We've Moved

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Not Good News

We did receive word from our agency today that things are not going to move ahead for quite sometime. We have no idea when our baby will come home so we are totally depressed. This could take months. All we can do is pray that this will come to pass and she can come home. THis is hard on us because we wanted an infant and now we are faced with the possibility that she can be over one when we bring her home. Obviously, we love her but I know how as time goes on the adjustment becomes harder for the child to make so we will have more challenges than we originally planned on. I know God only places what we can handle on our plates but being faced with this is really tearing us up. We are so attached to this baby and it is hard not to get attached and honestly we did talk about asking our agency to find us another placement because we are scared to death of bringing home an older child right now but she is ours and too hard to walk away from. I truly realized this when our friends sent us more photos of Delylah from their trip. In the photos they were showing her the photo album we sent her. How could we ever give her up when even though she may never remember she saw her family and big sister waiting for her. I could not live with myself knowing that someone told her we were coming for her and then take it away because we were being selfish and planned on having an infant. We all wish we could be there from day one but sometimes that is not in God's plans for us so we have to roll with it.
The only positive that may come out of this is because of financial reasons it was looking like only I would travel because obviously airfare is on the rise. Now, we the possibility of more time to save Keith may be able to go after all.
Please pray for us and the other families affected by this situation we are all heartbroken that our babies cannot come home right now.
ALso keep my friend Jamie's little boy in your prayers he too is waiting to come home like Delylah but had a nasty eye infection right now.

A Little Lift

What cute little toes

Well, today we received 15 new photos of Delylah. Our agency sent 5 and our friends Tymm, Laura, and Meron sent us ten photos from their trip to get baby Meron. That was a definate lift in our spirits because we have been so down about not knowing when we will get to bring our little girl home. We also received a little update on her weight and she is a little butterball at 15 and a half pounds. I am now hoping that Lennah's clothes will fit Delylah after all because Lennah was just shy of 15 pounds when we brought her home at almost 8 months and Delylah just turned 5 months on Friday. Hopefully, we will hear something about Delylah's orphanage starting to process cases soon. Keep us in your prayers.

Still NO News

Well, things are getting frustrating. We were out of town last week and were hoping that something positive would come to light and that we might by some miracle beat the court closing after all if cases started being processed again but no such luck. We did have our friends Tymm and Laura go to pick up their little girl Meron last week and visit with Delylah but of course we would rather be holding her ourselves. We also have another fellow Illien adopting family heading there this week to visit their baby and our kiddos and they will be giving Delylah lots of love. I am just praying that something changes soon. I hate the wait. We just want our little girl to come home.

Depressing News

I cannot really get into the details but things are a little shaky where Delylah is at right now. This will now cause a hold up on her adoption and Keith and I are so sad that she will not be home for several more months. It should have been around August when we brought her home but some issues arose in the orphanage she is at and this is causing major paperwork delays. In turn we will not beat the court closing for the rainy season which lasts from August 6th-September 25 this year. Please keep this oprhanage in your prayers, the other families adopting from there right now (who are in the same situation as us), and the children. We hate knowing that our Delylah is growing up right now without her mommy and daddy and it is going to take even longer to bring her home.
Also pray for our friends Tymm and Laura who are leaving Friday to get their baby girl Meron. She is Delylah's crib mate and they were the ones who brought us to our Delylah.

A little lift for spirits

I just received three new photos of Delylah from our agency. Our girl is growing and getting more and more cute every time I see her. She has hit the 12 pound mark. I just hope she doesn't grow too fast and out grow the clothes we have for her. We have a lot of clothes from Lennah that are in great condition and bought Delylah several new outfits because every little girl needs something old and something new. This definately helped me feel better today after not getting the best news yesterday.

