WHY

Why did this happen, again? It appears that there was a piece of paper missing from our file when our case went to court. We have been told that this has not been required in the past, but now MOWA insists that it be present in the files. Very frustrating to have yet another court date for us to wait for, but there is nothing we can do.

Mark and I have again been overwhelmed with kind words and prayers from friends and family. We appreciate everyone's support and are so encouraged. That little girl is already so well loved - we just can't wait to bring her home.

Yesterday we got our sad news but also got some very happy news. Some friends of ours have been in ET this week meeting their daughter Rahel. You can check out their blog here. They were able to go to Hannah's orphanage and meet her, take pictures, and video. What a special gift this is to us and we appreciate them so much. Here are a few things, our friend had to say in an email she sent after going to visit:

".....we have met your daughter and she is AMAZING!!!! So,.....Hannah is basically GORGEOUS....she is seriously beautiful and so HEALTHY...you are going to be amazed and you can put your heart and mind to rest...she has a round belly and a filled out face and legs and hands and everything...she really is so beautiful and healthy looking. She was asleep on her belly when we got there and they rolled her over...she woke up but I couldn't get a smile since she was such a sleepy baby =) She didn't smile because of the sleepiness, but she didn't cry at all either!! They said she is very, very sweet!!! She has such soft hair and her curls have gotten long!! She is taken such good care of. The orphanage is beautiful and clean and bright. The nursery is clean and there is someone in there constantly....the older babies are sitting, etc....which is great news!! Their cribs are clean and orderly and they seem very well cared for.....rest easy tonight knowing that she is well until she is in your arms!!"

This just makes my heart smile. Thank you Sarah for checking on my baby girl!

Hannah and Court

Little one did not pass court...AGAIN! So sad, the news is just heartbreaking to us. New court date is Feb. 11. Tentative embassy date March 29th (seems so far away).

Trying to be crafty

I am not very crafty, but I try. I can do cakes and I like to scrapbook, but art is not really my thing. I guess part of the problem is that I am not very original and don't usually have my own ideas. Therefore, I got a great idea off a blog I read every day: Under the Sycamore. (I put the link to her original bird paintings.) Thanks Ashley for the idea!

Now hanging in our living room.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND...
Tomorrow is Hannah's Rescheduled Court Date.
Please say a prayer that her case will pass court and that we can bring her home soon.

Daddy's Helper

He is Daddy's little boy and helper. Little man loves spending time with his Dad.

Thanks Aunt Amie and Uncle Jacob for this cute little shirt.

Jack's Friends

Jack likes to hang out and lately we have had a few friends over to play and visit. It's pretty funny because most of the kids who have come over to play are older and Jack is in a very different stage than them. Jack likes to grab their shoes, their books, etc.So thanks boys for coming over - it won't be long and the age difference won't matter much. We love having you over and Jack loves to watch and learn from you "big boys."

Jesse and Jack

Cain and Jack watching the last 15 minutes of Sesame Street "Elmo's World."

Over the crud

We had the crud. For almost two weeks, Jack and I were sick. We had colds, fevers, sore throats (at least I did, Jack couldn't tell me his was sore) coughs, and overall yuck-i-ness. Mark was great about retrieving cold medicne and maple long johns from the store. As well as helping with all the other household chores I wasn't up to tackling. Thanks Mark!

However, this weekend is the the first weekend we are feeling good (the last 2 were bad). We had a great time. We relaxed on Friday night. Saturday I actually left the house to meet up with a friend for coffee. Mark had a guys poker/Rock band night and I had a ladies baking night with some friends. And today we had brunch at a friends house and met some other families who have adopted children. It was great! Here's to being over the crud!

Mrs. Handy

My husband is pretty handy around the house- I am not. BUT, I did manage to put together this toy for Jack that came in the mail yesterday. There were lots of screws and the diagram seemed kind of impossible to read. Yet, I did it (and feel very proud of myself too). And now Jack is having all kinds of fun on his new ride. Pressing buttons. Pulling himself up on the back and walking across the room - he loves it!

Just not fair

"Life isn't always fair." This is something I heard a lot growing up. It was usually in reference to me complaining that my brother was getting to do something I didn't get to do - but he had his own complaints about me too.

