Only a few (very few) more hours until we get on our first flight. AHHHH!!! We leave Indy bright and early at 6 a.m., which means we literally will be getting up at the crack of dawn. Although 3:30 is not my normal wake up time, I will happily rouse myself to get this show on the road!!
Tonight we kissed the boys and tucked them into bed, and it was super sad knowing we won't be here when they wake up in the morning (my mom will be, for those who worry about child protection or want to rob us). I hate leaving them, but I am so excited to meet our other child. Griffin asked me to take 40 pictures of Gabby, 20 for him and 20 for Cooper. Oh, melt my heart!! I know they will have a blast with their grandparents, and we will probably miss them more than they miss us. :)
So, this is it. I can't believe that about 30 hours from now, we will be holding our sweet girl. It is unbelievable to me. God is GOOD!!!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Good News/Bad News (But mostly good!!)
Let me just say that in all of the weeks of worry I had leading up to our preliminary hearing, the one worry that never crossed my mind was whether we wouldn't even hear the results all day. Ethiopia is seven hours ahead of us, so I assumed that we would know for sure by early afternoon (late evening there). Well, the whole day came and went. By 6 pm, I was going crazy. I had been virtually useless all day, too nervous and on edge to get anything done. I started to realize that since it was 1 am there, odds were good we weren't going to hear anything, and I was beyond bummed. Luckily, we got a phone call shortly after that, and had our answer...whew!
The good news is that we do indeed get to travel for our court hearing. The judge didn't see any problems with our paperwork or our case. Praise God! The not so good news is that the MOWA letter we need for our hearing was not there. There is still a chance it will be there by Thursday, which is when we really need it. Someone just posted on a message board I frequent that 6 families with her agency who did not have the letter at that first hearing, DID have it at the second. So prayers are definitely still needed that our letter makes it!!
If our letter isn't there in time, we will still go to court, and our passing it will just be pending the letter arriving. We expect that would add a few weeks to a month onto our timeline. It's a little bittersweet to go, not knowing whether we will officially be Gabby's parents by the time we leave. But we'll take what we can get!! At this point, I just want to meet her, kiss her all over, smell her sweet baby smell, and hold her as much as possible to make up for all the months we weren't able to. Plus we are thrilled to finally SEE the country we have been reading and dreaming about for all these months!
It is sooooo surreal to me that after all this time of dreaming of her, the moment we will finally meet her is a very short ways away. We are coming, sweet girl!!!
The good news is that we do indeed get to travel for our court hearing. The judge didn't see any problems with our paperwork or our case. Praise God! The not so good news is that the MOWA letter we need for our hearing was not there. There is still a chance it will be there by Thursday, which is when we really need it. Someone just posted on a message board I frequent that 6 families with her agency who did not have the letter at that first hearing, DID have it at the second. So prayers are definitely still needed that our letter makes it!!
If our letter isn't there in time, we will still go to court, and our passing it will just be pending the letter arriving. We expect that would add a few weeks to a month onto our timeline. It's a little bittersweet to go, not knowing whether we will officially be Gabby's parents by the time we leave. But we'll take what we can get!! At this point, I just want to meet her, kiss her all over, smell her sweet baby smell, and hold her as much as possible to make up for all the months we weren't able to. Plus we are thrilled to finally SEE the country we have been reading and dreaming about for all these months!
It is sooooo surreal to me that after all this time of dreaming of her, the moment we will finally meet her is a very short ways away. We are coming, sweet girl!!!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tonight
Tonight, while we are sleeping, or very early tomorrow morning, a judge in Ethiopia will be looking over our case (along with our new friends, the Godwins) and making a preliminary decision about our case. She (I think it's a woman, though I may be wrong) will look at Gabby's paperwork and at ours. She will make sure there are no errors, mistakes, or omissions. She will look to see if the letter we need from MOWYCA is there. She will decide if we get to travel or not.
