Circus Day

(Jason and Ashton playing dress-up with Halloween costumes)

Today is Circus Day at Ashton's daycare center. He woke-up at 5:00 a.m. and exclaimed, "I can't believe Circus Day is finally here!" When we arrived at the center, there was a huge inflatable jump castle, games, popcorn machine, etc. The clowns were going to arrive later this morning. When he exited the car, he jumped up and down in place and said, "I've waited my whole life for this!" When I asked how long he had waited (he's only 3.5), he said, "forever and ever." How cute!

At Ashton's request, I made clown cupcakes to share with his classmates for afternoon snack. He was so excited this morning when he saw them. His little eyes just lit up and he said, "Awesome, Momma!" I could've hugged his little head off! I enjoy being a Mommy so much! I can't wait to hear all about his day this afternoon!

Joyfully Praising Him

This morning, Erica's mother, Debbie, went to her oncologist for her report from a scan that she had on Tuesday...Praise God, she is still cancer free!

In August of 2004, we learned that my mom had B-cell lymphoma. She endured chemo and radiation for several months before learning that her tumor was "dead". This was a horrible time for my mother but even on the worst days, she was still trusting that God would bring her through the cancer and use her to minister to others - both of which have occurred. We laughed when her hair came back because it was red, red - prior to the treatment it was dark brown. Then, her hair began to change to very black and kinky - my mom had always had to pay big bucks for curls prior to the chemo! She is doing great and is a walking testimony about God's healing power.

Praise be to God for almost 4 years being cancer free!

Movement on the Dossier

On Friday evening, we received an e-mail from our social worker stating that she had dived into our homestudy update and had COMPLETED it! We were told to expect at least 3 more weeks before she could even get to it. God just keeps answering prayers! There were some pretty important changes like changing "Ukraine" to "Ethiopia" that had not been done in the homestudy, however I think I've caught those changes and have e-mailed her with them. Hopefully we can mail our request for the free country switch to USCIS within the next week or so!

On Saturday, we received a letter from USCIS about updating our fingerprints. When I submitted the request, I specifically requested two dates with previous commitments that absolutely could not be moved. Well, our appointment is scheduled for one of those days...next Tuesday. My sister is being sworn in as an attorney before the Tennessee Supreme Court on that morning and I have the privilege and honor of presenting her on this once in a lifetime occasion. Upon receipt of the USCIS letter, I flipped-out because we were originally told by our agency that the Nashville office had been closed, so we were going to have to drive to Memphis for the fingerprints. Well, upon further examination, I noticed that we had been given bad information because our prints are scheduled for noon in NASHVILLE - yeah, we can make the appointment AND the swearing-in ceremony!

HUGE Prayer Request:

When we pulled-out of the Ukraine program, our facilitator promised to return a specific sum of money to us because the money was to be used to cover costs for court, translation of legal documents, etc. Since we never received a good referral, we never incurred those costs. Well, to make a long story short, our money was spent before it was actually earned, so we are still waiting for a refund. Our Ukraine family coordinator with AWAA left the agency in early May, so we are a little antsy about whether or not we are actually going to see the money. We need the money for our Ethiopian adoption. Prior to our family coordinator leaving AWAA, we were told that we should receive the money via wire by June 1st - that is Sunday. We are ready to close the door on this part of our adoption and look ahead to the road that God is leading us down now. We've gotten a lot of runaround since coming home from Ukraine without a child last November, so we're not too trusting of any information that we have received pertaining to this country and program. Please, please pray that we receive our money on time.

