Monthly Archives: June 2010

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what a fun day!

June 30, 2010 – 4:52 PM

Here are some things that have made this day so much fun:

1) I got a Facebook email this morning from a friend who’s in Ethiopia right now.  The subject was “your boy” (which is enough to make me smile in and of itself!).  It read, “Spent time with your boy today.  PRECIOUS.  Got new pictures and video of him being S.I.L.L.Y!  Too cute.  He is just too cute!!!!!!!  Such personality–and SO SWEET!!!!!!!! He is so full of life and personality!!!”  WOW!  I just sat at my desk with tears streaming down my cheeks.  I have to believe that God lined up our referral and her trip so that she could love on our son and give us a report on how he’s doing.  Every little bit of information we can find out about him and Hannah’s Hope is a little gift while we wait . . . and pictures and video . . . I don’t have words to describe how much those will mean when we see them!  THANK YOU, friend!

2) Remember me talking about my Ethiopian Starbucks barista friend?  Well, I went into Starbucks the day after we got our referral with pictures in hand ready to tell her all about it.  Much to my dismay, I was told that she was out of town for a while visiting family in Seattle.  Well . . . she’s back, and I ran in today to show off my boy and chat with her for a minute.  And GUESS WHAT?!  Her mother is from the same city as our son . . . Mekele!!!  AND, she speaks Tigrinya because her mother taught it to her as a child!  Incredible.  To make my smile even bigger, the store manager handed this to me . . .

I’m so thankful for sweet friends celebrating with us.  The Nipper’s Corner Starbucks is my little home-away-from-home, and I just love all the employees there.  Thanks Ang and the gang for being so excited with us and for our little gift!  It means far more than you know.

3)  I had our “Next Steps” call with our case manager today.  I really didn’t learn much new information about our timeline because we’re sort of in a time of “limbo” (since we got our referral so quickly).  We’ll know a little more in the next couple of weeks as our dossier arrives in Ethiopia and our file is opened in the court system.  It was just really encouraging to talk about travel and court because I sometimes still find it hard to believe that we’re even really to that point yet.  I did learn that we can make a photo album to send over for our little guy so he can get acquainted with our family.  We will also make one for his birth mother and send it over with a letter written to her from our family.  I can’t even begin to think of what to say to her yet, but I’m praying that God will give me words that will speak peace, comfort and assurance to her heart.  I’ll write more on that later. 

Please continue to pray that our dossier arrives quickly and that they are able to obtain little man’s birth certificate quickly. Those things are necessary for our file to be opened.

As I’m sitting here typing this post, I’m reminded of this time two weeks ago.  We were about to receive a call that would forever change us.  We’re so incredibly blessed, and we appreciate your prayers and support so much!

By Katie | Posted in Adoption, Africa & Ethiopia, Links, News | Comments (1)

what we know about him

June 29, 2010 – 2:48 PM

1)  He arrived at Hannah’s Hope on June 8, 2010.  (Prior to that, he had been in a government-run orphanage for probably 2-3 weeks).  We were at the beach with my family that day, and I was still kind of bummed about our dossier STILL not being approved.  Even though I didn’t know his face or his name, I thought about him everyday on that trip.

2)  He’s from the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia and therefore probably speaks Tigrinya rather than Amharic.

3)  According to his “special mother” at Hannah’s Hope, he’s very talkative and has a strong will.  He can be funny and very encouraging.  He loves balls and will play soccer for an hour sweating until they have to stop him by distracting him with another toy.

4)  He’s 98 cm tall (38.6 inches) & weighs 30.2 lbs.

Today marks 3 weeks that he’s been at Hannah’s Hope and 13 days since we first saw his sweet face.  Another adoptive mom (whose kids are already home) said that this is when the real waiting begins.  I must say that I agree with her.  We love him so much already and have started getting his room ready.  I love to hear Riley and Cole talk about him and imagine being his big brothers.  I’m more thankful now than ever that God put adoption on our hearts, and we can’t wait until our family is all under one roof!

We have our “Next Steps” call with our case manager tomorrow.  It is exactly what it sounds like – she’ll discuss the next steps of this journey with us, and I’m looking forward to finding out a little bit more about our tentative timeline.  Please pray that our dossier makes it to Ethiopia this week so our file can be opened. I’ll keep you posted! . . .

