THE BAKER FAMILY

Life Redeemed

2012-02-07T16:32:00.001-05:00

This afternoon as I was flipping through my Bible in preparation for our small group Bible study tonight, a picture "happened to" fall out of the pages where it was carefully tucked away. There are NO coincidences friends- God knew I needed this reminder today. It was a HUGE revelation to me and brought me to tears like I haven't cried since we've had sweet Zoe home. I think it's been so easy to forget how much we prayed and longed to have her home now that she's here. We've been so busy with finding our "new normal" along with loving on and meeting both Zoe and Evan's needs in these past 3+ months that we've been home that I've almost "FORGOTTEN" how excruciating that wait to have her home was. And even saying that word "forgotten" now seems so incredibly strange, considering how very much my heart ACHED to have her here every minute until she was in my arms. And when I saw this picture today

as it fell out of my Bible from the pages of Psalm 146 (which I prayed so very much during those excruciatingly tough months), all those emotions came FLOODING back. The look on her face in this picture that my sweet friend Jana had taken of her seemed so sweet to me back then during the waiting. But now, after looking at those big brown eyes that have melted me every day in this last 3+ months, all I see is fear and sadness in those eyes. This isn't the girl we know now. And oh how I'm thankful. We don't see this blank, sad, and scared look in her eyes anymore. Just like her name- Zoe Tadesse means "LIFE REDEEMED", so has the change in her personality and spirit been transformed and redeemed. The serious, shy little girl we first met in Ethiopia last June is long gone and has been replaced by this spunky, happy, mischevious, silly little girl who is always making us laugh.

And oh how grateful I am at the transformation we have seen over the last 3 months. Just another reminder that God can redeem ANYTHING. And before you think "how lucky she is" or "what a great thing we've done by adopting her" which we hear ALL the time- PLEASE just know that all we have done is be open to His calling on our life and that ALL the glory belongs to HIM who has called us on this beautiful journey of adoption. I'm so thankful that we heard and heeded His call to adopt- no matter how scary the unknowns were to us back in 2010 when we started the process. Just like the saying goes- "If God brings you to it, He will see you through it". I'm so incredibly thankful He called us on this journey that led us to our precious Zoe Tadesse. And I'm so humbled He chose ME in all my imperfections and uncertainty to be her mommy.

BIG NEWS!

2012-02-03T15:46:00.001-05:00

WE ARE MOVING! Sorry for my absence from this blog in the past few weeks... things have been C.R.A.Z.Y! And for those of you who didn't even know we had our house for sale and were shocked by this news, there is a reason! It happened very quickly! We have known a move closer to Drew's work and our church was in our future for quite some time, but decided to wait until Zoe's adoption was final because we would have had to re-do all of our paperwork if we moved in the middle of the adoption process. Even though we knew it would be happening in the future, we didn't anticipate it happening QUITE SO SOON! We have been watching the listings online for awhile and found one we liked and went to see it. We decided we liked it so well that we would list our house for sale in hopes that we would sell ours before it sold. While we were in the process of getting our house listed with our realtor, we found another house that had "just come on the market" and decided we wanted to look at it. We LOVED it even more than the other one we had previously liked. Here was our timeline:

Thursday: signed paperwork with our realtor to list our house and found the BRAND NEW listing of a house we liked online
Friday: looked at the new house and FELL.IN.LOVE and came home from there to see a For Sale sign in our yard
Saturday: 2 showings of our house (both to the same people)
Sunday: an offer on our house and we put an offer on the new house (at the time we put in our offer, we found out there was already 1 other offer and there had been FIFTEEN showings of the house since it was listed Thursday- crazy in this economy!)
Monday: our house is "sold", we found out we were to put in our "best" offer on the new house in hopes of "outbidding" the other offer
Tuesday- put in our "best" offer
Wednesday: found out we got the new house!

So.... things happened MUCH MUCH quicker than we anticipated and it's been a roller coaster of emotions for sure. We should be pros at these "ups and downs" after just finishing an adoption process, but it was still hard for my Type-A personality to handle! The way things worked out and fell in place could not be explained other than a GOD thing. Definitely made us see that this was meant to be and all a part of His plan. I seriously don't know why I ever doubt- GOD IS ALWAYS IN THE DETAILS- even when it's hard to see Him. We are very excited to move and be closer to Drew's work and our church and church activities/friends. We will be able to spend more time together as a family and lots less time in the car driving back and forth. But with that said, it will be hard to leave too (tears have definitely been shed). We have loved living in this house and making memories together. And we will miss being so close to all of our family and friends here. But we know that this is God's plan for our family and we are excited for this new adventure! Please be patient with me in the next few weeks- I'm not sure how often I will be posting as things are only going to get MORE crazy and we are buried in mountains of boxes, boxes, and more boxes!

I've been pretty terrible at taking pictures the last few weeks... But for those of you wanting to see pictures of our 2 littles, here are a few I've taken to tide you over until next time...

Always such a happy little girl...

We haven't had much snow this winter, but Evan gets SO excited at any little bit on the ground and can't wait to go outside and help Daddy. Zoe had a cold here, so I didn't really want her to be outside. But she LOVED watching the boys from inside... I love how you can see all 3 of them in this picture- Daddy with the snowblower, E shoveling the sidewalk, and Zoe taking it all in...

And of course, E had to come up to the door and say hi. They even gave each other kisses through the glass, but I wasn't quick enough to get those on camera :) Love these 2 so much!

I'm back!

2012-01-26T08:56:00.000-05:00

So sorry for the lack of posting... Truth is, I haven't taken too many pictures lately and just haven't had much to post about! Things are good here, but just REALLY busy. Lots of things going on right now with our family.. hopefully I will be able to share more soon... Zoe continues to do wonderful. She has transitioned so wonderfully that it almost seems like she's always been here. Hard to believe that tomorrow marks the 3-month mark of her being home with us! In some ways it seems like it's been much longer than that and in others I can't believe 3 months have passed already. Looking back it's so hard to believe that she came home not knowing ANY English, not walking, and only eating bottles. Now she can say so many words, understands soo much of what we're saying, is RUNNING all over the place, eats table food like a champ, and just acts like a completely different girl. AMAZING. Just proof what LOVE can do. And she gets PLENTY of love, believe me :) I haven't taken very many pictures lately, but here are a few I have taken. I have some videos of both kiddos showing off their latest tricks that I will try to upload in the next couple of days for those of you who haven't seen them on Facebook...

Loving on her baby doll- love her little dimple in this one!

Cutest fish lips EVER!

Kisses- love how Zoe's tongue is sticking out. She LOVES to give slobbery kisses :)

Playing together happily- Evan can always make her laugh :)

Just have to brag a little on Evan- he was playing restaurant the other day in his kitchen. He was writing down my order (pretzels) and this was what he wrote. I was so proud!

Flesh...

2012-01-17T07:52:00.000-05:00

A friend posted this on her Facebook wall yesterday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.... I loved it and wanted to share on our blog...

Update in Pictures!!

2012-01-16T09:13:00.000-05:00

Things continue to be busy around here.... I often wonder how working moms do it- I have such a hard time keeping up with these 2 and taking care of the house. But life is good and I wouldn't have it any other way. Zoe is continuing to transition wonderfully. She has had about 6 or 7 nights where she has slept through the night in the last month. The other nights she only wakes up once (which is a HUGE improvement from when she first came home, so we'll take it!). She is eating great- she is down to only eating table food during the days and a bottle before bed and in the middle of the night if she wakes up. This is also a huge improvement, as she had only had bottles until 12 months. She knows quite a few signs and is learning new words all the time (which is soo much fun!). She is a SUPER HAPPY baby as all the pictures show and is ON THE MOVE CONSTANTLY (she hardly ever crawls now and walks/runs everywhere). I am amazed at how much more mischevious she is than Evan was- she keeps me on my toes for sure. Here are some pictures of my 2 littles..

Cutest little strawberry bum EVER!

Just too cute :) Love the little squat she does- I don't know how she can hold that position for long, but she does!

Evan put on a puppet show for us last night in his new puppet theater he got for Christmas from Aunt Laura and Uncle John. He loves it!!

We still have a ways to go with teaching him how puppet shows work, but he is improving...It's been great for his imagination!

Big huge cheese!

Love the tongue :)

This is a mischevious smile if I've ever seen one- she's getting ready to empty the bookshelf and knows she's not supposed to! But how can I say no to that face?!?

Evan being goofy in his mismatched jammies!

Love this smile :)

Oh- how cute is this?

These 2 just bring so much joy to our lives and we are sooo thankful to have them both... Thanks for checking in on us!!

I'M BACK!!

2012-01-10T15:20:00.000-05:00

So sorry it's been so long since I posted! We got super busy with the holidays and have had a round of sickness go through our house. We are all healthy now and getting back into a routine...

Just a quick update on our Charity:Water campaign- We have raised over half of the money needed to fully fund a well so far and it's not too late to contribute. In case you haven't heard, Drew gave up his 30th birthday and asked only for people to contribute towards building a well in honor of his birthday and our Zoe's first year of life in Ethiopia. As of now- 139 people will have CLEAN drinking water from all of the generous donations people have made! HOORAY! Won't you join us in funding a well so that we can give a total of 250 people CLEAN water?!? I can't think of a better way to spend your money. Every little bit helps- it only takes $20 to give ONE PERSON clean water! We would love for you to visit this link and JOIN US!

And I know a lot of you are wanting to see pictures of my 2 little people... We had a great Christmas at our house. Both Drew and I were pretty emotional thinking back on all that has happened in the past year and overwhelmed with LOVE watching our TWO children experience the joy of the Christmas season. Words can't describe how much in love we all are with Zoe. She has just transitioned into our family beautifully and so many times I just stop and am in awe that she hasn't even been home with us for 3 months yet. It truly seems like she's been here with us forever. She truly is a JOY to have around the house and is ALWAYS smiling, laughing, and hamming it up. We are amazed to think back to the little girl that we first met in Ethiopia and how very SERIOUS she was- it literally took us a couple of days to even get her to smile. And now she never stops smiling! Here is a little of what we've been up to...

My favorite individual pics of the kids on Christmas morning...

She loves pushing her baby in the stroller!

Can you tell this boy loves blocks? All he really wanted for Christmas was more trio blocks and legos... I love watching his imagination work when he plays with them...

This picture just says it all- PURE JOY on this girl's face- and not even over the presents, just the paper and boxes are enough to make her happy!

Opening their Christmas pajamas before the Christmas Eve church service...

All excited about the cookies, carrots, and milk for Santa and his reindeer... Love his smile in this one :)

Zoe signing ALL DONE. She knows about 5 or 6 signs now and it's so stinkin cute :) She can also say a handful of words too. Amazing when you consider how far she's come in just a couple of months.

I made a parking lot for Evan to practice his letters and words (thank you Pinterest!). He loves learning...

I tried to get one of both kids in front of the tree, but of course little Miss "on the move" wouldn't cooperate- so I just got my little guy who is more than happy to pose instead. :)

This was the best picture I could get of both of them in their Christmas Eve outfits...

Just have to end on a picture of this girl and her famous smile! LOVE HER :)

If you only do ONE thing today...

2011-12-30T10:46:00.003-05:00

...you should give me a birthday present. In return you'll be giving the gift of new life to someone, and also in return I'll give a children's book that teaches kids about the world's water crisis in a way that only children's books can (to the first 50 people who donate with us). The book is pictured to the right. Let me explain...

This is Drew, guest-blogging. My 30th birthday is on December 31st. As a family, we decided to give up my birthday this year and ask everyone we know and anyone else who's willing to give at least $30 for my 30th to Charity:Water to build a well.

Through this adoption process we became forever linked to a different part of the world that we may have never otherwise experienced. When we were in Ethiopia, we saw firsthand how tragic the water crisis is on our planet. As we learned while in Ethiopia, it's a water crisis because water affects everything: education, health, poverty, and especially women and children. So, we wanted to do something about it. We started a campaign to build a well through Charity:Water in a third-world nation that would otherwise not have access to clean drinking water.

A few reasons that I like Charity:Water?

They Prove It. You can see every project they've done on a map, and once our project is done we'll have GPS coordinates to share with you where the well was built.
The 100% Model. When charity: water was started, they made a promise to the general public — 100% of their donations would go directly to the field to fund water projects. They find other ways to cover their operating expenses.

Will all of you join us in supporting the cause? Would you share this blog post on your blog or facebook? I've never asked for a birthday gift before, but I'm asking you now! Here's the link to OUR CAMPAIGN, where we are raising money for my birthday to build a well in honor of Zoe and her first year of life in Ethiopia. http://mycharitywater.org/ForZoe

The video below shows why the water crisis is so widespread and important to fix. This video was from Charity:Water's September campaign where they raised enough money to put 2 more drilling rigs on the ground in Ethiopia. Now, they just need fundraisers to support projects.

The 2011 September Campaign. Our 5-year-anniversary video from charity: water on Vimeo.

Just a few pictures of my 2 littles!

2011-12-20T16:18:00.000-05:00

We've been trying to soak up as many Christmas activities as we can in the last couple of weeks.. Words can't express how excited I am to celebrate Christmas this year with our little family of 4.

I mean, seriously, could she get any cuter?!? LOVE THIS LITTLE GIRL!

Evan wanted to stand by baby Jesus :)

Sitting together in the sleigh...

Now if we could just get a LITTLE snow before Christmas! Oh how I love me a white Christmas...

Little Update....

2011-12-16T16:42:00.000-05:00

Just a little update from our little family... I hesitate even typing this for fear that it will reverse the progress we've seen, but little Zoe is sleeping much better! There have been 3 or 4 days in the past week where she has only gotten mommy and daddy out of bed ONE TIME! Hooray!! I'm starting to think part of her problem with sleeping has to do with teething, but it's hard to tell. She doesn't seem too affected during the day by the teething, but of course there are all kinds of fun distractions during the day- like big brother, toys, and all the things she's not supposed to be getting into :) Whatever the reason for more sleep, we are very thankful and finding it much easier to function during the day because of it! And because I can't post without a couple of pictures, here are a few of my favorite reminders that we are a family of FOUR this Christmas....

A gift from big brother Evan to Zoe under our tree. He has been SOO excited to give it to her and couldn't wait to wrap it up and write on the tag!

FOUR stockings lovingly knitted by Grandma Jean with our names on them. Can you tell the one on the far right (Drew's) is looking a little worn?!? He's been a Baker much longer than the rest of us ;) And don't worry- the picture on the mantle will be replaced by a new family picture as soon as Shutterfly ships it to us!

Merry Christmas!!

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-13T21:03:00.001-05:00

Our little town has a "Breakfast with Santa" every year. It's a really neat thing- something that's been around for 28 years- Drew and I both went as kids way back when. It is put on by the high school theatre and they all dress up as reindeer and animals and serve breakfast. Santa comes and then everyone moves from the cafeteria down to the auditorium for a little show put on by the theatre kids- they usually do a fun little "12 days of Christmas" number and then what Evan calls the "Jesus show" about the Bible Story and a little sing-along. We look forward to it every year- a very neat family tradition for us.

Our little family- can't believe we were all looking at the camera!!

