Lab Reports for my boy!

We got some lab results from Ade the other day. I sent them in to the dr. and he said everything looks good but he is a little anemic. He said when we get him to feed him lots of meat! The dr. was not concerned though. I am so happy he is a healthy little guy. I'm glad I called the dr. and didn't try to figure it out on my own because according to my internet research, he had allergies and a parasite!:) I'll leave the reading of the results to my dr. from now on!

Joe and I just celebrated our 11 year Anniversary! It was a lot of fun. We spent the night on the Plaza and I slept in until 10 today!!! I was so excited. The kids had a great time without us. Thank the Lord for Jordan. We got to stay all night because she was willing to keep the kids.

That's about all for now. Have a great day!

Some answers!

Well we got some answers today. So basically it is just a waiting game. I'm guessing we won't be bringing our baby home until the fall. I don't want to go in to details because it is Ade's story and it's his to tell if he choses to! But at least we got some answers and things are making more sense. Please pray for a MIRACLE from God and that we would be able to bring him home sooner than we think!

Rescheduled AGAIN!!!

We have been rescheduled until the 5th of July! I really don't know what to think. Is God telling us NO is He shutting the door? This is too much for me, I don't know if I can do it anymore!

Could 6 be the lucky #?

Just got word that our court case got postponed until tomorrow! This will be #6 for us! Please pray that we will pass tomorrow! This is getting funny! I'm OK this time, I really wasn't expecting to pass this time! Maybe tomorrow will be the day!

Some things just don't go as planned!(Most things in my life these days!)

Ok so today was Joe's 40th birthday and Ade's 1st birthday, so I planned a pool party at my in-laws house to celebrate it. I had some special things planned and really tried to make Joe feel special. I hired a caterer, got decorations had everyone write 40 things they loved about him, because he is 40! I also wanted to document that we did celebrate Ade's 1st birthday even though he was not with us! So let me just give you a run down of the day!

OF COURSE IT WOULD RAIN AND THUNDERSTORM HORRIBLY BECAUSE I PLANNED THE PARTY!!! Do you ever feel like if something crazy is going to happen to someone that it will happen to you. I am the "freaky friend"! Hence meningitis, cancer, crazy pregnancies and 5 COURT DATES!!! Just to name a few!

There was a horrible storm so the party got moved to our house, which was a mess, then cancelled and then it was back on! We got all the food and all the people came. The food was delicious and Joe had a great time eating and opening his presents. It was then time to give Joe his lists of 40 things, people forgot said that they were never emailed, blah blah blah!!! But they WERE told about it and there were some that did the list. And I think it meant a lot to him.

We moved on to doing the 40 candles on Joe's cake and 1 on Ade's. Joe's cake was LIT UP for sure. My mom made him a homemade carrot cake and it was delicious! Somehow we ended up with 3 cakes! After the cake was all done we opened up presents and Aunt Denise and Uncle Sheldon got Ade some really sweet gifts! Thank you guys! You guys are awesome! We got him a 4 wheeler and a phone! I hope he will love it someday! After all was done at the house the storm had stopped and we headed over to swim at Grammy and Grandpa's it was a mess due to the storm but we all worked together and got it cleaned up quickly! We had a great time swimming and Maya was jumping off of the dive by herself and swimming to the ladder! We were so proud of her! No floaties!!!

We came home had dinner and Joe and I had a tiff! I feel stressed and sad. I hope I didn't ruin his birthday!

So how is it celebrating your sons birthday when he is miles away? Sad, irritating, happy, a little depressing and full of wonder. Wondering what he is doing today, if the orphanage did anything for him today. If he is happy. If he is getting enough love. I feel like this is taking a bigger toll on me than I had thought it was. I'm out of emotions for today, but I'll leave you with some pics from the party! Thank you all for coming and helping us celebrate Joe and Ade!

Missing my baby!

How is it that you can "miss" someone so much whom you haven't even met? That is how I am feeling this week. Our little baby boy will be 1 on Saturday. The same day as his daddy! Joe will be 40! I am having a small party for Joe and Ade. I am really kind of sad this week. I knew I probably wouldn't get to hold him and be with him on his 1st birthday so I was prepared, but it still really hurts!

I was thinking about him a lot this week and my heart was breaking at the thought of him being in an orphanage and not getting picked up when he cries every time or just not having a "mommy" to meet his EVERY need! I know the nannies at the orphanage are awesome, but they aren't his mommy! I will hold him whenever he wants me to! He has a daddy and 2 sisters and a brother whom I'm sure will meet his EVERY need and then some! I can't wait to have my little Ethiopian Prince home with me!

