Baby Birdies

Still no referral, but the dove outside the nursery windows is a mama! Actually, shortly after I took the last photos, I noticed the little baby birds in the nest. They're growing by the day!

Dinner Conversation

Me: So, this whole waiting for a referral thing is starting to get kind of old.

Him: Ya think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's where we are in our journey. Each new day feels like another opportunity for hope, but by about 4pm when the phone hasn't rung with news again, well it's just getting so monotonous. It's like a daily roller coaster ride, and I fear that hope is starting to feel like a phony friend--like Lucy was to Charlie Brown--"Sure, I'll hold the football in place for you!...Not!" But like Charlie Brown, I keep running toward that ball over and over again, because I know that one day, she won't pull the ball away, and I will make contact with that ball, and all those other times that were fake-outs won't matter because I held out hope and hope finally came through.

It's sort of like that.

I don't mean to sound like a pity party. I really am doing okay. I know in my head that one day very soon our phone will ring and there will be good news! And I definitely am hopeful about that!

It's more the journey of the heart. It's the daily wondering of "Will today be the day? Maybe today? Or maybe today?" Now matter how you try to guard it or try to tell it to be sensible, the heart hopes. It hoped today. And tomorrow it will hope again. And no matter how many days in a row that hope is dashed...well, the heart is a bit of a glutton for punishment.

Because the thing is? The heart knows that it's day is coming. And just as with the pain of childbirth, the joy of that day will overshadow the pain of waiting, if it doesn't erase it all together.

Mary Poppins Moment

I had a total Mary Poppins moment today when I looked out the window of the room that will be our nursery to see this lovely lady sitting atop her nest!

Maybe we'll become mothers around the same time. Come on referral!

A Happy Homecoming for our Friends!

I've mentioned before that we are part of a wonderful small group at our church called Orphans' Hope. Many of the families who are part of our group are adoptive families, and it is so exciting when we get to celebrate a new adoption within our group. On Friday, our dear friends came home from Kazakhstan with their two beautiful newly adopted children. Our group and some other friends gathered at their house to welcome them home.

It was so exciting to see their minivan approaching the house:

But this was the moment when I couldn't hold back the tears... Mama getting out of the car with her son:

It was like the best block party ever!

Lots of hugs!

Here is Mama with her sweet baby girl:
And Papa with his beautiful son:

Welcome home, friends! We're so blessed to be a part of your journey, and we look forward to getting to know your newest family members!

Seven Months!

Today marks seven months on the waiting list. The average wait time for families (adopting an infant from Ethiopia) to be matched with their baby is around nine months, but in the past week, five families have received referrals--that's a lot for one week!

Very quickly, we've seen our name get closer and closer to the top of the "unofficial" wait list! There are two families ahead of us waiting for referrals for an infant. Both families have requested "either gender" and so have we!

I've been e-mailing almost daily with the Busters, who are currently in the #1 spot on the unofficial wait list for both a boy and a girl! I can't wait to find out who their little one will be!

Needless to say, things have gotten much more exciting! We are still guarding our hearts, as things could slow down as quickly as they seem to have speeded up, but it is possible that we could be getting "the call" pretty soon!

Please pray for us and for the other waiting families--that God will protect our children as they wait for their forever families, and also that He would place the children in the families that He has in mind for them!

I'll try to update a little more frequently now that we are nearing the top of the list!