Good News Bad News

So it appeared that the agency made a mistake and Delylah's abandonment period was up on Saturday May17th. We were so excited because we would have just had to wait for the Women's ministry to release her paperwork and we could have filed for our court date and brought home our baby soon. Well, this is not happening as we thought we are still waiting on approval from our government which normally takes 90 days and we are only at half that so our agency called the local USCIS office today to try to get this pushed through quicker. Well, that does not appear to be going to happen. The person in charge is out of town for a week and a half and the person currently working the cases can't promise anything. She told our agency to call back around June 10th or so. This news is putting a damper on things because we are concerned that we may not make the court closing. We are just praying that something comes through.

Mother's Day and Two Weeks

Delylah's hand I wish we were holding it

Hopefully, I am not being repetitive since I posted on Lennah's blog but we had a wonderful mother's Day. Even though Delylah is not home Keith got me a gift from both the girls. It was a beautiful carved photo album from Lennah and Delylah. It was a wonderful day but it would have been even better if Delylah was home. Next year will be even better than this years.
Well, we are down to only two weeks left until Delylah's abandonment period is up. This means that once this period is up, the orphanage will apply to take over custody this could take any where from one to four weeks. From there they will apply for a court date for her to become ours. So hopefully they will schedule a court date for mid July and we should travel mid August. I just hope everything goes as planned.

Fingerprints Done

Yesterday Keith and I had our fingerprints done to complete our I-600A application. I guess when you go in the middle of the week it becomes a quick process. Of course I had to miss work and we did request a Saturday appointment but they quickly disregarded that request. I am becoming anxious because Delylah's abandonment period is up in 19 days. We are just praying that our paperwork comes through so we can beat the court closing. Even though Ethiopia is now allowing children to be free for adoption 60 days after they are abandoned it is taking about another month to get clearance from the MOWA. So we should accoding to my calculations have a court date around the end of July and travel the end of August.
We also have not heard a lot of news about Delylah recently. With the power outages in Ethiopia our agency is having a really hard time getting in touch with their in country staff.
Hopefully, we can touch base with more families traveling to her orphanage so we can get some updates and photos from them.

New Photos and Good News

It looks like Delylah is doing much better. A traveling family was kind enough to snap 11 new photos of Delylah for us and said she is looking healthy. It looks like the pneumonia has cleared up. I am just waiting for official word from my agency saying that it has. But she is looking cuter and cuter every time we see her. I remember getting new photos of Lennah when she was in the orphanage and every time you get a new set you fall more and more in love with your child. It is so amazing how blessed we are. If someone would have said to me three years ago that I would have a 17 month old and another baby in Ethiopia I would have thought never could this happen so quickly.

On a sadder note. Please pray for our friends Tymm and Laura their daughter Meron has been taken from the orphanage to the hospital because of pneumonia. Please keep them in your prayers that she heals quickly. They need some miracles right now.

I attached a pic of her hair. I love that it is sticking up. I cannot wait until we go through the courts so I can post full pics.

News

Well we received Delylah's child profile today. Her birthdate is January 20, 2008 so it is nice to now exactly how old she is. Also we are a bit concerned because she is on anti-biotics for pneumonia. So please keep her in your prayers. We do have some good news she is what they consider a relinquishment which means we will not have to wait 90 days for her to be free for adoption. However, we now have to wait on our immigration application which was only filed on April 4th. THe Ethiopian courts will not hear our case until we have our approval back. So please that this comes quickly so she can spend less time away from mommy and daddy. So we should travel sometime around the beginning of August.

Updates

Today we received some updates on Delylah. She is 11 pounds and 23.2 inches long. We are starting to think that she is really 3 months old instead of 2 months. Unless, she is really big for an Ethiopian baby. We were fortunate enough to receive 3 new pictures but we can't put them up yet. I cannot wait until she is legally us and we can post her photos.

