Merry Christmas!

I know that it has been awhile since we have updated our blog. Part of the reason is because we have been so extremely busy and partly it is because of the flood of emotions I have been feeling. My longing for our little one seems to grow each day. Sean and I follow a number of blogs and it seems that Christmas is particularly tough for all of the families who are waiting on the little one(s) that God has specifically created for our families. During the revocation period of Ciara's adoption, Sean made the comment that he was glad that he didn't have to go through 9 months of me being pregnant. Needless to say, it might have had something to do with me crying one minute and laughing the next. He hasn't made the same comment again, but I have a feeling that it has crossed his mind, and he has just learned a few lessons in the past three years and is wisely choosing not to say anything. Please do keep us in your prayers as it is constantly on our minds that one member of our family isn't with us this Christmas. On a different note, Ciara has discovered Santa this year. For a few weeks, it seemed like Santa was all Ciara talked about when Christmas was mentioned. Sean and I aren't opposed to Santa, but we definitely want the focus of Christmas to be on the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. So, we have tried to reinforce that Christmas is really about His birth. Last Friday night, I was busy wrapping Christmas presents. Ciara was "helping" me. All of a sudden she asked, "Mama, what are we going to get Jesus for His birthday?"

I was thrilled but a little speechless for a few seconds. We talked about that Jesus has everything that He needs, but that what He would like most is for us to do something for someone else. Our Sunday school class has already “adopted” a family for Christmas, but Ciara hasn’t been a part of that (something I will remember next year). So, we decided to go buy some food for a local Christian food/necessity pantry. Wednesday afternoon, Ciara and I went shopping for Jesus' birthday present. She had the best time picking out the food items that she thought Jesus would like for the people to have. Peanut butter and hot chocolate mix were two of the best items, along with peaches and macaroni and cheese. She kept saying, “Mommy, do you think Jesus would like this?” I’m not sure what other people going down the aisle thought, but I’m thankful that she is getting what Christmas is about. Tonight, Ciara and Sean wrapped up the food/presents, complete with gift tag, "To: Jesus, From: Ciara." We’ll take the food over to the ministry tomorrow. She is so excited. It did me a lot of good too. Even though we have tried to reach out to some other families for Christmas, I haven’t thought about or haven’t gotten excited about picking out a present for Jesus. It’s humbling when our children teach us BIG lessons! Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Celebration Time!

Today is the one month mark since we were officially placed on the waiting list for a referral of a child. I just checked my email and received word that Gladney's in-country representatives have indeed picked up our dossier. We are so thankful to know that it has arrived in Ethiopia!!! We figured that it was already there, but sometimes it takes awhile for the in-country representatives to actually receive it and then get word to the agency. Gladney's in-country representatives will now take our dossier to be translated into Amharic and to be authenticated in Ethiopia. They will then hold our dossier ready to be submitted to the courts once we have received and accepted a referral. Now the real wait begins. This is the first year that I am actually glad that I'm way behind on our Christmas shopping so that I will have plenty to occupy my mind and time (but I'm not 100% sure it will work). Enough blogging--it's time to celebrate!

No News

We haven't heard anything from our agency since October 15, when they told us that we were officially placed on the waiting list. We have been told that the average wait time for a referral is 3-5 months. We know that our dossier has been sent to Ethiopia, but our caseworker has not confirmed that it has arrived or been picked up by Gladney's in-country representatives. We are staying quite busy these days, so we haven't had too much time to get impatient. As the holidays approach, however, it is hard to think about our family not all being together. Waiting truly is much harder than all of the paperwork, but we know that it is all about God's timing.

Past Due Update

Hello all! I've gotten quite behind on keeping our blog updated. At the end of September, AWAA of NC went through the relicensing process with the State. All went well, but I needed some recovery time afterwards. Following that, Ciara had two mosquito bites that turned in to cellulitis in both her lower legs, and we've just been busy. Things are getting back to normal now.

We did receive our I 171 H on September 19, 2007. AWAA of NC's site visit was on September 25, so I did not get a chance to work on anything until October. On Friday, I scanned in all of our dossier documents (a total of 29 documents, 79 pages all together), obtained four money orders (two for the US Department of State and two for the Ethiopian Embassy), and overnighted everything to our agency. Yesterday, we received the response below:

I am sending your dossier by FedEx overnight this evening to the courier in Washington, DC. He will hand carry your dossier for final authentication at the Department of State and Ethiopia Embassy. Your dossier will then be sent to Ethiopia to Gladney’s in-country representatives. They will take your dossier to be translated into Amharic and to be authenticated in Ethiopia. They will then hold your dossier ready to be submitted to the courts once you have received and accepted a referral.

You are now officially placed on waitlist to receive a referral! Currently, families have waited up to three to five months to receive a referral. Please keep in mind that this timeline is subject to change at any time. Congratulations on making it through the tedious dossier process!

