Already Love You

Time for a Change!

2012-02-17T18:22:00.000-08:00

With our recent additions to our family and Zayla's first "Gotcha Day" approaching I decided it was time for new look to our blog! Don't get me wrong, I loved our old design by Jen from the Art of Living, but I needed something new and fresh with a bit more color.

My dear friend Lauren Casper just happens to be a fantastic blog designer who is helping fund their families next adoption through her amazing work. So, I gave her a picture that I just loved and we went from there! Let me tell you she is just awesome and so patient. I think I must have changed my mind about a million times before we got the final product, and she swears she still loves me despite my indesiveness : )

If you are looking for a fresh new look for your blog you gotta use LC Graphic Design, not to mention its helping another kiddo come home to their forever family!

Oh, and don't forget to add our fancy newly created blog button to your page!

The Boys-DAY 5

2012-02-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

We woke up knowing that this was our last day in Addis. But we still had a full agenda! We headed downstairs to get a famous cup of coffee to get us ready for the day.

We awaited our driver and gathered the other half of our donations we had brought and packed them into the van. We then made the VERY LONG drive across the entire city to get to the care center where our daughter was before she came home with us forever! We knew that we wanted to return and give back to the people that gave her and so many other kids so much love during their wait for forever families. I must say it was kind of surreal to be back there, but they were so excited to see us and all of the donations : )

We walked around and got the tour again, loved on some little ones, and wrote a little note in their guest book! We gave many thanks and hugs, and got to share pictures of our sweet girl. They were so excited to see that she was SO HAPPY and being loved SO MUCH! Made my heart happy!

After leaving we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed over to the care center.

Today we decided it best to just hang out with our boys at the care center. Our oldest had been asking "mommy-daddy tomorrow?" everyday...and we thought maybe it would be a bit easier if we didn't take them out of the care center. We played and loved on all the kiddos, took some last pictures, and gave TONS of hugs and kisses. A short 2 hours later it was time to leave. It was bitter sweet. We knew the process and that we had to leave to be that much closer to bringing our boys home forever...but, it was still difficult. Especially when we heard that phrase again "mommy-daddy tomorrow?" BREAK MY HEART! No tomorrow, but soon!

It was hard to walk out of the gates of the care center, and its still hard to think about them being across the world-when we are their parents. But, God will protect them until they are back in our arms...I'm certain of that!

After we left the care center we headed back to the guest house to gather our things. My new friend Saba at the guest house asked if we would like to have a traditional coffee ceremony before we left-which was very nice! We enjoyed our last coffee and then headed to the airport. It was time for the long journey home!

The Boys-DAY 4

2012-02-08T14:16:00.001-08:00

Friday started out with another beautiful sunrise and a cup of coffee delivered to the room by my hubby as I prepared for the day. Once ready, I headed downstairs and finally gave in and had some french toast, that I had turned down the following three days.

After breakfast we got prepared to head down to the "Post Office" to shop. The "Post Office" is the name of a much smaller scale market, that is easy for foreigners to shop in than the much larger, crazy main market. I had my list prepared for the things that I would be purchasing and did quite a good job sticking to it. I was very happy to have had a little experience from our prior trips, and thankful to be prepared...because last time it was SO overwhelming. I purused several shops before I settled in to make my purchases. I ended up getting gifts for the boys for later in life (graduation, wedding, etc) and also some traditional clothing to wear for our Ethiopian celebrations here in Kansas City.

Afer heading back from the market we got stuck in the worst traffic EVER (picture below)! It was CRAZY!!!! The annual United Nations of Africa meeting was the same week that we were there, and they had many roads blocked off for important people (not us-as you can see). The normal chaotic driving quadrupled, and the lanes that were once a two way street suddenly became a one way with six lanes! YIKES!

We sat for at least 45 minutes without moving a block. We did, however, have some entertainment. We watched this man weave an ENTIRE basket while waiting...hows that for entertainment!

We also saw our first fender bender...which is wild, as the driving is so chaotic you would think we would have seen many more!

Once back at the guest house we had a quick lunch and headed to pick up our boys!
They were once again VERY excited to see us (which just warms my heart). We got loaded into the van and made the drive across town to our guest house to do some more playing!

Today we played remote control cars (WHICH THEY LOVED) and also with punch balloons (our youngest could NOT get enough of them-and it was very serious business)! It was so cute to see them running around playing!

As the evening neared we piled back in the van to make the trip back across town. We said our "Good-nights" and gave big hugs. It was another great day of bonding!

On the way back the guest house, Bill had requested our driver stop at a open field we had been passing every day. We had a bunch of donated soccer balls that he wanted to throw out to the kids who had been playing there everyday. It was SO FUN to see their faces...I think they thought it was raining soccer balls.

After we got back to the guest house we relaxed a bit and then got ready prepared for our dinner. Tonight we went down to the Hilton with our friends Keli and Brian to have dinner. It was an amazing meal and amazing time to share with friends from back home.

The Boys-DAY 3

2012-02-08T13:54:00.000-08:00

We started our third day out much like the other two...great coffee and french toast or eggs. However, I knew today was going to be much different than the others. As today was our day to appear in court.

While excited to attend court and tell the judge that we were ready, willing, and totally in love with our two boys...I knew there would be much more felt that day than the happiness for MY family.

I was quiet and nervous entering the same waiting room we entered exactly one year prior for our daughter. It was not long until I became overwhelmed and the tears started streaming down my cheeks. You see, as much as this is a happy day for us, it represents the hardest day EVER for a birth parent or birth family member. I could not help but make eye contact with some of the birth family that was waiting to testify...I wanted to let them know I was not a selfish person-I wanted to hold and comfort them. I put my head down and prayed, prayed for peace for everyone involved. I was ashamed in that moment that I have ever complained about my life, and as I looked around to see happy Americans sharing snacks and stories about their adopted child...I prayed for the people that gave life to these children and to MY children!

I remained quiet the remainder of my time and just began to write thoughts and scripture that came to me (maybe I'll share it some day in the future when less emotional) until asked to enter the judges chambers. The judge asked just a few short questions and awaited our response. We then were granted the greatest gift ever, by hearing that the boys were OUR BOYS! I then cried more as we walked to the van : )

After court we headed back to grab some quick lunch and then headed to pick up the boys for the afternoon/evening. Today our boys were excited to see us! It was an amazing feeling to have no struggles getting into the van and leaving...everyone was smiles!

Once we arrived we spent some time doing a puzzle, reading books, taking the boys hand and foot prints as keep sakes, and playing more soccer (of course).

We then ordered some food from a great restaurant up the street, Zolas. Wonderful food and the boys sure LOVED IT! It was our first meal with the boys and it felt good! Oh, and to top it all off our oldest at the end of eating looked at me and said "Thank-you Mommy" MELT MY HEART this boy is sweet!!!!

We then made the journey across town to the care center where we said our "Goodbyes" for the night.

After arriving back at the guest house we got cleaned up and awaited our driver. We decided to try another new restaurant called "The Lime Tree." It was really great with many different selections, YUMMY!

Once back at the guest house we had an impromptu "Party on the Patio" to celebrate our children, friendships, and life! What a beautiful view for our party from the top of the 4 story building.

Our Boys-DAY 2

2012-02-07T08:40:00.000-08:00

Our second day started off waking up early and watching the sun come up on the city! Seriously doesn't get better than the watching the sun come up accompanied by a cup of the most wonderful coffee in the world (if you've been to Ethiopia or Revocup in Overland Park you know what I'm talking about)!

We took our time getting ready for the day, just enjoying each other and the view...it was PERFECT!

We then headed downstairs for a little breakfast. The wonderful cook at the guest house did her best to make sure we ate. Every day there were two choices: eggs or french toast : ) I just could not manage to sit and eat as my excitement was building to go see our boys...instead I had another cup of coffee, which left me bouncing off the walls!

We made the trip back across town to the care center where we were greeted by huge hugs from our boys and many more kiddos that were excited about visitors.

We decided today that it would be better to take the boys back to our guest house to spend some one on one time...but our youngest son was not sure about that plan. After some persuading we finally all made it into the van and drove the route back to the guest house. It was a quiet ride, but lots of smiles and hugs were exchanged. We spent our time playing soccer, blowing bubbles, and coloring! We also got our first family photo with the boys this day!

