Watch Out!

Elliott is well on his way to walking. I habe very mixed emotions about this milestone. It is so exciting that he is walking and it's the day before his "birthday". But it is also sad because he is my last baby and he is growing so fast. The best part about him learning to walk is that Dakota and Collette feel the need to mimic him. They want us to hold their hands and walk with them too. I will have to get video of it because they are so funny. Enjoy the video of our precious boy.

Day 3- Gotcha Day

We awoke on day 3 after a wonderful night of sleep, which I hear is quite unusual. But you have to remember that I work nights and Troy can sleep any time, any where. So changing time zones was nothing for us. We got ready had a wonderful breakfast provided at the Bejoe house. Then we decided to take the opportunity to go see the town. Our driver took us to a restaurant called Island Breeze. It is American run and makes you feel right at home. The restaurant played a lot of Beach Boys music and had a beach theme. We ate Italian food and took time to enjoy our 7th wedding anniversary!

After lunch we went straight back to the Bejoe house because Travis had messaged us that he was on the was with Elliott. When we got back, another family had arrived and she would be receiving her son as well. We waited for about 30 mins in the garden area making conversation as best as you can when you are anxious. It started to rain so we then moved up to the porch so that we wouldn't be soaked. Then we heard a car honk and the gait open and it was our moment to meet our son. Joanna carried Elliott up to us and I took him right away. You can tell that he is just taking everything in and trying to figure out what is going on. We sat and held our precious boy and learned about his schedule. For the first hour Elliott didn't make a sound. But as soon as he was comfortable his personality came out all at once. He started talking non stop saying Mama, Dada, and any other baby babble that he could come up with. The rest of the day we spent enjoying our new addition and getting to know him better. It was a great day to meet our son.

Ethiopia: Days 1&2

Sorry this has taken me so long to write. Life is crazy with 3 kids. But we are getting into the swing of things.

We left on Saturday morning to head to Ethiopia. I thought that I would be a basket case leaving the other two kids,but I did well. If you have kids you are leaving behind, I would recommend saying your good byes at the house and not the airport. My kids were comfortable saying bye at home and it really made things go a lot smoother.
We flew into Washington DC for a 5 hour lay over. AS soon as we got to Dulles we went to find our next gate. I'm glad we did this because there was a huge line for boarding passes. We stood in line got our boarding passes then went to find ways to pass the time. We then boarded Ethiopian airlines for our 16 hour flight to Ethiopia. The flight went way better then expected. The food and service was great. I don't sleep well on planes so I think I only got about 2 hours of sleep, but I had a feeling that would happen.
We finally set foot on Ethiopian soil on Sunday night. We got off the plane, down an escalator and saw a big yellow sign that said "Visas". We stood in line for a little less then 30 minutes, Paid our $20 each and moved to the immigration line. Passed immigration, found our bags, exchanged money, put bags through yet another scanner, and out the door. It was very easy to find Travis in the crowd, thank goodness. He introduced us to our wonderful driver, Solomon, and off we went to the guest house.
Once at the guest house we met up with Genet, she showed us our rooms and gave us a tour of the house. We also received a cell phone to make calls. The cell phone is how you can call your driver and the main way Travis communicates info to you. Before he left he let us know that we would not be getting Elliott until Monday afternoon. I was a little bummed, but then Troy and I decided that it would give us an opportunity to get out and see the city. So, we settled into our room and got a great night of sleep. We, after all, were meeting our son the next day.

Ethiopia in pictures

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This is it!

I can't believe that we leave tomorrow. My emotions are all over the place. We leave tomoorow around 1130am and get to Ethiopia around 7PM (11AM our time) on Sunday. Then we get to meet precious Elliott the next day. I am so excited to have him in my arms at last! Please pray for us as we are going through a bunch of transitions the next couple of weeks. It's going to be interesting, to say the least.
I will blog as much as I can while we are there. No promises though because I know internet and electricity is not always a sure thing.
Thanks to all of you for your support. It has been worth more to us than you will ever know!