I will be in touch with you as soon as a referral is ready for you. I ask for your patience during this time and completely understand that “waiting” is probably the most difficult (yet exciting!) part for most parents.

So, now the real wait does begin. I will try to be better about keeping this blog up-to-date.

Update on Our Wait for USCIS Approval

We received an update from our agency about the status of our I 171 H approval from USCIS. Below is the message that we received from our agency.

"She (USCIS) reported that she is processing applications filed May 9-11, 2007. She reported that your I-600A was filed 5-11-07, so she said that you should be hearing from CIS within the next week or so."

I'm very excited with this news!

Four Months of Waiting and Preschool Begins

Today marked four months since we submitted our I 600 A to USCIS (Immigrations). We had our fingerprints done at the end of July and our home study arrived at USCIS at the beginning of August. After four long months, we still haven't received our I 171 H. This is the only piece of paper that is keeping us from finishing up our dossier and getting our paperwork off to Ethiopia. I can't say that Sean and I are patient, as much as, we've just given up being excited each day as we check the mail thinking that it has arrived. Our 6 year wedding anniversary is Saturday--so we're hoping that maybe we will receive an anniversary gift from USCIS on Saturday. We'll update everyone when and if it arrives.

On another sad note (at least for this Mama), Ciara started Preschool today. She's in Mrs. Angela's 3 year old class and seems to really like her teacher. She was exhausted after I picked her up and took a 3+ hour nap. The picture included is of Ciara getting ready to go to preschool today.

Trainings Completed!

Good news to report! While we still don't have our I 171 H from USCIS, we did finish up our training hours that are required for this adoption this evening. We so far have accumulated a little over 14 hours of training (10 were required), but we do plan on continuing our education as we wait for our little one.

On another note, Ciara sat down on the bed beside me this morning and asked me, "Can we go get my baby sister." Oh, how I wish it were that simple. I explained to her that one day we will receive a call and will find out if it will be a baby brother or a baby sister. She interrupted me with a squeal of excitement (I guess we will be printing out her own set of those pictures when we receive them. I can't imagine all the people in Wal-Mart and other stores that she will tell the good news to and all the questions that will lead to.) I then explained that some people would have to finish up some really important paperwork and then Mommy and Daddy would fly to Ethiopia to get baby brother or sister. All the while, I was thinking that I was going to completely confuse my child's thinking about how children come into this world, that adoption is just paperwork, etc. but I didn't really know how else to explain it. I know that a three year old can't comprehend all of this, but I really wished that her Daddy hadn't already left for work this morning and could have answered this question.

We had our picture taken for the new church directory tonight. Both of us can't wait to have to get our family portrait redone and were busy calculating just when that might be. It will be so exciting to be a family of four and then who knows what! Sean keeps on talking about starting our second phase of parenting when we are in our 50s. On that note, I'll close for tonight. I need to go hit the bike if I'm going to be able to still run around and chase little ones in my 50s.

Just Waiting

I know it has been awhile since we have posted. We are simply just waiting. We are almost done compiling all of the documents for our dossier. Our home study, the agency's license and a few other documents are now finished being authenticated by the Texas Secretary of State. We are still waiting on our I 171 H from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Once we receive that, we will take it, our certified copies of originals of our passports, our limited power of attorney, and our last reference to be authenticated by the NC Secretary of State. After that, we have to scan all of the authenticated documents (and make a copy for us) and send everything to Gladney. Then, our dossier will be sent to the US State Department for authentication before finally being sent to Ethiopia. Our wait for a referral officially begins when we receive our Gladney approval (we've already received this), our USCIS approval (the I 171 H) and have submitted our dossier to Gladney.

Sean and I taught two Transracial Parenting classes this past weekend for the NC Division of Social Services Post Adoption Conference in Greensboro, NC. While there, we ran into a family that I had worked with while I was the Director of New Life Christian Adoptions. I got to see there children (one of whom was adopted through New Life). He had just turned a year old in July and is as cute as a button. He let me hold him and gave the best hugs. I was doing pretty good with this waiting until then--holding a little one again felt so good. Ciara is going through her independent phase now, so cuddle time is usually only allowed by her at bedtime and in the morning or if she gets hurt.

Fingerprinting, Home Study Completed, Gladney Approval and Passports Received

We just returned from vacation yesterday afternoon. It was wonderful to have time together and a break from our regular jobs and this paper pregnancy. Our vacation was filled with many firsts...Ciara's first time playing putt-putt, her first time flying a kite, her first time fishing (she caught two, Sean caught three, and I caught none), and her first time eating the fish that she caught (she said they tickled her tummy). The picture above is of one of the fish Ciara caught (with Daddy's help, as she dropped the pole when she saw a fish was on it) and of Ciara and Daddy at Tweetsie.

