Look at her now!

Our baby girl is sitting up!!  YAY!!!  And look at those 2 adorable little teeth!

 

We received an update on her today.  I think she's going to fit into our family just perfectly! 

 

Travis-who is in-country-wrote "What a peaceful child! Liya is so friendly and cute! I put a baby that was crying in Liya's crib with her and Liya was reaching for the baby, trying to comfort her!"

 

It's what my boys do for each other now.  They are the best buddies and are constantly thinking of the other!  Now we'll soon have 3 looking out for each other.  So exciting!

Just testing to see how this works

I wanted to see how this email thing works, if I were to hopefully post pics while in Ethiopia.  And you get to see this beautiful little girl for my test!

Just about done!

Yes, that means almost done packing! :) As I mentioned, I had 3 suitcases packed with Addison's things and the H. Aid for a few weeks now. So it was down to mine and Mark's clothes, then carry-on luggage. I have to take them up to the shop to weigh them...just to be sure they aren't over 70 pounds (especially the oversized bag), but otherwise all that's left is our carry-on stuff and a few minor last minute items.
Ask any one of my family members or in-laws...they'll all tell you the same thing. I'm the organized one! :)

But I have a lot of things to do in the next 2 (less than 2!) weeks before we travel. I still gotta pack the boys for the grandparents houses. But I'm still doing my same old routine. Trevor still goes to school 3 days a week and I'll still be at the Y almost every morning...which only leaves my afternoons and this coming weekend. I also have a MOPS meeting next Friday that I really want to go to as well without feeling guilty about needing to do something yet for Ethiopia.....so besides being an overly organized person (most of the time), I just got a lot of things to do and having packing out of the way feels like 1000 pounds off my shoulders! :) It's also nice to do that with Mark home cuz he keeps the kids busy!!!

Well, time to sleep for now. Y to exercise at 8am.....morning comes too soon!!

120th Anniversary for Gladney

My family and I arrived home last night about 12:30. But I have to say we had such a great time in Fort Worth. We went to 2 of the 4 activities Gladney was doing for the weekend. Friday evening we went to Billy Bob's Honky Tonk. It was fun! The only bad thing was, the boys were cooped up for about 6 hours in the car and just as we pulled into the hotel we went up to change and left right away. So we have a 2 year old and a 4 year old just wanting and NEEDING to run off energy.
And I was so excited to find Mary. I asked one of the ladies when we were signing in if she had arrived yet, but they said she'd be coming soon. We ended up meeting her in the food line and she got her hug as I promised her the day before! I cannot say anything but fantastic things about this lady! Her and I clicked so awesomely (is that a word?) I almost felt like she was a long lost best friend!! So completely fantastic! We talked for quite a while that night, and to all of us Ethiopia families that were there. She pointed out some of them as we went thru the food line.
I was able to also meet Belay that night. Very nice man and comforting to know he's kind of in charge when we travel. I also met and talked to Abby some that night. We talked about some of my wondering questions for travel, so it was nice to be put at ease for some of the "worries" I had when we are there. And she also let me know that our baby girl is one of the favorites to the in-country couple's daughter over there. She has spent so much time with her over there, I kinda feel guilty when we'll be bringing her home! :)

Then Saturday we went to Gladney. BEAUTIFUL place!! They had lots of activites going on...Ethiopian dancers, Chinese dragon, TCU drum band, LOTS of blow up things for the kids to jump in/on. Couldn't pass up the free popcorn and cotton candy. Don't find free cotton candy in our neck of the woods! :) It was just a fantastic day! We also met the couple that took the care bear over to Addison, the Lydick's. Very nice couple/family. It was so nice to be able to thank them in person for everything they did for us when they traveled. Their family is so beautiful and their little Neveah....WOW!! She was giggly with Caleb's balloon and so adorable. There is no other perfect word than she was just a doll!! It made me so much more excited to know in just 2 short weeks we'd have our Addison to hold and snuggle with also!
I also introduced myself to Eric and Tara--there were some bloggers you see that you think you've seen them before. I also saw the Bottomly's but wasn't able to chat with them. They were the first blog I ever read and their little Silas is such a cutie as well!! Actually, Ethiopians are just beautiful people period!!
While there, I made the comment to Mark, that as a person just stopped and looked around at all the families and children, how wonderful it was to feel a part of the Gladney family. We had overheard they were expecting about 1000 people there yesterday. Such a wonderful feeling to have a connection to each one of those people in SOME way, even if you have no idea who they are! :)
I have to just say again though....Mary is so wonderful! She is such a pro at what she does and I know she has such a fulfilling job! Even thru some of the negativity she gets, those phone calls she makes to tell a family their baby boy or girl they've been staring at for a couple months is officially theirs.....there has got to be no words for her to explain it!