Worries

This is a little earlier for a post but I have to babysit a tote full of CRCT testing materials for my students and have a few minutes. Yesterday, a baby who was waiting to come home passed away at the same orphanage Delylah is at. This is not the first time something like this has happened; obviously you know this is you have read previous posts. What I am getting at is that I know it is no ones fault and certainly not the orphanages fault because they work with what they have. However, I am really freaked out because the numbers in Ethiopia for infant mortality is extremely high. One in ten do not make it to their first birthday and one in six do not make it to five. What I fear is if Delylah could be that one in ten? Your child is thousands of miles away and minor incidences could easily be remedied with medical care here. But over in Ethiopia what children need is not always available. I pray that Delylah stays safe and healthy and I never receive that phone call but we are no more worthy than others for our child to be saved. But I can't help but be thankful when it was not my child. I know that is selfish but it is true. I am not trying to be hurtful because I really do have sympathy and pray for these families that lose their little ones it just terrifies me to know that this could have easily been my call. I also have to add that for some reasons these fears are more apparent this time around because you hear of this happening more in Ethiopia than in Vietnam. With Lennah I was scared but not as much. In our 16 month journey for Lennah I only knew of this happening twice. In our short 4 month journey this has already happened 3 times that we know of (I am counting outside of our agency as well). We just need to pray for all these kids and for ourselves to not have so many selfish thoughts.

A Referral for Real

Well, we really did get the call today. Not an April Fool's joke. We received the referral of a beautiful two month old baby girl. She is healthy from the medical information that we do have and it will take at least two weeks to get a full medical report. But she is Delylah Aviella Paulsen. We were thinking about changing her name but once we saw her we knew that she looks like a Delylah. Anyway, I am unable to post pics but we are thrilled. We will post more soon but we are in Disney on vacation so I will update when we return.

Good News! What?

Well, today we received a referral sort of we have not actually accepted. Our agency called us today and said that they were looking to place a set of twins and since our papers were being mailed today we could look at the information if we wanted to. They are a boy and a girl two months old. Financially this is a long shot for us but we are thinking we might be able to make this work. Obviously, there is more involved than just the extra agency fee; we are talking about another crib, clothes for a boy, toys for a boy, extra bottles, more diapers, the list goes on. They are really cute, with big eyes, and a dark complexion. I would post of course but no taking any chances in case we lean towards the yes. I do not want to get too excited because of course this is a big decision. Even harder when you have seen a picture.
I would love to hear everyone's opinion on how they think handling twins would be. However, this really would not make a difference to us because this is an april fools joke and we are still awaiting our referral. I have gotten my mom really bad with this joke because I actually sent her a picture of a set of twins while she was at work. For those of you who know my dad is our daycare and she would freak out because she would not want my dad chasing after three babies. She did laugh and take this in good spirits and I hope the rest of you have too.

Dossier Going to DC

Well, we have word that our dossier will be sent from Illien to DC tomorrow. It should be there a week getting all the seals it needs, return to Atlanta, then off the Ethiopia. We are close to a referral and are getting excited. However, we have many a bad mishaps (car accident for Keith, tree falling on our fence, septic pump is out, etc) fall upon us recently so hopefully they will come to an end so we can both travel to pick up Baby Delylah. Which now I have been second guessing the name and thinking that maybe we should have went with Taite Annabelle. I really like both names but this will most likely be our last infant since Grandpa daycare will be at capacity. Our next adoption will most likely be a child at least 4-5 since we want to be able to place them straight into school. Anyway, I have a point this child will most likely be a boy so Taite will never get used as a name and I just hate to think I loved this name and never had a daughter with it. AHHHH! dilemas.

Another Step Closer

Good News today! Illien read our homestudy and there are minimal corrections that need to be made so our social worker said that it should be approved and finalized early next week. Hooray! We also sent our dossier and only have one correction from a recommendation letter that needs to be made because of a notary and my dad is taking care of this tomorrow. So by the end of next week our dossier should be off to DC spend a week or so there, back to ATL, and then off to Addis Ababa. So hopefully, we should have our referral early May. YEAH!!!!!

Dossier Off

Today we have officially mailed our dossier off to our adoption agency. Hopefully, everything is good and we will not have resubmit or make any corrections. I have been worried about our marriage certificate and my birth certificate because they are not the same ones that we had used for our first adoption but hopefully the agency is correct when they say they'll think they'll be ok. So now we wait our homestudy is in the adoption agencies hand so we are waiting to see if it needs any corrections. I am hoping that everything will be finalized and sent off to DC by April 1st.

