"THE CALL!!!!"

It finally came...of course, when I least expected it. I mean, I knew we were next in line for a toddler girl, but I didn't think it would happen when it did. See, usually the "calls" come earlier in the day, so on Monday, August 24th, when 4pm passed by I thought "well, not today". T has been out of town so much over the last few weeks and I've been basically a single Mom, so Monday night I decided to take the kids out to eat. Yeah, I'm crazy...three small kids at a restaurant. Anyway, as expected, the kids were running wild, melting down, fighting over crayons, whining about what they would or wouldn't eat, and being "quietly yelled at" by Mommy to sit down! So, when the phone rang I thought it was my Mom. I had invited her to meet us for dinner and thought maybe she had decided to have some sense and NOT join us : ). But nooooo, it was Julie from AGCI!!!!! When I saw the number I couldn't believe it...I answered and tried to hear Julie while attempting to corral two kids heading for the outside fence (we were on the patio) when thankfully, my Mom showed up. I mouthed to her that it was our agency and my angel of a Mom took over the craziness of ordering drinks and trying to quiet down the chaos. Anyway, I said "Hey Julie...do you have some good news for me?". And, she said, "well, I have a little girl to talk to you about..."

Well, she told me a little bit about our sweet H and I caught things here and there between yelling "sit down!" and "stop blowing bubbles in your milk"! We agreed that she would e-mail me all the information and pictures and I would check them out as soon as I could get home. Great! I'm at a restaurant with three wild kids and no computer AND my husband is out of town. I immediately texted T..."REFERRAL!!!!", since he was in a conference and he texted back that he would call me asap. So, I rushed the kids through dinner, kissed my Mom and said thanks for coming and got home as quickly as possible. So, I tell the kids to get their jammies on and brush their teeth and I run for the computer. I text T like 8 times...."call me", "CALL ME!!"..."CALL ME NOW!!!"...and "WHERE ARE U!?". And, of course, the kids are running around like animals..."L" is naked and running around singing "I shake my booty", the boys are fighting over some cheapo happy meal toy and I am about to fly to Wisconsin to choke my husband for not calling. Finally, T calls and he's booting up his computer, which according to my calculations at the time took, like, 3 years! Anyway, we finally both open the picture and both at the same time said "Oh, look at her, she's beautiful"! We oohed and aahed and congratulated each other and said we would talk more later. I didn't say anthing to the kids about what was going on, cause I wanted T and I to see everything first, but right about then little "L" comes in the room, looks at the computer and says happily but very matter-of-factly "that's my baby sister, H". She knew. I just looked at her and smiled and said, "yes, it is honey". Well, that got the boys all riled up and soon I had three little monkeys all in my lap wanting to see the pictures of their new little sister.

We are just so thrilled and grateful to God for another amazing child. She is 16 months old, sweet as can be and too cute for words...looks a lot like "L" and I cannot wait to kiss her little cheeks. What happens now is that we submit more paperwork, and wait for a court date in Ethiopia. Once we pass court it will take about 3 or 4 weeks until we can travel to bring her home. Please pray that we will get a court appointment soon and that all will go smoothly and we will get her home sooner rather than later. We should have her home in time for Christmas, but I sure would be extra-super-thankful if she was home for Thanksgiving!

Please also pray for her birthfamily and for the selflessness and loss that have experienced. We will love this little girl so much and do everything we can for her. I am just so grateful. So blessed. So so incredibly blessed.