ADOPTING ARIA

Moving Gracie's Updates to Family Blog

2010-08-16T18:11:00.000-05:00

The time has come to move Gracie's updates to our family blog. I haven't been all that great at keeping this one updated. Life with two has slightly rocked my world this last year, especially in combination with our third adoption journey long underway. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. Gracie is the sweetest, most lovable baby on earth. I adore her.

Gracie is currently 18 months and the newest post on our family blog gives a detailed update on her new achievements and adventures. Click on over to: http://www.thispoeticpresent.blogspot.com and become a follower as we share our family adventures and our newest adoption journey to bring Keemberlie (age 6) home from Haiti.

Thank you for all the support during our Ethiopian adoption and first year at home!

Blessings,
Cindy

Gracie at 15 and 16 Months

2010-05-30T22:59:00.000-05:00

Gracie, where does the time go? Forgive me for not being as diligent with your blog as I was with Libby's. Life has changed much since the days of having just one baby. You keep me busy all by yourself, but add your 4 year old sister and the adoption of your 6 year old sister and you can understand why I am not so on top of things this go round. But, my love is not measured by the number of blog posts so know that mommy loves you so very much. Every ounce of you is precious to me. I love the way you express yourself with your eyes and eyebrows. I love how you pout with your bottom lip and sad eyes when you want to get your way. I love how you flirt with everyone you meet. I love how you grin like a zebra, rolling your top lip back so everyone can see your one and only top tooth and 2 bottom teeth.

While you have been walking for nearly 2 months, you are a clumsy little thing. You tumble and fall constantly, but seem to love it. You have the chubbiest little legs and feet - which make you all the more kissable and huggable. Your hair is growing very fast. Every curl is delighted in each morning as I work your Kinky Curly through every strand.

You still love to dance. You roll your shoulders and hips like no baby I've ever seen before. You've got groove! When you hear the beat, your body moves before your mind even realizes it.

You don't sit still for a second (which is partly why I have only a few good pictures of you from the last 2 months). You LOVE the water. We've been to the pool a few times this season and you are a little dare devil. You stick your entire face in, blowing bubbles. I drop you in and quickly bring you back up and you love it. If you're not being splashed, you are completely bored.

You love to kiss your sister and sit in her lap. But if she has a toy you want, you pull her hair - hard! (see last photo). You are into everything she is holding and the two of you can really get on each other's nerves. But most of the time, you play very well together and love on each other. When the two of you make each other laugh it is the highlight of my day.

The day before you turned 15 months, I fed you your last bottle (see first 2 pictures). I was so sad to end that sweet routine, but it was time. I realized that night that you are probably my last baby and so I had to take pictures of your last bottle to remember how precious that time with you was.

The day before Easter, you started walking. You've not stopped since. In April we traveled to 3 events and took a week long trip to Charleston, SC. During that time I was also juggling the majority of Keemberlie's adoption paperwork. April was a challenging month. Then, in May I took a trip with your sister, Libby, to visit Keemberlie and you had an entire week with your daddy and Grammy Foote. You received more attention in those 5 days than is even imaginable! You were spoiled rotten in the best of ways! But I missed you soooooooooo much!

Can't believe you're 16 months already. By this time last year we had already passed court, claiming you completely as our own and we were prepared to travel in just a few days to receive you in our arms. You were finally starting to put on weight and look healthy, but we found out you had chicken pox. Today, your skin is still healing from that horrible case of chicken pox. But it looks sooooooo much better now than it did the day we held you for the first time. So very happy you are with us, baby girl. My world would not be half has full of joy without you in it!

Here are some pictures of you over the last 2 months:

your last bottle.... i cried.

Happy 14 Months!

2010-03-20T21:44:00.002-05:00

I just realized that I have not posted anything about Gracie since her 11 month mark. How in the world!!! Gracie, baby, I am soooooo sorry! Mommy has been very busy, apparently! I have been posting some updates on our old family blog. So, if you missed her first birthday and the last 2 months of pictures you can click here: http://followthefeet.blogspot.com/2010/02/gracie-turns-one-and-grammy-papa-boots.html and catch up!

Gracie will be 14 months on the 22nd. of March. She is not walking yet...but oh so close. She is making all sorts of connections and beginning to communicate in her own way. I know when she wants to get in her walker or get out of her high chair. I know when she is full, when she wants more... She makes her own signs and noises. She can touch her nose, ears, eyes and diaper on command. She knows how to do fish sounds and she sticks her tongue out and moves it from side to side to make a snake face.

She can climb the stairs, but we don't let her do that very often. She has favorite toys. She still sleeps with a paci and burp cloth (which is like her "lovey").

She kisses and loves on her dolls - wish you could see this for yourself. She loves on the doll and gives a hug with a little shoulder dance. Speaking of which - if music is on, Gracie is dancing - hip action, shoulder rocking, head bobbing. She is a dancer and she has rhythm and moves her white momma knows nothing about!

She knows that pants go on legs and shirts on her arms/body, headbands on head and she'll try to put these things on where they belong. She likes to take things in and out of drawers, boxes. And she wants to take clothes off an on (that gets a little old after a while, but cute, nonetheless). She LOVES Libby and calls her "Buhbuh" She is a daddy's girl. We have a book with pictures for her to hold and play with. Every time she gets to her daddy's picture she kisses it - so sweet!

She has a smile the size of the sun and she wants everyone to see it. Her eyes and smile are magical, drawing people in wherever we go. And she wants to be seen and heard. She gets upset if she doesn't get enough eye contact. She waves goodbye/hello to everyone in the stores. She still adores bath time and sticks her whole head in and blows bubbles in the water (crazy!). She wants to open every cabinet, eat every small thing she finds on the floor, and get into anything and everything that she shouldn't. She keeps me BUSY!

Tonight is the first night I've put her to bed without a bottle. Then it hit me...last night's bottle was the last bottle I'll feed my baby - ever. Don't really plan on having another baby - so the bottle she sucked down last night was it... I don't like that very much. Makes me want to cry. I've decided I'm going to give her a bottle tomorrow night and savor that moment for what it is and also take a picture. It pains me to be done with that baby stage...ugh.

In the news (if you haven't heard already) Gracie is going to get another big sister soon. If you haven't visited our new blog that tells that story you can click here: www.thispoeticpresent.blogspot.com and find the post "Hip To Be Square, Not - Part 1". That's where the story begins. But to catch you up to the present - we've been matched with a 6 year old girl in Haiti who was a proven orphan before the earthquake. If the Hope Act (H.R. 4603) passes here in the U.S., it will make way for orphans like this girl to come here and then be adoptable. So when the law passes, we are counting on her joining our family. She was featured in the San Antonio paper a couple of Sundays ago. I wasn't supposed to share her picture, but when the newspaper put it out there (great story you can also read about on the poeticpresent blog. ) I figured - why not! Here's our beauty in Haiti:

I never feel like I give Gracie enough of my time, but I'm not sure where to find the time I'd like to give her. Friends keep reminding me that she has Libby to help keep her occupied and Libby didn't have that as a baby - so its different for each child added. Probably true. But I just don't want to miss anything in this precious girl's life. She is incredibly sweet and lovable. Just absolutely precious. She is an easy baby as far as emotions go (though I know that could change). She only whines when she's hungry or tired or in need of some t.l.c. She is very sensitive. If I tell her "no" to something she gets the most pathetic little face and cry going... Good thing this isn't my first go round or I'd be totally sunk! It is nice, I have to say, to have a child that responds to discipline with such sensitivity. It was never (is never) quite that way with the Libster.

Gracie sleeps well. She's starting to go to bed at 7:30 PM and she wakes up about 7 AM. She still takes 2 naps a day, but that is about to end, I fear. Loving those 2 nap times, but I can tell she doesn't always need both. sigh.

Gracie only has her 2 bottom teeth. Its taking her upper teeth FOREVER to break through. But the girl eats solid foods like a champ - cut up fruit, meat, bread - you name it, the girl will eat it.

I think that sums it all up. She is a joy, delight and I just want to squeeze her and kiss on her all day long - seriously! LOVE MY GRACIE LU GIRL!!!!!!!!!! Every curl, every smile, every bat of her eyelashes, every raised eyebrow moment...love it all!!!!!

Enjoy the photos taken over the last month!

New Blog

2010-03-09T11:35:00.002-06:00

I plan to continue this blog until Gracie has been home for one year. That's what I did for Libby's adoption website, so I want to go the distance with this one. I will have an update on Gracie in the next few days and continue to post monthly through June 2010.

However, I wanted to share with you the start of a new blog and a new story of adoption. We have been on quite a journey of faith since mid-January and its time to share the story and continue on to the other poetic moments motherhood and life.

So, come take a peak. Its more writing than picture. My goal is to write meaningfully the story of what God is doing in/with our lives. Grab a cup a joe and enjoy the story at:

www.thispoeticpresent.blogspot.com

I invite you to become a follower of the new blog. And when you visit it for the first time, make sure you scroll down to the first entry and start there.

Help Haiti's Orphans - Here's How!!!

2010-02-12T23:51:00.003-06:00

Friends,

I am behind... WAY behind on posting to this blog. I am going to update very soon, but for now I need to inform you of an opportunity to advocate and support the orphans of Haiti. This is an urgent matter for the lives of many orphans so please read on and then ACT, SHARE, and PRAY!

As many of you have seen on the news, the impact of the Haiti earthquake on orphans has been devastating. And now... there are more orphans in Haiti than ever. Immediately after the earthquake both the US and the Haitian governments were open to bringing orphans into the US via humanitarian parole. But then UNICEF stepped in. UNICEF has money which = power and apparently they also have an agenda that is 1. PRO-CHOICE and 2. AGAINST international adoption. Over and over again I have watched UNICEF representatives on CNN and other news state their view that children are best kept in their own culture and that though it seems like there are a lot of orphans, most of them will be absorbed back into their communities and orphanages. UNICEF's calm and seemingly intellectual approach is everything but. While they calmly state that adoption is not the answer, children lay behind them with barely any clothes, looking underfed as they swat away flies and cry. You tell me - if Haiti could not take care of the 380,000 orphans that were there BEFORE the earthquake, then how in the WORLD are they going to handle the thousands of orphans created by the earthquake. It's insanity... no CRUELTY... to not offer at least some of these orphans a hope and a future. They may not get to keep all their culture (though, as an adoptive parent of one child from China and another from Ethiopia and I attest to the fact that we encourage the learning and experience of those cultures in our daughter's lives) they may get to keep their LIVES!!!! If only we do something now before it is too late. Orphanages are now overcrowded with new orphans and the Child Welfare Act that states that children should not be adoptable for 2 years after a tragedy like this earthquake (in order to make sure families have time to step forward and reunite with their children) is holding hostage those orphans whose parents relinquished their rights before the earthquake. Just because they were not matched to a family before the earthquake they are being held back for 2 years from being adoptable under the Child Welfare Act and this simply is not logical.

So here is the good news: Rep. Hoekstra recently introduced legislation H.R. 4603 (the HOPE Act) to Congress which addresses some of the Haitian orphans that were not previously covered by Humanitarian Parole Policy as of Jan. 18. Remember, that for the last few weeks the only orphans allowed to come to the US were those who were matched to families BEFORE the earthquake and all other children fell under the Child Welfare Act keeping them stuck in Haiti even if their parents legally relinquished their rights to the child/children before the earthquake. But The HOPE Act addresses those Haitian orphans that were not covered by the DHS policy exemption by: Having DHS create a ³third category² to expand their humanitarian parole policy on a case-by-case basis for Haitian children who were legally confirmed as orphans eligible for intercountry adoption prior to the earthquake on January 12, 2010. If a suitable family is not found to provide care for a Haitian orphan, under the HOPE Act they would be eligible for placement in the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Program. This legislation is aimed at helping those Haitian orphans that are eligible for intercounty adoption but did not yet have a prospective family at the time of the earthquake.

Here is a link to where you can read about this Hope Act for yourself: : http://chrisitianallianceblog.org/?p=433?a1657b90

To help this Act pass through PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look up (you can google it) your local Senators and Congressmen and email them (or call in) your approval of this H.R. 4603 Hope Act!!! Please take a little time to do this and then share this information with EVERYONE you know. And after that - pray! Pray for God to move mountains for these orphans that have no voice without ours. This is the time for the church to rise up and BE the change!

Gracie's 11 Months and Her First Christmas!

2009-12-26T11:18:00.007-06:00

I adore this picture of Gracie. It shows just how much she has grown and changed since her tiny 5.6 pound body in April. She is so beautiful and incredibly energetic and curious. This picture was taken on Dec. 17, just a few days before she turned 11 months. Can't believe we will be celebrating her 1st. birthday in a few weeks!

As for the rest of the pictures... they are all out of order. In fact, if you scroll to the bottom of this post and work up, the pictures will be more chronological. We spent several days in east TX with Billy's parents right before Christmas. I blogged in more detail about that trip on our family blog: www.followthefeet.blogspot.com. And then we came home and had Christmas as a family in San Antonio on Christmas morning. Christmas afternoon we welcomed a Burmese refugee family in our home that Billy has been working with for 2 years now. They have 4 beautiful children and we had a fabulous Christmas evening with them. That's where the pictures start - Christmas evening with Rolen and his family:

From left to right: Rolen Sah, Samoowah, Dahlaymoo, Shelly, Clay and Tyler

Tyler (such a cutie!) wanted his picture taken with Gracie. He and his brothers are AWESOME kids! So well behaved and polite. They even washed their own dishes after they ate dinner!

Christmas morning... Libby helped Gracie open all her presents.

Libby is such a great big sister. She took time to explain each gift to Gracie rather than opening and playing with her own presents.

Gracie - about to open her goodies!

As soon as the girls arrived in the living room (where all the presents are) Libby grabbed a few of Gracie's new toys that weren't wrapped and started showing Gracie how to play with them. Libby wasn't even thinking about herself and her own gifts. I was so impressed! Here Libby is showing Gracie the pretend lipstick in her new purse.

Every Christmas I like to take pictures of the girls before they see their presents. I like the excitement in their early morning eyes!

First thing Christmas morning! Good morning Gracie Lu!

Gracie's presents (the bows and the wrapped presents and the purse were new, but the rest were Libby's toys that were so brand new looking we just "re-gifted" to Gracie. I laugh about the Nutramigen on display, but truly that stuff is so expensive that it was part of her Christmas gifts!

Our Christmas morning set-up! Taken Christmas Eve while the girls were sleeping.

The Christmas tree with the gifts for the Burmese.

Gracie's new walker given to her by her sweet Puma and Larry!

Christmas Eve day. Love that smile!

Gracie's first trip to Longview. She enjoyed her Papa Boots very much. Here we were driving through Santa's Wonderland of Lights.

Gracie and Grammy enjoying a cuddle.

Libby, Gracie and Brooke in their Christmas red.

Grammy gave her granddaughters matching pjs. SO CUTE!

Gracie received plenty of attention and playtime.

Grammy and the girls.

Grammy, Papa Boots and Gracie (Libby was the photographer)

Aunt Wendy and Gracie. Gracie loves her Aunt Wendy!

Pictures of the girls in Christmas dresses a few days before our trip to Longview.

Gracie's first Christmas dress - it was Libby's first too!

10 Months (and more!)

2009-12-16T20:50:00.006-06:00

Gracie has been 10 months since November 22 and I'm just now getting around to updating you. The reason... SHE IS CRAWLING EVERYWHERE and from the moment she started crawling she turned into the most curious, aware, adventurous little girl. Libby never tried to play with electric outlets or eat bugs off the floor, but Gracie is a whole new experience. She is social, curious, active and FUN! Translating to less time on blogs, emails and phone.

Gracie is such a joy. Her smile just beams straight from her eyes to her grin and from ear to ear. She loves her big sister tremendously and when she sees her daddy - WATCH OUT. She leans toward him and smiles so big! She's in love!

She still has rolls all down her thighs, but she does seem to be trimming up a bit now that she is so active. We've also dropped down to 4 bottles of 5 oz. each which means 10 oz. less than she was taking 2 months ago. Gracie loves fruit. Veggies are okay and bland oatmeal is less than desirable. We have a sweet tooth on our hands - again, much different from Libby who eats any veggie we put in front of her. Gracie is learning to use a sippy cup with no problem. She's a fast learner who uses her sign language for "more", "eat" and "all done" often.

Gracie won't sit still for me to read books, clip fingernails or anything else that takes more than 30 seconds. I used to read to Libby for an hour without any thought of her slipping away. Again, complete opposites! I'm not sure there is anything I can do to make her still for reading or fingernail clipping, but if anyone has advice I'm listening... uh, reading.

One thing I LOVE is that every evening when Gracie is winding down she will sit on my lap facing me and lay her head on my chest. I love that cuddle time. She lays there for a second or two and then sits up and then lays back down and repeats that over and over because, of course, even when she's tired she can't sit completely still. But even though she is so active she is a GREAT, EASY baby. She's laid back emotionally speaking. While she is definitely attached to me, she does not seem traumatized when I walk away like Libby would often seem. As long as Gracie is not sleepy, hungry or bored, she is happy and self-entertaining.

While the girls are such opposites, I couldn't love either of them more! They are each such perfect gifts from the Lord that make my life feel so fulfilling! I am so happy being a mom to my girls!!

Oh, last update. Gracie finally got to meet our Somali friends, refugees in our city that we have mentored in the past. The Somali girls loved Gracie and had a lot of fun trying to explain our adoption to their parents who couldn't believe we traveled to Africa. They want us to come back and bring our pictures. That will be fun!

So here are a few pictures taken in Gracie's 10th month!

Introducing Gracie to our Somali friends!

She adores her big sister

I love her little, chubby feet!

Gracie with Papa.

tea time

The perfect present!

I love this picture of the girls together!

And this one too!

Libby on the day of her school Christmas program

Libby wore this dress on her first Christmas with us. Now its Gracie's turn. So cute!

Couldn't get a still shot that day, but cute anyway!

Happy Nine Months!

2009-10-24T22:01:00.008-05:00

Gracie turned 9 months this week. She also had her 9 month checkup in which she weighed in at 20.3 pounds!!!! She's moved to the 75th percentile in weight and the 50th percentile in height. The growth chart usually looks like a curve shape, but Gracie's is a straight slightly diagonal line up! She amazed her doctor with her growth. God is so good!

