You Know You're An Adoptive Parent When . . .

I found this on someone elses blog and liked it.

You know you're an adoptive parent/adopting when:

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 know what CIS, I-600A, etc. are and have been fingerprinted at least three times in one year!
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. Or if your child is your 'real' child.
7. You have ever been 'pregnant' with your adoptive child longer than a 'regular pregancy' (and for some of you, your have been 'pregnant' longer than it takes an elephant to give birth- 2years!)
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. AMEN
9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around for/with the world with a child you just met/are waiting to meet!
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 legacies 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 him or her in your life.

PT

We decided it was time to trade in our 04' Pacifica for something else. We have been talking about it for a while. We really hated to trade it in b/c you could haul about anything with it. We bought it used and got a REALLY good deal on it, and have really loved having it- but we have looked around some since it was getting older and since gas has become so expensive. We have to drive long distances regularly if we want to go anywhere b/c we live in the sticks! So we went to look for a car. We wanted something that got good gas mileage but still was very versatile. One dealership suggested a PT Cruiser. I laughed and told the dealer that they look like mini hursts and that I was not interested. He told me to just look at them. I did and he was right. They are just as I asked, versatile with good gas mileage. The back seats can come out or you can take out one side/section and leave the other. I was thinking that would be GREAT for a car seat and then good for hauling all the "stuff". One test drive and I was sold. Go figure! So after two more stops we found one we really liked. My favorite part is that it was the color I have always wanted. I told them if the price was right we were ready to buy. The price was right, so we bought! The funny thing is that this is the third vehicle I have said I would never own. Each time I said that I would not own a certain vehicle as we were looking that is what we have ended up buying! So I guess its true- never say never!

"Cruzer"

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

Chelsea and I decided to attend an Astros game! Turns out she's great at getting autographs and pictures! She is also the newest member of the Kaz Matsui fan club as he smiled and signed tons of things for fans, including a ball Chelsea caught. He also made some great plays in the field and with the bat. We were fortunate enough to see the Astros rally from behind and eventually hang 11 runs on the San Diego Padres (sorry if you're a Padres fan)! We also got autographs from Miguel Tejada and Geoff Blum. Blum hit a home run to right field and Tejada had 4 hits to become the only Astro in about 13 years to have back to back 4 hit games (a feat my favorite Jeff Bagwell did in 1995). Anyway, we had a blast at Minute Maid Park thanks to half price ticket night, and Play Green Night (hence the green caps)!

Oh, and we've forgotten to mention Discovery Green Park in downtown Houston. When we went to the International Festival we walked about a mile from the ballpark to the festival. On our way we came across the park, which has been open for about 2-3 weeks. If you're downtown, and it's daylight, you should check it out! It's located near Walker Street at the George R. Brown and the Hilton. Definitely worth a stop, as Houston added a much needed green space!
http://www.discoverygreen.com/


We are bidding our time as we wait to hear back of our approval from CIS. Although I must say, for those of you who have waited 12+ months for any adoption, you have our utmost respect! I don't think either of us have an idea of that kind of wait. Keep up your great attitude and God Bless all of you in the rest of your adoption process. As for us, we keep pressing on for the upward call, as we develop and fine tune patience.

Destination: Houston I-Fest

The Houston International Festival typically highlights a single country. However, this year's theme was "Out of Africa," and featured numerous African countries. Of course, we chose to see all things Ethiopian! We were not disappointed as there was a replica of the "Church of Lalibela," the National Dancers of Ethiopia, an Ethiopian Fashion Show, as well as a cooking demonstration, in addition to the numerous vendors offering Ethiopian gifts and food.

Chelsea made some new friends! Looks like we have some new contacts when we actually get to Addis. These young women did a fantastic job at the "Fashions of Ethiopia" show, and were very personable later!

You can see some of the dancers from the National Dancers of Ethiopia. They put on an amazing display of music and dance! Also, there was a section of Ethiopians at the fashion show. They had the Ethiopian flag, and a scarf proudly displaying Ethiopia's colors. We'll post more later about our experience at the Houston International Festival: Out of Africa. It will continue in downtown Houston on 4/26 & 4/27 at City Hall. You'll have a good time if you can make it!

http://www.ifest.org/

Drum roll please!

We were fingerprinted this weekend!!! We got up around 6 and drove downtown to make it to our "appointment" at 8am. We walked in and there were only 1 or 2 people other people there. They were waiting for something that had to be done in another location in the building. The people working there were really nice and as soon as we filled out our paperwork they took our fingerprints. David turned his is in first and they got to him that second and then I turned mine in and the lady looked and saw that the other lady was still busy doing his and said "I'll do yours so you don't have to wait". So she took mine and that was it! I was sure we were going to have to go someplace and wait in line forever. We even found the building with only one turn around! Then we went and had fun spending time with family followed by some much needed grocery shopping!

CIS Appointment, Kinda...

We are so excited to finally have our CIS Appointment - or at least a kinda, sorta appointment. Today, while Chelsea was at work, I had the privilege of opening our CIS Envelope. As I rushed to open the envelope, ripping into the top, I had two thoughts...please let us have a date I'm off shift, and I can't believe we're finally going to get our fingerprint appointment. Turns out that our letter was not exactly what we expected. We were told inside the letter that we could go to have our fingerprints made any time, as long as it was Tuesday through Saturday, between 8am and 1pm! We are so ecstatic! We don't really have a set appointment time - not what I expected, but it turns out awesome for us, and we plan on going early tomorrow (Saturday) morning! I am off of my shift for three days, and of course Chelsea is off for the weekend!