Stolen Post

OK so I do not want to take credit for this but I found it and wanted to share it. I get asked all the time by my students "why don't I have my own baby". I usually respond with I have my own baby because we love Lennah more than we could ever love a biological child and we know Delylah will be loved the same. Or I give them the response that there are 143 million orphans and they need mommies or daddies too. I just wish more people got this through their heads that adopting is not a disease or a cure for something. I think this list sums up how most of us feel. By the way, I added number 18 because I have actually had friends and strangers say I don't get how parents can give away their children (again another crazy comment from outside our community).

1.The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2.You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3.You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4.The fact that if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child,there would be no orphans in the world,is convicting to you.
5.You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.
7.You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)
8.You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway knowing where God calls you He will provide.
9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacy's you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word Dossier means and you can actually pronounce it!
13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have them in your life.
15. When people tell you adopiton is the cure for infertility.. "they still don't get it."
16. There is always room for "just one more" at your dinner table.
17. As a small child you were worried about the Sally Struthers ophan commercials pleading for help for the children.
18. Think that birth parents are heroes because many loved their children so much that they allow us to love their children forever.
*list started by unknown author

Double the Fun

So we are almost done with our dossier. We are only waiting for two more pieces of info and we are set to go. I know our homestudy should be finished any time know as well since we had our last meeting last Saturday. I am still thinking we should have everything off to Ethiopia hopefully by April 1st. I have also been doing some shopping for the girls.I bought a double stroller which I know I will need since Lennah will still be under 2 when Delylah comes home. It was on clearance so I got a real bargain at Babies r us. I also did a clothes shopping. I plan using a lot of Lennah's clothes for Delylah but every girl needs a few new things in her closet and lately a lot of things have been on clearance. I picked her up 4 outfits for next winter in gymobree and a shirt that says I love Daddy. I bought 6-12 months so size wise we should be good since we know she can be no older than a year younger than Lennah. I know having two girls is going to chaotic but everyone keeps asking us why we made this decision. I always wanted a sister and it is just going to be so much fun watching the girls have each other to grow up with and hopefully be best friends. Next time around a boy will definitely be on our hearts however, that will not be for several years until after we get caught up from 2 back to back adoptions.

AHHHHH!

So we are slowly compiling our dossier and of course we can never be fortunate enough to avoid a problem. I was off from work two weeks ago and decided to save myself a trip down to Marietta since I still had a few more things to wait on for our dossier. Anyway, I mailed off for a certified copy of our marriage liscense instead I get a marriage certificate. I want to know can these people take the time to read requests? Now Keith will have to get up extra early and head down there before work which is not always ideal because he has been working almost 60 hours a week recently. Besides that we have been coming along pretty good since we had our last homestudy meeting on Saturday and were only waiting on birth certificates and the marriage liscense. Hopefully, we should have everything in about 2 weeks and it should hopefully be on its way to Ethiopia by April 1st at least that is what I am shooting for.

Well, in other news I have to red thread this on here. It is so amazing to see how one moment affects your life and the other people involved in your life. God is always amazing us because he works in your life without you knowing it. To go back to my ancient story of Sheridan and how meeting his mommy and daddy have changed so many lives. I met Kim and Michael on a cruise a little over a year ago. They were adopting from China, us from Vietnam, they lived only fifteen minutes away, and we both work for the same school district. What are the odds of meeting someone that close to you in the middle of the Caribbean and going through a similar life experience. Anyway, we instantly became good friends and we attend their baby shower for my future son in law (at least my mom thinks Lennah and Sheridan will one day marry). At their shower I met Laura and Tymm who were also adopting from China. During this time I had become friends with Jamie Serieka who lived in Ohio who was adopting a little girl from CHI and was placed on the waiting child list the same day as Lennah. (I am getting somewhere with this). After returning with Lennah, I soon found out Tymm and Laura were adopting from Ethiopia while they wait for their baby from China. A few months later I talked to them and they referred us to their agency and hence we are where we are. Well, I told Jamie about them and their agency and her and her family decided to also join us in adopting from Ethiopia since they too looked to expand their family. Well, last week Laura mentioned a little boy that our agency was looking to place and it looks like our friends the Serieka's are adoptiong him. I know this is crazy but is I never met our wonderful friends the Perry's, Jamie would most likely not know about this sweet boy. It is so amazing how we can touch each others lives and God's and how he makes our miniscule moments have such meaning.

