Weaving a Family

REFERRAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-06-10T05:36:00.000-07:00

She is a stunning little girl, with beautiful brown eyes and she just turned a year old! I cannot share her name or photos on this blog until we pass court in Ethiopia, but trust me, she is adorable and ready to join Nur & Dur as the cutest kids ever! Funny how the 3 cutest kids in the world ended up in my family eh? We have been calling her "Baby Ray", and will continue to do so until we can share her name.....

Now, to settle down for the next 6 months or so of legal process until she is in our arms....

More pics in my Hubby's blog!

2010-03-08T20:08:00.000-08:00

My husband is an amazing photographer, yet it is SOOO hard to get him to remember to take photos of the boys. Check out a few recent Nur & Dur pics here:

http://ourfotovitae.com/blog/2010/03/schmidt-boys/#more-607

Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork!

2010-03-04T11:15:00.000-08:00

We have completed our state fingerprinting and all of the required home study paperwork as of today! We should soon start the home study visits and hopefully the write-up will go quickly as it has been less than 2 years since our social worker wrote the last one. BIG changes in those 2 years though….2 of them….NUR & DUR!

Paperwork has been piling for Nur and Dur as well. We finally received the necessary letter from OR State to complete their re-adoption. I filed the paperwork with our local courts this week, so hopefully I'll get a signed judgment within 7-10 days….FINALLY!

Also, our dossier is almost complete! Much, much easier this time around, since we have "been there, done that!". A lot of cut and paste, so hopefully we'll be able to submit our dossier as soon as the home study is complete.

WHEW!!!!!!!

I haven't uploaded pics in a while, but feel bad not posting, so here are a few pics stolen from my Facebook account!

Abdur fresh from his first haircut...Mr.Cool!

My wild man Nursun on the beach!

Family beach pic

My Mom (the boys call her Monga) came to visit!!!!

Nur & Dur have something to say....

2010-02-02T19:39:00.001-08:00

Nursun and Abdur have something to say from Brandon Schmidt on Vimeo.

WORST BLOGGER EVER

2010-01-18T15:55:00.000-08:00

OK, so I admit it...something like 9 months since I have posted...I am horrible, get over it. My goal is to post more frequently, if my addiction to Facebook allows it. To make up for the horrible pain I have caused the blogging community (or my 3 faithful blog visitors), I shall post a pic from every month in 2009.

Here we go!

January 2009 - The day I met my sons!

February 2009 - Bringing our boys back to the US (ok, more than 1 pic, but February was a good month!)

March 2009 - Our first trip to the beach house

April and May 2009

June 2009 - Trip to Palm Springs

July 2009 - Seattle Mariners Game

August 2009 - GO DUCKS!

October 2009 - Happy Halloween!

November 2009 - Thanksgiving in Montana

December 2009 - Winter hiking in Montana!

Family pics

2009-04-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

I always seem too tired to write up much, but pictures are better anyway! Here are a few that my very talented sister-in-law took...check her out at http://www.photogemstudio.com/

Oh, and there are no solo shots of Nursun because he was one tired little boy that day!

1st trip to the family beach house!

2009-04-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went with some friends to our family beach house. The boys had a great time and of course Brandon was there to capture tons of photos...here are a few of my favorites...

We are alive, I promise!

2009-03-04T12:07:00.000-08:00

I know, it has been forever since I posted, but I have come to find out that twin 16 month-olds take a little bit of time and effort :) I am working on a few longer posts about the boys, Ethiopia, etc., but until then, here are a few of my favorite pics of the boys...

As you can tell, loving these 2 little guys comes so easy!!!!!!!!

Homecoming slide show!!!!!

2009-02-15T03:39:00.000-08:00

Being a photographer, my husband has many great connections...perhaps the most rewarding is the amazing photographer, Emily G, who photographed our airport arrival and the many family and friends who greeted us. She has put together a slide show that still brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it (and I keep watching it over and over).

You can view it here, and please ignore how tired and old I look :)

http://www.emilygphotography.com/slideshows/welcomehomeboys/

We are home!

2009-02-14T04:56:00.001-08:00

We are home safe and sound, and the twins, Abdur & Nursun, are sleeping safe and sound! The trip, the people, everything was AMAZING! I cried all the way to the airport :(

We haven't even starting to think about downloading pics yet, but here is one of our referral pics, taken last August of the boys...I told you it would make you smile!

We leave in 3 days!!!!

2009-01-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

I cannot express how excited we are to soon be meeting our boys!!! I am hesitant to post pics until we return home, but I promise that as soon as I recover from jetlag and new mommyhood (so maybe 18 years or so...) that I will post pics of the world's most adorable twin boys!!!!

We have our embassy appointment!

2009-01-15T20:26:00.001-08:00

We need to be in Ethiopia between Feb 5th and Feb 12. We plan on going over early to explore, travel, etc.

That means....we may be leaving in like, less than 2 weeks.

That means....I had better get busy!

HOLY COW MAN, HOLY COW!

WE PASSED COURT PEOPLES!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

I am so exhausted from all of my living room dancing!

Ourcase was approved today and we are now the proud parents of Abdurhamen and Nursun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Melkam Genna Everyone!

2009-01-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing (early) Genna celebration with some great friends on Sunday. I'll try and post pics soon!

Really? Seriously?

2009-01-02T09:05:00.000-08:00

We just found out that our court date was incorrectly reported and our case was not heard January 1st. Our court date is now (and I guess has always been) set for January 13th. This hurts, obviously, as we have been on pins and needles for the past few days, but I guess it could have been worse...We are just trying to stay positive and hope for the best.

So....start crossing things for the 13th!

Nuff said :)

2008-12-29T18:26:00.000-08:00

Twin update

2008-12-02T12:19:00.000-08:00

I thought it was about time to update you on the news we have been hearing regarding our boys, aka the world's cutest twin boys!

A. is walking all by himself and N. is trying to...he still needs to use the furniture for a bit of support :)

Both A. & N. are saying a few words...mom, dad, etc. and I believe they are in Amharic.

N. is always described in his reports as very "smiley"

Both boys are continually described as "active"...in any language I think that this means double trouble, and I simply cannot wait to chase those little guys around!

4 weeks and 2 days until our court date!!!!

Operation get those boys home in full effect!

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-24T18:33:00.000-08:00

Finally! Whew!

January 1st!

New Year's Day!

Wish us oodles of luck!

Where have I been?

2008-11-18T19:42:00.000-08:00

I know, I have completed disappeared from the blog world. I apologize for the long period of silence. I think it is due to a combination of a rough few weeks and a feeling that I just don’t have anything interesting to say. I wish I had news, but I don’t. Everyone asks...daily, but I really don't have anything to say.

We are still waiting for a court date. It has been 2 months, 1 week, and six days since we first saw the two most beautiful faces in the world and accepted the referral of our twin boys. I am definitely learning the art of patience! I guess the good news is that Brandon and I have both been really busy. Work has been crazy for me, and Brandon is just wrapping up the wedding season, so the lack of time to breathe and allow life to slow down has actually been a positive lately.

