Special Delivery for "G"

   

Our case manager at AGCI sent this to our family.  It is a monkey stuffed animal, and a "It's a Boy" announcement with some of "G"s information.  Just another reason why we LOVE our agency, AGCI.

Girl Time

  
SB and I are very good about one-on-one time with the girls, but with the upcoming addition of Little Man, I have been even more intentional. 

Cave Camping
 

So...last Friday, AB and I headed off to go cave camping with some of our Girl Scouts.  AB was going to earn her red petal - Strong and Courageous.  Cave camping was just perfect!!

 

We left right after school.  (This was RIGHT after getting our referral information - post below.)  We carpooled with another mom and daughter.  It's about a 2 hour drive.  We got there at 6:30, and then packed in our "stuff" in around 7:30.  I was pretty proud of my packing.  I knew I had to pack light, because it's about 1/2 mile trek to the mouth of the cave.  AB did a great job helping with everything.  We wanted to be at the front of the line and get first dibs on sleeping spots.  We were told NOT to be by the bathrooms.

 

Here are the stong and courageous Girl Scouts (Abby, Maison, AB and Kate) hanging out before we head to the cave.

After we found a spot to "set up camp", we got ready for the "Wild Tour".  It is a 2 1/2 to 3 hour tour -500 ft below ground - full of tight squeezes, cave crawling, ladders, clay mud puddles and a couple of stories along the way.  Before you can go on this tour, you have to be able to squeeze through a box.  And, I do mean squeeze.  I'm a pretty small person, and I had to turn my head sideways to do it.  (Of course, I was wearing a hard hat.)

  

This is not from our group.   But this is the box that you have to crawl through.  I'm not sure why he isn't wearing his hat.  Everyone in our group had to do it with their hat on.

These folks were not on our tour, but we this is a glimpse of the tour.

AB and I had a great time on the tour.  She scurried along the whole time saying, Momma hurry up.  Needless to say, it was a tad easier for her to get through those tight spots than it was for Momma to army crawl through those same spaces.  Then, we hit bubble gum alley.  (It's called bubble gum alley, because it is so sticky that you literally will lose your shoes if they aren't tied super tight.)  MUD!  And I mean MUD!  The mom, who organized the trip and had been many times with the Boy Scouts, said that she had never seen the water that deep. Well, there go our shoes - soaked.  The only incident I didn't quite plan for.  I had extra shoes in the car, because I knew ours would be worthless after the cave, but I didn't count on them being totally soaked while in the cave.  Luckily, this was close to the end of the tour.  We finished the tour around 10:30, cleaned up, had a snack and got ready for bed.  We opted out of the 2 hour walking tour that started after the adventure tour. 

 

You sleep on the floor in a open area of the cave.

 

This is not from our group, but this is the room you sleep in.

 

AB giving me the thumbs up on her sleeping arrangements.

Sleep?  Well, lights didn't go out until 1 am, and people started stirring about 5:30 am or so.  I thought for sure that AB would be out as soon as her head hit the pillow.  Wrong!  She didn't go to sleep until lights out.  We got out up around 6:45 and had breakfast in the cave.  Then, we packed everything up and headed out.

  

Kate and AB after breakfast

 

AB and I outside the cave as we were leaving.  We had a great time together!!!

 

 

Arts Collaboration Day

Well, what do you do the weekend after cave camping...you get all dressed in pink and go to the opera and ballet. 

my two beauties in pink :)

Our local Opera House and Ballet had an Arts Collaboration Day for children.  For $5 a ticket, the children saw The Three Little Pigs Opera and The Singing Tortoise Ballet.  I wasn't sure if the girls would like the opera.  They really enjoyed it.  The story was really well-done and a great way to introduce them to something a little different.  And, of course, they loved the ballet.  I knew that they would enjoy it.  The music was fun and the story was pretty easy to follow.

 

We had a good time together!

   

Rejoicing!!!

 

  

It is so amazing to see God's plan unfold, and I feel so privileged to be a part of it!

We joyfully announce that we received "The Referral Call" for little man "G"!!!  We are so excited and just love him!  I know all parents feel that their children are beautiful, but he really is just so precious.  His big brown eyes and little smile will just melt your heart!  (I cannot show a picture of him until he is home with us.)  He is 3 1/2 years old and is just perfect. 
    
The last several weeks have been pretty emotional.  Two weeks ago, I had left an voicemail for our Case Manager stating that I wanted to talk to her about our age range.  Our stated age range was 12 to 24 months.  A couple of days went by, and we didn't hear anything back.  So, I sent her an email stating that we wanted to talk to her about openning our age range to older.  Even though we were quickly making it to the top of the boy list, which is comprised of almost all 0-12 monthers, my heart was leading me to older not younger.  We still didn't hear from her, which is very unusual.  The following week (last week), we found out why we hadn't heard back.  There was an Ethiopian adoption law change (mentioned in previous posting), and there was chaos.  I can only imagine what their email/voicemal volume was.  Later that same night (Tuesday), a waiting children's email came across to all of the folks on the waiting list.  (He came across the waiting email, because he did not fall within anyone waiting's age parameters.)  As I was openning the email and saw little man, my heart just stopped.  I think this is my son!!  I quickly got hubby.  We both were in love!  This could be him!?!
  
We got on the phone and called our friends who just got back from HH.  We had been holding off on bombarding them with questions, but we couldn't wait.  The more we talked to them, the more excited we got and felt like this was our son.  After we got off the phone, I had to go to the Word.  It gives me comfort!  Well, we sent an email and left a voicemail for our Case Manager that night stating that we were interested in little man!!!  Wednesday goes by, nothing...that night an email stating that she got our email and will call us tomorrow.  She calls on Thursday...we miss the call.  What!  How did that happen!!  She didn't call our cell phone!  Her voicemail basically says that she is meeting with the group that afternoon for a meeting, and that she will get back to us later that day.  At this time, I feel like a liar to my previous posting about "resting in God".  I'm not doing any resting.  I'm praying..."God, your will be done", but my heart is saying "He is my son".  I leave her a voicemail saying that I really feel like he is our son.  Then, I wait.  At this point, I have done all I can do.  It is all in God's hands!  After the call, I do feel at peace.  Nothing that day.  Of course, I have literally had my phone with me 24/7 in anticipation.
 
Friday around 2:30, the phone rings, it is AGCI.  Deep breath!  It's the call!  Our Case Manager casually askes what I want to discuss first - all the Ethiopian law changes or "G".  "G"!  She emails me all the information and says that she will call me back in 45 minutes to discuss.  Hubby rushes home.  We go over all the information and just soak in the 2 additional pictures we receive.  He's perfect!
  
Normally, we would have just screammed it from the rooftop, but there literally was a car in the driveway waiting for me.  Me and AB along with several other moms and girl scouts were going cave camping.  Yes - cave camping.  I just couldn't tell AB the good news as were getting in a car to go cave camping, and BB wasn't even home yet from a friend's house.  I did secretly share the news with Molly, fellow mom and designated driver.  So, I had just received the most awesome news, and I was off to a place with no cell phone signal, and I couldn't talk about it.

Finally, on Saturday, we were able to share the news with the girls.  They were so excited and just studied the pictures.  AB immediately said that she liked his smile and was hoping that we would be getting him that week - so sweet.  Later that day we started making calls and had SB's family over for dinner.  It was so great to finally share our joy with family and friends.  We have been so blessed by the support we have received from our family and friends.

So, now we are getting all of our paper together to "officially" accept the referral.  We've tested the water, cautiously put one foot in, then another, now we are splashing around!!!  I tried telling myself that I would guard my heart, because adoption is a crazy unpredictable ride.  But in reality, he is our son, and we love him.  We have no idea when we will actually be able to bring him home, but any day longer than tomorrow is too long!

We give praise to God and ask for continued prayers on this journey to Little Man.

This hymm - To God Be The Glory comes to my mind
 
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,
and give him the glory, great things he hath done!
 

Out Of My Control

  
I knew the adoption process was out of my control, but I didn't know it until I was in it.   To be in the process, you have to rest in God.  You have to rest in God.  You have to rest in God.  I don't think I have ever prayed this much or been so in tune to hearing God's voice.  I seek his wisdom and peace on a daily basis.    It's a hard wonderful place to be.  It's fun and frustrating.  Why?  Because it is all out of my control, and I like control.  I want to know who my son is going to be.  I want to know what he looks like - how old is he - does he like to snuggle - does he have a full belly - what is his situation - why is he at an orphange - does he have brothers and sisters - when will we travel - will he like me - what will court be like, how will our new family mesh together, etc.  And, all I know is that God has a plan.  And, I have to rest in that plan and try to discern my part.

Today, we found out that we will now have to make two trips to Ethiopia.  Previously, you only traveled once, which was after the courts approved the adoption, and you were picking up your child.  Now, you have to travel to officially accept the referral before it can go to court.  Then, you travel again once you pass court to pick up you child.  It is hard news.  It will be gut-wrenching to say hello and good-bye all in the same week.  And, chances are, for us, our son (due to age) will have just warmed up to us.  So, where am I in all of this...resting in God Word..

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28 

 

Going to the Chapel...

 

On Tuesday, B's preschool put on their annual Spring Show, which is always a highlight of the school year.  Even the older sisters and brothers can't wait to see the show.  This year's theme was "Main Street" and B's class were brides and grooms.  All of the kiddos did a great job!  Of course, I thought B made a beautiful bride.  She was very excited about the show and kept asking if "today was the day of the show". 

  

The kiddos waiting for their turn.

  

It's show time!

 

 B wouldn't tell us anything about the show, because it was suppose to be a surprise.  The only thing that she would say was that she was the first bride to go, and she had to walk really slow.  I could tell she was really concentrating on walking slow.  It was very cute!  I had to keep myself from tearing up.  I kept thinking about what it will be like when she does actually walk down the aisle. 

   

 

B with one of her fellow brides, Annie.

   

After the show, B's groom, her good buddy Ben, gave her a rose.  It was very sweet!

   

 

We are so proud of you B!