An unexpected turn...but GREAT news!

This post is extremely hard for me to put into words. Our path has drastically changed but we are ever so gratelful for this miraculous opportunity. As of June our profile was going to be taken out of the Domestic program profiles as our year was up and we were not going to update it. We have been focused on the Ethiopian program; we have done extensive research on the culture and it's people and have really fallen in love with it. We could not wait to have a child to call our own from there. We have met some wonderful families who have gone through or are going through the process. We have had quite the experience and have made some great relationships because of it.

On May 5 I received a phone call from our social worker stating that a woman who was expecting had chosen our profile as well as two others that she was interested in possibly meeting to parent her child. Angie (our social worker) told us that normally she wouldn't place a call like this to prospective adoptive parents unless she knew for certain that a match meeting was wanted from the birth mother but Angie knew our plans to pull out of the Domestic program and we were so focused on Ethiopia. This birthmother was to call back in a week and let them know if she did indeed want a match meeting. Angie said that there were a lot of factors that could possibly happen so it wasn't probable that a match meeting would be asked of us but in the event it was she wanted us to have the next week to think about it and wrap our fingers around the idea. She called back two hours later and asked if we had enough time to think about it because the birthmother requested a match meeting with US! We were dumbfounded. There were alot of things we needed to consider in a very short period of time but we decided to have the match meeting. To make a very long story short...we finally had our match meeting Wednesday May 27 and on Friday May 29 we got a phone call from her birth counselor saying that she really liked us and would like for us to be the parents of her baby!

It's a girl...and she is due August 15! I would like to share more news about this miracle but will wait to do so in another post. For now we just wanted to share our soon-to-be new arrival!

And Ethiopia is not out of the picture...just "on hold".

We couldn't be more excited!

The haircut

Kole has never NOT had long hair. He had his first haircut well after he turned one. It was not that he caused a fuss whenever we had it cut, he was very well behaved during them and it was quite easy... we were just used to his long shaggy "do" and he seemed to like it too. We just decided to try something different; at first he was a bit apprehensive and wanted nothing to do with cutting it all off. But once I told him he would look like his Dad AND look so much older...he was all for it. It is quite the difference. In fact, we were at the park yesterday and one of his classmates happened to be there. They were playing together for a good fifteen minutes when he looked at Kole and asked him "what is your name?" He didn't even recognize him! Kole got his hair cut after class on Tuesday so he hadn't seen it yet. It was quite funny.

Before....

After....

Sure is not our "baby" anymore. He looks all grown up...our handsome young man now. Where does time go?

God's love

Today we went to the gravel pit in search of rocks; one of Dan's great hobbies that he has gotten Kole quite interested in. Dan looks for agates and Kole searches for quartz. We fill around the trees at home his "cort" (as he calls it)...we use it where most people would use mulch. Anyway, today as we were leaving Dan said that he found something that God intended for him to find and he couldn't wait to get home to show it to us. This is what it was...isn't it perfect?

143,000,000 Orphans

"33" for Dan!

Yesterday was Dan's 33rd Birthday. Here's a few pictures of Kole making him a cake. He was so proud! He was looking forward to making this for weeks!

MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm so good!

The final masterpiece!

Enjoy Dad! We love you!

Longer wait to be expected :(

This weekend we received the CHSFS Ethiopia Newsletter for March, the same as we do every month. I read it in great disappointment, sadness, anxiousness, frustration, you name it...I felt it...knowing our wait time may even be longer. This wait is getting so hard. When we started the process we were told that the wait time was about 6-9 months with the court date and then travel to follow within three months after that. We anticipated being home with our new baby by late summer at least. If we are lucky now we will just have our referral at that time.
"One factor that may influence referral times is the number of families that submit a complete dossier at the same time. In July through October 2008, for instance, an unusually high number of families submitted dossiers and were added to the official wait list. As a result, we anticipate that families that submitted their dossiers after July 1, 2008 will wait longer for a referral, possibly 14-16 months."
We submitted our dossier on July 31, 2008. There is the (more than likely) possibility that we will be waiting......

I am so grateful that we have our precious Kole. I am able to focus my energy on him and occupy my time keeping up with him. I enjoy my moments with him immensely. I cannot imagine how those that don't have other children are handling this wait. I am so thankful.
What a jumble of emotions. Lord grant us and all those going through this adoption process patience. I do not want to be a bitter and impatient person. We must remind ourselves that this is all a part of God's plan so we will continue to wait...

.........................................and be goofy in the meantime and enjoy it!

Everything happens for a reason....

One Sunday morning last summer I went for a walk with a friend down to the local coffee shop. We ordered our drinks and I looked at the gal making our coffee and hesitantly said "Sue?". I had met a Sue at a stroke support group a while back and she sure looked like that Sue. She said "Yes?" I knew right away after mentioning the support group and her confusion it was not the same Sue. I found out that her name is actually Susie and she has adopted two girls from China through Childrens Home like us, had the same social worker, Angie, and is our neighbor! On top of this she has met my brother-in-law (who lives in Alaska with his girlfriend) and knows some of the same people from there that she does. How crazy is that? AND she knew another family from Buffalo who at the time was in the process of adopting two boys from Ethiopia! All because of thinking she was a different "Sue". I have since been in contact with this other family, the Wistrom's. I met with with Karen Wistrom while they were still waiting for the the court process to be complete and saw pictures of their adorable little boys. I am happy to say that they are finally now home with them and adjusting very well. They had a long journey and I was able to follow it through Karen's blog. We all had the priviledge of meeting this beautiful family a few weeks ago. The Wistrom's have been a wealth of information and it has been amazing to hear their stories of travel and the experiences they have gone through in their journey. If you have time, go back to November in her blog and read about when they travelled. Her writing is beautiful and gives you a sense of actually being there. Seeing and meeting them made us feel like "this is actually a reality" and there is an end to this journey...it really does happen! We cannot wait for this "wait" to be over and for our child to be home with us.

And just a little side note....before we went to visit the Wistrom's we told Kole where we were going. We said that the boys were also from Ethiopia and we were going to hear about their experience while they were in Addis Ababa. He was so excited and his face just LIT UP. He loudly and proudly exclaimed "THAT IS WHERE MY NEW BABY SISTER OR BROTHER IS GOING TO BE FROM!!!"