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????

What We've Been Up To

...and suddenly it's been almost 2 months since an update!  We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our summer...had the annual trip to the beach, lots of day trips to Baltimore, relaxed & played together, I had a blast and an awesome several months with my Thirty-one Gifts business, and I even taught myself to can ---- those posts will be coming shortly ;)

Now that school has started (can't believe I have a 1st grader!!), I'm once again hoping to be a little more regular on the blog.  Even if no one reads it anymore, I'd like to keep it up for our own family records.  (If you are reading this.....wow!  Hi!!)

Here's a few pics of our summer fun....

 I'll be back soon!