DFW Ethiopia Babies!

So we had a wonderful weekend. We met for our monthly gathering with the DFW Ethiopia adoption group. Thank you to Amanda for hosting. It was really great to see all of the families and meet their children that they have adopted from Ethiopia. The group is growing fast. It's so great to see so many families adopting.

The Reeves family drove up from Austin to go to the dinner and they stayed with us. They are a great couple. We got along so great. They got home a few months ago with their beautiful baby girl, Gabre. She is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen! Leah and Scott are full of good information and they gave us a lot of good tips for when we travel. Hooray for a supportive adoption community and new friendships!








Gabre is so cute in her sun dresses. It inspired me to do a little window shopping! I love little girls!








Hope fully soon we will have our own little one. In the meantime, I miss my other baby, Savannah. Well, my 12 year old baby. She has been gone for almost 4 weeks visiting relatives and she went to church camp in KS. I miss her so bad! She will be home on Tuesday. Yeah!

G Diapers!

I was horrified to find out recently that a regular diaper takes 500 years to biodigrade. 500 years!!! That is crazy! Although I have not been the best at saving the planet or going green, that stat really got my attention.

I'm really not into the cloth diaper thing for completely selfish reasons. I don't want to wash them and we do not have a diaper service that is nearby. I did some research and the "planet friendly" diapers are very expensive. I found a bit of a hybrid between the regular diaper and the cloth diaper that is friendly to the planet, the G Diaper.

The G Diaper is a newer product and very fascinating. I have been rather obessed with them for the past few days while trying to figure out what they are and how they work. The cost is comparable to regular diapers and the covers are really cute.

After watching the video online of the baby's diaper being changed I thought, "I can do that." "That looks easy." Then I saw the video of the mom disposing of the diaper and I thought, "come again". I'm a bit of a germ a phobe and seeing her use the swish stick and talking about poopy diapers, um, I'm not so sure about that.

Now this is going to sound really bad but I'm not sure I would use these because it seems so much easier to slap on a pampers diaper and throw it away. On the other hand, when you think about it, we use a plastic diaper, then I would put it in a small plastic bag (scented), then when I got home I would put it in a the regular trash (also plastic) and throw away. Man, I'm so bad!

This is where I need your help blogger buddies. Have you ever used these or know someone who has? Do they like them? I'm interested in hearing from someone who has actually used them.

Anyone?

Halleluyer!

Another child has a forever family! Congatulations to the Wills family who passed court and will travel soon to pick up their daughter!

Wow!

Please read this!

I remember when we had to do our home study. God sent us the perfect social worker to do the interview. She had personally adopted 12 children, six of them had down syndrome. I thought, wow, I could never do that. She must be like Mother Teresa or something. She had also dealt with International adoption and had a lot of insight into the process. Although she did not want to discourage us from adopting (she was clearly passionate about it), she told us the TRUTH and spoke of things that no one else seemed to be talking about when it came to adoption. I'm so grateful for that.

I just read one of the best adoption posts from an amazing mother named Jody who just adopted twin 2 year old from Ethiopia. I don't know her but I was directed to her site from another blog buddy. I was really affected by her post. You have to read it! Let me know what you think.

Bummer...

I spoke with our agency and we need to have one more paper certified in our dossier packet before we can send it off to Washington. On the bright side, it's better to know now and not send it off wrong. I Fed-ex'd the paper off to Austin today to get certified and I hope it comes back soon. Another delay, gotta love it!

HELP!!!

Ok, blogger buddies, I REALLY need your help. I haven’t had a baby in 12 years! Things have changed so much in 12 years, I can’t believe it!
I have already bought furniture for the nursery room. I bought a crib, dresser that can also be a changing table, night stand and a rocker chair. Besides furniture, what else do I need? If you are a recent mom, PLEASE give me some advice!

• What kind of bottles and formula are the best?

• What are the best diapers and brands? Cloth or not?

• Who has the cheapest prices on daily baby necessities?

• What other things do I need to buy for around the house?

• What are the best strollers and car seats?

• Any other advice?

Any advice you can give me is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks blog buddies! I appreciate you all so much!

Update on the adoption...

We received our aaproval from homeland security so we can move on. Our dossier will be on its way to Washington soon. The agency will look over it one last time and make sure that we are not missing anything. It will be in Washington for 2-3 weeks where they will authenticate it as a whole and seal it and then it will be sent straight to Ethiopia from Washington. At this point we will be officially waiting for a referral of a child. Our agency is averaging 3-5 months for a referral. We are asking for a girl under 12 months. The courts are closed in Aug and Sept so we will not have a court date until after they re-open. Hopefully we will have our girl by the Holidays. Halleluyer!

To the love of my life,

Dear Rick,

Happy Father's Day! You are truly a blessing from God. Before I met you, I didn't think it was possible to find a man like you. I remember telling my mom once, "I hate men and I'm not a lesbian so I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life", sob, sob. lol. I didn't know how blessed I would become. Now, I can't imagine a day of my life without you. You are the most dedicated, trustworthy and giving man I know. You are an amazing father to Rickey, Kari and Savannah and now we are adding another baby to our lives. This baby doesn't even know how lucky she is to have an amazing dad like you. I know you will protect her and love her the way that you do your other kids.

I can't help but smile when I think about you dancing with Savannah a few weekends ago at Sy's wedding and how you held her and she looked so safe in your arms.
I smile when I think about how you texted me and called me today with such excitement when we got our INS approval today and how you told everyone in your office about it.
When Savannah called tonight and was crying and very upset, I gave you the phone and you calmed her down (because I was freaking out, I hate hearing my baby cry)and you even made her laugh. I thought to myself, man, he is such a great dad! I'm so lucky.

