Adoption report

No news here- though this extremely busy time of year has made the time fly lately. I have a feeling that once I get back to work it will become a little harder. The good news is that I have yet to become obsessed with my phone. I figure we still have a bit of time to wait before that all important referral call comes in. My ringtone is currently Toto's song Africa though...just in case! I imagine that the waiting period before the call is a lot easier than waiting after we see that sweet face. I'm daydreaming about that face all the time. I know we said either gender but based on the current waitlist and my very strong gut feeling I think there is a little boy in our future. I'd say that is what I'm looking forward to the most in the new year. What about you? What's your hope for 2010?

December update!

This month has been so busy that it has flown by! I cannot believe that we are welcoming in 2010 in a matter of hours. Here are a few things that kept us busy this month...

We had a Christmas dinner for all of our Make Your Mark families. We've gotten to know the kids well over the last year but we want to know and love on their families too. And since our theme for MYM this year has been serving, we helped the kids to prepare a dinner for their families. They cooked, served, cleaned up and presented their caregivers with a gift of homemade goodies that we baked the night before the dinner.







And a few days later- still working on serving others, Make Your Mark delivered over 700 stockings to kids around Charlotte who would have little to nothing for Christmas. It was amazing spreading joy to kids and their families. I don't have any pictures from that day- but this is a look at a portion of what we handed out.



We went home for a quick Christmas visit. Ross has had a to work a lot lately so we were only there for 2 nights but we had a nice time and received way more goodies than we deserved. We went to the Laniers Christmas night and played such a fun game! We were all given a persona that we had to act out and Ross had to guess who everyone was. It was hilarious. I had to act extrememly hyperactive and then completely lethargic a few minutes later, Dad had to act like he had gas and was having a hard time passing it (really out of character for him!), Debbie was the grinch, Danny only answered questions with a sentence starting with a vowel, etc. It was so much fun...




And the last two days I went back home to catch up with a few of my best friends. I don't have any pictures from the first night but Carly, Jean, Caroline and I met at Papa's and Beer in Asheville for dinner and caught up. The food was amazing- I'd heard all of they hype and it lived up to it's reputation for sure. So great to see those girls too. Yesterday I met up with Melissa, Kylie, Ashley and newly engaged Sarah (!) and we spent a few hours together. We took our obligatory Christmas picture in the Christmas trees on dispaly at Sears. Love these girls and our all too infrequesnt time together.



We're wrapping up 2009 with some friends tonight. This year has been incredible- we're so blessed with great health, jobs, families and friends surrounding us but more than that a Lord that loves us immeasurably. We cannot wait for 2010 and the challenges and celebrations it will bring.

1 week down...

We've been on the waitlist for one week. We're still at the very beginning... I am officially stalking the "unofficial" Gladney FBI list. It's a list of about 75% of the families in our program who are in the process. Gives dates for their milestones (paperchase, waitlist, referral, etc.) and links to other blogs. I love this list! I love feeling connected to strangers who are going through some of the same things we are.

What is tough is that right now we are the 1st people open to a little boy 12-24 months old! (a few families have requested girls in that age group). Why is that tough? Because who gets a referral after only being on the waitlist for a week or two?! Those chances are slim to none. There could definitely be people not on the FBI list who would accept this referral. But my mind can't help but wonder.

Luckily for my sanity, I remember that God has had this child picked out for a very long time...whether that referral comes in 3 weeks or 3 months it won't matter. I'm so grateful that I'm not in charge of this scenario- or my life- because I could so easily screw it up!

WAIT LIST!

As of today, we are officially waiting for our son or daughter! The average time for a referral for a child 12 months or older is 4 months. We are waiting for a child either gender, 12-24 months, or twins 12-24 months. I have a feeling we will only be referred 1 child but we didn't want to be closed off to the option of two in case that's what God has for us. We are just so excited. Hopefully it will be at least a few weeks before I have my phone surgically attached waiting on that call!

