Why Ethiopia?

When people find out that you are adopting a child from Ethiopia, you get a lot of questions.  I love the fact that people are curious and we are able to share a little about our journey.  I have addressed some of those questions before, but there is one I wanted to answer again.

"Why adopt from Ethiopia?" was one question that I could never really answer in a way that truly relays our reason.  I would try to answer with, "it was a country that we meet the age classifications for" or " we were so moved by friends who have adopted from Ethiopia".  And sometimes I would just reply, "It just felt right".

Now while all of these answer are true, it is not the reason.  We now have the answer.  One that we got on June 16, 2010.  His name is Tate E. Plumb. 

The moment we saw him, we instantly knew that God had lead us to this little boy.  His face felt like home.  I have never been more convinced in my life of God's plan for us.  He perfectly orchestrated  bringing a family together through a  little boy in Ethiopia and a couple in Oklahoma.

We didn't choose Ethiopia.  God knew that our son was there.  Ethiopia chose us.  I am just so thankful that we listened.

Tate update!

We got an update on Tate today!  I can't tell you how great it is to get to hear a little bit about who he is with each update!

"I found E. chewing on one of his favorite toys today when I walked into his room. He just looked at me as if to say, “Hey.” E's never shown any signs of stranger anxiety, so he and I have this kind of familiar relationship where I can just walk in and we just pick up where we left off.  I don’t have to keep a formal distance from him in order to help ease him into our visit. He’s always ready to hang out for a while—mild-mannered, relaxed, content—no worries and just happy to be around people with a good toy to chew on."

I just stare at each picture until I have every little piece of it memorized.  We have picked up on the way that he bites/sucks on his bottom lip.  And that he raised his eyebrows when he is looking at people as if to say, " Can I help you?".  (I like to think that he is actually saying, " You're not my mom or dad, but I guess you can hang out with me until they get here.":)) 

I'll leave you with a picture of his beautiful brown almond shaped eyes, because they are one of our favorite things about him...along with his thick curls...and his perfect pouty lips...and his precious little nose...and his chubby little wrists...you get the idea.:)

Time to register!?!?!

So I have really been itching to get some stuff done around here. I mean, there could potentially be another human living here in about 14 weeks! Most of the time, that seems like forever away.  But I am still freaking out a little about there being so much to do!  When we first got on the waiting list back in October '09, I made a list of all the things we had to do.  I can honestly say that we have not completed one thing on that list!  Seriously?!?!  What have we been doing?!?!

I would LOVE to get started on the nursery, but we are still waiting for our baby bedding that we ordered off etsy!  It was suppose to be here about 8 weeks ago, but the person who is making it moved, so she is running a little behind.  Trying to be patient...

This weekend, we decided to go register!  Maybe it is a little too early, I'm not really sure.  But that is the thing, no one has ever wrote a book about registering for a baby with an adoption.  Not to mention that there are no checklists for registering for a 10 month old. So we are making up our rules as we go.  

YAY for registering!

I have no idea what I am doing. I seriously don't even know what I am looking at.

Brian stole the gun.  He looks like he means business.

 

Brian with the gun meant I had to pay VERY close attention. I caught him almost registering for this spoon that you put the food into the handle and squeeze for the food to come out. Oh Brian.

No words.:)

It took us two nights.  The first night, we were there for 2 hours and registered for 35 items.  When I took the gun back, I told the lady that we had only registered for 1/2 the store.  She said with 35 items, it shouldn't even be half!  To which I replied, "How much do babies need!?!?!?"  And I was serious!

I will ask that you do not judge us by our registry!:) 

We really have no idea what we are doing!

A little time away was just what I needed.

So I have been away for awhile, but I have a really great excuse this time!

A couple of weeks ago, I was really having a tough time.  Work had been crazy  busy.  We were still waiting for our bedding so we can start our nursery (grrrr).  My to do list is not getting any shorter .With Brian being a youth minister, that puts him gone about 30 days during the summer, and I was missing him.  And not to mention the thought of Tate  not being here.  Needless to say, I was feeling anxious, overwhelmed, tired, and sad.

So we decided that it would be worth it to sacrifice some of the days I have been saving to go on the Sr. High mission trip with the youth.

I am so glad that I did.

We took about 45 people to an intercity church in St. Louis Missouri to put on a VBS, a basketball camp, and just serve the church and community. We cleaned, sweated, laughed, worshiped, cried, made new friends, and were blessed beyond belief.   It was so wonderful!  God was everywhere!  Here are a few pictures from the week.

