Let's Feast!

Our family is no stranger to Ethiopian food.  In fact, we love it!  We make it a habit to visit the local restaurants as well as the markets so we can make it at home.  And we certainly find Gotcha Day a great excuse to celebrate our daughter's Ethiopian heritage.

Cocoa Puff in her Ethiopian Scarf

Now I'll be honest here.  I haven't made Ethiopian food in probably two and a half years.  The last time I made it was when I posted the recipes here on my blog!  It's not that it's all that hard.  It is just very time consuming.  And, well, with two littles in the house....I don't have a lot of extra time to spend in the kitchen.  So our normal celebration does in fact take place at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant.

This year, however, when we started planning Cocoa's Gotcha Day, my husband requested that I make the feast.  And I welcomed the challenge!

In the past I have only tried three recipes:

The traditional chicken stew and my personal favorite - Doro Wot.
The Shiro Wot - ground chickpeas in an onion/garlic base that looks about the texture of hummus.
The Ethiopian version of a tomato salad - Yetimatim Saleta.

Oh yes, and the Hambisha Bread...which I skipped this year only because the market had some freshly baked and my husband thought he would save me some time (isn't he thoughtful?).

But this year I thought I would really out do myself (HA!) by adding in some of our favorite recipes that I found in the Ethiopian cookbook a friend from church gave me as a baby shower gift!  So I also made Messir Wot (a lentil based dish) and Curried Cabbage and Potatoes (which is just like it sounds).

I started cooking around 1:30pm and dinner was ready at about 7:00pm.  We invited a couple friends to join us, because - let's face it, we can't eat all that food ourselves!

I'll admit, we don't have the best lighting in our dining room, especially in the evening.  I did the best I could to photoshop them, but I'll admit that food photography isn't my best skill!  

I think she liked it, don't you???

When Cocoa joined our family, we not only gained the best daughter parents could ask for, but an amazing culture and heritage.  And we get the joy and honor to celebrate it with her!  We are so blessed.

If you want to try cooking some Ethiopian food yourself, you can get my recipes right here (except the Messir Wot and Curried Cabbage....I wouldn't feel right about sharing them since I got them out of a recipe book).

Gotcha Day

Today it has been two years since the sweet special mothers at Hannah's Hope placed Cocoa in our care permanently.  What a blessing it is to be parents to our little princess!  She is spunky and sassy and always keeps us laughing.  Her personality is even bigger than her hair, and the girl has got dance moves that just don't quit!  I thank the Lord daily for this little lady.  My life certainly would not be the same without her.

I love you Cocoa Puff!

Happy Gotcha Day!

To learn more about Cocoa's adoption, please watch her adoption video or go back in time to read through our travel journals.  Or of course, feel free to leave a comment below (with your email address) and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

That Sweet Face

Two years ago this very day, my life changed again.  Our world got turned upside down, and all because of the presence of one spectacular little lady.  Two years ago, my heart beat out of its chest and then stopped all together when I saw my daughter's sweet face for the very first time.

She was five months old and tiny as a baby bird.  She was sound asleep when the special mothers led us to her and she opened her eyes just to gaze right into mine.  Words can justly describe a moment like that.  It feels almost magical.

This girl may epitomize the word "diva".  She may wear me out and drive me batty at times.  But I can't imagine my life without her in it.  I love her with every ounce of my being and she is absolutely, 100% worth the wait.

Nothing about adoption is easy.  But with a good support system around you and the Lord to ground you and carry you through the impossibly hard times...it is not only possible, but a huge blessing.  My life is better not only because she is in it, but because of the journey God brought us on to make her a part of our family and the people He placed around us in the process.  It is a life altering journey.  And it is absolutely worth it.

If you are on the fence about whether you should dive into adoption....what's holding you back?  What is keeping you from uninhibitedly jumping in?  Don't let it be fear of the unknown.  Do your research.  Find families who have gone through the process and ask questions.  And pray about whether this is where God is leading you.  There are countless kids around the world and here in the states who don't have a family to call their own.  EVERY child deserves a family to call their own.  Every one.





You can read every detail about our Meetcha Day HERE or click on the "Travel Journal" tag (look at the categories on the right side bar) and read all our posts from Ethiopia.  Or for a summery of the adoption experience please watch our adoption video HERE.

Our Trip to Nashville, Y'all!!!

I know, I know...I've been promising details of this trip for, like, ever now!  I mean for crying out loud, we've been home a month already!  But in that month our entire family has been sick three times, including an ambulance ride to Children's ER.  Is that a good enough excuse to be a little behind on posts?  I hope so...because if not, I don't know what is!  LOL!

