Two days in a row!!

I can hardly contain my excitement and more appropriately, my hopes that this is the end of the drought in referrals!  Yesterday and today referrals have been accepted moving us up the list in all categories, but toddler girl.  I would be even more ecstatic to see that list move up some, but we will take what we get and continue to trust in God's timing!  Our updated list now looks like this:
Baby Girl - #38
Baby Boy- #19
Toddler Girl - #8
Sibling Group - #12

Thank you!

We just wanted to take a moment and say a HUGE thank you to everyone who took the time to come by Chickfila tonight!  We don't yet know how much we were able to raise, but to tell you the truth that is really secondary because we were blessed more immensely by seeing everyone there to support our adoption.  I can't wait to relay to our new son/daughter one day how they were so loved and thought of before we even knew who they were, that you all took the time to come and help them home.  One of the questions that we were asked during our home study was "Do you have a support system or people to go to if you need help?"  And I can confidently say, "YES," while seeing each and everyone of your faces that stopped by or drove through tonight.  Thank you so much.  And of course, Thank you Chickfila for allowing us to be blessed in this way.
 

I feel like Chicken tonight!

Just a reminder for those of you in the San Antonio area... Tonight is our Spirtit Night at the Chickfila at Alamo Ranch off of Culebra.  Please join us for dinner between 5-8pm and give your receipt to the cashier for the Adoption of Sons Fundraiser.  Then 20% of the sales will be donated directly to our Adoption Fund! 

See you all this evening, I will personally be enjoying a yummy peppermint milkshake!

Good and Bad....

So some good news and bad news.  Well, we will start with the "bad news," which is really not bad news, it's just that there has still been no movement on the waiting list.  What a drought!  But the good news is that I was speaking with some one at our agency and she checked on our list placement and we found out that we are #8 on the toddler girl list, not #9 like we thought! Even though we had to adjust our number on the baby boy list back one we are excited for the little bit of movement upwards in one category.  So our updated / corrected list is as follows...
Baby Girl - #41
Baby Boy- #20
Toddler Girl - #8
Sibling Group - #13

(And don't forget all you San Antonio people, our Chickfila Spirit Night is a week from today!!!  Mark your calendars to come and eat some chicken with us!) 

We love Chick-fil-a!

I am sure that you are probably wondering what in the world Chick-fil-a has to do with our adoption.  Well, December 6th from 5-8pm we will be having a Spirit Night at Chick-fil-a to raise money for our Adoption Fund!  This is such a blessing since so many Corporations mandate that you have to have certain "status" as non-profit in order to hold fund raising benefits. 
So if you live in the San Antonio area, mark you calendars for December 6th and come to the Chick-fil-a off of Culebra!  After you order just give your receipt to the cashier and tell her/him it is for "Adoption of Sons,"  and 20% of your pre tax sales will be donated directly to our fund, Viola!  Easy as pie, you will get a great dinner and help a grateful family  - US!  And not to worry, we will send out a reminder as the date draws nearer.  :-)

Next time...

Well, our salute to next time worked!  Yesterday another family accepted a referral and we were able to move on a couple of lists.  This move bumped us into the teens on the Baby Boy list and one spot up on the Sibling Group list.  Yay! 

Baby Girl - #41
Baby Boy- #19
Toddler Girl - #9
Sibling Group - #13

Here's to next time...

Once again I opened my email and saw that someone was congratulating another family for accepting a referral today.  So with excited fingers I typed my way over to to IAN's blog to see the movement on the waiting list, hoping that we had moved in a couple of categories!  And as I began to read the update I was completely... let down.  Of course this is a  selfish reaction and I truly am excited for the family that accepted a referral, but the biggest disappointment was that most of the movement was for below our #'s. Exactly.  For instance, we are #9 on Toddler Girl and everyone "Below #9 on Toddler Girl list moves up 1 spot." You probably understand my disappointment.  It was the worst to actually see our number listed but not get to move up!  Well, I guess this is the down side of being higher up on the list and one the we kind of anticipated.  So we will content ourselves to know that in God's timing we will move up and receive our referral and we will take joy in any movement on the list until then!  So our current standing is unchanged, here's to next time...
Baby Girl - #41
Baby Boy- #20
Toddler Girl - #9
Sibling Group - #14 

Ethiopia 104...

