Mid Summer Happenings

We spent a week on the vineyard.  Martha's Vineyard has always been one of my favorite places in the world.  But then everyone discovered it....and crowds are not my thing!  This year we went a month earlier than usual because of college and high school schedules and you know what...It was quiet, again.  No crowds.  So the kids walked to the beach, swam, surfed, went fishing, slept late, ate ice cream, watched bi-planes and gliders take off and land, played games, rode the carousel, got tattoos,  went to Vineyard Sound, got chocolate from Chilmark Chocolates, met up with summer friends, and planned for next summer when our new little guy would be home.  What a gift it was to withdrawal from the chaos and enjoy the fact that we have seen his face and that CHI was working so hard so that we could then get to the next step of the process.  Feel so blessed.

Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy

So this time our referral had a completely different feel.  Remembering back to Bella's referral.  It had all the elements of a good story.  Jason had gone out with a few friends for a guys dinner.  I was home making dinner for the kids.  For some reason Jeff (Jason's partner and good friend) picked him up instead of Jason driving.  Odd, because they really don't do that often...they must have been discussing a case.  At around 6 Jason calls and says...why aren't you answering your cell phone?  Uhhh, you got me on the house phone, so why does it matter?  Well, Jessica has been trying to call you.  WHAT????  Then Jason gets Jeff to drive him home, we open an email, and get to know our daughter.  By the next morning we were madly in love.
Flash forward to this adoption.  The details are not so dramatic but same dramatic effect.   We saw a little boy on a wait list.  Actually, we saw two little boys on a wait list.  Both so very sweet.  Both would be a blessing to any family.  Different stories, and yet kind of the same...they both have been waiting for a family for a long time, their whole life.  So how do you decide between perfect for our family and perfect for our family?  So we talked to the administrator, and then the director who has met them to see if we would be a better family for one of them...youngest of five vs only and oldest.  (I will do a long post on the people of YWAM, and how much we love them.  How much they inspire us.  Have I mentioned that they have sent us several hand written notes just letting us know that they are thinking about and praying for us?)  No way to tell.  After Jason's initial, "Okay, let's adopt both," (not an option, not allowed by our agency),  we prayed.  That's the beautiful thing about prayer and faith.  The answer came.  Almost immediately.  While we still cared for the other sweet little boy, and could have loved him or any other child as our own, it was clear which one was ours.  We were matched and then waited briefly for our official referral.  The call from our case worker was unexpected, but not because we did not know it was coming or what child would be on the paperwork.  It was unexpected because we knew she would be flying outside of the country.  There was nothing new in his information that we did not know.  There were a couple new pictures.  Oh yeah, that email came at 1:30 am.  And I have not figured out how to open zip files...so I could only open the "non-zip" files which thankfully were the really important ones.  So there was no cell phone battery dying.  No race home to get the email.  And no falling in love...we were already there!

For this child, I prayed... 1 Samuel 1:27

Continuation of switching agencies

  Remember back when we switched from Gladney.  We really were tortured by the decision to not go with Gladney.  We made a call to an agency that we had heard great things about, Children's House International-CHI (not to be confused with Children's Hope) and specifically the YWAM program within CHI.  This time we asked even harder questions, because we were more familiar with the process and the pitfalls.  Care of the kids.  Family preservation programs.  Yes, timeline questions.  But, also, waiting kids questions, just to name a few.  In the end, we applied to CHI/YWAM.   I have to tell you I LOVE CHI.  I have never gotten an "out of office" reply to my email.  For the first three months that I was talking and emailing my case worker, she was actually out of the country.  My calls, and emails were answered in real time.  She has always been patient, accessible, and super helpful.  She sends us an update on how the process is moving in Ethiopia weekly.  I love that CHI explains the process in detail, there by holding themselves accountable.  I love the care the kids are getting in the orphanage.  I love the family preservation programs.   I love the passion and the heart that the people working for our agency in the US and in ET have for the poor, widowed, and orphaned.  Most of all, I love that my case worker is an adoptive mom of two grown children.  She totally understand the mind of a pre-adoptive mom.  She called me after taking a red eye home.  She has been gone from her home for over a month.  She could not go to sleep before giving us the news that our referral would be coming at some point that night.  She had just emailed it to the office, and the lead social worker was going over it.  She would be emailing it directly to us.  Yes, it came in at 1:30am my time.  There is no 9-5 for her.  

When it rains it pours....

Some days you just know its gong to be one of those days.  

Where do I begin?  I chose this picture of my sweet Bella because I can't help but smile when I see it.  The first time I discovered that this little girl had dimples, my heart just soared.  I don't know if you can tell but she has several dimples.  Love them.  Love her.  I just look at her and I want to just pinch her to make sure she is real.  I think God does this on purpose.  I remember this with the older kids.  I still feel it with a teenager...where they can drive you crazy and then give you an "Aw shucks, mom" smile and you just melt.  Have I mentioned that Bella is incredibly capable.  Sometimes she forgets that she is 4.  Sometimes I think she thinks that she could grab the keys to the car and run a quick errand for me....

