The Call

I have always enjoyed reading "the call" stories on other families blogs, so here is ours:

The call came at about 1:00pm EST on Wednesday, June 23. Just 2 days prior, my iPhone decided to crash, so I actually had been phone less for about 2 days. Needless to say, I was a crazy woman. It was so hard for me to get to the apple store, while juggling work and chauffeuring my son around to all his evening activities. I finally, got my new phone on Weds. I had just begun to let my guard down because it seemed that referrals had slowed down a bit. I honestly thought we probably wouldn't hear anything until the first week of October or so.

Well, as I sat at my desk for lunch, I decided to call my home voicemail, and try to catch up on calls that I had missed while my phone was on the fritz. As a dialed, listened, and ate my lean cuisine, I heard Mary's voice whispering through my phone's speaker. Our caseworker was on vacation this past week, so Mary acted as her surrogate. As Mary's words continued to flow from the receiver, I proceeded to have a mini panic attack. All I can remember hearing was "we have a referral for you...i just left a message on Shawn's phone, but there was no reply so call me back". After jumping, and sweating, and breathing very heavily, I called Mary back. She answered the phone, and told me that she would love to give us our referral, but she was in the process of giving another family their referral. So we agreed to schedule a time. I then hunted down my husband, who happened to be home after injuring his back coaching my son's baseball team. We agreed to come together at 6 to look over the referral.

I called Mary back after DH and I agreed to a time, and we tried to coordinate the best time. Unfortunately 6pm was no good . She happened to have a previous engagement, so she wanted us to talk sooner than 6, but before the agency conference call at 5pm. It was already 4. That left about a 15-20 minute window for us to receive our referral. If that couldn't work , we would have had to wait until the next day.

Meanwhile, my office is filing with patients, and I'm trying to work while figuring out how the heck I'm gonna steal 20 minutes to get our referral. I snuck into my office, barricaded the door, and called Mary for our meeting. She then called my hubby at home, who decided not to answer the phone because the number was strange. I had to then call him on my office phone, and tell him to pick up the phone so we could get our referral (phew).

After the dust settled...we opened our emails and saw a sight of pure perfection. She is wonderful! My precious little 2 month old angel, with the loveliest eyes, and most joyous smile you will ever see. We were told she was a happy baby. She even smiles in her sleep. She is 9.9 lbs and over 21 inches long. My eyes swelled as I listened to her story, and life for us has definitely changed! I think my hubby may be in love with another woman (LOL)!

After the call, I had fun telling my son about his new baby sister. I showed him her picture, and he had pure joy and happiness in his eyes. He was so excited. I couldn't get him to stop talking, and he even outdid himself in Lacrosse practice as a result of his excitement. He proclaimed that he wanted to bring her picture to school the next day to show everyone. This little girl is in trouble, because he is already being a very protective big brother! I called our family, and they were all smitten by her. (Many of them we hadn't told because we wanted to have a referral before we announced our plans). They were beyond supportive. Honestly I hadn't expected to be so well supported, but it has been wonderful. Now they are all asking if she will be home in time for Christmas. (I sure hope so)!

We officially accepted her referral on Friday!!! Now the second phase of waiting begins. There is so much I have to do, because I had done nothing up to this point. The first task has been to come up with a proper name for our babe, and we are almost there. I have even located her furniture. I'm glad I did, because it will take 8-12 weeks to ship (yikes!). I've got several bedding favorites, and my son picked out some very cute onesies for her. We are also in the process of updating our homestudy and medicals (it just seems that paperwork never really goes away..yuck)!

The last thing I'm hoping for is a family traveling soon, to bring a few items to our precious babe, and maybe take a few pics! I so want to see more pictures of her because I think we have burned a hole into the ones we have by staring at her so much (LOL)!! Anyone traveling soon?

Happy Saturday.... I'm hoping for more referrals, and speedy successful court dates!

Today Was The Day!

Today was the day we received the referral of a beautiful 2 month old girl! I'm still speechless and processing my thoughts, but I thought I'd post.

The funny thing is that I have been on pins and needles waiting for this call; and when it finally came I missed it (LOL). 

Anyhoo, I will post details as soon as I can. Happy Wednesday!!

Nothing Yet?

As of this evening, the crickets are chirping more frequently than my phone is ringing (LOL). For those out there wondering...nope, we haven't heard anything yet.  The waiting is not so bad, except I'm getting a little annoyed that I have to keep carrying my cell phone everywhere.

I'm that person who forgets my phone at home, in my purse, etc.. (you get the picture). I really don't like carrying a cell phone. I usually don't like being too accessible or easily located.  Well hopefully, I'll have enough endurance to keep carrying this darn cell phone around until the call comes! 

Happy Thursday!!

