Distant dream.

Sometimes being a parent seems like such a distant dream. I am tired of such a quiet house. I am ready to have the house filled with chaos and noise. I am ready to deal with late nights, dirty diapers, and having my world evolve around a child. I can tell you that I am tired of waiting, paperwork, agencies, and more waiting. I am ready to hold a sweet little one in my arms and know that all is right. Next month will be three years since we decided to start a family. I am tired of empty arms.

Procrastination

I have been putting this post off for a very long time. In April, Ry and I started feeling very uneasy about our adoption plan. We talked, prayed, and went over everything with a fine tooth comb, but couldn't feel confident or at peace with our decision, honestly I cried a lot. We waited for a while and looked into other options, but our hearts still love Africa and the orphan. We grieved over making the decision to leave the Ethiopia program.  Our choice is personal, as well are the reasons we chose to leave.  After some more thinking, more talking, more praying, and even more research we have decided to adopt domestically.  We are working with a very tiny agency here in our home town.  Adoption is never easy, international or domestic. We have experienced so many emotions on our journey to be parents.

March Numbers

Happy St. Patrick's Day and March numbers day!

Boys:

57

Girls:

73

CALL TO ACTION

Some of you may have heard recent news about changes that may be made in Ethiopia. MOWA has purposed to make some cuts that would reduce Ethiopia adoptions by 90%. Children would be stuck in the orphanages for years if this all comes to rule. Our hearts are heavy, and we feel quite unsettled right now. We aren't sure how this will all affect our adoption, but we know it is not the answer. We are asking for your help. Please pass this along, sign the petition, and let everyone know what they can do!

Here is what we ask you to do, this is from our agency.......

JCICS Call to Action March 8, 2011 Joint Council: Emergency Campaign for Ethiopian Children What You Can Do: 1) Sign the petition to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi – and pass it on! 2) Have you adopted from Ethiopia? Please send us up to 3 photos and 50 words or less with what you would like the Ministry to know about your child – we’ll compile the information and send a book to the Ministry of Woman’s Affairs. Send your photos and stories to advocate@jointcouncil.org bySunday, March 12, 2011 to be included. Please note that sending photos and stories gives Joint Council unrestricted right to use the information you provide. 3) Share…Please send this Call to Action to family members, other adoptive parents, and everyone you know! Post, forward and share your adoption stories via Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. Make sure you include us in your posts so we can all hear your stories! Here’s links to our pages: Facebook,Twitter and our our blog. 4) Stay informed: Get up-to-date information regarding the situation in Ethiopia by signing up to receive information from us: click here to do so, make sure you choose “country and issues specific information” and “Ethiopia.” And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and our our blog. 5) Help ensure our advocacy can continue: Joint Council is a non-profit and receives no government funding. Please join us in ensuring more children live in safe, permanent and loving families. Donatetoday!

Gratitude.

Sorry I have been MIA for a while. Sometimes I make the blog world to high of a priority and I need to take a step back. I have been reading One Thousand Gifts and I don't want the book to end, I am reading it very slowly on purpose. I love the authors blog as well, just little reminders to be grateful for everyday.

   

Blah.

I have been in a slump lately. I am sure it is related to the winter weather and my lack of sunshine/vitamin D. This time of year can be so difficult. I was made for summer, since gardening is my thing. I love scratching around in the dirt. I have been trying to plan my garden now to lift my winter blues but it is just not working like it usually does. On to plan B for lifting winter blues. I just received the book "One Thousand Gifts".

I think this is the perfect choice for my reading. The reviews alone are amazing, can't wait to dive in. 

Drum Roll Please.....

The winner of the baby/lovie giveaway is ALISON at Lovin Much !!! Alison is a blog follower and her favorite item in my ETSY shop was baby Caroline of course. Congrats! Thanks to everybody who entered, it was so much fun!

My very FIRST giveaway!

Giveaway time!!! Hooray!!! From now until Saturday, January 22nd, you can enter this lovely giveaway in a few different ways. First, by reposting this giveaway on your own blog you get one entry. Second, if you go to my Etsy shop and pick out your favorite thing and leave a comment here of what it is, you will receive another entry. The third way is by becoming a blog follower or by already following my blog you get another entry!

Want to find out what the prize is.......

***First is a very special handmade baby doll, you know the ones in my Etsy shop.
When you win I'll ask if you want a boy or girl.

***Second is a Lovie/Taggie blanket, also in my Etsy shop. Again I'll ask if it is for a boy or girl.

Even if you don't have little ones, these items can make great gifts! Need a little preview of the cuteness, look below. Pictures may vary from actual prize.

Another Surprise.

Besides the Seahawks actually winning this weekend, we received a lovely surprise in the mail....our FDL!! I didn't think we would get it back this quickly, we are officially referral ready! Praying for all of the traveling families this month, good luck, be safe, and God bless.

Surprise

To receive our official numbers this month we were supposed to receive a phone call from our case manager. I checked my phone at lunch and found an e-mail with our numbers, what a great surprise. I love it that our case workers don't want to leave us all waiting patiently;).

Girls:

Boys:

Went with the Seahawk themed numbers for our NFC win, another pleasant surprise! Off to watch the game this weekend. GO HAWKS!

Biometrics and Babies.

Had our fingerprinting done this week for USCIS and met a very nice family adopting from Ethiopia as well. The USCIS office was virtually empty, no wait, and I was done in 5 minutes. I wish every appointment was that quick.

I've been very busy sewing some new babies for our etsy shop, stop by and see if there is one you might need to add to your family.