Time to Bond

Here's a pic of one of the coolest gifts that I've received in a long time. Well it's not actually my gift, it's a gift for my baby girl. A good friend of mine and fellow adoptive mommy sent these books on behalf of her 1 year old daughter (these happen to be her favorite); "Please baby please" and "whose toes are those". I love them and I know my daughter will too! Reading these beautiful books to her will just give the two of us valuable time to bond. I actually think the little girl in "please baby please" resembles my daughter, minus the hair...my girl only has a few downy feathers for hair, for now:-) We're still awaiting word of a court date keep us in your prayer please, thank you.

For The Glory Of Love

My husband and I got our travel vaccines the day after we got the call for our referral. We went to a local travel clinic. It was a pretty cool experience, the walls had world map murals on them and there were corners of the clinic set up with vintage luggage...very cool. So we both got the typhoid, yellow fever, Hep A&B, and Tetanus. OUCH IE! OMG it felt like my arm was going to fall off. They said that there may be a possibility that we may feel a little fluish, but I wasn't worried about that, I was still flying high off of the day before. Well how about later that evening I felt flush, not quite like myself. Hubby made me go to bed early just to get some rest because I was a little sleep deprived. I felt worse and worse until I found myself taking cold and flu medicine that didn't quite alleviate the symptoms. I was seriously ill! I had almost every symptom that the discharge paper said I would have plus some! One night I realized that I had a tender lump under my armpit. It was so painful that I couldn't put my arm down I had to sleep with it above my head:-( I finally went to the doctor and she said that it was a moderate reaction to the vaccines. A week later I started to re-coop. Wow, I had to be the small percentage of people that gets sick, right!?!? I guess that was the exchange for labor...HA! It's all for the glory of love and I would do it all again . Oh yeah I have to go back for the next round of HEP and this time I'm getting the meningitis. I sure hope this time around isn't as dramatic. As far as the adoption goes, we are awaiting word of our court date. You may already know that Ethiopia is now requiring adoptive parents to appear in court along with a birth relative, so we will be traveling for that. I've heard that the court date usually comes 4-6 weeks after referral, so we are almost four weeks in...soon before courts close for the rainy season, please Lord! So for know we are contacting travel agents and inquiring about the journey ahead. The good thing is the kids are out for SUMMER VACATION, so our travels won't interfere with school. There are some really nice families that are ET now and they offered to bring back pictures of my sweet peach...Oh I can't wait! In the mean time for fun I'm filling her armoire with the cutest close, shoes, and let's not forget about accessories! Tomorrow my family and I are going to visit our two favorite Habesha girls. It's always a joy to hang out with fellow adoptive families. I can't wait until my baby girl completes the trio. I just thank my Father (God) for His many blessings. He is truly good!

PS: I saw this poster somewhere and I thought it was funny but true. Just know that the tears are more often tears of joy:-)

We Got The Call!!!

Wow I know it's late, but I'm finally winding down from this whirlwind of a day. I'm going to take these last few minutes before I go to sleep to say..."We got the call"! This morning or should I say yesterday morning around 11:19am Ashley called with the news of an 8month old precious baby girl. After what seems like a life time of waiting it's finally my turn to post good news. She's as pretty as a peach...literally she has a round face with juicy cheeks and a brown sugar complexion with peachy undertones. I guess I will have to break out the headband because she doesn't really have any hair just a couple of downy feathers. I can't wait to send the acceptance paperwork off and get to waiting for my COURT DATE...which I hope and pray will come very soon. Tomorrow or shall I say today we're off to the travel clinic to get the vaccinations the we need to travel to Ethiopia. God is soooooo good. His mercy endures forever. The day when not one person in my house mentioned "the call" or fixated on a referral is the day the call came. I'll give you more on the details of the scene and how it all played out at a later date. Blessings to all of you who prayed and believed with us, please continue to keep us lifted in prayer as we walk out the remainder of this journey. Thank you!

Holding at #1

This is me with my nephew/godson on South Beach. The Hubs and I needed an infant parenting refresher, so we took our 3 chickadeez plus our nephew with us for a day out. It was like riding a bike! I think we're going to do just fine when our turn comes around. We're still holding at #1 on the wait list for an infant girl. Last week there was a referral for a 26 month old boy, the family only waited 3months, can you believe that! We are going on 16 months of waiting, I guess anything worth having is worth waiting for, my precious baby is definitely worth waiting for. I pray that the wait ends this week...I hope you will pray for us. We are selling a nice sofa and 2 bookcases to make room for baby. It will be replaced with a crib an armoir and a few other nursery pieces. If you are interested check out Craig's list or email me @ TFchain@aol.com. The sofa is beige micro fiber with 2 multi color pillows, reds...($250) the bookcases are black-brown from Ikea, ($90) everything is like new! Pass it on to anyone you know that may be interested let me know. I can't wait to start putting everything together for the baby's room, it'll help me with this WAIT! Hopefully the next time I post I'll have more exciting news. Until then....

We're Number One

Yesterday was my birthday and yesterday we made it to number one on the official wait list for CHI! Of course I was hoping to receive a referral for my birthday but number one is nice too. I enjoyed the day by relaxing and later that evening I had cake and ice cream and pizza and this and that...I was stuffed! I've informed most of my friends and family that the birthday celebration will continue until the end of the week, so there is still time to get the "BEST GIFT EVER"!

The referrals that were given out yesterday were: A 2.5 month old baby girl and a set of 6 week old girl and boy TWINS! how cool. Last week there was a referral for a 4 year old little boy. I'm happy for the families who have waited and now they get to see the faces of their precious children. I hope to post the big news soon. Until then be blessed and keep us in your prayers.

Toni-

Giveaway!!!

A fellow "adoption mama" is giving away a beautiful piece of jewelry. You could be the favored winner! Just go to: http://thisshubinclan.blogspot.com/ (It's a unique piece from junk posse jewelry) Check it out!

Walking out Faith

Well there is no new news to announce as far a our referral goes. It's been about 3 weeks or so since our agency had any referrals. Everyday I think, "could today be the day?" but then 6PM hits and I stop hoping for that day. I'm hopeful but trying not to be anxious. It's got to happen at some point...right?:-)

Early this week we got news that those of us who haven't already received referrals or court dates will be required to be in court in order to finalize the adoption. When I initially heard that this was being considered I didn't know how to feel. I was concerned about the added costs and also having to leave my daughter and come back for another trip for the embassy appointment. Now that it's final I'm at peace about it. This is something that I can only rely on God to work it out for our good. Financially we are being wise but the full resources to complete this adoption debt free have not YET manifested in the natural. We are walking this entire adoption out on faith. Of course we have applied corresponding actions to the faith by cutting certain unnecessary spending and putting money aside in a separate adoption account. In order to help raise funds for the adoption, God has inspired me to hand make body products for men, women and children. The line is called "Konjo Beautiful" the signature product is our natural Shea body butter. So I've been getting rave reviews from people who have used it and seen a marked change for the better in there skin, people who have children with eczema and sensitive skin have been requesting larger sizes! We have lovely fragrances in addition to a fragrance free option. I will soon be introducing a head to toe oil and bath teas...To God be the Glory! I'm grateful for the inspiration to make something that will help people feel good while helping to restore the life of an orphan. If you are interested in purchasing a 6oz. tin for $12 please email me for more info. TFChain@aol.com . Pass it along to everyone you know who would be blessed by a product like Konjo Beautiful or who would just like to get in on the blessing of a family! Thank you for your time and support!
Toni-