Today is September 29th which means the courts are officially OPEN!! OPEN, OPEN, OPEN, OPEN, OPEN, OPEN, OPEN!!! Although Almaz is still rumored to be on vacation I confirmed with AGCI that someone IS taking our file to the courts. And since the time is 10 hours ahead of us here on the beautiful Pacific coast this means there is a very good possibility that our file has already been submitted!! In 1-2 weeks we will be assigned a court date although this date will remain a mystery to us courtesy of AGCI. The reason they do this is because for reasons outside our control (usually) families often do not pass court the first time around and I guess this is one emotional roller-coaster they want to save us from experiencing. It is my understanding though that we will be given a vague idea of when our court date is. SO - things we can all pray for would be 1) to have a court date assigned to us quickly and 2) to pass court the first time around. These are the next BIG steps which will pave the way for the much anticipated travel dates!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Courts Are Open!
Today is September 29th which means the courts are officially OPEN!! OPEN, OPEN, OPEN, OPEN, OPEN, OPEN, OPEN!!! Although Almaz is still rumored to be on vacation I confirmed with AGCI that someone IS taking our file to the courts. And since the time is 10 hours ahead of us here on the beautiful Pacific coast this means there is a very good possibility that our file has already been submitted!! In 1-2 weeks we will be assigned a court date although this date will remain a mystery to us courtesy of AGCI. The reason they do this is because for reasons outside our control (usually) families often do not pass court the first time around and I guess this is one emotional roller-coaster they want to save us from experiencing. It is my understanding though that we will be given a vague idea of when our court date is. SO - things we can all pray for would be 1) to have a court date assigned to us quickly and 2) to pass court the first time around. These are the next BIG steps which will pave the way for the much anticipated travel dates!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Brothers!!!
So - as promised I am going to tell you all why my Mom was in Ethiopia and able to buy me all sorts of cool stuff for the nursery.
The answer: BROTHERS!!!
Ok so here's how it all happened. Back in May I started really praying for one of the waiting children with AGCI. I can't really say I was "considering" him because I knew the situation wasn't realistic but my heart was very burdened for him to the point where I kept having dreams about him. I was telling my Mom how much my heart hurt for this little boy and how I wish so badly that he had a family. I secretly e-mailed our case worker to ask what the oldest age we could adopt was. After a couple days I heard back - 5 years old was the oldest. Now this boy was 2 and 1/2 times that in years. Since I knew a ten year age gap between parent and child wasn't "appropriate" I hadn't actually been considering pursuing his adoption but if AGCI hadn't said 5 yrs. old I might have really tried! I shared this information with my Mom. Meanwhile she was thinking maybe God was calling she and my Dad to adopt this little boy. I was thrilled! They prayed about it for a long time. There are currently 5 of us kids. I am the oldest and the youngest is 15. They obviously had a lot to consider. One morning they shared with me that they had finally decided that God was calling them to adopt this waiting child that had been on my heart and theirs for so long.
The next business day my Mom called AGCI back to let them know they had finally decided to officially pursue adopting this boy. What happened next was heartbreaking. AGCI's social services department had never had a parent and child pursue an adoption at the same time and when made aware of the situation did not agree. They were worried about the effects on the adoptive children and did not feel our family was capable of being 100% excited and invested into both adoptions at one time. They were also concerned that there would be negative effects on Brian and I if and when my parents traveled and completed their adoption before us. Despite arguments to the contrary, AGCI told my parents they must postpone their adoption until ours had been finalized for a year. Absolute heartbreak ensued. Was this God closing the door? How could they have such peace about something that was so wrong? This was not a quick decision but something that had been lifted up in prayer for months. One night my Dad told my Mom "maybe our son just isn't at HH." Not knowing what he had said, I told my Mom the same thing the next morning. My sister who was in Ethiopia at the time had e-mailed my Mom about the same time telling her maybe they should just pursue a different agency. The final decision was if they were making the wrong decision God would have to slam a door because they still thought this was the right decision.