We also had special guests come visit us this day! Our GREAT friends, Keli and Brian, from Kansas City were in Addis the same time and came to hang for a bit. So FUN!

It was soon time to make the drive back across town. I was glad that our boys were feeling more comfortable (and I think we wore our youngest out).

After returning back to the guest house we prepared and walked to dinner. We tried a Greek restaurant called "Enyas" and even got to meet Enya herself-who showered us all with many kisses : )

It was another wonderful day spent with our boys and new friends!

Our Boys-DAY 1

2012-02-06T17:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I was going to TRY to keep our blog updated on our recent trip to Addis, but it just didn't work out as planned. We had a couple of days of no internet service and one day of a entire CITY power outage...and then just some laziness on my part.

So I will just give you a brief overview of each day, and then of course, add some pictures which is what you all are waiting for anyhow : )

We arrived late on Monday night to a crowded airport in Addis. It was an amazing feeling to be back in the country we have grown to love so dearly...its like a second home and it felt good to be back. We looked for our driver who was NO where to be found and ended up using the exact same lady's cell phone I used a year prior to call our driver to come fetch us.

We got settled in for the night and ready for the BIG DAY that was coming...MEETING OUR BOYS!

Sleep was hard to come by, as all the sounds and smells are so different. I think that the anticipation of knowing our boys were a short drive away had something to do with it too : )

DAY 1: We woke and got prepared for the day. We quickly gathered together our things and headed down to the lobby to see just when our driver would be picking us up. Shortly there after he arrived and we started the ride across town to the care center. There are no words to describe the feeling that came over me when seeing our boys for the first time. Our oldest ran and gave us the biggest hugs ever, and our younger son was hesitant and shy, but had an amazing sparkle in his eyes and a little grin on his face. We enjoyed several hours playing, laughing, and getting the tour of what is their temporary home.

That evening we walked and explored a bit of the city! There were many shops and restauarants within walking distance. We ended up eating at MK's Pizza (on the recommendation of another friend who recently traveled). It was wonderful to have some pasta Ethiopian style and a few people even had burgers and fries!

It was a PERFECT day meeting our two sons...who are more PRECIOUS than we could ever have imagined!

DAY 2 coming tomorrow...hope to see you back then!

Arrived in Addis

2012-01-24T00:51:00.000-08:00

We made it safely to Addis Ababa last night and got checked into our guest house. The accomodations are very nice, and the staff is very friendly!

We have a lovely view from our third floor room. There is nothing like waking up to a beautiful city with the sun shining!

We are currently awaiting our ride to go and meet our boys for the first time! So EXCITED to finally hug and kiss on them after months of prayers and waiting!

Getting Ready

2012-01-19T18:27:00.000-08:00

I can NOT believe that we are getting ready to head to Ethiopia again! What an amazing journey...and it just keeps getting better! God certainly has been up to great things as usual and gave us the EXACT SAME COURT DATE for our boys that we had for our sweet princess one year ago. Seriously?!?!

I am a mess of emotions and am laughing and excited one minute and crying the next! Oh my! This journey is not for the weak at heart that IS for SURE! But, in the end I'm sure of one thing-it will be BEAUTIFUL meeting our children and even more BEAUTIFUL to have them all under one roof (someday in the near future).

Well, I plan to keep you all updated on our trip while there...but for now I need to clean my house for my guests that are coming and get myself packed!

AMAZING

2012-01-11T08:07:00.001-08:00

That is all I can say! In a little over two weeks we raised $1,000 and got to our goal! We have sooooo many donations to take over and I'm in awe of everyone that donated!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

800 diapers
1100 wipes
800 gloves
16 bottles of children's ibuprofen
15 pairs of shoes
10 sunglasses
10 pounds of formula
8 packages of bottles
1 new pack and play
And much much more!!!!
Looks like we are going to be over our luggage limit, therefore I'm leaving our donation button on : )If you feel moved to donate please do!

Blessings for Babies

2012-01-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

We are the Vega family of three-SOON to be five!

Six years ago my husband Bill and I were BLESSED to find one another and be married!

One year ago we were BLESSED to bring our beautiful daughter home from Ethiopia!

We are being BLESSED yet again to be the parents to two precious boys who are still in Ethiopia (but hope to bring home soon)!

We have been BLESSED beyond words by our journey to our children in Ethiopia, and now we would love to be able to give the BLESSING back to this beautiful country and people.

How can we do that? How can you help?

By giving a BLESSING of any amount ($1, $5, $10-it all adds up) by clicking the Donate button above this post.

Our goal is to raise $1,000 so that we would be able to purchase formula, diapers, and basic medical supplies to be hand delivered by us to orphanges for children who are waiting for their forever family. We plan on taking four 50 pound totes with us on each of our two trips and would love nothing more for them to be packed full to give a BLESSING back!

Thank-you for your BLESSING!

Santa???

2011-12-19T11:29:00.001-08:00

We attempted to visit Santa at a holiday party that we attended. Zayla was very helpful at taking items to Santa, but her expression in the second photo says it all on how she really felt about him.

Needless to say, we won't be standing in line to see Santa again this year!

Fall Photos

2011-11-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted anything in a while so I thought I would show you some of our Fall photos that I snapped of "Little Miss" from just a week or two ago. We had so much fun playing in the leaves and she was happy to stop and say "cheese" anytime I asked her to. Enjoy!

One Step Closer

2011-11-08T09:53:00.000-08:00

We just got word from our case worker that our dossier landed safe and sound in Addis Ababa yesterday! Woohoo, let the translating begin!

Orphan Sunday

2011-11-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

An adopted child is not an unwanted child. They are a child who has been searched for, prayed for, cried for, begged for; received by arms that ached, making empty hearts full." author unknown

On this special Sunday I can't help but think about our two boys who are sitting half way across the world. I hope they know we are working as fast as we can to get them home and praying every day that they have peace in knowing how much this mommy, daddy, and sister love them already!

While we wait we are able to send care packages. What do you send in a package to your sweet kiddos? Don't ask me-I had a VERY difficult time deciding! But, we ended up getting a few things together (most importantly photo albums) and they are now en route to a special family who will be HAND delievering these small packages of love to our boys!

Wow, I can't wait to know what their reactions will be! Hoping to bring smiles to their faces from across the world!

Happy "1st" Halloween

2011-11-01T08:31:00.001-07:00

Coming Clean...

2011-10-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

I have been eager to write this post for quite some time, and now that our paperwork is out of our hands I feel ready to spill the beans.

But, first let me tell you a little back ground. When we originally started our first adoption journey we dreamed of having a little, tiny baby to love and watch grow. That is exactly what God blessed us with and we are thankful everyday for our sweet girl. But, while in Ethiopia something else happened...we were drawn to adopting again and this time maybe not a baby. I'm not exactly sure what it was that changed this for us, maybe seeing 2 of the families with their older boys, or playing with older kiddos out in the courtyard while there, or maybe it was a connection with a few kids at Bethzatha when we visited for the afternoon. But, something had changed in our hearts and it just felt "right." So, when we started talking about the process again we had decided to have our parameters much larger: boy or girl 0-5 years. The only problem was our agency AGCI (that we love) does not allow us to have these parameters because it would be out of birth order.

Well, we prayed about it A LOT, I begged and pleaded with AGCI A LOT, and we talked with friends and family A LOT! Turns out that is just what we needed as our friends/travel buddies the Husons told us about another agency, IAG, we may want to look into. We loved this agency and felt it was a good fit for our family and so we decided to move forward and send in our application.

Shortly after sending in our application we received a phone call from our case worker. I figured it was to tell us they had received our application and welcome us, and I certainly was not prepared for the words that came out of her mouth! She said "I know your parameters are 0-5 years, but we have two brothers ages 2 and 6 years that are in need of a family and I thought maybe"...beyond that I didn't hear much of anything. I saw a picture of the two boys and I was in love instantly! My husband, unfortunately, was out of state for a funeral but when he returned home we discussed it for quite some time, prayed about it a whole lot, and talked with our families. AND on September 15th (my hubby's birthday) we officially went from Vega family of 3 to Vega family of 5!!!!!!

THAT'S RIGHT WE ARE NOW THE MOM AND DAD OF 2 LITTLE BOYS IN ETHIOPIA!!!!!!

