Our Embassy Date!

Hooray, we have our embassy date; it's January 23th!  For those of you who don't know, this means we can travel... in mid-January!!!  We will be arriving in Addis Ababa on January 20th!  In about three weeks, we will be with our little ones!

*realizing she's ended each sentence with an exclamation mark* As you can tell, I'm more than a little excited!  I hadn't quite let myself get excited because I didn't want to get my hopes up.  I think now, with a successful court date behind us and tickets reserved (and almost booked), I think it's safe to say that these precious little ones are coming home!  Time to break out those lists and get to work!

We're wishing every one a blessed and joyous new year! Happy New Year!

Hallelujah!

If you heard a shout at about 10:30 this morning, it was probably me making this exclamation. Merriam-Webster defines hallelujah as an interjection "used to express praise, joy, or thanks". I do indeed want to express praise, joy, and thanks because today, after 86 long days, we finally heard the sweet words, "Your court date was successful!" from Laurel, our family coordinator at AWAA.

Our children are now officially ours! Today we officially became Mommy and Daddy to the two cutest children in the whole world!

So without further ado, I present... (*drum roll please*)

Alexandra Jean Edilawit Carpenter:
Her name means “Helper of Mankind” “God’s Gracious Gift” “Blessed One”. She definitely is God’s gracious gift to us. Here is the referral picture we received. She is one month in this picture.As Rachel said when she returned from Addis Ababa, "she is just a sweet natured, happy, pretty little girl!!!" We definitely agree. And here is Alexandra with Fortuna, the nurse/director, in late November. She's about three and a half months here. Don't you just love those big beautiful brown eyes?
...And (*more drum rolls*)
Josiah Robert Beyene Carpenter:
Josiah’s name means “God will save” “Bright” “Decision”. And I must say that despite all of its ups and downs deciding to adopt these two is the best decision that we've made together. They are truly a joy and a blessing. Here is the referral picture that we received of Josiah. He's nine months in this picture.This next picture is my second favorite of him. (It was my favorite until Rachel came back with more pictures.) This is the picture that Laurel, our family coordinator, took when in Addis in August. He's ten months here. He's going to be a heart breaker with those eyes.This next one shows just how cute and cuddly this little guy is. This is my favorite and one of the two we have of him from Rachel.Rachel said, "Beyene is the cutest thing I've ever seen. He's definitely a “favorite” around there, so he is getting constant love and attention. He has these 2 teeth on top and 2 teeth on bottom, which is so cute. The nannies have a nickname for him, something like “foo-foo-loo.” It doesn't really translate to a word in English, but it just means that he is funny. He is not walking yet, though he may be when you get him. He is constantly pulling himself up and holding onto furniture to walk. He’s a good crawler, though!" I humbly agree that he is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Don't you agree?

He's also in the next picture with a few of the other children from the orphanage. He's the one on the far left. You can't miss that cute dimpled chin. These were taken last month when he was just about 13 months old.
And guess what? We received even more good news a few hours later from Duni, the African Program Director. She said that they "are currently working to arrange travel for your group to Ethiopia." We will be traveling with the four other couples who also received their referrals on October 3rd. She goes on to say, "Though we do not have specific dates today we know your group will be traveling at the end of January. We will give you definite dates next week." I had to read that last line twice. We will be given definite travel dates next week? That's great! Praise God!

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. They truly lifted us up during these past two difficult months. We've seen that we have more blessings in our lives that we even knew. I hope the wait to see these adorable faces was worth it. I certainly think so.

'Twas the Night Before Our Court Date

Tonight will be the fifth night that we lay down our heads to sleep with prayers that the next day will bring the news that we are officially mommy and daddy to the two cutest kiddos in the whole world. As I type, it is just after 5:00am in Addis Ababa and very soon, the judge will be waking up, having his morning coffee, and heading to the court house to make a ruling on our case. He will either join together forever this family of four or not. I wonder if these proceeding have become common place for him or if he still thinks about his role in these children's lives and our lives. Our children won't feel any different tomorrow. Our son and daughter won't know that either once again the mommy and daddy seven thousand miles away were disappointed or that they were jumping for joy. For them, their day will be like any other. For us, however, when we wake up another court date will have gone by and with it our hopes of this family being officially joined together.

