anxiously hopeful

Girl Time

2011-02-25T18:39:00.000-08:00

We've spent lots of time outside this past week. Cole and Levi have a new friend, Steven, that just moved in next door. Shurabe loves to help with raking and other yard work that is inevitable this time of year. And Hope loves to swing out on the back patio. She could spend hours out there, watching her siblings and barking at the neighborhood dogs.

Little Cutie-batootie

I've had lots of fun in my sewing room (it's actually just out catch-all-computer-dining-room). I made some fun Valentine gifts for our kids' teachers. I didn't think to take pictures but they were knock offs of these lovelies made by Lindsey at thePleated Poppy.

Last Saturday, I had a youth group event early in the morning. When I got home, Brian told me to go look at the girls. This is what I found. Hope is sitting on the floor behind the armoire door wearing a tiara. They were listening to music on Shurabe's radio and dancing.

Apparently, they had been in their room for atleast an hour playing dress-up together. It made this mommy's heart smile. That's what having a sister is supposed to be like!

Snowmageddon 2011

2011-02-12T13:42:00.000-08:00

We SURVIVED!!

Two feet of snow and 2 full weeks of school canceled.

There were snow men to be built,

Lego cities to be created,

Snow to be shoveled,

and snow forts to be built.

There was laundry to be done,

baby doll stroller rides to be had (tell me she doesn't look like a giant in that stroller),

heart-shaped biscuits to be made and eaten (my 1st attempt at biscuits from scratch),

and cupcakes to be made, decorated and eaten.

The sun is shining, the snow is melting and this mommy is breathing a sigh of relief!

2010-12-20T20:38:00.000-08:00

This weekend, all 3 of the men (big and small) were in the wedding of some friends, Chris and Jessica Wilson. Brian Officiated and the boys were both Ring Bearers. It was a beautiful wedding at Camp Loughridge and the reception, at Southern Hills Country Club, was like none I've ever experienced. The food was delicious and we all had so much fun dancing and visiting with friends we don't get to see often enough. It was fun to get all dressed up and figure out which fork was for salad and which was for dessert! The boys were both smitten with their own reflection! I warned them not to accept any marriage proposals...thankfully the warning wasn't necessary. However, Cole had several older ladies (50 and over) asking him to dance. He bashfully turned them down. While we were all out having a ball, Hope was at home with our new favorite baby sitter, being loved on and well taken care of!

Tonight we celebrated Christmas with my parents and sister. Who knows, maybe I'll find the time to post about that tomorrow!

The Parties

2010-12-01T19:21:00.000-08:00

We had the pleasure of celebrating Hope's birthday twice. First in Joplin with Brian's family over Thanksgiving weekend. Then at home with my dad whose birthday is the day after Hope's.

Angel Food Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream in Joplin.

A little photo shoot before the party at home.

Just a little icing.

Maybe I'll just lick the top instead of using my fingers.

I'm starting to feel sick.

Uh Oh, I got a little bit of cupcake on the table.

BATH TIME.

We're back...

2010-11-30T19:30:00.001-08:00

A year ago today, our little Hope graced us with her presence.

And now she's already ONE!

We love you sweet angel.

Dear Santa

2010-09-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

Last week while Hope was taking a "mommy-I-don't -feel-good-marathon-nap" I was catching up in blog land. I stumbled upon this post. Let me first tell you that I loath mopping! It's become a well know fact in our hope that shortly after mom mops, someone in going to spill something very sticky. For those of you not interested in reading the above post -which you should because it's funny and much more well written than mine-it's all about the love between a woman and her robot vacuum cleaner. Which brings me to my mention of Santa in the title of this post. I want Santa to bring me this for Christmas. I can just imagine all the extra time I'll have to read books to the kids, ask my hubby about his day and knit hats for the homeless...maybe I'm exaggerating a little. But it sure would be nice to wake up each morning to a freshly mopped kitchen!

My little mess-makers at the Tulsa Zoo.

2010-08-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

August means...

My Birthday!

Cole made me this awesome Birthday card out of Legos. It says "MOM" if you can't tell.

A visit to the QT Park and the Aquarium with Brian's cousin, Lisa, and her family. Our kids had so much fun with Connor, Trevor and Aubrey. That evening we got a a couple of babysitters for the 7 kids and went to the showing of Jeffie Was Here at the Tulsa United Film Festival. That was a first for Brian and me. Lots of fun and great people watching!

This Friday, we all went up to Hoover Elementary to meet the kids teachers. It was so much fun to walk the halls and finally know people. When we got back to the house, Shurabe tripped while climbing out of the van. She is now the recipient of 4 stitches. She did so well...lots of screaming and crying but she laid very still while they were doing the stitches. At one point, she screamed, "I'm so hungry!" After leaving the Urgent Care we went straight to Panda Express and got that girl some Orange Chicken!

Happy 4th

2010-07-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

This was Shurabe and Hope's first 4th of July. It was almost a year ago that we traveled to Ethiopia to get our little girl. Shurabe is so excited about America. She points out every "America flag" she sees as we drive around town. On Saturday we got out her American flag dress to iron in preparation for Sunday. She knew that Hope was wearing her "America dress" too so she asked if I had America clothes to wear too. I told her I didn't but I thought Nana might. She immediately called Nana and asked her about her America clothes (I had to do a little interpreting before Nana figured out what she was talking about).

Hope had no idea what the 4th of July was all about but she sure did look cute!

Cole and Levi were really excited because we got to go out to "Uncle" John Burgett's ranch. They got to shoot the potato gun, ride in a boat, ride a 4-wheeler and do a little fishing! What a day!

Yum, Yuck and Yeah!

2010-06-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was busy in the kitchen and was summoned to the living room. Shurabe said, "You have to take a picture of this. It's too cute!" (all with her sweet little african accent) She was right, so I hurried to get the camera before the cute moment passed.

Our sweet Hopey (as we affectionately call her) turned 6 months old on Sunday. I find myself enjoying her more than I ever thought possible. The knowledge that she will be my last baby is a big encouragement to savor every moment. The whole family was excited to watch her experience her first bites of rice cereal (except Cole... I'm not sure where he was but later that evening he was shocked to hear that Hope had eaten cereal). She really liked it and even succeeded at grabbing the spoon a time or two.

Cole was the celebrity at out house yesterday! Levi's sign says it best... "Cole haves his therd tooth out!" (interpretation : Cole has his 3rd tooth out) It was a really big deal because this is the first tooth for him to lose on his own (the first two were pulled by the dentist).

