EMBASSY INTERVIEW!

I have been invited to embassy for my interview this morning (Wed)!  The appointment is at 9am!

I am up and running to the shower, in hopes of getting a shower and even getting my hair dried before peanut wakes up ~ rare occasion but will feel like I am pampering myself if the plan works! {smile}

Please continue to pray that all goes well at the appointment and that they agree to grant me Kaleab's visa by tomorrow so we can keep our Thursday night departure tickets!

Did I just say tomorrow!?!?!?!?!?  Is this really happening!?!?!?!?!?

It has been SUCH a loooooong road to bringing Kaleab HOME!!!!!  Praising God for finalizing this with these last steps!!!!!

On the bitter side of this sweet news, I told Big Brother we would be leaving Thursday, and I have never seen the life be sucked out of someone's face so fast.  We cried and prayed together.  This is going to be one difficult departure!  No child or parent should have to endure this!  ONE trip should be all it takes!  THANK YOU for covering Big Brother in your prayers..............until he is HOME with us too!!!!

SO IN LOVE WITH OUR TWO BOYS!

WE CLEARED EMBASSY!!!

You heard me right!  WE CLEARED EMBASSY TODAY!!!!

PRAISING GOD!!!  And pinching myself every now and again to see if this really is REAL!!!!  I am feeling so ELATED!!!  I read and re-read the email from embassy many times before it actually sunk in as true!!!!

The birth mom showed up and embassy said, "the interview went smoothly....and we are ready to proceed with a visa interview."

YUP!  You got it!  We cleared embassy with the birth mom interview and the next step is to get my interview scheduled, which we are hoping is tomorrow or the next day!!!!!!  Kaleab's visa should be produced within 1-2 days following my appointment!

Cannot seem to feel like I have THANKED GOD ENOUGH!!!!  Feeling so BLESSED and not sure how to express my gratitude to our Loving Heavenly Father!!!!  So glad He knows my heart and what words I lift to Him communicate what my heart is feeling! He knows!!!!  THANK YOU, JESUS!!!

Know what all this means!?!?!?!?!?..............

Kaleab and I should be on a plane toward HOME Thursday (or possibly Friday)!!!!!

We honestly cannot THANK YOU ENOUGH for your persistent prayers!!!!  They have so lifted me, carried me and are helping to bring us HOME!!!!!  Each of you have been such an integral part of this journey to our boys!!!!  Thank You!!!  Thank You!!!  THANK YOU!!!!!

Hoping you will continue to pray us home as well as pray for Big Brother as we approach the day of "See ya soon."  While very excited to be getting home, I just can't imagine leaving a son behind.  Again.  May God fill him with His divine peace and joy and may He fill S with a divine confidence in Christ's love for him as well as a divine confidence in our love (his mom and dad) for him!!!!!

Blessings to each and every one of you!  May you feel God's love and see His great works in some form of your day today!!!!

Tomorrow!

When I stop striving to create a life for myself, I find the life God creates for me. 
~ Rachel Olsen (Proverbs 31 Ministries)


When my plans were interrupted with embassy mess-ups, I freaked.  But once I was able to let go of how I thought things should go, God provided me the life He created for me these past weeks.  And I will be forever grateful.


LOVE what GOD is showing me amidst my time here in Ethiopia.  A love unending.  A grace awe-inspiring.  A peace beyond my wildest imagination.  A bonding with my boys that will carry us a lifetime.


Thank you, Lord.  For meeting me right where I am.  For providing me just what I need.


My prayer is that amongst these aforementioned blessings, you are orchestrating every detail that needs attention to bring us embassy clearance TOMORROW (very early Monday morning in US).  My mind tries to cover the details, so I that I can ask for your assistance at every detail in my prayers.  I can drive myself crazy with this.  Only YOU know what hearts need to be touched.  Only YOU know how to protect Kaleab's birthmother's travels.  Only YOU know every detail and how to cover them.  And so, I lay it all at your feet and ask you.........PLEASE!  BRING US EMBASSY CLEARANCE TOMORROW!  And may you grant me my embassy interview Monday afternoon or early Tuesday, Lord.  Thank you for covering this.  For covering me and our boys.     AMEN.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!

Today, in America, it is Jeff's birthday.

He is home and the three of us are in Ethiopia.  Doesn't sound like much of a birthday present, does it!?!?

