Show Hope....

As some of you may remember, this past spring we recieved a grant from Show Hope to help with the cost of our adoption.  This was a huge blessing and helped us be able to bring Elizabeth home debt free!  In conjunction with receiving the grant the only thing that Show Hope requires is that you send them an "update" when your child(ren) come home.  This letter is to include not just information about your child, but also information about your family's journey and reasons for pursuing adoption.  As of last night, I finished our update letter to Show Hope and Brandon thought that I should share it with you all here.  So... Here it is! :-)

Thank you!!!!  Those two little words sum up so much of our adoption journey.  We are so appreciative of the support that we have received from Show Hope, our family, our friends and most importantly, to God for the new gift that He has bestowed on us… a beautiful daughter! 

Elizabeth is our daughter’s name, it means “God’s Promise” and that is truly what she is to us!  She is one of the bravest little girls that I have ever met.  She is only 4 years old and has handled all of the travel, cultural changes and unfamiliar faces with a bravado that I have rarely seen in adults.  We are blessed that she is already attaching well into our family!  Her giggle is infectious (I wish you all could hear it), she has the biggest brown eyes that exude confidence and gives the best hugs any parent could ask for. 

Our journey began about a year and a half ago.  We were feeling the call to adopt internationally and answered that call on our knees.  After praying and beginning to save some money, we signed on with our agency and were set to pursue an adoption from Ethiopia.  Since we truly felt that our call through adoption was to help meet the needs of the country’s children, we were open to age and gender.  And as we went on the wait list it became apparent that we would likely be referred a toddler.  We have two bio-kids, whose ages were 18mo and 4yrs at the time, and the 4 year old was very excited to be gaining a sibling who would be able to play right away!  Throughout our 14 month wait and even now as we have Elizabeth home, there have been times of panic, excitement, fear, doubt and joy.  Thankfully, we rest on God’s unchanging sovereignty and have been blessed beyond belief!

Elizabeth was born in a remote region of Ethiopia and around the time of her birth, her father passed away from Malaria.  For the next 3 ½ years her birth mother loved and nurtured her to the best of her ability, until she could no longer find a way to do so.  Ethiopia is currently facing severe drought and food shortages, not to mention complications from infectious diseases, which have left the country’s children parentless.  Almost half of the population is under the age of 18!  This beautiful country and its people have captured our hearts and we feel humbled to have the opportunity to come along side them and love one of their little ones. 

I cannot begin to imagine making the decision that Elizabeth’s birth mother did, to relinquish her beloved daughter, but by doing so our family has gained an immense blessing.  This journey, called adoption, has only served to teach our family more about the love that Christ has for his church.  Adoption always has another side and our adoption as “sons of the heavenly Father” required the ultimate sacrifice.  Show Hope’s generosity toward our family has given us a new appreciation for that sacrifice, one that we hope will bring all of our children to a saving knowledge of Christ and his love.

Again, we cannot thank you enough for supporting and helping us on this journey.  We anticipate the day that we can tell Elizabeth of all of the people that helped to bring her into our family!  What a blessing to have other believers that we have never met, show such love and compassion toward our family.  THANK YOU!

It's a stampede!!

Well, when the kids woke up this morning I thought they seemed a little off.  There was a lot of low groaning, their noses seemed a little clogged, their ears a little droopy and before I knew it I had a whole herd of cows running through the house!!!  Lucky for us, that also meant free chicken at Chickfila!

A Brave New World!

The following are some pictures from the past week or should I say Elle's "first" week?!  There are many firsts pictured and needless to say, they have been a pleasure and a privilege to watch.  I hope you enjoy the snapshots and can imagine what life must now look like through these little eyes! :-)

Home sweet, home!

