Dossier off to DC

Well, we have word that our dossier will be sent from Illien to DC tomorrow. It should be there a week getting all the seals it needs, return to Atlanta, then off the Ethiopia. We are close to a referral and are getting excited. However, we have many a bad mishaps (car accident for Keith, tree falling on our fence, septic pump is out, etc) fall upon us recently so hopefully they will come to an end so we can both travel to pick up Baby Delylah. Which now I have been second guessing the name and thinking that maybe we should have went with Taite Annabelle. I really like both names but this will most likely be our last infant since Grandpa daycare will be at capacity. Our next adoption will most likely be a child at least 4-5 since we want to be able to place them straight into school. Anyway, I have a point this child will most likely be a boy so Taite will never get used as a name and I just hate to think I loved this name and never had a daughter with it. AHHHH! dilemas.

Happy Easter

Lennah and Gavin

Mommy and Lennah

Grandpa and Lennah on Easter (too cute with her glasses)
Lisa and Lennah at the Zoo

Lennah, Mommy, and Kelli

My Easter ears

Today was Lennah's first Easter and an interesting one at that. She had a rough start and at church they had to call us out of service to come get her. This was the first time this had ever happened. This morning we gave her an easter basket it that we made. She got a thumper from the Disney store, a crayola bath set, and some bunny ears. I guess when she is bigger we will do the candy baskets. Yesterday, we took Lennah for an easter egg hunt at my parent's church. She liked the eggs more than the stuff inside. Plus she liked hugging on the other kids which is typical Lennah. For dinner today my parents came over tonight and my friend Kelli. She was sweet and bought Lennah a fillet easter bonnet. She too is adopting a baby girl from Vietnam and awaiting a referral.

The other day Lennah and I joined Lisa and Gavin at the zoo. This was a preview to how we are going to do at Disney in a few weeks. She did surprisingly well. I really thought she would give me a hard time but she enjoyed the animals. I also added several random cute shots to this post because well, Lennah is adorable.

Well, Happy Easter to all.

P.S. Sorry if this sounds kind of crazy but trying to think, write, and talk on the phone is proving to be difficult

Another Step Closer

Good News today! Illien read our homestudy and there are minimal corrections that need to be made so our social worker said that it should be approved and finalized early next week. Hooray! We also sent our dossier and only have one correction from a recommendation letter that needs to be made because of a notary and my dad is taking care of this tomorrow. So by the end of next week our dossier should be off to DC spend a week or so there, back to ATL, and then off to Addis Ababa. So hopefully, we should have our referral early May. YEAH!!!!!

Sad for Many Families

The last week has been a devastating time in the international adoption community. Kazakhstan had shut down adoptions as of yesterday and Vietnam is in such terrible shape no one knows how that will turn out. Basically, Vietnam may be closing its doors because an agreement between our government and theirs has not been made. Some families will make a cut off point to still be processed and receive their referrals while others may have to wait. The last time something like this happened in Vietnam it was 2 years before their program started back up again. Although I am truly sad for the families who are waiting I am especially sad for the children who may be left in orphanages because of our two governments. Children who would have warm beds and go to sleep on a full belly. Lennah was fed off $13.00 per month and she was one of the fortunate ones from our group whom we traveled with. Imagine receiving so little and living in an orphange for 2 or 3 years. We take for granted that we have what we want when we want it, we can do to a drive thru and order food while these kids have maybe porridge and formula for the first years of their lives. IT just saddens me so to know that so many may have to wait on bureaucracy to get a home. When all is said and done I know many of us dreamed of families for various reasons but essentially this is about the kids. With 143 million orphans in the world it should not be that hard to place a child in a home when there are people out there who want to open their hearts to children. I am keeping all the families in waiting and the children in our prayers and I ask you to do the same.

Dossier OFF

Today we have officially mailed our dossier off to our adoption agency. Hopefully, everything is good and we will not have resubmit or make any corrections. I have been worried about our marriage certificate and my birth certificate because they are not the same ones that we had used for our first adoption but hopefully the agency is correct when they say they'll think they'll be ok. So now we wait our homestudy is in the adoption agencies hand so we are waiting to see if it needs any corrections. I am hoping that everything will be finalized and sent off to DC by April 1st.

A Stolen Post

OK so I do not want to take credit for this but I found it and wanted to share it. I get asked all the time by my students "why don't I have my own baby". I usually respond with I have my own baby because we love Lennah more than we could ever love a biological child and we know Delylah will be loved the same. Or I give them the response that there are 143 million orphans and they need mommies or daddies too. I just wish more people got this through their heads that adopting is not a disease or a cure for something. I think this list sums up how most of us feel. By the way, I added number 18 because I have actually had friends and strangers say I don't get how parents can give away their children (again another crazy comment from outside our community).

