Shots, Scrapbooking, Classes

The whole adoption process never ceases to amaze me. Each step presents differing challenges, feelings of accomplishment, and even more realizations that we'll soon be parents!

At this time we’re getting our training taken care of, as well as getting our immunizations up to date. In case anyone is scared of getting immunized…I get really nervous/anxious around the whole shot process. However, I must say these weren’t too bad. I had sweaty palms, and was real tense. Chelsea was calm, cool, and collected. Guess who got their shots first? That’s right, Chelsea did! They asked for volunteers to go first. When I didn’t volunteer to go first, she stepped up to the plate and showed me that the shots weren’t too bad. I must be a big baby when it comes to shots. My only redemption concerning the shots has to be that Chelsea was sorer than I was…or at least I hid it better! Anyway, if you’re a “fraidy cat” like me…know that they’re not too bad. Oh, and if you take the oral Typhoid Virus Vaccine, it’s good up to 5 years as opposed to the shot which is good for only 2 years. It has to be refrigerated, and is not available at all pharmacies, so make sure your pharmacy will have it. If you’re as fortunate as us, your doctor or nurse will know which pharmacy in your area actually carries it.

I mentioned earlier that we are getting our training taken care of. Since the U.S. agreed to the Hague Adoption Treaty (not the exact name of the treaty, but there’s a link on our blog to read about it), there are certain requirements parents will start needing to meet. Part of that is classroom time. Fortunately for us, Gladney is already well prepared for the new requirements. We have the material now, and will no doubt be completing the tests soon! Chelsea has already viewed some of it, and says that it is very good…so that is exciting for us!

We continue to thank all of you who continue to show your support to us! We know that we wouldn’t be where we are in this process without your encouragement, and the grace of God. Please continue to remember all those involved in the different aspects of adoption. Also, more than likely, the child we will eventually receive has already been born…please remember them and their family as they undergo their journey which will ultimately result in them being adopted by us.

Oh, and you should see the awesome job Chelsea has done on a scrapbook! Wait till you see what she's been able to put together! It's amazing what she is capable of creating. I'll try to post some pictures by Friday afternoon...

As promised....the pictures!

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day!

Thanks for checking in on us! We’ll blog more soon!

David's right, I have been very busy scrapboking. I have had a hard time b/c we don't know if we are getting a boy or girl. So I have been trying to keep the book neutral. I did go ahead and buy some very cute pink paper and then some things for a boy that I liked. I recently decided to make some pages for when we go to Ethiopia. That was much easier!

When we get there!

I found a site where you can buy amharic bibles!
http://www.ibsdirect.com/pc-414-80-amharic-leather-study-bible-burgundy-cover.aspx

If we get to meet our baby's mom I think it would be something neat to take and give to her!

Ding, Ding!

Answer to yesterday's trivia question: Senator John McCain. According to his website, he and his wife adopted in 1993 and later helped cosponsor legislation that provides similar benefits to families with adoptive children to those with birth children.

Like I said yesterday, the above is not intended to be political, but something I came across and found interesting.

As far as our adoption goes, we obviously couldn't have too much change by leaps and bounds during the evening (although our fingerprints made it to the FBI!). Let's say it was business as usual at the Sparks household. We were able to enjoy a nice dinner at home (leftover homemade enchiladas from our lunch), and a walk at Lake Livingston State Park. We were fortunate enough to catch the sunset across the lake, which was a myriad of orange colors. Absolutely beautiful, awesome, fantastic, amazing! We were a little annoyed at our own forgetfulness...as we left our trusty camera at home. Altogether though, it was the type of afternoon we truly enjoy around our small Texas town. You couldn't have asked for better weather, the pine trees gave just enough shade and color, a variety of tree leaves littered the ground, the water and wind were calm, and there were very few people at the lake. It is times like that and different days that come up (like birthdays and Valentine's Day) that I try and imagine how life may be completely different next year for us. Will eating dirt at sunset be so picturesque? How about diaper duty on the trail? Or perhaps ducking and bending around trees with our little one tucked into our baby hiker...I've heard some pretty funny stories from Chelsea's family about hiking with little tikes...I'm sure we'll add our own!