Late Sunday night (long after he should have been asleep) Cole came running into the living room to show us that his tooth was pointing forward at a 45 degree angle. Brian's brother and his family came down from Springfield for Memorial Day. We had a great time at the QT park and The Riverwalk. Every time I looked at Cole, he had his loose tooth sticking out over his lower lip. (see picture below)

Nana and Papa came over for dinner that evening and Nana had the tooth out before the enchiladas were out of the oven. I'd been telling Cole all day that his Nana was famous for her tooth-pulling skills. She didn't disappoint!

Tomorrow is the boys' last day of school. Yippee!! Get ready for some swimming pictures!

May Days

2010-05-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

May has brought with it lots of fun and firsts.

Levi (third from the right) is on his first t-ball team. Brian is the coach. Their team is pretty talented if I might say so myself! Levi has made some fantastic plays at 1st base.

Brian and Cole (along with Grandpa Steve) participated in the Tour de Tulsa family ride. They rode along Riverside, so Levi, Shurabe, Hope and I cheered them on at Quik Trip park on 41st and then met them at the finish line. I must admit, I was a little teary eyed and proud of my son. Cole completed the 13 miles at the head of the pack, grinning from ear to ear. I think this might be the beginning of a life-long hobby for him. I'm anxious for when the whole family can go on rides together.

Shurabe is progressing in leaps and bounds. She is learning lots of American phrases and becoming the girliest of girls. She loves all things princess and wants to take ballet classes in the fall (actually she wants to start them "yesterday" but classes don't start until fall). People often ask how she is adjusting and I typically have tons of positive things to say. Today I spent quite a bit of time trying to comfort her through the challenges of being the only girl in her class with kinky african hair. She is beautiful and exotic but wants to be like everyone else. I'm not so sure this is an adoption issue as much as it is a "girl" issue. We spent three hours straightening her hair because "everybody in my class always says my hair is crazy everyday." (all said with tears streaming down her face) The results of our straightening session were less than acceptable but she loved it. Unfortunately, it is stormy and incredibly humid today so the straight hair only lasted a few hours.

Here is a picture of my pretty girls (curly hair and all).

Hope is growing in leaps and bounds (and rolls). I can't believe how big she is getting. She found her toes last night and I can tell she is just trying to figure out how to get them into her mouth. She is also becoming quite the talker. She babbles and coos and giggles, bringing so much joy to the whole family. We are so happy to have her in our lives. God sure does know how to give GOOD surprises!

Other firsts: Hope and Shurabe's first Mother's Day

Shurabe's first Tornado Season (she was full of "what if" questions this evening)

Cole's first loose tooth (hopefully he'll lose it before the May is over)

I am a very blessed mommy.

Easter

2010-04-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

This was an especially great Easter at our house because it was Shurabe and Hope's first. It has been so much fun explaining the meaning of Easter to Shurabe. A couple of times she has asked me, "Mommy, Jesus coming?" I wish I had that kind of anticipation. It has been good for me to remind myself and tell her, "Maybe! Nobody knows when he is coming back."

Cole was really excited this morning to make it a meaningful day for his siblings. He made a special sign after breakfast and wanted to hang it up for everybody to see all day. Then he spent the rest of the morning formulating a plan to make special gifts for Shurabe and Levi (a baseball poster and a ballerina poster).

Poor little Levi did his best to enjoy the day despite his raging allergies. Bless his heart, his eyes were almost swollen shut when he woke up this morning. We hunted eggs in Nana and Papa's living room instead of outside to keep him out of the wind and pollen.

On a lighter note, I got to sew two little Easter dresses (one much smaller than the other). I've been eyeing this fabric for a couple of weeks and it went on sale just in time for me to whip up these sweet little dresses. Shurabe's entailed a little more work than I anticipated... petticoat and all. But I am happy with how they turned out and the girls liked them too!

Growing like a weed

2010-03-09T16:18:00.000-08:00

The months are flying by faster than I can believe. Shurabe has been with us for almost 7 months. She is growing so fast that she's already outgrown 3 shoe sizes since we brought her home. Her hair is growing and she is starting to be excited about it being LONG. There is nothing that makes a little girl feel more beautiful than long hair!
Here she and her grandpa, Steve, are having a little nap together. She barely fits on our laps any more. But I am sure that we will always figure out a way to make it work.
Hope is 3 months old and such a sweet baby girl. We love to make her smile but her pouty face is pretty adorable too. We keep trying to get a picture of it but the camera always distracts her.

She has recently found her thumb and fell asleep sucking it for the first time last night. Brian and I were busy putting the big kids to bed and when we walked into the living room, there she was sound asleep in the middle of the floor, sucking her thumb. Here she is enjoying a spring-like day this week. We put her in her bouncy seat in the garage and let her watch the big kids ride their bikes. She had lots of fun cooing and blowing spit bubbles.

Happy Birthday Hubby

2010-01-29T17:38:00.000-08:00

Does he look 35 years old to you? We got to spend all day with the Birthday boy due to the snow and ice outside. Brian took the 3 older kids out to play and shovel snow for a couple of hours while...

Hope sat and watched the fire in the fireplace...

I made one of Brian's favorite dishes - Beef Taco Bake (yikes, my oven is dirty) ...

and watched out the window in awe of the beautiful blanket of fresh white snow and sparkling branches covered in ice.

Later, the kids all made Birthday cards for their daddy and we enjoyed dinner with my mom and Cassie.

***************

Topic change...

Brian has declared this to be my best week of cooking ever. A couple of nights ago, I made some pancakes to have on hand for the kids' breakfasts. They were just from a boxed all purpose baking mix. Brian grabbed one off the counter and ate it with his hands (no syrup or anything) and said they were "Awesome - best pancakes he's ever had, etc.

Last night I made wild Rice and Ham Chowder and had my parents over to eat with us. This is going to be a new favorite at our house. I am really excited to have a dish that EVERYONE liked! I wanted to post a link to the recipe but I can't remember which blog I found it on.

I just remembered, last week I found a really good recipe for Enchiladas on another blog. They were delicious!

I also made some pumpkin muffins (recipe courtesy of my friend Kelli) in anticipation of a power outage. I figured they would be a good stand-by breakfast or snack if we were left in the dark! I've made them before but once again, Brian couldn't stop talking about how good they are.

You may be catching on by now that I'm not all that good in the kitchen. Thankfully, these few successful attempts are enough to distract Brian from the less than exciting menus I usually prepare. I'm a lucky lady (for many reasons)!

One month old

2010-01-11T15:22:00.000-08:00

It's never too early to start looking for a godly spouse. So Ledger Moss and Hope put their heads together and gazed into their futrure together. What a cute couple!

Hope is now a normal part of our everyday life. We no longer find ourselves forgetting that we have her when she sleeps quietly in the corner.

While her older siblings still adore her, I no longer find myself refereeing who gets to hold her next (unless her namesake - Aunt Elizabeth - is in town.

