Christmas Time Again . . .

Once again, I'm posting this video in honor of our daughter who is somewhere in an orphanage. To say we are so ready to hold her in our arms is an understatement. To say it gets harder each year is a vast understatement. We pray for her daily, sometimes hourly. We pray God's protection and love over her, and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God does hold her in His arms.

He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
Psalm 91:4

Disjointed Adoption Update

This blog started as an adoption blog and quickly, morphed into a catch-all, everything blog. Why? Because, there's a heck of a lot of down time in international adoption, and I have a lot to say. Although, at the moment I'm having a bit of writer's block.

Speaking of down time . . . we're still waiting. I wish I could give y'all (and us) an approximate time frame for a referral, but I. Have. No. Clue. The Ministry of Justice in Bulgaria changed offices (and buildings if I'm correct), and so meetings stopped for around four weeks. Which, in turn, means referrals were delayed. Gotta love the domino effect. Things are pretty much up and running again, but Christmas break takes place in a couple weeks, and everything will, once again, shut down until the new year. Then it takes a while to get things going again. But there should be at least a few good months of movement before summer break. I'm hoping anyway.

The breaks and vacations are one of the toughest things to deal with. You know your child is there waiting for a home, and everytime a vacation rolls around everything essentially stops. Frustrating.

A lot of people ask how old Allison will be when we bring her home. We know she'll be somewhere between two and three, and we're figuring Andrew will be somewhere between six and seven (ugh . . . I can hardly believe that he's already five, and six and seven sound ridiculously old) so there will most likely be a four year age difference between the two of them. This is perfect to me. I know some parents want their kids close in age, but I kind of want some space between mine. To each his own, right?

So there you have it. An adoption update of sorts. Maybe, I'll come up with something creative and witty soon. Or maybe not . . . ;)

And just because, here's a picture of Andrew getting his hair cut. Which he absolutely hates in case you can't tell. 

The State of Our Adoption (post number "?")

* Last Saturday we went to the circus. I did take pictures, but my camera along with my memory card is at the school. So the circus pics will have to wait. 

Today is September 1st. This month marks one year since our Dossier was registered in Bulgaria. One year down, who knows how many more to go? I wish I had a better timeline, but I don't. The good news is the older I get the more quickly each year passes. Hopefully, it won't be two full more years, but there is always the possibility. Sometimes, the wait seems to be forever, but then we get busy with work and school and soccer (something else I need to post pictures of) and church, and time becomes a blur.

One of the couples from our adoption agency was in Bulgaria this week to meet their son and daughter. I was so encouraged by the good things they had to say about the orphanage. It's reassuring to think that the kids are loved and cared for and makes it easier on a mama's heart to know this. If you're interested, you can read more about their journey here.

So that's it. That's the update. I wish there was more, but there isn't. Bulgaria's summer break is about over, and we're hoping that the ball gets rolling and referrals start coming in here pretty soon. Of course, there's always the first couple of weeks where they play catch up.

And just to add some spice to this post, here's a teaser iPhone pic of Andrew at the circus . . . he has blue cotton candy on his lips. I made him eat every bite. That stuff was ridiculously expensive. Great mom I am, if I'm gonna buy you pure sugar darn-it you're gonna eat it.

Drama On the Adoption Front

Thursday wasn't the greatest day in the world for a number of reasons. The kids were a little on the wild side (who can blame them?), I had a very thick three ring binder full of reports that had to be organized so I could finish my end-of-the-year reports, and it felt like the week was dragging and so was I.

So while the kids were in P.E., I ran to the store to grab some very dark chocolate to help me deal, because chocolate fixes everything. When I got back to the school I decided to check my email before the kids came back. The first email I saw was one from the girl in charge of reviewing the home studies at our adoption agency. I figured it was just telling us that our home study update had been approved. Wrong! The girl said that they couldn't finalize our update because our FBI fingerprints weren't current. Say what?!? I had emailed our caseworker twice about that, the first time back in February (because I'm OCD), and she had said we didn't need to redo them yet.

