4 Months!

     It has officially been 4 months since our paperwork touched down in Ethiopia.  At times the whole process seems so surreal.  I got a little kick in the pants when I read that one of the recent CHI referrals was to a family who had waited just a little over 5 months.  That is only 1 month more than we have waited so far.  Wow!

     We have been so busy here.  I am fighting very high EBV blood scores and have been simply exhausted.  Our home schooling is in full swing.  My 8-year-old and I have been cast in a production of "The Sound of Music" at our local junior college, so rehearsals are most evenings.  The kids and I went to the Chabot Space and Science Center today in Oakland.  They have an amazing planetarium and lots of fun exhibits to explore.  Here are a few photo highlight from the day.

Driver's Permit!

    Lauren passed her driver's permit test today!  We walked out of the DMV at 4:30 this afternoon with that piece of paper in our hands.  She will be 17 in December - and is taking the whole thing a lot slower than some.  She doesn't seem to be in any hurry which is great for me.  It is amazing to see your babies getting older and hitting these milestones that lead to adulthood and letting go.  A number of her home schooling friends have left for college this month.  She is growing up - into such an amazing, inspiring young lady.

     Av was just cast in "The Sound of Music" as Marta at our local college.  I was asked to play the Baroness - so it should be fun to be on stage together again.

A Mid-Summer Night's Dream in August

     We all went to see Lauren perform in Shakespeare's "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream" this afternoon.  She played Titania, Queen of the Fairies.  She did a beautiful job.  She is an amazing actor, singer and dancer - not to mention the kindest, wittiest most intelligent and poised sixteen-year-old I have ever met!  (I may be biased, but others will testify to the truth of my words.)  I wanted to include some photos of our girl doing some of the things she does best.

The Waiting Game Continues

     Wow, time sure flies!  I am so good about keeping up with reading everyone else's blog entries, just not so good about keeping up with making any of my own.  This waiting period is such an odd place to be.  It has been awhile since any referrals have come in, and it is such a feeling of being in limbo.  In my head I know that our day will come, and we will have our baby - but it is off in the unknown future and part of me has a hard time wrapping my head around it.  There are a few things that I have done, like gotten my shots, and had my mom (who will be traveling with me) get hers.  I find it hard to know what else to do.  I don't know when the call will come, which gender the baby will be, how old or anything.  I really am not accomplishing much on the preparation front.  I assume I have a long wait ahead, but it feels like I should be chipping away at something!

     We are coming up on three months of waiting since our dossier has been in Ethiopia.  Now with the courts closed, I feel the wait extending out in front of me.  I am busy no doubt with my four kids and all the crazy daily activities - but I just hope I am not neglecting to do things that should be done during this time.  I think it will sneak up on my and it will be a mad dash to the finish.  Maybe that's okay?

     Come on referrals!!!!!  Yoo Hoo!

The photos are of our summer activities.  Jordan and Avonlea are shown in their dance outfits for a show they were in at the end of June.  Olivia is playing in the river at Family Camp which was a blast!  Lauren is pictured at a summer pool party.  It has been a wonderful summer that is quickly drawing to a close.  We are still looking forward to a home schooling conference in two weeks and  then our Lauren will start her senior year of highschool.

So Much Excitement!

    There have been so many referrals lately in the CHI ethiopia program.  It is so exciting!  One family who just got a referral said that their dossier arrived in Ethiopia at the beginning of March.  I was thinking in my head that we probably won't hear anything until mid-fall - but I guess it could happen sooner.  I called the travel clinic today to get rolling on my shots, just in case things keep rolling right along, I want to be ready!

    Bret & Lauren (16) are boarding a plane in New York right now bound for Egypt.  They are going to Cairo, and Asswan and on a cruise down the Nile.  L has always been a big fan of all things Egyptian.  She has all the dates, names, locations and history memorized.  She does beautiful Hieroglyph style art.  She is now going to get to see the country in person.  Technology being as amazing as it is, they are able to send me photos from each location from their cell phone to mine.  I am so thrilled for both of them.  I do sure miss them though.  I don't realize what a great team we are until Bret is gone for a day or two.  This time he will be gone for over two weeks.  I am trying to get as many projects done as I can to surprise him when he gets back.

    Many congratulations to all the families who have been matched up with their babies this week.  May those referrals keep on rolling in!

Chicken Adoption

I was inspired to write today  - even though our family is feeling sad.  Last night one of our hens, and her three chicks flew over our back fence and got killed by our neighbor's dogs.  We thought for most of the day today that they must be around, but my husband found the evidence this evening that they aren't coming back.

The reason I wanted to make this post was the amazing story behind these chickens.  About six months ago we inherited a group of chickens from a friend of a friend who is battling brain cancer.  They were mainly older hens, many past the point of laying.  As the weeks went by, my husband noticed a "broody" hen in the bunch.  This hen spent all day and night in the nest box.  She wanted to hatch some eggs.  We don't have any roosters, so this was never going to happen, but she persisted.  She went days without getting up for food or water and we knew we had to do something.

My husband, on a whim, went to the farm center and picked out three two day old chicks.  He brought them home and put them under her - not knowing what might happen.  It was love at first sight for all of them!  "Mama Grace" as the hen became known instantly took up care of these three tiny balls of black feathers.  She kept them warm underneath her and lavished them with love and attention.  Christina, Sally, and Kayla (as the chicks were named by our kids) fell in love with Mama Grace as well.  They would ride on her back and stare up into her face with adoration.

The rest of the hens weren't so crazy about the chicks, so Grace and her adopted babies took up residence on our porch by day and in a dog carrier at night.  They loved to spend time in our garden.  Grace was fiercely protective of the babies - and was known to puff up and chase our lab, our kids, and my husband if she felt they were too close to her little ones.

When they were a month old, Christina was injured.  We still don't know how it happened.  She hurt her leg badly and couldn't walk when we found her.  We were sure she wasn't going to make it and put her in a box in our bedroom.  Grace was so distraught by this, that eventually my husband said he was going to give the baby back to Gracie and see what happened.  She stayed with her injured baby, encouraged her to try to move and protected her all the while.  Within weeks, Christina was up and around!  She had an extreme limp that diminished over time.

Within the last weeks we were noticing that the chicks are almost as tall as their mama - and that these birds who were all black when we got them, were starting to develop brown feathers on their necks that resembled Grace's (a completely different breed).

So today we are mourning the loss of our pets - and remembering and sharing a beautiful adoption story.  Grace loved those chicks as her own, and I'm sure she fought to the death to try to save them.

Man Time

I find myself relating to all the stress so many families feel as they play the waiting game.  My four kids do keep life so busy, that I don't find myself spending too much time "feeling" the wait.  That being said, I am on the computer every day (or many times a day) checking CHI updates, reading family blogs and list serve postings.  I check the ticker on our blog to see how the time is passing.  I asked my husband yesterday, how long would he guess it has been since our dossier arrived in Ethiopia?  His guess was "about 10 days?"  It has been a little over a month!  He is one of those people who really doesn't feel the wait, and will just be elated when the day finally arrives.  I have to say, I am a bit envious :)

This is a photo taken of the girls 5 years ago!  I know the wait for our little one in Ethiopia will someday feel like nothing, because looking at this photo, I don't know where those 5 years have gone.