We're making a list of guesses for the referral date to keep the wait interesting and show our child one day how anticipated they were. Leave your guess in the comments and we will add it to the list!

My guess is boy, 23 months old, on February 15th.

Let the waiting, and the guessing, begin!

We received our CIS approval Wednesday! It was such an extra blessing to receive it the day before Thanksgiving. I've been saying since we began the paperwork that it would be awesome to have it wrapped up by Thanksgiving- but feeling complete peace with God's timing. Well, it was the day before Thanksgiving and our last piece of paperwork arrived! We took it all to Raleigh to have it authenticated yesterday. It was a marathon of a day- beginning at 5am and finishing everything up last night about 10pm. Right as we were finishing our friend Jessica called to say she was dropping something by. Turned out to be a bag of Starbucks' Ethiopian blend! Such a sweet friend and treat at the end of the long paperchase. Everything was FedExed to our caseworker this morning- we'll be on the waitlist soon!


Sorting it all and triple checking everything!




Our tasty gift

Camping!

I've been meaning to post these pictures for a while. We spent the weekend camping with our great friends a few weeks ago. It rained almost the entire time but we still had a wonderful time!

One step closer!

I came home from work Friday afternoon to find our FBI Clearances packaged up nicely in their Fed-Ex envelope waiting on the front porch! Just waiting on CIS approval now and then we're waitlist ready! My original goal was to be on the waitlist by Thanksgiving, but I'm so grateful for how God has prepared my heart for this wait. (Feel free to remind me of that in a few months!) It's so clear to me that He knows our child, and that it doesn't matter one bit when the papers come- that child was chosen for us long before we were here. And it helps that each day that goes by, we know we're one day closer!

How it happened

I love reading about how people have come into this world of adoption. Everyone has a different story- this is ours.

About a year ago Ross and I were sitting in church. Our church has a passion for Ethiopia. We (as a church) plan to be in Ethiopia, creating hope and opportunity for a long time. Our friend Emily was doing the announcements and welcoming everyone to the service before it started. She introduced a short video (2-3 minutes?) that was shot in Ethiopia on a mission trip. I sat there crying, (trying not to do the shoulder shaking, loud, ugly cry) and heard "Our kids are there." I can count on one hand the times I believe that I've heard God speaking to me. This is one of those times- the most profound to this date actually and I maybe spent 60 seconds thinking about it, and then filed it in the back somewhere without much thought. In the 60 seconds I thought, "Ok, well I've just had miscarriage #3- did I really just hear this? I don't want to be the crazy baby lady." I also thought, "we aren't ready for this." And then I stopped thinking about it. I didn't even tell my husband. I honestly didn't think about this again for quite some time.

Fast forward a couple of months when we started a friendship with now two of our dearest friends, Trent and Carmen. We met at church and began volunteering with them in a ministry they had started a couple years back. Trent and Carmen have two children, including a daughter they adopted from Ethiopia. God was doing some crazy things to my heart during this time. I don't know how to explain it except to say it felt like He was preparing me for something big. Ross encouraged me just to keep seeking and listening- which I did- but the thought of my message from a couple months back never entered my mind.

Moving on to February 15th, 2009. We were spending Sunday afternoon with Carmen, Trent, and some other great friends. We were cooking out, playing outside with the kids, etc. when Carmen started talking about the orphange where their daughter lived. My mind just froze. I couldn't think of anything else, just the orphans in Ethiopia. It was hardly the time to bring it up to Ross so I waited until we got in the car to go home. As soon as I said, "Ross, I can't stop thinking about the kids in Ethiopia." He said, "Me too. I think our kids are there. Do you want to adopt?" I couldn't believe in our first conversation we were on the same page.

From there we spent about 5 months praying, saving, and being excited about building our family through adoption. Since this all began Emily (who showed the footage of Ethiopia at church) and her husband have traveled to Ethiopia to bring home their two precious daughters. Our awesome pastor and his wife are in Ethiopia right now meeting their twin son and daughter and hoping to bring them home soon. And two other families from our church are in the process of adopting their children from Ethiopia as well. Our child/ren will be so blessed to grow up in a community with so many other children from their home country. And to think, this is really just how the story begins...

