Welcome Back, Butterflies!

Have you ever had butterflies in your stomach?

You know the kind...sometimes it's from nerves, sometimes from excitement...

{For those of you who have had a baby, sometimes it's the first little flutter of movement.}

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 When we changed our preference WAY back in March, the stomach butterflies began.  EVERY. DAY.  Every time my phone rang, I lept to see if it was CHI, calling us with our referral. 

{Somehow I was convinced that it would be any time since we were open to a child up to age 3 years.}

And then...the lull. 

The butterflies left my stomach.  I'm not sure how or when it happened...maybe all at once

or 

maybe like the monarch migration in the Fall, the leader of the butterfly kaleidoscope headed out and slowly, the rest followed.

 However it happened, it happened.  Though I remained hopeful, the excitement had faded.

I am happy to report that the butterflies have returned...the excitement is back.

It's a good feeling.

P.S. Please take our poll on the sidebar to let me know what you like to read on our blog! :)

BOO!!

It's Halloween!!  Hope you don't get too scared tonight! 

I'm shaking, but not because I'm scared...because I'm EXCITED that we got a new wait list number today!!!!!

Yep, that's right...after just over four months, someone on our wait list got a referral!!  We are so excited for them {hope they read our blog! :)} and so excited to finally see some movement.  Maybe we'll get to see our sweet babe's face in 2011 after all!

Fancy Nancy and Army Man are super pumped, too {for the new number and the trick or treating!}.

Thank you for praying...your prayers have certainly sustained us in a very difficult part of the journey.  Today we are reenergized and filled with hope!

Please Take a Second...

Hello, friends!  As promised, I am working on some changes to the blog.  Would you please help me by taking a second to complete the poll on the sidebar?  It will take less than a minute. :)

Also, if you select other, please leave a comment with your ideas here.

Thank you!

Another Month Down and a Break from the Blog

Ten months down... ?? more to go?  We are ten months closer to our next babe and we can't wait to get that phone call!! :)

In the words of sweet Melia "Wow!  Ten months!  Maybe they'll think 'they've been waiting for a long time!  We should probably call them.'"  I hope so, baby girl, I hope so!

In other news...

I am working on some changes for our blog.  Please be patient while I take a break to make some changes/improvements!  I'll be back in a couple of weeks (unless, of course, we get "The Call!" :))

He's Got the Little Tiny Baby in His Hands...

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Since last June, I have had a distinct feeling that our child is currently in an orphanage. 

It happened when our agency's Ethiopia director, Sharon, visited Ethiopia and reported that she had seen children on her visit that would be referred to families on our waiting list.  I'm not really sure why, but for some reason, I just really felt like she had seen our child.

We were number 16 then and we are number 16 now {4 months later} but I still just really believe that the feeling I felt in June was for a reason.

Now, this belief has certainly not made this lull in referrals any easier, and to say I have struggled with the idea would be a mild way to put it.  But, the thought that has sustained me comes from a simple child's Sunday School song:

He's got the whole world in His hands, 

He's got the whole world in His hands, 

He's got the whole world in His hands, 

He's got the whole world in His hands.

He's got the little bitty baby in His hands,

He's got the little bitty baby in His hands,

He's got the little bitty baby in His hands,

He's got the whole world in His hands.

 So thankful that He's holding our child while he/she is waiting to come home!

October Weekend 1

Last weekend, Trevor got a much-needed guys camp out with a few of his friends, so the kids and I headed to my brother's house for some "squeeze on Liv" time. :) It was a super fun weekend filled with all sorts of festivities. Sometimes, just getting a couple of hours away from real life can be so therapeutic!

Camden and Brandon started the day working at Brandon and Amy's church.

Look at those hard-working men!!

We ate at a super fun restaurant for lunch where we got to sit on the roof-top café and look out at all the cool sights!

The cutest sight, of course, was sweet Liv!

Then, we got some fro yo across the street.

{Looking at this picture would give you an absolute opposite idea of our childrens’ personalities!!}

We rounded the day out at Shryock’s Corn Maze…easily the BEST corn maze I’ve ever been to!

The kids LOVED it!

The Shryock’s infamous gumball contraption…

Entering the maze…

Pretty sure we will be making this trip a Fall tradition!

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry I've been so absent.  But, the truth is, I've needed some time away.  I needed to regroup, heal a little, and remove some bitterness before I posted again.

So, I'm happy to announce...I'm feeling much better; I'm out of the funk. 

I've taken some time to reconnect with God, Creator and Sustainer of all things (even our family: past, present, and future) and to try and fully wrap my mind around the concept that I truly must rely on HIM.  And, I'm there.  It's been a good three weeks.

We've also been very busy with our little family of four.  We're enjoying our Fall and I'm continuing to foster my creativity. :)

So, thank you for being patient.  Thank you for just sitting here when I needed some time away.  And, thank you for being here so I can come back and share what we've been going through.  I'm excited to post pictures and let you know what's helping carry us through what has been {and by every account, will continue to be} a long wait.

Sincerely,