Plan for Homecoming

As we anxiously await news that we will be traveling to pick-up our daughter, many of you have asked how we plan to address attachment & bonding issues when arrive home. This is going to be a huge change for our entire family & we will definately need plenty of time to get to know one another & become a family! We realize that we can plan all we are able to, but until we are home we will not know exactly how things will work out. However, at this time, we do plan to spend the first 6 weeks at home with limited visitors & distractions. We know that everyone is excited about meeting O.E., & we hope to have some visitors but it will be important to limit the number of visitors we have at a time & the length of stay. If you visit or see us out, it will be very important for O.E. to stay in our arms. So, no holding our new sweet girl until after the initial period of bonding & attachement. Also, if you stop by or are at our home helping us, it will be important that we are the ones meeting all of her needs (food, drink, etc.). We are so thankful that so many have offered to help us & we will definately need it, but the best way to help will be to give the boys extra attention or bring us a meal. For those of you in town, we would love for you to come to the airport & help welcome O.E. home! We figure that she will already be overwhelmed from traveling & it will be okay to all welcome her home before we go into "hiding" for 6 weeks! We hope this makes sense & is not offensive. There are many different ideas in the adoption world as to what is best for forming attachement & bonding and there are different fits for each family. This is what we feel is best for us! Please continue to pray for us as we complete our adoption process & bring O.E. home!

Sorry!

Sorry for that pitiful post. I feel much better now...thanks for listening! Plus, I just finished off a box of cheesecake bits & am in the process of devouring a HUGE chocolate shake (thanks, Kendra, for that idea...there is great comfort in food! :-) )

Still Nothing

We still have not heard anything from court or immigration. I definately feel like I'm losing hope. I'm trying to remind myself that if we don't make it through, she will still be waiting for us. We will not be losing her (just several months of our life together...don't go there, K...). Anyways, We wrote our birthmother letter last night. That was so tough...very hard to express all that we want to say to O.E.'s birthmother. As a parent, I do not think that I have the level of selflessness that she must have....I know she would rather parent O.E. herself than allow another family to adopt her...still she has chosen what she feels is best for her child even though it has to hurt so badly...now that is selfless LOVE! My heart just aches with sadness & then anger that things are so difficult in Ethiopia that parents who genuinely love their children are unable to care for them. God, why...America, why don't we do more in Africa...oh, right...there's no oil there!? Please continue to pray. Sorry to be so BLAH!

Prayer Request

Tuesday is already finished in Ethiopia. That means only 2 more days left of court before closure. My heart is with all the families waiting to hear if they make it through. I think there are now only 4 more AGCI families. They added 2 more to the travel group that was suppose to leave this coming weekend but now don't have to be over until the next weekend (the 9th). I'm feeling that it is crunch time! Please pray we make it through! Also, long, long story, but I finially was able to get in touch with immigration (USCIS) & they have done nothing with our request to increase of age parameters to include a 4 year old. Ugh! At least we found this out now! We resent our request letter & worded it a little different, so hopefully someone will take quick action on it (we overnighted it, so it should be getting there). Please pray for some wonderful USCIS worker to get our request & process it quickly. Kate said to keep the pressure on them & if I don't have confirmation that's it's been completed by next Monday, to call her & we'd take it to the next level (congressman)! Praise the Lord we found out there was a problem with this, so we could get going on fixing the problem. Thank you for all your prayers. We expect that AGCI will be notifying the remaining families (including us) as to whether they made it through court at the end of this week. We'll keep you posted...please keep praying!!!

My New Favorite Product

As I've been on my quest to find products & knowledge that will help me care of O.E.'s hair & skin, I've found the most wonderful product & company. Stacy H. told me about "Shea Terra Organics". I ordered two of the African Shea Butter products & love them. Bath & Body Works doesn't have anything on this stuff. Yes, it's a little more than a bottle of BBW lotion (about $8.50 more), but this stuff will go a long ways. I'm sure it will actually end up not being more expensive in the long-run b/c it is so concetrated & moisturizing! Anyways, what is even more wonderful about this product is the company behind the product. Shea Terra Organics is very active in supporting self-empowerment & environmental projects in Africa. They founded a project called the "Ethiopian Goat Project" which provides goats, grain and training about goat care to families in Ethopia. The goat's milk provides nourishment for entire families and is wonderful sustenance for babies. Check it out for more on their story! I can't wait to lavish my girl's sweet skin with this awesome product!

http://www.sheaterraorganics.com/index.html

Packing

Tonight we started packing a few bags. No, we haven't heard anything, but we realized that we've already got tons of donations just piling up & thought we could go ahead & try our hand at packing the things we have at this point. We were pretty sucessful & enjoyed the challenge. We have one full 50 lb donation bag & one donation suitcase that is at 40 lbs. I know what I'm going to buy to fill up the other 10 lbs. So, we pretty much have filled 2 of our 4 checked bags. Plus, we got O.E.'s little suitcase packed (right now the plan is for that to be one of our two 15 lb. carry-ons...we have to make sure we make it to Ethiopia with clothes & toys for our newest family member...right!). All of you seasoned ET travelers...I'd love to hear how many of your 50 lb. bags you filled with your own clothes, etc. I'm trying to figure out how much room we have for donations. Hmmm... by the way, I'm soooo ready to know whether we will be traveling soon or waiting until the fall. :-( This is by far the hardest wait ever! I want my girl here & I want her here now! Please pray a) that we have a court date scheduled for this week (still no confirmation), b) that our court date will happen as scheduled & without delay, & c) for complete favor in court! I am so thankful for the wonderful people in ET who are working so hard to get as many children through court before closure. The love of the Ethiopian people for their children is amazing!

Hanging in There

We are still waiting to hear if we will make it through court before it closes. I have heard a little info here & there and I think it's enough to get me through. I don't think definate word will be given to the remaining families until the end of next week. We'll just have to wait & see. We're still working hard on gathering stuff for the trip & preparing in case we get to travel soon! I'm a planner, so I'm enjoying myself! Also, we've gotten a lot of new pictures of our sweet girl from traveling families! They have been brightening our days, as well! We've heard a little more about her personality & she is such a special little girl! We are so blessed!

:-(

I just heard from my adoption buddy in VA who got a referral for a 4 year old boy the week before our referral. They found out they leave for Ethiopia Aug. 2. There are 3 families in that travel group & we aren't one of them. :-( So sad for us but so excited for them! I believe there are now 6 AGCI families left waiting to hear if they will make it through courts. Please keep praying for us & these other families. It is so hard waiting without knowing anything! Thank you for praying!