We need our home study update finished by June so we can apply to USCIS to have our electronic fingerprints (different from the FBI fingerprints) redone in time to keep from being dropped from the registry. Last time it took almost three months to get both of our fingerprints back from the FBI. It was a very traumatizing experience (slight but necessary exaggeration), and one that could severely mess things up if we had to go through it again. At this point we literally don't have time to deal with doing FBI fingerprints (no exaggeration there). And being dropped off the registry would basically stop the adoption. Not even a remote possibility.

Freak out!!!

Thank goodness I save emails in an organized way (in other words Patrick should thank the Good Lord above I'm OCD). I hunted down the both of the ones that said we didn't have to redo our fingerprints and forwarded them to the agency. At that point I had to get the kids and maintain my composure. I'm sure they could tell I was upset though. I kept sighing and shaking my head and shoving eating dark chocolate down my throat . . . you know just maintaining my composure and all. As you can tell I'm a champ at hiding my emotions. I'm pretty sure the kids thought I was certifiable.

It was at this point it occurred to me that I had two choices. I could either (1) continue to flip out (which is generally my weapon of choice), or I could (2) put it in God's hands. I decided to put it where it belonged . . . in God's hands. It wasn't a huge dramatic moment. I didn't fall to my knees and scream, "It's Yours all Yours!" (the kids already question my sanity) I didn't necessarily feel 100% better, but I knew (and know) that God knows what He's doing. So I left it at that and continued to eat dark chocolate because really eating an entire bag is very healthy.

I'm not kidding when I say that within the next five minutes I got a very nice email from the agency apologizing for the confusion, and stating that an exception had been made. Thank you God!!!

The whole crazy dramatic incident was less than an hour long, but it served as a very clear reminder of Who is in control. God has come through for us in a huge way every step of this process. I'm not saying that every minute has been easy, but He's made a way when and where a way almost didn't seem possible. I'm sure that this isn't the last challenge we'll face. Some may be smaller, some may be larger, but I know that God will come through with every single one.

Now the next time I flip would someone please reference this post? I can guarantee I'll forget.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

What's in a Name?

I thought long and hard about whether or not to share this. There is no shortage of opinions about whether or not to change an adopted child's name, and it's very common for people to feel the need to share those opinions. Some people adamantly believe that a child's name should never be changed, while others incorporate the child's birth name with their adopted name, and still others change the name completely. So I really had to think about whether I wanted to risk opening myself up to criticism on this whole subject. I mean, we're still a long way out from bringing her home. But I think that deciding on a name just further cements in our minds the fact that even if we're a long way away, we are going to one day bring home our daughter. And so I decided to take the risk.

Names are very important to me, and I have to admit that after much thought and prayer, we fall into the camp that has decided to change our child's name completely. I think that it will signify a new beginning in her young life with her forever family. I'm not saying we will deny her heritage or her history. I'm not saying that we won't celebrate where she came from, but I also want her to know that she is 100% part of our family. And I feel that by giving her a new name it will be a way to recognize her entrance into her new family.

I also think that name meanings are important. It may sound flaky or stupid, but you call your child his/her name everyday of his/her life, and so it I think it had better be a name that helps to define who your child is.

So without further ado, we've decided to name our daughter Allison Gayle. Allison means "noble or kind" and Gayle (which is my middle name and a family name) is a diminutive of Abigail and means "her father's joy or one who brings joy". This name embodies so much of what we want for our daughter. We not only want her to be noble and kind, and we have no doubt that she will bring much joy to our family.

So there you have it. I guess there is a actually a lot in a name. At least I think there is . . .

Playing Catch Up

It's hard to believe that's it's been over a year since we started the whole adoption process. It's one of those things that seems like forever ago but also seems like it just happened yesterday. Still we're one year further along in the very long wait. Since it's been a year plus we have to update our homestudy and our I800-A (which means nothing to most people but is extremely important). From what I can tell the homestudy update is pretty basic and simple. I've already asked our doctor for updated medical letters, and I just have to call in the payment for the homestudy update. Nothing about this whole process is cheap. There's no two ways about it.

