23 Months DTE

Over the weekend was our 23 month DTE-iversary!  It also marked the day when our sweet girl turned 4!!!

So here's where we are currently - AGAIN with the backwards movement - there have been a lot of families within our agency who have recently cleared embassy, so we are hopeful that may have an impact in changing these numbers SOON.  We have not had positive movement in awhile, and it can be discouraging!!

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 37

Young (under 4 yr) siblings =20

Siblings with older child =6

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 15

We are so thankful that God knows the story of our family - every last detail in it, and we can trust Him.  We are also super thankful for our sweet birthday girl!  I can't even begin to say what a blessing she is to our family.  She brings us so much joy, laughter, and fun.  She loves to sing and dance, and if she gets over the whole being shy in public thing, we just may see her on the stage some day!  She adores her big brother and misses him so much when he is at school.  She loves hearing about Africa and asks almost daily if we can go there someday.  I love her to pieces, and yep, she had her own pumpkin spice iced coffee on her special day.  She's her mama's girl!  (sidenote:  she still calls me mama and I love it!!)

22 Months DTE

No changes in the last month! 

21 Months DTE

Another month has passed and we did receive news that our agency has again needed to increase the wait time.  It is now 30-36 months and has tripled since we began this adventure.  It is also important to note that this is not necessarily what our wait time will be - it is the wait time of the families who have most recently received referrals.  Since we still have awhile until we get to the top of the list, it could increase even more.

We continue to wait with hope, but please pray for us if you think about it. This past month in particular has been a trying one.  Our kids are wondering if this adoption will ever really happen.  J with his tender heart has especially been having a hard time lately, with several tearful nights recently.  I don't want to give the impression we are wallowing in pity over here - we have an AMAZING family and we are really loving life.  We are also in awe over the way God can work in our hearts and is preparing us for WHOEVER might come into our family!

I haven't looked at our numbers lately, but for the sake of keeping track, here they are (unfortunately after staying the same for 2 months, we've had some regression again).

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 36

Young (under 4 yr) siblings =20

Siblings with older child =6

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 14

20 Months DTE

Wow, 20 months!  Unbelievable!!  Currently the families at the top of our unofficial waiting list have been waiting around 30 months until referral.  Although the trend is that wait times are lengthening, we are hopeful that we will have good news within a year.

There has not been much action in our agency over the last month (that we know of) with referrals, so our numbers haven't changed.  We are BEYOND excited for the many families traveling this month for court & embassy dates.  Court closures occur from some point in August to some point in October each year (for the rainy season), and we are THANKFUL that the Ethiopian courts did not close as early as expected this year, allowing a few more families to have their court dates before closures!!

The big news around here is that I was just able to promote again with Thirty-One Gifts!  I am now an Independent Director and soooo thankful for this opportunity!!!  If you have followed this blog for ages, you will remember that my journey with 31 began almost 2 years ago when a friend offered to do an adoption fundraiser for us!  I immediately fell in love with all the great products and signed up as a consultant myself.  All of the commission I make with Thirty-One goes into our adoption fund and has taken the place of doing lots of other fundraisers.  I believe that when we do receive our referral, we will Lord willing be in a position where we do not have to raise additional support for the fees associated with referral acceptance and travel!!!  What a blessing!  Along with this, I've been able to earn lots of product incentives, Best Buy gift cards, and other great surprises!  If you are at all interested in finding out more about our products or joining my team, please don't hesitate to contact me at my business email:  angiem31 (at) live (dot) com.  Find out what kind of blessing Thirty-One could be in your life!!!

**I am an Independent Director with Thirty-One Gifts, and the views expressed in this blog are mine alone, and not the views of the company.  :)

 

19 Months DTE

Another month has passed!  Hard to believe that 2 years ago around this time was when we were first starting all of our paperwork, and we've been officially waiting for 19 months!  We recently found out about some new implementations by the U.S. Embassy that will require more investigations and in turn, make the process even longer.  This journey has already been longer and more difficult than expected.  But I am realizing more and more that this journey is not about US anyway.  I am finding contentment in trusting that however long the wait, it is in God's timing to bring Him glory!

So thankful that there have been some referrals, including several from our agency's Waiting Child List in the past month!  Our unofficial numbers are as follows...

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 36

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 19

Siblings with older child =5

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 13

Happy 4th of July!

18 Months DTE

A year and a half since that envelope full of paperwork headed to Ethiopia.  So hard to believe it has been that long already!  