We are feeling very hopeful that this hearing will go just fine. We don't expect there to be any paperwork problems-as long as it took to get us ready to be submitted for court, our agency surely had plenty of time to check for problems! We don't know if our letter will be there. It seems likely that it will not, but we are still praying and hoping that it is, despite what logic says. Even without the letter, we are still very optimistic we will get to travel. If we don't have the letter, we'll still meet Gabby, go to court, and testify that we want to adopt her. Then the decree will just be pending the letter arriving, and when it does, it will be finalized. Obviously, we want the letter there tomorrow (or at least by our hearing on June 2nd), because then there will be no ambiguity or wait...Gabby will be ours (after going and passing court)!! I have been repeating for many days now, "We are going to pass court and our letter will be there." Let's see if positive thinking works!
Several families with our agency are in Ethiopia now for their hearings, and a new, great friend e-mailed me after meeting our sweet girl. She said she is "a CHUNK!!!," and that she is almost sitting up by herself, is a beautiful, giggly little girl, and is a favorite of the nannies and they don't want to see her go. That made our day to hear!!
We would very much appreciate everyone's prayers tonight and tomorrow as we await the outcome of the first hearing. Please pray that we are given clearance to travel, and that our MOWYCA letter is there. Thank you!!
We are feeling very hopeful that this hearing will go just fine. We don't expect there to be any paperwork problems-as long as it took to get us ready to be submitted for court, our agency surely had plenty of time to check for problems! We don't know if our letter will be there. It seems likely that it will not, but we are still praying and hoping that it is, despite what logic says. Even without the letter, we are still very optimistic we will get to travel. If we don't have the letter, we'll still meet Gabby, go to court, and testify that we want to adopt her. Then the decree will just be pending the letter arriving, and when it does, it will be finalized. Obviously, we want the letter there tomorrow (or at least by our hearing on June 2nd), because then there will be no ambiguity or wait...Gabby will be ours (after going and passing court)!! I have been repeating for many days now, "We are going to pass court and our letter will be there." Let's see if positive thinking works!
Several families with our agency are in Ethiopia now for their hearings, and a new, great friend e-mailed me after meeting our sweet girl. She said she is "a CHUNK!!!," and that she is almost sitting up by herself, is a beautiful, giggly little girl, and is a favorite of the nannies and they don't want to see her go. That made our day to hear!!
We would very much appreciate everyone's prayers tonight and tomorrow as we await the outcome of the first hearing. Please pray that we are given clearance to travel, and that our MOWYCA letter is there. Thank you!!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Choosing to Believe
Wow, well that post yesterday was kind of a downer, huh? I want to be honest on here about the feelings we've had along the way. I don't mean to sound whiny, just scared. But today, I am changing my tune. I am choosing to believe that everything is going to work out just fine.
A very dear friend, who has been one of our biggest supporters throughout this process, suggested to me that we simply choose to believe that things will work out. She told me lots more than that, but that's the main focus. Another great new adoption friend reminded me that, ultimately, faith comes down to simply having it, or not. So, why not believe? In that vein, we are getting ready to go! I washed some clothes and a soft, cozy blanket that we want to bring for Gabby today, and I decided what I'm going to wear on the plane. I've also been working on one massive packing list!
Hand in hand with believing that we are going (and not only that, but that we are going to pass court while we are there!), I want to take a minute to share the gratitude I have for the many blessings in my life.
I am grateful for:
-a husband who agreed to jump on board with this whole adoption idea, who loves me even when I freak out about EVERYTHING, and who is going to be the best daddy to Gabby, just like he is to our boys.
-two little boys who bring joy and laughter to my every day, who can't wait for their little sister to come home, and who make me happier and prouder to be their mommy than I ever imagined.
-friends and family who have stood by and supported us through this process, who are praying for us now, and who can't wait to love Gabby when she comes home.