One week later...

2009-12-06T18:44:00.000-08:00

One week ago today Brian and I were preparing our home and family for the arrival of the new baby. I was waddling around counting the hours until I would no longer be pregnant. Brian's parents were in town, ready to meet their new granddaughter and take care of the other 3 kiddos.

November 30th has come and gone, we have our sweet girl home with us and tomorrow we get back into the swing of things. The past week has been fun and hectic. Hope brings lots of joy to us all but allows for very little sleep. The poor little angel seems to have a touch of colic.

Our Girl!

2009-12-03T11:39:00.000-08:00

Hope Elizabeth made her grand appearance on Monday at 9:57 a.m.

She was 8 lb. 6 oz. and 20 1/4 inches.

We are so excited to finally have her here. Her brothers and sister adore her.

We can't wait to see what God has in store for her life. She is every bit his plan and we are thrilled to get to be part of it!

Some Highlights from September

2009-09-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

Brian had to make a quick trip to OKC last weekend so we made it into a day trip for the whole family. Nana went along and we introduced her and the boys to Ethiopian food at the Queen of Sheba Restaurant. Shurabe was so excited to have Injera (Ethiopian bread they use as a utensil).

Nana wasn't quite as skilled with the Injera as Shurabe. The boys were troopers and tried all of the food that wasn't too spicy. We are all looking forward to going back for Shurabe's birthday in October. Anyone who wants to join us is welcome to come!

We had a beautiful Summer rain shower a couple of days ago. The kids were all playing outside while Brian mowed the lawn. Suddenly, it started raining so Levi and Shurabe decided to shed their shirts and take advantage of the water. Shurabe ran around singing and being silly. Levi spent most of the time chasing Shurabe and sticking his wet bottom as the rest of us. He's such a BOY!

Yesterday Shurabe got dressed in her finest dress-up attire in anticipation of a play date with her friend Nicole. Unfortunately, Nicole's whole family was sick so I just let her wear her outfit when we ran errands (however, I did make her change out of her play high-heeled shoes). She got lots of compliments at Super Wal-Mart!

This past Sunday our church family threw a shower to help us welcome baby Hope and Shurabe to our family. It was absolutely lovely. Lots of our friends and church family were there to help us celebrate our growing family. We opened a mountain of gifts in a record amount of time thanks to Shurabe's "Tazmanian Devil Technique".(The adorable diaper cake was made my Brian's cousin Rachel Barnett)

Shurabe's New "Do"

2009-08-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

Last night Brian and I had the priviledge of taking our good friend Raynisha to the John Legend concert. It was so much fun. While there I got an education on African American hair. This morning Raynisha came by the house and braided Shurabe's hair for her. It looks so cute and Shurabe loves it. It was so much fun to see her reaction when she saw herself in the mirror!

She looks a little apprehensive in this picture because she hasn't seen the finished result.

Back to School

2009-08-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

Today was the boys' first day of school. Kindergarten for Levi and 2nd grade for Cole! It was dreadfully stormy this morning so we all got to trek into the school through a downpour of rain trudging through a river that used to be a sidewalk. The boys looked at it as an adventure (which I think helped distract Levi from his nerves about making friends)!

We have pictures of the morning but they are on my parents' camera because we couldn't find ours this morning (I can't seem to get them to download onto our computer). Here are the "after" pictures. Both boys had a great day. When I asked Cole how 2nd grade was different he said, "I think we have more bathroom breaks." Levi made 2 friends but can't remember their names - typical 5 yr. old. We stopped for a 1/2 price Smoothie at Sonic for an after-school-snack, then headed home for some vegging out on the couches and watching MIGHTY DUCKS.

Levi is behind the boy in the blue shirt.

Showers of blessings

2009-07-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

W have some of the most amazing friends and church family! On Sunday, my Adult Bible Class passed around a sign-up sheet for people to provide meals for our family. We are covered for the next TWO WEEKS! I am in awe of their thoughtfulness. It has been so nice to spend the day focusing on the kids without worrying about grocery shopping or what to make for dinner. (Added bonus - a break from the same 6 recipes I make all of the time.) On top of that, the boys have had special outings everyday with friends so they can have a break from their sister as she adjusts to life in a family.

We are making progress everyday as far as communication and tantrums go. We are learning some of her words and she is learning some of ours. She uses hand gestures (not really sign language) to show us what she wants sometimes and we do a lot of pointing.

This morning Shurabe and I went to Super Wal-mart to do some school supply shopping. I wasn't sure how she would do in a big place like that but she did amazingly. She just sat wide-eyed in the cart and took it all in. One of the Wal-mart stockers approached me and said she looked Ethiopian. I told him that we just got back from going to get her from Addis Ababa. He said that was his country and asked her name and what Agency we used to adopt her. I was shocked that he could tell she was Ethiopian. It was a really cool thing!

Adjusting to the new life

2009-07-21T04:33:00.001-07:00

We are home from Ethiopia with our new daughter. The trip was truly a journey- physically and emotionally. I've never been so "spent" in all my life. There were lots of laughs and lots of tears (some hers and lots of them mine). It's really nice to be home where there is fresh air, safe food to eat and ice in my drinks.

I wouldn't trade the chance to see Shurabe's birth country for anything. The people were very kind and gracious. Every where I turned there was someone trying to speak to and comfort Shurabe. The scenery is breath-takingly beautiful in contrast to the hungry and handicapped beggars roaming the streets.

We are blessed to have Brian home this week as Shurabe learns what home and family means. She is fond of her brothers and they are even more fond of her. She is becoming more and more interested in Daddy as she sees how fun he is. But Mommy is at the top of her list (both flattering and draining). I only wish I knew what was going through her head when she gets quiet and contemplative or begins to scream at the smallest disappointment. I try to be understanding and comforting and at the same time discern when she is being manipulative to gain control of all those around her. Three is a rough age even without the grief, language barrier, and homesickness. We would really appreciate your prayers as we help her through this uncertain time of adjusting.

This morning was especially hard. There was a horrendous thunderstorm that set off our security alarm at 3:30 a.m. Needless to say, we were all jolted awake with hearts racing. The thunder and lightning were relentless for about 30 minutes. I layed down with Shurabe in our bed and hugged her tight. She fidgeted nervously for about an hour until it was clear she was finished sleeping for the night. She and I got up and watched a Praise Baby video in the dark living room. It calmed her for awhile until she began crying for her special care-giver from the Transition Home. She was clearly grieving the loss of her special friend/mother-figure. It was heart breaking to say the least. When she was done, she led me to the kitchen and pointed at the cabinet where we keep her favorite food, peanut butter crackers. She seems to be a comfort eater, a boredom eater, and an all-around BIG EATER. We'll work on that when there aren't so many other issues at hand!

