Good news, good friends, good weekend

I had a good weekend, largely do to receiving the good news that our report was done, and good friends and some other reasons, I'll share. ;)  That's right, folks! The report, we've been so patiently waiting for, is DONE! Getting news of that on Friday definitely helped start the weekend off!  If all goes well, we will be applying, the end of this week, with USCIS.  I know I've said this several times before, but I'll say it again...I can't wait to finally be done with paperwork, and finally be on the waiting list! Paperwork is no fun, yet I know it is necessary to bring our baby home, therefore it SO worth it!
Also, on Friday, we received our first piece of furniture for our baby!! (thanks mom and dad)  I love receiving anything for our baby, it feels so good, not just because it's a gift, (I mean who doesn't love a gift), but it makes everything more real to me.
I love it! It rocks back and forth, AND turns side-to-side! haha! The little things always get me.  :)
How I can't wait to sit in that chair and rock back and forth, back and forth, how I can't wait to be so tired and sleep deprived. The things I long for...

Saturday night we had dinner with the Lewis family, who are a great inspiration and support for Shaun and I, being that they too have adopted from Ethiopia.  It's so refreshing talking with those who understand your frustrations, fears, excitement, moments of joy, and heart for adoption...not to mention they were ever so kind to buy us a baby book for our precious one. I love it, because it is tailored for families who adopt, another way to help us share our story.
I have few pics of it below.   :)

Lastly, on Sunday evening, we had dinner with Des and Robert, dear friends of Shaun and I. Dinner with them is always great, largely because we have such good conversations and Robert is a pretty a good cook. While they were in New Hampshire, visiting Des' family, they bought our little one a onezie, and I must say that I LOVE what is says!

Over dinner, Des and I were talking and she said something that really resonated within me.

We were talking about just how difficult it is to wait for something that your heart, your soul, your body yearns for. She, too, had her struggles becoming a mom.  In the midst of our conversation, she said, "Angel, I would of waited ten years, twenty years for Mason...he is worth the wait and so much more." 

I love that.

I love how there are moments when someone will say something to you, and it hits you, it just does something within you. 

In closing, I just want to say that God is good. He always provides, in His own way and in His own timing, He provides exactly what we need. He works through others, through us, to teach us, and to show us His way. God is good. 

-angel 

perspective

Hello Family and Friends,

An update...
We are still waiting for our social worker to send us our report, we are going on 7 weeks of waiting for this report.  We were told it would be done within 3-4 weeks. My patience is wearing thin, but there isn't much I can do.  We did hear from her on Friday, and she said we would have it by the afternoon, however, we have yet to of received it.  I'm really hoping we receive it any day now. We can not move forward without it.

I had a couple of "hard" days over the past 7 weeks, because to me every day that I'm waiting is a day longer of me being a mama and a day longer of being separated from our precious one.  On one of "those" days, Shaun so simply reminded me of one thing: God's timing.  He just said, "you know I think that every one of these set backs is a blessing." I've thought about what he said and realized that I really need to work on changing my perspective, at times. I have such a "type A" personality and it can be very difficult for me to leave things to other people, but I what I need to realize is that faith in God means faith in His timing. If I can focus my trust and faith in Him then I will find rest in this process.
Not to say that I can't send friendly e-mail reminders and phone calls! :)
Once we receive the report, Shaun and I will read through it to make sure everything is factually correct, and then we will get it notarized, and send it with our USCIS application. After that, we will wait for an estimated two months to hear back from the government. Once we have heard back from the government we will send all our dossier paperwork to Ethiopia and officially begin the waiting process of our journey.
I'll just be thrilled to be on the waiting list. I'm about sick of paperwork and getting things notarized!
In leaving, I'll leave a pic of Shaun and I wearing our shirts! :-)  They turned our great! If you ordered one, it's on its way!!!!!
As always, we thank each of you for your support!

Angel 

Thoughtful Gifts

The past week I was with my family, celebrating the holidays. I LOVED every moment of it.  There is something about being home and just being together; nothing planned, just hanging out, eating good food, good wine, music, conversation...priceless.  

Of course Shaun and I are focused on our adoption, and others who share similar experiences, so my sister, Christie, bought shirts from another family, who like Shaun and I, are trying to raise money for their adoption. I have a picture of the shirt below, but it's kind of hard to read the scripture that's written on the shirt. So below I have a picture of the sweet letter my sister wrote, and the scripture is written in the letter.