Gracie is so close to crawling. She is getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. She's starting to wave at people. She LOVES to eat! She is occasionally signing "more" - but usually she just screams for me to give her another spoon full. Gracie gets around by either rolling or doing a backwards slide/crawl. When she wants to move forward to grab a toy she gets up on all fours and then pushes back. When she realizes that she is getting further away from the toy she starts crying. She just can't figure out how to move forward.

This month we are going to be working on Gracie getting into the sitting position from the tummy position and we will continue to work on her crawling and pulling up. But, really, she is relatively caught up and will not need physical therapy for much longer.

Libby is so wonderful with her. When we greet Gracie in the morning Libby asks to give her "boogerbears" which is Libby's word for a nose rub - or what we used to call Eskimo kiss. She holds Gracie's hand in the car. She watches Gracie for me if I need to step out of the room for a minute. She tries to fix her hair - with a bristle brush - NOT the best choice for Gracie's hair, but Libby loves to make it big and frizzy.

Gracie is sleeping through the night with no bottle and virtually no crying out either. She knows how to put herself back to sleep. Every now and then she will wake up and sing to herself. She continues to match our pitch or repeat a sound she hears. Billy is sure she will grow up to be a singer. Gracie also cut her bottom, front two teeth this week. I can tell its been painful, but still she is sweet and content as ever.

Gracie also continues to make her shy smile which continues to make everyone else melt with love for her.

So - here's what you want to see... Pictures!

Billy takes care of bottle time!

At Libby's soccer game the weather was cooler than expected. I didn't have a hat for Gracie so I took a burp cloth and a headband and made a turban for her - a very sassy turban!

Play time is hard work, mom.

Completely kissable!

Papa Graham and Gigi came to visit us for a week! The girls LOVED having time with them. When we travel to Charleston there is always so much going on between cousins, aunts, uncles, great grandparents, grandparents, friends that the girls rarely get to be alone with Papa and Gigi. Their visit was so wonderful as the girls really got to know and enjoy them on a whole new level. We are so happy Papa and Gigi came!

Gigi holds Gracie.

The heart-melting smile!

Head banging pumpkins.

Sniffing pumpkins!

Big sister holding pumpkin.

Chubby tummy next to chubby pumpkins.

The sweetest, easiest baby in the world.

Smiling Sisters

Eight Months Old and Counting

2009-10-06T22:54:00.002-05:00

To see Gracie's 8 month update click here: www.followthefeet.blogspot.com

Hurry! The pics are beyond cute!

Gracie is SEVEN months today!

2009-08-22T15:28:00.002-05:00

Click HERE (www.followthefeet.blogspot.com) to see an update on Gracie! I've uploaded 18 pictures to show off her new milestones! She's 7 months old today!!!!!! And sweeter than ever!

link to updates

2009-08-15T23:42:00.003-05:00

Just FYI - I've been posting updates regarding Gracie and family life on our family blog. If you'd like to see some really cute photos of Gracie and Libby you can link up HERE! But in case the link doesn't work - our family blog is: www.followthefeet.blogspot.com

See you there!

Quick Update!

2009-07-15T11:33:00.003-05:00

Gracie's labs on Thursday went smoothly as the nurse was able to just prick her heal to get the blood. Everything looks the same - which our pediatrician and one other doctor agree is good. They do not think anything points to liver disease, but rather just that she has had recent infections. So - we will retest the liver functions in about 2-3 weeks and go from there. So - that's very good news for now.

And lastly - we are at a camp in South TX. Gracie has come down with another ear infection, low fever, cough and is spitting up a lot - which made for a long night for all of us since we are all sleeping in the same room. Your prayers are appreciated.

We have limited internet and cell phone access so I apologize for any emails/phone calls that I have not been able to reply to.

Blessings,

Cindy

Partial Answers - But REJOICING nonetheless!

2009-07-06T20:46:00.002-05:00

I have been so calm and at peace through all the trials the last 3 weeks have thrown our way. But today I was full of anxiety. I was waiting for the genetics doctor to call and tell me what Gracie's second round of labs revealed.... and he didn't call until almost 3pm!!! I just sat around the house ALL DAY waiting, waiting, waiting... I just wanted some answers and all I had was silence for hours!

After speaking with the genetics doctor I wasn't completely sure if the news was good or bad or what. So I called our pediatrician and his nurse was able to explain things to me better. Then Dr. Fitch, the pediatrician, called this evening and now I think I understand... here's the update:

Gracie's original labs showed that a particular enzyme was high in her liver levels. That is what indicated "possible homocystinuria". The second round of labs was for 2 purposes - the blood work was to show if the first labs were reading true. And the urine analysis would reveal if there was any homocystine in her urine. There has to be homocystine in the urine for her to have "homocystinuria" and.............

THERE IS NONE!!!! So - we can rule out homocystinuria AND the other metobolic disorders at this time!!!!!!!!!! YES! Thank you Jesus! Your favor is on us with or without this amazing news because you saved us and love us lavishly though we deserve none of that - but this news is icing on the cake! We are so thrilled that Gracie will not have to struggle with a life long metabolic disorder. Thank you for hearing our cries! Thank you for clarity on this issue.

So... next round.... we still have to determine why Gracie's liver levels of this one enzyme are elevated. Here are the possibilities... it could be because of the fact that she had chicken pox recently. It could be because of some other infection yet to be determined. OR she could have a liver disease. So on Thursday afternoon we go into the hospital for more blood work (pray for Gracie because that is a very difficult thing to do with her tiny veins and loose skin - it takes hours to get the needle in and get the blood needed for testing). And the doctors will do a liver ultrasound to see if her liver looks normal or not. The 2 blood tests will reveal if there is any inflamation in her liver and will give us a look at her liver functions. And the good news is we should know the results on Friday.

Thursday's tests will most likely reveal if there is a liver disease or not. But if the liver levels are high from chicken pox or other infections I'm not sure that we will know anything for sure for several weeks when we can retest her blood after giving her body some time to heal.

Either way - we are making progress in figuring this all out. When I think back to Gracie's medical history, she has had multiple infections - one that turned into sepsis - and then chicken pox and most recently a double ear infection... SO... I am really thinking/hoping that her little body has just not had enough time to completely heal and her liver levels will balance out in time.

Also - Dr. Fitch consulted with a couple of other international internal disease specialists regarding Gracie's TB tests and shared with me this evening that they all agree that no medication should be given because she is showing no symptoms and only her skin test was positive - three other tests were negative. They all agree that Gracie should be retested with the skin test and the t-spot blood test in 3-6 months to see if there are any changes, but until then we are not concerned about TB at all. As far as we can tell she does NOT have it and that's the end of it for now. WHEW!

My biopsy results are not known yet. I have had almost no worries about that at all. Most of my concern has been for Gracie and Gracie alone. I will probably hear something tomorrow or Wednesday. As soon as I know I will fill you in. But know that I am doing just fine and have no anxiety or real concern about it at all.

So there it is for now. We will keep you posted. Thank you Thank you Thank you for praying so hard! I am humbled by all your support and prayers!

Sincerely,

Cindy

Grammy and Papa Boots Visit!

2009-07-04T22:18:00.005-05:00

I love those sweet lips! Gracie's chicken pox are starting to clear up. I've been putting pure vitamin E on those little scars and I keep praying they will all go away. But either way - she is just so cute!

On Wednesday evening Billy's parents -Billy and Winky Foote - arrived to meet Gracie for the first time and love on Libby too! Mommy had them dressed cute for the occasion. Libby wore her "Big Sister" t-shirt from Mrs. Angela (our drummer's wife) and Gracie wore a cute sundress I found at Target with giraffe print on it. I had surgery that afternoon so I was really groggy when they arrived. Mrs. Billie Gill brought an awesome meal for our whole family that night - pork tenderloin, oriental salad, rice, green beans, zucchini bread...YUM! Thank you Mrs. Gill!!!

Winky could not wait to hold Gracie. And Gracie LOVES to be held... so they made a good match really quick!

We all hung out that first night as I needed to take it easy. The next day Winky and I had to wake up very early to get Gracie to the hospital for more tests (see previous post for details about that hospital trip). We were there from 7:15AM until 11AM. Billy, Papa Boots and Libby went for a ride in Billy's jeep (Libby's new favorite thing to do)! We all met around noon at Bass Pro Shops for some fun and food. We ate lunch there and by the time we were through it was time to get the girls some shut eye.

We drove home and attempted naps and then BC fixed his special soup for all of us. After dinner we prepared for pool time. The lazy river was awesome as Libby showed Grammy all her new tricks and Gracie floated with me for a relaxing nap on the water. By the time we left there is was time for the girls to go to bed. Winky enjoyed holding Gracie until she fell asleep and then some. Gracie was very comfortable on Grammy's shoulder.

The next day it was time to have some more fun. We all got up, dressed and drove out to Gruene, TX for some shopping and lunch. It was H.O.T. out there. But we still had fun! Lots of people were interested in our adoption story and they all fell in love with our 2 beauties. Grammy and Papa enjoyed the antique shops best - and so did Libby. It was like a giant treasure chest and she found something on every aisle to play with.

Above - the pink blouse Libby is wearing is from Wendy's (Billy's sister's) mother-in-law. She also gave Gracie a matching blouse. I think Grammy got some pictures of the girls together in their matching shirts. When I get those from her I'll have to share them. By the time I took my camera out Gracie had already had a blow out that left her matching outfit in need of a wash- ewww!

We ate lunch at Adobe Verde and took a family picture at our table:

After lunch we visited a toy store where Grammy bought Libby a cute furniture set to go in her dollhouse and a really cool guitar shaped purse for me. And then it was time to drive home.

I actually managed to get both girls in my bed and have a short nap with all three of us in the same room.... that is a serious accomplishment! After naps we cooked a delicious meal together and enjoyed family time at the table.

After the girls went to bed Billy showed his parents funny videos he's found on youtube. His parents enjoyed that as we all got some good laughs in.

This morning BC (papa boots) and Winky had to head out. It was over all too soon. We got a couple more pictures of the girls with their grandparents but they were in their pjs still as mommy was moving very slow this morning.

Later today I dressed Libby and Gracie in another matching blouse set that is from Wendy. I got one really great picture of them sitting together and they are both smiling!

Our time with Winky and BC was very relaxing and enjoyable. We are so thankful they were able to drive down and meet Gracie before we're off to camps. It was also really great having Winky as a companion for that dreadful hospital trip for Gracie. I would never want to do that alone!

Billy and Winky - we love you very much! Thank you for everything!

Update

2009-07-02T16:47:00.002-05:00

Dear friends and family,

Thank you so much for your support and prayers through this intense time in our lives. I have a few udpates for you today.

First, I want to rejoice in the fact that the Crawley family and the Portilla family (both families are friends of ours) have passed court this week and will travel to ET in 2 weeks! I am thrilled! We met both of their girls when we were in ET and both are so very precious!

Second, my surgery went well yesterday. Thank you for praying. I had a lumpectomy and the surgeon ended up removing both cysts. He had to cut more out and go further into my chest than he was expecting so I am a bit more sore than I expected. But I'm really doing just fine. It's all a bit swollen - even under my arm going around my rib cage - but that's it. I just have to be careful with lifting for the next couple of days. The doctor does not think either cyst is cancerous, but they are being tested anyway and I should hear more about that in the next 3-4 business days.

Third - Gracie... earlier this week we found out that he original basic labs showed elevated liver levels which indicated that she possibly has a metabolic disorder called "homocystinuria". So we were directed to go to the hospital immediately for a second round of labs. We did that immediately on Monday afternoon. At the same time, Gracie's skin had tested positive for TB so the doctor ordered a chest xray. Getting Gracie's blood drawn was awful. Her veins are so tiny and her skin is so loose that everytime they stuck her her vein would role. She screamed and cried. And then her blood kept clotting - way faster than it should. It was a long afternoon.

Since then her chest xray came back negative. So my doctor called and asked if Gracie had a BCG (TB vaccination) because if she did that would explain the positive testing on her skin. Well, on her vaccination record from ET it was not listed... so he ordered us to go back to the hospital this morning for more testing. In the mean time I sent an email to the nurse in ET to see if she knew if Gracie had the vaccination and our pediatrician somehow emailed Gracie's orphange in ET and asked the same question. We were at the hospital at 7:30 AM. I can not explain how awful it was that they had to draw blood from Gracie again. The only good spots were already bruised from testing on Monday. They tried 4-5 different places - even putting flashlights under her skin in her hands and arms searching for veins to poke - and it took 4 different nurses to finally draw blood and put in an iv this morning. I think the tortured lasted over 2 hours. My mother-in-law was there with me and we were both in tears for Gracie. Gracie was screaming and crying so hard... it was awful!

Finally we got the CT scan after that. Then as we were waiting for the results our pediatrician called saying that the orphanage in ET emailed him back saying that Gracie definitely had the TB vaccination - so now there was no need for further testing. AFTER ALL OF THAT! Oh my!

Well, we are glad we got the blood work done anyway - because the T test today will give us no doubt of the fact that she has NO TB! and put an end to that concern. Also the tests today showed again that her liver levels are a bit high.

Now... we wait until Monday to hear about the other labs concerning her possible metabolic disorder. We have been encouraged that if she does have this and we correct her formula and her diet in the future - that she will not suffer the other things associated with the disorder. So, we are waiting patiently for news on Monday. Hopefully there will be some answers as to why her liver levels are high AND why her blood is clotting so badly/quickly.

Thank you for your prayers. As you can imagine we have been so busy with all these doctor and hospital appointments. We have definitely met our deductible this year! YAY~

We are well. Billy's parents are in town so we have plenty of help and we are staying busy as we wait on news.

Blessings and Thanks again for all your prayers!

We'll keep you posted,

Cindy

Prayer Requests....

2009-06-29T18:07:00.003-05:00

So... a prayer request or two for you mighty prayer warriors....

A couple of weeks ago - right after returning home from Ethiopia and in the middle of my stomach illness - I discovered a lump in my right breast. After a sonogram revealed a complex cyst that was one inch in diameter my doctor suggested having it removed. I had a surgery consultation today and it was determined that I will have surgery on Wednesday morning to get the lump removed from my right breast. It's probably nothing but still have to go under to get it done... boo!

But that's not my biggest prayer request... this one is.... Right after that surgery consultation this morning we got a phone call from Gracie's doctor.. It seems - from her basic lab work - that Gracie may have "homocystinuria" which is a metabolic enzyme disorder that is genetic and would require a specific diet her whole life - not to mention a very specific formula for her infant years. During the phone call the doctor ordered us to go to Christus Santa Rosa hospital immediately to do a second round of labs to be sure the first lab reading is true. I'm praying that is was not and that she does not have this. We'll find out Monday (a week from today) what the results are. If she does have this we will be meeting with a metabolic endochronologist (spelling?) to do further testing and learning and then we would also need to meet with a nutrutionist and change Gracie's formula immediately. The endochrinologist talked with our doctor today and was very encouraging saying that if we change Gracie's diet she will avoid most of the other problems associated with this disorder. That is good to know because when I googled "homocystinuria" online today it was a bit scary siting dislocation of lens of eyes, skeletal abnormalities, intellectual challenges, and problems with connective tissue/muscle development, and heart problems as just a few of the problems that can arise with this disorder if it goes untreated.

It's been a long day, but we are well. We watched so many other families in the hospital with severely disformed, sick or mentally handicapped children with much more of life struggles to manage than we are facing at this point. We know that we were chosen for Gracie and Gracie for us. We know God heals. We know God gives endurance and strength and wisdom. We know he takes weaknesses and combines his strength to it. We know he works all things for the good of those who love him. And we know we love Gracie and would have taken her in to our family even if we had known this in advance.

Lastly - Gracie also had a chest xray today because her TB skin test came back positive enough that the doctor just wants to be sure its not there. She has no symptoms, but by tomorrow we should know 100% if she really has TB or not. I really don't think she does. But if she does, she will be on antibiotics for 6 months or so.

We appreciate your prayers this week as I face minor surgery and we all wait for more concrete news regarding Gracie's health.

Gracie's First Doctor's Appointment

2009-06-23T22:17:00.003-05:00

This morning Gracie and I were out and about by 8AM for her first doctor's appointment. I am so mad at myself for not making that appointment BEFORE we left for Ethiopia because once we got home, we had to wait a whole 10 days before we could get her in. And today we found out she has raging ear infections in both ears that I did not realize she had. Poor thing has been so laid back and tough, but has had to be in so much pain. I can't imagine how she has been so pleasant and smiling so I'm really excited to get her fully well so we can see just how happy and wonderful she can fully be!

The doctor really took time to talk through everything. It was a long appointment as we discussed her medical history - the little we know - and her previous malnutrition. By the end of the appointment the doctor had given her 4 vaccination shots - 2 in each leg, 1 tb test in her left arm, and a heel prick to take blood for some basic lab work. She was not too happy about all that, but did well considering the trauma along with already inflamed, painful ears. Poor thing! The doc also wants us to go to Methodist Children's Hospital soon so we can have some more intense lab work done to rule out any parasites and other infections. We want to make sure we've checked everything so we can get this sweet baby well!

But my, my how this girl is growing... she weighed in today just under 12 pounds! WOO HOO! She was 11 pounds and 14 3/4 ounces. Awesome! And she is also 24 inches long.

She is getting stronger and stronger everyday. But the doc did suggest we get her some physical therapy just to give her a head start on catching up. He said to call Easter Seals because they will come into our home for free to help her. I'm calling tomorrow to see how that works.

We will go back to the doctor on Thursday for the doc to see her TB test area. Then in 3 weeks he wants to measure her weight again and in 6 weeks we'll have another check up with more vaccinations.

We started Gracie Lu on antibiotics today and also some other medicine for her "thrush" and he also gave me a plan for her diaper rash that could also be a yeast infection. The girl is so happy that you would never know she is in that much pain.

I think I am getting well - at least I have felt much better today. I had mild diarrhea (I know - tmi!) from the moment we landed in Houston. Then on Friday I threw up and the diarrhea took a turn for the worse for 24 hours straight. Throwing up ended, but diarrhea did not - so now that's being tested to make sure I didn't get some parasite or something from Ethiopia. We'll see....

We're all doing well despite the illnesses (and the dirty house!). God has been so good to us!

Life With Gracie and A Special Father's Day!