As I type this she is playing happily by herself. I'll leave you with some happy pictures of our first days at home together.She loves baths. I bet she dumped water on her head 30 times!

It's a GIRL!

2009-07-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

Profile

Peek-a-booTwo tiny feet.

We found out this afternoon that this sweet baby inside of me is a little girl. Brian is going to have two little princesses and I will no longer be outnumbered in this Testosterone-heavy household. I'm trying really hard to keep myself away from the sewing machine. It keeps calling to me saying, "Come sew tiny things with flowery fabric!" But I must ignore it and finish packing for our trip to go get our oldest daughter.

Here is the PROOF.

The home stretch...

2009-07-05T18:50:00.001-07:00

This adoption is feeling more and more real with each passing day. We leave for Ethiopia in just a few days and there is lots to do before our flight leaves. Our friends and family have all been so kind and generous. Thankfully, we have everything we need to start out life with Shurabe. I am really looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Just meeting our daughter is reason enough but we will also find out this week the gender of our baby. Brian is blessed to be able to take some paternity leave and so the whole family will be home to bond with Shurabe. Brian is such a great husband and dad that we all look forward to spending time at home with him. I'm really excited to see how Shurabe reacts to him. I have a feeling they will have a very special relationship. Hopefully next post I will have some photos.

A family of 5!

2009-06-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

We got the exciting call this morning. Shurabe Eden Jennings is officially our daughter. We will hopefully travel to get her on July 11th. "Ethiopia, here we come!" I am sure Brian will make a video when we have time but for now, here is on

e of my favorite pictures of her.

Ultrasound Scheduled

2009-06-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

I had my 4 month Dr. appt. yesterday and baby and mommy are healthy. Last week I suffered from a lot of lower back pain. So many of my friends were so sweet and offered suggestions that helped with their maternity aches and pains. After two appointments with my favorite D.O. in the world, I am feeling 98% better. Just a little stiffness left over from a week of inactivity. We are a little nervous about the long flight to Ethiopia and any reoccuring back pain that might creep up. I plan on going to see my Dr. and getting my back adjusted a couple of days before we leave to make sure I am feeling as good as possible.

Now for the good stuff! My ultrasound is scheduled for July 2nd. Only 2 1/2 weeks until we know the gender of this baby! I am so glad we will find out before we leave for Ethiopia. I think it will be good for me to be mentally prepared for a boy or a girl before we start the emotional transition process with Eden. (By the way, we have decided to use Eden as her middle name but for security reasons, we aren't using her Ethiopian name on the internet. As soon as we pass court, we'll post her name and pictures so all of our friends and family can start getting to know our new daughter.)

One of my friends Kelli found out this week the gender of her baby. She took a poll on her blog to see what her friends and family predicted the gender would be. I thought it was a great idea so I am going to do the same. (After all, imitation is the highest form of flattery.) Join in the fun and leave me a comment to let me know your prediction!

Fun give-away

2009-05-31T15:01:00.000-07:00

Check out this give-away by the Pleated Poppy. She always has really cute stuff and there's nothing like something free to brighten your day!

Summer "Break"

2009-05-28T17:31:00.001-07:00

Last Friday we cristened the first day of summer break with an all-out-family-watergun-fight! Cole and Levi both got new mega waterguns for their birthdays so we had one for everyone in the family (mom included). I'm pretty sure Levi's gun weighes as much as he does when it is full of water!

Close range shooting was the most fun even though the guns could shoot really far!

I have a feeling there are many more watergun fights in our family's near future!

We didn't pass...

2009-05-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

We just got the call from our Adoption Agency informing us that our case didn't pass in court. Apparently, the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Ethiopia must write a letter to the judge for each adoption case and they didn't get ours complete in time for our court date. I'm still foggy as to why they didn't complete it but the Director the the Ethiopia program at AWAA told us that MOWA has been very particular the past month. There has been a much higher percentage than usual of families not passing.

Our new court date is June 18th. Please pray that there would be a sooner court opening and our date will get moved up. The longer we have to wait, the harder it is going to be on me traveling and the less time we will have to help Eden adjust before the new baby arrives.

We are confident that God is still in control of this process.

Court tonight

2009-05-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight, while we are sleeping, an Ethiopian judge will review our case. If they are pleased with our paperwork and Eden's paperwork, they will pass our case and she will officially be our daughter. Hopefully, by Tues. morning we can show you pictures 0f our daughter! We would really appreciate your prayers for a smooth court date. We are trusting that God is in control of this adoption and has been from the very beginning. Eden will not be in Ethiopia one day longer than God wants her to.

We had a really great time last night with two fellow adoptive families who have daughters from Ethiopia. We took advantage of the opportunity to ask lots of questions about travel and helping Eden to adjust when she is home with us. I'm so grateful for their openness and experience that we can glean from.

I'll keep you posted!

Six more days until Court!

2009-05-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

Our Court date in Ethiopia is May 25th (Memorial Day). If all goes well and the judge is pleased with the amount of information given about Eden's relinquishment, she will officially be our daughter. We would really appreciate your prayers that everything goes well. If we don't pass court, we'll have to wait for another court date which sometimes happens the next day or the next month, depending on what kind of information the judge is asking for.

This past weekend was Mayfest in Tulsa and I've been looking forward to it all year. Last year we found a wonderful vendor who makes amazing little girl clothes. We drooled over them for a long time but decided we should wait until we know the age of our little girl before purchasing anything. Well, since I now know the size of clothing we need, I was anxious to see if the vendor was back.....SHE WAS!! Here are the two outfits Eden got.

They are completely reversible so really, she got 4 new outfits. Brian and I bought the dress and Brian's parents bought the capris and top with the little hat .

I can't wait to see them on her!! Now she just needs some little girl toys.

Due Date...

2009-04-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

Here is our little peanut at 8 wks. 6 days. The top of the picture is it's head ( Actually it's the right side of the picture but my computer won't let me rotate this picture.)

It looks like we are going to have a Thanksgiving baby. My due date is actually the day after Thanksgiving but I am being optimistic that I might have this one atleast a day early. Levi was born on his due date without any help. Cole was induced on a Friday, a couple days after his due date, so we wouldn't risk having him on the weekend when my Dr. wasn't on call. I really don't want to induce again...that was not a pleasant experience!

Anybody know if the Thanksgiving dinner at St. John's Hospital is edible? Let's hope my family will take pity on me and bring me left overs from home.

Just when I thought I was done with these...

