Marking My Calendar

Found this: Ladybugs
Ladybugs are believed to be good luck in the adoption community. Several years ago, while numerous people waited for their referrals, there was a huge infiltration of ladybugs across the nation. Immediately following the ladybug sightings, a flood of referrals came in for many of the waiting parents. Many people now believe that when a ladybug is seen, a referral is not far behind. (http://komplexify.com/ladybug/adoption-traditions/)

Okay, so I might be going crazy.......and you can think I am; but I marked my calendar yesterday! You know how seeing a ladybug is known to mean a referral or something "big" in the adoption world. Well starting late Tuesday night, I'll list my "ladybug" sightings". And...to by defense, I wasn't looking for them and I actually didn't realize all of the sightings until late yesterday! Go ahead...call me weird, but I think it is fun. It gives me something while I wait. Heeeeheee. Maybe he was born yesterday!

Late Tues/Early Wed- I was watching Tori and Dean (yes...I watch this) and they threw a huge Ladybug themed party for Stella, their daughter.
3:00a.m. Wed- I woke up and could feel my eye was swollen shut. I looked in the mirror and I couldn't open my eye due to a bite of some sort...ladybug you ask?... who knows! (heeeheee)
Wednesday- *Doing yardwork and spotted a ladybug (not so out of the ordinary, I know. Just go with me). *Opened the junk drawer and a ladybug shaped eraser was right on top. *Somewhere in here, I realized the ladybug coincidence. *Then, late Wednesday I put my youngest to bed and reached into her jammy drawer to randomly pull out....yes...her ladybug jammies.

Come on Ladybug...bring me luck. Heeeeheeee!

I'm so excited to find out I'm not the only crazy one. My sister-in-law sent me this after reading my post.

Oh my gosh you are going to think I'm crazy but I just read your post about ladybugs and guess what? For starters I had no idea of this superstition. Anyway, for some odd reason, I kept having this reocurring dream last night that I traveled to get "S" with you. I have no clue why I would dream this, but in the dream the children were all running around delighted at the number of ladybugs they were finding!!Anyway, in the dream, "S" was about Emmy's age maybe a little older, around 6 or seven months old, such a beautiful baby. He was crawling around looking at the ladybugs too. anyway, like I said just made me think of that when you said ladybugs!!

Fingerprints...again!

I received word today that my fingerprints "were not updated".....a.k.a. I need to have my prints done again. Christy thinks that my hands were probably too dry the first time, and suggested that I condition my hands throughout the day with lotions, etc... I am a little bummed to take the day off again, and drive up there....but on the bright side it just means that I'll have a solid 4 hours to listen to the radio and think about my little man. I may even slip in a surprise trip to Six Flags for the older kiddos since we are heading that way anyway.

My babies...so far!

Our adoption is becoming so REAL!

Hopefully within the year we will be going here... to deliver...

...lots of donations.

Today, my friend Susy brought our first donations over for H.H. It was one of those moments when everything came together and all of the sudden the adoption became a reality. I feel like I'm in my third trimester. I'm really nervous and anxious...and ready to "get the show on the road". I can't believe it... I'm really going to hand deliver these items to Africa!

Other preperations are ordering artwork for little man's room and finding bedding. Although we have a crib for his big sissy, we'll be getting him his own. Big Sissy just isn't ready to be done with it yet and we don't want her to feel pushed out of it. Honestly, the longer she'll stay in it without trying to escape the better! I've also bought tons of clothes on clearance, eventhough I don't know his size yet. I'm praying we'll know in the next 6 weeks or so.

On another note...has anyone had any luck with grants? We have looked into several, but they will not let us apply because Ethiopia is not a Hague country. We were also turned down by God's Grace because of a lack of funding. Today we sent out an application to Show Hope! Pray for us!

New Number and Other Notes from AGCI

We are thrilled to have talked with our caseworker Christy this morning! I can't believe we are already #4 on the waitlist.

I had some questions for Christy, so thought I would share some of the info she shared with me. They still are not sure if the courts will be closing or not. This will greatly effect us. If they don't close, court dates will obviously continue. This could mean that our baby boy could be in our arms before Christmas, which is our BIG WISH! MOWA will be re-opening late July and we'll know a lot more then. We talked a lot about my travel anxiety and found that my brother can go along with me, and hubby will fly a seperate plan. I'm so nervous about flying. (Any suggestions?)

Here is a big favor that I'm asking for...Hannah's Hope (our little man's home right now) needs a few things. Hubby and I are collecting donations for the items listed below, as well as some gift cards to purchase these items. We would love to pay overweight fees at the airport and have plenty to share when we arrive.

They need:

*diapers (preemie, 1, 2)

*wipes

*Avent bottles (BPA free only)

*Similac (both Soy and milk based)

*diaper creams

*items for older kids, such as stickers, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, sunglasses, or other goodies

Passing the Time!

No numbers yet...but hopeful we will find out our new numbers in the next couple of days. We can't wait to hear how much closer we are to our newest little man. We've been keeping busy trying to pass the time.

My waitlist guess is number is "7". We shall see!!!!!! Am I the only one who checks their e-mail spam...just to double check for AGCI e-mails??? (We just picked up "Big Sis" from Grandma and Grandpa's...as you can tell by a face full of tattoos!)