Ten Months

Months on the wait list:

Current longest waiting family has been waiting for (months):

24

To help our family and friends better understand the process, I will talk about how our agency handles referrals. The wait list consists of all the families in chronologic order by the date each was placed on the list. Every family submits a child preference profile form stating their gender and age range preference. For example, a family could be requesting a girl between 2-3 years old or like us, a boy 0-6 months old. Once the agency has a referral ready, they basically go down the list (by date) and find the perfect match. That family then receives the call we are all dreaming of. This means that when we get closer, if there are many little girls ready for homes, we will probably get skipped. If there are many boys and the families ahead of us are requesting girls, they get skipped. Got it? Get it? Good.

As of May 2012, the current longest waiting family has waited 24 months for a referral. There are approximately 87 families ahead of us, 15 of which are waiting specifically for siblings.

As everyone can see, we still have quite a while to go. Only God knows when we are next. So for now, we celebrate.

On our 10 month waiting anniversary, we went to work and decided to have Mexican food for dinner. We had chicken and beef fajitas with rice, beans, guacamole, and pico de gallo.

Thank you Mr. Waiter for including your index finger in our picture.

We decided to take a slightly better picture than the one above :). 

Since it is currently 98 degrees Fahrenheit, we found it appropriate and necessary to have frozen yogurt for dessert. We went to Orange Leaf and ate our yogurt outside to watch the sunset.

We could not decide on one flavor and ended up mixing them up.

Can you guess which one is Rob's?

Happy ten months waiting!!!

We love you so much baby boy!

Nine Months

Months on the waitlist:

Current Average wait time:

21

When we were placed on the wait list in August, I knew immediately that if we did not receive our referral by April, our 9 month waiting anniversary would fall on Mother's Day weekend...Really?..Really?! My plan was to sit in front of my computer with a glass of wine and write a long post as the tears rolled down my face on the differences between a pregnancy and adoption. BUT for one, I do not have children and therefore, do not get the privilege of comparing one to the other. Two, God would not allow such a pity party in my house ;). 

My commencement ceremony was on the day before our waiting anniversary. My family and I celebrated with a nice dinner. The day of our waiting anniversary, we headed out to a lake house. We spent all weekend celebrating mother's day and my graduation. We ate, laughed, danced, ate, slept, did some fishing, and ate some more. The neat part of the whole weekend was that we were able to spend it with both of our families. I'm talking sisters, nephews, nieces, parents, and grandparents. All 22 of us had a pretty good time. 

It was raining so hard on Thursday, I think this is the only picture we took

My cake with one of my nephew's finger (busted)

9 months closer!

My dad with his grandchildren

Rob fishing...

Rob's fish

Me trying to fish

With Rob's family (our 3 nephews, 2 nieces, and brother in law are missing :( )

Has anyone seen my grandparents?

Me with a cowboy

Mom and sisters

Rob and I with our mothers

Our beautiful mothers

Happy mother's day and happy nine months waiting!!!

Eight Months

Months on the waitlist:

Current average wait time:

20

On our eight month waiting anniversary we went to work plus I had my evening class. Don't be jealous that we live such an adventurous life. Rob worked late and I didn't get out of class until 8:30. We both pulled into our garage at the same time and gave each other an "I am so tired" look. We laid on our new couch but quickly decided, we HAD to do something to celebrate. We ended up going to the nearest restaurant that is open past 9 pm. At Cheddar's we had a good ol' chicken sandwich with fries. We cheered our water glasses to our son and talked about our day :). 

Doesn't Rob look like a fortune teller in this picture?

Happy eight months waiting!!!

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

I love reading other people's blogs. I love to read about what other families are feeling (both good and bad), what they are thinking, seeing pictures; some with their Ethiopian babies and some with their biological babies. Lately, I keep reading of more and more families switching programs, adopting domestically, or even switching agencies. I know everyone is praying for God to lead the way. I know He is changing hearts and finding children good homes in the end. I think that is wonderful.  I think those that are taking different paths are really listening to their prayers being answered and letting Him lead them to their child. Basically, there is no right or wrong decision here, just good people that care for the orphans letting God take over.