Well, we are pleased to announce that last week we did get to move up the list a little bit!  We bumped up on both infant lists, so our current numbers are...
Baby Girl - #41
Baby Boy- #20
Toddler Girl - #9
Sibling Group - #14

Ethiopia 104
Now for a little challenge for those interested.  The "lesson" in Ethiopian culture this time, is one that will take place in the kitchen.  In Ethiopia they do not eat with utensils, but instead use Injera (always with the right hand) to scoop up their entrees and side dishes.  Which mainly consist of various vegetable or meat side dishes and entrees, often prepared as a wat or thick stew.  So I thought I would post one such recipe for Injera and see if anyone tries it!  Good luck and happy eating.

Injera

1 tablespoon active dry yeast 5 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

1 teaspoon honey 3 cups finely ground millet flour 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

	Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of the water. Allow to proof and add the remainder of the water and the millet flour. Stir until smooth and then cover. Allow to stand at room temperature for 24 hours.
	Stir the batter well and mix in the baking soda.
	Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into the pan in a spiral pattern to cover the bottom of the pan evenly. Tilt the pan to quickly even out the batter. Cover the pan and allow to cook for about 1 minute. The bread should not brown but rather rise slightly and very easy to remove. It is cooked only on one side. This top should be slightly moist. Remove to a platter and cool. Stack the cooked breads on a plate.

*Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Single Digits!

The title of this blog says it all!  We moved again today and this time it has bumped up into single digits - YEAH.
Baby Girl - #42
Baby Boy- #21
Toddler Girl - #9
Sibling Group - #14
I know I have received the question several times about " Do you have to be #1 before we will get a referral?"  Well, just to clarify for you all... The family that accepted this referral today was #4 on the toddler girl list and the family yesterday was #5 on the sibling list.  In fact, I think only a few of families have actually been in the #1 spot, on their appropriate list, when they accepted a referral.  So maybe, just maybe we will see the sweet little face of our new child around Christmas!

Something to blog about!

Once again I was mulling over what to blog about this week.  Since there has been such little movement for us on the list lately, and that is my favorite thing to post, it was leaving me without much to be really excited about.  But, when Brandon got online tonight and checked IAN's blog, lo and behold we had moved up on the list! Two little girls, age 2 and 4yrs, have found their forever home today.  And as a result we are a couple spots closer to finding our forever son or daughter!  Our current status is....
Baby Girl - #43
Baby Boy- #21
Toddler Girl - #10
Sibling Group - #14 

Fingerprints and Training...

Well, I can no longer get away with murder... I have been fingerprinted!  As part of our "clearance" to bring orphans into the States we have to have our biometrics taken for the USCIS.  As soon as Brandon has his taken, we will receive verification 4-6wks later that we are one step closer to being able to bring home our new son or daughter when we receive a referral. 
In addition to immigration paperwork, we have also found out that we have more training to complete over the next couple of months.  The state of Texas requires that each parent complete 10 hours of training in adoption issues before you may finalize and adoption.  We completed this training several months ago and thought that we were finished, but found out this week that our agency has just added additional training to their requirements.  So it is back to the books!  Hopefully, it won't take too long to complete, since it can be hard to come up with time that is undivided with two kiddos running around.

A little something...

Well, first of all it's been about a week since we have heard of any other families accepting referrals.  Last week someone did accept, what I am sure is an adorable toddler boy!  So we moved up a couple of spots on the infant lists.  Honestly, the waiting list for infants is so much longer that we are not too hopeful of being referred an infant.  Which is completely fine, because Addie has told us repeatedly that she is getting a "new sister who will share her bed!" :-)
It has been 5 months since we first sent in our application to I.A.N. for adoption and only 3 months since we went on the waiting list for a child.  So if we were comparing this to the wait time of a pregnancy, we would not even know the gender of the baby yet.  Thinking this way helps me with what seems like forever of a wait!  In reality we have moved very quickly up the list and were spoiled with all the movement from the beginning.  With all that said we now sit at....
Baby Girl - #44
Baby Boy- #22
Toddler Girl - #10
Sibling Group - #15 

T-shirts!!