We went on the 28th for our fingerprints. We left Garden City, SC around 7:15am and traveled to Charlotte. Our appointment wasn't until 2:30, so when we arrived around noon, we decided to go ahead and get a bite to eat. Around 1:00, we decided to head over to the Application Support Center and just see if they could go ahead and fingerprint us. We were in and out in about 15 minutes for both of us. To our knowledge, they were able to get clear fingerprints on both of us. We then traveled on to the NC mountains where we continued celebrating Ciara's birthday (it began at the beach with Sean's side of the family and continued in the mountains with my side of the family).

After grabbing a bite for supper yesterday, we hurried home to check the mail. Sure enough, both Sean and I received our passports (they are still processing Ciara's). We also received our official letter of approval from Gladney and two copies of our home study (both dated on July 31--Ciara's birthday). We will work on completing our Power of Attorney (we needed our passport numbers first) and notarized copies of an original of our passports this week, as well as getting our home study sent to the Texas Secretary of State for Authentication. We also received my employment letter and our "Statement of Accounts in Good Standing" from our bank back from the Virginia Secretary of State without any issues. The only item remaining that we need to receive before we can finish our dossier is our I 171 H from USCIS. I must say that it feels like we need to celebrate a little more with all of these documents coming in.

Fingerprinting Appointment Times and Other News

Today we got the long awaited actual fingerprint notices. We are to appear at the fingerprinting office in Charlotte at 2:30pm on July 28th. The notice stated that we could expect our USCIS approval (I 171 H) by late August or September, which is much sooner than either of us expected based on recent info. The USCIS website currently states that they are processing I 600 A applications dated March 26, 2007 (ours was dated May 11, 2007). We are very excited.

Today I took the first round of our dossier paperwork (our FBI clearance packets, our letter to the Ethiopian government, two letters of recommendation, our physicals, letters from our physicians, our dossier financial form, Sean's employment letter, a letter confirming our health and life insurance, our birth certificates, and our marriage certificate) to the NC Secretary of State to be authenticated. I am supposed to be able to pick it up tomorrow after 11 am. I also mailed off my employment letter and our "precious" bank letter (5 rounds before we got it approved) to the Virginia Secretary of State. We anticipate that our home study will be completed soon. We have completed all of the paperwork that we can at this point and will just have to wait for our home study, passports, and I 171 H to complete our dossier. After that, we send everything to our agency, it then goes to the US State Department, and then it is off to Ethiopia. Then, the real wait begins.

Fingerprinting Appointments :)

Great news! We finally have fingerprinting appointments. We have been excitedly checking the mail for about a week and a half now with nothing from USCIS. Today, I finally decided to email the public email account, since I have known a family who had their notice from USCIS lost in the mail, only to arrive right after they left for vacation. The family missed their appointments and had to have them rescheduled. I was careful to explain that we were not asking for any special consideration, but that we just wanted to be sure that we were not going to miss appointments while on vacation. The USCIS representative emailed me back quickly and told me. "We have far more applications than we have available fingerprinting appointments.However, today you both were scheduled for fingerprinting on Sat., July 28th at the Application Support Center in Charlotte. Those appointment notices are going out in today's regular outgoing mail. Kindly watch your mail for these important appointments." I was so happy. The date could not be more perfect. We will be leaving the beach early on the 28th to go to the NC mountains, so we will be traveling right through Charlotte. It will perfect timing, and Sean will not have to take any additional vacation time off later for the appointments. God worked this one out beautifully. I am thankful that I emailed the USCIS Charlotte office. We are hoping that everything arrives by Friday, so that we will have all of the necessary paperwork and can leave early on Saturday as planned.

Slowly, but surely!

Well, I do have some exciting news to report. I emailed our home study social worker on Tuesday to make sure that she had everything she needed from us. With all that is going on, I wanted to make sure that I wasn't overlooking anything. She emailed me today and said that she is finished writing the report and has sent it to the main office for review. She said that she would notify me when she received an "OK" from Gladney. So, it isn't officially finalized, but it hopefully should not be too much longer before it is finished. Once it has been finalized, Gladney will send it to USCIS. Once we receive our fingerprinting appointments and are fingerprinted, USCIS will review our home study and fingerprints and will then issue us a highly valuable piece of paper called an I 171 H, which approves us to enter this country with a child from Ethiopia between a certain age range. We must receive our I 171 H before we can submit our dossier to the US State Department and then to Ethiopia.

The other valuable documents that we are waiting on is our passports. We heard this morning on the news that the State Department is sending a number of people to New Hampshire and New Orleans to try to catch them up on the backlog of passport requests. All that I can tell from their website is that ours is being processed. We must receive our passports in order to complete our Power of Attorney for the representative in Ethiopia who will go to court on our behalf to finalize the adoption before we travel to Ethiopia.


