GOODBYE, PAPERWORK!!!!

The 2 pounds of paperwork has been shipped! The kids helped me send it off, and in Aidan's one-sided conversation with the UPS man, he said, "Those papers are going to go to Africa to tell them I need one of their kids to be my sister." Now we just wait for our I-171 immigration form to come in the mail. Once that comes, then we are officially "on the list" for a baby girl between the ages of 9 months and three years. Our case worker told us yesterday that the list right now for ages birth to 4 years is 50 families long. But she said in that 50 families, some are requesting only a newborn, and some (although few) are requesting a boy. (For some reason there is a higher "demand" for girls. I found that interesting.) Once we get our immigration form and are officially on the list, then we will find out exactly WHERE we are on that list. So, I am currently stalking my mailman for that form.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we have so much to be thankful for this year. Our precious Houston will be a year old next week. Jason and I are reminded daily how lucky we are that we "beat the odds" with my pregnancy, and that he is a healthy, beautiful addition to our family. Aidan and Hannah suprise me on a daily basis. Aidan is our little genius, and Hannah is our drama queen. They both have such sweet hearts, and pray many times a day for Macy to be safe while she is in Africa. We are also so thankful for our extended family and friends. We have had an outpouring of support with our decision to adopt. Their love is what gets us past the "nay-sayers". Thank you to you all! We hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

The paperwork is DONE!!!

This morning I made the very scary trip to downtown Nashville to have all of our papers verified by the Secretary of State. I say that it's scary, because I don't do well driving to Nashville on my own. My knuckles were white and my heart was pounding as I stopped before each turn to make sure I wasn't turning on a one-way road. So despite Mapquest's plans to get me eternally lost, I finally found the building. And, of course, the only parking at the building was "private parking". It was like an ENTIRE garage for private parking. I mean, SERIOUSLY! So I ask the security guy (the one who informed me I could not park there) where I was supposed to park. He directed me three blocks down the road to a lot with about 2 million cars in it, all double parked. After searching through two other lots, I finally squeezed my sweet little mini-van into a tiny slot. Of course, I have never had to use one of those parking machine things that take your money and give you a ticket. I am sure I looked like a total moron reading all the directions on what buttons to push. And then I started walking...no, hiking....the four blocks to the ginormous building. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it was FREEZING and I was wearing a shirt with sleeves to the elbows. And no coat. So, once I get to the building, the security guard took my picture with this machine. Kinda weird. But from there - it was smooth sailing. And all of that to say, that our paperwork is now all filled out, notarized, certified by our County Clerk, and verified by the Secretary of State. I smiled the entire walk back to the car and on the way home. Except when I hit the curb that sounded like it took off the front end of my car. (I have actually done that - taken of the front end of my car with a curb.) But after some inspection, I found that the sweet little mini-van was just fine, and started smiling again. Having our paperwork done is such a HUGE weight off of me. I can send this gigantic packet of paperwork, also known as our dossier, to our adoption agency in Seattle tomorrow. All we need now is a certain form known as our I-171 from the government. I am currently stalking our mailman until it arrives.
So YEAH FOR US!!!! We are that much closer to bringing a little girl home! And now I think I will go join the kids for a nap. I am mentally exhausted.

A Different Kind of Overwhelmed!

I am sitting here at my computer completely overwhelmed. But, for a change, it's not overwhelmed in a "bad" way. It's overwhelmed as in a "I am so happy I am about to bust out of my seams" way. It is 2:26 in the afternoon, and I have had NINE emails and phone calls TODAY about setting up photo sessions. The majority of these people I have never even met - they have just heard about me and our mission to bring home a little girl from Africa. I mean - I can't BELIEVE I have had this great of a response! All along Jason and I have said that God will provide the finances to bring this baby girl into our family. But it is SOOOO incredibly awesome to SEE Him do it. I mean - the weather this weekend - could it have been any more perfect for the six photo sessions that I had? And I have sessions booked for the next four weekends! (Lots of times are still available though - if you need a session!) Wow! Praise be to God for being such a faithful provider! This past week was filled with ups and downs with finances - with work, with Christmas coming, with TWO kids birthdays in the month of December (I won't even mention our 5 year annivarsary in December - those presents aren't even going to exist this year!). But we know we are going to make it all "happen", and to see God's provision with money going straight into our adoption account - whoa! Okay....enough gushing for now. I gotta get back to work on editing some photos! Another huge THANK YOU to all of you who are referring your friends and family to me! Keep 'um coming! (P.S. Oh yeah...and check out the pics from this weekend of my own beautiful children. I really must be the most blessed Momma alive!)

Ethiopia grows GREAT coffee and SWEET babies!

We have an awesome fundraising opportunity, and I hope some of you are interested! After recently adopting his own child from Africa, a local man has just opened an online coffee store to help other families in the adoption process. I went onto his website, set up my own "coffee shop" for free, and when anyone visits the site and purchases coffee from my "shop", $5.00 of each bag sold is sent directly into our adoption fund! Pretty cool, huh? And this isn't any ole' Folgers coffee...this is authentic African coffee! It would be great to serve while entertaining for the holidays, or better yet, a wonderful gift for a teacher, boss, secretary, etc... or awesome in a themed gift basket. So buy some coffee and help us out! The site to our "store" is www.justlovecoffee.com/TheHumphreyFamily
Things are still moving right along with the adoption. We were notified today that the adoption agency has received our homestudy from the social worker, and is reviewing it to see if we need to make any revisions. My goal is still to have all my paperwork on the way to Ethiopia by the end of the year. I have high hopes that goal will be accomplished!
I am staying very busy with photo shoots. So far this has raised $460 toward our adoption, and I am booking more appointments everyday. The leaves right now are SOOOO gorgeous - so let me know if you need my services!
Have a great week!