But what a precious birthday it is!  Jeff is a Daddy!  He has a beautiful 11 month old baby boy and an amazing and precious 11 year old son!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!

We miss you and love you and can't wait to be with you again!  Praying that is SOON!!!

Honey, know that you are already an amazing Dad.  To both our boys!  There is something about watching you with either one ~ or both ~ of our boys that just melts my heart.  You love them in such a beautiful way.  You love me in such an amazing way!  It is YOUR birthday, yet I feel like WE are the ones who are blessed!!!!  Thank you for praying us home.  Thank you for fighting the good fight.  Thank you for helping to keep GOD the center of this family and this adoption.  Thank you for being YOU!

Know that I desire to seek God in every way to help me be the loving, Christian wife and mother He created me to be.  For you and for our boys.  I want to be all you deserve and more.  Every day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY LOVE!!!!

{May it be just a matter of days before we are with you again!  Lord, please show up BIG Monday!  Please!}

THE PRAYERS ARE WORKING!!!

Everyone's prayers are working!!!! 


I cannot believe today is Friday!!! God has SO sustained me EACH and EVERY day of these weeks! What I have experienced is a true miracle!!!!  I literally felt as though I could not even stand, say nothing about parenting our baby and bonding with our older son!  I couldn't imagine getting Kaleab ready by 9am and being gone each day until 5pm ~ visiting Big Brother and lunch in between....


...But I have experienced God empowering me and literally carrying me on His path!  I have been able to dive into each day and enjoy it for what it brings me, and {try to} not worry about the future!


He has blessed our days with wonderful play with Big Brother (BB) and the bond forming between me and BB and our two sons is beautiful!!!  Some of you commented that maybe my time here was to deepen BB's understanding of our love for him and that just might be one of the great things that comes from this extended stay!   Our driver commented yesterday how BB's face lights up when he sees us!


God has also blessed me with a solid understanding that it is not me and my independent self, nor is it even my dear and loving husband in whom I am to need.  It is my Heavenly Father.  God is ALL I need!  He removed Jeff and any ability I may have to take care of our court and embassy dates, and He left me here.  Alone.  With GOD as my only protector and provider.  The Lover of my soul.


And, indeed, He HAS protected, provided and loved.  Not just me, but Jeff in the US, and each one of our boys as well!  It has been beautiful!!!


After one week here without Jeff, I heard of our embassy fiasco, and learned that they gave her an embassy date almost two weeks away!  Seriously, I crumbled!  I couldn't imagine how I would ever face two more WEEKS here without Jeff!  And now, the weekend is approaching us with the birth mom interview around the corner on MONDAY! 


Please continue to PRAY THAT ALL GOES WELL ON MONDAY!!!! 


It is difficult to want to be HOME so BADLY! Yet, not want to say "see ya soon" to Big brother!!!!  Such a dichotomy of feelings!


Poor Kaleab......I am not doing much of anything we learned in Karyn Purvis training, in the sense of cocooning and staying home for multiple weeks, anyway. This little boy falls asleep in the van and wakes up at some new restaurant every.single.day!  Poor guy! He is handling it awesome though! 


Well, he was until he got sick anyway.   He is on antibiotics for an ear infection and upper respiratory infection.  He vomitted up the medicine this morning, so I am not sure how much of it he got.  Could explain his fussiness today.  Aaaahhhhh, but BB was a great medicine.  He got Kaleab smiling and giggling and forgetting for a while that he was so sick.


IN LOVE WITH OUR BOYS!!!!! As hard as this has been, I mean it when I say they are SO WORTH IT!!!!! 


Now, as much beauty as I can see that is coming from this extended stay, my body is tired and I am more than ready to try to parent our baby in the luxuries of America.  PLEASE PRAY that God is going before us, paving the way for us to be cleared by embassy this MONDAY, January 30!!!!!  No more mess-ups, Lord, PLEASE!!!!  Not because our family deserves it, just because of your grace and mercy on us.  Please, Lord, Please!!!!  Let Monday be OUR day!!!!


If we are cleared, most likely my embassy interview will be Tuesday and it will then take two days to get Kaleab's visa.  We should be on a plane to HOME next Thursday, February 2nd!  All depending on how embassy goes!  May God be moving the embassy employee's heart already in favor of victory for our family!!!!!

Thanks to each and every one of you.  

You have been God's hands and feet to ME!!!  

