The Post I Have Been Waiting To Post For...

...10 months, 1 week and 6 days!!!!!

WE'RE NUMBER ONE!!!!!!!!!!

February Number

In all honesty, I really didn't think I would even have a February number.  I thought we'd be celebrating a referral by now.  But apparently God's plans are not our plans.  I really can't complain...because I know with every ounce of my being that he has our daughter hand-picked for us!  I just never imagined we'd only be at this point right now.

"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 certainly come and will not delay."  Hab 2:3 (NIV)

I have that verse on the chalkboard in my kitchen right now and it is NOT coming down until I have a picture of our daughter to display!  I need to remind myself of that TRUTH every day and PRAY it and BELIEVE it.  It's not always easy, but I don't exactly have control over referrals now, do I?  But until I DO have news of a referral to share, I have a framed picture of Africa with our current number on it...which as of TODAY we are now unofficially number.....

Pray with me that our turn comes soon.

First # of 2011!!!

Okay, so NEXT post will be about Christmas ;)  This was more important!

Just got an email from our case worker with our January number (for those of you also on the waitlist with our agency, it is a call month they are just sending out emails first so we don't have to wait for our call to know where we sit) and I was actually SURPRISED for once!  Because our agency's listserv keeps pretty close tabs on where families are on the list, it takes a lot to surprise us.  But not everyone on the waitlist checks in on the listserv, so there is always the chance we can be off a little.  So is the case this time around =)  {Unless I missed some huge news, which in case someone please correct me!}

We are THRILLED to announce we are now my FAVORITE number {except in this case 1 would be my TRUE favorite}, the most PERFECT number....

WOOHOO!!!  Of course, I thought we would be celebrating our referral by now.  But I guess the ONE thing you can expect in International adoption is the UNexpected!!!

One quick prayer request though!  My friend Niki leaves for Ethiopia for her son's court date on the 15th, and we would really love some PRAYER that Lord willing we would receive our referral by then.  If that was the case Niki could love on our little sweetie for us, hand deliver her care package, and take lots of picture for us =) 

December Number!!! & What's In A Name???

The clock is ticking and our time is almost here that we will get to celebrate our much-anticipated referral call!  It's official - we're in SINGLE DIGITS!!!!

Not long now before that 9 fades into a 1 and then into a beautiful little face to gaze at!  Oh what a celebration THAT will be - I just can't WAIT!

So many thoughts are flooding my mind right now...
     -Somewhere, someone is making a VERY hard decision.
     -I miss my baby.
     -The nursery isn't finished started yet.
     -Our life is about to change forever...again!

But words don't accurately describe my heart. 

We've been discussing her maybe name a lot lately.  I haven't mentioned it on here before because we are rather secretive about names during pregnancies (not to mention, I've been trying hard not to mention our names on this blog period...not sure yet if I will make an exception for Lil Miss).  With our son, we didn't announce his name (even to FAMILY) until we were introducing him in the hospital.  There doesn't seem to be a lot of surprise left in pregnancy...and especially since I HAD to know the sex, I really wanted to surprise everyone with the name. 

With holding it in...there's a lot of uncertainty sometimes.  You don't know what others will think (but that only matters a TINY bit) or if it will fit the child you already love to pieces...  So we've been saying Lil Miss' name around here a lot.  Although in HER case, we're not sure yet if we will use her given name as her first name or possibly a middle name?  We don't know it yet, so its hard to make that decision until we know her.

Already though, it seems like her name fits her.  That may sound funny...but we've been learning more about the meaning behind the name we have chosen and it seems to fit our journey and our feelings towards her and our prayer for her.  It seems so unreal that someday I'll be saying it out loud (in public)!

How did YOU choose a name for your child?  Did you choose it because it sounded beautiful or flowed well?  Did you choose a family name that had a significance for you?  Did you choose it because of the meaning?  Everyone seems to have unique reasons as to why they name their child what they do and I'm curious what yours is....please share! 

Giving Thanks!

Today we are filled with:

...and lifting our eyes to heaven with THANKS...

We got some exciting news....

What?!?  Need a closer view!!??!!

We are {unofficially} Number 9!!!

We are overjoyed and SO filled with wonder and gratefulness this THANKSGIVING!!! 

Just what mama dreamed for...

SINGLE DIGITS BABY!!!!!

November Number

Is it REALLY November already???  Even if we are waiting until January (or even February) to see our daughter's face, I'm realizing that that is really just around the corner!

I'm excited to announce our official number for this month...and if you want to see WHY then click to find out what our number was for October before scrolling down. 

So without further ado (this picture seemed very appropriate since I've been packing up our Halloween decor today)......





