home study under way!

We are on day 2 of the Home Study!  Tomorrow is the home visit, so I'm doing some final cleaning touches tonight.  So far I think it is going pretty well!  She has asked pretty much the same kinds of questions that were in our extensive questionnaire that we already turned in, so we've at least had time to process the questions already.

My mom and I have been busy keeping up with Etsy orders, I'm so thankful for all the orders that have been coming in!  My mom's dear friend, Luann, was so sweet to feature my blog & Etsy shop on her wonderful blog.  You can go check it out here- while you're there, please browse around and check out her stories of Weegie (her sweet Corgie who is also known to make a blog post from time to time), the Chief (her husband), and you won't want to miss her AMAZING recipes!!!! 


If you enjoy her blog as much as I do, please "Follow" her blog on the right hand side of the page.  She has been given the opportunity to do some reviews for items such as cookbooks and food items, but the blog world thinks she needs to have more official followers before they will consider her "worthy".  And believe me, try just one of her recipes and you will know she is definitely worthy!  Thanks friends!!

thankful

Celebrating one of our first milestones-- submitting the home study application.

We were advised by several people to celebrate the little things through the adoption process, so I plan on trying to do so and document them with at least one picture. :)  It's nice to be able to check something off the list!  I never thought I was much of a list person, but I am loving checking things off of these lists.  The piles of paperwork haven't been consuming us ever since the home study application was turned in.  But that does not mean our work is done... We have quite a bit more to do before submitting our dossier.  I cannot wait until I can say we are DTE (Dossier To Ethiopia), this is when we get put on the official waiting list and get an estimated waiting time!!!  

Since I last checked in...  we've been cleaning and organizing around the house, getting ready for the home study.  My mom and I have been making towels & potholders (and a few burp cloths by request!) like crazy.  Thank you SOOOO much, Mom, for sewing everything!  You're amazing!  I've sold a few orders on Etsy but have sold the most just through friends and family.  Thank you ALL for your support and prayers, it is all appreciated so so much.  You can check out the Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/awaitingethiopia.

I have been somewhat overwhelmed with lots of emotions lately, mostly gratitude.  I could never have dreamed how kind, thoughtful, and generous people would be.  Not only from our friends, but from people we barely know.  We have been trusting that God will take care of us through this, in all aspects, and He has been faithful.  And we are so thankful.  Thank you to all of you, I don't think I can say it enough.

Next week is the home study!!  Can anyone give us any pointers?  I haven't baby proofed the house or done anything at all in the means of creating a nursery.  At this point that is all 18-24 months away, surely she is not expecting to see any of that?!?

Thanks for checking in, I'll be back to let you know how the home study went!! 

home study & etsy link!

On the way to the post office with complete Home Study Application!

All 89 pages of our Home Study Application were mailed off this afternoon!  Our home visit is scheduled for September 24th.  Now the rush is on to do several things around the house.  These things are on the top of the to-do list:

1.  Finish tile downstairs.  If you've been to our house in the last year I'm sure you've heard me whine about the almost finished tile floors. :)  My wonderful husband (only 3 months after breaking his knee) decided to rip up the carpet downstairs and put down travertine tile.  I shouldn't complain, because it looks great... but... he didn't know how to pull up the toilet and sink in the bathroom so the tile stops at the door to the bathroom. :)  It also needs to be finished up around the baseboard.

2.  Clean out the black hole known as the "office" upstairs.  It's the one room that is not used for anything really, so I just stuff everything in there that doesn't really have a place.

3.  Clean out closets in all the upstairs bedrooms.  Again, these closets haven't been really needed in the past so I just shove stuff in there haphazardly... but I want the social worker to feel comfortable that we are ready to put lots of baby clothes in at least one of those closets!! :)

4.  Do some emergency training with Major.  If you've been to our house you know how um, protective, Major can be.  (It actually seems like he's gotten a lot better over the last few months!)  But he tends to bark his head off and growl for a long time when people come in, especially if it's someone he doesn't know.  Hey, he's a great guard dog, that's a plus right??  I promise he's a sweet dog once you get to know him. :)  Moral of the story is I want to try to stop the guard dog stuff so the social worker isn't scared she, or a future baby, will get bitten by the big, bad Major.

I set up an Etsy shop today and got some potholders and towels listed!  Check out our available items here- http://www.etsy.com/shop/AwaitingEthiopia.  Each item is listed for $15.00 each.  For Austin friends, let me know which items you're interested in so I can get them to you without you having to pay shipping.  Instead of placing the order through Etsy just email me what item you are interested in: awaitingethiopia2012@gmail.com.  My mom and sister are also my unpaid salespeople, so if you see them at church they can get your order to you as well. :)  By the way-- big shout out to my mom for sewing all these and Jamie for helping me pin them together!!!  Thank y'all for all your help!

I'll leave you with a link to another AWAA family's blog, www.pureandlasting.com.  They just returned from Ethiopia for their court date for their daughter, Maya.  I can't get enough of her pictures or posts.  She does a great job of documenting their journey with words and pictures.  Check out their story about Alain too... wow!!!