I received our new bank letter on Saturday. I wanted to cry. In my excitement over the fact that it appeared it would be rather quick and easy to obtain a new letter which was notarized, I neglected to tell the bank that the notary's commission must be valid for at least one year from the date the document is notarized. This is important to carry us through the documents being authenticated at the Secretary of State and then the US State Department. So, on Tuesday I called Wachovia and actually reached the woman who notarized our new (second) letter. I explained everything to her, and she said that they would work on issuing us a new one. Due to the holiday, it will probably be Saturday or Monday before we receive it. I'm just so thankful that they have been so pleasant to work with. On Saturday, we also received the second of three letters of recommendation for Sean and I that must be submitted to the Ethiopian government.


I'm staying pretty calm during this whole journey, but I am getting a little more emotional about our child being half way across the world. I think it is really starting to hit me for two reasons. One, every baby toy, food, swing, seat, etc. that Ciara sees she is interested in for her "baby sister." Two, Sean and I realize that our child really could have already been born and is waiting for us. Sean and I both are relishing this time alone with Ciara. In 2 1/2 weeks, we leave for a week at the beach, followed by a long weekend in the mountains. We are so thankful that we will have some free time with Ciara on probably our last vacation before our new addition joins our family. At the same time, my heart is longing to get to know this child God has created for us and to get to see him/her. Please lift this little child up in your prayers. Please also pray that if it is possible that we will get to meet our child's birth parents and/or family. Our agency has never worked anything like this out, but that is because they have never had anyone request it. Gladney apparently has a number of birth parents who actually relinquish their rights to their child to the agency, similar to a domestic adoption here in the US. It is our deep desire that they will encounter a birth mother/father who will have a desire to meet the adoptive family and that this experience will work out. It would be so very special for our child to know something about his/her birth family, what they looked like, etc.

A Craving for Ethiopian Food

Tonight we went out to celebrate finishing up with our homestudy interviews/visit. I will admit that I am the last person that I ever thought would have a craving for Ethiopian food, but I kept thinking about a lentil sambusa all day (and no, I've already told Sean I'm not pregnant, or at least to my knowledge I'm not). We went back to the Ethiopian restaurant in Raleigh and really enjoyed the food. I've taken quite a liking to Ethiopian food. Ciara really liked the katagna (slightly fried injera, buttered and spiced with berbere) and wanted more after it was all gone. We tried doro wat tonight along with the two lamb wats that we had before. The doro (chicken) wat was super spicy, and Sean loved it. It came with two hard boiled eggs in the middle of it (neither one of us could eat them). There was also a type of Ethiopian cheese on the side. It kind of reminded me of tofu. The owners always take an interest in Ciara, and we hope that we will learn a little more about the Ethiopian culture each time we go. By the way, I'm getting close to mastering tearing off the injera, scooping up the wat, and feeding myself all with my right hand and without touching my mouth. Sean has a way to go :).

We continue to work on our paperwork. Sean's supposed to be writing his letter of repentance for those traffic tickets but is still trying to think of what to say (let's face it, most of us have had one or two). My big task today was to try to work on getting our bank (Wachovia) to issue us a new letter of good standing for all of our accounts. They had already issued us one but it was not notarized. I had read online how this can be an awful ordeal and our representative at Gladney also warned us that many families often run into snags with this bit of paperwork. Thankfully, one of the sweet tellers at the Clayton branch made one phone call to the person who issued the letter initially. They said that they would get it done and notarized today, and we should have it in a few days. I was so thankful and can only say that Wachovia has been super to deal with regarding this letter.

There isn't much else to report except that somehow Ciara thinks her baby sister is in her belly and is going to come out of her belly button. We haven't talked with her at all about where baby's come from, but we do have a dear friend who is due at the end of July. Ciara knows that there is a baby growing in Mrs. Lisa's belly and then jumped to the conclusion that her baby sister is in her belly (yes, it continues to be a sister and now she just thanks Jesus for her baby sister, instead of asking for one) . I've just told her that her baby sister/brother is not in her belly but is in Ethiopia. If any of you have any other words of wisdom--please share them. This is new territory (I was thinking we still had two years or so).

Home Study Interviews/Visit Completed!

Good news! We were able to finish up with all of our interviews and home inspection yesterday with our Social Worker, Connie, from Gladney. We are so excited that we are continuing to move forward and make progress on getting our little one from Ethiopia. We are hoping to get most of our documents for our dossier completed in the next two weeks, which will leave us waiting for our home study to be completed, to receive fingerprinting appointments, to receive our I 171 H from USCIS, and to receive our passports. We are hoping to be able to submit our dossier sometime in September, but we continue to realize that the most important thing is that everything happen in God's timing. We will continue to keep you all posted.

Update

This has been a fun and busy week. Ciara's cousins, Caitlin and Collin came back with us Sunday afternoon and spent all week with us. The week culminated with all five cousins, Ciara, Caitlin, Collin, Andrew, and William playing together yesterday afternoon before Melanie traveled with Caitlin, Collin, Andrew, and William to Concord to visit family for the weekend. We had a blast bowling, playing in the pool, watching movies, going to the park, and just playing around. Going from one child to three was fun and a challenge (coordinating medicines, baths, meals, etc.), but it has increased my excitement to fill our home with with more children and for Ciara to be able to enjoy (and I know there will also be lots of arguments) a sibling.