2009-04-16T13:35:00.001-07:00

I was so excited to find out that we are getting a 3 year old...no more diapers! Then a few days later I found out that we are pregnant! Time to rethink things:

1. Forget the garage sale where we perge our home of all things baby.

2. Perhaps our Honda Pilot isn't going to cut it anymore. Boo Hoo - I am going to have to grow-up and get a mini-van. (Brian tried to comfort me by saying, "Maybe they will throw in a couple of pairs of mom-jeans to sweeten the deal!" -- NOT FUNNY!)

3. I'm trying to enjoy cable television as much as possible. We've already decided it's the first thing to go and make more wiggle room in our budget. It's not like I'll have time for T.V. with 4 kids anyway!

We really are thrilled - especially the boys- the idea's just taking a little getting used to.

Ethiopia...here we come!

2009-04-14T16:44:00.001-07:00

There has been lots of excitement at our house this week. I had prepared myself for a long and painful wait with this whole adoption process but it has proved to be much faster than I anticipated. We received our court date yesterday - May 25th. That is the day that Duni (one of the Ethiopia staff) will go to court in Ethiopia on our behalf and if the judge passes our case, we will officially become "Eden's" parents. (By the way, if you didn't already know, we are going to probably name her Eden.) Right now, we have a tentative travel date (TTD) of June 20-27th.

30% of families do not pass court the first time so we would really appreciate your prayers that we DO pass court on the 25th of May.

Yes, there is life aside from adoption at the Jennings Home. Cole has turn into quite the bike rider this Spring. It doesn't matter how cold and rainy it is, he wants to be outside riding his bike! Brian took him on a little "camping trip" out to the church camp last a couple of weekends ago and he had a blast riding his bike up and down the sidewalks.

This is a snap shot of a typical day in the life of Levi. He's such a little character that we spend much of our time watching and laughing. However, it's a rare occurance that we get a picture of him without a silly look on his face or where he's hiding his face or scowling (he's not a big fan of having his picture taken).

Lately, he's been fascinated with numbers. The boy amazes me. He already does simple addition and subtraction - he just doesn't know he's doing it! And be careful to not tell him your age unless you want him telling it to everybody he sees in the next couple of days!

It's starting to feel real.

2009-04-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

A week and a half has passed now since we received our referral. Levi and I went to Target on Wednesday and picked two outfits, an assortment or headbands and a mini photo book to send in a care package to our Eden. There is a family from Broken Arrow who is also adopting a little girl from Ethiopia that is the same age as Eden and they will travel to get her in a week. They are going to take some pictures for us, deliver the care package and get hand and foot prints of her if possible. I am hoping for some pictures of her smiling. The only picture we got with her referral is really sad. It makes me want to hop on an airplane right now and go give her a hug.

Lots of people have been asking me when we will get to bring her home. My best guess is in July sometime. We should be getting a court date in the next week or two and that will give us a tentative travel date (about 3 weeks after we pass court).

As I write this, Levi is coughing up a lung. He started coughing yesterday evening and hasn't stopped (except for a couple of hours in the middle of the night when I gave him the last few drops of our beloved prescription cough syrup). I am so sick of the boys being sick! I just want my babies to be able to feel good and go to school and church and have fun. Allergy season brings such mixed feeling for me. I love Spring with all of it's flowers and budding trees and mild temperatures. If only we didn't have all of the wind blowing the pollen in our faces!

Hopefully Eden won't have allergies too!

Well, I'm going to go get some exercise and mow all of our weeds so Brian can spray them with pesticide in a couple of days. Unless... maybe I could have the boys sell dandelion salad at little curbside stand to raise money for the adoption!

Today was THE DAY!

2009-03-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

Today I was spending a little time sewing on a Birthday gift when the phone rang. I almost let the answering machine get it but at the last minute picked up. It was our Family Coordinator from America World. She said that she was calling with some great news for our family. She had a referral for us! I immediately started crying and my heart was racing. She called Brian on a conference call and told us all about our little girl. I can't tell you too much now for confidentiality reasons but we are so thrilled to finally know her by name and to see what her sweet face looks like.

I was expecting to have to wait until atleast June if not Aug. so this all came as quite a shock. Now we wait 2-4 weeks to hear when our court date is. The court date will probably be in June. Then we will travel about 3 weeks after we pass court.

Please pray that we will get a court date soon and pass the first time in court. I wish I could tell you more but we'll just have to wait on all of the details until she is officially ours!

Houston Bound

2009-03-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

The kids and I are headed down south for Spring Break to see my brother and his family. I'm looking forward to spending time with the ladies in my life (my mom and sister are going with us). The weather is supposed to be in the upper 70's and low 80's all week...I'm looking forward to that! Hopefully the kids will play happily outside just content to have the company of their beloved cousins. ; )

We'll be making a trip to the new JoAnn in Pearland. Elizabeth had never been to one before and called me a few weeks ago, begging me to come and see the new "amazing, gigantic" JoAnn. I think she now understands my tendency to gravitate towards our local JoAnn Store. They also have some really great V.A. Thrift Stores that she frequents. I'm going to try to talk her in to taking me so I can get in on the amazing deals! My dad came home from visiting my brother for his birthday and said they also have a really cool outdoor mall really close to their house. It sounds like we are going to have to get a baby sitter atleast one day and cram as much shopping as possible into one afternoon!

Here's just a little bit of bragging. I pride myself in my expert packing and this is the only bag we are taking for all 3 of us for a full week! (Granted, we'll have a backpack or two of snacks and toys for the drive down.)

...is not as bad as...

2009-03-06T17:48:00.000-08:00

Today Cole's teacher relayed a funny story to me from "story time" in class last week.

They were reading a book about manners written by Whoopi Goldberg. On each page they discuss a different offensive behavior and in the lower right-hand corner, almost like a mantra, is the suggestion that this particular offense (such as interrupting, talking in theaters, bad sportsmanship, or eating with your hands) is not as bad as...(the next bad habit or behavior) on the next page.

As Mrs. Munozcano read the "is not as bad as..." part, Cole would say under his breath "is not as bad as going to hell." He did this on every page! Thankfully, Mrs. Munozcano is a believer and wasn't offended by his remarks, but I reassured her that we didn't talk like that all the time at home.

Kids are so unpredictable. But he does have a point...good manners aren't quite as important as salvation!

HAT + BOY = CUTE

2009-03-03T14:30:00.000-08:00

I finally broke down and learned how to crochet. Up until now I've been a little bit of a knitting snob. I got this Newsboy Cap pattern from here. After I figured out HOW to crochet, it was pretty simple. I still have some practicing to do.