So, now that we are home, we will be celebrating Trevor's 4th birthday today. I was glad to be home so we aren't driving and singing Happy Birthday. And we'll be doing laundry to get started on the last of our packing. I have 3 suitcases packed (have for a month probably) with Addison's things, as well as the humanitarian aid we'll be taking with us. It's now down to our clothing and personal items we'll be taking. And possibly a little more H. Aid. Less than 2 weeks to pack now, and there are LOTS of things to do before then!!

Getting things together

I'm trying to get ready for Texas this weekend and trying to get a few things together for Ethiopia now. Lots to do before leaving tonite!!!

We are now confirmed for a flight. We will be leaving Saturday April 12 and returning Tuesday April 22. We'll be leaving one day sooner since that was a flight available....but that's ok too. One day sooner to Addison!

If there are any families out there wanting pictures (and who doesn't?!?) let us know.....we'd be happy to take some pics of your babes while we're there!

Introducing........Addison Liya Schumacher!!!!

YES!! It's official!! Addison is our new baby girl. Of course we are all completely ecstatic with the great news!!

She was born August 2, 2007...so next week she will be 8 months old. We are in the process of getting flight information to schedule exactly when we'll leave, but right now it looks like we'll be leaving Sunday April 13 (or possibly Saturday the 12th) and coming back Tuesday the 22nd.

It's just unbelievable to think, in just 2 weeks, we will be holding our brand new baby daughter.

Thank you Lord for all you do! Thank you Lord for letting Addison join our family. And thank you for the other families who also received wonderful news today! We are all blessed by you for this wonderful gift and for the wonderful friendships we will make traveling to receive our children together!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!! AMEN!

COURT - Take 2 (tomorrow)

Well, I know you've all got to be biting at the bit wondering what's going on today and what we've found out.

We did receive a call this morning about 10:30. At the time I was at the shop in Platte Center--and of course, my cell phone doesn't really work up there. So I answer the phone and ask Mary if she's got good news for us. She says "Well...." and my phone call died. So I got online for her number (cuz of course that was the one thing I forgot to do this morning before leaving--to write her number down) and called her back. She said that none of us families to have court today had our judge show up.

Sooooooo, that means "we" go back to court tomorrow. I'm ok with this. If this is all that is bad that is going to happen, I'm ok with it! They didn't tell us to come back in 2 weeks, so that is a good thing too. Now we just have 1 extra day to pray to God and tell him why us families want to have our new additions added to our families tomorrow! :)

Only hours to go

Here's hoping to a good night's rest and a successful phone call tomorrow.

Lord, be with us families waiting for good news at court tomorrow. Give us all the patience till our phone calls come in. And please let us all be blessed with a new addition (or 2) to our families. We all know tomorrow's decision is already decided for us. We just pray Your will is the news we all hope for. Amen!

Nesting??

I can't believe court is tomorrow! And I'm still hoping my sense of peace and not biting at the bit is a good sign for us!

Today I've been cleaning a bit. I don't know if it's more to take my mind off things or if it's really nesting. Either way, cleaning needs to be done too! :)

There are 5 of us families I know for sure with court tomorrow. Here's hoping and praying we all get thru! I know we're all ready to bring our little ones home!

AMEN!

WOW!! There are so few words I can say about this evening. My oldest son and I went to Saturday Easter church tonite. It's my favorite mass of the whole year, next to Christmas that is. It was long...2 hours. But for a boy who will turn 4 next weekend, he did awesome! But that's besides the point I wanna say.

Mass tonite hit me hard. It was so fantastic and got right into my heart. And while there, of course I tried praying as hard as possible, plus a little more, knowing court is only 3 days away! I think He sent me there a little early tonite too. I thought it started at 7, but it was actually 7:30. So, I got in a few more prayers before church even started. I just felt tonite I was right where I was supposed to be.

The readings tonite were fantastic. Listening to each word of (I think it was 6!) the readings...like I said, I just don't have the words on how I feel. I think my perspective on God has just changed so much since we started this process. He has been there in so many ways and so many situations.

So, as we narrow in on the last couple days before the BIG final decision will hopefully be made, I feel him with me as much now as ever. Yes, I would say I'm a little nervous...more of the unknown at this point. But I have to say, I think I feel a sense of peace also.

You know...maybe in my life, Easter couldn't have been a more perfect time for us!!

Bless us all who have waited so long for our hopeful good news this Wednesday!

Happy Easter everyone!

1 week to go

WOW! Only 1 week left to go till court. I can't believe how calm I've been, but I guess I pray a lot too. Pray that it's His will for next Wednesday to be a successful court day for us, and our other blogging friends!

I also have to say....these Gladney people, I just can't say enough about them! They have been SO fantastic throughout this whole process. April 3rd will be a year since our orientation call and I've had no complaints, but compliments to them since then.

