171 Approval & Welcome to the Program Phone Meeting!!!

I am happy to say that I finally have moved on to a new stage in my adoption process and we are now an official waiting family. Our agency uses the date on our 171 (ours was 9/30/09) so I have in fact been waiting 1 whole month today.
Mike and I had a phone meeting yesterday with our case manager at WACAP. We discussed details about the program (nothing really new), and we gave her our preference on gender and age. We decided to request a boy 12-30 months and that we would like to be considered for a boy up to 36 months. I was hoping to get something out of her as far as where we fall on the infamous list... but alas I got nothing. I have to call in 4 weeks and then I will be given some kind of an idea. So, here it is. I am waiting.

Adorable Ethiopia Products!!!

How adorable are those cute shirts and these notecards??? Pretty darn cute right... well then go check out my friend's site and help a fellow blogger out. She is in the process of adopting a sweet baby girl from Ethiopia and there are some great products including an uber cute tote bag. The image is the shape of Ethiopia and all the words that fill it in are words her family (including her 2 year old- see the word "Roar") came up with when they thought about the adoption process. So, what are you waiting for... Go!!!

More Halloween Fun!!!

Pumpkin patches and trick or treats have been our theme this month as we visited the pumpkin patch not once but twice this month and spent another day at Disneyland. We have been having so much fun together... and I am excited about the fall weather rolling in (although as I type it is a blasted 86 degrees outside).
I love this time of year (or I will once it gets cold) when the air is crisp and you can bundle up with your favorite hot beverage. Plus, there are so many fun things to do together!!! I am looking forward to trick or treating, my boys birthdays next month, our family trip, thanksgiving and xmas. And, I am even more excited because yesterday we were "officially" accepted into our placement agencies Ethiopia program, and my dossier is done and being mailed back to me from Sacramento and our 171 arrived approved since 9/30/09 which is the date our agency uses as the date we began waiting. So, this year I am even more excited about all the upcoming events bc it will keep my mind off the wait (hopefully) and it is possible that next year we will be doing these same events as a complete family with our new child. So, I am settling in for fall and the long anticipated wait for my new son!!!

Yesterday was a good day.
I received my home study after picking it up from the post office (it was lost but now it is found). Then to my surprise when I got home I had my last document for my dossier and my notice of favorable determination for my 171... Hip Hip Hooray!!!!!
So, my documents are now on their way to Sacramento to a courier who will walk them in to be authenticated and then mail them back to me... and my notarized Home Study is on its way to Wacap so I can soon be Officially Waiting!!! Of course there is a decent size check I have to write in between those stages... but it feels good to be moving on to the next phase. I am hoping the holidays keep me crazy busy so the wait is manageable.

Almost there...

I am going crazy lately. You see my home study is done and immigration received their notarized copy... but my copy for myself and the one I need notarized for my agency are M.I.A.!!!! I told my social worker I would be patient until this Friday (she mailed it on Sept. 23rd) and then I would need new ones sent to me. But, today my patience is gone and I just want to drive to their office and pick up new copies.
In the meantime I have been trying to not drive my doctor too crazy b/c he had to re-do our medical certificates b/c his notary did not put the proper language on the form for my dossier. I was nervous after I called and emailed him with no response. But, today he emailed me that he was available and had the new document ready if a notary could be there today. I grabbed my phone (thank goodness for the iphone) and I was able to find a notary experienced with dealing with international adoption paperwork and who would accept a paypal payment b/c the doctor was nearly 2 hours away from me at his hospital today. And, the mission was a success!!!! Whew...
So, once my home study makes it to me I can finally send everything to be authenticated. Keep your fingers crossed that the authentication process goes smoothly. Man o' man am I nervous about sticking all this paperwork in the mail. But, at least I am feeling a little closer. A quick side note I started listening to the basic amharic cd in my car today. But, for some reason the only thing that I can recall learning is "I am your mommy". It's okay though I have a long wait ahead of me so hopefully I will learn more in the meantime.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekend Catch Up

I don't know where time goes... but I have a lot of catching up to do. We wasted no time getting into the Halloween spirit this year starting with a visit to Disneyland on the first night of their Halloween festivities. The place was packed but we still managed to have a good time!!!

And, this past weekend we did a little brick or treating. As you can see my kids are readily getting my $5 worth on the orange t-shirts. They want to wear them every time we do anything Halloween :)

The kids were thrilled that they were able to change into their actual costumes in the evening to go back in to Legoland for the actual trick or treating.

