Food

Our family knows that we really ought to be getting used to more kinds of Ethiopian foods, but quite honestly, we are procrastinators and we still haven't really tried anything.

Mom has bought mangos two or three times, but noone ever tries it! The mango usually gets rotten and then we throw it out.

Some months ago, Mom bought some frozen mangos in a bag. She then would eat them for lunch once in a while. But I don't think frozen mangos have the same taste as fresh. And I don't believe even fresh mangos in the U.S., taste the same as the ones Belly Boy eats in Ethiopia.

When my friend, Rachel, came back from Uganda she talked about how amazing the bananas were especially compared to the U.S.A.'s. Which now makes me wonder if when Belly Boy comes home, if he will refuse to eat our mangos because they don't taste like the amazing ones back in Ethiopia.

Fortunately we've found in Belly Boy's social report, that he likes about the same food as Sports Dude and hates some of the same food Sports Dude hates. So hopefully, as long as our food tastes kinda the same as Belly Boy's used to, we can still have some of the same kind of food we have quite often.

We're Getting Ready

So, though we didn't pass court and it's not looking like we'll be leaving anytime soon, we're still getting ready for Belly Boy's arrival. Since it will be difficult to get very many big projects done while he is first here, we are trying to get them all done now so that we won't have to worry about getting anything done.

Dad and Mom have made a list of the things we need to get done. Right now they have things like painting rooms and decorating, spring cleaning the house, sorting out baby clothes, making meals to freeze, and getting any big schoolwork projects done with. Hopefully getting this all done now, will make thngs easier later.

Dad and Mom have sorted the toys in the basement and playroom, so it looks really nice in there right now. Now if only the kids will KEEP it clean!

Christmas without our Belly Boy

We had a fun Christmas Eve, (our Christmas Day), then another fun one yesterday with our grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. It was weird though, because we knew we were missing a family member, yet we had never met him, so it was hard to picture what it would be like WITH him. (Does this even make sense)?

We received a package a few days ago, which was the airplane riding toy that we bought for Belly Boy for when he comes home. So that was his Christmas gift. Now it's sitting in the foyer by our Christmas tree waiting for him to play with it. (It's actually a really cool toy with a foam, moving propeller and all sorts of fun buttons)!

One of my grandmas even had a stocking all ready for Belly Boy when we got there. It was really fun finding baby books, baby powder, wipes, and all sorts of baby items and knowing who they were for.

So now we can't wait to celebrate Christmas WITH him next year! It's going to be a blast! (I love it when babies open gifts)!

We received a letter from immigration today

The letter was an approval of our homestudy with several updates such as that we were willing to adopt a baby over the age we had said before. Now we should be set for court in a few weeks.

Besides this, Merry Christmas!! I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow!

"And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
This census took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the ciy of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his bethrothed wife, who was with child.
So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

Luke 2:1-7

Later this baby would grow up, be tortured, and would end up dying on a cross for you and for me. And would you believe that this baby named Jesus was God's only son? His only, perfect son. So Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice with our sins on his shoulders. Now because of this, we can have a relationship with God which was something the people in the days before Jesus couldn't have.

We celebrate Christmas to remember how God gave up His son for us. And how Jesus was born into this sinful world. Remember this as you celebrate Christmas tomorrow!

Why our Case is Pending

The reason is that a letter from a government agency was not ready for court. They didn't get it done in time so the judge was not able to look at our case two days ago. The next opening for court was January 13th so it was rescheduled for this day. Unfortunately that is about three weeks away.

How will this affect our traveling? Well, since we didn't pass court, our wait to travel after court,(8-16 weeks), did not begin. If we pass in January, then we might leave at the earliest in late February or March. Which was definitely not what we had been hoping.

Merry Christmas, Everyone! Have a Wonderful Day!
Emily

Update, Bad News

We just received bad news that our case is pending. That means no court today. And we have to wait until January 13th for our next court date.

We are sorry today's court date didn't work out, but know that God is taking care of it all and everything will go according to His plan which is ALWAYS best.

Thank you for your prayers.

Court Day!

Please be praying as the judge is given our case today in Ethiopia!! We will find out tomorrow whether we passed court. From there, we make plans for traveling!

Merry Christmas!
Emily

News!

Not only is it three days until court day, but yesterday we received a report on Belly Boy called his social report. In it were more recent photos, (Oh, the difference! And he is so cute and handsome!). The nannies also helped write a report telling us his likes, dislikes, his favorite things to eat and do, and that he is really outgoing!

