Court News

I talked to our agency today about when we could expect a court date. We still have not received the profile for Daniel from the orphange. Our coordinator said she talked to the orphanage director today and our profile was in the last stages within the government before it comes to the agency here in the US. What this means for a court date is we will wait. They can not open a case until that paperwork is completed, they are optimistic that a case will be able to be opened next week. Court dates currently being assigned are mid to end of July. So that is most likely when our court date will be but you never know. A concern of ours is that we get through court before closures, closures are rumored to happen around August 7th though that has not been confirmed. We will be close. I know God can move mountains and make miracles happen. I pray that he is watching over our little boy and will help us to pass court before they close so we do not have to wait until October to pick him up. That would be a very long two months.

Meanwhile there is a family there taking pictures and loving on our little boy The Kerby's and there is another family leaving this week that is going to take more pictures and give our little boy more love. It is reassuring to know we will still see more pictures of him and people are loving him before we can get there to hold him. Praying for a fast resolution and court date so we can finally pick Daniel up!

Pictures & Waiting

I think this side of the waiting is a little harder than it was when we were waiting for a referral. We now have a picture we can stare at and believe me I can not stop staring! We are waiting anxiously for our court date, hopefully sometime this week we will find out. Meanwhile there is a family that is in Ethiopia this week that is delivering our care package and going to take more pictures for us. I can't wait to see more of him.

Meanwhile, as we wait paitently of course, many things are going on. This past weekend was Mark's birthday, we had a big cookout on Saturday with our family and friends. This coming weekend is the 4th of July and then next week is my birthday. We have planned the shower to be the following weekend the 12th and somewhere in there Mark has about 12 gigs with 2 different bands, and 2 golf outings. Good thing we are busy I think I would drive myself crazy!!!

Good news from the Ethiopia front. They are going to start reopening cases that were temporarily on hold from the abandonment investigation on July 2nd. Please pray with us that these families will pass as they have been waiting a very long time to hold their little ones.

Many have asked is we can post pictures of Daniel (that is what we are naming him by the way Daniel Kelile). Unfortunately we can not post any pictures on the internet or email until we pass court. I do have a photo album with his pictures though so if you want to come and visit stop on by and see our baby boy!!! I love saying that!

Pediatrician Interview

So we went to visit a pediatrician today to see if we would like her and get her opinion on Daniel's medical labs and pictures. We are so blessed to have found her, everything is falling in place just. She was very nice and personable. She went over all her meds and said she didn't see anything specific that we should be concerned about. We loved her and will definitely be going back. She spent over an hour with us just discussing our concerns and a plan for when we come back. Praise God for wonderful doctors and the people he puts in our paths just when we need them.

First Care Package

We sent our first care package to our baby boy today. There is a family, the Kerby's that are travelling next week to pick up their baby. We are so grateful for families traveling that take care packages, we also gave them a consent form so that they can take more pictures for us. We can't wait to get them. I love looking at his precious face. See our care package below:

Baby Stuff

Well today we signed our offical referral acceptance letter and mailed it off to America World. We knew from the minute we say this precious baby boy that we were accepting his referral but I had to go out of town Friday and Thursday the day we got the referral was filled with way to excitement and busyness so we did it today it is at UPS waiting to be picked up first thing on Monday morning. Yeah!!!!!! On our way to a court date. Oh did I mention that while I was gone yesterday Mark bought a car. This week has been crazy with excitement and change. Here is how it has gone so far:

Monday - Mark started back to work. YEAH!!!!!
Thursday - Referral call (One of the top moments of my life so far)
Friday - Mark bought a car (Jeep Cherokee - that we so badly need so we are not trying to get an infant in and out of the backseat of a Cavalier or Sunfire, that both are only 2 doors)

Saturday - Register for baby shower

Yes, tonight we tackled the task of registering for our baby's stuff. It was fun picking out all the stuff that our baby will use. The whole time we were walking around babies r us saying "We have no clue what we are doing". Really not sure I registered for enough bottles and I know there is a lot of stuff we completely left off. Any mom's reading out there that can offer suggestions, please do!!!!! Grandma went with us while we registered, she was so funny. When we got in the car to leave she was like, why didn't we just buy it all now. She cracks me up!!!!!

Oh well it is about midnight and i haven't really slept since the call Thursday. One hundred and one things to do and I am running out of time to do them. It will all get done, it always does.

Unbelieveable

So it has been almost 24 hours since we got the news. I can't stop staring at that precious face. I can't believe he will be ours. One look and instantly you will fall in love. It has been a long 8 months 2 weeks and 2 days that we waited to see that precious face. I don't think I would have changed the wait time for anything though looking back, so much was learned and we grew so much in our faith. God has big plans for this little guy I just know it and I am proud already to be his mom. It is truly amazing how you can love someone so much that you don't even know.

It still feels like a dream.......

We Got It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got the call today! We got a referral for a beautiful 3 month old baby boy. I can't share much more than that until after we pass court but I can't stop looking at his picture. I just want to hold him!!!!! After lunch today I was checking the Yahoo Group and noticed that the family on the list ahead of us got their referral. I called Mark and said "we're next" and when we hung up, I jokingly said keep your phone handy it could be today. Literally 10-15 minutes later I was in my boss's office telling her and she was like it could be before the end of today and then my phone rang, I looked at it and looked at her and was like this is it! I don't think I could even describe the feeling when Terra said I have a potential referral for you. My heart was racing and I couldn't stop shaking, she tried to get Mark to conference him in and his phone didn't ring at his office so I told her I would call her back in a minute. I got Mark on the phone and then conferenced in Terra (didn't even know I could do that until that minute) and she told us the news. I told my boss when I got off the phone, I have to go I can't wait to see his pictures. I went to Mark's office and that is where we saw the most beautiful precious baby boy and he is ours (unofficially until we pass court). I can't believe this is happening, it seems so surreal. We went to Outback and had dinner to celebrate. We have waited so long for this day, praises to God. It could only happen by way of him.

Now we have to pray to pass court, we will be one of the first families with an abandoned child to go through courts since the investigation. They don't see any problems happening but as we have seen you never know. So please pray for us that we will pass court quickly so we can hold our precious baby boy and show you guys the pictures!!!!!

Stay tuned it is about to get interesting................

"Thank you God for your mercy and your grace and the way you work amazing things in our lives. Even when our faith was thin we knew that it would happen in your time. Thank you for this amazing gift you have given us, we get to be parents to this precious child. You are truly truly amazing! In your name I pray. Amen"

ON DECK!!!!!!

So I went to a training class this morning and got back to my desk about 10:30 to check my email. I was so excited and in shock to see the subject "On Deck" from Terry Bailey. I have been waiting for this email for a long time! My heart started racing and my hands were shaking as I called Mark to tell him. This feels so real and soon we will see our baby's face. Do you believe it?!?!?!

What does on deck mean you might ask? We should receive our referral (child's profile, medical, picture) within the next 1-2 months. Keep praying we will receive our referral soon! Then this waiting game is over and the court waiting game starts but we will know our son's age and weight and see his precious face. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about that day. My phone will be glued to my hand at all times until that call comes in. Stay tuned, it is about to get really interesting.....

Praise God!