The good thing is we paid off my car. Yay! It's only a few years old, and now it's paid off so that's a little extra cash in our pockets, and we don't have to turn around and buy a new car. It seems like everytime we pay a car off, we need another one. Hopefully, we won't be in that boat for a couple more years.

I also booked part of our trip to the Smoky Mountains this summer. I'm so excited about going. But I can't give you any details. Patrick thinks one of you people will somehow figure out the exact location of our house and rob us blind (ya know because we're incredibly wealthy . . . that's a joke) while we're gone so I can't give you details. And did you know that you can, in all actuality, figure out the exact location of almost anyone's house? Google provides a wealth of information.

Andrew is finally feeling better. Another yay is in order. He's still coughing like crazy but at least he's not puking his guts out anymore. Sorry about that . . . I'm sure you didn't want to hear that.

Speaking of my child . . . he suddenly seems to think it's hilarious to use words such as "stupid" and "idiot". Not sure why . . . Mama doesn't think it's funny nor does Daddy. Let's just say he's been in quite a bit of trouble the past couple days.

Let's see . . . I'm pretty sure I'm caught up. I can't think of anything else that is important because you know this post is chock full of important information. I'm pretty sure you couldn't live without knowing my child's current upchucking status. And with that I'll say adios.

A Bit of an Adoption Rant

Warning: I'm ranting . . . if you don't want to read it then feel free to skip it completely.

People ask me all the time how the adoption is going. I don't mind answering. We're waiting. I don't mind telling you that we will be waiting at least another year but most likely another year and a half. But then when I say that people say, "No way . . . I'm sure it will be faster . . . Maybe you'll move ahead of someone . . . Just pray for favor . . . Why would you adopt from somewhere that takes so long?"

Let me tell you that those responses rank right up there at the top of my list of pet peeves. They annoy the heck out of me. Seriously. Here's how I want to respond, "Yes way (sarcastically and obnoxiously might I add) . . . Nope it sure won't be faster (again with saracasm) . . . I don't want to move ahead of someone. They've been waiting longer than we have . . . Favor doesn't give us the right to push others out of the way . . . And . . . Frankly, it's none of your business why we would pick a country that takes so long."

But, I don't say those things. At least not out loud.

I know people don't mean anything by the comments. I know they're trying to sympathize and understand and make sense of this whole thing. The truth is, some days this whole adoption seems very surreal and very far off in the distance. Sometimes, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Sometimes I wonder if I have the patience to wait as long as we have to. Sometimes, I'm terrified that I'm not going to be a good enough mother to this little girl. And sometimes, I'm okay with everything and know that God will take care of it all . . . because He will . . . He always does.

Like I said, I don't mind the questions. So, ask away. I like that people are interested. But when I'm honest please don't try to play down that honesty. Please don't try to change what is reality. That's all I'm asking.

Rant over . . .

Surfacing for Air

Hey y'all. It's been a few days. I think this is one of the longest stretches I've gone without blogging. It's just been one of those insane weeks when you don't have a moment to stop and breathe, and I feel like this is the first moment I've had to sit down and write.

Thankfully, with the reintroduction of Zyrtec, we got Andrew's hives to go away and stay away (hopefully). He and Patrick both ended last week and started this week with colds. Now they're both on the mend, and I feel like my face may explode at any moment. Plus, I can't breathe through my nose which has to be some form of medieval torture. Glorious sinus pressure. I took two . . . yep two . . . that's a hefty dose for me . . . Benadryl last night to knock myself out. I slept okay, but was up at 2:30 looking for some ibuprofen to fix my pounding head.

I know the current state of my family's health is fascinating y'all, but I have switch gears here.

Our adoption agency received two referrals this past week for two little boys. Once again, we're super excited for those families, and we're "movin' on up" the line. Everytime our agency receives another referral the theme song from "The Jeffersons" plays in my head. I never claimed to be normal. Anyway, it's still a long wait, but everyday is a day closer. Sometimes, as we go about our everyday life day after day, week after week, it seems a little surreal that we are actually waiting for a precious little girl.  But we know that God has it all in control, and that's all that matters.