Five days and we're off

We leave in 5 days. I can't believe we are that close. I have so many emotions running through me. Excitement, nervousness, anticipation, etc. Luckily, we have been so busy getting ready that the time has flown by. I feel like there is still so much to do. We need to pack, get the kids stocked up on their stuff, finish filling out forms, etc. Too much to think about at this point.
On a side note, Troy has two interviews this week! I know, what a week for all of that. Please pray that God will lead him to the right job. I know he has great plans for us. I'm just curious to see how it all unfolds.
Kid update: Collette has started gymnastics and is loving it. Her teacher said that she is really good and picks up on things quickly. She even got to walk on the big balance beam. I will take pictures on Tuesday and post them. They also have an indoor playground. So, Dakota plays on that while Collette is in class. It's a win/win situation for both of the kids.
Dakota is as wild and crazy as ever. He likes to keep us on our toes at all times. He still loves to sing and listen to music. We had a choir come to church on Sunday to sing some songs for us. He was mesmerized the entire time. Now, if we could just figure out how to keep that going during the sermon.

Ready or Not?

We leave in a little over a week and I'm starting to get overwhelmed. But the nice thing is that we have gotten a lot done. The upstairs remodel is done! I just need to decorate it a little. I will post pics as soon as it is decorated. Clothes are hung and washed. Most of our forms are filled out. Grandparents are coming to town to babysit! My sister is dog sitting. Collette has even learned how to change a diaper. So, really I should just be ready to go, right? Wrong. I would just like it all to be done so I can sit back and enjoy.

On a better note, we are very excited about the day we get to meet Elliott. Not only do we get to meet our third child, we get to meet him on our anniversary! How cool is that. Now we will have that much more to celebrate! Ready to meet you baby boy and hold you in our arms.

For those of you who want us to take pics or packages, email me: carterkellie@sbcglobal.net

Travel Tips, anyone?

We have our flights booked for June 5th-13th! We have our reservation in at the BJoe house. Troy's parents are flying in on the 3rd.

Now we just need to get ready, but I need your help. If you have any useful travel tips you would like to share then we are all ears. I am especially interested to know about communication to the US. Did you use a cell phone, skype, etc? I really want to stay in contact with my kiddos the best that I can while we are gone. Please share!!!!

Also, we are offering to take pictures and care packages to Ethiopia with us. We want to pay it forward to those of you waiting to bring home your babies. We had so many wonderful people take picture and video. It meant so much to get those updates as often as possible. Feel free to email me at carterkellie@sbcglobal.net
If you want pics we need Name, house #, ID # and a picture.
We are looking forward to delivery all these special items!

Introducing...

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While we are asleep,

our case will be in court in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is 8 hour ahead of us, so by the time we wake up the decision will already be made. I ask that you remember us and Baby H in your evening prayers.
I hope and pray that tomorrow we will be able to introduce you to the precious face that we have fallen in love with. Stay Tuned...

ONE MORE DAY!!!

Ok, we have one more day before our court date. I am so excited and so anxious all at the same time. Luckily, Troy and I have been busy finishing our remodel of the upstairs. It has helped keep my mind off of the clock. We also got to hang out with a bunch of great friends tonight. That helps more then they know.
So, here is what is going on in Ethiopa today. First off, the Schmidts will be meeting Baby H today and taking our care package to him. I know Baby H will recieve lots of love today.
Also, today our paperwork is being reviewed by The Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA). They will go through our paperwork with a fine tooth comb and make sure that all of our i's are dotted and t's are crossed. They will say whether or not we can go ahead to court or not. Today is as big as tomorrow. Please pray that we will be approved today and that we will make it through court tomorrow. *Fingers crossed*

2 days

Two more days until our court date!!!

And two more days until Troy's 6th interview with the OKC Thunder. He has been interviewing for this job since October. We are getting closer to finding out if that is a reality as well. Thanks for your prayers.

Any suggestions???

Three more days! Please continue to pray for us. We are so close to Baby H.

We are in need of some suggestions. We can't decide which guest house we would like to stay in. We are trying to chose between Bejoe and The Ethiopian Guest House. If you have any suggestions, good or bad, please leave ua a comment. This will really help us decide.