Before we started this adoption process over a year ago, I thought I was a relatively patient person with a fairly strong faith in God. What I realize now is that I can always be more patient and have more faith. God is never done helping me to grown in my faith. He uses many things to help me to grown and the adoption experience has been one of them. Today, I caught out of the corner of my eye, the briefest of glimpses at the good that will come from our waiting. I've learned that while I don't always like it, God's way is better than my own and I need to follow His will whatever that means. I remind myself that we would have missed our daughter had we gone with my plan instead of God's. So tonight, my prayer is:

"Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this incredible experience will all its ups and downs. Thank you for the lessons that you have taught me and will teach me. I have spent many nights crying out to you to bring our children to us. My heart yearns for that and I pray that your will be done tomorrow. If the judge rules favorably, I will praise you and rejoice. If not, I will still endeavor to praise you and to wait for your perfect timing. Lord, forgive me for believing that I should be in control. Christ Jesus, forgive me for the arrogance of thinking I know better than you what is best for us and our children. You are an awesome, mighty, and righteous God. May your will be done tomorrow. Amen."

Christmas Giving

I love many things about the Christmas season like cookie baking and Christmas card making, but one of my favorite things is giving what Gabe and I call our "giving gifts". It first started when I received baby chicks through World Vision from Gabe's aunt. I thought what a wonderful gift. I didn't need more stuff, so getting a gift that gives to others was great. Since then, each year Gabe and I give a "giving gift" to family and friends. It's really fun thinking about what that person would like to donate to and seeing their reaction to the gift. I'm hoping that as they grow, our kids will join us in this tradition.

I'm also very glad to see that the local middle school is doing the same sort of thing. There was an article in the Cortland Standard titled "Dryden Middle School in giving mood" which tells how these teens are raising money to donate to various charities and nonprofit organizations. The teacher who spearheads this team is a mom by adoption, who also gives personally to various organizations and her children's orphanages. The team and teachers have given a laptop computer, a goat, Books for Troops, and a quilt to raise money for children with cancer. It is so uplifting to see these teens come together to raise money and donate to those in need.

During this time of gift giving, seeing people give to those in real need is a blessing and I thank God that we can be a small part of that. As we purchase gifts for others and get gifts of our own, it's nice to pause and remember what giving really means.

What Christmas is All About

Luke 2:4-20
The Birth of Jesus
4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels
8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us."

16And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

We wish you the joy and peace that only Christ Jesus brings. Merry Christmas from our (Lord willing) soon-to-be family of four to your family!

Christmas Cookies

Much to Gabe's chagrin, I caved. I made cookies. I couldn't make it to the annual cookie baking with Gabe's mom, so I decided to ask a friend if she would bake with me. She was thrilled to help. We didn't make nearly as many as they do though. Last year between the three of us, my mother-in-law, her mom, and I, we made about 210 dozen. This year, my friend and I made 42 dozen together one day and then I made another 31 dozen another day. Gabe decided that his mom, who came over today to help me finish (and start) frosting the sugar cookies, and I should open our own bakery. I love to bake, but I'm not sure I could do it every day. Although, after mixing the one cookie recipe that calls for five pounds of flour, I would love one of the professional mixers. Instead, I employed my personal hefty mixer, aka my husband. I think they all turned out well. Now the fun part, taking all the cookies to family and friends. And of course, we'll have plenty to eat! Yum.

Evolution of a Christmas Card

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is making Christmas cards. I saw the stamp set below (1.) and knew that I wanted use this set to make my cards this year. For me, designing a card, making the first one, is always the hardest. I wasn't happy with my first attempt (2.), so I tried again (3.) I still felt it needed to be tweaked a bit and finally arrived at a design that I liked (4.).I gathered up all my supplies and set to work making our Christmas cards...

This...
plus 12 hours equals this...
We (Gabe helped) made a total of 93 cards! Gabe has requested a simpler design next year, but I am really happy with the way that they came out. I like making Christmas cards and thinking about the different reactions as people open our cards. I hope that it makes them feel loved.

We feel very loved by our friends and family. I just love getting Christmas cards, or any cards for that matter, in the mail. Here is a picture of all the beautiful Christmas cards that we have received.
My favorites are the handmade cards, the cards with pictures, and the ones with sweet well wishes. Okay, I guess that's all of them. Thank you all who sent us wishes for a joyous Christmas. May you all have a very happy Christmas!

Christmas Giggles

My sister, the first cute elf, apparently had fun yesterday putting this together. It definitely made me laugh. Seeing Gabe, who doesn't like to dance, shake his booty is very,very funny to me. Mike, her husband, is no slouch himself. It's worth checking out.

