Ahhhhh....

My cousin just saved me from insanity! I'm starting to freak out a little - you know, I am a first time mom (so this is what I'm supposed to be doing, right?)! When I was almost on the verge of a worry meltdown about what books I need to read (hint, I'm a bookworm, and have to read as much as possible, especially in preparation for Raeghan). Okay, so I'm on the verge of this meltdown, and what is sitting on my desk in my home office - 2 packages from my cousin. These weren't just any ordinary packages - one package had at least 6 books relating to adoption, raising an adopted child, transracial adoption, etc. and I was suddenly put at ease. Then I opened up the second package, and my cousin and her kids had put together a package full of goodies for Raeghan. AHHHHH!! Isn't that awesome! So with the arrival of two packages, my nerves have been set at ease! YAY!! My cousin ROCKS!!

Thanks KT!! You Rock!!

Raeghan...

Just in case you haven't heard, which I highly doubt, we received a referral for a 4 year old girl at the end of May! We are extremely excited, and just can't wait to go get her. Right now we are just waiting on a court date (oh, please be soon!), and will probably travel 3-4 weeks following the court date. After our court date, we will officially be her parents, and then we will be able to post pictures of her. In the meantime, you'll just have to imagine a gorgeous little face! (I know, I'm a little bias already!)

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD,
SING WITH ME...

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD,
AND ALL WILL SEE...

HOW GREAT, HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!

I have crossed over...

As of today, I have crossed over!

1) I opted to not use the postal service today, and used DHL instead. I have crossed over - I know mother, you are extremely disappointed in me! I had no other choice, they preferred DHL.

2) Now, why in the world did I have to use DHL for, and especially instead of the UPS (from which my inheritance will come from some day - right Mom - JK)? For my dossier, silly! My dossier is off, and on it's way to Assistant Stork. My stomach had a huge pit in it when I handed over my DHL package to the OfficeMax man! Did that man know how much effort, time, and money I put into that thing - and that, that is what is standing between bringing our daughter home! However, at the same time I felt a sense of relief - MY DOSSIER IS DONE AND IS ON IT'S WAY TO EVENTUALLY BE IN ETHIOPIA!

YAY - this has been a fantastic week! Now, we all know what could make this week even better (wink, wink Grace)!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

My Day in Pictures

Captions for pictures!

#1 - This is the beautiful face I wake up to each and every morning, including this one! The other beautiful face I wake up next to wouldn't allow me to take a picture :)

#2 - Me in my car sitting in the driveway just waiting for this adventure to begin!

#3 - My delightful breakfast to jump start my morning -yes, I know, should a person who has a gluten allergy really be eating a doughnut - I thought the same thing myself!

#4 - Please do not try this at home - Driving to my destination, St Paul! Yes, I know many of you are extremely impressed that I could do two things at once - especially drive and take a picture! And aren't my sunglasses kickin?

#5 - Arrived at the Secretary of State office - 9:50am. Left the office 10:05. Pretty impressed, and happy to go on my merry way! YAY our notarizations have been authenticated by the Secretary of State. 18 documents = $90, having them done - PRICELESS!

#6 - Last, but most definitely not least, my finished product! Now, our dossier is ready to be over-nighted to Assistant Stork and furthermore unto Ethiopia. So many more steps closer to our little girl - this has been a superb week and it's only Tuesday! YAY!

Hip..Hip...Hop - Opps, I mean Hurray!

As of Friday, we have our homestudy. On Saturday, we went to the Credit Union and had our final documents notarized, had two passport pictures taken for our dossier, and compiled our dossier. Oh, I'm so excited that we finally received our homestudy after waiting two months for one of our background checks! I thought the day would never come that we would actually have our homestudy in hand. The pictures on the left show my excitement of having it in hand. Lily was a little confused about my excitement, simply because it was just a stapled stack of papers, and not the ads that she loves to chew up. And she couldn't figure out why I wanted to chew her up, rather than those beautiful pieces of paper in my hand. I reaffirmed her that the adoption paperwork has made me a little crazy!

Speaking of being a little crazy, our referral must be coming soon because I am nesting like crazy. On Friday, I completely cleaned out, and organized all of our cabinets, drawers in our upstairs bathroom. Then on Sunday, I organized our game trunk, buffet, and working on the black hole of my office. Seriously, what has gotten into me?! Please, Grace, please say it is because our referral is coming soon! I can't imagine any other reason for my obsessive organizing, aka nesting.

Please continue to pray for our Lil' Cupcake! May she be surrounded by the love of her Ethiopian family, her orphanage family, and our family. We love her so much, and we can barely wait any longer to know who she is!

Cheers to going to the Secretary of State office tomorrow and getting our documents authenticated, and then off to Washington D.C. this week! YAY!!

YAY!!!!

OUR HOMESTUDY IS FINALLY FINISHED!!!! Our social worker called yesterday to inform us that after almost three months, Minnesota finally got our Indiana background check back! YAY!! We should have our homestudy in the mail by the beginning of next week . That way next Thursday, I will be able to take our dossier, homestudy included, up to the Secretary of State in the Cities to have the SOS seal. After that, I will send it to Assistant Stork - who will authenticate it in Washington D.C. and then off to ETHIOPIA! Ahhh - it's so close! Having our paperwork done - will mean we are getting closer to a referral! I can't wait until I get a name and picture for our daughter - but until then I will just enjoy how cute Hope's families' kids are :)

Keep praying for our referral - I hope we get a referral for our Lil' Cupcake - but more than anything pray that she is safe, healthy, and loved.

Just wanted to share our exciting news!


Getting Closer and Closer to Bringing Lil' Cupcake Home!