2009-06-21T21:26:00.009-05:00

We have been home just over one week and what a week it has been. Among the challenges of jet lag and getting an infant on a schedule who is also jet lagged and well... just plain old sleep deprivation, I (Cindy) got a stomach bug that left me throwing up and suffering from severe diarrhea for 24 hours... and it is still causing some trouble even today... so that was a pretty big set back! However.... Gracie is already on a schedule (she eats EVERY 3 hours - day and night!) that works for us and her for now... until the doc. tells us to do something different. She wakes around 6 AM for her bottle, then has wake/play time and then a nap that starts about an hour before her next bottle, but doesn't last the whole hour just yet... we're getting there. Billy had to take on ALL the feedings during the 24 hours I was sick. He was SUPER DAD! And he also woke up the next morning with a great appreciation for my getting up for the previous nighttime feedings and is now totally taking on 1-2 feeding a night for me from now on - WHAT A SWEETIE!

Life with Gracie is wonderful. Libby has really adjusted well and is so much happier now that we're home. The Lord has shown us some great ways to tackle a few of her issues and it seems to be working so far. I'll probably share more about that at another time.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves except that I have to share one more thing... Billy is amazing! Though the last month has probably been the hardest in both our lives, we have pulled through it together. We're on the same page and he has been so supportive, encouraging, hopeful and helpful the whole way. He was celebrated greatly today for being such an awesome dad and husband on this special Father's day! We gave him a card with both our girls sweet footprints in them. Then we took him out to lunch. We gave him permission to buy a used jeep if he can find one he wants. And we went to the pool to cap off the night. I am so blessed by Billy Foote. The thing that keeps swelling my heart for him today is his long drive to visit Gracie's birthmother on the same day we arrived in Ethiopia after DAYS of travel. He was such a great daddy and husband to do that! And also his wonderful care of Gracie when I was sick. He never complained and just took over for me. Love that man!

Libby was taken care of by my friend Cristie and I am so thankful for that! We may have lost our minds if we had to handle her when I was throwing up. She did not understand why I was sick. She had never seen me like that before and she wouldn't leave my side...so the Martines stepped in and took her out for a great play day. Thank you Martines!

Thank you also to all my dear friends who have prayed and who have brought us meals over the last several days and more! Thank you all so much for your TLC!

Okay - enjoy the pictures.... (including Gracie's first swimsuit... so cute!) Oh - and I just realized that I can't find the pictures of Gracie in the Moses basket that Billy's parents shipped to us... it might be on Billy's camera... so I will try to find those tomorrow and share that too!

Libby loves on Gracie after her bath. Libby is turning into a great big helper...especially at bath time.

I love how she sleeps. So peaceful!

A picture of jet lag

And more jet lag....

and more jet lag...

Look how tiny she is next to Daddy!

She smiles often!

Such a cutie (sorry the last 2 are sideways.. oops!)

She learned how to pull the toy quickly to get the music on.

Resting on her leaf.

All lotioned up and shining - with a bow, of course.

Sweet Sisters!

Daddy and his girls.

She is growing closer and closer to Billy as I am having to attend to Gracie so much. Daddy is FUN!

The morning of Father's Day... I just love that top on her!

Family Photo at Houlihann's where we had lunch... yum!

Aren't they all so cute together!

Father's Day evening at the pool... just relaxing as a family.

One of my favorite photos of Gracie so far. Her face is starting to clear up from all the chicken pox. Isn't this swimsuit the cutest! (Thank you Elissa!)

As soon as I put the hat on she cried her eyes out.... I don't blame her!

Pretty Libby in the pool.

Floating with Gracie.

Me and my girls!

Sun Bathing Beauty.

So kissable!

We're Home!!!

2009-06-14T08:12:00.002-05:00

We are home. We walked in our house sometime after 10pm last night. Our last flight was delayed, hence the late arrival home. We had a wonderful group of friends meet us at the airport upon our arrival with balloons and signs and flashing photography. We know and we feel that we are loved and we know that Gracie Lu sense's that too. She just smiled at everyone last night.

We had a rough night due to jet lag. Gracie didn't sleep much at all since our night here is her day back in ET. Libby slept from midnight to 5:20 AM. But we will push through the jet lag in time. Gracie's chicken pox are - for the most part - looking better. Now she just has a cold with green mucus so she sounded like a snoring puppy when she did sleep last night. Hopefully we can get her in to see the doctor early this coming week.

Billy and Winky, the beautiful Moses basket arrived and Gracie Lu is taking her nap in it right now. I will try to call you today sometime.

We are going to take the next few days to figure out Gracie Lu's schedule and get over jet lag. We're going to relax and enjoy some private family time, just the four of us. I am already loving it!

We pray all our traveling buddies made it home safely. We will try to be in touch with all of you soon!

I plan to share some more about out trip to ET, but I want to take my time to think it all through and jet lag is muddling up my mind right now. There are many things we saw and experienced in ET that have stirred my heart in one way or another.

I want to thank all of you for praying us through the last month or two of our lives and particularly the last 12 days. Without the grace of God and your prayers on our behalf we would not have survived with such peace and determination and hope. We would have buckled under all the pressure and been depressed or angry. But no - we are, even in the midst of trial and exhaustion - full of joy.

We have such love for all of you. Gracie is beautiful. Libby is doing great so far and seems very happy to be home. We are incredibly blessed.

This post is not the end of the story. It is only the beginning!

Blessings,

Cindy

Headed to Houston!

2009-06-12T23:23:00.001-05:00

Computer is almost out of juice and plane is boarding. Just wanted you
to know that we made it to Dubai and stayed overnight. Now we are
getting on the long flight to Houston! We'll be home soooooooon!

Cindy

--
Billy and Cindy Foote
Billy Foote Music, Inc.
3531 Hilldale Point
San Antonio, TX 78261
817.371.0689
www.billyfoote.com
www.myspace.com/billyfooteband
www.followthefeet.blogspot.com
www.adoptingaria.blogspot.com
www.libbysong.com

Headed to Houston!

2009-06-12T23:22:00.003-05:00

Cindy

Headed to Houston!

2009-06-12T23:22:00.001-05:00

Cindy

Around the town in ET

2009-06-11T11:57:00.001-05:00

Only a few things to mention today. We chose not to visit the orphanages that AW partners with. It was a hard decision to make as we would have loved to go, but we just needed a slow family day before tackling travel tomorrow. We walked down one of the main streets in town today and took a few pictures, but it is really hard to get pictures of the people because most ask for money and if you do that for one you end up with a lot more that want the same thing. We took pictures instead of a few markets and street scenes.

Bonding with Gracie is going beautifully. She is so precious. I left her today to take a nap. When she woke up Billy was trying to console her. He changed her diaper, walked around the room with her, but she wouldn't stop crying. I woke up and when I held her she calmed down. I think she is really bonding with me since I have been doing all the feedings. Billy has been a HUGE help with Libby and so we've just been keeping that going knowing that when we get home he wants to do some bonding with Gracie too. We just need Libby to feel secure so Billy is giving her a lot of attention.

One sad story (but we know it will be okay): When Libby wakes in the morning she is always so excited to see me. She runs to me and calls my "momma bear" and kisses me and hugs me. This morning I heard her wake so I picked up Gracie and ran into her room. Her face was full of excitement until she saw that I was holding Gracie and her face totally fell to sadness. She is doing GREAT with Gracie during the day - loving on her, telling her stories, entertaining her - but that was a moment when she just wanted momma. She never said anything about it - I just noticed it. so we've been working hard today to reassure her that she is loved.

The pictures above include scenes from our walk around town and also some of the artwork and baskets we purchased at other markets.

Tonight - the packing begins!!!!! We are all very excited to get home and not so excited about how long it will take to get there. We have a few things to do tomorrow - including getting our visa/paperwork stuff (can't even remember which paperwork it is, but its important!). Then we have to be at the airport by 5:30PM and the traveling begins. Please pray for us - for strength, endurance and joy!

We can't wait to see our friends at the airport when we arrive! I think I posted our itinerary in another post. I'll have to check on that. I don't know if I'll have another chance to post after tonight. Our layover in Dubai is only 9 hours and it is in the middle of the night so I probably won't be able to.

We'll be home soon!!!

Cindy

Adoption Day!

2009-06-10T10:49:00.001-05:00

Gracie is ours! Fully, completely, sealed deal! Today was our embassy appointment, which was successful and which seals our adoption of Gracie 100% both in the eyes of the US and Ethiopia. It has been a done deal in our hearts and in God's plan for much longer than that, but now it is official. There is not much to tell about today other than that - which is wonderful enough!

Libby was fabulous again today. Gracie is teaching us what she wants/likes through her expressions and occasional tears and we are still very tired. That about sums it up.... so.... all I have left for you tonight are photos - which actually are probably posting before this message (I don't know since I can't see the blog)...I digress....Billy is not in any of these photos because he did all the picture taking today. I'll try to get some of him tomorrow.

Oh wait - one more thing - the Portilla family has court in the morning. It is their 2nd. court appointment to adopt a precious girl that I got to meet this week. Please pray that they pass so they can travel soon to get their girl!

Tomorrow we have the option of going to visit the orphanages that AW partners with. Gracie was at one of those orphanages for about 1-2 weeks. But I think we may stay behind and do some walking and picture taking around the town. When we were in China we had much more time to do that so we had pictures of the people, markets, food, buildings, etc. This is a much shorter trip and if you want to take a picture of the people - they expect you to pay them which then causes a gathering of people wanting to make a buck and be a model for you - LOL! But we are going to try. One reason is that the poverty here is really unexplainable in words - even photos don't show the magnitude of it. But in our photos so far, you haven't really seen any of that. The lush garden you saw in one photo was a tiny little piece of land on the AW transition home property. No where else does it look like that.... people are begging, blind, starving, crippled, homeless, hopeless... you just have to see it with your own eyes to have any true perspective of the reality of poverty here. Maybe we will capture a thousand words in photos tomorrow.

Ok -done for real now!

Love and Blessings,

Cindy Foote
--
Billy and Cindy Foote
Billy Foote Music, Inc.
3531 Hilldale Point
San Antonio, TX 78261
817.371.0689
www.billyfoote.com
www.myspace.com/billyfooteband
www.followthefeet.blogspot.com
www.adoptingaria.blogspot.com
www.libbysong.com

Gotcha Day!!! and so much more.....

2009-06-09T15:08:00.001-05:00

Before I begin - let me explain the Hairy Billy photo - we were shopping and a merchant ran out and told Billy that that wig was real monkey hair and he put it on Billy. It was really funny! In another picture I am standing with Robel and 2 street boys. Shelley - the package you sent with me to Robel was delivered and do you see the boy in the picture? That's the one you are helping! He is a doll! I just loaded the other photos, but I already forgot which ones they are... oh well..... now to the day's story:

Gotcha Day! And so much more…

We woke this morning with a lot on our plate. Today was not only the day to receive Gracie forever, but also to deliver care packages to babies/children for other families, take photos for 5 other families, deliver all the gifts for the transitional home staff, meet all the kids at the transitional home, deliver any donations (lots of formula, in our case, because so many of you gave!!!!) and so on.

I had to pack and organize for all of that first thing this morning. Libby slept like a champ last night and woke in a great mood. My sweet Libby is back!!!! Just in time!

She was AMAZING today!!!! Thank you Jesus!

We were supposed to be downstairs ready to leave at 8:30 for some morning shopping. But this is Africa and 8:30 ended up being more like 10:30…. 2 hours of just sitting around. I was a little frustrated because Billy and I the plan that he would stay at the guest house with Libby while I had some time to myself shopping. But when it all got pushed back and we found out we would not be back at the guest house, they had to join me. When the bus drivers and AW staff arrived they told us to bring all the donations, staff gifts and our diaper bags with us because we would not be coming back to the guest house until after we picked up our babies. Let's just say that the bus was full BEFORE we packed it with donations and gifts – AND we still had shopping to do!

We finally arrived at the market area near a post office. Billy took off with Libby so I could still manage some "alone" time (if you can call being surrounded by merchants, beggars and shoppers "alone" time). I had a BLAST shopping. I found some amazing artwork. One is a big painting on a fabric canvas of King Solomon receiving gifts from the Queen of Sheba. It is so colorful and beautiful! I also got a painting of the Last Supper – Ethiopian style! Love it! We found some more baskets and jewelry and Ethiopian crosses too. It was fun. I ran into Billy and Libby half way through and Libby was having a ball with her daddy. He had taught her how to barter and she would ask the merchants "how much?" and they would tell her the price and she would say "you're breaking my heart!" And they would laugh so hard!

Libby had asked her daddy if they could get something special for me so they bought me a necklace and a basket. So sweet! I bought Libby a drum.

During the shopping craziness, Billy and Libby decided to sit on the bus for a while and chill out. Beggars swarmed to the window to ask for money. Libby stood up so she could see out the bus window and she was saying things like, "sorry. I don't have anything to give you". We have been asked not to hand out money as it causes a swarm of beggars to arrive. But Libby finally couldn't take it anymore and she tapped me on the shoulder and said, "mom, these people are really poor. They're hungry. Maybe we can give them my fruit snacks." My heart melted and we gather all her snacks out of my bag – trail mix and fruit snacks – and she handed them to the old woman standing by the window. Some kids tried to steal her food and the woman was getting mad and Libby shouted out the window, "You have to share! Share!" It was so cute to see her in action.

After shopping we had a fabulous lunch at a pizzeria. Libby fell asleep on the bus right before we arrived there so we put her in the stroller and found a quiet, dark spot in the pizzeria where she proceeded to sleep for about 2 hours. It wonderful! We saved some pasta for her and she ate it on the bus on the way to the transition home.

Once we arrived at the TH we were asked to sit on the small grass lawn so they could start bringing children out to us who we were supposed to take pictures of for other families who have either not passed court yet and/or have not had a chance to travel to get their children yet. We waited and waited and waited and finally I recognized the Portillas and the Crawley's kids along with the children of 3 other families.

Billy got both pictures AND video of each of the children! It was such an awesome feeling doing that for those families.

After taking pictures for the families, we gave out nanny gifts and donations and then walked through the transition home, school, boarding, and outdoor areas. All the kids are longing for attention and desperate for someone to play with them. There were also lots of babies.

Libby was amazing through all of this, I might add. She was very interested in the baby rooms and wanted to walk up to each baby to put a blanket on them or just see what was inside their cribs. She played with the older kids outside for the longest time and it was like she was at home.

She also fell into big sisterhood with the greatest ease today. No meltdowns, no jealously. She was just eager to get her baby sister. At one point in the day – before getting to the TH – she told us, "I can't take a nap today because I want to get my baby sister" – That came from the fact that she sleep through most of our meeting Gracie yesterday. Once Gracie was handed to us, Libby wanted to keep checking on her. As we walked around the TH she would say things like, "do you think her diaper is okay?" or "I think she is cold". She tried her hardest to make Gracie Lu laugh the whole bus ride home. She just loves her sister and is doing great! It was our best day with Libby on this trip BY FAR!!!!

One of the hardest parts about today was watching 2 older girls (ages 3 and 5) cry their eyes out as they left the TH with their new family. The older one, in particular, was just crushed to be leaving her friends. The nannies and her friends were all crying as we pull away. Once we were on the street the older girl started beating her chest as she grieved and yet it is so obvious that she is IN LOVE with her new family. That is just a load of emotions for such a young girl. The other sad part was that one of the boys adopted speaks a language other than Amharic. There was one other boy who speaks that language and as his friend rode away with his forever family, the little boy left at the TH was sobbing with grief. The only friend he had who could speak his heart language was leaving..... I cried like a baby watching that.... oh, that is so hard. That little boy still at the TH is on the waiting list. Please pray that God would reveal to a family very soon that that sweet, smart, bilingual boy is their son! He is an amazing kid.

Once back at the guest house, we came upstairs to give Gracie her first bottle and bath. But before the bath was ready, she had some ugly looking poo poo. Not sure what it should look like, but it was green with lumpy white stuff in it….. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???

She loved her bath. She is such a content baby. The only thing that has made her really cry so far is her HORRIBLE diaper rash. I have NEVER seen anything like it. Her ENTIRE bottom is red, and terribly raw and even peeling… it is awful!!! We got some triple paste on that bottom really fast.

We then went downstairs for a great dinner. The cook at the TH is AWESOME!!! Dinner was just really late – after 8pm – so we were all so hungry and tired by then.

Currently – Libby and Billy are sleeping in the queen bed. Gracie is sleeping on me as she sucks on her paci and we are 15 minutes from another feeding. All is well – just very tired!

I can't believe we have Gracie with us. Billy and I feel clueless. Gracie's main nanny was off work today and most of the other nannies could not speak English – so we did not ask any questions about her napping schedule and such. We did get a feeding schedule, but that was it. And we feel even more clueless about how to hold her, move her around, get her dressed – she is just a tiny little thing and can only hold her head up a very tiny bit. Wow! She is so small!

Gracie's chicken pox look better today than they did yesterday and now we're putting antibiotic cream on the big pox we see and getting her dry skin lathered up too! She'll be looking healthy and pox free in no time!

I am so grateful to the Lord for bringing my sweet Libby back to her old self. She was singing songs, hammin' in up and goofing around just like she normally does AND she transitioned into being a big sister so well. We just praised her all day and we are so proud of her.

a few more!

2009-06-08T15:40:00.001-05:00

here are a few more - it's almost midnight so I'm sleepy and done now!

Love,

Cindy

Gracie's birthmother - Also her Uncle and Grandfather

2009-06-08T15:09:00.001-05:00

I know these photos are all low quality - but hopefully you can see with enough clarity to enjoy the photos! When we get home, we'll post the higher quality photos. I'm just excited these are going through!

cindy

Let's See More!!!

2009-06-08T14:56:00.001-05:00

I think my pictures are posting so while I'm at it.... let's see more!!!

Photos from Metcha Day!

2009-06-08T14:51:00.001-05:00

Let's see if these go through....

