Our Ethiopian Adoption Journey

Been Awhile!

2009-09-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy summer! I thought since it has been awhile, I need to update our blog! Today has been 4 months now since we brought Wilson home! Things have been going really well here. He is so much part of our family now, it seems like he has been here forever! This summer already we have been on a family camping trip(a first for Wilson and Hudson!), mom and Wilson have done swimming lessons, and been to the Omaha zoo! It is also amazing to see Wilson grow in his personality, and his confidence being here. We do have some off days, but really it has over-all been a good experience bringing him into our family. The two brothers have also become really good buddies. Its fun to hear them either before they go to sleep, or when they wake up in the morning talking back and forth in their own little language! :) I must say that even though Wilson is the little brother, he can definitely hold his own! The crazy little kid does know what he does and doesn't like too! For example, any time you try to change his diaper, take something away from him, or change his clothes, he takes off in a dead sprint trying to out run us when mom and dad come for him! :) He definitely is a spirited little boy! We have also been lucky that he has been so healthy! He definitely is a little guy (below the first percentile in everything!), and his vitamin D levels were pretty low, so right now we have him on a little supplemental thing to get that back to normal. But again, we couldn't ask for a better little boy. I will try and update this more, but I am thinking about switching our blog now to be more about our family happenings.

Swimming!

2009-06-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today I had a busy day full of outings with the boys! The funnest one today was for Wilson to experience a wading pool for the first time! He has come to love bathtime, so I figured that he would love the pool as well. But when we got there, and actually made an attempt to get in, Wilson was not too happy about that. The water must have been a little too cold for him or something, because each time I would try and put him in the water, he would start screaming, and cling to me with everything he had! Gradually, like everything else, he did warm up to the water. By the end of the time there, he was sitting on the edge, splashing, playing with toys, and having a good time! It's so much fun to see these type of firsts with him. Sometimes, I still can't even believe that he is here. Missing the first year of his life was never something I wanted to miss, but I am so glad that he is here now, and I get to experience these new things with him as he grows! :)

First Road Trip! :)

2009-06-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

This week has been a new experience for both Wilson, and myself. My husband had a conference this week that he had to attend which lasts through the weekend. Being that Wilson has only been home for about a month now, I really wasn't too excited to stay by myself, so I decided to take a little road trip to my parent's house. It wasn't really one of the first experiences for Wilson that I wanted to do by myself, but it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Wilson has never been in a carseat for longer than an hour, and Wednesday we did three hours! He fussed a little bit of the time, but then got over it after about 10 minutes and decided to take a nap. My other son Hudson was pretty content the whole time, and watched the movie "Cars" the whole way! :) Wilson has done pretty well for being away from home for the first time too! He struggled a little the first day we got here, but he has gotten more and more comfortable being at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a couple days. It has been nice to have the extra help while my husband is gone as well! But, tomorrow we head home, so it's another 3 hour trip we will have to conquer, and I hope that it goes as well as the way up here did! And all I have to say to my husband is, it's daddy time when we get home, and mommy gets a big break to go do something fun without kids for a bit! ;)

Part of the Family

2009-05-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

We have been home for about 3 weeks now with Wilson, and he really is part of the family now. Kind of hard to remember what it was like without him! The longer he is here, the more comfortable I see him getting. When we first brought him home, he really never wanted to get down and play, and didn't have too many emotions, except for the one where he looks like deer in headlights! But now he is crawling all over the place, playing with toys, and sometimes even when we hold him, he wants to get down! Huge progress on that front! The little smiles that we get too just melt my heart. He definitely can have his moments during the day (as do I getting used to two boys!), but he has been overall a great baby! Next week is Wilson's birthday, so we are having a party with some family and friends.(I hope he doesn't get too overstimulated!) We have also been taking him out into public more, and he even seems to be more comfortable out and about than before. The true test will be when we leave home for a couple nights for the first time.(Not sure what to think about that!) I will try and update more after Wilson's birthday, I am sure we will have lots of fun stories from that event! :)

