Eighteen months of life, Ugandan visas, and a family picture for our child!

 Mary Taylor turned 18 months yesterday! So hard to believe...I want the time to just stop. I wish I could freeze Henry at "3 and 3 quarters" (as he would say) and Mary Taylor at 18 months. I am enjoying them so much and I want to soak up all their cuteness! They will only be these ages once! Overall, they love each other too! It is a joy to watch them play together and chase each other around the house. I don't think I got along with my siblings this well. I was the oldest of four and I know we fought a lot. Of course, if you caught me at another moment, I might say my kids fight all the time and I can't do it anymore, but if I can have right perspective, they are a lot of fun!

The water table has been the best entertainment with two children. They play together outside for thirty minutes while I make dinner.

 

 Mary Taylor decided she wanted to sleep with Henry for naps. It was so sweet that they wanted to be together, but it did not last long. Henry kept telling me, "Bears is hitting me!" That's one of our nicknames for her. Of course he was loving her being in there with him and she thought it was great not to have to sleep in her own room. After five minutes, I put her to sleep and Henry decided to read books instead of sleep.

 

Then yesterday I thought I should take some pictures of Mary Taylor on her 18 month birthday, but they were being so sweet together that I just went with the moment...put my agenda aside...and I caught some great moments. This is not always easy for me, but I am always glad when I do.

Happy 18 month Birthday Mary Taylor!

Also, yesterday...the Ugandan Embassy started issuing visas again after four months! This is huge! This means that so many families get to come home, some after 17 weeks in Uganda away from their families. Hopefully there will not be too much of a backlog and things will start moving fast. This is sooooo good for us too. Now that our homestudy has been approved by the government, we are eligible to receive a referral of a child and actually get a court date too. Now that the US government is issuing visas, Ugandan children can be adopted! There has been four months of hardly any orphans in Uganda being made into sons and daughters. These children now have hope of a family again. Please pray that these visas will continue to be issued and Uganda stays open for adoptions. We can be confident that God's heart is for orphans to become part of a family!

And today, our social worker at Generations asked us to send a picture of our family so it can be placed above our child's crib that we are placed with. Crazy! We could have a child that knows who we are...So neat! Who knows when this will all happen, but it doesn't seem that far off! This is the picture I sent to her. We really don't have that many up close family pictures of us, so this edited black and white one will have to do until our next door neighbor Brad can take our pictures next weekend. I mentioned to my husband a minute ago, to come home early so maybe we could take our family picture this afternoon...but he did not like that idea...at all! What is it with men and pictures? So, I had to settle for one from last November. Oh...it is not about what we look like, it is about our child knowing that he or she has a family. My husband had to remind me of this, I get a little sidetracked sometimes.

USCIS Approval!!!

We sent our homestudy to USCIS on May 14th and we received our I-171-H form on May 22nd! It only took 8 DAYS to get approved!!! It usually takes so much longer, but it seems that things are speeding up. We are so so so very excited!!! This means that our homestudy will be sent to the orphanage in Uganda and we will be on their waiting list to receive a referral! Our social worker at Generations said it will be at least six weeks for us to receive one. That is not very long, compared to some who wait months for a referral. In six weeks, we could know who our next child will be. Crazy!! It is hard to believe this is all really happening! So neat to see God's plans unfolding right before our eyes!

We specified in our homestudy we wanted boy, but if the orphanage only has girls, obviously, a girl would be wonderful! Because this is our first adoption and we have small children, we felt that the Lord was calling us to ask for a healthy 0-2 age child with minor disabilities, or non at all. But if you are in the process of adopting or already have several adopted children, you know any child that has been institutionalized for any length of time will have some problems and we are prepared God will give us his strength to handle it. Yes, I would be foolish to say I am prepared to handle a child with disabilities, but if that's his will the Lord will guide us one day at a time. Obviously, this is in the Lord's hands, and he knows exactly the child for our family and this little boy or girl was predestined to be with us from the beginning of time. Soooo neat to think about!! Besides, this is our child, and just like anyone's biological child, you will do anything for them.

I feel so blessed to be apart of what God is doing all over the world. I am so excited to see how he pieces this whole story together! I know it will not be easy and there will be times that I don't understand what God is doing, but I know that through suffering there is joy.

