The Gift of Unanswered Prayers

Hamster Love & Forever Families

2011-09-27T20:18:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago, we broke down and allowed AlinaJayne to get a hamster. I have to admit, he is quite cute and easy to care for, so it hasn't been the nightmare I thought!

On the way home from the pet store that evening, AlinaJayne told me that day would be her hamster's "Adoption Day." I thought that was sweet, and soon we were home, getting the newest member of our family settled in.

A few days later, Mr. Panda Hamster (yes, this is his name) was in his exercise ball in the girls' bedroom, and I overheard AlinaJayne telling him his adoption story: "Mr. Panda Hamster, you came home to me last week. Your Tummy Mama could not take care of you, and we might never know why. But God knew you needed a Mama to take care of you, so he brought us together, and now we are a Forever Family."

This Mama's heart simply melted. We are so blessed that God made us a Forever Family.

God's Creation & Our Vacation

2011-09-05T10:51:00.004-04:00

We just got back from a short family vacation. We usually go away over Labor Day weekend to Shipshewana, Indiana, however, this year, we decided to do something different. We went to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. Amazing doesn't seem to quite cover it! It is a 70,000 square foot life-like Bible exhibit, with everything from dinosaurs, to the Garden of Eden, to gorgeous botanical gardens, a petting zoo for the kids, and Gomer the camel-the girls got to take a ride on him, and they loved it! We also added on the planetarium show, which I highly recommend-an explanation of the creation of the universe from a biblical perspective. There is a nice cafe, and I loved the bookstore-I could have spent all weekend in there!

It was a amazing trip, you really need 2 days inside the museum to read everything. It is self-guided, so you can move at your own pace, but with a 6 1/2 and 4 year old, that pace was a little faster than what I needed to absorb it all. However, the kids loved it! AlinaJayne was telling us all about the scriptures that related to each display, and she kept saying, "this is sooooo awesome, I love Jesus soooooo much!" She took a few pics of her Daddy and I. When she took one of us in the Garden of Eden, she warned me "not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." I thought, whew, something I can't screw up, someone else already did!!!!! ChallieJayne was belting out Bible songs-until the dinosaur displays-she was terrified! I recommend 2 day passes, which we had. You don't need them to see the botanical gardens or go to the petting zoo. Unfortunately, we were not able to use our passes for a second day inside the museum. On our first full day there, AlinaJayne was not feeling well-luckily there was an urgent care right across the street from our hotel. She had a very nice doctor-poor child had a urinary tract infection. It was all she could do to get through the outside activities on our second day :O(

So we are back home. I really liked Kentucky. It is so much prettier there than it is here in the North-I think I could live there. The people there are so much friendlier than they are up here too. There is some truth to the "Southern Hospitality" saying. Onto the next big thing-the girls want a hamster. We have 2 German Shepherds, 2 house cats, 2 betta fish, and now they want a hamster. The dogs and cats were not acquired by their requests, but the fish were. Hmmm.............it is beginning to seem a bit like a petting zoo around this house!

I have added a collage of pics below. You can click on any pic to enlarge it.

Check back soon. Blessings................

The Gift of Unanswered Prayers.......

2011-08-21T14:56:00.017-04:00

New blog title, new year, almost ANOTHER new year!

To say this year has slipped away is an understatement. This blog has been seriously neglected because, well, life gets in the way, and of course, that darned Facebook is just so easy to give a quick status update and be done. However, I realized that I missed blogging, so I am back, to stay.

So much has happened in the last year. As you know, our baby girl came home from Ethiopia. There were a lot of struggles and adjustments. She was very sick when she came to us, but finally we think all of that is behind us. She had what we think is her last of the medical challenges addressed in early August, which was a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy-which should address her obstructive sleep apnea-YAY! However, even that was not without challenges. She had some post-op complications that required a trip back to the hospital :(
On top of the medical challenges of the last year, there have of course, been the challenges of the family of three becoming a family of four, and getting to know each other. The greatest challenge of all, has been for AlinaJayne, who until June 12, 2010, had been the only child. We know it was tough for her to be 5 years old and suddenly have a 3 year old sister. No amount of pre-adoption preparation could prepare a child for that, regardless of what the "professionals" tell you. Then top of the last year with the cherry-Mama started a new job just 4 weeks before ChallieJayne came home. Whew. Through it all, and only by the Grace of God, things get better each and every day. Praise the Lord!

So, why the new blog title you might ask? It is simple.

Matt and I knew each other in High School, dated briefly and then went our separate ways. In June 1999, our paths crossed again (thanks to a chance meeting by our siblings) and we went on a date arranged by them. We were engaged in July and married in November!

It is no secret that for many years, Matt and I tried to have a biological child. When we realized that would not be an option, we discussed adoption, donor eggs, surrogacy, and every other road to parenting. We had felt a calling to China, but foolishly thought it was "too scary to deal with a foreign government" so we briefly pursued a domestic adoption. It did not take long to realize that was not the path we were meant to take, and that our child was waiting for us in China. In 2005, we started the process to bring our oldest daughter home, and in May, 2006, at the age of 15 months, AlinaJayne joined her Forever Family. We always wanted two children, but this time, we felt the Lord pulling us toward Ethiopia, so in 2007, we started the process to bring our second child home. In June, 2010, we welcomed 3 year old ChallieJayne to her Forever Family.

Wow, that was easy! Right? Piece of cake. Kristy and Matt couldn't have a biological child, so they "just adopted and they all lived happily ever after." The Lord was in control and it all worked out as it should. Right? WRONG! Well, yes, the Lord IS in control and it did all work out as it should, but we did not know that at the time!

For years and years, we tried the "traditional" way to have a baby. Then moved on to fertility pills. Then fertility pills and i ntrauterine inseminations. Then fertility shots and i ntrauterine inseminations. Then fertility shots and in-vitro fertilization. Soon our lives revolved around medication calendars, injection cycles, trips to the fertility doctor and ultrasounds. Matt even learned how to give me a shot into my hip muscle every morning for months at a time! Month after month, cycle after cycle, year after year, nothing, nada, zip, ZERO (except one very early miscarriage). Matt and I were not Christians at the time (well, not in the true sense, we went to church but were not saved and had no clue). We prayed, begged, pleaded with God, made deals, bargains "Please, if you just let us get pregnant ONE time, we promise to do ABC, XYZ." Guess, what? The Lord is not in the bargaining business! He did not answer one of our prayers! It was so difficult for so many years-I couldn't stand to see the baby section at the grocery store, or a department store, and a baby shower invitation? Forget it! It was a miracle if I could even bring myself to MAIL a gift. I was spent! The Lord never listened to one of our prayers, never paid a bit of attention to our pleadings. I cried out, and he ignored me..................

It is all so clear to me now. People ask me all the time "aren't you even a little bit sad that you never got pregnant? Doesn't it ever bother you that you never gave birth?" I can say, without reservation, with complete and total honesty and transparency, a resounding NO! When I look at our children, I thank God. I thank Him for them continually. I am blessed to be their Mother. I look and them now, and it scares me to realize I would have missed out on all of this, if I had gotten *my* way. I thank the Lord for unanswered prayers. When I look at my children, I am reminded "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9.......................

Home 6 Months................

2010-12-12T14:27:00.002-05:00

Six months ago today, ChallieJayne was welcomed into her Forever Family. It is hard to believe it has been six months, but at the same time, it feels like she has always been here. That's the amazing thing about adoption. I think because that new child has grown in your heart for so long, it is as if they are "here" the entire time.

There have been and will continue to be many firsts for us and ChallieJayne. She had her first Halloween, first Thanksgiving. Her first overnight stay with Papa (after begging to have both of the girls at the same time, I think that will be the last time he asks to do that), and now her first Christmas. I don't think she fully understands the real meaning of the season, but she sure has the American mindset about it "Mama, Daddy, I want THAT....and that and that and and and!!!

The adjustment is getting easier each day, we are slowly figuring each other out. Her English skills are phenomenal, especially considering this is her *third* language. She spoke the Oromo language in her birth town, then Amharic at the orphanage in Addis Ababa, now English. Fairly amazing. The girls are together part of the day in school. In the AM for a while before AlinaJayne goes to K-5, then after K-5 until they come home. They are still sharing a room, but giving ChallieJayne her own room is a priority after the first of the year. The intentions were good, allow them to share a room for bonding, but they could both use their own "space."

I have added a collage from Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the start of the Christmas season. Each of the girls have their own tree, decorated with ornaments from their birth countries. Of course, ChallieJayne only has one ornament, as this is her first Christmas home.

Enjoy the pics and have a blessed Christmas!

Where did the time go???

2010-10-02T11:37:00.010-04:00

Wow, I have been remiss in updating this blog! Shame on me! It seems with Facebook as a distraction, I don't seem to get to the business of blogging! I'd thought about deleting our blog, but I have put a LOT of time into it over the years, and I'd like it to be preserved for our kiddos, so here I am!

It has been an eventful few months. We went from a family of three to four (seems like overnight). AlinaJayne is a big sister now, and of course, ChallieJayne has a Forever Family. We have been through many medical issues with ChallieJayne since she has been home, but we seem to be making our way with those. AlinaJayne's medical issues are (hopefully) all figured out (not cured, her situation is a life long issue) but manageable nonetheless. PRAISE THE LORD!

When we had our second post-placement adoption visit with our Social Worker last month, she asked "what fun stuff did you do over the summer?" I thought, SERIOUSLY? We arrived home with ChallieJayne on June 13th, she was in the ER on June 15th, and from there, caring for her medical needs and getting her to specialist appointments was a full-time job. Not to mention the fact that Matt and I work full-time, I had just started a new job in May, only had two weeks off (Matt took three weeks off after I went back to work), we were strangers to this new child, suddenly AlinaJayne was no longer an only child, she was sleeping in her own room for the first time (after sleeping in our bed since she was home from China in 2006), AND we had just gone through a two month scare earlier this year when we thought AlinaJayne had leukemia. Whew! A multitude of changes this last 10 months. We give thanks to our Lord for carrying us through it all! But fun? Really, I don't recall having a free second for that!

I'm not complaining, only reporting. Things have settled down, and we are all settling in to this new normal more each day. It is fall (my favorite time of year), the leaves are vibrant orange, red and copper, and there are so many opportunities to see God's work on a daily basis. I really think I am stronger and more appreciative of all of the gifts and blessings in my life as a result of all of our experiences. It's all good!

Enjoy the pics. I promise to refrain from being a stranger!

(Click the photo to enlarge)

Almost one month

2010-07-10T23:45:00.004-04:00

On Monday we have been a family of 4 for a month. In some ways it seems like it was just yesterday that she came home-in other ways, it seems like she has always been here.

She has certainly been through a lot in her short time here. A nasty respiratory infection that took 3 weeks worth of antibiotics, steroids and breathing treatments, a horrible intestinal parasite (successfully treated), two trips to the lab for bloodwork, two stool sample collections (I'll spare you the details), and two dental appointments. She was scheduled to have 4 crowns and 2 fillings, but once the pediatric dentist got a good look, she determined that some fillings and re-surfacing would save her top 6 front teeth. Thank God!

Whew........now we are on to just settling in. Although that is going very well. She initiates family hugs. She says "I love you." She sleeps in her own bed at night. And she and her sister are getting along like, well, sisters! They both have very stubborn streaks, and are very independent and strong-willed. Makes for an interesting house! In fact, her first full English sentence was the other day......she informed Matt "Ababa, Sissy not be nice to me." Yikes. Today she announced "Sissy got in trouble." Let's just say they are very entertaining!

On to the next challenge. Getting AlinaJayne to sleep upstairs in their room all night. Aside from one night, she has been in our room every 1-2 hours all night, every night, while her new sister sleeps soundly upstairs.

On that note, I guess I'll stretch out in our bed all by myself. Matt gave in and went upstairs to sleep with the girls (AlinaJayne) after her second trip downstairs.

(click to enlarge)

A New Week

2010-06-27T21:44:00.005-04:00

Well, it is back to work for me in the AM. I know it could not be avoided, but it hurts me to have to go back so soon. It is a new job, and I was only there for 1 month before I had to take a "leave" for the adoption, so there was no other way. I know Matt will have a great time with the kids, and they need that special time as well.

We are all starting to settle into a routine now-although we hope it will not be our normal routine. ChallieJayne has been very sick-pneumonia that will not go away. One ER trip, 2 doctor appointments, 2 rounds of antibiotics, 2 rounds of oral steroids, and 8 breathing treatments per day (all multiple times per day)-not to mention her treatment for an intestinal parasite. That in itself is a part time job. We had to make a medication chart to keep up with everything! We also think she has a couple of food allergies, so we are trying to solve that puzzle as well.

AlinaJayne is still very......"Mothering" to ChallieJayne, but she is doing much better this week. ChallieJayne is finally allowing me to be out of her sight without having a meltdown! Thank you Jesus!

The other "fun" at this house is our "program" to get the girls to sleep upstairs in their own room. Or should I say, AlinaJayne? She has slept with us in our bed since we came home from China over 4 years ago, so this has been tough for her. In fact, she didn't even want to sleep up there with *me* in the room. She wanted all 4 of us to be in our bed downstairs, or all 4 of us in their room. ChallieJayne does not like to co-sleep, so this was not happening! I spent the first 2 weeks home sleeping upstairs with them to get them used to the room-and I spent the last 2 weeks rolling off of the twin bed onto the floor every time I tried to roll over! This week, it is Matt's turn, so I get OUR bed! YAY! His plan is to gradually leave them up there to sleep alone starting this week. Wish us luck! He even "bribed" them by adding a TV and DVD player to their room today. In all fairness, we have our TV on in the bedroom all night, so AlinaJayne is used to that. Plus, ChallieJayne is used to the noise of an orphanage, so this will help her too.

Tomorrow is ChallieJayne's first (of what will be many) dental appointments. She needs a LOT of work. I hope she cooperates-the language barrier makes it tough.

More later. Enjoy the pic.

A little over a week

2010-06-20T23:07:00.010-04:00

(Back home-click to enlarge the pics)

I cannot believe we have been a family for a little over a week now. So much has happened since we became family of four!

Sweet ChallieJayne has been sick since we met her at the airport, and was diagnosed with pneumonia on Tuesday. She has been on two breathing treatments, an oral steroid and an antibiotic since then. Last night was really rough for her in terms of breathing/coughing, and Mama was awake all night with her. I arm starting to think she has asthma too. Then we found out (but were not surprised) that she has giardia. Anyone familiar with that knows this is not fun. The medication is very nasty tasting, and the treatment is long. We had to have the medication made especially for her by a compounding pharmacist so she will take it. Poor baby has been through so much.

Other than the health issues, she seems to be settling in nicely. Of course there is some competition between her and AlinaJayne, but I'd expect nothing different. They'll get there! She calls me Mama or Mommy, and Matt "Ababa" which is Amharic for Dad. AlinaJayne is "Seesy." I think the cutest thing is what she calls Papa. That would be "Apapa." Like a combination between "Ababa and Papa." It is so sweet to hear her say "I love you" and to recite her ABC's. The accent is too cute!

Mama goes back to work in a week, then Daddy is home for four weeks with the kids. I will miss them, it has been nice to be at home with them, but I know they are in excellent hands! They've got themselves a great Daddy! Which, by the way, AlinaJayne has decided to start calling Matt "Baba" again. This is Mandarin for Dad. Hmmmm...........

Speaking of Dad. We had MY Daddy up for Father's Day dinner on Saturday. We were not able to attend the party at his house on Sunday since ChallieJayne has been sick. I took a lot of fun pics, so do enjoy.

Off to try to sleep a bit tonight.

Check back soon.

(Father's Day Weekend-click to enlarge the pics)

Forever Family Day (and the entire weekend too)!

2010-06-14T23:00:00.014-04:00

The day FINALLY arrived! Our daughter is finally home from Ethiopia. But keeping true to the drama of our journey, not without some worries.

We knew ChallieJayne's flight was scheduled to land at 3:40PM on Saturday June 12th in Newark, NJ, and that she was being escorted by Ivy, who works for our agency in Ethiopia. We knew she was in good hands. All of the immigration paperwork was done (and done correctly), the POA's were in place to have her escorted to the USA. We left the hotel and took the shuttle to Terminal B at Newark Liberty International Airport at 1:45PM. It should go off without a hitch, right? Sure, if it was another family's life!

We had time to have a quick, last lunch as a family of 3 before heading down to the International Arrivals Terminal to wait for our baby to arrive. We got to the waiting area at 3:00PM, and received an e-mail notice that the flight had landed early a 3:20PM. So we waited, camera ready, AlinaJayne waiting with the stuffed elephant she had for her new sister. At 3:45PM, a rush of travelers came out of U.S. Customs. Nope,she was not in the group. At 4PM, another group came rushing out. We knew we'd be meeting our newest child now! Nope, not in this group. Matt checked the monitor again-yep, the flight had landed. At 4:15PM, another group, this time we even saw the flight crew from Lufthansa. She MUST be coming!

5:00PM came and went, as did another group of travelers through customs. No ChallieJayne. We started to wonder, at what point should we be worried? Who do we call? What can we do on a Saturday anyway? We decided to move to some chairs and figure out what to do next. AlinaJayne had been so good and patient waiting through all of this, way better than we were!

Finally at 5:20PM, we saw what looked like Ivy (we had seen pictures) and a little girl being pushed in a stroller-it WAS ChallieJayne!

She was very shy at first (we had heard from many families who had traveled to get their children how sweet and loving she was...........but she seemed very, very shy and unsure). She really wanted to stay with Ivy. Then Ivy told her "Chaltu, you need to go with them, they are your Mommy & Daddy & Sister." Finally she allowed AlinaJayne to talk to her, then she approached me and felt my face. I allowed her to come to me, and she motioned for me to hold her, so I did. Then, without warning, she kissed me on the cheek. This was a very different experience than it was with AlinaJayne!