Lastly, I am still doing some work on Delylah's room. We added her name to the wall which I think looks awesome. I have been working on Delylah's book and stuffed animal collection as well. I also went out this weekend and got a double stroller since Lennah will still need to be in one. Now all we need is baby Delylah in her room and stroller to complete everything.

Ethiopian Adoption Group and More

A hug goodbye with Chevella

A swinging big sister






Playing Basketball with Addison

Addison

Lennah's new friend Chevella

Well, Saturday Keith, Lennah, and I headed to a local Ethiopian adoption group that meets once a month. I have to say we had a great time. It was nice meeting other families who are like ours. It was also great to see Lennah play with the other kids and to know what a great big sister she will be to Delylah. I did struggle with where I should make this post; do I put it on Lennah's journey or do I put it on here. I decided to here because I do attend first fridays for since I have been home with Lennah which is mainly a China adoption group. I guess I feel like that is Lennah's group because she is of Asian descent and so are her new found friends from there. So I decided that we would not have visited this group without our impending adoption of Delylah so it rightfully belongs here. We met some great people that we will hopefully get to know better on our journey to bring home Delylah. I am so happy that we have been able to find support groups for our children to become a part of.

Cute stuff

On a second note I did a little shopping today. Before Lennah's adoption we did not purchase clothing because we were unsure of the gender even though CHI had told us to most likely expect a boy. We were glad we didn't make any purchases. Anyway, since we have requested another daughter I have been set on using Lennah's clothing for Delylah (providing they are around the same size on the same season) but today I could not help myself but to make two purchases and Delylah will need some of her own stuff to not feel like great I get left overs. Anway, I got her a little shirt that says I am the little sister and a photo frame for her room that says me and my sister. I am so happy that the girls will be so close in age and hopefully they will love each other more than any other two sisters ever could.

Getting Somewhere

Well, I will be posting more since we have begun the chase. Anyway, I have already tackled getting my employment letter for our dossier, Keith is chasing his higher ups to get his going. We ordered both birth certificates this week, have our friends and relatives getting our recommendation letters going. Our medicial appointments are for next week and that really is the main time consuming stuff that we need to chase for our dossier. THis is a breeze next to putting together a dossier for Vietnam. We also worked on the girls playroom last weekend and finished that this week. We have also finished Delylah's room at least meaning it is painted and the furniture is in. We have the bedding as well but we still need a few little pieces to complete her ensemble. I have also started moving some of Lennah's clothes that no longer fit into Delylah's room. Hopefully, they will be close to the same size around the same season because so much of Lennah's stuff is in good condition. I will update again soon for now here are some photos of Delylah's room. A pic of the girls playroom is one Lennah's blog already so there really is no point in reposting.

Starting the Paper Chase

Well, I know that we have been moving slow for this new adoption but we are trying to space the girls out a bit so this way we really aren't pulling the hair out of our heads. Anyway, over the weekend we finally submitted our contract to our agency and our dossier prep fee. They received our packet today and now we are onto the paper chase. I ordered a birth certificate for me today and Keith is sending off for his tomorrow. Next week I am off of work so we are meeting with our homestudy to get that almost complete and I will be running around compiling our dossier. This time around everything looks like a breeze compared to Vietnam. Most likely we will have everything finished by mid-late March and have our paper work off to Ethiopia. It all seems real now.
Since our last post we have gotten all of Delylah's furniture for her room. We still need a few items to complete her room but all the furniture is in and it looks beautiful. We also painted so it is coming together nicely. This weekend we also worked on a playroom for the girls. Since Christmas Lennah's toys have taken over the house so we created a playroom/ guest bedroom. It was a guest bedroom that was one day going to be a gameroom but we figured it could be multi-functional for now. Once it is put together completely I will have to post a pic. We also figure that once the girls are a bit older and have sleep overs we can contain the mess in there because the girls could sleep and play in there and let the old folks sleep.
Well, now that the paper chase is on I will be probably posting more frequently.

