2nd, first court date

May 25th!

Our new court date... we are very glad that the new date is not much farther away!

but i have to be honest.  I have very mixed feelings right now.

I know our God is sovereign

I know He knows how this will work out.

I know people think:  it is still in May…. It is only a week more of waiting…. it will be ok, you'll see him soon….

I  know.  

i am sure many people think i am crazy and negative and too sensitive...

 sensitive i will give you!!!  i have never cried over ANYTHING in my life as i cry over our son, orphans, and adoption.

i am doing my best to walk through this journey knowing God is writing this story.

but i also have to be real, it's just me.

my guard is always up and now i am extra cautious about everything.  nothing is gauranteed in this process until the "process" is complete and little hun-nee is forever home!

so my eyes are full of tears and there is a knot in my throat and my heart is just sad….

BUT tomorrow is a new day AND a day closer to HOLDING our precious son!!

waiting for official word for our court date

last friday we got one of those e.mails that makes your stomach sick, your heart drop, and your body start to feel numb....  well at least that is how i feel every time i get an e.mail like that.... i'm just never sure what that update will mean.
there were two updates 
1. health
2. court

health update
our little hun-nee had an ear infection and upper respiratory infection several weeks ago.  it cleared up really quickly with some antibiotics.  with this update we found out the he has a reactive airway and there is some wheezing in his breathing.  apparently this is pretty normal after an infection and for many young children.  


i'm never really sure how to react to health updates.  i can't do anything. worrying won't help. 
my mom's words on monday were a great reminder.... the best thing you can do whether he is here or not is pray.  
sometimes that is hard to remember.  i wish prayer was ALWAYS my immediate reaction.

court update
our f.c. explained that there is a discrepancy between the court date the judge gave, may 13th, and the court date that is on the subpoena.

blahhhh.... 

they hoped we would hear monday about the court date, but there was no news.
they told us we would know today, but still no confirmed date. 
the judge did hear the appeal today  and said she would look at the two dates and let us know tomorrow.  


with guarded hearts we are waiting for some final news...


the upside is that we have decided to take two little trips while we are in ethiopia.  we are going to visit the area our little hun-nee is from and go to the blue nile gorge with another family that has the same court day as we do.... well we think so ;)

fhttp://www.internationalrivers.org/africa/ethiopia/tekeze-dam-ethiopia

our dear friends, the cassadas, received their approval on monday for two boys from rwanda.  they have had a super difficult journey with their adoption.  we couldn't be happier for them right now!!  check out this thought from her e.mail today....

you know what i said to pat last night, "WHAT IF we ended up flying home from ethiopia WITH the snyder's AND ezekiel?!?" he looked at me like, "yea, right!" i said, "GOD COULD DO IT!" he had nothing to say to that :-) (cause we have to go to ethiopia after rwanda to get the kids visa's)

how amazing AND crazy would that be!?!  i'm going to start praying!!

we have bedding

apparently i am not a very decisive person.

 in december and january i looked and looked for crib bedding.  i finally decided that i wanted something neutral.
we only have two bedrooms.  the nursery... that sounds weird.. is a very big room.  so if little ones down the line are going share this room, neutral was the way to go.  but it was really hard to find something....that i liked.  :)

this picture from this blog gave me an idea. 

 i loved this room!

super neutral with great accents... 

after hours of looking, this was my final decision

i found this here

 it came tonight!  my mom followed a tug on her heart and ordered it last week.... before our court date!  good job mom!

 even though we don't have a mattress for the crib yet,

i couldn't wait to see what it looked like!

can't wait for little hun-nee to be in there!

the inside is sooooo soft!!

i have some pictures of evan and my dad putting the crib together, but i can't find them at the moment... i'll update that later.

this is starting to feel very real!

adoption seminar

If you are interested in adoption, simply curious or just want to learn about it, this seminar is for you. We will have experts here to discuss domestic, international and foster care adoption. You will also hear testimonies from RBC adoptive families. 

click here to sign up!  we'd love to see you there!!

we.have.a.court.date!!!!!!!!!!!

in early may we will be on our way to ETHIOPIA!!!!

when i saw the e.mail about "an update"...  my heart dropped a little.  i knew i would be concerned about the news all morning.   i tried really hard not to come up with what it might be.

this morning i was extra happy to have katie co-teaching with me. 

i ran out and called evan and then called anna.  

she asked how we were...  in a small voice i said "a little nervous..."

and then we heard 

"we have a court date for you, May 13th!!"

i was stunned.

we couldn't believe it!

in a little over a month... we will be on our way to MEET our son!!

 january and february were REALLY hard months... the waiting was. so. hard.

when we received our referral and at the same time we heard... be prepared to wait.  