Ivy said her goodbye's and it was then that ChallieJayne started to cry for her. She continued to cry as we waited for our shuttle back to the hotel, all the way back to the hotel (in China, people expected this, they knew the Americans were there adopting babies, so they were understanding-here, nobody had a clue, thought we had a misbehaving child), and up until we got into our room. Once she was there, she did stop crying, played with the toys (although she did not immediately take to AlinaJayne), ate a snack and had some juice, and allowed me to give her a bath. The poor baby fell asleep sitting on a suitcase after supper, so Matt put her in bed with him!

We made a 12 hour trip back home on Sunday, stopping briefly so Matt's Mom and my Dad could at least see her (although she never woke up once)! Both of the girls traveled extremely well, even if ChallieJayne never woke up-even when I got her ready for bed after midnight! During the trip back, she decided that AlinaJayne was pretty cool. She even allowed her to play "rock, paper, scissors" with her, AND put her shoes on her! The night before, she wanted NOTHING to do with her!

The entire family slept until 10AM, then headed out to run errands (and to have ChallieJayne's first of two bloodwork appointments). She is settling in nicely, and learning her way around the house. She calls me Mama or Mommy (has NO trouble yelling for me), calls Matt "Ababa" which is Amharic for Dad, calls AlinaJayne "seesy" for sissy, and is absolutely terrified of our youngest cat. Not sure how she will do when the older, grouchy cat and German Shepherd are home on Tuesday! She also randomly tells us "Mommy! I love you!" or "Ababa, I love you." She counts to 10 in English (started doing this by herself, but AlinaJayne has been helping her). She sings songs and speaks in Amharic all day, but mixes in some English when she sings "B I N G O" and "Old McDonald."

Lots of new things around this house. We are so blessed. Enjoy the pics and check back soon.

***Click on the pics to make them bigger*****

(Forever Family Day)

("Almost" and Back Home)

We're Here!

2010-06-12T10:33:00.003-04:00

After a 10.5 hour road trip (including 4 stops and one wrong turn) we are here in Newark NJ. ChallieJayne is on her way here (Via Frankfurt, Germany, which is so appropriate since my Mom's family was from Germany) as of this posting! Her flight is scheduled to arrive at 3:40PM.

During her stop over in Frankfurt, she was able to spend some time with another family from our agency, and she will be sending some pics. It was nice to wake up to a Facebook update from her today confirming she is on the way!

We are about to become a family of FOUR!!! in a few hours.

More later!

(The view from our hotel room)

FINALLY!

2010-06-05T17:27:00.006-04:00

Well, I have finally put aside my caution and decided it was time to post-CHALLIEJAYNE IS COMING HOME!!

As international adoption goes, this has been a roller coaster. We knew on May 25th that ChallieJayne's embassy appointment for the visa interview would be on June 2nd, and that her homecoming was tentatively set for June 12th. We have been waiting for the final itinerary (which we still do not have)so we wanted to keep things under wraps until we had that. However, our agency assures us that this *is* happening, which means we will leave next Friday, so I simply cannot keep this quiet any longer! I am trusting in the Lord that this will all happen according to His perfect timing.

A couple of other families from our agency were in Ethiopia this week adopting their children, both of who were at the embassy with her during the appointments. One e-mailed me and wrote "Just wanted to let you know Samantha and I saw your little Chaltu at embassy today. Jessica brought her and was raving about what a great personality she has. Afterward we all went to Kaldi's for coffee and Jessica bought her some ice cream. She was having a great time. We wanted to get a picture for you but they didn't allow cameras at the embassy."

Another posted on my Facebook wall just today "Guess who I hung out with in Ethiopia?! Your Chaltu! I held her on the way back from her embassy appt! I learned that she loves: gum, sunglasses and ice cream! Got pics too!"

Can I say WOOOOOOOO HOOOOO???!!!!???

We are so thankful for all the support of our friends and family during this seemingly endless wait. A big thanks to all of the families who have traveled to Ethiopia to meet their children, who have taken photos of our girl for us-those are precious and helped sustain us during the long wait.

There will be more to come. Check back soon!

One more milestone

2010-05-18T20:20:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update here.

We received a notice from the National Visa Center yesterday, informing us that ChallieJayne's immigration approval was forwarded to the United States Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! Once the staff there downloads the information, they will issue her an appointment for the visa interview, and issue her a visa to enter the United States-and she'll come HOME!

We are not sure what the timing will be, but we are hopeful it will be in the next month or so. WOOOOOO HOOOOO!! Praise God!

Stay tuned. More to come :O)

5/10/10......SO WHEN!!????

2010-05-15T23:33:00.005-04:00

Well, on May 10th we found out that our document to classify Chaltu/Challie as our immediate relative was in fact approved. In fact we found out it was actually approved on May 6th!

For those of you who do not know this, this is the document that states she can be issued her American Visa to enter the country and come home to us!

So now we wait for notification that she is ready to be escorted here. We have been told it could be on the East Coast on May 28th, or the West Coast on June 2nd. Or even DC on Jun 10th. All we can do is wait!

What a day that will be!!!!!!

Check Back Soon!!!!

Of Mothers & Daughters...............

2010-05-09T15:06:00.017-04:00

Today I am celebrating the best gift I have been given (next to my hubby of course), being a Mama. Four years ago today in a hot and stuffy room in Changsha, Hunan, we met AlinaJayne for the first time. I have been blessed beyond comprehension to be able to parent AlinaJayne. I tend to be very focused and driven, and she makes me stop and realize what is truly important in this world. It's amazing how much a 5 year old can teach an almost 42 year old about life. God knew what he was doing when he made us a family.

I am also thinking about our youngest daughter who is waiting for us in Ethiopia. I would give anything to have her here with me on this Mother's Day, but we are at the mercy of a less than perfect Immigration system that does not see the importance of bringing children home to American parents. I will never be able to fix the system, so all I can do is pray that she is safe, send love in my prayers, and hope that another family who is traveling to bring their child home will take pictures for us. Her birthday was May 7th, and we missed that. Our agency spoke with the immigration officer on April 28th, and he said the supplemental documentation that our agency provided would be sufficient, so we expected to receive written confirmation of this last week. Unfortunately, this did not come, so we keep waiting. I have to say that I am doubtful that she will be home by the end of June-even though our agency predicted the end of May/early June. A Mama always knows...

On this Mother's Day, I also find myself thinking about AlinaJayne & ChallieJayne's Birthmothers (and AlinaJayne's Foster Mama/ChallieJayne's nannies).We owe so much to them. Without the selfless and painful decision their Birthmothers made, we would not be their parents. We are also so grateful for AlinaJayne's Foster Mama and the nannies who are caring for ChallieJayne until she can come home. They have all had such an important part of these children's early lives.

Today we did the annual Mother's Day planting. We always landscape my Mom's grave for the spring/summer season, and then come home to plant roses and lilies for AlinaJayne's Birthmother (aka Tummy Mama) and Foster Mama. Next year we will also be planting a rosebush for ChallieJayne's Birthmother.

I will end this post with a profession of love and gratitude for my own Mom. She sacrificed so much for us, always putting herself last to be sure we had what we needed. When you are a child, this selflessness is lost in the drama of day to day life. As a Mama, I realize that I own her more than I could ever re-pay her. I can only hope to be a fraction of the woman she was.

I saw this on a friend's webpage today and wanted to share it.

IF ROSES GROW IN HEAVEN

"If roses grow in Heaven, Lord, pick a bunch for me, place them in her arms & tell her they're from me. Tell her that I love &
miss her and when she turns to smile, place a kiss upon her cheek & hold her for awhile. Because remembering her is easy. I do it everyday. There's an ache within my heart that will never go away."

Enjoy the pics. You can click on them to enlarge them.

Happy Mother's Day.

(Mother's Day)

(ChallieJayne)

More USCIS............

2010-05-02T23:33:00.018-04:00

(Immigration Officer)

You have all likely read the drama from Monday 4/26, concerning the non-existent documents that USCIS was requesting from us. Items and documents that simply are not available in Ethiopia.

After we mentally processed this information and e-mailed our agency, they contacted us and said they would have their coordinator in Ethiopia write a letter, as would our agency's United States office, which would be sent back to USCIS for review this week. However, if this was not helpful, we should get our senators and congressman involved. Sounds like a lot of fun, right? Well, while we waited, the immigration officer contacted our agency on Thursday 4/29, to let them know that they accepted the extra documentation that both the United States and Ethiopia had provided, and were ready to adjudicate the file...... Oh, but not without a catch....they could not seem to find the notarized divorce decrees for our previous marriages (which I most certainly sent.) Matt gave our agency permission to fax those decrees directly to USCIS (so now they have them).

Based on all of this, our agency told us that as long as the National Visa Center receives this information by next week, ChallieJayne should be on track to be home by the end of May or early June!

Still praying fervently here......................
Our agency has really been here for us when the times got rough!

More later.....................

I WILL PRAISE YOU IN THE STORM.....................

Crushed, confused.............

2010-04-26T19:24:00.005-04:00

I am not even sure where to begin or what to think.

I just arrived home from work to find that USCIS rejected our I600 application. Their reason is that they say that part of the supporting documents were not filed. Specifically, they will not approve the I600 because our daughter's birth mother did not provide a *written* statement relinquishing her parental rights, and because there is not a death certificate for her birth father.

I called and e-mailed our agency but of course, they are closed already.

We are so worried about this. They do not keep accurate legal birth and death records in Ethiopia (and sometimes no records at all)-what if these documents cannot be produced? We passed court in Ethiopia, the judge accepted that her birth mother appeared at the hearing and stated she could not care for her, the Ministry of Women's Affairs approved the adoption and wrote the letter supporting it.....we thought the tough part was behind us. We followed ALL of the rules, it is all legal, and now our own country will not allow this adoption?

We don't even know what to think.

So, What IS Taking So Long????

2010-04-25T17:28:00.005-04:00

Tape. Red that is. Government, bureaucracy.

While I admit I *think* I have a better handle on the unexpectedness of adoption this time around, I am still impatient. I also still find myself "concerned" about the details.

We have noticed (and it has been pointed out to us), that families who passed court 3 weeks after us are already home with their children. On top of that, families who just passed early in April have May 19th embassy dates. Hmmmm. We passed on February 1st (although I noticed that the adoption paperwork from Ethiopia says February 2nd). But still no embassy date. We know the I600 (the document that is filed to classify your child as a relative) was filed by our agency on March 22nd, and we received written confirmation that USCIS did in fact receive it on March 24th. So where is our embassy date?

I finally stopped wondering and broke down and asked our agency. We were told that the notice we received from USCIS verifying that they had received the I600 application, simply means that it was received in their central lock box (I think this was in Missouri). From there it was sent to our local USCIS office (Detroit), and they are NOTORIOUSLY SLOW in terms of processing anything. While I knew this, I guess it did not occur to us that the notice we received did not mean Detroit had our file yet-which is where all of the action will take place. I pulled out a copy of our immigration approval, and the cover letter listed some of the common applications and the respective processing times for the Detroit office. I almost fell out of my chair! They listed 3 months as the processing time for the I600! T-H-R-E-E MONTHS! This does not include the time it will take to then get an embassy date, OR the additional time it will take to get the escorting arranged! YIKES! Math is not my strong suit, but it seems to me 3 mos will be sometime after June 24th, then another month (or so) to get an embassy appointment, THEN about another month to have the escorting arranged. According to my math, it looks like.......August?

I keep re-reading some encouraging e-mails and Facebook messages from some of my Christian friends, reminding me it is not in *my* time, and that worrying will not do me any favors. Most recently, my friend Anne reminded me "God already knows our future, and even if we're craning our necks to try and figure it out we aren't going to accomplish a thing except wasted energy and frustration. Trust Him. His best is a whole lot better than ours."

I am reminding myself of that constantly.

On a more positive note. AlinaJayne had a good, healthy week. No headaches, no fevers, no infections-just one nosebleed that stopped with a nose clamp and Afrin nasal spray. She still needs to see the specialist in May, but we welcome the good week. Plus, she gained back the 3 pounds she lost in the hospital. My Dad had to undergo some unexpected cardiac testing Friday (stress test Monday which was abnormal/different than the last, and then a cardiac cath on Friday) and he does not need another bypass or more stents at this time. PRAISE THE LORD!!!

So there you have it. See, I promised to keep this blog updated now :O)

Adoption Update!

2010-04-17T22:23:00.010-04:00

There has certainly been no lack of activity in this house-just a Mama who has been remiss in reporting the recent events. In order to bring you up to speed, here is the latest news.

On March 4th we received Chaltu's (I will likely refer to her as ChallieJayne or Challie from now on) Ethiopian birth certificate. We were told by our agency that they were just waiting for the rest of the adoption and court documents to arrive so that they could file the paperwork to classify her as our relative (this is the I-600 in adoption/immigration speak). On March 11th, we found out that the local immigration office officially updated our approval to reflect an older child, YAY!
Then on March 22nd, our agency informed us that they had in fact submitted the I-600(and immigration verified that they received it on March 24th)!

So now what?

We wait for an embassy date in Ethiopia. This is when the visa interview occurs, and when she is issued a United States entry visa to come to the US! We don't know when or where, but we were told by our agency that it has typically been taking 6-12 weeks from the time the I-600 was filed to the embassy appointment. She will be escorted to the US, and although we do not know the exact port of entry, it looks like there is a good chance that it will be Washington, DC. We will drive there a day or so before and rest up before we have our "Forever Family Day." We were hoping it would be before her birthday, but since that is May 7th, it does not look like that will happen.

Reminding myself that it is all in His perfect timing.

I have posted some pics. Thank God for the families who have already traveled to pick up their children and volunteered to take pics of our sweet girl (THANK YOU AMANDA)! From the pics we have, we have determined a few things:

(1) There are a LOT of pics of her eating-she will fit in well with this family :O)
(2) She has a LOT of personality (will be very interesting with AlinaJayne)
(3) From the bruise on her forehead, she is as graceful as the rest of this family
(4) I may finally have a daughter who is short like me

The other thing we found to be amusing-there is a pic of her on the potty, and she has the exact same undies that AlinaJayne had when she was 3!

Check back soon. I promise to be better about keeping this blog updated! In the meantime, enjoy the pics.

(you can click on the collage to make it bigger)

Absence explained.........

2010-04-17T21:47:00.004-04:00

Hello all,

It has been a LONG time since I have posted. I want to bring you up to date on what has been going on and why I have been absent from the business of blogging.

As some of you may know, AlinaJayne has been sick a lot this cold and flu season. It seems like this normally healthy child has caught every bug imaginable this season. The last time was March 31st to April 5th. She had a high fever , 2 severe nosebleeds a day and headache. We took her to the ER on April 4th for a nosebleed that would not stop, and they completely dismissed us. Sent us home with a nose clamp. No labs, no testing. Being a Nurse Practitioner, I struggled to maintain my professionalism. After this last round of sickeness, she saw the doc, and I asked for labs to be checked. Her white blood cell study came back last Friday, and was markedly abnormal. There are a handful of possible causes for this, and unfortunately, of the possible reasons, leukemia is one of them. I made an appointment for her to see a pediatric oncologist this week.

Fast forward to he evening of Monday 4/12. She woke up in bed, grabbed her head screaming "it hurts so bad, make it stop" and simultaneously projectile vomited. While we were trying to get her ready to go to the ER, she continued to hold her head and scream and vomit. She had a CT scan in the ER and blood work (at this time her white cells were normal again, so the ER doc did not think she needed to see the oncologist), and was admitted for further testing. She had a brain MRI, EEG, and a LOT of blood work. Saw and ENT and neurologist. The tests were normal, the ENT said she has large, fragile veins in her nose that are easily ruptured and not to worry about that (thank God), and she was diagnosed with migraines. On top of this, while she was in for all of the above, she developed some sort of stomach issue, and had 15 watery stools in 2 days-for which they could find no cause-thank God she had an IV. To our disappointment, her white cell count is markedly abnormal again, and she will need to see the hematologist/oncologist.

She came home Thursday PM, and is acting fine now. I really feel bad that a 5 year old has migraines (I have had them for 25 years), but our biggest concern is obviously ruling out leukemia. We are praying that it is only a congenital disorder. The tough part is not having any birth history to tell the physicians about.

Needless to say, we appreciate all prayers and positive thoughts.

I will post an adoption update soon. I feel ChallieJayne deserves her own posting.

More later.

More 02/01/10 News!

2010-02-04T23:02:00.016-05:00

We found out today that Chaltu's case PASSED COURT! Praise GOD!

What does this mean? According to Ethiopian law, we are legally her parents! We still have a LOOOOOONNNNGGG way to go in the process. We found out on Tuesday that there have been some errors on the part of the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Service) in updating the immigration approval. We were originally approved to adopt a child up to 30 months-but once we accepted the referral of Chaltu, we had to update the approval to reflect an older child. We found out Tuesday that USCIS did not receive all of the documentation needed to update the approval. We are praying that this is resolved soon. This must be done before any of the "usual" steps can be taken to bring her home-and that process is lengthy. So lengthy that we are not even telling our employers, most families, or posting on Facebook-we just don't have any concrete answers about *when* this will happen. Plus, those who are not familiar with adoption tend to not understand the process, and it makes for a difficult wait.

So you say you want details? Her tentative b-day is May 7, 2007. Her name is Chaltu, we will name her ChaltuJayne Keaton Baird, and will call her ChallieJayne/Challie for short. Like "Charlie" without the "R." Like my Dad (Charles) and my Mom (Jayne).

Now that the court case has passed, we can post pictures :O) Thanks to all of the families who have traveled to Ethiopia, we have 53 pictures of ChallieJayne. However, I need to scan them, so only a handful are digitized. That is going to take me some time to do!