Four Days

Four days until court! We are gettind so excited and so motivated to get things done. This weekend, after we finished the fundraiser dinner, we came home and started working on finishing our remodel of the upstairs. The exciting thing is that we are almost done! We should be completed by the end of the week. Then we can check one more thing off of our list. It feels so good to get things done. Hopefully, we will be able to check off our court date this week as well.

Day 5 and Fully Funded

We have five more days until court!!!

And our fundraiser dinner last night was a success. We are now 100% funded because of the wonderful friends and family God has put in our lives. We are so blessed.
As Stephanie Rummel put it, "We now have stock in your son." Which also means that when he is in jr high and having bad grades, I have plenty of tutors to take him on. Or when he is 2 and throwing a fit at church, I can say to everyone else, "Control your child." So, be ready for the responsibility if you hold stock!

Really, we are excited about how everyone has surrounded us with love and support. Thank you all!

Let the celebrations begin

6 days, 6 DAYS. I can't believe we are less then a week from our court date. I go back and forth between total agony of the wait and feeling like I don't have enough time to get everything done. I know once we pass court it will be a mad dash to get everything and everyone organized. We have to coordinate our travel, Troy's parents travel here to take care of the kiddos, lists of kids daily activities, humanitarian aid items, etc. So much to think about.

Today though, I am going to focus on our fundraiser dinner that is tonight. We have so many wonderful friends who have bent over backward to make this event happen. Our friends at Copper Cup Catering are providing the meal (contact me if you ever need a caterer, they are great). Brown's Bakery providing desserts, about 40 auction items, and 6 vendors who are donating a portion of their profits to our adoption. Wow, what a blessing. God is so good.

On a great note, http://myfamilymyjourney.blogspot.com passed court! Go check out their beautiful boys! We are so happy for you. Hopefully, we will follow in 6 short days!

7 days

or just 1 week! I can't believe we are only a week away from our court date. We are so very excited to be this close. Luckily, we have been staying super busy this week. We are working on getting everything ready for our fundraiser dinner. So far, we have 36 auction items, 4 vendors, 1 auctioner, and 1 great catering company coming to the event. Hopefully, we will have a great turn out and a really fun time. I will post pictures as soon as I get a chance.

Please be in prayer for http://myfamilymyjourney.blogspot.com

They are going to court today for the 2nd time and had one court date postponed because of a holiday. They are ready to get their boys asap.

Eight days

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:33-34

As we draw closer and closer to the time when we can bring Elliott home we struggle with the stress of all we have yet to do between now and then. But thankfully God has been constantly reminding us that he is in control and he is the one who will make it all happen. Isn't it great to have a God who's shoulders are broader than ours and can take all our stress away and carry it for us.

-Troy

Nine Days

Another day closer to our court date. I recieved an update on Baby H yesterday. Here it is:

“I found "H" enjoying some tummy time today when I came to visit him. All his buddies were asleep, but this little guy was wide-awake. I watched him for a little while on the floor as he did “pushups” and played with a toy lying next to him. Then, as I picked him up and began talking to him, a shy smile spread across his face. When you interact with him, he often turns his face away and smiles. It’s pretty cute. He’s got a sweet disposition—sort of shy but you can also tell he likes to interact. He doesn’t seem to be afraid of strangers but he does seem to save his most expressive self for those he’s familiar with. What a delightful little guy!”



I read this to Troy then we both looked at each other and said "He sounds just like Dakota". That discription could have been written about Dakota at that age. Just another way God is showing me that Baby H was meant to be with us. I can't wait to see that precious smile for myself.

Let the count down begin...

Ten days until we go to court! Please continue praying that we will pass on May 13th so that we can pick up our precious baby boy.

Two weeks

We have 2 weeks until our court date! It seems so close yet so far away. Please continue to pray for our journey.

Congrats to http://birdiesandbabies.blogspot.com/ and to http://5byfaith.blogspot.com/ They both passed court.

Please keep http://myfamilymyjourney.blogspot.com/ in your prayers as they have a new court date next Wednesday.

How soon you forget

I was looking at old pictures and videos of the kids and I needed to share this one. Collette used to love singing to Dakota when he was little. It seems like yesterday that these to were this big. Time really does fly.