By Katie | Posted in Adoption, Africa & Ethiopia, Family | Comments (2)

2 things:

June 27, 2010 – 7:30 PM

1) We went to our local African adoption fellowship group for the first time tonight, and there were SO many people there!  It was almost overwhelming, but I was really encouraged to see first-hand the amazing community that’s available in our area for adoptive families.  A HUGE thank you to the Johnson family for hosting.  It was great to see all the little Ethiopian kids running around!  Oh, how I long for the day when we can take our little guy there!  I was especially excited to meet the Bonner family who is adopting a 3.5-year-old boy, too!  They live about five minutes from us, and our little guys are probably buddies at Hannah’s Hope – how COOL is that?!?!  Once they’re both home, they can continue to be friends!

2) I got an email today that MADE MY DAY.  It was from a friend who was at Hannah’s Hope earlier today meeting her boys for the first time.  She said she recognized our little guy right away and said his name to be sure.  According to her, he lit up and smiled, nodded his head, and warmed up.  She said he does seem to be reserved and that he wasn’t being pushy (good boy!).  Any little tiny bit of information we can hear about him right now means the world to me, and I’m so appreciative of her taking the time to write and let us know how he is doing.  It also makes me want to jump on a plane and go to Ethiopia right now!

That’s all for now.  I decided to rearrange the bedrooms upstairs yesterday to start making room for little man, and it’s a complete disaster up there!  I’m off to see if I can undo some of the damage that I’ve done!

By Katie | Posted in Adoption, Links, News | Comments (4)

tears of JOY for my friend

June 27, 2010 – 2:11 PM

Check out Andrea’s latest post and see the most precious image of her holding her baby boy while he sleeps.  He’s having a tough day, so please say a prayer for him.  He’s been through a lot in his 10 short months, and he’s not feeling well.  I can’t get over the fact that he’s finally in her arms and how beautiful he is!!!  Congratulations to the Young family!

By Katie | Posted in Adoption, Links | Comments (0)

wait: \wāt\ v., to remain or rest in expectation

June 26, 2010 – 9:32 PM

I’m not sure I’ve ever felt quite as distracted as I do these days.  It’s been 10 days since we got our referral for our little boy, and my mind seems to constantly spin thinking about him, his birth mother, what time it is in Ethiopia, how long it will take for our file to be opened in court, what he must be feeling, whether he’s adjusting okay to living at Hannah’s Hope, etc., etc.  We’re part of the listserve for our agency (a yahoo group for AGCI families adopting from Ethiopia), and I’ve been getting to know some of the other families and reading lots of their blogs.  I’ve tried and tried to figure out our timeline from here, but as I should already know by now, that just isn’t possible.  I’m learning {again} to rest in the promise that God is writing this little one’s story, and I am not in control.

The most common question we get these days is “So, when will you bring him home?”  While that’s certainly a valid question, we don’t have an answer quite yet.  What we do know is that our “Acceptance of Referral” documents arrived at AGCI and will be processed on Monday.  Our dossier is making its way to Ethiopia and will get there toward the middle of next week at the earliest.  At that point, the process of opening our file will begin.  Some preliminary information has already been sent to get the translation started, but the dossier is needed to move forward completely.  (Typically the dossier is in Ethiopia well before a referral is given, but our situation is a little different since we got our referral the same day that our dossier was approved.)

Also, as I mentioned in an earlier post, our timeline could be affected by the court closure for the rainy season.  I don’t know yet when they’ll close (it seems to vary from year to year), so we’ll have to wait and see how quickly everything moves along.  At this point, I’m thinking it’s unlikely that we’ll get in beforehand.  However,  if I’ve learned anything in this process, it’s to never make assumptions about time frames!  I definitely trust God’s timing, but there’s also a longing in my heart to get him home as quickly as possible.

Speaking of getting little ones home, my friends Andrea and Marcy are in Ethiopia RIGHT NOW getting ready to meet their kids for the first time!!!  I have had butterflies in my stomach for them all day, and I’m so excited for both of them!   Brad and I went to high school with Andrea, and it’s been so fun to reconnect with her on this journey.  She and her family are adopting a 10-month old little boy named Isaac.  Marcy, on the other hand, I’ve never met.  She contacted me when she heard about our referral to let me know that she’d be sure to love on our little guy some while she’s at Hannah’s Hope (SO sweet!).  She and her husband are adopting two little boys, ages 2.5 & 3.5.  It’s likely that her oldest son and our guy are buddies!  It means the WORLD to me to know that both of these sweet friends are checking on him and loving on him.  I can’t wait to hear what they have to say about him, too!  Well, that’s it for tonight.  I’ll be sure to post an update when we know more.

