12 down...168 to go!

It's been 12 days since we've received our referral...and it feels like it's been an eternity!  Addy is such a part of our family already that it's hard to believe we've only been able to see her sweet face for 12 days! 

The day we got her referral we printed 10 copies of her photo...one for the fridge, one for each of us (including the kids who insisted on having their own copies!), one for inside our Bible, one for in the car, and a few extras just in case we misplace one;)  AND of course she is the background on our computers and cell phones. 

If you can't tell, WE CAN'T GET ENOUGH!
168 (or so) days to go...how will I do it?!?!? I don't know...it's been nerve wracking already! 

The Monday before we received her referral I ordered a few summer/fall things for the kiddos.  I had this feeling that our baby girl was going to be young, so I took a chance and ordered a few things for her...turns out they will be perfect for when we bring Addy home;)

Today I went to the store to put together a package to send to her.  Man was that tough!  It took me five minutes just to pick out the rattle...
Will she even get it?
If I get a nice and soft one will it get all dirty?
Will they be able to wash it if it gets icky?
Will it leave enough room for the other items I want to send?
 
Our agency will send our package with other packages going to her orphanage but it must fit in a gallon size baggie!  For her package I've included a stuffed giraffe (that plays a lullaby), a package of onesies (giraffe and zebra print--super girly and cute), 2 pairs of pants, and a rattle (simple, small, and plastic for easy washing!). 

I tried looking for a plastic baby photo book but was unsuccessful.  Instead Eli and Ayla will make her a picture and we'll add a few photos of us.  I'm going to laminate it or put it in a page protector... hoping they will put it by her crib or at least let her look our our pictures (yes, I know she is quite young, but it makes me feel like she will have some sort of connection to us!).   

I'm also going to ask if I can include a baggie with some goodies for the nannies that work at her orphanage....gum, starburts, and a letter I'll get translated to French.

With all the joy and celebration, there have been times of iritation and saddness in the past 12 days.  Of course there's the saddess of not being with her and having to wait so long to see her face to face, but we also now get to face the iritation and shallowness of others: 
-Family members who just can't understand why we would want more children. 
-People who cricitize and don't approve of international adoption. 

-Questions regarding her race.
-Etc, etc. 

It's frustrating to try to expalian our hearts (and God's) to others that just DONT GET IT.  I have been trying my best to ignore those comments but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't get under my skin a bit!   A simple look at her photo and a prayer to our Father brings the harsh realities into a love for others and a hope that someday they will "come around."

For the next 168 days we'll continue to pray for her and dream of being with her!
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Sweet Addy,                                                                   March 27, 2012

We love you so much and cannot wait for you to physically join our family.  Even your big brother Owen knows about you and shouts, "It's AAAADDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEE" whenever he looks at your picture.  You're prayed for numerous times througout the day and Eli and and Ayla NEVER forget about you---usually praying that you can come home soon. 

It's about 11pm your time right now.  I pray that you were rocked or soothed to sleep, that you are comfortable, and that you're having sweet dreams.   Oh how I wish that I was the one putting you to sleep at night.  Do you like to be rocked?  Do you sleep through the night?  Are you a heavy sleeper?  Do you make noises while you sleep?  Would you let me hold you for hours upon hours while I snuggle you tightly? 

Daddy and Mommy will be there soon.  Not soon enough, but soon.  Then it will be us caring for you and loving on you...

Mommy

Addy Rose

Choosing a child's name is never an easy task! Throw adoption into the mix and it is a whole lot more complicating! 
Birth name? 
New name? 
Meaning?
African?
American?
The list goes on.

After contimplating all our options and getting advice from other adoptive parents, we have decided to give our baby girl a name WE (her mother and father) have chosen for her.  She will be welcomed into a new family with a new identity, a new story. She will share our life and our story.

When parents name a child, they are welcoming him (her); their identifying him (her) with them, forever.

Russell Moore "Adopted for Life"

We will more than likely never know where her name came from (whether it was from her birth parents or one that was given to her so she had something to be called).  We  also wanted to keep some part of her past with her, and therefore have chosen to name our precious baby girl:
Addy Rose 

We both loved Addy from the start, but were a little thrown off as to how popular it is (typically Addison)....once we saw her face and decided on her middle name (Rose, which is derived from her current name), Addy just fit. Growing up, I LOVED the American Girl books.  Growing up in small town ND, I didn't know a single black person...the only connection I had at the time was with one of my American Girl favorites, Addy. 

