10 weeks and waiting

So yesterday was 10 weeks since we saw A's face for the first time. I don't have any news to post except that we are still waiting. Waiting for an update. Waiting for our case to go to court. Waiting Waiting Waiting. That's the name of the game with international adoption.
This processes has been harder than I ever would have imagined it would be but also more of a blessing than I ever imagined. This morning as I was having my quiet time I cried out to the Lord to hear something about A. Anything, just to let us know how she is doing and to hear our case is moving along. I said, "Lord, this is painful. Waiting for news, wondering well it just hurts".
That's when I felt the Lord say "It is painful. But it's not just painful for you, it's painful for A too. But it's good."
Sometimes things are both painful and good. So we wait and pray and pray some more.


We do have hope that we will get an update this week or next.
But if we could ask please pray that our case would move forward and whatever is holding our case up in Ethiopia that it would be resolved!
Thanks=)

So these last few weeks have been incredibly hard for me. If you had come to my house this is what you would have seen

Being the planner that I am, I went back into the files and figured out how long we should expect to wait to hear something about our case. So it seemed except for 2 or 3 families that the wait was between 4-6 weeks. So when week 4 came and went I was a little disheartened but figured surly next week we would hear something. Well week 4 came and went. Week 5, Week 6 and now Week 7 have come and gone with not one tid bit of good news. Now that's not to say we haven't heard anything. In fact we did hear news but it wasn't good. It seems that there have been several adoption agencies working in Ethiopia that have had unethical practice. Our agency (Bethany Christian Services) has in NO way been involved in these dealing but they are doing an across the board sweep of random cases to make sure things are being done properly and with the kids best interest at heart. So now we are not sure if this is something that is holding up our case or not. Basically we have no news.

To add insult to injury when we received our referral we got 1 picture of (A). And in it she is crying. Our social worker told us that it was very rare to receive a referral with only one picture, normally families get several. Well we chopped it up to being international adoption and that we would be receiving an update in not too long. So when several families with kids at the same orphanage that A is at began getting theirs several weeks ago we were so excited! But that week came and went with no news and then the next and the next and the next. So I again went to see when families normally got their first update, it ranged from 4-6 weeks with a few going to 7. So here we are now at almost 8 weeks with nothing but our one sad crying picture.

But again our hopes were renewed when a family traveling to Ethiopia to meet their child said they would take pictures of A for us. So we were so excited knowing that they were over there with other families loving on her and taking pictures. Well when they got back we got an email saying they tried to get pictures but that she hasn't even been moved to the new orphanage, so they were not able to get any pictures.

This was the last straw for me. I broke. My heart broke. I kind of went numb and just began to feel abandoned and hopeless.
So I did what most women do at that point, I took a shower and cried. Feeling a tad better I got out and got into bed at like 9 and fell asleep(which if you know us that is WAY early). As I slept Stephen prayed for me.

The next morning during my quiet time Stephen encouraged me to read the ever famous Philippians 4:4-8. I knew what it said before I even opened my Bible but when your heart is broken, God knew what He was saying when He penned Matthew 5:4

Blessed are they that mourn: For they shall be comforted.

God did what He does best next.

In that moment God poured His love for me and for A into my heart and reminded me that He lead us here, He has guided us the entire way, He had heard my prayers for A and He loves her more than I ever will. The peace that passes all understanding is now guarding my heart as I heed the beginning of Philippians 4:4-6.

Am I bummed when another day passes. YES

Do I long for the day when Leah calls to say our case is going to court: YES!

Do I hope and pray for more pictures soon: YES

But what all these questions are wrapped up in is the fact that my Lord is sovereign. His timing is perfect (even when I don't like it). His love is GREAT for me and for A.

One other thing I learned is that when someone is going through something really tough most of the time they just need an arm around them and to pray earnestly for them. The time will come when you can speak truth to them but for the moment just put your arm around them tell them how sorry you are and love on them. I believe that shows God's love more than anything.

So now when I start to get anxious about not hearing anything I remember Phil 4:6 and this is the picture the Lord brings to my mind. He is there holding her now but His desire is for her to be in a family and I trust that He will accomplish the good work that He has started!

This Picture Says it All

6 weeks and still waiting..........

1 Month Ago Today.....

One month ago today I saw my sweet little girl for the first time! What a moment that was. It's hard to believe it's already been 1 month but at the same time each day I wait and wait and wait to hear something of our court date. We still haven't heard anything yet. I'm just praying that we hear our case has been submitted to court by Thanksgiving! Thats only 1 week away so it might not happen, but I can pray!