William is about 14 months old and last fall, Ciara screamed every time I would try to hold him. It had been a while since we had seen them, and I was anxious to see how she would react. To my surprise, she was very attentive to his needs and didn't cry at all when I held him (although he did--he's quite attached to his mama). The funniest thing (and the grossest) was that Ciara saw his baby food and formula. She asked me if her baby sister would drink and eat that stuff (she continues to state that it will be a baby sister and we continue to remind her that she needs to talk to Jesus and that the most important thing is that we receive the child (boy or girl) that He has planned for us) . I told her that her baby brother or sister would probably drink/eat that stuff, and she wanted to try some of the milk after William had his bottle. Melanie was generous with the "liquid gold" (aka-formula) and let Ciara try some. She drank a number of swallows before she decided that she didn't want anymore. It made Melanie quite nauseous. It was also quite amazing that when William cried, Ciara ran to get her stuffed "Brandi" (a dog) to bring to him to try to cheer him up. When they left, she told me, "He's a good baby boy." Yesterday evening she couldn't stop talking about William. I asked her if she still wanted a baby brother or sister. She said, "a sister" and then asked "Does Jesus have me one?" I reminded her again that she just needed to spend some time talking to Jesus, and so she said (while sitting on her tricycle), "Dear Jesus, Ciara want a baby sister."

We did make a little progress on the adoption journey this week. Our social worker is scheduled to come out on Monday, June 25th to finish things up for our home study. Sean was able to obtain his employer's letter, and we received approval of it. We're still waiting on fingerprinting appointments from USCIS and hoping that they aren't scheduled for our beach/mountain vacations, but it will be worth it if we have to travel a day to Charlotte and back to get them done.

And, one last huge surprise, I'm actually ready to go back to the Ethiopian restaurant and craving the food/experience a little. We couldn't convince the twins to try it with us.

Fine Dining

Last night was so much fun. I was really scared about how spicy the food would be and took a preventative dose of Pepto on the way. The restaurant actually had the traditional "basket" tables, but we chose a regular American table since we had to get used to just using our hands (in Ethiopia, you can only use your right hand and you have no plates or utensils). It was tough to master tearing off a piece of injera (a spongy pancake looking sort of sour bread) and then scooping up some of the wat (a thick stew). We tried a number of things: beef sambusa and lentil sambusa (a thin pastry filled with beef or lentils cooked with green peppers, onions, and herbs; dabo colo (wheat nuts); katangna (fried injera, buttered and sprinkled with berbere (red pepper); and three types of wat (thick stew): kay wat (prime beef cubes simmered in berbere sauce seasoned with exotic spices), Yebg wat (pieces of lamb slowly simmered in spicy berbere sauce, garlic, onion, and butter), and Yebeg Alicha (tender pieces of lamb braised very slowly in turmeric sauce with touch of ginger, garlic and green pepper). I was very pleasantly surprised. My favorite thing was the lentil sambusa and the non-spicy lamb wat (I will have to clarify next time which one is the least spiciest). The Kay wat wasn't too spicy, but the other lamb wat set my mouth on fire, although everyone else thought I was nuts. We are both excited to go back and try some more of the foods.

Good News!

Oh, I'm so excited. I just received word from our Ethiopia Program Coordinator that we received a "passing" score on our medical examinations, physician's letters (both of which took 4 trips to our doctor), our birth certificates, marriage certificates, one of our reference letters to the Ethiopian government, and my employment letter. We still have a number of documents to complete before our dossier is finished, but it is nice to have this set of paperwork completed. After all of our dossier documents are reviewed, I will have to get them authenticated at the NC Secretary of State, prior to sending them to our agency and then the US Department of State. It is great timing, as we are going with two of our friends tonight to a local Ethiopian restaurant in Raleigh (for the first time). Now, we can make it a time for celebration as well. I'll be sure to share with you details about our dining experiences.

By the way, I have enabled it where you can add comments. Blogging is new to me, so I didn't know about this setting. Feel free to share your comments or questions. As always, please continue to keep us in your prayers!

We're making progress!

Today, we feel like the ball is finally rolling. Late yesterday evening, we received an email stating that our social worker should contact us soon to set up our interviews for the homestudy. We were very excited to receive this news. They said that the process normally takes 8 to 10 weeks (counting from yesterday's date). Today, on my 4th trip to our doctor's office, I believe we have all of our physical forms completed and notarized properly, along with our letters from our doctor. I'm going to scan a bunch of our dossier documents (employer letter, birth certificates, marriage certificate, physical exams, letters from our doctor, and one of our reference letters) and send them to our coordinator for approval. I'm praying that we get an all clear on these documents and can start on the next "chunk" of paperwork.

