Category: Family Life

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It Was Inevitable

Summer is officially here, folks. Oh joy! My little darlings and I have looked forward to swimming with friends, consuming copious amounts of ice cream, making many trips to the library and spending lazy hours with good books, watching movies late into the night while we all snuggle on the couch and so much more. All my kids love school, but after 9 busy months, we are all so ready to not be tied down to a strict schedule for a while.

I, however, in the midst of all this summer merry-making had one serious personal goal I really wanted to attain during these next 3 months: given my calendar is now clear of most activities, appointments, lessons and carpools, I wanted to take the opportunity to proactively focus on fitness.  For a couple months now, things in my closet have felt a little tighter than they should, and despite keeping a pretty stiff pace day to day, I have just felt sluggish and not as good as I probably ought. Those of you who know me well know that I LOVE to contemplate the idea of exercise a whole lot more than I enjoy starting the actual exercise itself. But I had already made a verbal commitment to those who are closest to me that working on my own personal fitness was at the top of my “to do” list for June, July and August.

I had no intentions of trying to achieve an Elle MacPherson-like physique; that, as my dear friend Steph broke it to me gently, is impossible simply because well…God made her tall, and me, not so much. I can do nothing about the fact that Elle is 6′ to my 5’4″. I’m glad Steph pointed this out to me…after all, that’s what friends are for, right? To help you deal with reality. Thanks, Steph, because we both know that were it not for the shortfall in height, it is almost certain that after a rigorous summer of exercise I could totally stand in for Elle. Ahem.

No, I just wanted to do the best I could do with the body and abilities God gave little old me. And I can tell you that starting from a place of almost no regular exercise, one cannot help but improve the status quo. So, in spite of feeling suitably intimidated over how sore my body was going to be, and how much pain I was likely going to be experiencing a matter of days, and despite bemoaning all the ice cream cones I would likely have to forego in the pursuit of my clothes fitting nicely again, I was ready. Ready to bite the bullet and get back into better shape.

Well, sadly…I think I am going to get a lot more friendly with the status quo for the next few weeks, because for now at least I have had to say farewell to my lofty fitness intentions. This morning while simply attempting to walk into my bathroom, I missed the doorway and instead smashed into the doorjam in a most horrid way, fracturing at least one toe in the process. Not sure if the toe next to it is just bruised or also broken, but it really doesn’t matter. I have broken many toes in the last 12 years and this is about as bad a break as I’ve experienced. No P90X, faithful elliptical workouts, or trips to the gym are in my immediate future. Bummer.

I gotta say though, if one has to break a toe and be laid up, I am blessed to have some of the sweetest folks around to lend a hand and help cheer me. Like this little guy, who despite not finding the ice pack he wanted to give me for my poor toes, quickly reached for the first handy cold thing: his yogurt drink, which he faithfully held on my foot for as long as I would let him. Oh my heart.

And even though I’ll be sedentary for a little while to come, I did manage to find a really awesome personal trainer to work with me. Her name is Tia. She is snappy, wonderful, and tastes delicious! Here she is with her sidekick, Joe.

Joe T. Garcia to be more precise. I hear he’s pretty fabulous to work with too. While Tia and Joe are working with me, I think it might be practical to look for another personal goal to pursue. So maybe, just maybe…I might work on getting back into the blogging thing. We’ll see…

 

Updated to add:

A visit to my PCP the day after my little run-in with the door jam netted me a pretty set of x-rays confirming a triple break in my 4th toe. The complexity of the break and its proximity to a joint necessitated a visit to a very cool Orthopedic Surgeon who at least for now has told me that he thinks the breaks will heal without the benefit of surgery. What a relief to this Momma! I am on a cool new drug called Vimovo — rolls off the tongue in a lovely way, dontcha’ think? Unlike most anti-inflammatory meds, it contains an ingredient to minimize the most unpleasant side effect I experience while on these drugs, that of my stomach being ripped apart by all the “stuff” in them. Good times, y’all.

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4 Months on the Wait List

Tomorrow marks four official months on the wait list in Ethiopia with Gladney. Four months closer to our referral for a little girl we haven’t yet met or even seen a picture of, but whom we are already in love with.

(Thanks to my adorable in-house models for their help in illustrating “FOUR”!)