We did receive an update on A & N recently. A is definitely walking on his own, and I am sure that N is not far behind him. They are even saying their own little words! I also had the chance to hear from a few families that were lucky enough to see the boys while in Ethiopia. Sounds like we have some fun, lovable, and certainly adorable little bundles coming in the *near* future.

Hopefully my next post will be a bit more upbeat, and maybe, just maybe, we'll have a court date to share! Wish us luck on this roller coaster :)

Happy Birthday to my Boys!!!

2008-10-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

So, Sunshine has wanted me to post on her blog for a while now and I couldn't think of a better day than today...she's at work and doesn't know that I'm posting.

Today our boys are turning one and it's incredibly hard to miss this huge milestone. Since receiving our referral we have been thinking positively and hoping we would have traveled by now...very unrealistic but that was our hope. Now we just hope to travel by the end of the year (but that's not looking so promising either :-(). While the boys aren't with us we have still been celebrating with friends and family. A couple of nights ago we had a birthday party for "the Brothers" at Micah's house. Throughout the adoption process we have made so many new friends and it has been wonderful how supportive everyone is. Tonight, we are having a 30th birthday party for my sister who now has to share the date with her nephews...I don't think she minds. In fact, Megan, my nephews, and I are going to get some bday presents in a few minutes...I'm a major procrastinator.

Since today is my first post, I thought I better take a few pics for Sunshine's Blog:

A wide angle shot of the Boy's Room

Closet space is at a premium these days

Despite what you think, one crib is for the boys to share and the other is for our cat Kootenai

Our scary Halloween decoration....BUMPERS

A birthday gift to N. from Jody's Family

There is nothing wrong with boys playing with dolls. At least Franky my CHILDHOOD cabbage patch friend doesn't think so!

A rockin' moose from Grandma Clark

In order to eat supper at the table with our boys every night we needed to get some new chairs...for us too!

Sunshine decided we need two Injera baskets at the Holt Ethiopian Auction...I don't know how we ever managed without them!

This shot is for our social worker/friend. While not quite finished, our house looks MUCH better equipped than last time you were here.
An Alligator

My first baby shower

2008-10-11T19:26:00.001-07:00

The first baby shower for A & N was held today at our house. My wonderful mother-in-law and sister-in-law threw the event, and we filled the house with aunts, cousins, grannies, nannas, etc.

We received so many great gifts; car seats, baby gates, high chairs, baby monitors...you name it, and everything in double. These boys are so welcomed and so loved and they don't even know it yet!

I had so much fun showing off the nursery, photos, and the DVD of A & N to everyone. It is strange how much I swell with pride when I tell everyone that N gained a pound and A can stand on his own for 2-3 seconds! I used to glaze over when people talked about percentiles, baby weights, first steps, diapers, etc. but I have turned into "one of those" and I love it! If anyone wants weight updates and diaper discussions, just give me a call!

Updates

2008-10-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

1. The courts are open! Please, pretty please let us get a court date soon...I need to get to my boys!

2. My mommy came to town last weekend and we spent tons of time (and money) getting the room ready for our little dudes. We have a sweet little room with matching cribs. Pics to come later, I promise!

3. We received updated measurements for A & N. They are steadily gaining wait. Chub up boys, chub up!

Our boys....

2008-09-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

Wow, thanks to everyone for the great comments and congratulations! ...and thank to those who have been e-mailing me constantly begging for more details...I love it! Sorry I have taken so long to post...most of my time is now taken up staring a photos our our little boys - and watching the awesome DVD of them created by our agency! Hurry up court, hurry up, I have some boys to bring home!

I cannot share too much information or pictures, but the twins are both boys and will turn a year old next month. Plus, if you know me in "real life" or live within a 12 hour driving distance, I have probably rushed over to your home, unannounced, to show you the pics! A very wonderful coincidence is that they were actually born on the day that we submitted our application to Holt!!! We are keeping their Ethiopian names, but until we bring them home we'll just be calling the A & N here on the blog. They are little guys, pretty small for 11 months, but happy and healthy and ready to be little Schmidts!

I'll keep everyone updated as our process progresses, but basically we are waiting for the Ethiopian courts to re-open after the rainy season. Rumor has it this may happen sometime around the first week of October, but nothing written in stone yet. Once the courts re-open, we'll get an assigned court date and once we pass (some times it takes more than once), we'll travel over to meet and bring home the world's most beautiful little baby boys. Home by Thanksgiving would be awesome, but probably Christmas more realistically.

So...right now we are busy preparing our home for A & N - finishing the remodel, registering for baby items, etc. Wish us luck, and a speedy process!!!

P.S. -They aren't identical, but share a common cuteness!

2008-09-05T17:13:00.001-07:00

TWIN BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11 months old and the cutest little bugs I have ever seen!

More to come later when I start breathing again!

Patience

2008-08-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

"Patience is a virtue"

"Good things come to those who wait"

bla bla bla

Isn't 6 months and 2 weeks patient enough?

Can anyone tell that I am ready?

Really, it isn't THAT bad, and I am sure it will be one of those things that the second I see my child(ren), I'll forget all about the long road to get there. But right now, the road is pretty bumpy and tiresome...someone show me my exit!

Definitions

2008-08-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

Natural Child: Any child who is not artificial.
Real Parent: Any parent who is not imaginary.
Your Own Child: Any child who is not someone else's child.
Adopted Child: A natural child, with a real parent, who is all my own.

I just came across this and thought I would share.

A change in direction?

2008-08-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

After quite a bit of communication with our agency, and of course with each other and our families, we have decided that a request for young siblings may be a very long and difficult wait and the need may simply not be there. We made the decision a few months ago that if we did not receive a match for siblings by the beginning of August, we would change our request to siblings OR a single child. Since we are at the top of our agency's waiting list, this most likely means the referral of a single child.

Brandon and I are both at peace with this decision and can't wait to have a family...whether we have one Ethiopian child, two Ethiopian children, or maybe even 20 (ok, maybe not), we know that whatever happens will be our path and I think we are comfortable in that.

Now, where is that referral? :)

Questions? Comments? Referrals to give?

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-07-17T16:05:00.000-07:00

Friday the 18th is my birthday. I'll be 13, yup, finally a teenager...maybe I'll get my ears pierced.....

Or....maybe I'll really be 27 and buy a stroller or something!

We are taking a 3 day weekend at the beach house and leave tonight.

No, I didn't fall off the edge of the Earth....

2008-07-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

See below for a bunch of blogs that were written and never published....I know, I am a horrible blogger!

Montana!

2008-07-13T13:54:00.001-07:00

As usual, spending a week at the cabin was amazing! I got to spend quite a bit of time reading and relaxing in the sun, riding our 4-wheeler, hiking, kayaking on the Kootenai River, enjoying not one but two 4th of July events, and seeing quite a few of my old high-school friends. Sounds like a good time, huh?

Here are a few pics from a nice LONG 12 mile hike we did...

Zulu is excited and ready to go!

My Dad & I at Turner Falls

Just me...

Wild Rose!

One HUGE Rock Cairn!

One of the 3 lakes we hiked into

A Boy & his dog...