Africa at Night

Both Hands Project!!!!!

Well we are done with our Both Hands Project! We had an amazing amazing day!

Stephen and I got up and moving around 6am. Packing up all the supplies and tools that we would need for the day, getting the kids ready and attempting to scarf down some breakfast before we headed out the door. We dropped Bethany off with with the girls that came out to watch all the babies for us.

(Thanks Crystalee and Kirk girls!!!)

Then we headed over to Ione's house to meet up with the rest of our team. And in always consistent Schoolfield fashion, we were late=) But our wonderful friends expected as much and were there and ready to work when we showed up. Now for those friends of our that don't live in TN, November the 6th was a very very cold morning! We were all dressed in multiple layers because there was a lot of work outside to be done. Once everyone got there Stephen prayed over the day and then we got to work. The guys spent the entire day outside working HARD! I'm sure I'll miss lots of things they did but here is a small list

Trimmed trees near the house
Mowed the entire yard (and it's a lot of land)

Chopped her a huge stack of wood for this winter

Pressure washed the house

Mulched the flower beds

Sprayed for weeds

Cleaned out her gutters
Cleaned up debris around the yard
Got 1/2 the porch roof done (this was very tedious work and we had 2 very skilled guys working all day on it!!)

Us girls got to do all the painting which just happened to be inside (warm) !!! So we shed a few layers and got to work. There were 7 of us and we worked all day painting trim, walls and doors.

About half the way through the day we were getting ready to eat lunch when we all noticed that it looked like rain! I was praying that it wouldn't start raining when I noticed that the rain seemed to be bouncing off my windshield? I stuck my hand out the window and pulled it back in and low and behold there was snow all over my hand! It probably snowed for 10 minutes but that didn't stop the work, we just pressed on and kept working.

Ione had told us she wouldn't be able to be there because she had to work. So we assumed that we wouldn't get to see her reaction to all the work. Around 6pm she came walking in the door to the surprise of us all! She was just beside herself at everything that we had been able to do. It was such a blessing to us to get to see how happy she was.
Our team finally called it a day when the sun went down and we were all out of daylight. Stephen and I can't begin to explain how blessed we were through this Both Hands Project! We have always loved our church family but when we saw how all of these families came out and gave up their entire Saturday to work in the bitter cold, words can't convey our thanks.

We want to thank Ione for allowing us to help get her house back into the condition her late husband wanted for her!

We also wanted to give a shout out to the Miller Family for coming out and being part of our team! Your help was greatly apperciated!

And last but certainly not least are all of you who gave or prayed for this project! You made this project possible and blessed Us, our new daughter, Ione and the rest of our team.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We will be posting a video of the project here soon! So stay tuned=)

Until then please continue to be praying for our sweet little (A) and that our paperwork will be submitted to the Ethiopian Courts soon!!

1 Week In......

I spoke with Leah this earlier this week and was really hoping to hear different news but oh well....

The mail only goes out from Bethany to Ethiopia once a week on Fridays and I was REALLY hoping that we had got our acceptance paperwork there in time but it JUST missed the truck=(
I'm talking hours=(

So now we will have to wait till tomorrow(the 29th) to have our papers sent over, which just kind of puts us back a little. This may not seem like a big deal , but to me it is! So just praying that all of our other documents will fall into line once our paperwork gets there and we will be hearing about it all being submitted to court soon! I just hate knowing that our papers are just sitting on a desk doing nothing!

We celebrated Stephen's 29th birthday on Sunday and while eating his special birthday dinner we decided to try and come up with a name for our sweet little girl! The boys really had a good time as we got the baby book out and played with different names and seeing how we liked them. We are pretty sure we came up with it! We love the meaning and it's a very pretty name. But now we are praying about it, so for the time being we will just referr to her as D.
Now that the news of our daughter (D) has settled in we have started thinking through all the changes that will need to be made to have 2, 2 year olds in the house!
We have been trying to decide how we want to go about the bedding situation. Since D will be a little over 2 when she comes home and this is how she is used to sleeping in the orphanage, we have decided to keep her in a crib for a while. So that means that Bethany will either need to transition to a toddler bed or we will need a second crib for a short time. We moved the boys to toddler beds pretty early. But if we decide to do this we will have to do it right after we come back from court so that she will be well trained to stay in her bed at night. I'm assuming I'll be spending a lot of time with D and sleep issues so I want to make sure that I dont' have to work with Bethany also!

I also want to have Bethany potty trained by that time! We had the boys potty trained early so I know it's possible. We just need to get crackin!