-for where we are in the process. However hard this step is, every step we've gone through has been tough, but we made it through them, just as we'll get past those remaining.
-for the many, many lessons I am learning every single day from this journey. I could fill a book with the things I have learned about myself, my faith, and the people around us.
-for the little girl waiting for us halfway around the world, and for the fact that we will be kissing her chubby cheeks and holding her little hands in just 13 more days.
There...that's better, isn't it?
A very dear friend, who has been one of our biggest supporters throughout this process, suggested to me that we simply choose to believe that things will work out. She told me lots more than that, but that's the main focus. Another great new adoption friend reminded me that, ultimately, faith comes down to simply having it, or not. So, why not believe? In that vein, we are getting ready to go! I washed some clothes and a soft, cozy blanket that we want to bring for Gabby today, and I decided what I'm going to wear on the plane. I've also been working on one massive packing list!
Hand in hand with believing that we are going (and not only that, but that we are going to pass court while we are there!), I want to take a minute to share the gratitude I have for the many blessings in my life.
I am grateful for:
-a husband who agreed to jump on board with this whole adoption idea, who loves me even when I freak out about EVERYTHING, and who is going to be the best daddy to Gabby, just like he is to our boys.
-two little boys who bring joy and laughter to my every day, who can't wait for their little sister to come home, and who make me happier and prouder to be their mommy than I ever imagined.
-friends and family who have stood by and supported us through this process, who are praying for us now, and who can't wait to love Gabby when she comes home.
-for where we are in the process. However hard this step is, every step we've gone through has been tough, but we made it through them, just as we'll get past those remaining.
-for the many, many lessons I am learning every single day from this journey. I could fill a book with the things I have learned about myself, my faith, and the people around us.
-for the little girl waiting for us halfway around the world, and for the fact that we will be kissing her chubby cheeks and holding her little hands in just 13 more days.
There...that's better, isn't it?
Monday, May 16, 2011
Waiting and Worrying...Again
Boy, does it seem like almost everything I post is about how freaked out/worried/nervous I am about something? It sure feels like that to me! No sooner did we get the wonderful news of our court date than our excitement was tempered by a follow-up from our agency telling us not to book our travel until after that first court hearing I briefly mentioned in the previous post. For those of you keeping track, that hearing is Thursday, May 26th. The hearing that we need to come for is Thursday, June 2nd. We plan to leave Sunday, May 29th. Do the math and you will see that at this point, everything is up in the air until 3 days before we would leave. Is it just me, or does that sound stressful?
I understand completely the reasoning behind our agency encouraging us not to book travel until then. The whole "MOWA only writing 5 letters thing" did actually start about two weeks ago, so it is not likely that our MOWA letter will be done by court. And now, at that first hearing, the judge is looking for that letter, whereas before it was okay if it wasn't there until after the adoptive family had come. So if our letter isn't there at the first hearing (very possible), there is concern that the judge will not grant us travel clearance to come for our hearing either. Since all of the MOWA stuff is so new, no one has a real frame of reference on how things will go. So far, our agency had 6 families have their first hearing last Friday, and all 6 not only were given travel clearance, their MOWA letters were there! Praise God! I have heard from other adoption "friends" with different agencies, and they are reporting that over the last week or so, families they know of either had their letter or didn't, but all were still allowed to travel, so that's good news too. None of the people from other agencies are being told not to book their travel until after the first hearing, so I guess our agency is just being much more cautious. Still though, I feel like our trip is very, very much up in the air, and it is heartbreaking not to be able to just get excited about it!