Although my sister was in Ethiopia at the time, that was just for a short layover on her way to Burundi. She was planning on going back to Ethiopia for all of 2009 though and suggested my parents look into the organization that she was planning on working with. What they found out quickly confirmed God's plan. At an orphanage in a very rural part of Ethiopia there were 150 boys ranging in age from 3-15. The organization sponsoring the orphanage experienced some turmoil which led to the 150 children being supported by the adoption agency who was having trouble finding families for older boys and having a hard time financially supporting such a large facility. Somewhere along the way 1 boy turned to 2 boys :) and the paperchasing began. Through a secure site for adopting families my parents were able to see photos and some bios on the 150 boys. How would they choose only 2? The director of the adoption agency was going over to Ethiopia for business and asked my Mom what she wanted to know from the children they were considering. My Mom explained that picking your children from photos was difficult and she just wanted to know their personalities. The director semi-jokingly said "well you should come with me then." We had assumed all along that no one could travel until the adoption was finalized. We quickly found out this was not an Ethiopia rule just an agency specific one. After a phone call to my Dad my Mom was on the phone with a travel agent buying a ticket to Ethiopia and departing 3 days later.
She flew to Addis and was there for 12 days. In the middle of the trip they made the 14 hour trek to the orphanage that my brothers were at. She spent a few days there with the children and made the decision of which boys would be added to our family. This was a very difficult decision as we can all imagine. She said there were many we would have been blessed to welcome into our family. Her stories and photos of Ethiopia were wonderful to see. The best part though was learning about the two soon-to-be additions to the family. We think they are about 8 and 10.
Soon the paperwork will be at the courts and we will all be closer to bringing the newest boys in our family home! We can't think of a more wonderful experience for our baby than to have 2 uncles who can tell him all about Ethiopia.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Nursery Know How
Due to popular demand :) here's how we did the more creative elements of the nursery -
1) Fabric Canvas Collages (for Adanise) - we bought canvases and fabrics from the clearance section at Joanns. I thought I was buying small sections of fabric but ended up with tons left over so buy really really small amounts. Without trying to sound stereotypical we just picked fabrics that we liked and looked "African" to us. We stapled a piece of fabric over the whole canvas. The fabrics on top (the shapes and letters) were just hot glued on. It was really easy. The most time consuming part was cutting things out. The harder things (like the letters) we did by printing out the shape, hot gluing that to a swatch of fabric and cutting out with an exacto knife. The CHOSEN and elephant canvases I did after my Mom suggested I use wonder under. The process of getting them ready for being cut out took longer but overall it was much easier using the wonder under than hot glue and exacto knife. I had never done anything like this before and somehow got this idea in my head. Very beginner friendly.
2) The Amharic on the wall - hmmm. I googled Amharic Bible and was able to locate the verse I wanted thanks to the references also being in English. At first I thought I would freehand two verses. Um, no. I decided two verses was pushing over-achiever status and I needed to bring it down a bit. The Amharic letters are very detailed. Stencils would have been nice but how do you make Amharic stencils anyway? Again my Mom who didn't want to get within 10 feet of this project suggested the easiest thing to do. We borrowed an overhead projector from church. We then tried printing on the transparency (didn't work) and tried to print out the letters to the perfect size to trace onto the transparency (didn't work). Finally we ended up getting the perfect size on the computer screen and very gently tracing directly from the screen onto the transparency with a marker. Good thing Brian wasn't home or we would have not been able to do that. We then projected the writing onto the wall (in sections because it was too long to all be projected at once) and used tiny paintbrushes to color in between the lines. The wall texture did not make it easy. Overall it took about 4 hours (including prep time) for one short verse.
For Renee - the children's stool is small but surprisingly comfortable for us bigger bottomed people. It fit lying down on its side into a standard size suite case. It is solid wood so no fear of it breaking during transport. My Mom also said they had larger "adult" stools too.
It was all well worth it!!
1) Fabric Canvas Collages (for Adanise) - we bought canvases and fabrics from the clearance section at Joanns. I thought I was buying small sections of fabric but ended up with tons left over so buy really really small amounts. Without trying to sound stereotypical we just picked fabrics that we liked and looked "African" to us. We stapled a piece of fabric over the whole canvas. The fabrics on top (the shapes and letters) were just hot glued on. It was really easy. The most time consuming part was cutting things out. The harder things (like the letters) we did by printing out the shape, hot gluing that to a swatch of fabric and cutting out with an exacto knife. The CHOSEN and elephant canvases I did after my Mom suggested I use wonder under. The process of getting them ready for being cut out took longer but overall it was much easier using the wonder under than hot glue and exacto knife. I had never done anything like this before and somehow got this idea in my head. Very beginner friendly.
