4 Months Down, 4 To Go!

We’ve now officially been on the wait list for 4 months! Gladney says the average wait time is currently 8 months, so we’ve got another 4 months before we receive our referral. Still a ways to go, but at least we’re half way there!

With 4 months on the wait list still ahead of us, plus another 2-3 months after that before we actually travel to Ethiopia . . . we’re looking at 7-8 months before we actually bring our child(ren) home. Because of that I had told myself I wasn’t going to start on the nursery until January. Well, this weekend I broke my own rule. I got inspired from a picture I saw on someone else’s blog (see below) and when you get inspired you just have to run with it because it could be awhile before inspiration hits again.

Of course, I’m putting my own flare on the room, but I did find a Jenny Lind style crib (as shown in the picture) for free on Craigslist and “yes” I am painting it yellow! No pics of my own to post yet, but stay tuned . . . I will be sure to share.

Click on the picture to see additional pics of this adorable room, or go to http://www.ohdeedoh.com for even more inspiration.

Halloween 2009 – Disco baby!

We had a great time at our Pastor’s Halloween party on Friday night. Below are some pics of us with our small group. Wow, last Halloween without kids! Next year we’ll be dressing up our kiddo or kiddos!

The prettiest little red riding hood that I ever did see.

Too many jello shots . . .

Humanitarian Aid Opportunity

Our adoption agency, Gladney has been able to access free shipping of several crates to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  They have several infant incubators which a local Children’s Hospital donated that will be going in the crates, but they would like to fill the remainder of the crates with diapers, wipes, hand sanitizer, and baby carriers from www.diapers.com. They deliver diapers, wipes, and other baby necessities at great prices with fast free shipping (if you order $49 or more).

If you would like to help by donating items, you can enter the Referral Code “Gladney” on the shopping cart screen at www.diapers.com, and you’ll get an extra $10 off your first order of diapers with a $49 minimum purchase.

Remember the Referral Code: Gladney

When ordering items, please have them shipped directly to Gladney at this address by November 15th:

Gladney Center for Adoption, Attn: Scott Brown, 6300 John Ryan Drive, Fort Worth, Texas 76132

Here is a list of the products the children and in-country caregivers need which you can find by clicking on the links below:

 Babyganics Germinator Hand Sanitizer – 250 ml - http://www.diapers.com/ Product/ProductDetail.aspx?productId=16258

 Huggies Snug and Dry Diapers – Extra Large Case – (sizes needed size 1 through size 3) – http://www.diapers.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?productId=3

 Huggies Natural Care Fragrance Free Baby Wipes – 360 Count Refill - http:// www.diapers.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?productId=8145

 Baby Bjorn Baby Carrier Original – City Black - http://www.diapers.com/Product/ ProductDetail.aspx?productId=7710

3 Months and Counting . . .

3 months (and a half actually) waiting . . . 5 or 6 more months to go!

My apologies to our blog followers. I realize it’s been way too long since our last post, but there’s a good reason for that actually. Those that have been down this road, may relate . . . it’s called survival.

Once we were put on the wait list, I needed to check out of adoption world for awhile. The paper-chase did a number on my heart and soul, so in an effort to merely survive the looonngggg wait ahead of us . . . I needed to forget about adoption for awhile and focus my attention elsewhere.

So what have we been doing? Below are some pictures from the last 3 months.

Baby Alison

On August 7th, Travis’ sister had a baby, so we welcomed our first niece into the world!

Baby Alison - 24 hrs old

Proud Uncle

Travis’ 30th Birthday

On September 5th, Travis turned 30! He’s been looking forward to turning 30 for 2 years now. He thinks he’s now a distinguished adult. Hum? What do you think based on the picture below?

Our family and good friends joined us for dinner at Trav’s’ favorite restaurant . . . BJ’s.

Wilson kiddos climbing all over Trav at his B-day

Quebec

On September 19th I attended a conference for work in Quebec City, Canada. We’ve been saving up frequent flyer miles, so Travis got to tag along!

If you’ve never been to Quebec, it’s a beautiful city! It’s a little taste of France and I highly recommend a visit.

Chateau Frontenac - Quebec

Did you know that Quebec is the only walled city within Canada and the US?

Lower Town, Quebec

A very little door and apparently I wear this shirt too much

Orlando

On October 12th, Travis and I headed to Orlando, Florida! I had another conference to attend, so we decided to take advantage of being in Orlando and took a mini vacation after the conference. We were lame and didn’t bring a real camera, just a disposable . . . so as soon as we get those pics developed, I will be sure to share. Stay tuned . . .

Anniversary

On October 2oth, Travis and I celebrated 8 years of marriage! I cannot believe it’s been 8 years already. I am so blessed to be married to my best friend.

October 20th, 2001

A Heart Warming Tale

This young man was at the Ethiopian adoption picnic that we attended yesterday in Denver.  His story is a great reminder of the power of adoption.

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_12486695

Special Delivery

Onechosen.org (ONE*C) was founded by us to raise orphan awareness in Africa through selling original apparel for babies and kids. 100% of our profits are used to cover adoption costs, as well as provide much needed resources to orphanages in Ethiopia.

We are excited to share that through the generosity of family, friends, and a handful of strangers . . . 39 onesies and 29 toddler tees were delivered recently to an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Our friends, Jared & Emily Wilson got to do the honors when picking up their new baby boy.

Below are a few pictures from their trip.

Best of the Web Galleries

OneChosen.org is featured on a “Best of the Web” design gallery. Check us out on CSS Mania and also on Static-Romance.org.

Graduation Party at the Rio

My sister Stacy just completed her master’s degree in Education from the University of Colorado at Boulder! Below are some pics from our celebration time at the Rio Grande Restaurant in Boulder.

Two is better than one

During our home study, we decided to go ahead and get approved for two kids (siblings) . . . just in case God had two kids in mind for our family. We thought we’d leave it open and if it came up, we’d pray about it. Knowing that the chances of being matched with siblings would be slim, if we didn’t request it. To be honest, the thought of one child was frightening enough, but two at one time . . . one most likely already walking and talking and the other in diapers. Such different needs. How would we ever manage? Surely God would give us the strength if that was His plan.

Well, the further we got into the ‘paper chase’ of the adoption process, the more and more two kids started to sound like a good idea. With how long this process takes, we’d have to immediately start all over again to get #2 as soon as we brought home #1. Not how we want to spend the first year with our child. Then, there’s the expense of it all. $30,000 is not easy to come up with . . . and to have to come up with it all over again! Yikes! Siblings require a small additional fee, plus the cost of a plane ticket for the oldest child.

So, those are the practicalities our of decision, but looking at it as parents and what’s best for our child (children) . . . to grow up in a foreign land with foreign people is hard, period. Having your own flesh and blood along for the journey, can at least ease the hardship and help with self identity. They would always have each other.

As we prayed about our decision and weighed the pros and cons . . . the only thing keeping us from siblings was ‘fear’, and what does God’s word have to say about fear? 2 Timothy 1:7 says,  “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”. A spirit of fearfulness and timidity does not come from God. And Isaiah 41:10, says, “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Often we fear the future and what will become of us. But Jesus reminds us that God cares for the birds of the air, so how much more will He provide for His children? “So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:31). We will surely need to be reminded of these verses when we finally bring our children home.

So, here’s what we officially requested on our dossier: Siblings boy and girl. One under 12 months and one under 3 years.

Ready . . . Set . . . Wait!

I am exciting to say that as of July 17, 2009 at 1:15pm we are FINALLY on the wait list!!! That’s adoption talk for, “second trimester”. However, leading up to this momentous day, was anything but easy. This process has been one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to do. At times it has just felt impossible. It has taken us nearly a year to collect 26 documents. Each document with a long list of details not to be overlooked. So imagine our excitement when the very last document arrived in the mail on June 26th! We could finally turn in our dossier . . . or so we thought. To our surprise three documents had to be re-done and then re-done again. Two weeks passed before our dossier was once again complete, however, still required authentication by the Secretary of State. Unfortunately our first attempt at the Secretary of State was unsuccessful . . . two of our notary statements were incorrect and had to be re-done. Two more days passed and we tried again. Finally everything was correct. We picked up our authenticated dossier the very next day and sent it overnight to our case worker. The next afternoon, we received an email saying we were on the wait list!!!

What a journey it has been and we still have a long way to go. 8 months of waiting ahead of us before we receive a referral for a baby. Then another 3-4 months before we travel to Ethiopia to bring our baby home. It’ll be worth every minute, hour, day and year! Can’t wait . . . but I guess we’ll have to.