Can I have a little cheese with my whine?

So, I have to admit that I have been a bit depressed, anxious and in a bit of a funk for the last couple of weeks. While I am THRILLED for all of the families passing court, travelling and bringing home their children, I must admit that selfishly, it hurts too. I know that anyone who's ever been there knows what I mean. This is our fourth adoption and we've been on both ends of this rope...getting lucky through the process, while others wait...having to redo documents while others breezed through the process...been there, done that. It never gets any easier, but it really is soooooooo worth it!
Now, our second court date is this Thursday, the 10th in Ethiopia...well, actually Wednesday night as we sleep; and I am just so nervous. I do trust God and His timing, but I am truly scared that one stupid little piece of paperwork will keep us from passing and then we'll have to wait another month for our next courtdate to find that that one stupid piece of paperwork is still not there. I'm not normally one to mire myself down in negative thoughts, I just MISS MY GIRL and I want to be with her. Seeing the videos my friends John and Theresa took of her were such a blessing, but it definitely makes it that much harder to wait to hold her and look into her sweet face.
I am hopeful that we will pass this week...and bracing myself to not be totally devastated if we don't. I would appreciate any prayers on our behalf...especially for my poor husband, who has to deal with me. Let's hope second time's the charm!

Adoption Roller Coaster...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Adoption is not for the faint of heart. It's a roller coaster ride...up...down....way up...way down fast....SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a bumpy journey, for sure...but well worth the ride. As I type this, we await our second court date next Thursday. Yesterday, my dear friends, John and Theresa, who just returned from Ethiopia with their new daughter, somehow found the time to not only send me several pictures of our "H', but also made me a little music video, complete with several shots of my girl on video. Talk about cloud 9! I laughed and cried and ached to hold her, but wow, did getting a video of her make my day!
Later that same day...SCREACHING HALT! Followed by superfast downhill ride..!!!!..AHHHH. We found out that three other families who did not pass their first time either, did not pass their second time in court. They didn't pass the first time for the same reason we didn't pass...so naturally, I freaked out thinking the same thing will happen to us. Last time we were missing a letter....so five weeks later, could we still be missing the same letter? Of course, I immediately called our case worker and asked if they knew for sure that it was there, but we are dealing with foreign courts so sometimes they can't find these things out until we don't pass court again. AHHHHHHHH!!!! We saw her gorgeous face for the first time on August 24th...it's been way too long...I want my baby home! Mommy meltdown!!!!
And, then once again....God gave me His peace...the peace that surpasses all understanding. My favorite verse..."Trust in the Lord with all your heart...lean not on your own understanding..." Proverbs 3:5, came to mind. And, sure enough my morning devotional was none other than that very verse, coupled with a very wonderful reminder of God's perfect timing and control. How can I complain? God has blessed me with three, and soon four of the most amazing children, through adoption...and he made me a sister in Christ. adopted into God's family by Jesus. Amazing! So, I'm climbing back into the seat, lowering the bar, buckling the seatbelt and hanging on for the next part of this crazy ride. Please continue to pray for all of the families who are experiencing delays in their process and for these silly court things to be resolved. Today, I am also choosing to be grateful to God and to the amazing birthmothers and birthfathers that have allowed me to become a Mommy. Hanging on and hoping for the best....

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!!

Today, my "baby" girl turns 3! I can't believe she's already 3...even though she looks like she's closer to 5 : ) We will go out for Mexican food tonight and have a small neighborhood pizza party on Sunday.

3 things (there are so many) that I love about my feisty girl:

1) Always happy, always dancing or hopping around wherever she goes.

2) So sweet...loves to give hugs and kisses. I love it most when she grabs your face and really plants one on ya!

3)Miss Independent! This can be good and bad, but I love that I don't worry that she will have a lot of confidence. Daddy and I laugh that we will have to "warn" her dates, not worry that they will prey on her : )

I also have to add that she is sooooo excited to be a big sister. She is always telling me how she will hold "H" and hug her and she won't let anyone sleep in "H's" bed. I love it! I know they will be the best of friends!