Do you have any idea how difficult it is to not know how much to plan when you are talking about a trip to another continent? This is no weekend away! I don't want to pack everything up before the first hearing, because the idea of having to unpack it if we don't get to go kills me. We have a plan worked out for who's caring for the boys while we're gone, but I don't know how in depth to worry about that right now. We did get our travel vaccinations, since we'll need those whenever we go, and we are collecting donations for the orphanages, since we'll take those whenever we go. But I can't bring myself to go out and buy travel sized shampoo and soap, since I just feel sick when I think about this trip, not excited. When people congratulate us on it, I make sure to let them know that it's not a done deal yet. My poor friend brought champagne to our girls' night this weekend to toast our court date and trip, and I felt the need to clarify that we didn't know whether we get to celebrate or not...pretty sure I ruined that toast! :)
I have literally been sick to my stomach about the changes with the Ethiopian adoption system since early March. Everyday, worried sick with nerves. I wake up doing the math in my head of how many families are ahead of us for court, times 5 letters per day, times the number of days before our hearing. I know with every fiber of my being that our sweet Gabby will be worth every moment of worry and heartache we've had. I also know that sometimes the best things in life require the most work. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't love catching just a little break sometime soon!
I understand completely the reasoning behind our agency encouraging us not to book travel until then. The whole "MOWA only writing 5 letters thing" did actually start about two weeks ago, so it is not likely that our MOWA letter will be done by court. And now, at that first hearing, the judge is looking for that letter, whereas before it was okay if it wasn't there until after the adoptive family had come. So if our letter isn't there at the first hearing (very possible), there is concern that the judge will not grant us travel clearance to come for our hearing either. Since all of the MOWA stuff is so new, no one has a real frame of reference on how things will go. So far, our agency had 6 families have their first hearing last Friday, and all 6 not only were given travel clearance, their MOWA letters were there! Praise God! I have heard from other adoption "friends" with different agencies, and they are reporting that over the last week or so, families they know of either had their letter or didn't, but all were still allowed to travel, so that's good news too. None of the people from other agencies are being told not to book their travel until after the first hearing, so I guess our agency is just being much more cautious. Still though, I feel like our trip is very, very much up in the air, and it is heartbreaking not to be able to just get excited about it!
Do you have any idea how difficult it is to not know how much to plan when you are talking about a trip to another continent? This is no weekend away! I don't want to pack everything up before the first hearing, because the idea of having to unpack it if we don't get to go kills me. We have a plan worked out for who's caring for the boys while we're gone, but I don't know how in depth to worry about that right now. We did get our travel vaccinations, since we'll need those whenever we go, and we are collecting donations for the orphanages, since we'll take those whenever we go. But I can't bring myself to go out and buy travel sized shampoo and soap, since I just feel sick when I think about this trip, not excited. When people congratulate us on it, I make sure to let them know that it's not a done deal yet. My poor friend brought champagne to our girls' night this weekend to toast our court date and trip, and I felt the need to clarify that we didn't know whether we get to celebrate or not...pretty sure I ruined that toast! :)
I have literally been sick to my stomach about the changes with the Ethiopian adoption system since early March. Everyday, worried sick with nerves. I wake up doing the math in my head of how many families are ahead of us for court, times 5 letters per day, times the number of days before our hearing. I know with every fiber of my being that our sweet Gabby will be worth every moment of worry and heartache we've had. I also know that sometimes the best things in life require the most work. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't love catching just a little break sometime soon!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Gabby's Shower
I know, almost a full month late, but life has been busy lately!
I wanted to make sure to do a post about the wonderful, wonderful shower my friends threw me for Gabby. My best friend Jen had told me way back when, back when Gabby was a mere twinkle in our eyes, that she wanted to throw me a shower whenever we got further into the process. I kid you not, two minutes after I called to tell her about our referral, she reminded me that now we could have a shower! So sweet! We decided to do it in April because at that point (back in February) we really thought we would be traveling for court in early May. Ha!
Sarah, my adoption BFF, helped Jen a ton by making the gorgeous cake, designing the super cute invitations, and generally being her right hand lady. I am so grateful to have such amazing friends who love me enough to go to all this work for me! I love you guys!
Since Gabby's nursery theme is a whimsical "birds and trees" theme, they picked that for the shower theme. Oh, and lots of pink! Just look at this gorgeous cake!
