1 hour ago
October 29, 2009
Court Date
Our caseworker called us last night with our court date. November 25. The day before Thanksgiving. If successful, we will likely travel in early January. That seems so far away right now. Oh, how we're longing to love on our little girl!
October 28, 2009
Little Bag O'Love
This morning, we sent our agency our "gallon-sized ziploc bag" of goodies to deliver to our Diamond. It contained a little plastic photo album full of pictures of our family, a little "lovey" blankie embroidered with her Ethiopian name, a couple of little toys for her crib, and lots of love.
We hope Diamond will look at the pictures in the album from time to time and that when we show up at Hannah's Hope and disrupt her little life once again, perhaps she'll recognize something familiar about our faces and we won't seem as strange or frightening to her (don't worry, we didn't include any of the crazy dinosaur mouth pictures!).
We've been sleeping with the little blanket for the past week or so, so it will have the scent of "us" when she receives it. Perhaps when we snuggle with her and bring her home, the scent of us and our home will not seem quite so foreign. As she waits for us, our scent will fade from the blankie and it will pick up the scent of her little bed at the orphanage. That scent and her familiar lovey might then be comforting to her when she leaves the orphanage and embarks on a new adventure as a member of the B family.
Some of the items we sent:
Last week, lots of families from our agency received court dates for this week and the next couple of weeks. Unfortunately, our file was inadvertently not taken to court by our agency's representative. We are lifting the other families up in prayer and look forward to celebrating news of their successful court dates, but we are anxious to receive confirmation of our own court date and are hoping that the mix-up doesn't result in a significant delay. The families that are passing court now are anticipating travel dates in early December. It seems that if we don't get a court date soon, our hope of having Diamond home by Christmas might not be realistic. We feel like someone is missing from our home. We can't stand the thought of missing out on much more of her little life. We want her in our arms. We are continuing to remind ourselves that God is in control, not us, and that everything will happen in His time, not ours.
We hope Diamond will look at the pictures in the album from time to time and that when we show up at Hannah's Hope and disrupt her little life once again, perhaps she'll recognize something familiar about our faces and we won't seem as strange or frightening to her (don't worry, we didn't include any of the crazy dinosaur mouth pictures!).
We've been sleeping with the little blanket for the past week or so, so it will have the scent of "us" when she receives it. Perhaps when we snuggle with her and bring her home, the scent of us and our home will not seem quite so foreign. As she waits for us, our scent will fade from the blankie and it will pick up the scent of her little bed at the orphanage. That scent and her familiar lovey might then be comforting to her when she leaves the orphanage and embarks on a new adventure as a member of the B family.
Some of the items we sent:
Last week, lots of families from our agency received court dates for this week and the next couple of weeks. Unfortunately, our file was inadvertently not taken to court by our agency's representative. We are lifting the other families up in prayer and look forward to celebrating news of their successful court dates, but we are anxious to receive confirmation of our own court date and are hoping that the mix-up doesn't result in a significant delay. The families that are passing court now are anticipating travel dates in early December. It seems that if we don't get a court date soon, our hope of having Diamond home by Christmas might not be realistic. We feel like someone is missing from our home. We can't stand the thought of missing out on much more of her little life. We want her in our arms. We are continuing to remind ourselves that God is in control, not us, and that everything will happen in His time, not ours.
I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait
I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting, I will serve You
While I'm waiting, I will worship
While I'm waiting, I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait.
I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait.
--John Waller, While I'm Waiting
October 26, 2009
A Dino-Mite Birthday Party
Miss M turns 6 this week! We celebrated on Saturday with a bunch of her little kindergarten friends at a dinosaur-themed park that the girls have wanted to visit for a long time (the giant T-Rex along the interstate is a favorite landmark). The party was a "roaring" success! Miss M was so happy to have her little friends there--she just smiled and laughed the entire time! Even her teacher was able to drop in for a little while--which made it extra special for the children. Here are a few pictures:
October 12, 2009
Happy Fall, Y'all!
Yesterday was our Junior League's annual Fall Family Picnic!
We packed up a basket, spread out a blanket, and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon visiting with old and new friends, feeding a whole loaf of bread to the ducks and swans on Lake Morton, and mosey-ing over to our favorite pumpkin patch hosted by the Methodist Church.
Look who lost BOTH of her two front teeth in the last 10 days!
Classic Miss M--she LOVES to chase seagulls at the beach and
ducks and swans at the lake--poor birds! (we kept waiting for him
Look who lost BOTH of her two front teeth in the last 10 days!
Classic Miss M--she LOVES to chase seagulls at the beach and
ducks and swans at the lake--poor birds! (we kept waiting for him to turn around and snap at her!)
Classic Miss A expression--
and holding as many pumpkins as her little arms could carry!
Classic Miss A expression--
and holding as many pumpkins as her little arms could carry!
This is such a wonderful time of year! Apple cider, fall colors, Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes, college football, corduroy, orange crysanthemums on the front steps, bonfires, pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream, hayrides, costume parties, changing leaves--the calm before the storm of holiday hustle-bustle. And this morning, the weatherman said the temperatures might actually dip down into the 70s this weekend (that's "brisk" for us Floridians)!
The fact that we received our referral call on the first day of autumn will make this an especially sentimental time in years to come!
October 9, 2009
October 7, 2009
Hannah's Hope Ethiopia
This is a video about the orphanage and transitional home where our precious Diamond is living right now. Though we are anxious to bring her home, we are thankful that she is in a safe place, built with lots of love, managed by a woman who just seems to be an angel on earth, and staffed with loving, attentive nannies. (Please scroll down and pause (II) the background music before playing the video)
While not everyone is called to adopt, James 1:27 requires that Christians care for orphans. One way to do this is to contribute to ministries that are committed to orphan care. Prayerfully consider whether supporting Hannah's Hope might be a way for you to make a difference. Click (here) for more information on becoming a sponsor.
October 4, 2009
Where We Are and What's Next
The past couple of weeks have been a whirl-wind of activity! In addition to our usual non-stop schedule, we’ve consulted with our social worker and international pediatrician, filled out a ton of paperwork to formally accept our referral, participated in conference call training regarding attachment, bonding and infant loss/grief issues, and prepared a written transition plan for meeting our baby girl’s needs and navigating our family through the potential challenges that may lurk in our uncharted waters of being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, adoptive family of 5. We’ve also spent hours upon end gazing at her precious pictures!
We finally Fed-Exed all of the documents (and fees!) to our agency and now are awaiting news of our court date. The courts have been closed during the rainy season. Word on the street is that they may be reopening this week but may not be hearing any cases until later this month. We are crossing our fingers for a court date in November. Upon approval of the adoption by the court, little Diamond will legally be our daughter! We will travel 2-3 weeks after passing court to meet with the U.S. Embassy regarding her immigration and most importantly, to finally hold her in our arms, shower her with love and bring her HOME!
Can hardly wait to nibble on these cute little baby toes…
We finally Fed-Exed all of the documents (and fees!) to our agency and now are awaiting news of our court date. The courts have been closed during the rainy season. Word on the street is that they may be reopening this week but may not be hearing any cases until later this month. We are crossing our fingers for a court date in November. Upon approval of the adoption by the court, little Diamond will legally be our daughter! We will travel 2-3 weeks after passing court to meet with the U.S. Embassy regarding her immigration and most importantly, to finally hold her in our arms, shower her with love and bring her HOME!
Can hardly wait to nibble on these cute little baby toes…
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