Well, after saying in February that the months on the waitlist have been the quietest so far in our adoption journey, I am ready to eat my words!! It’s not that we have had a long list of “to-do’s” to accomplish like earlier in the process. But wow, this last month of waiting has seen some very interesting activity: some very wonderful, some not so wonderful. Here are some highlights:

* We have located 2 amazing doctors locally who have a wealth of experience and knowledge specific to children adopted from Ethiopia. The stories behind finding these doctors are encouraging and I look forward to sharing more with you in a future post. We are so thankful to know we have these women on our team as we bring our daughter home.

* A couple of weeks ago Jay and I were humbled to learn we have been awarded a Matching Funds Grant from a partnership between Lifesong and Irving Bible Church. We are blown away and grateful for this HUGE provision for our adoption and again, please stay tuned for more information in a future post.

* As you may already be aware from reading the news reports, there have been some significant changes these last couple of weeks in the country of Ethiopia which affect how court cases are processed for adoptions. We do not have full information yet as to what the ramifications may or may not be in the long term for the children who are waiting, and for prospective adoptive parents. For now we are praying and hoping that things may be resolved soon and that so many children who are in desperate need of families will be able to come home sooner rather than later.

When we started the adoption process almost a year ago, four months was often well inside your “window” of time for when you’d receive a referral if you were requesting a child of toddler age (as opposed to an infant). The last year has seen some increases in wait times and so we know we’ll most likely be waiting quite a few more months. As we wait, we pray for not only our tiny girl but for all the precious children who wait and hope for a family. We are so thankful to be on this journey.

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3 Months on the Wait List

Today, February 16, officially marks 3 months that our family has been on the wait list in Ethiopia for a referral for our girlie.

I think it is safe to say that of all the months since we began our adoption process last year, these last three have been the quietest (related to the adoption itself). There was such a lot of paperwork and activity to bring us to the point of being approved to adopt, and completing our international dossier. Now that all those i’s have been dotted, and t’s have been crossed, there is not a ton to do in the “making a list and getting things done” sort of way. I have heard the phrase “Hurry up and WAIT!” used many times when people refer to their international adoption processes, and now that we are on the wait list, we are seeing how true that is.

I love when friends or family ask us “Is there any news?” or “Do you have an update on your adoption?”. So many people are very faithful to check in with us, and ask, which I appreciate. After all, I don’t have a growing tummy or any other obvious physical reminder that another little Horne is on the way as I did when we were “expecting” our other children.  I can honestly say that I don’t miss the stomach upset, the weight gain (55 pounds gained for EACH of four pregnancies, thank you very much!), or the additional stretch marks and wrinkles to add to my already rather vast collection.

On the other hand, this is a different sort of waiting, I am learning. People say jokingly “You are paper pregnant!!” which is true. Sort of. But with our other babies, I knew that at the end of nine months, we’d have a child in our arms. Not so with international adoption. Our process will likely take longer than that, and things are prone to change. As my sister noted last week, unlike when you carry your baby inside your tummy, and know they are safe and cozy (in most cases), we truly do not know where our daughter is right now. And as far as the “safe and cozy” I find myself wondering often: is she safe? is she warm enough? does she have enough to eat? when she cries, does she have someone to comfort her? and the list of questions goes on….

Based on the amount of time toddlers spend in care before they are referred, she is most likely not already in one of Gladney’s foster care homes. Our assumption is that she might still be with her birth family at this time, but of course we do not know.

Our family prays together each night. We don’t know where our girl is, but God does, and as hard as it is not knowing her situation, we trust her to His care. Our children’s prayers often include “And please God keep our baby sister in Ethiopia safe and healthy, and help her be able to come home soon.” Even they at their tender ages understand that this little girl is undergoing a different and likely much more perilous sort of journey than they did to join our family.

The best number I can give to all who are curious is that the current average wait time for a referral once you are on the wait list, is about 9 months ’till you see a picture and receive information about the child your family has been matched with. That time frame might be longer or shorter depending on the particular children in care, the families ahead of us on the list, and many other factors. Based on that general information, we hope to maybe know something more by August, but we’ll see.

To those of you who check in with us to ask how things are going, thank you! To those of you who pray for our daughter, we are so grateful. We appreciate and love that so many are thinking of her, and remembering her in prayer. It encourages us greatly as we wait. This entire process has been, and will continue to be a huge exercise in faith and trust. We look forward to seeing what happens next. And for now….we wait.

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The Little Things…

I went to look at my adoption email distribution list today because I wanted to send out an update to the folks who follow our ongoing adoption story. And a thought hit so hard it almost knocked the wind out of me: I have to take a name off our list. Greg Hewlett will no longer be receiving news from us of our ongoing process, or prayer request updates.

I already knew this, in theory. Our friend Greg (or as my children refer to him: “Uncle Greg”) lost his earthly battle with cancer a week ago today. This last week has felt like a blur in so many ways. While we are thankful our friend and brother is in the presence of Jesus: out of pain and that he finished his earthly race so beautifully, we are sad too. Sad for those of us left behind. Who didn’t realize when we last saw him it would be the last time we’d hear his voice, eat a meal together, listen to him tell a joke, play a song for us, give us a hug, smile at us in that kind and easy way he always did.

My feeble writing could not do justice to who Greg was, so I shall not try to eulogize him here. I am not gifted with words and his was a remarkable life. We know how blessed we are to have called him our friend. Our entire family is richer for having had him in our lives, and we are thankful for the kindness and friendship he showed us. We had the precious blessing of vacationing with him this past summer in Alabama; at the time we were so glad he was with us, and we are even more so now. None of us had any idea then that God only had a few more months planned on this earth for Greg. We cherish memories of our sweet friend, and look forward to the day when we will see him again in Glory.

Right now, as we wait for that day, it’s the little things that give us pause. That cause us to remember him, sometimes with a smile, more often right now with tears.  Tears that have hope in them, but tears nonetheless.

The little things: The clarinet he played long ago when he was a child, and recently gave to my oldest son who now plays it in school band. The pho soup that Jay and I love and eat a couple times a month because Greg first took Jay to the Vietnamese soup place in old Richardson and introduced him to the wonderful stuff.  The funny songs that he wrote and recorded even while suffering through chemo and all that goes with that. Board games and how they remind us of how when we played with him, he could beat all of us single handed because he was so stinkin’ smart! His blog, where he shared so many personal thoughts and insights as he walked the road God had for him. Greg lived life more fully than many people I know who have both legs, and who aren’t doing battle with cancer.

We first introduced Greg to House of Horne when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2003. In this entry, Jay shared the story of the first time he met Greg, which was an embarrassing moment for my husband, but which showed so beautifully Greg’s gentle spirit and keen sense of humor.

There have been entries where we asked our readers to pray for him at some critical moment in his battle. And there were more lighthearted entries like this one where he astonished us all by managing to poke fun (in that most creative way of his) at the very disease that was slowly killing his earthly body.

Greg, you are so missed by our family, and by so many, many others. We are thankful that you have run the race God had for you, that you are free from your earthly sufferings, and glorying at being in the presence of Jesus. I can only imagine the look of joy on your face when you saw your Saviour and He welcomed you home.

(this last pic was taken by Nicolas, who loved snapping photos of Uncle Greg in Alabama)

Tonight our youngest prayed, “…and dear God, please help Uncle Greg to be having a good time with you in Heaven.” Amidst our tears, we are certain that yes indeed, Uncle Greg is having a glorious time with his Lord. Amen.

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How to Kick Leftover Spaghetti Up Just a Notch…

Not too long ago on a Saturday night, leftover spaghetti was on the menu. Probably not all that exciting in your world, but in my world? Everyone at our house LOVES spaghetti, so that alone makes it a great meal around here.  But on this particular night, sheer genius struck yours truly, and we festivized our plain ole leftover spaghetti into a spectacular Saturday night experience!

Drawing inspiration from Lady and the Tramp (hey, everyone’s got their own muse) we pulled out the red checkered tablecloth. Eldest daughter happily ran off to pick flowers and whatnot from the yard. We opened a bottle of the famous rooster: Rex Goliath.  (Even the children got teeny tiny little glasses for the occasion.)  We dimmed the house lights, and lit some candles. Jay turned up the Italian tunes, and we enjoyed leftovers in the grandest, funnest way I can imagine! See for yourself….

No clothes required, heheheh!

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We’re Adding to Our Nest!

Yes, ok, well if you’ve been reading this ole blog for any amount of time, you already know that.  What you may not know is that we now have a really cute tee shirt to tell everyone about it!

(And yes, what follows is a shameless advertisement for yet another cool tee which you yourself can get your hot little hands on. Exclusively at):

Jay and I have tried with each of our designs to create something we love enough to wear ourselves. So, a lot of thought and agonizing has gone into each of our logos that you see at AdoptionTee.

Well, a little while back we started working on a design that we were really excited about, but for a completely different purpose. Someone got a peek at it, and their comment was “Wow, that would make a REALLY cute tee shirt!” So…. my hubs, aka the Head Designer, quickly got to work translating the design into something that could be adapted for the Adoption Tee store.