Maybe I am getting a bit tired after all of those miles...

Zulu is exhausted! With all his running back & forth, and leading the pack, I'll bet he did 30 miles!

My hubby is such a great provider! (The fish went back in the water though)

Dad too!

Welcome home Lechame!

2008-06-27T17:57:00.000-07:00

My friend Jody arrived home from Ethiopia today with perhaps the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen! I met her and her husband at the airport, along with a few mutual friends and 2 ladies from our agency. She had nothing but wonderful things to say and although exhausted, was glowing!

Congratulations, Jody, Chris, and big brother....enjoy the new addition to your family!

Bikes, BBQs, and the Beach!

2008-06-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

I think summer has officially come!

This past weekend, we were invited to a BBQ at a newly found friend's home. The family has twin boys that have been home from Ethiopia for a few years and are the cutest little guys ever! Also in attendance were 2 other families in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. All 4 families live within walking distance of each other!!!! It is so great to have these families so close and I look forward to many Ethio-American play dates!

This coming weekend, we are headed to the beach with a few good friends. The weather should be awesome...100 degrees here, 80 degrees at the beach! PERFECT! Directly following the beach, Brandon and I will head to Montana for a week for the 4th of July and we'll have a whole week there!

Finally, this past Friday, Brandon and I went and bought 2 nice cruiser/city bikes to get around town on. We were so excited and felt like little kids riding around our little town together. At one point he asked me to be his girlfriend and we held hands in the park :) Big stuff!

So, who would we be if we didn't take the bikes out for a little photo session?

2008-06-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

So, what can I buy to prepare when I know nothing...

Baby or toddler? - Nope!

One child or two? - Nope!

Boy or girl? - Nope!

Hmmm...I think I need some retail therapy for sure, and something small and cute to get me through this waiting game.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Today marks 4 months of offically waiting for a referral.....

2008-05-31T19:42:00.001-07:00

7 months, 1 week, and 1 day since we started the process.....

In 1 week it will have been 1 year since we made the decision to adopt.....

But really, who is counting?

ME!

Here ya go...

2008-05-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, nothing new, but I figured I had better say something!

Here are a few little notes and tidbits to tide you over...

The first families to receive referrals through our agency are returning home from Ethiopia this weekend with the newest members of their families!!!!!

A good friend of mine passed court recently (Congrats Jody!) and should hopefully soon be travelling to Ethiopia to pick up her beautiful daughter! At least I can ooh and ahh over her little tot until the Schmidt tots arrive :)

Also, our agency staff have recently been in Ethiopia and have a blog that has pics of the care center where our children will be, Ethiopian staff, information on the adoption process once in country, and most importantly, some cute kid pics, check it out here: http://holtintl.org/blog/?cat=8

Holt (our agency) also has posted a few video on YouTube as well: http://www.youtube.com/HoltInternational

I don't have anything new that pertains to us....basically, we are waiting "patiently" and hopefully each day brings us closer to weaving our little family!

Mother's Day

2008-05-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

First of all, a shout out to my Mommy!!! I hate having to be so far away from you on your day, but know you are in my thoughts and I love you oodles and oodles and bunches of gobs!

As for me, I honestly never gave a thought to Mother's Day this year as it pertained to me. I didn't feel sad to not be a mom and didn't even think about that fact that I am a mother-to-be, so I wasn't expecting any attention from anyone, let alone everyone!

To start with, Brandon and I joined his family at their family beach house for the weekend. When I woke up and stumbled upstairs on Sunday morning, my father-in-law told me that he had a gift for me....the gift was a beautiful silver bracelet and one of the sweetest notes ever letting me know that even thought I am not a mother quite yet, he knows my children are somewhere waiting for me and that I'll be a great mom.....AWWWW!

Then, my sister-in-law gave me a great book with guides to being a mom in the Portland area and a very sweet card.

Finally, my sweet sweet hubby gave me a book for our children called "Happy Adoption Day" and the most adorable little wooden train set!!!!

I am so lucky to have added this family on to my own and our children are even luckier to grow up with such great family!!!

Here are a few pics of my loot :)

I am a horrible blogger...

2008-05-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

Man! It sure has been a long time since I've blogged! So, what have I been up to? I'll list a few highlights below...

Wednesday, April 30th - We met up with 4 other Portland area families that are adopting from Ethiopia via our agency. We met at a nice Ethiopian restaurant in north Portland and had a great meal. The owners were so warm and welcoming and offered to have us back as soon as our children come home to celebrate.

Thursday, May 1st - I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed! Seriously, NOT FUN! I had them put me out, but I was still pretty terrified and it was pretty painful.

Friday-Monday, May 2-5th - Ate my own body weight in sorbet and had my husband wait on me hand and foot.....Hmmm......maybe I can find a few more teeth to have removed...

Saturday, May 10th - We attended our first "waiting families" get-together. This an event our agency sponsors where families in all phases of international adoption and in all countries get together and mingle. It offers sort of a support group, if you will, of people who know what it feels like to be waiting what seems like an eternity to bring a child home. The meeting was pretty fun, and we got to see a slide show of a recent visit to Ethiopia by our agency Ethiopia Program Director that included quite a few pics of beautiful little Ethiopian children!!!

Finally, Sunday, Mothers Day - I'll include a separate post about how great this day turned out!

We received our I-171H

2008-04-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday! Yup, I have been a very bad blogger! Brando and I took a little trip to Montana again and we just got back on Tuesday evening to find it in our huge stack of mail.

For those of you wondering what the heck an I-171H, it is the final piece of paperwork from the Department of Homeland Security stating that we have been approved to adopt! Officially, it is our "Notice of favorable determination concerning the application for advance processing of Orphan petition". Wow! Who wouldn't understand that one?

So, as you guessed, we are still waiting "patiently". I think because we don't know the ages, gender, etc. of our children, it makes this whole process very hard for me. I am a planner and a dreamer and I don't even know if I need 2 cribs, or a crib and a toddler bed, etc. so nesting and baby shopping isn't really an option. Brandon, of course, it taking it all in stride. He is very excited, but patient and calm at the same time. Hmmph!

Nothing.

2008-04-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

I don't really have anything to update on, and to be quite honest, the past few weeks have been pretty hard on me patience-wise. I know we really haven't been waiting that long, but I feel frustrated that I have nothing to do to bring our children closer to us. I long to know who they are, see their faces, and start preparing for them to enter the great little family we are building!

I know I need to cheer up and be strong, but seriously, I never had much patience to start with! It has been 5 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days since we started this process...but really, who is counting?

On a happy note, we are heading off to Montana again this weekend! I have some work over there, and Brando's parents are coming as well, so that should be fun. I'll try and get some spring in MT photos and cheer up my next post!

Our dossier has landed!

2008-04-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update to let everyone know that our dossier has been received in Ethiopia!!!

From here the dossier translation process will begin. Once we receive our referral, it will then be submitted for processing through the MOWA and the Federal Courts.

Can I hear a whoop whoop?

Montana Pics

2008-03-30T15:02:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned below, we escaped to our cabin in Montana for a little Easter break. We did a fair amount of playing around with the camera and here are a few of the promised pics:

Look, I can take a decent picture!