By Katie | Posted in Adoption, Links, News | Comments (4)

Financial Update (& get your Show Love t-shirt!)

June 23, 2010 – 2:34 PM

In my last post, I mentioned that I had updated the “Fees” page here on the blog.  We cannot tell you how amazed we are at the amount of money that we’ve raised/saved for this adoption.  We knew going into the process that we certainly did NOT have an extra $30,000 – 35,000 laying around.  We knew that God would have to provide, and He certainly HAS . . . through many of YOU!

We’re excited to announce that we have spent $20,000 so far on this adoption, and we’ve never had a fee due that we could not pay.  Fees are divided up and due at different points along the way, and we’ve always had just enough money for the next check . . . AMAZING!  We mailed our referral acceptance documents to AGCI yesterday, and with them went a check for $4,550.00.  We were SO thankful to have the funds to write that check and know that the only remaining expenses are travel costs and post-placement costs!!!

Since writing the check for the referral fees, our adoption fund is pretty much back down to zero.  We still have about $13,000 to raise/save for those expenses.  That figure seems a little daunting, but we truly believe that God will continue to provide the money when it’s needed.

If you’re interested in helping us get our little boy home, please feel free to contact us for information on how to contribute OR click the “Donate” button at the top of the blog.  We also still have 57 “Show Love” T-shirts left.  There are limited amounts and sizes available, so click HERE and view the drop down boxes for more information.  They are $20 for adult sizes and $12 for kids’ sizes, and they’re super soft and comfortable.  All of the money will go straight towards airfare and in-country expenses.

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support.  Once we’re finally able to post full pictures, many of you will be able to look at his sweet face and know that YOU played a part in his story.  For that we will be forever grateful!  And since I can’t show you his face, I’ll leave you with a picture of his little toes and him posing with “his” ball! . . .

By Katie | Posted in Adoption, You Can Help | Comments (2)

AND IT’S OFF!

June 22, 2010 – 11:55 PM

{Our referral acceptance packet, that is}.  We completed all of the documents, had everything notarized, and put it in the mail today . . . exciting!

It’s amazing what can happen in a week (or in a day).  Last Tuesday we weren’t even on the waitlist yet.  Tomorrow will mark one week since we got waitlist numbers AND a surprise referral!  The past week has been a complete blur, and I’m soooo tired.  It’s worth every bit, though, when I look at the sweet face on the refrigerator, or on my desktop, or in my wallet, or in the notebook that I carry everywhere I go . . . you get the point – I have his pictures everywhere!  Here’s a rundown of the week:

Wednesday (6/16) – Took Riley to summer camp, took Cole to VBS, taught my ESL class at NICE, picked Riley up from camp, picked Cole up from VBS, got call that our dossier had FINALLY been approved & got waitlist numbers (siblings – 38 & boys – 41), danced around the house all afternoon relieved that we had made it that far, got referral call & totally freaked out, went to small group in a daze & celebrated with friends, couldn’t seem to fall asleep because of excitement ….

Thursday (6/17) – Riley back at summer camp, Cole back at VBS, printed out referral acceptance forms and began completing them, made calls about international pediatrician review & letter, still couldn’t sleep that night because my mind was going in 100 different directions ….

Friday (6/18) – Riley back at summer camp, Cole back at VBS, faxed and emailed all medical documents, etc. to international pediatrician’s office, picked Riley up early from camp, went to Cole’s VBS program & cried when the kids sang “Mighty to Save” and I learned that their lesson that day was “God Gives us Family,” worked on “Adoptive Parent Transition Plan” (no small task), had phone call with international pediatrician to discuss our little guy’s medical information, went to the park with Brad and the boys for a MUCH NEEDED picnic and some fresh air …..

Saturday (6/19) – Photography session at 8 AM, drove to our social worker’s house in Smyrna so she could sign a form for our referral acceptance packet, worked on more referral paperwork, photographed a WEDDING from 3:30 – 9:00 PM, crashed when I got home – completely exhausted …..

Sunday (6/20) – Went to church with pictures in hand to show off little man, enjoyed worshiping and celebrating with friends, tried to rest some that afternoon, went to Target to buy a couple of small toys for Andrea to give to our guy when she’s there picking up her son next week (!!!!), went out to dinner at Mafiaozas to celebrate Father’s Day with Brad and the boys, stayed up until 1:30 AM finishing our “Adoptive Parent Transition Plan” (ugh!) …..

