Counting Down

We have our first travel dates!  Feb. 23 is when we will get to meet baby girl for the first time!  We are a tad disappointed that it is so far away.  We originally hoped that we would get to meet her in January, but what's one more month? Right? Right. We're no stranger to waiting.   And this way we'll have a little more time to scrape together our pennies for the trip.  AND since we have a two month lead time, plane tickets will be cheaper too.  So there are a few positives .  Right?  Right.
But still...we are anxious to meet her, hug her, hold her, never let her go. It's kinda strange, this feeling of missing someone you don't even know.  So here's hoping that the next two months go by quickly, smoothly and hiccup free. :)

Impatiently Waiting

This waiting part is no fun.  No fun at all.  We think of baby girl all the time.  What is she doing right now?  Is she having a good day?  What are her favorite things to play with?  Is she being taken care of?  Did she sleep well?  Those are the things that are easy to wonder about.  The simple things.  But many times my mind wanders to her painful reality.  Does she miss her birth mother?  Is she overwhelmed with grief?  Is she confused?  Will she be forever scarred by the trauma of losing her mother, then losing her caregivers at the orphanage?  Are we doing the right thing?    Sheesh, I could make myself sick with worry.

I pass the time and ease my anxiety by reading about others' adoption stories.  There are a billion other adoption blogs out there, with families all sharing their unique experiences. One of my favorites is Flower Patch Farmgirl.  I recommend reading her Big Adoption Series, if you like a good story or are considering adoption.

Getting baby girl's room ready also keeps me distracted.  We now have paint on the walls (robin's egg blue, if you'd like to know).  I've been mentally rearranging furniture, trying to decide on bedding and what to put on the walls.  Which reminds me, sometime soon I'll be posting some details about a cool fundraiser/art project for baby girl and her bare bedroom walls.

And lastly, while we wait for baby girl, we also make t-shirts.

Referral!

She is 16 months old  and she has beautiful eyes.  We can't wait to meet her!  As of yet we have no travel dates, but our best guess is that we will make our first trip in January, to appear before the court and legally adopt her.  About a month later we will travel to Ethiopia again to finally bring her home.  

As much as I want to, I cannot legally post a picture of her on the internet, or give out too much information.   So for now you can just get a glimpse those beautiful eyes.  

Road Trip

Our weekend got off to a rocky start

But we eventually made it to Kansas 

and had a good time with the fam.  

boys...

Sweet 15

We are currently number 15 on the waiting list!  I still have no idea when we can expect a referral, but to give you an idea of our timeline, we have been on the list since January 2010.  And at that time we were number 76.  So we're truckin' right along.
Also, as you may have noticed, we've added a few things to the sidebar of this blog.  Fundraiser things. Just Love Coffee is one of them.  It's simple, really. You order some coffee, we get some of the proceeds.  They are a super cool company who's mission is to help orphans and adoptive families.  Check em out.  Also, there is just a plain 'ol simple PayPal button, where you can give directly to our adoption fund.  Easy peasy.
Now, I hate asking for money.  And thankfully we have saved most of the money on our own so we don't need to ask for much.   And at this time I'm not even gonna ask.  But be forewarned.  There will be a time (as soon as we get a referral) when we will be kicking this fundraiser business into high gear.  So until then prayers for a speedy and smooth process are greatly appreciated.  But of course, we'll take any money any time you feel like donating.  ;)

First days and birthdays

Second grade.  Geez, I’m old. 

 

This is what Ryder was doing before I forced him to pose for his First Day pictures.  It’s 7:30am, mind you. 

My baby headed off to kindergarten today.   Walked right in.  Didn’t need me.  Didn’t miss me.  Apparently I cramp his style. 

    

It’s also Ryder’s 8th birthday.  But he’s not too excited about turning 8 yet.  We won’t have his party for a few weeks.  He wanted to wait until after school had started, presumably to make some more friends.  Which means he could invite more friends.  Which means  more presents.  He’s a genius. 

 

(a double wave, for Aunt B)