So many great friends came out to help me celebrate. Thanks to everyone who came! We had delicious food, played a couple of fun games (I love games!), and of course opened presents. Our friends were so sweet and generous...we are now fully decked out with pink, pink, and more pink!
Someday I hope Gabby can look back and feel how much love people had for her before she ever even got here :)
I wanted to make sure to do a post about the wonderful, wonderful shower my friends threw me for Gabby. My best friend Jen had told me way back when, back when Gabby was a mere twinkle in our eyes, that she wanted to throw me a shower whenever we got further into the process. I kid you not, two minutes after I called to tell her about our referral, she reminded me that now we could have a shower! So sweet! We decided to do it in April because at that point (back in February) we really thought we would be traveling for court in early May. Ha!
Sarah, my adoption BFF, helped Jen a ton by making the gorgeous cake, designing the super cute invitations, and generally being her right hand lady. I am so grateful to have such amazing friends who love me enough to go to all this work for me! I love you guys!
Since Gabby's nursery theme is a whimsical "birds and trees" theme, they picked that for the shower theme. Oh, and lots of pink! Just look at this gorgeous cake!
So many great friends came out to help me celebrate. Thanks to everyone who came! We had delicious food, played a couple of fun games (I love games!), and of course opened presents. Our friends were so sweet and generous...we are now fully decked out with pink, pink, and more pink!
Someday I hope Gabby can look back and feel how much love people had for her before she ever even got here :)
Friday, May 6, 2011
COURT DATE!!
Finally, after almost 6 weeks of waiting, the call we have been waiting for came today. We have a court date!! We will be in Ethiopia the first week of June to meet the baby girl we have been wishing for, thinking about, and loving from afar for the last three months.
Everytime the phone has rung over the past few weeks, I've said a little prayer it was THE call and been disappointed. This morning, I was out doing errands. Chad had called me on my cell phone a few times already, and when it rang again I assumed it was him. When I saw the area code, I got butterflies and knew it was Lesley from our agency. After saying hello, I said, "Please, PLEASE tell me you have a court date for us!!!" and she did! (I am sure she thinks I am a complete loon, fyi, but she does a good job hiding it). I then called Chad, who was equally excited. We are so thrilled to finally know the day we will see our sweet girl's face! Oh, the kisses I will smother her with! She has the most gorgeous chubby cheeks, and I can't wait to just eat them up! Ahhhh!
We aren't completely out of the woods yet. There will be a preliminary hearing where the judge looks through all the paperwork to make sure it's okay, and that's when we'll get our official clearance to travel. But because that hearing is only a week before ours, we're going ahead and booking our travel soon and planning that we will be there! If all goes well, we will be on a plane in just a few short weeks. I can't believe it!
Everytime the phone has rung over the past few weeks, I've said a little prayer it was THE call and been disappointed. This morning, I was out doing errands. Chad had called me on my cell phone a few times already, and when it rang again I assumed it was him. When I saw the area code, I got butterflies and knew it was Lesley from our agency. After saying hello, I said, "Please, PLEASE tell me you have a court date for us!!!" and she did! (I am sure she thinks I am a complete loon, fyi, but she does a good job hiding it). I then called Chad, who was equally excited. We are so thrilled to finally know the day we will see our sweet girl's face! Oh, the kisses I will smother her with! She has the most gorgeous chubby cheeks, and I can't wait to just eat them up! Ahhhh!
We aren't completely out of the woods yet. There will be a preliminary hearing where the judge looks through all the paperwork to make sure it's okay, and that's when we'll get our official clearance to travel. But because that hearing is only a week before ours, we're going ahead and booking our travel soon and planning that we will be there! If all goes well, we will be on a plane in just a few short weeks. I can't believe it!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Prayer Request
I'm having a cruddy day today. There is still all kinds of talk about MOWYCA really going to only 5 letters per day, and this makes me so sad I can't even put it into words. I'm trying really hard to try to have faith that things will work out fine, but it's hard to remember that sometimes.