Ahhhhhh.... Can you hear our sigh of relaxation?!  No, well it is kind of hard to hear above the swish of dress up clothes, the beeping of toy cars, the squeals of laughter and the click of "high heel" dress up shoes on the hard floor, but it is there!  We are so happy to be at home with Elizabeth, Addie and Ian.  And we are very happy to have the help of Grandma and Granddad for a couple of days as we try and get over jet lag and adjust to three kiddos running around.
Overall our Embassy trip was wonderful and Elle has done so well with all of the changes.  The airplane trip was mostly uneventful, with only one temper tantrum over the seat belt.  (Not too bad for a little kid trying to deal with all of the changes over the past week.)  And once we arrived home, she and Addie became fast friends!  Now I am sure that we will have more bumps in the road as Elle adjusts to our family and us to her, but being in our own home with everyone is such a relief and we are so thankful that we can FINALLY, REALLY begin our journey!! :-)
Now with that nice little segway, I want to let you all know that we are going to be changing/updating the name of our blog.  Like Galatians 4:5-7 says, once we receive the adoption of sons, then we are "no longer a bondservant, but a son, and if a son then an heir through God!" and we are also told that "children are a heritage from the Lord." (Psalm 127)   Therefore, we are going to rename our blog "Inheriting Heaven."  We firmly believe that God has gifted us with these 3 children and we recognize that their value is eternal.  With the help and wisdom of God's Word we believe that they will be "heirs through God!"  What a wonderful inheritance that Christ has provided us through his death on the cross!  Now, as we seek to raise and train our children accordingly, we hope to keep you updated with our progress as a family through this blog.  I ask that you will continue to keep us in your prayers, not just with our transition with Elizabeth, but as we strive to reach such a lofty goal of imitating Christ and His love to others through our family.  Thank you for your help and support as we continue this adoption journey in the physical world and spiritually through Christ!

The 29th!

Yes.... you read that correctly.  We have an Embassy date of the 29th of June!!!! We will be on a jet plane headed back to Addis Ababa exactly 1 month from our Court Date! Praise the Lord, we are so excited to really begin our journey as a family of 5!  But before that can happen I have to frantically search for flights, call travel agents and try not to notice the $$ signs that are attached to the flights.  Although, when we look at Elle's little face all the $$'s and (most of) the craziness melt away!!

**Do you think I could have used more exclamation marks in a single paragraph?!

Clear!!!!

More exciting news to share with you all!  We were cleared this morning by the U.S. Embassy to come and pick up Elizabeth!! WOOT!!!! We have submitted our top 3 choices of dates (29th, 30th and the 4th) for our official meeting with the Embassy and are waiting to hear which of those is available.  Of course, we are hoping for the 29th and are also hoping that we find out tomorrow.  Keep in  mind it is already tomorrow in Ethiopia, so we just might have to set our alarm for an ungodly hour, to check our email and see if we have a date!  This is really happening and I can hardly believe it. :-)

Oh My Goodness, Oh My Goodness!!!

I feel like the little orphan girl in Annie, "Oh My Goodness!"  But I just can't wrap my head around our latest news.  We were submitted to Embassy today (Yes, I am jumping up and down) and if everything goes smoothly we will be back in Addis Ababa by the end of the month!!!!! Needless to say, we were completely surprised to be hearing this news so soon after traveling for court, but are completely ecstatic (and a little freaked out)! Please be praying that all the documents are correct and that Embassy does not require anything further.  We should know by Tuesday if all is well and we can travel to pick our little girl up! Praise the Lord!!
 
It sure is a good thing that I ordered the girls their bunk beds today.  I am sure that Elle is anticipating some place to at least lay her little head at night.  :-)

18,282 miles!!!!