Sean received notice yesterday that he has to write a letter of repentance for his two speeding tickets that showed up on his county criminal background check (one was 10 years ago). In his letter, he has to show deep remorse, state why he was speeding, and explain what he has learned from these encounters and that how is has not, nor will not, happen again. My one speeding ticket and a few more for Sean didn't show up on the county check. We're thinking we may wait for our FBI clearances to come back and then see what all we need to write about. I'm sure my mom is beaming with the knowledge that I have to write a letter of repentance (I still hear about that ticket occasionally). You all never knew that we were such criminals, did you???

This whole experience is really humbling me. I have felt like I can relate pretty well to all that my families are going through, since we have adopted before. Sean and I have total peace about God's timing and are okay whenever we receive our child, but all of this going back and forth for this paperwork is a test in patience. I guess I need to hurry up and learn my lesson!

Potty Issues

Well, we had a terrific Memorial Day weekend. We had some special family time together and Sean was able to get a lot done on his shop. Monday afternoon we spent shopping (trying to finish decorating prior to the arrival of our second child). We continue to pray about whether or not to take Ciara with us. My reaction to one of the vaccinations concerns us a little, but then I am allergic to about everything, so it isn't a big surprise either. The biggest thing that hit us in the face on Monday, however was the time spent in an enclosed area (the van, which is so roomy compared to an airplane) with a 33 month old and potty issues. I honestly think that God gave Ciara an extra burst of energy to give us a glimpse of what a 22-33 hour (or more depending on layovers) plane ride would be like. I've never, ever, ever heard Ciara talk so much. It was constant questions, comments, and imaginary disasters to avoid with imaginary people (and we were only gone about 7 hours). On top of the constant talking, singing, and questions, there were the potty issues. We stopped somewhere along the way to get a drink, and Ciara downed hers. Well, of course, nature took its course and before long, she told us she had to go potty. Sean took her to the bathroom the first time and she immediately changed her mind and said she would wait until she got home. A little while later, almost in tears and a jog, she told me she had to go. She didn't want to sit on the toilet, but I made her, as we had no change of clothes and she was crying to go to the bathroom, I figured she couldn't possibly hold it any longer. She sat there and refused to go. We then hit Target and she went to her Daddy again, begging to go to the bathroom. Seeing as Sean can move much quicker than I can, he took off jogging with her to the bathrooms (all three so far have been remarkably clean). I can only imagine what people thought. They made it in the bathroom and then she refused again. We then went to eat, our final stop on this journey. While I was getting my food, she managed to get Sean to take her again--this time she refused and Sean said he wouldn't have let her use that one. So then Ciara and I are sitting at the table and Sean is getting his food. She starts squirming all in her chair and starts begging me to take her. Both Sean and I had about had our limit thus far and so I calmly told her that if we entered that bathroom, we were not coming out until she went to potty. Then I went jogging through the Chinese restaurant and plopped her down on that seat so quick she didn't have time to react. She finally went. When we got back to the table, she loudly told the whole restaurant "I did it." Now, you may ask what all of this has to do with thinking about taking Ciara to Ethiopia. Well, we've been informed that 1) carry your own toilet paper. It is not provided and it costs a lot for a few squares, 2) use the bathroom at your hotel before you go anywhere and 3) public restrooms outside of the capital often consists of little more than a trough. Sean and I just laughed and laughed a what Ciara would have to say about such a toilet.

Questions Answered

Yesterday we received our notice that USCIS had received our I 600 A (the petition you must file with immigrations to begin the process to gain approval to adopt an orphan from another country). It will still be awhile before we receive notice about our fingerprinting appointments from USCIS (we have to travel to Charlotte for those). We are hoping for appointments some time in July. Our progress has been slow this week, but we are remaining steady. We were able to get our criminal background checks for our homestudy, Sean got his physical exam (I had mine back in April), and we both received our statements from our doctor regarding our overall health (which has to be redone because the notary's commission expires in August). I had a reaction to one of the two vaccinations I received, which thankfully was only a local reaction (although my arm has hurt all week). I'm hoping the rest of my vaccinations go smoothly.