--
Billy and Cindy Foote
Billy Foote Music, Inc.
3531 Hilldale Point
San Antonio, TX 78261
817.371.0689
www.billyfoote.com
www.myspace.com/billyfooteband
www.followthefeet.blogspot.com
www.adoptingaria.blogspot.com
www.libbysong.com

Meeting Gracie

2009-06-08T13:36:00.001-05:00

Last night Libby ate her first full meal - spaghetti. Before that she had a little bit of ice cream thanks to the quick thinking of the Sweeney family. That got her system going again, I think, because she ended up eating a little bit at every meal today. She woke up a bit emotional, but by the time we came down for breakfast she was eating and playing with the other kids here. Most of the day she was very pleasant. There was one CRAZY meltdown- the King of all meltdowns so far on this trip - when Billy had to watch her because I had to work on some paperwork for the adoption process. She wanted mommy. Mommy couldn't hold her. She went to war with Billy. Billy won. And from then on she was fine. I think she needed to just let it all out like that AND have daddy stick to his guns. She later apologized to Billy and gave him a big hug. SCORE!

Last night a friend emailed me to share that when her son was taking steroids for asthma they would call the pills "mean pills" because the steroids would make him angry and he would kick, scream, growl and hit. Libby was on steroids last Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I think they can stay in your system for a while and maybe that is what has contributed to the aggressiveness of Libby's meltdowns. Today she was much better so I'm hoping that if it was the steroids, that they are washing out and will not bother her anymore. Libby woke up with several red marks on both sides of her face and neck and on the back of her arm. They look a little like bug bites. When I saw them this morning I thought for sure they were the beginnings of chicken pox, but everyone here is telling me that the chicken pox starts on the belly and mid-region of the body and Libby has no marks there. They are definitely itching her, but when I try to put anti-itch cream on them she starts flipping out and the drama ensues. I'm wondering if she is breaking out in hives from all the stress or from the virus she had been fighting. That has happened to her before. We'll see. No one else here has bug bites and I slept in the same bed as her and have not bug bites - so I'm really thinking its hives.

This morning started with a paperwork session at a cafe rather than an orientation at the Hilton as I thought was scheduled. We filled out our I600 and I864 forms and handed over our 2008 tax returns and $400. I think that's all the major paperwork we'll have to do here. After that we went to another restaurant to have lunch. It seemed like we were there FOREVER as all of us were much more interested in meeting our babies/children than eating. But the drivers were in no rush and so we waited a LONG time. We finally headed to the transition home sometime after 2:30pm. No one told us what to expect or how it would play out. We all piled out of the bus and were hanging out on the front "lawn" when all of the sudden I realized that the Byrom family was meeting their sibling group of 3 on the front porch. I didn't have much time to think. I started video taping and then realized that only 2 families down the alphabet we were up. On the bus ride over, Libby had fallen asleep so we put her in a stroller and she was OUT! This was really perfect timing. When our names were called we met Gracie and were very surprised by the amount of chicken pox scabs all over her face, head, hands, neck - EVERYWHERE! Poor little girl!! We got some great pictures and video of the moment. And then we got to hold her and love on her for another 1 1/2 hours. Gracie is beautiful and she is so alert. She stared at me the entire time I held her. She smiled the first time she saw Billy. She is very pleasant and never cried. She seemed very content. When I put some lotion on her scabs today she just nestled right into my hand and I could tell she liked it. She is a doll! I can't wait for you all to meet her!

Libby slept until the last 20 minutes. I had to move Libby's stroller to get Libby to wake. She was NOT a happy camper at first. So we played it smart and safe and Billy held Gracie on the other side of the lawn while I consoled Libby as she woke from a deep sleep and a not-long-enough nap. Finally Libby seemed capable of meeting Gracie. I mentioned to her that her daddy was holding her baby sister. She started holding me tight and wouldn't say anything. I inched my way over and knelt down next to Billy so Libby was eye to eye with Gracie. She wouldn't touch her. She just stared. At some point Billy got up and started walking as he held Gracie and Libby wanted me to hold her and follow them. She was keeping her eye on her baby sister. I started talking to Gracie about her big sister and how awesome she is going to be and how Libby is going to play with her and make her laugh. Then I started quoting 2 pages of her "The Best Big Sister" book that her Grammy gave to her that always make her laugh. It says, "my baby sister poops in her diaper, but I can poop in the potty all by myself." I add a few words and funny things to it and that made her laugh and really warm up! Then Libby asked if she could get a toy out of the diaper bag to show to Gracie Lu. So we bent down and got the toy and she showed Lulu how it works. Later I showed Libby how Gracie's hand will grab onto my finger and I pretended that Gracie wouldn't let my finger go. Libby thought that was funny and had to give it a try. Finally she touched her baby sister and played. At that point it was time to give Gracie back to the nannies and get back on the bus. We walked through the TH back to Gracie's crib and we saw SO MANY babies. Libby went inside with me and I think it was an ahhaa! moment for her. We've read the "Shoey and Dot" book about babies in orphanages and we've talked about her time in an orphanage with nannies and other babies in China, but this was her first time to see one for herself. She totally understood and just stared at all the babies. She was speechless, but the look on her face told me that she was really thinking about it and taking it all in. I'm sure it will come up in the near future. For that reason alone, I'm glad she is here. I think even knowing what I know now, that I would do this again. It has been eye opening to see Libby's control issues magnified in this situation. I'm going home and reading "The Connected Child" that a adoptive mom here told me about right away so I can start helping Libby address this issue. Sometimes it takes rocking the boat for such issues to really become apparent. AND - I think her fear of being left behind is far greater than her control issues - so in light of that, I think that if we had left her behind it may have even been more emotionally challenging for her PLUS we would not have been with her to help her cope with it. That's the way I'm seeing it today, at least.

It was hard to take Gracie back into the TH, but it worked out well for Libby to be alone with us tonight. Libby is really tired tonight since her nap was cut short and she had a good meltdown before bed. But she has come so far in the last 24 hours and I think tomorrow will be even better. This has definitely been our best day on the trip so far - by far.

Gracie is precious. The experience this time around is very different for me. When we received Libby I had nothing to compare the experience to. She was my first baby and just discovering that I could be a mom and enjoy it was such a relief and a climatic experience. This time around I find myself aware of all of Libby's emotions and sicknesses and that made it hard to fully connect to Gracie. Also, Gracie is so little and not really able to respond in the way that Libby did at nine months when we got her. Its just completely different. I know that we will grow and bond with Gracie deeply over the next few days and weeks and I CAN'T WAIT to do that. But today I do feel a little unfamiliar with her and do not feel natural at being her mother quite yet. I know this is normal, it's just hard because I want to have that immediate connection. Too, I think knowing that I had to give her right back today left me guarded. I just wanted to strip her down (she was in layers and it was hot outside) and put Neosporin on her little scabs and feed her a bottle and dress her up cute. Tomorrow I can do that. Tomorrow I can jump start my heart to feel fully. This paragraph is totally transparent and honest. It has nothing to do with Gracie herself, for she is worth every deep emotion stirring within. But it is the truth about adoption and bonding and I think it will be helpful to other mommies adopting who may have grand expectations about that moment. I previously thought I would cry or feel immediately relieved to hold her or feel some deep connection, but that was not the case today. However - I know Gracie is my daughter that God chose for us and I know that the bond WILL COME and I do LOVE HER! Its a crazy mix of emotions to try to describe. I don't think I'm making much sense. Nothing about today was discouraging. It was just different. I've not been around babies this age much. She is so tiny and only 4 months old! I don't even know what to do, but I'm ready to work at it! And the great news for me today, is that Libby wants to work at it with me. She loves Gracie already. Billy was really cute with her too. Sure wish I could post photos. We got some great ones today!

We are tired tonight. Tomorrow is another long day. I'm going shopping - which I can't wait to do. And then we get our Gracie in the afternoon to be ours FOREVER! Time to boil nipples and bottles and gather items for the diaper bag! I can't believe this is all happening. What an experience!

Gracie's Birth Mother - The Story

2009-06-07T14:08:00.001-05:00

Billy's four hour drive into the country side was quite an experience. He assured me today that at least 5 different times he thought they might die. There are no laws on the road, it seems. Animals, people crowd the streets and cars drive however, wherever the drive wants - no matter what side, what speed, or what is in front of them. He was happy to arrive at the destination before dark. Billy and "T" were able to find Gracie's birthmother quite easily. She lives in a grass roof hut. She knew they were coming and had prepared coffee for them. There were kids running around, but none of them are hers. Gracie was her first born. "T" was able to translate for Billy as Billy asked some questions and shared some thoughts. Billy was able to tell her that Gracie will never have to worry about food or clothing or school because God has provided for our family and we will take great care of her. He broke down telling her that and he said that Gracie's birth mom teared up and one tear fell down her cheek. He shared with her that we are Christians. "T" explained to her that we are ministers. He later told Billy that being a minister here is a big deal and that for her to know that her daughter is in a minister's family was very comforting and good news for the birth family. Billy communicated to her why Libby and I were not there and that I was heartbroken that I couldn't come and she understood. He told her we are very grateful to her that she chose to give Gracie life. He also asked if there is anything she wanted to say to her daughter that Billy could video tape. She shared some things about why she had to give Gracie to the orphanage and Billy got about 5 minutes of video about that. Billy gave the birthmother photos of our family, our home, Gracie's bedroom and pictures of Gracie. He explained all the pictures to her and on the video tape you can later see the whole family looking at the pictures together.... Oh to know their thoughts. Gracie's birthmother did not have much to say and she did not show a lot of emotion. It is hard to know what she was thinking. Her story is a difficult one and she has been through a lot. I can tell just from her picture that she is a good woman, but that she is also very numb to life - that's my perception, at least. The birthmother did ask the interpreter why we only brought her pictures. They were able to explain to her the laws/rules and that we would have given more but that was all we were allowed to do - pictures.... I understand why this is the case. But it is so hard not to pour out our love and wealth on her - and now, to think that she may not understand our hearts and how much we wish to care for her. That is hard.

I am so grateful to Billy for taking that trip. He was glad he did it. The pictures he got are great. I am trying to post one in which the birthmother is on the left, Gracie's uncle is in the middle, and Gracie's grandfather is on the right. I hope the picture goes through. This information, these photos and the video are priceless links to Gracie's life story. I only wish we knew that much about Libby's birth family.

About today - we went up Entoto Mountain and visited an Anglican church. Actually, Libby fell asleep on the way up so Billy and I stayed in the car with her. Glad we did, because when she woke she was NOT happy and it took a long time to console her (more about that in a minute). We then drove down to shop for traditional Ethiopian clothes for Gracie. We got 3 outfits for her and one for me, plus 2 scarfs, basket and 2 necklaces - all for under $40. We will do more shopping later in the week.

About Libby - where to start... she had diarrhea this morning. I'm pretty sure it is just because she happened to eat a little yesterday AND the antibiotics she was on this week are known to upset tummies. But for the rest of the day (minus about 5 minutes of eating Cheezits) she would not eat ANYTHING! She has not been eating for most of the trip and today I can tell that she is week. She slept all night. Fell asleep again at 10AM and then went to sleep again at 3pm and I had to wake her at 6PM. Every time she wakes up she says she's hungry, but the minute I prepare something for her she refuses to eat. She is so emotional and throwing big fits that are not normal. She grits her teeth and stiffens her legs out and kicks and almost growls in anger. She's been hitting me and then hugging me the next second. She wants to sit on my lap, but she doesn't want me to touch her. Finally this evening one of the dad's asked if he could do anything for her and I just started crying. I am so worried about meeting Gracie tomorrow with Libby being like this. Not to mention that we will meet Gracie right around the time of day that Libby is most tired. The dad - Mike Sweeney - asked if he could pray. The minute he started praying Libby was quiet and still. The minute he stopped praying she went back to crying and kicking. I couldn't make sense of what she wanted at all so I took her upstairs and held her while she kicked and screamed until she finally stopped. We watched a little video together while she calmed down and since then she has been fine. She ate 2 bites of oatmeal and a small portion of ice cream and she's been playing with the other kids here since then. Hopefully she is turning a corner. I think she is scared and overwhelmed and still very unsure about what getting Gracie Lu will be like. Hopefully when we meet Gracie tomorrow Libby will see that we can hold and love on both of them and that we are not leaving her. I am seriously begging for your prayers for Libby tonight. Maybe if we had started the trip without her being sick it would all be different. But all I know is this has been far more difficult for her than I ever anticipated. My mommy heart has a thousand emotions about that right now.

The entire time I have been writing this post, I've been trying to upload one low res picture. It is not even 1/4 of the way loaded yet. That is why there are no pictures so far. Also, I can not get on blogger.com at all to read blog comments or publish them. But keep them coming because when we get home I will read and publish them all!

Lastly - there is a bar across the way (I thought it was a carnival, but no - just a bar) that has live and LOUD music that has been playing from 1pm to about 4AM all day and night both days here so far. It is constant, nerve wracking noise. It is quite right now for the first time so I'm hoping we will have our first quiet night here tonight. The Muslim prayers start at 4:30AM. I keep thinking about how there are no rules concerning audio volume here and how that would fly in the USA - especially people declaring their prayers on loudspeakers over the entire community before the sun even rises.

Okay... still waiting for that picture to post....

Oh - a few notes for other AW families to consider. The TH only has electricity every other day. That means if you want to charge something up you either do it at night while the generators are on or you wait until the day you have electricity. That means you boil all the water you need for the day and store it in a container the night before the day electricity is off. There are no paper towels here, which I think would be a good idea to pack. There are no wash clothes - just hand towels and towels. Doesn't matter so much to me, but since there is only a shower and I don't want water to get in Libby's mouth, it would be helpful to have a washcloth. I have the pre-soaped clothes to bathe her with, but then I need to rinse her off and I have no washcloth for that. No big deal, but worth mentioning for other families traveling with little ones.

Libby travels with us all over the place. I knew this trip would be different, but I seriously underestimated the difficulty of this trip for her. There is another family here with their 4 year old. She is doing great. I think families with children ages 3 and under really need to consider the magnitude of this kind of trip - new time zone, no naps, long plane rides, unfamiliar food, new people, life changes and... let's not forget spiritual warfare - both regarding adoption AND being in a foreign land. That is so much to take in for a perceptive 3 year old who needs a schedule. Having said that, I still can't imagine having left her behind and I still have hope that this will get easier as the week progresses. I am still happy that she is in all the photos of our trip. It's just a lot to consider and every family has to consider their own child and his/her disposition.

Okay - still waiting for the picture to post... it may not happen..... nope, not happening... so sorry! Rest asssured - when we get home I will post LOTS of pictures!!!

Blessings,

Cindy

PS - DID I MENTION WE MEET GRACIE TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES! YES! YES!!!!!!

He met her!!!

2009-06-07T00:33:00.001-05:00

Just received a phone call from Billy from T's phone to the TH. He met the birthmother and got several good pictures and about 5 minutes of video of her. I don't know all the details yet. He should arrive back at the transition home by 10AM - right now it is 8:30AM. At 10 a bus is coming to pick us all up so we can go to Entoto mountain to do some shopping. We will be gone until 5pm. So - sometime after 5 pm (Ethiopia time) I will try to post info about Billy's meeting! I am so excited! He has had a safe and productive trip and I can't believe I will get to see pictures of Gracie's birthmother today!!!

Libby slept all night - we both did, actually! From 10PM until 6AM!!!! She had bad diarrhea this morning, but I'm hoping its from all the meds and antibiotics and not something else... we shall see. She is starting to warm up to the other kids here who are also adopting sisters and brothers. So that is nice. Her attention is on something other than me for the first time in 5 days!!! WOO HOO!

Love to all! Thank you for praying! TOMORROW WE MEET GRACIE!!!

Cindy

--
Billy and Cindy Foote
Billy Foote Music, Inc.
3531 Hilldale Point
San Antonio, TX 78261
817.371.0689
www.billyfoote.com
www.myspace.com/billyfooteband
www.followthefeet.blogspot.com
www.adoptingaria.blogspot.com
www.libbysong.com

Made it to Ethiopia!

2009-06-06T15:22:00.002-05:00

Cindy is having difficulty getting into her blog but was able to e-mail the below ... Let's pray that she is able to get those pictures to upload soon. I know we're all awaiting the moment they hold Gracie for the first time!

We’re in Ethiopia!

Last night we arrived to our hotel in Dubai about 10pm. But then it was time to pack because our flight was early and our driver was picking us up at 5:20AM. Libby went to sleep around 10:30pm and I started packing up – and, of course, I had to blog – so I was up until midnight. I laid down to sleep knowing it would be a very short night as I set my alarm for 4:30AM. But little did I know just how short it would be. I slept for the first hour and half and then I kept waking thinking that my alarm might not be working. And at 3:30AM Libby woke up and asked, “Why are we sleeping?” And she went on to say, “I’m hungry!” It was, after all, lunchtime in Texas. And since she has had virtually no appetite I was excited that she wanted to eat. So at 3:30, banana eating commenced.

There was no point in laying back down. So we showered and played some games and met our driver downstairs with our 6 checked bags and 5 carry-ons! We actually had to take 2 cars to transport it all.

We flew out of Dubai about 8:30 AM and landed in Ethiopia a little over 3 hours later at 11AM – Ethiopia time. I really thought Libby would sleep the whole flight because she woke so early, but she did not fall asleep until the last hour and just as she was good and fast asleep the flight attendant came by and asked us to strap her in for landing. She was a bear and threw a really good tantrum. But who can blame the girl. The trip to Ethiopia has been brutal for her (and us, truthfully!)! Poor thing has had so little sleep in the last for nights.

When we got off the plane we had to obtain visas, then go through passport control, then exchange money, then pick up our bags. When you check a stroller plane side in Dubai – you do not get it back plane side in Ethiopia. You get it with the rest of your luggage. So, I had to carry the dead weight of Libby’s sleeping body through all those lines - which is, perhaps, why my back had the biggest knots in it ever! Seriously – they hurt!

On the same flight with us was the Cole family. They are such a sweet couple and Libby has warmed up to them well since we’ve been with them most of the day. So along with the Coles we met “T” – one of AWAA’s in country staff and he took us to the van where we loaded the luggage. Then “T” started explaining the opportunity to meet Gracie’s birthmother. T said that in order to see the birthmother we would first go to the transition home to drop off our luggage and have 1 ½ hours to rest and then we would have to get back into the non-airconditioned van for a four hour drive, sleep in a hotel and then see Gracie’s birth family in the morning (which sort of sounded like we would have to drive around and look for her) and then drive 4 hours back on Sunday. Billy immediately said no – that he wasn’t going to put Libby through that after all she’s been through. I agreed, but I was completely heartbroken. Gracie’s birthmother is only 4 hours away and I just couldn’t wrap my head around not being able to at least get a photo of her for Gracie to have one day or better – to communicate our thanks for her giving Gracie life.

