hoping for fast timelines

Our baby was moved to Addis to the CWA foster home. This will be her last destination until we bring her home. We are hoping that this may mean that we will get a court date soon. There is still a possibility that we will only travel once. There has been some talk about allowing families to travel only once until after the recess in August and September. Oh, how I hope that we make the deadline!! Two great things about her being moved to Addis...we get pictures and updates more frequently and our friends who leave tomorrow to go get their precious daughter will get to meet our little girl. I cannot tell you how much it means to me to have my friend go and hold her and see her and be able to describe her to me. We have walked this journey together and to have her love on her before we do is just awesome!! For now I am falling in love with her sweet eyes and anticipating the day we get to travel. Thanks for your continued prayers....

peace and love

Just wanted you all to know that we are finding peace in this change in our adoption process. God has chosen a special little girl to be our daughter and she has an easy face to fall in love with quickly. :) Her 2nd medicals have been completed and she appears to be healthy. Developmentally she is doing all the things that a 6 month old should be doing...making sounds, sitting up, grasping for toys, recognizing her nannies. We also have heard that she is sweet, snuggly and interactive. All of these descriptions just make us want to get to her even quicker. I'm thinking we will end up traveling twice, but there are still two more days to get our papers submitted to court. I can deal with the two trips...I'm just hoping things move quickly for us. We just don't have a lot more WAIT in us. I can't wait for all of you to see her...for now, trust me, she's a cutie. Our good friends, the Garretts, are in Ethiopia now and I have thought about them constantly. You can see their journey by looking at my list of favorites (the garrett journey). Our baby will be best friends with their little girl! Thanks for your continued prayers. Hoping to give you a court date soon....

letting go and finding hope all in one week

This has been a very difficult week...and it is only Wednesday. On Monday, we started the week off again with much hope that this may be the week that our case moves forward (it's been almost 6 months since our referral). Instead our referral has fallen through...we were heartbroken. We have prayed for this little girl for months and in our hearts, we already loved her as our daughter. As we tried to trust God, He immediately gave us a new referral. Those of you who have walked this journey know that can only happen when God does it!!! Referrals do not come quickly and this one came within one hour of us accepting a new path. Unbelievable! So now we are processing this change in our journey. We are grieving one and celebrating another who needs us to be her family now. I'm sure it will take us a while. The bottom line is that both girls belong to God first and we have to trust Him as He leads us. Hopefully, things will move quickly for us. Our new little girl is in a region that seems to get things done much quicker. We will let you know when we have a court date. If our papers are filed before May 7th we will only travel once. Our caseworker says that will probably not happen, but after seeing God work yesterday, we will just wait and see. Please continue to pray for us.

waiting is hard to do!!!

Still waiting for some good news. The hold is still in place and our little girl turned 7 months yesterday. :( She has gained 3 pounds in a month and a half so we were happy to hear that. She is still only in the 5th percentile. We are starting off another week with great hope. We have been told that the letter should arrive any day telling our orphanage that they can resume work. If we are able to get our papers submitted to court by May 9th, then we will only travel once. If our papers are submitted after May 9th, we will have to make two trips. This would be very difficult emotionally and financially, but we are trusting God's plan for this adoption. All we can do right now is HOPE. We hope you had a special Easter with your family. We promise to update once we hear anything....

good news??

There may be good news coming soon about the hold. We've heard this many times before, but this information is more specific and may actually happen. Please pray for the hold to be lifted over the next few days. There are many children being affected by this hold and they deserve to come home to their forever families as soon as possible. I promise I'll update when we hear something. :)

still no news...

Just wanted to let you all know that we haven't heard any news about the hold in the baby's region of Ethiopia. Each week, we hope for good news. We did receive pictures of her in early March and she continues to look good. She is small, but she appears to be healthy and happy. We are starting to see some "personality" in her pictures...so cute. There was a recent announcement that families will have to start travelling twice to Ethiopia...once for court and once for the embassy appointment. We are waiting to hear if that will affect us. It would be another emotional and financial hurdle in this process. It means we would pay for another trip, but the hardest part would be meeting our baby and then having to leave her in Ethiopia for a few more months. We have learned to just "wait and see" what the final decision will be before we react. This adoption process has stretched us more than we ever thought was possible. I feel like I have to choose to trust God minute by minute in this process. The waiting can be so difficult some days. We know once we have her in our arms, it will be worth the wait!! Thank you for your continued prayers....

celebrating with others...

No news for us yet, but I feel like it is coming soon. One reason I can say that is because friends of ours' whose little girl is in the same region just got great news this week. Their daughter was moved to the transition home and soon they will travel to bring her home. I am so happy for them and feel like our good news is coming. It is amazing to see their daughter who is about 8 in pictures looking at pictures of her forever family. It brought tears to my eyes and made my heart so full. I can't imagine what it feels like to feel all alone and then to see a family who is waiting to bring you home and love you unconditionally. It's like God's love for us. He gave up His son for us. If you have ever considered adoption, I urge you to look into it. Don't let busyness, finances or your own control keep you from taking this step of faith. It is life-changing and if God is calling you to do it, He won't let it die. He needs us to care for the needy. I know our baby will change our lives more than we will ever change her's. As I walk through this process, it becomes such a desire of my heart for others to embrace adoption. We'll keep you posted on any news.