This girl is serious about her food- she is now eating table food WONDERFULLY! I'm amazed at the progress she's made in the past 7ish weeks. You'd never know she'd only had a bottle until her first birthday with the way she is eating now. And she LOVES pretty much any and all fruits and veggies...

She was looking pretty stinkin cute in her little Christmas tutu :) And kind of a neat story- her little shoes were MY shoes from way back when...

Evan reading Santa his list.. he is REALLY hoping Santa remembers to bring him some blocks- this boy LOVES him some blocks!

We finally got Zoe to look at the camera and then Santa wasn't looking!!

We have taken a picture of Evan every year by these same snowmen... I love comparing them :)

She loved roaming through the halls of the high school. This girl is ON THE MOVE!

Update on baby Zoe...

2011-12-09T15:29:00.000-05:00

It's crazy- on one hand I feel like Zoe has been a part of our family for FOREVER and then on another hand it's hard for me to believe that she's been home for 6 weeks already. Overall, she has adjusted pretty seamlessly. She walks around this house like she owns the place and is into EVERYTHING. Literally, I can't turn my back on her for a minute without her getting into some kind of trouble. Her favorites are the kitchen cabinets, pulling all the books off the bookshelves, unrolling the toilet paper in the bathrooms, and messing up anything big brother Evan is playing with (which he usually handles very well). In fact, Evan told me today "Mom, I love Zoe so much. I'm so glad she's finally home". Oh, melt my heart. Me too Evan, me too...

Zoe's adjustment to baby foods and solid foods has been amazing. She's becoming less and less picky the longer she's here and has quite the appetite. Several people have told us how much chubbier her cheeks look already. I don't notice it, but I'm sure they're right with the way she eats. I'm amazed to think that she's come so far in just 6 weeks (from only having bottles to now eating soo many different foods so well). She still does have a few bottles a day, but she's done really well with weaning off of it so far.

One of her newest tricks is making animal sounds while looking at her animal books. This may sound very typical for little ones her age, but both are small miracles to me. Considering she barely even knew what a book was 6 weeks ago, I'm amazed that she will grab a book and walk over to me wanting to read. And she can roar like a lion, meow like a cat, bark like a dog, and we're working on her moo. It's pretty stinkin' cute. And the ease that she has picked up on the language is also amazing to me. She recognizes so many words and has even started to say a few. She is constantly pointing at things and saying "Yook". Translation: LOOK. She loves giving slobbery, open-mouthed kisses and is now an expert at waving hello and bye-bye. One of my favorite things right now is walking into her room in the morning or after her naps and seeing the huge grin on her face when she sees me. And the way she looks at her daddy and runs to him when he gets home from work- oh so cute. That little girls LOVES her daddy- and I think he kind of likes her too ;)

Our one area where we can use some prayer is the sleep department! She was used to waking up in the middle of the night in Ethiopia and it's been a little tough breaking her of that- especially when all the books and research on attachment with adopted children suggest that you shouldn't let them cry. So we're working through that and last night she actually only woke up ONCE! We were so excited this morning and are praying that this continues. It's kind of hard to be upset at her though when she's such a cutie ;) I know we'll get there, I just hope it's sooner rather than later!

Ok, enough updates- here are some pictures I know you all are waiting for...

Mom, what are these crazy things on top of my head?!?

My little monkey loves bananas!

Love these 2!

Cooking in the kitchen- love the tongue :)

This one is for you Trisha! Thanks for the beautiful monogrammed shirt :)

I put in a PraiseBaby DVD one day (Evan used to LOVE these) hoping to get a few kid-free minutes to get something done and this is what happened... for about 30 seconds or so. Then they were done and ready to play. Guess DVD's don't have the same effect on Zoe as they did Evan at that age.

Teasing me- trying to take off her bow... and knowing that she's funny :)

Love this one- those eyes just melt me!

Just had to put this outfit on her at least once since she didn't wear it on her 1st birthday....

He loves her soo much!

Hope you all are enjoying this holiday season and remembering the REAL reason for celebrating....

Big Boxes!

2011-12-01T09:44:00.000-05:00

We have been doing a lot of our Christmas shopping online this year. So lots of packages and big boxes have been arriving at our house... Who knew they could provide hours of entertainment?!?

I just had to include this one because it's one of the best pictures of the 2 kids I've taken yet. It's no easy feat to get them both looking at the camera and sitting still these days!

This worked out very well while I was making dinner a few nights ago. They were contained and having oh so much fun together!

And then last night, daddy made the big box into a house.... too fun! This morning Evan and Zoe were playing with stuffed animals inside it. Too cute :)

Love how it doesn't take much to keep kids happy and entertained! It's the little things!

Sneak Peek!

2011-11-27T17:02:00.000-05:00

We had a BUNCH of pictures taken yesterday- family, extended family, Zoe's 1 year, and some of Evan too. We are soo thankful for our photographer friend who blesses us with taking our family's pictures each year. You know you are blessed when she brings her studio to you- our basement turned into a studio in the morning and then we went outside for some shots in the afternoon. Thank you Lindsey! Here are just a some of my favorites-if that tells you how many she took!!

Giving Thanks...

2011-11-23T10:25:00.000-05:00

I have never been more truly thankful and aware of my many blessings than this year, especially during this Thanksgiving season. Having our DAUGHTER (it still makes me so happy to say that) HOME with her family this year is certainly cause for much of this thankfulness. But it goes much deeper than that. Spending a couple of weeks in Ethiopia this past year and looking in the face of such poverty has changed me.

*There are nearly 6 million orphans in Ethiopia (which means 7.5% of the population consists of orphans)

*Up to 20% of the population in Ethiopia are not even able to eat once per day

*26% of the population in Ethiopia live on less that $1 per day, and 81% live on less than $2 per day

*In Ethiopia, 1 in 10 children die before their first birthday

*40% of children in Ethiopia sleep on the floor, where nighttime temperatures average 5 degrees Celcius during the cold season

*There is 1 medical doctor per 100,000 people in Ethiopia

Hearing these statistics and becoming aware of them (like we were so very much last year after starting the adoption process) is one thing, but seeing them firsthand and looking these beautiful Ethiopian people in the eye is totally another. Things like clean water, a roof over our head, closets full of clothes, pantries full of food, and so many other LUXURIES that we have in the US look totally different to me now. And I pray they always do. Because it's only when we are aware and moved by these statistics that we do something about it. Even if it's so much easier to turn our head and pretend that things like this don't exist around the world. It's only in seeing and becoming aware that we are moved to change.

I'm so thankful that Drew had the opportunity to take a missions trip to the Czech Republic during college and spend so much time in the orphanages there loving on those sweet little kids. And I'm so thankful for the ways that God softened BOTH of our hearts through that missions trip, even way back when, towards His love for the orphans of this world. I'm even thankful that God spoke to us through my medical issues (as tough as they were and continue to be) and continued to break our hearts for what breaks His. And I'm so thankful that we took a leap of faith and listened to His call towards adoption. As I look through teary eyes at little Zoe's sweet face right now, I'm soo humbled that He chose US to be her parents.

So, this year as I reflect on all of my many blessings during this Thanksgiving season, I am not only thankful for this sweet boy..

...and this sweet girl...

...and my amazing husband who loves our kiddos and me so wonderfully....

...and all of my other family members and friends, and all of the LUXURIES that we so often take for granted... This year I'm also painfully aware that MILLIONS of people around the world don't have those same LUXURIES such as warm and comfy homes and beds, food to feed their families, clean water to drink, and even access to the medical care they so desperately need. And I'm praying that He would continue to break my heart for the things that break His, as painful and tough as that may be.

As Ann Voskamp says so beautifully in her book One Thousand Gifts (if you haven't read this book- go out and buy it NOW)..

"I am blessed. I can bless. A life contemplating the blessings of Christ becomes a life acting the love of Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving! May it be about more than just turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes this year...

Blessed Beyond Measure...

2011-11-15T15:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I'm going to be completely honest. The last 2 days have been rough. I'm almost afraid to type that I have BOTH kids asleep right now for fear that one of them will wake up as soon as I type it. It seems the "honeymoon stage" may be over. Evan is not enjoying sharing the spotlight with his little sister and is starting to have behavior issues. And little Zoe has definitely been giving us some fits with her sleep schedules and unhappy moods (hence the lack of "schedule" with her sleep). These are the kind of days that make me second-guess our decision for me to stay home with my littles. But a good night of sleep last night, encouragement from my hard-working-so-I-can-stay-at-home husband whom I love so very much, lots of praying, a conversation with my mom, and a few minutes reading through one of my highlighted and scribbled in all-time favorite books (The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson) have made me realize I'm EXACTLY where He is calling me to be. Home with these 2 precious children God has given to us. And blessed beyond measure.

Don't let their smiles and sweet innocent faces fool you- they have both been giving me a run for my money the last couple of days! But oh how I pray that I always try to keep things in perspective. Yes, there are many days when it seems like all the changing diapers, constant demands for my attention, endless amount of dishes and laundry, constant picking up of toys, household chores, and lessons in discipline are so very insignificant. And I know that there WILL be more of these days.

I ran across one of my favorite quotes in The Mission of Motherhood this afternoon: "Choosing to be a servant-mother means willingly giving up myself, my expectations, and my time to the task of mothering- and choosing to believe that doing so is the best use of my time at that moment. It means that, by faith, I have already made a decision to make myself available in the routine tasks and myriad interruptions of daily life because I believe it is God's will for me to serve my family through them."

So, although many days I may FEEL my job is insignificant, I KNOW that my purpose is RIGHT HERE at home, serving Him and my family through these "mundane" and "insignificant" tasks. And when thinking about it that way, those routine tasks and interruptions somehow turn into a mountain of OPPORTUNITIES.

Cousins!!

2011-11-13T10:44:00.000-05:00

Hailey and Ty came from Chicago this weekend to meet little Zoe. The kids had oh so much fun yesterday. While we were eating dinner together, Evan said "Isn't this a fun day guys?" He LOVES his cousins so much- just wish we lived closer so we could spend more time together. Can't believe we actually got a picture with ALL of them looking at the camera!!

My 2 Littles....

2011-11-11T11:10:00.000-05:00

Life is good :)

It's almost impossible to get them both to sit still and look at the camera. Both of them are constantly on the move and keep us oh so busy! Things are going well around the Baker house. Zoe is eating table food much better now, but her sleep schedule is still a work in progress! It's a good thing she's so stinkin' cute- especially in the middle of the night when she thinks it's the day and time to play! Thankfully, Drew has taken care of her A LOT during the middle of the night, leaving this momma well-rested and ready to go, go, go with both kiddos during the day! We are so blessed...

Big Brother!!

2011-11-10T08:18:00.000-05:00

Evan has done remarkably well with all the changes happening in our house in the last couple of weeks. He has proven himself to be a GREAT big helper and playmate for his little sister. I must admit, I had my doubts about how he would do sharing the spotlight after being an only child and the center of attention for 4 years. But things have gone much better than expected and he ADORES his Zoe. In fact, he has almost "forgotten" how to play by himself and always wants his sister to be around. He doesn't like it when she's sleeping and wants her to always be awake and playing with him. And as great as preschool is for him, he talks about how much he misses his sister when he is there. So sweet. My favorite parts of the day are when we hear Zoe waking up through the monitor and he gets ALL EXCITED to go in her room and get her. And the look on her face when she sees big brother- MELTS MY HEART. I can't believe we've only been home with Zoe for 2 weeks. Seems like she's always been here. God is sooo good.

Pure Cuteness!!

2011-11-09T15:33:00.000-05:00

For those of you wanting pictures of our little sweetie- ENJOY!!

And so as not to leave out big brother- I will post some of him tomorrow :)

Hamburgers and Butterflies!

2011-11-08T08:06:00.000-05:00

Just another quick post with some pictures of my littles... Evan dressed up as a hamburger for Halloween... Definitely the cutest hamburger I've ever seen :)

And Zoe was a butterfly....

Love those giggles!

So sweet!

And just because I couldn't resist posting this picture of her cute little butterfly bum...

I'm going to try and update a lot this week with a few pictures each day... I know a lot of you have told me how you want to see more pictures of our little Zoe! We are continuing to do well and are so very in love with sweet Zoe!

Orphan Sunday!

2011-11-07T15:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Orphan Sunday. We took Zoe to church for the first time, although we didn't pass her around, leave her in the nursery, etc. In fact, she ate and slept during most of the service. I couldn't help but think as I was holding my precious sleeping baby in my arms about the difference a year can make. I vividly remember praying during church on Orphan Sunday last year that 2011 would be the year we would have our precious little one home and with her forever family. Little did I know that across the world was a baby girl ONLY DAYS OLD orphaned and in need of a family. We wouldn't see her sweet face until the following April and know that SHE was the one meant for our family. Yes, we are SO blessed with THIS baby whom we KNOW that God meant for our family.

And oh how thankful we are that our sweet Zoe now has a

MOMMY who LOVES to snuggle her,

a DADDY who LOVES to tickle her,

and a BIG BROTHER who ADORES her and just CANNOT GET ENOUGH of her,

and LOTS of other family and friends who love her SO MUCH!

And as full and happy as my heart was yesterday, I couldn't help but be broken and sad for the MILLIONS of orphans around the world waiting on their forever families too. So many kids who don't know the snuggles of a mommy, the tickles of a daddy, or the love of a big brother. I pray that they are comforted today and that they will SOON have a forever family... Are YOU the forever family of an orphan somewhere around the world? My prayer continues to be that He would break my heart for the things that break His. And I pray yours would be the same...

More updates on our Zoe soon! Things are going so well and it's hard to believe she's only been home for about a week and a half. It seems like she's been a part of our family for FOREVER!

We are HOME and finally ALL TOGETHER!

2011-10-30T14:53:00.000-04:00

Life is pretty crazy busy right now, but OH SO GOOD. My heart is so happy and my cup is overflowing. Zoe is adjusting wonderfully into our family and things have been very seamless. She is such a joy and it makes my heart so happy to see her thriving in her new family. Thank you soo much for all the prayers and encouragement. Her homecoming and birthday celebration at the airport on her birthday was something I will NEVER forget. We are so blessed to be surrounded by so many family and friends who have LOVED us and our baby girl so well through this process. We came home to a clean house stocked FULL of food and frozen meals thanks to many of our closest friends. It's been wonderful not having to worry about making meals the past few days and just focusing on attachment, bonding, laundry, and unpacking. I don't have time to post many pics now, but wanted to post just this one for those of you who read my blog and may not have seen this. A friend took this picture right after we arrived in the airport. I LOVE the look on little Evan's face- he is so happy to have his little sister home FINALLY. GOD IS SO GOOD. Will post more soon!!

She's coming home!

2011-10-19T07:10:00.000-04:00

Ok- wanted to send out a quick update.... We got our official US Embassy interview appointment date and time. We leave in just a couple days!! AAAHHHHHH! Words can't express how anxious I am to have sweet Zoe in my arms again.... Ever since we got our referral and were matched with Zoe on April 1st, I have prayed and prayed that we would have her home by her 1st birthday. In the last couple of months, it's seemed very doubtful that this would happen. But.. after getting our interview appointment today, we now know for sure that we will be arriving home ON HER BIRTHDAY! Isn't that just like God?? His timing IS perfect and He IS in the details!