At home now! And Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

Now we have been home a little over a week, and things have calmed down a bit, so I am able to finally update! Things have been going better than I have expected with Wilson. He is such a different boy from the first day we met him to now. When we first met him, he was a little boy who showed little emotion, and looked like a deer in headlights most of the time! But now, it has been fun to see his personality come out. He is a boy who has a serious yet funny personality. He is a very mellow little guy, which is one of the reasons he has been so adaptable. He is getting more and more confident each day, and I just love to see him grow in his trust in us, and his surroundings. Hudson has taken to him quite well,but there has been a little jealousy at times. Its fun for him to come along with either Adam or I when we wake Wilson up from his nap. Hudson is right there along with us, and has even become a little protective of his brother! Still needs to work on sharing the toys though! :) Its taken a little time for Wilson to adjust to the schedule here too, but now he has adapted really well. This week was his first Dr. appt. as well, and he got 4 vaccinations which wasn't fun. But not much we can do about that! I will try and update as much as I can about our adventures at home, and thats all I have for now!

Introducing Wilson Weber!

2009-04-28T11:36:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple pics of our boy! (He is a little tired in each, more to come later!)

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2009-04-28T01:52:00.001-07:00

Hello from Ethiopia!

It hasn't been easy to get internet access here, but finally able to write now! We got to Addis late Saturday night, and got to our guest house and slept very well. Sunday we went to a Baptist Ethiopian church, which was very neat to see! The people were all so friendly, and even someone interpreted for us! Then in the afternoon we got to go meet our little Wilson! It was a neat experience meeting him for the first time! It didn't go quite as expected, but what does I guess! Wilson was very attached to one of his nannies, so it took a little bit for him to warm up to us! But once he did, it has been such a neat bonding experience for us and him! He is a very laid back baby, and we couldn't be more blessed with our little boys! He is the cutest thing ever, and I am so excited to get back and show him off to everyone!(pictures to come later) Monday Adam went to the Embassy and paid our fee, and went to the Bethany office in the afternoon to see all they do there. Today we went to a market, and bought a lot of things from Africa to bring home. Now we are just waiting to go to the Embassy, and get Wilson's visa! Then it should make everything official to bring him home! We have actually had him since Sunday, so he has been with us most of the time! Lets just say he is very fond of his daddy! :) I will try and write more this week if I can, but the rest of the week we will just be going around experiencing Addis, and then Thursday night we fly out. We are very excited about bringing him home, and getting to see Hudson again of course! On another note too, we love our guest house we are staying at and the group of people we are with! Couldn't be more blessed with our experience! Goodbye for now~

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Leavin on a jet plane.....

2009-04-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

We are packed and ready to go! Just have a few things to do in the morning, and then our first flight leaves at 1:00. Then we are on to Minneapolis, Amsterdam, (we actually make a shorto stop in Sudan!) and then Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! We arrive Saturday night , so its going to be a long trip. But we are looking forward to meeting Wilson, and seeing where he is from. Please pray for safe travels for us, and that things would go smoothly while we are there! I am going to try and update our blog as much as I can while there(given that we actually have electricity!) Hopefully we can get some pictures posted soon from our trip, and tell all sorts of stories! See you when we get back! :)

Bumps in getting ready....

2009-04-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend I have been trying to get a lot of things done for getting ready to go to Ethiopia. That has been interrupted a little bit by Adam getting sick! Friday night he woke up, and his balance was really off, and he was feeling pretty nauseated! So the next morning, he went to the clinic, and found out he has an inner ear infection! So pretty much for the past two days he has been laying in bed, or on the couch because any time he gets up he either feels like the room is spinning, or just so nauseated he might get sick. So, obviously I haven't been getting a ton done around here. I hope that he feels better tomorrow so we can start really packing, but who knows at this point. If anyone wants a prayer request, please pray that we both would feel well for this trip, and that things would go smoothly to and from Ethiopia! Getting a little nervous that it is getting closer, but I am sure we will be ready by Friday!

Getting there!

2009-04-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well we have gotten all of our travel plans figured out now. Our flight leaves from Sioux Falls, on Friday, April 24th, and then we arrive in Ethiopia on the evening of the 25th. We are staying at a guest house over there, and there are going to be three other families over there at the same time as us from our agency! I have been trying to get everything organized that we are going to bring with us. I have been to Target and Walmart, getting all sorts of things on our little list. I am afraid to see how many bags we are actually going to be taking over there! Could be interesting! But I am feeling like we are more ready to go now, which is a good feeling.

Travel Call!!!!