He likes pasta like Sports Dude and hates rice. He sounds so adorable!!! We can't wait to bring him home.

In the pictures, there were about three pictures all with him on a riding airplane toy. My parents immediately got on the computer, and found and bought the toy so that he will have a familiar toy when he comes home. We were also excited when we recognized several of our own toys in a video of the care center where he is at.

So we were all thrilled to get the update and to see more recent photos of him. I love his hair!! It's so soft and bushy!!

Our Package for Belly Boy

Our social worker told us that we could send a package to Belly Boy. We send it to a social worker who will send it with a family who is leaving to get their child. We just sent our package two days ago. (Sorry to those of you whom I told otherwise, I was really confused. Surprised? :)  I am sharing pictures of the stuff we are sending him. These picutures were taken just for this blog!!

Here it all is spread out...

This is a squishy photo, baby book that Belly Boy can look at, chew on, and drool on. It has pictures of all of us, (including him),  individually and a pic. of our dog as we hear Ethiopian babies are sometimes scared of pets, and one of our house. We put labels in English underneath the pictures so the nannies can tell Belly Boy who everyone is, (if they are able to read it).

A toy car for him to play with. The sad part is that we understand that the care center tries to work on sharing with everyone so Belly Boy may not end up playing with it very much. Other kids will play with it too. It may even get lost they said.

A blankie. Soft, big, and hopefully he will love it.

We had to pack it all up in a ziploc bag. One thing not shown is a laminated picture of our family for Belly Boy to look at, (and drool on).

We planned on sending this extremely soft, small, (about washcloth size), blankie for Belly Boy to cuddle with, but when we learned about things being lost easily, we decided to take it with us when we travel instead of sending it now.

Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday Link, (Click here)

Here is that orphan Sunday video I was talking about in one of my older posts. Please take time to watch it! I can guarantee you it will be worth it.

At about the the 40 minute mark, some children who make up the Children of the World International Children's Choir sing for about 10 minutes or more. Not only are they adorable, but they have some great,  ethusiastic songs. This was the hit of the entire video to me.

Enjoy!
Em

Newest Update- Court Date

We have a court date!!!!! December 21st is our court date! What does this mean? It means that people in Ethiopia will bring our case of adopting Belly Boy to an Ethiopian judge who will decide whether we may adopt him. Sometimes families don't pass the first time, but we are praying that we do, so that we may leave as early as February to get Belly Boy, (the adoption agency says 8-16 weeks after passing court, the family will travel)!

Very exciting! And it'll be an awesome Christmas present if we pass!

So that's the update o'er here.

(This doesn't mean we will be traveling Dec. 21st. This is just a court date, but definitely a huge step if we pass)!

Our family is thankful for....

1. Belly Boy, He is such a cutie
2. That God is taking care of us and has a plan for us
3. That we are able to adopt
4. Eachother
5. For all the things God has provided for us!

I'm sure I will add more later, but supper is almost ready!

Update

We had our homestudy updated for Belly Boy's adoption. So we are waiting for some things to be corrected so that we'll be all set!

I also have other news, but am unable to share right now. I will write it when I can though!(Mom was so excited that she told Miss Bossy to turn off her eyes instead of telling her to turn off her whining and crying! And no, it doesn't have anything to do with Belly Boy's eyes)!

We found out that we will be able to send a package for Belly Boy to our social worker who will send it with another family who is leaving for Ethiopia! So now we're thinking of things to send. Pictures of us will be a must and we are also thinking of a blankie, (Mom is going to sleep with it so that it smells like her when he cuddles with it). We can't send a stuffed animal, unfortunately,but we will send a small toy, (perhaps a car). I think it will be really difficult for us to celebrate Christmas this year, knowing that Belly Boy is a part of our family yet is in Ethiopia and can't celebrate with us. It'll be tough.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

God working in our life!

I decided to check out my first post the other day. In it I write, "I'm starting this blog to share what I think about adoption and my family's journey through adopting from Ethiopia. My family and I are praying for twins. God might have a different plan for our family, however." This, as you can see, got me thinking.

Little did we know the little boy God had in mind for us already! Belly Boy. Our sweet, adorable, Belly Boy! We were SO sure that we were going to be blessed with twin baby boys. Wow! God's plan is always best! His plan is SO MUCH LARGER than we can imagine!

Just a reminder how we need to rest on God's plan, not ours! Crazily awesome....