2) The Amharic on the wall - hmmm. I googled Amharic Bible and was able to locate the verse I wanted thanks to the references also being in English. At first I thought I would freehand two verses. Um, no. I decided two verses was pushing over-achiever status and I needed to bring it down a bit. The Amharic letters are very detailed. Stencils would have been nice but how do you make Amharic stencils anyway? Again my Mom who didn't want to get within 10 feet of this project suggested the easiest thing to do. We borrowed an overhead projector from church. We then tried printing on the transparency (didn't work) and tried to print out the letters to the perfect size to trace onto the transparency (didn't work). Finally we ended up getting the perfect size on the computer screen and very gently tracing directly from the screen onto the transparency with a marker. Good thing Brian wasn't home or we would have not been able to do that. We then projected the writing onto the wall (in sections because it was too long to all be projected at once) and used tiny paintbrushes to color in between the lines. The wall texture did not make it easy. Overall it took about 4 hours (including prep time) for one short verse.
For Renee - the children's stool is small but surprisingly comfortable for us bigger bottomed people. It fit lying down on its side into a standard size suite case. It is solid wood so no fear of it breaking during transport. My Mom also said they had larger "adult" stools too.
It was all well worth it!!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Kick A$$ and Awesome
According to Aunti Em I had to title this blog post just as I have because this is exactly what she thinks the nursery is. Since she did a lot of the work with Brian and I, she gets to have her say for the title. What I was going for with our nursery was simple, or maybe not. I wanted bright colors but I definitely wanted it to have an ethnic/Ethiopian flare. I wanted our nursery to be completely unique. The pictures don't quite do justice to the brightness of the colors (the blue is a more tealy blue) but it will give you an idea. Here it is, the big reveal:
Yes those are cheetah print sheets but it was a small enough amount that Brian allowed them into our son's room...
The writing on the wall is 1 Samuel 1:27, "For this child I prayed and the Lord granted me what I asked." It is painted in Amharic. Emily and I did this on Friday night. At this point braggers might tell you it isn't as hard as it looks. Well, I'm all about being humble and truthful (ok so maybe me saying that reveals the truth :) ) so I will tell you it was in fact difficult. About 45 minutes into the logistics of it all I was beginning to question my own ability and whether or not my creative ideas are realistic. Luckily Emily kept reminding me it would look really cool when it was done. We worked through blood, sweat, and tears (ok maybe just sweat) and I am so glad we did.
These pictures are authentic Ethiopian banana leaf art work. My Mom went to Ethiopia a couple weeks ago and brought back so much cool stuff for the nursery. Why was my Mom in Ethiopia you ask? Well getting things for my nursery was only a smaller side-mission (since she hates shopping more than ANYTHING), the real mission will be revealed in a future (soon) blog post.
The mobile was a gift from Aunti Em. She bought it on her mission trip to Burundi in May. Brian thinks the birds are scary and will give our baby nightmares. I think the fact that it is hand-painted Burundian craftsmanship makes it awesome and it HAS to go in the nursery.
This children's stool also made it back from Ethiopia.
These fabric canvases are handmade by Brian, Emily and I. Yes, Brian crafted with me in between soccer games. Who would have thought? I guess having a baby brings all sort of surprises. I don't think I'll ever be able to get him to scrapbook though. We'll see, maybe one day he'll cross over to the dark side.
This last one was inspired by Michelle's necklace.
Notice the Ethiopian drum, Brian's favorite toy car, and the basket with both Brian and my first teddy bears. The giraffes are from (you guessed it)... Ethiopia.
Here are pictures showing the details of the shelves. The figurines and painted bowl are from Ethiopia. The amharic coke can was purchased online because all during the olympics we just kept getting Thai cans (thanks, Em and Mom cause I'm pretty sure she used your credit card...).
On this shelf again the figurine is from Ethiopia. The stringed platter is a Burundian instrument, and the elephant and giraffe are from (shhh, don't tell) Joanns. And yes the checker girl at Joanns told me she normally likes zebras but she didn't like this one cause its neck was so long. We had a good laugh at her expense. Who tells a customer that they think what they are purchasing is ugly anyway? Geesh.