Someone at church today asked me if the excitement has worn off yet.....umm, no way;)  We still can't quite believe we have a baby girl waiting for us in Africa.  It's quite surreal and overwhelming.  Even though we cannot hold her and see her face to face, the love we have for her pains us.  These next six months (give or take) are going to be extremely tough and emotional. 

As soon as we tell someone our news, the first question is always, "When can you go get her?"  When we respond SIX MONTHS no one can believe it. 

Here is a little break down of our painful wait:

• Right now our dossier is being translated (hopefully it will be done soon!)
• Dossier sent to the DRC
• Notification of dossier received in DRC
• Scheduling and completion of Court date (usually 30 days or so after dossier is in DRC)
• Completion of 30-day non-appeal time (30 days)
• Child’s post-adoption documents processed (30 days or so)
• File the I600 in the US (8 weeks)
• Arrange our embassy appointment in Kinshasa (DRC) and coordinate TRAVEL to Kinshasa

Oh dear Addy, how we pray you are being well cared for.  We pray you are healthy, comfortable, and loved on.  I wish I could go to sleep and wake up with six months gone so you could be in my arms. 

One of my girlfriends is expecting a baby in October and said something about us being on the same page waiting for our children.  I can tell you after three pregnancies, this is a much different feeling.  Yes, in both instances there is the waiting and hoping and dreaming.  But with international adoption, the waiting is much different than a pregnancy.  The pregnancy is like what we just got done with!  Heck, we started the adoption process last June...which was 9.5 months ago....we have just gotten DONE with our pregnancy!  Our child has been born but we cannot hold her, see her, touch her, or feel her.  Our sweet Addy is living fatherless in an orphanage a half a world away. 

Our next update of sweet Addy will be our monthly picture we'll receive.  For now we'll continue to pray for her and dream about seeing her face to face. 

Love from our family to yours!

OUR BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can hardly sit down to type this post....my heart is pounding, my eyes are tired, and I'm just too frazzled!!!

Yesterday morning at Bible study I had wanted to ask everyone to pray that our referral comes Thursday (today) or Friday, but decided to keep quiet as I feel like that's all I talk about lately!  Later last night I decided it wasn't too selfish to ask, so I threw out a note on FB asking others to please pray that we receive our referral before Bobby leaves on Saturday for a week....

Well, the praying paid off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was in a work meeting all day today while Bobby was working in Hebron (about 45 mins away)...I anxiously kept looking at my phone to be sure I didn't miss a call or email.  Bobby and I agreed this morning that if we did get "the call" I'd wait to see her face until he came home.

When I got home my mom and I decided to take the kids for a walk so I ran in to change my clothes and stopped quickly to check my email....

1 new message. 

           From: Stephanie (our family coordinator). 

                                  Subject: Referral

I was totally caught off guard as I was expecting a phone call to tell us the email was coming....boy did I want to click on the file and take a peek!!!! I don't know how, but I did wait for Bobby to come home (we took our walk to pass the time...but I was a little giddy to say the least!). We got home from the walk just in time to get the video camera set up before Bobby walked in. 

While Eli and Owen were playing on the deck (Ayla left for gymnastics with grandma), I pushed record and we opened the file....oh how one email can change the world!

I hope to be able to share our videos (one of Bobby and I and one of the kiddos) sometime so you can see our initial reactions!  Words cannot express our feeling, thoughts, or emotions...

Our baby girl....right in front of us.
Adorable.
Loved.
Perfect. 
God's gift.
Ours.

Her face is already etched in my mind.  Oh how we long to touch her, hug her, cuddle her, and welcome her *in person* to our family.   But for now, all we can share is her picture.  Her sweet, delicate face and her tiny little body.

Isn't she precious?!!!??!?!??!?

We cannot share more information about her right now....but PLEASE keep her in your prayers!  We are saddened of the situation that brought her to our family and ask that you also pray for her birth family. 

A few weeks ago when reading another DRC family's blog and how their family has received a few referrals that have ended up falling through (not from our agency), I asked God to please bring us a referral soon and that she would be the daughter He has chosen for us.  I even prayed, "God if you could, please give me some sign that lets me know she IS the child you have for our family."  At that point the only sort of sign I could think of was that she would share a birthday with her cousin, Walter.  I joked about it with my sister-in-law, and today on our walk I asked my mom how old she thinks our girl is, "I'm guessing she's the same age as Walter," she replied....