Food Adventures

So as we've thought more and more about our adoption,there are some food changes going to have to be made 'round here.

First of all, we know from experience that having a baby in the house means that elegant dinners are out. (Not that we ever have any!:)  It is really hard to make supper when you're also trying to bond with a child. Since Bob and I are older we are able to help a lot, but still some days are just crazy busy!! So we will probably put together some frozen meals that will just need to be popped in the oven or in a pot. We just got another freezer, so that will be really useful.

But then! What about Belly Boy,he is used to Ethiopian food not American. The Care Center does a really good job in that they try to give the children "American" food that will make it easier for them to adjust when they go home. (Mom and I were laughing at the "American" food ingredients. Some of the food was totally NOT made the American way)!

But back to what I was saying before, Belly Boy is used to a certain kind of food. So obviously we are going to have to change our menu items a little or actually a lot. Add some of the food and ingredients he's used to!

So, in the many months we have in front of us as we wait for Belly Boy, one of our projects is going to be getting used to Ethiopian food! :)

Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday was last Sunday. Dad managed to get a live video of the Cry of the Orphan in Nashville with Steven Curtis Chapman and others hooked on our t.v. It was a great show and I would like to share it with you.

I want to give you the link, but I'm not able to at the moment. So go to http://www.gospelmusicchannel.com/ and look for it!!!! I THINK it is called Cry of the orphan. It might be Voice of the Orphan. Anyways, it was great!

This is our song.

I have posted this song before, but I want to do it again. This time our family has someone in mind. A little 1 year old boy who is waiting for us to bring him home! Hooray! I've asked Mom and she said that the orphanage in Ethiopia now knows that we are adopting this baby. So maybe the little  boy doesn't understand, but we do, and this is our song.

When Love Take You In

By: Steven Curtis Chapman

I know you’ve heard the stories

But they all sound too good to be true

You’ve heard about a place called home

But there doesn’t seem to be one for you

So one more night you cry yourself to sleep

And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

When love takes you home and says you belong here

The loneliness ends and a new life begins

When love takes you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping

Someone else is dreaming too

Counting down the days until

They hold you close and say I love you

And like the rain that falls into the sea

In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go

here is nothing that could ever

cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here

The loneliness ends and a new life begins

When love takes you in it takes you in for good

When love takes you in

We have accepted the referral!

The most exciting news of the day, week, month, and year! Mom and Dad have prayed about adopting a little boy whose referral we received Wednesday. They have decided that this sweet, 1 year old boy is meant for our family!

We are all very excited!!!! We will probably be leaving in February to get him. Dad, Mom and I will be traveling while the Bob, Sport's Dude and Miss  Bossy stay at home with our grandparents. We now are going to start getting ready for him!

Thank you for your prayers. We appreciate it so very much!

Possible Referral

We're looking into a possible referral. Please be praying!
Emily's family

DVDs

A kinda weird post title, but so cool!

See, when we get our referral, we also get a couple movies. But, wait! , they're not just movies, they're movies of our babies!

One of the best things about HAVING a baby, (like expecting a baby physically), is that you can watch them grow up. From newborn to however old. But that's one thing you sometimes miss when you adopt. Not always! But usually! You miss their baby stuff: first sit-up, roll over, standing, step, and word.

But our adoption agency has two DVD's. The first is of the area where the baby was found or lived. The second DVD is of the baby in the orphanage.

I think this is so cool and special. You can see glimpses of your baby before they were home. So you don't miss ALL of your baby's life before you held them.

In Ethiopia

I'm not sure whether I've shared this already, but I have been working and saving my money for a plane ticket so that I can go with my parents to Ethiopia to get our baby/babies.

When we receive our referral, (Oh let that day come SOON), we have to wait to pass court in Ethiopia. That can take a while, and we might not even pass the first time. So that will probably take SEVERAL weeks. We then must wait a couple more weeks before we actually leave the U.S!

When we arrive in Ethiopia, we will be taken to a guest house and the guest house is a whole 'nother post! The next day we will meet our new family members. OH HOORAY! We spend more time with the babies the next day. Sunday is spent actually visiting any living family members of the babies and visiting the area where they were found or lived. Another day we have to go to court for all the official days. We also will have a chance to go to an Ethiopian market, shop, and visit a restaurant. At the end, there is a good bye ceremony. We go home after a week or so. We will bring home the babies and will actually have to stay at home for months before we can go out in public with the babies or introduce them to family and friends! This is to ensure bonding.