So that's it. Cold or no cold, the laundry beckons, and the sheets and towels must be changed. Have an awesome and safe weekend y'all.

The State of the Adoption

One year ago today, Patrick and I made the decision to start the whole adoption process. It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed. But passed it has. Andrew is a whole year older (sniff, sniff . . . I'm having issues with this whole "I'm four yeaws owd" thing). I'm a whole year older (as in I'm no longer in my 20s . . . whatever). Most importantly, we are a year closer to having our little girl home with us.

To be quite honest, I'm pretty sure we have at least a year and a half of waiting left. It's probably more like two years, but maybe just maybe things will pick up. When I tell people that they look at me like I'm nuts. They can't believe that we'd actually wait that long for a child, and I know in a lot of ways it doesn't really make sense. Yes, there are countries that are quicker (including our own). Yes, there are other options, but this is what we've committed too. We didn't go into it without some knowledge of what was ahead. At this point, the only thing that could change our minds is God himself, and I don't really foresee that happening. So we will continue to wait until it is our turn and our time.

The best news we've had lately is that we don't have to redo our FBI checks. Which means we don't have to do ink fingerprints again. Yay! At least with electronic fingerprints you can see immediately if they need to be redone.

So there you have it. That is the current state of the adoption.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday.

On the Adoption Front

Good News First
Our adoption agency received three referrals this week. There have been some changes in the Bulgarian Government during the past few months, and with that and Christmas, things seemed to slow down a little bit. But now it looks like everything is picking up again, and we're very excited to see families bring home their sweet kids.

Stupid News Second
In other adoption news, I talked to one of the girls at our home study agency today, and she told me that we'll do most of our updates in April. But . . . there's always a stinkin' but . . . anyway . . . but I may want to start my FBI background checks and fingerprints in February. And I was like, "Say what?" I mean do y'all remember the whole finger printing fiasco of 2011? Quick run down, in case you haven't been dwelling on it for the past year or so. When adopting from Bulgaria, the parents must submit ink fingerprints to the FBI for a background check. Not electronic fingerprints. You know, seeing as how we live in the electronic age.  But ink fingerprints. The old fashioned kind. The kind the nobody knows how to do correctly. Anyway last year, when we sent off the first set, Patrick's got accepted. Mine got rejected. I was traumatized. It held up our home study for a while. I just recently got over the whole ordeal. I may or may not be slightly dramatic. Yada yada yada. I naively thought it was all behind me, but today my bubble was burst. So now I have to be careful with my fingers again. I can't burn them, cut them, scrape them, or destroy them in any way, form, or fashion. Which, if you know me, is much easier said than done.

But I'm not going to dwell on this. I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to go eat a box of Girl Scout cookies instead. Good night everyone.

Long Time . . . No Post

Hey y'all. I took the day off. I know, I know . . . I took the day off on my first week back after Christmas. Let's just say this has been a rough week, and I wasn't feeling well. So I took a break. I'm learning that it's okay to take a break now and again.

It's sunny outside today about 70 degrees. My favorite kind of weather. Spring weather. Albeit in January.

Tomorrow my parents are taking my brother and his girlfriend, my sister and brother-in-law, and Patrick and I to San Antonio for a fancy schmancy dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday (no I'm not telling her age). They even got us a hotel room so we don't have to come home. My in-laws are keeping Andrew. I'm looking forward to it. We don't get away all that often, and it'll be a lot of fun.

I talked to our adoption caseworker today, and she said they are looking forward to more referrals in the coming months. I also checked the U.S. Government's adoption website the other day, and there were more adoption referrals in 2011 than in the previous three years combined. It's moving folks. It may not be moving super fast, but it's moving. That's good news.

And that my friends is the end of a very random post. :)

A Letter To My Daughter

Dear Sweet Little Girl,

As we sit here preparing to celebrate another Christmas, I look forward to the day when you will be in my arms. I look forward to the day when you are part of our Christmas cards, our Christmas pictures, our Christmas memories. I look forward to the day when I can see your little face light up at the lights and presents under the tree.