Unfortunately in the last month, nothing has changed as far as the numbers go.  We are still...

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 40

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 24

Siblings with older child =6

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 15

 

17 Months DTE

Wow - 4 months since I've blogged!  Thanks to all of you sweet friends who have commented, emailed, left FB messages and wondered where I was - yes, I am happy to report that I am still alive!!  :)  I've come to find out that blogging is one of those things where if you take a break from it, it's really really hard to get back into the habit.  But now is as good a time as any - so here's the update!

It has now been 17 months since our paperwork was sent to Ethiopia.  If you happen to be keeping track, that's one month longer than our original time-frame.  Currently the wait time stands at around 26-30 months, but we heard this week that basically for each month we wait, the wait time increases about a half a month.

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 40

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 24

Siblings with older child =6

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 15

So there's our adoption update....here's some other things that have happened in the last 4 months...hopefully at some point each of these will have their own post :)  .....

*J turned 7 years old!!

*thanks to my in-laws, the whole extended family was able to go to DisneyWorld for a week!!

*C is taking a gymnastics class once a week and having so much fun

*J is playing baseball again this spring

*we hosted a Japanese exchange student in March

*we went through the process of updating all our adoption paperwork, home study, fingerprints, medicals, etc 

*I'm still having lots of fun with my Thirty-One business!  I promoted to Senior Consultant and it has truly been a blessing in our lives - most of our adoption fundraising happens through 31 now!  I have a team of 9 lovely ladies and I'm hoping to promote again soon!!

Is there anybody still out there?  I'd love to hear your updates too!!

13 Months DTE

Yesterday marked 13 months since our paperwork was sent to Ethiopia!

(source)

 And our numbers on the unofficial waiting list....

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 47

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 27

Siblings with older child =7

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 17

Thanks for your prayers!

Merry Christmas!

May you experience the magic & wonder of the season as we celebrate the Birth of our Savior.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Reindeer Root Beer & Christmas Popcorn

Just in case anyone is looking for a last minute fun Christmas activity with your kids....

 Reindeer Root Beer & Christmas Popcorn!

Christmas Popcorn = popcorn with red & green M&Ms :)  I saw a friend on facebook with similar root beer reindeers, so I made my own version based on the materials I already had laying around the house.  I bought plastic bottles since I thought they would be safer with the kids, a word of warning - the labels were a PAIN to remove.  My advice is to go with the no-label glass bottles and just pour the kid's root beer into another cup when it's time to actually drink it - that's what we ended up doing anyway.

We ate & drank our special treats while watching a Christmas movie and then had our annual weekend before Christmas sleepover under the tree.  I love making memories!!

 Linking to:  simply {kierste}, The Frugal Girls,

Candy Bar Christmas Gift

The kids & I put together some Christmas goodie bags for J's teachers.  Nothing fancy because I wanted J to be able to do most of the work, so it was really from him and not me.  I have seen different versions of these candy bar gifts, but we made up our own based on the candy we could find.  We appreciate J's teachers and his school so much and I hope these treats were a hit!

Each bag contained a copy of the note and each of the candies (and Shout wipe - random I know) pictured above.

If you can't read the note, it said...

KUDOS to you...I want to SHOUT it from the rooftops!

You are EXTRA special, a real ORIGINAL, and one of the RIESENS I love school!

I have MOUNDS of fun here and you are a such a life LIFESAVER, helping me become a SMARTIE!

I wish I could give you 100 GRAND for your PAYDAY ~ you are worth a MINT!

Enjoy your Christmas break, TAKE FIVE, relax, and have fun with your family!

The finished product was definitely not fancy & crafty, but it was filled with love from a student to his wonderful teachers!

 Linking to:  simply {kierste}, The Frugal Girls,

Easy Christmas Card Display

I absolutely love the anticipation of going to the mailbox every day this time of year.  In a time when 99% of our correspondence is done via email or facebook, it is so special to me to actually get Christmas cards from friends and family.  I love every card I get, but I especially love photo cards.  I like to display them throughout the Christmas season, but we do get a lot and sometimes it is hard to find a good spot for them.  For the past few years, I have been taping them to my freezer, but this year I wanted to move them to an area where we would see them more often.

I thought the kitchen or the dining room would be the perfect place since we spend a lot of time in those rooms.  We have a lot of wall space, but I didn't really want to use tape, so that took that idea away.  (Although since then, I have thought about using painter's tape, so that might be an option someday!)