"No one will calmly and quietly submit to bear the cross except those who have learned to seek their happiness beyond this world." John Calvin

Uganda's Visa Situation is making the News

A month ago, we all thought the visa situation in Uganda was solved, but the battle continues. There are still several families over in Uganda trying to get their adopted children home. One story even made Fox News.

 Once our homestudy is approved by the USCIS, we might be waiting a long time to get a referral (picture of our child). The longer this goes on, the longer these orphans will be without families. We just have to pray that this battle will result in allowing more orphans to go home than before. We can be confident that God's was are wiser than our ways!

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord.
'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

Why Adoption?

Often the first question I am asked when I  meet a new mom at the park or the gym is, "Where is Henry in school? And I say, "He is not in school." Most people look at me funny and then say, "Oh". Then I proceed to explain, "We cannot afford it right now, preschool is just so expensive. I was a teacher, so I have enjoyed teaching him at home. Of course, some days are hard and I wish he was in school, but overall, it is going well. I just realized he is going to be in school for the rest of his life...so I am glad our circumstances have pushed me to have him at home." 

Yes, it took me six months to fully embrace this perspective...God has given me his eyes for where I am in life...Anyway, if I have more time to talk to one of these new moms, I will then explain.."We are actually in the process of adopting a child from Africa." Then the new mom will usually say, "That is so nice!..What a wonderful thing to do!...That is so great!" Yes...I am from the south, can you tell? There is nothing wrong with this response, but you know she is processing what I just said and just not sure where to place this information. I have never gotten a rude response from telling someone that we are adopting from Africa, people are very polite. God is the one that moved our hearts to adopt and hopefully God will use our adoption to open other peoples eyes to the hurting and suffering of the world. Occasionally, someone will ask me, "What made you want to adopt? Why Uganda? and I am sure they are also wondering, "Why a black child?" So I thought I would answer some of these unspoken questions.

  

Why do we want to adopt a child into our family?

1. We are adopted as sons and daughters in Christ. Adoption is a perfect picture of his love for us. We are compelled to show this love by adopting an orphan and making him or her part of our family.

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." Ephesians 1:4-6

2. There is such a need with 147,000,000 orphans in the world today. God has given us a heart for the less fortunate. Yes, it might seem that we are the rescuers, but God is rescuing us by allowing us to be involved in his work. What a blessing this child will be to our family.

Read more about how our journey started here:

Ok...I declare this the beginning of our journey

Now that I have seen

Why do we feel called to adopt a black child?

1. God created all men and women in his image. We want a family that looks like Heaven. God is pro-diversity.

"And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." Romans 5:9

2. We long to see racial reconciliation among blacks and whites.

3. Black babies are so, so, so cute!

Why are we adopting from Uganda?

1. Uganda was the first place we felt called to adopt from for many different reasons. There is such a great need.

 

     *90% of Uganda is rural and very poor.

     *Uganda has a population of 24.7 million people and an orphan population of 3.5 million.

     * The poor healthcare infrastructure leaves 51% of the population untreated. So the HIV/AIDs epidemic is getting worse and affecting more people.

      *Northern Uganda has had 19 years of ongoing civil war between the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) and the government which affects 2.3 million people. It is often described as a war of "children against children". Many more problems have stemmed from this conflict, which have resulted in more orphans.

      *It is less expensive to adopt from Uganda than other African countries. This is a plus for us! God even uses money to show us his plan.

You can read more about this here: Is our child in Uganda?

 

Adoption for Life posted this article several weeks back about adopting other races into your family. Jesus Took Transracial Adoption to the Cross

Great "Gotcha Day" Video

"Gotcha day" is the day a family is united with their adopted son or daughter. The Vogeltanz Family 
adopted a little girl from Ethiopia in December 2009 and this video is the story of their adoption journey.

This "gotcha day" video is a tear jerker, so get your klenex ready!


Evyn's Gotcha Day + Adoption story from emily Vogeltanz on Vimeo.

Wonderful day with an Exciting Ending!

Today I decided to venture to the quilting store, Red Hen for some fabric so I can attempt to make Mary Taylor a "bubble". There is no where near me to find cute material to make children's clothes, so I made the thirty minute trek up north. I have made pillows, curtains, applied appliques to t-shirts, smocked several outfits for my kids, but I have never used a pattern to make clothes for them. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow I will start cutting out the pattern for this cute white and lime green polka dot fabric...I thought I would use pink rick rack for the piping. Who knows how long it will take me...the first time is always the hardest.