I pray that someone is rocking you and holding you close today. I pray that your clothes are warm and your tummy is full. I pray that receive a Christmas gift and know the love of Jesus this Christmas. I pray that God will send his angels to guard and protect you.

It seems so strange that you can miss someone you've never met, but I do miss you. And I long for the day when you are here. You are already a part of our family. You already live in our dreams and in our hearts. I love little girl, and I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Love,

Mommy

Christmas Countdown

Another family with our agency received a referral for a toddler/preschool age little girl. Woohoo! I don't know many details, but it's always good to hear that those referrals are coming in.

We are definitely on the Christmas Countdown train at our house. Andrew can't wait until Santa comes to visit. He has informed me that he is "staying awake to catch Santa". I know kids have been plotting and planning this for years, but my child has an amazing capacity to keep himself awake. I'm hoping that the threat of Santa not coming if he's not asleep will stop this from being a problem. Otherwise the night before Christmas will be one late night in our house.

Tomorrow we're going to visit Santa. Yay! Andrew's really excited this year, and I think that he'll actually enjoy it. His first Christmas he was too tiny to see Santa. The last few Christmases he was excited until he got into Santa's lap, and then he froze. Hopefully, this year he'll actually talk and lose the deer in the headlights look.

Patrick and I are going to our first official Christmas Party tonight, and I have this really cute sweater dress I got from Banana Republic that I want to wear. But the weather here is kind of cool, and the party is sort of inside/outside so I'm afraid I'll freeze to death. Would it be totally inappropriate to wear my sweats?

Well I'm off to make myself presentable. My hair is super wild today, so hopefully I can tame it a little bit. Have a great evening everyone.

The Waiting Game

We have officially been in the "waiting" phase of the adoption process since early September. Almost three months down. Anywhere from 20-30 months left to go.

During the last three months, I've been asked no less than 867 times if we've heard anything. If you've asked you can continue to ask away, I don't mind. I love that our family and friends are so supportive and so involved. I can honestly say that it is such a blessing to have such a great support system. I do find it hard to explain that the waiting process is L. O. N. G. . . . long (in case you're wondering you're supposed to spell it the first time). Most people just can't fathom that we would wait that long. That's okay too. It's a choice we made. It's definitely not for everyone, but for us it was the right decision.

Having said all that, I have to admit that I'm a doer and not a waiter. I was born with almost zero patience for waiting, and when I want something done I just go and do it. I can't say that's always a good idea. It's gotten me in trouble more than once. It's gotten me hurt a couple of times. But with this adoption there is nothing I can do. There is no option but waiting. Our caseworker warned me about this. She told me there'd be days when I am fine, and there'd be days when I am incredibly frustrated and discouraged. While I can honestly say, that for now I've had only fine days, we're only at the very beginning of our process. I have had moments of extreme longing (I know dramatic), and moments when I just wish that I had both of my children in tow. . . moments when I wish that it was all said and done. And I'm sure that as the one and then two and even possibly three year marks (let's hope we don't get there) roll around, I'll have a whole lot more moments (hours, days, weeks . . .) of impatience. And I'm sure that you'll here all about it.

But in the meantime I'm learning to wait. Gosh, I hate that word. But I'm learning to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. I always look back and wish I'd cherished the journey a little more. My pregnancy, all eight months of it, had some rough moments, but it also had some awesome moments. I didn't know it would be my only pregnancy, and I'm more than okay with that, but I do wish I had taken time to just enjoy it more. The first six weeks of Andrew's life were extremely difficult. All newborns are hard, but bringing home a premature newborn has to rank up there with some of life's more difficult challenges. Just the same, I wish I'd stressed less about doing everything "right", and just cherished those moments more. I wish that instead of running around like a madwoman, I'd just laid on the couch and let him sleep on my chest more. He's four now, and doesn't like to sleep on my chest anymore. Don't know what that's all about.

I think you get the point. I'm learning to wait. To wait on my husband instead of trying to move the piano by myself (stupid). To wait to open my big mouth (that's a huge work in progress). But mostly I'm learning to wait on God. He has some awesome promises for those that choose to wait on Him.

