IT's HERE

Yeah the homestudy and notarized license arrived this morning. HIPHIp HOOORRAYYYY. I went straight to FED EX and it will arrive Mon. Morning at Illien's office. Next stop Washington DC. I feel so much weight off my shoulders right now as well. By the way today was our new mailman's first day. He's really nice and was excited for me when I met him at the door . He asked if he was going to get a greeted everday and I laughed and explained we were waiting for this important last document to bring our son home. And whats really funny my Spaniel just sat at the door and wagged her tail. No barking growling or Gnashing of teeth. HHUH Makes you wonder how dogs can really sense people. I didn't even have to hold her back. She just sat there.

Neither sleet nor snow

So I spent the day stalking pour post man. A rather healthy or unhealthy behavior dependent if you've been an adoptive parent or not. We know this beloved homestudy is to arrive signature required USPS. well our postman and I have a love hate relationship. i love him and he hates his life. i really don't know whats wrong with the old grump. Maybe he's had to walk in tooo many Cleveland winters, or he just doesn't know the love of anyone but He is Grumpy. I stay home through the week so the kids and I are usually outside or playing in the house when he comes. WellI knew something probably wasn't right when i watched my Brittney Spaniel raise her hackles and try to jump through the door to get a t him. You have to believe I have the nicest laziest, sweetest lick your face dog i the world. untill that day 4 years ago i had never even heard her growl at anyone. If we are outside on the porch playing and he walks up if I hold my hand out to get the mail he says No it has to go in the box. (Maybe thats a policy for the USPS though). Like I said it's been 4 years he should perhaps recognize me. And my favorite is when you are getting a signature receipt letter he doesn't even knock to try to deliver it he just puts a pink note in your box saying "sorry we missed you, but you must come down to the post office the next day to get your letter" I swear to God the guy never knocks for this. I'm home for goodness sakes. So since I know the homestudy is comming I will be at my door every day from 10:30-11:30 waiting for his little truck to pull up. There will be no little pink note in MYYYY mailbox.

A little chuckle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOQ5kn8YS8k This video on You tube put a smile on my face today. I love amazing animals. The only thing new in the adoption homefront is that Frank has to drive to Hudson 2-nite to our accountants office to pick up our 2007 W-2's. Our agency wants to include 2007 with the 2006 stuff. And our taxes aren't filed quite yet. nothing like the last minute eh.

This little light of mine, i'm gonna let in shine

Yeah. Finally some headway. We have a final version of our homestudy worked out. I guess our social workers boss will check it over and I'm expecting notarized copies next week. YEAH. Now the dossier can join the homestudy and be on its way to Washington DC. Where it will spend a few weeks being translated and authenticated for us. Then it takes approx 4 days to get to Ethiopia , then Emebet our representative in Ethiopia will apply for a court date. If all goes without a hitch I am hoping to have Abel in our arms in early July. Lord here my prayer .

Species Confusion

God Bless my old Brittney Spaniel named Brittney. She has been my companion for 10 years now. We knew there was a little field mouse in our house since she has been adamant about stalking our walls and baseboards trying to sniff out the mouse. Well low and behold she walked up to me with something in her mouth and I looked down and commanded "Drop It" Out falls a little mouse stunned and not dead. I couldn't believe my dog is a mouser. She was gentle enough as well where the little mouse was set free at the back of our property where he quickly made a run for it. The funny thing is my dog is so geriatric she is on 2 heart pills and arthritis meds. I laugh cause the old lady still has it in her.

For Children, For all Human Beings

Here is why my husband and I feel the way we do about helping out unfortunate children. We as Americans have no clue what the rest of the world is going through. As someone flips me off in traffic because I didn't gun it and pull in front of another car so they can save 2 minutes off their commute. I pray for them to reflect on what other human beings are experiencing right now in the world. I am blessed beyond comprehension and we can save 2 from certain death. This is how we feel our walk with Christ is to be done. Thank you Lord for showing our mission to us and making it ever so clear. I pray that others will find their mission with you as well.

For those who can't read the post you can click on it to enlarge but this is the 1994 Pulitzer prize photo of a child in Sudan crawling towards a UN food camp about a kilometer away. The Buzzard is waiting for the child to die. Three months after this photo was taken the Pulitzer prize winning photographer commited suicide due to depression at the attrocities he had seen.

Here's what I feel like

Here's a pic of what I feel like today.

Frustration Mounts

OK so the corrections weren't done correctly I guess. Now I'm sitting here fuming because I have to wait on my social worker to actually speak with our agency director. This is ridiculous since my previous homestudy was still valid, We just needed an update. I'm trying very hard to not think about it or dwell since this is not healthy for me. When something frustrates me I stew over it and this affects my sleep drastically. What is so rediculous id that we finished up our homestudy requirements like 6 weeks ago. This steams me because every day its delayed is 1 more day Abel sits unnecessarily in an orphanage. So please pray for my sanity and patience at this time.