2009-04-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

Today I got a call from our social worker saying that our embassy date in Ethiopia is April 28th!! So now we have to be there in about 10 days or so! I actually already have our travel plans all figured out, but now its all the other things we need to do, like finding a place to stay, plans for Hudson, etc.! We are so excited, and can't wait to get over there and bring him home! But it definitely is a little overwhelming at this point, and I think that I am still in shock! Never would have guessed we would be travelling in April! I thought our best shot was the early part of May! But I am just so glad to be bringing our little guy home! All the waiting has finally paid off! Now, if I can just convince myself that I am going to be okay leaving Hudson for about a week! (that is going to be really hard!) We leave next Friday (April 24), and return the following Friday, so tomorrow I start the packing process! Crazy! Wow! Anyway, hoping we will be able to blog a little when we are in Ethiopia, otherwise, I am sure that I can post things when we get back about our trip! We are so blessed, and are looking forward to the crazy adventure of becoming a family of four!

Ready and waiting!

2009-04-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

I think that I pretty much have everything ready in case we get our travel call here in the near future! I of course (being organized me) made a list of things that we will need to get to take with us to Ethiopia, and things we will need to get done before we leave. Well, I have gotten to the point where I feel pretty comfortable that if we were to get our travel call, I would pretty much be ready to go!(besides last minute things) I am hoping that we hear some sort of update soon, even if to hear that he was getting his TB test done. It has been a little harder to wait after passing court. Just knowing that we are so close, and I can really say I am ready for my second son!(Okay, so maybe I was ready awhile ago!:) I am just glad to know there is an end in sight! There have been a couple families who have gotten referrals recently, and also a couple families who are travelling this week to go get their children! (I am hoping to get some pictures of my boy from them!) So its encouraging to see movement in the process for others. Kinda makes my wait a little easier to deal with, that I can be happy for others who have received good news! I will update more when we know some information!

God amazes me again!

2009-03-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

Well, to say the least, I am stunned! After hearing about our court news on Tuesday, I was just very frusterated, and just was so ready to hear when our new court date would be. I had some very candid conversations with God yesterday, just to get it out of my system. Although I thought I actually took the news pretty well, I still was just so unsettled with everything. Well, last night rolls around, and we had our small group (which was very great by the way!), and we were all coming upstairs to have a little dessert, and I hear my phone ringing! Well, I see that it is our social worker, and I started freaking out. I didn't even want to answer the phone, because if it was more bad news, I wanted my husband to tell me! After a couple minutes of talking to her on the phone, Adam says "somehow, no one really knows how, we have passed court today!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Just in one day, going from no, to yes? I think that I was just so excited, and shocked at the same time, I didn't even know what to say! It seems God likes us to have a group of people around us too lately with adoption news! ;) Well, we are so excited, and can't wait to travel now. Now we just need to hear about his TB test, and hopefully it is negative, then we will get a travel call! Who knows when that will be, but lately, God has been very sneaky! ;)

Bad news!

2009-03-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

Well.....we just found out today that our court case wasn't heard because there was some paperwork that was required to be there, and wasn't. We are pretty bummed, and disappointed, but knew something like this could happen. We don't have a new court date yet, but I am really hoping that it is soon. Just ready to travel over and get him. Will post more later once we know our new court date.

Added regulation (hopefully not meaning more waiting!)

2009-03-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

We are in the process right now of waiting for our court date!(which is on Tues., March 24) Can't wait to hear the results of it, and praying for a yes! After our court date now, there has been some other regulations that we are going to have to get passed before brining Wilson home. The CDC has now made it manditory for a child who has just passed court to have a TB test done before being able to have a visa issued to enter the country. It sounds like for our case, that after passing court, Wilson will have this test done, and we will have to wait about 3 weeks to hear results. If his test comes back negative, we will be able to travel over whenever we get our travel call and embassy date! But if his test results come back positive, he will be required to stay in Ethiopia for another 6 months and receive treatment before being able to have a visa issued for him to come to the US. So, we are really just praying that there would be no issues with this, and that we would be able to go and get him soon! Its understandable why they would do this type of thing, but most of me is like, "If I have to wait another 6 months, I will go into a severe depression!" ;) So, that is our update for now. I am sure that I will write more once we know the results of our court date. If you want to pray for something, pray for success on both occasions! (not just for us, but for those who are going through the same things as well!)

To Do Lists!