So, until then, enjoy the photos I have posted. I have included a caption under each, and you can click on any pic to enlarge it.

Check back again!

The first picture we saw of ChallieJayne-referral

The second referral picture

Ethiopian Christmas

ChallieJayne with the gifts we sent her in her welcome bag-photo album, ladybug and t-shirt that says "Special Delivery From Ethiopia."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALINAJAYNE-02/01/10!

2010-01-31T22:05:00.015-05:00

Today our girl turns 5! I can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday we were receiving our referral from China, for a "baby girl who just turned 13 months old."

We baked cupcakes for her school snack on Monday. Well, I baked and frosted, and AlinaJayne was in charge of the detail work-like the sprinkles and conversations hearts. I think they turned out pretty cute :O)

Time sure does fly. I keep telling her that I want her to stay little forever, that I want her to be my baby girl just a little longer. But she reminds me "Mama, I've got to grow up, I can't stay little forever."

She is right. So I cherish these fleeting moments.

We love you our sweet girl!

We'll post more pics later-small party for Grandparents on Saturday.

Here's the scoop

2010-01-29T20:16:00.006-05:00

Here's the scoop on this seemingly never-ending adoption process.

Chaltu was supposed to have her day in court on January 6th. None of the cases scheduled for that week were heard. Some were re-scheduled for February 1st, some were "pending." Ours was allegedly re-scheduled for January 14th.

January 14th came and went, and you guessed it-no news. Was her case heard? Wasn't it heard? Did it pass? Did it fail? Our agency said "they did not know anything. Period.

Being "seasoned" adoptive parents, we tried to sit back and be patient. However when other families found out Monday that they had court dates THIS Wednesday January 27th, and then they passed (praise God for those families and their great news), we decided it was time to make some noise.

Matt called our agency Thursday and once again, he was told they did not know anything, and that a lot of families were in this limbo that we are, but for a lot longer. He pressed the issue. Was the case heard on January 14th? If it did not pass, why? When might it be re-scheduled? The agency rep said she'd contact the attorney in Ethiopia to see what she could find out.

Turns out, there was some documentation missing from the file (nothing we missed, on Ethiopia's end) and that the case was scheduled to be heard again on Monday February 1st...........AlinaJayne's 5th birthday!

Could be an even more exciting day than usual.

Praying for God's perfect timing.

Miss you Mom.......................

2010-01-18T20:50:00.004-05:00

"May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back, May the sun shine warm upon your face, May the rains fall soft upon your fields, And, until we meet again, May God hold you in the Palm of His hand." Miss you Mom, more than you can ever know......Jayne Anne Keaton (Alderman)
08/25/1948-01/18/2000..................

Ten years ago today, my Mom went home to be with our Lord and Savior. I miss her more than anyone can imagine.

No word whatsoever about whether or not our case was heard in court on 1/14.

Will post when we know something.

No Dice.................

2010-01-07T22:33:00.004-05:00

We found out on Wednesday that there was no good news-we did not pass court. That is all our agency knew as of the close of business. They knew if the other families who were also scheduled for a court hearing had failed, were pending, or were re-scheduled-but did not know what *our* status was! Not a lot of useful information :O(

We did find out today that none of the cases that were supposed to be heard this week actually passed. It seems they were all missing required letters from the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA).

Our case has been re-scheduled for January 14th.

Stay tuned.

Oh, and Merry Christmas (Melkam Gena). It is Christmas in Ethiopia.

Wednesday 01/06/10

2010-01-03T22:18:00.014-05:00

Wednesday will be a big day for us. This is the day that Chaltu's case is heard in court in Ethiopia. *IF* we pass, we will be her legal parents, and can move forward with the adoption process.

On top of that, our USCIS (Immigration) fingerprints are being re-taken on the same day. Nothing is wrong, they need to be updated every 15 mos until and adoption is completed, so this is the day the government randomly assigned to us for our appointment. Funny these two major events ended up happening on the exact same day-a half a world apart, and without our input.

Coincidence? I think not.

Please pray for positive outcomes for all of us~once we have been notified that we have passed court, we can post pics! YEAH! We just saw three new ones of her today-all the kiddos lined up on potties for a bathroom break. Too cute! Looks like her hair is coming in nicely-and it is all TIGHT curls. I am not even going to TRY to figure it out-I am asking Auntie Dawn for her help!

Check back soon :O)

Christmas News!!!

2009-12-24T11:06:00.005-05:00

We received some unexpected news this AM. Our agency e-mailed us late last night to tell us we have a court date in Ethiopia! Our case will be heard JANUARY 6th!

We are still not sharing this info with many people. SO MANY things can happen......Most people know we have been in the process for a very long time, so this is not a top secret activity. However, there are so many unknowns in international adoption, it just does not make any sense to share too much info when we really don't know all that much. There just is not any concrete info to share with family and friends. In fact, I think there are actually many more unknowns than there were with AlinaJayne's adoption from China. With that program, you have definite dates and info in a fairly predictable fashion. With Ethiopia, the entire process is different. We know we have a court date-but we may fail on the first date and have to wait for a second, third, etc. We have no idea when homecoming may be (plus our child will be escorted, adding more time). Spring? Summer? We can't even tell our employers anything yet-we don't have any idea what the timing might be, and it makes no sense to say "hey, we have a court date and we *might* pass court, and we will need some time off, but we don't know when." It makes more sense to wait for real dates-that part of the process is very frustrating.

On another note. A waiting family from our agency is in Ethiopia right now visiting. I forgot that they were going, and forgot to ask them ahead of time to take some pics of Chaltu. I sent them a message the other day after they arrived in Ethiopia-and found out that they had not only already taken pics of her, but they held her for almost an hour! They said she pretty much smiles ALL THE TIME!

So much to be thankful for...........and SO MUCH TO DO!!!

Merry Christmas!

Sent with LOVE!

2009-12-05T21:21:00.002-05:00

Part of the fun in this process, is being able to send a "welcome" bag to your new child. The agency asks that you send a couple of smaller toys for younger kids, a photo album, and a t-shirt (or onesie if your child is really young), as well as a letter. We ordered a photo album that was similar to the one that we took to AlinaJayne when we met her in China, and a special t-shirt. Everything finally arrived, so I spent the night labeling photos, filling the photo album, and packing the bag. We figured she was still too young for a letter, so Mama just used a laundry marker and wrote captions in the photo album. Oh.....we had to fit it all in a one gallon Ziploc bag *without* stress. THAT was the hard part!

Here is what we sent.....................

(click on the image to make it bigger)

Submitted

2009-12-03T23:04:00.008-05:00

On Wednesday 12/2 we received an unexpected e-mail from our agency. The coordinator in Ethiopia notified them that they requested a court date in Ethiopia for our daughter's case. Yes, this is good news-we were told that generally families know in a week or two *when* the date is (and that the actual court date is typically 4-6 weeks after the date was requested). We should be jumping for joy.

But.......we also found out from our Homestudy agency (a few hours before we even knew a court date had been requested in Ethiopia)that since we need to formally update our immigration approval to reflect the older child we have accepted, as well as a few other specifics that were not addressed in the original homestudy, that we not only need to to this NOW, but should plan to wait at least 90 days for it to be adjudicated. Without the update to our original approval, she may pass court, but will not be able to obtain the visa needed to travel to the US for as long as it takes for the amendment to be done in MI and sent to Ethiopia. Then we are looking at another delay-even if all off the immigration paperwork is fine, and she can enter the USA, we need a second document provided by our home state of Michigan, that gives us permission to take the child from the port of entry into the US (likely Chicago) to our home state in Michigan. Add to that, *this* whole process has been taking about 3 months. And this isn't the worse case scenario-this will all be happening after (I am guessing) several court failures/delays, due to the region in Ethiopia where our new daughter is from.

Needless to say, this is going to be a bumpy ride. And a slow one too. So pull up a chair and wait with us!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like CHRISTmas!

2009-11-28T19:27:00.000-05:00

Hello all!

I am finally feeling like I am accomplishing some of the Christmas season tasks. Tree up-CHECK. Outside decorated-CHECK. Christmas cards designed & ordered-CHECK. Stamps ordered:CHECK! Shopping finished: (almost)CHECK!

Part of my work to get the Christmas cards done was finally taking some pics of AlinaJayne in her Christmas dress. I finally did that today. It took a lot of work, since she is always moving and saying "Merry Christmas everyone, Happy Birthday Jesus!" But I think they turned out okay.

Hmmm....next year I will have two schoochy kiddos to take pics of! Something tells me it will be worth the struggle :O)

Giving Thanks............

2009-11-26T23:22:00.009-05:00

On this day of thanks, I have so many things to be thankful for. First and foremost, I give thanks to God for always proving me all that I need-I have more blessings than I deserve-in fact, I cannot begin to list them all here.

I have recently found myself giving even more thanks than usual for our daughter. Although I have had "scholarly" articles published nationally, I cannot ever seem to find the words to express my thanks for our daughter AlinaJayne. My cousin sent me a link to this article today-on Thanksgiving no less, and I just had to share it.

I listen to NPR many times each day, and I had no idea that one of my favorite correspondents (Scott Simon) has children adopted from China. He also mentioned Oromia (in Ethiopia) where our youngest daughter (waiting for us) is from.

I will defer these words of thanks to Mr. Simon.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Signed, Sealed Delivered!

2009-11-22T20:42:00.005-05:00

......well, on its way at least!

We made it to the Notary, signed all of the forms, completed a questionnaire and scanned all of the documents (oh, wrote another check too), and the official referral paperwork is on its way to our agency's office.

Now what you ask? Wait. And wait some more. Now we are waiting for our day in court. Which could be a few months from now. I try not to think about it too much, but the *real* wait truly starts now. We know who are daughter is now, and it is so hard to know she will be there for another 9 or more months until all of the red tape is done and she can come home. Agonizing.

We are supposed to send her a "welcome bag" containing a shirt, a couple small toys and a photo album-it all has to fit into a gallon sized ziplock bag. We ordered a soft photo album tonight (we got the same kind for AlinaJayne when we went to China), and a T-shirt that says "Special Delivery From Ethiopia." Now I need to find some pics. I need about 12. The problem will be choosing 12 from the thousands I have taken! I'll be working on that this week.

So, this was not a lot to report, but I wanted to share this small step in the long journey to bring our daughter home.

Check back soon.

Signing the referral paperwork

REFERRAL ACCEPTANCE!!

2009-11-17T20:29:00.011-05:00

We are beyond thrilled to announce that on 11/16/09, we officially accepted the referral of our second child! Praise the Lord!!

Chaltu is from the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. She is "about 2 years old" (her actual birthday will be decided by the judge at the hearing) and is tiny. She is about 30 inches tall and only about 22 lbs. What a contrast to the AlinaJayne the Chinese Amazon! She is described as a good sleeper who eats well, loves her bath, and rarely cries unless something really traumatizes her. She plays well with others and walks by herself. She has been in care since early October. Due to Ethiopian adoption law, we cannot post a picture of her until after we pass court and are her legal parents. In the meantime, let me just say she is a cutie-bald as can be (shaved-so much for AlinaJayne being able to do her hair right away), but adorable. Big chunky cheeks and huge soulful eyes.

The next step is a court date, which *may* be filed in the next month or so. I know there have been many delays and failed court hearings for babies referred from this region due to new, stricter guidelines. In fact, we were approved for a baby aged 0-30 mos, and the agency called to say we need to update our homestudy to reflect that we are approved for a baby as old as 4 years old-we JUST updated it on 10/23 (sigh). So it looks like they are anticipating delays!

We are not making this public on Facebook for privacy reasons. In all honesty, not all of my FB friends are privy to this info. All updates will be posted here on the blog as soon as we receive them.

We are expecting to receive the official referral package tomorrow. We are hoping for some more pics-we only have one! Deciding on a name now. we thought we had it figured out, but now we are back and forth between two.

The wait has a whole new twist now!!

Praying that the Lord will keep her safe until she can be home forever.

Check back soon!

A year?

2009-11-12T21:53:00.036-05:00

I haven't been posting a lot on this blog lately. I guess there has not been a whole lot to report, so I have just avoided it so I would not have to be reminded of this seemingly interminable wait. However, I was reminded by a friend today that I needed to update this blog (thanks for keeping me in line Katie Jo), so here it is :O)

Saturday 11/14 will mark the one year anniversary of our DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia). Sometimes it seems like just yesterday that we were paperchasing to bring our second child home-but at the same time, it feels like an eternity. We've already had a homestudy update, and we just received a reminder from our agency that we will need to be re-fingerprinted soon-and that we'll need to file for an extension on our I-171 if our child is not home by May. MAY?!!!

We have watched as the wait for a referral gets longer (like in did when we started in the China program in 2005), other families receive referrals, court dates, travel and get settled in at home. Here we still are..........

I do want to share some info. A few weeks ago (11/2), we received a referral for a beautiful 2 or 2 1/2 year old girl. We accepted her file for review, and discovered some potentially significant medical issues. After a lot of talking, e-mails back and forth between the agency and more talking, we decided we had to decline the referral (referral/declination #2). We asked for more medical info on her, but could not easily obtain it. The agency director e-mailed us and asked us if we wanted to wait for more medical updates on this child, or start waiting for another referral. We said we just wanted to wait for another.

However, we could not get her out of our minds. Yes, it appears she has some major health issues-a few of which Matt and I are unlikely able to provide for (and we may not even have been approved for), but we felt that maybe the Lord was placing this child and our "second guessing" on our hearts for a reason. We had already told the director we could not proceed, to put us "back on the list," but it just did not *feel* right (keep in mind I am all about trying to control EVERYTHING). We e-mailed the director and asked her to not refer a new child to us right now, and that we wanted to wait for more testing/results, and a consultation with an International Adoption Physician before a final decision was made on this child. The physician will be reviewing the medical records this weekend.

Please pray for us as we prepare for the report from this physician. Pray that the Lord will guide her and give her knowledge as she reviews the complex medical facts. But most importantly, please pray for this child in Ethiopia, and for all children in need of forever families.

Please also consider supporting one of these organizations that provide orphan support. It isn't about one person giving a large sum-but about many people doing a small part.

Love coffee? Check out how you can support an orphan in Ghana, China, Ethiopia or Thailand . Find out how you can help orphans in Ethiopia, Colombia, Vietnam, Russia or India. Or HIV positive orphans.
Need Angel Gear? Just need to do some last minute Christmas Shopping?

We do have one request. If you are also on Facebook, please do not post any public comments to our wall with specific info about this or any other referral. That's not to say that general comments about the wait, etc, are note welcome-they are! Just no "specifics." We are trying to keep details private. Detailed private e-mails and private FB messages are great!

So there is the update. Thanks for dropping by and check back soon!

The Waiting is the Hardest Part.........

2009-09-19T22:48:00.013-04:00

No wonder the Tom Petty song "The Waiting" keeps running through my head like a CD stuck on repeat. Come on, you know the song I am talking about "The waiting is the hardest part, every day you see one more card, you take it on faith, you take it to the heart, the waiting is the hardest part."

I really hate to complain, as I pride myself on being so much more patient now than I was even 5 years ago. But come on already! It seems like forever since we started the adoption process (July, 2008 but who is keeping track). Dossier sent to Ethiopia 11/14/08. We had been given info in July that there were children in care in Ethiopia who would be referred to families soon. Well, those were slow in coming. In fact, there were a couple of families who had their dossiers in to Ethiopia a week or so before ours, and they just got their referrals. I know we are next, but it seems like we have been *next* for the last six months!

Okay, I feel better now. The logical and rational me knows NONE of this is in our hands. I know there is still a lot to do before our second child is home forever. And I know, as a believer in the love and power of our Lord Jesus, it will all work out in HIS time....not mine. No matter how whiny I get, or how sorry I feel for myself. Each and every time I look at our precious daughter from China, I know it will all work out as it should.

I have found myself going back to the song by John Waller "While I'm Waiting." It is from the Fireproof movie soundtrack, and I find the words so comforting. I try to sing this really loud when I start to hear Tom Petty!

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

Whose timing??

2009-08-23T18:22:00.012-04:00

Okay, I am not complaining. Or maybe I am. Or maybe I am just reporting.

Anyway-as you all know-Matt and I had our adoption file on hold for a while this spring. Well, not that I'm obsessing over it-I know it is a process, and that there are many variables. Add to that, there is still a lot we want to get done before our newest family member joins us. But come on already-according to the ticker on our blog- it has been 114 days, 5 hours and blah blah since we went back on the waiting list. Seriously.

We had heard a week or so ago that 4 new infant girls came into care at the orphanage in Ethiopia, and that our agency would hopefully refer them *last* week. Well, they did not. We are next in line for a referral, and I know for certain we were not missed. Not that a referral now would mean a sooner homecoming. The Ethiopian courts are closed until sometime in October anyway. It would just be nice to see the face of our new child.

Then again......I suppose if we had referral and knew who our child was, I'd be worried about her being there waiting to come home, running around like a mad woman preparing, and running around a little more. I guess I will wait patiently, enjoy my family, get settled into my new job, and wait some more.

I know God's plan and timing are perfect. However, if I didn't gripe once in a while I'd be someone else !

Stay tuned.

Thankful Thursday-07/30/09

2009-07-30T20:09:00.012-04:00

Five months after the accident, Matt was officially discharged from physical therapy. For anyone who is not aware of the ordeal, just follow the link to my posting.

I have found myself stopping very frequently in the last few weeks, to reflect on the events of that day, and being reminded of how lucky we all are. Matt could have very easily not survived..........but he is still here. It was very possible that he would never be able to walk again, or function in a capacity similar to what he was capable of before the accident. But he CAN walk, drive, work in the yard, and wrestle with our daughter. He can climb steps, jump, and RUN!! His amazing recovery even surprised his Physical Therapist. PRAISE GOD!

