June?

I can't believe it's June tomorrow. Not much new news on the adoption front. We have to change around a bit of our homestudy because Ethiopia has different requirements (some additional documents, wording changes, etc.) and our placement agency facilitator is in Ethiopia until June 4th. I'll write more when we have more news or items to be checked off our rather long list...
My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew went back home to Arizona on Monday. They were out for a week and we had a really good time. We went to the zoo, Knott's, and the park. VERY fun stuff with a 23 month old. He is brilliant and beautiful and I miss him terribly. He is going to be a good older cousin for our little one :) I will have to post a picture of all his cuteness! It is only fair to share a bit of it.
My best friend, Michelle, is also out from Denver with her super cute pie daughter. Her daughter is 17 months old and is hysterically funny. Tommy is always in awe over how pretty she is.
There is so much going on in our lives right now. I work in the schools, so I am finishing up the year. I am not coming back to work next year because I am going to finish up my M.A. in the fall and hopefully be a stay-at-home mom in the spring. So I am a bit sad about not returning. This summer will be a bit hectic because I am working on some research, need to complete my hospital internship, and will take the national exam for speech-language pathology. Tuesday we found out Tommy has to have a minor, but unpleasant surgery, which makes me more than minimally unhappy. My younger sister also MAY (I'm in denial) be moving to Thailand next month. SO happy for her, but I will miss her :( AND we are starting back on the adoption paperwork (I believe that I have already mentioned that paperwork is not a strength of the Tommy and Danielle team). Additionally, our spoiled spoiled SPOILED whippet, Scarlett, has been asking for a BFF. She claims that she needs company to lay on the couch all day. We are going to take her to the greyhound rescue to see if she finds a pup there of high interest. There is so much good and stressful stuff going on. Mostly really good stuff, but I still feel like we need a mini vacation to take it in, enjoy, prepare, and center myself. There is a secret message to Tommy in the previous sentence. I will let you know in future blogs if he was able to decode my very mysterious hints :) I have never before tested his descrambling abilities.

But...

Since I am not a full blown computer scientist and still COULD learn additional skills, I am unable to post multi picture posts. Therefore, I will only post one picture per blog. Not a BAD ratio. Better than before. But, just wait. One day I will learn, and I am sure to be a show off about the skill. Above is my Dad and me!

Pictures of My Family

I am VERY excited! I JUST learned how to add pictures. Now I will show off my new skill...Above is a picture of my mom, sister Nicole, and myself at our Cinco de Mayo celebration!

Application sent...

We finally sent in our application to CHI last week. I love that we are back on the road to adoption. Now the infamous paper chase can continue...
The entire process seems rather abstract. I have read books, looked at endless websites, taken courses, etc., but it still doesn't seem real. I'm not sure that it will until we actually have our referral. I may be cynical, but I just don't trust that nothing will go wrong until we have our baby. I want so badly to nest and prepare, but I know that I need to wait. There is still plenty of time for all that fun stuff.
This week, I have been waiting not-so-patiently for our dossier packet to arrive. I know that it is coming any day/week. It's kind of funny actually, because I realized recently that Tommy and I are not too savvy on the form filling out thing. It's just not one of our strengths. I want to hurry and get it done, while Tommy's form-filling-out style is thoughtful and deliberate. Together? Not the best scenario...and yet there are so many forms left to fill! The excitement that awaits :)
Timeline so far...We decided that we wanted and were ready to adopt in November 2006. We researched countries and programs and had a few disappointments. We turned in our application to Bal Jagat in December and did our first three homestudy visits in January-February. Then, the country we had chosen went on an unofficial hold. We waited for a few months. During this time I researched our options. When we decided that Ethiopia was our calling, it just felt right. In April the decision was made and we researched placement agencies. Last week was a great milestone, mailing in our application. Now I just want to start filling in those lines and checking those boxes (in a haphazard fashion, of course, thank goodness for Tommy!).
A good friend of mine just told me that she is going to adopt domestically. I am so excited for her and her family. It is such an exciting time for us, it will be special to watch someone close to me go through a similar experience.
Tommy is not yet in tune with his "blogging" self...so, I must now blog for him. But, he did want me to share that he "can't wait to just hold our baby."
I will work on supporting him to reach a place deep within where he is comfortable expressing himself through blog, but until then, you are stuck with me. I apologize for any misrepresentations :)

Decisions so far...

to catch you up...we had almost completed our homestudy (we had 3 visits with our amazing social worker) prior to deciding on Ethiopia. We used Bal Jagat-Children's World adoption agency and really like them. The director, Hemlata, is very straight forward. I LOVE that. I never have felt like anything was being sugar-coated. We have also collected quite a bit of our paperwork, so hopefully the process from here on out will be smooth. Hemlata referred us to Lisa Anderson at Children's House International. My wonderful husband talked with Lisa this morning and thought she was great. Decision is made, we will be using CHI. The program is currently really great and if everything keeps going this way, it looks like we will be able to travel in January or so. I finish my MA in Speech-Language Pathology in December, so it would be ideal if we could travel right after I finish and then I could stay home for a bit.

Oh, and we are requesting a baby girl! We are VERY excited!

Drum roll please....

We have decided to adopt from...Ethiopia! We are very excited! Tommy, my sister Nicole, and I went out for Ethiopian food last night to celebrate. It was Tommy and my first Ethiopian food experience and we fell madly in love with it. We went to a restaurant called Merkato in Little Ethiopia, which was awesome and reasonably priced. We will surely be back soon (can you tell that food is of utmost importance in my life?). I have been reading a wonderful book called Without You There Is No Me. Highly recommend it...Now it's time to consider more tough decisions...Which agency? Boy or girl? age? siblings? More tough decisions. During the last 6 months we've gone from girl to boy and then back to girl again. I feel like this process is full of big decisions that don't really matter, I'm just thrilled that somewhat soon we will get to be parents. Anyone who gets Tommy as a dad is a very lucky person.

Our adoption so far...

We have talked about adoption for years. We love kids and have always wanted a big family. This, coupled with our passion for travel and learning about other cultures, attracted us to international adoption. I thought that since I am currently obsessing about the topic, "blogging" would be a healthy expression. Which country? A HUGE dilemma. The question is partially so perplexing because, well...it doesn't really matter to us. And then it does. It doesn't matter because we are certain that no matter which country the child comes from, that will be our child, meant and destined to be a part of our family. We will try our best to teach that child respect and appreciation for the culture of their country...and with our passion for travel, we are sure to visit.
So, I started reading. I read about the pros and cons of international adoption. Quite frankly, I was amazed at how many "cons" were put out there. I started feeling almost defensive. People judgingly ask, what about children from this country? I have lived abroad. I very well may live abroad again. I love this country, but first I consider myself a citizen of the world. I worry about all children without families. Many children living in this world face a reality where they have limited food and medicine, and no opportunity for an education. I very well may adopt from the U.S. in the future, but right now, international adoption is my calling.
Then there is the issue of adopting outside of the parent's race. Another huge issue. Some believe that this should NEVER happen, stating reasons such as white parents being unable to teach their child about racism. I come from a biracial household and genuinely felt special as a child because of it. I just cannot believe that a child is better off without adequate food, medicine, education, or parents than with us. I do not believe in attempting to be "color blind." Colors in life should stay bright, be celebrated, and be learned from.
I know that regardless of the country we choose, we will have lots to think about and read about in preparation...and I'm thrilled.

My first blog ever

There are so many exciting things happening in our lives, that I felt the need to begin a blog and share. This first blog is an experiment, since I am not the most technically savvy of folks. I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures.