September Numbers and Half The Sky Tonight!

48 girls (last month 49)
36 boys (last month 36) 
15 siblings (last month 15) 


There is a documentary airing on PBS tonight and tomorrow night that's too good and too important not to share. If you have been overwhelmed and hurt by the things happening to women and children on this planet, watch this! It will help you get smarter about the realities facing women and girls around the world AND it will motivate and inspire you. If you don't know what I'm talking about, definitely watch this! It will be worth your time.

Happy Referralversary Bub! #3

Three years ago yesterday we looked on this face for the very first time.

September 2009

Now this is the face before us. 

September 22, 2012

A new teacher in his class at church today told us,  "He has this incredible zest for life. It's like he's so excited to be on the planet." That's our Bear. We saw it in fuzzy photos 3 years ago, and we are blessed by it today. I am the luckiest mama.

Dästa. Joy. Energy. Love. You. Bub. 

August Numbers

#49 girls (last month 53) 
#36 boys (last month 39) 
#15 sibs (last month 15)

Another waiting story for this month. 

Every night at bedtime after we read books, Bear gets all snuggly and asks for one final story. "Tell me bout Baby Bereket mama." His eyes just glow as he asks. Then I tell him all about mama and dada's long search for Baby Bereket. I try to add new details as he is able to comprehend them. He likes that his story is evolving over time. The basic story involves mama and dada talking to God, all the places we looked for Baby Bereket (which usually involves various locations in the house and yard), the people who helped us, finding day (referral day), Ethiopia, and the day God's promise came true (gotcha day). I usually leave a few seconds of silence between each of those chapters. This drives him crazy with anticipation. Then I ask him why it's so quiet. He knows the answer. "Bee-cause you wait!"

Just this weekend I realized that hearing his story is helping Bear understand what is going on now as we wait for baby brother or sister. He was 18 months when we started the adoption process again and it was hard to tell what he understood and what he didn't. Now at three, he is starting to tune in. Yesterday he decided he wanted to wear pull-ups again. I told him I put them away because we are saving them for baby brother or sister. We talk about baby brother and sister but the conversation doesn't go any further than mentioning their name. It surprised me when he asked more.

"Ohhhh, they in E-tee-O-pia mom?" Without thinking about it I said yes they were. I was just relieved he wasn't going to throw a toddler fit about the pull-up. But he got super excited. 

"We go there NOW mama? Bring them home?" Shoot. I didn't realize he would take my answer literally. He thought I was saying we got the call.

"I go with WITH you mama? I get my backpack!" Shoot, shoot, shoot. How do I explain? 

I said I wished we could go to Ethiopia right now, but we haven't found them yet. This clicked in his brain. He loves the looking and finding part of his own story. 

"You are looking and looking!" Yes bub, we are looking really hard. And you know what we have to do right now?

"Wait!" You got it kiddo.

Dear Grandma and Grandpa

Dear Grandma and Grandpa, 

Thank you for.....

Letting me come visit you and.....

Your love of rocks...

Keeping up with me at the beach...

Making sure I get to 6 feet... 

My truck birthday cake....hauling my favorite...blueberries!

 And for just plain...

Loving me!

I had a great 3rd birthday with you!

Love, 

Bear

July Numbers - Ahh good news!

• 53 on the girls list (last month 64)
• 39 on the boys list (last month 49)
• 15 on the siblings list (last month 22)

As you can see from the numbers, this has been a good month of positive adoption news. After a couple months with little movement, referrals came through like a flood this month! Besides that, court dates are coming really fast after referral, and embassy clearance, which has been so difficult in the past year is coming very quickly as well. The new rigorous investigative procedures Almaz put in place in Ethiopia seem to have slowed down referrals for some time, but are paying off now. Seeing the numbers this month even got Dodd's attention. They make us excited for us and just plain happy for the kids who are getting a family. Ah, blessed good news, we love you!

The good news AGCI foreshadowed last month was a new orphanage relationtionship. The orphanage, called Miskaye Children's Welfare Association, serves children from the Benishangul-Gumuz region in Ethiopia. The region, located in northwestern Ethiopia near the Sudanese border, is described as "a beautiful and forested area that is quite remote and has high rates for malaria." The children referred from Miskaye will not move to Hannah's Hope right away. They will stay in the care of Miskaye until after the court hearing. This is a different approach for AGCI and we are interested to see how it goes. 

A little waiting story I thought I would share. Bear and I were at a rummage sale last month. The woman was selling lots of girl clothes, all freshly washed and folded neatly in perfect lines on three different tables. Seeing Bear, she asked if I was looking for boys clothes and I said yes, but said that considering how well kept everything was maybe I should take a leap and just buy some girl clothes. This made her ask if I was expecting. I took brief moment to decide which way to answer the question. I really didn't want to have a long conversation at a rummage sale so I just said yes, no further explanation. She proceeded to ask how far along I was. Again I had to decide how to answer and decided to have some fun and go for it. "About 12 months," I said, no further explanation. I thought she would kind of get it since Bear was in my arms, but my response made her eyes pop, then the confusion set in. I did take the time to explain my answer and be a good adoption "educator", but I took some guilty pleasure in the initial shock value. A girl's got to have some fun in the waiting. :)

Our homestudy and clearance checks are about to expire so I am in the process of renewing them. I will be busy with that while hoping for another great month in August!

June Numbers

• 64 on the girls list (last month 67)
• 49 on the boys list (last month 52)
• 22 on the siblings list (last month 23)

There were several referrals that went out last week that aren't reflected in our wait list numbers today. Congratulations to those families! Most have been waiting about 2 years on the wait list. AGCI is promising exciting news for wait list families this weekend. Not sure what they have up their sleeves but interested to receive the email.

Happy steamy July! Whew it's hot!

May Numbers in June

• 67 on the girls list (last month 69)
• 52 on the boys list (last month 55)
• 23 on the siblings list (last month 22)

May numbers came while I was traveling for work in Poland. As you can see, it's taken me a while to get back on track since coming home. The numbers are also not terribly encouraging so I have not been excited to post them.

Last week marked one complete year of being on the wait list. Waiting through this last year has not been bad.  Now, looking at the possibility of 2-3 more years of waiting I am beginning to feel some waiting pains. I do not feel anxious, but I do feel a sense of urgency that I am not sure what to do with. I guess that's a good indication that I need to do some praying and soul searching about what, if anything to change about our current situation.

In the meantime, life has been full and busy! One little Bear got his first real haircut! Until now, poor kid has had Mom snipping his hair with the Fiskars. I've put off a real haircut because I love all that beautiful wispy baby hair that grows around his hairline.  I didn't want to see that go. Fortunately, he still has it, it's just tidied up a little now. We were very excited when his teacher Brittney and her daughter came to watch and lend additional moral support. Bear was very brave, only cried once and that was because his sucker got covered up by the apron. He looked and acted like such a big boy. His hair was so smooth and even. I have not been able to replicate those results since. We went out for a Culver's hamburger afterward. Yes, a hamburger! I think I have to post a food/vegetarian update.