Also, (this will be very hard for me, in fact I was really upset when Mom told me this), the babies need to attatch to Dad and Mom, so although I will definitely be helping all the time with the babies, I cannot allow them to become EXTREMELY close to me because it's best they be most attatched to Dad and Mom as I will be off to college in a couple years. I know bonding is EXTREMELY important, but I know I will find this hard. Miss Bossy is so excited. It is so cute! She keeps asking if we can PLEASE get our babies today

Laugh!

We are so excited to get our babies. And our excitement must be contagious because even our pets are looking forward to the day when we finally bring home our new brother(s) and/or sister(s).

This is Woody. He is our Yellow Lab dog. He is 8 years old and starting to look  and act old. He's even starting to do things he'd never do before, (like lie on a couch pillow).

We caught Woody like this one day. What is he doing?

He has volunteered to babysit Miss Bossy's doll for a few minutes while she does something. Miss Bossy set him up with even a carrier. Doesn't he look like the perfect babysitter?!

Well, maybe not. Ouch... that looks painful and the babysitter looks bored.

Our adoption

We are using a local adoption agency to do our homestudy and follow-up meetings. Family Adoption Consultants.

FAC does not have an Ethiopian program, so we are using Children's Home Society and Family Services to do the international part.

We chose FAC because we had worked through them before with Miss Bossy. Unfortunately, the agency we used with Sports Dude no longer exists.

We also a couple years or so ago, began a foster care program with another agency in our area. After a year of going through the process, we discovered that the workers actually had no idea what we were doing. We took that as a sign from God that we should not be going through the program. Then we began with CHSFS and FAC for an international adoption.

 I am going to paste an e-mail Mom sent me about why they chose CHSFS and FAC. It was easier if Mom wrote to me, rather than telling me and me forgetting or me having to type the whole thing up. And of course, she and Dad are the ones who made the decision, so she knows what she's saying more than me! :) So here is what Mom says....

First, we chose the country before the agency. So after we knew we should switch from foster care adoption to Ethiopia, we started looking at agencies. We prayed! We knew a family who had adopted from Ethiopia and took their advice regarding which agencies to avoid and which seemed to be reputable. We looked at the ones who had established (not new) Ethiopia programs. A big factor for us was the agency’s ethics, in particular how their policies reflected their view of adoption and children. Children’s Home Society and Family Services (of Minnesota) had an established Ethiopia program, a good reputation, and had policies that reflected good ethics. One of their policies was that they did not allow artificial twinning. That is when two babies are placed with the same family even though the babies are not related. Babies go through so many changes before and during the adoption process, that they do not need any more challenges such as Mom and Dad trying to parent two babies at the same time. Also, they would have to deal with people asking questions constantly about whether they were twins and why not, etc. At first we didn’t like the policy, but then we realized it was better for the children and the agency cared more about the children’s adjustment and successful adoption than about the desires of potential adoptive parents. We also found out more about the care center in Ethiopia and the high standard of care the children received there. As we looked into the agency more we found out that they only had one partnering agency here in Michigan for the home study portion and that agency was in Kalamazoo! And we had used that very agency for our last adoption! Since we had been praying for direction as we researched, we took that as confirmation that we should move forward with CHSFS.

Today

Today I was searching for something to write about on this blog, so I went to our adoption agency's website and looked at the Ethiopian program. Then I saw a family album page. I clicked on it and was excited to find lots of pictures of kids already adopted from Ethiopia. I scrolled down. My eyes searching for.... twins. And I found twins and triplets. I was very excited. It's just exciting to see babies from Ethiopia. The thought of, my little brothers or sisters might look like this, goes through my head.

Miss Bossy is really excited about having a baby brother or sister. The other day she told me that she was going to share her big wheel with her baby brother or sister. We all are really excited. The boys and Miss Bossy are not looking forward to diaper changing. That will probably end up being done by Mom and I.

Well, I will try to think up more to write soon.

I honestly can not think of anything more to write about.

Any ideas?

Leave me a comment.
Emily

How we felt called to Ethiopia

How did we decide that we were being called to adopt from Ethiopia? After all, we had done two domesic adoptions before.

We chose Ethiopia because we felt God was leading us towards Ethiopia. We prayed a lot and Dad and Mom felt Him giving them a push toward Africa.

We had friends who had already adopted from Ethiopia. We also had friends who were going into the process of adopting from Ethiopia. I think that really encouraged Dad and Mom to look into Ethiopia.