We




Are




Lucky {?}




Number

And I happen to know for a FACT that we are already number 12{!} because there was another baby girl referral yesterday and they haven't finished their paperwork yet.  So YAY!!!

 

October Number Is...

So we ACTUALLY receieved our official number yesterday....but I was behind on checking my email, and received it as we were running out the door to Growth Group.  Needless to say, I did not have time to post it right then.  So sorry for the one day delay ;) but I'm here now!

Without making you wait painfully long, here is our official October number:

We are very excited with all the movement in the last month, but even more excited to hear that the Ethiopian courts have reopened again!  We have a LOT of families who have been waiting a LONG time for this moment in time and are eagerly awaiting their turn through the courts (as nerve-wracking as it will be). 

For those of you who don't know, each family will actually be assigned TWO court dates.  The first one is for the birth family and the second one is for the adoptive family.  They usually are a week to two weeks apart, and the second court date is the one adoptive families have to travel for (at least one parent).  During this court appointment, the judge asks you a series of questions about your knowledge of the child you are adopting, confirms that you have met the child, and reminds you that this is an irrevocable decision (yay!).  As long as both court dates go well, this is what makes an adopted child a legal part of your family and grants you custody, YAY!!!  (Although adoptive families need to go home and wait for a child's visa to be processed before returning to take them home forever.)

We have families from our agency scheduled with court dates in October, November, and some still waiting to hear of their scheduled date.  Because of that, it sounds like the EARLIEST that anyone would be traveling to take their children home would be November (and that's everything going REALLY smooth...and if you know international adoption, that is not always the case) and clearing out some more beds in Hannah's Hope.  So it sounds like October (and maybe even November) will probably be a pretty slow month for referrals.  But my guess is that December is going to be EXCITING! =D

The good news (the OTHER good news) is that with the holidays rapidly approaching, us waiting families have lot of things to distract us over the next couple months.  But I would encourage you to keep these families who are awaiting court and final travel in your prayers.  This is a stressful, yet very exciting time for them and I know that EACH of them longs to have their child(ren) home for Christmas.

Okay....enough dreaming for me!  Off to make my Lil Man some breakfast!

September Official Number!!!

Although we are still celebrating being in the twenties, our official number this month came as no shock to us.  However, we are anticipating the courts reopening the end of this month, which will hopefully speed things up on this end too. 

Also, if I'm counting correctly, there are eleven families who just returned home with their children.  That leaves LOTS of rooms for open beds and hopefully means more referrals too.

One thing we have learned a little about this month is the relinquishment process that the birthparents of our child will need to go through.  It surprised me actually HOW extensive it is.  Definately explains why the waitlist has slowed down some.  But I am so grateful on how thorough the Ethiopia program is as well.  I would hate to go through all this hard work and get our daughter home and not be 100% confident that she was placed in our arms ethically.  I know of people who will forever have to struggle with those type of situations and it makes me so grateful that God put the right people and circumstances in our life at the time we were researching agencies and that He made AGCI such an obvious choice for us!  I wouldn't have it any other way!

P.S. I don't know why I always make you wait so long to see our number....so I won't anymore...here it is:

Even though I have had a REALLY hard month waiting, I truly know and am completely confident that God's timing is perfect.  So please don't misunderstand my anxiousness with a lack of confidence in God.  I just struggle with not being in control...an issue I am in constant prayer over.  Just because I know that we will celebrate EXACTLY how God knit together our Lil Miss' adoption story when this is all over and done with, does NOT mean the waiting is easy.  It does bring comfort, but it doesn't take away the pain...if that makes any sense. 

I AM excited, however, to share with you some of the projects I've been doing this last week to attempt to keep my mind off the numbers.  I promise to share them with you soon...if I can EVER get my pictures to load.  (My wonderful husband keeps promising to figure out what's going on there, but he's been just a wee bit busy - so please forgive him!)

Alright...on to the rest of my day, but I look forward to sharing more with you later!

In Four More Years....

...I'll be the age that is now our OFFICIAL NUMBER for the month of August. (Confused yet?)

AND...hopefully enjoy four or five kids running around =)

So for those of you who don't know how old I am...

That would mean we are now number...

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=P

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Mad at me yet???

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...

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=)

BRING ON THE CUPCAKES!!!!  We're in the TWENTIES!!!!

Lil Miss....       

We're counting down the days...DREAMING

of the day you are in our arms at last! 

Thinking about you today and where you

might be and what you might be thinking. 

I hope you know how loved you are. 

I can't wait for you to meet all the beautiful faces

that helped bring you home.  I can't wait to kiss those

sweet cheeks and hold you in my arms FOREVER.

