Getting closer....

to take off. Or freak out. Depends on how you look at it. I have been going crazy , trying to keep on top of my "to do" lists, and take care of 2 sick kiddos (again) while fielding calls for the rental house AND fighting off a cold myself ,Michael has so much going on at work, which is another level of stress. BUT we are trying to stay focused on the big picture. Sweet baby girl :) Leaving our kiddos will be very hard. we have never left them. I know this will be a chance for dh and I to connect and enjoy Ethiopia and bonding with baby girl without worrying about the kids. Missing them-yes worrying -no :)
Some pics coming tonite :) off to run errands.

A few steps closer...

to finding the end of my lists :) Today I complied and ordered the albums for baby girls 4 special mothers, AND the photo book for her birthmom, all that only took just over an 1 1/2 hrs. Then I made my lists of phone numbers of importance for Nana and Pop pa. Oh, I also made the list of email addresses and passwords for my sister so she can keep my peeps in the loop ;) and phone numbers.

Such crystal clear water straight from the

spring

this spring/cave is a popular diving spot.

wouldnt catch me in it ;) ew...

papi kept boo safe so she wouldnt float

too far away (he didnt want to swim in

72 degree water ) me either :)

baby turtle not happy to be caught

he was safely returned to his mama

my angel baby

such a peaceful place

~so I did check off a few things . I bought baby girl formula (how freakin fun was that !!! I have a new baby and need formula!!! AH!) diaper cream,tylenol,binkies she may or may not use, diapers, her sweet embassy dress, AND a pair of sweet cowboy boots maked down to $2.50 ! Seriously for that price I couldnt pass them up. Got my hair cut (hacked. why do hairdressers have to cut a pound of hair off even when you say "just a lil trim please. ;( and I will pick up my new contacts next week. Whew.

~Kids were kinda cranky today...wonder if they are getting nervous or feeling my stress?

~STILL have a list the length of my arm to do , on top of normal mommy duties..when I get stressed I stop and think...I AM GOING TO ETHIOPIA !!!!!

HEEHEE... then I feel better :)

~And we found out the tenant that is late on the rent, the one I always work out late payments with and listen to her sad family problems , and tell her I feel for her and understand things are tough, vacated the house and moved ACROSS THE STREET WITHOUT EVEN A PHONE CALL OR A WORD. Ouch. now I have to deal with an empty house full of c*ap AND get ready to leave my kiddos to get my new baby in 12 days. hey thanks for returning the kindness, mrs. tenant.. karma baby.
focusing on the big picture. God will lead us thru this :)

~enjoy vacation pictures :)

Lil bit of baby update !

Boo picked out a dress for Baby sista :)


Sweet gift baskets from my friend Jess' kids

This is such an exciting time for us. If you havent gotten to this point yet, oh boy...just wait!! IT IS AWESOME !!! sooo much to do, but just knowing we are going to be hugging and kissin on our baby girl in less then 2 weeks...is amazing!!

I received an update from Christy with some new info on Baby Girl~

height-65 cms (roughly 25 in' I think..)

Weight-15 pds

Wakes at 6:30 am (gasp!)

bedtime at 6:30 pm

6-8 bottles a day

in between babes have meals, naps, 2 baths, massage, and time in the sun :)

these little ones are VERY well cared for and loved.

-How to approach baby based on personality- when you first meet Hiwot you will not have a problem picking her right up and holding her. Hiwot is a sweet spirit, and a very happy baby who loves to smile and laugh ! She will do well in a family who loves her very much.(I am so in love already!!)

~We booked our flights. I have my eye dr appt today, and my haircut appt.

~Kiddos are hanging with Nana and popa for some fun time :) Even my little Boo went! First time she has left mama. I was left eating dust and she zoomed out the door with her bag of goodies and her blankie with a quick "love you mama!" over her shoulder. They grow up SOOOOOO fast :(

Peanut and his friends

Boo lovin her cheeseburger :)


Bug and her band ;)

~Prayers for peace for my friend Kristi..after she lost her referral her heart broke and she is aching to move on with a new sweet baby and be excited again.

~I won a $10 gift card on Seegals blog for Burp itty Burp . I picked a cute taggie blankie for baby girl. It will say Hiwot :) Thank you :)

Celebrating , Shopping & LISTS!