When Dad and Mom looked into Ethiopia, they found that they could afford it, and that the requirements fit our family really well. (Some countries have really strict requirements. Like not being overweight, only so many biological children, etc.)

One more plus for adopting from Ethiopia is that Ethiopians have dark skin like Sport's Dude and Miss Bossy. That will make it easier for Sport's Dude and Miss Bossy in the future, we hope.

The Time

When we began our adoption to Ethiopia, they gave us an estimated amount of time that we might receive our referral. They told us a year and a half.

Well, last Thursday marks 6 months of waiting. So our wait is down to a year! Hooray! Woo hoo!!

Hope to write more soon.

Planning for our twins

We are so looking forward to finally getting the call about our babies.

Since right now our minivan can only fit only 7, we will need a full van if we adopt twins. Or we will have to drive separately.

As for rooms, right now we are planning on the babies sleeping in Dad and Mom's room while they're little and still trying to adjust.

When they are older I think I want them in my room. I shared a room with Sport's Dude and Miss Bossy when they were little and enjoyed it a lot. The only bad thing is not being able to go in my room during their naps. Especially when I have friends over.

This makes me think of a funny story. When Miss Bossy was really little like maybe one, she slept in her crib in my room. Her crib was about 6 feet away from my bed. Every night Miss Bossy would fuss and fuss until I sleepily got out of bed, crossed the room, grabbed her, and stumbled across the floor again to my bed. , I was around 12 or 13.)Then she would sleep with me the rest of the night. Well, I got lazy. Or maybe I just wanted to sleep, but either way, I dragged Miss Bossy's crib up to my bed so that I had only to get on my knees to lift her into my bed during the night. I'm not sure how Miss Bossy managed this the first time, but somehow she would put her foot through the rail of her crib until it rested on my matress. Then she would heave herself up and flip on to my bed. She did this every night. And, hey, I didn't have to wake up. Yaay. Miss Bossy continued doing this until she got her own bed. Then she just got out and crawled into bed with me. Miss Bossy is 5 now. And she still gets into my bed almost every day. I lock my door now so she has to call me through the door to be able to get in.This makes it easier to keep her out of my bed if I'm not in the mood to deal with her pushing. Sport's Dude has joined her now.

Anyways, just a reminder to me about how much fun babies are to have in the same room as me.

The phone rings and everyone catches their breath for a slight second

We keep waiting and waiting and waiting for THE phone call. The phone call that will send us flying across the room, that will send me flying to the computer, the call that will send Mom to the telephone, the call that will send Dad home for the rest of the day, the phone call that will keep all of us awake for the next however many months. THAT phone call. The phone call with a referral.

We are so excited. Oh please, pretty please, call tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emily

All I Want for Christmas

Another song by Steven Curtis Chapman. All I want for Christmas is a very sweet, sad song that best touches you when you hear it, so I recommend looking it up on youtube.com. But here are the words that made me cry the first few times I heard it.

All I Want

By: Steven Curtis Chapman

Well I don't know if you remember me or not

I'm one of the kids they brought in from the home

I was the red-haired boy in an old green flannel shirt

You may not have seen me –

I was standing off alone

I didn't come and talk to you,

'causethat's never worked before

And you'll prob'ly never see this letter anyway

But just in case there's something

you can do to help me out

I'll ask you one more time

All I really want for Christmas

Is someone to tuck me in

A shoulder to cry on if I lose

Shoulders to ride on if I win

There's so much I could ask for

But there's just one thing I need

All I really want for Christmas is a family

Well I guess I should go ahead and tell you now

If it's really true about that list you have

Somehow I always seem to end up in a fight

But I'm really trying hard not to be bad

But maybe if I had a brother or a dad to wrestle with

Well, maybe they could teach me how to get along

And from everything I've heard

Sounds like the greatest gift on earth would be a mom

All I really want for Christmas

Is someone to tuck me in

A shoulder to cry on if I lose

Shoulders to ride on if I win

There's so much I could ask for

But there's just one thing I need

All I really want for Christmas

Is someone who'll be there

To sing me "Happy Birthday"

For the next 100 years

And it's OK if they're not perfect

Well, even if they're a littlebroken, that's alright

'Cause so am I

Well, I guess I should go

It's almost time for bed

And maybe next time I write you

I'll be at home

'Cause all I really want for Christmas

Is someone to tuck me in

Tell me I'll never be alone

Someone whose love will never end

Of all that I could ask for

Well, there's just one thing I need

All I really want for Christmas

All I really want for Christmas is a family

Just a family

That's all I really need

Now here is a link to the song on youtube. Check it out! And I dare you not to cry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjMz0MmYejQ

When love takes you in

A song by Steven Curtis Chapman written for orphans. I used to listen to this song when I was little and used to dream of working at an orphanage and singing this for them.