Fundraiser/ Appreciation Dinner May 7th

We are having a fundraiser/appreciation dinner on Friday, May 7th 6PM-9PM at NW Church of Christ. We are raising money to help with our travel costs. We will have an open donation bucket, live auction, and great food. Please come and enjoy a great night with us.

If you aren't able to come, but would still like to donate, please send to the address below. All donations made to NW Church of Christ are tax deductible. Put "Carter Adoption" on the memo line.
NW Church of Christ
4301 NW 23rd
OKC, OK 73107

You can also donate by going to our online fundraiser store:

http://www.justlovecoffee.com/ElliottCarter

Court Date

We have an official court date!!! It's May 13th!!! Please pray for us to pass court this day!

Stressed? Me?

For the past couple of weeks I have had an irritating pain on the right side of my mouth. This last week it has really started to bother. Then last night at work, it was just unbearable. So, I decided it was finally time to call the dentist and see what was going on. The conclussion is that I don't have a cavity, but I have been grinding my teeth and clenching my jaw. My denist, who we've known forever, just laughed and said "I'm shocked your stressed, with the adoption going on." I knew I was stressed, but I didn't realize how bad it had gotten.
Now, I am doing what I can to destress and enjoy my life. Man, it's hard.
Here are 2 of the things that I am going to be focusing on to destress:



And of course on Baby H! But I can't post his cute little face.

Paperwork in- check!

Just found out that our paperwork has been submitted to the Ethiopian courts!!! We are so excited. This means we only have to make one trip. Hopefully, we will have a court date within the next week or two! God is so good. I'm glad he's the one in control and not me. Please continue to pray for Baby H, our court date, and peace through the rest of this process.

Where are you?

So, for the past week I have been anxiously waiting for news about our paperwork being submitted or about a court date. The funny thing is, I thought that once we had a referral I would be able to wait patiently for a court date. Now, that thought makes me laugh. It is so much harder waiting for a court date then waiting for a referral. I have all of precious Baby H's pictures and even video, yet my arms ache for him.
I am posting this to say, please pray that we get a court date soon. All I can do is hand this process over to God and wait. I know he is in control and he has our best interest at heart.
If you know me at all, you know that letting go of control is near impossible for me. I am a "Control Freak", to say the least.

Travel Funds

Hey everyone! As most of you know we might have to make an extra trip to Ethiopia to pick up Elliott. We have opened an online store to fundraise money to offset the expense of the trip. Please go check out this page and order some yummy, free trade coffee. We recieve $5 for every bag that is purchased. This would be a great help to us! Here is the link: http://www.justlovecoffee.com/affiliate.aspx?Family=792


Thanks for the support!

Great News, Hopefully

We just found out some great news today. Ethiopia has extended the law to say that our paperwork deadline is now May 9th. An entire month later! We are so excited and hopeful that our paperwork will get turned in before May 9th and We will only have to make one trip. Please pray that our paperwork finds its way to the court ASAP.
And congrats to the Schmidts on a getting a court date so fast! It has been a great day!

There are positives

Ok, got caught up in my own self pity on that last post and I forgot to list the positives.
1. Troy and I both get to meet Baby H 3-6 weeks earlier then we would have.
2. Hopefully, we will get to visit the town where Baby H was found.
3. Did I mention that Troy and I both get to go on the first trip?
4. We will come back the first time without a new baby and I think this will go over much better wth Dakota. Easier transition...
5. Traveling the first time with Troy will make the next trip easier for me to do with just me and Amy.
6. We will get to do more sight seeing the first trip. The second trip we will focus more on Baby H.
I'm sure there are more, those are the ones that I can come up with off the top of my head. Two trips can be a good thing!