My heart is so full and I just can not tell you how excited I am to be adding to our family. Only God could have orchestrated such a brilliant, beautiful story! We are so thanful that everything just fell into place and now we are eager to have them home with us forever!

YIPEE!

2011-10-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

We received an e-mail last evening that our home study was complete and ready for printing! So, we just waited for the word and headed over to the agency to pick it up personally (those of you adoptive parents know the feeling).

From there little one and I headed straight to Fed Ex to make a zillion copies of our dossier and home study to get it sent off. Zayla was so patient and well behaved while I was working as quick as possible and making sure everything was in the correct order!

We then handed over our special package over to the nice Fed Ex worker, but not before we snapped a cute picture of Zayla holding it!

Now onto the wait!

So sorry

2011-10-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad about posting lately! Not because anything real exciting is happening...we are just living and loving life!

Zayla has been busy running around and getting into everything! She is also saying a lot more these days, and is able to sing "Patty Cake" point to her nose, eyes, ears, and mouth, and is dancing all the time! We have started venturing out more and she LOVES the slide and swings at the local park!

I have also been plugging away at adoption #2 paperwork. NO, it is not faster or easier the second time through. We don't receive a free pass because we have been through it once before. But, I do have to say its not near as scary or intimidating this time around : )

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will have more intersting-exciting news, but for now thats "All I GOT!"

Red Barn Farm

2011-09-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we thought we would venture a little ways from home to the Red Barn Farm. It was the perfect weather and it seemed like a "fall" thing to do. The Red Barn Farm is a working farm in Weston, MO that has every farm animal you could imagine, pony rides, tractor rides, feeding all of the animals, and of course a trip to the pumpkin patch! If you are local I highly recommend it. It is FREE to get in on the weekends and our pumpkins we picked and purchased were very reasonable! Here are a few photos of our day : )

Adopting Again!

2011-09-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

Some of you have already heard our great news and for many of you its new...but, we have started the adoption process again and are SUPER EXCITED to be adding another child to our family!

We are at the very beginning stages which means we have picked a international agency and sent our application in : ) We are working on gathering home study "stuff" for our local agency and we have to re-do ALL of our educational hours including our home study agency's weekend workshop (sigh). That being said it will take some time to get everything done, but we know all the time and effort gets us to an AMAZING end of adding to our family!

I will try to keep updating both our new journey, and also pics of our little princess too so I hope you will continue following!

The story continues...

Renaissance Festival

2011-09-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

Snapped a few photos of Zayla all decked out for her first Renaissance festival. She has an adorable belly dancer coin scarf...which is so big right now that she gets to wear it as a cute halter! This is the 35 year for the Kansas City Renaissance Festival and Zayla had a blast cheering at the joust and seeing all of the other people dressed in their costumes. We will certainly be going again next year!

Zayla's One Year Photos

2011-09-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

BFF's

2011-08-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

Just had to post this new picture of our little girl and her BFF. So glad that they are BOTH smiling in this one...I think he is finally warming up to her : )

MIA

2011-08-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

So sorry that I have been MIA for the last couple of weeks. We have just been staying busy with play groups and fun outdoor activites (when its not too hot).

Zayla has been very busy trying to perfect her walking, which is still very unsteady. And I've been trying to get all of my teaching stuff (thats still in the same place and same boxes its been since I packed up my classroom in May) organized and put away at home.

Yep, that's right-putting my stuff away at home, because I have a wonderful husband that is letting me be a stay-at-home-mama for the next few years with our daughter! I am so excited about this, and of course, the teacher in me has taken over...I already have a mini-curriculum for what we will do in the fall, and some great ideas to keep us busy in the winter too! I know, maybe a bit over the top, but I've got all this "stuff" and I might as well use it : )

Until next time (oh, and of course of new photo of our cutie)!

Fun Times!

2011-07-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

Once a month we are able to get together with friends in the area who have also adopted internationally. Talk about a good time for kiddos and their parents. Yesterday was our day to meet up, and boy did Zayla have a good time!

Here are just a few photos of her and a couple of friends playing at the spray park and also at Duo, a wonderful local Ethiopian restaurant.

Our Birthday Surprise

2011-07-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

First Birthday Party

2011-07-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful 1st birthday party for our sweet girl this weekend! She was not sure what all of the fuss was about, but quickly figured out that it was fun and she liked it A LOT!

We decided on a zebra theme with hot pink and it turned out really cute! I got Zayla's cute outfit off of Etsy for a great price. Picked up a few general decorations at the local party story. Then I ended up making a lot of the personalized decorations: banner, cupcake toppers, lollipop thank-yous, and cupcake stand (thank-you Cricut Expression machine). Everything came together so well and I couldn't be more pleased : )

Enjoy the pictures below from our day!

Minneapolis Trip in Pictures

2011-07-14T15:21:00.001-07:00

We finally made it!

YIPEE! We're here!

Mehaber here we come!

Getting our names written in Amharic

The littlest performers of the day

Great food!

Sleepy hair braiding

All finished!

First Mehaber Family Photo

Time for the zoo!

She LOVED watching the animals!

Especially the "kitty cat" as she calls it

We ended our trip with the Mall of America

Checking out Lego Land

And even got to meet Dora!

Happy 1st Birthday

2011-07-12T07:14:00.000-07:00

I can not believe she is already ONE! It just seems like time is flying by watching her grow and discover new things daily! We cherish every moment with her and are so thankful she's our daughter!

Today we also celebrate another person, half way across the world. Without Zayla's birth mother we would not have a daughter. We thank her for the precious gift that she gave...we are forever grateful! May God give her peace today knowing that Zayla is safe and loved more than anything!

Now a short update on what Zayla has been up to:
*Her personality is shining through more and more everyday, she is so playful and very spicy!
*She is standing unassisted all the time now, and has even taken a few steps on her own. But, she would prefer to bear crawl or use a push toy to walk.
*She now has seven teeth and is loving trying new foods daily.
*She echoes a lot of words, but somehow they all sound like "da da."
*She loves dancing to ANY music she hears, on the radio, in the store, even daddy's drum playing!

Here are a few photos that I have captured this morning...I'm sure there will be many more to follow after we have her party this weekend : )

Off to a great start

Playing with her new bitty baby

Big Smiles from the Birthday Girl!

Zayla Wengelawit's Gotcha Day

2011-07-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

After some motivation from other friends beautiful videos, I had to finally get ours done! It doesn't have all the fancy bells and whistles, but it was made with a lot of LOVE! Hope that you enjoy watching the journey to our daughter, Zayla Wengelawit!

A Birthday Party

2011-06-23T07:16:00.000-07:00

We are so fortunate to have our friends the Coopers in such close proximity to us! They are so much fun and we LOVE getting together with them any chance we get! Recently their little guy had his FIRST birthday party and we were able to help celebrate with them! Zayla is always so excited to see her friend-and this is just one of the great pictures his mommy took of the two of them that day (yes, she is an AMAZING photographer!)

Another first

2011-06-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago my cousin got married back home in South Dakota. It was such a beautiful wedding and a beautiful day. Zayla was excited to get dressed up and attend her first wedding, however she decided to "talk" through out the processional...so she didn't get to stay in the church for the actual ceremony (daddy took her out of the sanctuary so we didn't ruin the wedding video : )

Here are a couple of pictures from our day!

Getting Caught Up

2011-06-15T10:32:00.001-07:00

I know its been a while since I've posted-so my goal is get caught up over the next couple of days. We had a few busy weeks with the end of the school year...but, now summer is in full swing!

So here are a few pictures from one of our favorite things to do during the summer time - SWIM!

Good Morning Everyone!

2011-05-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Uh-Oh

2011-05-20T17:53:00.001-07:00

I knew it would happen sooner or later with our little one being so mobile...and today it happened! She has started standing on her own and attempting to take a step or two. Beings that she is not real steady yet there are lots of falls, but today she bumped her poor little mouth on a toy on the way down. After a lot of tears we are left with the result of one big fat bottom lip.

10 Months!

2011-05-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote a post...as the weather has gotten nicer we have spent a lot of time outdoors!

Our little girl is getting so big! We have just recently passed her 10 month mark and she has made some tremendous gains!