Zulu hurt his paws on the ice - This is Brando applying salve

We made sure to use his snow boots when we went on long walks

Is Zulu trying to catch a snowflake?

Just a girl and her dog, talking a mid-day nap after a long hike...

I am a very serious card player!

and here is my proof....he didn't stand a chance!

My car, my husband, and some bad weather...

2008-03-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

Jump on over to Brandon's blog and check out more pics of what happens when I let him use my car while I am out of town...

http://www.fotovitae.blogspot.com/

I had a date with my father-in-law last night...

2008-03-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

Yup, when the husband is out of town, why not date his dad?

I can explain....

Last night was one of our African adoption get-togethers and since Brandon was out of town shooting a wedding, and his Mom was not feeling too well, his dad was my date :) The event was pretty good, I met a few new families and finally got to meet little Malachi . I spent the evening smiling and playing with all of the beautiful little children and catching up with their parents. Brandon was pretty jealous that he had to miss it.

Also, four Holt families received referrals this week and my friend Jody brought a picture of her beautiful little girl to the event. Also in attendance was Andrea, with pics of her handsome little guy! Yeh! Go Holt families!!!

Our dossier is in transit!

2008-03-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

Our dossier is all bundled up and headed on over to Ethiopia! It is expected to arrive in country by this Thursday.

Great news, since today marks 2 months of officially waiting!

I know, I know!

2008-03-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

So, Jamie again sent me a message, cussing me out for not posting in so long! I was out of town! Brandon and I escaped to Montana for a few days to spend some time at our cabin and help my Mom with her annual community Easter Egg hunt. Directly after, I spent the week working outside of Burns, OR (basically, nowhere, USA) and just got home on this evening. Whew! I'll post pics from our Montana trip in a bit, but here are a few pics I took during the work week:

Oh ya, I had better mention what I was doing during the work week...I was doing an archaeological survey along the Malheur River.

This is a side-notched point - My find of the week!!!!

A quartz biface fragment

And one very tired field crew :)

We had a great time, as it was the first time all four of our staff members worked on a project together. BTW, I have to mention that no artifacts were collected from the field and all locational information is protected.

New lens

2008-03-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

I mentioned below that Brandon got a new lens recently (Canon 50mm f1.2) so here are some recent cute pics he took just playing around. BTW, Ignore my double chin...I am blaming it on the paper pregnancy :)

Oops

2008-03-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I still haven't posted about our CIS trip. Nothing too eventful...everything went smoothly (as far as we know).

Brando had been out of town the 3 days prior to our appointment, so I played hookie to spend some time with him and I also already had to take time off for the appointment, so that justified it (wink wink). Anyway, we arrived early and had some time to kill, Brandon just got a new camera lens, so we wandered around Portland for a 1/2 hour or so to kill time and take pics of course. We checked in with the security guard, filled out some forms, and then waited no more than 10 minutes for our appointments to be called. Smoosh, smoosh, they took our prints and off we went! We tried to go to a new Ethiopian place, but they were closed, as well as our usual Ethiopian spot, so we settled for Sushi instead and headed home.

Funny how I can make a long story over something so short and uneventful...huh? It's a talent. Ask my husband :)

So, once we got home we had the AWESOME idea of making a picture of our fingerprints. Ya'all had better agree to the awesomeness that is this pic:

P.S. Notice what my shirt says!

We are authentic!

2008-03-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

I just talked to a member of our agency staff and she let me know that our dossier has just been received back from authentication!

So, what is authentication?

Well, the first stop is the Department of State, where our dossier is examined, and the Secretary of State's paperwork is authenticated-- ie, the Dept of State verifies that the document really was OK'd by Oregon's Secretary of State.

Once the documents pass that inspection, they go to the Ethiopian embassy in Washington D.C. There the Department of State's stamps are inspected, and the Ethiopian embassy verifies that the Department of State's stamp of approval is a legitimate one. Once the dossier receives this final seal of approval from the Ethiopian embassy, it is returned to Holt and assembled into it's final form!

Whoo Hoo! One more step complete. We now have our fingerprinting appointment with CIS in 3.5 hours :)

1 month and 1 week

2008-03-09T14:56:00.000-07:00

Yup, we've been waiting "patiently" for 1 month and a week.

Nothing new on the adoption front. Last week Brando took a CPR & First Aid course. I am always certified through my work, but he had never taken a course so we figured he had better get on it before we become parents! The original course was cancelled, so the instructor came to our home and gave Brandon and his dad a private class. It worked out well as he was able to focus more on the pediatric side of things and they were able to ask tons of questions, etc.

So, that is abut it. We'll get fingerprinted on Tuesday and I'll probably have some more lame pics to post of the geeky Parents-to-Be.

We got our fingerprinting notice today!

2008-03-03T19:10:00.001-08:00

Our appointment with USCIS is next Tuesday!

For those of you not well-versed in adopto-lingo, the fingerprinting appointment is a required part of the I600 Petition or the “Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative.” It is the first step in the USCIS (United States Citizen & Immigration Services) process for an international adoption.

Once the local USCIS office receives the I600 (and home study) they will then schedule fingerprinting appointments for all adults over the age of 18 living in the home. After receiving the fingerprint reports that say that we are well behaved citizens, we will receive the I171h, or the golden ticket of approvals that will allow us to adopt.

Now lets cross our fingers that the post-fingerprinting process goes quickly (it can take months) and that our golden ticket will be soon to come!

Some links

2008-03-01T17:36:00.000-08:00

I was just checking out a few of my favorite links and thought I should share. I'll post them on the side as well, but here ya go:

A blog of Holt's recent trip to Ethiopia, including pics of the orphanage, intake area, Ethiopian staff, and most importantly, the beautiful children!

http://holtintl.org/blog/

YouTube video of Holt's president in Ethiopia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMXhlJVe24s

This is why I have been so quiet....

2008-03-01T16:37:00.000-08:00

We have an old house (almost 100 years old) and unfortunately people have done some pretty mean (and ugly) things to our house over the past century. We have "redesigned" the entire house, added an upstairs, removed and rebuilt walls, etc. We have replaced all of the lathe and plaster and our sheet rock guy is downstairs right now finishing up our new smooth coat walls. Hopefully we'll be primed up soon and ready to start painting!

Hallway leading to our bedroom and the nursery

Brando "hard at work" on the stilts

Gee, I sure love priming walls!

We put his mom to work, priming the nursery :)

Zulu worked hard as well...

Our nephews stopped by to check out the progress, and we put them to work too!

We have a new front door! Zulu looks like he'll miss the ugly purple one....

And finally, our new door from the outside!

So, we still have some work to do...trim, paint, etc. on the inside, and Brandon wants to start stripping and repainting the outside pretty soon as well. Hopefully we'll get this placed spruced up in no time at all!

Long time no blog!