And so it is with much enthusiasm that I give you “We’re Adding to our Nest”:

Wait, is the detail too hard to make out? Well, honestly: what can you expect from a tee shirt that stands only 3 inches tall??  In my opinion this would more appropriately be called a wee shirt, heheheheheh.

Ok, seriously, here’s a close-up (on pink this time)!

Isn’t it just perfect for someone who is adding a child to their family, whether by adoption or the biological route? Since families come in all different sizes we thought it would be fun to offer the tee in different versions…and it comes in kids’ sizes too, so you can pop one on your toddler and/or older kiddo(s) to surprise Grandma and Grandpa with the great news!

So, if you are expecting your first little bundle of joy? Try this on for size:

Or if you are maybe adding a second to your little brood:

Working on lucky #3?

Thinking that 3 isn’t quite an even enough number, so why not have a 4th?

Love bigger families and adding child #5? We’ve even got you covered!

Sooooooo we stopped at 5.  However, if anyone is reading this who has more birds, I mean kids than are pictured on a shirt, and you just have to have one in your family’s size…please leave a comment either here or at

AdoptionTee (there is a place on the front page for feedback)

and let the head designer know.  We are happy to fill custom orders.

And what if your family is complete and there is just no more “nesting” going on? But still…you just love birdies and gotta have you a shirt?

Or, maybe there are those of you like my tween-aged daughter who says yes she likes birds and desperately wants a birdie shirt, but maybe doesn’t want to personally wear one that advertises “adding to a nest”  for various reasons….how does this one work for ya? (I like to call it “Birds but no Words”):

We have mugs, water bottles, and aprons and totes with the birdies also, sans words. Who wouldn’t want to drink their morning coffee in something this cute?

So, so many choices! I can’t say I envy any of you who are trying to pick out JUST ONE!

Well, thanks for indulging me. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta run…and go pick me out a “Nest” shirt in my size!

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WE ARE ON THE WAITLIST!

Last week we received an email from our Gladney caseworker that started with:

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Hello, Jay and Tricia!

Congratulations! You have officially been placed on waitlist to receive a referral as of 11/16/2010!

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HOORAY!!

Time for a little happy dancing….

So what does “being on the waitlist mean”?

Waitlisted means that all our paperwork for the application, homestudy, and dossier part of the adoption process is complete. We are on the list now in Ethiopia, and in line to eventually receive information about the little one that Gladney has for us. For the next several months, we will be waiting. Waiting, praying, learning all we can until our agency Gladney matches us with the child they feel best fits, based on her needs and what they know of our family. Jay and I will complete a good bit of required education and training as part of our preparation before we receive our referral.

Are you asking for a girl or a boy? How old?

Many friends have asked if we get to choose boy or girl. Yes, with Ethiopia you get to choose. Jay and I were truly open to either gender. Practically speaking a boy would be “simpler” with bedroom arrangements in our current house. However, our sweet daughter has prayed faithfully for a sister since she was about four years old. Part of the backstory to our adoption journey is that she began asking about adopting a sister several years ago. Though we laughed, and brushed her off in the past, when it came time to specify boy or girl, we felt for her sake that we had to ask for a little girl. And we are truly delighted at the thought of another girl in the family!

We have asked for a little toddler girl somewhere between 18 to 30 months of age, with the caveat that if Gladney has a little girl in care that is a bit out of that range on either side but who appears to be a solid match from their point of view, to please let us know. We have to set an age range based on our agency’s advice and what we feel is the best match for our family.

This was an agonizingly hard decision, but from the first moment Jay and I each began feeling pulled toward adoption, we have never envisioned a tiny baby. Separately, without ever talking about it to each other, we both felt pulled toward a toddler. We absolutely adore babies, but the reality is that we have been blessed to enjoy four tiny babies in our home. Once children hit toddler age the chances of them being adopted drop somewhat, though in actuality there are a lot of families on Gladney’s referral list who ask for toddlers, and many of the people we know who have adopted or are adopting here in Dallas bring home toddlers. We are very, very excited about our little girl, and finding out who she is, and how old she will be.

So, when will you get this referral?

These days, referrals are taking around 9 or 10 months on average. So we do not imagine we will receive a match for quite a while.  At the time of referral, we are given every bit of information that Gladney has about our daughter. Medical history, family background, her story.

