The craziest week of our lives!!!!!

Here we goooooooo!!!!!!!!

This week as been, hands down, the most eventful and chaotic week ever!!!  Tuesday at about 11AM, I received a call from director of the Ethiopia program.  We knew that another family who had a guardianship court date around the same time as us had received their adoptive parents court date for July 2.  We also knew that they told us they would not call, but rather post our court date in our portal.  So.....the fact that she was calling made me wonder.....is this it????  YES!!!!  July 2!!!!  In 7 days, we were expected to be in court to receive the most beautiful words ever - she is yours.  7 days......7 days?!?!?!  Can we do this???  I called Kevin and he immediately got in touch with the travel agent.  We were told we needed to be in Ethiopia no later than Sunday.  We had already made plans with Kevin's mom to watch Nicolas while we were gone, so that was already set, right??  This weekend is the ONE weekend ALL SUMMER that she was going to be out of town.  Enter my parents, who thankfully didn't have anything going on (at least that they told me about :P) and could drop everything and spend the weekend at our house.

THANK YOU Grandma and Grandpa G and Grandma P for watching Nicolas while we are gone!!!!!  We love you!!!!

Okay, so that's out of the way.  Now, we need to pack and get Nicolas ready.  Not going to lie, I have had the feeling in my stomach like I am about to give a speech to 10,00 in my underwear for three days now!  I never expected that after all this time we would have 3 days to leave.......AGH!!!

Fast forward to this morning.......things have gone very smoothly!  We had breakfast with Nicolas and then dropped him off at daycare.  Said goodbye with big hugs in the parking lot (so that we didn't embarrass him in front of his friends :P) and left him happily inside with his friends.  Thank you God for giving him peace!!!  We headed back home to finish packing and clean up the house and then my dear friend Kara dropped us off at the airport.  Bonus!  I got to hang out with baby Claire (who was supposed to be napping) on the way here.  YAY!

We are now sitting at the gate in Grand Rapids waiting to board our plane to Chicago.  From there we will head to Frankfurt, then on to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!!  We will arrive in Ethiopia tomorrow at 1:45PM EST. With a 7-hour time difference, it will be 8:45PM in Addis.  We get to meet M on Monday and will go to court on Tuesday.  In the rest of our time, we plan to attend a training on Ethiopian culture, history, cooking and more put on by Bethany, go shopping in the marketplace, hopefully go to church, visit yeselalem minch (a feeding ministry run by the woman who owns the guest house we will be staying at) and see what else comes up.  We are SO EXCITED to finally meet our precious girl!!!

It does not feel real. On one hand, after all this time, we are FINALLY taking this trip.  One that we have been playing over and over in our minds for 3 years.  ON the other hand, it seems crazy that we are flying to Africa for the second time in 6 months!  That only 6 months ago we brought Nicolas home.  Before that we were Longstreet - family of 2.  It's amazing how God has moved in our lives over the last 3-4 years.  We cannot wait to see what He will show us in the next 3-4 years.

The internet connection in Ethiopia is sporadic, so we may or may not be able to provide updates while in country.  Not to fear, I will post everything when we have a connection.  No pictures until next trip, but details to come!!!

If you are willing, here are our prayer requests:
For Nicolas, please pray that he will be strong, have lots of fun with Grandparents, and that God will protect his heart
For M, please pray that God will continue to keep here healthy and strong (she gained 4 lbs in the last 4 weeks!!!!  PTL!) and that He will prepare her heart for the changes she will experience in the coming months.
For us, please pray for health and strength, that we will not get sick while we are there, and that we will have the strength to leave our precious girl for 6-8 weeks.

Court Date #1 Complete!

It seems like the last two weeks have sped by on one hand, but on the other it was as if they moved like a river of molasses.  Even after the completion of one adoption, the wait is still a struggle.  And truth be told I feel guilty writing that since we haven't experienced being "stuck" in the process like so many others we know.

As the day fades away on June 5, we are happy to report that our guardianship court date ensued as planned earlier today.  A member of the Bethany Ethiopia team attended court to affirm with the judge that it is in M's best interest to be placed for adoption and to be matched with us.  The other piece necessary for our adoptive parent court date (and trip to Ethiopia) to be scheduled is a letter from the Ministry of Women's, Youth's and Children's Affairs (MOWYCA) confirming their approval of us being fit to adopt M.  This letter is expected to arrive to the judge within 1-2 weeks.  We are praying for the shorter end of that timeframe!  From there, the estimate that our adoptive parent court date could be scheduled 1-3 weeks from whenever the approval letter is received.  We will likely have 1-2 weeks' notice to travel and will spend 4 days in Ethiopia.