2008-02-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

Sorry for such large gaps in the postings, however now that we are in the "waiting" phase, we are doing nothing but just "waiting". Let me tell you......waiting sucks! I know, I know, we have only been waiting for 3 weeks, and I have many more weeks to come, but those of you who know me well know that patience is something I lack! I was talking to a friend at work the other day about my lack of patience and control freak personality...she laughed and said "What on earth made you think that waiting months in an international adoption process where you have no control over anything would be a good idea for you?" Hmmm - No answer for that one!

Anyway, we have been keeping busy. Our house remodel is in full swing and our sheet rock guy is working hard right now as we speak! Most people paint little rooms pink and blue to prepare for a little bundle of joy....here in our home, we knock out walls, remove lathe and plaster, get new windows, etc.

Also, we spent last weekend at the beach for Brando's Granny's 85th birthday. It was so much fun, and many of Granny's 12 (yep thats right...12) children came for the occasion.

Brandon has run off for a photo shoot, but I'll bug him this weekend to get me my pics of the house and of our beach weekend.

Valentine's Day

2008-02-15T06:29:00.000-08:00

This year was Brando and I's 8th Valentine's Day together!!! On our first, he wrote me a poem and it turned into a tradition that instead of cards, chocolate, or roses, we write each other a poem (or song). Our poems are pretty special, so I won't post all of his, but he is so clever...he wrote me a poem about our last year as a family of 2.

Here are a few of my favorite lines, in no particular order:

Privacy, soon to leave
Dirty diapers, I do believe

Say goodbye, to our rest
The time has come, to share our nest

The way we choose to get them here
Stork or plane, you nav...I'll steer

Seriously, I cannot believe I get to love this guy everyday! He is the most amazing husband, friend and lover and I know he'll be an even better father!

We are Officially Paper Pregnant!

2008-02-04T17:59:00.000-08:00

This means that our dossier is complete and all of our papers are in order! We are heading to Yakima this Friday to be fingerprinted and then we'll eventually receive our 171H, but then we'll just have to wait for the referral for our children!!!!!

After what feels like years (but was really only 3 months) of paper-chasing, legwork, government appointments, phone calls, parenthood classes, workshops, seminars, and home study visits we can finally sit back, relax, and wait!

I think the sitting back and relaxing will now be the hard part. My mind races with all the possibilities of our children; I wonder what they will look like? What their laughter will sound like? What will their personalities be like? I think about the memories we'll make - trips to our cabin in Montana, weekends at the family beach house, little every day things like watching their father dance around our living room in the mornings...I've been waiting for hours, but it already feels too long, and I have quite a bit of waiting ahead of me!

Doing the dossier dance!!!!!!!!

2008-01-31T19:40:00.000-08:00

Uh huh, that's right....we submitted our dossier today!

We decided to make a day of it and take the day to head down to Eugene, visit the Holt office, and submit our dossier in person. No, it wasn't us not trusting Fed Ex...it was simply a good excuse to head on down, take the day off work, and also, we went to college in Eugene, so we had an excuse to return to our old stomping grounds and eat at the best Chinese restaurant ever- Maple Garden!

Now before I get too excited, I am sure I messed something up, so it may be a few days before I hear back from our agency. Hopefully (cross your fingers now), I haven't screwed anything up too bad....I am a bit (ok, a bunch) obsessive with details, so that may be on my side...

Anyway, what would such an event be without pics?

Kootenai

2008-01-27T21:31:00.001-08:00

Twice today someone mentioned that I am missing a picture of my dear little kitten, Kootenai from my blog. Apparently I am a bad momma and show off the puppy more than the kitty...

Brando and I have had Kootenai since October of 2000 and she is the world's best little cat. She is fluffy, gray, and has the world's best belly fur - hands down.

Notarized Home Study received!

2008-01-26T17:49:00.000-08:00

Yup, got it today! Now all we have to due is cruise on over to the capital to get it certified this week and we'll be ready to hand in our dossier. Sweet. Sweet. Sweet.

What? A home study photoshoot? Why of course! We'd be crazy if we didn't.....

Adoptive families gathering

2008-01-25T22:45:00.000-08:00

We had another get-together for families in the region that have, or are in the process of, adopting from different African countries. Prior to, I rushed around like a manaic, yelling at Brando that we would be late, and then we showed up an hour early...why the man stays married to me, I have no idea! :)

Anyway, we had some good parking lot time and the event was pretty good too. We knew quite a few families, met a few new ones, and my Holt friends made an appearance as well.

WPJA

2008-01-25T21:43:00.000-08:00

Yeh! Brando just got an email accepting him into the Wedding Photojournalist Association!

The Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA) is a professional organization composed of photojournalists and wedding photographers from around the world. This is a pretty difficult org to get into and congrats to my awesome husband for making it!!!

Warning...world's cutest nephews below!

2008-01-25T21:11:00.000-08:00

Brando finally got the pics together so here are some from last weekend of our nephews Owen and Ryder and the newest little guy - Sawyer!

We got to watch Owen and Ryder 2 nights in a row and they quickly learned how to work Aunt Sunshine and Uncie Monkey. Here is Owen, looking like trouble...

This is me attempting to get the boys ready to go meet their new little brother in the hospital...

Owen and Ryder finally get to meet "Baby Bumblebee", officially known as Sawyer Philip.

I am now an auntie of three!

And here is "Uncie Monkey", officially known as Brando Dean.

Seriously, how can she look so beautiful only a few hours after delivery? I don't look that great with 8 hours of sleep :)

I just love this pic!

And finally, once more....Sawyer!

3 months

2008-01-23T19:59:00.001-08:00

Today it has been exactly 3 months since we submitted our application to Holt. We are now just inches away from submitting our dossier, so I'd say we are moving right along!

Best. Social. Worker. Ever.

2008-01-22T14:43:00.000-08:00

I need to take a moment and recognize how much she rocks!

First of all, she e-mailed us our home study to proof at 10pm on a holiday! Yes, 10pm on a holiday! Sweet! Then, she sped the document through the Portland office and onto the Eugene office. Hopefully we''l hear back from them soon and finalize!

In the beginning of our home study, when we told other families in our agency who our social worker was, they all talked about how great she was and how they wished they had her, etc. Now I know why...10pm on a holiday!

So, I am pacing the room excitedly....

2008-01-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

Wow! I just get way too excited! I just received an e-mail from our social worker, letting me know she just received our home study from the transcriptionist and would be proofing it tonight. She'll e-mail it to us when she is finished!!! Whoo hoo!

We'll review it, make sure everything looks good and then hopefully finalize ASAP! Once finalized, it will be sent to CIS and they will hopefully (cross your fingers now) make our fingerprint appointment soon, and then issue us our 171H (approval to adopt). We'll then be FINISHED with our paperwork and officially "waiting". Now, keep in mind this little tiny bit of paperwork could still take months (we are talking about the U.S. government here), but still...so exciting that I am pacing around like a school girl on her first date.

Babies everywhere!

2008-01-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

Last night was a busy night! Both my sister-in-law and good friend delivered their sons last night, exactly 4 hours apart!

Sawyer Philip Jones (our wonderful new nephew) was born at 9:37 pm and weighed 7lbs 10 oz.

Henry Stephen Poizer was born at 1:37 am and weighed 7lbs 1 oz.