For those of you who live in our area, we would love nothing more than a big homecoming/birthday celebration for baby Zoe at the airport. I'm not going to post all the details on my public blog, but if you live close and would like to come to the airport, email me at ashleybethbaker@gmail.com and I will get the details to you!!

WE CLEARED!!

2011-10-14T06:24:00.001-04:00

OH HAPPY DAY!! We finally received the LONG-awaited clearance email from the US Embassy this morning! We get to bring baby Zoe home!! We still don't know for sure when we will get to leave, but we know it will probably be within a week and it's looking like we may arrive home on her 1st birthday! Praise the Lord!

Happy Fall!!

2011-10-03T13:09:00.002-04:00

Well, I wish I had WONDERFUL news to post, but unfortunately I don't.
And yet, while we've waited the past 4 months since we first traveled and met our Zoe, we have seen God countless times. On Thursday, we took Evan over to my parent's house for a couple of hours so we could pray and talk together. After spending some time in prayer, I had to go get my hair cut real quick. As I was driving there, I saw a BEAUTIFUL rainbow in the sky. And I started sobbing. I KNOW He is in this. And I KNOW His plans and timing are perfect. And oh how I'm trying to trust and remain hopeful. We have been stretched and have grown in so many ways since we started this journey last July. And I know that someday we will look back on this as a distant memory. But oh how we miss our baby and want her home.

On a happier note, this past weekend was the Apple Festival in our town and Evan also had another soccer game. I so enjoy watching him and the other kids on the team. Drew has done such a great job with all the kids and it's been so fun to see them improve and have fun while they are learning. Evan's cousin Hailey and aunt Laura came home from Chicago for the Apple Festival and got to watch Evan's game. He was oh so happy to have more fans!

Trying to kick that ball!

Just a little distracted by all his fans :)

E and Hailey :)

One of the kids on our team.... I'm telling you- it's SOO entertaining to watch at this age :)

Making goofy faces at his fans when he should be paying attention to the game. Not sure what he was trying to do with his hands... Maybe a thumbs up??

Evan, Daddy, and Uncle Cal

We also spent some time helping make the caramel apples for the Baker's booth at the festival. E helped Cal put the sticks in the apples before they were rolled in the caramel and nuts.

Pure delicious-ness... I LOVE this time of year- it's so much fun spending time with the Baker family and making caramel apples all weekend. I'm so very blessed to have married into such a wonderful family.

E talking to Grandpa while he was working at the festival...

Hanging out with friends Jack and Macy at the festival... Great weekend... Can't help thinking that next year we WILL have another little person at the festival with us... We love you sweet Zoe and will be there AS SOON as we can!!

Some new pictures....

2011-09-25T20:02:00.000-04:00

To be honest, I really haven't felt like blogging much lately... It's much easier to blog when things are going well... There isn't really any new news to share as far as progress with the US Embassy. Our agency has been working hard at getting all things in place for Zoe's birthmom and birthgrandma to travel to Addis Ababa soon to meet with the Embassy physician. We are praying that all has gone smoothly and been uneventful and that they will arrive in Addis early this week (if they aren't already there) and can meet with the Embassy sometime this week. We anticipate it then taking a few days of gathering ADDITIONAL documents to submit to the Embassy. And oh how we are praying that this is ALL they need and they can clear us. But we know that it's not in our hands, and God has a PERFECT PLAN for our family, even if it doesn't seem so PERFECT to us...I am reading Angie Smith's new book What Women Fear (which I LOVE by the way) and although A LOT of it is hitting home, this sentence definitely spoke to me this week. "What I need to get in my head is the fact that all the while I am caught up in what looks impossible, my arms are wrapped around the Possible."

My friend Jana returned home from Ethiopia this past Thursday with their sweet daughter Gabby. While they were there, they were so kind to spend some time with our Zoe. Jana hasn't had a chance to send me all the pictures and video they took of her yet (she's been pretty busy and sleep-deprived!), but she sent 2 last night and.they made my heart so happy.. Jana was so sweet to email me a couple of times while they were there with updates about Zoe and how she is doing. She said she is crawling (which she was doing while we were there in June), pulling up, and crusing like a champ and Jana couldn't believe how well she is doing with her gross motor skills. Definitely made me happy. She also told me that Zoe's head had been shaved...BUMMER. This is pretty common in institutions such as orphanages- especially in Ethiopia. Even with a couple of emails and a phone conversation with Jana about how they had shaved her head, it was still a shock to see her without hair. I am trying to remind myself that "it's just hair and it WILL grow back" even though it's very easy to think that we wouldn't be in this place were it not for all the delays we've had in the past weeks and months. And as I told Drew, I guess this just means I need to be buying more headbands and bows for her :)

I couldn't believe this big smile!! She was soo serious for us the first couple of days and then really started to open up after that... But seeing her so smiley while she was playing with her little friends Gabby and Amalya at the guesthouse definitely made me happy. The sleeper she is wearing is the SAME EXACT one she was wearing when we first met her. It was big on her then, and it looks like it may be a bit snug on her now!!

Before the smiley picture was taken, Jana took Zoe up to her room to change her into the outfit I had sent along with her. Zoe wasn't too sure about Jana at first, and she said it was hard to get her to smile, but I still wanted to post this picture because this is our little serious girl. And how cute is she in this sweet outfit!! I also sent the little book she is holding and a little taggie blankie with Jana to leave there for her :) Oh, how I can't wait to tickle her and play with her and make her smile and laugh out loud like we did 3 1/2 months ago....

In the meantime, we are trying our best to keep busy, which isn't too hard with a VERY active 4-year old... I've managed to do some scrapbooking and crafting. I made this wreath out of burlap last weekend thanks to some inspiration from Pinterest and this website.

I've also managed to do some baking and tried this new recipe for Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies (also a Pinterest find). And let me just say- they do not disappoint. This recipe will be finding it's way into my recipe basket for sure!

We've taken 2 nature walks in the past couple of weeks (one as a family, and one with just the boys while I was shopping with my mom and sister). Evan is a HUGE fan and he calls them "adventures". I'm continually trying to remind myself that things will change once Zoe is home and that I need to soak up each and every minute with this special little guy...

Evan got a new tennis racket and balls for his birthday and we've taken him down to the tennis courts a couple of times in the last few weeks... He LOVES it- it will be interesting to see if he follows in his mama's footsteps :)

I guess that's about it... I will be sure to post if we get more information this week... Happy Fall!!

My Hope Is In You

2011-09-21T07:39:00.002-04:00

Long OVERDUE Update...

2011-09-16T15:06:00.000-04:00

Ok.... time for an adoption update...

We have experienced MORE roadblocks in the past several weeks or so. We have been communicating back and forth with the US Embassy, and to make a very long story short, they have requested that Zoe's birthmother come to Addis Ababa to be examined by one of their physicians. As I've mentioned before, Zoe's birthfamily lives very far away from Addis and the roads into her village are not passable via car right now because of rainy season. This coupled with Zoe's birthmother's medical condition will make this task challenging. Although we don't feel like this exam is necessary (given all the documentation and medical paperwork we have already provided the embassy), it is what it is and we are at their mercy. As we have mentioned before, Zoe's birthmom has been diagnosed with yellow fever. As it stands now, we are hoping that Zoe's birthmother and birthgrandmother arrive in Addis Ababa sometime next week. As you can imagine, many things have to fall in place in order for this to happen. But we know our God is bigger and we are trusting in Him.. Please pray with us that things move as smoothly and swiftly as possible and that there is minimal stress for all involved during this journey (especially for Zoe's birthfamily). We hate that they have to go through all of this again....
I wish I could say I have handled this well, but these last few weeks have been the toughest I've ever experienced. My emotions have been such a roller-coaster. Through it all, I am SO VERY THANKFUL for all of our friends and family who have come alongside us and spoken TRUTH into our lives and keep encouraging us to stay strong and trust in HIM who is bigger than all these delays and roadblocks. God has made it so clear to me how extremely BLESSED we are to have such amazing friends and family who love us enough to cry with us, pray with us, pray FOR us, love our Zoe whom they have never even met, but most importantly speak the words that are necessary although not always easy. God's timing is perfect and we just HAVE to trust in that.

We received a couple more pictures of Zoe last week with an update (she weighs 18 pounds now!). She just keeps getting more beautiful with each passing day...

After seeing the above picture, a facebook friend of mine said "she is watching for your plane to arrive". Melted my heart- we promise we will come get you as soon as we can sweet Zoe!

I also sent off a little package for Zoe to my dear friend Jana who is en route to Ethiopia RIGHT NOW to bring their sweet baby girl home. They are working with the same adoption agency and only live a couple of hours from us. Our Zoe and their Gabby are only 6 days apart in age. We had the honor of spending a couple of hours with their sweet Gabby when we traveled in June. Jana is going to deliver this package to our baby and hopefully get to return the favor and LOVE on Zoe a little while they are there... and remind her that we LOVE her so much and that Mommy and Daddy are doing EVERYTHING we can to bring her home soon...

In other news....
Evan had his first soccer game last weekend. Oh my goodness- watching 3-5 year olds play soccer is QUITE entertaining. Evan's team is so blessed to have Drew, Grandpa Brad and Uncle Cal as their patient coaches. I'm not sure Drew knew what he was getting into when he signed up, but he's doing great and Evan loves having Daddy as his coach.

And... FALL IS IN THE AIR! Oh how I love this time of year... I got out the fall decorations this week and I sooo love the colors, smells, and beauty of FALL..

In the midst of all the unknowns in the coming weeks and months, I will do my very best each day to CHOOSE JOY. Because I know there is a reason I am not writing our story and God is. He knows how it all works out, what it all means, and how our story ends. In Him I will place my trust...

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in GOD." John 14:1

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18

4-year pictures!

2011-09-07T10:46:00.000-04:00

Since I have NO positive adoption-related news, I will just post some pictures of our 4-year old... Trying to enjoy him and focus on the positives these days... Sometimes easier said than done. We are continuing to pray for God to move in MIGHTY ways like only He can in bringing our Zoe home. Please join us in praying for a miracle!

UPDATE...

2011-09-02T18:13:00.000-04:00

Before I get into the specifics, here are 2 pictures of our sweet baby that we received a couple of days ago.. She is growing up.. and continues to get more and more beautiful with each passing day... I can't believe it's already been 2 1/2 months since we were holding her and loving on her. I could just jump right through that picture right now and kiss those chubby cheeks and kissable little lips.. And her hair!! I can't believe how much it has grown :)

OK...So as hard as I know this will be to type, it is theraputic for me and this is kind of my way of journaling my thoughts and emotions for Zoe to be able to read someday. We have run into some roadblocks as far as getting the documents and information the US Embassy has requested. Without going into the LONG version, some of the things the Embassy has requested involve sending someone to the region/village where Zoe's birthfamily lives to obtain the information. Normally, this wouldn't be a HUGE deal, but the orphanage director (who would facilitate all of this) is out of the country right now and the roads (if they can even be called roads) leading to this area are impassable via car now due to the rainy season. So last we heard, they have sent a WALKER to travel to obtain this information and relay it back to the orphanage, who will relay it back to our agency's director, who will then deliver it to the Embassy. Obviously, this will take time and could cause us considerable delays. We are also awaiting another document from a 3rd party before we can be re-submitted to the Embassy for further review. But our God is bigger than any piece of paper and we are praying for Him to move in HUGE and MIGHTY ways like only HE can so that our Zoe can be home with her family soon.

We know that God loves us and loves our Zoe and we know that He has plans to prosper us and not to harm us, but sometimes it's just soo hard to CONSISTENTLY trust in Him and His timing (especially for a type-A control freak like me!). Our hearts just ache so badly for our baby and I wish I could say I've been strong and holding it together, but I often feel like I'm just an inch away from an emotional puddle of tears. And I soo badly want to trust in His perfect timing. But in the midst of struggling to give it to God and let go, I MISS MY BABY.

The beauty in this is that I have become soo much more aware of how many people are loving us and our Zoe through this difficult time. I am constantly amazed at the way God is using His children to minister to us in soo many ways. Through many phone calls, texts, facebook messages, a package in the mail addressed to our Zoe with a handmade hairbow and note from a friend I have never met in person (thank you Sarah), many hugs, friends who listen and cry with me, so many new friends I have made since we started the adoption process, and soo much more...I am OVERWHELMED. Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts for loving us and praying for us. Zoe has NO IDEA how much she is loved by people who have never even met her. So to all of you who have felt led to reach out to us through this time, prayed for us and our Zoe, and allowed God to use you, please know that it means so much. So often through this process, a phone call, visit, email, etc. have come at JUST the time I needed it most and I know that's not a coincidence.

A couple of weeks ago, I entered a blog giveaway on the off chance that I would win (not something I do often). I love this blog and look forward to her posts and new creative ideas. They are also in the process of adopting from Ethiopia (for the 2nd time) and every month she does a giveaway to *celebrate* another month on the waiting list. This was their 9-month giveaway and oh how I hope they have a referral before they hit that 10-month mark! I'm not sure why I entered on this particular day. I usually don't because there are usually TONS of entries and I know my chances of winning are slim to none. Well, wouldn't you know that out of 457 entries, I WON. And this is what I won:

Yes, friends. GOD IS IN THE DETAILS. On a day when I was REALLY struggling and ready to give up hope, I won this canvas. With the definition of hope on it (at the very bottom). NO COINCIDENCES. And yes- this will be hanging on the wall in Zoe's room very soon. We will have HOPE and trust in the ONE who can move mountains to bring our baby HOME.

hope (verb): to desire with expectation of fulfillment
hope (noun): 1. trust, reliance 2. desire accompanied by expectation of fulfillment 3. one that gives promise for the future

No new news......

2011-08-31T17:13:00.000-04:00

I SOOO wish I had some exciting news to share with all of my blog readers, but sadly I don't :( As most of you know, the US Embassy requested some additional information/documents for our case on August 15. Days and weeks have gone by, and our agency is still working on gathering the requested documents for re-submission (*sigh*). We are currently waiting on one document to make it's way from the region where Zoe's birthfamily is from (far away from the capital city) to our agency so we can be re-submitted. Once the documents are re-submitted, the US Embassy may request additional documents or take their sweet time processing our case. Or we may be so lucky to be approved quickly after they receive the documents- OH HOW I PRAY THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS! Only a few families with are agency are at the same stage as us, and 3 of us are hoping and praying we are approved close together and we get to travel together this next trip.

With each passing day my heart aches more for my sweet girl. Several families from our agency that were either right on track with us (timewise) or after us are already home with their children enjoying their new additions. And as happy as I am for each of them, my heart aches for my baby even more and I long for her to be HERE with us instead of THERE in that orphanage. She is now 10 months old and it's been 2 1/2 months since we've met her and fallen completely head over heels in love. We've only gotten 1 picture of her since we left. The waiting has been so EXCRUCIATING- much harder than I ever imagined. But... as hard as it is... and as much as I am kind of an EMOTIONAL mess and always on the verge of tears these days... we will trust. And I will do my very best to choose joy each day and trust that Zoe will be home in his PERFECT timing. And oh how I pray that is soon :)

Thank you to each one of you who have supported us in so many ways along this journey. The phone calls, emails, prayers, texts, financial support, emotional support....I could go on and on. It has been such a blessing to be so loved and cared for during this journey and we feel so grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and family... Please continue to pray our Zoe can come home soon to meet each and every one of you who have prayed for her and loved her from afar for so long!