So.  Nashville.  Everyone asks us...why Nashville?  You mean, besides my obsession with music and my love of the south (or my mental picture of the south, considering that was my first time actually GOING)???  Well, since we started the adoption process we have had a growing group of friends in the Kentucky-Tennessee area that we have been dying to meet (admittedly, I probably wanted to more than my husband).  We needed a break.  It was a good time to take off work.  We wanted a family vacation.  We wanted affordable.  We wanted warmer weather.  Nashville!

(Not so) patiently waiting for the flight, and getting settled in our seats (our flight left at 6am).

Hollywood's first flight....he was a little excited!

Thank GOODNESS for the iPad

We were blessed with AMAZING weather while we were there.  Just one crazy rainstorm/thunderstorm and the rest was sun-sun-sun!!!  We even got some tan lines (yes, including my little Ethiopian)!

For the first half of the trip we stayed with the B family, who we originally met during our first trip in Ethiopia.  Our dear friends were the ones who blessed us by recording and photographing the moment we met our sweet Cocoa for the first time.  If we hadn't instantly bonded over breakfast that first morning I would have still forever had a connection with Teresa and her amazing family after listening to her sweet southern accent on our "Meetcha Day" video over and over again.  As soon as Teresa heard we were coming she offered us a place to stay (southern hospitality is no joke) at their beautiful home right in Nashville.

They were AMAZING hosts.  Their oldest son offered up his room graciously to our family of four.  They gave us free reign of the kitchen, fed us some traditional southern BBQ, and introduced us to their dearest friends.  There was never a moment we felt in their way or out of place - they just welcomed us into the family with open arms!  Even our kids grew so fond of them, offering up hugs and kisses without hesitation.  It just melted me!  =)

In front of their house

The kids with Teresa's sweet daughter, who was from the same orphanage as Cocoa

Playing in the culdesac

What several days with no nap looks like =)

Saturday, the B family decided to give us a real taste of life in Nashville and took us to a game at Vanderbilt.  I know this will confuse every member of my family considering I have hated sports my entire life....but I can't exactly deny my husband and children adventures like this just because they aren't my favorite.  Plus - you can't top a free game in an open stadium on a sunny afternoon!  Some popcorn, pizza, and hefty water bottles and we were set!  That was....until Hollywood started getting a headache from the heat...and then I knew we had to get our fam out of the sun for a little.

That evening, we had the AMAZING opportunity to got out for an Ethiopian dinner with our amazing AGCI family.  Most of the families lived right within the Nashville area, but two dear ladies, Meredith and Cortney, came all the way from Knoxville to meet us!  Although I have ZERO pictures from that evening (due to two very cranky kids demanding our constant attention) we did have a wonderful time visiting with these lovely families.

The second half of our trip we stayed with the R family over in Spring Hill (south of Nashville).  I met Ashley through our community group of AGCI families on Facebook.  They ended up adopting with another agency (you can read their amazing story here), but thankfully stayed a part of the group and we have stayed connected through our common passion of advocating for orphans.

Ashley and her sweet family took us all over the Spring Hill and Franklin area.  We ate at multiple restaurants, visited parks, and shopped downtown.  They opened up their home to us, organized fun play dates with multiple families, and even purchased a pool to ease us Seattle folk into their 80 degree spring weather. Talk about awesome hosts!!!  And as if that wasn't MORE than enough...they also picked us up and took us to the airport.  Oh my goodness guys....we're so grateful words aren't enough!

Ashley and Makenzie's sweet girls!

Splish Splash!  Fun in the sun!

Some Ethiopian sass from Makenzie's adorable little lady!

Hollywood finally joining in on the fun

Some Instagram Fun =)

Makenzie and her adorable family (who I also met through AGCI) met up with us on several occasions throughout the week as well as inviting us into their home and giving us a tour of East Nashville.  It was fun to have friends all over the Nashville area to show us the best of the best!   And we are so grateful they took the time out of their busy schedule to welcome us to Nashville and let us get to know them a little better.