 

It was so great to build new relationships and love on the kids of St. Louis. 

It was also so great to spend time with the youth group and just have fun!

So I am back!  Refreshed and ready to go!

Court Date!!!

Our caseworker called us today to let us know we have a court date!  What a surprise!  I really wasn't expecting to hear something until after rainy season!

Our first date with MOWA (ministry of women affairs) is scheduled for Sept. 30.  We are hoping they give our file a favorable opinion so that we can appear for our court date on Oct. 12.  If all goes well, looks like we will be in Ethiopia from the 10th-17th!!!!

I am so thankful!  It is so nice to have a time frame!  YAY!

Just what I needed!

I was really not looking forward to today. 
The weekend went by way too fast, and I new I had a full schedule in the office. Not to mention that I have really been missing Tate this past week.  If you have ever wondered if you could miss someone you have never really met, trust me.  You can.  So much it hurts.

 But first thing, I opened up my email to find that we got our first update on Tate! 

When I found "Tate" today, he was enjoying a deep sleep on a cold, rainy afternoon. I regularly wake up babies if I need to in order to visit with, but as they begin to reach the toddler age range, I use a bit more caution. You don’t want to wake a sleeping toddler! "Tate" defies this old bit of wisdom. I woke him today and all he did was smile. He even smiles and takes things in stride when woken from a good nap on an ideal napping afternoon! He’s got a really pleasant, gentle disposition and is such a delight to visit with!

I could not quit smiling reading this.  I seriously have read it about 30+ times today. I absolutely love hearing about his little personality!  It's like getting to experience a little piece of him.

And tt is so good to hear that at  least one person in this family will be happy when they first wake up!

Care package.

You know what makes us happy?

Knowing that baby Tate is getting a care package from us this week via Shannon!

And there is one coming again next week via Tamara!

Thanks guys! It means the world!

Making lists...

I thought waiting for our referral was hard. This waiting for a court date just plain stinks.

I have memorized all 30 pictures of Tate. I am haunted by the timeline on the side of my blog that shows Tate getting older everyday that goes by. He is 6 and 1/2 months already!

When I really start thinking about it, I get sick to my stomach. I emailed my blogger friend Joanna today and told her I feel like I am a bad mom. That I have abandoned my baby. I logically know that there is no way I could get to him any sooner, but in a way I feel like I have let him down in some way. I just wish I would wake up in the morning and he was here.

So I have tried not checking blogs as much and not searching baby times on the computer. I have tried not looking at his pictures a million times a day. I thought maybe it would help.

I didn't.

So what do I do when I am a anxious. waiting mess?

I make lists.

Lots of lists.

So many in fact, that I have made a list of lists I have started.

1. Thinks to do around the house

2. Registry items

3. Top diaper bags

4. Things to do in the nursery

5. Books to read
6. Pages to include in Tate's Adoption Journey book

7. Books to add to Tate's library

8. Activities to do when Tate gets here

9. Favorite Etsy baby items

10. Travel items

If you think of anything I missed, let me know. I take suggestions!:)

P.S.- I just reread this post before I posted. I'm not a complete hopeless mess. Life is good. God is great.

It is all about the journey!:)

So, what's next?

I have been meaning to update for awhile but every time I sit down to the computer, I am just not sure where to go. We are so in love with our little man. So much so it hurts. I find myself looking at his pictures and just cracking up at his beautiful smile and wonderful curls.

Other times, I want to burst out in tears! It just kills me to think that he is half a world away. He is growing so quickly and we are missing it! I think the hardest thing is is that we love him so much, and he doesn't even know who we are!

But if there is one thing that God has taught us through this whole process is that his timing is perfect and we trust that it will be!

We did get some wonderful pictures today sent from the Bottomly's who just arrived home with their adorable Olive! We needed to see his face today.

So for those of you wondering, what we are waiting on now is a court date. Usually this take about 2-3 months. The catch for us is that in Ethiopia there is a rainy season where the courts close for about 6-8 weeks sometime in August through October. So if we do not make the deadline, it looks like we won't travel for our court date until Oct. or Nov.

So now we wait.

I still have lots of thinks that I never want to forget about our referral week, so stay tuned for those posts!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to two of the best Dad's in the World!

We are so thankful for the Godly examples you have been!

We love you!

And to the Father-to-be, I can't wait to see you in action!

You are going to be one great daddy!