Labor Pains

A friend of mine once said that he thought he and his wife had their kids the easy way through birth. After all, he said, they only had to wait nine months for each of their children. That comment made me smile then and still does now. I'm not sure which is easier, having children by birth or by adoption, but I do think both have their own labor pains. For me, Thursday was a day where the pain was very real.

After I got the phone call about the unsuccessful court date, the pain was intense and I wept bitterly with a heart despairing that the children in my heart were not yet officially mine. Of course, I knew (head knowledge) that firstly they are and always will be God's children. I knew that we will meet our children in God's perfect timing, but as a friend says the longest twelve inches is from the head to the heart. I was still disappointed and hurting. While I didn't know it at the time, it was in my pain that I was truly blessed and lifted up by so many, even people I have not met. The words of encouragement and comfort of friends, family, brothers and sisters was overwhelming. The flood of my pain continued to ebb and while the wound is not fully healed, hope has crept back in. As the Lord promised in a verse given to me by a friend:
"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." ~Psalm 147:3

When these little ones come home, I know that it is not just our effort that will bring them home. We serve a mighty God who called us to adopt and who "raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks" (Psalm 107:41). He will bring our children into our family and He is using all of the wonderful people who are supporting us to help do that. I cannot begin to express the gratitude that I have for the lovely friends who have given selflessly of themselves on the behalf of two precious orphans thousands of miles away. I now know that the labor pains to bring these two home are not just my own and am humbled by the realization.

As I was crying from the depths of my soul minutes after the call, I recalled that my pain has been felt by another. Jesus knows just how I feel and felt the same pain. So while I bear the labor pains, I know that I do not do so alone and will never labor alone again. Praise God that He sent His Son to earth over two thousand years ago to be born a baby, fully God and fully human, to become the man who willingly made the sacrifice on the cross to bear my sin! "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." (Deuteronomy 31:8) What a beautiful promise to one such as myself who has so recently been both afraid and discouraged!

All for One Little Paper

The paperwork that was not complete was for our daughter. MOWA needed a letter from the regional government stating that she had been in care, the orphanage and the transition home, for 90 days. Apparently, the paperwork on prospective adoptive parents and the children is collected by MOWA and then reviewed for accuracy and completeness before making a determination. If any of the paperwork is incorrect or missing, MOWA will issue a letter stating an unfavorable ruling to the court. Our agency's in-country rep does not get a copy of these letters and will not know about the incorrect or missing paperwork until he appears in court. This is what happened with us yesterday.

I will be praying that the necessary letter is collected by our agency's in-country rep and submitted to MOWA soon. MOWA will then review our paperwork again and send another letter to the court. I'm praying that the letter is a favorable determination and is submitted to the court before our appointment on December 28th. We will, however, most likely not find out the outcome of our court date until January 2nd when AWAA returns from Christmas vacation. (The Ethiopian representatives will not be on vacation, so everything in country will still be moving along.) If our (fourth) court date is successful, we will post pictures of our precious little ones!

Rachel uploaded her 47 pictures from her trip to the transition home. I am so happy to have one more precious picture of our son and our daughter to add to our soon-to-be-growing-exponentially collection of pictures. The picture below is of the nannies and children in the transition home's court yard:
Rachel's kind words and the pictures gave me a peace knowing that they are happy, loved, and well cared for. My mom echoed my sentiments and added that all the kids are "adorable!!!" and healthy. She said, "from the pictures it looks loving, clean and they do get time to be outside, on the floor to crawl and walk. The transition house looks like it could be in the US with grass, flowers, nice furniture, everything you would want for the kids." The next best thing to having them home with us is having them in such a wonderful environment while we wait to bring them home.

I can't share the pictures of our children yet, but know that they are even cuter now than they were a few months ago. Our daughter's picture is a little fuzzy. She is so small that I just want to scoop her up and hold her close. We have two more pictures of our son and he is going to be a heartbreaker. He is such a cutie with his kissable cheeks and dimpled chin.

Now that I have whet your appetite, if you need an adorable kid fix, the Davids have posted pictures of their beautiful girl here. Their adoption of Sakari was finalized yesterday in court. The Stums and the Mihnovichs also officially became the parents to their beautiful baby boys. Congratulations, families! We're rejoicing with you.