And just like that- HE'S FOUR!

2011-08-26T14:59:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Evan's 4th birthday yesterday! We had a great day celebrating this sweet boy's 4 years...Drew and I feel soo incredibly lucky to have the privilege of being this amazing little guy's parents. He truly is a joy. He woke up SO EXCITED knowing that FINALLY it was his birthday :) He walked out to the family room to find it all decorated and got to open one of his gifts before Drew left for work....

waiting oh so patiently to rip into the paper....

and he LOVES it! No surprise there- this guys LOVES tractors :)

What a sweet little smile :)

Our family- missing one special little baby girl. Oh how we wish you could have celebrated with us Zoe!

Just blew out the candles- ready to dive into that tractor cake!

I will save the adoption updates (or lack of updates) for another post...I want this post to be happy despite the fact that we are continuing to experience more delays with the US Embassy. PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAYING ZOE IS HOME SOON!!

some thoughts from an emotional mommy...

2011-08-18T14:22:00.000-04:00

In between doing lots of thinking and praying the past few days, we have been very busy. Evan's cousin Hailey has been visiting from Chicago for the past couple of days and we enjoyed spending some time with her. I took Evan and Hailey to the zoo yesterday and they had a blast. Evan loves his Hailey so much and it's so fun watching them interact. Here are just a couple glimpes of the two of them together.

In the middle of trying to choose joy each and every minue of the day, I yo-yo back and forth from contentment in knowing God is in control of bringing Zoe home in His perfect timing and sadness over all I am missing while wishing I had control over when my baby girl can come home. And even in the moments when I am trusting in God's timing, I still am very emotionally fragile. It truly is amazing to me how emotional this process has been (both the highs and the lows). I was NEVER this emotional when I was pregnant with Evan- and I even had the hormones to blame it on then! But I know without a shadow of a doubt that God has been teaching me and stretching me in more ways than I can count throughout this process. It's been a good thing for a "control-freak" like myself to learn and deal with the fact that I CAN'T be in control AT ALL throughout this process. I HAVE TO GIVE IT TO HIM. And I'm choosing to be thankful that He's watching over and taking care of our baby even when we can't.

I sewed this shirt for Zoe last week and now I'm starting to wonder if it will even fit her when she comes home.... She looked so chubby in the picture we received Monday, and as happy as I am about her looking so healthy I wonder if a lot of the clothes I have ready for her will even be the right size. But AGAIN I am reminded, GOD IS IN CONTROL.

One of my favorite things about adoption is that there is such a close support group of friends you meet along the way. We've met many of these people in person and I've also "met" many throughout the wonderful world of blogs, yahoo groups, Facebook and email. One of my closest "adoption friends" and I were chatting this week and I was just overwhelmed with a sense of thankfulness that God has brought us together. Although we've never met in person (hopefully soon Jana!) I feel like we've known each other for a long time! It's amazing how much we can encourage each other and the comfort we each feel in knowing that there is someone who really gets what we're feeling. I pointed her to a blog post that I came across this week. It's been a HUGE source of encouragement to each of us and we have been reminding each other of this post throughout this week as we each have our tough moments.

Yes, I want to be the one kissing and snuggling my sweet baby. I want to be the one feeding my baby her bottles. I want to be the one changing my baby's diaper. I want to be the one making sure that she stays healthy and safe. I want to be the one watching her sleep peacefully. I want to be the one she wakes up in the middle of the night (yes I know this feeling may change once she's home!). I want to be the one soothing her as she sees doctors and gets poked and prodded. I want to be the one watching and cheering her on as she does everything for the first time. I want to be the one rocking her to sleep each night. I want so badly to be doing these things for my baby now just as I have wanted to for the last 9 1/2 months. But as hard as it is, I know that GOD DIDN'T CHOOSE ME FOR THOSE MOMENTS, HE CHOSE ME FOR THESE. I entered motherhood to Zoe through a different door- with a different kind of stretch marks. God knows that with each tear I cry over missing my sweet baby, I both grow closer to Him and to my sweet girl. He knows that all too soon I will know what it's like to have her in my arms forever. And only He knows when we will get to bring her home and introduce her to our amazing family and friends :) And there is literally NOTHING a type-A, list-making, "Martha trying to be Mary" person like me can do but WAIT ON HIM and know He's got this one. And I believe He is holding my sweet baby girl both now and for all the minutes, hours, days and weeks when I couldn't be.

Choosing Joy

2011-08-15T15:42:00.001-04:00

I'm not gonna lie- today has been a rough day. We were really hopeful that the US Embassy wouldn't request additional documents and we could be traveling in the next couple of weeks, but we woke up this morning to an email from the US Embassy requesting additional information (4 separate things). Although we were really bummed and disappointed, I keep trying to remind myself that we have much to be thankful for. We have such amazing family and friends who have been soo supportive throughout this process in so many different ways. We have an amazing little 3 year old boy who brings such joy and happiness to our lives each and every day. We have the sweetest baby girl waiting for us on the other side of the world. We can sleep at night knowing that the transition home staff is taking good care of our baby and seeing that her tummy is full, she is content, she is safe, and she is being loved on. We are thankful that God led us to West Sands Adoptions in January- and that we have such faith and trust in the staff knowing that they are working their absolute hardest to help us bring Zoe home as soon as possible. And...we also received this updated picture this morning from a friend who is in Ethiopia spending some time with our baby. As she says- "Zoe is looking out the window knowing that we are out there somewhere."

Definitely helped soften the blow of the email from the Embassy, but oh my goodness she looks so grown-up in this picture. Rather than being sad that we are missing out on so much with our sweet baby, I'm TRYING OH SO HARD to focus on the positives and know that GOD IS IN CONTROL. As we were worshipping in church on Sunday, I was struck so hard by these words "Oh Christ, be the center of our lives... Be the place we fix our eyes, be the center of our lives...And we lift our eyes to heaven. And we wrap our lives around your life." And I have been singing this song in my head ever since. I know that God is with our baby girl right now and holding her in His arms when I can't. But that doesn't always stop the tears and the sadness of missing my baby. So.. in spite of the tears streaming down my face, I am choosing joy and trusting that God is in control and His timing is perfect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUwRX2HPLKY

One Step Closer!

2011-08-04T14:51:00.000-04:00

We just got the call this afternoon that we've been waiting for- Our file has been submitted to the US Embassy! Now we just pray for a super quick turnaround and that they don't ask for additional documents (although this seems to be the trend now..). As soon as we get the email that we've been approved, then we can plan our travel dates and schedule our interview with them. Hooray!! Oh how I hope this means we will be traveling yet this month... I miss my sweet baby girl more than words can describe!

My boys...

2011-07-31T21:43:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to soak up every minute of Evan while we wait for our Zoe to come home. This past week, Drew and Evan were playing soccer in the backyard. They were having a blast and I had so much fun taking pictures of them. I ended up with this really cool sequence of pictures- not knowing how it was going to end. So here goes...

his eye on the goal...

getting closer...

almost there...

but here comes Daddy...

and... blocked...

LOVE the huge smile on E's face!

he thought it was soo funny!!

Oh how I love these 2!

As far as adoption updates- We are still waiting for news that we are submitted to embassy. Praying it's soon!! But I did get the chance to talk with a friend who is in Ethiopia now and spending some time with our Zoe. She said that Zoe is "happy, healthy, alert, and smart". And she wanted me to know that they are loving on Zoe. Oh how that made my heart so happy!! We're hoping to get some updated pictures of her soon and if we do I will be sure to share!

Our Baby is 9 Months Old!!

2011-07-27T07:00:00.001-04:00

Today is Zoe's 9-month birthday! Oh how we wish we could be celebrating this milestone with her... Drew mentioned the other day that he would do just about ANYTHING to jump on a plane and bring her home...And I couldn't agree with him more (any of you who know me well know that this speaks volumes since I am in NO WAY a seasoned "flyer" or "traveler"). It seems like each step of this journey just keeps getting harder, but we know that God's timing is perfect. So many things throughout each day remind me of my sweet baby and my heart just aches to have her here with us. We were at a splash park this past weekend and I just kept thinking about Zoe and wishing that she could be splashing and giggling with Evan. And at the zoo yesterday, I saw a couple little girls with outfits exactly like the ones hanging in Zoe's closet and it made me wish I could see my Zoe wearing them...And each time I pass her room waiting so ready for her I say a little prayer for her and wonder what she's doing on the other side of the world. But I just keep reminding myself that His timing is perfect..some days I have to remind myself over and over and over....

We are trying to soak up every minute with Evan while we wait because we know that things will change once Zoe is home, but we are just ALL so anxious. Not a day goes by that Evan doesn't talk about Zoe and I can already tell he's going to be such a great big brother (not that I expect the adjustment to be PERFECT- I'm not that naive!). Last night we were talking to Evan about what a big brother is all about and what an important job that is... We asked him to name some of the things a big brother does... I totally expected him to say "play with her, kiss her, etc". His first answer "Well, I need to make sure Zoe stays out of danger". Too cute! And he's constantly surprising me throughout the day with questions like "Where will Zoe be sitting when we do this momma?" or "I can't wait to show Zoe this!". Melts my heart.

We are hoping and praying that we will be all be home as a family of 4 within the next month or two and all of this waiting will be behind us FOREVER. Travel in early September is the goal, although late August would be PERFECT!!! And for those of you curious, we probably won't know when we'll be traveling until a week or so before we leave- it will be last minute! Thanks again for your prayers and support- it means so much to us!!

Video of Zoe!!

2011-07-19T08:20:00.000-04:00

Drew put together this video of our sweet girl a couple of weeks ago... Helps get me through the really tough days I miss her like crazy... Enjoy!!

Summer Fun!

2011-07-18T17:18:00.000-04:00

I've decided the best thing to do to keep my mind off of Zoe is to be busy!!! So that's what we've been doing around here.... Drew decided about a week ago that he was going to do a sprint triathlon and he did it!!! We were so proud of him!

Evan took a doughnut break while we were waiting on Drew to come back from the bike portion of the race.. Thanks Papa!

Just coming back from biking- getting ready to start the run portion!!

Giving E high 5's as he's taking off for the run!!

Getting to the finish- He grabbed E and they ran to the finish together :) So cute!!

Playing with moonsand outside one hot morning last week!

E is in LOVE with Aunt Laura and Uncle John's new kitties... Too cute!

A visit to the zoo last week....

Painting a police car in the basement playroom!! I love how you can see the hearts on the map behind Evan... It's almost like Zoe is in the picture too :)

No adoption-related news...We just have to wait, wait, wait to hear we've been submitted to the US Embassy. You'd think we'd be used to all this waiting by now, but unfortunately it just gets harder and harder with each step... We are praying that all the paperwork moves quickly and we get submitted EARLIER than expected!!! I would LOVE to jump on a plane RIGHT NOW if I knew we could- but that's just not how it works :(

More Zoe pictures!!

2011-07-10T21:13:00.000-04:00

I apologize if this is Zoe overload, but I know some of you aren't friends with me on Facebook and probably haven't seen lots of these pictures.. These were all taken on our second day with Zoe in Ethiopia.

This was the first day that we spent a good chunk of time with her and I couldn't wait to change her from her orphanage clothes into some girly clothes. We laughed so hard when we took off her sleeper and found a Padres onesie on underneath it. Too funny!

Loved getting her naked and checking out her rolls!!

Changing her into a little pink outfit!

Putting on her first bow (of many more I'm sure)

She LOVES to stick out her tongue!

Playing on the floor of the common area in the guesthouse....

Laughing at Daddy....

Blowing raspberries at us... She loves this- just like Evan did at her age!

Probably my favorite picture we took of her- LOVE how she is looking at Daddy like she LOVES him SOO much already. Those big eyes just melt me....

She's on the move and soo very curious!

"Are you still taking pictures of me mom??"

Playing with Daddy on the couch...

Some snuggles with Mommy...

The first bottle I got to feed her... and she fell asleep in my arms... Such a precious moment...

Love this girl. So very much.. How I long to feed her and hold her in my arms again...

I will try to post more pictures of our last couple of days with Zoe soon!! Oh, and some of our videos too!!

Our Meetcha Day!

2011-07-06T17:06:00.000-04:00

Ok, so now I will start to post more pictures of our sweet Zoe... As I posted in my daily journal, meeting her was surreal. Still hard to believe she's ours forever!

Finally getting my hands on her!!

So in love...

Checking us out... very serious at first, just like Evan was as a baby...

Daddy holds her for the first time... checking him out :)

a Daddy's girl already :)

First smile we saw... can't wait to see many many more of these!!

Many of you have asked about her name... We chose the name Zoe for her and decided to keep her family name (Tadesse- pronounced Ta-dess-uh) as her middle name. Zoe means "life" and Tadesse means "redeemed". LIFE REDEEMED. We thought this was absolutely perfect. More pictures AND VIDEO of our baby to come!!

INTRODUCING...

2011-07-06T07:57:00.000-04:00

ZOE TADESSE BAKER!!

We woke up this morning to an email from Sheila (with West Sands) that they received our MOWA letter and Zoe is officially ours! What an awesome feeling.... Now, on to the next steps! Our agency's Ethiopia director will work on getting documents around for submission to the US Embassy. After submission, we can expect 2-4 weeks until we receive permission to travel and forever have our baby in our arms. We can expect to travel in about 8-10 weeks. Please pray that things move quickly and we can travel SOON!! I will post more pictures of our sweet baby later, but wanted to post these real quick!!

What We've Been Up To....

2011-07-03T21:42:00.000-04:00

Most of my most recent updates have been adoption-related and I thought it was time to post some pictures of Evan and what we've been busy doing... Evan and I surprised Daddy with water ballons yesterday while Drew was working on the landscaping in the backyard...I don't think Drew minded at all- it was SO HOT!

And Evan loved him some tickle/wrestling time with Daddy...

We've also been swimming lots in the last couple of weeks- until Evan got a double ear infection this week :( Luckily he's a really tough guy and hasn't complained hardly at all of pain!!

We made a trip to the zoo with Betsy, Jack, Zoe and a couple daycare kids one day last week... Fun times feeding the ducks!

And we took a picnic to the park with my mom and dad one day this past week and happened to run into Evan's best buddy Ryan. This was my view from our blanket- can you see Ryan and Evan on the Jeep? They are such good friends and play so well together!

We did puzzles on the porch one night this week while we were waiting for Daddy to come home from work... This guy loves puzzles!

And he couldn't WAIT to show Daddy his pirate sword he made at storytime when Drew got home from work!

Working on his Starfall activities on the computer. For anyone with children around Evan's age, this website is WONDERFUL! Our children's librarian introduced me to it and Evan LOVES it....

This picture shows Evan's newest trick at the pool- jumping in and going UNDER the water! He's getting so big!