It makes me wonder though, am I being stubborn? Am I being dumb for sticking with a program where clearly, the wait keeps increasing nonstop? I feel like we are willingly running into a storm while everyone else is taking cover. But, the minute I start to think of other programs/agencies, I feel stress and anxiety. We still feel at peace with Ethiopia. We agree and understand why the wait is so long. Most importantly, we still feel excitement. We wonder if 2013 will be OUR year and if not, 2014 is a pretty good number. We constantly ask ourselves why God is giving us so much more time to prepare. Well, for one, I need to finish my master's degree (which I will in August) so... boom! there goes our first year on the list. That means I have the second year to find a new job and possibly move to another city... boom! there goes another year on the list. And hello! we need to find a good school, pediatrician, a good park to play at, the whole nine yards in the new town so...boom! there goes another 6 months. Still with me? So for those wondering if switching programs is in our hearts right now, the answer is no. We keep falling more in love with Ethiopia as we learn more about it. We keep dreaming about visiting Ethiopia. Most importantly, we keep praying for an Ethiopian little boy.

On Monday night, we caught ourselves watching the Insanity infomercial as we were eating a piece of chocolate cake :(. Well, they sold it to us and we received the package today so...boom! there goes the next 60 days.

Seven Months

Months on the waitlist:

Current average wait time:

20

On our seventh month waiting anniversary, we visited a winery in Grapevine, TX. My sister and her husband were in town to get a little breather from their two boys. Ah the irony of life, here she was taking a little vacation and here we were celebrating another month that brings us closer to our son :). (I am sure we will be taking those quick weekend getaways in a few years.) After the beautiful tour, delicious wine tasting, and relaxing time sitting outside listening to live music, we ended up at the smallest town I have ever been to in my life. Luckenbach, TX had a population of 3 in 2006. So yes, the town was tiny.

We bought our little boy a camouflage t-shirt with the name of the tiny town on it.

Happy seven months waiting!!!

Six Months

Months on the waitlist:

 

Current average wait time:

19

On our six month waiting anniversary we rearranged furniture. Since we will be on the list for a little while longer (after crunching some numbers, we are estimating 2-3 more years); we decided to wait in comfort. We went out and bought ourselves the most comfortable couch in all of the five furniture stores we visited. Is it pretty? Nope. However, it is perfect for cuddling while watching TV :). When we purchased the sofa last month, we were trying to figure out a good delivery date. Since both of us work during the week, we requested a Saturday.

Furniture store salesperson: "How does Saturday February the 11th sound?" 

(Rob and I immediately stared into space with confusion)

Rob: "Why does it feel like we have something going on?"

Salesperson: "Well, the next possible date..."

I interrupt: "It is our anniversary!"

Rob: "That is right!"

We are both laughing at this point because we really, truly thought we had a major event to attend. The salesperson laughs and tells us she always forgets her WEDDING anniversary as well. Embarrassing!! Do we tell her we are actually celebrating every month on our agency's list? No. This will open the door to questions about the why and the how and the when. Not to add the fact that she will probably think we are silly. Therefore, we just looked at each other and smiled. Rob immediately hugged and kissed me. I am guessing to make up for the forgotten "wedding" anniversary :).

Happy six months waiting!!!

The Meaning Of A Dream

I had an extremely vivid dream last night. My phone rang and it was our caseworker calling with our referral. I remember feeling unbelievably excited. I remember crying and nervously trying to call Rob to let him know. We met up at the house (which was not our current home) and we waited for our phone to ring to hear all of the details about our son. The phone rang and right when she was going to tell us his age or anything about him, my alarm went off :(. I told Rob as soon as I woke up and guess what? He had a vivid dream about him as well. His dream was much nicer than mine though...he saw him! He said we were in a strange house (again) and I was holding him while sitting on our couch. Then I got up and handed our baby to him so he can feed him. He said he was beautiful. Perfect round face with curls to die for. So jealous that he actually had a dream of holding him! 

Earlier this week my sister called me and told me that as soon as she woke up, something or someone told her to start praying for her nephew’s birth mom. She said she prayed for a long time and had never felt that feeling before. 

I wonder what this all means. Maybe God has picked the birth mother of our child. Maybe he has been conceived. Maybe it is just coincidence but I love it. I love that we dreamt of our little boy on the same night and I love that my sister spent some serious time praying for his birth mom.