The economy is shaky and very scary for many of us, and because of it, we have had to make sacrifices (like most Americans). We have both had to endure changes in work hours, have had to adjust out budget again, and then trim some more. But he is STILL HERE to weather the economic changes WITH me!! I thank God DAILY for that.

I am also so very thankful that through all of the cutbacks at our places of employment, he has been able to keep his health insurance, and all of us have been covered. He desperately needed physical therapy. Although we have not yet received a final billing statement, the cost is well into the thousands, and we never could have afforded that without insurance. His physical functioning was hinging upon a rigorous schedule of exercises, strength training, conditioning, and the skills of a highly competent therapist. None of this would have been possible if he would have lost our insurance. Nor would the pre-school physical and FIVE immunizations that Alina Jayne had today.

I am thankful that we have our home, food on the table, vehicles to drive, and each other, as well as our close relatives and friends.

So many things to stop and be thankful for-this day and every day.

God is so good-in the good times and during the trials.

Thanks be to God.................................

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-29T20:45:00.006-04:00

Visa Day!
05/18/06-Shamian Island, Guangzhou China

(you can click on the collage to enlarge it)

News or no news?

2009-07-17T11:06:00.010-04:00

Hello all, long time no writing. We've been enjoying our summer around here. Lots of projects getting done, (probably more not getting done), and LOTS of playing! Enjoying every second of it!

Where are we at in terms of the adoption? I guess there is never an easy answer. Exactly one year ago yesterday, we decided to pursue this adoption. Time sure does fly when you are waiting forever. Our dossier was sent to Ethiopia on 11/14/08. We just received a message from our agency that they referred 11 healthy infants this month, and that there are currently no healthy babies remaining in the nursery-this is bittersweet. It is good news for the babies who have found forever families, but means we have quite a wait. They do not expect to make any new referrals for at least a month.

It usually takes 4 to 6 weeks to complete files for new children coming into
care. They also told us that not as many babies are abandoned this time of year-more are abandoned in the fall and winter months.

To put this into (clear?) perspective-there is one family whose dossier was sent in October 2008 who is still waiting for a referral of a baby girl. Then they will start referring to families with dossiers there since 11/08 (aka us).

There is no exact science, but based on past trends, I have an estimate. *Maybe* a referral by end of September. Then a court date usually follows in 4-6 weeks (most cases do not pass the first time). Then we must wait for an embassy date in Ethiopia (another 4-6 weeks), PLUS waiting on all of the Immigration and Interstate paperwork to be completed so the baby can be escorted here, which in this state, can take 3 mos. Maybe a first of the year homecoming? It would have been a little quicker if we were traveling and did not have to wait for the extra immigration step for escorting, but that is not possible for us.

Keep in mind, there are so many variables. How quickly will a court date be assigned? Will we pass on the first try? How quickly will our local USCIS office move? Is there power in Ethiopia so the government offices there can be open, process paperwork, hear court cases, etc?

In the meantime, I will enjoy every second of every day with my family. Will I get impatient? Helloooo? This is KRISTY writing here! But I will remind myself......

It is all in HIS timing....................

Blessings all :O)

(you can click on the collage to enlarge it)

Singing Praises

2009-06-19T06:32:00.009-04:00

As some of you might have noticed, my weekly "Thankful Thursday" posts have been conspicuously absent in the recent weeks. That being said, I want to be clear that I have more things to be thankful for than I can even begin to count. However, it seems that some part of me has been waiting for some magical day when every aspect of life is in pefect order to post. Fortunately, I was blessed with a lesson that has helped me re-focus.

I was awakened before dawn Friday morning by the sound of thunder, and lightening bolts illuminating our bedroom. Above the crashes of thunder and howling wind, I could hear birds-singing. Not a subdued chirping, but beautiful, spirited song. I sat silently for a moment in awe of the irony. In the middle of a torrential storm, they were not hiding in silence, paralyzed by fear, but filling the world with their song. It was as if they were saying "no matter what the weather, we rejoice!"

I was suddenly aware of how much we could learn from the birds. In the midst of life's storms, so many of us tend to allow our trials to steal our joy, to rob us of our confidence. We allow our trials to dilute our happiness today, and our worries spill over into our tomorrow, dampening that day as well. We forget how to sing, and how to face each day as a new gift worthy of celebration.

I am fairly certain that the birds do not wake up each day and check the weather forecast, or wait to see how the day's events unfold before deciding if they are going to sing! They start their day with a song no matter what the weather!

As a new Christian, I realized today how important it is to sing The Lord's praises every single day, no matter what the weather. I realized that I should be waking up each day with the attitude "This is the day that the Lord has made, I WILL rejoice and be glad in it-and make the devil MAD in the process! Period. End of story. Not with the caveat "I will rejoice today if everything goes well," or "I will be thankful for this day if..........."

Amazing that I learned such an important lesson from the birds.

Happy weekend all.

Wordless Wednesday 06/17/09

2009-06-17T15:45:00.000-04:00

May 17, 2006
Visa Medical Eaxm-Guangzhou, China

Wordless Wednesday-06/10/09

2009-06-10T13:42:00.000-04:00

May 16th, 2006
Changsha, Hunan

Thankful Thursday-06/04/09

2009-06-04T20:33:00.007-04:00

Ten years ago this week (6/1/99), Matt and I had our very first date (thanks to the insistence of our siblings who were dating at the time). I will be forever thankful for them, and for the fact that I (albeit reluctantly) got out of my jammies to meet them for dinner! My life was changed forever (thank God for that) that day.

Although we have been through our share of trials together, our love has only grown stronger as a result. The life we have built together is more of a blessing than I can comprehend, and far more than I deserve.

Here's to the next 10 years Matthew! I love you more than you could ever understand!

Wordless Wednesday 06/03/09

2009-06-03T17:37:00.002-04:00

Changsha, Hunan-05/15/06

Blessings in Disguise

2009-06-02T00:11:00.017-04:00

It has been a while since I have posted anything substantial. We went through a few "bumps in the road" in the last few weeks, and I needed to get our house in order so to speak.

As many of you know, the economic downturn has hit health care along with every other sector. My office has been no exception. In the last 6 mos, the company I work for started by initiating a hiring freeze, then closing the office on 2/4 Saturdays per month, then all 4 Saturdays, to finally, closing my office 2 days per week. Obviously, this was a huge shock to me, as I have always worked full-time plus. In the past, when Matt's job would slow down, I was always able to "take up the slack" by picking up extra hours to compensate. Things have been slow at his job, and as a result, he had been working about 24 hours per week, taking a few hours of vacation time here and there to cushion things. I was able to make up the rest. Then suddenly, I was facing a reduction in hours, and I was at a loss. For a few days, I was convinced this was the end of the world. The end of everything that we know. We just came off of hold with our adoption agency and were back on the waiting list for a referral. Now this! I spent several days feeling sorry for myself, for us (but in all honesty, mostly myself).

So many wonderful friends have been such a tremendous support, and they helped me to see the situation with a fresh set of eyes. Allow me to list how what I was originally convinced was the end of the world, is actually a blessing:

(1) Recently, I had been talking with my Dad about how a certain relative has taken the summer off from school to "be with her kids" but seems to dump them off at her Dad's more than she has them herself. I mentioned to my Dad on numerous occasions, what I wouldn't give to be able to have the summer home with MY daughter. Well, maybe this IS my opportunity for more one on one time with her. This may be the only time we have together like this-she starts K-4 in the fall.

(2) In the last few months, both my Dad's Neurologist and his Nephrologist, have asked him to have me contact them to discuss a job with them, as they both "really need a Nurse Practitioner" to help with their work loads. One was looking for someone full or part-time, the other, part-time to start. Of course, I never did contact them. I figured all was fine where I was, I like the work I do, the hours are good, and to be honest, I was afraid of the challenge of a new position in a new specialty. I have gotten very "spoiled" by simplicity of the work I do. I could see no reason to "upset the apple cart" especially if we would be adding to our family in the next year. I could not justify adding another life change to the mix, so I all but forgot about it. Besides, how the heck would I interview somewhere when I work everyday? Well, if I had not had a reduction in hours, I can say for certain, I STILL would not be looking for a new job. I realize my Dad's doctors may have already filled the positions, but now I have a *reason* to look for a more challenging job with better compensation.

(3) Another thing-pertaining to the adoption plans. Since we started this journey, way back before Alina Jayne, there have been "signs" that we were somehow not meant to have a son. To begin, back in 2004, we were pursuing the domestic adoption route. We were selected by a birthmother who (after we traveled to pick up the baby) decided to try to "sell" us her child. VERY BAD SITUATION to say the least. We ended up pursuing adoption through China (which ironically, was our first choice, but we were too afraid to deal with a foreign government-naive, I know) and I cannot stress enough how much Alina Jayne was meant to be our daughter. When we decided to pursue a second adoption from Ethiopia, we indicated that we were open to a child of either gender-which means we would be referred a boy. Well, in March, we received a referral for a boy, whom we later found had profound disabilities that we were not approved for, or had the resources to deal with. As a result, we had to make the very difficult decision to decline the referral, and we then officially placed our file on hold. Earlier this month, we decided we were ready to pursue adoption again, and went back on the waiting list. We talked with the agency director about changing our preference to a girl at that time, but when we found out that our wait for a referral would be VERY long, we selfishly decided to keep our preference as "either" knowing we'd be referred a boy quickly (likely this month). Then I found out about my reduction in hours, and it was clear. We were supposed to be exercising patience. We should have made the change and requested a girl when we went back on the waiting list in May-we were MEANT to WAIT for a girl. It is not time for us to be parents again right now, but when it is time, we are supposed to be parents to a girl.

(4) Not long after we found out about my hours, Matt's department ended up landing a huge project, one that is requiring him to work many hours to complete. Meanwhile, this heavy workload will provide a steady stream of work, while other jobs are quoted and more projects are secured for him to work on. Sure, it would have been nice for this to be the case while I was still working full-time (plus), but at least we can maintain things while I find a better position.

So, what I originally could not understand, what I was certain was the absolute worse-case scenario, ended up being sprinkled with hidden blessings. Unexpected, extra time with our daughter, the push I needed to look for a better job, and clarity in our adoption plans.

I have faith that all will work out as it is supposed to. Maybe I should have been listening to what Alina Jayne always says when she comes home from school, " God is soooooooo good."

Check back soon.

My Blessings

Wordless Wednesday-05/27/09

2009-05-27T20:29:00.003-04:00

At Home-05/25/2009

Wordless Wednesday-05/20/09

2009-05-20T07:53:00.000-04:00

May 14th, 2006
Changsha, Hunan

May 19th, 2009
Home

Just give me a moment.............

2009-05-17T20:21:00.007-04:00

....to pout, or have a pity party, or whatever you want to call it.

Today was "Baby Dedication Day" at church. It is done once a year to allow the parents to present their babies to the congregation (it is not a baptism). Obviously, I was ooohing and aaahhing along with all of the other people at the precious bambinos. But, at the same time, I was feeling, well, kind of left out. Now, we are new to the church, but our "baby" is 4, and the dedication is for kiddos aged 2 and under. Then most were boys (which is likely what we would be referred), so my heart strings were really being tugged on.

Now, I am a logical person. I know that even if all had gone as WE had planned, and we were able to accept the referral of the baby we were referred in March, HE still would not have been home for this dedication today. This logical person was thinking very illogically today, and yes, I will admit it, feeling a tad sorry for myself, maybe even, dare I say, a bit jealous of the parents in the front of the church with their babies. I started to doubt this would ever happen, sure that something else would go wrong.

After the service, errands, and lunch with two of my favorite people (my hubby and daughter), I snapped out of it. I have faith that everything will work out when it is supposed to and as it is supposed to, and that NONE of this will ever happen in MY time. Just like it all did with Alina Jayne.

An update: our adoption agency is in the process of referring babies to families whose dossiers went to Ethiopia in late January, 2009. Ours went on November 14th, 2008. We are supposed to be back in line where we were when we put our plans on hold, "back to the front of the line" as they say. I would imagine we should hear something in the next couple of months.

So now that I'm over myself, enjoy the pics of our weekend.

Friday Fishing-05/15/09

2009-05-15T23:44:00.006-04:00

We had planned to go fishing on Saturday morning, but it looks like there will be rain. Matt decided we should go after I got off work this afternoon. Since this is my short day, I decided, WHY NOT! Heck, I can even sleep in on Saturday if we fished today!

Well, Matt and I caught zippo, zero, but Alina Jayne of course, caught the first (and second) fish. Okay, the ONLY fish! After she caught the first one, she started singing "I caught the first fish again, I caught the first fish again" and made up a dance to go with it. I am sure you'll be able to figure out which pic that was!

Happy weekend. Hoping to plant more flowers on Saturday.

Thankful Thursday-05/14/09

2009-05-14T20:34:00.016-04:00

With my fourth Mother's Day just a pleasant memory, I cannot go without proclaiming my thankfulness for the precious gift I have in my daughter.

While I am always thankful for the opportunity to be able to adopt her as our own, I must give special thanks to her Birthmother. Without her and her selflessness, Alina Jayne would not be our daughter today. As I celebrate each Mother’s day, my joy is always tempered with the bittersweet truth that along with my happiness, is a sorrow for her Birthmother's tremendous loss. As I look at my daughter, I wonder if her Birthmother misses her. Does Alina Jayne look like her? Does she have her personality? Does she get her love of the outdoors from her? Does her Birthmother wonder the same thing about the baby girl she could not keep? Does she regret her decision? Does she have other children? I feel sorrow for all of the things her Birthmother is missing. Alina Jayne's spicy personality, her headstrong ways, her moods, her grace, the way she is blossoming into a beautiful young lady, the way she learns so many new things every day. While I am eternally grateful for each morning as she wakes up, kissing me, telling me "it's a sunny day Mama, I love you," and for each evening when she says "you always tuck me in don’t you Mama? It's because you love me so much, right?" I am saddened that her Birthmother cannot see how happy......and loved she is.

I am also eternally grateful for the Foster Family who raised her until Matt and I traveled to China to bring her home. They cared for her from the time she was one month old, until we arrived in China when she was 15 months old. The fact that she did not have to live in an institution, but rather with a family, consisting of a Mama, Daddy, their biological daughter and a Grandmother, meant that she was able to more easily have her needs met on a consistent basis. I believe that has helped her in immeasurable ways in terms of trust and bonding.

Alina Jayne's Foster Family

We may never know why her Birthmother could not raise her, or how she felt about her decision. I do know that we will be forever grateful for her Birthmother for giving her life, for her Foster Family who lovingly cared for her as their own, and for the Chinese Government, who entrusted us to raise one of their own children. All of these people helped make us into the family we are today.

Our first pics of Alina Jayne (from her referral Package)

Thank you..............

Wordless Wednesday-05/13/09

2009-05-13T09:29:00.000-04:00

May 13th, 2006-Changsha, Hunan

Celebrations!!

2009-05-10T15:20:00.029-04:00

Today has been an amazingly special day for us! Not only is it my fourth Mother's Day (third home), but exactly 3 years ago today, we adopted our sweet Alina Jayne in Changsha, Hunan.

***You can click on any collage to enlarge it

05/10/06
Adoption Day
Civil Affairs Office-Changsha, Hunan

In the United States, official business is certified by a signature of the parties involved. In China, while a signature is used, a person's right thumb print is also placed on official documents in red ink. The adoption paperwork was no exception. Since the babies could obliviously not sign their names, their right footprints were stamped onto the adoption paperwork in red ink along with the parent's thumbprints. Ever since her first footprint was taken in China, I have kept the tradition of taking Alina Jayne's footprint every year on the anniversary of her adoption.

Footprints-then & now

Today was a big day for another reason-Matt and I were baptized at the church we joined. While both of us were baptized as babies, we have never attended church on a regular basis since we were married. Actually, while I was baptized as a Lutheran, I never attended at all growing up, however, Matt did. My Dad was a Baptist and my Mom a Lutheran, so I suppose it was easier to not go at all than to compromise and all go to one church.

Anyone who knows what has gone on in our lives in the last several months, knows a LOT has happened. While much of it has been what some would call "bad," Matt and I started to realize that it was The Lord who was placing these things in our lives and on our hearts. We started to look more closely at our faith, and made the decision to meet with the Pastor of the church associated with Alina Jayne’s school. On February 18th 2009, we were saved in the Pastor's office. From that moment forward, amazing things happened in our lives. Matt was seriously injured only three days later, and could have lost his life. We had a referral for a baby we could not adopt.....the list goes on and on, but trust me when I say, we have had MANY trials. But we have also had more blessings than we can count or deserve.

We met some wonderful people from the church shortly after Matt's accident, and they were so supportive during our difficult time. We felt we could have reached out to them at any time and they would have been there to help (and we were not even members of the church yet). We finally asked them what we had to do to officially join the church, and they told us that the next step after being saved was baptism. After watching other people being baptized for the last several weeks, we got the courage to go forward today-THANK YOU Don, Frances & Emily for being there with us and for us-we would not be truthful if we did not admit that it was your positive influence that help to lead us in this direction! A big thanks to Dawn & Brandi for coming today too-it meant so much to have you share our special day!

05/10/09
At home & the Baptism

After church, we came home to open presents. Not only my Mother's Day presents, but also Alina Jayne’s. We always get her a small gift to celebrate the anniversary of our "Gotcha Day" or "Forever Family Day" on May 9th, as well as something on the official Adoption Day on May 10th. I was finally able to open the handmade flower pot and marigold from Alina Jayne (she made it in pre-school) that she has been begging me to open since Wednesday! Alina Jayne & Matt got me a wonderful digital photo frame to display the thousands of photos I take! Alina Jayne got a new bell for her bike & sidewalk chalk for Forever Family Day, and a pair of roller-skates for Adoption Day.

