What Are We Waiting For?

This has been the title of the last few sermons at our church and it's really got me thinking - often in many different directions.

This adoption process is obviously one of waiting. Waiting for paperwork. Waiting for people to return emails or phone calls. Waiting for news & updates. Waiting for a referral. Every part of the process involves a period of waiting and anticipation. Although the wait has been difficult, it's also been a wait full of excitement and anticipation of what's to come. We know that we will have a beautiful son or daughter and we dream of the times that we'll be able to share as a family.

I guess what's got me thinking is how and what am I waiting for during this season of advent. Christmas is about Christ coming to earth as a baby, growing up to die which allows us to have a relationship with Him and then returning one day to take His followers home. Do I wait with the same excitement & anticipation for these things? As I wait for Christmas day to come am I thinking about the baby that was born in a manger or am I too preoccupied with gift giving, baking, Christmas parties and family gatherings? Don't get me wrong...I think these are good things, but they are not the most important.

I guess what I want is to wait with the same joy, longing and excitement for the celebration of Christ's birth and return to earth as I do with waiting to meet our baby. I'm not sure exactly how that looks like yet, but the wheels in my head are turning. In the same way I don't wait passively for our baby - we get the nursery ready, pick out names and talk about it constantly - I should not be waiting passively for Christ to come back to earth.

I don’t know if all of this will make sense but thanks for reading. I pray that you will anticipate this season with joy and excitement because there is lots to celebrate and even more to look forward to in the days to come.

Come thou long expected Jesus

Born to set thy people free

From our fears and sins release us

Let us find our rest in thee

Warning: Impressive Facial Hair Ahead

Last year, when we were driving back from Regina after meeting with Social Services regarding our adoption, we found a tree farm. Neither of us were dressed to go cut down a Christmas tree, but we were so excited about getting the go-ahead to start our home study, we thought "why not?"

It was a great tree and a fun experience, so we decided to do it again this year. This time, with ski pants, toques, mitts, boots and most importantly, great friends we headed out to find our tree. Here are a few pictures of the morning

**(Please ignore Ian's facial hair. It was partly Movember and partly a thing going on with the guys at work...thankfully, it only lasted a day, but we have pictures to last us a lifetime!)

Off to find our tree

Fun in the snow with a great little girl

Posing with our tree

(doesn't the facial hair just make the picture!)

We got it!

I'm not quite as strong

Packed up and ready to go home

On another note, I recently spoke with our agency to clear up some questions I had and was so reassured of their dedication, commitment and care for the families involved in their agency. I felt like I was known, not just a number.

I feel so blessed to be starting our family through adoption. I could not and would not want to have it any other way. I have been stretched, challenged and enriched through this past year and it's been worth every minute. God is good and I continue to marvel at this opportunity that He's given us!

I pray that you are all enjoying this Christmas season and taking time to rest and relish in the beauty of it all!

progress

I apologize to those of you that check regularly to see if I've blogged. I realize I've let you down many times! Again, no excuses...just a lack of motivation.

So, now onto those promised pictures of the somewhat slow progress of the baby room. I have ideas of what I want to do in the room, but just need to get them into action!

Anyway, this is what it looked like before:

It looked fine, but Ian had a great idea to spice things up a bit.

So, with a little bit of work...

(It was a Rider game day so of course, the jersey must be worn...even while working!)

We ended up with this! I think my amazing husband did and incredible job!!

There are still lots of things to do to get everything ready for the baby, but I'm pretty excited about how this project turned out.

On the adoption front, we're anxiously waiting to hear of the first referral in a LONG time! Our agency said things would get rolling again the end of November and here we are, almost December. We were also told that there is a good chance there will be 1 or 2 referrals before Christmas and that things should get busier in the new year. That was good news to me!

Another positive note is that our agency has opened a baby home in Durban and the first few babies have already arrived there. MOT works so hard to care for these babies and the home will hopefully allow them to be place with their forever families at a younger age.