Now, I do have a little question concerning this whole fingerprint process thing. This will be my third set of official digital fingerprints in a span of 12 months! No, I'm not kidding. This year I went through a hard copy and digital fingerprints for the NASD, a set of digital prints for a new government ID for workers who have access to any coastal areas called a TWIC Card, and now for our adoption. For all of you out there that wonder about big brother and a giant database on all of us, I just want you to know, they don't have all of their databases linked just yet. I asked, "Isn't there some way you can just pull my file from the FBI digital print database?" What I got in my previous experience was a blank stare. Wonder what reaction I'll get tomorrow when I ask the same thing. Just thought I'd share that with some of you...perhaps you've had similar experiences!

It is amazing what happens, and how it happens when going through this journey...thankfully we have God on our side...His timing and His ways are beyond my understanding, but I know one thing for sure: I couldn't time it, nor could I plan it any better. Throughout my entire life, that one set of thoughts, that one phrase has always been true. I would question things as they came up, I would wonder, "Why me? Why now?" and then later, I always think, "Oh, that's why! Thank goodness it happened the way it did." From my childhood, through college, to meeting Chelsea, to landing my most recent job, and now in our adoption journey - it rarely makes "sense" but it always works out, and works out just right!

Just some picts. that I thought were neat

I just thought that this looked cool. I was making hummingbird nectar and when I put the food coloring in it did this!

CIS & E-Bay

We still didn't get our CIS appointment today. I was feeling discouraged and have had this feeling that something was wrong. I kept trying to tell myself that I was being impatient but I couldn't help but feel that CIS was missing something and that is what has been holding us up. We have had to mail in a couple of extra things and were worried that they never got to CIS. I mentioned my concern to my husband again and today he did some researching only to find that Gladney accidentally sent out our homestudy to the wrong CIS office. OOPS! We quickly notified Gladney and it was immediately corrected and sent to the right place! THANKS! We hope to have our fingerprint date soon... I do feel better now that I know that there really WAS something holding us up and it has been taken care of!

I am sure you were wonding how CIS and e-bay went together. They don't, I have been meaning to post about this e-bay site so I figured I would just combine them into one post and didn't want to just title it CIS. So on to the e-bay part.

I have had a lot of people ask where I found many of my Ethiopian items. I found a seller on E-bay that I really like http://www.ethiopianreflections.com/ I think that most of his stuff is priced just right! Many of the other sites I have found I wouldn’t even consider paying the prices that they want for stuff. His items are “buy it now” so that you don’t have to bid on them! He also has items that you can “buy now” or “make an offer” on. He has a wide selection and adds new items regularly. There are mini messobs that kids could have a dinner around, puzzles that are made by kids and the money goes to helping those kids, wall prints/hangings, cards embroidered by foot by disabled people (yep the money goes to help them), clothes, books, cds, greeting cards made from banana leaves, you name it! This guy offers a lot of items to help out others and he combines shipping! In fact, you can shop for several days before you ask him for a combined shipping invoice as long as you let him know of your intentions. One other cool thing is he is in Addis Ababa so when you order something you often get mailing stamps from Addis (unless you buy big items)! The shipping time isn’t too bad. I have had items arrive in a week. I think the longest it’s taken was a little over a month. It really depends on the mail service. Still from Ethiopia, it’s not bad at all. This is a site you have to spend a little time searching for stuff on b/c there are so many categories of things.

Also, if you are looking for books and things for children he has some really neat things. The Beekeeper of Lalibela, The Lions Tale, Fafi’s Sheep, and The Fig Tree are all books that are in English and Amharic. They are all, in my opinion, cute stories (I have not yet read The Fig Tree) and his prices on these books were by far the cheapest I could find. There is a donkey game that I think is neat. The game goes something like this ... the little donkey brings firewood to the city, how much can you load on his back? Do it carefully and do not hurry! Of course there are the puzzles and clothes I mentioned earlier.

I’m sure I have talked enough about this site and in a way I hate to give my secret out b/c I love this site! Who knows maybe you’ll love it too. From the business I have done with him I have been nothing but pleased. I also love that there are items that benefit others.

Still waiting

Whoever said no news is good news has obviously never been through the adoption process. We are still waiting for our CIS date. They received our home study exactly 1 month ago today so we hope and pray that our appointment is scheduled soon. I also know people say the more you have to wait the more you learn patience. However I don't buy that! I have very little patience and have had lots of waiting to do in life and my patience has become worse or stayed the same if anything! Now whoever said patience is a virtue - they knew what they were talking about. That is a quote I can agree with.

Speaking of waiting- the kids in the Bright Futures camp (http://www.brightfuturescamp.com/) are really cute! If you haven't checked out the page you should do so. There are pictures, bios, etc. I really hope that all of these children are able to find homes. We would like to adopt an older child from Ethiopia at some point. We would really like for our baby to have a brother or sister from the same country and we know how slim the possibility is for older children to be adopted. I think I read somewhere that if every married couple in the US adopted 1 older child from Ethiopia there would still be several hundred that would need to be adopted. Of course don't quote me on that or anything b/c I am not sure if that was exactly how that statistic read-ovbiously the point is that there are so many older children that need to be adopted and so few willing/able to adopt older children. I know my sister-in-law has enjoyed her child that she adopted from Ethiopia through this program last year. She recently wrote a letter and I think the thing that stood out to me that she wrote was that they really thought that they were going to miss out on a lot of "firsts" adopting an older child. On the contrary they have got to experience so much. The first correct phrase in English, the first time he rode a bike, his first prayer in English, etc. Although he is older he had so many changes and had missed out on so many little things that often there have been mile markers that are similar to going through the steps with a baby.