Yesterday was a crummy, cold, and rain day.  The day started off with a doggy accident on a white rug that thankfully was not too bad.  I should have known that  it was going to be that kind of day, a day of serving on my knees.  By mid afternoon, I had all the kids home plus a couple of extras.  I also was gearing up to go into work (at Williams Sonoma) that evening.  It was a book reading, movie watching, and game playing kind of day.  All the kids were spread out around the house, upstairs, downstairs, basement.  Bella was playing off and on with all of them at some time.  So about an hour before I have to leave for work, I discover my sweet baby had used a whole roll  (one of those triple rolls) of toilet paper to wipe her bum...and let me just reiterate that bum is TINY.  So I start to tackle that "problem."  At some point I realize that Eliza must be showering (she worked a horse camp).  And then I am thinking...wow, I need to talk to her about her 45 minute shower!!!  So I started getting a little heated about how long of a shower she was taking and was going to go knock on her bathroom door.  I must have been really stewing because I walked up the stairs not even noticing water on the floor.  Once upstairs...I find that it is in fact Bella who has decided "to become Ariel of little mermaid" and in fact flooded the bathroom and had added a waterfall element to our first floor.  So I spent the rest of the time before work...cleaning, drying, and cutting the ceiling open so that it will dry and we can fix it...   It sounds like the house was chaotic.  It actually wasn't.  Chaos might have been better.   All this to remind my cherub in that picture above...that she still needs mommy's help doing some things.  

**** all our paperwork is out of our hands.  Now we wait to hear that it is in fact in ET.  And bring on that referral.  What's one more sweet baby to clean up after? :)

Happy Father's Day

The grandfathers with Andrew

Happy Father's Day to my father!  You have always been larger than life to me.    You have been a great father to 6 children.  Through you I first learned of adoption.  You adopted two children.  Thank you!  Happy Birthday Poppy (Jason's father)!  You are such a sweet man.  Thank you for raising my soul mate.  Thank you for helping to shape him into the man he is today.

Jason and Zach

Jason studying in law school

Jason and Andrew

Jason and Bella

Jason and Eliza

Happy Father's Day to my sweet husband!  I can't imagine being on this adventure with anyone else!  Thank you for being such a kind, strong, smart, and compassionate man.  You are a treasure of this world.  I am lucky to be married to you.

Update!

So you would think that I would know what the 171 looks like.  You would think that second time around, this should be "old hat."  Not the case.  I had to call Emily and ask her...."Do you remember what the 171 looks like?  Why isn't it printed on that official looking green paper?"  Yes, she remembered what it looked like.  So all this to say ..."check."  Next step, finish dossier and then send off......

You know you are a PAP when....

Bella 5/2011

How do you know that you are preparing to adopt:
1.  Like Pavlov's dog you have been trained to respond to the sound of the mailman's truck.  Your hearing has become so acute that you can hear the halted hum from a half mile away.
2.  Your calender is broken into segments...we could get our referral, we could be traveling for court (no planning a trip to Disney), we could be traveling to pick up (no planning a trip to Disney), we will be home for one month (no planning a trip to Disney.)
3.  You start planning your 20th anniversary get away and start wondering if Ethiopia would be a perfect fit :)
4.  You spend way too much time on blogs....time sucker!
5.  You start to dream about holding a little body that has to learn your sound and smell as much as you need to learn theirs.  But for some reason, it will feel right.

What have we been doing.....

Popsicles on the front steps with BFF.

End of year concert for CBS

Graduation parties are so much fun when there are other little girls!

My BFF turns 6!

End of year dance recital.  

School is coming to a close.  Today, for Eliza.  Then, Eliza volunteers at a therapeutic riding camp.  In two weeks for Zach.  Not sure what he will be doing...ugh.  Andrew has been home for over a month.  He is working, four different jobs.  No kidding.  He is up before 6.  Heads to the golf course.  The he fits in the other jobs around that.  It is so nice to have him home, though. 

I love summer.  I have read a couple great books this week...Someone Knows My Name (a must read...riveting) and Choosing to See (by MaryBeth Chapman, grab a box or two of tissues).  I sign up for nursing classes next week.  Letting God work out the timing.  I will take time off when Teddy Bear gets home.  And after that...we will figure it out where Jason or I will have him, taking night classes, etc.  I ended up getting more transfer credit than I expected.  I thought that I would have to re-take chemistry and calculus.  Not so.  Yeah!  I am in no hurry.  The seminar class that everyone has to take...Understanding HIV.  I am so excited about that one!  I have Bella on the wait list for a preschool in Boston.  I could not be more excited for her.  The diversity of the staff and students is AWESOME!  So we put one step in front of the other.  Trusting.

Meanwhile...I stalk the mailman.  Waiting for our CIS approval.  Waiting to move forward on the adoption.  Waiting, trusting, and reading:)

***I do have three other kids...who won't let me take pictures... I may try and sneak a few in :)