Fun with Rope and Remnants

2009-03-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a little bit of spring decorating this past week and thought I needed a little more color in the living room. I decided to make some new coasters with some of my favorite fabric remnants. I the instructions on craftystylish

Anyway, I've been itching to try it. It uses clothesline rope which I had a little trouble finding, hence the delay in trying out the project. Anyway, you can buy 200 yards of the rope at Home Depot for a under 10 dollars. I made a bowl and 4 coasters and only used about a third of the rope. For a fun set of coasters or bowl of your own, just cut fabric into 1 1/2 inch wide strips about 6-10 inches long. Wrap a strip around the rope, form the rope into a cinnamon roll shape while sewing the layers together using the zigzag stitch on your sewing machine. To form the sides of the bowl, just gradually curve the edges and sew so that the bottom of the bowl faces out to the left of your sewing machine. It's as easy as that...maybe better explained with pictures than words! I'm sure I'll make more in the future, maybe next time I'll try making a tutorial!

Another pieced top

2009-02-24T12:07:00.000-08:00

This is the project I was working on yesterday when I had the ironing catastrophe.

I used a bunch of beloved scraps left over from some purses to make this baby quilt top. It was fun trying to puzzle piece them all together without too much waste. I think I'm going to do a denim on the back. One of these days I am going to finish a quilt instead of just making tops.

A good mistake.

2009-02-23T14:07:00.000-08:00

Today I was pressing some seams on a project when I noticed that the iron felt sticky. Apparently I had it sitting too close to this ugle Easter bucket that I've been using for sewing trash. The bottom 1/3 of the metal plate on my iron was covered in melted plastic. There is a big blob on my ironing board cover too. At first I was just frustrated with myself...then I thought it might be the perfect reason to replace my piece-of-junk iron...then I was relieved to see that none of the melted goop got on the project that I was ironing. I decided that I must come up with an alternative refuse container! This is what I came up with.
It even folds down flat for easy storage when I am not in a sewing frenzy! It turned out so pretty that I can't bring myself to put trash in it. So for now it's a sewing caddy to keep some of my notions close at hand.

Swedish Chef

2009-02-21T10:10:00.000-08:00

Levi has a birthday party next week so I whipped up a little apron and chef's hat for the Birthday Girl. I love the little apron because the staps are made of one long cord that moves freely through a casing on each side. As you pull on the ties, the neck strap tightens. I got the idea from an old Pampered Chef apron and just scaled it down to fit a child.

I'm a WINNER!

2009-02-20T14:39:00.000-08:00

Last week I received word that I had won a quilt from here. I just got it in the mail and I am so thrilled. The quilt is adorable...all the colors I would have chosen myself. And the back is made of that "minky" fabric, complete with a sweet label. What a generous Give-Away!

"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on."

Dress #3

2009-02-17T14:06:00.000-08:00

Well, here is the last dress for Anna...actually, I am sure it won't be "the last" dress but it's the last one I intend to make for a while! I accidentally bought the wrong size of pattern so I had to tweek a different pattern that I already had. I think it turned out pretty well. I actually like it more than the original pattern. Sewing for little girls is so much FUN!

Dresses for Anna

2009-02-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

Last week my sister-in-law showed me a catalogue from Boden kids...oh-my-goodness...such cuteness! We decided to try to find some dress patterns that were similar to a couple of the dresses in the catalogue. I have two of the three dresses made so I thought I'd post a sneak peek for Elizabeth and Anna.
It's had to tell in this picture but the first dress had strawberries all over it. Anna loves Strawberry Shortcake. When my boys are impersonating Anna they say, "Where's my cake?" That's what she calls Strawberry Shortcake - "My Cake"!

late night piecing

2009-01-26T09:56:00.000-08:00

Last night, while Brian was playing basketball with the guys from church, I had a little fun with fabric. I decided to take a crack at my first Log Cabin square. Here's the finished square (please ignore the water stained ironing board cover and bad photography). I just picked a bunch of my favorite fabrics. There's really no rhyme or reason except that I like it!

That was so much fun that I decided to venture off on my own and started piecing together some scraps from another project. This is what I ended up with. I'm not sure what the final outcome will be. I'm thinking about making a really minimalist quilt with mostly white and these vibrant striped.

Cough, Cough, Sniff...

2009-01-23T09:34:00.000-08:00

Our house has been filled with the sound of big coughs coming from little bodies. Both boys have been battling the cold bug this week, Levi more so than Cole. It reminds me of last spring when Levi had a trecherous cold. His little lips were raw and swollen from blowing his nose so much. We took this picture one morning while he watched cartoons. Notice the mountain of used tissues and the empty kleenex box. I think you might even be able to see his not-so-little upper lip sticking out. So pathetic. Anyway, I don't think it is going to get near as ugly this time. I'm just enjoying all of the cuddle time we are getting to have together.

Now you can see...

2009-01-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

I promised before Christmas to post some pictures of the things I made to give as gifts. Now that the gifts have all been received, it's safe to show them to you!

A fun princess skirt for my neice! She insisted on wearing it under her dress on Sunday to church. That made her Aunt Beth very happy!

Matching fleece robes for my nephews

Unfortunately, Luke is growing so fast that his is already a little short in the sleeves. I don't think he minds but it was a little frustrating for me.

A knitted shrug for my little sister. This is my first attempt at a clothing item for grown-ups. It turned out pretty well if I might say so myself. I just wish it was a little bigger so I could borrow it!

The wait continues...

2009-01-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

I've had several inquiries lately about our adoption status. It is so encouraging to know that others are excited and anxiously waiting for our little girl. We are about 3 months into the 7-9 month waiting period. Our referral should arrive some time between April and June. We have to wait until everything passes in the Ethiopian court until we can go get her. Best case scenario, we'll go to Ethiopia to bring her home some time next summer. Some families experience quite a few set backs in the court process. We'll be praying for a quick and smooth court date for sure!

I've been sneaking a peek at several other blogs of families that have adopted from Ethiopia. Let me just tell you, "Those children are precious!". I am trying to prepare myself for her arrival without becoming too antsy. Easier said than done. So far, we have a new bed for her (a very girly white cast iron daybed), a drawer full of new hair accessories (Raynisha promises to tutor me on the techniques of caring for African hair), a couple of frilly clothing items, and two big brothers chomping at the bit to meet her!

I'm so excited to see what the Lord has in store for us as we embark on this exciting journey of becoming a bi-racial family custom designed by the Creator himself!

Some Great Charities

2008-12-12T06:12:00.001-08:00

I saw this list on a fellow America World family's blog. There are some great links. Check them out and make a purchase to make a difference in someone else's life.

