March is Here!!! Yay

I am so glad March is here!!! So many good things happen in March; Spring starts, Daylight Savings Time starts, SPRING BREAK happens!!! Hopefully this month we will see LOTS of referrals- who know what could happen this month!!!
We had a great, busy weekend! We went to a gathering of lots of families, most who have adopted Ethiopian children who live in the greater Springfield area! It was so fun and I was touched by how awesome all of these kids are! They are all so beautiful! I am so glad we have a group to be a part of, that when Jillian comes home she will be able to see and know other families just like ours!! We got to meet some of the blog kids I follow, the gorgeous "world famous" Ari and his great parents and we got to spend some time with our friends, the Belote's, who are right in front of us in line! We even got to see Belen, our friend Cassie's little girl- it was just a fun day!

Frustrated

First of all, let me say that I DO know that everything happens in GOD'S time. I believe this. There have not been any referrals in the month of February. There is one working day left. I am discouraged because it seems like things are dragging. I am also frustrated because the talk in the chat group is that after you pass court, families are going to have to wait up to 8 weeks to travel to Ethiopia to pick up their children. So it could take up to 4 months after referral to get Jillian and bring her home. That is frustrating! Which makes me do math in my head and start worrying about court closures in August and September and worrying about Isabelle being back in school and where she would stay- I know, I know, cross that bridge....... well, I'm a planner- can't help it! So, I am a little discouraged and frustrated.... I am not the only one.... So if you are reading this- add us to your prayer list and all of the families currently waiting! Thank you- it is reallly greatly appreciated!

Cooped up!

I thought I would post a few pictures of the past few days- I think we are all getting tired of being cooped up- I am running out of things to organize, believe it or not! The kids made us a "gourmet" meal for Valentine's Day and we put together the crib for sweet baby #3!!! I told Craig, we are definetly getting our money's worth out of that crib! When we bought it before Isabelle was born it just about killed us to spend so much on a crib - I said, "I will keep it forever!"
Anyway, the offices for our agency have been closed due to so much snow in the D.C. area- so today was there first real day back open- maybe something will happen now- for at least somebody! I am just so ready! I joke that I am giving up Winter for Lent- but really I will gladly give her up! I don't think I have ever been more ready for Spring! I do love every season, but we haven't had a Winter quite like this for a while!
We did have a little scare today- our 10 year old Dachshund, Copper- went missing for about 3 hours- I couldn't find him anywhere! He NEVER does that- I searched everywhere in our neighborhood, thinking I would find him, I never did. When I came home from picking Isabelle up from dance class- he was back in the garage- with something stuck in his mouth. Do you know how hard it is to pry something out of a skinny long nosed dog's mouth? I think he was over at a neighbors digging in there trash, must have found some food- I finally got it out, he was going crazy trying to get it out. I think it was some kind of wrapping for a meat package or something. I hope he doesn't get sick tonight. At least he was ok!

The Raw Truth!

You have to go read Katie's blog post! It is on my list under "The Journey"- Read it- hopefully it will change your perspective!

Gotcha for friends!!

Today was our friends, The Tucker's GOTCHA Day! You definetly need to read about it- just got to my sidebar and their blog link is there!! How amazing it must be to hold your children, no matter the age, and know they are yours forever!!! There story is really awesome- you should go and check it out!!!

Circle Hugs

Since we are approaching Valentine's Day I thought I would explain a heartwarming ritual in our family that I love! It just warms my heart thinking about it. My kids will ask for a circle hug, usually at night before going to bed- It looks like this: The four of us, with our heads real close and our arms around each others backs(in a circle) and you start with a hug and then Harrison will kiss my cheek, I will kiss Isabelle's cheek, Isabelle will kiss Craig's cheek and Craig will kiss Harrison's cheek- this goes on around the circle a couple of times until giggling ensues- It is the sweetest thing! I LOVE IT! There is no place I would rather be in the whole world!!!
I also want to brag on the heart of my daughter: Her first grade teacher wrote me an email yesterday, telling me that they had read a story about a girl who was looking for something beautiful in a not so beautiful world. She defined beautiful as something that made her heart happy. Then Mrs. Sing asked the class to write about something that made their hearts happy- My beautiful girl wrote that her baby sister would have a laugh that would make her heart happy! Her teacher said that she talks about Jillian or Ethiopia every day and that her love for her was evident, even though we have never even met her yet! She gets it! I am so proud of her! I do wonder if a 7 year old little girl can "get it", then why can't more adults "get it"- This is affecting more than just a person or two- it spreads- what a blessing! This makes my heart smile! What a Valentine!!!

January Update

Our agency, AWAA, just posted their stats for January. They had 17 REFERRALS!!!! 3 of which were infant girl referrals! That may not mean anything to you- but it means ALOT for us! You see, we are 3rd on the unofficial list- Yes, it is still unofficial which just means there very well may be a family or two or three that we don't know about, that do not take an active part of our agencies yahoo chat group. This is the group that keeps the "unofficial" list that I refer to. Anyway, in the next few months we are "likely" to get our referral! My fellow adoption friends, The Booy's are #1 on the list and The Belotes are #2! We three, keep in touch and are cheering each other on! It's actually helping the time go by, connecting and keeping track of the progress! I am thankful for these families, hoping we will be friends from now on because of bonding through this process! Thanks God for crossing our paths! Things are bound to get pretty interesting this month and next- I can't wait to see what happens! Our daughter, Isabelle was asking last night about Jillian's mom- and why she would have to give her up- My husband took that one and then they prayed for her family in Ethiopia and the decision that they would have to make- I think it really hit my husband as to how hard it would be to give up your flesh and blood- he said he wanted to write a letter to Jillian's Birth Mother- We might actually get to meet her if it were under the right circumstances...... what an opportunity! So many what ifs..... I can't wait to know what OUR cicumstance is-I pray daily that our little girl has The Lord's loving arms wrapped around her, protecting her from hunger, the weather, trauma- She has probably been born and maybe even given up by now- she may be in the orphanage just waiting to be referred to us- only GOD knows for sure! It's such an exciting adventure!!!