Shelley and her kids also met us at the Red Hen. Shelley and I have know each other for six years and our kids have grown up together. Henry and Lilli are 3 months apart and Mary Taylor and Lauren Kate are 14 hours apart. Shelley and I share our love for healthy food, simi-homeschooling, scrapbooking, and sewing.  She is a very encouraging, loyal friend and God has truly blessed me with her friendship. The Lord always knows what we need. And our kids get along great...so what more can you ask for.

 After the Red Hen, we headed toward the square for a picnic. To our surprise it took us ten minutes to find a parking space because it was so crowded from the "Brown Bag Lunch Concert Series", which only takes place in May and September. The "Brown Bag Lunch Concert Series" is when you have a picnic in the square while you listen to music...and we just happened to be there to enjoy it! I told Shelley,"I could not think of anything better than a picnic in the square...while listening to music on a beautiful spring day with a train for your kids to play on." I think we have arrived!

This man was an excellent piano player. The music was amazing!

See Henry on the very top of the train and Lilli is trying to climb up toward him.

Lilli and Lauren Kate are enjoying the flowers.

It is hard to believe Mary Taylor is 17 months.

Henry and Mary Taylor were very concerned about a little boy that was crying. 

I kept telling them to go play, but they just sat there starring.

After naps, we decided to get on our bathing suits for a sprinkler playdate in our neighborhood at our friend Frida's house.  Mary Taylor was so excited about her swimsuit, swimsuit cover up, and crocs...I just had to take some pictures.

I love this picture of their cute little legs and matching crocs.

  Yes, I think this cover up is a little too small (6-9 mon.), 

but she loved having the hood on!

 They had the best time dancing around the driveway!

So fun to see your kids have fun together, such a change from the first year of her life.

You have to be in the valley before you can appreciate the mountain top.

And I haven't even gotten to the best part of the day!

We were a little late to the sprinkler playgroup because of our picture session, but you got to take advantage of opportunities like that...so it was worth it. Anyway, Henry ran around with all the kids and I got to chat with some mamas.

Henry and Hannah in a great climbing tree.

Frida's dog Lilly with her daughter Charlottee in the background.

Amanda and Brook with their two sweet babies standing on Frida's newly sodded flat lawn. I am just a little envious, because our lawn has so many divots from when our tree was cut down and we don't want to spend the money to get it level right now while we are trying to save money for our adoption. But, I am so truly thankful I have such wonderful neighbors who will let us play on their green grass :) I had to have a perspective change when I started to covet her grass.

And now for the best part of the day!

After several of the kids left, we decided to stay a little later because we arrived late. About fifteen minutes later, my phone rings, Daniel, our social worker from Lifeline calls me to tell me he is in our neighborhood. After I directed him to Frida's house, two minutes later, he hand delivered our HOMESTUDY to me! Yes, I said HOMESTUDY! I have our homestudy and it is ready to be notarized tomorrow and then sent to USCIS! Yeah!! For those of you who are not familiar with the adoption process. After our homestudy is approved by the USCIS (United States Citizen and Immigration Services), then we are put on a waiting list in Uganda to receive a referral (information and picture of our child) from our agencies orphanage. Then we can deny or accept the referral. If we accept it, then we send in a dossier to the Ugandan government. Then we receive a court date and make plans to travel to Uganda for 4-6 weeks to adopt our child. So...things are starting to move now! God has a reason why it took so long for it to be finished... he has our Ugandan child hand picked and we will be united in God's timing which is perfect according to his will! 

 Henry and Mary Taylor can't contain themselves...they are so excited about our homestudy!

Welcome to the blog world Elisabeth!

