No referral yet! But we have moved up on the list. Gone from number 8 to number 5.:) This is very exciting because there was not movement for about 3 months and now 3 little boys got referrals sent out just this week. We are praying, praying, praying for a referral within the next 9 months.
Son- As usual I have been thinking about you and praying for you daily. It has now offically ben about 9 months since our paperwork has ben in Ethiopia and 15 months since we filled out our adoption application. I remember last Christmas thinking about how you would probably be home with us for this Christmas and now I am praying that you will be home for Christmas 2013. I dont know if you are born yet, or if you are 6 months old, but I pray that you are healthy, happy, warm and that Jesus has his arms around you .
Our house is getting close to done and I think we will be in it by February. I will have your room all decorated and ready for you. I already have your bedding, and lots of cute clothes and toys that were given to me by friends and family.
This week Grandma Bonnie and Papa Tim took Lucy, Madeline,Kaeden and Kai shopping to buy toys for the Thomas Center in Ethiopia. This is the transition home that you will live in until we can bring you home. They picked out cars, a soccer ball, a doll, a dog , and a puzzle for all the kiddos to play with. Then today we went to the store and got diapers, baby shampoo, toothpaste, and lots of rice cereal. We took it out to childrens house and they will get it mailed to Ethiopia.
We are thinking about you this Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. We are praying for you everyday and cannot wait to lay eyes on you for the first time.
Nana Lisa, Papa Brian, Papa Tim, Grandma Bonnie and all your Aunties and Uncles love you so much already and are praying for you.:)
Praising God for the 3 families that received referrals for their little boys this week:)!
We love you so much!
Love,
Mom, Dad , Lucy and Madeline
This is a picture of Madeline with Alicia at Childrens house international where we brought the toys and diapers to today. Alicia works at CHI and is doing lots of work to help us bring you home:) Lucy was being shy and didnt want to be in the picuture:)
Well, it has almost been 3 months since my last post. We have not been updated that we have moved up any on the waiting list for our Boy. :( The last couple of months have been so busy that I actually didnt have much time to sit and think about it much, but now that everything has slowed down I find myself thinking about our boy everyday. The good news is that things have been moving in Ethiopia and referrals are coming through:)
Son- Lucy and Madeline ask about you all the time:) They are going to have so much fun having a little brother. They are really loving disney princesses right now and pretend most of the day they are a princess. They have tea partys, play wedding, play house, play restaurant, pretend they are at the library or the grocery store checkout. I am sure once you are home they will have you being the prince or the daddy when they play house.
We are moving! Yep!!! We are very excited. We are building a house in Bellingham up off of Barkley and the house should be done around February. We already know where your room will be and I am so excited to get it all set up for you .
Your Auntie Alyssa and Uncle Alex got married the beginning of September.It was such a beautiful , and fun celebration. Your sisters were adorable flower girls and did such a good job:)
These last few days I have been thinking about you often, praying for you , and often times just wondering if you are born? What your little smile looks like? What it will feel like the first time I see a picture or you , or the first time Dad and I hold you in our arms. What it will be like to bring you home to see Lucy and Madeline:) With all theses questions that I have I get so excited, but then also become so anxious and frustrated that you are not home with us. As I write this with tears in my eyes and a big lump in my throat I am reminded that God is in control of everything. He knows who you are , he knows what your smile looks like, he knows how many hairs are on your head, and he knows that exact day that we will lay eyes on you . Today God has told me to " Be still, and know that I am God" (psalm 46:10) He wants me to know that he works all things out for good. He wants me to be still and rest in only the peace that he can give me. He has reminded me today that he is in control of every aspect of this adoption process and that I need to continue to rest in him alone and not in where we are on the referral list or on adoption blogs that I read that may have good or bad news on Ethiopia adoptions. But he wants me to rest in Him alone.
Son, we love you so much already. We pray that you are safe, warm, not hungry, and being well taken care of at this very moment. We cannot wait to meet you :)
If there is anyone that is interested in helping donate to the transition home that the kids live in until they come home please let me know. I am going to try and collect items and trop them off the beginning of November to our adoption agency. Families traveling over there can take them directly to the kids in the trasition home.
Some items needed: Enfamil formula, All sized of disposable diapers, wipes, latex gloves, plastic dolls, crayons, food activity sets, and toy cars.
Thanks!
-Kelli
Son-
Well, it has been a busy couple of months. Your Auntie Alyssa is getting married September 2nd. We are busy with wedding showers, and planning for the big day. Auntie Alyssa is going to look absolutely gorgeous and I can wait to show you pictures of her special day.