Ciara continues to pray for her brother and sister, although we have just requested one. She is remaining firm that she is getting a sister, but we repeatedly explain to her that it is about who God has planned for us as a family. Which brings me to answering the many questions we have received--do you know if it will be a boy or a girl, when do you think you will get them, do you have to travel, and why on earth Ethiopia? First of all, Sean and I spent a lot of time discussing and praying about whether to specify a boy or a girl. In the end, we are standing by faith that God is sovereign and completely in control, and we would much rather He decide how to build our family than the two of us. Statistically speaking, there are more boys available for adoption, but there have been a number of prayers offered up for a little sister, so we will all have to wait and see who God is/has created for our family. I'll answer the next two questions together. No, we don't have to travel to Ethiopia, but we want to. Ethiopia is one of the countries that allows families to have the child escorted back to the US. However, we both feel strongly that we need to have some time to experience our child's birth country, their customs and culture, their people, to see the orphanage where our child stayed, etc. We know in the long run that all of this will be important for those questions that our child will have later in life. Our agency has never had (according to the person that we talked with) a family request to meet any of the birth family, but we are hoping and praying that this will be a possibility for us. We realize all to clearly that with extreme poverty and disease, we may only have one opportunity to meet our child's birth family and to gain some valuable information for him/her. As far as when we may travel, Ethiopian adoptions can take anywhere from 6-8 months. We submitted all of our initial paperwork on May 10, 2007, so we are hoping to travel somewhere around the end of this year or the beginning of 2008. Generally, it takes about 3-4 months to complete your homestudy, dossier, get your passports, etc. After that, it is about 1-2 months until you get a referral, then you accept or reject the referral, a court date is set, and you typically travel about 2-4 weeks after your court date. Of course, with international adoptions, there are all sorts of events that can take place to slow down or halt the process. Lastly, given that our first adoption was a domestic adoption, many people have asked why Ethiopia? I don't think that either one of us can state 100% why, but it is more like we can't say no. We both feel that in the US, an agency will be able to find a family for an infant regardless of race or other conditions. We simply aren't ready to do foster care due to Ciara's age and that reunification with the birth family is the goal of foster care (at least in NC). For the past year, we have kept checking into adoptions from Ethiopia. The more we have learned, the more our hearts have been drawn to the children of this country. For us, the reality that adoption for many of them may be the difference between life and death really hit us hard. We realize that with 4-5 million orphans (some sites state more), one child won't make much of a difference, but it certainly will for that child and so our journey began.

One Day at a Time

This has been some week and it is only Tuesday. I took Ciara to the doctor yesterday for her asthma. The doctor said that in addition to her wheezing, she also has the croup, so she has been pretty uncomfortable. I praise God for giving me a job where I have so much flexibility and can be at home with her for all of her treatments and special cuddle time. We are slowly continuing to make progress on our paperwork. Yesterday we were able to mail off a chunk of paperwork to our agency (for the homestudy) and our FBI fingerprint cards to the FBI (part of the dossier) and that was about it for any progress on this adoption. I thought that I was going to be able to start getting some of our dossier documents authenticated with the Secretary of State, but we received an email late last night stating that both of our letters need to be redone.

I've shared with many of you that I don't know of anything that has grown me in my faith like Ciara's adoption. I'm so thankful for these opportunities where God uses everyday events to draw us nearer to Him. I don't know how we (or anyone) could go through this process without God, because quite honestly, it gets a bit overwhelming and frustrating to keep having to back track and redo documents. This experience is definitely humbling me in that I'm getting a real dose of what all the families I work with have to go through (for those of you who don't know what I do, I am the Director of Social Services for AWAA of NC, a Christian international adoption agency). Last night, I was driving home with Ciara, and I was talking with her about all the things in the world that God has made for us to enjoy. We talked about the trees, the birds, family and friends that He has given us, and the sunset. She then asked me if God painted the sunset. I told her that it is kind of like He does and that He creates one for us to look at everyday. Thinking back on our conversation last night, I can't help but think of Psalm 139 and how God is or has created a child specifically for our family, that He has/will know that child in his/her mother's womb, and that He knows all of his/her days before they come to be. From the sunsets He gives us to the unique masterpieces He creates when He creates each of us, He truly is an amazing Creator!

This morning, Sean and I were able to get our bloodwork completed for the adoption and our TB skin tests (Mom stayed home and loved on Ciara). We also got started on our vaccinations, receiving our Hepatitis A (we both already have had the Hep B vaccines) and the Meningococcal (menigitis) vaccine (about $100/person that the insurance doesn't cover, so it had better work!). Since we will be staying in Addis Ababa, the capital city, we (and our doctor) feel pretty safe that we shouldn't have to worry about rabies. Because of Sean's work, he has already been vaccinated, so I have warned him that he will have to be the one to deal with any rabid animals on this adventure. Because of the strict documentation that is required for the yellow fever vaccine, we're going to have to call around to try to find a clinic that has it . We'll get our typhoid vaccine and start taking antimalarial meds after we get a court date (which is months down the road).