I am so pleased to announce that we have finally received our Simply Love T-shirt's! The shirt's have been counted and sorted and will be on their way to you no later than Monday.  We know it is not nearly as exciting as movement on the wait list, but still exciting because you will all be sporting our cause on your backs.  Hopefully the shirts will give you great opportunity's to tell others about the orphans in Ethiopia and remind you to pray for our orphan as we seek to bring them home. 
Don't forget, there are a few extra shirts still available in Design B if any of you latecomers are interested! And thank you again to everyone who donated via a T-shirt, we know you will wear them as proudly as we will.  :-)

Finally something!

I had resigned myself to having nothing fun to post, but then was pleasantly surprised yesterday that there was finally some movement on the waiting list.  A little 4mo old girl has found a home, which is wonderful news and even though it does not really change things on our wait, I was excited to have something to post.  But as I sat down to right this an email arrived letting us know that an infant boy has also found a home!  So after two weeks of nothing, we get two days of something.  Here's to hoping for three days of something!
Or new numbers are...
Baby Girl - #45
Baby Boy- #23
Toddler Girl - #10
Sibling Group - #15

Ethiopian Basics 103...

Ugghhh... it has been slow moving the past couple of weeks! As I mentioned before, we were very spoiled with all the movement on the lists and have now come to expect it. Well, in an attempt to distract myself, I am posting another short "lesson" on Ethiopia and its culture. Enjoy!

Ethiopian Basics 103

Tomorrow is the Ethiopian New Year (Enkutatash)!

Ethiopia still retains the Julian calendar, in which the year is divided into 12 months of 30 days each and a 13th month of 5 days and 6 days in leap year. The Ethiopian calendar is 8 years behind the Gregorian calendar from January to September and 7 years behind between September 11 and January 8.

Enkutatash means the "gift of jewels". When the famous Queen of Sheba returned from her expensive jaunt to visit King Solomon in Jerusalem, her chiefs welcomed her bolts by replenishing her treasury with inku or jewels. The spring festival has been celebrated since this early times and as the rains come to their abrupt end, dancing and singing can be heard at every village in the green countryside.

But Enkutatash is not exclusively a religious holiday. Today's Enkutatash is also the season for exchanging formal new year greetings and cards among the urban sophisticated - in lieu or the traditional bouquet of flowers.
(information taken from www.tourismethiopia.org)

Better late than never...

So due to Addie's Birthday, Brandon's work schedule and Addie now battling a stomach bug, I am a little late in posting this news, but we did move up in a couple of categories last week. I am hopeful that we will see more movement this week, but we are always hopeful for that!

Baby Girl - #46
Baby Boy- #24
Toddler Girl - #11
Sibling Group - #15

Ethiopian Basics 102 and Misc...

Well, we have definitely been spoiled by all the movement on the waiting list the past 7 weeks, because this past week was a disappointment when there was no activity at all!  It's funny how quickly your expectations can change when you start out on such a high.
On another note,  I just want to remind you all again that we will be placing our T-shirt order on Wednesday the 1st.  So if you still want to donate to our Adoption fund and have a cool T-shirt as a reminder of your donation, act now!  Secondly, if you have any other great ideas of fundraisers that we could do, please pass them along.  We are looking for creative ways to make this adoption a debt free one!

Now for Ethiopian Basics 102:

Common Meetings and Greetings:

Hello                                 Halo

Good morning                   Endemn adderu

Good afternoon                 Endemin walu

Good evening                    Endemin ameshu

Good-bye                         Dehna hunu

How are you?                   Tenayistillign

I am well                           Dehna negn

Thank you (very much)      (Betam) ameseghinallehu

Ethiopian Time
Ethiopia is three hours ahead of Greenwich mean time. Time remains constant throughout the year. The Ethiopian day is calculated in a manner similar to that in many equatorial countries, where day and night are always the same length: counting starts at Western 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Western 7:00 a.m. is therefore one o'clock, noon is six, 6:00 p.m. is twelve o'clock, and so on.