This is how I really feel,

Two days before we recieved our referral we found out that we were going to have to make 2 trips to Ethiopia. Honestly, Troy and I were pretty upset. We even talked about pulling out of the adoption. Partially, because of the stress and a big part because of the money. We are still trying to play catch up from the 6 months that Troy was out of a job. Then Friday, March 12th, we saw the cutest little face and the two trips seemed like no big deal. We could figure out a way to get money... We are still planning on following through with everything, but now that the initial high has worn off, here is where I am. All I can think of is the emotional roller coaster those two trips are going to be. First, we have to leave our other two kids at home and be gone about a week. Meet wonderful Baby H and at the end of the week leave him in Ethiopia. Then 3-6 weeks later we have to go back through the same thing. Leave two kids be gone a week, but in that week Baby H will get to come home with us. Wow, I am going to be wiped out by the end of all of this.
So, then I have to hand it all over to God and think that He knows what is best for us. And there is a reason that we need to make two trips. And there is a reason I have to leave all of my babies for so long. Logic is not winning out at this point, but I am working on it. Please be in prayer for us during this time. And please pray that our paperwork will be submitted before April 9th!

His hands

In the discription of baby H, they told us how he was fasinated with his hands and how they worked. So, I thought it appropriate to share his precious hands with you.
Then, I got to thinking about God and how he holds each of us in His hands. And that even though I can't hold and love on my baby, I know that he is right now. And he has put special people in Ethiopia to love on him. This makes me really happy and sad all at the same time. It also reminds me of a friend of mine who had a baby before we had Collette. We were at the hospital passing around her precious new gift when someone realized that Mommy had not gotten to hold her very much. All I remember her saying was "I want my baby to know that everyone loves her. Love her!" This moment has stuck in my head with each of my kids and now it is even more profound to me. I can't love on my baby right now, but I want him to know he is loved. So, to whoever is out there with Baby H, love him, love him. Until we can hold him in our arms.

Special thanks to our blog friends, http://robynmaner.blogspot.com/ . They are traveling on Saturday to pick up thier little one and will be taking a care package to Baby H, taking pictures, and loving on him. Thanks guys!

Davey Crockett

I realized that with all the ups and downs of the last couple of months that I have failed to put any pictures of my cute kiddos. Here is a video of a song and dance that Dakota and Collette have learned at school.

Sneak Peak

So, the first thing that you notice on this precious boy are his eyes. They are to die for. I thought I would share them with my blog frineds as well. Here is a short discription of Baby H. He sounds like a wonderful baby.

Baby H is a precious little guy. He has the sweetest smile and his eyes
are full of sparkle. He is currently into his hands. He seems intrigued by the way he controls
them. It is quite cute to watch. He is mostly quiet, however, he does vocalize. I noticed he
uses his voice after you walk away – to entice you back to his crib. He is active, constantly
moving his arms and his legs. He makes prolonged eye contact with his caregivers and even
newcomers. He loves to kick his feet against his crib’s footboard. He is a cutie!

Also, anyone who will be traveling in the near future please let me know. We would like to send a care package with you. My email is carterkellie@sbcglobal.net

The Call

We got the call for a precious 5 month old baby boy. We are in love with him already. He has big beautiful brown eyes.
Here's the details: We are going on a backpacking trip this weekend. So this morning we were very busy packing and trying to get logistics worked out. And trying to stay on schedule with nap times and all. At 11ish we were sitting down eating lunch with a friend when my phone rings. I look down and it's "the call". I look at Troy and just start laughing. He says it's them isn't it? So I answer the call and Natalie says I have a referral for you. I ask if we can call her back in a few so that we can get to a computer. We dropped everything, including lunch, and turned on the computer. Natalie calls back and says that she is sending us the email. Then she asked if we wanted any details while we waited. Of course we did! She says it's a boy, he's 5 months old. Then we see a picture and I just melt. What a beautiful baby. I think we were in shock most of the referral and afterward. We then had to flip back to packing mode. So I am calling and emailing everyone as I am packing. It's been a crazy, exciting day. And we now have another precious son. God is so good and his timing is perfect.

I forgot

We are officially at 8 months as of March 1st. I forgot to post with all the excitement over the Schmidts referral. We are getting closer to baby Elliott. The average wait time is now at 9 months. So technically it could be a whole other month or two before we hear anything. Please pray that God will bring our baby to us in His time and that He protects our baby during the waiting.

We are number one!!!