For awesome Christmas gifts that keep on giving check out:
World Vision Online Donations:Animals
Give a family a goat, chicken, cow or ox to provide income for their family.
TOMS Shoes
Every pair of super cute shoes you buy gives a needy person a pair of shoes.
The Compassion Store
All gifts support the work of Compassion International
Saint's Coffee
My most favorite coffee! Buy a pound of coffee- feed an orphan for a month. Ethiopian is the best!
Tiny Rockstar
Buy a shirt- feed an orphan for a month.
Christian Freedom International
Great gifts made by persecuted Christians around the world.
Hearts in Hispaniola
Our friends Jeff and Vicki...if you plan to buy ANYTHING from
Amazon.com, click on the link through their blog and a
percentage of what you buy goes to their ministry in the
Dominican Republic and Haiti!
Integrity Worldwide International Christian Missions
Friend's ministry in Africa...they have a Christmas gift page.
Amazima Ministries International
Break the cycle of poverty by providing an education for a Ugandan child.

'Tis the Season!

2008-12-07T20:49:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas...

the decorations,
baking,
the music,
giving and receiving...

I love that we can dedicate an entire month to celebrating the birth of Christ.

My husband teases me when I leave my nativity scenes up until February. I like to make the wisemen travel from across the room to the manger (still not completely correct but atleast they aren't at the stable the night Jesus was born).

This year, I am trying to make most of the gifts we are giving. I think I'm almost finished. I'd post pictures but that would ruin the surprise for those receiving my handmade gifts. I thought it would wear me out or atleast stress me out but, thankfully, I got a head start and chose projects that aren't too labor intensive. I think I am just about finished!

Cancun is nice but home is too!

2008-11-09T14:16:00.001-08:00

Brian and I are home from a fabulous 10th Wedding Anniversary trip to Cancun. When we began planning the trip, we didn't know how fast the adoption process would go so we decided to celebrate a couple of months early. I can't believe we've already been married that long. Time flies when you're having fun!

Our morining started off with waking up and watching from our balcony as the sun rose. We found ourselves opereating on "old people time". We woke up with the sun at 6:00 and went to bed early (about the same time all the partiers were headed out to the clubs).

This was our "base of operation". We were often the only people on the beach infront of our resort. We would lay out until we got hot, then take a swim or catch some waves with our boogie boards. Then we would lay out until we got hot again or take a walk along the beach and take in some of the amazing people watching opportunities!

Our hotel room had a kitchenette so we prepared all of our breakfasts and lunches in the room and went out for dinner most nights. This was a little outdoor resaurant that overlooked the lagoon side of Cancun. We were able to watch the sunset and enjoy the beautiful tropical breezes.

This is the view from our balcony.

These are our little cuties wearing their Los Luchadores masks that we brought home for them. I have a feeling that Levi is going to spend a good part of the next month or so wearing his. The boy loves to dress up!

We missed our boys (and our soft mattress). It is good to be home again.

Cutest Cowboy Ever

2008-10-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend Brian and I took the boys to Boo Ha Ha on Brookside. Our neighbor and her son went along with us. Cole was a cowboy and Levi was an "understated" clown (he just wore the suit without a wig or any make-up). I thought it was interesting how well their costumes fit their personalities. Cole tries to do the right thing, is honest and kind. He loves his family. Levi on the other hand is the entertainer and loves to make people laugh. However, he also has a very serious side (hence no make-up or wig).

God issues...

2008-10-23T16:20:00.001-07:00

Here is a cute story born out of a car ride home from school.

Cole was talking to me about heaven and how cool it is going to be. He said he hopes that we all (Brian, me, Cole and Levi) go to heaven. I told him that I know that I am going to heaven because I decided a long time ago that I wanted Jesus to be my Savior. I told him that I pray all that time that he and his brother will make the same decision. Meanwhile, Levi is sitting in the back seat expressing dislike for all things "heaven" ie. clouds, angels, etc. Then he says that when he goes to heaven he is going to punch God in the face (not my proudest parenting moment)! As we pull into the neighborhood, I see my mom standing in her front yard (we live in the same neighborhood as my parents) so we pull into her driveway to say "Hi" to Nana. It was a beautiful day so we had the windows down and immediately Nana sees that Levi isn't very happy. When she asked about his angry face, Cole pipes in with his opinion of the situation. "Levi's having God Issues," Cole says. Where he came up with that terminology, I will never know but it certainly got some laughs from my mom and me! Well put, Cole.

Fall Break Fun

2008-10-17T08:02:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Cole had the day off from school so Brian took a vacation day. We had lots of fun. We went to the Tulsa Maize with our neighbors and their kids. I'd never been there but it was lots of fun. They had a cow train, a corn box (I think the adult boys had the most fun burying the kids in the dried corn), and a hay ride.

Later, we borrowed some friends Chiminea and Tent and we had a camp-out in our backyard. We roasted Hot Dogs and Marshmallows for S'Mores. YUMMY!

The boys were so anxious to sleep in the tent that we all climbed in before 8:00. Brian and I woke up after a long night of rest only to find that it was 2:30 a.m. We both started laughing at the fact that we were going to have to try to sleep for another 5 hours in the freezing cold. Thankfully, our bodies stayed pretty warm but our faces sure were cold. Levi and I made it until 6:30 when he woke up crying. Then Brian and Cole joined us inside at 8:00.

Please...

2008-10-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

You must go check out this web site! http://store.compassion.com We just received a mailer from Compassion International (a wonderful organization - if you aren't already, you should support them). The mailer featured a t-shirt that they are selling to help fight starvation. It comes in 4 different languages and one of them is AHMARIC (that's what they speak in Ethiopia). The shirts are really cool with a vintage look. I'm pretty sure that Brian and I will get one.

Allergies

2008-10-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

Oh the dreaded allergy season...woe is me!! On a brighter side, we are having a garage sale this weekend. If you would like to assist us in paying for my car tag (pulled over yesterday by our friendly Tulsa Police Officer for a tag that is 6 months over due...oops, don't know how that escaped us!) come on over and buy some of our not so junky junk. Several of our friends are going to be contributing to the sale too so there should be lots to choose from! Well, I'm off to deliver the second son to school!

It's there!!!

2008-10-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

I can 't believe it! I've forced myself to wait a few days before tracking our Fed-Ex package to Ethiopia. The Agency sent us an e-mail explaining that it's not uncommon for a package to sit in a European city for long periods of time before going on to Ethiopia. Then it may take a couple of days for the in-country staff to pick it up from the Fed-Ex office because it isn't close to the Agency's office. All this to say that the package arrived on the 29th! Apparently the package went out on the 26th and I didn't get an e-mail about it until the following monday.

I have a feeling that there is a very special little girl waiting in an orphanage for her mommy and daddy to come and get her. Maybe God is hurrying along the process so we can make that happen sooner than later.

DTE...what's that mean?

2008-10-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

For those of you new to the adoption lingo, DTE is short for "Dossier to Ethiopia". Our DTE date is September 29th. This date is when our official wait for a referral begins. Currently America World (our adoption agency) is predicting a 7-9 month waiting period for a female infant. That puts us in Ethiopia some time next summer. Let the count down begin!!

