A Little Shopping for the New Closet

Kevin and I went to Lowe's today to buy more paint. We decided that the hallway color looked weird next to the green in the baby's room, so now Kevin is painting the hallway. Honestly, I would have been fine to leave it, but he's been wanting to change it for a while so this gives us an excuse. I also purchased some foam stamps for dots n the baby's room. Kevin is supposed to paint a board white so I can practice before attempting on the wall.

While in Lowes, we started talking about the closet in Micah's room and decided we needed a closet organizer. We love it! This is it right now - you can move the shelves around and you can buy little sliding baskets for it too. We're very excited about the closet organizer. :)

And, I had to try the closet organizer out with some new clothes I bought today for Micah. I'm trying not to go crazy because I'm not sure how big he will get over the next couple months, so I'm trying to wait until I get another height/weight report. But, these I could not resist...

I know this is biased, but that's how we feel about it. :)

This is from baby Gap - another product (red) item. I love it. I'm thinking of exchanging it for 6-9 months instead of 3-6 though. I'm still new at this. :)

Tears

I had to share this ... Today I saw our baby shower invitation and I started crying. In fact, I'm still tearing up right now an hour later. This is the first line: "A long and challenging journey has come to an end... Come celebrate the new journey that is just to begin!" I don't know why this is making me cry - maybe because I have such wonderful friends who honor our struggle and the miracle of our child. Maybe it's because it is starting to hit me that we are parents, and that our long journey toward parenthood is almost complete.

Thanks Lynn for the beautiful invitation- it will be placed in Micah's baby book and treasured always. :)

This is the picture that is on the invitation.

Still Getting Ready...

First - we've decided to change Yabsira's name a bit. We will be keeping Yabsira as his middle name and we have given him the first name of Micah after both of his grandpas - who have the middle name of Michael - we just changed it a bit. So, that's our little man - Micah Yabsira. :)

Next, his room is coming along - Kevin finished the green and then painted the white border through the center of the room. He is quite proud of his straight lines- as I type this he is trying to scroll down to see the pictures! The original plan was for me to free hand brown lines at the top & bottom of the border so it didn't look too perfect. I don't know if he's going to let me do that now. :) Next I have to figure out how to paint the dots and then get started on those - probably a weekend project.

Straight lines -

This picture shows the color better.

I also went furniture shopping last night with Grandma K and didn't find anything I liked - I was thinking I wanted white furniture, but now that I see that white border, I'm thinking furniture with a "coffee" or "espresso" finish (those names make me laugh). I was very tempted to buy something for the babe, but I didn't. I saw baby Converse, but how do I know what size to buy? I need some help on that one. Grandma K did buy this little onesie for him - it has lizards on it - my dad always calls me Lizzie and sometimes Lizard. (Our family is big into nicknames - poor Micah!)

Kevin also received this little outfit and bear from Heather & Leslie at work last Friday. That green will look so cute on him! And, that was very sweet of them- thanks Heather & Leslie!


This is a picture I had to share of a little bunny rattle that was passed along to us from our friends down the street. It used to be very cute... until one of the dogs got a hold of it. Now it has no eyes and its nose is about to fall off. We have a lot of work to do with the dogs on this...

Finally, we are thinking of our friends Jenni & Jim as they await their referral. Their dossier was the second to arrive in Ethiopia for CHI, so we are hoping they get some good news very soon! Our thoughts & prayers are with you guys!

Getting Ready

Baby preparations are in full swing around here. Last Friday we started by getting ourselves prepared for the trip with some shots. Our first round included Yellow Fever, Hep B (we already have A), Polio & Meningitis. The next round will include Typhoid for both of us and Tetanus for me (Kevin already has his due to an unfortunate incident with a raccoon, a dumpster and a broom. I'll just leave it at that :). I really wish I had taken the camera with me for the shots - the nurse who gave us our shots was hilarious. She and Kevin had quite the conversation - I'll give you a glimpse:

Diana: Kevin could you pull your sleeve back?
Kevin: Why? Are you trying to check out my guns?
(Me in my head - Did he really just say that?)
Kevin: Can I have a tootsie-pop?
Diana: NO! Not until you've had all of your shots!
Kevin: Fine then, I'm taking four - one for each shot.
Diana: (looking at me) Oh - you're going to have two babies!

They were very funny (maybe you had to be there :) and we laughed all throughout our icky shots. My arm still hurts - I don't know if that's normal, but I'm ready for it to go away.