So that's what's new right now. We keep praying that the new year holds some good news for us. I love the Christmas season and am really trying just to soak it all in and remember why we celebrate. I have SO much to be thankful for! We also feel so blessed to have the encouragement and support that we do. Know that your prayer, love and support is noticed!

To all my fellow waiting families...I'm thinking of you and praying for you often! Love and hugs to you all.

Adopt Walk

Yesterday we participated in the first annual SaskAdopt Walk and had a great time! The event was held to raise awareness of adoption and to raise money for the Adoption Support Centre of Saskatchewan.

Then, later in the day we got together for supper with the families from South Africa. To all of you families..."Thanks for the visit! We appreciate you all very much!" Thanks also to Riley & Candra for hosting!

Here's a news clip of the event which includes an interview of one of the families we are blessed to know. (See if you can spot us in the background of one of the clips...Ian's beard will give us away!)

http://www.globalsaskatoon.com/video/index.html (go to Nov.13 evening news)

That's it for now...

**Coming soon - baby room wainscotting pictures!**

November

Believe it or not, I've been meaning to blog for the past week! Finally, I had a moment to put down my thoughts.

I've been looking forward to November coming and now, all of a sudden, we're into the second week already! This means it's that much closer to the end of Nov. which bring us to referral time! I can hardly wait to start hearing of referrals again...even if it's not ours. It's been so quiet for the past few months (no referrals since May) and I'm anxious to hear of kids being joined with their forever families.

November is also Adoption Awareness Month. In fact, this weekend Ian and I are participating in the first ever SaskAdopt Walk. We have a team of families from South Africa and I'm looking forward to visiting with these great families again and walking for a great cause.

November also brings "No Shave November" at work (for Ian...not me). He suggested the other day that maybe he should keep it growing until we get a referral. I politely told him that would not be the best idea. At the rate his facial grows, I might be able to braid it by the end and I'm pretty sure that neither of us would be too pumped about that!

The other day I was reading a fellow waiting family's blog and this video brought me to tears. I just had to post it (Shanie, I hope you don't mind). I often wonder what that moment will be like when we meet our child. We're definitely awaiting it with great anticipation! After watching this video, it confirmed again for me that adoption is God's plan and that Ian and I feel called to grow our family in this way. My heart is already full of love for our baby.

So, if you're anything like me, I would suggest you grab the nearest box of tissues and enjoy this family's story.

Mommyhood

I've been having the HARDEST time wanting to go to work lately. That's unusual for me because I honestly love my job and have often looked forward to going to work in the morning. Maybe it's because of the smiling, adorable faces of the kids (well, most of them :) ) that greet me every day or maybe it's because I have always felt that my job is making a difference in the lives of those kids that struggle in school. Whatever the reason, work has never seemed like a "have to" but more of a "want to".

Now, a bit of history for you. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a mom...a stay at home, bake cookies, help at school, colour & craft, cuddle up on a rainy day, keep the house in order kind of mom. In fact, in my grade 8 speech I said that being a stay-at-home mom was what I wanted to do with my life. My mom stayed at home with us while we were growing up and I loved every minute of it! I've never doubted those desires God has placed in me.

Anyway, I think I just feel ready for that chapter of my life to start. I've been longing to stay at home in my comfy sweats, clean, bake and make sure my house is in order. I'm not all that surprised as I've always been more of a homebody; however, maybe it's more than that. Wikipedia says that the nesting instinct "may be the strongest just before the onset of labor." Hmmmm...of course I'm getting ahead of myself, but you never know...maybe a referral is just around the corner. :)

As a side note, 8 months ago today, our dossier was mailed to South Africa. Some days it feels like an eternity ago and some days it feels the time has flown by. Either way, each month that passes brings us closer to meeting our little bundle of joy.