Both mommies are doing wonderful and we spent today running between the 2 hospitals. The baby boys are GORGEOUS and I am so happy to finally meet them!

Once that husband of mine finishes the pics, I'll post some pics of that beautiful little nephew of mine and his handsome big brothers as well!

Stay tuned!

Brides Against Breast Cancer

2008-01-20T18:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this post is not adoption related, but I just had to take a moment and mention how cool my husband is!!! He spent the last 3 days volunteering at a Brides Against Breast cancer event. To check out more details about the organization check out this link:

ttp://www.makingmemories.org/about_us.html

A friend of mine from work is getting married this summer and wanted to try on a few dresses, so a small gaggle of us ladies accompanied her (and Brando was our photographer, of course). If you want to check out his pics, go to:

http://www.fotovitae.smugmug.com/

Home study....check!

2008-01-14T19:09:00.001-08:00

Yup folks, that's right, we are now finished with our home study visits. Our social worker will now write up the study, we'll review, and then we'll send it off to all of the important people who need to read about what great parents we'll be. Well, provided she actually says we'll be great parents :)

We busted out the house yesterday. Brando's family came over and we worked from well before sun up until well after sun down. We woke up again early this am (I'll admit, Brando woke up 1hr earlier) and worked for 5 hours until she came at 10am. WHEW!

Kootenai and Zulu were great! Both on their best behaviour and trying hard to be cute and sweet. Zulu actually was laying on the social worker's feet for the entire interview. We basically just sat upstairs and chatted through questions about parenting and our marriage and then took her on a tour of the house. It is still well in construction mode, but fairly put together and we're moving pretty fast on the house, so I feel secure in having it finished before we become parents.

All in all, the visit did not seem invasive one bit, and was actually sort of anti-climatic, since we don't have a ton to say about it. On to our next step, waiting for immigration paperwork so we can submit our dossier!!

On that note, I'll end with a cute Zulu pic....

Baby & Toddler Care

2008-01-12T18:57:00.000-08:00

We had another parenting class this weekend. This class was optional and was put on by NAFA (Northwest Adoptive Families Association). It was a day-long course on baby and toddler care. The class covered development, care, feeding, etc. and was pretty helpful all around.

I think the best part of the class was watching Brando carry around 2 babies all day. We started out with one African baby girl and then added a Caucasian boy a few hours into the class. (They were dolls, by the way). We decided that since we are hoping to adopt 2, that we should "practice" with 2 as well. Brando was so cute, he kept reminding me to change the diapers, and even made me use new diapers, although I am pretty sure that the plastic dolls didn't dirty the previous ones....oh ya, and he dressed the 2nd baby away from me, so I didn't know we had a boy until the end of the day when I had to change his diaper- what a brat!

Another nice part of the class was that they had dozens of baby carriers to choose from - slings, wraps, packs, etc., so we had the chance to wear a few for a while and decide which ones fit us best.

Better rush off to bed, it will be an early morning as Brando's uncle and parents are coming over to work on the house and help us prepare for our home study on Monday am!!!!!!

Oops, I forgot something important!

2008-01-11T18:46:00.000-08:00

Our agency has officially completed registration and is legally recognized and approved for adoptions in Ethiopia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gena celebration photos finally in!

2008-01-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

Ignore the ugliness that is me without hair and makeup and check out that food! Good ol' Ethiopian home cooking by the Schmidt family. (That's the dorky brother-in-law)

Me opening my first baby gift.....getting teary eyed...

Brando modelling one of our first baby gifts.....not teary eyed at all!

Our nephews took a turn modelling too....

Updates

2008-01-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in updates...I have been working long days and struggling with quite a few headaches, so the computer was the last place I wanted to be at the end of the day!

OK, Home study update first! First of all, we LOVE our social worker! Brandon, of course, was not nervous, at all, but I was pacing, butterflies, etc. She immediately put us at ease and it just felt like we were sitting there talking to a friend about our lives and adoption plans. We didn't really cover any heavy or rough topics, just brief questions about ourselves and our families. I did, however, let her know that we definitely wanted to adopt 2 siblings, and she is checking in on that with the Ethiopia Program Coordinator, amongst a few other little details. Hopefully we'll have some answers by this coming Monday when we have our final home visit!

We also celebrated Gena that evening. That day, Brando and I made a trip to the Merkato Ethiopia to get some fresh injera and a few other ingredients we needed for the meal. The young woman working was so sweet and told us how her whole family was back home celebrating Gena in Ethiopia. She helped us with the spices, etc. (which were not labeled) and even laughed at me when the language barrier caused me to suggest putting incense in my coffee. :)

The meal was wonderful, if I do say so myself. I think his family tolerated it alright (I am not sure they are too adventurous when it comes to food, but they tried...) We also exchanged gifts, and we received our first new baby presents. It felt so weird to be handed a PB Kids box...weird, but exciting!

My wonderful mother, although she couldn't make the trip from Montana to Oregon to help us celebrate, send along a sweet little package....a pair of jeans I used to wear as a baby and my "mother's helper" apron I loved so much as a child. Thanks Mom! It brought me to tears.

We did, of course, take pictures, but Brando is busy working on a different photo set, so I'll have him help me once he gets a few minutes and I'll update the post when complete.

Melkam Gena!

2008-01-07T05:58:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

For those who don’t know, today is Ethiopian Christmas. Gena is a major holiday in Ethiopia where more than half of the population is Orthodox Christian. The celebrations occur January 7, the Feast of the Epiphany, instead of December 25. We plan on celebrating by having Brandon's family over for our first attempt at a traditional Ethiopian meal.

We also have our first home study visit today!!

I'll post pics of the food and a home study update ASAP.

Never again!

2008-01-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

Never again will I spend 3 hours in Babies R Us!!!!!

My good friend Abbey is expecting her first child (a boy) in less than a month. I volunteered, along with another friend, Robyn, to help her register. WHEW! As this is her first child, and Robyn and I have not had children yet, we were extremely out of our element. After staring at nipple pads, breast pumps, and over-priced baby gadgets for way too long, we were more than happy to leave that store! The good thing was Abbey is very simple and opted to not buy the 137 different options for mattress pads, mattress covers, mattress protectors , etc. I think we both about melted down when faced with 4 isles of mattress accessories....what ever happened to putting the baby in a nice, clean, dresser drawer? Just kidding..well, kind of :)

It made me realize though, that when the time comes for me to register, I will follow my sister-in-law and mother of three's advice and break the trip into a few visits. I am also going to trick her into helping me :)

WOW!

2007-12-31T18:02:00.000-08:00

So, quite a bit of news! Right before Brando and I left for Montana for Christmas, we received a voicemail from our social worker wanting to set up our home study visits "as soon as possible". We returned her call, but left town, so we didn't get in touch with her until today....Our visits are scheduled for January 7th and January 14th! After that, she would like to complete the write up immediately and get our dossier submitted by the end of January!!!!!

YIKES!