He got us through the last waiting, He'll get us through this one too....

  it is ok with me that it is a much shorter wait!! ha ha ha!!

we are just so excited!

mini zion reunion

tonight was a wonderful evening with some of my favorite girls!  in college we lived in the "zion house". 

we were missing one. carly is in radford... missed you!

i'm not sure i can remember the last time we were all together.  it may have been my wedding

A LOT has happened since that day... 

it was fun to catch up like it hadn't been years since we had all been together.

love these girls!

i couldn't help myself....

save the date

 at reston bible church

japan & jedidiah

here's another way to help with the relief effort in japan

$15 from every shirt purchased will be donated to the world vision/japan disaster relief fund.

check them out

my heart is so full.... a good full!

this morning i got an e.mail from my friend susan who is in ethiopia meeting her kiddos for the first time and to testify in court.
she had already left for her trip when we got our referral.  i sent her a photo consent form to let her take pictures of our little hun-nee!!

we haven't seen pictures yet, but this is the next best thing!

my heart is so FULL!
i am so thankful and grateful that someone that loves us, got to love on our little hun-nee!  it makes my eye fill up with tears EVERY TIME i think about it!!

a new stage of walking by faith...

Government of Ethiopia Plans Major Slow-Down in Adoption Processing

March 9, 2011

Citing the need to work on quality and focus on more important strategic issues, the Government of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Women, Children, and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA)  will reduce to a maximum of five the number of adoption cases it processes per day, effective March 10, 2011.  Under Ethiopian adoption procedures, MOWCYA approves every match between prospective adoptive parents and an Ethiopian child before that case can be forwarded for a court hearing.  The U.S. Embassy is working with Ethiopian government officials and adoption agencies to learn more about this change in procedures.  We will continue to share information as it becomes available.

Given MOWCYA's current caseload, the U.S. Embassy anticipates that this change could result in an overall decline in case processing of some 90 percent.  If this change is implemented as proposed, we expect, that parents who have begun the process of adopting from Ethiopia but have not yet been matched with a child could experience significant delays.  It is not clear if this change in procedures would have any significant impact on cases in which MOWCYA has already approved matches. 

Prospective adoptive parents should remain in close contact with their adoption service provider to obtain updates on individual cases.

http://adoption.state.gov/news/ethiopia_alert.html 

we know his face...

 friday we received our referral call!!!

we are the PROUD parents of beautiful baby boy

he is about 2 months old

he has gorgeous brown eyes, full lips, and a head FULL of hair!! 

{due to confidentiality we cannot show post his picture}  

but i can show you some feet!!

i mean aren't they the cutest feet ever!?!

we can't stop staring at his picture and our cheeks hurt from smiling!

when we heard "this is your referral call" i just sobbed...really.

i couldn't believe this day was FINALLY here.

evan prayed and thanked God for his faithfulness and especially in the waiting.

we thanked God for our little hun-nee and asked that we could meet him soon!

then we saw him.  our son!!!

we tried the to read the information on him, but our heads were whirling.

he is healthy!!  beautiful!! we are over the moon!!

 my mom was at the women's retreat at our church.... let's just say our good news spread REALLy quickly!  :D

we called our families and a few friends and then quickly filled up our weekend telling people our good news! 

evan talking to lesley

calling matthew

 quick bite with the connelly's and the graham's before we went to tell a few more folks...

co-workers i had met up with after meeting up with karly

 

our kids "meeting" for the first time!

choi's "meeting" our little hun-nee

jacob giving zekel a hug!

unfortunately we didn't get pictures with everyone we saw this weekend.  mainly because we weren't always thinking straight!!  

we met up with evan's family in richmond on saturday evening to celebrate.

evan sharing the picture with his granddad

my favorite moments from the weekend:

THE phone call

our first look

the gasps from evan's family and my brother when they saw him

pat cassada when he opened the door to find us at his door step

every tear, scream, and smile from family and friends rejoicing with us!!

we are exhausted, but it is the best exhausted i think we have ever felt!!

resting

today was truly a peaceful day.

it was BUSY and LONG... but it was a good day

right now i am so thankful for this place of just resting in Him.

this 18th week of being dte has brought a heart change

tears fill and fall from my eyes often

i'm getting better at it

i'm realizing, i would rather cry and have a soft heart

than be "tough" and grow frustrated, angry, and bitter

His timing is perfect

our son is perfect

when we see his face, meet him, and bring him home...

will. be. perfect.

happy birthday dr. seuss!

in honor of dr. seuss' birthday we have read a lot of his books already this week! i linked one of my favorite books, the sneetches!  it has a great meaning!!