Here are some of the new things are little one is doing:

crawling
waving hello and good bye
saying "kitty cat" "da da" and "ba ba"
loves playing peek-a-boo
loves playing with the cats (ha ha)
eating finger foods
taking one big nap a day
sleeping through the night (most of the time)
pulling up on everything!
and most recently stood by herself for 5 seconds (yikes!)

We are very excited to see all of these gains, but at times it feels like it is going so fast! We love and cherish every moment of every day with Gods gift of our daughter!

Here are a couple of recent pics!

(swinging)

(big girl car seat)

(tired after a long walk)

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

Zayla with her first Easter basket. As you can see she had some help from our two cats, Connick and Asia, which she LOVES!

Favorite Friend!

2011-04-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

I had posted a while back about our playdate/photo shoot that we had with our sweet friends the Coopers. Well, I just have to share the photos from that day! Zayla was so excited to see her friend, and he was not near as excited. We tried numerous times to get a good photo of the two of them together but Zayla just wanted to kiss (or maybe eat) her sweet friend.

As you can see my hand is in this photo-Zayla was very excited!

The best photo we got! We thought back to back would work better...Zayla still had ahold of him though : )

One Month Home

2011-04-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, time has certainly passed quickly since we arrived home from Ethiopia! We have been loving every day, hour, minute, and second with our precious daughter who seems to be changing daily! I can't believe how much she has grown since we saw those first pictures of her. I've included some of the pics below that we received over our wait to bring her home forever (thanks to some very awesome traveling families)...I just can not believe it!

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do

2011-03-31T11:26:00.000-07:00

Friends and Photos

2011-03-17T07:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we ventured out for a play date/photo shoot!

I met my great friend Jenn through blog world about a year ago when we got onto the wait list to adopt. Well, they just happened to be adopting from Ethiopia, using the same agency as us, AND live in the Kansas City area! It was so fun to meet another family in our area and it was an immediate friendship that will last a lifetime!

Months pass by and Jenn's family gets their referral for their sweet baby boy, we then received our referral a few months later. We then find out our sweet babies are in the SAME ROOM and their cribs are SIDE BY SIDE (I know totally a God thing). Well, now we are all home and had the chance to get together!

Jenn has some pictures documenting this awesome moment that we'll share later. Our little one was so excited to see her friend, she just wanted to grab his face and kiss him all over!

Well, here is a sneak peak of our sweet girls first photo shoot (thanks again Jenn for all of your time and talent)!

ENJOY!

Happy 8 Months!

2011-03-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

So glad to be able to celebrate with you today precious baby girl!

Our First Art Project

2011-03-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

I had painted these three canvas months ago for Zayla's room. The words are the phonetic pronunciation for daddy, mommy, and baby girl in Amharic (Ethiopia's main language). Bill and I, of course, did our hand prints when I originally painted these. But we were missing the most important part-our little girls handprints. We were finally able to complete this artwork...and had lots of fun doing it!

YEAH, the final project is done and hanging on the wall!

Finally HOME

2011-03-10T09:17:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to update everyone that we have finally made it HOME!

Yes, we did arrive home from Ethiopia over a week ago, but as soon as we landed we got sad news that my father had passed away the same day that we were traveling home on our flight from Addis to Washington DC. It was devastating news, and my emotions were torn. I am so very excited to have our daughter home that I have prayed about and loved for soooo long, but sad that my dad had passed away and didn't get to hold his new grandbaby.

Needless to say we packed the car and some clean clothes and got on the road to my home town (6 plus hours away). This was NOT a fun trip with a little girl who has never had to sit in a car seat. But, we made it...and she did very well considering : )

Cacooning went out the window due to the circumstances, and we just did what we had to do to get by. We are now HOME and settling in to a schedule and a routine. We will be home bound for several weeks but are welcoming visitors anytime!

Oh, and of course I had to post a new photo of our girl!

Introducing Zayla Wengelawit Vega

2011-02-22T14:31:00.001-08:00

Gotcha Day!

2011-02-21T10:50:00.000-08:00

We are still celebrating and taking in that our little girl is finally with us forever! She has been a pure joy with many smiles and giggles! She unfortunately has an ear infection and is congested so that is a little rough for her times-but, she is hanging in there and is bonding with us great! We are trying to stick to her routine which includes two baths a day, eating every two-three hours, outdoor sun time, and lots of play time : ) Tomorrow we head to the US Embassy to make everything legal and official on the US side of things. This process is very simple and sounds like it will take about 5 minutes once they finally call your familys name. It has been described to be much like a DMV center in State, so you know how that wait goes. We may be camped out for sometime but, hopefully we will luck out and it will be quick for us and the other 5 families that will be going with us.

Thanks for all of your prayers while we are here, they really can be felt in this exciting, emotional time!

Sunday Fun

2011-02-20T05:14:00.001-08:00

Thought I would send out a quick update of our second day here in Ethiopia!

We are so happy and quickly getting used to being a family of three! Zayla Wengel has been such a trooper as we are figuring out her schedule and trying to keep her happy and content in our little hotel room! We had a great morning today and are taking in every moment with our new daughter!

We Made It

2011-02-19T08:22:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we made it safely to Ethiopia! It was a long flight with not much sleep...and when we arrived at the hotel we got a BIG surprise! We originally were to go to Hannah's Hope tomorrow to get our sweet girl, but when we received our itinerary we were schedulued to go pick her up first thing this morning! It is so wonderful to have her in our arms again, I just can't believe how blessed we are to have such a sweet daughter!

Much love from Addis and the Vega Family of 3!

WE GOT CONFIRMED!

2011-02-14T15:45:00.001-08:00

We will be leaving later this week to bring our sweet daughter home forever!

We are very thankful for all of the prayers and are very excited to travel and make this long journey a reality!

Since you all are such rockstars, I have one more request from everyone...can you please join me in praying for a super-sweet family that we are friends with? They were in our first travel group and are still waiting to get embassy confirmation (and will find out Wednesday). Their little girl desperately needs to be home to get the medical attention she needs and they just have to go too! So please, please join me in asking God to let them be confirmed and bring His child home to her new forever family!

No News

2011-02-11T14:37:00.001-08:00

Well, sadly we did not hear anything from the embassy this week. I was really hoping and praying that we would hear and get a SUPER FAST date to get our little one home. We are so longing to hold her again and I am really wanting my Dad to be able to meet and hold her too!

Maybe Monday??? That would be a great Valentines Day surprise!

Embassy File Opened!!!!!

2011-02-08T11:15:00.000-08:00

We just heard this morning that our file has officially been opened by the US Embassy! This is the next step in getting our little girl home forever!

So, now we wait for them to verify all the information and give us a tentative embassy date. According to our case worker it could all go very well, and the embassy could say "all clear to travel" or they could request additional paperwork which means additional time.

Could you please join me in prayer that they would not need anything more and that we would be cleared to travel in the next couple of weeks or days : )

We are so wanting to bring our little girl home!

Our Girl

2011-02-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

I know-I know TWO posts in ONE DAY!

Well, I'm just adding a couple of photos from our first meeting with our sweet girl!

Oh,I love her SO MUCH!

Our Lost Bag

2011-02-07T09:43:00.000-08:00

So, in a previous post I told you that the airline lost one of our bags enroute to Ethiopia. Very thankful that the other three arrived, but the one lost bag had another 50 pounds of donations to give to the orphanage so we of course were bummed.

Well, on the second day in Ethiopia I get an e-mail from my sister who lives in South Dakota saying a lady from Amsterdam called the house and said she took your bag by mistake and is taking it back to the airport so they could send it on to Ethiopia.

Of course, I was taken back by this info. First off, how did our ONE bag get off of the plane in Amsterdam. Second, how do you take the wrong ugly bag with red taped handle and leopard scarf tied to it. Third, how in the world did this random lady get a South Dakota phone number for us?

Well, it turns out that inside the suitcase was a small, cardboard box that I had placed several pairs of sunglasses in so they wouldn't get broken. Turns out the box had my Dad's girlfriends name and address on the box (as she gave me a Christmas present in the box). So, this random lady googled her name and address got the phone number, talked to her, found out where we were headed, and our suitcase finally made it to Ethiopia when we arrived to depart!

Wow, it was very nice of her to get our bag back to us!

The suitcase full of donations will have to make one more trip to Ethiopia : )

Back Home

2011-01-29T01:48:00.000-08:00

For those of you following our journey...I wanted to let you know that we arrived back home safely.