2009-03-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

As we wait for our court date, I have made a list of several things that I need to get done before Wilson gets here! Things like getting an extra crib(since Hudson seems to be content where he is!), going through clothes, getting another dresser, getting paperwork ready, vaccination appointments, etc. I know it won't be for sure until after our court date whether or not we will go over and get him soon, but my nesting has been getting the best of me lately! :) I just have it in my mind that I want to have everything ready before we get that travel call, so I am not scrambling at the last minute to get it all in!(a little of the planner in me too of course!) Plus this is a great way for me to keep busy, and not think about the court date. It amazes me too all the things that I need to get done, but I guess that is what lists are for!

Bewildered and Amazed!

2009-02-28T19:22:00.000-08:00

Well......to say the least, God never ceases to amaze me!(which should not be a surprise to me I guess! :) I had really come to the point where I was like, "Okay God, I have no idea why we have waited this long, but pretty much, its in your hands, and I am just going to be okay with whenever our court date is."(even though I struggled still with the fact that I had no control!:) I really expected we would at the earliest now get a court date in May, and be travelling in June or so. But last night around 8:30 or so, I never expected to get a phone call from our social worker! I admit it too, I am not usually the type to answer the phone when I don't know the number, but for some reason I did! When she told me it was her, my stomach fell to my feet, and she said, "you have a court date, and it is March 24!" I couldn't really even think of anything to say! I was just in shock, and thinking, this can't even be true! God is so good! And definitely keeps me on my toes! I immediately got off the phone and tried to call Adam, but of course he was bowling with about 20 other guys, and couldn't hear it(and originally she had tried to call him)! We were having a girls night at my house, so one of my friends had to text and call their spouse/significant other, just to be able to get him to call me! Needless to say, we are still in shock! Never saw this coming in a million years! Still trying to be aware that anything can happen(since this is international adoption!),but at the same time celebrate that the waiting was not in vain. Don't know why I don't trust God more, he comes through every time in situations like these, and it all works out for the best! So now, we are waiting with anticipation for our court date, and praying that we pass on the first time so we can get our little Wilson home! I have realized too, that it is coming quick, and I have things to get done before this all happens! So now the nesting will continue, and the to do lists will be compiled! :)

no news yet.......frusterating!

2009-02-23T19:00:00.000-08:00

Still no news on our court date. Have no idea what is going on,and beginning to wonder if something is wrong. Not that anything WOULD be wrong(and I was assured nothing was), but my worries have been getting the best of me since it has been over a month since we received our referral! It just hurts my heart to know that there is a little boy sitting over in Ethiopia right now waiting for his family. Its just been hard for me knowing that he will be a year old in May, and we have missed the first year of his life. I can't wait to get him here to be a part of our family. I keep on asking "Lord, what the heck is going on, why would we have to wait this long?" But, I know that there is a reason for this waiting, and just need to trust that God's timing is perfect. So, when we do get our court date, I will be jumping for joy! But then I am sure I will start saying, "Okay, can't wait for the court date to get here!" Probably will just be the same old story of worrying, only this time about whether or not we will pass our court date! ;) I can't wait til the cycles of waiting are over! :)

still waiting.........

2009-02-12T10:43:00.000-08:00

Well, no news to report yet about a court date, but we are hoping to hear soon! It kinda makes it feel like the process is in "stall mode" lately, so it will be great when we hear something. We are just ready to know when the court date is so we can have a day to look forward to, and maybe have an idea of when we could possibly travel if we pass court. So please pray that we would receive notice soon of when that will be! On a positive note, Hudson turns 2 tomorrow! I can't believe how he has grown, and that it has already been 2 years! I am blessed by the son that I already have, and also with the one I am about to receive. We are gonna celebrate tomorrow with friends and family at ChuckECheese. Should be a wild party! ;)

a gift for our boy

2009-01-28T13:25:00.000-08:00

We had wanted to send something over to Wilson for him to have while he waits for us to come get him! So a couple days ago, we found out that there is another Bethany family in our area who are travelling over to get their kids, and said that we would be able to include something in their suitcase! So last night we went to the store, and got a couple things to send over to him. We got a little photo album, and put pictures of the three of us in it, and a couple of his grandparents as well. I also got some fleece material, and made a cute little tie blanket for him to snuggle with! I have also heard from a couple people too, that its a good idea to sleep with the blanket before you send it over, so it can have your smell when the baby gets it, so they can learn what you smell like...... :) So last night we slept with it in our bed, but I am not sure if one night really made much of a difference! ;) So I decided to spray it with my perfume, and Adam's cologne this morning before he took it over to the family bringing it for us. Hopefully Wilson can get something out of all that anyway.

An update and a minivan!

2009-01-24T09:41:00.000-08:00

Thought I would write a little post to let you all know that we got an update yesterday on Wilson! He seems to be doing very well right now, and we couldn't be more pleased with his update. It sounds like he sleeps very well(great thing for me! :), does well around other children, healthy, and was pretty much nothing on the update that we had to worry about. I am so excited just to meet our little boy, and just learn all the things about him that make him tick! We are still waiting to hear on a court date, but hope to hear in the next couple weeks on when that will be. In other Weber family news, we have splurged, and bought a minivan! We have thought about doing this for awhile, but figured now would be a good time since our family is expanding. And you know, we always like to do major life changes grouped together to make life more exciting that way! ;) Anyway, its a used 2008 dodge grand caravan. Couldn't be more excited, and this is fulfilling my mom vehicle dream! It will be very nice to have the extra room for trips since we barely fit both of us, plus a kid, plus all of our stuff. I will write more once we have more information, but for right now that is all I have! Until next time.....

Its official, and a name!

2009-01-14T19:07:00.000-08:00

Today we went in and signed the paperwork to accept our referral! There was a little paperwork that we had to complete before we went in and signed our acceptance, but I had a little motivation to get it done as soon as I could! ;) Now we will just wait to hear about our court date. Its great to be on the other side of the referral now though, even though it will be more waiting. Its just nice to know what our little guy looks like, and know who he is! And drumroll please...................the name we came up for him is Wilson! We had tossed around a couple others, but thought that name would fit him the best. It seems almost surreal, but it has actually happened. After all the praying, and waiting, we have made it! It is possible! ;) On a side note, we signed Hudson up for swimming lessons, and tonight was his second night! Tonight he blew bubbles for the first time, and almost jumped in by himself! Its hard to believe he is going to be a big brother! But we are so excited, and look forward to our new stage of life with Wilson, and being a family of 4!

Our referral!!!!!

2009-01-12T10:51:00.000-08:00

I am very excited, and happy to say that our wait to know who our little boy is, is finally over! This morning, around 8:30, we received a phone call, and were told "congratulations, you are the parents of a little boy!" He is 7 months old, and healthy as can be! They are unsure about an actual birth date, but estimate it was in May 2008. We haven't come up with the name yet but I am sure I will post later what the "official results" are! :) We are both ecstatic, and I think are in shock still that we have a face to go with our child now. My nerves still feel like they are on overload! Now we will wait to hear about a court date. Once we get a court date, and actually pass court, we should get a travel call shortly after that, and be able to go and get our baby! I am so greatful to God that we have finally received this referral, and can't even tell you how many days and nights that I have prayed, "God, please, just tell us who our baby is!" It has been especially hard lately because, there have been a lot of peers around us either, having their baby, getting pregnant, etc. I feel like the parable about the judge, and the old lady, in the bible, who keeps coming back to the judge, and finally the judge gives in because of the lady's persistence. Not sure if it was my persistence in praying or God's timing though! ;) Anyway, we are thrilled, and can't imagine it being any better! We will post more details when we figure some things out, and get a little further along.......

as Christmas approaches

2008-12-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

Its a couple days before Christmas, and tomorrow, which is Dec.23, will be 7 months for us "officially waiting" for our referral now. Its hard to believe that it has even been a year now since we started the whole process. We had a rough last week, things kind of thrown our way we weren't expecting, but I guess life isn't always going to be without surprises good or bad. (nothing to do with the adoption) It kinda got me thinking, "Lord, I would be okay with everything not being okay, if we got the referral!" :) Obviously God isn't some sort of magical genie who is here to grant our wishes. But I just thought even for Christmas, it would be so great to get the referral. This whole process has been one of those things that no matter what goes on in my life, the possibility of getting the referral any day now is always in the back of my mind. But just even realizing what this whole season is really about, the birth of my Savior, makes me feel blessed already. It helps me to take a step back, and understand I need to let go of it, and trust God's timing. Regardless of what my circumstances are, and where my life is at, I am glad that I know a God who doesn't change with the ups and downs of my life. Knowing that helps in the midst of the bumps in my life. Even if it means waiting a little longer for the referral I guess. ;) (But God, anytime soon would be great, even for Christmas! :)