Psalm 139: 1-16

1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, ^[a] you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

The Paper Pregnancy

Well, we are busy at work on what is called our paper pregnancy this afternoon. We are getting ready to submit a big chunk of paperwork for our homestudy and a number of documents to be reviewed for our dossier. We are both anxious to get this paperwork done before summer vacation time hits. I gave Sean his birthday presents early (an Ethiopian travel guide, an autobiography of an Ethiopian refugee who grew up in America and graduated from Harvard, an Amharic phrasebook, and some history book about the political system of Ethiopia over the past 100 years). First of all, I don't think we will get any of those phrases down and be able to pronounce them correctly with our Southern accents, but we are going to try. The guidebook has been very humorous. We've learned a lot about the culture and customs (i.e., you are only supposed to eat with your right hand, as in the Muslim culture, the left hand is used for personal hygiene only, at meals, it is customary for your server to feed you the first bite, and that there is an Ethiopian delicacy called kitfo (raw ground beef, minimally heated, not cooked, and covered with seasoned butter) which we do not plan on trying. We will be responsible for arranging our own travel plans and lodging. We've discovered that you can, if you dare, survive on $10 US per day, including meals and lodging. Sean has tremendously enjoyed telling me about the various places we can stay. I'm holding out for the Hilton. The Sheraton (which has a villa that costs $8,000/night) is renowned as the best hotel in all of Africa, but it is out of our price range. We do hope to see what all the hype is about though. Please continue to keep us in your prayers!

God at work.

It never ceases to amaze me how God puts people in our paths. I was conducting a home visit today for a family adopting from China. In the course of my interviewing them, they asked about taking there three kids with them to China. I talked with them about the pros and cons and what other families had shared. In the end, I told them that they needed to pray about it and make the decision that was right for there family. I shared with them that this was something that Sean and I are praying about and that we are adopting from Ethiopia. They just smiled and said, "We've actually been to Ethiopia." My jaw dropped. They told me a little about the food (I think a trip to Ethiopia will be a great diet plan for me), traveling, the people and the culture. In the end, they said that they wouldn't have any hesitations about taking a 3 year old with them to Addis Ababa (where we would be staying). Now, if we were trekking across in the bush, that would be a different story, but you all know that this is a big enough adventure for our family without the bush experience. This family was very open to us talking with them more as we gather questions. We're just praising God for putting this family in our paths.

Passport photos or mug shots?

Well, we got most of the things accomplished today that we wanted to. We were able to get all three of our passports ordered. I took a few practice photos of Ciara before we headed to the Post Office for our appointment and explained to her what we needed the photos for. She is going through a phase where she is camera shy. When we got there, she wasn't about to let them take her picture, but I reminded her that we had to have them made in order to be able to adopt her brother or sister from Ethiopia. She agreed to sit on the stool, but she would not smile for the camera and so her picture looks a great deal like a mugshot of a child who got caught stealing candy. Of course, as a mom, you never really think about all the ways a child can interpret your comments, so after getting our pictures made, Ciara thought that we were getting her baby sister today at the post office. That would be so much quicker and less tiring! I am thoroughly excited about my passport photo--I love that camera. Somehow I have a great tan, which if you know me is an impossible feat. (For those who are wondering, we are praying about whether to take Ciara to Ethiopia with us, but we decided to go ahead and get her passport since they take about 12 weeks to process now.)

Getting started with the lady doing our passports was quite amusing. First, she asked us where Ciara's biological parents were. We just smiled and said that we were her parents and then after a brief pause, we explained that Ciara was adopted. I quickly explained that I had all the documentation that she would need, and she seemed quite relieved. After explaining that we needed the passports for an adoption from Ethiopia, she then paused and said, "I just have to ask. How will you know that they are her siblings?" Sean just said, "Oh, we know they won't be." She seemed a little confused, but we'll let her figure it out in time. As she got to talking with us and seeing us interact as a family, she really warmed up and hopefully began to see the rich blessings that God gives families through adoption.

After the passport appointments, we headed to the Courthouse to obtain criminal record checks and our fingerprints for the FBI clearance. The computer system was down for the criminal record checks, but we were able to be fingerprinted. We had to actually go down to the county jail with inmates walking alongside of us. Children were not allowed, so I went in first and then we traded off. It took quite a while, but part of it was that I got to talking to the lady who fingerprinted me. She asked about Ciara's race and then proceeded to tell me that she is Puertorican, African American, and Caucasian and was adopted. Well, being an adoptive parent and a social worker, I had lots of questions and the two of us had a nice talk. When she walked me out and I took Ciara, Sean rolled his eyes at me (meaning he knew that I had been chatting). However, when he came out (which was a good while later), he said he felt like they had known each other their whole lives. It is amazing how adoption opens up conversations and experiences with people that you ordinary wouldn't have such conversations. The highlight of this adventure for Ciara was seeing a policeman drive through the security door with a "bad guy."

The Journey has begun!

Well, the journey to bring home our child from Ethiopia has begun. On May 10th, we sent off our I 600 A to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and received our application for our International Agency. Our I 600 A was received in Charlotte on May 11 and now the long wait to receive fingerprinting appointments begins. In the meantine, we are busy getting all of our paperwork together to have our homestudy completed and to compile our dossier (the big set of documents that proves we are who we say we are, that we are fit to be parents, etc.). Tomorrow we are scheduled to apply for our passports, to get our criminal record checks, and to be fingerprinted for a FBI check (so they can ask us about those speeding tickets). We hope that you will follow us in our journey. Please keep us in your prayers, along with our child that we haven't yet seen, but whom we already love.