Yes,  you read that correctly!  We are finally home after traveling over 18,000 miles!  It is no wonder that I woke up this morning and did not know where I was.  It took a minute to remember that I was in my own bed (at last!) and that the language spoken was English and the currency the dollar.  Ha, ha!
But, really.... we had a fantastic trip and our prayers were answered, we are the official parents of Elizabeth Alale Blair!!  Thank you for all of your prayers.  Our trip was long, joyous, surreal and absolutely a blessing.  We were able to spend the first week visiting Elle everyday at the Care Center and the second week we traveled south to the region that she was born.  Our entire trip was priceless and we consider it such a blessing that we were able to gather as much information and pictures as we did.  I have attached a few of our favorites for you all at the bottom of this post.
Now I know that you are all wanting to know more about Elle and our time with her, so I will try to put into words some of our experiences.  The day we first arrived and met her, she just woke and the nannies washed her little face and sent her over to meet us.  We only had about 15-20 minutes with her, because we had to go to Court.  Our flight had some delays and rerouting which caused us to not be able to spend anytime with her on Tuesday like we planned.  And in order to pass court we had to meet her, so this is the reason for the brief first encounter.  OK, back to the story... Elle came right over to us and let me hold her.  After a few minutes I decided I should share with Brandon and he held her for the remainder of the time until we were told we had to go.  She was very quiet and curious and I am sure, overwhelmed!
After our Court hearing we went back to the Care Center and were able to spend a couple more hours with her.  When our van pulled into the court yard and Elizabeth spotted us climbing out, she RAN over to me with a huge grin and I swept her up.  I will never forget that moment! :-)  From then forward, Brandon and I were "her property" and she did not want to other kiddos close.
She is a spunky, funny little girl who is full of smiles and giggles.  And if corrected, she knows how to give a grin that would win over the strictest judge.  After meeting her, I am 100% sure that she and Addie are going to be trouble together and Ian is going to have his hands full (we won't talk about Brandon and I)!
Our trip to the Rift Valley Lakes area was wonderful and really gave us a better idea of what life is like for some Ethiopians.  First of all, Ethiopia was nothing like I expected it to be.  For some reason, I pictured an arid land with desert like conditions.  Now it does have desert areas, but the places we saw reminded me more of Hawaii believe it or not, and we saw some 500 miles of it!  The people are friendly and happy.  The food is spicy and the traffic is crazy.  There were a couple of times I was sure our driver was trying to hit people, ha ha!  Overall life seems hard and very different than mine in the States, but you can see that they value each other and in particular their children.  These, especially, are traits I wish I saw more often here.
Now you may ask, "When do we bring her home? What happens next?"  Well, we have to wait, imagine that?!  It is now the U.S. government that we will be waiting on and you all know how uncertain that can be.  They will be verifying all of Elle's info and making sure that the adoption is legal by U.S. standards before they will issue a visa.  So our new prayer is that this part would happen quickly and that sometime in July we will be making another and a final trip, to bring her home.  You can rest assured that I will update with information as we receive it!
Well, I need to go because nap time is almost over and Ian will be calling crying soon.  Enjoy the pictures and thank you again for all of your prayers and support.

Fun with Stickers

Some good laughs!

I painted the girls finger nails on a rainy afternoon.

First introductions.

First introductions.

Leaving to go to Court.

Our bags are packed!

And can you believe that we could still check one more bag!?! Now just to figure out how to get through the Airport, Hmmm.....

Surreal....

So I am sitting here on this Sunday night, surrounded by to-do lists, piles of official papers and a veritable mountain of donations and personal items to pack, and I can hardly that we leave this week!!! As that reality began to sink in, I thought that I had better post one last blog before we leave.  I am not sure that I will be able to post much until we return, as time and internet connections will probably be commodities, but I do truly  hope that we will be able to blog at least once to say, "We are the proud parents of 3 beautiful children!"
This whole week seems quite surreal.  I actually paused before printing off the packing checklist and thought, "Is it really time to use this?!"  We began this journey just over a year ago and at the time, the thought of waiting one year seemed like forever.  But just like so many things in life, that year has flown by! There have definitely been slow moments, but that is exactly what they were...moments.  I hope that the next couple months of waiting will be remembered in the same way, as mere blinks of an eye, when we finally have Elizabeth in our home.  
We are just praising God for the blessing of anticipating another child in our home.  More laughter and giggles, more hair bows, shoes and frilly dresses, more arguments and whining, more bedtime hugs, and more opportunities to realize the love that God has for me as his child.  And in all this expectation, I have found that I truly miss a little girl that I have yet to meet.  I hear her laughter and giggles when Addie and Ian are being silly.  I feel her absence when we have family jumps on the trampoline. And I wish I could hold her little hand when I am ushering the kids through the parking lot at the store. All of these things will happen in God's perfect timing, I know, I just pray He gives me peace beyond understanding and grace as we walk through the next several months. 
I also want to thank everyone who is helping us as we prepare to leave.  Thank you for watching the house, the dogs, taking us to and from the airport and praying for our safe journeys as we travel to meet Elizabeth.  We are beyond blessed to have such wonderful and attentive friends and family.  I hope that upon our return we have excellent news and pictures to post of our sweet little Elle! God Bless you all.
Now I am going to crawl back into the middle of the pile I escaped from and get ready to "leave on a jet plane!"

13, 16, 17, 18.....