We have another court date on Monday, but I'm pretty sure it will get postponed again due to the MOWA being out of the office all this week. And we are waiting for a written statement from them. But God is bigger than that and He can make it happen. And if He doesn't, I just need to rest in his goodness and His timing!

Happy Birthday week baby boy! Mommy loves and misses you soooooo much!

A Small Update!

We got an email from our agency today that stated they asked their Ethiopia staff if there was any specific reason MOWA has not written our statement the past 4 times and they said that it is just a coincedense. I don't know how to spell that!:) And that there is no specific reason! So hopefully they are all now aware we have been to court 4 times and will get the statement issued on the 21st!

Last Recital and Birthday Celebration!

So today was the last recital! It was such a blessing to watch 2 of my healthy babies up there dancing and having fun! Joe and I are so very blessed to have such great kids! Ella really enjoyed watching her brother and sister as well! Maya was so excited because she got flowers today!

After the recital we headed over to Mom and Dad's and my mom made me an awesome birthday dinner! Lasagna, veggies and french bread! YUM YUM! And she made me a delicious cake! My sister got me a really cool and sweet picture frame and pie plate for my pies I make and my adoption bracelet she got me hasn't come in yet! I can't WAIT to get it! Mom and Dad gave me cold hard cash!!!:) I am so blessed to have such an awesome loving family!

Here are some more pics of the recital and some of Max! It was a great day!

Happy Birthday to Me and Dance Recital!

Hi All,

Today is my birthday and I had a wonderful day. It started with the kids bringing me my gifts, which they did an awesome job. Then Joe gave me a really sweet card and some money to go shopping! Love it. Then I had Panera for breakfast. Headed to Maya's dance recital, which was so adorable! I think the girl was born to be a star. From there Joe, Max and I headed to Red Lobster and then we all 3 got pedi's, which was so much fun. Then we headed to Max's recital! He was the stud. So funny. Anyway, I got pics of Maya and I will post some of Max tomorrow! Have a great day. I am such a blessed girl to have such an awesome family!

What I feel like God is teaching me right now!

So this post may bore you and may make no sense to you. But I feel better when I write about my situation and what is going on. I have been listening to the song "While I'm Waiting" right now. I feel like it is my life song right now. I feel like God is trying to get me to the point where I wait and TRUST Him totally. It is easy to praise God and say how great He is when things are going great, but when things get hard then it is a little harder to believe He is good ALL the time. I feel like God is trying to teach me how to trust in Him and not waver in my faith during this time. To continually and faithfully praise Him even when life is hard. To love Him ALL the time and trust in Him all the time. And I have failed a few times during this trial. But God IS good and we WILL prevail. And we WILL bring our son home!

Melt Down!!!

So today was a busy day. I started my day getting the kids up and out to the Y. I had called the Dr. to see if they could get Ella in because she had been complaining of her ear hurting. They called and said they could see her at 9 so I had to miss my class at the gym and take her. She ended up having an inner ear infection! Poor girl. So from there we headed to the Central track so the kids could play and I could run the track and run the stairs! Wow was that a hard workout. I was so hot I had goose bumps. Not good! We then headed to Grammy's to swim and Max had safety town. The girls and I swam for about 4 hours. We came home took baths and headed to KC for my niece Ruby's 5th birthday! I can't believe she is already 5. That has gone fast!

On the way home I just had a melt down. I keep hearing of families that are passing court on the first time and I am just wondering what is wrong with us that we've been 4 times and can't pass. I sent an email out to our agency asking some questions. This whole thing is just crazy. I also learned that the MOWA will be out of the office all next week and they return to work the day of our court date which basically means unless God intervenes, we will be pushed off yet again! I just had to let myself cry. I have held it in for a long time and I just needed to let it go. Joe and I talked and I cried and Joe said we need to persevere. That God is allowing this for some reason.

Please pray for me, I am struggling and trying really hard to have a good attitude about all of this! Please pray that God would intervene and that MOWA will write our statement in the next 2 days! Thank you! Ali

#5 Anyone???

So we found out that we didn't pass again! We have another court date on the 21st and Holt is looking into it! I pray a miracle happens and we get through before our court date!

Still Waiting!

I just got an email from our agency that said they are still waiting to hear from Ethiopia. I think I'm going to end up 200 pounds after this wait! I am so doing the nervous eating thing! I need to stop! We are praying that this is a good thing and we will get good news this week! Thank you for praying!