there have been a lot of referrals lately....

our name must be getting closer to the top:) Although I know we are asking for very young siblings, a difficult referral so I am trying to prepare myself for more weeks, or at least days of waiting. I can't help but think about my 30th birthday coming up and how nice it would be to have a referral around then. I am shutting down my practice now and preparing to be a full time mommy, at least for awhile. Sean is spending much time in India and it looks like I will likely go and spend time with him there if we don't get a referral first:) So many things up in the air, an exciting time...my friend said the other day it sounds like you are starting the roller coaster ride about now...and it feels like it. It is hard to terminate with my clients...it is hard to shut down my practice for a life that is so unknown to me right now, but I couldn't be more excited at the thought of being a mom to these precious little ones in Ethiopia. Those are my random thoughts for the day...sorry I'm not posting more, I will plan to once the referral comes in!

Still waiting....

I believe there were eight referrals last week so that brings our name further up on the list. We hope to have information soon, but as I said in my last post this is the waiting period...my friend who recently brought her baby home said, the most like pregnancy, but for me it is a strange time as we aren't doing a lot to prepare. There was a lot to do when we were gathering paperwork and getting basic baby stuff but at this point we are waiting until we know who the kids are before we move forward any further. I am trying to enjoy this time with Sean, I know it will be a transition to double our family and we really enjoy our lives right now...we both love our jobs and are so happy in our home in Bonney Lake.
It was fun last weekend to be with my two new nephews Caden and Dane:) It was good baby practice and SO fun for me~!
I'll write more when I hear anything!
Blessings,
Rachel
Our God is Good. His plans and timing are best. We wait with excitement and joy trusting our family in His hands!

adoption update

I wanted to write a post to let you all know that we are now in the stage of waiting so I don't anticipate writing a lot until we get a referral and begin planning our trip to Ethiopia. The paperwork arrived a little over a month ago in Ethiopia and they say it can be a 3-9 month wait for a referral. The referrals at this point have come much quicker than this but I try not to get my hopes up. I definately feel excited about being able to plan in more detail for our babies to come home-I have one of the rooms pretty much ready (a baby room) and am waiting to see how 0ld the other child will be (and whether they will be a boy or girl) before decorating the second room. I went shopping last week with my friend Natalie who is excited for me to register but again I am waiting for the details of our referral:)
Next week I am meeting with a pediatrician that was recommended. We need to decide on a doctor before we get the referral as they will look over the children's medical history and advise us to bring medications for them if needed. I am also getting the proper imunizations for traveling to Ethipoia next week as well.
We are also tossing around ideas about the amount of time we will spend in Ethiopia-It looks likely that Sean will be traveling ALOT this next year so there are many unknowns. We are hoping to go to Ethiopia for several weeks in order to 1:Spend more time with the people there, absorbing the culture more fully, 2: To meet our children when they are as young as possible and 3: To be there for the court date in Ethiopia to avoid having to readopt them in the US (a regulation in the US that requires-the parents need to be present for the adoption to be valid in the US).
Besides that, we are praying and thinking about our little ones daily, reading "There's No Me Without You" (a book about the beginnings of international adoption in Ethiopia) and talking about how much our lives will change in the next year. A year of New Beginnings.
I am also very reflective on Gods goodness, his Grace in our lives over the past several years as we have gone through the pain and loss of a miscarriage and then infirtility. His plans are SO much greater than I could have ever planned or imagined. I reminded once again, His grace is sufficiant, His love complete, his timing, perfect. So as I wait now, I can look back and see how he has lead us in the past and be confident that He is now leading us, and our children, now as well.

Welcome to our Blog

Thank you for visiting our Blog. Sean and I decided to start this blog to record our adoption story; the journey to bring our two children from Ethiopia home! We are so excited to be in this process and in the next several months we hope to submit our paperwork, receive a referral and eventually bring our babies home. Yesterday we made what we hope to be the final changes to our dossier (the incredible amount of paperwork we have spent the last 6 months putting together). I faxed the changes to our social worker, Becky, with Children's Hope International who will review the changes and likely get back to me next week.

There were 5 new referrals from our agency Children's Hope International this week! It is so fun to hear about families who are a bit further in the process receiving the long anticipated information about their children.

I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.