On Friday, we got a very unique opportunity to meet up with some very special friends whom I have known for a long time, but never met in person until this trip.  This is kind of a crazy story, are you ready?  We met about 5 years ago on babycenter.com when we were all trying to start a family.  My husband and I were at a point that we were ready for kids, but we wanted to surprise our family and friends with the news.  But until there was news to share, I needed a place where I could share my excitement, concerns, and ask questions....and that's when I met these amazing ladies.  It started out as just conversation but grew into deep, meaningful friendships.  Our group grew quite big over the years and we're spread all over the United States and even Australia!  They are some of the best friends a girl could ask for - they let me vent without judging, they have been an emotional support system through every adventure our family has gone on, and I am so blessed to have them in my lives.  SOOOO....when these two awesome ladies from Kentucky were willing to come MEET ME in Nashville, I jumped at the chance!  So finally we got to hug and talk face to face and see each other's precious kids.  SUCH an amazing day.  So THANK YOU Amber and Jenn for making the drive.  It means the world to me.

At the Opry Mall and Rainforest Cafe and a huge thanks to my hubby for graciously watching the kids so we could chat and for actually capturing a photo with everyone smiling!!!  Amazing!

We also had the pleasure of meeting the J and G families on Sunday.  When they heard our family was coming into town they invited us to join them for their joint family dinner, after a tour of the Brentwood/Nolensville area, of course.

Kristi and her family I met through her well-known blog.  Back when we were researching the Ethiopian adoption process, I stumbled upon her blog and Gotcha Day video for Lucy Lane and that was how we were introduced to AGCI!  Kristi welcomed us into her home and gave us the grand tour of her 1800's farmhouse (so cute, and so amazing).  And then her sweet husband offered to watch the kids so that Kristi could drive us around town!

Candi and her family hosted our three families for dinner!  I also met them through the AGCI community and Candi was one of the first to send me photos of our sweet Cocoa at Hannah's Hope (since their family traveled in March, and we didn't go until May).  They gave us our first glimpse of Cocoa's smile....I will NEVER be able to thank them enough for that!!!

It was a house full of laughter and good food - they had quite a spread of southern BBQ and sweet tea (which I have grown to LOVE by the way).  And we were so blessed that we could join the G's in celebrating their kiddos' Gotcha Day as well as Candi's husband's birthday.

Breaking out the cake

At the end of the night we realized it might be wise to get a pic of all the ladies =)

Out of the entire week we had one afternoon with nothing scheduled.  I was a little worried about what we were going to do, but it ended up being SUCH a fun day!  We found ourselves downtown just walking around.  Even though I am not a big city girl and never will be, I do enjoy being a tourist every now and then.  There was some event going on so the streets were packed, but we still had so much fun.

So on top of meeting all these amazing families for the first time, we also got the opportunity to meet up with my cousin, who moved to Nashville last year.  It was so fun to see her in her environment!  Nashville so fits her personality!  Necia took us out to a fun southern restaurant, Jim 'N Nicks, which is well known for their life-altering cheesey biscuits.  If you haven't tried them, you must!  Soooo good!  The kids just LOVED seeing mommy's cousin...she's kind of awesome and always a hit with the kids =)  And then she took us back to her apartment so we could see her part of town and chat for a while.  SO glad it worked for us to get together because it was SUCH a fun evening.

Well!  That about sums up a pretty awesome week!  Have YOU been to Nashville?  What do YOU think?

Coffee Date!!

Fellow blogger Amy @Filled With Praise clued me in to the coffee date that MercyFound Ministries is hosting today.  My coffee is already a little cold thanks to the constant stream of distractions that come with being a mama of two little ones.  But just for you, I'll pop it in the microwave for the third time!  I wish we could be face to face and we could start this conversation with a big hug...but on the bright side, you don't have to listen to my 4-year-old and 2-year-old bickering and crying and tattling.  =)

So whether you need some fancy creamer or you like it black, grab your cup and sit down for a little mama gab sesh...okay? =)  The ladies at MercyFound Ministries asked the questions to get the ball rolling (go check it out for yourself).

1. What first drew your heart to adoption?  Who was on board first - you or your husband?

My husband and I talked about adoption long before we were married.  I don't even remember who brought it up first.  But somewhere along the line when we were planning our family, we forgot about that dream.  At the point that our good friends were in Ethiopia picking up there son, I felt God whack me over the head with a 2x4.  I remember sitting at the computer reading the entire travel journal in one sitting bawling my eyes out because I knew that is where God was leading us.  My husband came home on his lunch break to a blubbering mess, but it wasn't long after that we were submitting our application and starting the long crazy journey to our Cocoa Puff.

2. Share a couple of favorite songs on your playlist.

I am completely on board with Amy on this one....music speaks to me like nothing else.  Once you get me started I could go on all day, so I'm going to limit it to two here.  The first is "Lead Me To The Cross", specifically the version by Francesca Battistelli.  Beautiful.  The second is "Love is Here" by Tenth Avenue North.