When we arrived at the transition home and got our luggage upstairs I just had to talk about it with Billy. We talked about how important this could be for Gracie one day – that every adopted child is curious about what their parents look like and who they are. We talked about how awesome it would be to ask the birthmother if there is anything she wants to communicate to her daughter and video tape her answer. That kind of link to Gracie’s life story is just priceless. Billy, though extremely tired agreed and took on the task. He went downstairs to ask T some more questions. They decided to leave immediately and see if they can find Gracie’s birthmother tonight so they can head back to the transition home in the morning. That way Billy could get some rest tomorrow afternoon and evening before the tight schedule begins on Monday.

This all reminds me of China when we discovered that Libby’s orphanage would allow visitors for the first time ever – but they were located 8 hours from where we were staying. Billy and several of the dads hired drivers and drove all that way and back in just a 24 hour period just to see their daughter’s orphanage for themselves and take photos of their finding places. Now Billy is doing the same thing for Gracie.

I cried like a baby when he left, just knowing how tired he is. And I was also sad that I could not be there myself – to see her with my own eyes and ask all the questions on my heart. But, Libby is just too tired and her body is too weak to ask that of her at this time.

Please pray for Billy as he meets with the birth family and also for his travels back in the morning.

When Billy left here around 1:30pm, Libby and I laid down for a nap. There is a “carnival” going on across from our transition home and the music has been BLARING since 2pm – the same 3 songs over and over. It’s driving me nuts! But somehow we managed to sleep for 3 hours. I tried waking Libby and couldn’t. she was out! She slept another 30 minutes before waking.

Since then we’ve met the Sweeney family. There kids are so polite and kind. They rock! And Libby and I have been getting all the nanny and transition home staff gifts in pretty gift bags. There are around 42 people on staff at the transition home so we have 42 small gift bags filled with goodies like soaps, lotions, necklaces, bracelets, sponges, pendants, etc. We also have some special gifts for the head nurse, director and Gracie's main caretaker. And we have CDs to give out to them as well.

Billy took a few pictures today with his camera – but he has that camera with him. The only pictures I have are from the gift gathering Libby and I did this afternoon, but the internet is too slow to post them right now.

Tomorrow we are on our own for the day. Libby and I plan to meet with the Sweeney family and go up a mountain to see an old Angilcan church and do some shopping. So we leave with them at 9:30AM. Billy should arrive back at the TH before we do. Then we’ll have to afternoon to rest and chill. Monday is when the big fun begins and we’ll meet Gracie Lu for the first time!

After traveling today and being so sleep deprived – Libby ran another fever. But I really think she will get better from this point on since weo not have to fly for a while and we can get on some kind of schedule. We’ll see. Your prayers for her and for Billy tonight are greatly appreciated!

I am beyond tired and my back is killing me. I have been so emotional this afternoon. Of course – I only slept about 3 hours last night… I’m sure that has something to do with it. Having said that, we are in good spirits and plowing along.

The Ethiopian people are so kind. They love to hug and kiss and smile at Libby. She acts like she doesn’t like it, but I can tell she does. She’s so tricky!

I love this land and these people. It is a special place. Looking forward to exploring it a little tomorrow.

A Day in Dubai

2009-06-05T14:39:00.007-05:00

A Day in Dubai

First off – WE MEET GRACIE IN JUST 3 DAYS!!!!

Second - Libby and Billy slept until 8:30 this morning! YAY! Me – not so much, but that’s okay. Libby was running a fever again this morning, but after giving her some Motrin she broke her fever with a good sweat before lunch and the fever was gone after that! HOORAY!

We ate a late breakfast downstairs in the Market Café. It was delicious! Then we took a walk around the hotel to get a lay of the land. This is a huge hotel with a huge pool area. When Libby saw the pool all other plans were dismissed and we quickly changed into swimsuits and headed into the desert heat. In the shade, it was actually quite nice. We played games in the pool together and went down a few water slides. At noon it was time to go back in to take care of a few things and then take naps. It took all of us about 2 minutes to fall asleep at 1pm. We slept until 3:30 and had to get up and get dressed fast to meet the Arabian Adventures driver for our dessert safari – called The Sundowner.

At 4pm we jumped into the car with our driver and headed to pick up some other guests in other hotels. But our driver was worried about Libby not being in a car seat and he took us back to the hotel and told us to wait there for another driver to come who had a car seat in the car. Billy and I weren’t really worried about it, but the driver insisted. Well – a few minutes in Dubai is apparently more like 2 hours because the next driver didn’t show until 10 minutes before 6pm. But he did arrive and once we were on the safari in the desert reservation 4 wheeling down sand dunes we were glad we had that car seat. Seriously, there were a few times Billy was convinced the car was going to flip. Luckily, it never did!

Because we were so late joining the excursion, we ended up on a totally private drive so we could make a few more stops for video/pictures. We were a little late for the actual sunset, but that was okay by me. We got some cute pictures of Libby playing in the sand as the sun was going down behind the dunes.

After that we took a short drive to the Bedouin tent area where Libby and I got to ride a camel! Libby was totally quiet the whole time. I have no idea what was going on in her head.

Appetizers and drinks were already being served in the tent area so we joined everyone on the excursion and sat on sand filled pillows at low tables in the desert. It was pretty cool and the food was good too. Libby just wanted to play in the sand. She did join me, however, for a henna tattoo! It was so cool! The lady said, "I can do a flower, butterfly, scorpion, camel....". Libby said, "I want Mickey Mouse." And the lady did it! I got the flowers on my hand. No worries, dad, it wears off after 7-10 days. And actually, they look really dark in the pictures, but the dark stuff flakes away and it looks more like a lighter orangish ink. Libby did happen to smear mine a little afterwards, but it still looks pretty good.

Libby was also excited to see the belly dancer. Of course, she had never seen one, but we had talked it up as we thought it was going to be a fun show to watch. When the lady came out she had some very odd makeup on and she was doing some crazy belly dancing. I have 3 comments to make about that specific experience:

1. That lady was brave to be jiggling around like that in public!

2. Very interesting…..

3. About 2 seconds after the lady started dancing she was throwing her head around and Libby cried and said, “mommy, I want to go home!” – Enough said.

So – we found our driver and headed back to the hotel. We are repacking as we have another EARLY morning. Our driver is picking us up at 5:30AM to catch our 8:30 flight from Dubai to Ethiopia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not sure what happens when we get there, but it might be the day we meet Gracie’s birthmother.

We had a GREAT DAY TODAY!

That’s it for today – enjoy the pictures - but they are in backwards order...

Traveling to Dubai - The Whole Story!

2009-06-04T23:04:00.004-05:00

The Foote family before leaving the house early on June 3. Note: every picture of us up to 48 hours after this picture reveals the "we so tired we'z ugly" look and will not be shared publicly - at least not with my approval! So the rest of the photos for today are of luggage... boring....

well, except for Libby - she's so cute!

Traveling to Dubai – The Whole Story

Tuesday, June 2 – our house was all a buzz as we attended to the final packing preparations. Libby had been struggling with the croup and a low-grade fever since the previous Saturday. She started some steroids Sunday night and I can’t remember if she ran a fever on Tuesday or not. I remember thinking she seemed much better as far as cough and fever were concerned. But Libby was emotional as she could sense a big trip and change coming. We put Libby down to sleep around 8 pm, but she talked and sang and played in her bed until at least 9pm. We kept packing and cleaning and Larry and Terry came over to pray over us about 10pm. Finally at midnight we laid down to sleep. And then Libby woke up either coughing or having a bad dream (can’t remember), but by then a big storm was brewing and lightening was flashing brightly through our rooms and Libby was too scared to sleep. Billy put her in bed with me and then went to sleep in her bed. Libby was moving and awake for a couple of hours as the storm announced its strength and energy to our city. Finally around 2:30 or 3AM she fell asleep as the rain poured down. By this time I was aware that I would be waking up very soon so I couldn’t sleep. At 4am the alarm sounded and our travel day began.

It is so fun waking Libby for trips before the sun comes up because she gets so excited and she has a cute, sleepy, excited voice. The night before Libby had said to me, “Mom when you come to wake me before the sun comes up say, ‘Baby bear it is time to get up’ and I’ll say, ‘okay mommy bear.’ She mentioned that several times before she fell asleep, so I was sure to follow her “orders”. I put my hand on her and said, “wake up baby bear” and she woke up with a big smile and kissed me a dozen times saying “mommy bear, mommy bear, YAY!” So sweet.

We were packed and dressed – albeit tired –when Doug Martine arrived to take us to the airport. It was 5:15AM. By 5:45 we were in the airport checking in. Before I tell the next part I need to set it up by sharing that when we thought we were traveling 2 weeks ago and then had to change our travel dates, we had to pay $250 per ticket to make the changes. It was not that big of a deal, but certainly expensive. Well, some friends of ours gave us $500 to help with those change fees and that was so amazing! We were only out $250 from the change fees. When we arrived at the check in counter I realized that we had to pay a fee for luggage that I had not considered before. On American, the first piece of checked luggage is $15 and the second is $25. For us, that was going to be $120. Well, the lady at the American airlines counter was having a few computer/printer problems. When she gave us our tickets we headed through security not thinking about anything but getting through security with all the carry-ons we had. After security I realized that the lady with American didn’t charge us for our luggage! WOO HOO!!

We flew from San Antonio to Dallas. We arrived in Dallas around 8:30 AM. Libby slept the entire one hour flight. We didn’t have to wait too long before we boarded again and took off for NY around 11:30AM. Sometime during that flight Libby took another nap – this time 2 hours. This was good because she had so little sleep the night before. Once we landed in NY, though, we realized that Libby had a fever. Then we discovered (after working through the maze of the JFK airport) that we would have to go through security in our new terminal. We had heard from some friends that people were being scanned for fever before getting on international flights due to the whole swine flu outbreak (which should be called the “media flu” in my opinion). I started to worry that we would not get Libby’s temperature down before we would have to go through security. By now it was 5:30 or 6, I think. We called Libby’s doctor to ask if we should start the antibiotics he had prescribed since her fever was back. He “just happened” to walk back into his office for a minute before leaving for the day so the nurse handed him the phone. He said to start the antibiotic. So we found a place to sit and eat and give Libby her meds. All morning and all day – she had refused to eat. She only nibbled at a sausage biscuit and had a few pieces of fruit. She sipped on some juice one time, but that was it. And, my sweet Libby who has never given us trouble when it comes to taking medicines, was refusing to open her mouth. It got tense as we tried to force the medicines into her mouth. She finally swallowed it and then ate a few bites of spaghetti. As her fever started to come down (thank you for praying for that!) her personality came back and she seemed happy and playful again. We decided that even though her fever was not totally gone we should try to make it through security because we didn’t know how long it would take to get through and we had to be at our gate by 8:30pm even though our flight was not until 11pm. Oh – I almost forgot to share – when we checked in at the Emirates counter in NY they were supposed to weigh our carry-ons. Carry-ons are supposed to be 16 pounds or lighter. I knew that at least one of our bags weighed almost 20 pounds. Well, the guy at the counter told us to put our bags on the scale, so we did. And then the guy realized the scale was not working because it was not plugged in and he said, “I don’t feel like worrying about it right now so we won’t weigh your bags.” Ahhhh…. Thank you Jesus!

So – we headed through security and at no point did they scan for fever or ask any questions. We made it to the gate and Libby found some Indian girls to play with at the telephone booths. We waited until 10pm and then it was time to board. Libby seemed fine at that point so I had not given her any more Tylenol or Motrin.

We boarded the plane. Emirates is a very clean, nice airline and there is a tiny bit more leg room so that was nice to see! We got settled in and Libby wanted to watch a movie. Realizing that it was 11pm I thought about saying no and making her go to sleep, but then I thought – who cares – her whole schedule is being rocked. So I set her up with a movie (which Emirates lets you watch even while the plane is being loaded and during take off – cool!). Not long into flight, Libby found a way to lay down and she fell asleep. Only 2 hours into flight I felt her forehead and she was burning up. I took her temp and she had a 103 degree temperature. At this point we were all so tired. Remember, we had not slept much at all the night before travel and now it was around 1AM. I had been up for almost 24 hours and we were only 3 hours or so into the longest leg of the trip. I started crying thinking how in the world we were going to make it through this flight and I was so worried for Libby. We had the flight attendant bring some cold rags to put on her forehead. By now Libby is awake – but very very tired and miserable – and she started kicking and crying and having meltdowns. She refused to let her daddy hold her (which she always does when she is overwhelmed or sick –she just wants mommy) and she refused to eat or drink. Again, getting her to take the meds was a huge struggle. That fever was seriously persistent. I alternated between Tylenol and Motrin every 2 hours to keep the fever down. The food on the plane (despite what I’ve heard from others who raved about it) was not good. And Libby was laying across me in such a way that I had to eat with my left hand (I’m right handed). That was interesting. I was tired, hungry and could not believe how many more hours I would have to endure holding my sick baby girl in complete discomfort. But at some point I dozed off too and we managed to survive. After many meltdowns, lots of medication, virtually no sleep for a second night and numb rumps we were happy to see the plane land and get off that ride from #%^P. Don’t get me wrong – Emirates rocks! But our circumstances were less than desirable.

Libby’s fever stayed around 99 for several hours. By the time we got to the hotel she seemed a lot better. We arrived in our hotel room in Dubai a little after 9pm. We got settled in, emailed a few friends/family, and ordered room service. That was the first full meal I had eaten in 2 days so my stomach was happy for a few minutes and then….ugh! Libby ate a little so I was happy about that. Billy laid down and fell asleep around 10:30, but Libby and I decided to take a bath in our big tub! We played and got cleaned up. We got ready for bed and at about 12AM Libby wanted to me to read a book. I got about 3 pages in and she was out!

As I type, it is 7:45 AM and Libby and Billy are still asleep!!!! They both slept all night! YAY!!! I slept from 12AM to 5AM and that was it for me, but I am so happy that Libby is still sleeping. I checked her for fever several times during the night and she had none!! So I’m hoping we are past the trying part of this journey for now and today we can play, eat and rest. This afternoon, if Libby is doing alright, we will get into a land cruiser at 4 pm and start our desert safari and dinner under tents at sundown! Can’t wait!

We received word yesterday that a trip has been arranged for our family to meet Gracie’s birthmother. I think it is going to take place Saturday (tomorrow for us) after we arrive in Ethiopia. Please pray that we will be rested and ready for our flight to ET tomorrow morning (it is only about a 4 hour flight) and that our meeting with Gracie’s birthmother would be divine. Pray for God to give me the words to say and questions to ask. Pray that the birthmother would be encouraged and comforted. Pray that Libby will be calm and at peace so we can concentrate on talking with the birthmother. Also, please pray that she will allow us to take a picture of her so we can give that to Gracie one day.

One last thing – the extra trip to meet Gracie’s birthmother is costing us an extra $500 because we have to pay a driver and a staff worker to accompany us for the journey. A week or two ago, Billy’s parents gave us twice that amount to use as needed. Thank you Billy and Winky! That extra money is helping us meet Gracie’s birthmother which will be a gift so special to her in the future.

So – the trip has been difficult – but along every step of the way, God’s provision has been amazing! We are well and looking forward to the rest of the trip (up until the flight home, that is! LOL!)

We are in Dubai!

2009-06-04T13:03:00.002-05:00

After a LONG day (or two?) of travel we are now in our hotel in Dubai. This will be short because Libby is sick and melting down. We had to get Libby's fever down before our NY flight. That got done, but once we were on the flight her temp spiked to 103 just a couple of hours into the journey. We had cold rags on her forehead and gave her more meds. She was so uncomfortable and difficult because she felt so bad. She would only let me hold her, she refused to eat or drink, she cried, kicked... you name it.

BUT we are here and made it through all security points despite her fever and we are hoping to rest now and get her well.

Pictures and future posts to come, but for now - we rest.

Thank you for your prayers!

Blessings,

Cindy

Travel Prayers

2009-06-03T21:25:00.002-05:00

This is Cristie, a friend of Cindy's.

I am updating their blog for them today as they are traveling but Cindy wanted to get the word out.

Cindy called late this afternoon from NYC/Kennedy airport. Libby was running 102 degree fever, she hadn't slept all day, eaten and wasn't taking in fluids. Cindy was very concerned about getting through security and needed Libby's fever to come down within two hours! The prayer chain went out!

At 7:30 I talked to Cindy again. They made it through security and were just awaiting to board the plane. As I type, my husband is on the phone with Billy who just called and said they have boarded the plane (it's 9:30 Texas time). PRAISE THE LORD! Next stop .. Dubai!

Please pray for travel mercies. Please pray for Libby to get some good rest! Please pray that her fever breaks and that her body be healed quickly! Pray for the long flight ahead. It has already been an exhausting day and Cindy already sounded pooped. Please pray that she can get some sleep!

Hopefully, the next post will be Cindy announcing they have made it to Dubai!

One more thing... or two

2009-06-02T20:32:00.002-05:00

Well, the last post was supposed to be the last post before we leave... but I have to share one story and thank 3 people whom I don't know how to contact besides blog/email...

Meredith - you know who you are - thank you for the gift that arrived this evening. The timing was perfect as Libby was melting down and nothing I did consoled her. But when she saw a gift for her with her own name on it she got real happy, real fast! Thank you! Both gifts are precious!

Tiffany (from SC) -the check for formula arrived and I purchased a whole case of Nutramigen with that money. The formula is packed and will be delivered to the Transition home on Tuesday!

Sullivans - the formula you are donating did not arrive today, but I have trusty friends who will take in later in June. Thank you so much for trying so hard to get it here on time. It will get delivered at just the right time.

Now, the story...

Libby has been so emotional tonight. She seems to be feeling better, so I wasn't sure what her problem was. But as the evening progressed it became clear. She started talking about Gracie Lu a lot and all the things she going to do for her. She said she would come get me if Gracie was crying. She told me that she would come check on Gracie Lu and tell her everything is going to be okay. She said that if Gracie Lu is crying she'll come and let Gracie see her... she went on and on. The reality of becoming a big sister was hitting Libby tonight in a big way and it was very emotional for her. After we read some books and I tucked her in, I was walking down the hallway and I heard her talking to herself and she said in the most sweet little voice, "I'm going to get a baby sister!" It was like she finally realized mom is not crazy and Gracie Lu is not imaginary and this trip is really happening. I started boo hooing of course.