Anyway, it makes me think, dream, and imagine...hardly a time in my life when a new change could encourage me to be more disciplined myself, to implement a strategy to achieve goals, and become a little bit more narrowed-in (blinders on, helping remove distraction). More determined? Getting things in order seems like such an understatement. If I expect "x" out of my child, it would help for me to expect "x" out of myself.

The joys and changes of parenthood seem to approach me each new day...just as my understanding of those of you with children steadily increases.

Adoption Affects/Effects

Effect – result; consequence:

Affect – produce an effect or change in

A little trivia to begin with: Which current US Senator has an adoptive child, and helped cosponsor legislation giving similar benefits to families with adoptive children enjoyed by families with birth children? *This is not designed with any political intentions, but something I found very interesting*

It is amazing how adoption shapes people, as well as some of the changes it causes. Last night Chelsea and I went to a bookstore after receiving our Yellow Fever vaccinations. While searching for some books on Ethiopia and adoption (you should see the list Chelsea has made) I requested the assistance of a store employee. Guess who happened to be adopted? That's right, that employee. I wonder how many others we come into contact with that have been blessed through adoption. There are countless families in and around us that have seen adoption firsthand one way or another. The other side of that to me is that you would never know this person, or that person has been adopted. It’s not like an introduction, “Hi, I’m David I’m not adopted.” Or “Hello, my name is Joe, and I’m adopted.” The person who performed our home study shared a story with us that still has me thinking. It was basically that some people have funny attitudes when they know a child is adopted – that their behavior is just because they’re adopted, when another child could do the same thing and it be just “normal.” I guess this has stuck with me, because it makes me wonder, “How many other attitudes do we have because we have labeled a person one way or the other?” What happens when a “labeled” person doesn’t fit the mold we have created for them? I guess that can just be food for thought.

Going in a complete different direction, I want to ask you, what does adoption mean to you? How does it relate to you? Does it relate to you? Has it affected you? Has it affected your family or extended family? Are friends of yours adopting, or have they adopted?

For those adopting it is a very real series of questions that may have started long before ever getting information on adoption. For others, it may have been something you were confronted with by a presentation, or information meeting, maybe something you had never thought about before. Yet somehow it shaped your thought process and caused you to act. We cannot but help relate adoption to Biblical principles, because we believe the very spirit of Christianity encourages adoption.

Take a moment and think about why children are available for adoption. What happened to those children, their families, their parents, that they are now in an orphanage? How could something as precious as children, find themselves where they are? Adoption is a precious gift in so many ways, and all who are involved have experienced much to be where they are today. Thanks for continuing with us in one aspect of our adoption experience. May God continue to bless all the families and children who experience the effects of adoption and have been affected by adoption, and may He be glorified by them.

Backlogged Vaccine

Since we posted last we have worked really hard to get our immunizations up to date. By that I mean - there are some things that we just aren’t immunized for in the states any more. One of those shots is Yellow Fever. If you plan on traveling to an area that recommends this vaccination, and you’re planning on getting it, you might consider scheduling it. The reason being is that the only manufacturer the United States uses has them on backorder. This is because a company that supplies a piece of equipment to them went bankrupt and they have to certify that another company can supply the same piece of equipment. Supposedly in March, we’ll be back to a normal supply. However, until then your certified Yellow Fever shot-giver has to schedule five people to take the vaccination. That’s right the CDC has asked them to schedule five people at a time to make sure that none of the vaccine will go to waste. Anyway, our advice to anyone out there who made need it, is to go ahead and get yours scheduled ahead of time, just in case. Also, if you’re wondering, the shot itself isn’t bad at all, and I’d say it’s much more tolerable than any other shot I’ve received for an infection. Just a real simple prick on the left arm is all it takes, and then you get a nice WHO yellow card declaring you have been immunized. By the way, if they ask you to wait around awhile after you’re given the shot, it’s just to make sure you’re not likely to experience any of the potential side effects (the side effects can show up in minutes!).