In keeping with my "simple is better" theme, I hung twine from the curtain rod over the sliding doors that lead to our screened-in porch.  I used mini clothespins to attach the cards, and voila ~ instant Christmas card display!

(You can also see the Christmas Burlap Table Runner I made a few years ago, and the Red Chair that we use because our other matching black chair broke!)

Here's a closer view so you can see those cute mini clothespins!  (Find them at places like Hobby Lobby or Michaels).

How do you display your Christmas cards?

Linking to:  simply {kierste},

Crowdtap & Old Navy

I love free stuff.  You too?  I thought so.  Thanks to my friends at Crowdtap and Old Navy, I was able to get some free stuff today!

If you haven't heard of Crowdtap, their mission is to "shift marketing to a fully collaborative and participatory process between brands and consumers."  Crowdtap achieves this by an interactive website - survey questions, web tasks, moderated discussions, and sometimes even sample shares.  For each action you participate in, you earn points which can eventually be used to purchase gift cards or donate to charity.  Just like in Swagbucks, I typically use my points to purchase Amazon gift cards.

I was lucky enough to be chosen for an Old Navy ActiveWear sample share!  I received coupons for one friend and myself - we were each able to pick out an ActiveWear top & bottom, totally FREE.  Old Navy ranks right up there on my list of favorite stores... FREE is good, but at a great store = even better.  Super exciting and maybe, just maybe, this will even give me a little motivation to be active.... currently my treadmill is serving more as a storage area than an exercise machine.

I picked out a pair of ActiveWear capris and a fleece jacket.  I'm loving both - the fleece jacket is a little longer than usual and almost has a peacoat-look.  My daughter was a little disappointed - there was a pink sports bra hanging right at her eye level that she thought would be perfect.  (She's 3 and anything pink is perfect).

(That's my blur of a 3 year old in front of me)

I also bought my first ever pair of skinny jeans at Old Navy today.  I have always been intimidated by skinny jeans, mainly because I don't really feel skinny.  But my friend convinced me to try a pair on, and actually....I liked them!  We'll see if I'm brave enough to wear them out of the house.

Thanks for a fun day, Crowdtap and Old Navy!

Christmas Mantel

A post not related to adoption?!  It's a Christmas miracle!  :)

Although I haven't been blogging much lately, I still do read some of my favorite blogs once in awhile, and saw that today at The Lettered Cottage there is a link party for Christmas mantels.  I thought I'd share a few pictures of our Christmas mantel.  It's simple, but I love it.  I love to have a cozy home, and I always think it is the coziest at Christmas!



I've been collecting the Willow Tree Nativity pieces since the year Jon & I were engaged.  I love the simplicity of it.  The old window behind it was the result of some dumpster diving :)

I don't like to be ultra matchy-matchy, so the stockings are all knit but aren't part of the same set.  Two are from a flea market, and two were bought at the Pottery Barn Outlet (different years) after the season when they are all clearanced.  If I'm remembering correctly, the reindeer stocking had monogramming, but the price was right at around $1.97, so my seam ripper and I got to work and it looks great!

 It may not be the fanciest, most unique Christmas mantel, but I love it!

Also linking to:  simply {kierste},

12 Months DTE

(source)

Tomorrow is a bittersweet day for us ~ twelve months ~ yes, a year ~ since our paperwork went to Ethiopia.  We are thrilled to be a year closer to our little one (or ones), but it has been hard to see our wait time estimate increase three times in the past year and realize the likelihood of more increases is pretty high.  We are so thankful we can trust in God's plan for our lives & our family!  We are also thankful that this week there were a few referrals for families in our agency!!!  Our current unofficial numbers are...

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 49

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 28

Siblings with older child = 8

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 16

Over the course of the year, not a day has passed without some daydreaming about our sweet boys.  So many unknowns - will there be one or two?  How old will they be?  Will their personalities be like J, or C, or totally different altogether?  What will their laughs sound like?  Will they be able to learn to trust me and love me?  Is someone taking care of them now?  Are they going to bed with empty bellies tonight? 

To our boys...I wish I could start now telling you now how much you are loved and wanted.  Not only are you missed, but you have missed a lot of things this year....