Yes those are cheetah print sheets but it was a small enough amount that Brian allowed them into our son's room...The writing on the wall is 1 Samuel 1:27, "For this child I prayed and the Lord granted me what I asked." It is painted in Amharic. Emily and I did this on Friday night. At this point braggers might tell you it isn't as hard as it looks. Well, I'm all about being humble and truthful (ok so maybe me saying that reveals the truth :) ) so I will tell you it was in fact difficult. About 45 minutes into the logistics of it all I was beginning to question my own ability and whether or not my creative ideas are realistic. Luckily Emily kept reminding me it would look really cool when it was done. We worked through blood, sweat, and tears (ok maybe just sweat) and I am so glad we did.These pictures are authentic Ethiopian banana leaf art work. My Mom went to Ethiopia a couple weeks ago and brought back so much cool stuff for the nursery. Why was my Mom in Ethiopia you ask? Well getting things for my nursery was only a smaller side-mission (since she hates shopping more than ANYTHING), the real mission will be revealed in a future (soon) blog post.The mobile was a gift from Aunti Em. She bought it on her mission trip to Burundi in May. Brian thinks the birds are scary and will give our baby nightmares. I think the fact that it is hand-painted Burundian craftsmanship makes it awesome and it HAS to go in the nursery.This children's stool also made it back from Ethiopia.These fabric canvases are handmade by Brian, Emily and I. Yes, Brian crafted with me in between soccer games. Who would have thought? I guess having a baby brings all sort of surprises. I don't think I'll ever be able to get him to scrapbook though. We'll see, maybe one day he'll cross over to the dark side.This last one was inspired by Michelle's necklace.Notice the Ethiopian drum, Brian's favorite toy car, and the basket with both Brian and my first teddy bears. The giraffes are from (you guessed it)... Ethiopia.Here are pictures showing the details of the shelves. The figurines and painted bowl are from Ethiopia. The amharic coke can was purchased online because all during the olympics we just kept getting Thai cans (thanks, Em and Mom cause I'm pretty sure she used your credit card...).On this shelf again the figurine is from Ethiopia. The stringed platter is a Burundian instrument, and the elephant and giraffe are from (shhh, don't tell) Joanns. And yes the checker girl at Joanns told me she normally likes zebras but she didn't like this one cause its neck was so long. We had a good laugh at her expense. Who tells a customer that they think what they are purchasing is ugly anyway? Geesh. 
And here is the hard working crew after a frustrating turned fun night of painting Amharic on a nursery wall. And yes we had a milkshake break to keep us motivated.
So, in conclusion, I would like to once again thank the parents for the beautiful furniture, Mimi for all the awesome stuff from Ethiopia, Aunti Em for the birds that scare Brian and also for helping make our nursery...Kick A$$ and Awesome! Colorful, Ethiopian influenced, unique nursery...CHECK! Now all we need is our baby...
Friday, September 19, 2008
Congratulations!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
What's In A Name
Well as expected I have had many questions about baby Gossetts name. Brian and I had not picked a name as we were waiting to hear what his Ethiopian name was. Now that we have that information we have finally decided what to call our son. Yes, we will be incorporating his Ethiopian name. And, no, I can't tell you what his name will be. Not only can we not share his given name before he is legally ours but we have decided that until he is ours on paper we won't be sharing the name we have picked either. This was not an easy decision but I do respect the fact that Brian is wanting to be conservative with the information we share until we are certain that this little boy we already love is in fact baby Gossett. So - don't ask because I am a bad liar and I am not allowed to tell you! Hopefully December/January comes quickly!
Still Flying High
Well we are still thrilled and flying high! It has been hard to sleep and focus on other things since we are so excited to be parents. On Tuesday my Aunt Tammy came by the office to congratulate me.
Wednesday afternoon we received our referral packet. This is another (smaller) binder of paperwork to be filled out saying that we are officially accepting the referral of baby Gossett!
I started working on it right away! I want my paperwork there on the 29th when the courts open so no way am I going to waste time.
Today is a big day for us. We have a phone call to go over the referral packet with Christy. Then we have a phone call with the Family Education Coordinator to discuss a transition plan. Since just those phone calls won't get my paperwork to AGCI in record time we are also having our international pediatrician consultation today.
It is really nice to have something to do again - something that we can somewhat control to be able to speed the adoption along. And the greatest part - we now have a name and a face for motivation!
Wednesday afternoon we received our referral packet. This is another (smaller) binder of paperwork to be filled out saying that we are officially accepting the referral of baby Gossett!I started working on it right away! I want my paperwork there on the 29th when the courts open so no way am I going to waste time.Today is a big day for us. We have a phone call to go over the referral packet with Christy. Then we have a phone call with the Family Education Coordinator to discuss a transition plan. Since just those phone calls won't get my paperwork to AGCI in record time we are also having our international pediatrician consultation today.