Nothing yet..... :)

2008-12-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a long time since I have updated this, so sorry to anyone who checks it! :) Its now December, and we are still waiting! Although, I am sure its a good lesson in patience with this whole waiting thing, we are REALLY ready for something to happen. The past couple of months there have been referrals once a month from our agency. This happened both in Sept., and Oct., but then stopped in Nov. So its been since the middle of Oct. that there has been any referrals. Other things have been happening though, which has been a praise.......a couple families passed court, and are on their way home with their little ones as we speak! A couple other families that I know of have court dates at the end of Dec., and we are praying they pass court on the first try so they are able to travel soon after to get their little ones. We pray that we will hear something by Christmas, because what a better present could you get than that! :) We continue to think and pray for our little one that he/she would be healthy, and safe. Also, that God would make the rest of the process go quickly, so we are able to meet our new little one soon, and bring he/she home. In the mean time as we wait, we are busy here getting things ready for Christmas. Adam is working away as usual with the church, and Hudson and I spend our days at home doing the usual. Could be interesting if we do get our child the first part of the year, and try and do some potty training for Hudson at the same time! 2009 could be the start of a very interesting year for us..............

sad news........

2008-10-05T11:37:00.000-07:00

Recently I just signed us up for a online forum through Bethany, so we can post things along with other people who are adopting, in particular from Ethiopia. It has been such a great thing to be a part of, and helps the time pass as we are waiting for our referral. Just this past week we learned that one of the little infant boys who was just referred to a family just passed away. If you are reading this post, please pray for the family who just lost the little one, and never had a chance to meet him. All that is really known is that he had diarhea, was taken to the hospital, then released, but then taken back to the hospital, but died on the way. My heart goes out to this family for their loss. On top of that, 2 more little boys, one who was just referred is in the hospital for what seems to be the same thing. I can't even imagine this either, and makes me a little scared for our own little one, or for others who are yet to be referred. Makes it even harder to wait, when all we want to do is go over there and get our little one, just to know he/she is safe, and so that we can take care of him/her. We are still hoping our referral comes very soon, but at this point I am not sure that this would be something to cause more waiting on our part or not. Again, please, if you read this post, please be lifting these families, and the little ones who are in the hospital, and the ones who are to be adopted soon, in prayer; that there would be healing and protection. My heart wants to see the little ones healed, and united with their families, along with others without any setbacks. But then again, going into this, we knew unknown things happening was a possibility..........

more referrals......more hope!

2008-09-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

We just recently found out that on Sept. 5th, 4 little boys were referred to 4 families who are working with Bethany! We were so excited to hear that! Even just hearing something like that gives us hope that ours will come very soon. I can't even say how many times I have heard the phone ring wondering if it was the call! I know I shouldn't be, but I think about it so many times a day, everyday, that I think that I might make myself go crazy! :) We are just so excited to have a our little addition added to our family. I know at this point that we won't travel right away when we get our referral. After we learn who our baby is, we still have to go through the Ethiopian court system, and have everything cleared. Then after our court date if we pass court, we should get an invitation to travel, and then can plan when we want to go!!! We are just anticipating these things to occur so much, I am sure that it will seem like it was such a short time that we waited. But even now it seems like it has been a long time.................. :)

2008-08-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

Nothing much new to report right now. Its been a little over 3 months now that we have been officially "waiting" . I know as the time passes we are more and more ready to have our little one. Getting very excited to have the new addition to our family. Trying to figure out the best way to get Hudson ready to be a big brother too! :) Each night we pray for the new baby with Hudson, and I think that we will get him some books or something somehow about being a brother through adoption. All I know is, it is going to be a big change for him! I am sure it is for anyone else who goes from having their first to a second child, but we have just really realized it in the past couple of weeks. If anyone would like anything to pray for, please pray that this part of our process will go quickly and smoothly. Hudson is ready to be a big brother! :)

Well.......still waiting

2008-06-15T14:52:00.001-07:00

Not much to update this far into our process. We think that our dossier could be to Ethiopia by now, but haven't heard anything confirming that. Pretty sure that it is going to be more waiting after this......(but what is new, I think it is pretty typical with all adoptions :) We are ready for our little baby, and hope that he or she is safe somewhere just waiting for us to come over and bring them home. Here on out, we have heard that our dossier will have to be authenticated, then translated into their language, and then after that I believe that it will be assigned to an orphanage. There really isn't a clear time frame either since Bethany just started this program through them this past fall. We will keep updating, and hope to hear something soon!

