So much to be thankful for.... and a small pity party too!

OK- let's start with the pity party and get that part over with. Yeah, we're still waiting. I really can't complain. It's only been 2 months.... and 4 days. :) But, I think that I let myself get caught up into thinking that our referral would come super fast since it seemed like we were the only family requesting a 4 year old boy. Plus, so many people thought the same thing, that I was just sure we'd have our referral by Christmas. So, I guess I'm just a little bummed today.

But..... my house is full of love and joy. I surely can not, and should not be complaining!!! We had a wonderful Christmas and we just got home from a little get away with my parents. (to the not as snowy as we had hoped for, Leavenworth, WA) Jake did get on downhill skis for the first time and loved it.... and Grace had fun snowshoeing for the first time. I will, however, admit that I made Mike pack the laptop.... just in case!!!

This little video cracks me up! Grace will fully entertain herself... and others watching.... if you just stick her in front of her own reflection! Seriously, this girl starts belting out songs whenever she looks in the mirror, reflection from the stove, window, whatever!!! I think we need to put a mirror in her room!!! (at the end of the video-- Mike had snuck outside and hit the window that Grace was singing to... and scared her!!)



And a few pics from the holidays!! :)

cute girls... and sweet friends!

Feeling blessed by wonderful friendships.....

Making fun Christmas treats! (and Jake thinks the big sisters are pretty fun too!!)

There are days....

that I'm in total awe of the sheer volume of my 2 year old's hair!!!!! (and what on earth is she doing having opinions about how I style it?!?!?! She had to have "only clips today, momma"!) But it goes right along with her new found STRONG opinions about the fancy dresses she has to wear every day!! (that's last year's Christmas dress with a turtle neck crammed under it) I'm learning to pick my battles!!!! :)

I could stare at the sweetness of this photo all day long!

Just a cool shot!

counting...

Yep!! One month of waiting under our belt. Not a long time, but since it should only be 4 months of waiting or less, one month down feels pretty good!!!



And, I know a couple of sweet kiddos who are excited to meet their brother. Jake will go with us when we travel so he's pretty excited and Grace talks about her brother in "Opia"!!

Top of the list..... again?

For Grace's adoption, we got on the waitlist on April 7, 2007. Our agency had just recently opened their Ethiopia program, so there really wasn't a waitlist. It seemed like we were the 1st family to request an infant girl. Well, with that news, I "assumed" the call would come any day. 10 weeks later, our wonderful call did come! But, with no one ahead of us on the list, it was a very anxious 10 weeks. Now, fast forward about 2.5 years. We're back on the waitlist, and again it seems like we're starting the wait at the top of "the list"-- this time for a 4 year old boy!! There isn't anyone ahead of us to "stalk" and see how quickly they're moving up the list. So, again... I find myself "assuming" the call is going to come any day. But, this time my mind tells me that it can easily be a 10 week..... or longer wait, but currently, my heart isn't listening to my mind. I need to get a grip! :)

**and please, in no way, take this post as complaining!! I'm thrilled to be "maybe" at the top of the list! I just think the similarities between both adoption processes is funny. Somehow I just thought it would be easier to wait the second time around. HA!!

A few photos of "life" lately.

playdough and coloring. Coloring has taken over life lately. Both kids color all. day. long!!!!!

For a brief moment, I thought Jake was playing with Grace's dollhouse. A few minutes later I notice that his army men had invaded and taken over the dollhouse!

This girl. She would play outside, by herself, all the time if she had her way. She doesn't care if it's cold or raining. She just wants outside. :)

Adoption Theme Song!

Came across this song today: "While I'm Waiting" Speaks to my heart. I have a feeling I'll be listening to it a lot!

Worship

The worship band from our church is releasing their first CD this month. Take a listen to one of the songs. It's GOOD. You just might want to get yourself a copy of the CD. :)

WAITLIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep! We got the word today that we are officially on the waitlist! Gladney doesn't give out "numbers", but we are told that the wait for a child age 13 months and older is up to 4 months!

Here's hoping it's 4 months.... or LESS!!!!!!!

God's Country

We went hiking yesterday, and as I sit here looking at these pictures, I'm still in awe of God's beauty! I can only imagine how many worship songs have been written while sitting atop a mountain. How can you not want to praise Jesus and thank Him for all He has done after spending time surrounded by His handiwork!

I'm just saying....

this little ray of sunshine brightens everyone's days!!!!

Moving Right Along......

We are officially "Gladney Approved"!!!! We had our USCIS prints done on Monday, our dossier is done, so as soon as we get our FDL we authenticate our dossier and then we are officially "waiting"!!!! I'm hoping this happens by mid-October. Yeah. Progress feels good.

Best Hair Blog ever!!! (and other stuff...)