It is really nice to have something to do again - something that we can somewhat control to be able to speed the adoption along. And the greatest part - we now have a name and a face for motivation!
Monday, September 15, 2008
SURPRISE - SPECIAL DELIVERY FROM ETHIOPIA!!
At 3:45 this afternoon I got an e-mail from Christy saying she would call me in the next half hour. As you may remember from my previous post Christy was having a conversation with Almaz about when we could expect our referral and said she would e-mail me today to let me know she was calling me about that conversation. Her e-mail said she wanted to discuss with me what Almaz had said.
As we hung up the phone with Christy in walked my Dad and brother. Then followed Grandma and Grandpa Gossett (as of TODAY!). We waited for Brian's sister who had a longer drive then the rest of us and then crowded into the bedroom to open the pictures. Here's what it looked like when we saw our son for the first time:
Almost every picture he has some goofy expression. I immediately thought of Brian and his expressiveness. He also has the wrinkly baby that looks like an old man look which made the rest of my family think of my brother Jake when he was a baby.
I always pictured today being so much more emotional than it has felt but I still think I'm in a state of shock. I have a feeling it won't be long before the shock and adrenaline are gone and the anticipation and joy of being a new Mom is all that is left.
I didn't want to be in the bank during her call so I left work right away giving myself time for the work errands before her call. Ten minutes later at a dead stop on the freeway I hear my Beautiful Boy ringtone. Here's how the conversation went:
A: Hi Christy
C: Hey Autumn you sound like you are in the car. Can you talk?
A: Yeah I knew you were calling so I'm all hooked up with the wireless stuff.
C: Oh good, ok. I wanted to let you know how my conversation with Almaz went.
A: Ok, good.
C: I have a referral for you.
A:What? Are you serious? You have a referral for us? You are going to make me crash!
C: Well maybe you should pull over. (I think she said that because that is what I responded to. If she didn't say that then I must have just sounded like a crazy person).
A: I'm stuck on the freeway. Um, ok. Wow. I need to call Brian. What time are you leaving the office?
C: 4:30.
A: Oh wow. Ok. Um, I will call him right now and call you back. Bye!
I always thought I would cry. I thought it would be a mad dash for the phone when I heard the ringtone. Instead I was expecting the call and anticipating a conversation talking about when we would get a referral. It didn't happen like I always imagined. Instead Christy had me completely faked out and I was so shocked I didn't even cry or yell or anything.
I called Brian who was on his way to the driving range with my youngest brother.
A: Are you ready to be a Dad today?
B: Am I ready to be a Dad today? (confused tone).
A: Yeah I just got off the phone with Christy and she has a referral for us. So get in the car and hurry up we only have a half hour to call her back.
B: Are you serious? Oh my gosh. Ok, Alex is going to be mad.
A: Just make him come with you. He'll get over it. This is more important.
B: Ok. ok.
(I am happy to report that in fact, Alex wasn't mad and said he is excited to be an uncle.) I then called my Mom, Dad, and sister. Then I called Brian to make sure he was calling his family. He asked me to call his sister and said he would call his Mom, Dad, and brother. We had a plan that our families would all come over to our house and be with us when we opened the pictures. My mom was the first to arrive. Then came Brian and my sister. As he walked in the door and I was nagging about having to call her back NOW Christy called again. It was 4:27. Whew!
We answered the call on speakerphone while my Mom and sister videotaped and took pictures. We were thrilled to hear all about our son. All the things we have been anxiously waiting to hear - his name, his age, his history. We got to hear it all this afternoon.
As we hung up the phone with Christy in walked my Dad and brother. Then followed Grandma and Grandpa Gossett (as of TODAY!). We waited for Brian's sister who had a longer drive then the rest of us and then crowded into the bedroom to open the pictures. Here's what it looked like when we saw our son for the first time:Almost every picture he has some goofy expression. I immediately thought of Brian and his expressiveness. He also has the wrinkly baby that looks like an old man look which made the rest of my family think of my brother Jake when he was a baby.We all loved looking at the pictures together and being able to put a face and name to the little boy who has been in our hearts for so many months.
We then celebrated with a toast and dinner!