My chef :)


WHOOPEE PIES. YUM.

Warm and yummy

NOTICE HE KEEPS MY LAPTOP HANDY

TO CHECK HIS RECIPES. HE IS SERIOUS.

I am over joyed we are on to the next step in our journey! Friday was my birthday. I couldnt imagine a better gift then knowing my baby girl is really ours!! Hiwot Falvo. sounds good :) My kids bought me thoughtful gifts. Bug knew I wanted a pair of Silver hoop earrings,and my son bought me a relaxation music cd and a Barack Obama book for the plane. My husband and boo got me a Starbucks gift card!! Woot Woot !!!

~ April 4th we will be on our way. We will be holding baby girl on the 6th when we get to visit the orphanage before our embassy appt. Wow!

~We are the only family traveling from our agency, which is a bit of a bummer, I hoped to meet some of you guys that I have gotten to know thru our journey. AND I was hoping for a crowd when we went out for the "traditional meal"........I am not confident that I will be able to actually eat too much.I am a very picky eater (my dh says I spend my meal picking off yucky things) and my tummy is even pickier.I wanted to blend a bit LOL........

~We have a long lay-over in Washington so we are going to sneak out and my dear friend Kendra, is going to come and meet us!! Kendra and I went thru the process together with FTC, and became a support system for each other and great friends. After tons of emails , texts and phone calls , This will be the first time we actually meet in person :)

~My son loves to cook. He found 2 recipes on Food Network he wanted to bake to celebrate baby girl coming home. He made triple chocolate cookies, and Whoopee pies. I took him to the store , we bought all the items and he had at it. Didnt want any help and he did a fantastic job!! At 10 yrs old he amazes me in the kitchen sometimes. AND the Whoopee pies were good. Seriously good. ;)

~LISTS. Lots of them. Lists of things to bring..lists of things to buy for kids, things to buy for baby girl, things to buy for us , lists of things to buy to donate, list of things for kids while gone, medicines to buy, food lists while gone, food lists to bring, things to buy/bring for special mothers, etc etc etc etc.... and you know I will forget SOMETHING!!!

~AND I have to get my hair cut and get new contacts. I am wearing my last pair..not a good thing ;)

I won a drawing on Seegals blog too! I am so excited. I will share that next :)

hope your weekend was great!!!!

Baby Girl GET YOUR BLANKIE!!

Mommy and Daddy are coming to bring you H~O~M~E !!!!!!




Can you imagine me jumping up an down with cookie crumbs flying everywhere AND kids screaming ????





Christy my caseworker called today and said "Congratulations on your new baby girl"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh my word. the world stopped spinning for a second ;) my prayers (and all of yours) were answered.



I quickly texted a picture of baby girl to everyone in my address book with her new official (ethiopian) name !!! Super quick I threw Boo in the bath since she was dirty from playing outside...and got the kids ready and off we went to surprise my hubby at work. This is a tradition for us. When Boo finally got released from PGN hell, we drove over and surprised him at the front of his store with a big sign that read "WE ARE OUT!!!" It was really cool. When he came out of his office today he was thrilled!!!!! This waiting has been hard on us.

It was so fun explaining to the folks at work that we are outta here in .....2 weeks :) :) oh my gosh will I have lists!!!









OK. NOW FOR WHAT YOU ARE WAITING FOR...









INTRODUCING...










HIWOT MICHAEL F...... SOON TO BE~



TATIANA-MARIA HIWOT F.....


















dang it. dont you hate when your finger is in the way?

(waiting to see if its ok to share w ya'll her WHOLE beautiful face :)
GOD IS GOOD!!!!!!

Passing the time

boo & cookie going night night :)

No news yet. I am getting very edgy.When the OUTCOME matters sooo much, it well....just sucks to not know.

So I will just overload ya'll with pictures from our getaway. K? :)

Cypress woods on Manatee Springs, Boo

loved the yellow flowers

Long boardwalk thru the Cypress marsh

Beautiful baby

Boo what is that? "poop mama" niiiice.

Look at this beautiful hair !!