The other day I came across this site: Happy Hair Girl It's amazing! It's an adoptive mom of twin Ethiopian 5 year old girls. She shows hair styles, hair products, how-tos, etc.!!! It's the most comprehensive site I've seen! Grace has incredibly long and thick hair and I'm really needing to keep a "do" in her hair. I LOVE her hair down-- her curls are gorgeous, but keeping it down, or even in a couple of puffs, does tangle and dry out her hair. So, I've been trying to alternate down/semi down styles with cornrows, braids, etc. where I can slather her hair in some conditioner and then bind it up to hold in all that moisture!

Though the styles take some time, I love doing Grace's hair. I usually do it in the evening, after a bath and pajamas. We sit down and watch a show, or cheesy sing a long video that she currently loves, and we sit together. While I do her hair, we talk together, sing, and laugh at the shows. It's a good 30-40 minutes of uninterrupted time we get together. We do this a couple of times a week. It's t.v. time now, but as she gets older, I'm looking forward to time together to talk.

Tonight I tried something new: cornrows and Zulu knots! I've always wanted to try Zulu knots, but Grace's hair is so long that they just got too big. But, I braided her hair first, and then binded her hair at the nape, and then I did the Zulu knot with the binded hair. It's a bit wonky, but for my first time, I think it's still pretty cute on her. :)




And..... my little man started Kindergarten last week!!!! The best part is-- he's LOVING it! That's music to this momma's ears!
And..... my FBI prints FINALLY arrived!!!!! The crazy thing is, they never were "lost in the mail" like they said. They had them the entire time!!!! Today, a "reissued" letter arrived FedEx, along with my original cards that were date stamped Aug. 5th!!!!! Thank you FBI!! But, God knows when our little guy will be ready, and obviously He needed us to slow down a bit in the process so our family and little guy will be ready at the same time! :)

On to USCIS on Monday! :)

Next Step!

The FBI called me this morning. They are reissuing me a new letter (they JUST changed their procedure and now they don't send your cards back, just a letter) Good news for me since my cards "got lost in the mail"! At least they're using FedEx.

We're doing USCIS prints next week...... and then we're DONE with paperwork!!!!!!!

Still here.... and still waiting!

Ughhh is all I have to say!! We're in a hold-up with my FBI fingerprints! Everything else is done. Mike's fingerprints cleared on July 16th!! We'd be on the waitlist by now if my prints had cleared then too! But, my prints didn't clear (after a re-do because my first set of prints weren't clear enough?!?!) till Aug. 25th. The kicker is.... I still don't have the cards!! The FBI didn't use the nice FedEx return envelope I sent them, and instead they just stuck them in the regular mail... and I still don't have them!!

So...... as you can tell..... this is a very lame, complaining post. Sorry about that. But, in the grand scheme of things, this is minor, and obviously our little guy just isn't quite ready for us. :)

But, on a lighter note... life is about to change!! My Jacob starts Kindergarten in 2 days!!! And... I've decided to start a little in-home preschool two days a week with Grace and 3 other sweet 3 year old girls!! Fun, and BUSY times ahead!!

An ode to the end of summer...... just got home from a few days at the cabin.

Jake "wishing" he was reeling in a big one!

Both Jake and Mike enjoyed several fishing outings this summer. I think they're both hooked. (hmmm.... no pun intended!!)

One day it was sunny and warm.... the next was a torrential downpour!! But, Grace thoroughly enjoyed every mud puddle! I even saw her bending down, scooping up muddy water and rubbing it all over her face and hair!!! She's quite the adventure girl!

This might be my favorite picture of Grace this summer. It just shows her devout love for her dolls (they went everywhere with us this summer!) and her intense infatuation for flip-flops (she even wore them to bed several times!) I guess it just captures the stage she was in the summer of being 2!

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cute flower girl!

I'm using the excuse of summertime fun as the reason I've been a bad blogger!!!

I'll just do pictures....

Grace was the flower girl at my cousin's wedding this weekend. Cute stuff!! :)

Unleash the Gospel!

Pandemic - "The Gospel Unleashed" from The Journey Church on Vimeo.

It just might be a long road....

I thought a second adoption might be easier. Mentally, it is. Filling out the paperwork is easy this time. I know about waiting for fingerprints, for our homestudy to be reviewed, etc. But, oh my heart!!!!!! Knowing that my little man is out there and not knowing his living situation is breaking my heart tonight. I'm praying for his sweet little heart and that just maybe he was tucked into bed and given a goodnight kiss from someone who loves him dearly.

Update......

Well, we just had our homestudy visit. It's amazing how much easier it is the second time around. Our social worker is wonderful and it's so laid back. So, now all we have to do is wait for our FBI fingerprints to come back and then our homestudy will be done. Then..... we make an appointment for CIS fingerprinting, which in WA, you can do online and you can usually get a date within a few days of singing up!!! Our goal is to be on the waitlist by the end of summer. I think that will happen... if not a lot sooner!!!! WOW!!!

And... a post without pictures just isn't very fun... so here's a couple of some recent favorites. :)
A little 4th of July fun.....