I think I like my sister's letter more than anything. 

I also got another thoughtful gift from my great friend, Desi Meza.  It's a scarf, but the neat thing about it is that she did some research and found an organization called, FashionABLE (www.fashionable.com)

The scarf is made from women in Africa, Ethiopia included, and it helps to sustain women with job opportunities. If you have a chance, check out their website. Great idea for meaningful gifts.  Here's a pic with me wearing the scarf, before we headed out! :-) They come in all different colors!

Hope each of you had a Merry Christmas! 

As always, we thank everyone for their support and love.

-Angel 

Support is a beautiful thing

So, an update...

We are waiting for our social worker to send us our written report. I'm hoping that it will be done this week! We shall see.
Once we have the report, we can then apply through Immigrations with the United States, for adoption from a foreign country.  Once we submit our application and our home-study to the US Government, we will have to wait 30-60 days, before we can move forward...basically we are just waiting on others at this point, and will continue to for quite some time.
It's very difficult waiting on other people, especially when it comes to something like this.  I think we all have a hard time waiting on others, or just waiting period. I'm going to need to start embracing this feeling, or otherwise I'm going to have a very difficult time through this journey.  
I would LOVE to be on the "waiting list" by February. I would LOVE it...but who knows! So much of this process is not up to me, I have to place my trust in the Lord and know that His timing is perfect.  Not always an easy task.

On another note, we have such great support around us. Shaun's dad has decided to do a set up a little fundraiser to help us out!  For those of you who may not know, not only do you have to jump through hoops to "prove" you are a "good" parent, but there is a whole other side of adoption called EXPENSIVE!  It will cost Shaun and I $33,000 to adopt internationally. So, obviously, if we don't plan on going into serious credit card debt, we need to start getting creative and think of some more ways to get some support.
With that being said, Shaun's dad owns an automotive repair shop out in Canyon Lake, so he started a little something to help us out.
Shaun and I printed out little Africa countries, and we also created a short little bio about what we are doing.  Every person who buys an Africa ($5) there name goes into a drawing that is done monthly.  If your name is drawn, then you get a free oil change/service for you car!  I'm so thankful that we have people around us who are supporting us, in all ways they can think of.
Here is a picture of the set up :-)

Shaun and I are researching and trying to think of another way we can possibly get some extra support.
I think we have figured out an idea, and hopefully over the holidays we will get everything up on our blog and others can support our journey, too! :-)

Thanks everyone who reads about our journey. Your support, kind words, prayers and thoughts mean a lot to our family.
Many Blessings,
angel

Keep Your Eye on The Prize!

Family.
I love my family, for many reasons. They are my biggest supporters and greatest strength.  They are the ones that I feel most secure with.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, they surprised Shaun and I with an Ethiopian baby shower.  To see all the excitement, support and joy for us meant more to Shaun and I than we can begin to explain.  It made this Thanksgiving a very special one. Everyone bought a children's book and wrote a sweet message to our baby that we will one day read to them.  I can't wait till the day comes and I can read every one of those children's books to our baby.  What joy that brings to me! :-)  The only thing that could of made this shower that much more special would of been to have my sister, Candis, there, but she was an intricate part of the planning, and that was awesome to know!
Here are some pictures that I want to share on this blog, as part of documenting our journey.

Absolutely surprised! 

Greatest mom and dad a girl could ask for. Love you.

Sophia wrote, "I can't wait to meet you. I love you."

Love this picture. Captured a precious moment!

Family...missing a few though...

Love all of you.

-Angel

small steps will add up

We have two meetings down, with our social worker, and two more to go, which are already "in the books" for next week! :)  Every little "meeting" I can check off, means we are one step, however small, closer to meeting our little one!
Here's a picture of the stack of paperwork we turned in yesterday.

As we were leaving today's meeting, I grabbed my purse, Shaun followed behind me and our social worker stopped us at her front door and said..."You know Mitchell family, I've never had a couple who on the first meeting turned in all but one of the items required for their paperwork...and I've been doing this for a while."
I smiled and Shaun laughed, and we walked to the car.  I couldn't help but think that if she only knew the desires of our hearts she wouldn't be the least bit surprised.  And, of course, she is dealing with me...and I work a bit differently than most; sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes not, but in this case it's working in my favor.  :)

-angel

Where we're at...