I always pictured today being so much more emotional than it has felt but I still think I'm in a state of shock. I have a feeling it won't be long before the shock and adrenaline are gone and the anticipation and joy of being a new Mom is all that is left.Brian's Thoughts: While Autumn has done such an incredible job describing today's events as she has done all along with the blog, I am excited to share my thoughts on this incredible moment. We had anticipated this day for so long and gone week after week thinking, "Oh it will be this day or that day," that by the time we got the call today it was so out of the blue it was almost like we were going into labor 2 weeks sooner than expected. After I had received the call from Autumn and learned the day had finally arrived that we'd see our son for the first time I had to drive about twenty very nervous minutes to meet up with her it almost felt as if I was driving to the hospital where my wife was giving birth. As our son's history and physical were being relayed to us over the phone I couldn't help but smile the entire time. I too thought I'd be more emotional than I was. I did have to fight off a tear when it was explained what his name meant (to be revealed at a later time). He truly is a gift from God! It was great to share this moment with our family. It was so fun showing both sets of grandparents the new addition to our family. What a moment of excitement that is still making my head spin and heart pound! I am so anxious for the next step, the step of holding him in my arms - then I will really feel like daddy.
We aren't able to share any information about our son until we have passed courts and he is legally ours. This includes name and photos. We will be able to share this information with all of you when we travel (most likely, December or January).
Friday, September 12, 2008
These Are a Few of My NEW Favorite Things...
Well not really. I got these things for my birthday three months ago but my blog is getting boring so I was desperate!
This first item is from TOMS Shoes. It's a FEED Project bag. The purchase of this bag provided meals for a child for an entire school year. I thought it was super cute and asked for it for a birthday present. I also was thinking it was a small tote. Nope, it's HUGE. I think it will be a perfect carry on bag though.
This necklace says Expecting From Africa. I LOVE it. This too was a birthday present. I ordered this from Etsy: Junk Posse. On the back I had a verse written: 1 Samuel 1:27-28. "For this child I prayed, and the Lord has given me what I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord." I chose this verse because I am confident that this period of "expecting" will end with the child who we have been praying for.
One fun conversation about this necklace happened when I was at the printing shop getting new stationary for work. The lady looked closely at my necklace and said "Expecting from Africa, what does that mean? Is this some new organization I haven't heard of?" I said, "No, it means we are expecting a baby from Africa." Blank stare. "We're adopting." Lightbulb moment. "Oh, wow!" What followed was a game of 20 questions. What country? Why? Boy or girl? Why? What age? Why? What agency? What countries does your agency work with? Is this your first? How much longer? Why?
I was caught off guard because this complete stranger was hands down the person who expressed the most outward excitment and curiousity about our adoption. Then came the part every adoptive parent will inwardly cringe at - "I always considered adoption. I mean I got married when I was 40 so I always thought I would have to adopt but then I got pregnant." Are you serious? Adoption is not a PLAN B. Some people just don't think about what they are saying do they? At least this lady wasn't thinking about what she was saying because she was so overwhelmed by excitment for me so that made it a little easier to smile and keep quiet. She told me what we were doing was so wonderful and our child would be so lucky. I responded with "we are the ones who are blessed." Yep, I've been practicing that one since our parenting classes! As I was leaving she said she was so happy for me and she was going to look into adoption again. I hope she does.
Even though things have been a little sad on the adoption front lately, I really do believe that we are the ones who are blessed in this process. Even though we don't have our baby yet I honestly can't imagine a more exciting and wonderful experience than adoption. I think everyone should consider it!!
This first item is from TOMS Shoes. It's a FEED Project bag. The purchase of this bag provided meals for a child for an entire school year. I thought it was super cute and asked for it for a birthday present. I also was thinking it was a small tote. Nope, it's HUGE. I think it will be a perfect carry on bag though.This necklace says Expecting From Africa. I LOVE it. This too was a birthday present. I ordered this from Etsy: Junk Posse. On the back I had a verse written: 1 Samuel 1:27-28. "For this child I prayed, and the Lord has given me what I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord." I chose this verse because I am confident that this period of "expecting" will end with the child who we have been praying for.One fun conversation about this necklace happened when I was at the printing shop getting new stationary for work. The lady looked closely at my necklace and said "Expecting from Africa, what does that mean? Is this some new organization I haven't heard of?" I said, "No, it means we are expecting a baby from Africa." Blank stare. "We're adopting." Lightbulb moment. "Oh, wow!" What followed was a game of 20 questions. What country? Why? Boy or girl? Why? What age? Why? What agency? What countries does your agency work with? Is this your first? How much longer? Why?