Monday (6/21) – Dropped Riley off at summer camp, grabbed a coffee traveler from Starbucks for my ESL class, stopped by post office to mail some Show Love shirts and the package for Andrea to take to Ethiopia, taught my ESL class, went to bank to deposit money into adoption fund account, picked Riley up from summer camp, hung out with Jenny & Elissa to make bracelets for Elissa to take on her trip to Ethiopia and Uganda (more on that later), had quick phone call with Julie, our case manager at AGCI, emailed transition plan to Emily at AGCI, photography session at 6 PM in Hillsboro Village, worked on editing a photography session because my client can only be so patient! …..

Tuesday (6/22) – Riley at summer camp, worked on editing session some more while Cole interrupted me 127 times because he was “bored” (which isn’t allowed at our house – there’s always work that can be done!), Brad and I had our transition plan call with Emily from AGCI (Wow!  LOTS of good information and facing the reality of what all our little guy might be dealing with emotionally and psychologically when he gets home – more on that later, too), picked Riley up, we all went to the bank to have referral documents notarized, mailed referral packet (YAY!), took the boys to the library because I had promised, finished editing session and posted online, updated “fees” page on this blog (more on that later, too), and now I’m writing this post! ……

….. and all of that while trying to do all the other normal stuff like clean house, do laundry, cook dinner, pay bills, play with the kids, etc. etc.

I thought after we got on the waitlist that we’d have a little bit of a breather, but God had other plans (and I’m SOOOO thankful for them)!  It’s been a whirlwind week, but it’s all good because it’s worth every single minute of it.  I’ve got lots of blog posts swirling around in my head.  Hopefully I’ll have some time this week to get them on here, so stay tuned! . . .

By Katie | Posted in Adoption, Family, Links, News | Comments (1)

melt. my. heart.

June 20, 2010 – 2:51 PM

I saw this picture on Facebook on Tuesday (pre-referral excitement craziness), and my heart melted. This is my sweet, sweet friend Heather. She and her husband, Kelly, were in Ethiopia on a mission trip last week.  While there, they worked with The Forsaken Children.  To learn more about their journey, check out Heather’s Blog and Kelly’s Blog. And did you notice that shirt Heather is wearing?! It looks kind of familiar to me!

Also, I’ve been meaning to post this video all week.  It documents the day THIS family met their daughter, and I love it because it shows the amazing relationship the “special mothers” at Hannah’s Hope have with the children under their care.  I’m so incredibly thankful for these women, and I’m grateful that our little man is receiving so much care and love in the middle of a very sad and confusing time in his life.  There are two things that ease the ache in my heart and the anxiety that comes with having to wait to get to him.  One is the knowledge of the immense love that God has for our son and the fact that He’s right there with him.  The other is the wonderful care and love he’s receiving from his special mother(s).   As you’ll see in the video, this is not merely just a job for these ladies.  They truly love the children and constantly have to say goodbye to them.  I know it must be so bittersweet for them, and I can’t help but believe that they will have many jewels in their crowns in heaven!

Lastly (but certainly not least), HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to my dad, my father-in-law & my amazing husband!  I’m so thankful for the influence these men have in my life and in the lives of my children.  I love all three of you very, very much!

By Katie | Posted in Adoption, Africa & Ethiopia, Family, Links, Media | Comments (4)

today’s update . . .

June 18, 2010 – 10:41 PM

I think I’m still running on adrenaline.  The events of the past couple of days still seem surreal.  I’ve been carrying three pictures around with me everywhere I go, showing them to every friend I see.  We have wallet sizes and 4X6 sizes and even 8X10s!  We’re pretty obsessed with the sweet little face that we first saw just two days ago, and I can’t get that little guy off my mind!  I want to share every single detail we know about him on here, and it’s so hard to write these posts without using his name.  Our agency, however, advises against that since he’s not legally our son yet.

As I mentioned before, we got the referral call at 5:20 Wednesday afternoon.  We were supposed to be at our weekly small group meeting at 6:00.  We got off the phone with Julie at 6:00, and I hit the “Get Mail” button about 37 times in the next few minutes after the call ended.  We knew that pictures were included in that email, and we just couldn’t wait to see them!  Meanwhile, we were trying to explain to Riley & Cole what had just happened while throwing on shoes and brushing teeth and grabbing our Bibles to get ready to head out the door.  It was insane, and we were still in shock!  The email finally arrived, and we all gathered around the computer screen to see our little man for the first time!!!  I will never forget seeing his face.  One picture was taken the first day he got to Hannah’s Hope, and he looks sad or mad (can’t tell which).  One shows him grinning (with cute little teeth showing!) with his foot propped up on “his” ball.  The third one shows him sitting on his bed hugging a teddy bear.  He has a little mischievous grin on his face.  It’s my favorite, and you can see his little feet!

