This is a silly survey that has been floating around blog-world and well, i guess it’s my turn! 

1. Where is your cell phone: I never know. it drives my husband + friends crazy. 
2. Your hair? In need of a haircut ASAP.
3. Your mother? Wise.
4. Your father? My hero.
5. Your favorite food? French fries.
6. Your dream last night? I have no idea
7. Your favorite drink? Cherry Coke Zero
8. Your dream/goal? For my life to always point back to Christ. 
9 What room are you in? Bedroom. 
10. Your hobby? Pottery when i have time to be in my studio + Traveling with my husband to crazy places around the world.  
11. Your fear? Dissapointing people. Currently working through this! 
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? I don’t think that far ahead.
13. Where were you last night? Enjoying a much needed sabbath at home. 
14. Something you aren’t? a long term planner
15. Muffins? Chocolate with chocolate chips…is that still considered a muffin? 
16. Wish list item? a new deck and landscaped back yard. keep wishin….
17. Where did you grow up? In Wild Wonderful West Virginia
18. Last thing you did? Put the ipod on to Fee’s new album. love it! 
19. What are you wearing? Work out clothes…it’s supposed to inspire me to work out, but it’s not working really. 
20. Your TV? Stolen off our wall a few weeks ago. seriously. 
21. Your pets? I don’t like animals in my house. I’m weird, I know. 
22. Friends? all over the place.
23. Your life? Living the dream, baby. 
24. Your mood? Overwhelmed. 
25. Missing someone? not really. 
26. Vehicle? Passat, but about to take the leap to a mini van! yikes. 
27. Something you’re not wearing? socks.
28. Your favorite store? Anthropology, but can’t afford it. 
29. Your favorite color? Brown
30. When was the last time you laughed? right now, at the fact that I am filling out this silly survey.
31. Last time you cried? last night when I watched an episode of Biggest Loser. It always makes me cry. 
32. Your best friend? My little sister Olivia. 
33. One place you go over and over? Chick-fil-a…remember, french fries are my fav! 
34. One person who emails you regularly? Bryson
35. Favorite place to eat? Pappasito’s ….Fajitas are to die for.

My kid has really talented toes and he loves to put them to work…

who needs hands to draw?

that's pretty ingenious if you ask me! But then again, I am his mom so I am slightly biased. Maybe it is just weird? Either way, I think it is hilarious!

**Congrats to the PELL FAMILY who found out they passed court today! Yay! It is so fun to journey with families in “blog-world” who are experiencing the same things Bryson and I are in this season of life. SO grateful for blogs!

Package for Opi

Our agency encouraged us to put together a little care package for Baby Opi that will be sent over to her. It is just a small package and all contents need to fit in a big zip lock bag. Our package includes a baby photo album (I found an awesome one with lots of different textures and a wooden ring by Sassy on Amazon.com. I try to avoid plastic toys, so this was a great find! I know I am weird about the plastic vs. wooden toys. It’s selfish…I just like the look of wooden toys better in my house!) The album has a picture of Opi, a picture of me and Bryson, and picture of Nash. 

Also included in the package is a soft lovey for baby Opi. Nash has one just like it that has become he dearest friend over the past year, affectionately known as “doggie”. He has been loving on Opi’s since we bought it and is getting it worn in for her. He actually refers to it as “Baby Opi”. Perhaps this toy will take on her nickname when we officially name her after our court date. 

I also stuffed in a little outfit. It will get shared by all the babies at Hannahs Hope and that makes me smile. 

Last but not least I printed a photo album for Opi’s family. It includes the 3 pictures we have of Opi plus a few picture of our family. Since I only had a few picture for the photo album, I had it bound into a little hard back book at Wal Mart photo center  and it looks really nice. 

The next big task on my to do list is the letter to Opi’s family. Each time I sit down to write it, I am at a loss for words. I am praying that God would speak through me and give me exactly the right words to communicate to her family.

Just 22 more days until Court! (I have 4 canker sores…me stressed? no way! ) 

I hate spending money on halloween costumes that Nash will wear for less than an hour…so I try to get creative with what we have around the house. This year Mimi and I pulled together this little number for Nash..

He was a “nerd/little rascal/future smarty pants” and he LOVED his outfit. He was in tears when I tried to get him in his pj’s. He thought his twrilly hat made him a helicopter. Precious. 

having a great time with his best buddy Addison

trick-or-treating at Mimi's

checking out the loot with Pop Pop

My mother-in-law puchased this awesome advent calendar for us to use this year. But instead of waiting to count down to Christmas, I am going to use it to countdown to COURT. Each day instead of taking out a treat as we would if counting down to Christmas, we are going to write a little note to Baby Opi. The note can be anything…scripture we are praying over her, something we are excited about, a prayer for her, our hopes and dreams for her life, etc. I think this will be a fun way to celebrate each day until our Court appointment! November 24th can not get here soon enough!

