Leaving tonight!

We leave tonight.....

to go to the airport

to get on the big plane to Dallas, Texas!

Still packing and trying to get loose ends tied up for Cole, who will be going to Jordan on an outreach trip. Pray we have a safe trip and hopefully we will see some of you while we are there!

My amazing niece is getting married on Saturday. I still remember her as a little girl digging up worms and keeping them in a shoebox. Now she is a beautiful young woman working as an RN in Dallas. I will try to post some pictures from the wedding as I am sure it is going to be fabulous!!

Update on Baby Love

We saw her picture for the first time 31/2 weeks ago. So, how can we miss her so much already. We haven't heard another peep from our agency. Nothing.... The next bit of news will be that our case has been filed in court. They indicated it would be anywhere from 1-5 weeks.

I have gotten several updates and photos from traveling families and she seems to be doing great. I recently got her measurements and she is gaining weight and growing. She is now 13.5 lbs. and 25.5 inches long. I am so glad she is growing and getting chubby. She is will be 7 months old in April. Everyone that meets her comments that she is the happiest baby, smiling and laughing all the time. One parent said she never saw her fuss the whole time she was there.

We are all planning on going to Ethiopia to visit her toward the end of April. Bill and the kids are only coming for a few days and I am going to stay all week. Bill bought their tickets last night. We debated on taking everyone because of the added expense, but I really want the kids to see Ethiopia and meet the older kids at the orphanage. I hope they appreciated the experience and gain something from it. But, I am trying to keep my expectations lo, because it is no picnic there with rolling blackouts across the city and unreliable water. But, we are planning on staying at a hotel with a generator and Bill and the kids are only going to be there for 3 days.

In other news, we are leaving for TEXAS in 2 days. I am so excited to see my family.......

Happy Birthday Abbey!

Our sweet girl Abbey recently turned 11! We celebrated with a sleepover with friends, an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery, and glamorous makeovers and lip sync performances!

We love you so much Abbey girl! You fill our lives with singing and laughter! You have a sweet, compassionate heart. You work hard at whatever task you find to do! Thank you helping me teach Sunday School and sharing our excitement about your new baby sister. She is going to LOVE you!

Texas!

One week from today we are going to Texas! My beautiful niece is getting married and Will is going to be the ring bearer. It took him about 6 months to finally agree to do it, so we are all crossing our fingers that he actually walks the aisle. Her wedding coincides with our Spring Break! We have the whole week to enjoy being in Texas. Maybe we will see some bluebonnets!

We are flying this really terrible flight that leaves at 2am and has about a 5 hour layover somewhere in Europe. When we were booking it I was thinking frugality and now I am thinking we were crazy! I am dreading the flight so much! I am just going to have to focus on what is at the other end!

Day 5 of Working

Ok...I have worked everyday this week and I just want to say to all the Mom's that work outside the home....YOU SHOULD BE VERY, VERY PROUD of yourself. It is hard work to work! The hardest part is having no time to do all the other things you normally would do during the day like grocery shopping, cooking, and planning my daughters birthday party which is TONIGHT! I don't know how you do it.

I am having a blast with the drama kids....they are probably the most fun kids in the school. I laughed so hard yesterday during first block, I had a headache the rest of the day.

Tonight is Abbey's birthday party and tomorrow is the Big Day....she is turning 11 !!

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl! We are having a Hollywood/American Idol - ish party! Should have pictures to share!

Yikes....I gotta go get ready for work!

My New Job

Since we won't be able to move to Ethiopia for the next few months to be with our baby daughter, I decided I needed a distraction.   I am now a substitute teacher at my children's school.  My two younger children love having me at the school.  My middle schooler not so much.  Today I am the Middle School Drama teacher.  Am I qualified?  I've seen High School Musical about a million times and I was in drama a few years ago in high school, so I figure I can handle it.

My first class was great fun!  The kids all had lines to work on and one by one they came up to the teacher's desk and I assessed how well they memorized their lines.  The kids are so cute and all did a good job.

My next class is apparently the planning period for this teacher, so I get to check my email and do this blog.  I am waiting to hear if our case has been submitted to the courts.  It is supposed to be 1-5 weeks for this to happen.  

After that is 6th graders.  And then the day is over.  Tuesday's are half days at our school.  Whoo hoooo.....what a great job I have!