13 Days until we board a plane and head to TN to drop the kiddos off with Grandparents (they really do make the best baby sitters)!
16 Days until we board a plane headed for Ethiopia!
17 Days until we MEET ELIZABETH for the first time, face to face!!!!
18 Days until COURT, where we will hopefully become her parents!!!!

I can hardly believe that we are now inside of two weeks till turning to the next chapter of this story!  There are so many emotions, that I can barely sort through them.  The first thought is, "YAY!" and that is quickly followed with a, "YIKES!"  We are about to become responsible for another little person and that is always exciting and scary.  Thankfully, I recognize these feelings because I did the same thing while pregnant with Addie and Ian.  And, thankfully, I know that once Elizabeth is part of our family I won't remember what it was like to not have her as ours (just like with Addie and Ian).  It is a funny thing... kids have a way of doing that to your life. They quickly become such a part of it, that life prior to being a parent seems foggy and looking back at it convinces you that they really were always there, you just had not met them yet.
As much as I am trusting God to fill all the gaps and give us an unconditional love for Elle, I am still bracing myself for the fact that she might not want anything to do with us when we meet her.  And she would have every right to feel this way!  Poor thing, she has been left in a strange place, that has become her home over the past 5 months and now she is getting ready to meet some odd looking people, that don't speak her language and will soon be taking her to another strange place!  My prayer, and I ask for yours too, is that God would be preparing her little heart to allow us to love her and trust us with her every care.
I do so hope that we have a wonderful first "meeting!"  I mean, it can't be worse than the day we met Ian for the first time - the boy screamed bloody murder for the first 10 hours!! In fact....I think I can hear him now. :-)

Thank you Friends!

Well, I just want to say a HUGE, "Thank you" to all the ladies that came out to the Adoption Shower today.  We had a great time, were adventurous with the foods we ate and decorated T-shirts to take to the kiddos.  And best of all, because of your generosity, we have filled one and a half of our big green bins with donations!  On that note I will leave you with some pictures from the Shower.  :-)

                                                                                    

Come Eat Cake!

Just a friendly reminder for those in the San Antonio Area to come and join us for cake at the Adoption Shower tomorrow, from 1-3pm!!  I am excited to see all the friendly faces gathered to give blessings to the sweet children in Ethiopia.  See you all there. :-)

Tidbits...

Wow!! Only 3 weeks till we head out from Texas and begin our first journey to Ethiopia.  My head is buzzing with all the tasks and planning that has yet to be done.  I go to bed at night thinking of all the things I need to do and then wake in the morning and can't remember what to do first!
Thankfully, we have most of the "big" pieces in place.  The airline tickets are purchased, the tour of Elizabeth's home region is secured, the lodging is confirmed and we have begun to collect a small mountain of items to take with us.  We have worked hard over the past year to save money and have been blessed by the generosity of others, but "OUCH" it hurts to see it all going like water through a sieve! I have to just keep reminding myself that we have planned for all this.
In addition to everything above, I am also putting the final touches on the plans for the Adoption Shower.  If you are in the local area, you really must come.  It is going to be a fun gathering of ladies and I hope it will be a blessing to the children in Ethiopia.  So don't forget... Saturday at 1pm! 
Alright, I really should get back to doing something more productive.  Just wish I could remember what it was....

Amazing Fundraiser!

Well, it was not exactly our intention to begin another fundraiser right now, but this is just too cool to pass up!  My sister, Whitney, clued me into this amazing organization that provides fundraising opportunities to adopting families and also helps widows and orphans in Africa.  These beautiful necklaces have such an amazing "full circle story of the body of Christ."  I am so thrilled to be able to help and receive the help from such a unique organization.  For more information, please check out the "Orphan Beads Fundraiser" page at the top our blog! And while you read, keep in mind that Mother's Day is just around the corner and these would make beautiful gifts. ;-) 

Court Date Change!!

Yikes, it sounds scary, doesn't it?!  I just received a call from our coordinator and was informed that our Court Date has been bumped up! Thankfully... it is just by one day, but still - Crazy.  So now we are the only family with a May 25th date and there will be a small group of 4-5 other families on the 26th.  Really, in my mind, this is rather minor.  We do not have to change our flight **Sigh of relief**, as we will still have one full day in Ethiopia prior to court.  And on the bright side, it may give us one more day to pass court while we are in country, rather than when we arrive back home!
Since I am writing, I just want to add... 37 DAYS TILL WE LEAVE!!!!