And, I have FINALLY chosen a paint color for his room! Kevin loves to paint and has already started tonight. We're doing green with a white painted border in the middle of the walls. I'm going to paint dots in the border - I'm thinking green, blue and chocolate brown. Our bedding has dots on the crib sheet and the colors are green and brown, so I thought I'd also throw some blue in there. Here is Kevin working on it now. (I'm sure he's going to be so happy about this picture being posted, but he knows the risks of allowing me to take pictures - there is always a chance they will end up on the blog! :)

First Seeing Yabsira!

I have realized that it will be very difficult to try to explain the moment of first seeing our son's picture, but I'll try my best. (And, sorry, this is long!)

We had a 9:15 appointment at Children's Hope, and of course, we woke up early. We went out for coffee to pass some time and arrived at CHI at 9:14 a.m. We were greeted by the agency’s executive director, who we have met before, and he seemed just as excited as we were (well, if that’s possible : ). Our social worker, Erin, and our program director, Sharon, then came out to greet us with hugs and led us back into an office.

We were also greeted by what seemed to be the entire staff of CHI – I don’t know if they get this excited about every referral, or if it was just because we were the first for Ethiopia, but it was a lot of fun to have so many people sharing in our happiness. I have to admit – I pretty much forgot they were there as soon as I sat down. Erin and Sharon were sitting across from us and I had to grab onto Kevin’s arm to keep me calm – I was so excited to see our child! Erin handed us a folder and told us Congratulations – You have a baby boy! (or something like that). I couldn’t believe it! Then I read his name, which I have seen before (Mekdes’ little brother in There is No Me Without You, I think) and I love it. Sharon then explained what it meant (The work of God the Father) and we both gasped- it was so perfect.

We then learned some information about him, which I will keep private for him. But, I will say it was all very moving. I think I would have broken down sobbing if it weren’t for the adrenaline and excitement running through me. (I’m actually still surprised I didn’t really cry – I guess I got it all out the day before at the airport : ) The rest of the staff left us alone and Sharon said a prayer over our son – it was amazing and beautiful – it felt like she was speaking the words from my heart – it is a moment I will never forget. (You see how this is hard to explain in words?)

After that we got in the car (in a daze), called all of our family and drove to our friends’ house to show them Yabsira’s picture. I showed it to George, who is 2 ½ and he said, “Awww, Baby.” That did make me cry!

I wish I could show you his picture, but instead I have a picture of some of the gifts we received. The balloons, the cute little puppy and the binkies are from Erin and Sharon, and the flowers on the left are from Papa & Grandpa K and Uncle Ryan. The flowers on the right are from Kevin to me – which I just love! He is the best husband – he is going to be a wonderful dad!!

The Call

First – let me give you the news that I won’t be able to post our sweet boy’s picture until our case goes through the courts in Ethiopia. We got word today from our in-country rep that we have to wait…but I will post it as soon as I can! Oh, and thank you all so much for the comments - it is so amazing to have so many people thinking of us and our new little man. :)

Okay – The Call!

Last weekend I was visiting my sister out west and was on my way to the airport Monday morning when my sister’s phone rang – she told me it was Kevin and I immediately thought that maybe he had news. He just started talking normal – asking how I was, etc. and I said, “Oh, I thought you were calling with news,” and he said, “I AM!” Well, then I didn’t believe it for a minute, but I realized he was telling me the truth and then started sobbing (my sister was in the front seat hitting her fiancé, saying, “Give me a Kleenex! She’s crying!"). But, since I was out west and had a full day of travel ahead of me, Kevin had decided to wait until Tuesday morning so that we could go in together.

I should back up here because obviously he received a call before I did… Erin (our social worker) had called Kevin that morning, but he was out of cell phone range so she had left him a message. He called her back, got her voice mail and left a message. Erin then got back to him and asked when I would be getting in- he told her not until 7 that night. He asked her why – he was thinking he knew why she was calling. (His version goes something like this – I told her “Why Erin – what do you have – tell me!”) SO, she told him they had our referral (!!!), and he thinks his response was “That’s wicked cool.” He said that Erin laughed and said that was an appropriate response.

So, basically, we both spent the day separated but dreaming of our child and what we would learn at CHI the next day. I called him during my layovers (got delayed in Albuquerque) and could not wait to get home!! I even bought a book for our new little one in the airport – “The Saggy Baggy Elephant” which I highly recommend – very good reading. :) I also probably freaked a lot of travelers out by spontaneously laughing out loud and then tearing up and sometimes full-on crying. It was a long, emotional day.

