after lots of bad news phone calls and medical reports, we were finally blessed with a good news phone call.....our homestudy is complete! Patrick & I went to sign it today & I'll be bringing it up to Augusta for state certification this week! Another HUGE checkmark on the journey into adoption. To keep you up to speed, here's roughly the process works from here...
~MAPS (our homestudy Maine agency) sent in our I600A form & check today....its an application for a visa to bring an orphan into the country.
~I'm continuing to gather/write/notarize all of our dossier paperwork that will go to Ethiopia with our homestudy.
~once we receive approval of I600A form & our appointment for fingerprinting(can take 1 to 3 months), we will officially be welcomed into WACAP's (our International agency out of Seattle) Ethiopia program and go onto the waitlist!!!!
~all of our paperwork is sent to Ethiopia & WACAP's staff there to help in referral of a child from one of their many orphanages..... wait time for referral once family is on waitlsit is officially 1-12 months but has been 7-10 months for last year or so.
~If we accept referral, roughly 2 months until court date then 1 month until travel to Ethiopia.....these are all loose dates as things happen earlier and later than that
I am so excited to continue moving forward in our dream of a family & this step forward makes us so happy!
Showing off some serious cropping skills, I placed my brother's head on basketball players pictures I'd cut from Sports illustrated. Notice the superb placement....
This is mt Dad's card....I laugh each time I see it.
A few other cards I'd made for Valentine's/birthday (yep, my Dad is a Valentine's baby). I packed them up and sent them down to him in Florida..he got quite the laugh.
my wonderful husband pulled out all of the stops this Valentine's.....card, chocolates & gorgeous flowers.....and called me his Valentine all day. so thankful to have a wonderful husband who appreciates me :-)
took an AMAZING quilting class at Alewives for the past few weeks. Love the store, Rhea the manager & the unbelievable bright fun fabrics. Anyway, I loved this improv quilt technique and am stockpiling fabric for my next project...or 2! The quilt is twin-size and specially made for our future baby room. Going with a fish/ocean theme in orange/turquoise. I am still machine quilting & will be sure to post a picture once I have completed the binding. 
Following in Ali Edwards footprints, I again wanted to choose a word for focus on this year. Last year, I chose "believe" and devoted a lot of time and energy exploring "believe", what it meant to me, and staying positive. We had a difficult year, with more IVF attempts failing and the crummy economy, but I think we stayed pretty grounded...believeing that there are always bumps in the road on your way to happiness and fulfillment. My crafty friend, Pamela, even made me the most amazing felt heart with "believe" on it as a helpful reminder.
This year, I have chosen to focus on "hope" in all of its facets. May we all have a bit more hope in our lives.
most of you know that I volunteer with Almost Home Rescue ( www.almosthomerescue.net ) in transporting dogs, doing home visits, and being a foster home for dogs looking for a forever home. Our latest foster, Peanut, joined us before Christmas & found his forever home a week or so ago. Can't say that Oscar or Murphy are sad he's gone but we do miss the pup and hope he is loving his family. We'll wait until after an upcoming vacation to take in another foster.....
for those of you who did not see our Christmas card this year, it featured a not-so cheerful photo of our dogs, Oscar & Murphy, otherwise known as "the boys". Yes, they look particularly miserable this year & I can only wonder what must be going on those little brains of theirs. For your information, it took a bag full of treats, 30 minutes, and 1 frustrated photgrapher to snap this piece of art :-)
