Thursday, August 23, 2007


Just in case you were wondering who Viggo is. He is a purebred rough collie. He is 10 weeks old and we have had him for a little over 2 weeks. He is very cute, sweet and smart. He is however a baby, and along with that comes a lot of baby things...like poop! Here he is laying with a stuffed version of himself.

The wheels on the process go 'round and 'round.....

Very Very Slowly..........................

But we got great news today!

Our Dossier was put into final form and it will be shipped to Ethiopia in the morning. We have been added to the child referral waiting list. There are several other families requesting children in the same age range as our family who had their Dossiers sent to Ethiopia in the last two months.

That is nerve wracking....but there is nuttin to do but wait.

Approximately 30 children will be joining their adoptive families in the coming month. This will leave additional room at Layla House for new children to be admitted. A new waiting child video will be put together and should be available in mid to late September and we have been added to the video shipping list.

We have enough to do in the next few weeks into September with Viggo our newest addition, PTA, soccer, school, Cross Country, so I guess this is good. I have faith that the right children are out there for us. I reluctantly put it into God's hands....LOL

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Trying Not To Be Crazy

No information, no paperwork, no requests for fingerprints....just plain nuttin. I think this is part of the process. Not a fun part of the process, but necessary? I am trying to no be crazy. I check my email way too much, waiting for a referral...waiting for anything!


Here is an entry from Two More Waals. They are a family who have had their children for about a month. This entry was especially heart wretching and warming in a weird way. Visit their site to learn more about their journey.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

A Few Steps Back
For the first two full weeks things have gone much better than we ever expected. Neti and Meke's integration into the family felt complete. Still does. However, we've hit a bump in the road as of late.We first noticed a change in Neti just a few days ago. During the day you wouldn't notice a difference. She still picks up new English words every day. She makes jokes ("Daddy little, Neti BIIIIIGGGG!" - giggle). She tickles her sisters, sings along with Bob and Larry, squeals in amusement at anything new, and regularly flashes a toothless smile while throwing her head back with yet another infectious giggle. Bedtime introduces a different world. No longer does Neti find rest quickly. Instead, she spends the better part of an hour (or more) laying on her side, eyes glassy, sleep elusive. She's lost in a world only an orphan of her age could understand.It seems grief has caught up to our little girl after being held at bay by scores of distractions thrown at her by the new world she's found herself in. What's she grieving? Can't say for sure. The old country with the busy streets? The food? Her friends at the orphanage? The smell? Her bed? Her teachers? Her language? Culture? She's lost all these things in a very short time period. What about the death of Mom and Dad? When a child of 6 assumes the role of Mom, does she bypass the grief process because of the added weight of responsibility? Who know's what Neti's grieving? And who knows how long she's held it in? Meke hasn't slept as well either. She tosses and turns. She wakes up crying and sweaty. Last night she fell out of bed. Then she woke up at 5:30 and didn't want to go back to sleep. But when the sun comes up things renew. Happy Neti and Bouncy Meke attack the day with the intensity of a child on Christmas morning. The video clips of giggling girls that many of you have watched over and over repeat themselves in realtime on a daily basis. During the day you wouldn't know that something heavy is rolling around inside those little heads.I know this is a normal part of the process. With things going so well I though we had somehow leapfrogged the inevitable. Now here we are, dealing with the grief of two little girls. Don't interpret this entry as a complaint, disappointment, or a play for sympathy. It's just to keep you informed. This is what we expected. This is what we signed up to do. We ask for your prayers for our grieving girls.



http://www.twomorewaals.blogspot.com/


We/I am moving all our bedrooms around. What a mess. I have to remind myself though that there is no hurry. It has taken too much time to do, probably meaning we have too much "stuff".

We did get a dog. All I can say is that is has been a COMPLETE disruption. He is extremely cute and smart......and a baby. Hmmmm I know there is absolutely no comparison between puppies and adoption BUT........

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

We are back and the Ethiopian government is closing!

A 10 day wonderful slice of my life dissapeared while in Germany and Italy! We had a glorious time. While I was gone, I tried to leave my musing over the "childeren" at home. However, I took the book "There Is No Me Without You" along. It really is a great read. Easy to read, uplifting, and very heartbreatking. While in Venice we met a family at our hotel who are long term missionaries in Africa. They run an orphanage there. The children are not set for adoption. They live there. While I think what we are doing is a very good thing, I hope that in the future more nationals will adopt from Africa. There are so many orphaned children right now though, that I think whatever can be done should be. It is such a complicated issue.

On the homefront, here is part of an email I recieved from AAI.

"Your Dossier cover document was sent to the State Department and Ethiopian Embassy in Washington D.C. for Authentication. It typically takes 4 weeks for this document to be returned. Once we have the authenticated document, I will assemble the Dossier and ship to Ethiopia."

VERY EXCITING!

Now we are waiting for a referral. That can come from us finding children we want from the waiting children video, or from AAI searching and finding us a match. The video does not show children in exactly the age range we want. Lots are older and younger than we are looking for. Seems like we are talking about it like we are shopping. We aren't. I am pretty sure that we will KNOW when we see them. This whole thing is going to be challenging enough, we don't want to take on more issues than our family can handle.
That is all for now!