Okay – that’s all for now – tomorrow I’ll try to post about actually getting the referral. Here’s a sneak peak…

IT'S A BOY!!!

We have a beautiful baby boy!!

His name is Yabsira, which means "The Work of God the Father" which we both love. He is 3 months old and at 2 1/2 months, he weighed 12 lbs. and was 20 inches long! He is just so beautiful - we just keep staring at his picture - which I'll be able to post in a couple of days, but until then I can only email it.

We are so excited, happy, still in shock, and already a bit anxious to go and bring him home!!

I'll post later about The Call and the wonderful moment of first seeing our baby's sweet little face. For now, I need to let this all sink in! :)

Also - check out CHI's blog today!!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads & Dads-to-be out there!

I had to show off Kevin's Dad to be Day gift. It is so obnoxious, but I love it. Kevin is from Columbus, Ohio and is a huge Ohio State fan, so I found him the perfect stroller - an OSU stroller, complete with scarlet & grey wheels. It is too much! And, if we have two, don't worry - I'll get myself an University of Arizona stroller and we'll be all set. :)

My Own Retail Therapy

This is my own personal retail therapy. You see, my old ipod was unfortunately lost at the park. I will not name the person who misplaced my beloved ipod, but it should be noted that he felt incredibly terrible about it (even though I told him over and over that it was okay - things like that happen!). :) So, this week, that un-named person got me a brand new beloved ipod. Very sweet, un-named person.

And, this is one of the songs I have on my new ipod that I thought I'd share because it is very sweet. But, fair warning (Sarah), this song, especially if you actually download and listen to it, has the potential to bring on the happy, expectant tears! It's a smile through your tears kind of song. (Oh, and thanks to Jenni - this is on her website and I took it from there :)

"Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)"

~ Dixie Chicks

Dragon tales and the "water is wide"

Pirate's sail and lost boys fly

Fish bite moonbeams every night

And I love you

Godspeed, little man

Sweet dreams, little man

Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings

Godspeed

Sweet dreams

The rocket racer's all tuckered out

Superman's in pajamas on the couch

Goodnight moon, we'll find the mouse

And I love you

Godspeed, little man

Sweet dreams, little man

Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings

Godspeed

Sweet dreams

God bless mommy and match box cars

God bless dad and thanks for the stars

God hears "Amen," wherever we are

And I love you

Godspeed, little man

Sweet dreams, little man

Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings

Godspeed

Godspeed

Godspeed

Sweet dreams

Timeline

Things to do while you wait... continually add new things to your blog! :) I have recently added two things. One is called "Currently Inspiring Me" and it is at the bottom right. Right now it is a poem that I had on the front of my homestudy binder and then my dossier binder. Last week I saw it on 3 different blogs (on daily posts) so I thought I'd add it here since I read it constantly while working on our homestudy & dossier. I'll be changing what is inspiring me/us periodically.

The second thing I've added is our timeline. When I look at it I'm reminded that, in the grand scheme of things, we haven't been waiting long at all. But, if you look closely, you'll see that we first decided to adopt in December 2005. I will never forget that moment - we were going through fertility treatments (not to get too personal, but we never did IVF - we stopped at the last option before that) and were both feeling 'over it' as far as the treatments went. The doctor had just suggested another exploratory procedure for me, and I wasn't looking forward to it. I think I knew in my heart that adoption was what I wanted to do, but I was hesitant to bring it up. (I really don't know why I was hesitant - especially looking back.) I mentioned it to Kevin when we were out to dinner - I was a little nervous, but his answer was that he had been thinking about adoption too! We both got sooo excited about it (we even called our families that night to tell them), but decided we would give the biological thing one more year, so that we would have plenty of time to research adoption. We knew there were a lot of options out there - foster care (which our friends were in the middle of), open adoption, international - we wanted to research all of it.

During that year I was probably not all that into the treatments. I took forever to schedule that procedure, then I took some more fun medication (talk about mood swings), but I think I knew where we were headed, and I was more excited about adoption than anything. Like I said, we were ready to move on a year before we actually did.