Fall is here in full force!

Here are some pictures of Nash enjoying our time at the Pumpkin patch…

Have a great weekend! 

Nash checking out a new pile of clothes for Baby Opi. I am loving all the PINK!

We just got word from our Case Worker that our court date has been set for November 24th…Just 26 days from now! What a THANKFUL Thanksgiving week that will be! 

Our court date is the next important step in the adoption process and the last step before we find out when we can finally go pick up sweet Baby Opi. Please join us in praying for all the logistics to fall into place so we pass court on the 24th.

Specifically pray that:

1. Paperwork would be in order and the court would have everything they need to make the adoption final.

2.For the birth family who will need to travel to Addis and appear at court and have the proper ID. I am sure this will be a difficult and emotional journey for them so I am praying that God would fill them with his Grace and Mercy that he so freely gives. 

Next on the to do list today…put together a little package to send to sweet Opi! Excited!

A friend made a comment this week that was a good reminder for me. He said: 

“May God give you the grace to run to the first finish line of adoption and then grace and mercy to finish the great marathon of parenting her.” 

So true! For many (including yours truly), so much of the energy spent on the adoption journey is consumed with GETTING the baby home and reaching that finish line. Being pregnant is not much different, all you can think about is holding that baby in your arms. Thankfully our agency does a good job requiring us to do study and research on the next steps after you bring the baby home, but at the end of the day, our eyes are focused on “when do we get to bring her HOME!?” 

Having a picture to look at, a face to visualize, and a specific age to prepare for has certainly made preparing to parent Baby Opi a lot more real. I’m a mama to our bio son, Nash, but in a lot of ways I feel like a first time parent all over again as we prepare for Opi!

For those of you who are on this journey (or have completed it!), what have been the most valuable resources (books, articles, videos, etc) that have best prepared you for the “great marathon” of parenting your little ones?

It’s been exactly 1 week since we got “The Call” and laid eyes on our precious baby girl on the other side of the world. We plowed through our post referral paperwork at lightning speed and overnighted it to AGCI yesterday. Now we wait (AGAIN!). 

We are so in love with this little beauty! She is 7690 miles away tonight. It is currently 5am in Addis so I’m guessing she is just about to wake up and start her day…meanwhile, I’m getting in my pj’s about to end my day. To say this week was an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement! I was not prepared for the overflow of emotions that would follow “meeting” our baby girl. So many emotions! I have seriously cried more in the past week than I have in years! Tears of joy for this precious 12lb gift of life waiting for us…tears of sadness for our little one’s story…tears of excitment about this next phase of our family’s journey…tears of frustration that we have to wait so much longer to pick her up…tears of happiness as we look at her sweet face…nervous tears as we think about all the details that have to fall into place and are out of our control (court dates, travel dates, etc.). Up and down, up and down.

Can any of you other adopting-mama’s relate?

For those of you who have been through the adoption process, what are some helpful hint’s, wisdom, or advice you would give us newly-”referred”-parents as we navigate through this next part of the journey? 

To say I was extremely shocked to get “the call” yesterday would be putting it mildly. I had just spoken to Julie, our caseworker, last week after we found out that we were #5 on the wait list and we talked about how realistically I should plan on getting a call sometime in 4 to 6 weeks. So when the phone rang yesterday, I thought Juile just had a question for me. The conversation went something like this…

Julie: Hey Emily, is this a good time to talk? 

Emily: Ummm…Sure. Talk about what? 

Julie: Well, I have some exciting news for you….

Emily: (insert high pitched scream and imagine me running back and forth through my whole house:) WHAT??????? SHUT UP! ARE YOU SERIOUS? TODAY? THIS IS IT? THIS IS THE CALL! Oh my goodness…oh my goodness…I am SO EXCITED!!!!!!!! Is this really happening!!?? 

Julie: (Laughing and probably holding the phone at a generous distance away from her ear!) Yes! This is THE CALL. No joking here! We have a little girl we want to tell you about. 

Emily: OKAY! Wow! I just can’t believe it! I’m so excited!!!! This wasn’t supposed to happen for another month! I’m SO surprised! I’m so excited! Let me call Bryson and we will give you a call right back. 

I was working from home on the Passion2010 project with a friend, Kristin, who is helping me. I am so glad she got to see me be shocked and heard the conversation with Julie, because there was a part of me that wondered if that call really happened!  

After figuring out how to use my hands and dial the phone, I immediately called bryson to tell him the news. He too was shocked and walked out of a meeting he was in. We decided to meet at Jittery Joes and my friend Kristin was going to stay at the house and watch Nash for us. (She did ask….”do you think you are okay to drive?”. I think I really freaked her out!). Bryson and I had not even talked about our plan for what we do, where we would meet up, who would watch Nash, etc. when we got “the call” so we were just making everything up as we went! 