One hard part for me will be that I'm going to stop nursing Bethany. I know it will be for the best, since I want to be able to devote my time to D just as I would a newborn.

There are so many other issues that we are working through now that we know the age of our sweet little D. Strollers, Carseats, clothing and on and on and on. For all intent and purpose we will have twins...so there is a lot of planning that we still need to do! But we are loving it and so excited.

Just as all my forum friends said this phase of waiting is MUCH harder! Rarely I go a day without crying and longing for the day I hold my sweet daughter in my arms. I know that day will be so happy for me but I also know that day will be very hard for her. So it's with bittersweetness that we wait. Waiting to hear news any news of her and progress with our case!

We also heard from our SW this morning that she is working hard on getting some more pictures for us. That makes this mommy's heart VERY VERY happy!! Unfortunately we can't post any pictures of D until she comes home so for now you'll have to take my word that she is BEAUTIFUL!

Papers are off!!!!

Well we have now had 2 days to let the news sink in and well.......................
we are sooo excited still !!! Today we met with our social worker (Leah) and finished all of the acceptance paperwork. She said she would overnight it to Grand Rapids (which is Bethany HQ). Once it gets there I'm not 100% sure what they need to do but mail only goes out to Ethiopia every Friday so I'm REALLY hoping that we will make it in this weeks bunch! So now we ........

WAIT

More waiting but now we will be waiting to hear that either the team in Ethiopia has secured her birth certificate (which we may not be informed of this step) or that our paperwork has been submitted to court. After that we will wait for the court system to appoint us a court date, which should be for about 4 weeks later. Then we book our tickets and we're on our way! So pray with us that all of our paperwork and her birth certificate will be pulled together quickly. This phase of waiting can be anywhere from 2-4 months. The Ethiopian courts just reopened several weeks ago so there is still somewhat of a backlog in the court system. But we are hoping that once we get submitted that the bottle neck will be all cleared up.

Yesterday we were talking with another family that we met on the adoption forum and they are going to meet their little girls. Well they offered to take pictures for us which we were REALLY excited about. But we just realized that our daughter is not at the same orphanage as theirs are. So we won't be getting any new pictures until we get an update which comes about once a month. This was a huge let down as the only picture we have of her she is really sad in, which doesn't help this mommy's heart=(

We are still in the planning mode for the Both Hands Project. We have 2 weeks and 1 day till the project! We have had several more families ask to help with the project! So now we have to organize the project and who is going to be doing what and supplies and everything else that is needed. We saw Ione at church on Wednesday and told her our good news and she was so sweet and excited for us! We can't wait to do this project. It's going to be soooo much fun!

Today was THE DAY!!!

What an amazing day today has been!
I was working on making some diapers today when my phone rang. But it wasn't just any ring it was the special ring I made just for my social worker. When I saw it was indeed her my heart just about stopped. Then for a split second I thought, " What if she's calling to tell me just some random news about paperwork or the seminar coming up?!" my next thought was "if this isn't the call I'm hoping it is I'm gonna be a mess!". So I answered and tried really hard to read her voice but I couldn't. But after a few seconds she asked me to sit down that she had some news for me! I KNEW WHAT THIS MEANS! Then she gave me the news we have been waiting to hear... we have been matched with a precious little 1 1/2 year old girl. My heart all about stopped at this point. I was really glad she told me to sit down because I'm not sure my legs would have remembered to hold me up at this point=) She then proceeded to tell me all kinds of information about this and that and what to do next and ya da ya da ya da ya da is all I heard. At the end of the phone call I kindly informed her that I hadn't heard a thing she told me and that she would have to repeat it all tomorrow. I'm sure she is used to this kind of reaction because she was like, "Yep that's totally normal!".

So I immediately called stephen (sobbing of course) and attempted to tell him what happened. Once I managed to form a sentence he was super excited and tried his best to console me through the phone. Meanwhile at our house the kids were looking at me as if I had just grown a second head. They had no idea why I was happy-go-lucky going to answer the phone and within seconds was a soppy mess of tears. But they tried their best to be sweet to me and came and rubbed my back and hugged on me. Even Bethany got into it and kept coming over to me and doing her fake cry and then smiling and walking away=)

Stephen and I got to talk just for a few minutes about everything and then we decided to hang up and go open our emails and see her picture for the first time!

What an AMAZING moment that was!!!!! This sweet girl who we have been praying, dreaming and waiting for right there before our eyes. It was one of those moments that will forever be etched into my heart.

