Donations for Addis

I better get this out since I could be traveling in six weeks!!
I decided to put this list on my blog instead of email it out to those of you who are interested cause this way you don't have to feel any pressure in donating anything. Only if you want to and I'd be honored to be apart of helping you leave your mark on Africa!!
Thanks everyone for your support and love we greatly appreciate it!!!

Diaper cream
Jump Ropes (Double Dutch too)
Balls (deflated soccer balls are one idea)
Rubber Gloves
Cotton Balls (light,cheap,and easy to pack)
School Supplies such as:
Pencils
markers
crayons
notebooks
paper
feel free to get other things not on the list!!!


Donations need to be things you would know how to use without reading the directions, since they do not speak English. Also my case worker said toys for individual play aren't needed as the children play together. Imagine that!!!!
Let me know if you have any questions.

I'm a dork....

Okay okay, most of you who read this know me well enough and know that I can be a bit dorky at times so.... don't forget to vote for Blake tonight on American Idol, every vote received will add to the donations made by Idol and many corporate sponsors toward charities that work with severely impoverished people in both the US and Africa. That is money going toward the elimination of extreme poverty in both the US and Africa at NO cost to you!!!!! Fine, you can vote for your favorite, just please vote!!!
See,it's still about Africa!!!

What exactly happens at a Court Date?

Good question, thanks for asking.
I'm not exactly sure what happens. I do know that a relative of Durant's comes to the court date and all necessary paperwork needs to be in order to proceed. If the court date is successful, that means Durant will be legally our son forever!!! So it's a big deal and very big day for all. After the court date is a success, then we wait to hear from the US Embassy about our date we need to be there to bring Durant home. It's usually about 4 weeks after the court date. So if all goes well, we're looking at maybe traveling the first week in June!

She saw Durant!

My friend who took a package over to Durant got home last night. She sent me an email saying that she got to see him sleeping peacefully in his crib. It's just so great knowing that he has a package from us and he knows we are waiting for him. And it's so amazing knowing that she got to see our son!! It just makes it so real and very exciting!! I can't wait to hear more about him and she took pictures!!!

We have a Court Date!!!

Yippee!! I can't believe it, but today our caseworker called and told us we have a court date. I really didn't think we'd hear anything until next week!! Our court date is set for May 8th. It's so exciting!! I will write more later about what a court date is actually all about.

Feeling down

This week I was feeling a little down about not hearing a court date for Durant and of course that leads to feeling bad about other things and it got me thinking about the people out there that aren't as supportive of our family as we would hope. I read lots of other adoption blogs and my favorite part to read about is when they travel to Ethiopia to bring their children home. Well many of them end their journey with a huge homecoming at the airport with banners and tons of people to welcome them home. It's so wonderful to read about. I know this is silly, but it makes me wonder about the people in my family that might not show up at the airport and that just makes me sad. But then once again, God showed up and had this happen just to remind me of all that I have.....
Tonight we had some friends over for supper, friends we haven't known very long or even very well yet. So this just meant so much to us when they not only brought over supper, but they also brought gifts for each of our kids. Matching pajama's for Carter and Durant and a cute little outfit for Ana. It just reminded me in this week of quietness with no court date for Durant, that we are loved and cared about by so many people. I just want to say thanks to all of you who are supporting us through your thoughts and kind words and prayers. We appreciate it so much. There are so many of you that are so excited for us. It helps to fill the void of the others that aren't so supportive.
Thank you so much!

Chicken Pox in Addis

I heard from my caseworker that there is was an outbreak of chickenpox at the care center. There are 7 kids and 1 worker that got it, not sure yet if Durant is one of them. She is checking and will let me know. She said the doctor is taking good care of the kids and he isn't too worried. Still it's hard to think about those sweet little kids without parents to hold them and help them feel better. I know when I was little the only person I wanted when I was sick was my mom.
Please keep the children and staff in your prayers. Thank you!

Got some details....

So not a court date, but we did get some news. Like I said before any news is like gold so even this news is very great to hear. We heard that Durant still sleeps in a crib and he drinks from both a bottle and cup, but prefers the bottle. Being able to hold him and give him his bottle will be very great for our bonding time!! Maybe he'll even let me rock him to sleep.
Not sure how Carter will take the news about the crib, since he's so excited to share a room and bunk beds with his brother!! He can hardly wait!!!

Quiet Week

These are the tough weeks, when we don't hear any news. I check my email about a billion times a day and every time the phone rings I can't help but hope it's our caseworker telling us we have a court date!!! So far our process has been so smooth and quick so a little waiting only makes sense and I know it's good for me.
It's doubtful I'll hear anything on a Friday so another weekend to wait, but that brings Monday!! Monday's are exciting in the adoption world because it means another full week of maybe hearing some news about your child!! Any little bit of news is like gold to you, even if it's something as small as "yes, he sleeps in a crib."
Thanks for checking in everyone. I appreciate it and it really makes me feel cared about!

God always shows up

I shouldn't be surprised by this, but even though I trust God to show up when we need Him, I'm always still amazed when He does. I just wanted to share a few ways God has shown up recently.
* As some of you know, due to our soon to be larger family we need a new vehicle (neither of ours will fit our new family). Last week out of the blue while Matt was driving the Explorer a friend of his stopped him and basically said he'd like to buy it for a very reasonable price!! This is so awesome and we could really use the money to put on a new vehicle.
* Another awesome thing is a very generous friend of mine has offered to pay for my entire week at the Hilton in Ethiopia. This will save us about $1200!!! So wonderful and such a surprise!!
* In the mail, I received a great big box full of boy clothes that was mailed to me by a CWA friend I've never even met!! Plus, several others have brought over gifts just for the fun of it. All for Durant!!
All of this has happened in the last two weeks! God is so awesome and we trust Him to continue to provide for us. Currently we are waiting to hear back from two grants we applied for to help us fund the last bit of our adoption. We're excited to see how God will provide for this last part.....

Happy Easter

We had a fun day celebrating Jesus being alive!!! The kids had lots of fun looking for their Easter baskets and then eating way too much candy!! The day was really great and I'm so looking forward to next Easter when our family will be whole with Durant home. It's hard not to feel a little sad that Durant isn't here and he's without his family at Easter, but I know he's being well taken care of and we will hold him soon.
Happy Easter!

Sending a package to Durant...

I'm so excited thanks to a great CWA and fellow Wisconsinite friend, I get to send a package to my little boy this week!! I'm sending some clothes, toys, and pictures of us. It's just such a great feeling to know he will be holding and touching things we have held and touched. I am a little weird and I did hug the things I put inside the bag somehow hoping the hug will transfer onto him and into his heart. So he knows there is a family waiting to hug and love on him.
Hopefully we will hear about a court date soon so I can go and give him a hug myself!

2nd medicals done...

We found out on Monday that Durant's second medicals are done and have come back looking great!! He's now up to almost 20lbs and he looks really healthy. We even got new pictures of him. He's so absolutely beautiful and he has these huge dark sad eyes that seem to tell an incredible story that is well beyond his years. I just can't wait to help those sad eyes that have seen so much so soon in life disappear.
Now that the medicals are done, we are officially waiting on a court date!! Yippee!! Time wise, it's still a guess, but we're thinking one of the last couple weeks in May.
Thank you God for keeping us in your Favor.