Ready to take flight...

Flight booked - Check.
Malaria Medicine - Check.
Vaccinations - Check.
Packing List Made - Check.

YAY!!! It is becoming official!!! Everything is starting to fall into place.  I just booked our airline tickets to Addis Ababa! Paying for them was not fun, but it will be so worth it when we get to hear Elizabeth's little giggle in person.  I can hardly wait!  Do you think the airline will mind if I go ahead and wait in line?! :-) 

A Shameless Plug....

Many adoptive parents take small items with them when they travel to leave behind for their children in between Court and Embassy.  Some of these items are things such as a photo book, photo collage, stuffed animal, small cuddly blanket, ect.  We would also like to leave something for Elizabeth to remember us by and to help her become familiar with her new family.  However, we have heard that it is not uncommon for other children to steal some of these items, for them to be misplaced or for the nannies to put these items away in a safe place, so as not to have the aforementioned things happen.  It was suggested by some of other adoptive parents, that if you chose to leave some items behind that the child be able to keep them in a pocket or on their person. 
This is where my friend Shannon comes in! She makes jewlery and as you can see above, she makes personalized charms.  We sent her a couple of pictures and she made them into these cute "picture tile" charms!  Our hope is that Elle will be able to keep up with this necklace during her remaining time at the Care Center.  This way, she will have a tangable reminder that we are coming back for her and love her. 
We also hope to give one to her Birth mom if we are able to meet her.  It seems to be a rare thing for Ethiopians to have access to pictures and is likely that her mom does not have a picture of Elizabeth. Something for all of you other adoptive parents to consider (hint, hint)! ;-)
If you are interested you can contact Shannon through her blog or Etsy site.  She is traveling in two days for her court hearing and to meet her sweet little boy!  I know that your purchase of a charm would help her as she returns home and prepares to travel for Embassy. 

Hear, Hear!

Would all gathered please rise..... We are ecstatic to announce that we have a COURT DATE!!!!!!  I think that I could just fill the page with exclamation marks right now, but I will spare you and try to keep them to an acceptable level!  (Although it might not work.)
May 26th is the big date!  So, roughly 7 weeks from tomorrow we will be on our way to Addis Ababa to meet our new daughter, Elizabeth.  I can barely contain my excitement, so if you happen to glance my way and see a big grin on my face, you now know why. :-) 
OK, since my head is still spinning and buzzing from adrenalin and since I am likely to just break out with more exclamation marks, I will end this post and promise to update further in the near future!  And in the meantime, if anyone happens to visit Addis Ababa, tell Elle, "WE ARE COMING!"  

This little piggy...

Elizabeth's foot print!

Again...It's the small things in life!  A family that recently traveled to pick up their little one and bring them home, took some time to do a small "art project" with some of the kids at our agency's Care Center.  So, as you can see, the result for us is a tangible little gift that puts a smile a "foot" wide on our faces!  It has been fun for Addie and Ian to see something other than pictures.  I think it helps make Elle seem more "real."  And it gives me an idea of what size shoes she will need.  Therefore, a little bit of shoe shopping may be in order.....

You're Invited!

We are having a party, an Adoption Shower to be exact! A dear friend has offered to host the shower at her home here in San Antonio on April 30th from 1pm-3pm.  Instead of bringing gifts for Elizabeth or us, like a traditional shower, we are asking that each person bring a donation for our agency's Care Center and we will take it over on our first trip.  I am so excited about this and to invite you all to help these sweet children and their dutiful nannies at the orphanage.  We have been blessed with so much in this country and have an unique opportunity to help others in need.  I would love to see you all on April 30th.  However...if you are not able to make it or would like to send a donation to us here in TX we will gladly take it with us.  (Please contact me personally and I will give you our information.)
I have listed below, some of the needs that the Care Center currently has.  If you chose to send or bring something to the shower, please keep these things in mind:
1. Our space is limited to 2 totes that will be checked at the airport
2. There are many children at the orphanage of all ages, therefore, toys need to be safe for little ones
3. Multiples of any toys are good, that way every child will receive one (matchbox cars, jelly bracelets, inflatable balls, hairbands, bouncy balls, ect).