I jumped in the car and called my sister Olivia to tell her the news to which she screamed as loud as I had!  My stomach…my brain…everything was spinning. I was so not prepared for “The Call” to come so soon…but I was ECSTATIC!! Bryson and I met at the coffee shop and grabed an empty meeting room to call Julie. We called…and called…and called… and called about 15 more times and she didn’t answer! We waited for about 45 minutes and didnt hear back. She finally emailed and said she had to step into a meeting and would call us at 4:45EST. (You were killing us Julie!!!) So we jumped back in the car and headed home. The next hour we waited patiently (okay, I paced the floor, jumped up and down a lot, and tried to stay semi-calm.). We put Nash in front of the TV with food and water to keep him occupied.

Finally Julie called. 

We have been matched with a 4 month old baby girl from the southern region of Ethiopia. She has been at Hannahs Hope since early October. We were told she is healthy (& fat!), smiles a lot, and is happy. Julie talked us through her story, her medical labs, and life journey so far. Wow. Nothing can prepare you for that. What a precious little life! 

Then comes the pictures! 

Waiting for that email to pop up in your inbox made my stomach feel like I was on the world’s highest roller coaster and about to go over the big drop. Pure adrenilian! Finally the email popped up and Bryson and I were giddy with excitement as we opened her first photo. When it opened I exclaimed loud enough for all of Athens to hear, “SHE’s BEAUTIFUL! SHE SO PRETTY!!”. Our sweet baby in our dreams finally has a face…a personality…chubby kissable cheeks…the cutest smile and a perfect poof of hair on top of her head! I understand the meaning of “Love at First Sight” now! She is amazing! 

We are on cloud 9 and don’t plan on coming down for awhile! Thank you for celebrating in our joy. What an honor to join a long line of amazing families who have felt the call and taken the step of faith towards adoption. We are humbled and grateful beyond belief to welcome this precious baby girl into her forever family.

I’ll post a video of “The Call” soon! 

PS: congrats to the families behind us in the wait list line…your time is coming SOON!

WE GOT “THE CALL” today!!! 

She is a beautiful 4 month old baby girl. Happy. Healthy. Fat kissable cheeks. 

I’m at a loss for words! More details tomorrow when I can (hopefully) put my thoughts and joy into words! 

Grinning ear to ear!! 

These days are crazy busy. Crazy fun. Crazy stressful. Crazy good. Here are a few snapshots of some fun moments we have had as a family the past few weeks. Good times in the midst of all the busyness of life. 

At the beach. (We played while Bryson ran his half marathon)

Fun in the sand...

the playground view...

Nash and mama

Nash and Dad at the UGA arches...

Father. Son.

Watching for buses...

UGA

Nash had us laughing out loud tonight as Bryson was teaching him how to do the Heisman move while throwing a football. Fun times…here is a video of some of his best moves. (most of the world won’t care to see this video, so this is for Mimi and Marmi who think Nash is as cute as we do! That’s what grandma’s are for! Enjoy!) 

Our new number on the wait list for Baby Opi is…

FIVE!

Sometimes it hits me like a ton of bricks. Out of nowhere tears swell in my eyes at the thought of our baby girl on the other side of the  world. It amazes me how IN LOVE I am with this little person who I have never even laid eyes on! Oh how God has and is preparing us for her! For the most part I have  had to keep my heart pretty guarded on this adoption journey…maybe not on purpose, but more out of survival mode. I can not let myself obsess about it all the time (though she is ALWAYS on my heart and mind). I can’t let myself constantly daydream about where she is…if she is born…what her smile looks like and her giggle sounds like. But when I do crack that door and let myself sit in thinking about her and dreaming about her, my heart is flooded with emotion! Yesterday was one of those days. I probably cried 4 times thinking about her. Part of this was because I had a phone consultation with our International Pediatrician who was just going over some things that we need to be prepared for when we receive our referral and bring baby Opi home. One of the first things she said on the phone was “Every adopted child is considered special needs, because at some point in their short life they have experienced grief, loss, and abandonment.” I know that. I understand the reality of what it means to be an orphan in this world. But when she said it, it hit me differently. Because she wasn’t talking about an orphan, she was talking about my daughter. The reality of it sunk in and my heart broke for my sweet baby and the loss she has been through. 

On the flip side, I got to meet and hang out with the sweet Lehman family who was in Atlanta visiting. We were talking about their amazing coffee company Gobena (check it out!)! Their little girl, Eva stole my heart! She is adopted from Ethiopia and is just precious! I was on cloud nine the whole drive home just thinking about our sweet Opi and how fun it’s going to be to have a little girl. My heart was filled with joy! 