Very sad to leave our little girl half way across the world. But, we are trusting in God to protect her until we receive our embassy date to bring her home forever.

Bill and I both are not feeling well, and are planning on hibernating for the weekend in hopes of recovering by Monday!

Thanks for all of your prayers and support...now c'mon world's quickest embassy appointment!

SHE'S OUR DAUGHTER!

2011-01-26T06:57:00.001-08:00

Just got back to the hotel after another LONG emotional day.
I will post more on the entire day later...but, for now I just wanted to let everyone know that we PASSED COURT today, and our baby girl will be in our arms forever and ever!

Day 3

2011-01-25T21:24:00.001-08:00

Good Morning from Ethiopia! I did not have time to post yesterday as it was a BUSY day!

It started off by heading to Hannah's Hope to visit our sweet girl! She was very happy to see us today and gave us lots of smiles and giggles : ) We left HH around noon and went to have lunch at a very nice Itailian restaurant that also sold Ethiopian art. From there we proceeded to the market to shop...totally overwhelming!!! But, I did have a list of things I wanted to grab and did a pretty good job. Hopefully I will be able to get a few more things this afternoon as we are planning on walking up to a small street market later on. In the evevning we ventured out on our own, SCARY cab ride!!!!! But, it was fun to take in the city and all of its culture. It seems as if there is always so much happening with people EVERYWHERE!

Today we head to court! I think I slept a total of 2 hours last night...I am just so nervous. I am so hoping that we pass while in country and that we can hear the judge say "congrats on your new daughter!" I will post later on this evening when we find out results. Until then much love to everyone back home : )

Ethiopia Day 2

2011-01-24T11:45:00.001-08:00

We started the day off by having a nice breakfast and visiting with the 3 other adoptive families that are here. We then headed to see our kiddos at Hannah's Hope promptly at 9:30am!
I spotted our little one right when we walked in and she stared us down as we went over to scoop her up! It was nice to be able to hold and love on her first thing in the morning..she was wide awake and we got a few smiles but then had to meet with the director about paperwork, court appointments, and other last minute things that need to be done!
Of course, by the time we got out of the meeting she had taken a bottle and was down for a nap. We didn't wake her as she was sleeping so soundly...so we went over to get in some great playtime with the older children. It was very fun to get so many hugs and smiles...the kiddos love having their picture taken and then seeing it on the camera.

We then headed out to grab some lunch before we headed to one of the local government orphanages. I will not go into great detail about this stop on our trip, as they are kiddos with very personal stories (some that were happy-but many that were very sad) and I don't feel its my place to put them out for everyone to read. But, just know by the time I left I was in LOVE with several kiddos from infant to adolescent and their were tears shared by all of us adoptive mamas!

After leaving the orphanage we got to head back to Hannah's Hope to spend more time with our children. Our sweet girl was wide awake and ready to play! We got several great pictures and video of her laughing, smiling, and babbling! She is much more comfortable with us today as she was yesterday...and it was heartbreaking to see her cry when we set her down to leave : ( Pretty soon there will be no leaving her and she will be with us forever (I have to tell myself this a million times a day!)

We thne went out for a traditional Ethiopian dinner. The food was fabulous and the entertainment (singers, dancers, band) were wonderful! It's now 11pm here and we are ALL ready to crash out as its been a very long day! Tomorrow morning we shop in the market and then go to spend time with our kiddos, and the following day we have our court appointment. Please join me in prayer that all the paperwork and people are at court so that we can pass before we leave to come home!

Much love from Addis!!!!

1st Day in Ethiopia

2011-01-23T13:25:00.000-08:00

We were very surprised as we checked into our hotel room to see our in our itinerary that we would be meeting our baby girl today! We were not suppose to arrive until Sunday evening, but because of flight limitations we had to arrive a day before. We figured we would take this day to enjoy the sights of the city, but instead we had "Meet Your Child" in our itinerary on Sunday afternoon!!!! We were scheduled to be there for just an hour or two and we ended up staying for over 3 hours before we had to leave.

There are NO words to descibe the feeling that we felt when we saw our baby girl! She was being fed a bottle by her special mother and was so content. As soon as we walked in the Special Mother was telling our sweet girl "your mommy is here-can you say mommy?" I scooped her up almost immediately and between Bill and I we NEVER put her down. She is everything we dreamed of and more and can't wait to go back tomorrow morning to give her more kisses and love! We got to feed her a bottle, and give her a bath shortly there after. We then went to visit with other families and hung out in the courtyard and watched all of the older kids playing : ) I then got to feed her some cereal (she is such a good eater) and then cleaned her face afterwards. She hated having her face cleaned and it even appeared that she scolded me in her baby talk : )

Meeting her is just beyond words-she has melted our hearts and we are so in LOVE! We are counting down the time until we get to go back to Hannah's Hope to love on her more!!!

FYI: I have included two of the first photos we took. We still are not able to post all of our pictures until we pass our US Embassy appointment...but believe me we have TONS to share!

We Are HERE!

2011-01-23T01:08:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would post a quick message to let everyone know that we made it to Ethiopia safely (minus one missing bag that I will explain later).

We had wonderful flights the entire way and got to see amazing sights out of the plane window including Venice & The Swiss Alps! We also got to meet up with the other AGCI families that share the same court date with us…which was really fun! When we arrived at the hotel last night we got our itinerary for the week…we will be going to Hannah’s Hope TODAY to meet our sweet girl!

Here are some pictures from our travels thus far!

Bill and I waiting for our 1^st flight

AGCI Families waiting for our 2^nd flight

Venice from the plane

Swiss Alps from the plane

YEAH we MADE IT!

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SNOW?!?!

2011-01-19T09:39:00.000-08:00

I have to admit as a teacher I am always excited to see snow in the weather forecast...especially when they are forcasting 6-8 inches! It is almost a gaurantee that I will get to stay in my warm house and enjoy the beauty of the snow falling without having to be out and about. However, this time it's different as we are leaving to meet our daughter in a few short days.

So, now my hopes are for a little snow that can earn a day home from work but not enough to delay any flights, LOL! I think it may be a little greedy...but, you can't blame me for trying!

I will let you know what happens : )

Happy 6 Months!

2011-01-14T21:34:00.001-08:00

Can't believe it has already been over 2 months since we first saw your beautiful face! My how you have changed in that time! You are pushing yourself up much more, playing with toys, smiling more, and have tons more hair (thanks to my AGCI family for providing such great info and pictures of our sweet girl)!

Your mama and daddy LOVE YOU SO MUCH and will be there to help you celebrate REAL SOON!!!!!!!!

What's Been Going On?

2011-01-14T06:23:00.000-08:00

A LOT!

To start off with I've had three amazing baby showers!

The first was held at the school I work for! It was so nice to have all of my collegues celebrate this special time with me! Just about everyone at the school has been employed here for quite a few years...so they have been on the journey with me the whole time! Thanks guys!

The second one that I had was back home in South Dakota with my family and friends there. It was a small get together with everyone that is special to me! It was just perfect! I received many beautiful hand-made gifts...and the shower decorations included flower bouquets made from onesies! We also played a couple of games which included The Price Game (from the Price Is Right)because its my favorite game show!

The final shower was thrown by 4 of my dear friends at church! It was a beautifully decorated African theme shower which included: Ethiopian food, African stuffed safari animals, a diaper cake, and a African angel wearing a necklace with our sweet girls name. We also played a game in which you had to answer fun facts about Ethiopia and our daughter! It was very special to have everyone together to celebrate!

Wow! I am so lucky to have such great friends and family who are so EXCITED to have our little girl home too!

As if that wasn't exciting enough...my friends the Coopers made their second trip to Ethiopia to bring their sweet son Daniel home! What a celebration and homecoming it was at the airport! The moment was everything and more than I could ever imagined...and I still get goosebumps as I write this! Congrats again Coopers!

Last but certainly NOT LEAST! I have started taking my malaria medicine! That's right...I have never been so excited to take medication! As soon as I took that first pill I thought to myself, "this is really happening-we are really leaving soon!"

Yep, that's right, won't be long now! 6 more days and we will be on our way to meet our daughter!!!!!!

