Today was THE DAY!

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!

It's there!!!

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.

Dossier's safe arrival in VA

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!

Certification Completed!

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.

Hurry up and wait...

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.