• Big Brother J turned 6, graduated from Kindergarten, and is now in 1st grade.  He lost his first 2 teeth this year, and thinking of you & Ethiopia, threw his teeth up on the roof for the Tooth Birdie!
• Sister C went from a barely talking 2 year old to a silly chatterbox of a 3 year old ~ always dancing & singing.  She thinks of you a lot too ~ her imaginary friends are often Ethiopian :)
• 2 new boy cousins were born this year!  
• My Grandma (your GG) passed away in June.  I am so sorry you never got to meet her, because she was the BEST EVER.  I will tell you all about her someday!
• We took many day trips to Baltimore and visited the zoo, Science Center, Port Discovery, and went to lots of Orioles games!  Your daddy can't wait to someday take all his boys to cheer for the O's!
• The annual beach vacation
• Many many many fun times just being together as a family...can't wait until you are here with us!  We love you!!

We don't really have a great estimate of how much longer this journey will be, but we know that in this time of waiting, God is knitting together the story of our family!

11 Months DTE

(source)

Yeah, it's been awhile (again).  We had our 11 month DTE-iversary earlier this month.  It was a pretty blah month as far as the waiting game goes.  Only backwards movement.  Ugh.  Big, fat, UGH.

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 53

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 28

Siblings with older child = 8

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 18

10 Months DTE

(source)

We have officially reached the double digits!  Ten months ago when our paperwork was on it's way to Ethiopia, the wait time we were given was 10-16 months.  We had high hopes that maybe, just maybe, we'd see a face by this Christmas.  Our hopes have been attacked a few times since then.  The wait time has increased twice, and another increase is looking very likely.  But we still have hope.  (Maybe by next Christmas?)

So here's how the numbers are looking at 10 months DTE:

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 53

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 28

Siblings with older child = 8

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 16

As a family, we had an interesting month, with a unique situation that had our hopes rising and then falling again....(I know I'm being vague here; maybe some day I will elaborate).  The point is, I am so thankful that instead of putting all my hope in a person, or a situation, I can put my hope in the Lord and in HIS plans.  

Our "song of the month" in church in September was "My Hope is in You."  I have liked this song since I first heard it, but this month I felt like it really took on a special meaning for me as I hope in the Lord.  It has been constantly in my mind and on my lips ~ I hope it may encourage someone else today, too!

I meet with you and my soul sings out

As your word throws doubt far away

I sing to you and my heart cries

"Holy!  Hallelujah, Father, You're near!"

My hope is in you, Lord

All the day long.

I won't be shaken by drought or storm.

A peace that passes understanding is my song

and I sing - my hope is in you, Lord!

I wait for you and my soul finds rest.

In my selfishness you show me grace.

I worship you and my heart cries

"Glory!  Hallelujah, Father, You're here!"

My hope is in you, Lord

All the day long.

I won't be shaken by drought or storm.

A peace that passes understanding is my song

and I sing - my hope is in you, Lord!

I will wait on you.

You are my refuge.

I will wait on you.

You are my refuge.

My hope is in you, Lord

All the day long.

I won't be shaken by drought or storm.

A peace that passes understanding is my song

and I sing - my hope is in you, Lord!

(It's sung by Aaron Shust if you want to look it up and hear it!)  So thankful I have a reason to HOPE!

Blogging for Compassion

 If you are a blog reader, you may have noticed that this month, you've been hearing about Compassion International a little more this month than usual.  It's blog month at Compassion, and because it is a cause I wholeheartedly love and believe in, I have joined the ranks of Compassion bloggers.

We are so blessed to have a lifestyle where yeah, sometimes money is tight, but we never have to look at empty cabinets (unless I haven't gone grocery shopping in awhile). Our kids can have great educations, and we are able to buy them the supplies they need.  We have fresh drinking water available, and we don't have to walk miles and carry it home in a bucket.  The sad thing is, many people in this world do not have those luxuries.  Compassion works in the name of Jesus to provide needs to children all over the world, and remains in the top 1% of all charities for integrity and financial accountability.  (Our money is going to the needs they advertise, not to fatten someone's wallet).

We have been sponsoring a little boy from Ethiopia for almost two years now, and I absolutely adore him.  (It is actually a pretty neat story of how we came to sponsor him that you can check out here).  It is a highlight for our family when we get mail and we love seeing how he is growing.  He is my son's "twin" - born on the exact same day, which also serves as a teaching point for our son, who prays for his buddy and has his picture hanging in his room.  We hope to meet him when we travel to Ethiopia someday.

I encourage you to find out more about Compassion and pray about your involvement.  Go here and look at some of these sweet faces.  Maybe you are unable to financially commit at this time, but could you can pray that these children find sponsors?   