A little light in the tunnel

So our homestudy corrections are done and sitting on our agency's directors desk. I called yes, I'm a maniac and she said she would get it done today. Yippeee. OK so that means I 'll get 3 notarized copies from our social worker next week. 1 to Illien, 1 to USCIS, and 1 for our keeps. So lord willing the Dossier will be sent next week to Washington DC for translation and authentication. then to Ethiopia , then once its registered we will officially accept Abel as our referral. This process should take about 4-6 weeks. Then a 6 week wait for a court date then 4 more weeks to travel. The mad rush is because Ethiopian courts close the months of August- Oct. so if you don't get in under the wire you have to wait till Nov. to travel. I hate to think of our son sitting in an orphanage an extra 2-3 months because paperwork took soooo darn long. Well I'm going to include a you tube clip here from the WWO (world wide orphans) for those who know me I desperatly want to volunteer to be an Orphan Ranger when I get all my kids a bit older. This is a big dream of mine and with my experience as a RN in the Operating room I'm hoping to go on cleft pallete team or other OR teams to volunteer for orphans. Or help with the many other projects that my skills as an RN can be used. If you watch towards the end of the video they cover Tam Binh #2 which is the orphanage our Lillian was in. It is amazing what WWO has accomplished just with this 1 orphanage to help HIV positive children. Truly an organiztion to be proud of. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lChFy9au2xc

Dear Lord

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XhKB870Qwo Lord grant me the courage to face what journey you have prepared for us. We wish to be obedient in your desires. And will follow through with this adoption journey you have placed on our hearts. I do believe in your word whe you say to take care of widows and orphans. And it does distress me that I can only make a difference with 2 and not the 143 million. Please let our story touch other lives so that they may make this journey as well . And please press on Abel's heart that he has a mommy and daddy who love him very much and we are comming for him. Please let him not loose faith. Amen.

Who Are These People????

OK I am normally a very patient person and would certainly not try to be rude or short with a stranger. But Today Lillian and I are at the mall to stretch our legs a bit. And as I'm sure any transracial family could tell you there are some questions people can ask that are truly None of their business. As an older women approached me she says Where did you adopt her from? OK I'll say Vietnam and ususally thats the end of it, but this woman knew no boundaries. So how much did you buy her for? I answer She's priceless. Now I'm gathering up my daughter and trying to leave as she's following me? Here's the next one out of her mouth. I guess you can't have your own kids, How sad. Now I'm use to all these above questions surely but I don't think i've had them fired at me from the same person in rapid succession. Then the clinker as I'm tossing my daughter in the stroller as fast as I can muster almost leaving my coat behind. " I can't believe a mother could just leave her child like that? So that's when I cordially answered "These women are heroes to me, Lilly's mom knew she would not be alive long and had to make an ultimate sacrifice to assure her child would live, Really most American's have no idea how good they have it and must say these things to feel better about themselves. Arghhhh.
I would never want to be openly rude to people, first it isn't part of my nature and God forbid they may have questions because they are considering adoption or sponsorship of an orphan. But I think after a sentece of 2 you can figure them out. Right now Lilly really hasn't caught on or cared about these questions but the day is soon comming and it will be a little sooner for Abel so I must prepare myself. I have thought about firing back with the How much you pay for her question with " How much did you pay for your house? " That will fit my sarcastic humourous side. HAHA

Help for Africa

http://http://article.wn.com/view/2008/03/01/Emergency_food_aid_hurt_by_soaring_prices/I was very disapointed to see this article today. It seems so sad to see our country where the food is so abundant that it is thrown away. and others are so hungry. Where obesity is a major health problem in our country. And others are starving.

Boys come from frogs, snails, and puppydog tails

For anyone who knows me I'm a bit nervous about being a mom to a son. i have never really gotten to experience this. From what I see of little boys is alot of running ,jumping, anf spitting. Girls have consumed my life thus far. So this will be interesting. On a positive note I sure like the fact that he won't get horribly upset if I pick out the wrong shoes to match an outfit and have to deal with all the drama. Yes our precious son will change our families dynamic for the better and forever. As they say little boys are made from frogs, snails, and puppy dog tails. Oh Lord please do not let my son bring any of the above mentioned things into the house.

New Info

We recieved all of Abel's info last night. It breaks my heart to read the stories of childrens abandonments. The good news is his labs look great but he is grossly underweight. He will be close to 3 and he is only 22 lbs. Yikes Lilly is not 2 yet and is 27 lbs. We are also thinking his age may be way off since they only guessed his age. When we get him home we will have a wrist X ray done to get a little more accurate age on him. We have just finished up all our Hague required classes. Thank God for online learning, It would be impossible for Frank and I to both be present in a classromm without 3 kids for 10 hours of learning and taking time off work, since I work weekends. I love the freedom to sit down for an hour or so in our jammies after the kiddos are in bed. Again I wish I could post some pics of him but this is against Ethiopian law untill we have cleared court. On another note once we are paper ready Abel has already been through the 3 month wait for an abandonment case to apply to court so we will apply for a court date immediatly. This takes around 6 weeks to get then if we pass court we will travel 4 weeks later. Wow I better start shopping.

We have seen him

Well we got 2 photos from a family in Ethiopia of this little boy named Abel. Needless to say we are in Love. He is soooo Cute. Now we just have to sit still and wait for March 10th to get our homestudy finished and notarized. Once our dossier is logged in in Ethiopia we can officially put in the plea for him. We are both trying to not get too excited because so much can fall through still. what if another family requests him. well that is a possibility but the positive side of it is that he will have found his forever family. It's really in Gods hands and do believe in the Chineese adoption theory of the Red Thread. So lets see if our red thread weaves and tangles its way to this precious boy named Abel.