Finally our homestudy has made it to AGCI for review!! This has taken so long (in my impatient mind anyway) that when I saw the email from our social worker saying she sent it in I was excited but also had a little reality check moment. You know, one of those moments when you step back and think...this is really going to happen. It was good, and the thought that we are so close to entering the next "phase" of the process was really exhilarating. My heart and mind have been completely consumed by thoughts, prayers and yearnings for Africa lately. I have even been dreaming about it.
My second dream about our son came a few nights ago, Easter Sunday to be exact. I dreamed that I was holding him and nursing him for the first time. We connected, and I just gazed down at his beautiful warm colored face and knew he was ours. I love these dreams just as I loved the ones when I was pregnant with my daughter. What a sweet way for me to start connecting with the spirit of our son.
I started reading There's No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene, and I am just blown away. This book is so good for me. It has helped me get a little better picture of what things are really like in Ethiopia, and has put our adoption into perspective. In the midst of all the emotional ups and downs and waiting it can be tempting to create a fairy tale in our minds leading up to the "Happily Ever After" when we finally meet our child. But hearing personal stories about toddlers being stripped from their dying father's hands and little girls aching over the loss of the only caregivers they have ever known, and seeing pictures of their faces covered in tears breaks my heart but gives me a much clearer picture of what we are doing. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially those who feel a nudge in their heart for Africa.
Continued prayer for paperwork processing would be great! We are more than ready to move into the waiting stage.
March 26, 2008
March 20, 2008
Fingerprints, New Friends and Lifebooks
Yesterday I got our State FBI background check sent off. That felt so good. Things are starting to come together, but I still don't know if we will hit our deadline. They said that the FBI checks take 2-3 weeks to get back. Does anyone know if that sounds about right? If so we should be in the dossier-in-office stage within a month.
Another exciting thing is that I connected with another family here in town that is in the exact same place we are with the adoption, and are requesting a little boy the same age! They are using a different agency, but it seems like all the requirements are pretty standard and similar to ours. It would be so cool if we brought our little boys home close to the same time. What a blessing it will be for them to have a friend of their own nationality to grow up with! It was a blast talking with the mom, and we were on the phone for 45 minutes the first time we talked! She knows a lady here who lived in Ethiopia for three years and who knows the Amharic language and how to cook. She said maybe some time in April we can get together with her and cook some Ethiopian food! It would be great to hear Amharic from someone too before we travel. Maybe we can pick up some helpful phrases. I am so thankful that God has provided other ET families here for us to get to know. There are a few more ET families scattered across the state too so we will have to start a little group of some sort for the kiddos.
I've been thinking of starting to put together lifebooks. I don't want my daughter(bio) to feel left out of what a neat experience "lifebooking" can be so I thought while I'm waiting for a referral I will make her one and get some practice under my belt for when I make our little guy's book. Any hints or tips you all have on making lifebooks would be great!
Another exciting thing is that I connected with another family here in town that is in the exact same place we are with the adoption, and are requesting a little boy the same age! They are using a different agency, but it seems like all the requirements are pretty standard and similar to ours. It would be so cool if we brought our little boys home close to the same time. What a blessing it will be for them to have a friend of their own nationality to grow up with! It was a blast talking with the mom, and we were on the phone for 45 minutes the first time we talked! She knows a lady here who lived in Ethiopia for three years and who knows the Amharic language and how to cook. She said maybe some time in April we can get together with her and cook some Ethiopian food! It would be great to hear Amharic from someone too before we travel. Maybe we can pick up some helpful phrases. I am so thankful that God has provided other ET families here for us to get to know. There are a few more ET families scattered across the state too so we will have to start a little group of some sort for the kiddos.
I've been thinking of starting to put together lifebooks. I don't want my daughter(bio) to feel left out of what a neat experience "lifebooking" can be so I thought while I'm waiting for a referral I will make her one and get some practice under my belt for when I make our little guy's book. Any hints or tips you all have on making lifebooks would be great!
March 17, 2008
finger printing tomorrow
We have one more background check to send off and we will be getting fingerprinted for that tomorrow afternoon. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, but we sure have spent a fortune to prove we are upstanding citizens!