Unsuccessful Court Date

When I received a call at work today from our agency, I knew it wasn't good news. We were not approved in court today. The MOWA letter, the paperwork from the Ethiopian government for which we were waiting, gave an "unfavorable" ruling. Our agency thinks this means that there is a paperwork problem, either with our paperwork or the children's paperwork. Girmachew, AWAA's in-country representative, will go to MOWA tomorrow to find out what the problem is. We do know that our next court date is December 28th.

I'm so very sad and disappointed. I broke down crying at work, multiple times, and am just so thankful that I work with people to whom I can go and ask for a hug. Gabe was out of cell signal, but now knows. He said that this is a good reminder that we are not in control. God is in control. It's true. I have no idea what will happen. Somehow, I have to trust that God is good and will do what is best for us and our children. We will hopefully know more tomorrow.

Court Date Delayed

While I would love to share with you joyous news, our children are not yet officially ours. Despite assurances to the contrary, the letters of support needed from the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) were not complete today. The court needs these letters to complete our adoption in Ethiopia. The MOWA has promised that the letters will be ready on Thursday. The judge has graciously rescheduled our court appointments for that day (12/13) in the afternoon. I'm disappointed, but I half expected that this would happen. I'm very grateful that we don't have to wait another month for a court date. So, we still do not have a good idea of when our group will travel to Ethiopia, but I'm guessing it won't be until after the new year.

I'm reminded of the quote that Fil posted a short while back on one of his monthly musings:

"Patient waiting is often the highest way of doing God’s will."
~Jeremy Collier

That quote gives me hope that our waiting will (eventually) bear fruit.

Who knew...

that getting the small news that our son has four teeth could make me cry tears of joy? Our son has two top teeth and two bottom teeth, which in the words of our angel, Rachel from our agency who just visited the transition home, "is so cute". Of course I already knew that he was the cutest thing, but apparently Rachel and the nannies at the transition home think so too. The nannies have even given him a nickname which sounds something like "foo-foo-loo". It doesn't have an English translation, but it means he's funny.

Our daughter is still so young that she hasn't developed her personality yet, but Rachel reports that "she is just a sweet natured, happy, pretty little girl!!!" Oh, I can't wait to meet them and hold them and kiss them!

Rachel also sent an email to the ten families whose children are in the transition home. Here is what she writes:

Oh, how I’ve enjoyed being with your children! They are so precious, and there is no doubt that Ethiopians are the most beautiful people in the world! [H]ere is some general information that you all would be interested to know:

1. All the children take bottles of a formula called Bebelac, which you can purchase there if you wish. At 6 months old, the children start eating other stuff. One dish is potatoes, carrots, and milk all smashed up. They also eat a porridge, which has wheat and other grains in there. After one year old, the children sometimes eat pasta with a little bit of sauce. They eat healthy!

2. Their schedules are a constant rotation of eat, sleep, diaper change, eat, play, diapers, bathtime, sleep, and so on….

3. They are so loved on! The nannies take good care of them, as well as all the other staff. It is sweet to see the doorman or the maintenance man go into where the babies are just to get a few minutes of holding a child.

4. There are specific things that the home will be in constant need of. If you can take these items when you go, it would be so helpful! Diapers, wipes, diaper rash ointment, cough syrup, baby Tylenol, and anti-bacterial for the nannies hands. If you want other suggestions (bigger items), I’d be happy to let you know those specific items needed.

Rachel will also be uploading pictures of all the children. We'll get to see recent pictures of our two little cuties! We'll be able to share these pictures if all goes well in the court tomorrow. We are praying hard that tomorrow will bring good news. In just a few hours, we could be officially the new parents to a bubbly baby boy and a beautiful baby girl!

Baby Hair Care

Naturally, not having African hair myself, one of the things I've been researching is care for our children's hair. Most of the information I had seen to date was for hair care of toddlers or older. I finally came across some information on infant hair care. (Both of our children have some hair in their referral pictures and probably have more now.) I stumbled onto this website: Cornrow Baby Products. Pamela recommends a mild soap for washing the baby's entire body, including their hair. We received baby wash and shampoo from friends, so those should work well.

I looked on Amazon for a few of the books that were recommended on the sight and settled on these two to order: It's All Good Hair and Kids Talk Hair. Both have advice on caring for African hair and even a chapter about baby hair care. I'm sure they will both come in handy when our daughter, who is well on her way, has enough hair to braid. Until then, I'm going to enjoy the beautiful curls that they both have.