After this I spent the next 5 hours on the phone with friends and family letting them know the good news and crying with each new phone call.
What an INCREDIBLE day this has been! And now we are off to do more paperwork, which I don't mind in the least! One giant step closer to bringing our sweet little girl home!

Mommy and Daddy love you

4 Months Waiting

Well here we are at 4 months waiting! We have very little news to report but are very hopeful that we won't be posting a 5 months waiting. Yet I also am attempting to not get my hopes too high.

We have been VERY busy this last month which has really helped time to fly by, which has been very nice! We are getting so very close to seeing our sweet baby's face for the first time. This is such a very exciting time in our adoption journey. All the work to get us to this point and it's so close!

Even though we haven't see her face yet everyone in our family talks about her as if she is already home. The kids talk about her constantly and are just if not more excited than we are!

Stephen and I pray everyday for her. I dream about her all the time. I even had a friend dream about her=) Now we are just attempting to get our house set up to welcome her home. That's all for now...but hoping to post better news soon!!!!!

Welcome!

We wanted to welcome anyone that is just checking out our blog for the first time, maybe due to a letter from a friend of yours or from us. We welcome you to go back to the beginning of our blog where we had just started on our adoption journey. We are so excited to be hosting a Both Hands Project and are SO very thankful for each person who is going to take part in it, in whatever way you can! We have some wonderful friends who will be making up our team.

Aaron and Bethany Sams
James and Devon Carrasco
Thomas and Crystal Shields
Steve and Nicole Wise
Bryce and Lisa Sykes
Preston and Kelcy Lee
Jonah and Emily Jackson
Valerie and Shannon Bogle

Without them this project would not be possible!!!
I'll be posting more about the project as we set into stone details of that day (Nov. 6th). If your curious about how the project works check it out here. If your interested in getting involved Our personal project page is here .
We very much covet your prayers as we work on this project and wait to be matched with our little girl soon! God Bless

3 Months Waiting!!!

Well here we are at 3 months!! This last month has flown by and creeped all at the same time? Not sure how that works but we are happy to be here!

There really isn't much news to report. There have been a few referrals on the boards this last month which has moved us up some. Yet like I said in my 2 month post, there isn't many families (who sent their dossier before us) on the adoption boards so haven't heard of any referrals for a while now=(

I called our social worker 2 weeks ago just to see if she could give me an idea of where we were at in the process. So she called corporate and all they could say is that we are getting close! I already knew this but to hear it from the people your waiting to hear your BIG news from is some how more exciting=)

Of course I'll post when I hear more news.

Read a very good post from fellow blogger Building the Blocks here.....

I have been SOOO restless lately. I'm not entirely sure why, but I suppose it has to do with our status on the waiting list? We have marked off one after another after another after another families who received their referral. We are moving up and up and up the list. Then just this week there have been several families who submitted just before us.... get matched!!! We are currently family #26 (but how many of those families are waiting for older/siblings/little boys is anyones guess...which means we could be much higher up the list).
I am REALLY trying to be patient but the fact that it could be any day now that we get THE call that changes our life, just kind of makes me crazy. Or it could still be months away.
One hard part is that out of the dossier submitted before us (about 20 or so families) , almost none of them are on the adoption board. So from here until we are matched we really won't get to see our names moving up the list as the other families are matched. We will have to wait till the end of each month to see where we are at. But on the other hand we could be matched tomorrow with the little girl the Lord has for us. I'm planning on calling our social worker this week to see if she can give me an idea of our status.
We are still very busy with several big projects but always looming in my heart is my desire to hear my phone ring with our BIG news!
Thanks for letting me vent. I know I need to be patient, but until you have been here, you have NO CLUE how hard that is!!! Just keep taking it to the Lord and I also find that praying very specifically for our baby girl makes me feel like I am taking care of her in a way. Please just pray for us for patience and for our baby girl.

Becoming A Family Of Five: Yezelalem Minch - Help For Ethiopia

This is a post from a fellow adoptive family. They got to go visit Yezelalem Minch (a WONDERFUL ministry in Ethiopia). Right now they are trying to find 50 sponsors in 50 days....Please check it out!!! See how the Lord would have you help!!!


Becoming A Family Of Five: Yezelalem Minch - Help For Ethiopia

2 Months Waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today not only does my baby girl officially turn 1. But we have hit the 2 month mark of waiting for her sister!

