Adoption Roller Coaster...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Adoption is not for the faint of heart. It's a roller coaster ride...up...down....way up...way down fast....SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a bumpy journey, for sure...but well worth the ride. As I type this, we await our second court date next Thursday. Yesterday, my dear friends, John and Theresa, who just returned from Ethiopia with their new daughter, somehow found the time to not only send me several pictures of our "H', but also made me a little music video, complete with several shots of my girl on video. Talk about cloud 9! I laughed and cried and ached to hold her, but wow, did getting a video of her make my day!
Later that same day...SCREACHING HALT! Followed by superfast downhill ride..!!!!..AHHHH. We found out that three other families who did not pass their first time either, did not pass their second time in court. They didn't pass the first time for the same reason we didn't pass...so naturally, I freaked out thinking the same thing will happen to us. Last time we were missing a letter....so five weeks later, could we still be missing the same letter? Of course, I immediately called our case worker and asked if they knew for sure that it was there, but we are dealing with foreign courts so sometimes they can't find these things out until we don't pass court again. AHHHHHHHH!!!! We saw her gorgeous face for the first time on August 24th...it's been way too long...I want my baby home! Mommy meltdown!!!!
And, then once again....God gave me His peace...the peace that surpasses all understanding. My favorite verse..."Trust in the Lord with all your heart...lean not on your own understanding..." Proverbs 3:5, came to mind. And, sure enough my morning devotional was none other than that very verse, coupled with a very wonderful reminder of God's perfect timing and control. How can I complain? God has blessed me with three, and soon four of the most amazing children, through adoption...and he made me a sister in Christ. adopted into God's family by Jesus. Amazing! So, I'm climbing back into the seat, lowering the bar, buckling the seatbelt and hanging on for the next part of this crazy ride. Please continue to pray for all of the families who are experiencing delays in their process and for these silly court things to be resolved. Today, I am also choosing to be grateful to God and to the amazing birthmothers and birthfathers that have allowed me to become a Mommy. Hanging on and hoping for the best....

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!!

Today, my "baby" girl turns 3! I can't believe she's already 3...even though she looks like she's closer to 5 : ) We will go out for Mexican food tonight and have a small neighborhood pizza party on Sunday.

3 things (there are so many) that I love about my feisty girl:

1) Always happy, always dancing or hopping around wherever she goes.

2) So sweet...loves to give hugs and kisses. I love it most when she grabs your face and really plants one on ya!

3)Miss Independent! This can be good and bad, but I love that I don't worry that she will have a lot of confidence. Daddy and I laugh that we will have to "warn" her dates, not worry that they will prey on her : )

I also have to add that she is sooooo excited to be a big sister. She is always telling me how she will hold "H" and hug her and she won't let anyone sleep in "H's" bed. I love it! I know they will be the best of friends!

Adoption Update: I was very relieved to hear that "H's" birthfather DID make the court appointment and was able to confirm her relinquishment. I am sooo happy to know that he probably got to go see her and was given the letter we wrote him and the photo album we made of our family. We didn't pass court because of a missing document (from the Ethiopian government), that should be in place for our December 10th appointment. So, if all goes well, we are looking at late January to bring her home. Keep those prayers coming! Thank you to all of our amazing friends and family for your support and prayers, and thank you God for giving me the peace of knowing that you are NEVER one nano-second too early or too late. YOUR timing is perfect!!!

We Didn't pass court...now what? : (

We found out today that unfortunately, we did not pass court in Ethiopia on Monday. I still don't know why...our agency is trying to find out, but I suspect that maybe H's birthfather could not make it the 8 hours to Addis Ababa for our appointment. We have been rescheduled for December 10th...a LONG way off for me. I'm so heartbroken, but I know that God is in control and that He has the plan...not me! Please pray that all will work out...we obviously won't have her home for the holidays, but we will have many more holidays to spend with her, God willing.

No News...but New Floors!

Well, our court date was today in Ethiopia, but it may be a few days before we find out whether or not we passed. If we passed, we will most likely travel at the end of December. I have to admit that I am pretty disappointed...I was really wanting to have our newest daughter home for Christmas, but I have to remember...not MY timing! I'm praying to hear about court soon and still hoping for earlier travel, but not much I can do at this point, but enjoy the holidays with my family and love on all my crazy babies here!

Last weekend was a very busy and extremely exhausting one for us. T and I decided to rip out our nasty old carpet and put down hardwood floors on our mainfloor. Yes, I am doing some SERIOUS nesting! Anyway, we recruited some amazing friends to help, but it turned out to be a much bigger job than we originally thought. After ripping up the carpet and somewhere close to a GAZILLION staples and nails, we discovered that we were going to have to replace a couple of places on our floor that had water damage before we could even begin to seal and lay the floor.