Wrong Court Date

No court date today. Here is the email we got from our family coordinator about the court date:

Dear Families,

Susan and I were able to reach Grimachew on the phone this morning. When we asked him how the court appointments went today, his response was that everything was going smoothly and is in place for next Tuesday, December 11th. Through our discussion we realized that Girmachew had not translated dates properly when he originally notified us of your rescheduled appointments. The Ethiopia court uses the Julian calendar, which is entirely different from the calendar we use. Girmachew had calculated the date to be December 7th when he emailed us with the new date, but they are actually on December 11th. This was an honest mistake, and we apologize for this error. Your court appointments are scheduled for Tuesday, December 11th and Girmachew assures us that everything is in place for these appointments to go smoothly.

So we'll get back in line and wait for the court date on Tuesday. Thank you for your prayers and please pray that the now correct date will be successful.

My Weekend Trip

What does one do when you are waiting for your children to come home and are a week away from your (re)scheduled court date? You go to Boston and New Hampshire, of course! It’s been an emotional few weeks months while and I needed to get away and rest (as in not-work-on-my-projects rest, not as in get-lots-of-sleep rest, more on that later). I had a weekend available and really wanted to see my (next after my husband) best friend and our online friends, the Steigers. So after work on Friday, I drove the 6+ hours to New Hampshire to visit Fil, Lenka, Sam, Nate, Emma, and Grandma (Fil’s mom). They wouldn’t hear of me staying in a hotel, so I arrived to their beautiful home at 11:30pm.If you have a really good friend who you can immediately connect with after months or years since you last saw him. That mixed with the nervous excitement of meeting someone new and you’ll have an idea of what it was like to meet Lenka and Fil. I also “met” the sleeping kids. Sam made a valiant effort to stay awake, but couldn’t quite make it. Exhausted, but too excited to sleep, we spent the next hour and a half visiting. I even got to hear the story of how Fil and Lenka met and came to be living in NH.

Saturday morning after more conversation and a yummy homemade breakfast complete with Ethiopian coffee, we all got ready to go to Ikea in Boston. We were playing “I Spy” and Lenka spied “something blue and yellow”.If you’ve never been to Ikea, it’s not just a store, it’s an experience. John, my BFF who lives in the Boston area, met us there and enjoyed his first Ikea shopping experience. Lenka, Fil, Grandma and the kids are old hat at Ikea shopping. Here is Emma in my hat at Ikea. She put the hat on and it was so cute. I pulled out my camera, but it was already too late; the hat was back off. I asked this two years old to put the hat back on. She did and posed nicely until I was done taking the picture. Isn’t she cute?Among my other purchases from Ikea (including the bookcase that poor Fil hauled on and off the van roof twice), I bought this rug for the nursery.It was cold and windy this weekend, so we didn’t do any sight seeing. The Steigers hadn’t been to an Ethiopian restaurant, so we went to the Asmara Restaurant in Arlington. The food was very good.

Everyone enjoyed the meal. Emma was very cute with John. She kept touching his arm and smiling and pointing. He still doesn’t know at what she was pointing. And of course, we couldn’t leave without getting a picture of everyone.

And one of just John and I.
John had to leave for a party later that day and the Steiger clan and I went back north. I had the bright idea to get the boys walkie-talkies, so as soon as they got home, they began playing with them again. They had a lot of fun trying to figure out how they worked and of course, were boys-with-a-new-beeping-toy volume level (sorry, Lenka). They were very good, however, and went to be very shortly after we got home. Oh, the other thing that the boys did that was so neat was make a bank from the large legos. They had a teller window and a credit card machine and a scanner. They did a great job setting it up. I wish I had thought to take a picture of it.

After the kids were in bed, we talked. Grandma soon went to bed, followed shortly by Fil. Lenka and I stayed up talking and giggling (apparently loud enough for Fil to hear, sorry, Fil) until what ended up being the wee hours.

Sunday morning, I rushed out of the house in order to make it to Connecticut to “the Barn” for church where I was meeting John and his girlfriend, Jessie. The Barn is the church were John and his dad, our pastor, spent a few years when John was three or four. It’s a beautiful church with the sanctuary in the hay loft of the converted barn, hence the name. Here are a few pictures of the church:




I ate lunch and had a wonderful chat with John and Jessie. The snow storm was moving in, so I had to leave shortly after lunch to head home. And despite my mom’s worrying, I made it back to New York safe and sound (with a slight detour to PA, oops). It was such a great weekend despite the lack of sleep. I’m so glad I went even though Gabe couldn’t join me. He said that it sounded like fun and we would have to go again when he and our two little ones could come too.

(Lenka posted about the weekend here.)