So….you will bring her home in about 9 or 10 months, after your referral?

No, not yet.  🙂 After we are given and accept a referral, there will be a first trip to Ethiopia several weeks later to meet our daughter and complete a court hearing, and then a second return visit another few weeks later where we will receive custody and bring our girlie home.

Then how long WILL it be till she is finally home with you?

Average wait times are just that: averages. We have no exact times, and things change in the adoption world depending on factors often out of the control of our agency’s workers, etc. Given current wait times, estimated time till court dates are issued, and then the two trips are completed, it will probably be about a year before we bring our girlie home. Again, that is the best estimate we have at this time, and could change.

Does Gladney already know who your daughter is?

No. At this time (based on the age we have asked for), our daughter is already alive but neither Gladney nor we know who she is. She may or may not still be with her birth family. At some point she will be processed through a government orphanage, spend a bit of time there, and shortly thereafter be brought into in Gladney’s foster care. Once in Gladney’s care, we know she will receive excellent treatment as they have plenty of people to love and care for these little ones as well as staff and resources to meet their medical and other needs compared to the resources in the government orphanages.

How can we pray for your ongoing adoption process?

* Please pray for our daughter: that the Lord will be protecting her and have His hand on her whatever her situation may be. That she might have precious time with her birth mother or other close family before whatever tragedy occurs which will ultimately separate them.  The fact that this little one and so many millions of others in Ethiopia are in need of a family to adopt them and give them homes means that there has been great tragedy in their lives. Our hearts are heavy for her and for her birth family.

* Please pray for us: that God will be preparing our family to welcome a daughter, a little one who has known loss and hardship at such a young age that most of us cannot even begin to fathom. Pray that Jay and I will be given wisdom, patience, and the ability to meet her needs. Pray that our children will be equipped to be good siblings to this little girl. They are all so excited about their new baby sister.

* Pray for Gladney as they work with so many in the country of Ethiopia, both those who will be adopted, and those who will not. We are very thankful for the good work our agency is doing in Africa to help better the lives of people, and especially children there.

* Pray for God to provide the remainder of our adoption expenses. There are still costs we have not yet incurred which are due upon referral, and we also have the expenses for our travel to Ethiopia to account for. We are so thankful as God has provided beautifully to this point, and we trust that this will all work out.

We are thrilled about this step in the process, and feel it is a huge blessing to get this good news right before Thanksgiving. I had secretly been hoping and praying for waitlist status by the New Year, so this is a wonderful surprise!

Happy Thanksgiving to All of you, dear Readers.

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Happy Halloween!

What a fun but busy weekend we’ve had here at House of Horne!

Friday we enjoyed Covenant’s BikeAThon –

the kids rode 6 miles around White Rock Lake with their schoolmates as a celebration of the huge fund-raising effort they just finished.

Fun and festivities followed….

Little plug for our sweet school: It is an amazing place to learn, and a very loving community of teachers and families.  Covenant also places a priority on drawing a diverse student body, and toward that end, they allocate a large percentage of their budget toward financial aid for families who could not otherwise afford a private classical education. Over 25% of our student body receives some sort of tuition aid, and our school is a better place for it. God bless all those folks who give over and above so that many, many wonderful families can stay at our school!

Before BikeAThon was even over, I grabbed the 3 boys and we headed out to Irving, where we did some early Trick-R-Treating at Jay’s office.

Every year, Epsilon decorates the entire two buildings, and hosts the children of employees. There is candy galore, and we always return with enough booty to both eat and have extra left over to hand out on Halloween night! We ran into our sweet friends the Turners and grabbed a quick group shot:

Later that evening, Nana and Grandpa arrived in town for the weekend’s sporting events (no, not the World Series) and we kept them busy running back and forth all day Saturday to volleyball and soccer. Baby Jacob even talked his parents into taking him to his first soccer and volleyball games.

Saturday night after so many games I lost count (ok there were only 4) we crashed Uncle Peter and Aunt Katie’s where we donned costumes again and celebrated our sweet cousin Sarah’s 6th birthday. She dressed up appropriately in princess attire and was the happy recipient of many gifts and birthday wishes as well as a pink and purple butterfly cake which Cousin Abigail and Auntie Trish lovingly (if a bit hurriedly) created in her honor. Isn’t she sweet?