But those who wait on the LORD
      Shall renew their strength;
      They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
      They shall run and not be weary,
      They shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)

Finally Finished

Okay, so I think I finally have my blog set up the way I want it. I'm finally happy with the way it looks. I've spent hours on the stupid header, and I really have no clue what I'm doing. The header itself came from Shabby Blogs. Then I had to play with it, adjust the color, add my own title, and make it look the way I wanted which was all fairly simple. Then I added it to my blog, and that was where the simple stopped. The header was off center, and if you know anything about me then you know that I was completely and totally freaked out by that. I like balance, and I'm an insane perfectionist, and the whole off-centeredness thing was not working for me. (You will notice that made up words such as "centeredness" don't bother me in the least . . . my insane perfectionism can be somewhat selective.)

So then I entered the world of html. Then I had a panic attack remembering the college class where I designed my own webpage using only codes, and if one thing was slightly off the whole webpage was messed up. That was a long stinkin' time ago. Then I closed out the html and tweeted a desperate cry for help. Then Ruthie at Bogue and Weejer came to my rescue with instructions on how to fix the header. I was so far off. I mean I was seriously far off. Now Ruthie is my hero. And you should really go check out her blog sometime. I'm not just saying that because she saved my blog (or at least my sanity). I rarely read her blog that I don't crack up laughing.

So that's it. I think I'm finally done changing my blog. At least for a while . . .

Totally switching gears, our Bulgarian caseworker left me a message today letting me know that they are expecting more referrals to come in before Bulgaria takes their Winter Holiday. With every referral that comes we move up the list. Yay for Bulgaria kicking it into gear! Keep it up!

Pinterest, Bowling, and Some Adoption Stuff

I've given up trying to come up with catchy titles. I don't have enough brain cells left or time to come up with them.

I'm still working on my blog. It's looking a little pixelated or some such nonsense, but since I have no clue what I'm doing it may just have to stay that way.

So I tweeted the other day (yesterday maybe??? or Thursday??? I can't remember and I'm too lazy to look) that I just couldn't get into Pinterest. I've been on since this summer, but it just seems like a black hole that sucks my time into an abyss of nothingness (yes, I'm being a little dramatic). My sister loves it, my cousin loves it, but I just can't seem to love it. I have found a couple recipes and Christmas decorating ideas that I'd like to try, and I've also used it to search for house plan ideas since we're thinking about building sometime in the foreseeable future. But I don't have very many pins at this point. I think I find it too overwhelming. Too much to look at. Too many choices. I don't like trying to wade through the irrelevant stuff to get to what's actually relevant to my life. I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but I do like the following idea for my front door for Christmas. Not entirely sure I can replicate it, but maybe I can get close.

(This idea is originally from a blog on HGTV. If you click on the picture it will take you to the original blog with lots of awesome ideas.)

Oh well, enough rambling about Pinterest.

Last night Anthony spent the night and we took the boys bowling. It was entertaining even though bowling isn't my favorite thing in the world. It makes my arm hurt, and the nearest bowling alley still allows people to smoke inside. If you want to smoke that's completely your business, but I really don't want to smoke with you. Thanks. Anyway, I felt so gross when we left, and I made everyone bathe with bleach when we got home. That's a joke . . . I hope you know that. I did make everyone scrub from head to toe. Bowling alley germs  . . .

After a while Andrew got sick tired of bowling and started dancing. His moves . . . well they're something. Lot's of finger pointing and hip shaking going on. He doesn't get that from me. Then Anthony busted out some dance moves of his own, and I decided that I'm never taking the boys in public again.

Everyone wants to know how the adoption is going, and all I can say is "it's going". As in we're registered, and we're waiting. It does seem like quite a few referrals have come through and quite a few families are traveling. I'm curious to see where the numbers are when the stats for 2011 are released sometime next year. I know they've increased but I'm not sure by how much. Until it's our turn, we'll just keep praying and waiting. God has the right little girl for us, and when it's the right time we'll bring her home. :)

Now I'm off to do my 800th load of laundry for the week. Seriously, who wears all these clothes???