In the meantime we could always use your prayers: for continued patience & financial provision, for our baby who we love so much already, for the social worker in South Africa (Robyn) who is working tirelessly to find families for these children and for us as we prepare.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the cozy fireplace with my husband on this cold, snowy evening!

Thanks for reading

Here's What I Know

Well, with thinking that referrals were starting again in September and not hearing anything all month, I decided that it was time to call our agency. Thankfully, I was able to get in touch with Mission of Tears on Monday and had a pleasant conversation that gave us some answers (for now).

So, here's what I know...

- Referrals will be starting again in November. There's a new policy where children need to go into a database for 60 days before they are able to be adopted internationally. I guess things didn't get going quite as quickly as they had anticipated which is the reason for the delay.

- The social worker in SA has been working very hard, as she always does, and has 12 children on the database that could be potential referrals. This was really encouraging because she has about 24 files waiting for referrals so that's a pretty good ratio.

- Our agency is hoping to send out some information this week giving us an update on the program.

- The lady I spoke with from our agency said things should be getting busy in terms of referrals as January gets closer and we head into the new year. Yeah!!

So now I breathe again for another month without wondering "will we get the call today?" As much as I want referrals to be happening now, it makes such a difference to just know a little bit of what's going on and to know things won't really be happening for another month or so. We pray for our baby girl/boy all the time and trust that God is preparing us both to meet each other.

I was really encouraged after talking to Mission of Tears and am anxiously waiting for what the next few months may hold. Realistically it could still be a a while down the road before we get a referral, but I'm daring to hope that it will be soon.

Week of Dreams

I fully believe that God can and does speak to us through dreams, but I'm not too sure about the one my mom had the other night. Here it is...

We came home from South Africa, but not with a baby...with a 48 year old man! Apparently he wasn't the most attractive looking gentleman and, at one point, was all curled up in the fetal position. Everyone was excited and asking to see her new grandchild but my mom was so embarrassed to introduce him because really, who adopts a 48 year old!! Then, all of a sudden I was holding a 4 year old girl. Her back was to my mom and as we turned around, the little girl revealed gigantic lips that hung down onto her chin. So, any interpretations?

We've had other people tell us too that they've had dreams of our adoption. Not strange dreams, just images of us with everything from a baby boy, to a 5 year old girl to a vivid dream of us with twins. Ian also had a dream that we adopted 3 First Nations kids.

I'm not sure about the meaning of all these, but as long as we don't come home with a grown man, I'll be happy!

Labor of the Heart

I am still here, believe it or not. Sorry it's been so long. There are probably a couple of reasons for that but, if I'm being honest, I just didn't feel like blogging.

It's hard to know what to write when I have no real news to share. I feel that you'll be bored listening to my emotional roller coaster ramblings, but I feel that I need to get back on track and focus this blog on our adoption. I'm sure I'll still fill you in on what else is happening in our lives, but what I really want is for this to be about our adventure of adopting.

So that said...it's been a tough (well, tougher) week for me. The waiting just hit harder than it has in a while and I must admit, a few tears were shed. It's just so hard to explain and until you're in it you just don't realize the impact it has on you...emotionally, physically, spiritually. Our lives are in limbo right now which just emphasizes the importance for us to anchor our hope and trust in Christ. It's truly the only thing that's going to get us through this time.

Lately I've been thinking that I need to get back to setting up the baby room, reading about adoption/parenting, picking baby names and getting excited about all of that. So today I went to the adoption support centre to pick up a couple of books and it felt good. We're also going to keep working on the baby room. Ian has decided to do panelling/wainscotting in there and I'll keep looking for things to make it "homey" for our amazingly adorable new addition (I just know he or she will be cute!)

One of the books I picked up today is called "Labor of the Heart". That's exactly it. This child will be born of my heart. It's amazing how this little person, who we know nothing about, has such a special place in our family already and the day can't come soon enough when we get to meet them in person.

Thanks for listening. We appreciate your support, thoughts and prayer so much!