Hello Family and Friends,

Well, I have a week off of work, so that means that I have time to write. During the week, it's hard finding the time to write, as much as I want to and especially now, because Shaun and I have a second job, that's right a second job.  It's called a "paper-chase", in other words, collecting paperwork for our dossier and home-study. I heard it was a daunting task and I now see exactly what others meant when they said "daunting."  I keep reminding myself that every "daunting" moment I experience will be blessed, the day I'm finally able to hold my baby in my arms. The task of adoption is overwhelming and already I feel emotions that range from joy to sheer confusion and sometimes sadness...not for myself, but for the deep need of each of us to do our part and show love.  However, there is another feeling I have...and that is peace, peace in knowing that I am finally listening to the calling the Lord has placed in my heart. I don't know where this journey will take Shaun and I, but I know that we will be blessed beyond measures, more than we could of ever had imagined.  

I just can't help but give all the glory to God because he has worked in my heart and I am beginning to see his heart and the more I see his heart the more I want to do his will.  He is continuing to provide support for Shaun and I, and I see his hand in work in so many areas of our lives and others. I just love it. 

Process
"Paper Chase"

Okay, switching gears now.  Going to update you on where we are at in the process and kind of give you an overview of the steps we will go through before bringing our baby home.  

Right now we are in the middle of our home-study, which means we are currently meeting with our social worker (four meetings in total, and the last meeting will be at our house, she interviews Shaun and I together, separately, & calls our references).  For the home-study, we have to prepare about 20 different forms of paperwork, ranging from financial statements, medical evaluations, written references, photos of your house, floor-plan of your house, employment verification...the list goes on and on. This part of the paper-work does not have to notarized, however, in the midst of working on our home-study paperwork, we are also working on our dossier paperwork. This paperwork is very similar to the the home-study paperwork, but the dossier paperwork must be notarized. Once our home-study is complete, meaning our social-work deems us "good, fit" parents, then she writes up a formal review on us that she will send to our agency.  At that point, we can then apply with USCIS (United States Citizenship Immigration Services).  It takes on average 30-60 days to be approved by the United States.  Once we receive our approval from USCIS, then we can submit our dossier paperwork to the courts in Ethiopia.  Once it's been submitted and approved, we are officially in the referral process.  Are you lost yet? Ha! ;)

Referral Time Period:
Referral time period is when you are waiting for the referral of your little one.  They are telling us, at this point in time, that the referral time period, for an infant, is between 12-15 months.  Then one day...we will receive our referral, via email.  They will send us pictures of our little one, medical information, and any background information available.  We will have two weeks to accept/decline our referral.

Passing Court:
1st Trip to Ethiopia
Shortly after receiving our referral, we will fly to Ethiopia, meet our little one, attend a court hearing, which will confirm our desire to adopt our child and begin processing all the necessary paperwork.
We will be there close to a week, then fly back, without our baby.  And, I'm already praying for strength and guidance for that day.
2nd Trip to Ethiopia
We will travel a second time, after the Ethiopian courts have approved our adoption. The main purpose of this trip will be take custody and bring our baby home to our family!!!! Praise God for this coming day!

So, in around about way, that is the process we are currently in, and the process that we will be going through. Realizing, however, that we are working with a 3rd world country and laws can change at any given moment.  So trusting in the Lord and flexibility in this journey is key.
Now, you kind of know where we are in this and maybe it will help to understand some "lingo" I may use and range of emotions, I'm sure I will write about.  :)

Today we meet with our social worker, for the first time, and I'm proud to say that we have all but one pieces of our paperwork to turn into her! Hallelujah!  It's been a long couple of weeks!
I have to say a special thank you to our family members and close friends who helped to write such beautiful letters of recommendation for us, not only beautifully written, but so quickly written. Big Blessing and big Thank you to each you, you know who you are. We love you.

Going to leave you with a video, that I saw on a friend's page, Jennifer Jones. It's by Audio Adrenaline, called "Kings and Queens".  And, it stars beautiful Haitian spirited children.
I can't wait to bring my "king" or "queen" home to us...