumber we often are awakened just before dawn by Henry clapping and singing in his bed.  99% of the time Henry is happy and delightful.
However, he is also full of mischief, drama and whimsy which keeps me on my toes!
We love you dear Captain Chaos!  We are so grateful and honored to be your parents.

We have accepted a referral!

Yep, you read the headline correctly. We have accepted a referral for an 18 month old little boy! Let the rejoicing begin.
So, let's celebrate with some music




I love the words to this song- especially:
So Just Remember,
The Next Time You Feel Like December
Remember That Night In September,
When God Wiped All your Tears Away

Frogs, camp and more on the loss of our referral

Swim lesson update: Igor's swim lessons are at the outdoor pool now. The water temperature of the indoor pool was too cold and he was miserable the entire swim lesson. Today's lesson was awesome. The water temperature of the pool was a warm 86 degrees! I wish I had brought my camera. Igor learned how to dive today! I was so proud of him.

The frogs are still here and alive. Igor feeds them and helps me change the water. The frog owners said to change the water every two or three days but after 36 hours the water is so cloudy we cannot see the frogs. Igor holds his nose when he feeds them! We are going to change the water daily because the water is so very stinky and cloudy. I don't think that's good for the frogs. We'll see if changing the water more often helps with the smell. I am so glad that we have a sink in the garage so we don't stink up the house when we change the water. Igor took these pictures while I cleaned the tank.

Igor went to camp for three days this week. He made this pond and duckling. It is proudly displayed on our kitchen table.

For those of you who have prayed for us these last few weeks, thank you. We are at peace with the loss of our referral. We are no longer anxious about the adoption timeline. We know we will receive a referral some day. We are okay with not knowing when we will hear something. When the phone rings I don't think it's AWAA calling. We are living life knowing we will receive a referral at the perfect time. For us, it's very freeing to let go of our preconceived thoughts on when it will all happen. Don't get me wrong, we long to know who our little boy is! We cannot wait to see his picture, to have a court date, to meet and hold him! However, we know there is a plan that is perfect for our family... so we wait knowing the best is yet to come.