I am sooo excited about a dear friend who has just recently entered the blog world. I have know Elisabeth since the first service of Atlanta Westside two and half years ago. Her son James is best buds with Henry. They just love running around with one another just being boys! She also has a seven month old little boy who is the happiest baby I have ever met! Drew smiles and laughs constantly! Elisabeth has been one of my faithful blog followers since the beginning of our adoption, almost seven months ago. She has been very interested in our adoption and has a true heart for orphans. Who knows, maybe God is calling her family to adopt one day. Elisabeth's blog is about growing her home...hints...Growing Home. She hopes to share her creativity, her growing knowledge and skill of photography, and her love of being a wife and mother. God has blessed Elisabeth with amazing talent...lets just be honest here...Elisabeth is just one of those people that is good at everything! What I love most about Elisabeth is her honesty about needing a savior to redeem her and mold her into the women he has called her to be. Let me tell you people, this is going to be a blog you are going to want to read! I am just so excited about this, I had to share! Her blog is called Growing Home.

 Henry, Mary Taylor, James, and Drew on Easter.

I am Addicted to Motherhood...

My highschool friend, Catie, made a list of why she is addicted to motherhood. I thought it was such a great idea, I decided to copy her. Catie and her husband are in the process of becoming foster parents and Lord willing they will adopt someday. I was so encouraged to hear about Catie's love for orphans and how God is opening her eyes to the suffering. So neat to see God align our hearts with his. He is truly doing a work among his people for orphans and it is so amazing to watch!

Ok...So here are the reasons I am Addicted to Motherhood...

1. Henry and Mary Taylor love to run around house playing chase after bathtime.
2. Mary Taylor starts dancing whenever she hears a song or a ring tone.

3. Henry has more energy than any child I have ever known and never gets tired.
4. Mary Taylor loves making any bag, bucket, or flipflop a purse.
5. Recently listening to Henry pray for people he is concerned about.
6. I have such amazing mommy friends that are such a huge encouragement to me and I could not make it without them! Thank you girls!!
7. My husband's unconditional love and support...that I do not appreciate enough.
8. I have the privilege of teaching my children about the only one that can make them truly happy.
9. I am stripped of myself more and more everyday...allowing me to accept and understand his grace all the more...which compels me to love the unlovable.
10. I can blog during nap time and be encouraged by other adopting families and ministries that reach out to orphans.
11. Lord willing, I will have the privilege of being the hands and feet of Jesus to an orphan and accept them as my son or daughter...ultimately changing me and being greatly blessed by this child.
12. So thankful God is ultimately in control of my children's lives, not me.

Westside's Screen on the Green

Several friends of ours from our church and our community have been doing Screen on the Green for a while now...this was our family's first time to enjoy this fun evening outside. The Irwins hosted this event in their backyard and served hot dogs. Everyone else brought a side dish or dessert to share. The food was delicious, all the kids had the best time running around with each other, and the adults enjoyed some much needed hanging out time.

What a great backyard!

The vestal brothers tak'n it easy.

Yes, this is Henry and all his wrestling buddies...Dominique, Andrew, Jonathan,...oh yeah 

and there is a girl (the Riddles cousin) jumping into the chaos too!

Ellie is watching Georgia push Jia in the swing. Jia was adopted from China almost a year ago. 

Her "gotcha day" video was the first one I ever saw. Jia is such a precious child!

Oneka and a sweet red headed little boy are enjoying the sandbox!

Daddy's a little obsessed with Pretty Pretty.

 And Pretty, Pretty is a loving her daddy...sweet girl!

James, Henry, and Andrew are starting to chill out and watch the movie.

It looks like a blank screen, but Peter Pan is really playing.

Jenna, Katie, and Amber...the Plachys in the background.

They all loved the movie. What a special treat!

Mary Taylor loves Jeanette! She is our friend we meet a month ago at a park near our house. 

She is an aupair from South Africa...we became instant friends and she enjoys going to church with us.

Mary Taylor did great on this late night out...I am sure we will be paying for it for days.

Mr. Jim and Mr. Doug are loving on all the kiddos.

Mary Taylor stopped for a while to watch Peter Pan with Sam.

Georgia, Mr. Gloria, Caroline, James, Jac, Julia, 

Rachel, Henry, and Jonathan are glued to the screen.

This is my favorite picture for the night...sweet little Nicholas smiled when I took his picture. He knows just what to do when he sees a camera...Megan has taught him well! Love it!

Richard, Lucy, Jeanette talk about their experiences in South Africa.

Finally it got dark enough so we could see the movie. 

Peter Pan ended about 9:15 and then we headed home with two very tired children...Oh, yes, they have both been train wrecks today...but what a great time we had last night! I am so thankful for such a tight community.