Sixteen with Halloween, Christmas, etc.

Pretty quiet month on anything adoption related. Not much to say. Not much to report. Just waiting to see what comes next. So, instead of the same old sob story, I thought I would highlight our fun filled Halloween/Christmas weekend.

Sara is ready for Halloween - she has been counting down for over a month - we are now only "one sleep" away! She is going as Ariel this year, with a bright red wig and all - so cute! She has quite a day on Saturday, with a Halloween Birthday party in the afternoon and tricker-treating in the evening - I think trying to monitor junk food intake will be a complete write off that day - so, I plan to just go with the flow and let her enjoy herself - although, I will probably regret saying that late Saturday evening when she is bouncing off the walls and I can't get her to bed!

Sunday morning we will be celebrating Christmas with Chad's parents (with a Halloween theme!). They leave to go down south for the winter next week and we won't see them again until spring. Yikes, I guess I better get Christmas shopping - at least this Christmas Eve won't be as busy this year :0)

Sunday evening is the annual Adoption Candle Lighting Ceremony to celebrate the start of Adoption Awareness Month. This will be the 5th annual event and we are hoping for a great turnout - music, homemade instruments, adoption stories, and snacks - sounds fun to me!!

Busy weekend...but all fun stuff!

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Yesterday was a good day! We received our first official email from the new Imagine. It gave no indication of time lines, but it was extremely positive and included lots of details about communications and moving forward - after reading the email, I smiled...I felt more excitement about our future then I have in the long time - it was a really great feeling.

What a ham!

So what now? Good question.

Lately, I have no idea what to do with myself. Over the past few months I have been fighting so hard to get to this point, I didn't think about what I would do when I got here. I am feeling so vulnerable...YES, I can say with (almost) absolute confidence that "I will bring my baby home", but the "when" is so beyond me that I am having difficulty comprehending what this even means for us. Of course, we have never known the answer to "when" but we certainly had a indication or at least a heads up of our potential wait and delays.

We were sooooo close - in fact I could actually see the finish line, I could see our future and our completed family. Now we sit in more limbo and unknown then ever before. Will we know more next week? Next month? Next year? I can truly say I have no idea whatsoever.

Virtual Friends

"So, I have this friend...well, it's someone I blog with, an adoption friend I found online...I have never actually met or spoken with her...but what else would I call her??" Over the past year or so, I have repeated similar phrases when referring to my virtual blogging friends, while talking about adoption with family, friends, co-workers and others. At first, people looked at me a bit sideways as I referred to (what may seem like) 'virtual strangers' as 'virtual friends' - but I am confident that many of my blogging buddies can relate.

As time has passed, it is interesting that many people in my life are now expecting updates from me on all my 'virtual friends' asking "have you heard anything more about so-and-so?", "What is happening with their adoption?", "Did they get their referral yet?", “Are they home?” – The irony is that I know as much information as the people asking – following along online, blog by blog and post by post. However, the difference for me is the bond I share with my fellow bloggers - our adoption journeys - only those who have experienced any part of the journey can truly understand its meaning, depth, and emotions.

Regardless of whether I simply 'stalk' a blog, comment on a post or take the leap to send a personal email, it is still amazing how invested I have become in the lives of people I have never met. And at this point, I have almost become dependent on the support, words of encouragement, understanding, and the occasional (((((hug)))))...all the things friends do for us - virtual or otherwise.

I believe that everyone is brought into our life for a reason and that every encounter we have with someone is an opportunity to share, learn, and grow.

Who knew you could meet so many amazing people from coast to coast and beyond without ever having to leave your home?

Just a picture

More random Sara moments

Sara: "Our baby won't have a birthmom, right?"
Mommy: "Our baby will have a birthmom, but she will live far away in Ethiopia. So we can't visit her like we do with your birthmom."
Sara: "I will share my birthmom when we visit Birthmom."

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We have started reading a book called "It's Not the Stork" (Great book to teach young children about babies, bodies, and all "that" stuff). Before we began reading the book I told she that "this book is about where babies come from." Sara replied, very confidently "I already know where babies come from. They grow inside a mommy's tummy or you can go to Ethiopia to get one!"

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Sara: "If I do all my homework, the teacher will give me a chicken coop!"
Daddy: "A chicken coop???"
Sara: "Yah, a chicken coop to Boston Pizza!"
Daddy: "Do you mean a coupon?"
Sara: "Ummmmm."

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We were driving on the highway, with farm fields all around us. At one point, we were overwhelmed with the smell of barn/manure, so to be funny, I rolled down the window to make it 'worse' and said "Oh, that smells sooooo bad!" And Sara replied, "Oh gross, I think God tooted!"