I was caught off guard because this complete stranger was hands down the person who expressed the most outward excitment and curiousity about our adoption. Then came the part every adoptive parent will inwardly cringe at - "I always considered adoption. I mean I got married when I was 40 so I always thought I would have to adopt but then I got pregnant." Are you serious? Adoption is not a PLAN B. Some people just don't think about what they are saying do they? At least this lady wasn't thinking about what she was saying because she was so overwhelmed by excitment for me so that made it a little easier to smile and keep quiet. She told me what we were doing was so wonderful and our child would be so lucky. I responded with "we are the ones who are blessed." Yep, I've been practicing that one since our parenting classes! As I was leaving she said she was so happy for me and she was going to look into adoption again. I hope she does.
Even though things have been a little sad on the adoption front lately, I really do believe that we are the ones who are blessed in this process. Even though we don't have our baby yet I honestly can't imagine a more exciting and wonderful experience than adoption. I think everyone should consider it!!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
It's Official
We got our call and are officially #
I was told what to expect when we receive our referral and briefly walked through what paperwork will need to be completed. Christy explained that there has been little movement on the boy's list and that she was sorry it was taking so long. We first heard from Shannon that we were unofficially #1 almost exactly 2 months ago. Wow. Sometimes it feels like we have been on this wait list our whole lives; other times it feels like the last two months went fairly quickly all things (like backtracking) considered. I had a tough question for Christy. I asked her if we were going to get a referral in our 6 month time frame (Oct 8th). She explained that she had no idea and that the only person who really has any information as to the status of paperwork and referrals is Almaz. I was reminded that the timelines are guidelines not guarantees. Not what I wanted to hear. I did find out a little more about the referral process which helped. I feel like the more I know the more understanding of this process I am. In some cases AGCI has to wait for the courts to send paperwork before they can make referrals, in other cases they are waiting on things like a birthparent signature, or something else that could still come during the court closure. Each child's case and paperwork are a little bit different. I really pressed Christy hard about the 6 month thing. I explained that I was very disappointed in the level of communication and if you have good reason to believe it is going to be 7 months or 8 months please tell me. She again reiterated that Almaz was the only one who could answer this question. Christy said Almaz would be meeting with them on September 12th and she would add to the agenda my question about the status of referrals. Christy then agreed to call me early the week of the 15th to let me know what was said. I asked her to please e-mail me instead so I know the next time I see her name on my phone I can get excited because it is the call. So basically, we should hear the middle of September if we can expect a referral by the beginning of October or if it will be 7+ months waiting for our referral. I am VERY grateful Christy is going to ask Almaz specifically about our referral and try to get a better idea of a timeframe for us, but this "no guarantee, it's just a guideline" was still not what I was hoping to hear today. I know I was dreaming but I was really hoping for an "absolutely, I will call you for sure in the next month." Apparently Brian and I still need this wait list in our lives so we can work on our patience. Luckily God knows exactly how much we can take before bottoming out.
I was told what to expect when we receive our referral and briefly walked through what paperwork will need to be completed. Christy explained that there has been little movement on the boy's list and that she was sorry it was taking so long. We first heard from Shannon that we were unofficially #1 almost exactly 2 months ago. Wow. Sometimes it feels like we have been on this wait list our whole lives; other times it feels like the last two months went fairly quickly all things (like backtracking) considered. I had a tough question for Christy. I asked her if we were going to get a referral in our 6 month time frame (Oct 8th). She explained that she had no idea and that the only person who really has any information as to the status of paperwork and referrals is Almaz. I was reminded that the timelines are guidelines not guarantees. Not what I wanted to hear. I did find out a little more about the referral process which helped. I feel like the more I know the more understanding of this process I am. In some cases AGCI has to wait for the courts to send paperwork before they can make referrals, in other cases they are waiting on things like a birthparent signature, or something else that could still come during the court closure. Each child's case and paperwork are a little bit different. I really pressed Christy hard about the 6 month thing. I explained that I was very disappointed in the level of communication and if you have good reason to believe it is going to be 7 months or 8 months please tell me. She again reiterated that Almaz was the only one who could answer this question. Christy said Almaz would be meeting with them on September 12th and she would add to the agenda my question about the status of referrals. Christy then agreed to call me early the week of the 15th to let me know what was said. I asked her to please e-mail me instead so I know the next time I see her name on my phone I can get excited because it is the call. So basically, we should hear the middle of September if we can expect a referral by the beginning of October or if it will be 7+ months waiting for our referral. I am VERY grateful Christy is going to ask Almaz specifically about our referral and try to get a better idea of a timeframe for us, but this "no guarantee, it's just a guideline" was still not what I was hoping to hear today. I know I was dreaming but I was really hoping for an "absolutely, I will call you for sure in the next month." Apparently Brian and I still need this wait list in our lives so we can work on our patience. Luckily God knows exactly how much we can take before bottoming out.Tuesday, September 2, 2008
An Ode to Brian
Thanks for all your encouraging words in response to my latest downer of a post. This procress really has been an emotional roller coaster ride.
