Monday, October 26, 2009

Scary Faces!

Over the weekend, we managed to get our Jack-O-Lantern's carved! It's always lots of fun in our house- we put on It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and go to town! This year, Isabelle designed the faces on paper and then Craig did the carving- turned out great! We did two big pumpkins. As you can see, the kids did their share of making some super scary faces, too!



Wednesday, October 21, 2009

out of the mouths of babes....

My friend, Stacy told me a funny story today about a conversation between our two first graders, who have been friends since they were 3 years old. It went a little something like this:
While deciding what to play at recess-
Isabelle says- "Addison, did you know that my mom and dad are going to Ethiopia and they're not taking me!"
Addison-"No"
Isabelle-"And I'm gonna spend the night at your house for a WEEK!"
Addison-"OK, then when you spend the night at my house, then we can play house!"

Keep in mind, this had been mentioned as an option when the time came- but we haven't talked about it for weeks with Isabelle. This just shows you that kids adjust and are fine and the parents worry WAY too much about the details! The kids will be fine!(I am telling myself this) Thank God for good friends! Oh, to be a fly on the wall at school with those kiddo's-
On another note, I caught Harrison counting his family members on his fingers today- and it was so cute- he actually added Jillian in on his pinkie! It's real to them- I love it! I just can't wait!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

I love a good LIST!

Ok- all of this waiting is pretty tough! And we have only just begun, I know- So I feel like I need to DO something! So I got into some of the great info left in files on our Ethiopian chat group on the computer and made me a couple of good LISTS! One LIST that I could work on now and one that needs to wait until after we get our referral. In doing this, I realized that we need to get with the program! We have so much to do to prepare for our baby girl!
Most importantly: PICKING A NAME!!! I have such trouble with this- I mean, a name is with you forever- what if it doesn't fit? With Isabelle and Harrison, I didn't decide for absolute sure until they were born and I saw them. My wonderful friend, Stacy made me the most awesome LIST of baby boy names for Harrison, which helped. I have already solicited her help this time, too- We have definetly narrowed it down- in my book, for our family, it needs to be a classic, not overly common name that will go nicely with Isabelle and Harrison. We will use her given Ethiopian name as her middle name eventually. In my heart, I really do need to wait until we get our referral to name her, but I think it will help my children prepare for her if we name her now..... SO........ reserving the right to change my mind- We have decided upon..............JILLIAN (insert Ethiopian name here)!!!

It feels great to actually type that down! So I guess now I can start referring to her as baby Jillian! I guess now, I can mark that giant task off of our LIST! :)

Thursday, October 15, 2009

anxiety

Last week and into this week I have been feeling all kinds of anxiety-
Anxiety about the future- What if we aren't ready? What if we get "the call" before the 9-11 month window they give you to look forward to. I am such a "planner" about things. I am trying to decide how to change things around to welcome our baby girl- we have her room painted and curtains up, but nothing else ready.... I did save the crib. We don't even have a name! Working on it though.... have one in mind, but have to roll it around in our heads for a while before we decide for sure.

I can't help but think maybe all of this anxiety is because maybe somewhere during this time our sweet baby girl was being born, or maybe her birth mother is having anxiety about giving her up or maybe she did give her up- I think God ties people together this way- I guess I will just pray longer and pray harder that the precious woman chosen to carry our daughter will feel some peace during this time- I will gladly carry all the anxiety for her, if that would make it easier. Don't get me wrong, if it were to happen sooner- we would gladly adjust! (smiling)


Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Our family

First Blog!

Hi friends-
This is our first blog post- it's been a long time coming. I want to blog so we have a record for our daughter- We are adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia! We are requesting a baby between 0 and 18 months of age- She will join our family of four- Daddy- Craig, Mommy- Erin, Sister- Isabelle and Brother- Harrison! We can't wait for her to get here! We sent our application into AWAA in May, Dossier sent early September- and so we wait...... This blog will document our life along the way- If anyone reading ever has any good advice - please share it! We can't wait to see what blessings the Lord brings our way.... happy reading!
Thanks for following-Erin