After the gifts were opened, we went outside so Alina Jayne could plant her flowers for her China Tummy Mama & Foster Mama. Every year on Mother's Day, she plants a mini rose bush for her China Tummy Mama (aka Birth mom) and a lily for her Foster Mama. She also tried out the new skates, and did amazingly well-way better than I did on my first try as a kid. She is STILL mad that she cannot "go super fast." She can't accept that she cannot be perfect in all she does. We'll need to work on that!

5/10/09
Flowers for her China Tummy Mama & Foster Mama & the new skates

Last weekend we decorated my Mom's grave for Mother’s Day. We lost her to cancer in 2000, just a few months after Matt and I were married. I know she is looking down upon us today, watching me with my daughter who is named after her. She taught me so much.........I only hope that I can be half the Mother she was to my sisters and me.

Happy Mother’s Day.

1968

3rd Anniversary-Forever Family Day

2009-05-09T16:55:00.008-04:00

05/09/06
Meeting Alina Jayne at the Civil Affairs Office-Changsha, Hunan
& Back at the Dolton Hotel
(click collage to enlarge)

Three years ago today, at about 5:00 PM China time, we met our Alina Jayne for the very first time. The memories of that day have been a flood of emotions today. In some ways, it is hard to believe it has already been three years since we first held our baby girl. In other ways, it feels like she has always been with us. I suppose that is because she was in our hearts, LONG before she was ever in our arms. One thing is for sure-God blessed us more than we deserve, and we thank Him for her every single day.

05/09/09
At home

Happy Forever Family Day Alina Jayne. We are so very lucky to be your Mama & Daddy-WE LOVE YOU!!!

Thankful Thursday-05/07/09

2009-05-07T12:28:00.007-04:00

We received some very happy news a little over a week ago. A sweet member (Dani) of the small Yahoo group we belong to for parents waiting for children from Ethiopia, contacted me. She wanted me to know that she realized I have not been keeping up to date with the Yahoo groups since we placed our adoption on hold, but had good news for us.

That news was that the baby we were not able to accept, had FOUND A FOREVER FAMILY!!! She had seen the announcement on a larger Yahoo group that a family had accepted his referral! Needless to say, we are thrilled! We have been praying that he would be matched to the right family, and he was.

We still had ALL of the photos of him that we acquired from the time we accepted his referral in March. We were never sure what to do with them. On the one hand, it was too painful to look at them; but at the same time, we certainly could not get rid of them.

After I found out about his new family, I found the post on that Yahoo group and e-mailed his new Mommy, asking her if she'd like the photos. She said yes, so I mailed them to her and her husband. They were happy to receive them, but did not realize until after reading our blog (it was listed at the bottom of my e-mail to her), that Matt and I had originally received the referral for their baby. I did not mention it in my e-mail to her, just that I had the photos-I figured if she asked, I'd be happy to explain.

I did ask her to feel free to stay in touch with us, but I am not sure if she will feel comfortable doing so. If they do not feel comfortable, I fully understand, it may seem a bit awkward to them. We are still so at peace knowing he finally has a home to go to.

Stay tuned. Sunday will be a BIG day in our house. It is Mother's Day. I spent my very first Mother's Day IN China after we adopted Alina Jayne-thankfully she is a far different child now, and actually LIKES her Mama! Way different story in 2006 after I took her out of her Foster Mama's arms at the Civil Affairs Office! Sunday is also the THIRD Anniversary of Alina Jayne's Adoption Day. We met her on May 9th, 2006(Forever Family Day) and the adoption took place on May 10th, 2006. And finally-Matt and I are planning to be Baptized on Sunday. Yep, you read this correctly!

Lots and LOTS to be thankful for :O)

Wordless Wednesday-05/06/09

2009-05-06T18:55:00.007-04:00

May 12th, 2006-Changsha, Hunan
Kindergarten Tour

Our Weekend............

2009-05-03T21:19:00.007-04:00

We had a wonderful weekend together-it seemed to fly by, but it was great no less.

On Saturday we visited my Dad and then Matt and I went to the cemetery to decorate my Mom's grave. We do it every year, either on Mother's day or just before. Between my Dad (who designed the most beautiful stone I have ever seen), who puts seasonal silks out for her, my sisters, who add their decorations, and the landscaping Matt and I do, it looks so beautiful year round. I'll have to post some pics after the flowers we planted are in full bloom. We also had some time to plant a few seeds in our own yard once we got home.

Our church had their 82nd anniversary carnival today after the morning service. Alina Jayne wanted her Papa to go so badly. He had been feeling under the weather for the last two days, and said he could not make it. Surprisingly, he called while we were in church and said he *would* be there. She was thrilled, and I was awfully happy to see him too! We all went to lunch afterward and took some time visit, which made my weekend even better!

Once we got home from church, it was back outside to plant flowers & herbs. Alina Jayne LOVES to garden, and she loves to play in the mud.........with WORMS! She loves worms, and spent most of the afternoon making a "worm house." She was a wreck! Just before she got completely filthy, we were planing marigolds in the pots we made last spring, and that familiar music from my childhood started playing-it was the ICE CREAM TRUCK! We NEVER get a truck to come to our rural neighborhood, but there was one today. Alina Jayne asked me "Mama, who is playing that music?" I just told her it was a truck (not the "ice cream truck" in case we didn't make it out to it in time) but Matt was all over it! They were across the yard and at the truck almost faster than I could grab my camera-both completely mud/dirt covered from working in the yard! She thinks it is a really novel idea for a truck full of frozen goodies to ride around playing music!

Planting marigolds with Mama

Her first trip to the ice cream truck!

The "worm house" YUCK!

Got mud?

So now it is back to work in the morning.....sigh.

Have a great week and check back soon.

We're Back

2009-05-03T01:13:00.004-04:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that Matt and I are are officially back on the waiting list for a referral from our adoption agency.

We had set May 1st as the deadline for our decision, and felt that was a great day to get back into the race (it was also Matt's birthday).

Many things have happened in the last few months that have made us stop and consider what is right for our family. Ultimately, we decided that if we kept waiting for the "perfect" time to adopt, it would never happen-there is no "perfect time."

So, here we are again, ready to press on and add to our family through the miracle of adoption. We know this journey will not be easy. There are bound to be more twists, turns and bumps in the road. But we have each other, and we have faith, and we know all will work out as it is supposed to.

As you have noticed, our blog is now private. We have invited specific people to view our blog and share this journey with us. After the previous emotional roller coaster, we have decided to keep things a little more low-keyed for the present time, and we appreciate your discretion. I still plan to post just as much as I did before, the only difference is, there will be far fewer people who are able to read the blog!

Thank you all for reading. We're glad you are following our journey!

05/01/09-HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!

2009-05-01T20:16:00.039-04:00

Today was Matt's b-day. He had the day off from work, so he decided to take Alina Jayne fishing with him after his physical therapy appointment this morning.

After his accident, he started going to therapy at a facility I used to refer a lot of patients to when I worked in Family Practice. His therapist (Mike) is THE BEST!
I dropped Alina Jayne off at his rehab appointment this AM on my way to work, and ran into Mike in the parking lot.

Of course I had to inform him that it was Matt's birthday (you don't think HE was going to fess up, do you)? Mike is in a band, and wondered if he should bring his guitar in and sing happy birthday to Matt, which I thought was a splendid idea! Needless to say, Matt was surprised! I'd left my phone in the car, so I asked to use Matt's to "check my voicemail" while I waited for the show to begin. I handed Alina Jayne the phone and had her take the pics-I think she did a great job!

Once we were all home, Alina Jayne and I baked and decorated Matt's cake. She was insistent that he have a STRAWBERRY cake with ORANGE tinted frosting. Okay, she was in charge of the project, whatever she wanted was fine with me. Of course, I think she had more fun licking the beaters and bowl!

Their fishing trip did not result in any "keepers." In 5 1/2 hours of fishing, the only fish caught was a perch too small to keep. No big deal, they had a great time, and I was so happy they could hang out together.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SOULMATE. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Thankful Thursday-04/30/2009

2009-04-29T21:43:00.011-04:00

Today I'd like to explain (as completely as I can on a blog) why I am so thankful for my Father.

My Dad came from a family of 12-number 4 of 12 to be exact. My Grandfather had a excavating business and my Grandmother stayed at home with the kids, as was standard at that time. As you can imagine, money was scarce. None of the kids were able to attend college, but most were fortunate enough to find good paying jobs which allowed them to support their families. My Dad was no exception.

My Dad worked for over 42 years for one of the Big Three Automakers. That job allowed him to support a family of three daughters and my Mom, without her having to work outside of the home. My sisters and I never had "everything the other kids had" but we never went without a thing we needed. My Dad's hard work took care of all of us.

Over the years, some people would criticize my Dad for "only being a factory worker." This assessment never ceased to baffle me-I have always known that my Dad is one of the wisest people I have known. Let me be clear about what that "factory worker" taught me.

First of all, he taught me the importance of being able to take care of myself-especially as a woman. He taught me the value of an education and a stable career, so I would never have to depend on someone else to take care of me. He taught me to never give up on my dreams-if I wanted something badly enough and worked hard enough, I'd be able to achieve it. He taught me to have self-confidence in all aspects of my life, and that I can be as good (or better) than anyone in any situation. He taught me to always follow my gut, my instincts. If something or someone did not seem right or genuine, they weren't and to never second guess myself. He taught me to never allow someone to mistreat me or anyone I love-if they mistreat you, you don't need them in your life. The most important thing my Dad has taught me is the true meaning of a parent. He has always given endless and UNCONDITIONAL love, supported us even when he might not always agree with our decisions, and sacrificed dearly to be sure his kids always had everything they needed, going without time and time again so his family did not have to.

Now his kids are adults with children of their own. I still talk to my Dad at least twice a day, still go to him for advice, and he is always there for me. But since my Mom died in 2000, he has in a sense, had to serve as both Nana and Papa-undoubtedly a tough role to fill. But he extends that same unconditional love to his grandchildren-all 8 of them. I have been blessed to see this time and time again, especially with our own daughter. In January I blogged about what a difference he has made in the life of a little girl from half way around the world (A Girl & Her Papa)

If you have not yet read that post, please drop over there and see what I am talking about. Yet another reason I am thankful for my Dad.

Wordless Wednesday-04/29/2009

2009-04-29T17:53:00.002-04:00

May 11th, 2006-Free Day-Dolton Hotel, Changsha Hunan

Thankful Thursday-04/23/2009

2009-04-23T19:21:00.010-04:00

As I previously mentioned, I am first and foremost, thankful for my family. This post will certainly reflect that.

I am thankful that my Mom was able to see me happy before she died. This may sound cliche, but it is not, let me explain.

I was married once before for a few years. The "marriage" was doomed from the beginning. It lacked the basic things needed to make any relationship work, especially a marriage. There was no trust, no respect, no support, and sadly, I realize now, no love either. I filed for divorce and moved on, a bitter, untrusting soul, who swore she would never allow herself to trust or be hurt again, determined to "do it on my own." I was happy living alone (at least I believed that at the time), and swore there would never, EVER be a man in my life to ruin it again. I was single, self-supportive and successful. I did not need a man and convinced myself I did not want children either.

A few years later, fate would bring Matt and I together. We had dated briefly in high school several years earlier, broke up and went our separate ways, each eventually marrying other people. In 1999, our siblings (my sister and his brother) ran into each other after many years, and started dating. They hounded us to meet them for dinner one night in June, 1999, and the rest is history. We were engaged in July, married in November, on my 31st b-day and my Mom and Dad's 32nd wedding anniversary (yes, I was their 1st anniversary present)!

While we were dating, I tried to convince myself that the feelings I was experiencing were a novelty, and would wear off in a month or so (I even bet Matt $100 it would not last a month). I had never in my life thought of someone so much, waited for the phone to ring, feeling my heart skip a beat when it did (then of course, trying to play it "cool" when I answered). I had never watched the clock tick away the minutes so agonizingly slowly, waiting for the time we could see each other again in the evening. I could not wait for him to call me each morning. I had never, ever felt so completely content, so happy.

One day I was talking to my Mom on the phone while I was at work. She mentioned that Matt and I had been seeing a lot of each other, and she wondered what I thought was going on. I told her that I had never in my life felt the things I was feeling. It was then (thanks to my Mom)I realized what I was feeling, when she told me "that's what love feels like, Kristy, when it's right, you know it."

A few weeks later, we were sitting on her patio after one of her chemo treatments. She turned to me and said, " I want to tell Matt thank you." Confused, I asked her why. Then she told me "for so long you have been so unhappy, so bitter, and honesty, not very much fun to be around sometimes. Matt gave me my daughter back, and I will always be thankful for that. YOU are back, he brings out all the good in you."

So no, this is not cliche. My husband is the reason for my happiness, the good in my life, my strength, my everything. My Mom was able to see this before she died, able to see her daughter happy, content, and in love with a man like the one she fell in love with so many years before. As a Mother, I know how much that must have delighted her heart, how much peace it gave her. I hope someday I can see this happen in my daughter's life.

November 30th, 1999

Wordless Wednesday-04/22/09 (Adoption Day May 10th, 2006-Changsha, Hunan)

2009-04-22T07:53:00.010-04:00

Our hotel room at the Dolton-getting ready to go to the adoption appointment

Waiting with Daddy for our appointment at the Civil Affairs Office

Her footprint-it's official, we are a FAMILY!

On the bus going back to the hotel

Eating steamed eggs with Daddy

Want a bite?

A word about "Wordless Wednesday" & "Thankful Thursday"

2009-04-18T23:31:00.019-04:00

As I mentioned in a previous post-I would like to start a tradition of "Wordless Wednesday" and "Thankful Thursday."

About Wordless Wednesday:

I will post a pic (or more) of something in my life that is special. I started this by posting pics of Alina Jayne in China when we traveled there for her adoption in 2006. Since I started there, I plan to continue posting some pics from there in chronological order. After that, the pics will be more "anything goes." Disclaimer: A caption with a date only still constitutes "wordless."

About Thankful Thursday:

I want to start by saying that I have MANY things to be thankful for, the forefront of which is and always will be my family. That being said, I am hoping to start a tradition of posting about something I am thankful for every Thursday.

Stay tuned. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing.

Wordless Wednesday-04/15/09

2009-04-15T20:01:00.005-04:00

Happy Easter!!!!

2009-04-10T18:50:00.030-04:00

What a great weekend we had. It was fairly low-keyed but so wonderful. Alina Jayne and I colored eggs on Friday-she is getting better at it, but needs to learn to place the eggs in the dye *carefully* instead of her high velocity shot-put! We still have a few cracked shells! It's okay, it makes for pretty hard-boiled eggs :O)

Her first batch

Taking a break for some hugs :O)

Our favorites

After work Saturday, I came home and did the Easter baking and other prep, so all we needed to do today was put everything into the oven (we have our holiday meal prep down to a science here). When I finished, I decided to join Alina Jayne outside to blow some bubbles and play some basketball. Turns out she was happier not sharing her bubbles, so I cleaned out flower beds and picked up many branches from our yard. Matt decided to try to see what he was capable of doing since his accident. Much to my surprise (and fear), he got the rototiller out and tilled the garden. Sure, it is self-propelled, but a mere 7 weeks ago, we weren't even sure he'd ever walk again!! He also found a spot to till so Alina Jayne can have her own small garden this year. After he showed her, the two of us went to the other side of the house to work. When it was just Alina Jayne and I, she told me "Mama, my Daddy is sooooooooo amazing!" Amen my dear! He certainly is!!!

Easter morning rolled around, and she was not all that excited about getting out of bed. I kind of hoped that since this was the first year she has referred to the bunny who brings the candy as the Easter Bunny (up until this year she called him the "Easy Bunny") that she would be more excited. Nope, it was not to be. She is the same child we had to wake up at 10:30AM on Christmas day, only to have her tell us "not now, let's sleep some more." Matt told her that the Easter Bunny had brought her some candy, but she just stayed in bed, insisting she could not *see* any candy from the bed, therefore, there was none. Actually, she got very little candy, she got more practical gifts than junk food, but she had a basket no less. She FINALLY got out of bed just before 8:30 to have a look! All she really wanted was a set of "knee pads for her elbows."

Letter & number DVD's

Magic washcloths

As I got dressed for church, she was watching me intently. Matt asked her "Doesn't Mama look nice?" She kept eying me up and down, nose wrinkled, and finally said "Um, Mama, you DON'T look like a princess" to which Daddy replied, "No honey, she looks like the future president." Now, I will admit, I have never worn or felt comfortable in dresses or skirts, so I have always had pantsuits. And my dear hubby never can seem to resist the Hillary jokes!

Alina Jayne and her "Amazing Daddy"

Alina Jayne and her Non-Princess Mama

My Dad and my niece Claudia (14) came for dinner today. We were supposed to have one additional guest, my niece Amber (almost 7). She spent the first year of her life with us after her Mama had a car accident, and we have a really great relationship because of that time we had with her. Unfortunately, her social calendar was full, so she was unable to join us. We had a great visit with my Dad and Claudie, ate entirely too much, and of course, Alina Jayne monopolized HER Papa's time and attention. She also spent a great deal of time playing (okay rough-housing and wrestling) with Claudia, who she completely adores! I must also mention that she adores and bosses Claudia constantly. "Claudie, don't ride your bike in the street, a car is gonna hit you and you'll get dead." "Claudie, you are NOT allowed to take pop to your room at Papa's," and of course, "Claudie, you are NOT allowed to eat on Papa's couch, you'll make a mess, go to the table!" Hmmm, sounds like she'd make a great older sister!

The rules of Candyland-Okay Papa, one more time, you move TWO spaces!

Teaching Papa the ways of the Internet

Wrestling with Claudie

Happy Easter!!!

Thankful Thursday-04/09/09

2009-04-09T19:04:00.014-04:00

So, you are wondering what happened to my idea last week about posting just a pic or two on "Wordless Wednesday" right? I admit, I was remiss. Sometimes life gets in the way of my blogging (GASP)!