3. Do you have a favorite scripture?  One that is especially meaningful to you right now?

Habikuk 2:3 "For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will come and will not delay."  This verse was in my kitchen throughout the adoption process and reflecting on it helped me to find peace in the wait.  Lately as we are seeking God's direction on our next steps, I find myself clinging to it once again.  God's timing is always perfect.

4. Share what country/countries you have/are adopted/adopting from, and what agency you used, if you're comfortable doing so.

Our family adopted from Ethiopia using All God's Children International.  

5. Any quirks or fun things that make you uniquely you (that you want us to know about you:))?

I was a cheerleader in high school, and even though I don't do it for sport anymore, it is something I hope never to give up completely.  I will always be my husband's and my kid's biggest cheerleader and I love to cheer others on as they go through the long adoption process.  You need a "go team go"?  Just say the word!

I play piano, but I actually can't read notes very well so I play based off of guitar chords instead!  I also have a guitar but I have no idea how to play it (but I would love to learn, will you be the one to teach me?).

Unless it is in the form of deep tissue massage, I can't handle people touching my neck.  My husband and kids will tease me by pretending they are going to choke me and if their hands even get near I turn into a crazy karate chopping ninja!

So now it's your turn!  And my coffee mug isn't even empty yet so I'm all ready to hear your answers!  Ready, set, GO! =)

Waiting for the Reveal

As I scrolled through Facebook today, a few friends' statuses sparked a chord with me.  Specifically the few moms I know who are sitting at the top of a waitlist right now, longing for that life-changing call to find out the little person(s) God has waiting for them.  Although I don't mind distancing myself from those all too familiar emotions most of the time, this week the memories are coming back like a flood.  It's still hard to believe that two years have passed since we walked in their shoes, cried their tears, and prayed their prayers.

One week before Cocoa's referral

God's timing in these cases never cease to amaze me.  I look forward to the day I get to rejoice with each of these families celebrating their referrals and hear how God used every detail of their adoption journey for His glory.

Our referral call

On the day we received Cocoa's referral, I remember listening to our case worker on the phone and crying as she shared details of our daughter's story that were so beautiful and intricate, only He could have written it.  Even recently it dawned on me how beautiful the timing of her referral was.  I hadn't connected the pieces of the puzzle at the time, but it was just three years earlier that we were also in a waiting phase.  I'm not sure I have shared that part of our story here before...

In the summer of 2007, after four and a half years of marriage, my husband and I decided that we felt ready to start our family.  It never crossed my mind that it might not happen right away.  After several months of trying, we found out we were pregnant!  Although I was bursting at the seams to tell everyone we knew, we decided to wait until we were a little further along.  Days before we about to announce the great news to our family, I started bleeding.  After a lengthy visit to the doctor and several tests later, they called me to confirm I was having a miscarriage.  We both took the weekend off work to mourn our loss, only telling our employers.

I know many people think we are crazier than heck for keeping that from our families at the time...but you have to understand that we were about to surprise them with awesome news and that this was going to be the first grandchild on my husband's side of the family!   I couldn't bear to ruin the surprise with the news of a miscarriage.

So fast forward to February 2008 when we had just moved into our fixer upper and waiting for God to say "YES" to bringing a child into this world.  I'm sure you can imagine the overwhelming emotions when we got another positive pregnancy test.  We were a little more cautious with our excitement the second time around, but, that being said, I knew I couldn't go through another miscarriage without the support of our family so we decided to share our news almost immediately.

One week before Hollywood was born
Photo Credit: Heather Cowill Photography

It may seem insignificant to some - but I find it really beautiful that exactly two years later we were ending our wait to see our daughter.  That two years after finding out I was going to be a MAMA for the first time, I found out I was going to be a mama for the second time.  Only God could time that so beautifully.

The first picture we ever saw of our daughter - 2 months old, 6 pounds

February 28 may be our Referralversary (haha love that, don't you?)....but I am celebrating BOTH my kids today and the wonderful journey God brought us on to both of them.  My heart is so thankful I have those two crazy kids to call my own.

Photo Credit: Mike Fiechtner Photography

This February we are also in a waiting season.  While I won't compare it to anything like finding out you are becoming a parent (get it out of your head because that is not happening right now)...we are waiting for God to reveal to what is next for our family and discern what His dreams and desires are for our lives.  Somedays are easier than others, but as I reflect on God's perfect timing the last two times in my life...it makes it a lot easier to trust His perfect plan this time around too!