AND THAT IS SO! 

Our baby girl was welcomed into this world on the same exact day as her cousin Walter. 

And so, I will go to bed tonight praying for our baby girl.  Praying that the next steps go smoothly, that she is healthy, well cared for, and that we can be strong during this long wait until she is in our arms.

Tomorrow I'll  write more about the process and what comes next (we're expecting to wait around 6 months until we can travel to get her)....but for now, I'm going (to try to) rest knowing who our baby girl is, where she is, how old she is, and knowing that God will continue to guide us through the journey of adoption (for both this beautiful girl and for our child whom He has planned for us in Ethiopia).

Introducing our baby girl to Eli, Ayla, and Owen

 Celebrating as a family at Applebees (of course, with her photo right by our side)!

My four beautiful children! 

1 Samuel 1:27
For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him.

Good night:)

Love from our family (which is now 6....still waiting on 7) to yours!

What a Glorious Weekend

70 degrees the first part of March for a whole weekend in Dickinson, ND?!?!?!? Too good to sit around!  We took advantage and had a glorious weekend!

On Friday I received the last piece of paperwork we were waiting on for our dossier (Bobby's birth and our marriage certificates from being state certified in MT).  Our dossier would have been 100% done over a month ago but for some reason I thought we had to have our referral to get the dossier certified (being one piece of paperwork has a blank for our child's information).  Last week Wednesday I found out that wasn't true...so I rushed to get the packet completed.  The fedex photo is our completed dossier ready to be shipped to ALBB! 

Friday evening we got home from my aunt Chris' house and decided to to have a slumber party in the basement...I decided to sleep behind everyone on the couch and got one black and blurry pic from my phone;) 

Saturday we woke and decided to clean the yard, take down the Christmas lights (which I must add have been up since TWO falls ago...yes, 2010!), clean the cars, and clean the garage.  While cleaning the garage we found a couple of tables that belong to my aunt Connie (who had borrowed them to us last August for our rummage sale...again, a little behind!) and decided to take them out to her house.  We were pleasantly surprised that they were home along with my cousins Dayna and Delanee and their kiddos...and man did we have a blast!  The kiddos had fun swinging, seeing the horses, and riding their new go-kart.  We hadn't seen them for such a long time that it just felt great being together!

After Connie's house we stopped by our land to start planning where we'll position our house.   I cannot wait to live in the country again...it can't come quick enough!! (I'll post more about our house plans after we get the budget secured this week and are certain we can make it work) Eli loves it out there and headed straight down the hill for some exploring!  The picture of Bobby and Ayla is right where our house will sit;) 

Today we woke early for church (thank goodness I saw someone's post on FB about the time change b/c our calendar has daylight savings down as NEXT weekend)...good thing we weren't late as we were leading our James 1:27 study on Fields of the Fatherless  during sunday school.  It's so fun to hear how God is working in other's lives toward helping the fatherless and I am so thankful for others to lean on for support and encouragement!

After church Ayla and I ran to a swimming birthday party for her friend Mara whom she goes to gymnastics with, then we jumped in the car and headed to Medora.  It was such a peaceful, perfect evening!  The kids love the big playground so we spent most of the time just playing...until Eli and I got an itch to hike up the hill next to the park (next time we're going to the top!). 

We're looking forward to a warm forecast this week and PRAYING for our referral!  I received word on Friday that our agency has a possible referral for us but cannot give us the info until they receive the completed health and family history.  Bobby will be gone on the 17-24 as his dad is having open heart surgery in Salt Lake City.  Please pray with us that we receive our referral THIS WEEK so we can rejoice TOGETHER when we get the news!  Also keep my FIL, Bob, in your prayers:)

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend as much as we did!  Let's give thanks to our creator:)

Love from our family to yours!

Opened Eyes

I'm guessing most of you reading this have watched the video "Kony 2012" that's taken over facebook.  Watching the video I  found myself wiping tears off my face as I was reminded how innocent children are being treated.  I am glad that awareness is being brought to this cruel reality. 

BUT, I am a little upset that it has taken this long to do something for these children...and a little upset that the 2 billion CHRISTIANS of the world aren't doing more. Plus, I'm not 100% sold on the efforts/tactics of Invisible Children...but needless to say I did pass the video on and do suggest that everyone watches it!