Ethiopian month:                Gregorian calendar:

Meskerem (New Year)        11 September - 10 October
Tikimt                                  11 October - 9 November
Hidar                                    10 November - 9 December
Tahsas                                 10 December - 8 January
Tir                                        9 January - 7 February
Yakatit                                 8 February - 9 March
Maggabit                             10 March - 8 April
Miyazya                               9 April - 8 May
Ginbot                                 9 May - 7 June
Sene                                    8 June - 7 July
Hamle                                  8 July - 6 August
Nehasa                                7 August - 6 September
Pagume                               6 - 10 September

(information from www.tourismethiopia.org)

T-shirt Order (finally!)...

Hi everyone,

We just wanted to let you know that we are finally going to order your T-shirts this upcoming week!  Once we have placed the order we are expecting to have the shirts about 7-10 days later.  And then, if you live in San Antonio we will find you out and pass yours onto you or if you don't then we will get them in the mail A.S.A.P.  If you know anyone else who would like to "purchase" a shirt, please let them know this is the last call!  Thank you again for your patience as we have been getting this order together.

Ordering on the 1st of September!

Ethiopian orphans

This is a video that another friend adopting from Ethiopia shared with us. If you have a minute, take a look!  You will see sweet little faces and get a sense of the need that these orphans have. 

http://vimeo.com/3565906

The next step...

Since we have been climbing so steadily up the waiting list, we finally get to move on to the next step of International adoption.  Immigration!  We have filled out our Orphan Petition, made copies of all relevant documents and need only to include a nice "fat" cashier's check. Ha, ha.  Thankfully, all this information we already had accessible because of our Home Study and Dossier.  This step is really not that complicated, but is intimidating when you consider that these people have the ability to deny your child entrance into the States!
After this we get to wait some more, lots of waiting, but all good things are worth waiting for. At least we are one step closer to this being final. 

It's Moving fast...

So please to announce that the waiting list has moved again!  This has been going along much faster than we ever expected.  We have only been on the waiting list since the beginning of July and have moved roughly 14 times.  That is an average of 2 times a week, amazing! With all that said we are currently...

Baby Girl - #47
Baby Boy- #25
Toddler Girl - #11
Sibling Group - #15

Just in...

Another family has accepted a referral for an infant boy, so we have moved up on a couple of the waiting lists! We are as follows...

Baby Girl - #49
Baby Boy- #27
Toddler Girl - #13
Sibling Group - #17

3 is a Magic Number...

Wow, we sure do love the end of the week now! Two more families accepted referrals and one family decided to pursue adoption with in the States, so we have moved up three more times. I can't believe how much the list has changed this week! I guess we need to start working on our USCIS (immigration) paperwork...

Baby Girl - #49
Baby Boy- #29
Toddler Girl - #13
Sibling Group - #19

Up, Up and away...

Well, just as I was lamenting the fact that we had not moved at all this week on the waiting list, which was especially depressing because we jumped up so much last week, then we get the following subject line via email...

3 referrals today!

Woo-hoo!  What a wonderful surprise at the end of the week.  But then there is always tomorrow if we dare hope for more great news this week...

Baby Girl - #52
Baby Boy- #31
Toddler Girl - #16
Sibling Group - #20

Thoughts...

Where to start...hmmmmm....
Over the past couple of weeks we have been made aware of some other families and the realism of their adoption process.  What I mean is that things don't/haven't gone as planned.  I am thankful that God has made us aware of these "complications" because in the midst of our excitement and expectations, we need to be aware of what reality is likely to be.
We hope and pray for a healthy child that would adjust easily into our family, but in all likelihood this is not going to be the case.  The child will have already experienced loss and grief greater than most of us will ever know.  And of course the way a child handles those things may not be so graceful!  (The way I handle things that are hard is not that graceful!)  But our desire is to continue forward in this process knowing the reality of what is to come, but also fully trusting that this child/children is meant to be in our home because we know that "all things work for good, for those that love Him and are called to His purpose."(Jer. 29:11) 
I am thankful for one lesson, in particular, that we learned with Addie in the NICU - God does not promise us a healthy child, or even a child at all, and are we to only "accept good from God and not trouble?" (Job 2:10)  No, God is sovereign regardless of the circumstances and we can be "confident the He who has begun a good work in us will carry it to completion." (Phil. 1:6)  Sadly, I know that this lesson will probably have to be learned over and over in our lifetime!  It is easy to become complacent and comfortable with the many blessings that God has given us.  Prayerfully, we would not do so with this adoption, but will rest fully on Him and His word.
We would ask that you would all be in prayer for our soon to be daughter or son, that they would be receiving food, shelter, care and love right now, where ever they are.  That God would be, even now, knitting their little hearts to ours.  And that our hearts would be knitted to theirs, so whatever challenges we are to face with them, we would face with the same love and courage that we would give to Addie and Ian.