She's A Pistol

2011-01-05T17:30:00.000-08:00

We just recently received this very cute story of our sweet girl...Bill said that she's already a lot like her mama. Don't know what that's supposed to mean, ha ha? Well here is the cute story below:

Funny story: a sweet little boy who is walking was squeezing between Z and the crib and stepped close to (not on) her head. Well, Z wanted to teach him a lesson so she reached right up and grabbed hold of his pant leg. STRONG grip! It took a little bit for him to break free. My husband, the special mothers, and I were laughing so hard. I think your daughter is going to be a pistol!

15 MORE DAYS TO GO!!!!

Her Personality

2010-12-29T20:53:00.000-08:00

We are so fortunate to have such WONDERFUL friends who have taken the time to love on our little girl while in Ethiopia meeting their children. Even better is that we receive information from them about her personality along with updated photos (these I can't share yet). However, I can share what they have said about her-which is just priceless! Below are some of the short phrases that they use to describe our daughter...AWWW, I can't wait to have her in my arms, 23 days and counting!!!!

She is precious!

She is absolutely gorgeous!! You are going to completely be in love with her when you get here! She is very content and sweet!

She is SO ADORABLE!!!!!!!

What a sweetheart she is!

She is a doll! Yes, she IS a bubble blower

Oh, she just cracks me up with her facial expressions! What a little sweetie!

One Month From Today...

2010-12-21T13:04:00.001-08:00

We will be on a airplane going to meet our daughter! I can hardly believe that after all of the years of praying about a child in our lives, its actually coming true! We are counting down the weeks, days, hours, and seconds!

A Couple of Updates

2010-12-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

First things first, we got word on Friday that our little girl is not feeling the best and is having to take medication right now. I'm, of course, sad that I can't be there to hold and love on her while she is not feeling well...but, I know that the Lord is working hard to protect her and giving her special nurse guidance on how to care for her in the best way. But, please pray for her!

Second, I had a baby shower at my job last week! I am in awe at the kind hearts of all of my co-workers. It was paired with our Christmas celebration which was fun and led to a entire afternoon of celebration! Thanks to everyone at work for all of the nice gifts...we will put each one of them to good use!

Last, I just wanted to take a moment to THANK all of the traveling families that have taken the time to tell us all about our little girls personality. There is nothing better than getting a couple of sentences and PICTURES of your little girl that's across the world. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. It means SO MUCH!!!!!

Will post again real soon...until then stay warm : )

Happy 5 Months!

2010-12-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

I can't hardly believe that our little girl is 5 months already! We were very excited to receive new photos from a friend who recently traveled to Ethiopia of our little girl at her current age. It is amazing how much she has changed in one month! We are so fortunate to have these pictures to celebrate her 5 month birthday, and also to share with her as she grows up. Sorry that we are unable to share photos online yet...but if you want to stop by our house I will show you each and every one of them (believe me they are ALL over the house : )

Happy 5 months baby girl! We are counting down the days until you are in our arms!

Faces Of Adoption

2010-12-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

Our wonderful agency just recently put this video together...it is AMAZING to see these forever families that God has perfectly planned and put together!

Tick, tick, tick...

2010-12-09T11:06:00.001-08:00

The time seems to be moving so slowly lately! We are counting down the days until we will be getting on our first flight to Ethiopia to meet our sweet daughter...in case you were wondering we have 42 days to go : )

During our wait we have had the opportunity to see some wonderful pictures of Ethiopia and Hannahs Hope (the transition home) from other families who have recently traveled. We have even got to see some updated pictures of our sweet girl, which makes the wait a little bit easier (THANK YOU!). We also got to spend a whole evening with our friends the Coopers hearing EVERYTHING about their recent trip. It was so fun to learn what to pack and what to leave at home, which cab driver to ask for, what foods are good, and what traditional purchases to make for our little one! It was also very fun to learn that their son and our daughter share a room at Hannahs Hope and their cribs are right next to each other! Wonderful how God orchestrates everything...these two babies are so close in Ethiopia and will be in the same city when coming home with their forever family!

Well, thats all for now. I will keep you posted as the clock continues to tick away!

Excitement!

2010-11-28T20:59:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday around 1pm I was busy packing my things in preparation for our South Dakota road trip for Thanksgiving. I really hadn't given any thought to hearing from our agency on Wednesday...I think I had just given up on the idea of getting a court date for the week. As I was preparing to pack the car that special ring tone began to play! My heart skipped a beat as I thought, could this be it? Are we going to find out the day we will have our little girl in our arms? Sure enough, it was K on the other end of the line..."I have exciting news for you-your court date is the end of January!" WOO HOO! I am soooo excited to have our travel dates, and even more excited to have plane tickets booked. Only 53 days until she's in our arms!!!!!

The Perfect Verse

2010-11-22T08:42:00.000-08:00

I just happened to run across this bible verse and it really stuck with me. It fits perfectly with the WHOLE adoption process...although it really spoke to me for our situation right now, as we are awaiting our court date. God always has perfect timing!

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

~ 1 Corinthians 13:7

Paperwork anyone?

2010-11-21T16:16:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been a very busy-exciting couple of weeks! We are so overjoyed to have our daughter in our life and now are busy in preparing more paperwork so she can come home FOREVER!

The first thing we needed to do was to complete our Referral Packet and get it back ASAP! The quicker we got it back the better! So, we got everything filled out and made a trip to have a very nice notary make everything official! This new paperwork will be added to everything else that has already been done. It will all get translated and then go to the Ethiopian courts and they will then assign us a court date. Our case worker said this process can take from 4-6 weeks...but, oh it would be nice to hear something before Thanksgiving!!!!!

We also have been in the process of renewing our State of Kansas Home Study. Yep, its already been over a year since we started the adoption process. This entails more paperwork, doctors appointments, employment letters, recommendation letters, etc. We just got this done and turned in on Friday and will then wait for another home visit from our local social worker.

Like I said, its been a bit busy! But, after seeing our daughters face no amount of paperwork could stand in our way. We would do ANYTHING for her!

Love you baby girl : )

Everyone Loves a Giveaway!

2010-11-16T07:57:00.001-08:00

The holidays are fast approaching and if you are like me you are always looking for the perfect, unique gift to give. Well, how about some AWESOME adoption giveaways??? Below is a list of some families that have some great giveaways that started just this week:

The Dinsmore Family

The Mancini Family

The Stavnes Family

Happy 4 Months Baby Girl!

2010-11-13T12:32:00.000-08:00

That's right our daughter is 4 months old! How we wish we could be there to celebrate along side of her, hold her, and love on her. But, because that is not possible we will have to celebrate here with her pictures that are all over our house!

The CALL

2010-11-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

I still can't believe that I am writing this...I have been in shock for the past few days. I spend all of my time staring at photos of our little girl who is half way across the world and wonder if I could ever LOVE her more! Then the next day rolls around and I find myself more in LOVE with every detail of her story and her beauty...its just AMAZING!

Okay, so onto THE CALL!

It was a little after 4pm central time and I was sitting at my desk at work. I had just received a song from our music minister via e-mail that I will be singing with the children's choir. I was listening to the song over and over and practicing along with my typing when I heard that special ring tone "Brown Eyed Girl" My heart stopped and I stared at the phone and caller ID for a moment. I mentally prepared myself for our new official number for the month of November (even though I had asked K to e-mail our number from now on). I picked up the phone and the conversation went like this:

Me: Hi K
K: Hi Traci, how are you?
Me: I'm fine
K: Is now a good time to talk
Me: Yeah
K: Well, I've got some exciting news to share with you today
Me: Really (still thinking she's going to say, Your officially #2)
K: I've got a 4 month old little girl who I would love to talk to you about
Me: Really? Really? (then came the tears and hyperventilating)
K: Is Bill with you?
Me: No
K: Okay, well I'm going to need you to breath and stay with me
Me: I'm here. Can I call Bill and we will go home and call you back?
K: Sure, talk to you soon. Congratulations!

I then called Bill and through my tears told him he needed to come home NOW! He questioned what was going on and wanted to make sure everything was okay. I told him everything was wonderful and that we had a daughter!

The next hour was a blur. I was crying, making phone calls, and waiting for Bill to get home. I did decide that I would fix my face a bit once I got home as I had mascara all down my face : ) We got home, got our laptops set up and opened THE E-MAIL! We were in LOVE from the very first time we saw her. We cried, hugged and looked at her more. We then tried calling K back several times but she was busy on another call with our Kansas City friends the Coopers for their travel call. I had called J Cooper to tell her our exciting news and she said "I just got off the phone with K so she will be calling you soon." So funny that is was her on the phone!

