Checkin' In.

Today was a day of checks.
We had Cale's 2 year old check up, and our 2 month status check-in. Both went well, I think.

First things first:
Cale's check up, the stats:
2 years old (and some change ;)
36" (yep, that's 3 feet tall!)
34 1/2 lbs.
Tim and I grow 'em big! The doctor was happy with his growth and development. He is on task with everything and doesn't need to be seen until he is 3. Meanwhile, we get to work on potty-training, getting rid of his binky, and moving to a big-boy bed. ALL things Tim and I don't want to tackle completely just yet. They'll be a work-in-progress.

As far as the 2 month check-in with our adoption agency, it went like this -
I called AAI and someone got back to me stating these facts:
They got our updated information on our age request. (0-18 months, and twins if available)
They are handing out referrals for infant boys to families whose dossiers were sent in January.
Most of the requests in January were for boys (which is unusual she said...usually it's more girls).
February had a split-vote. Some request for boys, some girls, some either.
We are expected to get a referral in 1-3 months. I'm hoping it's still 1-2 (as has been the norm for other waiting families who recently got referrals)...but I understand they need to cover all bases.

So, that's all that's new and exciting here today. Here's to another month! :)

the question.

I feel like for the past week or so, I'm getting a lot of the same question.
And here it is:
"What's going on with your adoption?" (and variations of it, including "Are you still doing the adoption thing, what's going on with that?")
I'd love for all of you to all picture asking a pregnant women if she was still "doing the pregnant thing." She might knock you out. haha!
Really though, I'm not offended, and I can totally see why people are asking.
So, here's the answer:
YES!!! We are still adopting! We're just on the waiting list. Not much goes on while you are on the waiting list, except waiting. And waiting isn't that interesting. Especially not to people who want to have something tangible. (Is that the right word there?...hopefully:)

To be perfectly honest, it's kinda hard to be "in the dark" waiting. Sometimes I feel time flying, but other times I'm reminded of how much time we could still have left before we know anything.
Plus, I've been feeling over excited these days, and I have been trying to take a step back. Because when I get excited, I tend to get anxious, and my anxiety quickly turns into impatience, and by then I know that I'm not trusting the Lord. So, when I find myself toeing the line, I need to stop doing things that might make me cross over, like looking at the shared photos of the babies in the orphanage, or scouring the "waiting timelines" on our yahoo group, and keep focusing on God's peace and serve Him. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes it's so hard to look at all those beautiful pictures and not long to know who our baby is, or to try to figure out where we might be on the list and "guesstimate" our referral time, etc.
Most of the time my stomach anticipates the wait and it is fine, but other times (specifically when people ask me "what's new on the adoption front") I want so desperately to have news for them, and that's when I feel my heart getting nervous. Overall though, the Lord is helping me to be where I need to be. My heart is in Ethiopia, but my head is still here. Sometimes it floats up to the clouds, but I felt that too when I was pregnant with Cale.
The anticipation of a new baby is so wonderful...it just needs to be moderated.
Bottom line people: We're still here! We're still adopting! And even though we may not have news for another month or two, I will try to keep everyone posted until that blessed day comes!

a little bit of nothing

Well, I feel like posting, but I dont feel like I really have anything to say. So, I'll vamp. Haha.
Actually, I recently found out that there is only one more family waiting for a boy, with a December DTE (dossier to Ethiopia) date, which is good. Unfortunately I've been told that there were many families who sent out dossiers in January and February, so it'll still be a wait for us. Bummer. I continue to pray for a referral in early June. And here's why:
Tim's youngest brother, David, is getting married on the 20th of June, and I'm dying to have a picture of our baby to show everyone in his family! That would be truly amazing! It will also be awesome if we got the doctor's approval and paperworked signed BEFORE we leave for a week in Ohio. God's timing is perfect, so I will continue to try to be content to wait. :)
Hmm...what else?
We have a few newbies to our OAEG (Our Awesome Ethiopian Group), and it was cool to check out their blogs.
Wait, let me explain about OAEG - When we sent in our application, or shortly after approval, we were sent an email explaining about the importance of connecting with other adopting families.
AAI has a Yahoo group with all kinds of great information and families from all different points in the adoption timeline. Some have their children home (some home for years), some are waiting to travel, some are waiting to pass court, some are waiting for a referral (like me!!) and some are waiting to send their dossier to Ethiopia, etc. We of course, all have a lot in common, ((sensing a repetitive word here?)) so it's great to be able to post questions and get answers without calling our agency 100x per month...or just feeling lost in the dark.
ANYWAY, getting to our group. We have that main AAI group, the "big board," with, I don't know, 200-some families. But because there are so many, and everyone's at such a different spot in the adoption timeline, it can get confusing.
So, one of my AAI girlfriends and I decided to start a smaller, more manageable group - with people who are currently working on their dossiers, or have sent them in (as of the last few months) or just recently got a referral. It's neat to see everyone who is in the same "boat" near the same time. It's not a 'talkative' group just now, but I'm sure once we all get our babies, the comraderies will form.
Well, back to checking out the websites,
One of the sites, I've noticed has a family of 10 biological children, 3 adopted from Ghana, and now they are adopting from Ethiopia. WHOA! I mean, that's a CRAZY amount of kids!!
Sometimes I wonder how people decide to have this many. Do they make the decision, or just keep the "ball rolling." Not that there is anything wrong with it, but I wonder if growing up, these girls think of having such a giant family?
I know I used to wonder what it would be like to be in such a huge group of kids, but that's usually as far as my brain could comprehend. Now, as a Mom, I'm extending my brain as far as I can to think of me WITH that many kids! And I'm not sure I could do it. We are thinking probably 4 kids, but you never know. I do know I don't plan on birthing 10 children. Haha. (Luckily for me, doctor's don't let you have that many c-sections either.) We'll have at least 1 more biological and 1 more adopted, but the thought of having kids (bio or adopted) is addicting.
It consumes a lot of my thoughts. :) I'm just so grateful God is letting me experience both ways to be a Mommy!
To that end, I am going to go read and let you quit reading this post (it's gotten pretty long for me "not having anything to say," wouldn't you think?)!
Okay, goodnight.
Here are some pictures of Cale's 2 year JC Penny photo shoot.
(above) At first I was afraid he was pooping, but it was just a 'killer' pose!