8 Months!

That's right! Today marks 8 months on waitlist. Time sure does fly when you're having fun! It has recently occurred to me that I should start getting things together for our newest arrival. I have absolutely nothing. I've been saving all of my son's old strollers and car seats over the years because I never realized it would take us so long to have another child. Well, my nine year old told me yesterday that his stuff is way too old, and that we have to get new stuff for his baby sister. I guess he's right, it has been 9 years. So in addition to attending a friend's baby shower (they are adopting as well), and going to the salon for a much needed hair do, I'll be shopping for all things baby. I love shopping, so this just gives me another reason to spend my money! 

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, and hopefully I'll be able to update this blog with referral information sometime very soon!

Pre Referral Anxiety Disorder

Can someone answer a question for me?  Do you become a little crazy as you get close to receiving a referral? 

I think I'm developing pre-referral anxiety disorder. I can't sleep, I'm jittery. I jump at the ring of my phone, only to sigh and say..oh it's just my mom or a close and dear friend. I also keep trying to figure out what to do if they accidentally skip our name. Is that funny or what. I started to call Natalie just to make sure she still had us on the list.  Can you hear me calling...

(Ugh..hi Natalie, this is Shawn. I know I haven't called you since we made wait list, but I just want to make sure we didn't get erased by mistake? Oh and did you remember to log us in on 1/12? Oh, great. Just making sure)

I'm also having tons of dreams. What's going on here? When we finally do get the call, I'm not sure I'll be able to speak. I keep thinking all the words will blend and merge when they give us our referral making our caseworker sound like Charlie Brown's teacher......blah, blah, blah.

I need some medicine to treat this. Any suggestions? Question #2, for those who have received their referrals, did it come during the day or night? Just curious. 

Tagged

OK. I was tagged by Heidi awhile ago, but I am just getting around to updating this blog:

My seven random facts are:

1) I love HGTV. Design star, property virgins, divine design, house hunters. You name it, I watch it!  I'm so addicted to this channel.  I think I was a designer in another life! 

2) I love artsy crafty hobbies like scrapbooking and cake decorating. Too bad I'm not as artistically creative as some. I have several artist in my family, and I wish I inherited this ability. 

3) I have a yellow lab named Madison. She is 7 years old and absolutely the best dog EVER! She ROCKS!  She doubles as our doorbell (barking well before a visitor walks up to the door). She is a vacuum cleaner (eating anything we drop on the floor). She is lovable and loves hugs and walks. i just don't know what I'd do without her! As you can imagine, I was a mess after seeing Marley and Me at the movies.

4) I am a bathroom SNOB! I hate dirty bathrooms. Seriously,  if it's nasty I just wont go in. Anytime we travel, I disinfect the bathroom, even in hotels. 

5) I LOVE coffee! Especially lattes and coffee with chickory (CDM, Luzianne). I need my fix every morning. Without it, I'm done.

6) I am an extreme sports kinda person (whitewater rafting, zip-lining. You name it, I'll probably try it. ) I've passed this quality on to my son who is a bit of a daredevil himself.

7) I love movies. A private home theater is my dream. (I'm working on it.) I watched Step Brothers just the other day, and let me tell you. I loved that movie. It had me cracking up the whole time. It's that funny. 

Well that's it for my list people. I'm falling asleep as I type this, so I think I'll call it quits! I tag all those who still have to respond to Heidi's tag and anybody else who feels so compelled. 

On the adoption front, we are #2 on the unofficial list and #1 in line for a girl 0-12 months. I never thought I'd be anxiously checking my phone daily, but I am. I just feel like we will be getting our call sometimes this week and I don't want to miss out. I'm so excited. God help me. 

Moving on Up

3 recent referrals from our agency!! This means we are moving on up the "unofficial"  list! Today we sit at #6!! Whopee. Congrats to all the families with recent referrals. Our time is coming, I can feel it!

So Long Summer!!

I'm a summer junkie; I just can't get enough! But I guess it's time to face the reality that summer is almost done!  September is only a week away (boo hoo); but hopefully referral is on the way! Here are some quick shots of our summer of fun. By no means is this comprehensive. It's just a fews snapshots when I could remember to take out my camera.

Mr. B had the most awesome 9 year old sleepover! We hosted 15 boys, and they stayed up the entire night! His party was so popular that 2 of his buddies decided to replay all the action, and host sleepovers of their own!  Here is a shot of the cake (yum!) 

Pizza and Happy Birthday after a night of Laser Tag. These kids also went to the movies. We didin't get back home until really late, but this did not tire them out! So much for planning!

At about 10 am the next morning,  and 24 hours without sleep, Mr. B couldn't take it anymore. The excitement and adrenaline caused him to crash just as the sun came up. Too funny! He didn't even stay up for the waffle breakfast I prepared!  

We had a great time in Jamaica Mon!! Our resort was awesome! Found it on Tripadvisor. I love that site! The reviews are always right on. I never travel without it! Can't wait to travel again! 
Horseback riding that included a dip in the ocean. As you can tell I was a bit skeptical. But it was actually fun. 

My son, on the other hand, has not a skeptical bone in his body! OMG! I couldn't believe he actually jumped! He's a really good swimmer, and a bit of a daredevil!   I was a daredevil in my younger years as well. But I guess I'm getting old. I was too nervous to even try this!