What a Week

Ashton has a rock stuck in his ear

On Tuesday, May 20, I received a phone call from daycare around 4:15 - now for all of you parents out there, you know how your stomach turns whenever you look at the caller id and unexpectedly see your child's daycare provider. Ashton had stuck a rock in his ear and the director wasn't sure if it was still in there. I immediately left my office and headed to the daycare. On the way there, I called his pediatrician and was told to bring him in as soon as possible because it was almost time for the office to close for the day. Sure enough, Dr. Eastham spotted something hard in his ear...most likely a little pebble. Fortunately, the rock is stuck in the ear canal at a location AWAY from the ear drum. Unfortunately, after a thorough ear washing and with instruments, Dr. Eastham couldn't remove the rock and due to the bloody ear canal and the abrasions, we need to wait for the abrasions to heal somewhat before we attempt to have it removed. In a few weeks, we will go back to the doctor and Ashton will have to be sedated in order for the rock to be removed.

Why did he place the rock in his ear in the first place? Well, when I asked Ashton this question his reply was simple - "To see if it would fit, Mommy." Turns out, he placed a bigger rock in his ear first but it was too big, so he tried another one and although it fit, it got stuck. He told his teacher that he had placed a rock in his ear and after learning that he would probably have to go to the doctor, he insisted that it had fallen back out. Needless to say, we weren't taking any chances. If he complains about his ear hurting, starts pulling at it, or acts like his hearing is diminished any at all, it's back to the doctor immediately and no waiting for the abrasions to heal. You would think that after screaming his head off at the doctor's office during the exam and the ear washing that he wouldn't touch another rock, however the very next day, he was in trouble for throwing them!

Erica tears a ligament

On Thursday morning, I took a dive while walking across the Square and managed to tear a ligament in my right foot, sprain my ankle, scrape both knees, and bruise the left side of my lower body. My cell phone broke into 3 pieces and I had to hobble to my car. I couldn't call Jason and there was no one in sight to help me, so I drove home - in tears. Jason was on vacation last week, so fortunately he was at home and my sister-in-law was visiting with her children, so she was able to watch Ashton for us while Jason drove me to the ER. I am currently wearing a walking boot until the swelling and pain subsides.

And the Frustration Begins

You would think that by our having been involved in international adoptions since Fall of 2006 that we would be well-versed in handling adoption frustration, well we're not.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from our social worker that it will be another 3 weeks at least before she updates our homestudy for Ethiopia. The only form that she needed in order to do the update was our 2007 tax returns, so I faxed those to her on May 6th. Rachel Ward was our homestudy provider before she moved to Ethiopia, and she did an update for Ukraine in January in just under 1 week (our actual homestudy itself with all the visits only took 3 weeks). Don't get me wrong, our new provider who took Rachel's place is very sweet and I'm sure she's busy, but 3 more weeks?! This is really going to slow down our dossier preparation because we cannot request a country switch with USCIS until we have the updated homestudy. Hopefully she is going to move faster than she anticipates and we'll be pleasantly surprised when the work is completed in record time (that's my prayer anyway). I'm really glad that Rachel is doing such wonderful work at the transitional home, however we sure do miss her in Tennessee!

This morning, we went to our local State Farm office for updated info on our life insurance policy, and we ran into another problem - the agent's office personnel didn't understand the importance of a name change after marriage as well as how to notarize documents. We have been married for 5 1/2 years and promptly submitted my name change information upon our marriage. We have never received any documentation with my name on it because the Jason is the main policy holder, well now that we need proof of coverage for the dossier it was revealed that the policy has never been changed. The secretary kept insisting that it shouldn't matter that the policy we have hasn't been updated. She even gave me a business card "in case the Ethiopians have any questions" (her words exactly). To top it off, we were given the runaround about obtaining a new policy, so we at least needed a print-out with all the life insurance info. Because I knew she was a notary (saw the certificate on the wall) and knew that the agent was in the office (he had already greeted us), I requested that the agent sign the document and she notarize it. Get this, she signed the agent's name on her own then wrote "signed by" and notarized her own signature! Okay, I know that not everyone is well versed on the rules and regulations of being a notary, but doesn't common sense tell you that you don't certify your own signature?! I attempted (very nicely even though I was astounded at her ignorance) to explain to her why this wasn't going to work. By this time, the agent had already left the office and was of no help to us, so I still have to deal with this lady again next week!

