Shall We?!?

Let's try this again...shall we?!?

I didn't even realize how long it had been since I last posted to the blog until one of my very best friends sent me a message asking, as all good close friends do, what gives?!? I guess as life got a little busier and our adoption process got a lot slower I lost my motivation. That's not even a good excuse typed out...

After attending an AWESOME conference in Atlanta this year with hundreds of adoption mommies I was instructed to try again.

So here we go!

I'll do my best!!

Water Parks and Finger Prints

We received our notice to appear for our biometrics appointment to complete our I-600! Anyone that knows my husband realizes it takes being summoned to appear before he takes a day off work. With our girls in tow we headed north. Tanner and I were hoping to surprise the girlies with a long weekend at Great Wolf Lodge, but we also stink at secrets.  Needless to say we had some super excited kids on the drive up and naps were OUT!

We had an awesome room at an even awesom-er rate! I think even Tanner was impressed.  The girls had their own fully equipped "cabin" so we weren't stuck watching the Disney channel all weekend. Wahoo! Even though Tanner made fun of me for packing so much food, and even compared me to the queen of cheap, my mom, he was happy not to spend millions on eating at the on site restaurants for every meal. Love you momma you taught me well!! All in all it was an incredible experience and we can't wait to go back.

So after the water slides, indoor snow, and scavenger hunts it was time to get down to business.  We were off bright and early Monday to get fingerprinted.  I'm not sure why I thought this process would be more in depth but wow we were in and out in 15 minutes. Makes me feel kind of cheap. Oh well, I got an awesome family weekend out of the deal.

Now I can't wait for the approval letter!!

The Best Defense

Tanner mentioned today that I should have prefaced this post with how our conversation came about. This post was started before Christmas after an awkward conversation with an acquaintance. I found myself wanting to get defensive of our decisions then felt foolish for trying to argue my point. I was not trying to be negative here just honest. I've asked several of my friends who recently adopted to be brutally honest with me and I want to do the same for others.
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Although we are in the early stages of our adoption we have already been subjected to some severe questioning. Tanner and I understood with this decision there would be questions, comments, and even concerns.  I don't think we could ever be prepared to answer every question people feel entitled to.  So we pray over and discussed each detail, obviously. 

This is our conclusion....

We don't feel we have to defend our decision. So we won't even try. If you have questions please feel free to ask away and we will answer as gracefully as possible. If you have concerns please let them be known we are most likely praying over that very thing.  However, know this, we have entered into this process called by God to this specific country and to this specific boy nothing you say, ask, or do will change that decision.

With Love and Respect,
T & R

Nap Stories

To say that nap time during the winter break was "challenging" would be an understatement.  There were days in separate rooms, days with me in the room, and days of obvious playing.  I had to come up with new ways to coax the girls into wanting to take a nap which included, let's be honest, bribing. 

After many tried and failed attempts over the first week and a half I decided to throw a pedicure in the mix. I only thought I'd heard it all. There had been the Sophie MADE me read to her the WHOLE time excuse followed by the I felt like coloring bit, but this took the cake.

My offer was a pedicure for each napping child which I thought would bring on synchronized snoring. To my dismay it did not. After an hour of fairly quiet my precious girls emerged from their rooms with this jewel...and I quote, "Mom, we decided not to take a nap today because instead of spending money on painting our toes we want to save the money for Judah"

They found a way out I could not argue with. Tricky little stinkers!

Deep Breaths...

On Monday Tanner and I had our home study for our adoption. We have been prepping all week, and for those that don't know me well this means stressing all week! The home study was the last step in completing our agency paperwork as well as our Dossier so things had to be perfect. Tanner kept making sweet comments like, "Hon, I don't think she'll check the closets", and "Babe, the house needs to look lived in!".  Yes, I've been a busy little bee. 

The guest room has been transformed into an empty room awaiting Judah, and the couch I'd ordered a month ago that is lost in transit. All the rooms are cleaned and the litter box given a new home.  Even the toilet paper had been counted...heehee.  Kidding.  That was just one of the crazy comments that people felt the need to share with me to add to my stress levels. In other words we were as ready as ever.

After weeks of work the moment arrived. Tanner was staying home from work for the day the kids were fed and dressed and I was last minute cleaning with my trusty Shark!  We got a call from our social worker announcing her arrival in town and the need for directions...panic! Apparently map quest doesn't like small town back roads.  We straightened out the directions and waited as patiently as possible.  Oh, and I got my actual clothes on. Tanner thought my sweats and tank wouldn't be so appropriate.

Once the social worker entered our home my worries melted away. I could literally feel the prayers of my family and friends. I could also see God's calming hand on the girls who looked and acted as angelic as ever. Thank you Lord! Tanner, on the other hand, turned into a big, tense being on the couch. After a few silly comments provided by yours truly and the social worker assuring him he can relax he began to breath easier.

