Ready or not?

Our social worker said that if everything lines up just PERFECT that our home study might be totally finished on Thursday. I would actually have to go pick it up from her house, which is only like an hour away, and immediately ship it overnight to AGCI.

I am trying to not get my hopes up. I have said all along that I thought it would take a miracle for our dossier to get there by Friday. If it is not there by this Friday at least we know it will for sure be there and ready for review next Friday.

Either way, it is fine. I am just glad to finally see some light at the end of the tunnel of paperwork madness.

I am resting in the fact that it is all in God's hands and the difference of this week and next could be the difference in what child we will be matched with. I already know that God has a perfect SPECIFIC baby girl for us so I will trust that His timing is best!!

Will we have a number this week...maybe, maybe not...only God knows!! :)

Home study!!

I finally got the email I have been waiting all week for. Honestly I bet I have checked my email a million times. I am so not good at waiting. Guess I better get used to it, huh?

It was from our social worker and she has finished our home study and emailed it to All God's Children for review!!!!

YAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!! Happy dance!! I am so pumped!!

She also mailed it out to us and it should be here Monday. We will review it and make any needed changes.

Once she gets AGCI's approval(usually takes around a week) and ours she said it would take her a couple days to get it all finished up. She will then mail it to us and we will make three copies and mail it along with the rest of our dossier paperwork to AGCI.

At that point if everything is good with the dossier we will be put on the wait list!! Oh, how I can't wait for that day!! Please be praying that there is no revisions needed!!

For those of you who have been through this before or just know the process...do they only review dossiers on Fridays? I thought I read this somewhere but I'm not sure.

If that is the case then I am thinking they will probably review our dossier in 2 weeks from today. We are getting closer!! :)

Kindergarten!!

Summer break is gone and school is here! My outgoing little guy LOVES school and he was very excited for his first day yesterday...


We got to school early so we could make sure and get a pic with the cousins...


Conner is very close to his cousins so we were thrilled that these three were gonna be able to be in the same class this year...


Conner's teacher seems great and he really likes her...


We absolutely LOVE Con's school. It is a blended model christian classical academy which means he attends school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I homeschool him the rest of the week. I love that he is able to be in the classroom twice a week and that I also play a huge role in his education. It is the best of both worlds.

Here are a few pics of our first official home day. I also plan on doing some work with Tuck which will hopefully get him ready for next year...

Ethiopian Fellowship Group

We had the most amazing time last nite meeting lots of new families and watching all the little Ethiopian cuties running around. There was a group of around 15 or so families there. Some had already brought their children home and some were in the process.

My favorite part was being able to meet my blog friend Joely. She was just as sweet as I imagined her to be and our husbands really seemed to hit it off too...


Look forward to getting to know them better and hopefully meeting up with her life long friend Hilary soon!!

I was rather surprised at how yummy the food was. I have to admit that I was a little nervous with the picky eaters in my family. Conner giving his sign of approval...


We ordered The Queen of Sheba for 3 which was a little of everything...


I loved visiting with all the ladies and hearing each of their stories and how God had worked in each situation. Sooo encouraging!!

The kids were all BEAUTIFUL!! These sweet girls took a liking to Dillon...


And this little girl absolutely stole my heart...



Such a blessing to be a part of a group like this!! Can't wait to go back!!

Tucker D!!

Does he get points for at least matching the character?!?!



Love this silly boy...he makes my heart happy!! :)

My faithful companion + GIVE AWAY

If you have seen me in the last couple of months you might also have seen this...



I am not a very organized type of person so I had to run out and get me an expand a file before I started this crazy paperchase. It has been great and has been with me through it all. To the post office, bank, doctor's office, and even the state capital.

So, yesterday I was so excited to slide our LAST document for our dossier into the FINISHED file!!

WaaaaHoooo!! Very glad to have that done!!

I have looked over everything several times and hope and pray that it is all complete and accurate. I am hoping that when we get to send it in that there won't be any revisions but I am expecting there will be. Hope for the best and expect the worse, right?!?!

I talked to our social worker yesterday and she said that we are #2 on her list of cases to write up. She hopes to start working on it this week and email me the first draft next week!!!

We are getting so close to that wait list!!!

If you are anything like me you love a great adoption t-shirt!! First of all, nothing is as comfortable as a t-shirt and it is such a great conversation starter.

I saw this one yesterday and LOVED it....



Head on over to the Dockery family blog and see how you can get your hands on one. You will be blessed by this family and how they are living out God's calling on their life in more ways than one!!

Super Cleaners + Ordinary Hero

Mondays are always our cleaning day!! But hey, who says that can't be fun!! It's not everyday you get a ninja turtle and a power ranger to help you out....






Showing off their best moves...





I got this in the mail yesterday and I love it!! It is so soft and comfy...



I LOVE that by buying this shirt you are helping children in need and by wearing the shirt you are advocating for children in Africa!!

You can read all about Ordinary Hero and get your own OH shirt here.

Deacon, the doctor, and difficulties!

Conner and Tucker are back today after spending the last two nights with my parents. My mom wanted to spend some time with them before Con man goes back to school. I missed them so much and it was soooo quiet and actually rather boring around here. It was also great to spend some alone time with this little guy...



He turned 10 months old today...he is an absolute joy in my life and I couldn't love him more. I was very thankful for the time we got to spend just me and him. :)

We got our medical exams done this week. Tests on Monday and results and physicals on Wednesday. Everything was good!!



I think Dil is a little zapped from how terribly HOT it has been here...