"Little Man" Is On A Mission - To Bring His Sissy Home

Yesterday, Ashton's PaPa Tudor picked him up from daycare for an afternoon of fun. Ashton received the above-pictured (sorry for the quality but it was taken on a picture phone) pedal airplane two Christmases ago but his legs are just now long enough for him to actually pedal. Yesterday, he took his first true pedal right in the airplane and had a blast!

Well, yesterday morning we found out that one of Jason's cousins is having another baby. She has a 3 year old son, Reed, who is about 1 1/2 months older than Ashton. Last night when we were saying our prayers together, I told Ashton that Reed's mommy has a baby in her tummy and that Reed is going to have a little brother or sister. I wanted to make sure that we prayed for the new baby and Reed's mommy. I never dreamed Ashton would get upset because he absolutely adores babies. Well, tears began to fall down his little cheeks. When I asked him what was wrong, he said that he wanted Julianna to come home to him. He said that it wasn't fair that Reed gets a baby and his sissy is still in Ethiopia playing hide and seek. Oh boy, did I feel really bad because I had no idea that Ashton was still so upset about having to wait so long for his sissy. I reminded Ashton that God still didn't have his sissy ready to come to America, so we will have to wait a little longer. He said that he was sad and that he was going to ride his plane to Ethiopia to get his sissy!

Note: For those of you who don't know about our hide and seek analogy, that's how we tried to explain to Ashton why we traveled to Ukraine to find his sissy and now are going to Ethiopia to get her. If you click on the link to our Ukrainian blog on the right side of the main page, you can read the entry entitled "Talking to Ashton".

Teacher Appreciation Week

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, so tomorrow at daycare, Ashton is supposed to bring something to express our gratitude for his teachers. At Ashton's request, I baked a cake. Now, Ashton specifically requested a choo choo cake, however I didn't think that was too appropriate, so here's what I came-up with.....

The cake is double chocolate fudge with fudge filling and topped with chocolate icing. Won't the teachers love me after the children eat this! I certainly hope it tastes as heavenly as it smells.

AWANA Recognition Service - May 4, 2008

On Sunday, May 4, 2008, Northside Baptist Church held the recognition and awards night for AWANA (children's ministry program). Ashton is in Cubbies and has to learn verses each week. Periodically, he receives a badge for learning verses. He hasn't earned many badges yet because he entered Cubbies late in the year because he was moved-up from Puggles (2 year old class) early because of all the young children that had moved-up from the nursery. He is supposed to wear a vest each week, however Ashton refers to the vest as his Cubbies costume. Here are some pictures of the recognition service and his celebration afterwards at Mellow Mushroom.

Seeing God at Work

This past weekend, my grandmother from a small community in northern Georgia visited with our family. My grandmother comes from a Southern era that heavily supported white supremacy. When we announced that we were officially switching our adoption journey from Ukraine to Ethiopia, I was very hesitant to tell my seventy-six year old grandmother because I knew all about the era in which she was raised. Of course, when I first told her the line went silent and then she started firing questions at me - questions like how long will you be overseas this time, what age of child will you be adopting, will it be a boy or girl, and you know people will say negative things about your adopting a black child, so how are you going to handle that - not once did she even hint that she couldn't love the child as her own. There have been some conversations about how the child will be affected and how our son, Ashton, will be affected, however I can see that God is working in her heart. She's told some of her friends and has been amazed at their supportive comments and for those with questions or negative responses, she has stood her ground and stated that love knows no color...you go, Nanny!

I must say that I was really concerned about how this news would affect my grandmother. Well, on the way back from taking her home yesterday, my mother and I were talking about how God prepares us for life. About 2 years ago, my grandmother's church's music director resigned and was replaced by a black man married to a white woman - you can only imagine how this divided the congregation in this little Southern town. My grandmother adores the music director and learned then that God loves all people, regardless of skin color, and that as God's child she should love and support everyone and even more importantly, take a stand for what is right. My mother and I truly believe that God used this situation to help prepare my grandmother for the newest member of our family. What an awesome God we serve!