My beautiful girl

Papi and boo goin for a bike ride


My boy the Croc hunter!

within 5 mins of arriving my son runs off to a near by sinkhole/swamp looking

water hole. He comes back with THESE pictures. I almost had a heart attack!!

He was just feet away from a 5' alligator!!!

The children have lost..

a true HERO. I am so sad to learn that Haregewoin Teferra, the first advocate for orphans due to HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia and the woman who's life is the story of the book "There is No me, without you" , written by Melissa Fay Greene , has died today.

I am so sad. For the children. For Ethiopia. It was a dream of mine to meet Mrs. Teferra someday. Just to thank her. For caring. Simply caring for the children. She was an angel on earth.

The book is a must read for anyone who has a heart for orphans and children of ANY country. It is amazing and moving.

May she rest in peace.

Click here ~ and

here~

to read a bit about her on Melissa's blog.

Cookie coma

Anyone know what to do if you reach a "cookie coma"? I may need help soon... :)
I am trying to NOT think about court but , not thinking about it is making me think about it! Each time my phone rings I jump like I am waiting for a referral call!!
~My guatemama friends Angie and Kendra have called and texted me to check in. Love you guys!!
~Some AGCI friends suggested I have several cookies AND a starbucks. Me likey THAT idea :)

(Note to self....buy bigger pants :) jk....

Relaxed and Ready for court!

We had a really nice time. Manatee Springs is beautiful. Tall trees, beautiful clear water, and lots of time spent outside walking and riding bikes, or for the kids, and hubby..fishing. They caught lots of turtles and panfish :)

We didnt have internet, or phone service and only 1 tv channel (which was mostly static) so we were forced to slow down. We needed it.

(I didnt need the ticks I was picking off of myself for days...)

Gotta take the good with the bad right? ;) Pictures coming.



~We have our court date tonite (Ethiopia is ahead of us)PLEASE pray for all to go well , for baby girls birthmom to be there and all the paperwork to be in order. WE SOOOOO want to bring her home!



~Please pray for peace for the Johnson family. They lost the referral of their baby K last week. Her birthmom missed her and changed her mind. Her bmom is ill, so please pray for her health and strength as well as the baby. Praying Kristi gets a new referral and her heart heals very soon.

~Sweet Abby is having surgery today and is very sick. Please click the sidebar and check in on her. Prayers are needed.

We are outta here !

Nope not to Ethiopia ;) Did I scare ya?

My hubby found a camp site a bit north of here, with $12 a night campsites!! Soooo the RV is loaded up and we are taking a break. If we cant be in Ethiopia with Baby Girl, we will just have to go camping with the kids :) :)

I know my husband and I need this break. So much going on lately , it is going to be great to just bike ride, take long walks, nap in the hammock, and watch the kiddos fish :)

Have a great week! I'll be checking in. :) :)

Looking ahead~

I was lucky enough to score 2 almost brand new baby bouncer seats on craigslist. Our orphanage uses these for the babies everyday and the ones they have are wearing out. They asked if any families traveling could donate a bouncer seat. I couldnt afford to buy them new at $50, so I cruised CL for weeks until I found some in great shape. Boo thinks I bought the pink one for her :) she sits in it after her pjs are on.

My sweet boy finally had his cast removed today!

Boo and Bug are so sweet together. I love to see

they truly love each other :)

silly, messy baby :)

Well I have to say I am feeling much better at the end of this week then I was at the beginning. I am so happy to be moving forward again. Adoption aint for the faint of heart !

~Shout out to Aubrey. She & her hubby passed court and will be traveling very soon!! I am so happy for you :)

~Our agency has a large travel group heading out this weekend to pick up their babies. I am so excited and happy for them!! I wish we were going, but I know our time is coming. Some sweet moms promised to hug Baby Girl for me :)

~We had a busy day today. I went and had my decompression therapy this morning, came home got the kiddos, went to Old Navy an returned a few "belly shirts" (seriously, WHY do all the shirts out there creep up your belly? I have no desire to show my belly anymore & the pants? Come on! can I get a pair of pants that don't give me a lovely "muffin top" ? Where are the clothes for the over 16 crowd ? UGH! Rant over..;) Then on to the pet store. Ran home to put a VERY cranky Boo down for a 20 min nap , grab lunch, then back out to my son's Dr appt to have his cast off. They decided to put him in a split for another 3 weeks..with no sports or heavy lifting. His growth plate still shows a dent. This means they can continue to charge me $28 every week for xrays :)

~I have received some emails in regards to donations for the orphanage. I will post a list soon. I love that you guys care so much :O)

~10 days until our new court date !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!

