An Update on the Change of Plans

I am SO not in a blogging mood but figured I better update a little on our journey...

1. I had a successful surgery last week to remove my gall bladder and am recovering well at home with the help and support of family and friends. My pain gets less and less each day and I am hoping and praying for a quick, continued healing just as soon as possible! I'll write soon about how amazing God's grace, mercy and (in my opinion) sense of humor have been during this trial. Without a doubt we know somehow He WILL use this part of our journey for His Glory.

2. We have rescheduled our flights, hotel, etc for Kenny and our friend, D, to travel to Ethiopia in about two weeks. D and his wife, A, adopted their precious Ella this fall from the same wonderful Baby Home. D is going to be the perfect travel mate for Kenny....I know that in my absence he will be there to support Kenny with everything....from knowing the country and staff already to running to the store to buy more diapers or whatever....D is doing us a HUGE favor by serving our family during this time. And so is his wife A - they are BOTH making sacrifices on our behalf and we couldn't be more honored.

That's all for now! We have some packing to continue doing, some paperwork to print and organize but for the most part we are ready to get our little darling home!! I'll do my best to update as time gets closer to travel.

A Total Change of Plans...And Then Some!

Today is already a better day. I have showered, put on make-up, fixed my hair and gotten dressed. I have a fresh perspective about how the next month will play out. I still have no idea how a bazillion things will get accomplished. BUT. I know that God is in control. He knows exactly how the next month will play out. He is good. All the time. Even when it feels like EVERYTHING, the biggest things, are cruddy.

Here's the scoop (I typically don't share so many personal details on our blog but it all pertains to our adoption - so here goes nothing):

1. I have gall stones and liver issues, and I will be having surgery soon to remove my gall bladder and biopsy my liver.
2. I am no longer able to travel to Ethiopia in the next month to bring home our daughter.
3. Kenny will now be going without me (and Garrett) to Ethiopia to bring home our little girl.
4. We are trying to find someone to travel with him for support.

Everything feels so out of control and yet, I know, know in my head that it will all work out. It always does. Maybe not in the way I want it to and maybe not on the time line I have in my head. But it will. Now I just need to keep my heart on board with that idea. This morning I am confident...confident that the God I serve on happy days is still the God I serve on sad ones like these.

Because HE is in control. And will bind up my broken heart. He always has. And always will.

It's Me: Debbie Downer

Okay, I hate to be a downer but today has not been a good one. At all. For various reasons.

One of those reasons was that we got a phone call this morning from our social worker stating that the US Embassy in Ethiopia has changed the way they schedule meetings with adoptive families; it used to be that every Tuesday they were open for these meetings. Now only every OTHER Tuesday. And the Tuesday we had planned to be there wouldn't be one of those days.

So, we now must push out our travel to April 3-12...and even that is tentative. Please, please join us in praying for the next week to be one that will reveal lots of information that will either confirm we can travel or that we need to wait until the end of April.

Just another reason adoption is NOT for wimps. Or Type A's. I have no idea what I was thinking!

Two Weeks from Today...

Two weeks from today we will be boarding a plane to make the long journey to meet and bring home our daughter from Ethiopia!!! This fifteen month journey (which, I know, I know is really short in the world of adoption) will finally come to an end and our lives with Ellie Tsion will begin. God is so good. All the time. He is good.

Name Game

So many people have asked us "What will you call her?" .... and our answer is this .... in the beginning, we will call her "Tsion". That is the beautiful name her birth mother has given her, and it is the name she has learned to answer to for the past 13 months. Eventually we'll call her "Ellie Tsion" to help familiarize her with it. And, then, our plan is to call her Ellie. We don't know how long that will take or if we'll even stick to that plan.

We wanted to give our daughter both a name that keeps the ties to her Ethiopian culture and a name that will bond her with her new American culture. And, we wanted her to have options so that one day, if she so chooses, she can pick what name she wants to go by. Until then, we'll just have to wait and see!

Update on Travel Plans and Some Thoughts

Plans have changed (pesky paperwork - it's common - no worries) and our new estimated travel dates are March 27th - April 5th! I am not freaking out or too disappointed with this delay but someones Daddy is about to come unglued....he can't wait to wrap his arms around a sweet little girl. Kenny is not a man of many words but I can tell, just tell, that he is more than ready to meet his daughter. Can't blame him.

One of the very first thoughts I had when meeting Ellie Tsion was "Oh my, she is going to love her Daddy, and he is going to be smitten with her". Over and over again when I would see her those four days, my mind would return to Kenny's relationship with her. I cannot wait to see the two of them together. I cannot wait to see how he softens and melts right before my very eyes as this precious, perfect little girl grabs a hold of his finger and smiles with her mouth and big, big eyes.

I have been blessed by an amazing father and know what a gift it is for a daughter to grow up with a father like him. A father sets the stage in so many ways for his daughter's life. I have no doubt Kenny will give that same gift my father gave me to Ellie Tsion. To say "I can't wait to see it all unfold" is an understatement.

We Interrupt This Ellie Broadcast...

...to bring you some news about her big brother! Last week I started reading Garrett Charlotte's Web. I wasn't sure he would be able to pay attention to a chapter at a time, but to my surprise he WAS able to and LOVED every minute of it. Our deal was that each day at rest time, I'd read him two chapters, but every day he was begging me to read more!

I had promised him that after we finished the whole book we would watch the movie. Not the new version but the old one - the one I remember watching as a kid. So, on Friday night we ordered pizza, popped popcorn and watched it as a family. It was SO fun! Garrett honestly does not like watching movies or any show over 20 minutes, so I was shocked he loved it so much.

Tonight Garrett asked to borrow some "rope". We obliged, and he scampered off to the playroom. About 20 minutes later he called us in to "see what Charlotte made":

In case you can't tell, he made a spider web and then had his Daddy add the message "Radiant Terrific Pig". Can you see how proud he is of himself? He was SUPER proud!

I love this boy! So, so much it hurts some days.