Following our hearts to Ethiopia

We're moving AGAIN...

2008-04-27T16:34:00.000-07:00

FINALLY, I have put together a new blog...

We are not adopting from Ethiopia, as we were matched to a little girl in Haiti (for the second time.)

The new site has some updated photos posted! I took the advice of some blogger friends on the new title...

www.whaitingforourdaughter.blogspot.com

We hope you enjoy following our journey!

No he DIDN'T...

2008-04-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday:

Preston: "Mom, did you know Mr. Greg's hair blew away in the wind?"
Me: "Preston, you didn't ask Mr. Greg why he has no hair, did you?"
Preston: "Yup, he said it all blew away..."

Mr. Greg is our brand new next door neighbor....welcome, neighbor!

A few days ago:

Preston: "Mom, SHE's BIG!!!"

That was Preston's LOUD reaction to a larger woman as she walked by us at a restaurant. I couldn't duck fast enough.

Moving on to a new blog

2008-04-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

For the few people who are still checking our blog, sorry for the lack of posts as of lately....but I do have good reason!

This week, my parents move out of the house, we officially move our stuff in, we had a garage sale last weekend that got rained out, and the list goes on and on!

Our house is STILL for sale in Arkansas...but my parents have so kindly agreed to move out even before we can officially buy this house from them! I think we ran them out with two little boys named Caden and Preston.

Anyway, I guess I need to change the blog for the third time, since we are adopting from Haiti...not Ethiopia after all.

Any ideas for a catchy blog name? I am not a creative person when it come to stuff like this so help is appreciated!

We got a new photo of our little one, Estherline, and it was precious. I don't want to post photos of her on our blog until we officially have her here. But take our word, she's a beautiful little girl! We also learned of violence that has broken out in Haiti today, and none of the nannies can get to the orphanage, and the only adult in the orphanage is a nurse. She has her hands full. Apparently the older children have been helping out with the toddlers and babies. They are having trouble getting water, food, etc. Please pray for the safety of the children and staff and hope this violence end very soon.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

Easter bunny came and brought the boys new toothpaste (gotta even out the candy with some toothpaste!), a shark puzzle, match box cars, coloring books and the Sound of Music DVD. Preston wanted it...should we be concerned?

Then we went to church, and due to the people who only go to church on Easter clogging up the place, we had to watch church from the "cry" room where kids scream the whole time! Very enjoyable! Nothing better than church mixed with cheerios flying through the air!

Easter 2008

Three Little Bunnies

2008-03-17T15:12:00.001-07:00

Cousin Campbell

I Spy a Football

2008-03-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

You know you live in a house full of boys when you wake up in

the morning and open the fridge to see this

Coming Full Circle...

2008-03-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

As we were following our hearts to Ethiopia, along the way, we fell in love with a little baby girl. However, she is not in Ethiopia! She is a waiting 6 month old baby with the agency we were using just a couple months ago. She lives in Haiti, which obviously puts a little kink in my blog title!

I am not going to create a new blog, at least not tonight! But, just wanted to give you all the update. Our paperwork is almost done, and we accepted her referral! We are so very excited and hope to have her home by next summer (2009).

Her name is Esterline, but Preston would like to change her name to Nemo. Do you think she'll mind?

In the Meantime...

2008-03-05T15:22:00.000-08:00

Since I am going thru a blogger bordem rut, here's our sweet neice, Campbell (my sister's baby). She is now 2 months old! We just can't get enough of this cute face!

Blogger Boredom!

2008-03-03T04:58:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts...I have hit a lull. Nothing new with our adoption....nothing new in general! Some people have the knack for blogging about nothing, but making it interesting...I don't! So, instead of babbling about nothing (like I am right now) I haven't posted.

We're still here, enjoying the 70 degree weather. Caden had a soccer game Saturday (he is the only boy on a coed team ) The other team was all boys, so we thought it was going to be a landslide! Caden and his "girls" won by about 20 goals! It was a lot of fun, not that winning is important. Okay, who am I kidding...we love winning!

