The Check is in the mail!

Things are happening even while we wait for that I171H to come in the mail. We sent a check to the adoption agency for more than we would spend on a car. But, we know that a baby girl is worth far more than a car to us! 

We won't have a better idea about a specific timeline until the I171H comes in. Ugh! This waiting is getting tough. We just really want our baby girl. We can't wait to hold her in our arms. 

In the mean time we are enjoying our baby boy. I do know that Jojo will love having a playmate! Sharing the attention, however, will be something for him to adjust to. Lately Joseph loves to sit on my lap to watch a movie, read his books, or play his new drum. I'm enjoying it as much as possible now. I know there will come a time when he won't be able to sit on my lap. 

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moving ahead and waiting again

It seems like we're always waiting on one more piece of paperwork. We were excited when our final child abuse checks came through last week. It seemed like it took forever. I think the delay had something to do with the holidays. So, now that the home study is complete we'll be waiting on the I171H, which is our Immigration approval. It comes from the Greece USCIS office because of where we're now living. Once we receive it we'll be waiting for our paperwork to be authenticated and then for our paperwork to be sent on to Ethiopia. 

I try to get paperwork accomplished, but it's difficult when this cute little boy is awake. He loves to sit on my lap when I'm working on the computer. Sometimes he watches his "movie" while I work. 

I couldn't help myself when I walked into a store the other day that was having a sale, I had to buy some little girl clothes. I just can't wait for our little girl to fill these clothes. I love it when little girls wear bloomers over their diapers, so I'm watching for these!  :)

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Christmas in the Sand

Today we went out to the desert to take some Christmas pictures. Joseph cooperated as much as a 15 month old who is teething could. He loved walking in the sand and falling down the hill! Silly boy! :) We know it will probably be much more difficult to take pictures with two kiddos. Next year's Christmas pictures will look so much different. 

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we love Ethiopians!

People keep asking what's the news with our second adoption. Well, we are STILL waiting on the child abuse reports to come in...please pray that it comes in soon!! That's the last piece of paperwork needed to complete our paperwork. Ugh...it always seems like we're waiting on one more thing. 

We have a couple of Ethiopian friends that we see once in a while. Ethiopians are such wonderful people! I guess it's an understatement to say that we like Ethiopians and we can't wait to add another one to our family! Below are a couple pictures of Ethiopian ladies who just love Joseph. 

This picture is a lady who works at Chili's. She just goes crazy over Joseph. The other day when we went to Chili's she took Joseph to go play while we ate our meal. It was so nice to be able to eat our meal in peace and watch Joseph chase after a balloon on the other side of the restaurant. :) 

This is a picture of an Ethiopian lady who bought Joseph the big teddy bear. She watched him walking around and knew that he was from Ethiopia. When she gave him the teddy bear he hugged it and she started crying. So sweet!!

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15 months old!

Joseph is 15 months old today! 

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taking advantage of the sale!

Well Baby Shop had it's second sale of the year and we took advantage of it today. We bought a new car seat for Joseph and we'll use the other one for our little girl. He was ready for a little bigger car seat and it was on sale!! It's funny that last year during the sale we bought his crib. It was in the storage room for a few months. Now our little girl's car seat will be in storage for a few months until she needs it. 

Our little boy is getting so big. Here he is in his new car seat. (I wish I had a video of him doing the sign...he still loves sign language.) The funny thing is the storm cloud you see out the window. It rained today and it hardly ever rains!!! We liked it. :) 

This is the word "sale" in Arabic. 

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Little by little this second adoption paperwork is coming together. We got one out of four sets of police and child abuse reports. We reviewed the final draft of the home study and now we're waiting for it to be approved. This is progress! 

It's funny how different this adoption feels already. I've heard it said that every adoption is different, just as every birth is different. During the last adoption, each step was exciting, but totally scary. This time we aren't as scared and nervous. Of course there are things that we worry about and find ourselves praying that God will take care of our baby girl. We pray for her so much already. Hopefully she's not born yet. We ask God to protect her and keep her healthy. We trust that He is already preparing her. We know He's getting us ready too. Joseph needs a sibling. He isn't used to interacting with children much, but he enjoys it when he does. He sees babies everywhere and does the sign for baby. He blows kisses at babies. He needs a baby sister!! :) 

Speaking of taking steps, here's a video of Joseph walking in a new mall we went to.

Joseph walks from Tim and Jeni Saltzman on Vimeo.

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slowly, slowly

Things are moving slowly, slowly with the second adoption. At least it feels that way. The Home Study first draft is finished, we have a few things to add before it's finalized and can be sent in. We're still waiting on some police reports to come back. We also have to take one more online parenting class. Really, it's not too much more. 

Joseph is growing right before our eyes. He's walking (I'll upload video when I can) and doing more "big boy" things. This last week he is being weaned from the bottle. It's been hard, poor guy. 

Enjoy the video below of Joseph playing with his stacking rings. 

Untitled from Tim and Jeni Saltzman on Vimeo.

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