Hopefully, It was only a dream~

Yieks, woke up this morning in a complete panic! I had just had an"adding a fourth child" dream...maybe more of a nightmare! I dreamed that we had gotten a phone call, telling us they had the baby and were dropping her off in a matter of minutes (number one clue this was a dream!!). It was early morning and I was trying to get everyone packed up and out the door. I dropped everything to try and find a car seat and formula! She was suddenly in my arms and I was trying to get everyone in the car to get to school. I had her in this old scary car seat and kept looking at her thinking that I really needed to feed her! We got to school and I had to run around the building finding leaves for the kids lunches because I hadn't had time to pack them anything else...(once again...crazy dream!) I was ticked because I didn't have my Moby Wrap (fabulous baby carrier) and my hands were full of baby and leaves. My mom showed up and offered to hold the baby, but I said only I could hold her because we had to bond and I had to figure out how to feed her...so mom put her hands on her hips, threw some leaves at me and said "you got yourself into this mess, you'll have to figure it out!" and left! (another sign this was a terrible dream) I woke up at this point. I think Freud would have a hey-day!

Here's my analysis...I am a little freaked out about bottle feeding...having only nursed. Life is pretty chaotic and I didn't think I was too concerned about adding a baby, but maybe my subconcious has another take on that! Packing lunches is always a pain in the butt and always a crazy time of the am, I must need to add some creativity! My parents are moving home to MN, I can find myself already planning to rely on them a ton (maybe more than they are aware :) ) and I know THE phone call is a long way off, and I am wishing it were closer. All I know is she sure was a beautiful little girl!

Referrals continue to be in limbo. It seems like our wait might stretch closer to 7 months than 5 months. So just hoping we have this little one in our arms before summer.

Off to think of some more creative lunches and read up on bottle feeding...

Worthy causes

This link was posted on the forum today. I found the video wonderful and the work that is being done on behalf of these women, so important. So many of the children that need to be placed for adoption, are placed because there is no food, no way for them to be supported. It iss making changes in the day to day lives of these families that can lead to significant changes! So check this out!

http://www.globalcolors.org/fuelwoodcarriers.html

Another organization I feel very strongly about is Ethiopia Reads. There was just a wonderful article about this group in Good Housekeeping. It was in the Oct issue, so if you haven't grabbed it yet, do before it is off the shelves. To learn more about this great program go to:

www.ethiopiareads.org

I will continue to research ways we can all make a difference in Ethiopia!

:)

Our Missing Piece

We had a fun family get together yesterday. The kids were rowdy, chasing around with their cousins, the kitchen was full of moms, and dogs and great smells, the table was packed with food, laughter, and conversation...and yet, as full of a day as it was...I couldn't stop thinking of the missing member. Talk turned to summer and plans for the lake..."We're reserved and paid up" grandpa announced...all I could think is will she be here by then? This morning at church, one of our friends stopped me and said, "I hear big things are coming up!" I thought he was talking about us singing in the next service....he was talking about my daughter! Another older lady, stopped me and smiled.."Each time you come to church, I always look to see if she is here yet!" I reassured her that everyone will know when she has a name and a face. There have not been many referrals in the last few weeks. We are # 63 on the unofficial list (which makes us about 120 on the big list) It is looking more like a 7 month wait to referral than a 5 month wait! Some days the wait is so hard.

Part of my solace in all of this is reading other blogs, and our Ethiopian adoption forum. I stumbled across a blog of a woman from Duluth who is currently living in Addis, working for an NGO and volunteering at an orphanage. Her stories of abandoned children, orphans left on doorsteps, and little children taking care of other little children brought tears to my eyes and a fervent prayer to my heart. God, bring these children hope....be it food, a warm blanket, or a family. As we prepare more for our trip, I am researching what more we will do. We are so blessed, and our adopting of this daughter will help her, but there are so many left behind. So stay tuned...If you are reading this, you have been called to take some part in this journey, too...it's a big calling, and one we cannot afford to let go unanswered.

I-171H Approval!

What the heck is that you are wondering??? It means we have been deemed acceptable to bring an orphan into the country. We have now crossed the next hurdle of approval! Yeah!

I had a great dream about Ellia last night. I haven't really had many dreams about her yet...dreams about the process but not about her. She had this gorgeous cork-screw curl hair and the most amazing eyes. I was packing her diaper bag and choosing what outfits she was going to wear that day. I woke up with a warm longing in my heart!

It was kind of humorous, yesterday at the shop, I was having a slow hour and was re-arranging the doll display. I carry an adorable soft baby with beautiful corkscrew hair. I held her and talked to Ellia in my ever so quiet shop. Later, I was checking out a sample diaper bag, thinking about it's practicality and if I would ever use it. I guess I tucked those moments into my sub-conscious and they became the stuff of dreams! So glad I have a job that leaves happy thoughts in my head to dream about!

Dad and Josh went on a Cub Scout camping trip last night. The previous night they had been getting out the supplies and all 4 boys were sitting in the driveway being completely male. I shouted down from the upstairs window...."This is why we are adopting a GIRL!" I must admit that I do feel left out of their little world sometimes. I am not wired the same, I just can't get excited about motors and snakes, and frogs. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I am looking forward to parenting a daughter (and yes, all you nay-sayers...she could turn out to be a total tom-boy...but atleast she'll bring a little estrogen to the mix!)

It's 90 here in MN on October 6th! Whatever! The boys are going boating, I am working...if you're in the area...drop in! I would love to chat!

One Month Down...how many to go??

Not sure where that month of waiting went! Holy Moly it went fast thank goodness! I think time will continue to zip by until about January...then the wait is going to be down right painful. It still feels so incredibly surreal that we will have a baby in the house in as little as 7 months. WOW. And that we will be traveling to Africa!

A bit about the trip...once we get the referral, all of her paperwork goes through court and then we are given a travel date. It seems like this is usually 8-12 weeks after the referral. They try to give you about 4 weeks to plan for travel, but it has been shorter and longer. We will most likely leave MN and travel to DC to catch an Ethiopia Air flight. This seems to be what most people traveling from MN are doing. The flight from DC lands to re-fuel in Rome and then lands in Addis Abbaba. I can't quite imagine being on a plane for that long! I will need to save up some great books and hopefully will get an i-pod for b-day or Christmas to block out some of that airplane noise.

Once in Addis, we will stay at our agency's guest house. This will be a great experience. It sounds sort of like a combo of Survivor meets amazing race...meets summer camp...meets labor and delivery! I can only begin to imagine what an awesome experience it will be! I will go into more details on the trip later...for now I am off to celebrate one month down...and take in a gorgeous fall day!

Thanks for reading!