Lately, I have been giving a lot of thought to the fact that "life is not fair". It isn't fair that Hannah didn't pass court the first time. It's not fair that I have friends who desperately desire to have children and they are having infertility problems. It's not fair that there are people who get pregnant that don't even want children.

It's not fair...that I have friends who long to be married and share their life with someone and they are still single; that children sometimes die while they are still children; that there are millions of orphans; that people go hungry and thirsty every day all around the world (here in the U.S too); that people are hurting, lonely, and in pain; etc...I could go on and on. Life isn't fair.

The people of Haiti are weighing heavy on my mind when I think about what they are living through right now. It's not fair and my prayers are with them.


Check out the Craft Hope Etsy shop, all proceeds will benefit Doctors Without Borders in Haiti. All items have been generously donated by the crafting community. Please visit the Craft Hope website.

Happy 8 Months (a little late)

A little big boy, that is what you are.
This month you have changed so much. You are so close to crawling and enjoy getting up on all fours to rock back and forth. You actually do move, but mostly backwards. You are trying to pull yourself up using anything you can find. Mealtimes have become infinitely more fun, because you get to eat with us. Almost everything we give you to eat, you like (so far). The adjustment for to the new house was smooth and easy - you love your new play room. One whole room for you and all your toys - yikes!

You are happy, easy-going, and oh-so-smiley! Sleeping times are going so well - you sleep through the night and we are close to being on an actual napping schedule. You love to watch others, especially children -whenever we are with other little kiddos, you just seem to study their every move. But you like all the commotion and you always get so excited whenever your dad or I walk in the door. I think your dad goes to work all day just so that he can come home to watch you bounce and squeal with excitement when he walks in the door.

We love you Jack!

Update

Avoidance. This is what I have been doing.
Last Tuesday, January 5 - I was fully prepared to post Jack's 8 month post and then was hoping to post about Hannah passing court. But, she didn't. This put a huge damper on my day/week. Mark and I got an email in the morning saying that her court date had been rescheduled due to some paperwork missing. It was not just our case but several cases that were rescheduled - but that didn't do much to make me feel better.

I went to bed and woke up thinking "Today is the day, she will be officially be my daughter." And I found out that we will be waiting until January 29th for her new court date. I cried. I am sad and disappointed. It will delay our travel plans by a month. A month goes by fairly quickly most of the time. But a month in her little life is a long time. It is one more month that I do not know her or get to see her growing and changing. It is one more month that I will not be able to hold her, kiss her, and whisper in her ear how much I love her.

I have been encouraged by the prayers and kind words of so many friends through out the last week. One in particular:

"Prayers for you all and Hannah- the waitin and wondering is so hard.

Remember the words to How Great Thou Art:

Strength for today

Bright hope for tomorrow

Great is His faithfulness"

That is what I am holding onto. Praying for strength for each "today" and renewed hope for all the tomorrows that stand in the way between now and when she comes to be with us.

And now I will pull myself out of my blog funk, stop avoiding, and get around to posting Jack's 8 month.

Hungry Man Jack

The realization that I will soon be feeding two little ones who can not yet feed themselves is starting to set in - so we are letting Jack experiment with feeding himself, both with the spoon and with finger foods.

Jack is looking and laughing at Macy who is on the floor waiting for food.

We needed to get a full length picture to show the leftover evidence on Jack's body.

Instead of cleaning him up like good parents, we put J on the floor and let Macy clean him up.

Happy New Year

Bringing in the '10 with a maple long john and a cinnamon roll...yum!

New Years Eve

Since we couldn't go out this year for New Years Eve, some of our friends came to us. We played Yahtzee and Rock Band, laughed, and enjoyed having company over to our new house. We still have lots of things left on our list that we would like to finish up around the house. Hopefully this weekend we can get some things taken care of - painting the trim, unpacking more boxes, setting up Hannah's crib, and hanging up pictures. But last night, nobody cared what our house looked like and we were just glad to spend time with people we care about.

Here are a few pictures...


Lots of Friends!

Lots of Silliness!

and Lots of Laughter.


We had a fun night with our friends, glad they were able to come.
Looking forward to 2010. We will finally have both our babies here with us. So exciting!