On a less official note, we have had a change in plans concerning our Ethiopian food experience. I knew as I was writting that post that something would come up. Anyway, we are now flying back home at the end of April and will be spending a few days there with friends and family to celebrate our daughter's birthday(I'll start calling her Roxy for privacy). While we are down there we will get some Ethiopian food! It will be a quick trip, but fun none-the-less. Our social worker said she hopes to have our report sent to AGCI by the end of this week, or begining of next week, so prayers that it would go that way would be great! I'll be glad when this part is done, it is such a stressful time crammed into a short 3-4 month period. I don't think I have ever read so many books, on-line courses, websites, and packets in that amount of time. I counted 6 books, 15 on-line courses, 5 magazine articles, two 3-ring binders full of adoption info, and too many websites to count all since January 1, 2008! We still have to finish one book and start another. I'll be glad when we can slow down some and use the next waiting period to continue learning, but at a slower pace. Who knows maybe even pick up a fiction book or read the ONE book I have been wanting to read since the begining,There's No Me Without You
On still another note, I lost some really cute fabric I bought for our little guy's quilt :( I'm so sad. I don't know what happened but it was the PERFECT African print and I loved it. The worst part is that it was several years old and they could not get anymore in. Maybe it will still turn up, but if not I'll be really bummed! Well, I guess that's all since I don't have any improtant updates I just have to fill the space with what I've got.
On a less official note, we have had a change in plans concerning our Ethiopian food experience. I knew as I was writting that post that something would come up. Anyway, we are now flying back home at the end of April and will be spending a few days there with friends and family to celebrate our daughter's birthday(I'll start calling her Roxy for privacy). While we are down there we will get some Ethiopian food! It will be a quick trip, but fun none-the-less. Our social worker said she hopes to have our report sent to AGCI by the end of this week, or begining of next week, so prayers that it would go that way would be great! I'll be glad when this part is done, it is such a stressful time crammed into a short 3-4 month period. I don't think I have ever read so many books, on-line courses, websites, and packets in that amount of time. I counted 6 books, 15 on-line courses, 5 magazine articles, two 3-ring binders full of adoption info, and too many websites to count all since January 1, 2008! We still have to finish one book and start another. I'll be glad when we can slow down some and use the next waiting period to continue learning, but at a slower pace. Who knows maybe even pick up a fiction book or read the ONE book I have been wanting to read since the begining,There's No Me Without You
On still another note, I lost some really cute fabric I bought for our little guy's quilt :( I'm so sad. I don't know what happened but it was the PERFECT African print and I loved it. The worst part is that it was several years old and they could not get anymore in. Maybe it will still turn up, but if not I'll be really bummed! Well, I guess that's all since I don't have any improtant updates I just have to fill the space with what I've got.
March 15, 2008
World Vision Experience: AIDS
Check out this free exhibit that is touring the nation. For all you Colorado people it is coming to Highlands Ranch in July and Ft Collins in October.
March 14, 2008
April 30th
I'm so excited for the end of April. We get to go on a business trip out to Spokane, WA and while we are out that way we plan to make it out to Seattle or Portland for some Ethiopian food tasting. We are not as fortunate as those of you who live in or around big cities and can access this food easily. We have done our research and the closest ET restaurants are 7 hours away in all directions. I am excited to try it and have a little experience under our belts before we travel. Only 46 days left...yum :) I decided breaking up the waiting period with other exiting things like this will help pass the time.
March 13, 2008
Hard Day!
We are really coming down to the wire on our dossier and other paperwork. It looks like several our requirements will have to be redone now :( I have been stressing about all of it coming together as it should for the past month, and today I feel like all my biggest worries came true. It was one of those days when it seems everything goes wrong. Please pray for our process and our emotions as we proceed.
March 10, 2008
Life Books Website
I found this website that is designed to help people make life books for their adopted kids. The thing I really liked about it was the "hand picked links" button. There are some fun links to follow from this page. I thought you other adoptive parents might like to check it out...
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