Category: Adoption

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Friday Update – 01.16.09

Adoption Update:  45 weeks down!  I am trying to feel better about the wait, but it was difficult this week.  The wait for referral is one thing, but the wait from referral to travel has been extended and is now expected to take about four months.  It used to only be about two.  The increase of adoptions in Ethiopia has burdened an already overwhelmed system, please pray for the Ethiopian government and that they are able to do what is best for the children.  Also, pray for the adopting families to have patience as this part of the wait is the most difficult.  To know your child but not be able to hold, comfort, or love on is a very difficult time.  

It has been a month since the last round of referrals.  To be honest I always knew in my heart there would be a drought of referrals before we received our referral.  I do not know how long that drought is going to last, but I am hoping that this is the last drought we have to make it through.

Duathlon Training:  I have been doing very well with my training.  I either bike or run every day and some days I do both.  I am improving little by little and happy with the results so far.

Gardening:  The garden is continuing to thrive.

First snow pea!

Life:  Is going great.  We are going to see Abby tomorrow and Matt is doing a little photo shoot with her.  I am sure we will have some cute pictures to share.  We are also going mountain biking.  I last went on my birthday so I am long overdue for a ride.

With the duathlon training Matt wanted to buy me a road bike, but I opted for a new (to me) commuter bike that would also make a decent road bike for the few times I will need it as one.  I got to ride her for the first time today and am loving her.  My old commuter was a little small, plus this new one has a few more gears.  Needless to say it is much faster and easier to ride.

Matt still needs to attach my panniers and my basket then I will be all set for running errands again.  Oh and that suspension seat post has got to go!

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Friday Update – 01.09.09

Adoption Update:  We have now been waiting 44 weeks or just over 10 months.  There have been no referrals for the last three weeks, things should pick up again here soon.

Running:  I am happy to say I have been running very consistently and it is going very well.  I also started cycling for exercise again, I was just cycling around town to do errands which wasn’t ever that far.

Gardening:  My winter garden is growing like crazy right now.  I harvested some radishes, a turnip, and lettuce this week for a salad.  They were all delicious!  I should have some snow peas and carrots soon.  Onions and garlic are growing but those won’t be harvested for a couple more months.

I just received my seeds for my spring garden.  I am actually happy that it appears we will be here and not traveling when I first plant the spring garden, it should be nice and established by the time we travel.  We are picking up the peach tree and grape vines I ordered tomorrow, hopefully this is the peach tree that lives!

Life:  We have been very busy just doing day to day stuff.  The beginning of the year is always extra busy with the business so that is our main focus right now.  Abby is doing well, her parents are very tired though!  Being an Aunt so far is easy, looking forward to more quality time with her.

Here is Matt’s favorite picture of Abby so far:

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Friday Update – 12.19.08

Adoption Update:  We made it through week 41, how many more?  There were 10 referrals this week, seven boys and three girls.  Congratulations to all the happy families!  Our agency is closed until January 5, so no more referrals until after the new year.  We did not know about this closure until this month, so if anyone picked a referral date in that time period, please feel free to pick a new date.  We were re-fingerprinted last Saturday and USCIS is not very busy right now.  We were taken right back for our fingerprints, so much nicer than the last time.  Everyone say a prayer that my prints don’t get kicked back by the FBI, I had really dry fingers and she had a difficult time getting a good print.  I was obsessively putting on lotion last week to remedy the problem but to no avail and this week I didn’t obsess and no dry fingers.

Running Update:  I finally started running again!  I have to say it is so much nicer taking up running this time of year.  I can already run further and longer than I could when I stopped.  The temps being well below 90 sure make a difference!  Now I just need to start doing those push-ups again.

Gardening:  My garden is doing really well.  The snow peas have finally started to bloom and I have plenty of lettuce for salads.  I haven’t had to worry about a frost yet and Matt is helping me build a cover for the garden this weekend for that rare occasion we get below 32°.