So, I spent the day working like mad on our dossier and Brando called up friends and family to come work on our house next weekend! With hoping to have everything completed by the end of the month, we have got to get busy! House to remodel, paperwork to chase, and money to find! We are going to be very busy little prospective parents :)

Also, the director of our agency branch passed on our contact info to another couple that is hoping to adopt a baby boy from Ethiopia and lives just a few blocks from us. We met her for coffee and are so excited about having another family so close by. This means at least 5 little Ethiopian babies within a 1 mile radius of our home! YEH!

Life is good. Real good.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T14:11:00.000-08:00

We're off to celebrate with the Schmidt family and then on to Montana to hang with my family.

Not too much to update on, but just for Jamie ...

2007-12-20T07:02:00.000-08:00

A few things have accomplished lately, we:

Paid Holt for our home study (This means we'll schedule our interviews soon, probably for January)

Received a letter from Citizenship and Immigration Services, acknowledging our I600A and receipt of payment.

Not any huge leaps and bounds, but we are taking baby steps here people! Baby steps...

Our first baby purchase!

2007-12-16T07:21:00.000-08:00

We have no idea the age or sex of our children, so we purchased this in size 18-24 months!

This is completely unlike us, but we were inspired by how completely adorable it was. Would I be a bad parent if I insisted my child wear only Baby Gap Product Red every day?

I thought your answer would be yes...

I feel like I am back in college again...

2007-12-11T18:38:00.000-08:00

More parenting classes! Yup, this time it will be Baby & Toddler Care Class for Adoptive Families. The class is all day Saturday, January 12th at a local hospital.

I don't know much about it, except that we should "plan to arrive early to allow enough time to select a baby, etc". I know they will be baby dolls, but for some reason I am smiling at the thought of our class just raiding the hospital nursery...

The Schmidts are parented up!

2007-12-09T07:44:00.000-08:00

Brando and I had our first two adoptive parenting classes this Friday and Saturday. Being the dorks that we are, we took before and after shots to show how our intelligence level differed.

Here we are before: We are trying to look very uneducated in the ways of parenting....

And here we are after:

Simply brilliant and ready to parent! Yes, that is a teddy bear, and yes, we do look like some ridiculous 1970s ad in Parent Magazine...

Seriously, the classes were very helpful and covered some very important issues such as loss in adoption, attachment, etc. We also got to meet some more Holt families. Although no one in the class was adopting from Ethiopia, we did find that one couple lives in our town, and another just down the road...not bad when there were only 4 other families in the class!

Also, Brandon's cousin gave birth to a baby girl on Friday night. We were able to visit the new family in the hospital shortly after and it made me even more excited for our newest little nephew to pop out! Hurry up Sawyer!

Citizenship & Immigration Services...Can I hear a whoop whoop?

2007-12-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

Brandon and I completed out I600A tonight! The I600A is a the Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition or, for those of you that do not speak Adoptese, the form we fill out to let Citizenship & Immigration Services know that we plan to adopt. Brando plans on mailing it out first thing tomorrow morning and even sealed it himself!

We also finished the remainder of our home study paperwork, excluding our medical visits (which are scheduled for this Friday). Once the medical visits are submitted, a social worker will be assigned and we'll schedule our home visits!!! So, hopefully by this Friday, our end of the first round of paperwork will be complete!

On a slightly more subdued, but just as positive note, I have to say that this has been a great experience for us so far. Answering the 16 pages of detailed questions about us, our families, marriage, parenting styles, etc. has been a great exercise. I was amazed at how similar some of our answers were and I teared up a few times reading through Brandon's, as I could see how much thought and love he put into it. More importantly, I could see how much that man loves me! I cannot wait to see what an amazing father he is going to be.

Friday Night Fun

2007-12-01T10:10:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to an event hosted by a group called the Pacific Northwest African Adoptions Group. It was so much fun! There were at least a dozen other families that were either in the process of adopting or had already brought their children home. The best part was all of the beautiful little Ethiopian tots running around! The night included an Ethiopian dinner, coffee ceremony, a slide show by the organization Ethiopia Reads (http://www.ethiopiareads.org/), and then a nice round table discussion between the families. The highlight of the evening was that Brando made contact with a couple that will be hosting some Ethiopian cooking classes and he'll soon be joining them! Another great moment was when this tiny little guy (probably around 18 months) crawled up in Brando's lap in the middle of the round table. He just cuddled right into his chest and loved him for a bit before running off to play...I almost melted!

Jamie just cussed me out for not posting for a while, so here goes!

2007-11-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

There really isn't much new on the adoption front. Still tackling the initial massive amount of paperwork! We have been meeting with quite a few people that have adopted from Ethiopia and/or are in the process of doing so. Just last night we had dinner with a family that adopted twin baby boys about 2 years ago. They were seriously the most joyful and adorable little guys I have ever seen! This Friday we are going to an Ethiopian dinner with a whole group of adoptive and prospective adoptive parents. We'll have good food, dance, etc. It is exciting making new friends and every day we get more and more anxious to have some little guys of our own running around this house!

On a little bit different front, when Brando and I talk about the adoption and our children, we always speak in twos. I think we are both picturing adopting 2 children at once. We always talk about "the twins" or "the kids", never "the baby"...Tonight I mentioned that maybe we need to explore this further and maybe request that we receive 2 children, twins or young siblings, and not only 1 infant.......Hmmm Can we handle that? I hope so!!

The process

2007-11-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

Quite a few people have been asking me about the adoption process...steps involved, paperwork, timeline, etc. In response, I have decided to post a bit about the long road ahead.

Below are the main steps our process:

Ø We apply to the Ethiopia program (Done)

Ø Upon acceptance, we have a huge list documents to prepare for our home study. Once the home study is complete and we have had our required social worker visits, the documents are reviewed by our agency and approved for Ethiopia (Working on this part now)

Ø File I600A immigration form (This is a form letting the government know that we are preparing for an international adoption and will be requesting to classify a child or children as immediate relatives and therefore US Citizens)

Ø Prepare dossier (The dossier is a large packet of information i.e. police and medical records, financial information, etc. that is sent overseas to the Ethiopian government)

Ø Agency reviews dossier and obtain state certifications and forwards the Dossier to the US State Dept. & the Ethiopian Embassy for authentication

Ø Dossier is forwarded to Ethiopia representative in Addis Ababa who has dossier translated and prepared for court

Ø Child is referred to family (This is the good part)

Ø Paperwork is submitted to Ethiopian court

Ø Court order is issued, subsequently the birth certificate is issued

Ø Child is issued visa and we are ready to travel!!!!

Basically, in the end it looks something like this:

Wish us luck!

A bit about me...

2007-11-10T08:58:00.000-08:00

I am an archaeologist.

Wikipedia defines archaeology as:

Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek: αρχαίος, archaios, combining form in Latin archae-, "ancient"; and λόγος, logos, "knowledge") is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, features, biofacts, and landscapes. Because archaeology's aim is to understand humankind, it is a humanistic endeavor[1].

But in reality, it looks something like this:

Not as cool as Wikipedia makes it sound....is it?

Well, in a nut shell, I work for the U.S. Government, so I get paid to review all energy projects in the northwest, dig things up, and then write about them.

The pic above is me last Friday....hard at work, sitting in the woods, recording a historic can dump...Simply fascinating!

