Sick & Tired of Being...Sick & Tired

You know that kind of sickness that just sucks the wind right out of your sail?  You can hardly stand up to talk two feet?  Your body hurts so bad you can't lift your phone?  That's been me the past couple of days.  But, I am happy to report I am feeling much better today-not better, just not feeling dead anymore.  My head is still in a fog so I apologize ahead of time for the clarity of this post.

I got an email update from our agency today.  It suggested that we have about another SIX month wait for a referral of a child.  I knew that was coming but it still boggles my mind when I think about waiting SIX more months just to find out who our child is.  What is even harder to think about is the fact that if our child is more than six months old at the time of the referral (which we are guessing will be the case) then he/she has already blessed this world with their presence.  Can you imagine your child being born and being on the other side of the world just waiting for you?  Thankfully I know who my baby-daddy is. :)  No, not Drew, not his/her bio father, but GOD.  Our child's creator...HE knows where our baby is and HE will watch over and protect our child.  For now I will just wait, so eager to get THE call.

In the mean time I'll fill my time with the precious family I have.  Here are some pictures from our last hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  

Drew hiking, the kids catching a ride.  They know their daddy will do ANYTHING for them!  Include carry them up a mountain. (Yes, he really hiked like this...for at least a good mile)  

And, just for laughs, my princess Quinn with her prince, Jake.  :)

Dossier SENT & Halloween

(Above: The kids at the Post Office with our dossier packet)

Our dossier (AKA- LOTS of paperwork telling the Ethiopian government all about us) has been sent to our adoption agency today!  What a whole lot of paper work!  I am praying none of it will come back as needing to be redone.

Asa was very sad as we drove home.  He sat in the back seat crying, "But I wanna go get our baby from Affriiica at the post office!"  I had to explain that we just mailed the paperwork from the post office, that's not where we will get our baby(s).

So now what do we do?  We wait.  We pray. And we wait some more.  I'm not sure exactly what we are waiting for.  :)  I think for our agency to call and give us an update on when our dossier is sent to Ethiopia, or if we need to make some changes.  I'm praying I didn't miss something!

As far as Halloween last night, Quinn was Cinderella.  My friend made her a custom Cinderella dress, just because she loves her.  How sweet is that!?  Asa wanted to be a pirate, but we are on a budget so we had to go with something we had...a Starbucks Barista uniform.  ;)  Normally I would just make him a costume but I've been too busy sewing shoes.  So, I thought the Barista idea might be kinda fun-maybe he'd like looking like his hero, daddy.  So, Quinn got dressed in her Cinderella dress and I did her hair and let her wear make up.

Then, well, then it was Asa's turn.  He threw himself on the ground saying he wanted to be a cow!  A COW??!!  All this time he's been saying a pirate.  I was prepared to let him wear an eye patch and a Starbucks apron.  But nope, he wanted to be a cow.  After about 30 minutes of me explaining that he can either look like daddy, or be a chicken (his costume from last year).  He didn't want to be a chicken which I was thankful for.  (It would be super small on him.)  Finally I got him dressed and the only way we smoothed things over was I pined a Batman pin on his hat.

I have a lack of pictures because I just wasn't feeling it.  Cranky kids-didn't know who we would be trick-or-treating with or where we were going for that matter.  (You can't go in our neighborhood)  I won't finish the rest of the story because it was kind of gross and depressing.   We'll just leave it at, my kids looked adorable.  :)

Off to bed!  I have a board meeting for Sole Hope tomorrow morning.  I cannot even tell you, (but sometime I will try to explain) how much I love the board of Sole Hope.  They give me so support and encouragement!!  

Adoptive Talk

This is a wonderful, positive link that I think will help those who have a friend or family adopting.  These are the things you don't think about until YOU are the one adopting, or you were adopted.  Here is some food for thought.

 Click on the link below...

http://blog.clariity.com/children-in-grade-school/positive-adoption-language#comments

**This is our new adopted dog, Jake.  We really don't mind at all if you forget to use respectful adoptive language in front of him.  He is used to being laughed at and loved on all because he has a pug face.  Poor guy!  :)  He is Quinn's new best friend.  Jake is 7 years old and was given to us by some sweet friends who moved.  He has been such a fun addition to our family!

