Happy Valentine's Day...

Happy Belated Birthday, Blog!

Yesterday was blog's first birthday....

The decision was made and it was finally time to begin the adoption that had been on our hearts for almost seven years. We had already found an agency and were awaiting the news about our approval to adopt from Haiti. I could hardly contain the excitement that was welling up in my soul; our family was going to grow! It was a Thursday and Chloe had her weekly violin lesson - I sat in the music school's newly remodeled waiting area. The cozy little café now had WiFi, so I brought my laptop along to pass the time.

We knew that the adoption would be a lengthy process and wanted some way in which to chronicle all the steps it would take to bring our child home. I also wanted a spot to post current information on the adoption so friends and family could stay updated. So, as I sipped my coffee and listened to one of my favorite Jeremy Camp CDs on the laptop, the blog was born. And giving it a name was easy! As we prepared for the process, we knew that each step would be by faith and not by sight.

A wonderful, yet unexpected, aspect to starting the blog has been "meeting" so many amazing people who are also adopting - some from Haiti, some from other countries. I have to say it's been one of the most rewarding aspects! You see, not too many people can relate to all the emotions involved with international adoption. There are a lot of highs and a ton of lows. There's more waiting than anything else. It's cathartic to pass the time by writing and reading about the adoption experience. So THANK YOU to all of those who have contacted me, left comments or sent encouraging notes! And thank you to everyone who shares all their experiences on their own blogs, too! It's such a blessing to share with you in your joy and even to pray with you in your losses.

So as I sat there at the little table and typed my first post, all I had was faith. Faith and a really poignant Haitian proverb that spoke to me the first time I read it: The pencil of God has no eraser.

He had already drawn the blueprint for our family!

Bitter/Sweet

Whenever I see disturbing information about UNICEF, I try to share it. The international adoption community seems to have a pretty firm grasp on the hypocrisy that this organization embodies. They relentlessly rail against international adoption while never really providing solutions or answers for orphaned & abandoned children. While I shouldn't be surprised by this, I was absolutely sickened to read an article detailing UNICEF's financing of terrorist camps in the Middle East. I feel like most Americans are just covering their ears saying "La la la la - what I don't know won't affect me...." That attitude really upsets me. And it leaves me feeling bitter.

I was actually forwarded to that link through a great blog written by a mom who has adopted a precious daughter from Guatemala and posts on the new adoption website called Adoption Under One Roof. Check it out!! It just recently launched and there will certainly be a wealth of adoption related information. They even added a Haiti forum! ;o)

So now for the sweet... you have to check out this video over on Loved Already. You'll be amazed by God's perfect timing!

Still in IBESR...

I was pretty sure this would be the case, but I did start to get a flutter of excitement as I opened the e-mail attachment that was our January report.

I know there are files that have been in longer than ours and I've seen one on the IBESR Update Blog that was entered after ours but has already come out. So I'm trying to avoid any type of speculation (February) or expectation (February) when it comes the movement of our file.

*cough cough* February *cough cough*

The rest of the report was fine. Asa is doing well; he had a little rash that cleared up, he's peaceful and joyful, he is beginning to communicate, he has good sleep and good appetite . It's funny to read the reports, which are written in kind of a broken English. They say the same thing almost every month but it's cute.


What a lovely month. And it has 29 days this year!! One extra day for them to work on getting files out. ;o)

Asa's Crazy Family...

Asa's orphanage puts family pictures over the children's beds. I took laminated collage posters (made at costco.com) when I went in October and December. It's time for our little guy to get some new photos! A group is going to Haiti in a few weeks and I'm sending a poster down with another mom (thank you, April!) so he'll have some new scenery. This is what Asa will be looking at when he goes to sleep and wakes up...

I can't tell you how many pictures I have with me making this strange face. When I see a camera, I'm overcome with the urge to stick out my tongue. But Asa needs to be fully aware of what a weirdo his mommy is. I'm just trying to keep it real for him. No need to pretend we're normal. Oh, and don't you love Camden's sweet bowl cut? I did. That changed about two weeks ago when he cut a small chunk of hair off the front. He's the first of my children to do that. I used to brag that my kids had never 1) drawn on the walls or 2) cut their own hair. Cam broke my streak. I'm mourning the loss of his little boy hair & he's now sporting a cute new "big boy" haircut. It's growing on me. Before and After pictures here.

This is Allyson and Chloe cross stitching. We're homeschoolers, you know, so I'm instilling in them the womanly art of needlework. They fashion all of our clothes out of handloomed fabric. After this picture was taken, they churned some butter, practiced for the national spelling bee and conversed in fluent Latin. No wait, none of that ever happened (except the cross stitching).

This was taken when we went to Kentucky for Christmas and that is my Grandpa Nash. He's a genius; a Bible scholar who has written quite a few books and was a Greek professor for many years. And I wouldn't joke about that.

Excuse me while I shed a tear, again, for the bowl cut.

This is me and my teen (also taken in Kentucky at Christmas). Sorry I was too lazy to flip this. I'm using my laptop to suck these pictures right off the server in Jim's office - and they're a pain to edit. I'm sure that's by design because Jim knows I could accidentally delete all of them or something. I'm pretty useless when it comes to technical stuff and my hubby (a computer guru) is fully aware of this. I require his IT services frequently. I also make dumb faces for the camera and don't teach my children Latin. And look at those ripped jeans on my poor daughter! This is what you have to look forward to, Asa.

Chloe. What a sweetie. Our family does have few redeeming qualities.

You may notice that Jim is conspicuously missing from these pictures. That's because he's usually the photographer. Allyson has coined the term "Papa-razzi" because he's a dad who loves to use the burst feature on our camera - click click click click click. I did manage to get one picture of him that made it onto the poster but he'd be embarrassed if I posted it here. I may not know how to mend my 15 year old's jeans - but I do know this: don't ever embarrass your computer support person. At least not if you want to continue blogging. ;o)

One Year Ago...

We realized that it was time.

It was one year ago today that I began e-mailing agencies so we could begin this adoption process. After almost seven years of hoping to adopt from Haiti and one false start in 2006 (we requested brochures and DVD's from a few agencies but, for some unknown reason, just stopped pursuing it) I'm not really sure what prompted us on January 29th, 2007. But I do know it was more than our own desires or understanding.

I was walking through our foyer with a basket of laundry when I just felt compelled to gather all the information I could and really begin to move forward with a Haitian adoption. So I yelled to Jim who was working upstairs in his office: "I'm going online to research some adoption agencies...."

Honestly, it had been months since we had talked about it and a full year since we had given it serious consideration. So I expected his response to be a little more surprised or negative but he said something like "Okay, let me know what you find out..."

And so began this blog a little over one week later. :o)

We've seen God's hand on this adoption from the beginning. If we had begun the previous year, we would have never found the absolutely amazing orphanage with which we're working. It wasn't being run by the current organization and I don't think our agency even dealt with them at that point. We definitely would not have found our Asa - he was a newborn and still with his birth family. If we had waited another year and started the process now, our agency wouldn't even work with us since we have three biological children and they're only accepting applications from those with two. It's very possible that, with the new laws being proposed, our dream of adopting from Haiti would have never come true had we waited much longer.

So today, I'm just feeling incredibly grateful that I got that little nudge one year ago. This is why:

This Weekend...

While we were planning a surprise birthday party for Jim and he was unwittingly trying to sabotage the whole thing, a wonderful event took place...

The Eimers family posted a fantastic homecoming update on their blog. I've been following their Ukrainian adoption story for quite some time and promise that you'll be blessed and inspired by it, as well.