Suggested Donations:

• anti fungal cream for the scalp
• baby lotion
• baby shampoo
• Bandaids
• Neosporin
• Children and Infants Tylenol or Motrin
• Flip Flops for nannies
• Multivitamin syrup (poly-vi-sol)
• Pedialyte powder
• pajamas of all sizes
• baby clothes
• toddler clothes (pants and shirts)
• diaper covers
• Disposable diapers
• Disposable drinking cups
• Clear bottle nipples (small)
• Sheets for Cribs and Twin Beds
• Shoes (all sizes-toddler to age 14yrs)
• Soccer balls (deflated)
• Board Books and Easy Readers

THANK YOU!  And can't wait to see you at the end of April! :-)

Unexpected Blessing...

I have had several questions about if we have received pictures, updates, ect. of Elizabeth.  The answer is "yes" and the way the process looks is something like this...
We receive one update a month about her physical well being, height, weight and "other comments" from our agency.  With this update or shortly after, we also receive one or two pictures every month. Of course, we receive these with gratitude from our agency and knowing that they have multiple families who are wanting the same thing, we really did not expect to get much more than this.  In fact, at the beginning of this process we did not know if we would ever get more than 1 or 2 pictures of Elle before we traveled to meet her. 
Well, as we became familiar with our agency's process and a Yahoo Loop for families adopting through I.A.N., we discovered that those families traveling before others would volunteer to take pictures and maybe even video of the kids!  And once they arrived home would then update the waiting families.  At first I was a little skeptical, mainly because I felt this was unfair to those families who were there to meet their own children.  Selfishly, I thought, "I don't want to give up my time with my child to take pictures of other kids!" 
Now I can say, " I can't wait to take pictures of as many children as possible and share them with their families waiting in the States!"  You may ask, "Why the sudden change of heart?"  Well, this week we have been the recipient of several pictures and even video of Elizabeth!!!!
This has been such an unexpected blessing and just makes my heart soar to hear stories of her, see pictures and even hear her sing!  I cannot fully express my gratitude to these families for taking the time to meet our daughter, play with her and grab a snapshot for us to pour over until we get to do these things for ourselves. I have been able to ask them questions about her personality and confirm some of the information we have received in our updates and it has been a relief that I never anticipated.
This is a two-fold blessing, because now Elle will have some record, in photographs, of her time in Ethiopia.  We all know how much pleasure we get from capturing our own children on camera and from sharing our childhood photos with them.  Now Elle will have some of the same! The only down side is that this has wet my impatience even more!  But now as we wait, we have a precious video to watch, because someone else gave up a little bit of their time.  I thank the Lord for showing me how big of a difference I can make in someone's day by sacrificing a little bit of my focus when we travel. 
THANK YOU I.A.N FAMILIES!!!!

One month and counting...

It is hard to believe, but 4 weeks ago today we accepted our referral for sweet Elizabeth!  I can attest that these past four weeks have most definitely been a harder wait than everything prior.  Especially for me, as I am a "planner."  I want to plan our trip, get our vaccines, decorate the bedroom, buy clothes that match for Addie and Elle (ha, ha), make packing lists, organize donations to take, ect.  As you can tell there will be a lot to do! 
As we continue to wait for our court date, I have to remind myself that after we travel this waiting will be even harder.  We will meet her, we will have to leave her, and we won't be able to tell her when we are coming back.  So for now, as my impatience grows for the next big phone call, my mantra is, "It is all in God's timing, it is all in God's timing, it is all in God's timing....."

Then there were three...

It's the little things in life, right?!  Well for now, because that is all I can do, that is what is most exciting!  We received Elizabeth's new backpack in the mail today, complete with embroidered name.  About two years ago Addie received hers from Grandma and Granddad and it was such a hit that we asked for one for Ian at Christmas.   Therefore, it was high on my list of things to buy for Elle and low and behold they were on sale last week!!  Well, it was meant to be... so I hit the add to shopping cart button, choose a color for her name and voila, it was on my doorstep today.  I can not wait to pack it with activities, snacks, clothes, ect and take it for her to have on the plane ride home.  Until then it will just have to sit in the slowly growing pile of pink, green and purple!