I thought I would title this post "Thankful Thursday" as we have so many things to be thankful for. Most importantly, we have each other, and of course, we are all so very lucky to still have Matt. Yes, I am talking about his accident again-I am reminded daily about how close we came to not having him-how easily I could be without my husband and soul mate, and Alina Jayne without her Father.

I thought an update on Matt was in order. He is doing remarkably well considering all he has been through. He saw the surgeon for the last time, who told him that 6 weeks post-op, the quadricep (thigh) muscles that were reconnected were (um, for lack of an easier way to explain non-medically)sewn together and reconnected would be as tightly connected and stable as they were going to be. The 6 week mark was last Saturday. Now that things are stable, he will be seeing another physician who will get him set up with rehab. He needs to learn how to correctly and fully use the muscles and the leg again. He can walk on the leg, but it is amazing how little things we take for granted are so difficult for him-and such milestones when he completes them. Like walking up and down stairs. We take that for granted, but he has to learn how to do this again after his accident. This is why he needs a good Physical Therapist to teach him how to strengthen the leg, and perform activities the rest of us do without giving it a second thought.

Yesterday he felt strong enough to stand on a ladder, and use his arms to pull himself into the 3rd floor attic through that same tiny opening he dropped out of when he cut his leg. I did not want him up there at all, first of all because I did not think he was strong enough, and secondly, because I was afraid it would be too stressful emotionally. However, he insisted he needed to get his tools (including the dreaded saw) out of there. I climbed part way up and looked around, and I was horrified to see how far away from the opening he was when he cut himself! I realized that after the saw cut his leg down to the bone, he actually managed to balance himself on the floor joists to get to the opening to get out of the attic-there is NO floor! It is a miracle he remianed conscious and did not fall through the ceiling to the 2nd floor below!

The area where the accident occurred looked better than I imagined (thankfully it was fairly dark when we were up there retrieving tools). We put the saw into a bag and brought it downstairs. Let's just say, parts of it were quite gruesome. I'll spare you the gory details, but I am sure you can imagine. I took some pics of it to file away-the G-rated versions are below.

Again, just *try* to tell me miracles don't happen.

In the operating room 02/21/09

On 04/08/09

The dreaded saw..............

Matt's new saw (aka the only one I'll EVER let him use again)!

Ice Fishing Anyone????

2009-04-04T17:39:00.030-04:00

Since it was my weekend off, we decided to head out for a day of fishing. Mr. Weatherman said there would be "abundant sunshine and temps in the high 50's." Sounds great, right?

Ready for a day of fishing

It was a tad windy when we headed out this AM, but it was early and it felt pretty nice......Until we arrived at our fishing spot about 90 minutes later-the first clue that it was too cold to fish should have been when I caught the first fish and the poor guy was wearing a parka and earmuffs! BRRRR!

Yes, there was abundant sun, but the wind was so strong it over-powered the warmth of the sun. We spent about 3 hours there and decided to pack up and head home to cook our bratwurst and hot dogs-it was even too cold to stay and build a fire.

Snacking & playing with Play Doh

Her masterpiece (it is a bunny)

"The Bunny"

Despite the cold, it was great to be able to be outside, together as a family. After all, it was a mere 6 weeks ago that Matt had his accident. Things could be a whole lot different...............

Mama & Daddy's Miracle

Mama & Alina Jayne's Miracle (AKA My Soulmate)

Wordless Wednesdays-Installment #1-04/01/09

2009-04-01T20:19:00.009-04:00

I've noticed a really cool thing on other blogs called "Wordless Wednesday." Essentially the blog author just posts a favorite picture or two on Wednesday, no blogging. I decided I'd try that out too.

What? I blogged today you say? Well, of course I did, I had to explain what I was doing! Next Wednesday will be wordless-I PROMISE!

The (Correct) Story of Alina Jayne.......

2009-03-22T20:22:00.009-04:00

Friday morning as I was driving Alina Jayne to pre-school, she decided she wanted us to “tell stories.” It was the first official day of spring, and she told a story about the start of spring and the sun and the birds. Then she decided she wanted me to tell a story. Since I have not yet finished writing her Lifebook, I thought I would tell her another story about her beginnings, and how she became our daughter. Keep in mind, this is nothing new-we talk about this all the time.

I began my story like I usually do. “Once upon a time in a land far away called China, a Chinese woman had a baby in her tummy. One day that baby was born, but the Chinese Mama could not keep her. China called us and said they had a baby, and asked if we could be her Mama and Daddy. Daddy and I said yes, and we got on a plane and flew over the ocean to bring that baby home. That baby is you, our Alina Jayne, and you will be our girl forever.”

Silence...........(actually, many seconds of silence). I looked in the rear view mirror and am pretty sure I saw Alina Jayne subtly rolling her eyes. Finally she said “Mama, that is NOT my favorite story. Let me tell you how it really happened. Once upon a time in a land far, far away named China, a China Tummy Mama had a baby she could not keep. So you and Daddy came and got me and I am Alina Jayne. Now I am home and I am never going back to China. THE END. There Mama, that is how it goes.”

……she was only 15 months old when we adopted her from China. I guess she knows it better than we do!

Four Week "Anniversary"

2009-03-21T20:30:00.022-04:00

Today is the four week anniversary of Matt’s traumatic accident. While he still has a long road to travel before he is functioning at the level he did prior to the accident, he has made tremendous strides. It is amazing that he survived, and that he has *any* function at all. Each time I see him walk, drive, or get out of bed unassisted, I thank God. As I have said before, it could have only been worse.

So many people have come forward to offer their prayers, help and support. Nobody will ever fully understand how much that has meant to us. Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!

Today was far different than just four weeks ago. We went fishing for the first time this year. This was the first outing we have had since Matt’s accident. I have to admit, I was VERY worried about him, but he was adamant that we *were* going! We usually go every weekend once the weather is nice, but this trip worried me so much-I was terrified he was not physically ready for this, and that he would undo all of the progress he has made. Since his accident, he has been so focused on enjoying every second of each day, and not allowing trivial things to steal his joy. I finally decided it might be good for him to sit and fish. I am so glad we went. He was able to relax, and we all were able to spend a gorgeous day together outside. This was great family time, and more healing than any medication or therapy.

Is it the Unibomber? Nope....just Kristy! It was sooooo cold this AM!

Seeing him fishing just four weeks after his accident....I cannot hold back the tears of joy

No, really, this is NOT the Unibomber's police sketch!

Heidi-our black German Shepherd

It is a running joke in our house that the youngest member of the family is always the one who catches the first fish, and 95% of the time, she also catches the most fish. In fact, last June was our first fishing trip ever. Alina Jayne and I had never fished before. SHE caught the first fish that day! Today was no different, we spent 5 hours fishing and the only person to catch a fish was (you guessed it) ALINA JAYNE! Sure, it was too small to keep, but she caught the first one no less!

The First Fish!!!!

Look you two, I can't catch ALL the fish! I'm playing now!

I know I should not be up here, but it is soooooo much fun!

What a difference four weeks makes. On February 21st at 5:30 PM, we were getting ready to go outside and build a snowman-and the next thing I knew, our dining room looked like a crime scene, and EMS was here taking Matt to the hospital for trauma surgery. On March 21st at 5:30PM, Matt, Alina Jayne and I were heading home from a day of fishing. Who said miracles don’t happen?

My Two Miracles......and yes, they are allowed to stick their tongues out at me!

A Most Difficult Decision

2009-03-18T18:04:00.009-04:00

While we have been hoping to post some good news here soon, it looks as though this is not the day.

Matt and I have decided to place our adoption plans on hold for now. Our agency has been phenomenal to work with, and they are willing to place a hold on our file until we are ready to proceed.

Many circumstances have brought us to this decision. Not quite two weeks ago, we received a referral for a beautiful baby boy who we agreed to adopt. We accepted him as our son and signed the necessary paperwork. We experienced the elation felt with a referral, only to find out less than a week later, that circumstances beyond anyone's control would ultimately prevent us from being able to parent him. Obviously that decision was heart-breaking to make, and we are emotionally devastated.

We need time go through the grieving process before accepting the referral of another child. We want to be able to answer the referral call with excitement, and rejoice over the news. Right now, we are not ready for that, the sadness is really just now completely surfacing. Keep in mind, on top of everything else, the referral and loss of referral came a mere 12 days after Matt narrowly escaped losing his life. We had barely had enough time to come to grips with that, and we received the referral.

While Matt and I are both strong individuals (and even stronger together) who never give up on anything we believe in, we must yield to the emotions we are experiencing, so we can fully appreciate the gift we are to receive.

We are so thankful for all of the support of our friends and family throughout this difficult time-you have made such a difference. We look forward to being able to share in the good news of a baby in the future. Until then, stay tuned, I will certainly keep our blog updated.

Owlhaven-an awesome blog, book and giveaway!

2009-03-15T12:37:00.003-04:00

Okay Mom’s out there, whether you’re a Mom to many or just one; I have some info to share with you.

Several months ago, a fellow waiting Mom shared a link to Mary’s (Owlhaven) blog (which I have linked to my blog on the right of the page). She and her husband have 10 kiddos from 3 different countries. I have enjoyed reading about how she manages a large family, plus homeschooling, gardening, taking photos, and writing a book!

Her book, “A Sane Woman’s Guide to Raising a Large Family” will be released in April and is currently available for pre-order. She is currently hosting a “book giveaway” and you can click on the link above and enter for a chance to win one of four copies she is giving away. I do not have a large family, just large responsibilities to my family! I read her blog daily, and I cannot wait to read this book. Even if I do not win a copy, you can bet I will order one for myself!

Good luck!

The Wheel..........

2009-03-15T02:12:00.020-04:00

Anyone who knows us, knows what we have been through as a family recently.

That being said, the other day I was driving home from work and (for once) was not in the mood for NPR. Now, I LOVE NPR, but I had truly had enough "Gloom & Doom" for one person for a *very* long time.

I had heard this song before, but had kind of disregarded it. When heard it again the other day, I searched for the lyrics.

All I can say is............wow!

Jesus Take The Wheel-lyrics

She was driving last Friday on her way to Cincinnati
On a snow white Christmas Eve
Going home to see her Mama and her Daddy with the baby in the backseat
Fifty miles to go and she was running low on faith and gasoline
It'd been a long hard year
She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention
she was going way too fast
Before she knew it she was spinning on a thin black sheet of glass
She saw both their lives flash before her eyes
She didn't even have time to cry
She was sooo scared
She threw her hands up in the air

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel

It was still getting colder when she made it to the shoulder
And the car came to a stop
She cried when she saw that baby in the backseat sleeping like a rock
And for the first time in a long time
She bowed her head to pray
She said I'm sorry for the way
I've been living my life
I know I've got to change
So from now on tonight

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on

Oh, Jesus take the wheel
Oh, I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
Save me from this road I'm on
From this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel
Oh, take it, take it from me
Oh, why, oh

(Carrie Underwood)

Checking in & maybe some good news......

2009-03-14T00:00:00.013-04:00

Hello again from our home.

We are still trying to get over the emotion of not being able to parent our son. While we are at peace with what was right for the baby and our family-the loss is in no way diminished or any less real. I think folks who have not been there need to imagine it as a miscarriage. No, we may never have physically held him in our arms, but he was our son, the child of our heart.

We are feeling more peace knowing he *may* be
finding his forever family-soon. Nothing would make us happier.

In the meantime, here are two of the people in my life who give me joy, peace, and a reason for doing all I do.
Enjoy…………………

NO guys! I am NOT sleeping in my dinner!

Creating her painting masterpiece

I love painting, Mama

Just checking Daddy out for Mama

Hold it Daddy-I think I have something here!

Hoping for good news in the near future.

Terrible News...............

2009-03-13T15:04:00.010-04:00

This is the most difficult news to post.

We just wanted to let everyone know that we will not able to proceed with the adoption of our son. Due to circumstances that were beyond anyone's control, we came to the heartbreaking realization that we will not be able to parent him. Needless to say, we are devastated. He is a beautiful, sweet child, and he deserves the right home.

This has been a very harrowing last 48 hours for our family. We have done so much soul searching, shed so MANY tears, and spent sleepless nights thinking about everything.

We did decide we are not ready to bow out of the process at this point, and have let the agency director know that we want to remain on the waiting list. We believe our child is out there waiting for us. Tragically, he was not that child.

Please pray for this sweet child, that he is cared for and loved and that he finds a forever family that is right for him. We will never forget that precious, sweet face.

Our family, friends, and community of fellow waiting parents have been such a wonderful source of support and encouragement. We thank you for all you have done to help us through this.

Praying for good news in His time.

Matt's Second Chance.......

2009-03-06T22:45:00.020-05:00

On Saturday February 21st, Matt had to have emergency surgery, and narrowly escaped losing his life.

He was in our 3rd floor attic working (we *were* going to finish it and make it a family room) and the circular saw jerked and hit his thigh. He has an (approx) 20cm x 6cm wound that extends down to his femur.

I had just been up to check on him and he was planning to take a break soon. I went back downstairs and about 5 minutes later, thought I heard him yelling, so I ran back up to the second floor to check on him. He told me to "get something for pressure" so I grabbed a twin bed sheet. I was not sure how I'd be able to climb up the tiny opening to the 3rd floor to get him down-there was barely enough room for one person! He kind of "fell" out of the opening and was (what I thought) holding his hand by his thigh. I thought he had cut his hand off. He collapsed at the top of our stairs and I called 911. There was soooooo much blood and I could not get it to stop. I realized it was *not* his hand when he lifted it up to hand me his belt- I saw his femur while I was tying his belt around his thigh to stop the bleeding.

He slid down to the 1st floor and I kept applying pressure. I had no idea if he'd hit an artery or not-there was so much blood, and when I tried to add more fabric to the pressure dressing as he was lying on our dining room floor, he tried to "help" me and knocked the dressing off. When a section of his thigh flopped over laterally, I then saw his fat, muscle, and his femur. What a day that was is an understatement!

EMS talked of airlifting him to the hospital, but decided the hospital was a safe ambulance ride. They called a trauma surgeon to do the surgery. He severed 2 of his 4 quadriceps muscles, barely missed sawing through his femur, and narrowly missed severing his femoral artery. This could have been nothing but worse-had he hit the artery, I would have been burying my husband!

After the surgery, I asked the surgeon if Matt would be able to walk on that leg again. He was very vague told me "I hope so, but there was so much trauma, and we have to hope the muscles that are sewn together will heal." I also asked how many sutures he had-the surgeon said he "lost count." They had to stitch him up inside and then out.

Needless to say, the house looked like a crime scene. I have never seen so much blood without someone losing their life. I took pictures for Matt to see after he was home-I knew if I cleaned it up without pics, Matt would never believe it!

All said, he spent 5 days in the hospital and is now home. He is starting to bear some weight on his leg, and the surgeon is shocked! He had his drain taken out on Thursday 2/26, then saw the surgeon again yesterday-but he wanted to wait another week to remove the stitches. Fine with me, I agree!

So in the meantime, I am helping him clean the wound, changing his dressings twice a day (our surgeon Alina Jayne is helping) and watching him push himself to regain full function.

Since we got married, we have ALWAYS been thankful for each day we have together. Now we realize we need to cherish each *second* we have. I had just talked to him before the accident, and 5 minutes later, he had his accident. Just that quickly, he could have been gone. By the grace of God, he is still here, Alina Jayne still has her Daddy, I still have my soulmate, and our baby in Ethiopia still has a Father here.

The pics I posted are fairly G rated. We have some taken in the OR before he was "fixed" but are not suitable for the faint of heart!

Matt's Aunt (Nonna) gave him a couple of very cute get well gifts. Not to make light of a very serious situation, but these were great! Humor is so healing!

Check out the "edited" cover

The only circular saw Matt will ever use again!

Stay tuned....................

Good News from Ethiopia!

2009-02-20T19:28:00.016-05:00

No, we do NOT have our referral yet! However, there is other awesome news. Until recently, there have only been two judges to hear adoption cases in Ethiopia-which means things have been moving VERY SLOWLY. Example-once a family receives their referral (i.e. find out who their baby is), it has been taking about four months for them to get a court date in Ethiopia (i.e. the date the child is legally theirs). This is a process that used to take about two months. With the addition of this third judge, this means that those families who have known who their precious children are and have been assigned court dates four months later, will most likely have their court dates moved up! This means they will be getting their precious babies home much sooner! YIPPEE!

What does this mean for Matt and I? Well, if this process really does speed up, then once we receive our referral, we should have a shorter wait for a court date too. However, since we are having our baby/ies escorted from Ethiopia (which adds some time to the homecoming) and the state we live in has a notoriously S-L-O-W Immigration system, we will be lucky if our sweet one/s will be home by the end of the year. I hate to say, "oh well" but it is not in our hands. I am just so happy for those families who have been waiting for or who have a court date that is many months away-they should be seeing their new ones sooner than they expected!

On the home front, we are *supposed* to have a nice little snow storm this weekend. I am praying that this really does happen! I do not have to work this weekend, and Alina Jayne and I have a snowman to build. The last significant snowfall was the fluffy, powdery kind-no snowballs or snowmen from that!

More later!

One Step Closer????

2009-02-13T20:29:00.027-05:00

A new place to surf the net

....to Alina Jayne sleeping in her own room????

Her BIG reason for not sleeping in her room was that there was no computer in there. "I can't stay in there with no computer!" She occasionally says she also needs a TV, but the computer was the deal breaker. We happen to have an old computer that is fine for for internet use (so she can play on PBS Kids Play & Noggin) and an old computer desk. We were going to wait to set up her "workstation" until Matt had a chance to paint the desk and get a flat panel monitor, but he decided tonight he would just set up what we have on hand for the time being. After all, he spent months renovating and decorating a nursery for her before she came home from China, and she STILL has never slept in there!