I have to explain to others

Last night I had a lot on my mind. We had some friends lose their baby. Yes! their son who was a mere 2.5 months old and thousands of miles away. I guess the reason why I am posting this because as I have been involved in the adoption community for almost two years, I think we must educate those who aren't aware of the way our pregnancies work or how we become parents. First, one must realize from the time we put in an application we are expecting a child. Not in the sense that we carry a baby in our womb but in our hearts. Our pregnancies may last longer than nine months; in some rare occurrences they go a little faster. We do not get to hear a babies heart beat on a sonogram we instead chase paper to help bring our child home faster. I guess why I am saying all this is because in the short amount of time I have joined the adoption community I have seen friends from this community near and far experience the ultimate sadness; the loss of their child through death. Over this time ,I have heard people say, who are outside of our realm well, it wasn't their baby yet or will they get another referral?
To address the first response it was their baby because it was born in their hearts. We give birth to those children the day we receive their first picture and receive their information. Although, I do not know the experience of being in labor for hours; I do know the joy of seeing my child for the first time. Just like mothers and fathers cry ,when that baby lets out its first cry, adoptive parents cry when they see their child's photo. We carry those photos with us everyone and treat them as if they are a newborn just entering the world. We may not have heard tears or giggles yet, be we know that our child exists and that we love them. Adoptive parents must rely on orphanage workers or foster parents to care and comfort our children until we bring them home. It is painful to know that your child may be hurting, sick, or sad thousands of miles away and you cannot comfort them; so while those workers are up watching over your little one you are up as well wondering if they are getting the love and attention you would be bestowing upon them at that moment. So just as new parents experience lack of sleep; we too experience lack of sleep.
To address the second response in most cases yes you do get another referral. However, you still just lost a child and although I have not experienced this I know nothing could ever replace that baby you lost because they are your child in every sense of the word.
I just needed to share this because I was truly sadden by my friends loss. I know there is peace in knowing that they are with God in heaven and that these children who pass through families lives touch so many here on earth. Although, I never had the privilege of meeting BabyE here on earth I look forward to the day I will see him united with his family in heaven. As a matter of fact I look forward to the day when I see all these children united with the parents who loved them from afar here on earth.

Fun Stuff

Yesterday, we met with our social worker to begin our new homestudy for baby Delylah. Our original one from Lennah's adoption is expiring in March so they want us to complete a new one. It really isn't that bad since we just have to go through the formalities and now we have BTDT. So overall, that should continue to go well. She was happy to hear that we are not in a rush since our agency moves so quickly with referrals. We figure it is no big deal to complete our new home study in March since we are under no real time constraints.

That being said everyone will probably think I am crazy but to top off my last day of vacation from work I took Lennah to go search for furniture for her baby sister. I was just planning on looking in the same store I purchased Lennah's only a little over a year ago. Anyway, it is sad because they are closing because the owner is sick. Next month they are shutting their doors. Because of this they are cutting some really awesome deals and low and behold we are going back Saturday morning to pick up Delylah's furniture and bedding set. I love Lennah's furniture but this time around we opted for something a bit more girly (then again last time we were sure we were getting a boy). Keith is ok with whatever I pick out (thank goodness). But I am so happy with this purchase and now I cannot wait to start tackling her room. I am thinking over February break I will be painting Delylah's room and probably tackle one of our guest bedrooms to turn into a playroom for the girls. Here are the pictures of the furniture I picked out and the bedding. I hope everyone can envision the two together.