Some of the Cousin Chaos (note: it was hard to take pictures between Zorro trying to stab the Indian standing next to him, and the Indian retaliating with threats of scalping the masked hero). But we did our best:

Sunday dawned a day of rest and worship, YAY! In the early evening we joined hordes of kiddos to tromp up and down streets begging for yet more candy. (Don’t they ever get tired of so much candy?) This was such a fun night…here is the group in their entirety:

Baby Juliet is wearing the costume that our own sweet Abigail wore when she was teeny-tiny. Love that.

Even some of the parents got into the festivities: Here is Mr. O explaining the finer points of wearing Lederhosen to some fascinated onlookers:

I close with a pic of my littlest Cowboy who looked awesome, but suffered mightily in these snazzy red boots of his (turns out boots are not all that comfortable to climb hills in!):

This is the first year I can remember that I neglected to get a shot of our four kids in their costumes all together. Which is a little sad, but like I said, it was a full weekend, and I am thankful for the pictures we do have of all the fun. I am wondering if maybe next year we will have five little TrickRTreaters in the House of Horne??

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Today, You are Five

Dear Josiah,

It seems as I grow older that time passes more quickly.  It is hard to comprehend that the baby that was placed in my arms in the wee hours of the morning five years ago today has grown into 40 plus pounds of pure spunky boy! Oh how thankful we are for you!

Josiah, you keep us young and laughing. You are a joy to our entire family, and we cannot imagine life without you.  They say that the more children you have, the less attention the younger ones get. I’d like to think that far from that being the truth of the matter, you have not just two parents who think you are amazing, but a big sister and two big brothers who adore you as well, and are some of your biggest fans. We are all so glad you are part of our family!

These days you love music. You love to hang out with your two big brothers in the room you share together, turn up whatever song you are listening to nice and loud, and sing and dance your heart out. You also love Legos, Wii, and writing little notes to me which you seal in envelopes and tuck into little hiding places for me to find.

You are enthusiastic about almost everything. When someone gives you a gift, you unwrap it and exclaim over it with unbridled happiness.

You are BRAVE…braver than I’d like some days! You learned to do a backflip off the diving board this summer at our neighborhood pool. You will try just about anything, talk to just about anyone, and when you are hurt, cry very little.

You are AFFECTIONATE…maybe the most cuddly child we’ve had so far. Even at age 5 you will still sit in our laps to be hugged and snuggled. You give hugs freely and generously to your circle of family and many friends.

You are LOYAL…you are convinced that your siblings and cousins are your best friends in the world and you love them dearly. You tell us that your “Brudder, Nicolas” is your very best friend. You talk about your baby sister who is going to come home from Ethiopia someday, and how you cannot wait to meet her, and how excited you are to be a big brother.

You are OBSERVANT and CHARMING and DEAR…on most days, you will size up whatever outfit or accessory I am wearing and tell me, “oh Mommy, you look SO pretty today. I love your dress.” Or, “oh look Mommy how you painted your nails so beautifully, I like them!”  You are also fond of telling me that someday when you are all grown up, you will buy the house next door, so that you can live close by to me forever.

No matter where you live someday, or how grown up you get, in my heart you will always be my “Little Jo” and I will forever be so amazingly blessed to be your Mother.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Josiah!

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GLADNEY-APPROVED!

Last Tuesday we received an email from our caseworker at Gladney with the opening line….

“Congratulations, you are now Gladney approved!!!….”

This is HUGE progress, and means that our adoption agency and all the power vested therein has officially approved our full adoption application, home study, etc. From what my adoption friends tell me, this approval means we can officially say that we are “paper-pregnant” for our little girl! We are so excited! (Be sure to look for a little counting “Ticker” to show up soon on our web page.)

Currently we are waiting on US Customs to approve our application for our I-600A forms. This the biggest piece of red tape that remains between us and a spot on the waitlist in Ethiopia. What is an I-600A, you ask? Good question!

I found this sweet little explanation on an International Adoption Website which is pretty reader-friendly. I just love the ending note “Keep in mind that processing your I600A may take as long as 90 days – if everything goes smoothly.”

Jay and I are learning that expecting everything to go smoothly really isn’t very realistic in general in the adoption world. Rather, it is best to assume that things will happen when they happen for a reason, and that ultimately no waits, lags, mistakes, or even oversights on anyone’s part is going to thwart our being matched with the little girl chosen for our family.  Which is not to say these lags or delays are going to be easy or pleasant; after all, there is a tiny little girl waiting at the end of all this, and we’d love for her to be with her new family sooner rather than later.

For now, we are thankful for receiving our Gladney approval, and excited about the next steps in our process!