Monday, March 29, 2010

COURT! COURT! COURT!

We have a court date!!!
We are really excited and also a bit anxious.
Our court date is April 1............
So while we are sleeping Wednesday night and early Thursday morning,
court will be happening in Ethiopia.
Please join us in prayer.....
Pray for court so that all the papers are there (MOWA and Central Authority).
Pray that God's will be done in the timing of our meeting with our son.
Pray for our little man's heart........
so that he will feel like he is coming home and NOT leaving home.
We can't wait for our boy to "officially" be ours!!
Philippians 4:6
Do NOT be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.

Friday, March 5, 2010

REFERRAL!!!!!

We have been (im)patiently waiting for our referral for weeks!!! We knew that we were probably number one for a boy, so we kept our phones on us at all times.
I thought I knew exactly how AGCI made their referral calls:) I figured that the very first thing they (they, meaning our case managers) did when they got to work, was to see if Almaz had sent any referrals to the office. If she did that was the VERY FIRST THING they would take care of. So, everyday for the past few weeks, I would get REALLY REALLY excited at about the time that AGCI would open......and be excited for the next two(ish) hours. Then my excitement would leave and I would be bummed out. This happened EVERYDAY!
On Thursday, March 4th, it was the same as all the other days. My two hour "time of excitement" came and left. I said to Mike..."well, today is over for a referral" :( I did my normal computer check to see if any other referrals had gone out. I wasn't feeling very well, so I told Mike that I was going to lay down for a little bit. He left to pick up our daughter from school.....came home and gave our two big kiddos a snack in the kitchen.......then my cell phone rang.............it was "BABY LOVE"
Mike ran up the stairs in a hurry (I thought something was wrong) and said "Michelle!! It's BABY LOVE!!!!!" I then started freaking out!!!!! I calmed myself down and said...."it could just be our number call......it is pretty late in the day." So I called our CM back right away......hoping it was more than our number call!!!! She answered right away. I told her I had just missed her call and was wondering if I was getting my numbers.......she said "Yes, you did miss my call. But I have some good news!!!!" I got really excited and went down to the kitchen with the rest of the family (except for our youngest who was still napping). I put our CM on speaker phone so the whole family could hear about our newest member of the family!! It was so wonderful......everybody got to hear "BABY LOVE" (but our youngest....we did get her up right away) and we were all home. Our CM told us that she was going to email us his information and pictures and as soon as we had a chance we should call her back and she would go through all of the info. with us. So we hung up with her and I called my friend/neighbor to come over to take pictures of us seeing his sweet face for the first time!!! It was so much FUN! The kiddos are so excited!!!

Our three kiddos ready to see their new brother!
The family instantly in love!
Our oldest daughter super excited!!!!!

Mom and Dad loving their baby!


Proud Dad looking at his son!
I didn't think AGCI could surprise us this time around. We were waiting for our call everyday! I can't believe how blown away I was to get THE CALL when we did!! It was so perfect! I love that our whole family was together! What a special day!
Now we pray for a court date to come soon and so we pass the first time!!
We waited 5 months 3 weeks and 2 days for our referral!
PSALM 126:3
THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US, AND WE ARE FILLED WITH JOY!