I Get It

I get it!  I finally get it!  Those crazy adoption mommas in a frenzy to get their paperwork done.  (hehe)  That is totally me right now.  I remember watching mom's who were going through adoptions and just didn't really understand what all the rush was.  It is almost a maternal feeling, something like nesting when you are pregnant.  When the lady at the bank tells me she can't get that paper for me today, I have to wait 48 hours I get so frustrated.  Its good though, I get to tell myself a million times a day that this whole adoption is in God's hands.  I can only do what I can, the timing of everything else is up to Him!

This would explain why I have been so MIA these past few days.  I have been working VERY hard for Sole Hope getting all of the details worked out for running a non-profit, and getting ready for our trip in December.  PLUS, doing this whole paper chase.  I started getting our dossier ready this past Monday, and my goal was to have to mailed out today.  But, Drew's work has not returned the LAST piece of paperwork...and as soon as it comes in the mail I'm headed to the post office like a crazy momma...no body get in my way!!!  :)

So, this was just a little glimpse of life.  I have not disappeared and I have several things in my mind I am waiting to blog about-maybe tomorrow!  But for now I'll leave you with this picture that left me laughing!  We were at our friend's house tonight and their dog is missing some teeth and his little tongue was hanging out.  I don't know if it will come across as funny as it looked in person but....for smiles...

Wiphan

Some of our best friends left today. They came and spent a couple days here in Asheville with us. We had such a refreshing time. True friendships are like gold. We got to talk about life, and of course, Sole Hope-because that IS such a huge part of my life. Sole Hope, in case you didn't know, working with Wiphan. Check out this video and you'll get to see the heart of Wiphan. And, you might see someone you recognize along the way. :)

I Need Africa More than Africa Needs Me

So absolutely 100% true for ME! This is beautiful! How privileged our family will be to have a child from such a joy filled country! It's true-I've been there. WE are the ones missing something. Let us not second guess our responsibility to help our brothers and sisters in Christ, for this is our duty as a Christian! (sorry for the preachy-ness for those of you that are not Christians) But, just simply as a human being who breathes the same air as those experiencing loss, persecution, genocide...we are here to help one another. Be cautious your motives are in sync with humility and serving.

For our family, the call is to adopt. And we are SO excited to fulfill that calling! I know we have a long road up ahead. What could you be doing? I know everyone is not called to adopt. (Although I personally cannot imagine that!! ;) There are several needs right here in America that are waiting to be met! Go help someone who is less fortunate today. You will soon realize that if their JOY is in the Lord, they very well might fill YOU up! :)

Boone, NC

Today we are leaving to spend the weekend with Drew's family in Boone, NC!  If you have not been there-you must go.  I know several people go during the winter for the skiing, but my favorite time to go is in the fall and summer.  Downtown Boone is beautiful!  Well, ALL of Boone is beautiful!  This time of year we celebrate all the fall birthdays.  So, needless to say, I've been packing all day.  Why does it take ALL day to get ready for a weekend trip?!  It used to take maybe an hour-before kids...and only 30 minutes before I was married.  ;)  But, they are SO worth the extra time!  One of my favorite friends and her children are coming to stay at our house this weekend and use it as a little get away while we get away.  I love when plans align just so and you can bless someone with what you have!

On the topic of adoption, (ooo that word just gets me more excited every DAY!) our finalized homestudy came in the mail yesterday.  And hopefully today will be the day we get our papers so we can start our dossier!  (For those of you unfamiliar with the adoption process, that is just a bunch of paperwork...BUNCH...that is sent to the government you will be adopting from)  We have listed that we will adopt one OR two children between the ages of 0-2 years, either gender.  I am starting to realize that I do have predicted outcome in my head of what we will get.  I need to start opening my mind more so I am not totally thrown off if we get more than one child!  Right now I picture us with one little boy under the age of one.  I think maybe because all of our friends that did not specify got one boy under the age of one.  :)  He even has a name!!  (But we are not telling what the name is until we know what child we will call ours.)  ;)

OK, I need to get back to cleaning and packing!  Quinn has started a little business making crayons and "coloring books" to bring home her sibling(s)!  Too cute, I'll inform you more of the details later. She is definitely cut out of the same cloth her mother is!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet husband!!  I've been saying he was 33 all year, now he really is!