We did do a float trip on the Rio Bueno in Jamaica. Pretty cool, but not exactly like Whitewater Rafting. This river was where Christopher Columbus' first saw the beautiful island. 

Baseball was also super fun!! We made it to our league's championship game. My hubby was assistant coach, and the boys did great. They placed 2nd overall. 

They were too excited after after 3 successful runs!

The team had a small cookout to celebrate their success. Cupcakes, trophies, BBQ. They had a ball. We didn't leave until about 11pm. My child really knows how to party! 

7 months and Counting

Ok....I am the ultimate slacker!!  Each and everyday I think of something to write about. But each and everyday, I forego updating my blog to catch a few zzzz's (sleep).  

We have been on waitlist for over 7 months now, and we will actually celebrate 8 months on September 12. My how time flies!

I have been eagerly awaiting news of a referral, or any referrals for that matter. We are near the top of the unofficial list, but our agency hasn' t given too many referrals lately. Everything seems to be at a standstill. The good news is that lots of families have passed court recently, so hopefully that will get us successfully through court sooner ( we will see). I had a freakout moment last week after reading another blog where the writer mentioned waiting by the phone and getting jittery when an exotic Texas area code appeared on her phone. It was so funny because I had been getting all these "stray" calls from "stray" area codes on my cell. Of course I ignored them all because I figured I didn't know who it was. Then it struck me. I can't keep ignoring strange numbers. One of those could have been the call!  So now I'm on my P's and Q's! Any strange phone number, I'm answering it! 

Heidi tagged me last week, and unfortunately,  I haven't updated yet, but I will do it! 

Have a great weekend!   

2009 Heritage and Culture Camp

This weekend we attended the Ethiopian Heritage and Culture Camp at Massanetta Springs Camp in Virginia. We had a ball, and learned so much. The organizers will be doing it again next year, so if you didn't get a chance to come out this year, make sure to come out next year. 

It was primarily organized by a wonderful woman named Mekdes Bekele, with the help of 4 adoptive parents. Mekdes met one of the parents at a water park in Virginia, and from that simple meeting, they came up with this grand idea!  The camp was dedicated to bringing together all families who are raising Ethiopian-American children.  

There were workshops on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We arrived Friday night after a 2 and a half hour drive. My favorite sessions were "How We Define Family" and the traditional Ethiopian Banquet and Party. The first session highlighted an adoptive mom and her daughter. They shared their families story, and let me tell you, this mom was awesome! She has really figured this whole thing out. She appeared to be s supportive and loving to her kids ( all 4 were adopted), and you could just see the love and admiration in her daughter's eyes. She shared the story of how she helped her daughter to re-unite with her birth family in Ethiopia just last year. The family actually adopted twin girls from Ethiopia in 1994. One of the girls was interested in re-uniting with her birth family. The other was not. The mother supported both of their decisions wholeheartedly. It was truly a remarkable story.

 I also finally had the chance to wear my "Ethiopian Gear" acquired during my travels to Ethiopia over 10 years ago. There was good food, live music and dancing, as well as great company. I met some wonderful families as well; one being my blog buddy Brenda and her beautiful daughter! 

We had a great time! Hopefully we will see you all there next year, and hopefully our daughter will be there as well. Here are some photos of the weekend!

Our home away from home for the weekend and the Welcome sign! BTW, the weather was wonderful!

During the outdoor coffee ceremony! There were moon bounces for the kids, popcorn, cotton candy and ice cream! Oh, and coffee for the adults. There were also a few vendors selling items at the Gebeya (or market)!

The geese and ducks near the lake on site. We had the chance to do some canoeing on the lake, but I didn't get to take any photos. I was afraid I'd drop my camera in the water.

Mr. B and I on arrival! My DH was on travel this past weekend so he missed it all, but we filled him in.
Mr. B being silly!

Dance lessons were also given for those who wanted to learn. There were also cooking and language classes.

Ducks swarming us on the lake as well as a swan! There was also fishing available. There were huge fish in that lake! But you had to catch and release.

Mr. B was so excited by the animals (skunks, deer and ducks) as well as the swimming pool.
Me in my traditional dress for the PARTAY!! Who hoo!!
Brenda and I!  It was so nice to meet her. She was great, and her daughter was so beautiful. I have some photos of other families, but I didn't want to post close up pics of kids without their parents permission. 
Traditional Musician. This one man band played like 2-3 hours straight. He was awesome. I love live music!
Mr. B and I after dinner.
Let the dancing begin!  There was a professional dancer, and she taught us so many traditional dances.  She was like Beyonce, (lots of dress changes and boody shaking..LOL) I loved it! It was so much fun. It was really a work-out, and we all broke a sweat. 
Mekdes, the awesome woman who planned this camp!

A final picture of all the kids! There were more than this, but this was the best picture I could get. In addition, we all took a professional group photo, and boy was it a hard to organize all those folks, but we did it.