Okay - seriously - that's the last post until after we leave -

Cindy

We Leave in the Morning! Gotcha Day in ONE WEEK!

2009-06-02T13:56:00.006-05:00

Two weeks ago we were packed and ready to fly to Ethiopia. Then the call came. The birth certificate was not ready and our travel was delayed. God is so smart! He knew we had more preparations to take care of. He knew I was going to get sick and Libby was going to get sick and Gracie was going to get sick. He knew that I needed to go through PMS before travel (LOL!). He knew that Student Life would find another band. He knew how to take care of everything in His perfect timing. So what have we been doing? Well, for one - we did NOT unpack! Everything stayed in the luggage except for a few items from our carry-ons. And now, we have more formula to pack, so we'll be packing a 6th. checked bag tonight.

Some of the projects we took on in the last two weeks include ordering 15 cubic yards of mulch that was dumped on our driveway so that we could break our backs shoveling it and moving it to the backyard. It got done and our yard (which was previously a jungle of weeds) is now looking super! We sold our old home and we able to be at the closing. We had to clean out the garage at the old house -which means it ended up in the garage of our new house. But we got that cleaned up too. We moved all the furniture around in the living room. Hung new curtains up in the dining. Read up in the "What to Expect in the Baby's First Year" and feel much more prepared to take on a tiny 4 month old. We had house church, pool time, Chuck E Cheese time. We've had extra time with friends and a movie or two to watch. Billy got to watch WAY too much basketball and he finished a book. He wrote a fabulous new song and he even got our new EP off to print - it will be ready for release by the time we return home! (It's called "Wonder Working One" so look for it on itunes in about 1 month or so). I battled an oncoming sinus infection and won before it took me over. Libby has had a fever and the croup, but seems better today. Gracie has chicken pox, but hopefully she will be at the end of that by the time we get to her. I have rethought medicines to take and have more of that to pack now. My house will be clean by this evening - baseboard and blinds dusted too! Ooo la la!

Libby has blossomed in the last 2 weeks and is better prepared for the trip now than she was 2 weeks ago. I will look back, in the years to come, with much gratitude for the extra time I've had with her these last 2 weeks. We watched Cinderella last night together and the more I laughed or commented on the movie, the more she did too. If I laughed and didn't look back at her to laugh with her she would take her hand to my chin and gently move my face to look at hers so we could smile and laugh together. I will never forget the look in her eye as she smiled contently with my full attention at her fingertips.

Here are some pictures of our yard work:

After Libby helped daddy in the yard, she helped mommy cook (kinda). Here is her happy cookin' self:

This is her peanut butter lovin' self (see spoon):

These last 2 are really funny. When people ask, "Are you excited about going to Ethiopia?" I'm often without words to express our excitement. But these silly pictures of Libby are the perfect picture of excitement~ This is how excited we are...........

Lastly, there are 7 other families traveling to Ethiopia in our travel group. We all leave on different days this week. We are the first to head out. Of the seven families traveling with us, I have a few or their blog links so you can follow their journeys too. Here is the list:

Cole Family: - adopting Alexander Mason – leaving for ET on June 4: http://www.colefamilyadventure.blogspot.com/

Egly Family – adopting Ansley Berhane and Karis Bifee: - leaving for ET on 6/5/09 http://abeautifultapestry.blogspot.com/

Sweeney Family – adopting Gavin Dawit: http://www.gavinquest.blogspot.com

Jaegar Family - adopting Anna Mihiret – leaving for ET on 6/4/09 http://www.jaeger-family.blogspot.com/

Nicholson Family – from NC, adopting a 4 year old girl

Hanson Family - from KY, adopting a 4 year old boy

Byrom Family - from West Virginia, adopting a sibling group ages 6, 4, and 2

We are headed out early in the morning! While we will have internet access in ET, it may be very slow. I hope to post everyday and even post some pictures, but I can make no promises.

Thank you for your prayers and for following our journey!

I'm off to become mommy to Gracie Lu!

Love,

Cindy

An Update on Gracie Lu!!!!!! NEW PICTURES!!!!!

2009-06-01T14:42:00.005-05:00

Libby is still running a fever and she was diagnosed last night with the croup. While I am tired from a long night of caring for her I am feeling much better about things this afternoon. Our friend, Katie, came to play with Libby this morning and I was able to get some things done. Libby is napping so I decided to sit for a minute and check emails and I discovered something special! An update on Gracie Lu!!!!!!!!!!

The following 2 pictures were taken about 2 weeks ago when she was 7.7 pounds - but there's more. So enjoy these two photos and then scroll down some more!

Before you see the next two pictures let me share the written update. It said the following (my extra comments are in parenthesis):

Brief update on Tseganesh Foote

Tseganesh weighs 9 pounds. (NINE POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Her clothing size 3-6 months. (I'm not sure about that, I'm thinking she is still in new born clothes because she is so long and thin)

She got chicken pox 5/29/2009 , she will be fine soon. (oh no! so sad!!!)

And here she is...... The BEAUTIFUL GRACIE LU!!!!!

I can't believe how much she has changed. Her hair is growing. Her arms have filled out tremendously. Her little cheeks are getting chubby! She is BEAUTIFUL!!!! She does not even look like the same child. Now, I'm just praying for her chicken pox to go away so she can feel better AND so Libby isn't exposed to it.

We leave in less than 2 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah!

Libby has the croup...

2009-05-31T23:30:00.002-05:00

I'll be brief because I'm tired. Libby has the croup. She's had fever for two days and it's been a late night. She is just falling asleep and it's 11:25pm. I have been fighting off an on-coming sinus infection this week as well. I am just beyond tired right now. We leave for Ethiopia in 2 days. I am so excited, of course. But with Libby being sick and with my being so tired I am a bit overwhelmed tonight and have some concern about the long travel. Our flights (plural) getting out of the states start early and last all day and then some on Wednesday. I just want Libby to be well for what is already going to be a difficult trip for her little body and mind.

Thank you for your prayers. I'll keep you posted.

Cindy

We Think She's "Gracie Lu" and Here's Our Itinerary:

2009-05-27T22:28:00.007-05:00

Billy, Libby and I are feeling pretty settled on calling our Ethiopian princess "Gracie Lu". Libby continues to call her "Lulu" - that is fine by me (and cute)! Sorry for messing with all your minds and causing you all to have to think through 3 names before getting to the new/final one! But you all love me so we can get passed it, right? LOL!

The Itinerary: Here is how things will play out throughout our trip to and from Ethiopia. Family, you may want to print this out so you know when/where we are throughout the week. You can copy it and paste it into a word doc and then print it from there if you want.

To get to ET:

1. arrive in San Antonio airport by 5:45AM on Wednesday, June 3.

2. Fly out on American at 7:40AM to DFW. (1 hour and 5 minute flight) - land at: 8:45AM CT

3. Hang out in DFW for 3 hours.

4. Fly out of DFW at 11:45AM to NYC/KENNEDY (3 hour and 30 min. flight) -land at: 4:15PM/Eastern time

5. Hang out in NYC/KENNEDY for 6 hours and 45 minutes! Hope there is something fun to do at that airport!

6. Fly out of NYC at 11PM/Eastern Time and remain on that flight for 12 hours and 45 minutes all the way to Dubai! Please pray that Libby will sleep - and pray also that we can move to some bulk head seats where she can lay in a sleeping bag on the floor rather than laying across our laps!

7. Land in Dubai on their Thursday, June 4 at 7:45 PM (Texas Time = 10:45AM June 4). This is 9 hours ahead of Central Time

8. Try to sleep and then on Friday, June 5 we have a free day until the afternoon when we go on the Sundowner Safari - a desert safari with tents, camels, sunset and a whole meal. Oh - and belly dancers!

Then, finally on Saturday, June 6 we fly out of Dubai to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! We fly out at 8:25 AM (11:25 PM, June 5 Texas Time) and land in ET at 11:30AM (3:30AM June 6 Texas Time)! ET is 8 hours ahead of Texans. This is a little over a four hour flight.

When we arrive in ET we will be picked up by our agency's in-country staff and taken to the Yebsabi Guest House where we can rest and wait for other families to arrive through Sunday, June 7. The guest house is actually more like a hotel with suites. Here are a few pictures I swiped from another family's blog:

MONDAY JUNE 8 - Go to the Hilton Hotel in the morning for orientation meeting and have lunch there. Then we go to meet our baby girl at the Transitional Home!!!!! This is the day we will refer to as METCHA DAY (the day we meet Gracie Lu!). We are encouraged to use those 2 hours at the TH to visit with our Gracie and the nannies there!

Then we're back to the Guest House. And then head out for a group dinner at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant.

TUESDAY JUNE 9 - GOTCHA DAY! We shop in the morning. In the afternoon we go to pick up Gracie Lu! We will also have a chance to ask the nanny some questions, POSSIBLY meet the birth mother, hand out care packages (we have packages for 3 other families and photo consents for those 3 families plus one other) AND give the nannies/TH staff their gifts. That will be a busy day right there! I think we also have a coffee ceremony and then in the evening we are back to the guest house for our first night with Gracie Lu!

Wednesday, June 10 - life with Gracie begins fresh and new - we have alone time with our family and new baby girl in the morning. We have lunch on our own until we have to be at the Embassy appointment. That appointment could take 1-2 hours so we were encouraged to eat a good lunch before we go. After the embassy appointment we do some more shopping and site seeing!!

Thursday, June 11 - In the morning we have the option to go visit 2 orphanages - one being Kids Care. While I really want to do that, I'm going to play it be ear. Our girls may just need to be still that day. We'll see. Then we have lunch as a group and dinner on our own. The Zebra Grill is within walking distance so I'm sure that's where we'll be Thursday night!

Friday, June 12 - we have sightseeing and shopping in the morning. But we also need to pack everything back up because we start our flight home on this evening!!!

Here's how the flights break down:

Leave Addis Ababa at 7:35 PM (11:35 AM Texas Time) and land in Dubai at 12:45 AM (3:45PM Texas Time, June 12)- now, June 13 in Dubai (that flight is 4 hours and 10 minutes).

Stay in hotel in Dubai for a few hours and then fly out of Dubai at 9:05 PM (12:05 AM Texas Time, June 13) and fly SIXTEEN HOURS AND TWENTY MINUTES to Houston. We land at 4:25 PM Texas Time! Would, again, covet your prayers over that long flight with Libby and Gracie and my 6'4", hatin' cramped spaces, hubby!

It will STILL be June 13 (the longest day of our lives!) and we will go through customs/immigration in Houston and then take off out of Houston on Continental at 7:15PM. We land in San Antonio (home sweet home!) on Saturday June 13 at 8:16PM!!!! -thoroughly happy & exhausted after close to 35 hours of traveling!

1 week!

2009-05-27T08:20:00.003-05:00

We leave one week from today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One quick story... Libby woke up yesterday and the first thing she said was, "Mom, I'm ready to go to Ethiopia and get Lulu."

Me - "I know, baby. But the good news is we leave in 8 days!"

Libby - "When we go to Ethiopia I want a blue plane ticket."

Me - "I don't think the tickets are blue."

Libby - "Ask Jesus what color the plane tickets are."

Me - "Okay. Jesus, what color are the plane tickets?"

A few seconds of silence.

Libby - "He said they are white."

And, indeed they are! Does she have a direct line or what? And later in the day I received an email from our travel agency saying they put our tickets in fed ex today so we will receive them today. Libby has been dead on in her timing during this journey. Amazing!

One more thing to note - and you're all going to think I'm CRAZY and be further confused about what to call our daughter.... But I'm STILL not settled on what to actually call her. We know for sure her name is going to legally be "Aria Lu Grace Foote". I know Billy and Libby want to call her Lulu. But as time goes by I really don't like calling her Lulu. So, I've been planning on introducing her to others as - "this is Aria Lu" and then call her "Lu" - which is okay, I guess. I love the name Aria for it's meaning, but whenever I tell people that part of her name they have a "What?" look on their faces. It is hard for them to understand AND to say.... which leaves me feeling like I really don't want to have to repeat her name to people every time I say it. So this morning I've been thinking about the "Grace" part of her name. When Duni shared our daughter's story on Tom Davis's blog, she used the name Gracie to protect her identity from the public (we had not passed court yet). Grace is from her Ethiopian name "Tseganesh" which means "you are grace." It is a really profound name to me because of her difficult beginnings. She is a picture of God's grace. I've strayed away from using that as her primary name because so many adopted children seem to have that name. But then I was thinking this morning, what about "Gracie Lu". I like that. And it just seems right to me - and then Billy and Libby can still call her Lulu (and you too if you're tired of me changing her name all the time!). I have never been so indecisive in my life! I love to make a choice and stick with it, but this one has been hard for me! We'll see.... I'll let you know our final decision soon. This is one downfall of blogging... you have to endure my thought process! LOL!

CONCRETE Travel Dates!!!!

2009-05-22T16:00:00.002-05:00

I was brought to joyful tears by an email that said we have "CONCRETE TRAVEL DATES". This means our daughter has a birth certificate and we have an embassy appointment set! This means that the ticket change fee we had to make and then the new tickets we had to pay extra for are all worth it and I won't have to pay change fees again! This means I can set my heart on that beautiful June 3rd date that we are set to fly out! We are in travel group ETG 23 which is the AWAA Ethiopia travel group for June 6-13. But we are flying out a couple of days early to spend 2 nights in Dubai. The flights out of here were a bit more tricky as the month of June also means many more travelers in the world. So now we fly out of San Antonio to Dallas and then to New York with a 5 or 6 hour layover before we head over to Dubai (really late at night), landing in Dubai at the end of the day on June 4. We really only have one full day in Dubai, but on that day we are going on a desert safari where there will be camels, a sunset, dinner under traditional tents and belly dancers! Libby's going to LOVE that!

We will arrive in Ethiopia on Saturday June 6. The Sweeney family was also hoping to leave this week and is now pushed back into this travel group. One of their daughters woke up sick with a high fever yesterday so they are happy things worked out the way they did. Also - with their first set of plane tickets there were too many connections and layovers to bring their 4 year old girl. But now they are bringing her and Libby will have a friend on the trip. I am SO EXCITED about that! They also have some older kids coming who Stacy says are great "kid distracters" so I am thrilled about that as well! Can't wait to meet you Sweeney family and all the other families in our group.

We are making the best of our extra time. Yesterday we worked out at the gym and then sunbathed and played at our neighborhood pool. Today we pulled weeds in our back yard for FOUR HOURS! I am exhausted from that, but my backyard no longer looks like a jungle and when I come home from ET I won't have that on my list of things to do. Next we are going to tackle the garage which is full of JUNK that was left in our old house garage. Billy wanted to take it all to a dump but didn't know where one was.... so my garage is the temporary dump... UGH!

Truly, in just 2 days time, I can see why it was necessary for us to stay home for 2 more weeks. Libby has blossomed in the last 2 days. Things we have been working on regarding manners and being a big girl and not throwing tantrums have finally just clicked. I think she just needed all the craziness to stop and to feel peace from us in order to rest and grow. I think she will mature over the next two weeks in astounding ways and be much more prepared for the big trip AND for becoming a big sister. Seriously, she is not even the same girl today that she was 48 hours ago. Ahhhhh....

In under 2 weeks we are OUT OF HERE!

Cindy

Not this week...

2009-05-20T10:57:00.003-05:00

At 10:45 AM AW called to let us know the birth certificate was not ready. The office there did not do any birth certificates today. Then Duni's cell was having problems getting through to the US offices - which is why we found out so late.

We are disappointed, but not discouraged. While I really can't imagine repacking and doing this all over again in 2 weeks - it will all be worth it the minute we hold Lu. And in the mean time, I am going to love on my Libby and rest since so much work is already done! In one week's time we prepared our home, bags, our old address for closing, paperwork, and even got our new CD off to print. I have NEVER worked so hard in one week and I have NEVER prayed as much as I did in the last 24 hours. It was a crazy morning in the Foote house.

We're in the middle of canceling our flights (and paying those cancelation fees! UGH!) and we just canceled our June camp with Student Life since we will most likely be in the travel group for that week.

My house is virtually spotless - That's nice! Will have to stock the frig today since I've been emptying it out all week.

I'm rambling now... I'll end with this - lyrics from one of Billy's new songs that will be released this summer:

WE WILL TRUST

All we need, it is found in the Lord

Perfect peace, and the King is the source

In our trials and tribulations

There's no need for desperation

We will trust in the Lord

Our God will deliver us

In his faithfulness, will deliver us

We will trust

We will call on the name of the Lord

Standing firm, in the truth of the Word

For his glorious appearing,

It is closer it is nearing

We will trust in the Lord

Our God will deliver us

In his faithfulness, will deliver us

We will trust

In his name, Unchanging

Almighty, Most Holy

Our God will deliver us

In his faithfulness, Will deliver us

Our God can be counted on

Yes the mighty One, can be counted on

We will trust!

And now I'm off to get the luggage out of the car and go have a HUGE breakfast with my favorite 2 people.

Love,

PS - Thank you so much for all your prayers!

In Case We Leave Tomorrow...

2009-05-19T22:01:00.003-05:00

In case we do get to head out tomorrow, I thought I should add a few pictures and share our in Ethiopia itinerary!

Above:

1. a picture of SOME of our luggage! We have 5 checked bags and 4 carry ons! That's one less checked bag than allowed and expected. To the dear family shipping 3 cases of Nutramigen - they have not arrived yet! But - no problem because some other ladies in San Antonio are headed to ET in June and they will be able to take it.

2. Libby sitting in her new big-girl-twin-bed right before bedtime. Isn't she so cute!

3 and 4 - Libby went to a birthday party on Sunday. A couple of boys were getting their faces painted like pirates so that is what she wanted. She also received a "balloon sword". Well, about 10 minutes after that I heard the moms of the boys talking about Libby being so tough and I looked inside the big moon bounce and Libby had pinned all four balloon sword carrying pirate boys in a corner. She ROCKS!

We have packed EVERYTHING besides a few toiletries we will need in the morning. We have taken out trash, cleaned most of the house (minus the floors but oh well!) and worked our little tails off. We have every detail taken care of down to friends housesitting, new CD off to print, power of attorney for closing of our house all done (we close May 28!!!), utilities turned off at old house, bills paid.... and the list goes on!