When Love Take You In

By: Steven Curtis Chapman

I know you’ve heard the stories

But they all sound too good to be true

You’ve heard about a place called home

But there doesn’t seem to be one for you

So one more night you cry yourself to sleep

And drift off to a distant dream
Where love takes you in and everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

When love takes you home and says you belong here

The loneliness ends and a new life begins

When love takes you in
And somewhere while you’re sleeping

Someone else is dreaming too

Counting down the days until

They hold you close and say I love you

And like the rain that falls into the sea

In a moment what has been is lost in what will be
When love takes you in everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
And this love will never let you go

There is nothing that could ever

cause this love to lose its hold
When love takes you in everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

When love takes you home and says you belong here

The loneliness ends and a new life begins

When love takes you in it takes you in for good

When love takes you in

My favorite part is the part about when the child is sleeping someone is dreaming of taking them in their arms and loving them. This is what our family is doing!

Skin

Miss Bossy and Sports Dude are African American. When we adopted them we weren't looking forward to the day when they paid attention to the fact that their skin was darker than ours.

And despite our fears, it really hasn't bothered them. We know they know because they will mention the fact occasionally. They might point out that the kid in the book they're reading has brown skin like them or that he or she has tan skin like ours.

We don't make it a big issue as we don't really pay attention to it. About the only time that it becomes a problem is when we are having family pictures because Sports Dude and Miss Bossy's faces won't be clear if they are in front of jeans or a dark colored shirt. We also have to moisturize their hair and skin more than our own.

One time Mom and I were talking about a family and I mentioned that they probably didn't even recognize us, when Mom pointed out that we probably are very recognizable because Sports Dude and Miss Bossy have a different skin color than us. I said, "OH!" It hadn't even dawned on me. I don't even think about it!

Spell check

Sorry about the typos last post. I was in a hurry!! :) Hopefully they are all fixed now.
Em

September 11, 2009

I wrote this Friday, September 11. I am now sharing it with you.

On Friday we left for a wedding. We drove on the highway. Then we saw a sight that is not very usual in our state, but very familiar in the Middle East. Five or six army semis pulling trailers. In each cab there sat one of two soldiers in full uniform. In front drove a tan army jeep. This held three soldiers also in uniform. Some of the soldiers had white bowlish hats.

Sadness went through me. Strong emotions that made me want to cry. Pride in our soldiers. I am so very thankful for our soldiers. Our army that keeps me and my family and friends safe. It seems like I should be thinking and praying for them at every moment. Friday was 9/11. This is the day that everyone who was old enough to remember at the time, does.

That day was awful. Tears flowed freely and continuously. America, that day, became one big family grieving for a family member . They held eachother up and wept for eachother.

9/11 was 8 years ago, but I remember that day well. I was naughty that day. I turned on the t.v. The words BREAKING NEWS flashed on the screen. Smoke was billowing from a building. I had no idea what was going on. I called Mom who just watched the t.v. in horror.

Mom sent me upstairs to get dressed, but I cried and refused to go upstairs as I was scared the terrorists were going to crash a plane through our house.

I cry for the families that lost their dads, moms, and loved ones in that horrible, horrible terrorist attack. I don't know how anyone could not blame the terrible man who planned the attack.

Forgiveness. God wants us to forgive. To forgive a man who did this seems impossible. But then think of our sin. To a perfect God all "little sins" are like murders to us. We are all horrible sinners. We all deserve Hell. But God has forgiven us through Jesus Christ. And we are all forgiven.

Adoption Terms

This is a helpful website on adoption terms. Check it out!

http://www.abcadoptions.com/adoptionterms.htm

Emily

Adopting

Today I'm kind of writing to all U.S.A. citizens.

There have been rumors of countries trying to close down their adoption programs. Korea, China,... And if you have been waiting forever for a referral from one of these countries, you are probably praying that somehow you will get a referral before anything happens.

But I think it's tough for a country to allow another country to adopt their children unless they're desperate. And I mean, think about it, how would the U.S. feel about China adopting their children? To have U.S.A. kids walking in Ethiopia. It's tough. And you can kind of understand these countries points. But, I have to say that for countries like China, who feel how they do about children; I think adoption outside the country is the only thing that would work for them. Does this make ANY sense? I may rewrite this.