Gladney Approved!

If you aren't adopting with our agency you're probably wondering what that even means! Well, essentially we can now gather all of our documents to compile our dossier (all of our information that goes to Ethiopia and is translated for the courts). Well, 98% of said documents are gathered and waiting. We are waiting on our CIS Approval, and our FBI clearances. Hopefully those will be here before long- a few weeks maybe?! I know that's hopeful! Once we receive those we will have them notarized and drive to Raleigh to have it all authenticated at once. Then we will overnight that to our caseworker, she will send it on to DC, and we will be on the waitlist!

4 Years!

Tomorrow is our 4 year anniversary!

In the past four years Ross and I have...

moved 3 times
driven 10 (!) different cars
loved 3 big dogs
had 4 surgeries
gained a wonderful sister in law (with another on the way)
lost 3 babies
held 9 different jobs
started the journey to bring our child home from ethiopia

had a few challenging times but more good times than we could ever count!

We've gone from this couple



to this couple.



We went out tonight and celebrated with a tasty ethiopian dinner. There is something about eating that food that makes us feel a little closer to half way around the world.





We talked about how the last 4 years have flown by and how we couldn't believe that our first date was 11 years ago! Happy anniversary, Bossco- I'm loving life with you!

Checking things off the list...

We had our home study last weekend- our social worker was awesome. We really had nothing to worry about, and all of that extra heavy duty cleaning wasn't necessary but it was nice to have a squeaky clean house for a while (well, at least until the dogs came back inside!) We've also received our fingerprinting appointments for USCIS. Things are coming in the mail more quickly than I expected! We still have more documents to collect but it's looking like it might be a possibility to be on the waiting list by Thanksgiving. And then we'll wait. Knowing every day that we could get a phone call, followed by an email with pictures of our child. At this point I can hardly fathom that day. I know it will be a true day of rejoicing and celebration, but it's hard for me to believe that we will likely be experiencing that in just a few months time. I think we might gather a list of people's guesses for our referral date and the child we'll be referred (boy, girl, age, etc.) to help the time pass once we are waiting! Thanks for following along this journey with us. We continue to be so grateful for your prayers and encouragement! I'll update as we get closer to the waiting list...

Progress!!

Our homestudy has been scheduled for October 3rd and 4th! We've been waiting a month for this phone call and are so excited to continue checking things off our list!

Women's Weekend at Windy Gap

I spent last weekend in one of the most beautiful places in my favorite mountains. Young Life held their 6th annual women's weekend at Windy Gap and several ladies from UCF traveled up there for the fun. The weather was gorgeous and we had a really wonderful time.






If you haven't been to Young Life camp you cannot possibly know how entertaining their programs are. Please just take a glimpse of Bridget & Gidget...just a portion of our entertainment and seriously funny.



So when I was there I had a bit of an embarassing moment... When my friend Megan got married last summer she had the most amazing photographer! Even after her wedding pictures were posted I could not stop looking at the photographer's website. Lately I find myself sitting and dreaming about the pictures Sharon (the photographer) will take of our family once our son or daughter (wow that even is crazy to type!!) is here. So this weekend at the retreat, I turned around and saw her. Seriously y'all she was like a local celebrity to me! I gasped! Luckily nobody noticed and I did go introduce myself as a stalker later on. She is great and I can't wait to have her take some pictures for us. Go and check out her site. You will fall in love!! http://www.smittenphotographyblog.com

Make Your Mark makes the news!

How I spent my summer vacation...

I really enjoyed having a month off this summer. I think I packed close to as much in as possible but it was well worth it. I thought I'd be very sad to go back to work last week, but seeing as though I have the best job EVER- it feels great to be back and planning some things for the new school year.

My summer highlights include...