So now I'm just trying to be patient and trust in God's timing. I have noticed, from reading other blogs, that, that whether your wait is 2 weeks or 2 years, the waiting is hard for everyone (although obviously more difficult if you're waiting for two years - don't get me wrong). I was reading a blog where the referral came after only 2 1/2 weeks! But, even that time was hard for the mom to be. What I'm trying to point out is that, for a minute, I was thinking that I was acting crazy for having days when my patience is thin, but now I think it's normal. I mean - we're all just excited to meet our babies and who can blame us for that? :)

(The other thing to do while you wait is write really long posts for your blog... Sorry, but it probably won't be the last! :)

Just for fun... here's one of our fur-babies modeling this season's newest look... (notice the attitude - that's how Pedro feels about waiting- I try to tell him to be patient, but he just wants some babies in this house :)

No News is No News

I wish I had something exciting to report, but I don't. Nada. Nien. (I don't know what Nien really means, but I like the sound of it.) The only thing is that I have heard it through the grapevine that we are getting closer and that Tsegay is busy looking for child(ren) for referrals. So, hopefully we will have some good news soon. In the meantime, I'm going to ramble on about nothing...

I've read on other blogs that the waiting after you see the referral picture is the hardest, so I'm trying to prepare for that, but I am just so excited to see the picture, learn the name (and gender!) of our child. I have had two referral dreams (about 2 weeks ago) - once it was a boy and I remember opening his paperwork and reading his name, which was something crazy like Deejkbwod (? I know that is not Amharic). The other was a girl and I just remember Erin (our social worker) and Sharon (our program director) telling us it was a girl.

Back to reality... last night we were surrounded by some of our favorite kids. Last summer, three of my friends who live close by had babies- all within about a month of each other. Last night we celebrated their first birthdays. The cutest part of the night was lining up three highchairs and putting their cutie personalized cakes in front of them (handmade by one of the moms - Lynn). We all sang Happy Birthday and they just smiled and looked all around. The two boys dug into their cakes but the girl was not interested. (This could be due to the fact that her dad had just given her a cupcake - unaware of the personalized flower cake that was on it's way... you think?) We had a great time - those kids are great. We had 6 couples with 13 kids - I can't wait to add to the number of kids! :) Not to mention that the oldest girl is so excited about our baby that she asks constantly about it - "Do you know what your baby looks like yet?" "When will you know?" "Is it a girl or a boy?" "When will you know?" I love that she's so excited about it. Especially since she'll be babysitting in about 5-6 years (she doesn't know that yet, but we have plans in 5-6 years :)

We also did a book exchange with all the little ones there last night and they included our little one in it too. We are the proud new owners of a book all about baby animals. Perfect for me! :)

So, next weekend I'm off to the Pacific NW to visit my sister and fulfill some of my MOH duties. (That's Matron of Honor in wedding lingo - ick - I'm going back to Maid of Honor - I am not matronly yet!) We're going shopping for a dress for me and to her first fitting and I get to meet some of her friends. The best part - I get to see my nephews. I haven't seen them since last summer. Here they are at the lake with their fish... (no, that's not bait - that's the fish they caught :)

Court Closure

Ok- sorry I didn't explain this in my last post, but the courts in Ethiopia close for approximately 2 months every year - usually sometime between July and August. I don't know exactly why - perhaps because of the rainy season? (If you know, feel free to chime in.)

This year I'd heard all kinds of different closing dates and, as of writing my last post, had been informed that they would close July 7th or 8th... GOOD NEWS - the actual court closure date is August 5th! I had been thinking it would be unlikely that we could get in before the courts close if we didn't get a referral this week. Now it seems more likely that we could get a referral and have our adoption processed before the closure. Families can still travel after the closure, as the only business we'll do in country is at the American Embassy, which remains open. So, if we get a referral in the next few weeks, we would have a good chance of traveling later this summer- in August or September. Exciting stuff!

Prayers

Good news today - we received word from our agency that our in-country representative in Ethiopia has signed a contract with an orphanage that has children available for adoption (even infants). I don't know what that means as far as getting a referral, but I'm praying it means that our child(ren) is/are there waiting for us. And, with the court closures looming, we're really hoping to hear good news soon! From what I understand, there is still a chance that we could squeeze in before the closure.

So, I'm praying for two miracles this week - a referral for us and a referral for the other CHI family with their dossier in Ethiopia (Jenni & Jim). We would love to travel with them- THIS SUMMER! :)

I'm trying to keep my excitement level in check - nothing is guaranteed with all of this, but I also feel that we have to believe it can happen. We trust in God's plan, and we know that, with faith and prayer, anything is possible.