Life:  We made lots of cookies on Sunday with my family and have been busy handing them out to neighbors ever since.  Michelle and I also made cookies on Tuesday.  She did a great job decorating them:

 

I also was able to meet Paul B. today!  He is a wonderful baby!  I had a very nice time chatting with Sandi and Bill about Ethiopia and their trip.  I cannot wait to travel!

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Friday Update – 12.12.08

Adoption Update:  Two referrals this week, both were sibling groups.  One set of four year old identical twin girls and a boy/girl sibling group ages 1.5 and 2.5.  Congratulations to the happy families!  We reached 40 weeks today!  Hopefully our referral will be here soon.  We are going to USCIS to get fingerprinted again tomorrow, hopefully this is our last set of fingerprints.  

Life:  I did not get much done this week as I was very sick for a couple of days, so no exercising and no gardening and if you hadn’t noticed, no blogging.  I did check in on the garden this morning and it did survive the week without me.  🙂  We are doing some holiday baking on Sunday, I will be sure to take lots of pictures.

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Friday Update – 12/05/08

Adoption Update:

Well we have made it to 39 weeks of waiting! I am getting to the point where I just really want to see their faces and know them. Most days I am fine, but today not so much. 🙁 Please pray for some more referrals, and for court dates to start going more smoothly. A lot of court days have been rescheduled lately and my heart breaks for the families who didn’t pass recently.

Gardening:

My little garden is really starting to take off. The turnips and snow peas look great and I have some lettuce ready for eating.

Life:

Matt and I have been keeping busy decorating for Christmas and I have been cleaning out closets and cabinets like a mad woman! Business is staying strong which is an answer to prayers during the current economic situation. We are truly happy and thankful for all that we have.

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Tom and Jerry have a room!

Matt finished up the painting this weekend. I am very pleased with how everything turned out and so glad I married such a talented man!

Here is a quick video showing a panorama of the room:

He even added flowers and butterflies just for me.  🙂

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More nursery updates

While stephanie was busy blogging yesterday (3 in one day!!) I was painting more animals in the nursery.

We have a Family of Zebras

Some giraffes

And some elephants

The giraffes and elephants are not yet done, but coming along very cool!. I will add in some grass for all the animals to be standing in, and later some bushes, flowers and butterflies.

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More nursery pics

So I got super gung-ho excited about the nursery this weekend. I feel that progress is almost inspiration for more progress. See things happen is a good thing.

You can see all the pics here

Today I “built” up 2 large african acacia trees and grass. Looks like animals are next.

Yes, i free handed the trees, and used a modified stippling technique for the leaves. It helped create a lot of depth and color.

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Sneak Peak

Matt started working on the nursery this week. I have not lifted a brush, but somehow I have managed to get paint on me and my clothes.


Matt getting ready to start


The Sky


A nice neutral base


Dirt

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Friday Update – 11.21.08


Happy Birthday Michelle!!!

Adoption Update: There were four referrals this week all for infant girls. Congrats to the happy families. This week marks 8.5 months or 37 weeks of waiting. I am currently living with the thought that we could get the call any day now. I go to bed thinking, “Will it be tomorrow?” Then I wake up thinking, “Is today the day?” Fortunately for me it is NOT constantly running through my head all day long and I don’t spend hours just staring at my phone hoping Sharon calls. (Sharon you are welcome to call anytime day or night!) I know deep down it could be any day or it could be a few months. Anyway it is enough to drive a person insane, but I think I am handling it quite well.

Exercise Update: I have not been all that great at getting out and exercising. To be honest I wasn’t feeling all that great and finally went to the doctor. We figured out what was up and I should be back at it next week.

Random Stuff:

The weather was unusually warm this week, but things should be back to normal for Thanksgiving, by normal I mean the 70s.

The garden is starting to look good, we should have leafy greens here in a couple of weeks. I am hoping to start an indoor herb garden this weekend.

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Friday Update – 11.14.08

Adoption Update: There were six little boys referred this week! One set of two month old identical twins (yay we moved up a spot!) and four infants ranging from two months to 19 months. Congratulations to all the happy families.