(warning: the songs might get stuck in your head!)

He met me

didn't feel like taking the time to read this morning

i wasn't really up for cleaning that wound in my heart

i decided to be faithful and He met me where i was at

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest -matt. 11:28

this morning He gave me rest from my heavy heart...

what happens when

we focus more on our

battles than on God?

our "enemy" appears

bigger, we appear

weaker, and our God

appears smaller. 

                  

God has not forgotten.  He has seen your battles.

He has gathered your tears and blotted your brow.

He knows those who have treated you unfairly.

He knows when you're almost ready to give up or give in.

keep telling Him.  stay in His word.

keep claiming His promises. 

                           -beth moore

psalm 10:14

 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
   you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
   you are the helper of the fatherless.

 

ramblings

frustrations about this process are running high...

there are lots of fears that SOMETHING else will continue to slow down the process...

tears flow because i don't know what else to do...

heavy is how my heart feels a lot...

for I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - jeremiah 29:11

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. - psalm 62:5

And he took the children in his arms... - mark 10:16

each day is a new day...

with His help, i am trying every day to take my focus off these uncertain circumstances...

several times a day i remind myself of his faithfulness-whether i can see it or not...

almost hourly i have to remember that his in control of all things...

I know that you can do all things;
   no purpose of yours can be thwarted.- job 42:2

some days/moments are good and others are not...

 His mercies are new every day...

His love is unconditional...

He is faithful...

...

25:25

Like cold water to a weary soul
   is good news from a distant land. 

proverbs 25:25

17 weeks

this week begins the 17th week of being on deck...

every week that begins whether i want to or not, i think "maybe this week will be the week..."  and as 5:00 on friday rolls around i consciously or subconsciously get grumpy because another week has gone by.


my heart is heavy a lot.  when it is not heavy i am so grateful! but it seems like it doesn't stay that way very long. 



blessings...
LOTS of prayers on our behalf
people who ask how the process is going... and are ok when i answer with tears in my eyes
friends also adopting and know how i feel without really having to say anything
seeing friends who have brought their children home
seeing pictures of friend's soon-to-be kids

money in the bank to pay for our next steps
encouraging notes, letters, and e-mails... at oh so the perfect time

my three words

in january my principal asked us to share our "hopes and dreams" for 2011 in three words...

 

7 months...

i never REALLY thought february would be here and we would not know the face of our little hun-nee... in my head i KNOW His timing is perfect, but it does not mean that i feel that way.

lately there are many days that i am just funky.  i can't tell you exactly why, but i am SURE part of it is because i am TIRED of waiting.  yep, just sick of it.  i can't do anything about so i try to think of all the great things that come with waiting and how it will all seem like a blurr when we get that call... but my heart is sad and hurting and desperately wants to know who our son is.  

there are distractions...

today is not a fun one.  i am sick... i have been sick every week for the last three weeks  :P 

but here is how i am finding the positive in this... if our little hun-nee was here, i would have to take care of him while being sick.  now i can get all the rest i need and my HUN-NEE can take care of me. :D 

he does such a good job...actually a great job!!  

 he even tried to cheer me up with a "february/get well soon/tired of waiting/happy valentine's day" gift!!! 

he knew i was really sick and i didn't respond with a squeal to new shoes! :)  

but i LOVE them... thanks HUN-NEE!!

if you don't know about TOMS, you should check them out!!  With every shoe purchase they donate a pair of shoes to a child in need... LOVE IT!

welcome home reynolds!!!

this weekend we welcomed home part of the reynolds family from ethiopia.  we were told that flights from ethiopia NEVER arrive on time and it takes FOREVER to get through customs... not their flight!  

several other families were there to welcome A and M to america

the taylor kids

Add caption

our anxious wait to meet their new kiddos was very short.  

A and Z knew each other at the transition home in ethiopia

now they only live a mile away from each other!!  crazy!!

family picture!

M had never worn a coat before

the excitement did not stop there!

a few hours later we saw the sweet faces of another friend's children. 

susan and her husband received their referral for a sibling group of three!

i can't even describe how sweet it was to see their faces and hear her excitement about her children!!  before she shared the pictures of her kids she held them against herself and said, "are you ready?  these kids are beautiful!  really.  they are just beautiful!"  

they are!  

the families we have gotten to know that are also adopting are so special to us!!  we spend hours together before we even realize it. i always leave encouraged and blessed!

very excited to welcome more families home!!!