A few of my favorite things

All these things are reminders to me that we are getting ever closer to Levi! I picked up a baby blanket for him about a month ago thinking that I would be able to send it over with another family. Some agencies allow this, but I found out that Holt does not. I was disappointed, but understand that their first interest is in caring for the kids. I suppose it would be a bit unfair for some children to recieve extra gifts than others. I will gladly give it to Levi when we are able to bring him with us out of the care center :)

The ready-to-use formula came this week. It will be very handy to have on our trip home.

I ordered the baby book "My Family, My Journey" after hearing rave reviews and I LOVE it. It is specific for an adopted child and is made in a way so that when filled out it can serve as a "life book" with which you can tell your little one their story. It has some very sweet entries such as "people who helped bring you home" and "the story of our family" where you write about our family came to be. I look forward to working on this on the plane...or maybe here at home if we end up waiting for another court date.

The audio CD and book "Simple Language Amharic for Adoptive Families" just came in the mail today and I also LOVE it. The purpose of the book is to help you learn enough Amharic to help you communicate with a child you have adopted. This will not really be an issue with Levi as he is only 5 months old, however, I do hope our family will eventually learn it all so that we can speak it to each other in the years to come. It is filled with phrases that you would use during normal activities throughout the day. It is VERY user friendly and was created by an adoptive mom. I would heartily recommend this for an adoptive family!

**Oh, and I left my purse at the post office today - Ha Ha!! I totally walked out with my kiddos and my wallet in my hand. I just don't know if I'll ever grow up!

Reminded afresh

This weekend I am reminded afresh at what grace really is. On Friday night I heard that some friends of ours were having a yard sale the next morning, so I went over early Saturday morning to help set stuff out. In the course of conversation I realized what actually was going on. They were having a moving sale, but they were giving us ALL the profits for the adoption. And this was no small yard sale, mind you.

I hesitate to say this because I, in no way, want to endorse a prosperity gospel (the prosperity gospel says that the Lord wants to "bless" Christians with nice homes, cars, health, and wealth) but I desperately do not want to forget this road to Levi and I will do my best to explain my thoughts so it is clear what I AM trying to say. I am truly blown away by the generosity that we are being shown from the body of Christ as of late and it has been so incredibly encouraging as we prepare to meet our new son. After this last week I have been in a sweet place of just feeling the Lord's pleasure in this adoption. A sweet place of rest. It has been 16 months (so far) of working and waiting that, most days, is heavy on our hearts. It is everything out of our comfort zone of "normal daily life" - a roller coaster of emotions. It means going without many things that the world esteems. It means doing lots of work that no one else has to do because they are not on the same road as you. It means often having to explain yourself and sometimes defend the road you have chosen knowing that others most likely don't understand your passion because they do not feel the same call in their lives. Please understand, I am not grumbling, but feel incredibly blessed to be in the front row...no, up on stage as the Lord unfolds this story. I am watching the Lord be a father to Levi by providing financially for this adoption. Amazing.

On the menu

Vivotif Typhoid oral vaccine. Yum.

Much grace from dear friends = many tears from me this weekend. This is a teaser. Details to come.

Sliding fun

Look at that beautiful blue sky! They could totally be miles up in the air!

Just yesterday morning while we were walking, Juliana hollered out "Good night, Levi". She's going to be a great big sis for him :)

One of those rare "not cheesy or princess-ey" smiles. I LOVE those!

Every time Evan got up to the top of the slide he would wait for Juliana. Evan has graduated to the "stand" part of our "sit and stand" stroller. What a big kid!

So does it mean I am grown up if . . .

I finally bought a purse? Yes, I found a cute purse at a garage sale this morning for a whole dollar! I really have tried before to carry a purse, but have inevitably lost it...lots of times. No really, lots. After a few good tries, I gave up and am totally happy to carry a little wallet that either stays in my hand at all times or slips into the diaper bag. So why bite the bullet and carry a purse, you say? Well, I wanted one for the trip so that I can take it on the plane with my carry-on and carry more stuff with me. More stuff with me = more stuff that doesn't potentially travel to Bali.

My ticker on the blog says only 2 weeks until court. It seems like the days are flying by!

I have never flown internationally so, like I said before, MUCH to learn. The Lord is so faithfully bringing things to our attention so that we are learning much and, I think, will be very prepared for our trip :) If you know me, I am rarely prepared so when it happens for this trip, it only be one of those boasting in the Lord moments!

I had been bummed that I wouldn't be able to buy much in the way of gifts and donations for the care center, but I should have remembered to stop being disappointed and just pray about it. In the past week I got a call from a friend who wanted to buy little stuff to hand out to kiddos - Yay! I thought of a gift for the nannies that I am excited to give and that is homemade so it won't cost a bundle...I'm working out the details and will let you know about it when I get it put together. More and more stuff is coming in for our garage sale, so much of my spare time is spent sorting and pricing.