We've had a great last couple of weeks and are trying to soak up every minute of our little guy. We know the dynamics of our family will change once Zoe comes home! And keep praying for that MOWA letter! We can't wait until Zoe is OURS and it's all official!

WOW. AMAZING STORY!

2011-07-01T11:14:00.001-04:00

Drew found this video and posted it to Facebook and I just had to share. Words can't describe how much this story means to us. I was a blubbery mess after watching this. We are sooo passionate about the "clean water movement" and have been planning a big Charity Water birthday party for Drew's 30th birthday in December (which we are SOO very excited about!). The northern Ethiopia region where these wells are being built in Ethiopia is very close to where Zoe is from. Touches our hearts in a very special way.

Kristen Bell visits Northern Ethiopia from charity: water (special donors) on Vimeo.

Days 5 and 6 in Ethiopia!

2011-06-28T14:23:00.000-04:00

First the bad news- This post does not have many pictures with it like my previous trip posts have.... Then the GOOD news- This is because we were spending so much of the time with our sweet Zoe and she is about all we took pictures of on these days! Sooo... here's hoping that our MOWA letter comes SOON and we can post pictures of her ASAP! I'm just dying to show her off to everyone in blogland- although most of you have probably already seen her pictures since I carry them around with me and Zoe's grandma's have also LOVED showing their new grandbaby off!

Saturday (June 18th)- We woke up and spent a little time with Zoe in the morning before heading to do some shopping and ate lunch at a local Italian restaurant. It was delicious food- especially in comparison to the other food we had been “attempting to eat” at the guesthouse. Went back to the guesthouse to find Zoe napping, so we decided to pack for a little bit and told the nannies that we wanted them to let us know when she woke up. We got everything all packed and ready and then spent all of the afternoon with her. Very bittersweet, I loved every minute of it, but kept thinking about how hard it was going to be to leave her there and head home. I got very emotional when Woudneh said it was time to leave and it was much harder to drive away from the guesthouse and transitional home than I thought it would be. We arrived at the Ethiopia airport around 6:00pm (ETH time) and our flight left at 10:30pm.

Sunday (June 19th)-We arrived in Washington DC Dulles airport at 8:00am (3:00 pm ETH) and had to go through immigration, get our bags, customs, etc. We ended up having enough time for an AMAZING lunch before our flight left- we even went to a different terminal in order to have Chipotle. I think it was the best Chipotle meal we've ever had (after all the awful food we had while in Ethiopia). Our flight left DC around 12:30 pm (7:30pm ETH) and we arrived in Detroit at 2:00 pm (9:00 pm ETH). We gathered bags as quickly as possible and drove home- couldn't wait to see our little guy! It was great to be home, but we truly are counting down the days, hours and minutes until we can go back and bring Zoe home. Overall, it was a great trip and it was wonderful to experience Zoe's country. We can't wait until we have clearance to go back and get our baby!

I know these pictures aren't exciting at all- but they are pretty much all I took during the last 2 days except for our Zoe... I mainly took these for Evan so I could show him pictures of the airplane we were on and the airport...

Washington DC Dulles airport tower (one of the many)

Our plane in the background as we were being shuttled to a different terminal only to wait in MORE lines for immigration, customs, check-ins, etc... What a great sight this was to see it behind us as we were FINALLY off it it! The 16 hour flight from Addis to DC was rough.. That said, I will GLADLY do it again to bring home my baby!!!

Days 3 and 4 in Ethiopia

2011-06-27T16:58:00.000-04:00

Thursday (June 16th)- We woke up early and spent a little time with Zoe before finding out that the director of the Finot orphanage had gotten in contact with Zoe's birth-aunt Mulu who is studying applied chemistry at the University of Addis Ababa and that she was willing to meet with us. Woudneh worked it out with her and we took off to meet with her. We met her at a little “restaurant” outside the university and got to ask her questions about Zoe's family. It was so precious to meet her and I was thankful to be able to give her the scrapbook I had put together with pictures of our family and Zoe's room, etc. Mulu was so sweet and told us that Zoe looks like her birthmother, which I was so happy to know. She also gave us a couple pictures of herself, which she wrote on the back a note to Zoe in Amharic. I'm so thankful Zoe will have this- I know she will treasure it in the years to come. Then we went to a VERY nice housing addition that is under construction (for Shane) and got to go through some very nice homes. It was mind-boggling to me that these homes exist in Addis right in the middle of all the EXTREME poverty throughout the city. After a little sight-seeing, we ate lunch at the Sheraton. It was a very nice meal, and probably the first meal we had eaten since arriving in Addis that we really enjoyed. After lunch we headed back to the guesthouse to spend the afternoon with Zoe. It's amazing to me how much she has thrived on the one-on-one attention we have been giving her while visiting. She has started to become very smiley and make lots of noises, is CRAWLING all over the place and very active (we may have our hands full when she comes home!), and we even got her to laugh out loud today. Truly music to our ears considering we couldn't get her to crack a smile the first day. We've also discovered she has a very special bond with her Daddy- she smiles and her whole face lights up when she sees Drew. I think she may be a little daddy's girl.

The entrance to the University in Addis Ababa. *A little side-note- Woudneh told us that anyone wanting to attend college in Ethiopia can for FREE. Unfortunately, many people can't because they need to help provide for their family and can't leave to attend college. For example, Mulu and Zoe's birth-mom also have 3 other siblings and only one of them was able to attend college- Mulu was the lucky one.

The restaurant where we met and talked with Mulu.

Mulu with us- Sorry the lighting is so yucky. And you will notice she isn't smiling in either of these pictures. It's NOT because she is sad, but we noticed it's a cultural thing for Ethiopians not to smile for pictures....

Mulu holding the scrapbook I put together for Zoe's birthfamily to keep..

A random shot of the poverty ALL OVER...

And more poverty...

And in the middle of this extreme poverty- a gated beautiful housing addition...

Woudneh took us through a couple of these homes under construction for Shane.... This was the view from the balcony of one of them...

The four of us at the Sheraton...

A view of Addis from the Sheraton...

The resort area at the Sheraton...

Friday (June 17th)- We woke up early for our court appointment, hoping to spend a little time with Zoe beforehand since we didn't know how long we would be at court, or what we would be doing the rest of the day. We had finished getting around when we realized we were locked IN our room. Drew had locked the door before heading to bed the night before and somehow had misplaced the key after locking it. We panicked a little (okay- maybe I should say I PANICKED A LOT) and turned the room upside down trying to find the key. After about 20 minutes of searching, Drew opened up the window and started yelling down to the transitional home staff and children for help. Several of the children playing outside heard him (but didn't understand what he was saying) and just started repeating him saying “help” over and over. It is funny looking back now, but wasn't so funny at the time! Finally one of the nurses who speaks a little English understood and unlocked our door with a spare key (Drew did find the missing key later in the afternoon). We still got to spend a little time with Zoe before leaving, but not as much as we would've liked. We headed to court and waited for a couple of hours before we were called in to talk with the judge. We were only with the judge about 2 minutes and answered about 5 yes/no questions before she said “you understand this cannot be undone and the child will be yours pending the MOWA letter”. Those words were so wonderful to hear! After court, Shane and Syndi and Woudneh decided to drive to Nazareth and visit the orphanage there. We decided to just spend the afternoon at the guesthouse due to Drew's carsickness (because of the crazy driving and the horrible exhaust fumes) and the fact that we wanted to spend as much time with Zoe as possible. We loved every minute with her and the 3 of us enjoyed a nap together on our bed.

The sign outside the court building... Definitely a different setup for court than you would find here in the US.

Most of our Friday pictures were of sweet Zoe! I'm sooo praying that we get that MOWA letter and can post those soon!!!

Days 1 and 2 in Ethiopia

2011-06-23T15:22:00.000-04:00

I kept a journal of the things we did each day (mostly for myself and for Zoe to read someday) and thought I would post it on the blog. I will add a few pictures, although I won't be able to include pictures of sweet Zoe until we get that pesky MOWA letter. But I promise to post them as soon as we can!!

Tuesday (June 14th)- We woke up at 2:00am to leave the house by 3:00am and head to the Detroit airport. We made it there with plenty of time to spare and flew to the Washington DC Dulles airport. We waited in line for what seemed like FOREVER to get our boarding passes, and then had enough time to spare for lunch at Chipotle in the airport (praise the Lord for this wonderful meal before a week of not-so-great meals!) Our flight left at noon from Dulles and it was a direct flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We hardly slept on the flight there and arrived in Ethiopia in the morning on Wednesday.

Wednesday (June 15th)- We waited in a LONG line for our visas, then went through immigration, and then searched for our bags only to find one of them missing. After dealing with filing a lost luggage report (which took forever), we went through customs and found Woudneh, our agency's director in Ethiopia. He took us to the guesthouse where we would be staying- we were blown away by the extreme poverty and the crazy driving in the city. These are the kinds of things you can hear about and see pictures of, but until you can experience them firsthand, it's very hard to believe. We arrived at the guesthouse and before we had even had a chance to catch our breath, they brought Zoe to us. It was SURREAL. It all happened so fast, we didn't have much time to prepare ourselves. She is soo precious. She didn't cry or smile right away- just was very serious and wanted to take us in and really look us over. When we put her down on the floor, she took right off and started to crawl. We couldn't believe it! We got to spend a little time with her before Woudneh said we would go to the Finot Lewegon orphanage (where she stayed prior to the transitional home) in hopes that we could meet her birth grandmother. When we arrived at the orphanage, we found out that it wouldn't be possible to meet with Zoe's birth grandmother (bummer)- she had already left to go back to Korem to take care of Zoe's birthmother and Zoe's older siblings. But we did get to ask the director some questions about Zoe's story and look around the orphanage. Zoe's favorite nanny there (Mulu) showed us the picture of Zoe she carries around in her pocket “so she always has her close”. Melted my heart. After visiting the orphanage, Woudneh took us around the city a little bit and showed us some construction sites. The other couple we were with (Shane and Syndi) were very interested in the construction since that is what Shane does here in the US. We are continually blown away by what we saw in this country- makes us appreciate all our blessings so much more and definitely puts things into perspective. Then we went to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant, which was an experience for sure. We were not too keen on the food, but it was great to experience this part of their culture. Ethiopian music followed the meal, and then we left so we could see our babies a bit before heading to bed.

Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Sign for West Sands- the guesthouse and transitional home are gated and a guard is there 24 hours a day- we felt soo safe!

The guesthouse owned by West Sands where we stayed

The transitional home (where all the West Sands kids who have been matched with families stay in the interim). The transitional home is in a u-shape and the guesthouse where we stayed is directly in front of the it. We were very close to Zoe and the other kiddos!

The infants' dorms...The one on the right is where Zoe's bed is...

The common area of the guesthouse- where meals are served and where we hung out a lot...

The Finot Lewegen orphanage where Zoe was before coming to the transitional home... Woudneh (our agency's in-country director is on the right)

Mulu (Zoe's favorite nanny) at the Finot Lewegen orphanage. She carries a picture of Zoe around in her pocket so "she always has her close"

Zoe's bed at the Finot orphanage

The traditional Ethiopian restaurant we ate at...

Our meal- Ethiopians traditionally all eat off a common plate. So this was what we all shared.

Woudneh ordered raw meat for himself (it's in the black bowl).

The music at the traditional Ethiopian restaurant...

We are HOME and we are in LOVE!

2011-06-21T15:54:00.000-04:00

We are home and are still trying to adjust to normal life again! Our trip was amazing- we definitely left a piece of our hearts there... Zoe is soooo PERFECT and it was soo hard to leave Ethiopia without her. I have been pretty emotional the last few days- it was a really strange feeling being so torn between my little man at home and my baby girl in Ethiopia. I wanted so badly to just snatch her from that orphanage and hide her in my suitcase- but Drew reminded me that I really don't want to be in prison in Ethiopia! We passed court on Friday and are just waiting on our MOWA letter to make everything official. Once we get that letter, I am free to post all the hundreds of pictures we took of sweet Zoe while we were there. Yes, we did take a total of 691 pictures and 2 hours of video in the 6 days we were gone! I plan to post a day-by-day journal of the things we did and experienced each day while we were there.. thanks again for all the prayers and support. We truly feel so blessed and it's been so amazing to see how God has worked in EVERY part of this adoption process. I just have to trust that HE is holding my baby girl and watching over her even when so many miles separate us and I can't hold her. Oh, but how I wish we could go back tomorrow!

Our Bags Are Packed!!!

2011-06-13T06:57:00.001-04:00

We've been super busy the last few days! Drew's dad retired this year after 38 years of teaching- we went to a convocation on the last day of school and surprised him...

E wasn't overwhelmed by all the people at all- I was surprised!

A picture of all Brad's siblings (minus Beth in South Carolina), his parents, Cal and our family in his classroom after the convocation...

And the last few days have been filled with LOTS of packing! I think we're finally ready except for a few last-minute things we need to throw in!

I also put together a scrapbook with pictures of our family (and their names translated in Amharic) for Zoe's birth grandmother. We will have the opportunity to meet with her when we arrive this week.. What a blessing that this worked out so perfectly!

Some pictures of Zoe's big brother!!

My side of the family...

Drew's side of the family....

One of the huge suitcases jam packed full of donations for Zoe's orphanage!

Another suitcase filled with donations!!

Lots of things piled on our bed to remember to take!

In the process of filling our suitcases...

These are E's surprise bags for each day we are gone. We have also taped videos for him to watch each day we are gone...I truly think this week will be much harder on us than on him... He will be in great hands while we are gone!

We have been reminded numerous times in the past few days that God is in the DETAILS.... We received 2 new pictures of Zoe yesterday (the only ones we've received since our referral on 4/1)! The visit with Zoe's birth grandmother worked out wonderfully- she agreed to stay in Addis after her court appointment in order to meet us! We also found out she has been moved to the transitional home owned by our agency so we will be staying RIGHT NEXT DOOR to her! So thankful for these things... I have a peace about leaving Evan and going to meet Zoe... For those of you that know me, this can only be a GOD THING. I would not usually be at peace about making such a trip- especially when it means leaving Evan! We treasure each of you who have walked this journey with us and continue to lift up our family and baby Zoe in your prayers... We will try to update while we are in Ethiopia if at all possible!!

New Friends and Adoption!

2011-06-09T18:26:00.000-04:00

One of the greatest things about this adoption process thus far is all the new friends we have made...some we have met in real life and some we have "met" through email, blogs, FB, etc. Our church is very adoption-focused (which we love) and even has an adoption ministry called Truevine that has been a big support both emotionally and financially. We have also become involved with an Ethiopian adoption support group based in Fort Wayne which we are so thankful for and hope to become more involved with once we bring Zoe home. And we have met soo many nice families who either have already adopted or are in the process right alongside us. One of these families have been a huge blessing for us. You can check out their blog here and follow them as they are in the process to adopt from Ethiopia again. We met with Jon and Amy when we were early on in the process and still undecided about which country God was leading us to. Their girls, Jada and Adia, are from Ethiopia and absolutely adorable. It's been awesome for me to watch them grow as it's a little glimpse into our future :) We met with them last night at a local park for a picnic. What a blessing it is to have friends who can answer questions, share in our excitement, and pray with us. The kids had lots of fun playing on a very HOT day!