For Fathers day this year we had a a BBQ at Grandma Bonnie's and Papa Tim's house:) Your dad watched the US Open golf tournament and we talked about how fun it will be for him to take you to the 2015 US Open in Tacoma.
Your Uncle Curt and Aunt Katie were here from California for a couple of weeks. We had so much fun with them and miss them so much already. They cannot wait to meet you and are praying for you .
This last weekend I ran in a Ragnar Relay race. It was definitely the hardest race I have ever done, but really fun and I got to run in a gorgeous part of the state that I had never seen before.
The biggest news for the last month is that we are moving closer to holding you and having you home. We moved from number 11 on the waiting list to number 8!! Praising God that there are 3 families that are going to have their baby boys home soon and Praising God that you are that much closer to being home with us. Lucy and Madeline talk about you all the time. They talk about where your room will be and how they will help take care of you and play with you . They are soooo excited to have a little brother.
Nana Lisa, Papa Brian, Grandma Bonnie, and Papa Tim are so excited to meet you and have another grandchild. We all love you and cant wait to have you home. We are all praying for you and that you are well taken care of. Love you to the moon and back!
Love,
Mom
Well, It has been over a month since my last post. Still no news on our little boy . I didnt expect there to be but God is always full of suprises. The good news that we did get this month is that there was 4 referrals that came through in May and there is expected to be more in June. I was not told the age of the children who had referrals come through, but praising God that things are moving in Ethiopia and children are moving closer to being with with their families.
Son- This month has been really hard not having you home with us. I have been thinking about you everyday and praying that you are warm, safe, healthy and well taken care of . Your Great Grandma passed away last week , I really wish you could of met her. She was a beautiful loving woman who would of spoiled you with lots of hugs and kisses. This month was Mothers day and the girls painted me some beautiful bowls for the kitchen. Dad took them to a pottery place in Fairhaven and they had so much fun. Thought about you lots on Mothers day and am praying that by next Mothers day I will have you in my arms. I also celebrated by 29th Birthday a few days ago!! Yep! 2-9!!! You are gonna have a old mamma! hahaha.
We love you soooo much already and your sisters , Dad and I cannot wait to have you home. Love you to the moon and back!
Love Mom
So it's official!!! After months of paperwork, waiting, paperwork, homestudy, paperwork and more waiting our dossier has been approved and sent to Ethiopia. Ethan and I are so excited to have the largest part of paperwork done with and cant wait for the day when we get to meet our son and bring him home.
So if you are reading this and very confused I will fill you in. :)
Ethan and I have always talked about adoption, but were not sure if God was calling us to adopt and if so when we would start the adoption journey.
God has taken us on a very tough journey to become parents over the past 5 years. After having our beautiful twin girls Lucy and Madeline who are now 3 years old, Ethan and I suffered a miscarriage of twins in September of 2010 and then another miscarriage in March of 2011 due to a ectopic pregnancy which ended in emergency surgery and removal of one of my fallopian tubes.
After a very tough and emotional few years of failed pregnancys, Ethan and I became more serious about discussing adoption and spent a lot more time in prayer.
Last July we meant with a adoption agency in Ferndale called Childrens House International. They were recommened to us by our friends that used them to adopt their son. We filled out our application and were approved. After being approved and starting some of the paperwork we decided through prayer that we wanted to wait a little longer and take time to pray and make sure we were doing this all for the right reasons and that we were ready to start this journey, so we placed everything on hold.
In October God called us to start the adoption journey. Since October we have been filling out tons of paperwork, and getting all sorts of back ground checks done as well as having a homestudy done by a social worker. As of this Monday 4/9 our agency received our dossier that was Authenticated by the U.S. Secretary of State and the Embassy of Ethiopia in D.C. The dossier was then sent today to Ethiopia and we are offically on the wait list for our son.
Although this is GREAT news. The hardest part which is waiting starts now. We have been told by our agency that the average wait time for a baby is 18 months. Although there are many children living as orphans in Ethiopia because of the high level of poverty it is hard for the officials to prove which children are orphans and which have living parents who dont have enough money to feed then but have not given up parental rights, and because of this every case has to be carefully investigated and the Ethiopia officials have to give proof that parents are deceased or have filed papers of relinquishment. The officals are doing this in a case by case basis which takes a lot of time.
Ethan and I wanted to start our blog up again so we can share prayer requests and updates of our adoption journey with our friends. We will also try to post some pictures of our girls Lucy and Madeline when we give updates. Lucy and Madeline are so excited to have a little brother and ask at least once a week
"when is our brother coming home?"
Also I want to apologize for my spelling and grammar ahead of time!! Most of the time I will be typing with my girls pulling at my arm:) ( I will just blame it on that)
