Talked to the Agency last night...

Rusty called AGCI yesterday and finally got in touch with one of the case workers. She really didn't have any new information for us, but it feels better just to stay in touch. Basically she told us a little more about the transition home (Hannah's Hope). This is where all the AGCI children stay until their families come to pick them up. This home houses 60 children and cannot take any more on until the ones that are there go home with their forever families. There was a group of families that traveled on Christmas day, I don't know how many? And another group due to travel on January 8. So there is some movement in the works, but no one is able to tell us if our baby is at HH waiting on medical testing...etc? or still in a government run orphanage waiting to come to HH? I have this loop of Tom Petty's song running constantly in my head "the waaaiting is the hardest part..." Not exactly spiritual, but true!

Night before last I was up until 3am working on the blog, reading others blogs, and watching "gotcha day" videos. Last night I was in bed at 7:30pm because I was DONE. What a roller coaster. I must admit it is nearly identical to the last weeks of all 3 of my pregnancies. I get very anxious at the end. With Carley I was up at 3am taking baths because I couldn't sleep. I remember laying there in misery saying "how much longer Lord?" With all 3 I stood over their empty cribs asking the same question. Once again, here I am, with an empty crib and an aching heart. The only good news is... I'm skinny!! ha ha. The thing that makes this one so much harder is that there is no guarantee. With my pregnancies I knew my Dr. wouldn't let me go over the 40 week mark, he would induce. With this "paper pregnancy" there are no guarantees, no end in sight. Not to mention the fact that it has already been more than a year since we filled out our first application and I was ready that very day for my sweet baby! So, in my estimation, I am VERY much OVERDUE! It is my uncomfortable, frustrating, anxiety producing, all-consuming desire.

For now I will stand on this:

The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalm 121:8

That goes for Evan in Ethiopia and us here too!
Don't we serve an awesome God who can keep up with everything?!

We bought this book at the Cincinnati Homeschool convention and it is the sweetest book ever! It touches on many important questions a little one might have and answers in a simple, loving way.

Evan's bedding

When the agency called and said we were #3 I went into panic mode and immediately had to go out shopping to find his bedding and bed. We had lots of fun shopping and the whole family agreed on this Cotton Tale design called "Barn Dance". We got a black crib and dresser and are painting our glider chair black as well. The room looks great, now all we need is baby Evan!

Why Wouldn't I?

Please take a few minutes to watch this video at the bottom of the page. What a great testimony regarding adoption! I couldn't believe this wife said the EXACT same thing I have said to my husband ever since our youngest was born..."they're not all here!" I would line up the girls and fix their hair and still be waiting for the next one to come in... (though I guess Evan's hair won't need as much upkeep :)

The other thing he says that we have said over and over is "we have a home, extra food, lots of love..." so why wouldn't we?? There isn't a good reason, so we are!!

Another day, a new opportunity...

Every day I wake up and think, "is today the day I will see his face?" and every day I go to bed thinking "really God, not today either??" We were under the impression that at least one baby boy was being referred each week so when they told us we were #1 we just KNEW it would only be a day or so before we would see our son! Now it has been nearly 6 weeks at the #1 spot. A friend commented "there are rock bands who would love that status!" We are not a rock band and would like to be OFF the chart completely and on a plane to pick up our baby!! It is difficult to wait and not knowing what is going on makes it all the more difficult. Our case worker is out of the office until the 4th but we have been assured that the other Ethiopia case workers will handle our referral in her absence. I sure hope that is what happens because I can't imagine waiting for the 4th. Having said that, I said I couldn't wait until Thanksgiving...so...
Each day I think of a reason why it would be the PERFECT day to get the referral. It's amazing how many reasons I can invent.

Blogging is hard work!

So I am FINALLY breaking down and starting a blog...evidently it is a required LAW when you are adopting! :) I began a few weeks ago but just couldn't bring myself to tell anyone until I had at least a few "bells and whistles" on it! So I have been on here for several hours (it's late, the girls are in bed!) trying to make this look like some of the really neat ones I have seen. Of course I have messed it up and had to do some repair work during this process too which is a pain in the neck. So if your looking at this and you are an experienced blogger and want to educate me on some things, I would appreciate any help you may offer! Otherwise, maybe this will keep me occupied until my little sweetie comes home.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Thanks for the "bone" Lord!

I have asked the Lord more than a few times over these past 4 weeks to "throw me a bone" :). We thought we would have a referral within a few days of being #1 on the wait list. . . but God has other plans that are higher than ours. Well today I got my "bone"! I finally got connected on the Yahoo group for our agency and got into contact with another mom who is #2 on the wait list and when I searched her on Facebook we had a mutual friend??? It was a girl from my church. Upon further investigation I find that she is from my same city!! We email and eventually have a "live" phone conversation this afternoon (for one hour) and discover we live maybe 2 miles apart! This is especially unusual since our agency is in Oregon and we live in KY. Unbelievable! I have just walked around on a cloud that God would arrange all this! Hopefully we can travel together, but most importantly, I have a friend to talk to who is walking the same path as we are right now. We were instant friends!

The Waiting is the Hardest Part...

We have been waiting for our referral for 3 weeks and 4 days now.