I think the movie will help raise awareness across the globe...but, will hearts be changed and challenged to step up and do something for these defenseless children? 
I know a lot of families and churches are stepping up to care for the less fortunate, but many are not.  I don't want to jump on my soap box and pretend like my heart is perfect or even doing everything I can....because I'm not!  BUT, I can tell you (I know I've said this a million times) that our hearts and minds have been opened and changed since we started the adoption process.  My heart has always been with children...and seeing children  hurting completely breaks me (whether they are fatherless, malnourished, war slaves, sex slaves, etc).  

BUT, just having a broken heart is obviously not enough.

When we started our adoption from the DRC I knew that life was tough in the Congo.  I knew of the wars going on, the witch craft, child warfare, etc...but I had NO CLUE how bad it was. Our society doesn't want us to talk about the desperate needs of others because they aren't right here in America (of course I know there are needs here as well).  All people are God' people and all Christians are called to act.  Joseph Kony and the LRA is not an "African problem."  It's a problem of human beings just like you and I.  My eyes were opened when God called us to the beautiful continent of Africa.  I cannot pretend I don't know that which I have seen (or heard).
 
I know there are many that are for Kony 2012 and many who are against.  For or against...I don't think that's the question. The question is what are YOU doing for those who have no hope?  What are you doing now that your eyes have been opened?
I pray that voices will be heard and others will be educated about bigger problems than the US economy.  While many Americans are struggling to make an "American Dream" living, others are facing extreme poverty, child warfare, the sex trade, etc.

Today I'm  also praying for my baby girl who is living in a country torn apart by cruelty.  I pray that she is safe, healthy, and feeling comfort from someone when her mommy can not be there for her!  I also pray for the people around her...that the Congolese people may find hope and love in others...that there will someday not be such a high number of orphaned and hurting children because of people like Joseph Kony. AND I pray for Kony...that God will stop his actions and change his heart.
Love from our family to yours!

Children of Congo: From War to Witches | Watch the Documentary Film Free Online | SnagFilms

This hour long video is a great eye-opener for life in the Congo.

Children of Congo: From War to Witches Watch the Documentary Film Free Online SnagFilms

The Waiting Games

Waiting. 
One of the most common, most dreaded words in adoption. 

Waiting.
A game we will be a part of for the next couple of years.

Waiting.
A word we hope to cross off our DRC journey soon.

For the most part I think I'm quite patient...but I'm going to be honest and tell you that my patience is about to boil over!  I knew this was part of adoption when we started this journey...and when we signed paperwork with AWAA last June, we weren't expecting to get a referral until the fall or winter....so why am I so impatient NOW??!?!

Adoption is filled with unknowns.  The numbers thrown around are to always be taken lightly, and often change.  BUT, it's still not easy to ignore those numbers and not use them to guide your planning;)

This week we found out another family from our agency received a referral of a baby girl....it brought out some uneasy, jealous feelings!  I am thankful that Bobby and I were able to quickly brush it off, knowing our Father has plans for us.  That child obviously was not made for our family and we must trust in His perfect timing and will for us. 
I spoke with our family case worker from ALBB yesterday and she reassured me that they have received paperwork for three baby girls under 12 months (but wouldn't tell me more than that at this time!!).  She explained how they like to thoroughly examine the paperwork and be sure the child is ready for a placement...of course that made my anxiety rise and my heart pop out of my chest!!!!!!

I've read of a few families who have received referrals from the DRC only for that referral to fall through...so my biggest prayer right now is that when we do receive a referral, she will be the child made for us and we won't have to go through the pain of losing a referral. 

So we will keep ourselves busy  as our wait (for DRC) should come to a close soon.  But I would be lying to say I am remaining calm and cool;)  My phone does NOT leave my side and I am much less patient than normal. 

Keeping busy this week:

Playing dress up
(soon Ayla will have another GIRL to play dress up with!)

Playing and snuggling with Walter 

 Eli put together his first model

 Nap time on Friday afternoon...both woke up and wanted some cuddling...
which led to more sleeping on mommy:)

We went to the capital in Bismarck yesterday to get our dossier pages state
certified.  We took the elevator up to the observation deck
(a little depressing how sore my thighs are today after walking DOWN all the stairs!)

Here's to hoping this week is our referral week:) 

 

Love from our family to yours!