Just found at that the Schmidts got a referral for a little boy! We are so excited for them. For us that means one step closer to our baby. It is always nice to see some movement on the wait list. It makes waiting a little more bearable.
Again, Congrats to the Schmidts! We can't wait to see pictures.

My hope is slowly dying

So, for the last couple months I have been psyched because we were #2 for a boy. Woohoo! Right? or wrong? I am now at the point of being totally deflated and feeling like we will never get a referral. I know in my head that this is not the case, but I feel so heartbroken and let down by all of the build up. What makes me even more anxious, is the fact that there have been so few referrals since 2010 started. I've given every excuss, holidays, Haiti, only so many referrals allowed, and the list goes on. To the point where I have lost all excuses for what is going on. The not knowing in killing me. For now we are moving ahead, taking care of the kiddos, working, remodeling, going to church...etc. I continue to pray for baby Elliott and for all of our friends who are in the same boat as us. God will bring the right child, in the right time. I just wish he would let me in on the secret every once in awhile.

8 Years Ago today...

All this craziness started. Troy and I meet in Yukon at th Czech Polka Hall. We had both gone to the Polka Hall with seperate groups of people. I did ask him to dance and I did give him my phone number. But it was all in God's plan for us to end up together. I mean really, who meets like this? At a Polka Hall on Groundhog day? We have been together ever since. God has blessed us with a wonderful marriage, 2 beatiful kids, and plenty of food and shelter. God is so Good!!!

Seven months

Today marks 7 months on the wait list. We are getting so much closer to our little baby. I've been getting emotionally ready for our baby to come our way. I can't help but think that if we had gotten pregnant and had a baby that it would probably be in our arms right not. Sometimes that is hard to swallow. So, in the mean time, I've been enjoying my big kids and cuddling on other people's little ones. (Thanks to those of you who let me steal your babies on occasion!)

Troy got a new job!!!! We are so excited. He is still going to be working from home. Which we love that he gets to work from home. And I still get to sleep on the nights that I work! God is good. Sometimes you have to be patient for his timing.

The kids have enjoyed getting to play out in the snow. We took Collette, Tyler, and Aubree sledding on Ssaturday. They loved it. Yesterday the kids had a snowball fight. It's so much fun when there is snow here.

Let's play!

OK guys..no referral so far. We want your input. Post when you think we will get our referral and what we will get, boy or girl. Let's see who can get the closest to the date. We will post these on our blog so that everyone can see who wins. Please play along with us. We are trying to make the waiting just a liitle more fun and not so stressful.

Alright, bring on the posts!

Adoption process

I was requested an explination of the adoption process, so here it is from starrt to finish. You initially have to apply to the agency to see if you qualify. Once you pass that, which doesn't take very long, then you have the big huge packet to apply for adoption. At the same time you also have a dossier to complete. The dossier is the packet of documents that is sent to the other country to represent you. Both of these applications can take any where from 2 months to 6 months to complete, just depending on how fast you can get all of the documents. Along with these documents, there is also a homestudy that must be completed. Once all of this is done you have to get approval from the federal government to bring a child into this country. So, one of the last documents you wait on is CIS approval. That can take 4-6 weeks to get back. Once all of that is done and submitted then you are put on the "wait list". When we were first put on the wait list average wait time was 9 months. So at thiat time we were looking at March or April before we thought we would get a referral. Every month the average wit time can change. As of last month, the average wait time was 7.2 months. Once you recieve a referral then you have to wait for a court date. Court dates can be scheduled 2-3 months out. There is no guarantee that you will pass court the first time either. So, once you actually pass court then it is time to travel. This can take any where from 2-5 weeks. Then you get to be home and be a happy family! That's about it in a nutshell. So the whole process can take anywhere from a year to a year and a half.

Update: We reccieved a grant from http://www.showhope.org/. Go check out their website. They are a wonderful organization.

God is Good!!!!

