Moving up

We moved up today on two of our wait lists. I love being on more than one list now :)




# 7 Toddler Boy










#23 Siblings

Camping Trip!

Last weekend we took a break from the crazy life and went camping with some friends at Mineral Wells State Park.

We rented a row boat and took Cole for his first trip on the water. I think the hinges were messed up, so the boat only went about two inches a minute. He loved it anyway :)
This is Cole and his buddy. Don't be fooled by the pink chairs. These boys are expert campers. This is our friend who will be having a baby girl in November. What a trouper to go camping at 7 months pregnant!


This is her husband. We've been camping with this family for many years. Can't wait to see what it is like when we both have more kids than we can count :)


Cole loves wearing daddy's hats.


Does that boy look happy, or what??


One of the few picture without his tongue sticking out!! I need to frame this one :)



Cole truly was a happy camper. Well, until we started taking the tent down. BIG crocodile tears starting falling and all he could say was "oh no, the tent!"

O Happy Day!!

It finally happened!!! After almost seven months, we have moved up to #3 today on the baby girl wait list! And to celebrate, all my friends got together at the local stadium and made this picture for me :) Just Joking, but it feels that exciting!

It was my good friend, Heather that received the referral for a four month baby girl. I'm so happy for her!! I hope it moves very quickly so she can bring that sweet baby home.

Getting closer....

Twenty more toes??

Mike and I have been doing a lot of soul searching lately and are starting to realize we would love to adopt TWO children from Ethiopia!! I have been staring at the waiting child list for so long and keep falling in love with so many of them. I asked my husband if this could be a possibility and he said we should go for it if timing and money works out. In fact, he was always wanting to adopt two children. I was the one that needed time to grow and think about this possibility.

This is only possible because of the wonderful IAN families!!! I was so scared in the beginning to adopt anything except a baby. After reading blogs for a year and being a part of the wonderful Yahoo group with our agency, it doesn't look too scary. So, to all of you wonderful people that have adopted older children...you know who you are...THANK YOU!!! Amy, Dardi, Jen, Sharon, Jenni...there have been so many! You have been so honest with the good and the tough times with these children. I know there will be hard times and I should take my rose-colored adoption glasses off. But I also see all the wonderful "firsts" you have had with your children. They look so happy and it is amazing their personality changes from the first referral pictures that are posted. And everybody says "I couldn't imagine my life without this child." Your families have been wonderful examples!

So, I don't know what the future holds for us. Timing will play a big part in adopting two children at once. We might only adopt a girl, but would like to keep our options open for two. So, we are updating our home study and are adding ourselves to two more wait lists...

Announcing...



# 4 baby girl







# 24 siblings (ages 0-5, youngest a girl)




# 8 toddler boy (preferably older)





And, of course, we will always keep a close eye on the waiting child list :) I'm not sure what the future holds for our family, but we are very excited about the new possibilities!

Learning Amharic

One year ago, I had never heard of the Ethiopian national language, Amharic. I would have thought you stuttered and meant Arabic or something.


Today, I ordered this CD from ebay to start learning some simple phrases and words. Since the first trip will be with my husband, I'm not even worried about getting around town. My world travelling Marine has that confidence to navigate any country. On the second trip, it might be just me or me and a friend. I would love to learn simple phrases like "where is the bathroom and can I get a taxi?"

There are several Amharic courses out there to learn from. I chose this one because I can listen to it while I drive to work every day. I couldn't find any reviews, so I'm hoping it will be easy to mimic and learn. There are several others, like Talk Now, that are CD-ROM format for the computer.

Here is another course by Amy Kendall especially for adoptive families. This would be a great resource for those adopting older children or kids from the wait list. It can be found on Amazon between $25 and $30. Be sure to buy a new one because the used ones are ridiculously priced :) It teaches very useful phrases like:

I am your Mommy
I am your Daddy.
You are going to live with us.
I will take good care of you.

I am also hoping one day my Ethiopian children would like to listen and learn some Amharic. I will keep this CD and maybe I can pass it on to them to understand their heritage.