As I also did with Nicolas, I am beginning to get antsy to want to get things in order.  With the pace our case has moved at so far, I worry that we will be rushing to get everything together before she arrives home.  I was at Target the other day and I just couldn't resist!!  $1.50 for a onesie?  YES PLEASE!! :)  I have also purchased the fabric for my very first major sewing project - curtains for her room.  Please pray for me.  Yes, it is nothing more than straight lines, but they DO need to be straight! :P

I should also mention that we did receive some amazing pictures and a precious video from our friends who just arrived home from their first meeting with their daughter AND we received an update from Bethany with an OODLE of pictures and another video.  YAYYYY!!!!!!  It's the pictures and video that hold us over in the wait.  We were very excited to see some pictures of her on her tummy holding her head up like a big girl!  We also found out that she loves mobiles.  I think I need to add another project to my list :)  She has gained a little weight (literally - a little...5 ounces) and our friends report that she looks GREAT! :)  Let me just take a moment to say GOD ROCKS!!!

I hope to be back at the computer very soon drafting the ALL CAPS update announcing our first trip to Ethiopia.  We cannot wait to meet our little girl!!!

Guardianship Court Date Received!!

We are SO EXCITED to share that we have received our guardianship court date and it is...................................................DRUMROLL PLEASE................................................................

JUNE 5TH!!!!!!

The process thus far has moved far more quickly than we anticipated!!  God is pouring out his grace on our family! :)  Based on the timeline we have seen with other families, this could mean that we could be headed to Ethiopia in late June or early July!  To add to the excitement, some great adoptive friends of our are headed to Ethiopia to meet their precious girl tomorrow morning!!!!  Can't wait to see the pics of their precious K and M as well!!!  

Still cannot believe this is all happening so quickly!!!  Praise God!!!

Court submission!!!

We found out yesterday that our case been submitted to court!!!!  After such a long wait, we are moving quickly!  Our next step is to find out when the guardianship court date will be scheduled.  This will be when M's caretakers go before the judge to state that being placed with our family is in her best interest as her birth family is not able to care for her.  Soon after this court date and the receipt (by the Ethiopian court) of a letter from the Ethiopian Ministry of Women's Affairs, our adoptive parent court date will be scheduled.  These two court dates are starting to happen pretty close to one another - two to four weeks apart.  Our first trip will be approximately one week where we will get to meet M, hopefully do a little exploration around Addis Ababa, attend our court hearing, and head back home.  Then there will be approximately 8 weeks before we travel again.  In this time, they will process M's adoption in Ethiopia and generate her new birth certificate, passport, and visa .  When all this is done, they will schedule our Embassy date to get clearance to bring her home!

M is 5 months old today!!! :)

Our little Ethiopian blessing........

Wow!!!!  It's clear that being back in reality really has put a damper on my blogging! :)  So much for using the blog to keep track of all the special moments!!!

Well, since February a LOT has happened!  Nicolas is doing very well in school, and only has 2 weeks left until his very first summer break!!

He has been playing AYSO soccer and is LOVING it!  Here are a few shots:

And the most exciting reason for this post is that 2 1/2 weeks ago, we received some amazing news. 

We're expecting!!!  

What does Nicolas think about it?  Watch this!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOHMyLOUnWA

Baby M was born just before Christmas in Ethiopia (and to think we were in Africa when she was born!!).  She is a little peanut at about 10 pounds, but is happy and healthy!  We have not been given a timeline yet, but are guessing based on the timelines of other families that we could potentially take our first trip in August.  Again, guessing here, that would put us back in Ethiopia to bring her home in October.  Ethiopian courts close annually for several weeks in August and September, so we are praying to make it over before the closure!  

As if that isn't enough excitement for one post, another family we know is going to be heading to Ethiopia in less than two weeks (!!!!!) and they are going to be able to take pictures and video of M for us!!  We can hardly wait - not only for them to meet their precious girl, but for them to be able to hold M and love on her for us!!