On the way to take Nanny home, we stopped at a nursing home to see one of my uncles who suffered a stroke in 2005 or so. Now, he is originally from a small town just down the road from where Nanny lives, so he has generally been pretty racist as well. Actually, several years ago he got into a huge argument with one of my cousins because she married and gave birth to two of the most beautiful little girls on this earth - they are biracial and guess what, totally accepted and loved by all of us. Well, when I was talking with my uncle yesterday, I told him of the failed Ukrainian adoption and that we had switched our country to Ethiopia. My mother later asked me if I was anxious about telling him of the country swap because of his previous prejudicial attitude. I can honestly say that not one time did I question what his reaction would be. Never in my life has my uncle not supported me or my decisions. He may like to aggravate me but he loves me even more. Not only that, but I have seen the love in his eyes and have heard him speak of how wonderful my cousin's children are. My cousin helped to pave the way for the road that God is leading us down. Once again, God began preparing us - and our family - for this new child years ago.

One of the last entries on our Ukrainian blog talks briefly about the negativity that we have faced about our decision to adopt a little girl from Ethiopia. When I was working on our online course about the Hague Convention and how the treaty affects adoption, I read an article entitled "An Unmatched Set." By your reading this blog, it shows that you either have an interest in transracial families or you are supporting us on this journey, so I encourage you to following the link below and take a moment to really think about love and family life.

"An Unmatched Set"

(http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles.php?aid=428.html)

Give the State of Tennessee a Hand

On Wednesday afternoon, I ordered birth and marriage certificates from the Tennessee Department of Vital Records. When the mail ran moments ago, there were the certified certificates! Way to go Tennessee!

By the way, this morning my father picked-up my birth certificate and had it authenticated in Georgia. After an insightful e-mail from a representative at America World, the clerk of the Superior Court finally understood what we needed in the way of an authentication.

I would say that today has been a productive day!

Starting on the Dossier

Well, we are trying to get started as much as possible on our dossier (packet of paperwork to be sent to Ethiopia that serves as an application). We are still waiting for the formal dossier requirement list from America World, however we have been told of some of the items that we will need. The list that we have been orally given is SO much shorter and less complicated than what was needed for Ukraine - yeah!

What is so frustrating is that we just re-did our dossier in late January for Ukraine and if our Ukrainian facilitator, Yuri, would only return our documents, then we would have most of what we need for Ethiopia. It's not looking too good that Yuri is going to return our docs anytime soon, so I decided to go ahead and get started again.

• Yesterday, I ordered new copies of Jason's birth certificate, Ashton's birth certificate, and our marriage license.
• Today, I ordered new criminal background checks.
• Tomorrow, my father is traveling to Georgia, so he is going to pick-up a copy of my birth certificate and have it authenticated.
• We have our people lined-up for the referral letters, so those should be pretty easy to obtain as well.
• My cardiologist is signing another letter stating that I am no longer suffering from a heart condition.
• Our medical exams have been performed, so a new report should not be a problem (we have a pretty fantastic and supportive doctor).
• Our homestudy has been evaluated to make sure that all the information is updated to reflect our change to Ethiopia. A list of changes has been formulated and will be forwarded to the social worker when our police clearance letter arrives in the next week or so. Thankfully, our social worker knows of the switch and is ready to get started.
• On my agenda for tomorrow is to contact USCIS about updating our fingerprints and switching countries (this portion may have to wait for an updated homestudy).

All in all, I think we've gotten off to a good start. Anybody have any other ideas as to what we can do while America World is getting our packet together? Apparently the hold-up is that a portion of our funds paid to the agency is going to be applied towards the Ethiopian program and a formal letter has to be drafted stating which funds will transfer. The contract has to be modified to reflect the change in programs.

All I can say now is, please send our packet America World!