(above) He actually was copying what I was doing, so I got behind the photographer and did this pose. A great strategy, I'd say!

(below) He did this pose on his own!
Okay, the pose was set up by the photographer, but pulling up his pantleg, was all Cale.
(below) They tried to use these plastic words to spell out the word TWO, but Cale wouldn't leave them alone, so they took them away and gave him a plastic 2. He didn't understand that it was not a toy. He threw that thing in the air so many times, it's surprising it didn't hit him in the face.
Oh wait, it did. Uncontrollable crying, and a huge red mark on his cheek...end of pictures. :)Okay, now I'm going to bed. NIGHT!

Happy Birthday Cale!

I have a 2 year old! How fun. He's a great little guy, and I spent lots of time on his "Sesame St" party. I made cardboard cut-outs of Big Bird, Oscar, Grover, 2 of Elmo, and Ernie and put them everywhere. We had fun games to play, a pinata, and lots of food...pizza, "dirt," cookies, cake and Rubber Ducky punch. There were about 10 'little' guests, and 12 'older' guests. Definitely a houseful!

This week I have my sister and her 2 daughters visiting, and we're picking up my Mom tomorrow, so our house will continue to be a mess, but it's definitely a good time. Cale's cousin, Heather, is 6 months younger than him and they are having a great time playing together and teaching each other new things. It really makes me think it would be alot of fun if we got referred a toddler. Either way, we'll be happy, but it's SO nice to have Cale have a little playmate around. It's wonderful that they will go out in the playroom and play together....normally Cale won't go out there unless Tim or I go, so this is GREAT!

We have one week after everyone leaves before we go to Florida. We are going to visit friends for a few days. I'm hoping to be able to catch some rays while we're down there - I am mighty pale! All these things going on has and will make April fly by and before you know it, we'll be on at our 2 month checkpoint! I'm nervous about May though. We'll have to plan something so it goes by quickly as well. We can't wait for our baby...and I know it's just right around the corner. I'm praying I can continue to be patient. Pray with me, won't you? I'd appreciate it! :)

171H and the potty

Well, we got our 171H in the mail today. How 'bout that? You're wondering what it is, right? Well, I don't know if I have the complete handle on it yet, but I'll try to explain -
It is our CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) approval to adopt a child. It is the approval we got for having filed our I600A and having your homestudy completed.

It goes something like this:
We completed our homestudy. It was approved.
We filed for our 1600/1600A (Orphan visa petition). It was approved.
Then we got fingerprinted. And they came back clear.
So the 171H is our reward! :)
This is good news, because this is the last piece of the paperwork puzzle that needed to be sent to our agency BEFORE we get a referral for a baby.
(Don't get too excited though, we don't think our referral will be happening for another 2 or so months.)

To that extent, I'd also like to share that Tim and I are in the process of having our homestudy updated to include a baby/toddler up to 18 months. We also put in that we would be open to twins (if they became available). And we recently let our agency know, too, that we are open to some mild special needs. As you can see, we are trying to keep all of our basis open to let God pick the child.

In other exciting news - CALE WENT PEE-PEE ON THE POTTY TODAY!
It was his first time, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't on-purpose (because he was stripped down, placed on the potty and "plugged" into Blues Clues - his absolute favorite show), but none-the-less, it was exciting! I gave him some M&M's as a reward and he was just so happy. We sang the "pee-pee on the potty song" and I got pictures. YEP, I'm gonna be one of those Mom's!
Anyway, when Cale finished his treat, he politely asked for "more" but I told him no. I told him that he could have more when he goes pee-pee on the potty again. Well, my little Candy Man went right back over to the potty and sat down. He then proceeded to make the "sssss" noise. After that he just looked up at me with those great big blue eyes and asked for more again. Haha! Sorry pal, nice try! We did try to pee-pee again later, but it went on the floor.
Sa la ve.
Well, maybe he'll be potty trained by the time our baby comes home!!
I don't have my hopes up, but I think it would be FANTASTIC to have only 1 child in diapers.
Wishful thinking perhaps. But, you never know!

So that's what's going on in the Nester house this April Fools Day.
Nothing else to report. No practical jokes to be had.
Until next time...