Double slide- perfect for twins!

Little cutie-patooties!

Evan joining in on the fun!

Jada and Evan were loving the alligator, but Adia wasn't too sure!

First Court Hearing!

2011-06-09T06:11:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was our first court hearing in Ethiopia (that we did not need to be present at). It was at 9:00 am in Ethiopia, which was 2:00 am our time. Drew had set his alarm and we woke up to pray together while the court date was going on... We heard last night from our agency's director that all went well and Zoe's birthfamily gave their consent. Our MOWA letter was not there (which we expected) and we passed pending that letter. Hopefully we will have the letter in the next few weeks. For those unfamiliar with the process, there are 2 more steps left in the process until Zoe is "officially" ours. We will attend our court hearing next Friday (the 17th) and once we pass that hearing, it's just waiting on that MOWA letter. This was the part of the process that changed a couple of months ago- they are only processing 5 letters a day- a definite decrease from before. Once we get the MOWA letter, she is officially our child and I can post pictures of her on this blog! Can't WAIT! We are getting more and more prepared for our trip and our house is filled with lists, piles of donations for her orphanage, and piles of things we want to remember to pack... We are getting so excited to meet Zoe and love on her!!

A little reminder...

2011-06-07T08:36:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, Evan and I made our weekly trip to the library... While there, I was reminded YET AGAIN that GOD IS IN THE SMALL THINGS and THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES. I picked up this flyer for the new session of storytime starting next week.

As you will notice, they are talking about the world....

and the very day we leave for Ethiopia, they are talking about travel. I had wanted to make sure that Evan does a lot of his "normal activities" while we're gone in order to keep him in somewhat of a schedule since he is a very structured kid and I couldn't believe this....

May seem like a small thing, but it was just another reminder to me that God is in all the little parts of this process- not just the big ones!

7 Years!

2011-06-06T06:53:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Drew and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary! It's so hard to believe it's been 7 years already! But what a great 7 years it's been. I am so very thankful for Drew and the amazing husband and father that he is. I am so incredibly blessed... Can't wait to see what the years ahead of us hold!

what we have been up to....

2011-06-02T16:17:00.000-04:00

In between all the list-making, trip shopping, flight booking, dreaming of meeting our baby girl, getting teary-eyed thinking of leaving my baby boy, packing, getting more travel immunizations, and more list-making- we have been keeping busy

riding bikes with friends

playing at new parks

swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's

running through sprinklers

sliding into sprinklers (in front of an audience of grandparents)

playing at parks with friends

and bouncing around the house for hours at a time! All the while preparing ourselves and our little guy for our quickly approaching trip

HERE to squeeze and love on our baby girl!! As excited as I am to finally meet this baby we've been praying for and dreaming of for SOO long, my travel anxieties and fears of leaving my little guy at home are definitely surfacing too. Prayers are much appreciated!!

Zoe's Room!

2011-05-26T09:01:00.001-04:00

For those of you who have been asking for pictures of our sweet baby's room- here they are! I'm not completely finished with it yet, but I think this is all I plan to do until we travel. I'm hoping we can pick up some things in Ethiopia to add to her room....

Looking in from the doorway...

Love this sign- "Every life is a fairy tale written by God's fingers", and my rocking chair from when I was little

Her crib :) Can't wait until she is sleeping in it!!

I put these together myself since we were on a tight budget for this room- Drew told me that was the only way I could redecorate in pink!

Her doll (it was in her stocking at Christmas long before we had even seen her face) and taggie blankie- Evan has always slept with a similar blankie...

Her Zoe doll- Drew ordered this right after we had decided on her name and Evan and I were surprised when it came to our house one afternoon :)

Africa with a flower over Ethiopia- We made this out of foam board. Drew cut out the shape of Africa with a utility knife and I filed down the edges and then we spray painted it brown. We were very happy with the way it turned out- and it was soo inexpensive!

And last but not least, my little munchkin kissing on his baby sister's picture. He has her picture in his room and I love when I go in there and see the frame has been moved- that means he's been giving her kisses! He CAN'T WAIT to have her home.

*Adoption Update:
Our agency has several families with their 2nd hearing today and we are hoping to hear tomorrow how it went and if they passed court AND got their MOWA letters (which would be the best case scenario) This will help us determine what our situation will be like in a couple of weeks. As we updated before, our court date is June 17th and as of now, we are planning to leave around the 13th. We are starting to cross things off the packing lists and ordering some last-minute things we will need for traveling. Also, we are still collecting donations to take with us for Zoe's orphanage, so if any of you feel called to donate, just let us know and we can either pick items up or you are welcome to drop them off to us too!! Thanks for your prayers for our baby girl and this adoption process!!

DONATION UPDATE!

2011-05-23T08:29:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post to let anyone who may be interested in donating items for Zoe's orphanage: Our agency director told us last week that they are in desperate need of formula and diapers. Not that we won't be taking ANY of the other items on the list, but these are the ones they need the most! I will try to post pictures of Zoe's room later this week :)

BIG NEWS!

2011-05-19T17:00:00.000-04:00

So.... we got our court date yesterday!!! HIP HIP HOORAY!! We are scheduled for court on June 17th- less than a month away! For those of you unfamiliar with the process- the first hearing for our case is on June 8th (which we do not have to attend). Two things have to happen before we can travel for the second hearing on June 17th. We have to PASS COURT and our letter from MOWA has to be there. MOWA is currently processing 5 cases per day (which was the change that happened a couple of months ago). We are still hopeful that things will progress as planned, although we realize that there could be delays. We would love it if you would pray with us that those involved in our case move as quickly as possible and we can keep our June 17th court appointment. And most importantly, please keep our sweet baby girl in your prayers. Oh how my arms ache to hold her! Ok- back to making lists of all the things that have to be done before we leave!

Collecting Donations!

2011-05-18T08:09:00.001-04:00

As we get a little closer to traveling (we still don't know for sure when we're leaving yet), we are starting to work on collecting donations for Zoe's orphanage. We have received a list of the items that they are in need of. If any of you feel led to donate to Zoe's orphanage, we would be more than happy to take your items with us!

The items they need are as follows:
Toys
Clothing (especially children sizes 4-12)
Shoes
Bedding (crib,twin and full sizes)
Hygiene products
Baby/Childrens Shampoo
Baby/Childrens Soap
Baby Powder
Lotion
Teeth Products
Baby Wipes and Childrens Wipes
Formula
Rice Cereal
Diapers
Childrens Vitamins
Childrens Medicines
DVD's (learning or Disney)
Books

If you live close and would like to drop them off at our house, that would be great.. Or we would be happy to come pick things up as well. Thanks for any and all donations! They will be much appreciated!

Recent Happenings and Adoption Update...

2011-05-10T09:13:00.000-04:00

We have been keeping busy around here... Evan is pretty much back to normal now- been through a round of steroids and almost through his amoxicillin... Praise the Lord for bubblegum medicine that he actually likes... Trying to get him to take the steroid (cough medicine) was terrible- very stressful for both him and us!

I made digital mother's day cards this year for our moms and grandmas- this was one of the pictures on the card :)

Helping Daddy mow the backyard...

Lunch at Chipotle last week after his doctor's appointment...

His new llama from Ma- she spoiled him after he was so brave at the doctor- he went twice last week and both times our doctor wasn't in- so he had to see 2 different doctors. This was a big deal for E- he LOVES his Dr. Camille! But he did so well both times..

A visit to the zoo Mother's Day weekend-- my little hyena :)

Sittin in the safari car..

E and Drew planting flowers- they planted our hanging baskets for me and surprised me on Mother's Day with them. So thankful I didn't have to worry about doing that this year!

E and Momma on Mothers Day :)

A playdate at the mall yesterday with Steph and Caleb- loving the carousel...

Happy about their Chick-fil-A!

As far as an adoption update:

We talked with our agency director last Friday and found out that a couple of families who were filed for court on March 28 just received their court dates for June 2. We were filed on April 11 (2 weeks after them), so we are hopeful that we'll hear of our court date within a couple of weeks. Evidently the judge who does the assigning of court cases was on vacation (how dare she!) so that slowed things up a bit. We're still hoping to travel at the end of June or beginning of July for the first time... Please pray that we can get our court date soon so we can finally meet baby Zoe!

We've also been working on Zoe's room.. It's starting to come together and I love the pink and brown! I will post pictures once we get things on the wall and get a little closer to having it done. As always, thanks for your continued support and prayers....

Hanging in There...

2011-05-03T11:22:00.000-04:00

My little man has croup :( On Sunday he started complaining of a sore throat and had a low-grade temp. Sunday night was a LONG night. Poor little guy was restless with a fever and up all night barking like a little seal. A quick Google search diagnosed it as croup. I took him to the doctor right away Monday morning and we were right :( He has some steroids and is on the mend, but we're laying low at home today. He had a little meltdown this morning when he realized he was going to miss out on his normal Tuesday activities, but then Aunt Laura saved the day and delivered a donut to him for breakfast! Wonderful surprise and turned his frown upside down for sure!

Our small group from church volunteered at a 6K race on Saturday for Come Unity, a wonderful organization doing all kinds of great things in Africa. We were so thankful for this opportunity to help out and raise money for all those without clean water. This picture was taken before the race- I didn't realize how long it's been since we've taken a family picture of the 3 of us.

My little man looking handsome in his sunglasses!

Getting the water ready to pass out to the runners and walkers...

Evan and his buddies Jared and Katelyn ready to hand out the water!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of Evan and his little girlfriend Riley at Pizza Hut after the race! They are too cute :) She calls Evan "my Evan". Love it :)

We also had a pool party Saturday night at Evan's buddy Ryan's house. It had been awhile since he'd been swimming, but he jumped in just like a little fish and had oh so much fun! Can't wait to swim lots this summer :)

Not much to update on the adoption :( We continue to wait for a court date. There are a few families with our agency that were submitted to court on March 28 who still haven't received their court dates yet. We were submitted on April 11, so we definitely don't anticipate hearing anything until after they have received theirs. Trying to hang in there and stay positive, but it's sooo hard some days. I so wish we had her home and in our arms instead of in an orphanage. As always, we treasure your support and prayers for our sweet baby girl and a speedy court date so we can BRING HER HOME SOON!

Happy 6 Months Baby Girl!

2011-04-27T13:51:00.000-04:00

Today is Zoe's 1/2 birthday! It's been a little bittersweet. Although I'm so happy to celebrate her 1/2 birthday, I soooo wish that we had her home and could celebrate with her. When I think back to Evan's first year and how much fun we had celebrating each milestone, it's hard for me to think about how different things will be with Zoe. I hate that she has to go through so many milestones in an orphanage, but it is what it is and there's nothing we can do about it. So I'm trying to CHOOSE JOY today and I think we may have a little 1/2 birthday party for her tonight (and take pictures to show her someday). I'm also trying to take comfort in the great things we have heard about the nannies in her orphanage and trust that they are loving her and celebrating in her milestones while we can't.

I got out Evan's monthly scrapbook I made for his first year just to see what he was doing at 6 months... This is what I had written: "It's your 1/2 birthday! This month you can sit up all by yourself! You're also loving fruits and veggies, sleeping all night, rolling more often, making lots of noises, and wearing 12-month clothes. You've found your feet and love to smile and laugh. You are such a joy!" He weighed 21 lbs, 12 oz at his 6-month checkup (HE WAS CHUBBY). When Zoe had her check-up a couple of weeks ago, she was about 16 lbs (and I think she'll be a little chunker too). We're so thankful for our chubby Ethiopian baby girl! A huge blessing for sure!

Oh, and I have to share this story... A couple of days ago Evan was praying before breakfast. He prayed "God, please be with daddy and help him to get to work safely, and please be with Zoe and help her to be happy today... Thank you for our food and everything you've blessed us. Amen. " Needless to say, I was a puddle of tears when he was finished.

Sorry this post has been a little choppy, but I wanted to write down my thoughts on our baby girl's 6 month birthday! WE CAN'T WAIT TO HAVE HER HOME!! We are still hoping to hear within a week or so when our court date (1st trip) will be... Thanks so much for the prayers and encouragement!

WATER CHANGES EVERYTHING

2011-04-20T13:41:00.002-04:00

While we wait...

2011-04-15T16:11:00.000-04:00

We've been keeping busy while we wait to hear about our court date (the first time we travel). We should know within a few weeks exactly when we will be meeting our little Zoe girl! Here is a glimpse of what's been keeping us busy. Evan had his first dentist appointment and did extremely well...

Thanks to Mel (Drew's cousin) for making his first dentist experience a positive one!

I think the Usborne book about going to the dentist and taking Spot (his dog in his lap) also helped!

Drew and I also got some of our travel vaccinations this past week. Who knew our arms would be so sore (the tetanus ones were the worst!)??

Evan and I went to an Easter party with all kinds of crafts and an egg hunt this past week. So much fun!

I think I've been doing a little nesting. I cleaned out Evan's closet and moved the "too small" clothes to the basement and got out his summer ones. Oh how I love an organized closet! In the process, we also found this

dragon costume from Halloween last year and he spent a couple days wearing it NONSTOP. One morning this week he walked into our bedroom at 7:00 wearing it and roaring at us. Too cute :)

Our lifegroup is studying this book and we are LOVING it. DEFINITELY changes your perspective . I would sooo recommend this to anyone wanting to be challenged in their faith.

We also went to a wedding in Indy last weekend. Evan had soo much fun! Loved this picture of Cal, E, and Drew!

And lastly, all the playing we've been doing and fun we've been having tuckers a little guy out. He's been napping much more regularly during his rest time. Love this little guy so much...

Although the waiting is so much harder now that we've seen Zoe's picture and totally fallen in love, we are trusting in God's perfect timing and trying to soak up every minute with little Evan. Things will definitely change around our house once Zoe comes home!

Great News, Great News, and more Great News!

2011-04-07T07:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a great day! First of all, I need to update you that Zoe was moved to an orphanage in Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia) earlier in the week! This is a good thing because she will be much closer to everything and not in as remote of a location. The orphanage she was moved to is where she will stay until we go meet her. After we pass court, she will be moved to our agency's transitional home in Addis where she will stay until we go for our second visit and bring her home... Yesterday, our Ethiopian director (Woudneh) took Zoe to a doctor to be checked (this probably couldn't have happened if she hadn't been moved- praise the Lord!). She hadn't been checked by a doctor since she was 1 1/2 months old. We hope to have the official doctors report today, but everything looked great and Woudneh said she is so nice and sweet! Hooray! Just makes my heart so happy! And the last piece of good news- we will be filed for a court date TODAY! Our agency has said that we should expect to hear back with a court date within 2-3 weeks. This will be the date that we will travel for the first time to meet our precious Zoe! Thanks for all the prayers for our sweet Zoe and the process! We are praying that everything moves smoothly from here on out, but we know that God may have other plans and we are trusting in HIS perfect plan.....

She has a name!