And I have been truly BLESSED!!!

KALEAB IS 11 MONTHS TODAY

HAPPY 11 MONTH BIRTHAY, SWEET BABY KALEAB!

As HARD as these past four weeks have been ~ okay the past two weeks, because Daddy was with us the first two weeks! ~ I have to say that I am SO VERY THANKFUL that I don't have to say that I have missed ANOTHER month of Kaleab's life!

I am sad that he is already 11 months old.  But on the same note, I am SO VERY THANKFUL that he is healthy and is on target with his developmental milestones!  THANK YOU, GOD, that our baby is healthy !!!!  And yes, he is growing!  I swear he has gained a couple pounds in the month he has been in our care at the Guest House!  Either that, or my arm is getting tired.  Ha!

Our sweet baby has just not been himself the past four days or so.  On Monday I took him to the kind doctor at the Transition House (where he lived before we got to bring him into our care) and she put hydrogen peroxide in his little ears and a saline solution up his nose, and asked me to bring him back today.  Which I did.

He is now on antibiotics.  His ear infection is full blown in his right ear. His poor nose expels the yucky green stuff we are all familiar with.  He is pretty fussy all day and just doesn't want to be let down.  Ever.  Can you blame him?

I sure don't mind holding my baby all day long!  Just wish he felt better.

On another note, I had to say good-bye to Katie Reaser, a sweet fellow AWAA adoptive mama who has been here with me.  THANK GOD they were finally cleared to take their sick baby girl HOME to Kansas yesterday!  I also had to say farewell to the Coulombe family.  They were here for Court for their 6 yr old daughter (they passed!), and return home tonight.  We visited our children together these past few days and have really developed a sweet bond with one another.  {LOVE how adoption families have an instant connection!}

Big Brother watched this last visit with their daughter, and like other times that people have had to depart after court or come to take their children home..........I've watched it stir emotions in our sweet son.  He has such a tender and loving heart!  He was asking who was leaving today.  He wanted to know specifically if their daughter was leaving with them.  I'm not sure if the fact that she was staying was a good thing or a bad thing in his little mind.

It provided me another opportunity to remind him of how excited we are to return to ET to bring him HOME!!!!  To remind him that we WILL be returning!  And that Mom and Kaleab will still be here to visit him daily for at least another week {this brought a smile to his stressed face}.

It also provided me further insight into how HARD our own personal departure is going to be!  I SO LOVE THIS BOY and I DO NOT want to leave him here!  Yet, I cannot stay another 2-3 months!  Oh, the tugging of my heart!  Such a dichotomy of feelings.  A grave dreadfulness of saying "see ya soon" to our oldest son, along with a strong desire to be HOME ~ in America, with Jeff, starting the transition with Kaleab, while also finishing Big Brother's room, finding the best school for him, etc.

Ufdah.  Emotions all over the board.  Think I'm gonna go FaceTime my hubby.  That always lifts me up....

DID NOT PASS COURT FOR BIG BROTHER

Shouldn't be surprised. 


Yet I am. 


Ppwk discrepancy wasn't corrected over these past THREE weeks....orphanage not feeling too rushed to correct it....so NO mowcya letter!!!!!! Email from Kristen said we will NOT PASS today. Heartbroken. 


"S" and I prayed over this together yesterday.  Dreading having to tell him "No, not this time.  Again."  Pray I can present it in a positive way.  I don't want his little heart feeling the devastation mine is.


THANK YOU for continued prayers. Some days I just have no words. :(

NO GO.

Our agency showed up at the US Embassy yesterday with the birth mom WITH her identification, and the embassy turned them away!  They told them to come back January 30th!!!  They would not take the 3-5 minutes to interview her and clear this case!  Can you even believe this!  The US Embassy is suppose to be our advocate!

They know that I am still in country.  They know how FAR away Kaleab's birthmother lives from Addis.  And still, they turned her away and told her to come back in almost two weeks!  This girl is trying to go to school!  And I am trying to get HOME!!!!

And here I sit.  Yes, I am grateful to be with our boys.  But it does not remove for me the strong desire to be HOME!  I dread saying "See ya soon" to Big Brother, but baby Kaleab NEEDS to be HOME where we aren't leaving by 9am every day and not returning until 5pm every evening {we go visit Big Brother}. Kaleab needs a regular routine, constant surroundings and one-on-on attention from his mommy and daddy to help the bonding process!