After he finished setting things up, we called her upstairs. She squealed with excitement, sat down and said "OH MY GOODNESS, THIS IS SOOOOOO EXCITING!" She then proceeded to ask her Dad and I to close the door and go downstairs so she could have "privacy."

"OH MY GOODNESS THIS IS SOOOOOO EXCITING!!"

They *THINK* I'm really going to sleep in here!

Uh oh, they really do expect me to sleep in here!

The view from her bed......

Even if we don't end up putting a TV in there, she could watch a DVD on her computer from her bed. It's a pretty sweet set-up if I may say so myself. From an oldest child who ALWAYS had to share a bedroom with one or both of my sisters, I have decided if Alina Jayne does not want to use her room, I will move in!

One day closer to only two people in our bed??? We shall see :O)

Like Daddy Like Daughter..............

2009-02-11T21:31:00.018-05:00

What? I should be in BED??

As I have mentioned before, my hubby is very handy around the house. Seems Alina Jayne is just like her Daddy. Whenever he works on a project here, she is right beside him trying to help out. She spends a great deal of time in his workshop, playing with the tools, etc.

The other night, Matt decided to rearrange our washer and dryer. Alina Jayne was *supposed* to be in bed, but she "needed to help her Daddy." Of course, I got the camera out and snapped away-and then it hit me. She was helping her Daddy install the washer and dryer in 2006, and I took pics then too. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Enjoy....................

Oh, by the way, did I mention that on 2/14, we have been waiting for our baby's referral for THREE months? Not that anyone is keeping track ;O)

I have tools and I know how to use them!

Let me adjust this here

Just one more minor tweak

All fixed Mama, I can go to bed now

Handy with the tools (before she was 2)!

Working on the washer in 2006

Helping Daddy in 2006

A precious gift from China.............................

2009-02-10T21:29:00.013-05:00

We received a most wonderful gift from Alina Jayne's SWI (orphanage) today!

About a week or so ago, a member of the Yuanling Yahoo Group that we belong to posted a message to let everyone know that the director of the SWI (Director Zhao) had sent a box of Chinese New Year cards to her to distribute to families with children from Yuanling in the USA. We were so thrilled to be able to receive such a wonderful gift from the woman who not only gave our daughter a last name in China (Zhao), but was also responsible for starting the Foster Care program that allowed Alina Jayne to live in a loving foster home from the time she was one month old until we adopted her at age 15 mos.

The card is beautiful! Most of the text is in Chinese, so we will have to e-mail a copy to our WONDERFUL translator, Stephen So (http://ssotranslations.tripod.com) to find out what it says!

(Front)

(Back)

(Inside)

(Envelope)

Too wiped out to surf..................

2009-02-07T23:07:00.013-05:00

Just had to post this!

Alina Jayne LOVES to use the computer to play games. She turns it on, logs on and goes to the two sites she loves- & then logs off and shuts it down when she is finished-all this and we only showed her how to do this once. About a month or so ago, she brought a full color picture of Curious George to us when we she was finished playing. Her Dad and I were shocked, and asked her how in the heck she got that, to which she replied "Mom, Dad, it is REALLY easy, you just click print!" Well duh!

Tonight after she was ready for bed, she pleaded with us to let her play "one more game." We knew she was getting tired, but we decided it was okay. After telling her to turn the volume down 2 or 100 times (yes, we sound like *our* parents yelling for us to turn our music down when we were teenagers), it got *very* quiet. We went to the kitchen to check on her and this is what we found........

ZZZZZZZZZZ

Guess she got tired waiting for her page to load!

Yes, she is tucked snugly in bed (ours of course) as I post this!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ALINA JAYNE IS 4!!!

2009-02-01T21:33:00.016-05:00

This was a special day around here-Alina Jayne is 4 today!

Her party was supposed to be Saturday, but unfortunately, Great Grandma called a couple of hours before the party and said she was not feeling well. Mama went to check on her and decided she needed to go to the ER. We delayed the party from 4:00 to 5:30, but then re-scheduled it for today when she was admitted for testing. She was devastated to have missed all of the fun, but she is where she needs to be, having testing and observation.

Waiting for her party to start.....

This was only a small party anyway-just Grandparents, so it was easy to re-schedule it for today. We had Papa, Grammy and Grandpa, Aunt Nonna and cousin Claudie came along with Papa.

Aunt Nonna

Grandpa

Grammy Patty

Daddy & Papa

Cousin Claudia

Alina Jayne got sooo many cool gifts-Aunt Nonna brought some cool stuff from Japan (where her Grandkids are from) and she got a ton of clothes. Aunt Nonna also got Alina Jayne an African baby doll, which the women passed around to snuggle like it was a *real* baby!

We had pizza, Chinese dumplings, lettuce wraps, shrimp, Chinese sugar doughnuts, and cupcakes. We also had the traditional oranges, but Mama forgot to put them out! Call me a knuckle head!

We all had so much fun visiting, we almost forgot to sing happy birthday! When we finally did, Alina Jayne asked us to do it over-she did not have her birthday tiara on! So of course, we did!

"Oh no, something's not right-where is my tiara?"

"Whew, that's better!"

We sent some cupcakes with Papa to give to the Grandkids who weren't here, along with a Hong Bao (red envelope) with "lucky money" for each of them. We cannot wait to finally be able to celebrate ETHIOPIAN HOLIDAYS too!

One other big event occurred-Alina Jayne got a BIG GIRL BED! Daddy finished making the bed frame a few days ago, and Santa brought her new big girl bedding. So for her 4th b-day, we re-did her room. Of course, she has NEVER slept in there! She has had a crib, toddler bed and now a big girl bed. Hoping the third try is a charm!

The Big Girl Room!

Enjoy the photos. Off to watch the Superbowl!

(CLICK ON THE COLLAGE TO SEE THE PICS LARGER)

恭喜发财 Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2009-01-25T12:48:00.004-05:00

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!

January 26th, 2009 begins the Year of the Ox. The Ox symbolizes prosperity through fortitude and hard work. Those born under the influence of the Ox are fortunate to be stable and persevering. The typical Ox is a tolerant person with strong character. Not many people could equal the resolution and fearlessness that the Ox exhibits when deciding to accomplish a task. Ox people work hard without complaints at work or at home.

Chinese New Year, also known as the Chinese Lunar New Year or the Chinese Spring Festival, is one of the traditional Chinese holidays. Gong Xi Fa Cai is the most popular greeting this time of the year, which means "Congratulations and be prosperous."

Unlike the Western New Year, whereby the year always beings on January 1st, China uses the lunisolar Chinese calendar to determine Chinese New Year dates. The calendar is also used in countries that have adopted or have been influenced by Han culture (i.e. Vietnam, Japan and Korea). In the Gregorian calendar, Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, a date between January 21 and February 20. This means that the holiday usually falls on the second (or rarely third) new moon after the winter solstice. In traditional Chinese Culture, lichun is a solar term marking the start of spring, which occurs about February 4.

The Chinese New Year is celebrated internationally, and is considered to be the most important holiday for the Chinese, as well as other ethnic groups (i.e. the Mongolians, Koreans, the Miao and the Vietnamese) who were influenced by Chinese culture in terms of religion, philosophy, language and culture. Chinese New Year is also the time of year when the largest human migration takes place-Chinese in China and around the world return home on Chinese New Year Eve.

Before the New Year comes, people typically clean inside and outside of their homes, as well as their clothes, pajamas and all their utensils. Door panels are pasted with Spring Festival couplets (with black Chinese calligraphy on red paper). Wishes for a bright future or good luck for the New Year are common themes. Pictures of the god of doors and wealth are often posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits and welcome peace and abundance.

A common character seen on door couplets it the Chinese character “fu” (meaning blessing or happiness). The character is typically hung upside down-the reason being that in Chinese, the “reversed fu” is synonymous with “fu comes," both being pronounced as “fudaole.” It is also common to see large red lanterns on each side of front doors.

Chinese New Year Eve is a very important date to the Chinese. On this night, families gather to visit and have dinner to celebrate the holiday. Dishes such as chicken, fish and noodles are commonly served, as well as tangerines and oranges. A whole chicken represents family unity, fish (especially one served whole) represents abundance and prosperity, noodles represent longevity, and tangerines and oranges offer luck and wealth. After dinner, families visit, most staying up to see in the New Year.

Traditional New Year’s Day breakfast in northern China consist of jiaozi (dumplings) for breakfast, as they think “jiaozi” in sound means “bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new”. Also, the shape of the dumpling is like gold ingot from ancient China- people eat them and wish for money and treasure. A typical breakfast in Southern China consists of niangao (New Year cake made of glutinous rice flour), as in sound, niangao means “higher and higher, one year after another.” The first five days after the Spring Festival is a time for relatives, friends, classmates and colleagues to exchange greetings and gifts.

On New Year’s Day, it is common for children and unmarried members of the family to receive money as a New Year gift, wrapped up in red paper (Hong Bao). Burning fireworks is the most typical custom on the Spring Festival. It is thought that the loud, banging sounds of the firecrackers help drive away evil spirits. Other customary festivities include dragon and lion dancing, and festivals. The Chinese New Year or Spring Festival comes to an end with a lantern festival.

We will be celebrating CNY in conjunction with Alina Jayne’s 4th birthday party on January 31st, and you can bet my camera will be smoking! This year it will be a casual event-a combination pizza party with the grandparents for Alina Jayne’s birthday, and CNY-with some appetizers of dumplings, shrimp, Chinese sugar donuts and oranges. So while we will not have all of the traditional CNY foods, we will have some. It is important to acknowledge as many Chinese holidays as we can, especially the big ones. Luckily, Alina Jayne’s b-day is always close to CNY. We can’t wait until we can start celebrating ETHIOPIAN holidays too!

Adoption Timeline OOOPS! New DTE........

2009-01-12T21:22:00.015-05:00

Today we found out that our dossier was *not* sent to Ethiopia on 11/13/08 as we originally thought. The last Fed Ex pick-up at our agency's office is 4:15PM, so it was actually sent on 11/14/08 instead! No biggie in the big picture of International Adoption, but it was good to know this info-I'll want to have the right date in our new baby's Lifebook!

Our adoption agency welcomes monthly phone calls from families who are waiting for referrals-just to see where the families might be in terms of the waiting list. We did not call in December, and we were not going to call this month either, since we know we still have quite a wait. Well, I caved and sent an e-mail. Having been through an International Adoption before, we know they cannot give us a definite timeline. They have no way to predict when a given waiting family will be matched with a child. So, we found out today that our dossier was technically sent to Ethiopia on 11/14/08, and that, you guessed it, we still have a long way to go!

Stay tuned.......................

Sunday Snow Fun!

2009-01-11T15:29:00.012-05:00

Making a snow angel in her sandbox

We had a hefty winter blast in our area that started on Friday evening. For the first time in I don't know how long, the forecasters were right! Between Friday evening and Saturday night, our area received a nice "dusting" of snow. It was the light, powdery type, so there was a lot of blowing and drifting. I received a call on Friday night letting me know that our office would be closed on Saturday (woo hoo! I miss my childhood snow days)!

We tried to get Alina Jayne to play outside on Saturday, but she informed us "no thanks guys, it is too deep out there, that is not fun snow." Finally today we talked her into going outside for a while. We got well over a foot of snow, although it is hard to tell in the pics after our German Shepherds had a great time running around the yard flattening the snow out! I have to say, Alina Jayne was right. It wasn't the "fun snow." It was too powdery to make snowballs or a snowman-but it was nice to spend some time outside anyway! The hot cocoa afterward was even better :O)

Let's make a snowman!!!

Alina Jayne with Heidi & Rommel

I told you this wasn't good snow-can't make a snowman, can we go in now?

January 7th, 2009-MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2009-01-11T00:11:00.010-05:00

Melkam Gena & Timkat!

Nope. I have not lost my mind-it is Christmas time in Ethiopia!

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church's celebration of Christ's birth is called Ganna. Since Ethiopia recognizes the ancient Julian calendar, Ethiopians celebrate Christmas on January 7th, the Feast of the Epiphany, instead of December 25th.

Christmas is a major holiday in Ethiopia, where more than half of the population is Orthodox Christian. It is a day when families attend church. The day before Ganna, people fast all day, and then attend an early morning Mass on January 7th. Around the time of Ganna, the men and boys play a game that is also called ganna. It is somewhat like the game of hockey played here, except it is played with a curved stick and a round wooden ball.

The foods enjoyed during the Christmas season may include doro wat- a thick, spicy stew of chicken and vegetables. The wat is traditionally served from a beautifully decorated watertight basket onto a "plate" of injera (the flat, spongy sourdough bread) which is used to both serve the food and as an edible “spoon” to scoop up the wat.

Twelve days after Ganna, on January 19, Ethiopians begin the three-day celebration called Timkat, which commemorates the baptism of Christ. Children and adults walk to church services in a procession. The priests wear red and white robes and carry embroidered fringed umbrellas.

The music of Ethiopian instruments makes the Timkat procession a very festive event. A percussion instrument called a sistrum (tinkling metal disks) and a long, T-shaped prayer stick called a makamiya, taps out the walking beat, and also serves as a support for the priest during the long church service that follows. Church officials (called dabtaras) study hard to learn the musical chants, known as melekets, for the ceremony. During Timkat, the Ethiopian men play another game called yeferas guks. During this game, they ride on horseback and throw ceremonial lances at each other.

Unlike Christmas in the United States, Ganna (as well as Timkat) are not occasions for giving gifts in Ethiopia. If an Ethiopian Child receives a gift at all, it is usually a small gift of simple clothing. Religious observances, feasting, and games are the focus of the season.

Hopefully next year we will be celebrating our *usual* Christmas, as well as Ethiopian Christmas. Since we are so early in the Ethiopia adoption process, we did not have an actual celebration this year. I tend to be very careful-not wanting to “jinx” anything. I did the same thing when we waited for Alina Jayne’s referral from China. I learned all about the culture, customs, and traditions, and of course, blogged about them. However, I did not feel comfortable celebrating the holidays until Alina Jayne was home. Yes, Matt thinks I am crazy! I still plan to practice some Ethiopian cooking while we wait.

Another holiday/celebration is fast approaching. Ms. Alina Jayne will be turning 4 on February 1st, and Chinese New Year is on January 26th this year. We will probably celebrate her birthday and CNY at the same time. We’ll post photos then.

A Girl & Her Papa

2009-01-04T20:55:00.022-05:00

On Friday night as I got Alina Jayne out of the bathtub, she mentioned that she could not see any stars that night-we have a tradition of saying the whole "Star Light, Star Bright" poem every time we see the first star in the sky. She always proceeds to tell me what her wish is "I wish for my Papa."

Well, on Friday, when she told me she could not see any stars, I told her that was okay. She informed me "No Mama, I need the stars....I need to tell them thank you for my Papa. I love my Papa, he is sooooo good, I am sooooo thankful for my Papa."
Well kiddo, we are too!

When Alina Jayne came home from China, Papa was not at all happy that she was going to be going to daycare, and he made that perfectly clear to us. But there was a problem, since Matt and I both work full-time, we had no other choice. He volunteered to watch her (he was preparing to retire after working for GM for 42 years), but we were quite sure he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Sure, he had an 11 year old Granddaughter that he and my Mom helped raise, as well as 5 additional younger Grandkids-but a 15 month old child plucked from the only country, people, food, culture & language she had ever known, was a whole different story!

Well, guess what? Alina Jayne lasted exactly 3.5 hours in daycare (over the course of 3 days) and we knew she would never make it there. Papa INSISTED he watch her "for a few months-until she got adjusted." We agreed, and when few months passed, we started looking at daycare centers again. Papa refused to allow her to go "until she was old enough to tell us if she was unhappy there." We finally caved and enrolled her in pre-school this past September-and yes, he is still disappointed! If we would have let him have his way, she'd stay with him and he'd home school her!

However, to give credit where credit is due-anyone who truly who knows us and Alina Jayne, knows that the reason she is the loving, caring, adjusted, intuitive, intelligent,(albeit at times)feisty child she is today-is BECAUSE of Papa.

....if he had not decided that this child needed someone to give his undivided attention to; someone to meet her needs when she was unsure of everything around her-Alina Jayne would not be the Alina Jayne she is today............

"Thanks Papa" seems so insignificant.

Alina Jayne & Papa- the night he drove us home from the airport after we arrived from China

We found this note from Papa on our fridge after he brought us home from the airport (the cherries are a work of art from niece Claudia)

Happy 2009!

2009-01-01T17:50:00.016-05:00

Here we are on the first day of 2009. Not a lot going on in our home today, since a certain almost 4 year old did not want to go to sleep last night-and here we thought she'd not be able to stay awake to ring in the New Year! Wrong. She not only stayed up to welcome 2009, but managed to keep us awake until well after 2AM! This is one tired family today.

We stayed home for New Years Eve. Matt's Dad & Stepmom came up and we had our Christmas with them. We just had appetizers and drinks last night-and Patty (aka Grammy) brought shrimp cocktail for the Hunan Princess. That child can eat her weight in shrimp (this is why we haven't given her lobster yet). It was a really nice visit, but Patty has bronchitis and they ended up leaving around 9:00. We'll be getting together again soon, as Yours Truly forgot to give them their gifts from us! I almost forgot their card and pic of Alina Jayne, but after Matt reminded me 10 or 100 times, I did remember that-Brain fog is my defense.

Tomorrow it is back to work for me. Matt and Alina Jayne have been off since 12/19, but Mama on the other hand has worked. Fortunately I was off early on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, and we are closed on Christmas and New Years Days. There have not been too many patients on the schedule, so it has not been hectic. Don't get me wrong, I am so thankful to have a job in this shaky economy, but I have had my moments of feeling sorry for myself, knowing I am missing out on time at home with my family. I certainly could have taken the time off, but I chose to save my time so I have hours in the bank to pay for my time off when our baby comes home from Ethiopia, so it is all good. Wow. That sounds so beautiful.