A very fun girls night with these ladies. Poor April was the last to get there so before she arrived we informed our waitress that it was her birthday and she got to stand up in the booth so that the entire place could sing to her! I'm going to have to make sure never to be the last one to arrive when I'm out with these ladies!




A cookout at the park with a lot of good friends and good food.




A beach trip with Carmen and 4 of our great Make Your Mark girls. This was so much fun! We soaked up some sun, experienced the girls first rollercoaster ride with them, went out for ice cream, and talked a lot about what it's like to be a teenage girl in today's society. Seriously good time.






I spent some time on the lake with this seriously good looking man and his so sweet mama.



And last weekend we spent some time on Tybee Island with Zach and Katie celebrating their March nuptials. We sang karaoke, layed on the beach, and ate the BEST SEAFOOD EVER. Ross and I are already plotting our return.






On the way home we drove through a wildlife preserve where we were surrounded by gorgeous Spanish Moss and lots of gators.




This weekend some long time friends stopped by for a night while they were traveling through. I took care of the Floriano kids for about 9 summers and the whole family became like family to me. They are so special to me and my memories are full of all of the time we spent together. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to see Joan, Katherine and Maria. I missed seeing Gerry and Michael, but hopefully Ross and I will plan a trip to see them all soon!



Now that was a busy month off. A post like this just reminds me that I might just be the most blessed person in the world to have such awesome family and friends.

Texas time

I'm finally getting around to putting these pictures up. Texas in July is crazy hot but it was so nice seeing my family!

We bought a crib!

We haven't bought much for our little one at this point- afterall, we don't know if we are going to be referred a boy or girl, if they will be 12 months, 24 months, or somewhere in between. But yesterday I was shopping with my mom and Ashley at IKEA and I came across the crib that Ross and I love for 50% off. I called Ross and he said to buy it and now there is a crib in our current guest room/soon to be little one's room! Anyway, here it is.


And if we're referred a two year old and they aren't in the crib stage long, then it converts too.


And if we are placed with a little girl, I want to have the bedding made with this fabric to make it girly since the crib is blue.



I'm hoping to mail out about 50 pages of paperwork to our agency today. I'll be so glad to get it out of my hands! Everyday that goes by is one day closer...

behind...but still not catching up...

If I can't blog during an entire month off from work then I am probaby not cut out for this blogging business at all. I have about 150 pictures on my camera from summer fun that I need to put on this thing.

But here's the thing... all I can think about is the crazy adventure our life is going to take over the course of the next year. I haven't announced it on here but I think that maybe 3 people read this and you all know. Ross and I are adopting a sweet little person from Ethiopia. And it's all I think about...and all I talk about...and apparently all I care to blog about. I seriously have been staring off into space imagining all of the different smiles our son or daughter will have. We are waist deep in paperwork right now, the first inevitable step. We were poked, prodded, and drained of blood at the doctor today to make sure we are "healthy enough" to be parents. It consumes most of our conversations with each other. And we are soooo excited! If all goes well, I'm hopeful that we will be on a waiting list for a 12-24 month old child by Thanksgiving. (I told you it was a lot of paperwork!) Then we will wait for a couple of months wondering each day if we'll get a phone call followed by an email from our caseworker with pictures of our child! Oh what a happy day that will be. Then we will wait for the child to pass court (hopefully the first time around) about 2-3 months later. When the little one passes court they will legally be ours and we will travel to pick them up 2-4 weeks later.

It's all a really fantastic adventure that God is walking us through....and I'll probably be blogging quite a bit about it. So feel free to follow along- and if you do, will you do me a favor and leave a comment at the end of this post? I'd love to know who is reading. I realize that out of the 1400 blog hits I've had in the last year that 1250+ were probably my mom, but nonetheless I'd be really happy to hear who is out there!

a trip to the zoo...

Ross and I embarked on quite an adventure a few weeks ago when we took 5 kids to the zoo. It was hot and there was a lot of walking but all of the kids were great. We had so much fun hanging out with one another all day long. This is how everyone looked on the way there...


and then on the way home...


Here are a few favorite pics from the day...