I do praise God for the bonding that is occurring with BOTH boys!

I am just READY to be HOME!  Three weeks is long enough!  And now there is TWO more weeks {minimum} ahead of me!  Oh, may God uplift me and strengthen me to endure this!

I can only think that God has AMAZING plans for our boys! Otherwise, the enemy wouldn't be trying SO HARD to fight us bringing them home!

Please join us in praying for:
1.  Big Brother's second Court Date ~ Jan 24th
2.  Kaleab's birth mom shows on Jan 30th and we are CLEARED!
3.  For my heart and spirit.  I am in the middle of a HUGE spiritual battle and I want to feel God's presence.

Love to each of you!

EMBASSY MIX-UP!

WOW.  WHAT.A.DAY!

The birthparent embassy interview was scheduled for today.  I re-met the birth mom and sister today.  Twice.  That is another story in itself.  However, knowing that they were HERE in Addis Ababa built my encouragement that this stage of the adoption just might go without a hitch!

Wrong.

I came back to the Guest House to an email from US embassy stating that our agency failed to bring the birth mom to her interview because she lost her identification.  Turns out, there was a miscommunication, as US Embassy never communicated to AWAA that they could bring her without her ID!

Ugh!

Our agency requested a reschedule for tomorrow or Monday (embassy is closed again for another holiday Thurs afternoon and all Friday).  This request was denied.  The final email stated that the interview would be rescheduled for JANUARY 30th!!!  TWO MORE WEEKS AWAY!!!!!

I will be honest.  I threw a huge crying fit.  I questioned why God would allow every.single.stage.of.this.adoption. to be difficult and prolonged.  I questioned where God was in this.  I questioned "why are you forgetting me!?"

I was in a bad place.

Amidst my "fit" God was busy carrying out His plan.  An hour after I talked with in-country staff and Jeff spoke with our coordinator State Side, I received an amazing phone call.

The in-country embassy rep was calling me to tell me that AWAA had made arrangements to obtain the birth mom's identification by tomorrow morning.  He then proceeded to tell me that there was another family from another agency that could not make their appointment and that our birthparent interview was going to be TOMORROW!!!!  I was floored.  Shocked.  So much so that I asked Muli to repeat himself, and still asked for clarification like three more times!

I am cautiously hopeful that this interview will actually take place TOMORROW instead of two weeks from now!!!  I am not confident if this interview slot is "stand by" or a real slot.  I think I am letting my doubt and fear sneak in.

Either way.  My understanding is that God is pulling off a HUGE ~ HUGE ~ HUGE! miracle tomorrow!

I feel like I am always asking for prayer, but I am confident it is these prayers that God is hearing!  Please join us in praying for this interview to happen!  And for our family to receive embassy CLEARANCE tomorrow!  What a BLESSING in itself!  But to happen after being told it wouldn't for another couple of WEEKS..........this is nothing short of a GOD MIRACLE!!!!!

Praising Him as I lay my head on my pillow tonight.

Thanking Him for each of our family and friends who are praying for us!  And thanking Him for hearing all of our prayers and blessing our family with His miracle!

I will keep you posted as to whether this interview occurs and if we clear!!!!!

Day 1 - Trip 2

WOOHOO!  FINALLY!  Access to blogs!  I have been unable to get on my blog (or any others for that matter) since arriving here in Ethiopia!  For some reason today it is working.  I will begin posting about our time here day-by-day.  Before I start the first post, I must fill you in.

WE ARE IN LOVE WITH OUR BOYS!!!!  We feel SO incredibly BLESSED by these two precious souls!  God sure has blessed us beyond our wildest imaginations!!!  THANK YOU, JESUS!!!

Please keep us in your prayers:

1.  We did not pass court for Big Brother on Jan 3rd.  Paperwork issues.  Pray we pass Jan 24th!

2.  Kaleab's birthmom is scheduled for an interview with embassy THIS WED (Jan 18th)!  Please PRAY that all goes well with that so that we CLEAR EMBASSY for Kaleab!!!

3.  Jeff was here for almost two weeks, but had to leave us here in ET on Jan 12th.  Please pray for him as he is away from his family and for the three of us half-way around the world!  "Single parenting" in a third world country is definitely breaking me into parenthood at high speed!  God is good, and we feel covered in prayers!

I will keep you updated!  THANK YOU for your continued encouragement, support and prayers!!!!