We tried to soak in the pictures for about 60 seconds, and then we rushed out the door to head to small group – calling our families on the way.  We got to small group and shared our news with everyone and stared at the computer screen some more.  Everyone was completely surprised, and needless to say, we didn’t really have a normal small group that night!  It was really fun to be able to celebrate with some of our close friends.  Here’s a picture one of them took of us that evening (thanks Laser) . . .

I could hardly sleep that night, and it was soooo much fun to post our news and read everyone’s comments here on the blog and on Facebook.  Here’s what’s happened since then:

1) I talked with Julie again on Thursday.  She called to see if we wanted to move forward with the referral.  We, of course, had no reservations whatsoever about doing so.  She explained the referral acceptance process to me and emailed all of the forms included in the referral packet.

2) I contacted a local international pediatrician to schedule a review of little man’s medical records.  We had a phone call today where he explained everything in terms I can understand, and he wrote a letter to our agency that is required.  We were so thankful to get this done today!

3) Tomorrow I’ll meet up with our social worker to have her sign a paper that is required.

4) I’ve begun completing our “Adoptive Parent Transition Plan” – which is several pages long.

On Monday we’re hoping to have all of the paperwork for the referral complete and have everything notarized.  If it all works out, I will overnight the documents to AGCI on Monday.  Our dossier is now in Washington D.C., where it is being authenticated by the U.S. Department of State.  It will then be sent to the Ethiopian Embassy in D.C. where it will be authenticated again.  From there, it will make its way to Ethiopia where it will sit until it’s opened in court.

Speaking of court, we have something you can pray about.  Because of the rainy season in Ethiopia, the courts close in August and September.  We’re praying that all of the moving parts come together so that we can make our first trip to Ethiopia prior to the court closing.  That would mean that we could possibly travel next month (best case scenario).  We’re also waiting on them to locate little man’s birth certificate (or get a new one – I don’t know???), and that will have to be done before our file can be opened in court.  Lastly, we will need our FDL (Favorable Determination Letter) from USCIS before the second trip, so pray that it will arrive quickly.  After we travel the first time, we will come home without him (so sad), but we’ll go back to bring him home about 4-8 weeks later.

Okay, I’m out of words, and I’m sure you’re eyes are probably hurting from reading all of this by now!  I’ve just had several people call wanting an update, so I thought I’d just put it all on here!  I hope you all have a great weekend!

By Katie | Posted in Adoption, Africa & Ethiopia, News | Comments (3)

a few more tidbits

June 17, 2010 – 10:04 AM

1) I love what I wrote at the end of THIS post yesterday when I announced our waitlist numbers: “God is in control of how quickly we get a referral, and we completely trust Him with all of those details.” Ha!  Ha!  I thought we’d be waiting at least 3-4 months for a referral . . . not 3 hours and 43 minutes!!!

2) I found out that our little boy’s name means “God is Gracious.”  We like it.  We think we might keep it.  More on that later.

3) Our friend, Andrea, will travel to Hannah’s Hope NEXT WEEK to get her son, Isaac (whoo hoo!).  While she’s there, she’s going to check on little man for us!  She’s even offered to take a small toy or two from us to give to him.  It makes my heart happy to know that she’ll be able to love on him.  I also got an email from another fellow adoptive mother who will travel Monday to get her two boys at Hannah’s Hope.  She’s offered to check in on him, too!!!

4) He’s only been at Hannah’s Hope for 9 days, so his “special mother” is still assessing his personality.  So far, she describes him as talkative, strong-willed, doesn’t really like to share (which she also says is “normal for a child who comes from having nothing”), can be funny and encouraging, loves balls (they even let him eat his meals while holding a ball in one of his hands!), and he LOVES to play soccer.  They have to distract him to get him to stop!

We’ll have another call with our case manager sometime today, and I have a page full of questions for her.  We’ll know more details, especially about traveling to Ethiopia to meet him, after talking to her.  THANK YOU SO MUCH everyone for your super-sweet comments and for celebrating with us!  God is so good, and we are just in awe of His faithfulness and His timing.

By Katie | Posted in Adoption, Africa & Ethiopia, Links, News | Comments (10)