The Referral Process

We got news today that another family from our agency received and accepted the referral of a little girl. This is another 2009 family, and Bulgaria is working hard to get referrals out to all these families that have been waiting for quite a while.

I know that a few of you had some questions about the whole referral process so I thought I'd attempt to explain it as simply as possible. First off, the agency receives the referral and then passes it on to the family to consider and either accept or reject. The referral must reviewed by an international pediatrician during the review process. The pediatrician will review the available medical records and try to determine if they are somewhat accurate.

Once a family accepts the referral the parents will travel to meet the child in about 30 days. The parents spend a week in Bulgaria bonding with and getting to know the child. Then the parents return home for 4-6 months. The court date is during this period. The length between the 1st and 2nd trips depends on a lot of factors including which holidays fall between the two trips. During the 2nd trip the parents stay 7-10 days, and ultimately the child gets to come home with them.

As far as waiting to receive a referral, we are basically on a waiting list within our adoption agency along with other families with the same criteria as us (geeze, that's a confusing sentence). Each time a family receives a referral we move up on the list.

Our agency has had three referrals in the past three weeks which means we are moving up the list. But there are still quite a few families ahead of us, and we fall into the longest waiting list. We have requested what is to be considered a mostly healthy toddler girl. There are some special needs we will consider, but I'm not going into all that right now. I still seriously doubt that our referral will come any sooner than 18 months, and I'll be shocked if it comes in less than 24 months.

While we expect referrals to continue, once the holiday season gets into full swing there will be more holidays and vacations for the Bulgarian judges and officials. As a result referrals will once again begin to slow down.

Irregardless of where we are on the list or how long our projected wait is, we celebrate with each family that receives a referral. Not only does it mean we move up on the list, but it also means that a family, that has in many cases been waiting for years, gets to bring their child home. And most importantly, it means a child gets a forever home.

Hope that makes the whole process a little clearer.

Have a great weekend. I'm off to stress over the final game in the World Series when I could care less about baseball the rest of the year.

So . . .

I know my blog posts have been slightly uninspired lately. For one, we are definitely in the waiting phase of the whole adoption process. Which means that there won't be too many updates until we receive a referral. Unless we were to decide to adopt a waiting child, which is always a possibility, we will most likely wait at least 20 months for a referral. Could the process speed up? Sure it could, and we're praying it does. But I also believe that we have to be realistic. Which is why this blog is called Waiting for Bulgaria . . . it is the story of our lives as we wait for our little girl to come home.

Other than that, I've just been wiped out and stressed out lately. I love it when people make comments about teachers having it easy because they have summers off. I usually have to resist the urge to throttle them. I don't think people realize the enormous amount of stress and pressure that is on teachers (at least here in Texas) right now (and just so you know, it has very little to do with the kids). By the end of the day, I'm often too wiped out to write anything of any substance. Sorry.

This weekend has been nice. We didn't have much going on yesterday so Andrew and I went and got barbecue and ice cream with Patrick at lunchtime. Then for dinner, even though we were still stuffed, I made shrimp gumbo. Which was awesome if I do say so myself. ;)

This morning Andrew's school, which is at the Lutheran Church in town, had preschool Sunday. The kids sang a few songs and received a preschool Sunday shirt, and then there was a picnic lunch, a train, and games. It was a beautiful day, and it was a lot of fun. I took quite a few pictures, but I'm only going to post the ones that just have Andrew in them. I don't like putting up pictures of other peoples' kids unless I'm sure it is okay with them.

Very serious . . . getting ready to perform.

Singing . . . or at least he's supposed to be singing.

Trying to hula-hoop. This is about the extent of his hula-hooping skills.

I don't think this one needs a comment . . . it totally speaks for itself. :)

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend, and I hope you have a fabulous work week. Adios folks.

What I Know

I know that another family received an adoption referral, and apparently there are a couple more on their way to our agency. These are families that were registered with the MOJ in 2009. I'm not sure during which part of 2009 they registered, but I would guess they've probably been waiting at least two and a half years. Their patient wait has finally paid off . . . very excited for them.