1.The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2.You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3.You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4.The fact that if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child,there would be no orphans in the world,is convicting to you.
5.You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.
7.You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)
8.You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway knowing where God calls you He will provide.
9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacy's you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word Dossier means and you can actually pronounce it!
13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have them in your life.
15. When people tell you adopiton is the cure for infertility.. "they still don't get it."
16. There is always room for "just one more" at your dinner table.
17. As a small child you were worried about the Sally Struthers ophan commercials pleading for help for the children.
18. Think that birth parents are heroes because many loved their children so much that they allow us to love their children forever.
*list started by unknown author

Double the Fun

So we are almost done with our dossier. We are only waiting for two more pieces of info and we are set to go. I know our homestudy should be finished any time know as well since we had our last meeting last Saturday. I am still thinking we should have everything off to Ethiopia hopefully by April 1st. I have also been doing some shopping for the girls.I bought a double stroller which I know I will need since Lennah will still be under 2 when Delylah comes home. It was on clearance so I got a real bargain at Babies r us. I also did a clothes shopping. I plan using a lot of Lennah's clothes for Delylah but every girl needs a few new things in her closet and lately a lot of things have been on clearance. I picked her up 4 outfits for next winter in gymobree and a shirt that says I love Daddy. I bought 6-12 months so size wise we should be good since we know she can be no older than a year younger than Lennah. I know having two girls is going to chaotic but everyone keeps asking us why we made this decision. I always wanted a sister and it is just going to be so much fun watching the girls have each other to grow up with and hopefully be best friends. Next time around a boy will definitely be on our hearts however, that will not be for several years until after we get caught up from 2 back to back adoptions.

Some Nice Weather

This one is my favorite

We had several nice days here over the weekend and on Sunday Lennah had her first taste at playing on the sidewalk with chalk. I just think some of this pics are so cute. Plus she got to wear some of her new spring PJ's and outfits. Enjoy the pics. Oh and now she brushes her own teeth.

AHHHHH!

So we are slowly compiling our dossier and of course we can never be fortunate enough to avoid a problem. I was off from work two weeks ago and decided to save myself a trip down to Marietta since I still had a few more things to wait on for our dossier. Anyway, I mailed off for a certified copy of our marriage liscense instead I get a marriage certificate. I want to know can these people take the time to read requests? Now Keith will have to get up extra early and head down there before work which is not always ideal because he has been working almost 60 hours a week recently. Besides that we have been coming along pretty good since we had our last homestudy meeting on Saturday and were only waiting on birth certificates and the marriage liscense. Hopefully, we should have everything in about 2 weeks and it should hopefully be on its way to Ethiopia by April 1st at least that is what I am shooting for.

Well, in other news I have to red thread this on here. It is so amazing to see how one moment affects your life and the other people involved in your life. God is always amazing us because he works in your life without you knowing it. To go back to my ancient story of Sheridan and how meeting his mommy and daddy have changed so many lives. I met Kim and Michael on a cruise a little over a year ago. They were adopting from China, us from Vietnam, they lived only fifteen minutes away, and we both work for the same school district. What are the odds of meeting someone that close to you in the middle of the Caribbean and going through a similar life experience. Anyway, we instantly became good friends and we attend their baby shower for my future son in law (at least my mom thinks Lennah and Sheridan will one day marry). At their shower I met Laura and Tymm who were also adopting from China. During this time I had become friends with Jamie Serieka who lived in Ohio who was adopting a little girl from CHI and was placed on the waiting child list the same day as Lennah. (I am getting somewhere with this). After returning with Lennah, I soon found out Tymm and Laura were adopting from Ethiopia while they wait for their baby from China. A few months later I talked to them and they referred us to their agency and hence we are where we are. Well, I told Jamie about them and their agency and her and her family decided to also join us in adopting from Ethiopia since they too looked to expand their family. Well, last week Laura mentioned a little boy that our agency was looking to place and it looks like our friends the Serieka's are adoptiong him. I know this is crazy but is I never met our wonderful friends the Perry's, Jamie would most likely not know about this sweet boy. It is so amazing how we can touch each others lives and God's and how he makes our miniscule moments have such meaning.

Lastly, I am still doing some work on Delylah's room. We added her name to the wall which I think looks awesome. I have been working on Delylah's book and stuffed animal collection as well. I also went out this weekend and got a double stroller since Lennah will still need to be in one. Now all we need is baby Delylah in her room and stroller to complete everything.