Bummer! But, at least now we have decent and non-rotting floors in our house...yay! Thank you God for our friend, Will, who is a true "artist" with woodworking and carpentry. Without his know-how and drive, we would be laying floor for months. Our friend, Paul, was also kind enough to come and help us lay the flooring. As it was, we were able to finish it by late Sunday night and it is BEAUTIFUL!

I'll post more pictures once I can polish it and get all the furniture back where it belongs. I am just thrilled with the floors, but I have to say, this is probably the sorest I have ever been! I have a whole new respect for people that do this kind of work every day.

Please continue to pray for us and for our sweet girl in Ethiopia as we wait (impatiently) and put our trust in the Lord to bring her home to us soon.

October Pumkins and Ghouls!

The Casa de Chaos is always rockin' and this month has been exceptionally crazy. I do love the fall though...especially here in East Tennessee...just breathtaking! Wanted to catch up on some activities and show off my adorable little ghoulies! The Pumpkin patch is always one of my favorite fall activities. We all had a great time and hauled back five pumpkins and a car-load of tired people!

And, then of course, we carved them and decorated for Halloween. This is the first year that J1 wanted to be something scary...not too horror-ble though. J2 chose to be "Dark" Vader, but I think he just chose that because he wanted to get a light "saver". L, ever my tom-boy (God love her) opted for Thomas the train, even though my Mom and I were leaning toward a lady bug or Tiana (the new disney princess). Maybe H will be a bit more of a girly girl, but then what will I do? : )


Here's L with "Mr. Lazy Bones"...he never got up!

ADOPTION UPDATE:

Our Ethiopian court date is November 9th, but since Ethiopia is seven hours ahead of us, our court hearing will take place probably while we sleep (or try to sleep) on Sunday night. We do not go there for this court appointment, but we will hopefully find out early next week if we passed. If so, there is still a good chance we will have H home for Christmas. If not, I will definitely have some major boo hoos, but I trust in the Lord and His perfect timing. Of course, we will take all the prayer we can get, so thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to lift our family in prayer.

FINALLY!!!! COURT DATE!!!!

So after I finally chilled out and waited for God's hand on this...our case manager, Julie called me today to tell us that we have a court date. November 9th! Not as early as I'd hoped, but I totally trust God and His timing. Please pray for all to go well and for H's birthfather to be able to make the long trip to Addis Ababa for our court date. Pray also that he will have peace and know that we love and will take wonderful care of this amazing little girl. And, please pray that God is preparing all of our hearts for all the new adjustments and for our family of five to become a family of six!! God is so good...I have a very grateful heart today.

C'mon Courts!!!!!

Ok, so we are two weeks into October and still don't have our court date in Ethiopia. The courts were supposed to open last week (at least that's the rumor, no one seems to know for sure). We know a family who was supposed to have their court appointment last Friday night, but haven't heard yet if they passed or not. (Please be praying for them and for the East family, http://eastiesandcompany.blogspot.com/, who have their court appointment this Wednesday!) Several families who were scheduled for the first week of October were rescheduled into the third week of October, so although I'm still hoping and praying we will make it into October, the reality is that it will probably be November....and then hopefully travelling before Christmas.
The waiting is SOOOO hard. Even though we've been through this three times already, it never gets any easier to wait, especially when you have those huge brown eyes looking at you through pictures and those sweet little cheeks dying to be kissed, and those cute, dimpled little hands needing to be held. I think if we don't hear something this week, I will indeed go crazy. (ok, yeah, I'm already there, but I'll probably really start driving everyone else around me nuts too : )
What also makes this harder for me is that little "H" is already 18 months old and has already had so much loss and pain in her short little life. She recently was moved from the only home she had ever known eight hours North, where everything is different...especially the language. Soon, some strange people that look, smell and talk completely different will come and scoop her up and take her far, far away. I can only imagine how difficult that would be for a toddler, nearing two years old, who is in the stages of understanding what's different and fearing
all the new experiences. I thank God for the wonderful care she is getting and I pray that she is looking at our pictures that we sent her and understands that we will be her forever family soon. I pray that God is preparing her little heart for all the changes still to come and that he will fill her with peace and not fear. I am also so thankful that her little friend, Orange is with her now in Ethiopia and will be her friend here in Knoxville as well. How amazing is that?! At least she will have a familiar face here when she comes home. And, I especially thank God for my sweet childen, who are so excited to have their little sister come home and who I know will love on her and help her and let her know they are always here for her.
Please be praying for all the families and children who are in "process" and please pray that we will be able to bring our sweet girl home very soon. Thank you all for your prayers and support!