Well, I had been hearing rumors that the time line from wait list to referral was going up. Sadly enough, I emailed my CW and she said it was true. She said we should now expect to wait 12-18 months but with everything always changing that we needed to just hold loosely to these numbers.

This news was very hard for me to hear. I have been kinda emotional about it. I was getting so excited thinking that I could possibly see our daughters face within a year. Now it could be up to a year and a half. Wow, that really stinks!!

I fought back tears the whole time I was at church last nite but I left encouraged. The message was just what I needed to hear. Thru the book of Nehemiah our pastor shared with us that....

God does amazing things in the most impossible of circumstances.

Since God called us to adopt thru Ethiopia alot has changed:

one trip became two trips
$24,ooo became $30,000
9-12 months became 12-18 months

When I think about these things I sometimes become frustrated and heavy hearted that everything has become more difficult. I wonder why the process takes so long and costs so much money and so much has to go into it. Why God can't just make it easier.

Maybe he doesn't want it to be easy. Maybe he knows that when things are easy and going smooth that I rely on myself more than Him.

I know that even though this is hard and at times emotionally draining that it is absolutely worth it. It drives me to prayer and a closer relationship with Christ. It keeps my eyes on Him and reminds me that my life is totally out of my hands and whatever He wants to happen will happen. And I can trust that it will be for my good.

Impossible circumstances? Maybe. Impossible for God? Definitely not!!

I know that He loves our baby girl more than we do and in His perfect timing He will bring her home to us.

And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

home study visit

Our social worker E came out today for our home study. She was so great!! Very easy to talk to...the sweet grandma type. The kids were good. Conner of course had to be funny...

E: Conner, so you are the oldest, right?
Con: Yes, and the awesomest!!(is that even a word) LOL!!!

I told her she must not forget to add HUMBLE as one of the words to describe our sweet boy. :)

Tuck was a little shy...I totally expected this. He answered her questions with a little help from mama and daddy. Even though he handled one question totally on his own...

E: Tucker, what are you going to name your baby?
Tuck: Buster!!!....not sure where that came from.

Deacon was his usual smiley self...LOVE that precious boy!!!

The boys played the rest of the time while we talked with E. We got to share all about ourselves which was right up my alley but probably not so comfortable for my husband. In case you didn't know, I am the outgoing talker and he tends to be more laid back. It works out great. :)

We talked for nearly 2 hours and I gave her a quick tour of the house(she basically just glanced in each room). She told me the home study would be ready for review in around 2 1/2 weeks. Yay!!

Very glad to have this part over with and so glad it forced us to get some things done around here that we had beed putting off for way too long!!

dossier and homestudy update!

I have actually been surprised on how quickly this is all coming together. It hasn't been near as hard as I thought it would be. I just pray that the Lord continues to go before us on each piece of paperwork.

We have already completed:

power of attorney forms
statement of reason to adopt
photos of family
photos of house
employment letters for both of us(yes, you have to do one even if you are a stay at home mom)
birth certificates for both
marrige license
obligation of post placement report

Need to complete:

photocopy of passports for both w/ notary sheet
medical letters(going in for TB test on Monday...get results and exams Wednesday)
financial statement(notary accidently messed up this one...have to redo)
police clearance for both(supposed to be ready tomorrow..believe that when I see it)
two letters of reference(both said they would be ready by Wednesday)

To my delight, my case worker called Tuesday and asked if we were available for this Saturday!! Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wasn't expecting her for a couple weeks!!!

This whole process is amazing and the thrill I get when I check one more thing off our list is sooo great!!

My goal is to have all our paperwork for the dossier done by next week...hopefully Wednesday. Then we will just be waiting on E to type up our home study. Thinking that will take a couple weeks.

My goal when we started was to be on the waitlist by Thanksgiving. Now I am thinking it will be next month. You never know, if everything goes smoothly and no revisions have to be made on anything, we could POSSIBLY be on the waitlist this month!!! That would be CrAzY!!!!!!

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. Ephesians 3:20

Here are my three little guys yesterday outside the capital building...only took 5 quick minutes to get the POA state certified.....

Let's Do This!

I'm taking you back to a couple weeks before we sent in our application to AGCI. It had been around 10 months since we knew for sure that God wanted us to adopt. The time came for us to finally be able to get started. What do you suppose happened? Satan set out to cloud my mind with lies.

Doubt. Fear. Uncertainty. Anxiety.

I had thought about the adoption everyday for almost a year. I had longed for the day to send in our application. We had never been so certain and so confident about anything before. Without a doubt, we knew this was GOD'S plan for us. We were ready to take the leap of faith and trust Him all the way no matter the cost.

Satan did not want us to follow thru. He did not want another orphan to have a home and he for sure didn't want God to get all the glory. Isn't he such a LOSER!!!

Well, God proved himself AMAZING yet again.

I was watching a Beth Moore video online and she was talking about how to know God's will in the gray areas of your life. I began to pray afterward and to pour out my heart. I told the Lord I was willing to do whatever He wanted. Whether it be to go ahead with the adoption, not go ahead, or wait. I told Him I needed to know for sure one last time what he wanted of us.

My Bible that I always use was in the other room so I grabbed a study Bible by my bed. I randomly opened it and started reading...

But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.

For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south 'Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth."
Isaiah 43:1-6

In that moment, alone with God, I was totally overwhelmed with His goodness. His love for me. His willingness to show me, once again, what He had already showed me time and time before. All because I needed it.

That was it for me. I honestly said out loud "Ok Lord, let's do this!"

We sent in the application and have never looked back!!!!