Hmm...I wonder what I am going to do with myself when all is said and done with this trip. Oh yeah, I'm gonna snuggle up with my new little Levi and learn what it is like to have 3 little ones to chase after - WoooooHooooo!

This post is the most jumbled one yet. Will it get worse? Most likely. This IS what it is like to be in my brain right now :)

I have a dream...

that the two weeks before travel will be worry-free and that all I will have to do is to clean the house and pack the kids. Is it possible? I think so! I worked on another suitcase tonight and started gathering necessary paperwork into a file folder that will travel with us. I was checking out our passports and noticed that we still needed to sign on page #3 - so if you are traveling also, don't forget to sign it! Craig copied off the tax documents tonight that we will need to take with us and placed them snug in the folder as well. Last night I ordered formula in ready-to-feed bottles online. There was only one choice here in town and I was able to get free shipping so it was actually much cheaper to order it online - Yay! These will come in very handy on the 12 hour flight, or so I hear :)

We have also been looking into Medical Release forms that we will fill out for the kids so that they will be able to get medical care if needed while we are away. Thanks to those of you who brought this to our attention - we hadn't even thought about this!

There are a few Holt families who have their court dates in Ethiopia on the 24th, so that means tonight the judge will be reviewing their files! Oooh, I hope they hear good news tomorrow morning!!!

Anonymous

"throughout the Scriptures the great theme of God's unrelenting kindness throbs like a powerful heartbeat. 'His merciful kindness is great towards us...' (Ps 117:2) is a refrain that never dies. It is repeated scores of times as a reminder that the mercy, compassion, and kindness of God flow to us freely, abundantly in refreshing rivers every day." W. Phillip Keller

Just today we have been the recipients of merciful kindness. The kind of kindness we could never deserve...and we can never repay it because we don't know who you are! In the mail this afternoon we recieved a large donation towards the adoption. Thank you (with tears)! I wish that I knew who you were so that when we come home with Levi I could make sure that you got a big baby boy smile and a hug from little Ethiopian arms for helping to make us a family. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

About 1/3 of the funds needed for this adoption have been given to us by family and friends. I don't want to forget all of you who have been so generous to us along the way. It seems very inadequate to say thank you, but that is all I can do. It is not an easy road to adopt...even those who have simply been excited with us have done much to encourage our hearts.

It may seem like no big thing to offer words of encouragement or offer money, but do you get it? This is not just something that we thought was the "cool" and "in" thing to do. This is a little boy who doesn't have a momma or daddy right now. Truly, it is hard to understand the implications, even for us, as we haven't even met Levi yet. But oh, how he is going to be loved on MUCH by Craig and me and his new brother and sister. We will surely treasure this little Ethiopian boy as a gift from the Lord. You are helping to change a life - THANK YOU!!!!

Football soup

I tend to take life way too seriously, so it is refreshing when my kids get my giggles going. This evening at dinner we had taco soup. It is a concoction of taco seasonings, beans, corn, and tomatoes that about half the time the kids love it and half the time they are sure they hate it. Well, this evening the kids decided they liked it (Yay!) and Evan would dig out a bean, hold it up, and say "ball" making sure we all saw the bean. Then right before he'd eat it he'd say "huh huh" which is Evanspeak for "hut hut" , you know, what you say before you hike the football. I also talked him into digging for corn which I told him was the treasure. Each time he found one he would hold it up and declare, "Tor!" (Evanspeak for "corn") and then gobble it up.

This evening I was singing a song to Juliana right before she was to go to sleep. I was all snuggled up beside her in bed and we were face to face as I finished a little praise song that ends "...Take joy my King, in what you hear. Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear." To which she looked longingly into my eyes and whispered...





"enchilada"



These kids crack me up!

Learning curve

In the last three days I have learned much on airline baggage requirements and going through customs. I have done searches to learn about jet lag (believe me, I know NOTHING about international travel) about CD's to learn some Amharic and about what kind of gifts we should bring with us. I have found places online to buy several things that we need that aren't available in our town. I am so very thankful for being able to hop online and look up tons of information, but I am dreaming of a day after the adoption is said and done when I quite possibly might not even turn on the computer!!!

This is a pile of shoes I scrubbed this morning to take to the care center. Most of them were given to us for the garage sale and instead of selling them for a dollar I deemed them worthy of travel to Ethiopia!

Donations anyone?