We had a wonderful conversation with this perfect stranger. The girls made their entrances and exits with confidence, grace, and almost silence. The deepest details of our families and lives were laid out for her to inspect.  We took a break for lunch then got back to the business at hand. After five hours of studying our family and home we were finally done. Our social worker ended our afternoon with the most incredible gift. The words left her mouth with ease, but tore through me. I was overwhelmed with emotions. We had passed our home study and were now only waiting on the completed paperwork.  "Please give me at least a month" she said.  No problem!

Now...what to do with this next month. Patience may be a virtue, but it's not one of mine!

Beyond Measure

It seems almost surreal this whole process. My family has truly seen God's hand at work, and as Tanner said, "How much more conformation do we need". Since starting our first application October 29th we have prayed for our son, our sanity, and financial provisions to name a few. Now, less than two months later we have a home study set and have been graciously chosen as a featured family by one of my favorite websites! Hopefully the first of many fundraising opportunities we will be blessed by.

Wild Olive Tees has chosen us as their featured family for December 7th-January 10th!! This means that a portion of every adoption fundraiser shirt purchased during this time with our family code BALLEW1210 will be sent to our adoption agency in our name. Thank you Lord!

Many that know me have seen me sporting my Wild Olive Tees all over the place even in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!! I was introduced to them two years ago and have fallen in love.  Not only do I adore their products, but have a great respect for the women who design and run the company as well. They have blessed us beyond measure!

I encourage you all to check out the website. Just click on the Wild Olive link!

Information Download

Since our blog is brand new I want to share our story with you all. My husband of 8 years, Tanner, and I have 2 children God blessed us with naturally. We live in small town USA and enjoy all things outdoors. You will quickly learn of Tanner's aversion to sitting still...I call it ADHD. You can form you own opinion. Our girls, Stella 5 and Sophie 4, are very active as well. We enjoy doing things as a family such as camping, swimming, running, and traveling!

We try very hard to balance an active family life while keeping Christ our focus. We LOVE our church and many precious friendships that have come from being there. Our lives are far from perfect, but we continue to learn and grow in God's love and unfailing mercy. To be quite honest a trip I took with our MOPS group at church helped lead us to where we are today (Thanks for the reminder J!)!

At the MOPS 2006 Convention in Orlando, FL I was introduced to an incredible organization called Compassion International. After searching through hundreds of children the volunteers found the one that met my only criteria that the child be male and have the same birthday as my father who passed when I was very young. This was my first connection to Ethiopia. God quickly grew our relationship with our child and my entire family fell in love with this boy and the country he lives in. We often read and learned as much as we could about his country. The girls enjoyed making home made cards and pictures to send to their brother in Africa. They truly began to grasp the depths of God's love through our interaction with Compassion.

Several years later (4 to be exact) I was offered an opportunity to travel to Ethiopia and meet our sweet boy face to face! What an incredible experience that was. It also showed me the immense poverty and devastation that runs rampant throughout Ethiopia. We spent 11 days visiting child survival facilities, development centers, and getting to know kids being supported through college! I even came away with another child to sponsor. This time a little girl from southern ET! If you aren't familiar with this organization please look into it! You will be blessed. I got to see and experience God's love in ACTION! As you can imagine I also gained new life long friendships. Ethiopia had acquired an even bigger piece of my heart which I quickly shared with my family.

Through the support of my family and close friends I was able to plan yet another trip to ET!! This trip took place only 4 months later. Along with a small group of friends from the Compassion trip we raised money to travel and love on orphans as God instructs us to do in Isaiah 1:17 and James 1:27. They are 6 million strong in ET! We were able to have pizza parties, distribute Amharic bibles, and spend quality time with orphans in 3 different orphanages. As you can imagine my heart hurt for these children who were so hungry for love. It's something we take for granted in America. With my families approval I, yet again, came home with more children to sponsor and share the love of God with. Our two boys from the Kolfe orphanage are so special to us. We have even been blessed to share precious time on skype between my Kolfe boys and my girls here at home in the US. They get so excited to talk and share with our extended family. It is helping us all understand how far God's love reaches!

All that to let you in on where God is leading our family...

After months of prayer Tanner and I have felt the Lord calling us to adopt.  We have always discussed the possibility of adoption even before we had children of our own. After my work in Ethiopia this year we feel He is leading us swiftly in that direction.  We have chosen to adopt a boy from and orphanage I had the privilege of visiting. Our prayer is that he is available.  If he is not we will wait on the child God has for us however long that may be.  We have felt God's hand at work through every step of the process and are anxious to see what He has in store. After only a month we have completed all our agency paperwork and are awaiting a home study, set for December 20th! Stella and Sophie can't help but tell everyone we come in contact with that they will soon have a little brother!! Please be in prayer for our family as we enter into this new chapter in our lives.