Holidays

We've been home from holidays for about a week and a half and it's amazing how fast life just goes right back to the hustle and bustle. Ian and I both went back to work the day after we got home and wow, were we ever exhausted. Our vacation was busy, but so much fun!!

Since we only had 4 days, we wanted to get in as much as possible and that didn't leave a lot of time for sleep and rest. We also had incredibly hot and humid weather (felt like +45) which I loved, but at times it was even too hot for me. I'm definitely not complaining, though. We had a fantastic time!! It was so good to have time away, scream on the rides and spend time with each other.

Here are a few pictures...

Mickey Ears...as promised

Day 1 - Hollywood Studios

A car stunt show that we went to

Ian loved this meal! A whole pot of seafood all to himself...

Day 2 -Animal Kingdom

Everest ride

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom

I'm almost always screaming in these pictures, but Ian decided to do something

a bit different. :) (sorry it's fuzzy, but we just snapped a quick picture of the screen)

We were feeling like kids that morning and thought we'd get a picture with some characters

Day 4 - Epcot

Moroccan pavilion

Ian made me take this picture...said it was the real Nacho Libre

You may not be able to tell, but it was POURING! It rained at least once every day

but thankfully didn't last long!

Beautiful Canadian pavilion in Epcot

I had a delicious chocolate croissant at this French bakery! Mmmm...

Downtown Disney

We rented this boat called the Sea Racer, but it was far from a "racer"; think more "tugboat"

Our last night there we went to the show at Epcot which was amazing! This was taken right before we left the park after a long day.

(I just had to put the cheesy pin on our bag - it says "Happy Anniversary")

Well, that was our trip in a nutshell. We had a great time and are looking forward to our next holiday that will include bringing home our precious little baby. Many people have asked if we've heard anything, but no, unfortunately we haven't and probably won't until the referral.

In the meantime, I'm so thankful for a job that I love to keep me distracted, for great support from family & friends and for a God who loves & knows us because the wait is not getting any easier. We continue to pray, trust and enjoy the time we have together!

An evening with Michael

Last night we went to the Michael Buble concert and what an incredible show!! He's a real entertainer and really interacts with the crowd. Both Ian & I love music and to hear such a talented band and group of musicians was awesome!

The opening group was equally amazing. They were called Naturally 7 and do what's called vocal play where they do everything with their mouths...bass, guitar, drums, DJ, harmonica, trombone...it was so great!

To top it all off, Ian got us 10th row seats on the floor and we were right at the end of the row. At one point, Buble was walking down the aisles and giving hi-fives as he went by. He walked RIGHT passed us, but unfortunately missed my hand. Not wanting to let the opportunity pass by, I decided to grab...I mean pat...his shoulder. He just turned around and smiled. :) (I am laughing at myself for how this sounds, but it was pretty exciting!)

Anyway, I had a fantastic night out with Ian! We will definitely go to a concert of his again! Here are a few pictures from the night. Enjoy!

Very excited to be there!

Naturally 7

There he is!

I get a kick out of that woman's expression! I'm sure I looked much more calm than that.

Ian snapped a quick picture as he went by

It's booked!!!

We made our vacation decision and our flights are officially booked for Orlando! We're hoping to spend a few days at Disney and then possibly one at Universal Studios. We actually leave next week already, so we're super pumped!!

I also only have a week and a half left at the optometry clinic and then it's back to school right after we get back from our holiday. (To be honest, I miss the kids and am looking forward to seeing them again.) I really can't believe the summer has gone by so fast, but Ian keeps telling me that it's not over yet, so I'm going to keep enjoying every minute of it!

This is totally a side ramble, but we're also getting our driveway poured this week. I have never been so happy to see rebar and a bobcat in the yard! No more shovelling gravel for us (I mean Ian) in the winter!

Another thing I wanted to mention was that, if you have Sasktel Max, check out our friends adoption story in the Local on Demand section. You can find it under Saskatchewan Stories and it's called An Adoption Journey. What a great family! Ian & I really look forward to participating in this event next year.

