three months old

Our daughter is three months old today. We wish we could be there with her, but we know she is in good hands. It is nice that we can rest easy knowing that the staff at the Gladney Care Center is taking such great care of her.

.

Congratulations to all of the families who received court dates and referrals this week. There is nothing quite like finding out about your child for the first time. I know Michael and I will never forget that moment. I am sure finding out you have a court date is exciting too. I would certainly love to find out. Hopefully we will hear something next week!!!

an update

We received our very first update on baby M. yesterday!!! Oh my goodness, she has grown a lot! The measurements we received with her referral, which were taken on December 8, were 7.9 pounds and 19.7 inches long. She was almost 7 weeks on December 8. The measurements taken on January 14, at 12 weeks old, were 10.1 pounds and 20.9 inches long. We are so grateful that Gladney updates us every two weeks.

In addition to the information about her growth and development, we received a picture of her. The picture brought tears to my eyes the moment I saw it. She has the biggest grin on her face. She looks so happy, which makes our hearts swell.

The update came with mixed emotions. We were so happy to see her and read about her development. However, it really made us realize how much we are missing. We are happy she is growing, but everyday that goes by is another day we will spend without her. We can’t wait for the day that we can spend every moment with her. Soon we will go from seeing one picture of her every two weeks, to holding her in our arms. Heaven.

ouch!

I just scheduled the appointment for our travel vaccinations. Gladney suggests we get vaccinated for the following:

Yellow fever
Hepatitis A and B
Tetanus
Typhoid
Meningitis

The grand total for vaccinations for the both of us is $804!!!! They told me they were going to give us receipts with codes on them and we could file it with our insurance, but that they do not accept insurance. I scheduled the appointment for next Wednesday, but when I told the lady on the phone that it was my husband’s birthday, she made me change the appointment. She said he shouldn’t have to come on his birthday! We are going next Thursday instead.

So, for any adoptive families who have traveled or will soon travel, I have a couple of questions:

1. Did you get vaccinated for all five? (We will not be traveling outside of Addis)

2. Did you find a place that accepted insurance?

grease, sweat, and a small bundle

Well, tomorrow makes three weeks since we received our referral. What a whirlwind it has been. We went straight into 12 days of extreme busyness. We had a production of Grease with our 7th-12th grade students. We spent 15-17 hours at the theatre most days. It was really hard to not be able to spend hours a day just thinking about our little girl and getting ready for her arrival. Our students did a great job with the show and we are so proud of them. Living life with kids who are passionate about something is such a joy. I have to get on my soapbox and say that parents need to make sure their kids are passionate about something. If they don’t have interests and passions when they are kids, they will not, in my opinion, transition into adulthood as easily as those who already know what it means to be passionate. They will be lost. This is just my 2 cents.

Here are a few pics from the show. This is a glimpse into our world. This is the world where talented, driven and dedicated teenagers live and the world where hairspray, sweat and a musty theatre, smells like home. This is the world of musical theatre.

(This '66 Mustang convertible was loaned to us, by a guy we didn't even know. Amazing!)

This week a special little package is going to be hand delivered to our little girl by sweet Beka. She is in Ethiopia right now meeting her son for the first time. We are so thankful that she would be kind enough to take a package with her and to take pictures of our daughter.

My sister got little M. some clothes to go in the small bundle. Aren’t they cute? We also sent a photo album with pictures of us and some of her family members. It didn’t photograph well, so I didn’t include a picture.

Michael and I are really feeling a strong desire to go get her. We have no clue how long it will be before we get to hold her. Several people have gotten really quick court dates lately, but that doesn’t mean we will. There is so much we have to do to prepare for her arrival and to prepare to travel. Sometimes, I just don’t even know where to begin. This waiting is MUCH harder than spending over 11 months waiting for our referral. It has only been three weeks, so I can’t imagine what three months will feel like.

REFERRAL!!!!!

Today was THE day. THE call. It was THE day our lives changed. Today we saw the face of our sweet daughter. She is precious and we love her. She is two months old and is described as “a tiny bundle of sweetness!” We can’t post any pictures or her name online, until we pass court. Trust me, she is adorable. Her name begins with an M.