I have so many emotions that I am starting to deal with on a daily basis. Knowing that half a world away there is someone who I already love so much, and not knowing what is happening to her today. Not knowing if she is scared or hungry or tired and not being able to do anything about it if she is. It literly makes my heart hurt when I think about the loss that her birth family is going to have to go through. The loss that she will go through. Typically the kids will go through 4 different 'homes' by the time they come home. Their birth home then to an orphanage then the transition home (after we receive her referral) then home with us. Sometimes I try to imagine how hard that would be. I imagine if that was Bethany and she was sent from place to place with nothing concrete in her life. I know that she would NOT do well with that.

We are learning and educating ourselves about what it will be like when we finally get to see our daughter face to face. You kind of have this picture perfect meeting in your mind. Like your swooping in as the savior of the day. But that is almost never how it works. We understand that she will probably be unsure or even scared of us at first. And rightly so. She has never known who will be around the next day so she probably won't know right away that she can trust us.



We have been so blessed to be a part of the Bethany Christian Services adoption board. Families who are in all different phases of their adoption ask questions and share wisdom from what they have learned. We have had the privilege read the stories from countless families who have already traveled to pick up their child. Each story is totally different.

One thing I really enjoy is seeing the pictures these families post of the orphanage and the transition home. It's really surreal knowing that my baby girl will be there soon or is already there. I'm a very visual person so it really helps me to picture what her days may be like.

One more neat thing about the Bethany boards is that once we are matched with our baby, families that travel before us can love on her and take extra pictures for us. I'm sure those pictures will go with me everywhere until she is home safe in my arms!



We are getting ready to start month #3 of waiting and still hopeful that we will be matched sometime in November! Trying to keep my head on straight and know that this date may change. BUT........ this mama still hopes that November will be our month. Although we would be more than happy if it was earlier=)

My baby girl is 1 !!!!

This is how my day started 1 year ago...


This is how it ended....


I got to take this precious bundle of joy home with me!


Her brothers thought she was just the greatest gift in the world....


Over this last year this is what we have learned about her....

She is a great sleeper....



She is a goof ball....
She likes when mommy dresses her up all girly....



She smiles from the time she wakes up till she falls asleep. Even when we wake her up from sleeping she smile immediately....




She enjoys sucking her thumb....

She has a variety of facial expressions......


She REALLY enjoys walking.....

She enjoys snuggling with mommy....

She is just about as cute as they come!!!!

Happy Birthday my sweet Bethany Joy! Mommy and Daddy love you so much and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for you this year. Your a VERY special little girl Bethany!!

Ober Gatlinburg

We finally got to go to Ober Gatlinburg to celebrate Stephen's birthday this last weekend. We had such a great time together. I found tickets a while back for about 65% off the regular ticket price so we decided this would be an awesome gift to give stephen.

I came here with my parents and little sister when I was a little girl. I have such fun memories of going on the chairlift with my dad, who is EXTREMELY afraid of heights. He actually offered to pay my little sister to ride with him since she weight the least. Then mom and I got a good laugh when we started rocking ours a little, that didn't sit to well with him!





Stephen and I beat Izzy, Daddy and Bethany on the maze by a full 5 minutes!!

Disregard the face Bethany is making. She really had a good time!

The boys were obsessed with going on the water rides. You had to be 7 years old to go by yourself so that really made his day!! I couldn't believe it he went on the one that drops straight down. Crazy! Then he made me try it. Yikes!

Happy Birthday Stephen

I can't believe I have a 7 year old!!! Good grief where has the time gone? Really seems like just yesterday when we got to bring this wiggly little bundle of joy home!!


























We got the privilege of celebrating Stephen birthday last week. We had a GREAT time.

As always my kids get to choose what they eat on their birthday. Stephen had me hopping. He chose:

Breakfast: Pancakes & Sausage

Lunch: Homemade sub sandwiches, chips, blueberries, juice

Dinner: Hamburgers, French Fries, Orange Soda, Homemade chocolate cake and Reese's ice cream



(he actually didn't even eat any of his cake. Decided he had had enough sugar for the day!)

He got a few gifts from grandparents and aunts and uncles and his brother and sister. He was so blessed by the things given to him.


One thing I'm so proud of Stephen for is his thankfulness. We attempted to give him our gift ( a trip to Ober Gatlinburg) two days after his birthday. Well we got there and it started raining and didn't stop. So we decided that we would have to postpone our trip. After about 3 minutes being bummed he said, "Well I'm just thankful that we get to spend the day together!".

This is one thing we have poured into our kids since the day they are born. There is so much in this life we have to be thankful for. All you have to do is look. What a blessing a thankful child is!


So our day got rained out but we had a great time walking around Gatlinburg then went swimming in the Little River.