We would love your prayers for M - for continued health and growth, that she would feel loved every moment of every day, that she would receive the care, nurturing, nourishment, and love that she needs, and that God would begin to prepare her precious heart for the major changes that are coming in her life!

Even almost three weeks later, I still cannot believe it!!  We are so very blessed to be able to bring this little angel into our family.  Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement, and support.  

Letters To God

Almost a month has passed since the last time I sat down to write.  It's not that I didn't want to or that I didn't have anything to say (anyone who knows me knows that very, very rarely happens!).  Instead, my excuse for not blogging is that it's dark.  Yes, I don't write because it is dark.  I get home from work and by the time we are done eating dinner, it is dark.  It makes it feel much later that it actually is and, once you add laying in bed with Nicolas to that, I am done for the night!

With that said, a lot has happened in the last 30 days!  We are all doing so well!  Nicolas is loving his new school and making lots of friends.  We recently received his first report card - he's doing great!  His teacher says he is fitting in so well and he is currently reading at a third grade level!  Thanks a million to all of his teachers and helpers in South Africa who did such an amazing job!!!!  We have also had a lot of firsts this month: first time ice skating, first time sledding, first snowman and snow fort, first time eating snow (he says it tastes like chicken!), first birthday party (attended) in America (which also brought his first root beer float!), first (second, third, and FOURTH) snow days. and so much more!!!  We have been so, so blessed by having Nicolas in our lives already!!!

What compelled me to write this post was our movie night last night.  We told Nicolas we could watch a movie after a fun-filled afternoon of sledding with Auntie Becca.  He chose Letters to God.  I thought to myself - oh no, here we go!  The two of them are going to laugh at me for crying!!  Boy was I wrong!  When it got to that point in the movie, Kevin told Nicolas to give me a hug and what came next only made me cry harder!  Nicolas put his arm around me and held me.  As in, not just arm laid on mom......he was squeezing me. :)  He had his hand on my shoulder and patted me for the last 30 minutes of the movie.  It was so precious how he was taking care of me!!!  As if he hadn't melted my heart already!!!  I don't want to rush him along, but he will make a great husband someday!!! :)  What a perfect example of how God blesses those who can manage to wait through the struggles!  It may have taken what seemed like forever to get to this point, but it is so worth it to be here!!!

Two Weeks Home

Man!!!  It is much harder to blog regularly when you're back to reality! :)

We have been home for two weeks now and it had been going so well!  While Kevin and I headed back to work on the 26th (boooo!), Nicolas has been having a blast hanging out with his Grandmas.  He has taken adventures in the woods, driven a quad, helped carry the chainsaw, learned to snowboard, had his first meal at Wendy's, watched lots of Disney, played Donkey Kong, and so much more!

Last Monday, we had a day packed full of appointments.  First was the pediatrician who Nicolas thought was hilarious.  Next we visited his school and met his teacher.  We toured some areas of the school and Nicolas got the rundown of what life at his new school will be like.  They also made him a book with pictures and a letter from each of his classmates so that he can learn their names.  So sweet!  In the afternoon, we had our first post-placement visit with our social worker.  It was great to catch up with her and chat about our trip.  Then, we began our New Year's Eve festivities.  We played games, played a lot of kinect sports, and watched the ball drop.  He made it until midnight!  We did, however, go to sleep as soon as it passed 12. :)  We also slept until 10AM the next day :)

New Year's Day was the first day since we got home that we didn't have anything planned.  We just enjoyed the day, played, went to the park and went sledding, made chili for dinner and enjoyed our time together.  Then it was back to work again........

This morning, we had a couple more appointments, and he was a rockstar!  We also introduced him to Costco (Mom, why is everything so big?).  This afternoon, he flew his new remote control helicopter from John and Lindsey (which he would play with all day if the batteries would last!), took a bath, and watched the Despicable Me minion mini movies.

Monday, we start figuring out our routine.  Nicolas starts school and we will have our first full weeks back at work.  I know it is going to be tough being away from him so much.  Six weeks of nothing but having fun was awesome, but it makes it tough to be away from him!

Nicolas is doing so well!!  There have been several times that Kevin and I have looked at each other wondering 'is it supposed to be this easy?'  He has adjusted very well to everything here and is happy as can be!  God continues to bless us every day!

Here's a picture from our sledding adventure on New Year's Day:

And here is the link to our adoption video (so very awesomely done by Kevin).  Warning: you may need kleenex!