Two exciting updates...

I am so excited to share with you all that Elizabeth (and Addie & Ian), will have a new Ethiopian Cousin sometime next year!  Brandon's sister and husband are heeding the call to open their home to an orphan.  We are beyond ecstatic that Elle will have a cousin with whom she can identify and relate to in such a special way.  They are at the beginning of their journey and you can follow their progress at www.mlelliott.blogspot.com .  Now if we can only convince my Sister and Brother-in-law to do the same, hmmmm...
The next piece of exciting news, is that we received two more pictures of Elle today!  She is outside and the sun is shining right into her little face, so this probably explains why she looks a little less than pleased to be having her picture taken.  She has also been given a "hair cut" (all the kids apparently get this, it is easier to maintain and keep free of parasites). We might have to find some cute head bands for her.
I also have a feeling that she and Addie will enjoy playing dress up together. In typical little girl fashion Elle is wearing a couple of colorful bracelets that she seems to be very aware of!  For those of you who have little girls, you know what I am talking about.  For some reason when a bracelet is on that wrist, the hand just doesn't seem to work quite right. ;-) Some of Addie's play bracelets might be held hostage until they find their way to Ethiopia!

"Smiley and Friendly Child"

So we received our first Milestone Report about Elle today!  And one of the comments was that she is a, "Smiley and friendly child."  Oh, how that makes me want to meet her TODAY! I think this is definetly going to be the harder part of the wait, but I have a feeling I will really be saying that as we are waiting for an Embassy date after our Court appointment.  At that point we will have meet Elle and then have to leave her.  Lord, give me patience!  The good part is that while I wait I can at least shop for her (I don't think that Brandon would agree with me on this point. Ha, ha.)! :-)

We also mailed in our official, signed and notarized documentation today, accepting the referral.  Ahhh...feels good (and official) to have that in the mail.  So now as we wait for a court date, I am going to scan the internet for information about where she is from and look into places for us to visit while we are there and (don't tell Brandon), but I might even look for some bedding and a little brown baby doll. Although, I doubt there is one as cute as she is.

More excited thoughts...

We are still on Cloud Nine and so excited to be able to call Elizabeth ours!  We love that the name we have chosen for her means "God's Promise," especially in light of the verse that we named our blog after.  What an amazing gift that God promises us through His Son, Jesus Christ!
Speaking of names... We plan to call her "Elle," as a nickname and also as wonderful transition name from her Ethiopian name.  You will have to remain in suspense with her Ethiopian name, as we are not allowed to post it on public access sights, such as this or Facebook, but once she is ours we will relay the amazing coincidence of her name! 
In addition, we are not allowed to post photos of her in public forums, so if you have our email address and just simply can not wait to see her until after we travel for court, email me and I will do my best to send it to you privately.  Really, we are so proud of her that we wish we could just post a picture of her adorable little self for you all to see, but until we can you will have to trust me when I say that her eyes are captivating!
You may ask, "What happens next?"  Well, the answer is, "We hurry up and wait!"  We are hopeful that in about 3-4months we will be traveling for our 1st court date.  And if all goes smoothly, without any major bumps, that we will have her home sometime this fall.  Of course there is always the potential that the process could move faster or slower, but we will make sure to update you all as we proceed and move along this next part of the road to bringing Elle home! 
We Thank you all so much for your support and the help that you have given us already.  What a blessing we have in our family and friends.  I can not wait to introduce Elizabeth to you all!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I have been racking my brain to come up with some cute creative way to say this, but I think short and sweet will be the best way.  

WE HAVE ACCEPTED A REFERRAL!!!!!! 

We are hopefully, soon to be, the parents of a sweet baby faced little 3yr old girl!  For now we will call her by the American name that we have chosen, Elizabeth meaning “God’s Promise”.  Our excitement can hardly be contained and I am so relieved to finally be able to share it with you all.

We received our referral one week ago and have been praying and going over her file for the past week in secrecy!  It has been so hard not to talk about it, but to guard our hearts until we knew more about this little angel, we felt it was wise to bite our tongues.  And I can tell you that my tongue has been bleeding for 7 days!  After I regain my composure and can type properly, I will post more details. J

Movement on the list...