Matt and I both finally feel like this could really happen and had “Oh crap” moments in regards to preparing. It will still be 2009 before we travel, but with the holidays coming up we figure we should start getting some stuff done now. We are both procrastinators by nature, but neither of us truly want to put everything off until we get a referral because we will have enough to do before we travel, so we are trying really hard to get some stuff done. I mean trying really HARD, we much rather wait until the last minute, but are trying to avoid the added stress that brings. We have decided to start painting the nursery, we have lots of artwork planned, so it will take some time. I cleared out the room this week, except for some pieces of furniture and then we will start the painting process this weekend. I will take plenty of pics because I am not allowed to paint for the most part. Hey if you want it done right do NOT let me paint. We also went and got some more travel vaccinations today, yellow fever and typhoid. They might slow us down a bit this weekend, but we will see.

Keep the Browns in your prayers this weekend. Their court date is November 17!

I think that is it for now.

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Friday Update – 11.07.08

Adoption Update: Today marks eight months or 35 weeks of waiting for our referral. I cannot believe it has been that long, time is flying by. There was finally a much anticipated sibling group referral this week, the couple waited just shy of 12 months, 4 year old girl and 18 month old boy. A six month old girl was also referred this week. Congratulations to the happy families!

Work-Outs: Let’s just say I took the week off! I was so lazy this week and I blame it all on Matt, had he not spoiled me so much for my birthday weekend I would not have been so lazy. It was really hard to get back to normal life! Matt woke up early and rode his road bike all week, he loves riding early in the morning, while I am content to be in bed.

Gardening: Things are sprouting away. It is so nice to see some green out there. We are having a little sunshine problem, with the sun being low in the horizon and our acacia trees getting so big, little is making it through to the garden. I am going to come up with some sort of reflectors out of used political signs to get a little more light on the garden. Thankfully this is only a problem for about four months out of the year.

Random Stuff: It finally is feeling like fall! I am so excited, the weather is absolutely gorgeous. I can keep the windows open all day and enjoy the fresh air. We were finally able to turn off the A/C for the year. I hope to keep it off until May again.

Cabinet Matt hung for me on my birthday, complete with kitty shelf.

Carter’s new favorite napping spot

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Why I am thankful for the WAIT

I could not have said those words a month or two ago.  I was not thankful at all, I was done, I wanted to be a mom and that was it.  I have spent a lot of time reflecting lately on my life, the wait, and who I am.  I was the person who never really knew what they wanted to be when they grow up, I said I wanted to be several things, teacher, marine biologist (you can be one in Arizona right?), scientist, professional football player, lawyer, and many other things have crossed my mind.  I never had a strong desire to have a professional career, all I knew was I wanted to be a mom.  I have spent the last couple years of my life waiting for that to happen, forgetting that I have a life right NOW, just waiting for my life as a mom to start, because that would bring me the ultimate in fulfillment.  I have come to the realization that living a life just waiting for my future isn’t all that great, not that the future won’t be great, but just focusing on that and nothing else isn’t the most fulfilling way to live.  I have been focusing more on living in the moment, living for each day, and learning to enjoy what I am passionate about.  I realized that I have grown quite a bit in the last couple of years and that I really like the person I am becoming.  I am not trying to boast about how wonderful I am, if you know me really well, you would know I struggled with liking me (I think a lot of women do, but I could be wrong).  

I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to wait and learn so much more about myself.  I have been given the opportunity to develop passions that I did not know I had, passions for cooking, baking, gardening, and the environment.  I have learned that I can be fulfilled and content without being a mom, of course, that would bring fulfillment and contentment to my life also, plus great joy, but for now I am going to enjoy the wonderful life I do have, right here, right now, and I will move on to the next chapter when the time comes.

 

Misty also wrote a great post on joy and waiting this week (then she got her referral two days later, go figure).

 

No I did not write this post in hopes of getting a referral, I just wanted to share my thoughts.  😉