2011-04-06T13:36:00.000-04:00

We have decided on a name for our baby girl- Zoe! Her middle name will be her African name ("A"), which we can't share publicly until we pass court and she is officially a Baker. We are still on cloud 9 and find ourselves dreaming of her and talking about her all the time. I have no idea how many times I've stared at her picture... As far as where we are in the process now- we hope to be filed for a court date yet this week, and then it will probably be 2-3 weeks before we hear back with a court date. Once we know our court date, we can start preparing for our first trip! Saturday night we celebrated in Fort Wayne. We went shopping and bought Evan and Zoe matching shirts. Evan couldn't wait to wear his, so he wore it to church Sunday and proudly told everyone about his baby sister in Ethiopia.

I LOVE this next picture. I have framed one of our pictures of Zoe and Evan is kissing her. He has started to go over to it a lot throughout the day and tell her Good Morning, Goodnight, I love you, etc. I cannot wait until we can have her home and he can FINALLY love on this baby sister he's been wanting for so long!

We will keep you posted as we hear anything new about Zoe or have any new updates about the process!!

REFERRAL!

2011-04-02T07:15:00.001-04:00

I can't believe I'm actually typing this- but we got our referral yesterday!!! The best April Fools Day EVER! Our baby "A" is 5 months old and absolutely perfect. She has the most beautiful dark eyes and the chubbiest little cheeks. We are already head over heels in love with her and just can't wait to bring her home! For those of you wanting to know the story of how it happened (and for me to keep a little journal of how our day went):

Drew and I had talked Thursday night about how it had been several weeks since we had touched base with our adoption agency and he suggested we call yesterday (Friday) and see what the status of everything was. I woke up Friday thinking about our baby more than normal and even put on my Africa shirt. I just had a different feeling. So I called and talked with our agency's director Friday morning for quite a while. She totally had me fooled and although I felt very good about where we were in line and everything else we had discussed, I had NO idea that we would be getting our referral that day (she knew and was waiting on one more paper before she could give us our referral and she knew her instructions were to call Drew first). I called Drew and relayed the details of our conversation and we were both happy and relieved that we were making progress and getting closer to our baby girl. I even had a conversation with Evan and cried (happy tears) telling him that I thought we were closer to seeing his baby sister's picture. I put him in his room for rest time and got to work doing some things around the house. Then, strangely at about 3:30 I heard the garage door go up and Drew was home. His eyes were all red and I could tell he'd been crying. He said "We got our referral." Immediately, I started shaking. He said Sheila, our agency's director, had called him at work and told him (since we had instructed her to call him first). He told her he didn't want to know anything yet and just to email him pictures and him and I would look at everything together when he got home and then call her back. So we set up the videocamera and taped ourselves seeing our daughter's face for the first time. It was a precious moment I will cherish forever. Then we got to introduce Evan to his baby sister. He was happy, although I'm not sure he's going to be over-excited until he actually gets to meet this sister he's been hearing about for so long!. Then we called Sheila back and got more info and made a TON of calls to family and friends. I have no idea how many times I have looked at her picture. I just can't get enough of her and can't wait until I get to hold her and tell her how much we love her and how much everyone has been praying for her before she was even born.

To answer questions for those of you who have been asking:

-No, we do not have a name picked out yet. We wanted to wait until we saw her picture and African name. We may try to incorporate part of her African name into what we choose, or keep one of her names for her middle name. Not sure yet.....

-We hope to travel sometime at the end of June/early July for our court date and to meet our baby girl. Then we are hoping to go back in September and bring her HOME! I'm so praying that we get to celebrate her first birthday as a family together.

We treasure all of your prayers as we continue on in this journey. Please join us in praying for our baby "A", that she continues to receive great care at her orphanage, and that she can be moved closer to the capital city (Addis Ababa) soon so that she can receive even BETTER care and we can have more access to updates about her in the next few months (right now she is in an orphanage north of Addis-very remote). And please pray that as we file for our court date this week that things will go as smooth as possible so we can bring this precious little one HOME as quickly as possible! We continue to trust in God's perfect timing and know that he is in control of this whole process and every little detail involved. Thank you all for the prayers and support you have shown us since the beginning of this journey. We are beyond blessed.

Updates....

2011-03-21T08:39:00.000-04:00

Not too much new to report here... Just wanted to add a few of my favorite photos I've taken in the last couple of weeks...

Evan pretending to call people on his phone...

A random shot of his trucks all parked in his "parking lot". This is one of my Photos of the Day for my Project Life album.

Loved this one :) This boy is just so sweet....

Meeting Murphy (John and Laura's new boxer puppy). Evan LOVED him!!

Another happy face! He is such a joy ;)

E's new IKEA table and chairs in his playroom since we will be moving the picnic table outside soon. Perfect for preschool!

As far as adoption updates... We don't have any official updates. I plan to call our agency today and see what the status of adoptions are in Ethiopia. We have come across some "positive rumors" regarding Ethiopian adoptions via blogs and forums, but have not confirmed anything with our agency yet. Just trying to remain positive and trust that God is in control....

Children of God

2011-03-10T10:39:00.001-05:00

Drew here - This video is to perfect not to share. Watch it all the way through - what a great song and video reminding us that we are all God's adopted Children!

CALL TO ACTION!

2011-03-09T09:00:00.001-05:00

There are some very serious changes being proposed right now for adoptions in Ethiopia. For those of you unfamiliar with what is going on: The summary is that there is a government agency (MOWA- Ministry of Women's Affairs) in Ethiopia that must write a recommendation letter regarding every adoption before a judge can hear the case and adoptive parents can be granted custody of their new child. This agency typically writes about 40 of these letters everyday. Well, they are proposing that beginning on March 10th, they will only write 5 letters per day (a 90% reduction). This is unfathomable in a country where there are 5 MILLION orphans.

The motives behind this are wonderful: there is rising concern that child trafficking and other illegal practices are occurring, and they want to allow enough time to do more thorough investigations of all cases. However, this also would mean that thousands upon thousands of children who are in orphanages right now would remain there for much longer periods of time. And when the orphanages are full, there would be no room for more children. Our government is in talks with them to try to get them additional training and staff, if the problem truly is a lack of time/staff to investigate. We have also been told that things like this are stated sometimes but never come to fruition, so that may happen as well. They said they would begin this new policy on March 10th, so we should begin to see some answers throughout the week. Many adoption agencies, as well as the US State Department, are in talks with them this week as well, trying to find a compromise.
So right now, we wait. We pray. If you are the praying kind, we would ask that you pray as well. Pray for the government agency to try to find a solution that won't affect the long-term future of these children. Pray that court cases are allowed to continue at a reasonable rate. And please, pray for the children there, that they feel our love here and know that we are waiting for them, no matter how long it takes. We plead with you to join us in acting on behalf of those who do not have a voice. Our prayers and hands are called to ACT for these children desperately needing a home.

God is not surprised by this decision by the Ethiopian government. God is always and forever in control. He loves these children more than we do. He has created them to be in a loving home. Simultaneously, we know that we are His representatives to speak on their behalf and advocate for them. Please join us in acting for these children. PLEASE take the time to sign the petition below and help reverse this decision!!
=====================================================

JCICS Call to Action

March 8, 2011

Joint Council: Emergency Campaign for Ethiopian Children
What You Can Do:

1) Sign the petition here to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi and pass it on! It only takes a minute!!

2) Have you adopted from Ethiopia? Please send us up to 3 photos and 50 words or less with what you would like the Ministry to know about your child – we’ll compile the information and send a book to the Ministry of Woman’s Affairs. Send your photos and stories to advocate@jointcouncil.org bySunday, March 12, 2011 to be included. Please note that sending photos and stories gives Joint Council unrestricted right to use the information you provide.

3) Share…Please send this Call to Action to family members, other adoptive parents, and everyone you know! Post, forward and share your adoption stories via Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.

Singing, Learning, and Tickling!

2011-03-03T14:45:00.000-05:00

Not too much to report from the Baker household... We've been doing lots of singing, learning, and tickling as the pictures below show.... Pretty much normal life around here!

Evan loves to perform- notice his air microphone! He's getting into it for sure :)

Preschool in the basement- painting and learning about the letter "F"

Silly boy- tired after playing "rough" with Daddy!

Tickling and wrestling with Daddy!

As far as adoption news, not much new to report. I did speak with the director of our adoption agency this week "hoping" to get more of an idea of our timeline. Sounds like it *could* be another couple of months until we hear anything as far as our referral, but we'll see. I'm trying my hardest to trust in God's perfect timing!!

Preschool and other random updates..

2011-02-17T15:31:00.000-05:00

We are continuing to do preschool at home. As many of you know, Evan's birthday is in late-August, so he missed the cut-off to start preschool in the fall. This is something I was not upset about at all, as I didn't have to make the choice this past year of whether or not to send him to preschool. Instead of just "randomly" working on letters, numbers, and other preschool"ish" tasks, I made the decision to be more intentional. At the suggestion of one of my close friends, I tried using the Hubbards Cupboard curriculum. It is great!!! I would highly recommend this curriculum to anyone considering doing preschool at home. It's Bible-based, free, and gives you so many ideas and creative ways to teach. Although I don't follow their instructions word for word, I definitely use it as a base from which to expand and do with it what I think will be the best and most fun for Evan. Each week has a specific Bible story, specific letter or number, and a specific topic (all of these have corresponding songs and memory verses for the kids to memorize). For example, this week we have been talking about the story of Abraham and Isaac, the letter "E", and emergencies (trying to decide what is an emergency and what isn't, what to do in a certain emergencies, 911, etc). It's been great for both Evan and I and gives us both something to look forward to each week. Here are some recent photos of Evan's playroom in the basement that is slowly transforming into our preschool room also :)

This is where we do most of our crafts and activities... And we talk about the days of the week and the weather...

His alphabet. Each week we incorporate "embellishing" these letters with something that starts with that letter. For example, the letter "D" has dots all over it.

World Map and Prayer Wall. The map has been a great way for us to talk about Evan's baby sister in Africa (notice the hearts in Indiana and Ethiopia), and the prayer wall reminds us to pray for our loved ones. We occasionally add a new name and talk about the letter sounds. As a result, he can now "read" each of these names.

And now for some random updates on our family and Project Life photos:

Playiing at Bounce Mania with friends from church! It was FREEZING in there- it's inside an ice rink!

My afternoon tea with heart marshmallows- one of my Project Life pictures!

Many of the books I've been enjoying lately...

Evan and Grandma Bev when we visited with her one day last week...

And for those of you wanting an adoption update:

Our dossier is en route to Ethiopia! Translation for those of you unfamiliar with the process wanting to know what this means- After our dossier was received in Utah by our agency it was sent to the state of Utah to be authenticated and then back to our agency. Then it was sent to Washington DC to be authenticated again and then back to our agency. And now it is on it's way to Ethiopia! When it is received in Addis Ababa (capital of Ethiopia), it will be translated. We are eagerly awaiting that phone call with news of a referral! We still anticipate it to be a little while, but we are high enough on the waiting list that we could be getting that call anytime! We know His timing is perfect, but it's hard not to wonder each morning whether today is the day!!

"Paper-Pregnancy"

2011-02-10T14:16:00.000-05:00

We are PAPER-pregnant!

I had a friend email me a couple of weeks ago. In the email (she had sent it to several other friends as well) she talked about how we were all "expecting" this year and how exciting it is that we all get to go through this at the same time. At first, I thought to myself- "Oops, she somehow sent this to me on accident". And then I remembered, I AM expecting this year!! It's been crazy how different this paper-pregnancy has been in comparison to my pregnancy with Evan. I think the hardest part for me is all of the "unknowns". Sure, there are unknowns with typical pregnancies.... but you at least know when your due date is, and when you can expect certain things to happen throughout the process. And it's a CERTAINTY that you won't be carrying your child for much more than 9 months! And with adoption (especially international adoption), NOTHING IS CERTAIN. You don't have routine check-ups with your ob doctor, don't get to feel the baby kick, don't get to watch your belly grow, and you don't have any excuses to eat, eat, and eat!! And I must admit, I feel much more emotional with this paper-pregnancy than I ever did during my pregnancy with Evan. And I can't even blame it on the hormones this time!!

As emotional and uncertain as this road is, I'm really trying to focus on the positives and the "fun" things about our paper-pregnancy. Which is very hard for a type-A, perfectionist like me who LOVES TO PLAN!! I find myself thinking everyday about how today could be our little girl's birthday, or wondering if *TODAY* will be the day we could perhaps get our phone call introducing us to our little one! And I'm desperately trying to replace all my worry and fear with prayers for our little girl. Prayers that she has someone to love on her today, prayers that she has food to eat, prayers that she is somewhere safe, prayers that God will protect her, and prayers that God will continue to prepare our hearts and the hearts of our entire family to love on this precious little girl. And in the middle of my excitement to meet this little one and expand our family, I am also torn with the fact that on the other side of the world, there is *most likely* a birth family who is faced with the tough decisions of relinquishing their precious baby.. and I'm a completely different kind of emotional. Broken as I put myself in the place of a parent faced with the decision of giving up a child in order for them to have food to eat and a chance at life. But in everything, I'm CHOOSING each day to trust in God's perfect plan for our family and our baby girl... knowing that He is in complete control....

We treasure your prayers and support for our family throughout this paper-pregnancy!

Big News!

2011-02-07T20:08:00.002-05:00

Soo... I mentioned a few weeks ago that a lot had been going on in our house and we would be sharing more details soon... Mid-January we made the decision to change adoption agencies.... For several reasons, but the main one being time. We had been told sometime early January that our wait for a referral was lengthened and we starting praying for direction and clarity. We were unsure if we were supposed to "wait it out" or start researching other options. After much praying, research, and phone calls we made the decision to sign on with West Sands Adoption Agency (located in Utah). This was one of the agencies in our "top list" we had originally considered back in June/July 2010 when we started the adoption process. After MUCH research (if you know Drew at all- you completely understand this!) and talking with other families who have used West Sands, we feel very comfortable with our decision and the switch to West Sands which we know is an ethical agency, just like Holt.

And for those of you who will surely ask- YES we did have to redo our dossier. Luckily, our homestudy transferred, but we had to completely start over on our dossier since all the documents needed to be notarized and certified originals. Amazingly, we rounded up all our documents within 2 days!! LOTS of running around (Drew even drove to South Bend one evening to pick up our homestudies rather than having them mailed) and LOTS of notarizing (thankfully we know several notaries who went above and beyond to help us out). Long story short, we have been on the waiting list with our new agency for several weeks and couldn't be more excited!! Our new agency doesn't give out numbers, so this will be a little different, but we know we started out at about #10 on the list and expect that we have moved up slightly since getting on the list (very exciting since we were #52 when we made the decision to switch agencies). We were told we could expect a referral in 2-6 months, so we are anxiously awaiting that phone call!! Thank you to everyone who continue to be a support and encouragement throughout this emotional process! We appreciate all your prayers for our baby girl and look forward to introducing you to her once we get to see her beautiful face!

Dossier #2- we are pros at this now!!

Photo Update!!

2011-02-03T19:56:00.000-05:00

I must say that I've been taking a lot more photos in the past month or so because of Project Life! Here is an update of our last couple of weeks in photos (most of them will make it into my PL album!)....