I know that the weather here has been much nicer. We're even supposed to dip into the 70s for highs next week. For me, that's winter weather. Sweaters here I come. I also know that I may have missed true calling in life . . . to be a meteorologist. You only wish you were as cool as me.

I know that every week I DVR Sister Wives on TLC, and every week I think, "what the heck is wrong with these people?" I mean you talk about dysfunctional. I seriously don't get it, but I still watch it. Please don't ask me why.

I know that I intend to watch an Alfred Hitchcock movie very soon. Alfred Hitchcock movies always creep me out, but I love watching them.

I know that putting peroxide followed by ear drops in my child's ear twice a day ain't fun. But then again neither is an eardrum that bursts because the tube can't drain out any of the nasty junk that builds up behind his eardrum. Thought you'd enjoy that gross tidbit.

I know that I've never been more ready for a school holiday than I am right now. Thanksgiving is a little over a month away. Not that I'm counting or anything.

I know I'm tired. Dead tired.

And that's all I know.

Red Icing, Cheese Puffs, & Other Important Stuff

Hey y'all. It's been busy, busy, busy around this place for the past few days.

On Thursday evening our caseworker Soojin called with the good news that we are officially registered with the Ministry of Justice in Bulgaria. We've actually been registered for a few weeks, but a few people at our Bulgarian agency were on vacation so there was a delay in relaying the message. Either way, we have a number and are now on the waiting list. Yay!

It's raining here in Texas. Thank the good Lord for that. It started with a little rain yesterday, and then it really moved in early this morning. It's cool outside . . . it's raining . . . it finally feels like fall.

Yesterday, was Andrew's party. I was fully prepared for my house to be very crowded if it rained, but the rain held off for the most part. I'm thankful the kids could play outside, but I certainly wasn't about to complain about the rain or the potential for rain.

I have about eight million pictures of the festivities. My brother took a bunch with his camera, and Patrick and I took turns with our camera. Don't worry I'm not going to show all eight million pictures . . . I'll keep to around seven million . . .

This picture's really dark, but it's in our dining room right before the party. What it doesn't show is the massive amount of food in the kitchen or the enormous tub of cheese puffs I bought for the party . . . of which I may have consumed a large quantity. Don't worry Ruthie, I didn't eat the whole container . . . I stopped at half. ;) Those stupid cheese puffs are mocking me as I speak . . . errr, type.

This picture's a little brighter, but seriously, my child is going through this "I don't know how to smile normally" phase. It's so hard to get a picture of him smiling naturally.

Oh and two words of advice. One, before you download (or upload or whatever) the cutest cupcake toppers ever from an Etsy shop, remember that they will all have to be cut out, and they are circles not squares, and they will have to be hot glued to a popsicle stick, and they will need to be double-sided so they don't look ridiculous, and you will get frustrated because you don't have heck-of-a lot of spare time to cut out four dozen cupcake toppers, and then everyone will throw them away. I'm just sayin'. Two, when you order brightly iced cupcakes in blue, red, and yellow, remember that your carpet color is oatmeal, not blue, red, or yellow. And that is why the littlest cupcake eaters were banished to the outdoors.

In all honesty, the weather turned out great. It was humid and cloudy, but not too hot and not rainy. Which was good because I'm telling you, those kids were taking those cupcakes outside irregardless.

Yes, I'm rockin' the Batman shirt. Yes, my family, including my husband, made fun of me. No I don't really care . . . actually take out the "really". Make fun of me all day long you haters . . .  I'm still wearing the Batman shirt. Not that I'm literally still wearing it. Just that I'll wear it again . . . once it's been washed . . .

I mean seriously, there was no way this super adorable but insanely messy face was entering my house . . .

Batman even showed up . . . I'm telling y'all we know how to party here at the Davis casa.

The cat . . . he's a grouch . . . he neither parties nor has fun. Which is why he was royally ticked off yesterday.

And now I need to go bury an enourmous tub that is half full of cheese puffs in the backyard . . .