Ready!

2008-06-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

Not that this is any different from before, or is a new revelation, but we are ready for our baby to be home! It may not be God's timing yet, and it has only been a week or two since our dossier got sent to Ethiopia, but this process seems longer than a pregnancy! One of the things that makes it a little more difficult, is you don't have the visible signs that you are going to have baby, so it makes it not seem as real (even though I am not complaining about not gaining any weight with this one ; ). But even then, we just realize how neat this whole thing really is, and just how much of a difference this is going to make for our family, and mainly for this child. So even if it doesn't seem real now, and the physical signs of it aren't there, I know that I can cling to the idea of what this is going to do for all of us, and I just think, it is going to be so worth it! To give this child a home, and a family who they can call their own, will be worth all the waiting we will go through to receive this child!

Dossier to Ethiopia!

2008-05-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

Friday we found out that our dossier has been sent to Ethiopia! We are very excited to be to this point, and now all we have to do is pretty much wait! The one good thing about being this far along is being done with all the paperwork! I remember thinking a couple of months ago how I couldn't wait to be to the point where we would be done getting all the papers together, and it has finally come! Not sure what to expect from this part of our journey, but hopefully isn't too stressful!

As my own........

2008-05-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

I (Becky) was driving home yesterday listening to a christian radio station, and I don't know if everyone knows about this....but they were talking about the youngest adopted daughter of Steven Curtis Chapman's that was killed in an accident a couple days ago. It just kinda made me start thinking about just how precious my little boy Hudson is, plus my new little Ethiopian baby who I don't even know yet. Then I started crying, and I was thinking to myself......"I want my baby to come home now!" It's a crazy thing to me how attached I am to this child already, which I have heard is the typical thing that happens when you are adopting. I am hoping that the referral will get to us asap, but then again, when do things always work out the way that I want them to! But to me, this feels no different than a pregnancy, (except for not carrying the whole baby thing! :) I see this child as my own, and no different from my biological son, who just came to us in a different way. I am praying for this little child each day, that whoever you are, that you would come home soon, and know you have a loving family ready to take you in!

...and the waiting begins!

2008-05-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well, last week after getting our dossier sent it, we got word that we got the "ok" on it from the national office, and so last week it was on to Washington D.C. for more "authentications" I guess, and then it should get back to that office sometime this week, and then it is going to be off to Ethiopia! SOOO, officially the waiting has begun, and its pretty much a shot in the dark from here how long it will take to get a referral. I have looked at different blogs online about the waiting process for Ethiopia, nad what others have experienced, and it seems like it could take anywhere from 3 months to 9 months. I am not sure how much that tells us for our experience, but I am hoping that being this is a new program through Bethany, that it will be quick, and not a lot of waiting! We feel that we are ready to be parents again, but maybe it is a good thing to have a little time to wait yet, and to let Hudson get a little older too! :) That way we won't have 2 who are too close in age that it will be a handful all the time. So I guess it is up to God now to regulate when we are ready to be parents for the second time, and until then, I hope it isn't too much of an emotional roller coaster for us.

Bethany Christian

2008-05-08T07:20:00.001-07:00

I noticed that we haven't mentioned which adoption agency we're going through. It's a difficult process trying to pick an agency. Adam was biased towards HOLT International going in because of the wonderful experience his family had with them while adopting his sister. When we came down to making a decision, we couldn't have liked the people and their purpose better and it was SO convenient having Bethany right here in Sioux Falls! We'd highly recommend anyone using Bethany. More can be found at http://www.bethany.org/southdakota However, we also know that there are so many other great agencies to go through, definitely find a place you feel comfortable with if you are thinking about adopting

We sent in our dossier!!!

2008-05-07T18:15:00.000-07:00

Here some details about our process so far:
our preliminary application was approved Sept 26, 2007
our formal application was received Dec 18th, 2007
our homestudy was approved 4/2/08
and we just sent in our dossier today!!!

Now we begin the wait for our referral.

2008-05-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well, this is going to be a way for us to let you all know how our adoption journey is coming along. We started this process officially in January of this year, got our application filled out, completed our homestudy, and now are on the brink of getting our dossier sent to Ethiopia! We are very excited to have this addition to our family, and look forward to sharing this process with everyone~