Let's just say, for example, Natalie. While she was in Ethiopia, she thought of us (and I'm assuming the other families) enough to take pictures of our babes while she was there to send to us when she returned. What a fantastic thing to do for us all! Pictures are a lifesaver at this point in time and if you aren't there yet, you will be! Pictures and updates of these children are just the best.

So, as I'm trying to clean up my pile of papers on the floor and go thru my emails I haven't gotten thru in the last few days, I see Mary's name and know it's gotta be good. Well, it was better than that!!

Anyone thinking about adoption, I will say I would recommend Gladney to you 150%!!! Those people down in Texas are some of the best and most thoughtful people in this world....in more ways than one!

1/2 way there

2 weeks down and 2 weeks to go! WOW! I have to say, for us, the past 2 weeks have gone by decently fast. I guess I haven't completely focused on it though. When will I?? Next week.....Easter weekend.....the few days before when I'm sitting on edge impatiently waiting for Monday to end...Tuesday to end. Then I have to get thru the morning. (Mary thinks she'll probably be able to call with information in the afternoon)
But, we're getting close....closer each day. 14 days to go......let us all hang in there!!!

Yesterday's Liya Post

I don't think I was extremely clear on my post from yesterday...so to possibly clear up my point of Liya Kebede....

When we received our referral, our hopeful baby girl's name she was given is Liya. I loved it and the spelling, but here we would spell it Leah. So I was doing some research on the way it was spelled to learn more about it. While doing so, I found there is a lady from Ethiopia whose name is also Liya, spelled the same way, and come to find out she is a model. And a beautiful one, I might add! So after a little thought, I can't help but wonder if she was maybe named after Liya the model. And it's a great name for our hopeful baby girl cuz she is just as beautiful as Liya Kebede (if not more beautiful!) :)

Liya Kebede

I don't know the whole story, but I had done some research on the name Liya cuz of the way it was spelled. Come to find out, there is a lady from Ethiopia who is a model from there. She has appeared on the covers of magazines in the states too. Anyway, check out the pics below. Beautiful woman!!

Nothing much

It's nice to know that I'm finally starting to feel a bit like myself again after a week. I haven't had sinus infection for a long time, and I think this time it made up for it! Basically, I got my butt kicked by it this time. I haven't done much of anything...well, clean up at home which Mark is excited about. But I haven't been to the Y in a week! That's kinda killing me. Nobody there even knows we got a court date, so they'll be excited to hear that when I do HOPEFULLY go back Monday.

The past couple weeks seem to be good news for a few families in blog-land. Referrals, court dates, paperwork finished....it's a great feeling we are fortunate to be able to share with each other. I know, personally, I talk to my family, friends, etc....but it's just not the same. I'm so thankful for my fellow bloggers....to be able to have those happy and sad times to share with each other means a great deal to me. You understand first-hand what I/we are feeling...it's great knowing that.

We are now at a few days past 11 months since starting our process. As long as our court date goes well in 3 weeks (3 weeks from today!!) we'll be traveling, basically, right at a year since starting our journey. And yes, even though pregnancy is 9 (well, really 10) months, this process really wasn't so bad when I look back. What we've been thru so far, it's like pregnancy, you kinda forget about the hardships and pain when it's all said and done and you have a happy ending. During this process, I didn't gain weight (well, I did, but not pregnancy weight--wish I had an excuse) :-) I didn't have back pain. I didn't get gestational diabetes. I didn't have to have my shots in the beginning to be sure my hormone levels were fine. I didn't get more stretch marks. I didn't retain water. I just didn't get all those pregnancy woes a person can have.
What I did have was every emotion possible. Frustration, nervous, impatience, sad, joyful, happy, anxious, eager, hopeful.......
As we near the end of our adoption process journey to hopefully bring a baby girl home to our family, these many emotions over the last 11 months run thru my mind and I recall all the energy and things put into this process. The MANY people who have helped us along the way...whether it was letters written, notarizing letters, a shoulder to cry-or rejoice-on, or anything else that may have happened along the way. It's been such a fantastic experience to have taken in our lives and with our boys, families, friends, the people that mean the most to us.

So, I say Congratulations to us all who have had any sort of great and fantastic news lately! It's always a great feeling to get good news! And for those of you still waiting.....it sucks. There really isn't any word for us. And if you aren't to the point of saying it sucks, I'm sure you'll get there. (If you don't, you have a LOT more patience than I do!) :-)

We all just remember, it's in God's hands. There was a reason why our homestudy took a couple extra weeks to finish...there was a reason why it took a month to get our Immigration approval paper. I now believe it was because Liya was meant to join our family and He wanted it to be just right for us.

I suppose I'll quit rambling. I didn't really have anything to write about, but having 3 more weeks till court, I didn't want to not say anything in that time.