News flash...

What a day!  Another family accepted a referral today so, we have moved up a couple more spots.  The list is as follows...

Baby Girl - #53
Baby Boy- #33
Toddler Girl - #17
Sibling Group - #20

We sure would love it if this continued! 

Moving on up!

Well, I should definitely learn to pay closer attention to our Agency's blog spot!  We have moved up three times this past week and I did not realize it until today.  It is kind of a bummer to have missed the excitement of moving three times in a week, but then again it is exciting to see our numbers change more drastically by not realizing that we have moved! ha ha. So our current place in line is as follows...
Baby Girl - #54
Baby Boy- #33
Toddler Girl - #18
Sibling Group - #20
And I would just like to say that it is very exciting to see that we have finally hit the teens on at least one list!  YEAH!

T-shirt Fundraiser Update...

We just wanted to update those of you who have donated to our adoption by participating in our T-shirt fundraiser.  We were really hoping to get our T-shirt order placed by the end of July, but due to traveling we are going to push it back a little further.  In addition, we need to "sell" about 25 more shirts to comfortably meet our minimum order.  The company who is providing the shirts is a Christian business that provides adopting families a wonderful discount so  75% of our sales goes directly into our adoption fund!  With that said they do ask that we order a minimum quantity of shirts.  Once we have met that we will place your T-shirt order.  Thank you for your patience as we raise money and we will keep you all updated on your shirts!  We can't wait to see you all wearing them and knowing that we are so supported by all of your prayers and love.
THANK YOU!

Thank you!

A huge Thank You to all of you who have donated a T-shirt or money towards our adoption! We are hopeful that we will have met our minimum by the end of the month and can have your shirts out to you sometime in August. Please be sure to check the blog for updates.
THANK YOU!

More Referrals have been accepted!

This is always great news to get!  Not only for the family that will be welcoming another child into their home and the orphan that has no home, but for us as well, because we get to move up on the waiting list.  Our new "positions" in line are...
Baby Girl - #57
Baby Boy- #36
Toddler Girl - #20
Sibling Group - #23

More movement!

We are very excited to say that we have had movement on the waiting list for the past three days!  So we are now...
Baby Girl - #58
Baby Boy- #36
Toddler Girl - #21
Sibling Group - #24
Wow, if only we could get movement like this every week we could have our new son or daughter by the end of the year! 

Ethiopian Basics 101...

I thought that in the interim of more exciting news concerning the progress of our adoption, that I would post some information about Ethiopia, the people, language and culture.  Of course all of this information is new to us as well, so you can learn right along side us! The following are a few basics about their alphabet and some translations of common words, all are taken from www.tourismethiopia.org.  My hope is to do several of these posts over the course of our adoption.  So until next time, enjoy the short lesson!

Simple pronunciation guide:

a as the a in father
e as the e in set
i as the i in ship
o as the o in go
u as the oo in boot
gn as the gn in compagne (French)
Amharic spellings that follow are phonetical as per the above guide to aid in pronunciation.

Numbers

One                And Two               Hulet Three             Sost Four              Arat Five              Amist Six                Sidist Seven           Sebat Eight             Semmint Nine             Setegn Ten              Asser

Days of the week

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Ihud Segno Maksegno Erob Hamus Arb Kidame

Moving up...

Today gets us one spot closer to bringing our new child home!  Some other families in the agency accepted a referral today so the rest of us get to move up one place.  YEAH!  This makes our current status:
Baby Girl - #61
Baby Boy- #38
Toddler Girl - #24
Sibling Group - #25
Also, I am sure that some of you are wondering what all these numbers mean in terms of a time frame for bringing home our new kiddo.  The agency has given us the following guidelines for how long we should expect to wait for a referral.  These time frames are from when we were added to the waiting list, which was about a week ago.