Important Days

First off congrats to the two couples who recieved referrals yesterday. We are so excited for you.
I was thinking about when Troy and I met. It was on Feb 2nd, 2002. It was one of those God type stories because there is no way I would have ever thought up how we met. Then I was thinkng about our referral, shocker, and how cool it would be if it was on or near the anniversay of when we met. It would be amazing if we meet our baby on the same day we met, eight years later. We could add such a wonderful twist to our story. All this being said, I am trying to not be so anxious for our referral. God willl bring us our baby when the time is right. Just like he brought us together when he knew our hearts were ready. Just like he brought our other two kiddos at just the tight moment. He knows and we can wait patiently for his timing.

We want to know when you think our referral will be. Just comment on this post and we will add it to our referral guessing list. Let's at least have fun while we wait!

Still waiting

I figured since I was stalking other people's blogs to see if they got a referral, then I should update mine. No news as of yet. We are still waiting and hoping to see a precious face in the near future. Still no new referrals since 1/4/10. I'm sure there is good reason for this, but it is hard to wait patiently. So, in the mean time, we are working and taking care of our other cute kiddos. I try not to think about it as much as possible, but it is hard not to.

Other news: Took Collette to the doctor today and she has double ear infections. That child never tells me when she is sick, so by the time I actually take her in it ends up being bad. Last night she told me that her ear hurt a little bit. Then this morning she said both ears hurt a little bit. I knew something had to be wrong. So, I took her in, sure enough raging ear infections. Now she is on antibiotics and tylenol. She is taking it all in stride.
Dakota is his normal crazy self. He runs around the house singing most of the time. It is so cute, but I can't understand a word he is saying when he does it. If he puts hand motions in then we clue in to which some it is. I will have to video tape it one day and post it on here. Too cute.

That's about it for now. Hopefully, I will be posting about a referral soon! We will keep you posted.

#1...Where are you?

So, I fully expected to be #1 on the waitlist for a boy. It seems as though there have not been a lot of referrals this last month or the last 10 days. Luckliy, I have been working a lot the last 10 days. It's easier not to think about it when I'm busy. I know God has a plan and time for us. It's just so hard to wait on it.
So, we continue to wait and continue to pray for Elliott and Elliott's family. I can't help but think about Elliott's family and what they are going through right now. Are they having to decide to give Elliott up? Are they not able to physically care for Elliott? Are they sick and dying? All of these pain me for them. I ache to think about what a parent is going through. I hope and pray they can have peace with their decision.

Other news: Collette has a very lose tooth. I can't believe she is old enough for that. She is turning into such a sweet little girl. Dakota is talking more, thank goodness. He is repeating stuff more and jabbering a lot. Some we can understand, other stuff is a mystery. He's getting there.
Troy is working like crazy on his iPhone applications. I am so proud of how hard he is working and enjoying what he is doing. Here is the link to his website. Check it out!http://www.troycarterconsulting.com

Poll

We have a poll on our website. What will baby Elliott be? A boy or a girl? Please let us know what you think! It's getting closer! I am so excited to find out who our baby is going to be!

Impatiently Waiting

I have found myself obsesively looking at all the websites that are ahead of me on the waitlist. 6 months have flown by, but these last 5 days have crawled. I was thinking about how similar this is to both of my pregnancies. Months flew by in a snap then the last 4-6 weeks crawled. So here we are 6 months in and I am so anxious to see our new baby. I keep trying to remember what I am doing every day so that I can look back on the day our baby was born and have some connection with their birth. I know, it sounds crazy, but for some reason I need this. In the mean time, I will continue to wear out my computer and 9 other people's websites.

Waitlist update: #2 for a boy
#8 for a girl

This is "unofficial" of course, but the closest thing I can gage time with.

We continue to pray for baby Elliott and family. We look forward to seeing a sweet face in the near future.

Birthdays and Christmas

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here is a video of all the events from the past few months. We have been busy, Thanksgiving, Dakota's Birthday, Collette's birthday and Christmas.
Sorry it's so long...enjoy!

Wow...Time Flies

It has been 6 months since we were put on the waitlist! We are getting closer to our baby.
We have had some very generous donations come forth the past several weeks that have Troy and I truely amazed at the power of God. He has given so many people a heart of gold and we thank him for that. We also thank those who have helped us by donation, prayer, or an encouraging word. It is helping us get through this waiting period so much easier. Please continue to pray for us and baby Elliott as God is bringing our family together.