So - IF we travel tomorrow (oh please Jesus please!!!) here is what our itinerary will look like once we are in Ethiopia:

We fly through Dubai and stay in Dubai for 2 nights so we arrive in Ethiopia on Saturday May 23. Most of the other families traveling will arrive on Sunday, I think. Sunday (24th) we just eat and rest in the Guest House that is actually more like a hotel with suites!

Monday, May 25 - Go to the Hilton Hotel in the morning for orientation meeting and have lunch there. Then we go to meet our baby girl at the Transitional Home!!!!! This is the day we will refer to at Metcha Day (the day we meet Aria Lu!). We are encouraged to use those 2 hours at the TH to visit with our baby girl and the nannies there!

Then we're back to the Guest House. And then head out for a group dinner at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant.

Tuesday, May 26 - GOTCHA DAY! We shop in the morning. In the afternoon we go to pick up our baby girl! We will also have a chance to ask the nanny some questions, POSSIBLY meet the birth mother, hand out care packages (we have packages for 3 other families and photo consents for those 3 families plus one other) AND give the nannies/TH staff their gifts. That will be a busy day right there! I think we also have a coffee ceremony and then in the evening we are back to the guest house for our first night with Aria Lu! (typing that just made me cry!)

Wednesday, May 27 - we have alone time with our family and new baby girl in the morning. We have lunch on our own until we have to be at the Embassy appointment. That appointment could take 1-2 hours so we were encouraged to eat a good lunch before we go. After the embassy appointment we do some more shopping and site seeing!!

Thursday, May 28 - In the morning we have the option to go visit 2 orphanages - one being Kids Care. While I really want to do that, I'm going to play it be ear. Our girls may just need to be still that day. We'll see. Then we have lunch as a group and dinner on our own. The Zebra Grill is within walking distance so I'm sure that's where we'll be Thursday night!

Friday, May 29 - we have sightseeing and shopping in the morning. But we also need to pack everything back up because we start our flight home on this evening!!!

Saturday May 30 - we arrive home on this evening thoroughly happy and exhausted after close to 35 hours of traveling (including lay overs)!

And then we have exactly one week off before we fly to Colorado to lead worship for a Student Life camp there for one week. Our drummer's wife and girls along with our electric players wife will both be at that camp so I will have LOTS of help with Libby and Lu will mostly sleep and eat (I'm guessing) since she will only be 4 months old! And then we have several weeks off before more camps.... WHEW!

So - I'm hoping you will read "We're headed to ET" in my next blog post in the morning! If not -we'll have to go to Sea World or something and reward all our hard work (and Libby's endurance of all our work) in some fun way! God is good either way... but I'm still his little girl begging for what I want - TRAVEL TO ET TOMORROW!!

With joy!

cindy

Praying for ONE DOCUMENT!!!

2009-05-19T13:14:00.002-05:00

Prayer warriors, we just received word that our agency's staff in Ethiopia are still waiting on ONE PIECE OF PAPERWORK to be completed so we can travel tomorrow. They are waiting on our daughter's BIRTH CERTIFICATE!!! Please please, go before the Lord with us and ask for that paperwork to be completed by the time we wake up tomorrow (Wednesday) morning!!! AW staff said they would even check their emails from home in the morning before going to work to see if they have a final answer.

So - we won't know until tomorrow. But I have a lot of hope this can work!

Thank you for your prayers!

Cindy

On hold until the last minute!!!

2009-05-19T00:08:00.003-05:00

I was out on a "final date night before the baby comes" with my hubby tonight when I realized I never let my blog readers know what was going on.

This morning America World called to say that the paperwork on Ethiopia's end was not complete just yet. They went on to say that if we're open to waiting until the last minute, they are hoping the paperwork will be completed by Wednesday morning and they can let me know first thing that morning. My head started rattling around with questions and I was rendered virtually speechless. I was expecting either a "yes - go!" or a "no, sorry, but we'll get you in the next travel group." I was NOT expecting... "can we tell you Wednesday morning if you can leave Wednesday afternoon?" OH MY! I was frozen after the call - not sure how to feel. My main concern was taking all this time to pack and be absolutely, totally ready to go knowing that Libby would completely understand what we're packing for only to find out that we can't go just yet and then have to explain that to her. She is very perceptive and she gets so excited when we're packing the final items for any regular trip, so I know she will be super excited Wednesday morning. I sure hope they call with good news by early that morning so we can get ready that morning with assurance that we are starting the long trip.

Right after AW called, my friend Cristie called. Then I called a few family members to let them know. Then our real estate agent called needing to know if we are going because if so we have to get a power of attorney to sign during our house closing. She had set up an appointment for 12pm (at this point it was 10:30AM) and we decided we might as well set it all up and be prepared to be in ET during the closing. I had to quickly get dressed and ready so we could be there on time.

Then my friend, Shelley, drove down from Austin to give me something to deliver to a person in ET and I got to meet her precious ET baby boy. He is ADORABLE!!! Libby was in the sassiest, rude mood as she had just woken up from her nap. So embarassing! Sorry Shelley!

And by the time she left our babysitter had arrived so Billy and I could go enjoy each other and forget about packing for a little while. We saw the movie "The Soloist". It made me cry. It reminded me of how we feel sometimes when working with the refugees in our city. We want so badly for them to do well, but their needs can be overwhelming and at the end of the day we have to be okay with just being their friends and trust that God has a plan of hope for them too.

And now we're back at home doing everything we can to mark off that "to do" list in hopes that we really are leaving on Wednesday. Oh - and one wonderful thing is that the camp we are supposed to lead worship for in June is giving us 48 more hours to find out whether we can head to ET this week or not. If we do head out, then we will be back in time to do the camp. If we don't head out this week, we will be in the next travel group which is right during that camp. Student Life is being SO KING to give us the extra time to figure this out. It is only 19 days before their camp begins and I know they need to get details nailed down. Thank you STUDENT LIFE!! Hopefully we will all be rejoicing on Wednesday that we can go and that we will make it to that camp!

There is a chance we could hear news tomorrow. That is what I am praying for tonight as Ethiopia has entered it's Tuesday work day. Come on ET! You can do it!!! Otherwise, we will hear something around 8 or 9AM Wednesday and we have to leave for the airport no later than 11AM! Seriously - this is as last minute as it gets!

Hopeful,

Cindy

Praying for travel confirmation in the morning!

2009-05-17T15:26:00.003-05:00

It is almost Monday in Ethiopia right now and on Monday Ethiopia will hopefully complete the necessary paperwork for us to travel. If they do - our agency will call in the morning and tell us that travel is a go for Wednesday! If the paperwork is not all ready and the embassy appointments and such are not made then our agency will delay our travel. Delayed travel =having to wait to see Lu, having to cancel our first week of camp for the summer, having to miss Jackie's wedding, and having to pay expensive fees to change our booked flights to new dates.... so we're really praying for travel to be a go for this week!

I can not explain how hard we have worked to pack this fast. There is A LOT more packing to do for this trip than there was for China. For starters, we have Libby going with us - so we have all her things, some toys and some familiar foods to take along. Also - there are more people on staff at the TH for whom we are bringing gifts. AND we are taking all the donated formula cans! We are going to have 6 HUGE checked bags (hopefully staying under the 50lb. weight limit) and 3-4 carry-ons.

I have small gifts for all the TH staff. They are small bags stuffed with lotions, some have jewelry, chap stick, and crocheted flower pins. We are also taking a box of CDs to give to various staff there and our guides. BUT I still wanted to have something special to take as a gift to the transitional home as a whole. I called the organization "Faith Comes By Hearing" and they are giving us a "proclaimer" - which is either solar powered or hand cranked (can't remember which). It is the entire Bible read in Amharic for them to listen to!

There is a small chance that we will get to meet our daughter's birthmother if she chooses to come and meet us. I have been thinking and praying a lot about what to say, what to ask. I have no idea if we are allowed to give her a gift. I still need to ask about that. But just in case we can, I have a beaded necklace with a locket that has a picture of Lu in it and I also have a photo book with pictures of our family and Lu's crib/room. From "Faith Comes By Hearing" we were able to purchase a "Bible stick" that is about the size of a pack of gum and comes with little ear phones. It also has the entire Scripture in Amharic for her to hear. I am really hoping I can give that to her. I don't know the laws and then, of course, she has to want to meet us and show up. So, we'll see.

Well - we're going to have house church tonight and we're going to keep praying for travel this week! Oh - lastly, please pray for Libby. She is sensing our being a little stressed and she knows change is coming so she has been really clingy and emotional. And honestly, I have not had much patience with her. So pray that we can get all the emotion and stress out of they way so we can enjoy the trip and meeting Lu. This is going to be a really tough transition for Libby and my heart is sad for her a little.

Thank you again for your prayers! I'll post tomorrow when I have the news!

Cindy

The Baby Shower !!!

2009-05-16T09:01:00.009-05:00

My dear friends Cristie, Elissa and Terry put together a fabulous baby shower in just one week's time!!! The flowers, the food, the decorations, the friends, the prayers and the gifts were all BEAUTIFUL!!! Just see for yourself... in all the pictures below everyone is smiling, laughing and having a good time. The prayer time was especially wonderful. I just love these sweet ladies - they are amazing friends! Many thanks to each and everyone of you for showering me with your love and support! Love, Cindy

Enjoy the pics!

WE PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And more great news!!!!!!

2009-05-13T09:01:00.005-05:00

All glory and praise to God. He has done mighty things for us!!!

After 17 months of paperwork and waiting.... Today we passed court and Tseganesh became legally our daughter who we call: Aria Lu Grace Foote!!!!

Enjoy the video and then read on for more GREAT news!!! Don't forget to turn off the music playing on the right side of the screen (you may have to scroll down a little to see it - just click the stop/pause button and then push play on the video!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Anna, the director of programs at AWAA, was the one who called us this morning

around 8:45AM! She went on to share that our daughter is completely on

Nutramigen and has gained ANOTHER POUND!! She is now 7.7 pounds!!!

This is AMAZING NEWS!!

Also - we would like to ask for your prayers one more time!

There is a chance that AW could get us into the next travel group on May 23-30.

Our tentative travel dates have been June 6-13, but that is the only week in June

that we have a camp scheduled. We have been committed to that camp and to

our band for over a year. So we called AW back when we received those travel

dates to request their effort to get us travel earlier. They were not able to do

that at that point in time, but they think now that it might could happen.

There is a lot of paperwork and things that have to fall in line for that to work

out so we are asking you to pray once again!!! If we can travel early then we

can come home and rest for one week and then drive up to Colorado for the

Student Life camp! This is important to us for so many reasons! Please pray for

all our paperwork to come in FAST, for travel on May 23 to be reality and for our

health and strength throughout the trip and even when we come home so we can

get to that camp! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lastly, Anna said that we won't know

for sure if we can travel on the 23rd. until as late as Monday May 18!!! So, pray

for Student Life as we won't have a firm answer for them until then. And pray for

us because we may be packing with only a few days notice before we have to leave. Also - I am having to check on airline prices today.... YIKES!

We are packing to head to Houston where we are leading worship tonight. Have to

leave the house by noon, so there is a lot to do!!

Love and Thanks!!!!

cindy

Words of Hope....

2009-05-12T23:12:00.002-05:00

In my Scripture reading tonight I have found several passages full of hope, encouragement and needed reminders of God's faithfulness. I thought I would share some of them with you.

From my "One Year Bible" daily reading for May 12 - Psalm 108:1-7, 12-13

"My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart! Wake up, lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song. I will thank you, Lord among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth. Now rescue your beloved people. Answer and save us by your power. God has promised this by his holiness...Oh please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless. With God's help we will do mighty things..."

From tomorrow's reading (May 13) Psalm 109: 30-31

"But I will give repeated thanks to the Lord, praising him to everyone. For he stands beside the needy, ready to save them from those who condemn them."

There have been some specific things on my heart for our daughter's biological mother. Tonight I came across a verse that I KNOW is for her and I am praying it over her now. It comes from Hosea 1: 14-15 "But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope."

From I John 3:21-22 "Dear friends, if we don't feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him."

Psalm 99:4 "Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established fairness. You have acted with justice and righteousness throughout Israel."

Psalm 86:5 "O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help."

Psalm 82 3-4, 8 "Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them... Rise up, O God, and judge the earth, for all the nations belong to you."

Proverbs 20: 24 "The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?"

And lastly, I have dwelled on and smiled over the passage from Acts chapter 8 where Phillip is sent to the Ethiopian Eunich. God did some mighty miracles to get Phillip to the Ethiopian eunich so that this Ethiopian Jew could know the full measure of Jesus' sacrificial love and carry that good news back... TO ETHIOPIA! (btw, I believe our daughter is from a Semetic/Cushite background so that makes this story even more awesome!)

And at the end of the story is the brief but certainly astonishing mention of God snatching Phillip up and putting him in the next place he needed Phillip to be. Just - poof! - done - in a totally different location! And the thought comes to my mind about how many times I've prayed for a miracle to take place if that's what it takes to get our daughter's biological mother to that court room. Well, he can certainly do it!

It is now 8 AM on May 13 in Ethiopia. May the dawn bring the Light of God and his love for justice and for orphans with it!

Good night!

cindy

Time to PRAY! Tonight is THE Night!

2009-05-12T14:46:00.004-05:00

Last night I was incredibly showered by dear friends here in San Antonio and I want to share ALL those details with you, but I have some things on my heart about our court date that I want to share right now and then later tonight/tomorrow I will post pictures and details of the shower. It was amazing, so check back in for that story soon!

When adopting from Ethiopia you are given your referral and then your paperwork, agency, and the MOWA (ministry of women's affairs) go before a judge on your appointed court date to determine that the child is a legal orphan and that all paperwork is in order. If the judge approves, the child becomes legally your child and THEN you can travel to Ethiopia to get him/her. That is a REALLY basic overview as there is much more that goes into it than that, but in a nutshell - that's it.

There are 2 different kinds of cases (again, keeping it really simple here) - there is a "relinquishment case" in which the child is relinquished to the orphanage by a parent or family member through signed paperwork, etc. And there are "abandonment cases" in which the child's family/relatives are unknown or are deceased. I may even be oversimplifying those definitions, but that's how I understand it so far. Our's is a relinquishment case because one of the biological parents is known. Until yesterday, that was kind of the least desired case because the biological parent has to show up for court and in Africa that is way more difficult to have happen than it is here. Many of the biological parents are from remote villages with no transportation, no sense of being on time and sometimes they can be difficult to locate to communicate these needs.

As of yesterday, I was praising the Lord for having a relinquishment case and crushed in spirit for those families with abandonment cases. Here's why - we received an email from our agency saying that due to an unusually high number of abandonment cases, Ethiopia is suspicious of corruption and must do an investigation to make sure agencies are not just saying "abandonment" in order to ease through court and -well - be involved in criminal activity resembling baby trafficking. In order to do that investigation the MOWA is refusing to write "Letters of Recommendation" (which is necessary to present in court in order to have a successful court appointment) for all abandonment cases in Addis Ababa. That means that families who received their referrals 2 and 3 months ago - who have waited all this time for their court date (which many are this week - one was supposed to be last night!) - and who have looked at their baby's faces change and grow as they wait - now cannot received that necessary letter from the MOWA and therefore cannot pass court until this investigation takes place. This in an indefinite delay as we have NO IDEA how long ET will take to do this investigation. There are A LOT of families in complete grief today as they were SO CLOSE to getting through court and getting their babies and now they have NO IDEA when that will happen.

To make sure you know this - it is NOT our agency who is under investigation. It is the entire system. I KNOW with certainty that our agency is above reproach as I have met the president of our agency and know his heart is above all concerned about integrity and making sure the babies being adopted through our agency are TRUE ORPHANS.

And second - this does NOT directly affect our case. HOWEVER - Ethiopia's judges are, in light of this new problem - being VERY STRICT in court. I know of about 7 families with our agency who have had court in the last 2 days and only ONE family passed the first time and one other family passed on the second day. Most of those who did not pass are either indefinitely delayed or now have a second court date in late May.

I am sharing all of this with you for several reasons...

1. For you to pray for the families and babies/children caught up in this court issue who are heartbroken and grieved.

2. For you to know that while I am ready and hoping to celebrate a successful court date tomorrow, I am beyond burdened for these families and am having a hard time understanding it all.

3. For you to realize the DESPERATE NEED FOR PRAYER on our behalf and on our daughter's behalf over the next 24 hours. Anything can happen. International adoption is hard and requires a lot of endurance and miracles!

4. For you to pray for Ethiopia as they are trying to do the right thing to protect the children of their country.

5. For you to pray for MIRACLES to happen for our daughter's biological parent to arrive in court tomorrow (our nighttime tonight!).

6. I am specifically praying that our daughter's biological parent will know that miracles have happened to get her there and from that she will know Jesus.

7. And lastly - pray specifically!! There is some incredible spiritual warfare over adoption, particularly with adopting from Africa. Pray as the Spirit leads. Pray specifically for a successful court date tonight. Pray that all our paperwork would find favor with the judge. That the judge's heart would be full of compassion and certainty for our daughter's situation. That the biological mother would be SOMEHOW blessed in this process.

8. And pray for us... these last hours counting down to this moment are harder than I had anticipated. And yet - we trust in the Lord. He will deliver us. He will deliver Aria Lu Grace Foote to us.

If we pass court, I should find out tomorrow morning. At that time I can post pictures of her and tell you her full story. I am also hoping I can find a way to post a new song off our not-yet-released EP that is so fitting for this night, this moment.

Thank you.

Cindy

3 more days!

2009-05-09T19:00:00.002-05:00

After tonight, we only have 3 days left before our court date on May 13! Ethiopia's May 13 comes during our Tuesday the 12th. night! So please pray with us before you go to bed Tuesday night, that God would give our paperwork, our family, our daughter, our agency favor! And also, pray that our daughter's biological mother will show up to court and be in agreement with this adoption. We need her to show up to that court date! We also need to pray that MOWA (ministry of women's affairs) in Ethiopia will have all their paperwork in order and God will give that paperwork favor as well. There is a whole lot that goes into a successful court appointment. Mostly, I am praying for the judge's heart to be persuaded to make our daughter legally ours!!

This is a fabulous Mother's Day for me as it leads into this exciting week! But please remember those women who have not received their referral, or who have not become pregnant or who have lost a child. Mother's day can be so painful for them.