As for us, we’re inoculated; so if for some reason we ever have a widespread outbreak, which hasn’t happened in at least 100 years, we’ll be good to go for 10 years!

We also had our fingerprints taken (again). Let’s just say, we recommend that anyone needing F.B.I. background check fingerprints - go to a larger county that has a lot of experience taking fingerprints. We had a little problem getting ours done correctly the first time, so we headed to a much larger area to our South. We’re confident that these prints will do wonders!

We feel like we are super close, but at the same time, incredibly far away. I must say though, that everything we cross off our list now, seems more and more important. Hopefully we’ll prevent any delays on our part!

We want to continue to thank all of you who routinely check in on our blog, by phone, and email! We are grateful for your support! It would be difficult to let so many of you know as much information as we provide here.

Naming in Ethiopia

An Ethiopian child takes her/his father's name as her/his surname (i.e. second or family name) but is always known primarily by her/his own first name. Traditionally, parents and children do not share a last name. Most kids take their father's first name as their last name. An Ethiopian is living abroad has to first write his/her name, then his/her father’s name and his/her grandfather’s name if need be. First names, surnames, middle names, family names and all that are rather baffling to an Ethiopian. However, much family affinities are tight in Ethiopia people’s names stand by themselves the first one denotes the subject while the second denotes the father. Some names give a clue of ethnic identity. This of course does not mean that names are strictly ethnic. The contemporary generation be it any ethnic group that identifies himself more as Ethiopians, prefers to name his or her child in any way he or she likes as long as the name contains the desired meaning. There are rural names and urban names so to speak. Ethiopians are also known to give their children Christian names or Biblical names.
The equivalent of Mr. is Ato, Mrs. is Woizero (Wzo.), and Miss is Woizerit (Wzt.). Therefore, a man called Abebe Bekele would be referred to and introduced as Ato/Mr. Abebe. Women do not change their names when they get married, but simply take the title Woizero. For example, if Ato Abebe marries a woman by the name of Lia Abera, she will be referred to as Woizero/Mrs. Lia or Mrs. Abera but not as Mrs. Abebe or Mrs. Bekele.

Have You Heard?

I suppose email might do just as well, but I have yet to send them out. Anyway, Chelsea and I moved a huge step forward on Wednesday as we had our official homestudy! I was far more nervous than Chelsea...not sure why, but I was. Regardless of my nerves, we were told that we had a successful homestudy! All we do now is wait for it to be typed up officially and sent to all of the different groups - us, KBS, CIS. I guess now we just wait patiently. We might be parents in 3-6 months time, assuming there are no real hiccups. It is a tremendous feeling...

We still feel like progress is made everyday. I don't know if it is because there is light beaming down on us, getting closer and brighter each day, or if it is a sense of we see the larger picture and it's becoming more complete. Either way, we are filled with great joy knowing we may soon have a little boy or girl to hold tightly in our arms, to share our home with, as well as our love. Along with this we continue to add to our understanding of Ethiopia. Currently we have bolstered our library to include children stories, history books, a phrasebook, stamps, as well as guidebooks. We know that some of the greatest learning, in regards to Ethiopia, will likely be during our stay there. However, we still would like to be aware of what has shaped this country and culture, as well as how we can give slices of our understanding to our child in due time.

It is a tremendous thought...knowing that life seems altogether different, in some ways clearer, and in other ways less complex. By that I mean it narrows things down to what's most important. Every time I think about the hope we have in Ethiopia, I cannot help but think of the hope we have in our Lord...the fact of Him giving life to all things...the reality that He made provisions for us to join Him...and the design of a God-fearing home...with a husband and wife who fear and honor the Lord, and children who are taught His ways...it brings great peace to my soul as I think of trying to wait patiently for this process, or I grow concerned of the world around us and what it may look like as our child ages. God gives us confidence in this endeavor, just as He has throughout each of our lives.

We continue to ask you to remember the families involved in adoption (those adopting, those who are orphaned, and those who choose to give their children up for a variety of reasons), as all involved have need.