That's it for now. I'll be sure to post pictures of Ian in his Mickey ears when we get back!

To go, or not to go...

Maybe the better question is where to go...

We really need a vacation. We've been holding off because we're going to be in SA for about a month and want to keep saving and building up our holiday time, but I don't know if we'll make it! We both like to travel and feel like we need to get away, especially before I start into another school year.

There are about 5-6 days we can hopefully take at the end of August and part of me wants to just splurge and fly somewhere fun (maybe Disney World??). Then my practical side kicks in and I try to think of something a little more budget friendly.

If anybody out there has any great suggestions, we'd love them!

I hope you're all enjoying the summer!

???

I'm not too sure what's going on with our blog. Is the layout looking weird to everyone else? I tried to change it, but am having some trouble since I haven't done a lot of this before. Anyway, if anyone has any tips, I'd welcome them. I'll try to get it fixed up soon!

Waiting & Running

It's been a couple of weeks since we were able to meet with the social worker from S.A. and with the directors of our adoption agency. I don't think I've felt so nervous in a long time, but honestly, I had nothing to worry about!

We met in a room at a hotel in Regina and at first, sat and listened to both Gordon (director) & Robyn (social worker) speak about the program, their commitment and the changes that are happening. It really reinforced our confidence in the agency and in the program. They are passionate about what they are doing and they really desire to see things move along. This was very encouraging for us!

After that, we were able to have a good, long chat with Robyn one-on-one. I really believe that this will only be to our benefit as we are not just names on paper to her anymore. People have asked if we were given any kind of timeline...oh, how I wish. We're hoping before Christmas but, as we heard from Robyn, there are no guarantees. They really try not to give any kind of timeline so that we are not disappointed if it doesn't happen by then. There are so many factors that come into play (the mom could change her mind at the last minute, the child's paperwork could fall through, etc.) that they just keep it all quiet until that baby is ready for you. In many ways, I'm thankful for that because I know that when we get that phone call, it's a for sure thing and we can start packing out bags!

We were also able to talk quite a bit with Gordon and his wife (Dianne) and it was so great. They are a fantastic couple who truly care about the families in the program.

So, we continue to wait. I've got a good job for the summer working in one of our friends optometry clinic and we're hoping to go camping at some point as well. It's also our 5 year anniversary in August and I think that calls for a spontaneous weekend getaway!

One more thing...some of our other friends who adopted from SA (they just brought home their beautiful son) are running from Regina to Saskatoon (143 miles for 143 million orphans) to raise awareness about adoption as well as funds. We want to support them in this and spread the word. To find out more information or to donate, you can visit...

www.run143.com

(They already started the run, but it's not too late to get involved with what's happening!)

School's Out!!

Woo hoo!! Another school year is over. I can't believe how fast it went! I've been with this group of kids for a couple of years now and had a great time with them. I do love my job as an EA and might even miss the kids over the next few weeks, but as the last week of school usually goes...everyone seemed quite ready to be out of the classroom!

Tomorrow, Ian and I are off to Regina to meet the social worker from South Africa. We've really been looking forward to this weekend and to putting a face to a name we've heard lots about. We're also getting together with other families afterwards and it will be great to connect with them again!

Anyway, I'll update some more when we get back. Thanks for reading!

FIFA World Cup

I find it kind of funny that something I've never really paid much attention to in the past, can suddenly become this event that captures our attention. In fact, Ian and I woke up at 6:00 am this morning to watch the opening ceremonies. (If you know me, that is way too early to be getting out of bed, but I was glad that we got up.) I just wanted to be there and be a part of the excitement and celebration!

We've been talking for a while about the World Cup coming up & how it will affect the process of our adoption. To be honest, for a while I just wanted it to start so it could be over and things could move along; however, now that it's started, I'm really looking forward to watching the games, cheering on S.A. and enjoying the time Ian and I have together!