Bittersweet changes

She turns 6 and leaves for first grade all in one month. It is just too much for a mom to handle. I will honestly say homeschooling crossed my mind just so I do not have to give her up for the entire day. I am amazed at how fast 6 years has gone. God has given her so many gifts. She is sensitive, passionate, hardworking, organized (I love this about her), and a good leader (I see teaching in her future). We thank God for this beautiful gift.

AGCI Picnic

We attended the AGCI picnic this past Saturday. Jason couldn't attend due to soccer coaching, so I took my sister in law and niece Lily. There was snow cones, a blow up jumper, an animal balloon maker, bubbles, squirt guns, and great company. The girls had a great time! I enjoyed meeting other adoptive families. I even knew a few people there because I follow their blog. It was instant connection. I loved seeing all of the beautiful adopted children. There were three or four Ethiopian little boys there, and I couldn't help up get excited to have a cutie of my own someday. I also got to meet one of the caseworkers for AGCI and count it a blessing. I am thankful God led us to such a wonderful agency.

Officially Waiting

We are officially on the waiting list! I am going to copy other blogs that I have seen and update our numbers by using pics from the web.
We are officially #.....

on the boy's list.

I know this seems like a big number, but our case worker explained it to us this way:

1. There is only one list and there could be many families in front of you that could also be open to a boy and girl and even siblings. No matter what gender (or number) the child placed with those families that will positively impact your number. This is important to know because for instance, if you are #25 on the girls list then that does not necessarily mean that there needs to be 24 girls placed for you to be number 1.

2. Also, these numbers are a way for you to mark progress but also please remember that we do not always place in the order of the numbers. For each placement we will always look at many factors, health of the child, ages of children currently in the home etc. This is why we do share that it is important to remain flexible with these numbers.

These facts make the #60 not seem so far away. We did also hear the wait time has increased to 12-18 months. I will admit this seems like a long time, but I do need to remember it is God's timing not ours. As my blog description says, He already knows the child he has chosen for our family. This brings peace. I do understand this will not come without frustration. It will be interesting to see how the girls do with this long wait. When Jason and I found out our paperwork was accepted, we were jumping up and down. The girls immediately responded the same and yelling, "We are going to get our brother!!!" We had to explain to them that it will still be a long wait, but God is in charge and He will guide us to our "little man".

Great News!!!

Everything for our dossier is accepted!!!! We are so excited!!!! The only thing left is to get the home study notarized again (small mistake by the notary). I am hoping that we will be on the waiting list by Monday. I am not sure that is even possible. Thank you to all of you prayed. I know it is all in God's timing. It is definitely a weight lifted off my shoulders.

All we can do is PRAY

I am sorry it took me so long to post after we sent in our dossier. As predicted, we had three things that had to be redone. I did not feel this was too bad, except we were at a cottage with my husband's family which meant it was a bit difficult to get papers signed and notarized. I will say up to this point the past month has been the most stressful. Every detail has to match and be correct in order for the dossier to be excepted. My husband and I tend to overlook the details, so it is amazing we only had a few papers to redo. I am going to overnight the papers tomorrow and pray that all is well and we can be put on the waiting list. I am so ready to start the next part of this process, even if it is just waiting. Please say a prayer tomorrow that all is good and we can be one step closer to bringing home our "little man".

I can breathe...but only for a moment

Our dossier(a collection of papers giving detailed information about a person) was sent yesterday! I will admit it was a crabby mom day. I ran all over Grand Rapids to get this finally put together, and had to bring my three munchkins with me. My van is acting up so I had to fit all three girls in the back of the car. Cars are not meant for three car seats. The day consisted of buckling, unbuckling, wiping bloody lips, stopping for the girls to use the bathroom due to tickle wars in the cramped backseat, and lastly sweating constantly due to extreme heat index. I talked with our caseworker, and she informed me that it would be likely that some of the paperwork would have to be redone. As you can imagine this is very discouraging. I am definitely sick of the paper chase part of this journey. I am so thankful however, that our agency and caseworker take the time to look over our dossier carefully to be sure there are no mistakes. I would rather have this than for it to go got Ethiopia and be sent back. This means we are one step closer to being put on the waiting list. I love to hear people talk about what number they are on the waiting list. It will be great to be given and number and know we are at least in the running!