Evan put together his matching puzzle all by himself one morning while I was showering. He was so proud!

This is how we want to live.... Our eyes have definitely been opened since we started the adoption process...

We took a little trip this past weekend to a waterpark and Evan didn't sleep well in the hotel and played really HARD. This was the afternoon we got home. After demolishing his room during "restime" he fell asleep in the middle of his floor.

Miss Kathy (with Parents as Teachers) came last week and did a science lesson with Evan about wind. He loves it when she comes to visit!

Silly boy came out of his room all dressed up the other day....

Don't let this innocent face fool you- he's a strong-willed 3 year old!

Storytime-on-the-go at Pizza Hut... The kids all got to make their own personal pan pizzas and tour the kitchen....

And my favorite- storytime with his animals... This makes my heart so happy....

ONE DAY, ONE LUNCH

2011-01-31T08:37:00.000-05:00

What are your lunch plans for February 3rd?? This is my plan... I pray you are challenged to do the same... I get so excited thinking about the difference we can make in the lives of these children. One child can eat for a month- on only $3. Amazing!!

Won't You Be My Love??

2011-01-24T12:20:00.001-05:00

Fun times!!

2011-01-20T16:39:00.000-05:00

Things are crazy around our house- more details to come soon!! On another note- in between some of the ugly 3-year old behavior we've been seeing this past week, there have been some sweet moments....

Evan LOVES play-doh!!! He could literally play with it for hours at a time. Amazing if you know this kid and how active he is!!

This was how I found Evan when I went to wake him from his LONG nap yesterday... And amazingly, the flash didn't wake him up!! So sweet!!

Playing with his new blocks while also working on letters :)

Project Life Update!

2011-01-13T19:10:00.000-05:00

My Project Life album I shared about in an earlier post is coming along well. Thankfully, Drew has been a big help with taking pictures and helping me realize when I need to be taking pictures. So far I haven't missed a day! Here are a few I plan to use in my album...

Evan LOVES to read. Whenever he reads with Daddy, this is ALWAYS the first book he grabs.. My Dad is Great. I love watching the two of them read together :)

This was the view out my dining room window Tuesday. Notice the path my dad makes with his snow blower so that we can walk from our basement door to their back door? Love it!!

This explains our Monday. We didn't leave the house all day and spent lots of fun time together. We did some baking, preschool, and LOTS of reading. These were just the books we read after lunch before his nap.

Love this picture of my two boys!!

And a picture from Sesame Street Live last week. It was a HUGE hit with Evan.

Fun in the Snow this Weekend!

2011-01-10T09:04:00.000-05:00

We had a great weekend- nothing much planned, so lots of family time.. We played outside in the snow both Saturday and Sunday! Fun times :)

I love the story this picture tells (I will be using this for my Project Life album!). I'm behind the camera, Drew is throwing snow at E, E is having a BLAST, and Ma and Papa are watching from inside the house....

We lost count of how many times E went down the hill... he loved it!

Eating snow- weird kid!

Love his smile in this one!

Drew giving E and Grandpa a big push :)

Happy New Year and Project Life

2011-01-05T13:52:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! We are so excited at our house about what this next year will hold for our little family. Can't wait to see what God has in store for us.... Hopefully this time next year we will have a new addition to our family!! Well, along with the new year I have decided to tackle a new scrapbooking project. I've always LOVED scrapbooking, but have never done this kind of scrapbooking before. I've considered it in previous years, but decided to go ahead and do it this year. It helps that there are a dozen or so women from Pathway that are doing it alongside of me. We will be meeting monthly to work on our albums and hang out and I'm super excited about it! The album I'm doing is called PROJECT LIFE by Becky Higgins. See link to her website where it shows the kit here. It's basically a scrapbook/journal with a picture in it for each day of the year. Along with each day's picture is a place for you to journal about the day. I love that it gives me more of an opportunity to journal and tell our family's story than my typical scrapbooks do (I tend to scrapbook bigger events and happenings in our life rather than the day-to-day things). The kit includes everything you need to get started on your album and you basically just put it all together and you're ready to go. So far this week, I've had a tough time deciding which pictures to use for each day (I've taken so many fun ones- it helps that I love using my new camera). We'll see how long this enthusiasm lasts ;) The pictures below are a few of the ones I've chosen to use for this week...

We got back on the "preschool at home" bandwagon this week after a short hiatus during the holidays. So far we've talked about Adam and Eve, the letter "A", sang lots of fun songs, and we've done lots of fun crafts. Both Evan and I enjoy it so much!

For Drew's birthday on New Year's Eve, Evan and I planned to make his favorite stuffed mushrooms for him. But as it turned out we were so busy that day (and the day after) that we didn't get to it until a few days after his birthday. But E and I had so much fun making them and Drew definitely enjoyed eating them!!

Who knew that Evan would be outside riding his bike on New Years Day?? He really enjoyed getting on his bike again and had to wear Papa's helmet so that it would fit over his hat :) This was probably the last time for this bike- I'm sure he'll be big enough to ride his new bike this summer. Makes me sad that he's growing up so fast, but it's oh so much fun too!!

Well, we are off to Sesame Street Live tonight! I hope to take lots of fun pictures to post on here soon. Evan is so excited!

Better Late Than Never!

2011-01-01T17:07:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas.... Drew and I enjoyed experimenting with our new camera. We still have a lot to learn, but I'm happy with the way the pictures turned out... These are a few of my favorite pictures from the last couple of weeks (in no particular order)

Cookies for Santa- and a little chocolate on his face!

One happy boy on Christmas morning. Santa brought him what he asked for!

Emptying his stocking...

Opening his garbage truck- so excited!!

Oh so very excited about his little tractor just like Papa's tractor!

Trying out his new easel from Grandma and Grandpa!

Playing Hi-Ho Cherry-O and LOVING it!

Family movie night- Finding Nemo- it was a HUGE hit!

Posing in front of hte Christmas tree...

Chatting with Santa...

Happy New Year to all our family and friends! I got pretty emotional last night thinking about what this next year could hold for our family. We are praying that we get to celebrate our next Christmas with another little addition to our family..... All in His perfect timing!

Blessings and bloggy friends...

2010-12-29T20:21:00.000-05:00

We are so blessed. In more ways than we can count....

I have started following many adoption blogs since we started on this journey. Most of the adoption blogs I follow are families adoping from Ethiopia, and many of them are using Holt International as their agency (as we are). Several blessings have come from my "blog-stalking" (as Drew calls it)! I entered a drawing on this blog and we won! This family is doing a coffee fundraiser through JUST LOVE COFFEE and selling coffee online. $5 of each bag of coffee sold would go towards their adoption, but they have made the decision to split their proceeds with another family who is adopting. What a neat thing for them to do and what a blessing to us... If you are interested in ordering coffee or other merchandise and helping to fund both our adoption and this family's adoption, click here and order! Each day I'm amazed at the ways God is showing us this is His plan for our family. Who knew that a "random" family who is also adopting would be such a blessing to us. Even cooler, we discovered that we are using the same adoption agency, are very close in the process, and only live several hours from each other. It's crazy to think that we could be traveling to Ethiopia at the same time and our children could be friends someday :) I love how technology can be used for such a greater good!

I also LOVE this blog and so enjoy seeing her new creations. Laura sews all kinds of amazing goodies and sells them in order to fund their Ethiopian adoptions (they have already adopted one little guy and are in the process of adopting another). She did a giveaway several weeks ago on her blog (see here) in celebration of one-month on the waiting list for their little one and I WON!! We love our ornament and I plan to hang it on our fireplace after the Christmas decorations are down as a constant reminder of our little one... To order your own ornament, visit this etsy shop!

Thank you to everyone who continues to support us through prayer. You are such a blessing to us and we are so very thankful for your love and continued support!

All I Really Want For Christmas

2010-12-22T17:08:00.000-05:00

This afternoon I've been doing a lot of praying and thinking while Evan naps. I've been looking at the 4th stocking hanging on our fireplace without a name on it and wondering when that stocking will have a name and face to go with it. I've been wondering how long we will wait to see our baby's face and whether or not she will be spending our next Christmas with us. I've been thinking about names and dreaming about how wonderful it will be to see Evan love on his baby sister. I've been dreaming about little pink clothes and how I plan to decorate her room. And if I'm being honest, I've been having a little pity party for myself wondering why the list isn't moving as quickly as I'd like. And then I came across this video and have been bawling like a baby. There are soo many children who need families (over 5 million in just Ethiopia).

But the truth of the matter is, God is in control and He already has OUR CHILD chosen for OUR FAMILY. She may or may not be born right now. He knows what the timing will be and He will give us the strength and patience to get us through this long and emotional process. But sometimes it's just so hard. Today is one of those days. But even in these tough days, I pray that I will always be reminded that adoption is NOT ABOUT US. It's about how we can serve HIM and in doing so, give these orphaned children a FAMILY (a perfect representation of how we are orphaned in sin and then adopted by Christ). I definitely have a different perspective this Christmas. I pray we can all take a step back in these next few days and really reflect on why we celebrate Christmas and give thanks for the gift of baby Jesus on that special day in Bethlehem so many years ago. Merry Christmas!

Our Dossier is in Ethiopia!!

2010-12-15T14:21:00.000-05:00

We received an email from our adoption agency yesterday that our dossier has arrived in Ethiopia! To those of you wondering what this means, not a whole lot... But it does mean we're one more step closer to our little one. We will still be waiting awhile for our referral... But it's still exciting news!!

What We've Been Up To...

2010-12-03T16:45:00.001-05:00

We've been....

decorating the house for Christmas...

making a paper chain to count down to our referral (we moved at least 3 spots this week!)...

visiting Santa (somewhat reluctantly, but he wanted to make sure Santa knows what to bring!)..

and finally sitting on his lap for a quick happy picture...

and playing at the Indianapolis Childrens museum...

We've been busy, but we're having oh so much fun!!

An Unexpected Blessing

2010-11-29T21:01:00.003-05:00

This is Drew again... As many of you know, one thing we wanted to do as we go through our adoption is to provide as much information and encouragement to others that may be considering adoption. I wrote this post a few months ago sharing about the costs of adoption. Going along with that, we received a great blessing recently!

For those who don't know, Lifesong for Orphans is a great non-profit organization that cares for orphans in many ways. One of them is by helping those who are adopting that are facing a mountain of expenses related to the adoption.

A few months ago, we filled out an application through our church and Lifesong. We just got word that our church, through Lifesong, awarded us a matching grant of $2,500! We weren't expecting this, but because our church has set funds aside to help those within our congregation who are adopting we were awarded this matching grant. Wow, what a blessing!

One thing Lifesong does is allow you to set up an account with them so that those people who have wanted to partner with you and your adoption expenses can send their contribution to Lifesong and have it be tax deductible. Since we had a few people ask us if they could help, we filled out the application hoping to just get an account for the tax deduction. But, with our church having a separate set of funds set aside to use for families adopting, we were given a matching grant. So, the first $2,500 given to our Lifesong account will be doubled!

We had decided that we didn't want to try to "raise support" as some people do (which we don't condemn at all, just a personal decision). Although we had decided not to actively fundraise, we have been amazed and blessed by people who have sought us out to see if they can partner with us financially as their way to support orphan care. For those people who have asked us, you can email Ashley or I for more details and our Lifesong account number.

For those considering adoption: As I said in the post about adoption costs - don't let expenses hold you back from adopting. I know that there are more people that want to partner with you than you realize.

We feel so blessed by our church, Lifesong, and those who are partnering with us both in prayer and financially - and we look forward to "paying it forward" for other adoptive families in the future.

WE ARE ON THE LIST!!

2010-11-19T15:33:00.000-05:00

We are officially waiting!! We received our I-171H yesterday and over-nighted it to our adoption agency in Oregon last night. They received it this morning, approved it (with no revisions- all that double and triple checking paid off!), and added us to the list! Our agency will now send our dossier to be authenticated by the US State Department and Embassy of Ethiopia and we will be notified when it reaches Ethiopia!

For those of you wondering what #56 means (I've been asked that question several times already)... Basically, there are 55 families in our agency waiting for children ahead of us.... They aren't necessarily waiting for infant girls (could be older children or boys), but they are ahead of us. We will be receiving monthly updates as the list moves and our number changes.... Our agency is estimating that our wait time for our referral (child match and picture) will be 3-9 months... Obviously we are praying it's closer to the 3-month mark, but it's totally in God's hands and His perfect timing...

Thanks to everyone for all the support and encouragement through this process... It means so much to us!! As they say in the adoption world.... WE ARE OFFICIALLY PAPER PREGNANT!

The circus and the waiting.....

2010-11-17T15:35:00.004-05:00

My parents asked us to go to the circus with them last weekend... This was Evan's 2nd circus experience, and I think it's safe to say he loved this one more than the last....

The popcorn bucket was almost as big as him!

Enamored by all the animals and tricks!

For all of you who may be wondering where we are with our adoption- We are STILL waiting on the immigration document we need in order to submit our dossier and be officially waiting. To say we are frustrated is to put it mildly. We have been flat-out lied to several times that the form was in the mail and on it's way to us only to find out last night that our file hasn't even been processed and was just sitting on someone's desk. Thankfully, we have someone working on it now who we are confident will get it taken care of... I never would have guessed that I would be more emotional during this adoption process than while I was pregnant with Evan, but I definitely am (even in just the 4 months or so we've been on this roller coaster!). As hard and emotional as it has been, we know that God has a plan in all of this. He has our child already picked for us and we are trying to remember that it shouldn't matter what number we are on the waiting list, but it's still hard sometimes. He knows what number we need to be on that list in order to match up with our daughter... Your prayers are much appreciated as we wait and learn more about resting in Him and His PERFECT timing...

Preschool at home!

2010-11-10T08:48:00.000-05:00

One of my friends starting using a homeschool curriculum (it's online and FREE!) for her 3 year old, and she has told me what a success it has been at their house. So I took on the challenge a couple of weeks ago as well. It has been wonderful for both Evan and I. It gives us a little something to look forward to on the days when we don't have things planned and he's learning lots too. It's Bible-based, so he is learning Bible verses as well as other preschool things. We are still unsure what we will do for Evan as far as school (public, private, homeschool), but for now this is working great!

First day- learning about how God created the day and night, the number 1, and the colors black and white.

All ready to start preschool! I don't have his playroom set up the way I want it yet, but I hope to buy a few things at a teachers store soon to make it look more like school.... I'll post pictures when I have it done!!

My "Nice" Dragon

2010-11-03T08:13:00.000-04:00

And now for some pictures that someone (I won't name names!) informed me were long overdue....

My little dragon- he kept saying that he was a "nice" dragon and not a scary dragon.. Too cute!! He enjoyed trick-or-treating even though he was a little under the weather this weekend....

I just had to include this picture my mom took last week of E in the leaves. Too cute :)

Orphan Sunday

2010-11-02T14:26:00.003-04:00

True Religion from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Orphan Sunday is this weekend... I pray that you seek God and how He wants to use you to help the millions of orphans worldwide. We may not all be called to adopt, but He does call us to defend the orphans and fatherless. I hope this video helped you to put things in perspective. I know it did for me....

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27