This first post was written in the air on the way to our boys......................

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Daddy and I are in the air!  Flying to you.  OUR SONS!!! 

Connie, Rick and Emily were kind enough to take us to the airport yesterday (Wed, December 28^th)~ THANKS, guys!  We had a beautiful reminder of God’s presence covering our family story and our travels to you, by learning that United was going to WAIVE the $400 fee for the two extra bins we were taking!!!!  A surprise that moved your hormonal and emotional mama to tears!  THANK YOU, LORD!!!!

We left Boise and arrived in Denver for a couple hour layover.  We enjoyed talking with family and friends during this time, which helped this layover fly by.  And “S,” Daddy downloaded the Angry Birds game onto his iPad and my iTouch for you to play.  Let’s just say we tried out the game we are ADDICTED!!!  {chuckle}

We landed in Washington DC last night about 11pm.  Daddy convinced me to tried to stay awake through the night, in hopes that it would help us sleep on the L-O-N-G (13 hour) plane ride today.  We walked to a pub/grill, but it was SO smokey we just couldn’t muster walking in.  So, instead, we walked to a 7 Eleven, got ourselves some snacks and a cappuccino and took it back to our room in Embassy Suites.

It was a pretty hotel.  Even has two swans swimming in this pond/nature area!

Well, we lasted until about 2:30am.  We went to bed and got a highly restless 3 hours of sleep, if you can call it that!  I was so beyond excited knowing that we were ON OUR WAY TO YOU BOTH, that I could hardly stand myself, say nothing about staying calm and quiet to sleep!   {smile}

And here we are.  Eleven hours into our flight.  It has been a long one.  Just can’t seem to tell my brain to shut down.  Nor do I WANT to stop thinking of being together the FOUR of us!  The way it has been meant to be from the beginning!

Daddy and I have learned how to count to 10 in Amharic.  I have reviewed some of my flashcards of other Amharic words ~ don’t quiz me, though!  Ha!  I keep staring at your faces via pictures on my laptop!!!!  Next time I look into your faces it will be IN PERSON!!!!  AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I wonder.  Kaleab, will you remember us?  How will you react when they place you in our arms again?  It has been a LONG  five months since we last held you sweet K.  My heart aches and my arms yearn to hold you!  But will it be a sweet reunion like it was on our first visit for Court?  What will you think when we take you with us to the Guest House?  How will you react when you realize that you are staying with US that night?  Regardless.  Easy or hard.  WE LOVE YOU!!!!  And we have been praying that God would gift us with the insight to what it is you need at every moment, sweet baby.

“S”…..we hope that AWAA has told you of our soon arrival!  We often talk of what it is you must be thinking.   And feeling.   We hope that pure JOY covers any fears you may have about leaving Ethiopia.  Daddy and I cannot WAIT to give you a great big hug!  OUR SON!!! 

Honey, we so KNOW that God orchestrated having you stand out to me so obviously as I was surrounded by so many children at your orphanage!  And now, as we are blessed to share time together as a family, I pray that God covers every single moment.  I pray that we can communicate to you how very MUCH you are already loved!  We can’t wait to have fun and play games with you!   We want to see where you live.  Where you sleep.  Where you eat.  Where you go to school.  We want to soak in all that we can about you!!!

My heart aches at the thought of having to say “see ya soon” to another son.  To you, “S.”  I pray and pray that God will let me leave the sad anticipation for such a time as that, and be able to just focus on every moment we have with you!  Who knows!  Maybe God will create a miracle that allows us to PASS Court on Monday and expedite your Embassy clearance so we can ALL FOUR COME HOME TOGETHER!!!  Excited to see what God has in store!  Whatever it is, I pray that God prepares your  ~ and our~ hearts for it.  Either way.

Well, babes, I cannot believe how CLOSE we are to being with you!!!! I wish I could just click my heels together and be there, sweep you both up in our arms and click our heels to bring you immediately HOME!

It has been a long journey, Yes.  And each one of you are more than worth it!  Daddy and I are both listening to our Christian music these last few hours of the flight.  Basking in His glorious story of our FAMILY.  Reveling in His miracles.  Praising Him for the TWO OF YOU!!!!!

Oh, how FULL my heart will feel to have you in our arms.  TOGETHER!!!!

Betta Seb!  Zeh-lah-lum!!!

Family Forever!!!!