I just love it when I finally resign myself to coming up with something to say on this blog that is not nearly as much fun as movement on the wait list and then, low and behold, there is movement! Whoopee! Maybe I need to try and come up with less fun things to say more often?  But for now I will reserve what random thoughts I had for another time and entertain you all with our current standings on the list...
Baby Girl - #32
Baby Boy- #13
Toddler Girl - #6
Sibling Group - #8

Infant list moving on up!

This is such a crazy process!
There was more movement on the list today and at this rate, maybe we will end up with an infant boy.  The more the list moves, the more convinced I am that there is NO way to tell "who" is going to be joining our family.  This is most unpredictable. :-)
Our current numbers...
Baby Girl - #32
Baby Boy- #14
Toddler Girl - #6
Sibling Group - #9

Two lists in the single digits!!

Woo-hoo! More movement today on the wait lists.  I can hardly believe that this is the third day in a row.  And now that we are in the single digits on TWO lists, I am anxious to see if God really does have siblings in mind for us! Guess we will find out soon enough. :-)
Our current status is...
Baby Girl - #33
Baby Boy- #15
Toddler Girl - #6
Sibling Group - #9

Wow!

Two days in a row of wonderful news to share with you all.  First, we just found out that we have been accepted as recipients of a grant from Show Hope!!! We are completely surprised and thrilled.  Honestly we had kind of given up hope that we would ever hear back from the organization, since we had not heard anything from them these past 3 months.  But God's timing is perfect and as we move closer to receiving a referral the money to pay our In-Country fees is now in place.  Praise the Lord! At the beginning of this journey we were trying not to be overwhelmed with the cost, but thanks to those of you who have donated, saving every month and now the grant, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  We humbly thank you all.

Now for the second update...Another referral was accepted today and we were able to move up the list again!  This was not a a big move for us, but it is a move none the less and is still exciting.  We are currently...
Baby Girl - #34
Baby Boy- #17
Toddler Girl - #6
Sibling Group - #11

So close....

Hello everyone,

 I am sure that you can guess by the title of this post that there was more movement on the list today!  I am especially excited that one of these referrals was to a friend, who was one of Addie's sweet nurses when she was in the NICU.  Congratulations, Shannon!
Our new numbers are...

Baby Girl - #35
Baby Boy- #18
Toddler Girl - #6
Sibling Group - #11

Ethiopia 105...

Well, as I have no wonderful news to report and I have been procrastinating about updating our blog, I figure it is time to do another Ethiopia Classroom update.  And since I am sitting here in pants, socks, sweatshirt, with a  blanket and a wiggly baby trying to stay warm I thought,  "I wonder what the weather in Ethiopia is like?!"  So my little lesson for now is about the climate in Ethiopia.  And since so many of you are also trying to stay warm and many of you because of snow, try not to be jealous!

Ethiopia 105

"Ethiopia enjoys an extremely varied climatic conditions from cool to very cold in the highlands where most of the population inhabits, to one of the hottest places on earth at the Dallol Depression. Most of Ethiopia was supposed to enjoy a tropical climate for its proximity to the equator, but due to the fact that most of the country’s land mass stands over 1,500 m (4,920 ft), that is not the case. The climate is broadly divided into three zones.

- Dega (Cool Zone)-Areas above 2,600 m (8,530 ft) where temperatures range from near freezing to 61 degrees F. This is where most alpine and afro-alpine vegetation occurs.

- Woyina Dega (Temperate Zone)-Areas between 1,500 m (4,920 ft) and 2,600 m (8,530ft) where temperatures range from 61 degrees F to 86 degrees F. This is where most of the population lives.

- Qola (Hot Zone)-Areas below 1,500 m (4,920 ft) with both tropical and arid conditions where temperatures range from 80 degrees F to 122 degrees F. Bereha is a general term that refers to the extreme form of Qola.

Normally, the rainy season lasts from mid-June to mid-September (longer in the southern highlands) preceded by intermittent showers from February or March; remainder of year is generally dry." 

www.ethioworld.com 

Happy New Year!!

We hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Our family enjoyed a wonderful holiday season which is ending / beginning on a high note.  Today another referral was announced, which means we get to update our wait list status.  Here's to a great New Year and hopefully a new blessing to add to our family!
Baby Girl - #36
Baby Boy- #18
Toddler Girl - #7
Sibling Group - #11

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