Adoption Update:
USCIS received our Home Study... YAY!!! But, my copies I think are lost in the mail... BOO!!!
I have to re-do 1 document for my dossier then I can get everything aucthenticated. I am approaching my goal date of Oct. 15th which is when I wanted to be done with the dossier. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Good news is that our agency uses the uscis stamped date for the date you are officially starting your wait. Come on 171H!!!

Happy October!!!

Language... help!!!

Okay... so now that I am done with all of my paperwork I need some things to keep me occupied. I decided I wanted to learn basic phrases etc... in Amharic but I don't know where to turn. I am hoping my blogland buddies can help guide me. If you happen to love some sort of cd, itunes download, dvd program etc... will you please leave me a comment.
I am really trying to find something that I can put on my iphone or listen to in the car as I think I could commit to that.
Anyhoo... Happy Tuesday!!!

Steps 4 Kids!!!

I have to give a shout out to my friend H and her awesome product (dvd) that helps children learn to write their letters and more...
I have two sick children in the house which means I needed something to occupy my oldest (not sick) that did not need too much help from mom. This dvd has done the trick. And, the cool thing was his penmanship is looking much neater already. The part that he really enjoyed were the little breaks between letters where the dvd taught him how to draw animals and more using letters. He is now trying to find more things he can draw using letters around the house. I was really impressed by how long it kept his attention as I wasn't sure it would since he is in first grade and already knows how to write his letters... but he has watched it in its entirety already twice today.

If you want more info please visit H's site www.Steps4Kids.com

Cute Shoes!!! (no it's not Tom's this time)

I just saw these super cute sandals made by Ugandan women on this wonderful blogger's site and I think that they are adorable. And, they are helping young Ugandan women prepare to pay for their University tuition. So... cute and for a great cause which I know many of you would agree is the two things we love to see together. So, treat yourself to some cute new shoes by clicking here and spread some generosity to women who might just change their country someday!!!
As for adoption news... nothing much going on. Waiting for wacap to approve my home study so I can mail my dossier to be authenticated. The waitlist waiting is going to be tough...

Wordless Wednesday!

My Sweet Girl's 2nd Birthday!!!

My sweet sassy baby girl turned 2 yesterday. I cannot believe how much joy she has brought our family already.
This is a picture right after Baby Belle was born

This is a picture I took for her 1st birthday invites
And, here she is the big 2 year old
We started her birthday fiesta with a couple of our family members over for cake.
(I made the cake and it had 4 layers of deliciousness... I was pretty proud)

Then we traveled to Disneyland (what better place to celebrate?)
The boys were so sweet and really helped make the day all about Belle.
They are great brothers.
Sweet Belle loves sunglasses and here she is sporting some her Papa R gifted her :)
Then the excitement happened. I always said I would never let my daughter wear a costume to Disneyland... well I obviously ate my words. But, her smile was worth it ;)
Like I said the girl is blessed with sweet brothers. Captain Crazy proudly paraded her down to the restaurant in her full get up.
Where we met the other princesses for Belle's Birthday dinner

Notice her brothers cleverly hiding from any possibility of having to meet or worse be kissed by one of those gross princesses.

Cuddlebear also made sure Belle was having a great time

By the end of the night the princess turned into our sleeping beauty

And, we all lived happily ever after...

Time Flies...

Time really does seem to fly when we are back in school. I feel kinda like a ping pong ball most days. But, I have to admit I am liking being on a schedule and not having to come up with things to cure childhood boredom all day long. And, it has helped keep my mind off all the adoption. I don't know why I said that- it's not true. Adoption is always on my mind ;)
And, because I mentioned it let me give you an update.
I sent in my final payment to my home study agency
and she said I should have my report next week.
My passport came in the mail.
And, I mailed off my home study review fee and some docs to my placement agency.
I am really hoping to be on the wait list by the end of Oct. But, we will have to see?

Anyhoo here is a little photo update of our life the past two weeks.

We celebrated my Grandma's 81st Birthday

Said Good Bye to my Brother and his Girlfriend B
as they left to go back to school in MI

Hung out together for some sibling love

Wordless Wednesday

First Days of School & Haircuts!!!!

We started school Monday and my oldest baby is now in first grade. He will be turning 7 pretty soon which I have a hard time believing. There were no tears and he loves his new teacher!!!
ps- That is my baby sister standing with him... they go to the same school... crazy right?

Cuddlebear started preschool again on Tuesday and he was so adorable. He is the super excited kid that asks a million questions while the teacher is trying to read her first day story. Cuddlebear is also so good at making friends he says hi to everyone. He also is very lucky and has a wonderful teacher this year too!!!

The first days were great, but what I was most excited about was Hubby took the shaggy boys to get haircuts. They actually ended up really happy... I think the long hair days were requiring too much effort with the early mornings.
Don't they look handsome?