Adoption Update: I was very relieved to hear that "H's" birthfather DID make the court appointment and was able to confirm her relinquishment. I am sooo happy to know that he probably got to go see her and was given the letter we wrote him and the photo album we made of our family. We didn't pass court because of a missing document (from the Ethiopian government), that should be in place for our December 10th appointment. So, if all goes well, we are looking at late January to bring her home. Keep those prayers coming! Thank you to all of our amazing friends and family for your support and prayers, and thank you God for giving me the peace of knowing that you are NEVER one nano-second too early or too late. YOUR timing is perfect!!!

We Didn't pass court...now what? : (

We found out today that unfortunately, we did not pass court in Ethiopia on Monday. I still don't know why...our agency is trying to find out, but I suspect that maybe H's birthfather could not make it the 8 hours to Addis Ababa for our appointment. We have been rescheduled for December 10th...a LONG way off for me. I'm so heartbroken, but I know that God is in control and that He has the plan...not me! Please pray that all will work out...we obviously won't have her home for the holidays, but we will have many more holidays to spend with her, God willing.

No News...but New Floors!

Well, our court date was today in Ethiopia, but it may be a few days before we find out whether or not we passed. If we passed, we will most likely travel at the end of December. I have to admit that I am pretty disappointed...I was really wanting to have our newest daughter home for Christmas, but I have to remember...not MY timing! I'm praying to hear about court soon and still hoping for earlier travel, but not much I can do at this point, but enjoy the holidays with my family and love on all my crazy babies here!

Last weekend was a very busy and extremely exhausting one for us. T and I decided to rip out our nasty old carpet and put down hardwood floors on our mainfloor. Yes, I am doing some SERIOUS nesting! Anyway, we recruited some amazing friends to help, but it turned out to be a much bigger job than we originally thought. After ripping up the carpet and somewhere close to a GAZILLION staples and nails, we discovered that we were going to have to replace a couple of places on our floor that had water damage before we could even begin to seal and lay the floor.

Bummer! But, at least now we have decent and non-rotting floors in our house...yay! Thank you God for our friend, Will, who is a true "artist" with woodworking and carpentry. Without his know-how and drive, we would be laying floor for months. Our friend, Paul, was also kind enough to come and help us lay the flooring. As it was, we were able to finish it by late Sunday night and it is BEAUTIFUL!

I'll post more pictures once I can polish it and get all the furniture back where it belongs. I am just thrilled with the floors, but I have to say, this is probably the sorest I have ever been! I have a whole new respect for people that do this kind of work every day.

Please continue to pray for us and for our sweet girl in Ethiopia as we wait (impatiently) and put our trust in the Lord to bring her home to us soon.

October Pumkins and Ghouls!

The Casa de Chaos is always rockin' and this month has been exceptionally crazy. I do love the fall though...especially here in East Tennessee...just breathtaking! Wanted to catch up on some activities and show off my adorable little ghoulies! The Pumpkin patch is always one of my favorite fall activities. We all had a great time and hauled back five pumpkins and a car-load of tired people!

And, then of course, we carved them and decorated for Halloween. This is the first year that J1 wanted to be something scary...not too horror-ble though. J2 chose to be "Dark" Vader, but I think he just chose that because he wanted to get a light "saver". L, ever my tom-boy (God love her) opted for Thomas the train, even though my Mom and I were leaning toward a lady bug or Tiana (the new disney princess). Maybe H will be a bit more of a girly girl, but then what will I do? : )


Here's L with "Mr. Lazy Bones"...he never got up!

ADOPTION UPDATE:

Our Ethiopian court date is November 9th, but since Ethiopia is seven hours ahead of us, our court hearing will take place probably while we sleep (or try to sleep) on Sunday night. We do not go there for this court appointment, but we will hopefully find out early next week if we passed. If so, there is still a good chance we will have H home for Christmas. If not, I will definitely have some major boo hoos, but I trust in the Lord and His perfect timing. Of course, we will take all the prayer we can get, so thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to lift our family in prayer.

FINALLY!!!! COURT DATE!!!!

So after I finally chilled out and waited for God's hand on this...our case manager, Julie called me today to tell us that we have a court date. November 9th! Not as early as I'd hoped, but I totally trust God and His timing. Please pray for all to go well and for H's birthfather to be able to make the long trip to Addis Ababa for our court date. Pray also that he will have peace and know that we love and will take wonderful care of this amazing little girl. And, please pray that God is preparing all of our hearts for all the new adjustments and for our family of five to become a family of six!! God is so good...I have a very grateful heart today.