Carefree Childhood

2008-09-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Levi and I have been spending alot of time watching old home videos and looking at old pictures. These are a few of our favorites to watch. It's fun to see the way that they enjoy life without all of the inhibitions that we adults have.

This weekend we went to a wedding of Brian's Best Buddy growning up. They had a dance at the reception and all of the little nieces and nephews were dancing and having a great time. I tried to get Cole to go dance with his new friends and he was very reluctant to join in the fun. When I asked him why, he said that he was embarrassed to dance with all of the people watching him. It breaks my heart that at 6 yrs. old he is already struggling with insecurity and fear of what others will think of him. I'm sure that he's picked up on some of that from me....after all, I wasn't exactly breaking it down of the dance floor either. Oh for the good old days when we could go out in public dressed like this...

Refugees!

2008-09-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

This week we are blessed with the company of my Sister-in-law and her 4 kids. They are here seeking refuge from the devastation of Hurricane Ike. My brother drove home yesterday to see what kind of damage was done to their home and his work. Thankfully, a little bit of water damage, a toppled privacy fence and a basketball goal blown down were the only signs of damage at their home. Until the electricity comes back on, we'll get to enjoy their presence here in

T-Town!

FALL!!

2008-09-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

I am loving the fall like weather that blew in to Tulsa yesterday. When the clouds roll in and the ground is wet with rain I just want to curl up with a quilt and read a book. However, there is much "mothering" to do so the book must wait. Cole is NOT excited about daily homework but Levi thinks it's not fair that Cole GETS to have homework. My afternoons are spent coaxing Cole into doing his work and making up work for Levi to do! Those two boys are completely different (except for the fact that they are both so cute)!

Our last weekend of summer

2008-08-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the neighborhood pool for the last time this season. I finally remembered to bring my camera. Cole got brave enough to swim in the deep end (10') and jump off the diving board! Levi is happy just floating around with his floaties. That's more my style of swimming!

Dossier's safe arrival in VA

2008-08-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

Here is an e-mail that we received this afternoon from our Family Coordinator at America World.

I wanted to let you know that I did receive your dossier. So you can breath a sigh of relief that it is safe and sound here at America World. I will be reviewing it next Tuesday and taking it to be authenticated and approved at the U.S. Dept. of State and the Ethiopian Embassy during the week. If all goes as planed it will be mailed out to Ethiopia next Friday. If I run across any issues or see any adjustments that need to be made you will hear from me Tuesday afternoon, otherwise expect to receive a confirmation email on Friday September 5th with a tracking number. Thanks for all of your hard work!

It's in the mail

2008-08-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I put our COMPLETED DOSSIER in the mail. They should receive it at our agency, America World, by Friday then it goes to Washington D.C. via courier for Authentication, then it will be translated and sent to Ethiopia. We've done our end of the work and now it is time to wait. When I left the UPS Store I had the very same feeling that I have waiting for the restult of a pregnancy tests. I guess this really is a paper pregnancy!

Certification Completed!

2008-08-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

Yahoo!! The UPS man delivered our Certified Dossier documents this evening! I really didn't know how long it would take for them to go to OKC, get processed and then back, but that was quick! I just finished making our photo sheets to send along with the Dossier. I used SnapFish and chose the option to pick-up my order instead of having it delivered. I sent in the order at 6:00 p.m. and 30 minutes later, got an e-mail that my order is ready for pick-up at the Wal-greens down the street. Now that's service!

I had to borrow my parents' camera to take some pictures of the house (for the Dossier) so I finally took some pictures of all the girly clothing items I've been making.

This top is made from scraps I had left over from making purses. I love how it turned out. I think it will look so pretty with her brown skin.

This is just a little play dress I made from fabric I found on clearance.

This little smock is reversible the other side is soft yellow with a striped pocket in the middle. It is made to fit a baby so depending on how big she is, it might have to be a gift to someone else. Either way, it was fun to make!

I knit this one night while watching T.V. I had some yarn left over from a previous project and decided to try to make my own pattern. I just started knitting and this is what I came up with. It's pretty small but if it doesn't fit her, I have a big teddy bear that it fits perfectly.

School Days

2008-08-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our boys on their first day of school.

Cole's Teacher is Mrs. Munozcano and we are so excited. We prayed that God would put him in a class with a great teacher and our prayers were answered. Mrs. Munozcano was our first choice!

Levi only has 4 children in his class so he'll be getting all kinds of one on one time with his teacher. We are also very excited about Mrs. Kathy. Levi will most definately be ready for Kindergarten next year.

Secretary of State...here we come

2008-08-20T08:42:00.001-07:00

We sent our dossier to the Secretary of State for Certification yesterday. I tried to sent it on Monday via FedEx but they didn't know how to include a prepaid return envelope. UPS did it without any trouble what so ever. I'm a new faithful customer of UPS. Hopefully the certification process will go quickly!

Our I-171H is here!!

2008-08-14T19:08:00.000-07:00

Our approval from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office arrived in the mail yesterday (form I-171H). Happy Birthday to me!! Basically that means that we are approved to bring an orphaned child into the country. This is a huge step towards getting our little girl.

I am anxious to start working on her room but am making myself hold off. There is no reason for our little guy to have to share a room with his big brother yet. (Unless he'd like to stay in a little girl room...doubt it!)

I've been busy sewing today. I got gift cards to JoAnn Fabrics for my birthday and am anxious to pick out some fabric for myself. Actually, I'll probably buy fabric to sew little girl clothes. I just can't help myself. I'll post some pictures of what I've already made as soon as we get a camera that works. Ours died a few weeks ago. For now, I will just post a picture of one of the bags I'm selling on etsy.

Check it out at http://www.curlybee.etsy.com/!

Hurry up and wait...

2008-08-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

Our family is very anxious to meet our little girl. Our two little boys have been talking about her for almost a year now and they don't really understand "what is taking so long for us to find our little sister". One evening at bed time our 4 year old told me "Mommy, I think she's lost." It broke my heart. But at the same time, I am comforted to know that it isn't just my husband and me that want another child, her big brothers want her too.

We are so very close to having all of our paperwork gathered for our Dossier. We are currently waiting for our I-717 form. I'm a little nervous that we'll have to go back to OKC for fingerprinting because they had a hard time getting good prints on a couple of my fingers. Hopefully the FBI will have enough info to clear me.

In the mean time, I have been sewing up a storm. I just can't resist all of the cute little patterns and girly fabric. It calls to me as I stroll the aisles of JoAnn Fabrics. Hopefully, she will be able to wear the dresses I've made. I'm trying to make them a little on the big side so that she can grow into them if need be.