Parents in Process adoptive parenting classes

2007-11-06T19:24:00.000-08:00

We received a letter confirming our first required parenting classes today! December 7th and 8th.

This is starting to become so real!

Just because...

2007-11-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

Just because I think blogs get really boring without any sort of pictures...here is a great one of Zulu enjoying a nice warm day at the park...

Seriously?

2007-11-04T19:03:00.000-08:00

16 pages of questions!

Yes, you read that correctly, 16 pages! This is just the start of our home study and we have 16 (can I say it again) 16 pages of in-depth questions about our marriage, childhood, parenting skills, etc.

Wow!

On a more serious note, Brando and I did start working on our questions today and it proved to be more difficult than we expected. It is hard to put our thoughts and feelings on paper, and even more difficult to have it make sense! This is going to be a good exercise.

Let's get this party started...

2007-11-01T17:12:00.000-07:00

Today we received our first packet of information from Holt. The packet included what will be the beginnings of our adoption home study; i.e financial statements, medical evaluations criminal records check, employment verification, immigration forms, and the most cumbersome of all, something called "personal data information" which is a HUGE questionnaire designed to provide our social worker with written data regarding our backgrounds and experience.

Home study, here we come!

Our application has been approved!

2007-10-24T22:08:00.000-07:00

Seriously? In less than 5 business hours??? At this rate we'll have a family by the weekend!

I am figuring if we submitted around 3 pm and they called us around 11am the next day, it only took them 5 business hours to realize we were great candidates....wonderful for our egos, but setting a bad pattern when we know we have a long road ahead :)

Brando spent the day home today, and Sharon from Holt called around 11am to let us know that they have approved our application and will be forwarding on some paperwork that is needed to get started on our home study. Also, she wanted to schedule us in for some adoptive parenting classes coming up.

When Brando called me at work to tell me I squealed and got all teary eyed (this is going to be a long road...). Jenna and Nicole (my co-workers) rushed right over and Jenna even had tears in her eyes. We did the whole girly thing, I called my mom, e-mailed friends, and I was not able to focus on work the remainder of the day.

When I got home that night, Brando had dinner waiting and we crawled in the hot tub with a bottle of wine we have been saving for quite some time.

Another great day! I could get used to this...

On our way to becoming an Enat and Abat!

2007-10-23T21:50:00.000-07:00

The pic is the two of us outside of our agency, getting ready to submit our application materials! I know, we are dorky, but also just so excited to finally get started on the process. I took the day off work to devote to finalizing the application, notarizing the contract, etc. We submitted it around 3pm.

In case you are wondering (Mom), the application materials included the following:

International Adoption Services Contract, signed and notarized
4x6 Photos of us and our home
Copies of our last 3 years' Federal Income tax Returns
List of 5 non-relative references
The application fee

Later that night, we had dinner at the farm for Megan's birthday. Megan and Kris were so great! The first thing Kris did when I walked into the house was put down what she was working on, walk over, give me a hug and ask if I was "expecting". So sweet! Megan was similarly excited and it made me feel so good to see they were genuinely happy for us.

Today has been a great day!

Studying hard...

2007-10-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

The whole family spent the evening looking over the application materials, reading contracts, etc. Even Zulu!

Ethiopia here we come!!! (I know!)

2007-10-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

YEH! Brando and I decided this morning to submit our application to Holt this Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!

"Let's talk about adoption"

2007-10-13T11:47:00.001-07:00

The first thing Brando said when he crawled in bed with me this morning was "Let's talk about adoption". YEH!!!!! I love this man!

Ethiopia, here we come!!! (I think)

2007-10-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

I am winning over the Brando! Early this morning (like 4:30 am) as we were getting ready for work and he said he thinks maybe we should "re-evaluate" before January!!!!!

Why????

Well, Holt's timeline says 12+ months for the entire process and we would really like our child (children) to be close in age to our newest nephew and also my friend Abbey's child (both due end of Jan and Early Feb). Also, we would like our travel to be in the late fall or winter as to try and avoid the wedding season (Brando is a photographer). Finally, we have realized that traveling to Ethiopia prior to starting the adoption process will most likely not work out.

I am so excited!!!!! Now I just need to get a new date from him, so we can send in our application. I am still trying to be cautious and not get to excited, but I think this means yes to adoption and yes to Ethiopia!!!!

A yucky day turned bright

2007-10-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

I had a bad day at work today, just too much on my plate and a little too much stress while feeling under the weather. I came home and cuddled up in my sweats and surfed around looking at adoption stuff online. For the first time, I think it cheered me up...I truly feel like this is going to happen and for once, I am happy, not fearful that it won't work out. I think the day is looking brighter....

Yeh For Holt International!

2007-09-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

Brando and I had our appointments on Friday and they went so well! I paced all morning, my stomach was in knots prior to the meetings...He of course, was calm and collected.

Our first appointment was with Holt International, and they were amazing! They answered all of our questions candidly and dove into the tough issues right away. They have an amazing outreach program in which they have maternal clinics, family counselling, job counselling, etc. They truly are a humanitarian organization aimed at keeping families together first. We discussed ethics, and our concerns and we all felt so comfortable. Brando and I both walked away smiling and feeling that this agency was the one! The meeting lasted almost an hour and a half! We even discussed travelling over to volunteer prior to starting the process. I'll look into that soon!

We didn't have the same warm feeling with Children's Hope. It may have been that we were so excited about Holt, or it may have just been the staff we met with, but they didn't seem to have the same ethical concerns and motivations that Holt had. It was a tough meeting, and I could tell from his body language within 5 minutes that Brando had given up on them. The meeting lasted less than 30 minutes.

So, the bottom line is that we LOVED Holt and have decided that if we decide to proceed with Ethiopia, they will be our agency! We spent the entire drive up to Seattle talking non-stop about it and Brando seemed so excited. I am truly freaking out I am so happy! Also, my mom was up in Seattle (visiting my Aunt Connie), so i had a chance to pull her aside and tell her all about it in person.

A pit in my stomach...

2007-09-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

Why am I so nervous about our appointments tomorrow?

I think it is because I really feel like these meetings finally shape Brando's decision to adopt from Ethiopia. I want to know and I would like a decision soon, one way or another, but am I really ready for this?

I asked him the other night, "if we don't adopt, can we start building a baby in January?" It completely floored him...he didn't have a response and the idea seemed weird to him. He'd never thought of it....To be honest, me neither, I think we have both just pictured building our family in a certain way. In order to keep my sanity, I have decided to take his response as a good sign.

Both appointments are finalized!

2007-09-18T18:38:00.000-07:00

We meet with Holt International at 1:30 and Children's Hope International at 3:30.

Wish us luck!

A step forward

2007-09-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

I convinced Brando to sit down with a few agencies to discuss Ethiopian programs and I am sending out the e-mails just now to set something up! Also, we've created a list of questions and concerns to ask them during the meeting. Definitely a step ahead.

Happy Anniversary to us!!

2007-08-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

Today is our first anniversary...planning on spending the day in Eugene and eating both lunch and dinner at Maple Garden!!! Kung Pao Vegetables, here I come!