Here's wishing everyone a healthy, happy and prosperous 2009, and hoping this year brings us news of our newest family member.

Happy New Year!

Grammy, Alina Jayne & Grampy-New Years Eve

"PLEASE Mama, No More Pics" New Years Day

The Birds & The Bees (According to a 3 1/2 Year Old)

2008-12-26T12:36:00.027-05:00

So last night Alina Jayne and I were in her bedroom getting her clothes out for today-she saw the chairs we have for her new sibling's room, and asked "Mama, where is my new baby sister & when is she gonna come home with us?" At this point, we no longer tell her that she is likely to end up with a new *brother* since she doesn't want to hear that, so I told her that her new sister is still in Ethiopia, and it could be a long time before she is home. She asked "Is someone feeding her? Are they taking good care of her?" I assured her that she is being cared for, and that she may even still be inside her "Tummy Mama's" tummy (this is what she calls her Birthmother). She seemed relieved and said "Oh good, then she is getting food from her Tummy Mama's tummy." Then she asked me "Mama, I wasn't inside your tummy, was I?" We talk about this quite often, but she still asks me. I reminded her that she was inside her China Tummy Mama's tummy, and that while she was growing there, she was in my heart. Of course she said "I really wanted to be in YOUR tummy-am I too big now?" I assured her that she was too big-then the BIG question came-

"Mama, how DID I get out of my Tummy Mama's tummy??? How did she get me out of there?" Now, let me say, I am well prepared to discuss the birds and the bees with an older child, but I was in no way prepared for THIS discussion! After I choked on my words for a second, the best I could come up with was "Well, it was a lot of hard work, she just pushed really hard and you came out." She really seemed to buy this story and said "Oh, yeah Mama, you are RIGHT! She went like this" (and proceeded to gag-like a cat choking on a hairball) " and I came out!!" She suddenly stopped for a second to reflect on the mental image and said "Oh my goodness! I hope she didn't get spit on me!!!"

I am still recovering today............................

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T20:49:00.040-05:00

What a great Christmas we had! It was not a big production at all-Alina Jayne did not need anything, and wanted everything, so this house was an easy stop for Santa. Her big things right now are anything ballerina/princess themed, play make-up, anything she can play with in the bath tub, and music. Pretty easy for the elves to fulfill that order.

Luckily (for Mama) she did not get up at the crack of dawn-we actually had to wake her up around 10AM! We told her Santa had been here, and asked if she wanted to see what presents he brought, but she told us "no thanks, not right now, I'm really tired" and pulled the blankets over her head! She finally rolled out of bed at 10:30, and gingerly opened each package-she was trying to keep each piece of wrapping paper intact, so she could re-use it! "Mama, keep this paper whole so we can use it again!" I guess we did not realize our daughter was such a conservationist!

Papa came over for dinner and to open the gift Alina Jayne bought him at her pre-school's shopping day-although she already told him what it was the day she bought it! In fact, she told ALL of us what she bought for us. When we wrapped the gifts for Matt, one was a pair of slippers. The other night he was getting ready for bed, and she says "Daddy, why are you wearing those old slippers? Don't you want to wear your NEW ones?"

Matt bought necklaces for Alina Jayne and I-each the half of a Mother/Daughter Heart. As we watched Alina Jayne open her gifts this AM, it hit me-this is our third Christmas together. How time flies. It seems like just yesterday we were waiting for her referral. Now we go to sleep and wake up with her everyday. What a blessing. My family is the reason my heart beats, the reason I feel complete. I tell Alina Jayne that she makes my heart happy. The joy in my life is because of my family.

I was able to spend Christmas at home with my Husband, Daughter and my Father. I cannot think of any better gifts....................

Merry Christmas to all!

SAVE THE WRAPPING PAPER!
The Ballerina/Princess & Her Daddy

The Ballerina/Princess & Her Papa

She Did Her Own Hair & Makeup!

Papa........

Mother & Daughter

Ho Ho Ho!!!!!

2008-12-21T14:28:00.031-05:00

...........We finally took Alina Jayne to the local Children's Wonderland. In our defense, she just did not seem interested at all the last two years. Now she is in pre-school and they celebrate all of the holidays, so she was curious this year. This is an event that her Daddy and I went to as children, so we were happy to be able to take her. It was a perfect night for the trip. We had a fairly severe snow/ice storm during the previous 24 hours, and most events were canceled. We decided to brave the elements, and we were rewarded with a fairly empty exhibit-and NO lineup to see Santa! This was also something she had absolutely NO interest in during the last two years, and we really were not sure she would be open to sitting with Santa this year. However, she surprised both Daddy and I, and decided to sit on his lap (she had said she would sit on Mama's lap while Mama sat on Santa's lap-so I was VERY happy when she decided to fly solo)! She had terrible "hat hair" and Mama was ill-prepared for a photo-op-not a hairbrush to be found! It's okay, I still think she looks beautiful-maybe a tad bit apprehensive, but still beautiful.

There were all kinds of exhibits-traditional gingerbread houses, a Candy Land theme, North Pole, and an exhibit of Christmas around the world. She was so excited to see a display of "Her China." She kept trying to touch the doll's hair-I had to explain that it was just to look at, but she REALLY wanted to touch it. I finally had to tell her that the doll's hair felt just like hers. She finally decided she didn't need to touch it when she realized she could actually ride the North Pole Express!

Due to the bad weather, she missed day two of her school's 2 days of Christmas parties. The teachers were afraid they might be closed on Friday, so they sent home her "gifts" for Mama and Daddy. One was a Christmas ornament with her picture inside, the other was a Christmas card with her picture. What a precious gift.

Only 4 days until Christmas-she keeps asking if it is Christmas today. It is so much fun this year-now that she is actually really excited about the whole thing. I cannot believe Santa would want to travel in this weather. We had to venture out in the frigid weather this AM (and when I say frigid, I mean it is 4 degrees, winds 30-40mph and a wind chill of -20.) The traction control light kept coming on in my car. So I pulled over to consult the owner's manual-and what did I hear from the back seat while I was reading? "Mama, what are you waiting for? Come on, let's get moving, I have a hair appointment!!!"

Brrrrrrrr..........More later :O)

Doesn't she look a tad unsure?

First Pre-School Christmas Pic

"This is Great!"

"ALL ABOARD!"

Christmas in China

Feels like the North Pole HERE today!

Wednesday Tip: Secret of the Slender Chinese

2008-12-17T20:24:00.016-05:00

We started to worry that Alina Jayne was getting too fond of playing computer and X-box games. While I think noggin.com and PBS Kidsplay are fine in moderation, the idea of a nearly 4 year old into X-box gaming does give rise to concern. The other day I walked into the living room to find her planted squarely in front of the TV playing a game. It was the whole picture that concerned me-vegging in front of the TV, game controller in hand, oblivious to the world around her. We had a talk with her and explained she needed to do other fun things around the house that do not involve the TV. It is no surprise that she was less than thrilled, but she was okay with it.

A few days later she asked "Mama, can you put the 'ectercise' movie on so I can work out?" I thought this was a much better idea, so I plopped in the Jilian Michaels 30-Day Shred-and Alina Jayne completed the entire 20 minute workout-complete with hand weights!

When I took the pics off the camera, I was not sure which aspect of the photos were more entertaining. The fact that she insists on stripping down to her undies and tee-shirt so she has "ectercise clothes on," the fact that she has her own set of hand weights (she asked us to buy them for her), or the fact that she had obviously applied lipstick prior to her workout. It is oh so important to look good when you sweat!

Happy Wednesday :O)

Another Sweet Sunday (and Saturday too)!

2008-12-14T19:29:00.007-05:00

We had another great weekend at home. On Saturday we made a gingerbread house (or a gingerman house as Alina Jayne calls them). I am so not creative, so I have to give the credit to Wilton for this one. If their kit was not so easy to use, this project would never have happened.....well, it might have if I tried to do it from scratch and Matt had been home to bail me out. But he was not, so I bought a Wilton kit. The house was pre-assembled, so it just needed to be frosted and decorated. All of the decorations were included, but we did use a few extra things we had on hand at home. ALL of the decorating was done by Ms. Alina Jayne. Trust me, it would not look this good if *I* had done it!

On Sunday Matt made breakfast for us-with the help of Alina Jayne of course. She does a very good job cracking the eggs(without leaving shells behind)-and adding the milk and whisking, etc. She and Papa make scrambled eggs all the time, so she knows what she is doing. We also baked and decorated another batch of "gingermen" cookies. We might be finished baking around here until it is time to get ready for Christmas dinner.

The Chef

The Chef & her Daddy

Oh, Christmas shopping is finished. I also do the shopping for the grandkids for my Dad, and that is finished as well. Alina Jayne was super easy to buy for-she does not need a thing, but she wants EVERYTHING she sees. The dialogue around here has gone something like this the last 3 mos:

A: "Mama, Daddy, come in here RIGHT NOW!"
(we run into the room thinking something is wrong)

A: (Calm as can be) "I want that, can you buy that for me?"

M/D: "You'd better put it on your list for Santa"

A: "No thanks, he's too busy making presents on the moon, you can buy it, right Mama/Daddy?"

I mean it, she wants everything she sees. The one time she beckoned us, she wanted us to buy her a money clip she saw on TV. I am afraid she is officially Americanized.

Have a great end of the weekend and week.

The fine details

Her finished masterpiece

Back of her gingerman house

Gingerman house side #1
Gingerman house side #2

The Rock Star (aka princess)

Sweet Sunday

2008-12-07T15:18:00.015-05:00

Since this is a new blog this year, I realized I needed to add a pic of Alina Jayne's Chinese Christmas tree. I got the idea from my friend Kat, who has two beauties adopted from China. So the first year she was home from China, I decided to make her tree a Hunan Chili Pepper Tree-to honor our Spicy Girl's homeland. It is a fiber optic tree (but you really can't tell that in the pic), then I added the chili pepper lights. When we were in China we bought some cloisonne ornaments, and we give her a new one every year to hang on her tree. In 2006 we gave her a stocking, 2007 was a snowman, and this year it is a bulb with Chinese knotting cord. I just found out that my Dad bought us another table top tree, so that one will be dedicated to Ethiopia for our new baby!!!!!!!!

We have had a delightfully peaceful weekend. This was my weekend off, so Friday night I decided that I would not have any agenda-anything that got done would be great, anything left undone was fine too. We did not get up early either Saturday or Sunday (well, Matt did-he went to work), and we even stayed in our jammies ALL day on Saturday. We decided to spend our time playing games, cooking and napping.

Today was cookie day. Alina Jayne has been begging me to make "gingermen" cookies. So I thought-wow, we could do that this year instead of cutouts. We spent part of the afternoon baking and decorating-what a blast! At one point while we were baking, I had to run out to Matt's shop to retrieve the cookie sheets I used to flat freeze the garden veggies at summer's end (you can see how much baking I have done lately-I never even missed them until today!) When I came back into the house, I saw that Alina Jayne had not only rolled a chunk of cookie dough out and cut out 3 gingerbread men all by herself and put them onto the cookie sheet-but she had ALSO FLOURED THE THE PASTY BOARD FIRST!

Off to play Candyland. I will never win, my daughter cheats! Keeps a few cards tucked away under her bum in case she's close to winning and needs to move two spots. It's okay, I'm a good sport, and she admits she doesn't play fairly-at least she doesn't lie about it!

So Serious!

See???

Aren't These The Best Looking Cookies You've Ever Seen?

I-171 (And Some Other Happenings Too)!

2008-12-06T10:17:00.024-05:00

Well, it is here!!! We cleared the immigration milestone-our I-171 came Friday!!! We are officially approved to adopt up to 2 kiddos from Ethiopia!! Not bad turnaround for our local USCIS field office. Fingerprints were done on 11/19 and the I-171 was approved on 12/01/08!! Now all we have to do is wait...........and wait, and wait.

We had some other events here too. Matt and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on 11/30, and *someone* had a birthday that day too. My Dad, Matt and Alina Jayne and I celebrated the anniversary, b-day, and the fact that we were DTE on 11/13 by having dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant-I guess we were also unknowingly celebrating the receipt of the I-171 too! The restaurant was awesome, the food was phenomenal, the Tej honey wine was excellent, and the atmosphere was so relaxing. We cannot wait to go back. Even my meat and potatoes Dad loved it-I was shocked (he was very hesitant to accept the invitation when he found out what kind of food we'd be having). I am going to order some injera (the flat, spongy bread the food is served on and used to scoop up the food you eat) and some Ethiopian spices. I am going to practice my Ethiopian cooking skills while we wait for our baby(ies)to come home.

Ethiopian Meal

My Dad also supplied the awesome b-day chocolate chip cookie-no candles. The store he was at did not have enough packs!!!

Happy Birthday!!

Matt bought me the most wonderful gifts. He went way overboard, but I did not complain! He got me a necklace that is the shape of Africa, with a heart in the center, and two pairs of Chinese character earrings-one with the character for mother, and one with the character for love. Everyday I wear the necklace he bought me for my 2nd Mother's Day, which has the Chinese characters for "Born in my Heart." Now I am wearing that and my new Africa necklace daily. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband.

Sheng Zi Wo Xin (Born in My Heart) & My Heart is in Africa

Off to enjoy the cold, snowy weekend. We may bake gingerbread cookies today. Seems like the perfect day for that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T10:38:00.016-05:00

We had a wonderful, restful and very stress-free holiday. My Dad came over for the day, and it was so nice to be able to visit with him. My sisters had things to do with their families (in-laws and such), so it was just us this year.

We really do have this holiday meal preparation thing down to a science. The night before I make the desserts (sweet potato pie and pumpkin pudding), mix the green bean casserole, and chop all of the veggies for the food I make the next day. In the morning I make the dressing (in the crockpot) and the scalloped corn. Matt makes the mashed potatoes (which also get plopped into a crockpot to keep warm-I LOVE my crockpots), and he is in charge of deep-frying the turkey in the afternoon. That's it! While the turkey is frying, I throw the green beans, corn and rolls into the oven to heat, and we are set. Okay, so I take the easy way out with the gravy and cranberry sauce ( it's from a jar) but not many people around here use it anyway. After all of the holiday meals we have prepared, I have come to the conclusion that I will always make WAY too much food!

I looooove the holidays around here. As you all know, life can be so very busy and hectic at times, and it is far too easy to get caught up in it and lose sight of what is really important. It is so nice to be able to enjoy a day without rushing around-just being able to take the time to enjoy each other's company helps me realize how lucky we are to have each other, and to be thankful for all we have.

Our wedding anniversary (and yes, my birthday) are this weekend, plus our dossier was sent to Ethiopia this month, so we are celebrating by going to an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner. It has gotten really good reviews, so I am very excited. I love to try new foods, but some of my family members are not so adventurous! We may have to stop for take out for them on the way home! I'll post after we go to report!

Happy Holidays!!

GOTCHA! My family is so camera shy!

"Wow, there is waaaay too much food here!"

CHEESE!

A Time for CELEBRATION!!!

2008-11-15T00:03:00.022-05:00

This is a very exciting day in our house! After what seems like an eternity (although in reality it has only been a few months total), we received a very special e-mail from our Adoption Placing Agency today-our dossier (the official mound of documents and application) was sent to Ethiopia on Thursday!

Yep,on 11/13/08, all of the hours, days, weeks of work (applications, education, visits with the Homestudy Social Worker, personal and employer references, numerous e-mails, local criminal background checks, physical exams and lab work, etc, etc), all of the hard work was condensed into a package that was sent to Ethiopia. We are DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia)!!!

Now the "Official" wait begins. We still need to clear what used to be known as "Immigration" (now known as USCIS). This is THE background check that will (hopefully) yield the coveted I171-H (the authorization to adopt a child internationally). We have our fingerprint appointment next week. The process is actually two-fold. First, your fingerprints have to "pass" a QA check, meaning they are good enough to be analyzed. Then, if the quality is sufficient to allow an analysis, they are checked against a HUGE database (kind of like you would see on CSI) to determine that you have NO criminal history.

Whew!

Is anyone else exhausted?? I know I am!!! In fact, I feel a lot like Alina Jayne looks in this picture!

I am lucky (in more ways than I can even begin to count), I have "met" a lot of really great people from our Adoption Placing Agency who are in the same place as we are right now in this process. It will be great to share such an awesome journey with them! We met some wonderful people when we adopted Alina Jayne; people we will have a life-long bond with. I can see more life-long bonds forming on this journey too.

Check back often-we'll keep you posted!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-30T22:46:00.020-04:00

Today was Trick or Treating in our town. Alina Jayne woke up this AM to get ready for pre-school, and decided she wanted to go at 7AM! She simply did not believe that nobody would be passing out candy in the morning! I made it home from work in time to take Alina Jayne to a couple of houses (there aren't many more than a couple where we live), and to pass out candy.

More later..........have a great weekend everyone!

One More Milestone.......................

2008-10-26T21:54:00.005-04:00

We are one small step closer to bringing our child/children home from Ethiopia! On Friday our adoption placing agency called to let us know that they received our home study from our home study agency and it was perfect! They are still waiting for two documents to be returned from the Ethiopian Embassy and then it will be READY TO GO TO ETHIOPIA!!

So what now? Well, since the home study is completed, now the agency who wrote it will send a notarized copy to our placing agency and to USCIS. Our placing agency will send it to Ethiopia, where it will be transalted into Amharic. Then USCIS will send us an appointment to be fingerprinted, so we can be cleared by Immigration, and receive the coveted I-171H (aka the approval to adopt internationally).

Lots of things going on at one time, all of which are pieces in the puzzle. Can't wait to let you know when we are "DTE" ( Dossier to Ethiopia). That is when the REAL wait begins!