Adoption stuff

We got our paperwork to sign and send back regarding Baby Girl's adoption. I didn't even know we had FedEx here in Doha, but apparently we do. They tried to deliver our package yesterday and I wasn't home....ahhhhhh! So, I drove 1.5 hours round trip to the FedEx office to pick up the paperwork last night. We filled it out and dropped it back off this morning. It is supposed to be back in Washington state by Tuesday at 12 noon. I love FEDEX!

I don't know if it matters that we did that so quickly. I do know that after you accept a referral your case if filed in court. And we want our case filed as quickly as possible.

(this next part is all speculation and wishful thinking) I think best case senario...our case will be filed by the end of MARCH and we will be assigned a court date toward the end of MAY. If our case passes court, we should be able to pick up our babe toward the end of JUNE. Which would be great timing...since we get out of school on June 11 and will be heading to the US sometime near the end of June.

So, this is what we are praying for......or faster :)

In the meantime....toward the end of APRIL our whole family is planning on going to Ethiopia to meet our girl. Well, everyone else is going to meet her, but I actually met her when I was in Ethiopia in January and she is a sweetheart! This trip is necessary to get a special visa which we need since we live overseas!

In other news, we had our last baseball games for the boys today. Yay! It was a fun season, but our baseball season is Looooong! Abbey is on a campout with Girl Scouts for 2 whole night...I am missing her.

And, in 3 short weeks I am going home for my beautiful niece's wedding! The two youngest kiddos are going with me.

I can't wait to see my family...especially my MOM!

6 months and 2 weeks!

That's how long we waited for her! Our dossier was sent to Ethiopia on August 21 and we got the email on March 6!



Now we start a new waiting game.



Waiting for our court date and then waiting for her homecoming!



It can't come soon enough (although we have some shopping and rearranging to do!)



We are still working on a name for her. Any ideas?

Sweet baby girl

I have to tell you how SWEET she is. She is the cutest thing with beautiful eyes and expressions. She is 6 months old. She is so tiny. She weighs about 12 lbs. and is 23.5 inches long. She wears a 3-6 months size. She is a healthy girl and her most recent picture she looks a little chubby.



Our entire family has been walking around with our head in the clouds today. We are already in love with her. How does that happen? Seriously, every song I heard sounded sweeter, the breeze blowing felt tingly and alive, and I couldn't sleep last night for looking at her picture. My two youngest children have been positively giddy all day. (I am gushing, but I hope you understand) Will told me today "Our lives are going to change!" He has a lot of insight for a little guy.



We have put off buying any baby things until we got our referral, so today we went to the mall and got her a couple of outfits. Abbey was telling me she needed to buy some socks and Will said "I need to buy a crib!" We had so much fun talking about her and imagining our life with her. We got her a tee shirt with a strawberry on it that said "Berry Happy Girl" It was so fitting, because in a lot of her pictures she has a huge smile on her face.

?Guess What?

We got a referral for a beautiful baby girl last night! We are blessed beyond belief!

Abbey made this turtle for her baby sister.

Finished!

I finally got the courage up to quilt one of the many quilt tops I've made. I quilted it on my machine, not by hand. This is the first quilt I've made from beginning to end. I made a quilt top for Bill once, but had it professionally quilted.

So, here it it...My First Quilt

Been Sewing

I made this cute bib. Super Easy instructions are here...http://chickpeastudio.typepad.com/chickpea_sewing_studio/2008/01/chickpea-infant.html

Spent the morning at the singing sand dunes. It is an amazing place that makes you feel closer to our awesome Creator just being there. The dunes make a humming noise when you walk down and you can feel the vibrations in your feet. The kids had so much fun playing in the world's biggest sand box. The highlight was catching a lizard using a McDonalds cup and a baking tray. We tried sliding down on the trays, but looks like we need a sandboard.

Friendship Festival

Every year our school has a huge fundraising event called the Friendship Festival. It is so much fun. The entire school Pre-K - 12 is there along with their families and other members of the community. There are games, lots of yummy food, vendors selling their wares, and a silent auction. One of the biggest sellers are confetti eggs. The grades compete to see which class can collect the most egg shells (top cut off and clean and empty). These are filled with confetti and sold at the FF. The kids love to buy them and break them on their friend' heads. This year Will and Abbey camped out by two baskets they wanted to win at the silent auction and fortunately they won! I can't imagine the meltdowns if they hadn't won. I hope you enjoy these pictures. Some of them are of our friends and I didn't get any of Cole, he avoids me when he sees a camara in my hand.