Something to think about.

Miss Bossy's Story

I barely remember when we adopted Miss Bossy. It was only 5 years ago, but for some reason I can remember only parts.

I remember social workers coming, and I remember meeting Miss Bossy's birthmom and birthsister. They were very nice. I remember Mom, Dad, the birthmom, and a social worker talking at a table while Bob and I played with baby Sports Dude. That day Sports Dude said a word for the very first time. Bob and I almost exploded, but we had to be quiet until they were done with their meeting.

When Miss Bossy was born, Dad and Mom went to go see her and bring her home. She was so pretty. We were excited to meet her for the first time.

Miss Bossy's birthmom was very sad to let Miss Bossy go. She loved Miss Bossy a lot.

We are very thankful for Miss Bossy. Just now, Miss Bossy cracked up at a part in a movie she was watching. Life without Miss Bossy... wow. Can't even imagine.

The Courtroom

When you adopt, to make it final, you have to go to a judge. Which means you have to go to court. And personally, the less I go to court, the better.

When we adopted Sports Dude we were scheduled to go to a certain judge, but he was busy with another case. So another judge offered to do it. A lot of our friends and family came with us. Bob and I got to sit at a table in front of the judge. Bob loved the spinning chairs, and kept twisting and driving me nuts. The judge had us introduce ourselves at the table. I remember having to say who I was, and that I was Sports Dude's sister.

This judge was so nice. Later she had Bob and I come up to the platform thingy with her. She gave one of us her gavel and the other, a toy to try to keep Sports Dude from crying. Afterwards she came down and took pictures with us and took all of our picture for us. It was a lot of fun.

So when we adopted Miss Bossy, I was pretty confident of myself since I had had such a good experience before. We finalized Miss Bossy's adoption on a national adoption finalization day. The judge was really nice, but he wasn't as friendly as the judge for Sports Dude's finalization.

At the finalization, we received a certificate, (I think), that showed Sports Dude and Miss Bossy were now ours. We also received a video of the entire finalization. (Hey, did you know that the cameras turn towards noise? So everytime someone talked, the camera was on them.)

Don't be scared to go to an adoption finalization! I think the judges enjoy having happy families come in.

My Thoughts

Like I've said before, I had no problem adjusting to an adopted baby. When my parents came home with my little siblings, I was just as excited than if my mom had had them herself. The only difference was that I didn't go to the hospital to meet my new brother and sister like most older sisters would. I met them when my parents came home.

I remember Bob was really excited to meet Sports Dude when he was born. But Sports Dude was a preemie, and Bob was sick. Bob actually had to put on a mask before he could see Sports Dude.

One more thought, the nice thing about adopting, too, was that Mom was really busy after she brought Sports Dude home, but she wasn't sick and nauseous like she would be if she had been pregnant. That's definitely a plus!!! :)

What is a referral??

When someone tells you, "We got a referral today!", jump around with them! Laugh, squeal, fall on a chair with surprise. For today is a day as special as the day someone has a baby.

An adoption referral is when an agency takes the information about you and your family and matches it to a child whom they think would best fit your family.

Adopting families receive a phone call, e-mail, or letter with the information on the child. If my family was the one receiving the referral, we would pray about the decision and answer the agency whether or not we felt we could provide a home to the child or children.It is such an exciting time, because you are so close to having a new member of the family!!!

For us, since we are adopting from Ethiopia, although the referral is such a thrilling time, we still have to wait for the government of Ethiopia to give us permission. Sometimes they don't give their okay and our case is brought back to court or we have to wait again for another referral.

I hope we won't have to deal with waiting again. But God is in control and if he wants us to adopt again, he will do it in his perfect timing!