Anyway, we are still moving forward with our adoption, although the financing is becoming very stressful. It is expensive, and with moving and a house still for sale, its becoming a little overwhelming. If our house in AR would just sell...that would make life a whole lot easier right now! If ANYONE has any suggestions for selling a home in a DEAD market, please please let us know!

All is quiet...

2008-02-24T16:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I feel like I need to post something...but I don't have a thing new to report! Was a very quiet weekend around here. We did go and get fingerprinted again, this time for the FBI clearance. This is something new and we haven't had to do this before. The lady did such a wonderful job (not!), that I am sure the fingerprints will be rejected. The fingerprints are all smeared and messy, so just ANOTHER step we'll be repeating in the near future. I have heard some horror stories of families whose fingerprints get rejected over and over...which holds up the entire adoption.

Other than that...we learned today at church one parishioner donated over $500,000 to build the belltower for the new church! Construction is to start soon, and it will now be complete with the tower. What a generous gift.

Alright...this is the most boring post ever. I'll go to bed now, or at least pretend I am...I have laundry to put away, lunches to make, a three year old to put to bed, lesson plans to do...then maybe, just maybe...bed.

A Lunar Eclipse on my Birthday!

2008-02-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

Must be a sign of something...good I hope. Saw it out the boy's bedroom window, pretty neat!

Hubby cooked a crab leg dinner (I love crab legs! yum!) and I received some great things for my birthday. Mom got me the "Magic Bullet" smoothie maker. I didn't realize how versatile that little machine is! It can make pancake mix, chicken salad and macaroni and cheese! I'll let you all know if it works as well as it claims to! Mike got me a beautiful Eco Drive Watch (it winds itself, and never need a battery). He put $15 worth of lottery tickets in one of my cards, and low and behold we won...$5. Go figure.

Caden is recooperating from that nasty flu bug...knock on wood, the rest of us are well. We are all taking Tamiflu as a precaution, and so far, it's workin! Time to get back to work, as I am making a redo quiz for my grad students. Last week, the entire class failed, so I tossed those right in the trash. Maybe I was having a bad day last week when I came up with the questions! This week should be better since I am coming up with new questions as I eat ice cream cake!

Think positive! At least that's what we're all doing...

2008-02-18T13:50:00.001-08:00

We got a positive test, for the FLU bug that is. Caden is victim #1. Fever of 104, terrible headache, no appetite, and feeling crudy. They did the FLU test at his pediatrician today, and it came back "Flaming Red" as the dr. put it.

Anyway, he said it's quite likely the entire household will soon catch it as well. And yes, we all had the FLU shot (Caden included)...except Mike. He swears he won't catch it, so we'll keep you posted on that one.

Boys night out...Monster Trucks

2008-02-16T19:53:00.001-08:00

WE GOT our 171H!

2008-02-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

Ummmm, Hello! We got our 171H in the mail today! We just mailed in our homestudy three days ago! Totally unexpected! This is the paper we need to get matched to a child! :) Now we are waiting for our agency to get their license (should happen in the next month or so...)

Yippee!!!!

Juno

2008-02-16T05:15:00.001-08:00

Last night Mike and I went to see the movie, Juno, which we have been wanting to see for quite a while. It's about a teenage mom, who seeks an adoptive family for her unborn child. It was a GREAT movie. We both really enjoyed it. I wouldn't recommend children see it (I am not even sure what it is rated) but catch this flick if you get a chance!

In an unrelated topic--Anyone have a three year old who will not sleep in past 5am? We cut napping out to see if that would do the trick...NOPE! Any advice, PLEASE!?

Starting over...

2008-02-14T11:04:00.000-08:00

Third times a charm, right? That seems to be our family's theme lately. Our blog stopped working today and I have tried everything under the sun to fix it. So, this is our third blog and our third attempt to adopt successfully! Hope you like the new look!
Enjoy...