But more importantly for us right now, we still haven't heard our court date. We know they must be getting really close to us. We were submitted March 28th (5 weeks ago today), and I have heard of people with various agencies submitted on March 22nd and March 29th getting dates over the last week, so I know we have to be close. But nothing yet, and it is so unbelievably difficult to sit and wait, never knowing the day we will finally get to meet our sweet girl. Everytime the phone rings, my heart jumps with the hope that it's going to be our program coordinator Lesley calling with good news, and when it isn't, I get sad all over again. As I have mentioned a few times, I am a total control freak, so being this much out of control of the situation stinks.
We got new pictures of Gabby (have I mentioned on here that we have chosen the name Gabrielle Elise?) over the weekend, and while we were so happy to see her looking happy and healthy and well-cared for, they break our heart at the same time because we just want her to be here with us. It's been almost 3 months since our referral, and we still don't even have a court date yet. So I am asking, if you are the praying kind, for prayers for us (and another family with our agency, the Godwins, whose new daughter is almost the same age and who was submitted the same day as us for court). Please pray that we hear a court date soon (today would be great!). Please pray for us to have patience and calm while we wait. And if you are into praying for the long term, a little prayer that whenever we do go for court our letter is there would be nice too.
We waited a good long time just to be submitted for court, and at one point in the process, I really felt we had hit a point where progress just wasn't going to be made without prayers of intercession on our behalf. Shortly after that, we learned we had been submitted. I feel like that again now. So prayers are greatly appreciated. If you aren't the praying type, we'd happily take speedy, happy thoughts! :)
Not much else to report...Chad is done training for the mini and is resting his legs until Saturday. I am working on a very noticeable shirt for him to wear during the race, and the kids and I can't wait to cheer him on! We painted Gabby's room last week and I just painted the chair rail today, so progress is being made there. Hopefully soon she will be here to enjoy it!
But more importantly for us right now, we still haven't heard our court date. We know they must be getting really close to us. We were submitted March 28th (5 weeks ago today), and I have heard of people with various agencies submitted on March 22nd and March 29th getting dates over the last week, so I know we have to be close. But nothing yet, and it is so unbelievably difficult to sit and wait, never knowing the day we will finally get to meet our sweet girl. Everytime the phone rings, my heart jumps with the hope that it's going to be our program coordinator Lesley calling with good news, and when it isn't, I get sad all over again. As I have mentioned a few times, I am a total control freak, so being this much out of control of the situation stinks.
We got new pictures of Gabby (have I mentioned on here that we have chosen the name Gabrielle Elise?) over the weekend, and while we were so happy to see her looking happy and healthy and well-cared for, they break our heart at the same time because we just want her to be here with us. It's been almost 3 months since our referral, and we still don't even have a court date yet. So I am asking, if you are the praying kind, for prayers for us (and another family with our agency, the Godwins, whose new daughter is almost the same age and who was submitted the same day as us for court). Please pray that we hear a court date soon (today would be great!). Please pray for us to have patience and calm while we wait. And if you are into praying for the long term, a little prayer that whenever we do go for court our letter is there would be nice too.
We waited a good long time just to be submitted for court, and at one point in the process, I really felt we had hit a point where progress just wasn't going to be made without prayers of intercession on our behalf. Shortly after that, we learned we had been submitted. I feel like that again now. So prayers are greatly appreciated. If you aren't the praying type, we'd happily take speedy, happy thoughts! :)
Not much else to report...Chad is done training for the mini and is resting his legs until Saturday. I am working on a very noticeable shirt for him to wear during the race, and the kids and I can't wait to cheer him on! We painted Gabby's room last week and I just painted the chair rail today, so progress is being made there. Hopefully soon she will be here to enjoy it!
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