If I've learned anything in this adoption process it is how to shamelessly ask for help. We are getting our suitcases ready and collecting items for travel - Yahoo! We still don't have travel dates, but we are getting ready b/c it should be in the next 8 weeks. I would LOVE to take two suitcases FULL of donations for the care center, but honestly we are going to be cutting it close financially and aren't able to purchase many things to donate. Are there any of you readers out there who would like to provide much needed supplies for the Holt care centers in Ethiopia? We would love to deliver them for you :) Here is the list of current needs for the care centers:

• flashlights
• baby blankets
• bottle brushes
• thermometers
• mosquito nets
• travel size baby wipes
• antifungal creams, diaper creams
• educational items (for doing school type activities with older kids, in English is fine)
• board books
• used laptops
• children's cd's, dvd's
• children's shoes and socks (can be gently used)
• clothes (from baby to older child 5-7 yrs)
• vitamins (infant and toddler)

***If I don't know you personally and you would like to donate items, leave a comment here with your contact info and I will not publish it, but will get a hold of you so that you might mail or deliver stuff here. I will be making a stop in Lincoln on the 9th for any of you interested in passing along some goodies for Ethiopia.

And the packing begins!

This is what we have to show after a fun trip to the store the other night. I'm hoping this is the bulk of what we will have to buy. Much of the rest will be things that we already have: clothing, cameras, and baby stuff. I do still need to buy snacks for us, gifts for the care center staff, and food for Levi (after I find out how he is eating closer to travel). Juliana had a great time "packing" for us this afternoon :)

Oooh, I am so very excited to see the ticker on the right side of the blog down to less than 3 weeks until our court date!

Fun new breakfast

I ran across this recipe for a Dutch Puff that we are thoroughly enjoying. I made it for the first time yesterday morning and Juliana requested it again this morning. It is similar in taste to french toast but is full of protein so it keeps your tummies full until lunch! I love how fun it looks when it comes out of the oven . . . oatmeal is good, but a dutch puff is good AND fun!

Perspective

"If we could for a minute step into the threshold of heaven and look at our mothering from God’s perspective, I think we would be amazed at what God has entrusted us with."

Holly Elliff

If you are a momma or grandmomma and could use some incredibly encouraging words, check out this series from the radio program Revive our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss. You can listen online or read the transcript (a quicker option).

He's doing well

Just this week we received an update on Levi and he is growing and doing well! He is eating well and almost rolling over :) This was the first we had heard about Levi since our referral at the beginning of March so we are loving anything they can tell us about him. Oh, we also got 4 more pictures and he is so very handsome!

I was printing the pictures out on our computer when Evan got up from nap and he started saying his usual "safor, safor, safor?" which in Evanspeak means "what's that for?" I told him it was new pictures of Levi and he got a big grin on his face and tried to pull them out of the printer before they were done he was so eager to see them. Evan is 2! Shouldn't he be oblivious to this very abstract concept right now? Hmmm...the Lord is surely doing a work to knit this family together already! I can see it so clearly some moments. If this is what you are praying for us along this way, THANK YOU! Know that the Lord is being pleased to answer YOUR prayers! I have to admit that this is not something I have remembered to be specifically praying for. I do want to update you on some more specific prayer needs that I see...though it is obvious that I do not see them all, so pray for us for whatever the Lord lays on your heart :)

• Financial provision. It is hard to know exactly how much we will need as long as travel is still up in the air. In addition unexpected costs related to the adoption keep popping up.
• Donations. I would LOVE to be able to travel with two suitcases loaded with donations for the care center.
• For Levi. That he would continue to remain healthy. That he would move safely to the main care center and be loved on much!
• For us. That we would not be missing ANYTHING that the Lord would have to teach us along the way. That we would know the best plan for the Juliana and Evan when we are gone and for safety for Craig and me.

Can't wait

The house was quiet this evening. Kids were in bed, finally asleep, and Craig was busy reading the list of travel tips in the bedroom. I was looking across the living room just enjoying the quiet and it suddenly hit me that Levi will be here...HERE! Not there anymore, but HERE! He will be crawling on these floors and playing peekaboo around these doorways. And I am so not kidding you when I tell you that I was jumping up and down in my kitchen with happy tears coming out of my eyes!

Especially Easter

It is suprising even to me, but Easter with toddlers CAN be meanginful! I have run across some great tools that make Easter mean much more than candy and the Easter bunny to our little ones. Well, I guess it helps if you don't do the easter bunny at your house (gasp!). It is funny that even though they know that the easter bunny at the store and the one at the egg hunt are just people in costumes, they still get a kick out of them :)

Anyway, I wanted to share some of the fun things we do, because it can be a challenge to get kiddos to pay attention, listen, and interact about serious things. Teaching our kids the gospel is THE most important things we can do for our kids and our toddlers go crazy over these ways that we celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ in a special way on Easter.

