T'was

T'was the night before court date

and all through the house,
all creatures were busy stirring,
EXCEPT for a mouse!
M.'s room was decorated.....
the curtains not yet hung,
as we anxiously awaited to know

if M. is legally our son.
We pray for electricity,
the judge to arrive,
For all necessary papers

in the right pile.
We'll wait and we'll hope,
praying more as it nears.
'Cause baby we love you,
and can't wait till you’re near.

Weighing Heavy

Our minds are consumed with thoughts regarding our court date, which is quickly approaching.

It is so hard to hand something off completely that you have NO control over.

Daily we are being given opportunity to practice trust and faith for things to work out as they should. Although we can't determine how things will look on the other side, we trust that eventually....eventually we will get there.

We are learning to appreciate this gift of waiting and the privileged opportunity we have in becoming parents.

We just pray all roads lead to Ethiopia.....soon.

What is This Thing....

Called Court?

We've had a few people ask, so we thought we would share some of the final steps that take us that much closer to our little one.

Once you receive a referral, which we did on June 10th, then you must sign more paperwork informing others that you are willing to accept placement with this particular child. Turning over a nice big check also signifies that you would like to be a parent! :)

These acceptance papers then make the long journey to Ethiopia and land on a desk of some lovely person at Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA). This person reviews our life on paper (otherwise know as dossier) and determines whether a recommendation should in fact be given for a placement match. This letter of recommendation is essential for our court date.

So our court date rolls around and hopefully everyone is able to be present (judge, birth parent, etc.). The judge reviews our paper work and determines whether or not things are in place for our family to pass court or not.

We anxiously await to hear news from Ethiopia about the outcome of our court date. If we pass then we wait for a visa appointment to be scheduled at the U.S. Embassy, allowing us to travel and return home with M. If we do not pass, then we wait until another court date can be scheduled and give it another go.

So as you can see, very little of this is actually in our control, which can be difficult to not fret over. We pray continually that there will be electricity, the judge will arrive at court, that necessary people will be there, paperwork in line, etc. etc.

And that my friends, is this thing called court.

New Date

In addition to our updated information that we received yesterday regarding M. we also received an update on our court date!!!

We are now scheduled for court on the 31st of July. 

If all goes according to plan we could still be traveling in September. 

Soon baby soon.

Another Picture

We received another picture of M. today! 

He looks so different from his first photo. 

His hair is growing, his eyelashes are longer.

He has this HUGE beautiful smile that makes our hearts melt.

This HUGE beautiful smile reveals his little teeth.

His eyes are so alluring. 

We can't wait to cover him with kisses and see him smile in person. 

Soon baby soon. 

A Book for a Baby

To help M. become acquainted with our home and family we put together a photo book that we will sent to him. 

We had fun working on this together and imagining what he will think of the photos we included. We pray that this photo book will somehow convey our excitement and love for a little boyt hat we have yet to meet in person. 

The finished product....almost.

We long for the day that we can take our photo together as a family and be together under the same roof. 

Safari

To keep our minds occupied we have been busy decorating M.'s room. It has been a lot of fun and makes us more and more excited to bring him home.  We had found the bedding on sale while home in Rapid City, and decided it would be appropriate for a little boy's room. Here are a few before and after photos of the room.

Before: We touched up paint and rearranged for M. to have more of an open area to play!

After! We love it and hope the M. will too!!!

Buried Treasure

We have been on the hunt for a dresser. We had the option of using several, but Micah has something very specific in mind. Little did we know that specific dresser was sitting in our friend's garage all along. They were more than happy to donate it to the cause and Micah was convinced that this was the most perfect dresser he has ever seen. It wasn't even in our possession for 24 hours before we started making it even more right for M. Now we will have the perfect place to put all his little clothing items!

Micah hard at work. 

The finished product.

Call to Action for Haiti

CALL TO ACTION ~ please forward to friends and family to join this effort: Urgent Advocacy Needed On Proposed New Haitian Adoption Law ~ July, 2009 SUMMARY: Haiti is currently operating under an adoption law that was decreed in 1974 by Jean Claude Duvalier. The 1974 adoption law is outdated, has serious limitations that are not in the best interest of children and causes confusion in its application resulting in significant delays in legal processing of adoption cases. Children in Haiti matched with adoptive families are waiting as long as 4 years to complete their adoption. Other children awaiting adoption will endure this same wait unless a law is passed now. With the help of UNICEF and others, a new adoption law has been developed for both domestic andintercountry adoption in Haiti. The law clarifies adoption processing protocols and mandates clear government oversight responsibilities which will correct many of the problems with the present adoption system. Many Haitian children are in desperate need of adoptive families and will benefit from this new law. This includes children who have been waiting in the adoption system (many up to three years) due to confusion and difficulties surrounding the outdated law. URGENT ACTION NEEDED: The Haitian Legislature will convene soon. It is URGENT that the new Haitian Adoption Law be included for approval in the agenda for the upcoming session. Contact your Congressional Representatives [click here for direct link and letter to your Representative] and urge their strong support of the new proposed adoption law in Haiti. Please ask them to contact the Haitian authorities. Please share this Call To Action with friends and family to join this effort:

Going Green

After another day of teaching summer school, we ran some errands and then returned home to start painting M's room. 

We are all about reusing items, so we were grateful to receive cans of paint from our friends who just bought a house. We cleared the room, turned on some music, and started painting. 

We couldn't help but feel excitement. Excitement for the day we can bring him home, excitement for the memories that will take place, excitement to see our little guy playing in his room...... 

We long to hear his laughter bouncing off these walls. 

Soon baby soon. 

I'm Bringing Home a...

This weekend we had a garage sale to help raise some more money for the adoption. We finished summer school Thursday afternoon and came home to get started on sorting items for the sale. We received donations from friends and family, allowing us to sell more than just our two boxes of unwanted items. We worked until 11:00 Thursday evening with the help of some friends to sort, sort, and sort some more. Friday morning we awoke early and started setting up. We had only been outside for 20 minutes when a mischievous group of older men showed up. They were more than ready to pay us a quarter for everything we had available for sale. They were even willing to buy our items in the garage that were NOT for sale! We were also able to share with several people about adoption, our personal journey, and get to know some of our neighbors better. 

All in all we had a great turn out on Friday and Saturday. Our combined total of earnings will help to pay for half of an airline ticket! We could not have done this without our many friends who donated items, baked goods, their time, and much needed support. We are so grateful for them and very humbled to have received so much support for our personal cause. 

We can't wait to share these beautiful stories with M. - sharing with him the involvement of a community to bring him home. 

The beginnings of sorting on Thursday.

The ending of sorting on Thursday.

Our yard converted for the selling of stuff.

Micah and friends hanging out.

Peter sporting a suit coat.

Micah chatting with Koren, Lisa, and Nate while manning the goodies/money table.

Micah with a picture of M. 

Already!?!

We received this e-mail yesterday:

Congratulations, your court date in Ethiopia has been scheduled for July 15, 2009!

There is a possibility that if we pass court on the 15th that we will be traveling in September. 

WOW!

We can't wait to be together as a family and loving on M. Our hearts long to hold this little man and whisper prayers in his ears.