We talked with K all about our sweet girl! After our call she sent us an additional e-mail with more pictures (the best part)! From there on out it was phone call crazy: calling family and friends to tell them our exciting news! It also happened to be our Ethiopia class night and I just had to make the trip over to let the class and teachers know! After class I stopped by Walmart to pick up the one hour photos that Bill had sent over, and we went out for a nice dinner to celebrate!

We are VERY PROUD parents and can't wait to bring our little girl home with us forever!

IT'S A GIRL

2010-11-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

That's right...all of the waiting and prayers have paid off and we have a new edition to our family! She is just shy of 4 months old and is absolutely gorgeous! She has beautiful dark skin, big bright eyes, and a head full of hair! We have already learned a lot from the few pictures we have of her...she definitely already has a BIG personality : )

I will post more details when I have a bit more time, and also about "The Call."

Thank you for all of your love and prayers in our journey!

God is SO GOOD!

And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.

~ Ephesians 3:18

Guess the Referral Date

2010-10-31T15:09:00.000-07:00

We've decided to have a little fun while we wait and are hoping that you will join in! All you need to do is reply to the post with your guess on what our referral date will be. Whoever gets closest to the date will get one of our CUTE adoption tee's!

So, join the fun and reply!

One Week Down

2010-10-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

After all of the recent referrals given by our wonderful agency AGCI we are now sitting at #2 on the unofficial list. I was sure hoping and praying that we would hear from our case worker and get to see our little girls face by Friday. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be and we will be in for another week of waiting as Monday rolls around. I'm feeling pretty good now that its the weekend and I'm not staring at my phone waiting for it to ring : ) Maybe next week will be OUR week!

Learning Amharic

2010-10-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

We are so fortunate to have a wonderful Ethiopian community here within Kansas City. One of the local Ethiopian churches is allowing us their space once a week to have Amharic classes that are being taught by a few different teachers. It is absolutely amazing to learn more about the culture and to have made such great friends! We have learned some basic phrases and I am still working on memorizing the alphabet (this is REALLY HARD!) To date I can say the following in Amharic: hello, welcome, my name is, I speak a little Amharic, I am from America, I'm sorry I don't understand, yes, no, maybe, don't do that, you've been warned, and peek-a-boo. We have also learned & played a couple of children's games: cuckaloo and dinbis le dinbis.

Little by little I'm learning more and getting better, but its very difficult to say some of the letters and words. Maybe in the end I can convince our head teacher, Tersit to babysit for us...that way our little girl would learn Amharic the correct way : )

Picture of me with some of my teachers/friends!

WOW!

2010-10-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

Its not quite the beginning of the month, and we have not received our official number yet. However, I know the families in front of us waiting and they have shared their wonderful news of receiving referral calls. There have not been just 1, 2, or 3 referrals but 7!!!!!!!!!! That makes our number right now:

I can hardly believe it! We are so close to seeing our daughters face! This momma-to-be is so ready!

Perfect Timing

2010-10-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

So, I just received my bible verse of the day from K-Love:

Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.

~ Psalm 37:7

Could that not be any more perfect for me to hear during this wait to meet our daughter? I needed that today...Thanks God!

Sweet Cate

2010-10-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

Meet Cate!

This sweet little 9 year old girl is going to meet her forever family in 4 days!

My friend Robyn and her husband along with their 3 children will be traveling to China to finally meet Cate face to face. They are so excited to love on her and hold her in their arms!

Cate came to this family in a very special way. You see, Robyn and her husband have 2 biological sons and felt called to adopt a child from China 3 years ago. So, that is exactly what they did...they saw a picture of their son Reed on a waiting child list and fell in love instantly. Reed has severe scoliosis and since returning home has had several surgeries to help straighten his spine. Reed has been with his forever family now for 3 years and is the sweetest, funniest, most vibrant little boy ever.

So, how is this all related to Cate? Well, Robyn got a phone call from the adoption agency they used and they told her of a sweet girl that has the exact same medical issues that their son Reed has. Robyn said they saw her picture and fell in love and started the paperwork almost immediately.

So, could you PLEASE join me in praying for this sweet family and their new daughter Cate: for safe travels, smooth transitions, and that Cate be filled with joy and peace from our Lord knowing that her forever family loves her beyond belief!

Holiday Shopping

2010-10-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a quick message about the button that I recently added to the side bar of my blog. It is called "Shopping For A Cause" and it was put together by my friend and fellow AGCI mama-to-be!

She had a wonderful idea of putting together a list of adoption fundraiser items that would not only be GREAT holiday gifts but also be helping a greater cause. What an AwEsOmE idea!!!! So, if you click on the button it will take you directly to her wonderful list of over 90 plus items!

Please help out this season by shopping for a cause!

More Paperwork?

2010-10-08T09:03:00.001-07:00

Thats right! Its been almost a year since we initially started our home study paperwork and in the great state of Kansas it is only good for one year. What does this mean? Well, it means that we get to do our home study again!

It does not seem like it will take quite as much time as it did initially because it doesn't all have to be notarized again (that was just for the dossier). But, it will take some work as we have to have new doctors exams, new fingerprints done, new financial information, new employment letters, and even new home visits!

Of course, there is also the added cost of re-doing fingerprints and the cost of actually renewing the home study. These are costs that we didn't plan on...so glad we just had that garage sale to raise some moolah!

Guess it will give me something to do while we wait to see our precious girl : )

October's Number

2010-10-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

I am very, very excited to be writing this post with our new October number. In fact I still have tears in my eyes but yet can't remove the smile from my face. Can it really be...did we really make it to the SINGLE DIGITS!!!!

Woo Hoo! We can't wait to meet you baby girl!

Benefit Garage Sale Pictures

2010-10-03T18:57:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I have been meaning to post these for a couple of weeks now. Unfortunately, I just did not get around it until now...but, better late than never right?

Here is our basement the night before the sale!

And the garage (YIKES)

The next two pictures are of everything finally put out and ready to sell!
(We started at 3am in the morning in order to get everything out by 8am)

We had 26 tables and 6 clothing racks packed full of treasures!

And last but not least, my sister, the cashier. I was so thankful that she made the six hour drive from South Dakota to help us with our sale! Don't know what we would have done with out her : )

Just want to say another BIG THANK YOU to all of the people that donated items and time to helping us. God is so awesome and we made $2,002 to put towards our adoption expenses!

Success!

2010-09-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

Our benefit garage sale is over and was a HUGE success!

It all started Friday morning at 4am with hauling out all of the already priced items and getting everything ready for the first shoppers at 8am. Little did we know that we would have shoppers stopping by on their way to work starting at 6am. Oh well, as long as they didn't mind digging through boxes they were welcome to shop : ) By 8am everything was done and ready to go and we had TONS of shoppers. We made about $950 after our first day!

After trying to fit the remaining items (notice I said trying) we had a great pizza dinner and were in bed by 9pm. We were up at 6am the next morning and put everything out again. It was much easier the second time around as everything was already out of boxes and sorted...all we had to do was put it back in its place from the day before.

We had many, many more shoppers on Saturday and ended up making about $1,050. The forecast called for storms all day but the rain held off until 6pm and allowed us to get everything back in the garage safely (YEAH). The final count of money was made and the grand total is $2,002!!!! We are so thrilled with the turn out and results and we still have some huge items that didn't sell that we are going to post on Craigslist (dining set, king sleigh bedroom set, and many collectibles). We are thinking we will probably be able to make at least another $1,000 with our remaining items! Wow, God is so good!

A BIG THANK YOU to the people that donated items to our sale! To my sister, Nikki, for making the drive from South Dakota to help us the whole weekend. And to all of the wonderful friends we have that worked our sale Alison, Pam, Jeff, Jaime, and our neighbors Mike & Sherry. We couldn't have done it without you all!!!!

Yep, Thats Right

2010-09-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

We have officially been in the adoption process for 10 months. I would like to say it seems like yesterday when we signed that first official document...but, in reality it seems like 10 years! I know God has the perfect plan for our family and has already seen that precious baby that will join our family in the future. But, its very hard to be patient when you KNOW that there are so many kids in need.