We had a great weekend. We got so much work done on the nursery. It was really fun and both Brian and I ended the long weekend with much excitement and anticipation! We are very close to being "blog picture" ready.
I didn't post these stories because I thought maybe it was better to keep these memories private. After thinking it over for a couple months I have chnaged my mind. #1 because Brian doesn't even read "our blog" and #2 because it gives you a glimpse into Brian's personality (the invisible other on our blog) and helps you see why I love him.
Brian's birthday is the end of July. I was asking him what he wanted to do to celebrate turning 29. His reply came in the form of a very serious tone and huge grin "Paint my boy's room!" I thought that was really cute. We didn't quite get it done for his birthday but it is done.
A week or so after this conversation Brian and I were in the car. We were talking about the schedule for our upcoming weekend. Brian coaches 8th and 9th grade boys on a competitive club soccer team. They have tournaments all the time. I was going to this particular tournament. The conversation that followed went something like this:
B: I am so glad you are going this weekend. I know it isn't the most fun thing for you but I appreciate it. I can't wait until you can bring our son with us. I can show him off to everybody and tell them that he is my son.
A: Yeah that will be really fun.
B: We can get him a little soccer ball and during half time he can run on the field and kick the ball around like the big kids.
A: Silent and smiling.
B: No, seriously Autumn, when he comes running toward me with his arms stretched out calling me "Daddy" how I am supposed to NOT cry?
A: (chuckling) Well, I guess you better prepare yourself to be crying for pretty much the rest of your life.
I feel like you all probably know me pretty well by now with all my posts. Now you have a glimpse into Brian's personality and why I am so excited for him to be a Dad! So, Brian, if you happen to read your own blog, thank you for all your hard work on the nursery. You are going to be a great Dad and I am really excited to be able to see you cry every day for the rest of our lives. I love you.
We had a great weekend. We got so much work done on the nursery. It was really fun and both Brian and I ended the long weekend with much excitement and anticipation! We are very close to being "blog picture" ready.
I didn't post these stories because I thought maybe it was better to keep these memories private. After thinking it over for a couple months I have chnaged my mind. #1 because Brian doesn't even read "our blog" and #2 because it gives you a glimpse into Brian's personality (the invisible other on our blog) and helps you see why I love him.
Brian's birthday is the end of July. I was asking him what he wanted to do to celebrate turning 29. His reply came in the form of a very serious tone and huge grin "Paint my boy's room!" I thought that was really cute. We didn't quite get it done for his birthday but it is done.A week or so after this conversation Brian and I were in the car. We were talking about the schedule for our upcoming weekend. Brian coaches 8th and 9th grade boys on a competitive club soccer team. They have tournaments all the time. I was going to this particular tournament. The conversation that followed went something like this:
B: I am so glad you are going this weekend. I know it isn't the most fun thing for you but I appreciate it. I can't wait until you can bring our son with us. I can show him off to everybody and tell them that he is my son.
A: Yeah that will be really fun.
B: We can get him a little soccer ball and during half time he can run on the field and kick the ball around like the big kids.
A: Silent and smiling.
B: No, seriously Autumn, when he comes running toward me with his arms stretched out calling me "Daddy" how I am supposed to NOT cry?
A: (chuckling) Well, I guess you better prepare yourself to be crying for pretty much the rest of your life.
I feel like you all probably know me pretty well by now with all my posts. Now you have a glimpse into Brian's personality and why I am so excited for him to be a Dad! So, Brian, if you happen to read your own blog, thank you for all your hard work on the nursery. You are going to be a great Dad and I am really excited to be able to see you cry every day for the rest of our lives. I love you.
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