Agency/Ethiopia

Family! Really....FAMILY!

So we just found out that Jeff's cousin and his wife (okay not really first cousin but in Jeff's twig of a family it is like everyone else's first cousin) are also adopting................wait for it...........................from ETHIOPIA!!!!!!

I am beside myself with excitement! They live about 2 hours from us in North Western Mass and are adopting through Wide Horizons. We caught up with them on the phone last night and I just cannot express how through the roof I am that we can share this with them and that our Ethiopian children will be related here in the US!!!! It is crazy to me! Have I mentioned how excited I am yet?

In any case, they started the process before us, but their agency's wait time is a bit longer for a referral so we are both expecting referrals around the same time (understanding that we really have no idea when the referrals could come but that based on the law of averages it could be around Sept sometime). We could even be traveling to ET at a similar time.

It was amazing to get to talk to them yesterday and have a little more insight into their Journey. I can't believe how similar so many of their choices, movitations and emotions have been to ours. For as much as Jeff and Stephen's parents see each other, it baffles me that somehow this connection has not been made before. I am so thankful that it finally was!

Similar to us, they are open to either gender and 0-18 months (we are 0-12months) so I am so hopefully that they will become fast playmates and have friendship that will last through the years. We look forward to getting to know their family even better and sharing the journey. God works in mysterious ways!

Thoughts after a great weekend

What a great weekend we had! The weather was beautiful (if not a little too hot and humid on Sunday) and I got to enjoy lots of time with my baby girl!! It makes me think of what next spring will be like with 2 little ones running around. I can't even imagine. I think you take for granted that once you have one you know how to do it...the whole parenting thing, the whole life with kids thing. But having 2 is actually a whole different ball game...what I thought I knew/had gotten down to a science will now change drastically. I need to learn how to play a whole new type of game. I love to play!!

It is so exciting!!! Everyday I get more and more excited about this whole process. I am so invested (of course) but it is amazing how each new day brings revelation and self discovery and peace and EXCITEMENT!! All of these things are not easy (even though some are)...made more complex by the fact that it is not just me going through this. Jeff and I are so different in how we process. And Tessa is a whole different story too. But fortunately she really is too young to process anything other than being excited about having a brother or sister. She doesn't know that she came from my "tummy" so the fact that we are flying to a foreign country to bring her brother or sister home is and will be completely "normal" for her. I wish everyone could see that.

This brings up the whole idea of what normal is? Normal is what you know. What do I know...well right now I know what life is like with one daughter, specifically one daughter who is Tessa. So my new normal will be two children, one black and one white....the rest is all still up in the air. How old, what name, boy or girl, temperment, the dynamic of our family, how much sleep I will get, etc, etc.... I want to challange people who don't know the true definition of NORMAL. It sort of speaks to the whole premise of this blog...."What is a family? Whatever you want it to be..." Open your eyes...open your heart...love unconditionally... Really it makes life so much sweeter!

In the beginning...

When this whole thing started and we really started to focus in on Ethiopia, I found this You Tube video and it is really what connected me...to Ethiopia, to going international, to the fact that I really was okay with the fact that I did not want to have any more birth children.
I shed a tear everytime I watch it...Enjoy! (now lets see if I can figure out how to actually post it...haha)

We are now number 22!

I checked in with Holt today and we are now number 22 on their waitlist! I had to call to make sure they recieved a document I had to send in and figured I would check since I knew there were additional referrals accepted since I last spoke them. So I guess this means we will be sitting here at 22 until the next batch of referrals goes out (maybe in a couple weeks...wouldn't that be amazing)!

24!!!!!!!!

This is just about how I feel!!!!!

We are officially number 24 on the waitlist!!! Probably wont' be for long as people still have to accept referrals, but none-the-less we are so excited! And a little shocked! The number is smaller than we were anticipating which could mean a shorter wait time to referral! We are ready whatever God's plan is!!!!

And my little montage to the number 24....

YESSSSSSSSS!!!

Hooray! Our paperwork (along with a heafty check) reached Holt today and we have been added to the official wait list!!! This means that all of our paperwork was in order (so no updates that will delay us anyway)!!!! I am so pumped! All my hardwork has paid off. I don't know our official number on the waitlist but I will of course post this as soon as we know.

Yeah!!! One step closer to meeting the littlest Adams!!!

What is the story???

I know its life. I know its preparation for the process to come. But the type A, analytical, OCD in me hates when things don't go according to plan. When they don't go according to plan, I find alternatives to keep things going as closely to plan as possible. I guess thats what really bothers me...when I feel like others don't have that same diligence. Such is life. There is little consequence in todays "not according to plan," just inconvenience, but it still irks me.

DONE!!!!!!

YEAH!!!!!! Our homestudy is done!!!!!! I am picking it up on Tuesday, will get it state sealed right after and then overnight it, along with the rest of our Dossier paperwork to Holt! Which means officially that we should be on the waitlist by the end of next week! WOOOO HOOO!!!! I am beside myself. We are one step closer to meeting our next child!!!