1. Infant girls:  12-18 months
2. Infant boys:  12-15 months.
3. Toddler girls:  6-12 months
4. Siblings:  We cannot predict, as there is such a wide variety of what families on this list are approved for.

Waiting List...

We are so pleased to announce that we are finally official...We are on the waiting list!  So exciting to be through the first round of paperwork, background checks and home study meetings and on to the tedious, nail-biting part of waiting.  As of today our official place in line is as listed below...
Baby Girl - #62
Baby Boy- #39
Toddler Girl - #25
Sibling Group - #25
Now I am sure that my day's will begin and end with checking IAN's blogspot to see if there is any movement on the lists! 

The husband of a friend of mine is on his way to pick up their two new children in Ethiopia!  We are so excited and curious to hear how everything goes.  They began their adoption story at the end of last year and are finally at the end and beginning of a new life.  Hearing about their twists and turns and excitement of adopting a new son and daughter, thrills us and makes us yearn to know how our story is going to unfold!  Thankfully we finally feel like we are in the game with our Dossier mailed off for review and the anticipation of going on the wait list, at hand.  Already, I can see that God has been opening our hearts to what His possibilities are for our family.  When we committed to adoption in March we thought for sure we only wanted one infant and here we are in June completely open to a sibling group and a toddler!  Now of course, we have no idea what will happen and it is a little overwhelming to think of our family doubling in the blink of an eye, but to sense how God is relaxing our standards and to know that He will give us the ability to handle what is to come, is comforting and reassuring.  So, as a friends journey is ending in this area it is beginning for us and we can't wait to share with you our story as God writes it!

Some Details

I am sure that you have some questions about where we are in the adoption process, if we know what child we will be adopting, why we chose Africa, ect.  Hopefully, I can answer most of those in this post.
First, there are several reasons we have decided to pursue an International adoption, some of which I can not explain with any better answer than it appealed to us.  We like learning about other cultures and we recognize that there is a great need in Ethiopia for these children to find homes.  With half of the population estimated to be under 20yrs old, you can imagine the challenges the people face!  In addition, they have a relatively quick and easy adoption process compared to some other nations.
As I mentioned earlier, we do not yet know if we will be matched with a boy or girl and what age they will be.  Although, Addie is hoping for a sister to play with, because "she doesn't want just Ian!"  We do know that they will not be older than the age of 4yrs.  There is no "picking" a child which is wonderful, because I could not imagine looking at all those little faces and having to deny any of them.  With that said, we are keeping our hearts open to the possibility of accepting a sibling group (up to 2 children). 
At this point in the process, we have finished our home study and mailed in our Dossier, so we are hopeful to be on the waiting list this upcoming week!  Once on the list, we can expect to wait up to 8-12mo before we are matched with a child.  This could move a little quicker if they match us with a toddler (age 2-4yrs) or sibling group.  So, you probably won't hear us breathing for the next several months!
We recognize that we still have a long wait, more paper work and money due between now and then, so we would welcome your prayers for patience!

Our Annoucement!

Well, you may have figured out what our announcement is by our blog name, I will just go ahead and tell you that we have decided to adopt a child from Ethiopia! We are so excited about welcoming another child into our home and hope that we can keep everyone updated on the process with this blog. We ask that you who choose to follow us on this blog would please consider lifting us up in prayer as we have begun this journey.

I know that some of you are probably thinking, "What is with the blog name? Does that mean they are only adopting boys?" No, we are not looking into adopting only a boy, in fact at this point we have no idea what gender our child will be! The name of our blog is from a passage in Galatians, that reveals our adoption as sons of God, when we become followers of Christ. This gives us a promise of hope and security in Him and we can only pray that our family will reflect Christ to those around us.

(And I apologize in advance for all the grammar mistakes that you are bound to encounter on this blog! Writing is not the method that either Brandon or I typically chose to express ourselves, so you will have to bare with us as we seek to expand our horizons. )