Where has the time gone???

I was just reading my last post and realized that almost a whole year has gone by. Naughty blogger! Eleven days after my last blog post about empty arms, our prayers were answered. We were chosen by an expectant mother! She was young, confident in her decision that we were to be her BOY'S mommy and daddy! We met this beautiful soul in October and she gave us our first pictures of our son, an ultrasound picture. This picture never left my side, it is engrained in my memory forever. Through the next few months we all got to know one another and on February 10th all of our world's changed. We met the little man that made our world complete. We were able to be with immediately after he was born and haven't left his side since. Our hearts were so heavy for his birthmother and her family. I have never experienced so many emotions in a 24 hour period. Tears of joy and sadness. Little man is now five and a half months and is growing like mad. He fits in our family like we are blood. I know that every struggle was worth this little soul. All the pain has melted and drifted away. His smile makes my heart glow! Little man you are an angel sent straight from heaven. We didn't know that a love like this existed until you!

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.

Last post of 2010.

2010, what a year it has been. If I look back it has really been a year of ups and downs, and life changing decisions. We struggled with infertility treatments for just a short time and realized that God was whispering to us that this was not our path. The whisper started very quietly with a diagnosis of unexplained infertility, both young and healthy, there was no explanation to our despair. The whisper grew a little more loud with a few gotcha day videos that had me in tears, God was burdening my heart. The whisper then became a booming voice, when our niece ripped an article out of a magazine about an Ethiopian adoption and handed to me.  She was only 18 months old at the time.  After reading the article, it was clear we were supposed to follow our hearts to Ethiopia. We thank God everyday for all our experiences to lead us to our path and amazing journey. We can't wait to see what 2011 has in store. Hopefully a chance to see our little ones face or even hold them in our arms. 2011 can't get here soon enough.

Blessed.

From our family to yours, have a very blessed Christmas!

Baby Making.

Now that I have your attention, I wanted to direct you over to the sidebar. You will find a link to my Etsy shop, where I have a store full of handmade gifts benefiting our adoption. The latest addition is some really cute African baby dolls. I didn't realize how hard it would be to find an African baby, so I decided to make some.  Thanks for stopping by and taking a peak at my little ones.

Prayers for baby Tucker

Some extra prayers are needed for a little man in Ethiopia right now. He is sick and his Mommy and Daddy don't get to meet him for a month. He is very small and can't fight off things as easily. His Mommy and Daddy need prayers too, I am sure they are feeling very helpless. So please pray that Tucker receives great care and his little body gets strong and healthy. Also let's pray that his parents find comfort and peace while waiting to hear about their little man.

Adoptive families and Christmas

Rachelle posted this video a little while ago and I think it represents what so many adoptive families are feeling this holiday seasons. Such a beautiful song. Just mute my music at the bottom and take a good listen.

Our December numbers are #93 for a little lady, and #69 for a little lad.

First and November Numbers

What a great feeling it is being on this sought after list.

Girls:

Boys:

PNW

Living in the Pacific Northwest can be a bit challenging in the winter time. We have had soooo much snow already. It is very beautiful and makes us so thankful to be living in God's country. We live five minutes from a state park and decided we might as well enjoy the snow since we can't escape it.  We broke trail this morning and had the most beautiful scenery along the way. This place is great in the summer, but winter really changes things, breathtaking!

Snowshoes are truly an investment in PNW! Even the dog had a great time and my thighs are feeling the burn.

In adoption news we sent our revisions off. Hopefully we can post numbers on Monday!

These are a few of my favorite things.

Pile of paperwork:

FedEx:

My husband:

I had to work all day on Monday and couldn't get a chance to make it to FedEx, but Ryan took our dossier, made sure it was in perfect order and overnighted it. We got a call that it had made it to our case manager! We finally have our dossier in!! I just can't believe it, what a thanksgiving blessing.