So I guess the point of this post is just to say I am an emotional mess this week! The adoption journey is such an up and down emotional roller coaster. Oh, but how grateful I am to be on this journey! 

**We should be getting an email from our agency this week about our new wait list number. Excited!

This video challenged and inspired me today. It really hit home. If you follow our blog, you know that it has taken an army of friends and family to help us financially in this adoption journey. We are forever grateful for these friends…and they are forever a part of our daughters story. 

Everyday miracles really do happen. Today marks the 1 year anniversary of when God first nudged our hearts towards adoption. Bryson came home from work and began talking to me about how God had put some questions on his heart that morning during his quiet time that he just couldn’t answer and couldn’t shake. Questions like…

“Do you really believe that I am the designer of your family?”

“Why are you waiting to adopt? Why not now?”

“What’s keeping you from adopting?” 

Our answers were weak. Yes, we believed God was and is the designer of our family, but surely he didn’t want us to adopt NOW? We are both healthy and able to have children biologically…Emily loves being pregnant! Don’t people usually wait to adopt until after they are done having kids? Plus, adoption is expensive! There is no way we could pay for the adoption on our own…and it would be way to humbling to ask people to help us. God kept saying, “Trust Me.”

We prayed about it for a month. Every time I sat down to pray about adoption I knew what God was saying before I even bowed my head! He was calling us to adopt. There was no writing on the wall, no fireworks or the voice of God coming through a loud speaker. It was just a continued whisper in our hearts. Adoption was God’s plan and design of our family in this season. A baby girl was waiting for her forever family and we would have the honor of calling her our own. Then the miracles started happening…reminders that God was in this! Confirmation came from friends and family. A college student wrote us a check for $1000, another sent a couple wadded up twenties and note that brought tears to my eyes. A random couple we had never met heard our story and dropped off a check for $1,500, a working mother felt called to give towards our adoption and tithed off her paycheck right down to the penny and gave to our journey, old friends I hadn’t spoken to in years saw a status update on Facebook about our journey and felt called to give.  An amazing army of friends, family, and complete strangers cheering us on as we chased this calling that Lord had set before us. This journey has stretched our faith and brought us closer to our Father in heaven. To date we have raised nearly $25,000 for our adoption fees! That my friends, is a miracle! Each day we get a little closer to our Ethiopian daughter that we believe God has chosen for us since the beginning of time. We can not wait to holder her and bring her home! She truly is a little miracle!

Trains are all the rage in the world o’ Nash these days. His sweet Mimi was in town this past week and brought him a Thomas the Train track. He is loving the train set…and adores his Mimi! 

Choo choo…have a great week blog-world friends! 

Growing up, my family would “celebrate” the Fall Equinox by standing eggs up. I don’t know if it is truth or just an old tale, but there is something about the tilt of the earth on that specific day of the year that makes it easy to stand an egg up by itself. I promise it works! Does anyone else have that funny family tradition? My mom called me on Monday to remind me that Tuesday the 22nd was the Equinox and not to forget to stand my eggs up! And so I did…

Welcome Fall 2009

The egg standing was sadly the highlight of the day! We had Nash’s 2-year check up and had to finish up some shots. Ay yi yi. Give me some sympathy mama’s! There is nothing fun about trying to hold down a (strong!) screaming 2-year old while they get shots and are crying from the depths of their soul for their mommy to help them! It was traumatic…for me and him! We both needed a cookie and lolly pop when it was all said and done! On a good note…Nash is healthy as can be and based on his 2-year old height he should grow to be a strapping (and VERY handsome) 6 foot 2 inch tall man…the same height as his daddy! How cool is that?! Speaking of Bryson, he is training for his first marathon and I am so proud of his dicipline and determination. If all goes to plan, Bryson will run the race in November. Until then, Nash likes to help Bryson stretch and coaches him while he prepares to run…

You can do it!

Work it. Work it!

Maybe you are bored at work, just killing a few minutes before you little one wakes up from their nap, or just a frequent visitor to my blog and wanted to see what I am up to. Take a few minutes and check out this video. I hope it encourages you inspires you, or maybe even sparks some questions inside of you today. 

Passion is the organization I get to work for. I love their heart, vision, and longing to bring fame to Jesus. Over the past few months and for the next 4 months my world will be consumed with helping plan Passion2010, so this probably won’t be the last time you hear mention of it!  It’s a great honor to work behind the scenes to prepare for 20,000+ college students who will join us in Atlanta for the conference. I can’t begin to explain how powerful and amazing these 4 days will be! If you know a college student, encourage them to check it out! www.268generation.com

Nash often makes me laugh out loud….like today when he found a creative way to eat one of his favorite food, raspberries…

Berry.

Yumm-o

Happy Wednesday blog-world friends!