Play-dough Easter Mountain: This idea came from Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper (this is a GREAT book!) I'll post the recipe later this week. Each day of the week before Easter Sunday you can play out parts of the story of the Holy week with the pipe-cleaner people. Kids are captivated by this...not just my kids but I've done this with other's kids and had the same result. On Good Friday the Jesus figure is placed on the cross and then laid in the grave with the "rock" sealing the entrance. On Saturday we posted "guards" at the sides of the tomb and talked about what the disciples must have been thinking and feeling. On Sunday the kids awake to Jesus "alive" standing victoriously at the top of the hill. Both kids saw the triumphant "Jesus" at separate times that morning and both jumped up and down and shouted with joy! Noel Piper suggests that as long as children are enjoying it (and they really do!) and being somewhat serious this is a great activity, but suggests as soon as it is started to be treated as silly it is time to set this one aside.

The basic mountain with cross stuck in a hole on the top

White one is Jesus (carrying cross), Red ones are Roman soldiers, light brown are disciples

Sunday morning Juliana woke up to find the tomb (a hollowed out part underneath the mountain empty and "Jesus" alive!

Joyful Juliana...about 2 seconds later!

Resurrection Eggs: I first heard of these on the Family Life radio program and found them a few years later at Wallyworld. They are 12 plastic Easter eggs filled each with a charm that signifies part of the story of the gospel. Examples are a silver cup (the last supper, God's wrath), praying hands (Jesus in the garden), and a rock (covering the tomb). These are the eggs we hide in the house for the kids to hunt for on Easter morning. The set of eggs comes with a book that has a little reading for each egg, and you can make it as long or as short as you want. If you would want to do a few eggs a day leading up to Easter you could or keep it really informal and just discuss it with the kids while they play randomly with the eggs. I like unstructured play, so plenty of time was spent just watching the kids have fun opening and closing eggs and asking them questions about what they found. Our kids LOVE these!

Daddy and Evan on Easter morning looking through the Resurrection Eggs in no particular order.

So fun!

I LOVED making this! It will be forwarded to Levi in Ethiopia soon :)

What's happening

Though we are on hold waiting for our court date, it feels like things are moving fast-forward with the adoption since our referral. In the past month we have gotten our vaccinations and updated some paperwork that needs to be done annually. For those of you wondering, five vaccinations at one time does wipe you out for about 2 days! We are fully recovered though and that typhoid vaccine in our fridge is calling our names :) We may also need to update our homestudy soon depending on how the court date goes. We have started collecting for our garage sale at the end of May and sorting items has started to take up a significant amount of our time. What would be AWESOME would be if it happens that we have to postpone our garage sale because we will be in Ethiopia - oh, I so would not complain about that! The Lord's timing is perfect and He has been faithful to keep us waiting patiently but eagerly to see when we get to go bring Levi home. We talk about Levi a LOT these days. Evan already plays basketball with him...seriously. He will throw his basketball in the crib and shout LEVI! It will be interesting to see if pretend Levi disappears when real Levi arrives - Ha!

I finally finished the photo album that Holt will deliver to the care center for Levi. It is required that it be simple - pictures on paper, laminated and tied together - so that mailing it is easier. And just the other day I realized that it is not too early to start collecting stuff for travel. Fun!

Good deals

Oatmeal recipe: We have finally succeeded in consistently making our grocery budget! The difference makers seem to be limiting our snack cracker type foods to 1-2 boxes/month and substituting popcorn ( a healthy alternative!) most days and also limiting boxed cereals to 1-2 boxes/month to be used as snacks. Instead of cereal at breakfast we have been eating oatmeal and have found a YUMMY recipe for a homemade instant mix at my friend Paula's blog here.

Cloth diapers: Still going well! Check out diaper jungle for lots of questions, answers, and reviews.

Super cute and modest swimsuits: With summer around the corner and modesty hard to come by when shopping for that swimsuit check out swimsuits from Modbe here. I got the one below last summer with my birthday money and love it. They are quite pricey but in my opinion well worth it.

Drawer organization: I came across this great idea for organizing kid's drawers. Instead of folding and stacking so that ALL the shirts come out when my independent little girl chooses her own shirt, the shirts are rolled and put one behind the other so that they are all visible and only one comes out at a time.

Picture displays: A fun way to display our kiddos' artwork! All it takes is a 10 cent picture frame from a garage sale, a nail, and an office clip.

Party time!

New animals from mom, dad, and Juliana

The "Hit" gift of the party! Thanks Aunt B!

"Mom, you're such a party animal"

Juliana is opening a card she made for Evan. It has a spiderman on it.

A special cake for the birthday boy :) You wouldn't know there was a last minute scramble to find an eyeball would you . . . and I'll never tell where I got it from!