I am SOOOOOOO Happy!! My sweet caseworker called and made my day.
We have a court date scheduled for March 17th!!!!!!!
Color me thrilled :) :)

Baby Girl is 6 months old!

In celebration of Baby girl's 6 month birthday, I figured I would share her name with you guys. My dear hubby, liked Avianna. I LOVED Tatianna. He didnt think people would like/know how to say Tatianna (oye.men) And he thought it sounded too Russian (?) ... So that is where the poll came from. I DID catch him voting for Avianna ! ;) Alas ..Baby Girls name will be~
Tatiana Maria :)

I go back and forth with the "n's" should it be 1 or 2?

Ok 6 things I love about Baby Girl !

~I love that you are so well cared for and loved by your special mothers.
~I love your beautiful eyes :)
~I love your birthmother , who gave you life.
~I love your beautiful carmel colored skin .
~I love your teeny tiny little mouth , I can NOT wait to kiss.
~Finally , I love that GOD picked me to be your Mama :)

HOPEFULLY we wont be doing a "7 things I love about Baby Girl!!!! :)

Weekend update

Cookie in her new dress. I have to dress somebody

In "teenie tiny dresses" ;)

Boo getting some puppy love

I found this BRAND NEW moses basket on Craigsl*st. I only pd $15

and the lady was sweet, and gave me a handmade pillow, sheet & blanket when I told her we were adopting. The babies at Hannah's Hope, nap in Moses baskets, so I wanted one for Baby girl.

Boo showing her artistic side.

She LOVES to paint.

Roses from my hubby.

Boo came home forever in December 2006. One week before Christmas. She was 6 1/2 months old. I longed for her to be home thru both of our PGN kick outs, which are similar to not passing court in Ethiopia. Once she was home I realized GOD's timing was perfect. Everything fell into place. I am reminding myself of this. I pray for peace. I know GOD has a plan and it is perfect. I just miss my baby girl :) & want to hold her. Ok. No more whining. (for now :)

My sweet Boo is becoming so articulate. She talks and talks and it just amazes me how smart she is. Some things she says daily-

"Mama you happy?"

"Yes Boo, Mama happy."

"Baby happy too!" (too cute!!)

She tells me when she is tired too, "mama baby SO TIRED,go nite on your bed?"

Gotta love that!!

For the last few days she has shown some jealousy when Bug curls up in my lap. She will yell at her "You MEAN!" "MY MAMA" of course I tell her I am Bugs mommy too and I love them both. She asks, "You my Mama?" and squeezes me tight. it melts me. But deep down in a very scared place of my soul......I worry. What happens when she understands adoption? I want her to always know her story, but I worry that at some point , she may be hurt. Or feel bad that she wasn't always with us. I notice a change in her when we say goodnite to her Foster Mom, and her Birthmom each night. (their pics are in her room) she kinda closes off a bit....When I tell her Mommy Diana her foster mom took care of her in Guatemala, she say NO, You take care of me! Even at such a young age she knows that means she wasn't with me always.

I had pictures taken when I was 9 months pregnant with Bug. I loved being pregnant! I have one in our family room. It is a picture of my son, with his hands on my tummy. Boo points to it and says,

"Peanut" , "mama" - where sissy? "

I tell her Sissy was in mama's tummy.

"Where me?"

Bug said, "you weren't born yet , you were still in Guatemala " (well sorta..)

Boo became very sad , and hugged me tight saying -

"No you my Mama, I stay here!" I felt bad for her. I said to her

"Boo you are right here (pointing to the picture) in Mama's heart"

She got the biggest smile on her face!! Now she point to my heart and says

"me in your heart" Yes Baby.

I want to always be her Mama. I hate to think she would be sad that she didn't come from my tummy. ..because it doesn't matter in the least :)

~Praying for news this week about our new court date. Its been 2 weeks since our last one.