Love....     

Your Mama

July NUMBER!!!

Our caseworker, Kiersten called with our official July number today... 

I know that doesn't seem like a whole lot of movement from last month, but when I asked her if there were any referrals in the process she told me that she could say with confidence that our number would be different next month!  With the three referrals that we know of on the listserv, that number is really more like 32.

32!!!

Slowly but surely!  I spent a long time with Kiersten on the phone...which I feel kind of bad about, but not that bad because I haven't talked to her in almost two months and she is leaving soon for Ethiopia.  My heart needed to hear some honesty.  I asked her, "is there any possibility that we could have our daughter home before the end of the year, or do I need to get that thought out of my mind?"  As you know, our goal from the beginning was for our princess to be home in 2010, but with all the changes in the court process and the increased number of families on the list...that is seeming less and less like a possibility.  Kiersten replied that she wouldn't rule out anything, but the reality is that the waitlist is close to 10 months, so most likely we wouldn't be HOME with our daughter until early spring 2011.  *Sigh* 

I also asked if she could give us any better of an idea of the timeframe AFTER referral.  She said that the court process actually seems to have somewhat of a system to it now that its been a couple months since all the changes, and that we could expect anywhere from 2-5 months (rather than the 2-3 months it was before the two-trip policy) from time of referral to our first trip.  Then another 4-8 weeks until bringing her home.  *Sigh* 

I am asking God to show me the positive in this delayed time frame and to help me keep my spirits up.  The fact of the matter is, His timing IS perfect!  He knows exactly what our family needs and exactly what our hearts need!  And through the wait and the pain, He is teaching me to completely rely on Him.  I'm not saying it won't be hard...because we all know I have had my ups and downs emotionally.  But I trust God's plan for our family and I want to choose joy during this wait. 

We would, of course, appreciate your prayers! =)

June Numbers

I've been having a little bit of a down week with the waiting.  There was a two week stint with no referrals and realization started kicking in of how long we have yet to wait.  Regardless of my emotional journey though, I am confident that this is God's plan for our family and that His timing WILL be perfect. 

I was excited and a little nervous to see our "Monthly Update" email from our caseworker this morning.  Excited because...well, I'm curious where we are at.  Nervous, because I was worried that there still hadn't been much movement and I would be dissappointed.  Well...I was pleasantly surprised.  Even with all of our communication with AGCI families on our listserv, we were a lower number than we anticipated (lower is good, the closer to number 1, the closer to our daughter). 

So...without further ado....

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We are NUMBER.........

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New May Number!

Julie called me today (our caseworker, Kiersten, is in Taiwan currently so Julie is taking ALL the number calls this month) with our Official May Number!  Are you ready for it??

???

You sure you're ready for it??

???

I sure was!!!

Yipee!!!!  (April's number was 48, so definately a lot of movement this month.)

We're honestly thinking Christmas time will be referral time, but praying earnestly we can have her home before the end of the year.  Yes, we know it's a long shot.  But we believe in miracles. 

Adoption News??

I currently feel like I’ve run out of topics to blog about, but I figured it’s probably due time y’all received an update on the adoption process. It may seem like things have all of a sudden come to a halt, but in reality they are taking off! There’s just not much to update you on, because it’s just numbers shuffling around.


We are officially on the waiting list, as you know. In April we were #48 on the Girl’s list. We are still waiting for our May updates…they usually come the first week of the month, but my caseworker is in Taiwan helping start a Hannah’s Hope orphanage there, so there is only one caseworker making all the calls this month. Not to mention she has been busy with referrals, which brings a much bigger smile to my face than our high number! =)

If you would like to read about the excitement we are waiting to experience, you can check out some of the families from our agency who recently got “THE CALL”.

FilledWithPraise


BringingHomeBabyKeyser

I thought being on the list was going to be really hard, and I’m sure it will get to be that way later…but for now, I feel a sense of relief. I’ve done all I can! Now I’m just waiting for the moment I get to see my daughter’s face. It’s starting to feel real. Especially since my brother and sister (in-law) just passed court, making their daughter legally a part of their family! I am so excited to have another niece in the family! You can read about their exciting news here.

So although there's no update now, you can expect new numbers from me early next week (hopefully)!

And...HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!  To each and every mother out there...to those holding their children lovingly in their arms, to those feeling their kicks in their belly, to those waiting for them from across the world, to those mourning the loss of a child, and to those who are praying to finally be a mother...  May you find yourself surrounded in joy and love today.

And please join me in prayer today for children around the world who don't have a mother and that God would put the longing in a family's heart to bring them into their forever family.