Emily

To Birthmoms

Everything to me
By Mark Schultz

I must have held your tears
When they took me from your arms
I'm sure I must have heard you say goodbye
Young and so afraid
Had you made a big mistake
Could an ocean even hold the tears you cried
Oh you had dreams for me
And wanted the best for me
And you made the only choice you could that night
And you gave life to me
A brand new world to see
Like playing baseball in the yard with dad at night
Mom reading Goodnight Moon
And praying in my room
So if you worry if your choice was right
When you gave me up
Oh you gave everything to me
And if I saw you on the street
Would you know that it was me
And would your eyes be blue or green like mine
Would we share a warm embrace
Or would you know me in your heart
Or would you smile and let me walk on by
Knowing you had dreams for me
You wanted the best for me
Oh I hope that you'd be proud of who I am
Oh you gave life to me
A chance to find my dreams
And the chance to fall in love
You should have seen her shining face
On our wedding day
Oh is this the dream you had in mind
Oh when you gave me up
You gave everything to me
And when I see you there
Watching from heaven's gate
Into your arms I'm gonna run
And when you look in my eyes
You can see my whole life
See who I was and who I've become
Cuz you gave life to me
A brand new world to see
Like playing baseball with my son late at night
And reading Goodnight Moon
And praying in his room
I'm so grateful that I had this life
When you gave me up
You gave everything to me
Everything to me

Mark Schultz, (a Christian artist), was adopted. He wrote this song to his birthmom.

Think before you speak

You are 5 years old. You are African American.You were adopted when you were newborn. Your adoptive family is white. Your family talks about your birthparents, but the only people you consider your parents are your adoptive parents.

You are looking at the candy in the check out area. Mom is talking with the check out lady. Suddenly you listen.

"Is she adopted?" the lady asks pointing to you.
"Yes," your mom answers.
"Who is her real mother?" the lady continues.
"Are they brother and sister?" the lady continues yet again, pointing to your older African American adopted brother who is placing tic-tacs in the shopping cart.

Ideas fill your mind. Thoughts, that in your little mind, can get tangled up and cause you to believe that your mom isn't your mom, that your big brother isn't your brother.

Your mom glances at your wide eyes. She didn't want thoughts like this in your mind yet. You are too little. End story.

Okay. So what's my point? This is something that drives my mom nuts! People don't think before they speak! They ask questions to adoptive families that adopted children could take the wrong way. We don't mind answering questions about adoption. Spread the word about adoption, for goodness sake! But don't ask careless questions in front of adopted children and if you do ask something, think first how a little kid might take it.

I will probably write more on this, as it is such a large topic! Here is somewhere to go if you want to learn more! http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/pdf/PositiveLanguage.pdf

Check it out!
Emily

Just Waiting

Waiting for a referral. Oh, I've had a lot of experience right now. For that is what we are doing right now. We are waiting for our social worker to call us about our babies.

Our family has had to do this three times already. (One time it didn't work out). But waiting to hear about Sports Dude and Miss Bossy; I don't remember having to wait very long!

With our wait right now, it could take 1 to 1 1/2 years before we get a referral. But because we are open to twins, (possibly triplets, though triplets don't happen often), any gender, most any special needs, and others, we may receive our referral faster than other people's. It still takes forever, though.

Don't get discouraged from adopting, though! It is worth it. And because I know that, I am so very excited!!!!
Em

Letters with Sports Dude's Birthmom

When we first started the process of adopting Sports Dude, I wrote a letter to the birthmom. Today I don't remember what I said, I only remember promising that we would take good care of him. Sports Dude's birthmom later admitted to us, that when she was looking at our information, my letter was what made her really choose our family.

When my parents left to meet and bring back Sports Dude, I had written yet another letter, again promising to love him and take care of my new little brother. She wrote back and the only thing I remember from it is that she told me that she hoped I would dress up Sports Dude in my dolly clothes! I never did dress him up in doll clothes, but I always loved to pick out his clothes for the day!

Sports Dude's birthmom loved him so much, and she wanted the best for him. I think she did that when she let us adopt him.

We love Sports Dude to the moon and back!!!

Adopting

It's amazing what adoption does to a family. For me, I never, ever think of my little brother and sister being adopted. They are just my siblings. I don't treat them any different than I would if my mom had had them herself.

One of the best things about my parents is that they don't play favorite. They love us all the same and that includes my adopted brother and sister. When Sports Dude and Miss Bossy were born, they went to the hospital and met them and they fell in love with their new babies. Just like they did when they saw Bob and I for the first time.

I love adoption because it gives a family with no hope of their own baby, a chance to have one. And it gives a baby or child a chance for a family.

Adoption is wonderful.
Emily

'Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment and the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ' " Matthew 22:37-39

Intro!

Sure, you can read about me in Who Am I, but why did I start this blog? And why is it named what it is?

The answer- I'm starting this blog to share what I think about adoption and my family's journey through adopting from Ethiopia. My family and I are praying for twins. God might have a different plan for our family, however.

The name EM WANTS MORE basically came because I badly want more kids in our family.

So stick with me while I plunge into blogging. We'll see how this works!
Emily