9 Months DTE

(source)

Here we are at 9 months since our paperwork has traveled to Ethiopia.  Nine months!!  I'm a little more sentimental over this monthly anniversary.....nine months of being "paper pregnant" with no delivery in sight.  Nine months is usually that magical time period when you are waiting for your little one when you can say "any day now" - or in the case with my older two, wait for the induction to be scheduled!  Instead, we are waiting - most days patiently - and encouraged knowing God is knitting the details together. 

Our pastor recently used a sermon illustration where a Grandmother was working on her needlepoint.  Her little grandson was sitting below her and looking up seeing all the knotted ends and hanging strings said innocently enough, "That's ugly, Grandma!"  Wisely, the Grandmother lifted him up on her lap where we could see the whole picture.....and see how beautiful it really was.  Looking forward to the day when we see the big picture!

We have updated our request a little recently, so we are actually listed in a few extra categories now.  Here's our unofficial numbers as of today.....

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 55

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 29

Siblings with older child = 8

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 17

I should add that although that single digit number looks pretty sweet up there, it doesn't mean that we are expecting a referral anytime soon.  These numbers tend to move up quite slowly!  But, that being said, we are thankful for the progress that has been made!!

Since I've been thinking about my 9-month paper pregnancy, I thought it would be interesting to check out what some of our other mammal friends go through before they get to see their young.  At 266 days average gestation, humans are actually a little less than 9 months.  We are most similar to the cow at 284 days.  The most disgusting animal on earth (in my humble opinion), the possum, has one of the shortest gestation periods at only 12 days, hardly time to prepare a nursery.  Some of the longest gestation periods include the camel (400), giraffe (425), grey rhino (480), black rhino (540), and Asian elephant (610).  Topping the list with a whopping 660 days is the African elephant.  

9 months is a long time to wait.  But there are so many mamas out there waiting longer.  Praying for those mamas, especially the ones I have come to know through our agency, who have surpassed mama elephant and whose hearts & arms are aching tonight. 

I Can Can

I've been fascinated by the idea of canning for awhile now.  I love love love freezer cooking, but let's face it - a person only has so much freezer space!  Last year I bought all the typical canning equipment, only to come home and realize there was a warning on the enamel pot that it shouldn't be used on a smooth top stove.  My dreams of having shelves stocked full of delicious foods faded away, and I sadly returned all my goodies.

After talking to many people and doing more research over the course of the year, I came to the conclusion that I would re-try the Great Canning Experiment.  This time, I started with a different pot.  I heard from several sources that a stainless steel pot would work better on the smooth top stove, because it doesn't have the ridges on the bottom like an enamel pot, and it holds the heat better.  So I bought a stainless steel canner, thinking if the worst happened and I hated canning, at least I could use it for when I make huge batches of spaghetti sauce.  At the time I bought it, it was not only available at a great sale price, but came with all the extra tools I needed - funnel, jar gripper, etc.  Winning!

I also purchased two highly recommended books - the Ball Complete Book of Home Preservation and You Can Can! - yes, the latter was mostly because I love a good pun.  These books have proven to be very valuable sources of information.  If you are a canning beginner, or just looking for more recipes, they are great ones to add to your cookbook library - although there are many recipes you can find online (free!)

This post is not going to include any step-by-steps or how-tos, but look for those in the near future!  Instead, for now I am going to share some pictures, recipes, and links I have found helpful.

Here's what my canning shelves are currently looking like:

Yay for shelves in the dark cool basement - perfect for my jars!

And the list of what I've made so far (with links if I have been able to find the recipes online)...

• Peach Butter (Ball book)
• Peach Jam (Ball Book)
• Peach Fondue (Ball Book)
• Peach Salsa (You Can Can)
• Peach Pie Filling
• Honey-Packed Peaches
• Peaches in light honey syrup
• GG's Pickles (3-day Lime Pickles)

 

• Pizza Sauce (Mrs. Wages packet)
• Sweet Pickle Relish (You Can Can)
• Lemon Ginger Marmalade (Ball book but also found in a step-by-step format with pictures at Wendolonia)

I love seeing those flecks of lemon peel as the light shines through!

Yep, I've been having some FUN with canning!  And it wasn't even a difficult learning process - as long as you can follow instructions, you will be fine!

It's apple & pear season now....can't wait to get the canning started!!

If you are interested in canning, you can follow my I Can Can Pinboard here!

What have YOU been canning????