The feeling is surreal. It doesn’t feel like it has really sunk in. We decided to change our referral request from two children to an infant girl the week of Thanksgiving. She was brought to the orphanage on November 26, Thanksgiving Day. As we were thinking about the future of our family and making some big decisions, her birth mother made a very big decision too. We feel God’s hand in all of this and we feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be able to call little Miss M. our daughter.

We will now wait for a court date, which can take one to three months. After we pass court, which might not happen on the first try, we will travel within 2-5 weeks to pick her up. We hope to be holding her and kissing her squishy cheeks within 3-6 months!!!

My Grandy

My life changed this weekend. My Grandy went to be with Jesus on Friday, December 11 at 10:30 pm. My life will never be the same without him in it. He was an incredible man who loved the Lord and adored his family. He was precious. My mom describes her daddy as generous. He was generous with his time, his money, with everything. I think that really sums him up. I don’t think I will ever know a more generous person.

He was born in 1919 and he and my grandmother were married for almost 66 years. He spent his entire marriage putting her first. He had a passion for children and orphans. He worked for the Baptist General Convention in the Department of Child Care. He made sure that Oklahoma Baptist children were taken care of.

I have always felt that our adoption is a great fit for our family, because of his great work for the betterment of the lives of children and orphans. I wanted so desperately to be able to tell him he was a great-grandfather. I wanted to see him play with our daughter and see the huge smile on his face as he held her. He had a great laugh and I wanted to hear him laugh with delight as she entertained him. Unfortunately, these things will never happen.

He spent six days lying in his nursing home bed, slowly dying. We knew it was going to happen. He had a stroke on Sunday and they were unable to give him any food or water after Monday morning. He slept most of the week, but would open his eyes on occasion. During one of those moments, when I was all alone with him, I told him of his great-granddaughter in Ethiopia. I told him that we didn’t know who she was yet, but that he was a great-grandfather already.

My Grandy’s legacy will live on. He has impacted the lives of thousands of people and those people will carry on his legacy, his work, his love, his generosity and his patience. He made the world a better place. All you have to do is ask any of the people whose life he made better. They will tell you stories of Judson Cook and how their life wouldn’t be the same without him.

As sad as I am, this is a happy day. He is celebrating in Heaven with his family. He was the last of nine brothers and sisters to pass away. His father died when he was nine years old. The family is finally back together. When I told this to one of my 16 year old students she said, “So, it’s beautiful.” She said it perfectly. It is BEAUTIFUL.

My uncle wrote the obituary, which is very personal and highlights his life and work. I would love for everyone to read it and learn more about the work of my Grandy. Click here to read his obituary.

My Grandy hugging me at my wedding 6.5 years ago.

Another picture from my wedding, which I just love.

a change

When we decided to adopt siblings we had so many specific reasons for choosing that path. Reasons that we felt very good and confident about. We have spent the last ten months imagining what it will be like to have our children home. We have imagined playing with them, feeding them yummy meals, reading to them, tucking them in at night, cuddling with them, and so many other things. This dream made the reality hard. The reality was…we needed to change our referral request. We changed it from our original request for two children between the ages of 0-39 months, to a girl between 0-12 months. We didn’t change because we were tired of waiting. Yes, we have been on the waiting list for almost 45 weeks, but the waiting had absolutely nothing to do with the change we had to make. We had to make the decision based on what was best for our family. We had to look at the big picture and imagine what our lives would be like if we instantly became parents to two children who would need so much of our attention. We had to put our strong desires to adopt two children aside and do what was best for our child. Our child. Not children. Even though this change feels a little bit like the end of a dream, we are very excited to find out who our daughter is and start our family together. We know that she will have a sibling someday, just not today.

I want to say big thank you to everyone who has been posting words of encouragement and letting us know you have been praying for us. We really appreciate it. It has been about three months since I blogged, but that’s really nothing new! I am hoping to have some exciting things to blog about very soon.