Another thing that is such a blessing to me is that you are teaching Savannah what she should look for in a husband when she grows up by the example of how you treat me. That is so important to me.

So to recap, I'm completely in love with you and I want to thank you for choosing me to be your wife and for being such an amazing father. Words can not express the joy I have in my life because I have you. Happy Father's Day baby.

Forever yours,
AB

Rick and Savannah at Sy's (my brother) wedding! Aren't they cute?

Guess What I Found in the Mailbox?

We got our INS approval from Homeland Security!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahh...

No INS approval in the mail but there was another surprise. I played the "pay it forward game" and Laura sent me a really cute blanket for the baby. She made it herself. Very impressive! Thanks Laura, you brightened my day!

Notice the special detail?

So cute!

Check this out...

Still no INS approval in the mail. In the meantime I found some funny T shirts online!

Last but not least, my personal favorite...



Click on any of these to order.

Another Referral, Halleluyer!

Great news: The Parkers received their referral! I'm so happy for you Lori! I look forward to reading more about your little one.

Shopping again....

NO INS approval in the mailbox

so I have distracted myself by going dress crazy!

Still just window shopping...Sigh....

and the winner is...

The winner of the Pay it Forward game is #1, Jessica. Congratulations, I will make your gift and send it soon. You know get to return the favor and pay it forward to someone else.

Adoption Blog BUZZ...

As part of the RED LETTER CAMPAIGN, I'm going to be participating in the weekly BLOG BUZZ.

This Week’s Adoption Blog Buzz Question:

What advice would you give someone choosing an agency? What questions would you advise they ask? What resources or organizations would you suggest they reference?


Well I can't say that I'm the expert on international adoption as this is my fist adoption. However, I do know 2 important things to do when finding an agency:

1. Get a Hague approved agency. What Is the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption?
The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption is an international agreement between participating countries on best adoption procedures. These procedures have basically two goals in mind:
The best interest of children are considered with each intercountry adoption.
The prevention of abduction, exploitation, sale, or trafficking of children.

2. Ask for references of families that have used the agency that are in all three stages of adoption; paperwork, waiting for a referral and ones that have already picked up their child. This will give you insight into how the agency supports and operates in each stage.

I hope this helps someone!

Look at us getting all domestic!

I have been stalking the mailbox waiting for our INS approval and we still don't have it. I have been filling my weekend time trying to de-stress from my job and trying to distract my mind from the wait of adoption.

It all started on a hot Sunday afternoon. I had what I thought was a brilliant idea. I asked Rick if we could go to a local nursery and buy some shrubs and annual flowers. For those of you that know me, I'm no Martha Stewart! I don't know the names of any flowers or how to keep them alive for that matter. So we went to the nursery and spent way more money that we intended. Big shocker! We had all the employees at the nursery laughing with us, wait...I think they were laughing AT us.

We got home and started to plant. It was so HOT and let me just tell you that I'm apparently a baby because I jumped into the pool between flower beds. Contrary to what I thought, it is very relaxing even though it's hard work and you can step back and look at the fruits of your labor and be so proud. The next day I woke up to pretty flowers and a very sore body. Did I mention that I'm also out of shape!What's next, baking? I took pictures of the back yard and some of our plantings. Enjoy!

Momma Mia!

My precious mom and step dad came into town a few weekends ago and it was so fun! They in MO. and since we moved to TX a year ago, I don't get to see them as often. I'm so close with my mom and I miss her so bad. She has the kindest soul. She is a missionary that cooks for up to 600 missionary interns a day! I want to be like her when I grow up and I strive to be the kind of mom that she is to both of my daughters. I'm so excited that when we bring our little one home from Addis, mom will be coming to stay at our house for as long as I can get her!!! Anyway, we took her out to dinner for her birthday and then surprised her with a sail on the lake. The weather was perfect! Their best friends, John and Kay came and we all did our favorite things, Texas hold'em, mango martinis and sat in the hot tub.
I love you mom!!!!! (and you too David!)

So I've gained a few pounds...

rHow to weigh yourself…

I can't believe I was doing it wrong all of these years!

BEWARE, ENTER THIS POST WITH CAUTION!!!

Ok ladies, I'm going to talk about something that is politically incorrect and very sensitive, weight. I don't know what it is but I have been gaining some weight over the past year. I have tried to claim baby weight but Savannah is 12 going on 13 soooo, I don't think that bird is going to fly at this point! Rick and I transferred our jobs from KC to the Dallas area, I took on a very stressful job and we started the adoption process. Maybe that is part of it but I have to admit, when i went to the gym and they said, "mam, we haven't used those memberships cards in years, " I knew I was out of shape. (Ok, I may have exaggerated a little)

I have a feeling that if I don't take control of the situation, by the time the adoption process is through, I will be at a miserable weight. I, like other women have two sets of clothes in my closet. I have my skinny clothes and I have my fat clothes. Well....I'm too fat for my fat clothes!!! ( OK, I need to take a moment to cry and I'll be right back)

Sob, sob, sob............................................................................................................................................

OK, sorry about that, I'm back.

So anywhoo, I don't plan on getting another closet section labeled, FAT, FAT clothes.

Is anyone else experiencing some unusual stress eating?

I need to set a diet and exercise plan into place so that I'm in shape by the time the baby comes home. hmmm....does anyone else need to do the same? So here is the plan, I'm going to come up with a diet and exercise plan this week and starting on Monday of next week, (when I get back from my bro's wedding) I will start. I will blog about my weight loss and habits each week so you all can hold me accountable. I know this is an adoption blog so I won't overdo it with diet stuff but I will have a side "ticker" with my weight loss. If anyone else wants to join in, let me know.

Ok, I'm going to go find a burlap sack to wear to work tomorrow. lol. Good night!