I was hoping by this time we would be nearing the #1 position but time frames have been extended due to many factors: court closures and 2 trip policy being the biggest. I guess God is just giving us more time to spend as a couple and preparing our hearts for all He has to offer us.

In the meantime we continue to take classes from 2 wonderful Ethiopian women who live in Kansas City. We are learning basic Amharic, lullabies, and Ethiopian childrens games...hopefully a couple of cooking lessons in the near future too! We also are part of a small group at church that is aimed at adoptive families, foster families, and really anyone thats interested in either. It is a true blessing to have this group of people with us in our journey. Oh, and of course, we have our BIG benefit garage sale coming up this Friday and Saturday. I will post pictures and total amounts raised after the sale...should be a hoot my sister is coming from South Dakota to help!

Thats all for now. Hoping that this next month of waiting finds us at a much lower number!

Official September Number

2010-09-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

Of course, I was hoping for a huge jump this month...but, with the court closure and the two trip policy in place things are just moving slow right now. I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of this month has in store as far as referrals go...hopefully we will have a single digit number to post next month!

So True!

2010-08-30T08:50:00.001-07:00

Wow, its so amazing how God works in our lives. Everytime I'm feeling anxious in this process another sign appears directly from Him. This happened just yesterday as I was sitting in church calculating the months on the wait list, and just how much time we might have left (if you are in "the wait" you know EXACTLY what I mean : )

It was just at that time that our wonderful pastor read the following verses:
Proverbs 3: 5&6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

Wow, at that moment I felt as though God had sent that directly to me!

Today I woke up with a sense of peace and calm that I have not had for a LONG time...and the verse spoke so dearly to my heart. The pastor ended our service on this thought and I am so loving it!

Genuine faith shines the brightest when we don't have all of the details spelled out for us, but we act anyway!

Fundraiser Coming Up Soon!

2010-08-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

Below you will see the flyer for our upcoming fundraiser! We are accepting donations big and small for our Adoption Benefit Sale...if you are local please stop by and say hello (and maybe even find a treasure or two)! If your not local you can still help out by praying for our benefit sale to go smoothly and that we would be blessed by great weather and lots of shoppers! Thank you so much!

My Art Work

2010-08-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

I have a set of three paintings that I just recently finished...well almost finished! We are just missing the most special hand print!

Kansas City Ethnic Festival 2010

2010-08-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

One thing that I LOVE about living in Kansas City is all of the great diversity and culture you can take in. There is no greater place for this than the annual Kansas City Ethnic Enrichment Festival! This year marks the 31st year for the festival and it continues to grow every year. This year there were over 60 cultures represented through food, music, dance, and hand made goods. It was such a great time...but, of course the highlight was watching the Ethiopian dancers perform! Hope you enjoy the couple of short video clips that I took!

Ethiopian Dance Kansas City Ethnic Festival 2010 #1

Ethiopian Dance Kansas City Ethnic Festival 2010 #2

The Wait

2010-08-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

For some reason the waiting part of this journey to our daughter is becoming increasingly difficult. It seems as if the world continues around us at a fast pace...but, the wait for our daughter is moving so slow. I know that God has the perfect plan for us and more importantly the perfect plan for the little baby girl that will be a part of our family some day. So, tonight I pray for peace in our hearts as we continue this wait for that perfect day-but, more importantly I pray for the children that are all awaiting their forever families and the birth parents that are giving us all the greatest gift in the world, their child.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Another piece of the puzzle

2010-08-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

So, I have had family and friends wanting me to post more pictures of the nursery we have been working on. It is still not finished but it is getting close. I promised when we made it to the teens I would post more pictures and finally reveal the theme...so here it is:

I absolutely love the stars theme and decided to accent this picture by painting some coordinating stars right on the wall surrounding this canvas print. Think that it turned out really cute!

I will be posting more as it gets finished...I've got some art work that I've made that will be coming up soon!

Oh, and for those that have asked (Linda) we finally registered : )

New Month=New Number

2010-08-05T22:20:00.001-07:00

Alright, its officially the month of August and you know what that means...we've got our NEW OFFICIAL NUMBER:

We are so thrilled to be in the teens and just can't believe that we have come so far and are so close! Here's to another good month and hopefully another much lower number for September.

Have You Ever?

2010-08-04T15:09:00.001-07:00

This is going to be a quick post...I just ran across this picture that my husband took years ago when he was active duty in the Marines. When this photo was taken they (The Marines) were providing aide to the people of Somalia. I just couldn't get over this photo and the happiness that is glowing on this little ones face. I don't think that I have ever seen someone that showed just how much they loved life in a smile. Wow! If we could all just live life that way-what a world it would be!

Precious

2010-08-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a trip back to South Dakota where I had the chance to spend some last minute time with family and friends before school starts on Monday (yes, teachers have to go back on August 9th). Even though I have lived in Kansas City for 9 years there is just something special about going "back home."

While I was back I got the chance to visit with one of my best friends and her family. We have been friends for years and even though I don't see her very often we can pick up our conversation like I was there yesterday...I love that!

While at my friends house, her 8 year old daughter stated she had a surprise for me! They had held a garage sale at their house and she had sold baked goods to raise money for her "soon to be" cousin. She was so adorable counting her hard earned money that she was donating to our adoption fund. The total $48.13!!!! This was truly awesome...but, the even sweeter part is she came back a few minutes later with change from her piggy bank and gave me an additional $1.87 because she wanted it to be $50.00. She then proceeded to ask her mom and dad if she could donate her clothes she doesn't wear anymore to our garage sale! What a precious 8 year old girl! Thanks Reagan for all your help : )

Adoption after Infertility

2010-07-26T10:07:00.001-07:00

This is a post I have wanted to write for a long time, but, I have been putting it off and ignoring it. I just recently decided to finally write it, in hopes that it may help others who have been in our same situation.

From the time I was a little girl I dreamed of becoming a wife and a mommy. I played with baby dolls and I was always bringing them with me every where we went. When my mother passed away in 1989, I was age 11...this only made my desire to be a good mother that much stronger.

As time went on I continued and dreamed of what my husband would look like and even more important what our children would look like. Then it happened, I met the most wonderful man in the world and we married!

This was a very exciting time in our lives, because we loved each other so much and our hearts desires were very much the same. We decided to start our family immediately and have as many children as God allowed. Little did we know that it was not going to happen that way.

Thats right, after trying for several months with no success we began the invasive procedures and treatments to try to have children. After 12 months of various treatments with no success we were given the label "infertile." For me, this was devastating! How could this be happening? All I ever wanted was to be a good wife and mother. In the meantime every person around me is pregnant (at least this is what it seemed like). It was a very sad and emotional time for me.

After years of trying to have biological children we had to re-evaluate what it was that we really wanted. It seemed I had got so caught up in the dream of becoming pregnant that I had forgot the real goal "to be a mother to a child." When we decided to pursue adoption it was like new hope had been given to us!

I now believe that this was our path all along and we just had to get through all of the other "stuff" to see the beauty of adoption in the end.

If you are reading this and struggling with infertility please know this: The feelings of sadness, grief, and frustration you have about not having biological children are normal (you are not crazy)! Talk to someone else who is/has struggled with infertility (its hard for others who have not been through it to understand-contact me if you wish). Things will get better...I know, I have been there!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes: "I hope you won't let anything make you sad about the way your children (or children-to-be) come into your heart and your home. The way doesn't matter. It's the children who matter."

Court Closure

2010-07-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to write a quick update for those friends and family who are following our journey and are not aware of the Ethiopian court closure. As of now, the Ethiopian courts will be closing the beginning of August and will reopen the beginning of October. This is due to the rainy season that will begin in Ethiopia very soon which makes many of the roadways there impassable.

What does this mean for the adoption process? It means that everything is at a stand still until the courts reopen. Therefore, not many referrals (matching of children with adoptive parents) will go out in the next couple of months.

We are still very hopeful to receive a referral sometime in the late Fall to early Winter and bring our baby home by early Spring. Of course, I was hoping to have our little one home before the 1st of the year...and I haven't given up that dream, and I'm praying about it daily : )

In this court closure time please continue praying for our daughter and peace for her birth family. Also, please pray for everyone else waiting in this process: the orphans, the care takers, the government workers, and all of the waiting adoptive families!