Thank you again for your faithful prayers!

Blessings,

Cindy

Children's Hope Chest's Goal MET!!!!

2009-05-08T13:26:00.002-05:00

YOU ALL DID IT!!! As of this morning Children's Hope Chest's formula drive raised the $12,500 goal amount and will be purchasing 400 cans of Nutramigen formula for the malnourished babies in the America World transitional home in Ethiopia.

Starting at the beginning of this year AW began seeing some of the most malnourished baby cases they have seen in years past. The famine is severe, especially in remote villages. Pray for the people there. And thank you for your contributions to this effort.

Let me go on to say this.... the job is not done. We can still continue to take this formula over to the transitional home. I will be taking 2 suitcases full of formula you all donated to us. And there are other families who can take more.... So don't stop! Some of you have had the desire to do your own formula drives since before CHC began theirs. Do not think, "well, I can't do what they did because they had a bigger "audience" to appeal to." No - think this.... If God put it on your heart - obey his command. That's how we show him we love him. "If you say you love me, do what I say." Did you hear him say something.... then be blessed in the doing and know God has his purpose in it - no matter how small it may seem to you.

Blessings,

Cindy

Travel Packet!

2009-05-06T19:08:00.002-05:00

Fun Fun! Our travel packet arrived in our inbox this afternoon. My heart was racing hoping to see tentative travel dates at the end. But the end announced that dates are not chosen just yet because our court date is happening so fast and there is a lot they're having to do to prepare our travel. However! - the email did mention that we should be receiving tentative travel dates by the end of the week!!!! The dates will be tentative mainly because we have to pass court in order to keep those travel dates. If we don't pass - travel will be delayed too.

So - We keep on praying! Praying for May 23 travel dates! Praying for a successful court date on May 13!!! (And ET's May 13 comes 8-9 hours before ours, so pray on the evening of our 12th!!) And pray for favor on all our paperwork, travel plans, travel expenses, packing... you name it! We are in full throttle right now!!! ZOOM!!!!

And - KEEP SPREADING THE NEWS ABOUT CHILDREN'S HOPE CHEST (WWW.HOPECHEST.ORG) FORMULA DRIVE FOR ORPHANS IN ETHIOPIA!

Miracles Are Happening for Children's Hope Chest Formula Drive!

2009-05-06T13:39:00.004-05:00

Thank you Kari Gibson for the update.... Here's what Kari shared on her blog today:

Spread the word...we're at $6110 as of 10:30am this morning!
Lets keep donating for the valuable formula for Ethiopia babies!!!! The goal is to raise $12,500 by mother's day!!
Formula miracles today:)

To donate money for the purchase of Nutramigen formula for malnourished orphans in Ethiopia click HERE and type: Formula for Ethiopia in the "notes" section.

Just answering a common question

2009-05-05T22:09:00.005-05:00

Before I address the common question - just want to post some exciting news... The buzz today is....HopeChest has raised $3,000 in the first day of their fundraiser. That's about 100 cans of formula for the transitional home! Want to spread the news?? Go to Tom's Blog: www.tomdavis.typepad.com and copy the blog button code and then paste it onto your own blog!

Now - about the question...Several of you have asked if we have contacted the company that sells Nutramigen to see if they would donate any of the formula. The answer is yes. Unfortunately Mead Johnson will not donate the formula (even to another non-profit) if they know it is for a cause outside of the country. As soon as they knew that it was a request for Ethiopian orphans they said they could not do that.

There may be reasons for which we are unaware. I know when I tried to have a particular company ship an item to China for some friends of mine there they said they could not do it because of some customs issues... who knows... Hope the reason is a good one because there are a lot of orphans in need of this formula. We tried!

But hey! God is bigger than Mead Johnson and Tom Davis's non-profit, Children's Hope Chest, is getting a lot of action over their fundraiser for this formula. Don't miss out on the action! If you haven't read our previous post, read it now and click on the link to donate and participate in getting this life saving formula to severely malnourished babies!

I Think This Article is About Our Baby Girl!

2009-05-04T22:46:00.004-05:00

If you've been following our journey you are aware of how we became aware of the need for Nutramigen formula for malnourished Ethiopian babies in our agency's transitional home. It started with our daughter. She came to AW's transitional home severely malnourished. They started shipping soy formula to her and she responded to it, but after some research and talking with our pediatrician we realized that a formula like Nutramigen was needed in order for her to be able to easily digest the nutrients she so badly needs. We immediately started shipping formula to her through other gracious adopting families who were traveling to ET to get their own children.

Then AW wrote and asked if we wouldn't mind rallying our AW/ET/Yahoo Group together to start collecting a supply of this formula for the many other malnourished babies who have come into the TH since our daughter. Our yahoo group took that rallying cry seriously and on top of that - YOU all took it seriously when I blogged about it. I am amazed at how God can take a simple story, a basic need and turn it into a triumph story of his provision and our obedience. I am humbled, as well, by all your generosity. I currently have 19 cans (donated by you all) of Nutramigen waiting to be packed and taken with us to ET for other malnourished infants in the TH, and it's only May 4!

But the story gets better! I don't even know all the details of how this came about but this is what I know.... Tom Davis - author of "Red Letters" and "Fields of the Fatherless" has a non-profit called Children's Hope Chest and this non-profit organization is doing a formula fundraiser. Get this! - It is JUST FOR NUTRAMIGEN and JUST FOR THE MALNOURISHED BABIES IN OUR AGENCY'S TRANSITIONAL HOME!!! Their goal is to raise $12,500 dollars in order to purchase 400 cans of Nutramigen for these needy babies!!!

Let me pause here to say that if you have not purchased cans of this formula yet, but have planned on doing so - instead of shipping it to me you can now simply participate in this fundraiser. Just click HERE!

BUT!!! The story is even more personal than that to our family.... I can't be 100% sure, but I am 99% sure that the article on Tom Davis's blog includes a story about OUR BABY GIRL!!! You can click here to read the entire blog post for yourself. But just so I have the story on this blog for my memory's sake I have cut and pasted that portion below. Read for yourself. I can't share all the details of why I think this is our girl until we pass court, but when I can - I will. The part that is about our girl is where Duni shares a story about a girl she calls "Gracie" - which is NOT her real Ethiopian name. I've bolded the print to highlight it. If you click on the link to read the whole post - know that the picture on that particular post is NOT our daughter and is NOT a baby in our agency's transitional home.

Aria-Lu, your life is already impacting so many - I am just AMAZED! I can't wait to meet you and see for myself what everyone else has said about you who has met you face to face. You must be so inspiring! Love you, baby girl! Can't wait to hold you!

From Tom Davis's Blog: (www.tomdavis.typepad.com)

May 04, 2009

URGENT NEED: Forumla Needed for Malnourished Babies in Ethiopia

Famine and poverty are increasing the rates of malnourished infant babies in Ethiopia. Children's HopeChest has worked with the America World Adoption Agency (AWAA) on projects in Ethiopia and Russia over the past five years. This request came to us from their transition home where they are receiving severely malnourished babies into their care. This month, in honor of mother's day, I want to raise $12,500 to provide specialized baby formula to this transition home for these malnourished babies. (Please put "Ethiopia Formula" in the note section of the donate page.)

To kick this off, a friend of Children's HopeChest has offered a matching gift for the first $500 we receive toward this project.

Here's a view from the ground from Duni, an Ethiopian woman working for AWAA at their transitional home:

Even though I grew up in Ethiopia, I never knew just how badly babies suffered from malnutrition until I returned to Addis and started working at the AWAA office there. The children at our Transitional Home come from very remote areas. Their families are unable to feed themselves let alone their children and usually relinquish them to their local orphanage when it becomes evident their children will die if they don't.

It is hard to see malnourished babies, so tiny, with just skin and bones. I remember the first one I saw, we will call her Gracie. She looked like an old woman in a baby's body. She had big eyes that seemed so wise and testified to what they have seen in the short months Gracie has been alive.

That was a few months ago, since then we have admitted many more babies in such condition. And looking at Gracie today, I can't believe she is the same baby. I knew she was a beauty but it really came out once those cheeks filled up. She is still tiny but the pound she has gained in the past week has made a world of difference in her appearance.

I look at the others and feel the same way I first felt with Gracie, dejection and fear that she may never make it. The right type of formula for such babies is hard to come by. In fact any kind of formula is expensive and hard to come by. We have babies who need this today so we work tirelessly to get the best formula possible for malnourished babies shipped from the US.

It is not fair for a baby to have sad eyes like Gracie's or for a baby to cry out of hunger and not have that need met.

Worse yet, it is not fair for a baby to die because of malnutrition. And yet, that is what happens daily in Ethiopia. Today, I am praying for the babies lying still in their cribs. I am praying I will see them feed soon (they are now on feeding tubes). I am praying that their tiny lifeless legs will slowly fill with flesh and will wiggle and play like normal babies do.

Here's what we can do to help. CHC will raise $12,500 to purchase what is known in the U.S. as "Nutramigen" formula. This type of formula is necessary because traditional formula cannot be digested by malnourished infants.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE:

You can participate by making a gift of any size. A gift of $30 will buy and ship one can of formula to the chidlren in need. Right now if you give $30 it will be doubled to $60! The first $500 we raise will be matched dollar-for-dollar. If we hit our goal, we can send 400 cans of formula to starving infants in Ethiopia.

Good news!

2009-05-04T09:23:00.002-05:00

The situation with USCIS does not affect our referral, court date or travel to ET. It's just something that has to get fixed here in the States and our social worker is already on it!

YEAH!

One more thing that I forgot to post about last night..

Would you pray with me that I can fully enjoy these last weeks with Billy and Libby alone in the midst of juggling all that needs to get done? I want to be steady, hard working, ready - but also - play and laugh and enjoy and be full of joy. Thank you! - C

The Countdown!

2009-05-04T00:09:00.003-05:00

Starting today - we have 10 days until our court date - MAY 13!!!! Join with us in prayer for a successful court date - for the judge to find favor with all our paperwork and MOWA's paperwork. For our daughter's biological family to show in court if necessary and for everything to be just right in order for us to pass and travel to ET!

Continue to pray as well for Lu's health. She is doing great right now!

Lastly - we have run into a slight paperwork snag. USCIS sent a letter that I received over the weekend saying that our home study addendum (which was just for an address change) is missing two points. Our social worker says that she did not include that info because it is in our original home study. So, I'm hoping to contact someone at USCIS tomorrow and get that all cleared up. If our social worker ends up having to resubmit our addendum it could take USCIS a while to process it and that could potentially affect our travel time. Please pray that it all gets cleared up first thing Monday morning!

Oh - and one more thing. Some families who have a court date just one day before us have travel dates of May 23-30. That means there is a possibility we could travel that early. The next travel group would be June 6-13 and that is the one week we have a camp in June. We are praying we can make the early travel group so we can keep our commitment to the camp where we are supposed to lead worship.

Okay - it's late, gotta go!

Cindy

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!

2009-04-30T17:20:00.003-05:00

This morning began with a lot of emails to weed through. The first one I noticed was from a family who is in Ethiopia and was sending new pictures to us of our daughter. Of course - I opened it immediately and I was so blessed to see how much she has changed. Her face is beginning to fill out. Her color looks beter! The way her had was in one of the pictures, it looked like she was pointing right at our picture. So cute!!

And THEN.... I opened the "court date" email from Anna. I was so nervous! I am in Longview on my in-laws computer and they have a really slow connection so it was taking the page FOREVER to pull up. And then I read it!!! I immediately yelled out - OH MY GOSH!!!!!!! My mother-in-law and my sister-in-law were here with me and we all started screaming shouts of joy! Our court date is MAY 13!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hello - that's just 2 short weeks away! If was pass - which we are fervently praying for - we will travel anywhere between 2.5 and 4 weeks after the court date. OH MY - We could be in Ethiopia as early as 4.5 weeks from now. YIKES! I have some serious packing and preparations to attend to!

Needless to say - I can hardly stand all this great news! I am beside myself.

Just a testimony about how good God is....

When we received our referral and became aware of how serious our daughter's malnutrition was I felt very compelled by the Lord to ask America World if there was any way we could expedite her court date so she could get the medical attention she might need. But I hesitated to ask that because so many families are waiting and so many children are in need. A few minutes later my friend, Karen, called. She knew nothing about what was on my heart and she knows very little about the adoption process but she said, "I really think you need to ask your agency to expedite your case." Right then, I knew I was supposed to ask.

I submitted my request by email - nervously. I didn't want anyone to think I was being pushy or something. AND I fully expected them to right back and say... we can't do that.

The next day America World sent an email and it said that they were going to do everything they could to expedite our case. I was thrilled to say the least. But a few days later I received an email again from AW that said the judge in ET said they can not expedite cases regarding malnutrition. AW was sad to reveal this news to me and was so worried that I would be disappointed.

I was a little disspointed, of course, but only for a minute because right away the Lord reminded me that the expediting of this case was not really up to an Ethiopian judge - but THE Judge of judges - King Jesus. I immediately started praying to God saying, "The Ethiopian judge may have said no, but you put this on my heart and you can move mountains. You control this case, not the ET judge. Please move on his/her heart and expedite our case."

Let me just say that as I prayed that I was thinking an expedited date would be anywhere between May 30 and early June. NEVER did I EVER think I would get a date on May 13 - that is just beyond what I could have ever imagined!

So - now it's just time to pray for this court date to be a successful one!
Thank you for praying along with us!
Cindy

2 More Tidbits of GLORIOUS NEWS!

2009-04-29T00:15:00.004-05:00

The VanDruff's wrote again today to say that *T* is a thumb sucker! She also mentioned that when they visited her today she was in a different crib and not with the same boy - so she's not sure if they are really cribmates or not... but the fact remains that he needs prayer!

Also!!! - Our family coordinator called today to let us know that *T* has gained almost ONE WHOLE POUND in under 2 weeks. At referral, *T* was 5.9 pounds, but as of today she is 6.8 pounds!!! All glory to God. Truly, this is amazing. And I just want to say this.... Each of you - every one of your precious prayers and the fact that we pray to the LIVING God who HEARS - is a part of this miracle and progress! We are incredbily grateful for all your prayers for baby *T* who will soon become Aria-Lu Foote!

There is one other story regarding *T* that I received today. I sent a care package to her through another family. Rob - the man who traveled to ET to get his 2 girls (amazing story!) - took a friend with him. I won't share his name because I haven't asked permission to share his story. But this man is the one who delivered our care package to our girl today in ET. In the care package I also included a card to *T* with a blessing and prayer written in it and I had asked Rob and his friend to read the blessing and prayer over our daughter. Rob's friend is an adoptee. I don't know his full story. All I know is that I received word that he took the carepackage to our daughter and he read the blessing over her. He said that he could not do it "dry eyed". I don't know what all happened in that moment, but apparently God was there doing a work, not just in our daughter but in this man as well. He said that he hopes there was a little more love in his prayer as he himself was adopted as a child. It was a powerful email to receive today and I am so grateful for this man's willingness to pray over our baby girl. He also mentioned that it took a lot of people to deliver that blessing and prayer - his own mom, his adopted family, Rob and his family - including the girls they are adopting, me and this baby girl. The web of connections God puts together to bring about His will is so amazing! I am just amazed!

I have so much gratitude and joy in my heart today with all this glorious news!!

Love and Thanks,
Cindy

A Little News About Our Daughter!

2009-04-28T00:24:00.002-05:00

The sweet VanDruff family is in Ethiopia right now getting their 2 beautiful children! Pray for their son who is sick right now - and pray for all of them to get some much needed rest!

This family is the one who, at the last minute, was able to get a special formula packed into extra bags to take to Ethiopia for our daughter. Today - THEY MET HER!!! (we'll call her *T* since we can't share her Ethiopian name yet)

Here's what Renee shared, "OH MY GOODNESS... she is so beautiful, and Cindy... she is tiny, but she LOOKS healthy to me! When I was looking in on all the babies I came to her and her eyes twinkled and she SMILED AT ME!!! It was the most precious thing. She seemed so peaceful and happy to me. Her cribmate was a SEVERELY malnourished little boy.........Pray for him, I don't know that he will make it. ....I'm so happy to hear that little *T* is your girl!!! I am telling you, and I am not just saying this, she sparkled! She was indeed very tiny..... Her smile melted my heart!! I wish I could strap her to my chest and bring her home to you. I can't wait for you to come get her."

PLEASE PRAY with me for the little boy sharing our daughter's crib. May God restore him fully and breathe His life into him!!

Also- - just wanted to share a cool story. I was reading a book yesterday about Ethiopia. One of the pictures had a girl whose features look similar to our daughter's. I looked at the caption underneath the photo and sure enough -it was our daughter's people group. I went on to read and it shared that her people are a Semitic and Cushite mix....I realized then that our daughter is a descendant of some of the great Biblical names - Moses and his Cushite wife!!!
Many of our daughter's people speak a Semitic language... and then I remembered that our daughter's name - the name we are giving her -ARIA - is a Hebrew name! How cool is that! Our little "Lioness of God" has the perfect name!

So many people ask, "What can I do to help?" Here's the answer!

2009-04-23T15:58:00.005-05:00

Our adoption agency is seeing an increase in the number of significantly malnourished babies coming in to their partner orphanages. Our agency has a transitional home in Ethiopia where children/babies chosen to be adopted are taken in and cared for until the parents can travel to get them. Many of the babies can not be referred to parents until they are healthy. This was our daughter's story. Our agency cared for her for 3 months before she was well enough to be referred to us. That entire time, America World was paying for our child's care - and the care and restoration of many many more.

Often, these babies tummies are suffering from Giardia or other illnesses on top of the malnutrition. And the malnutrition alone can be severe. Just south of Addis Ababa is a region hardest hit by the current famine. We are expecting to see many severely malnourished babies coming in to the orphanages as a result of this. For these reasons, our agency is hoping to build up a supply of 2 special kinds of formula which have a molecular structure that alloww babies to digest the formula with great ease, put on the necessary weight and take in the nutrients for which they are starving. But our agency can not take on this task without donations of this formula and then sending that formula over with traveling families who are headed to Ethiopia to get their children and can take extra suitcases of this formula.

Our family will be headed to Ethiopia at some point this summer (Lord willing!) and there are other families in our area who will also be traveling soon. So we are currently accepting any shipments of these 2 formulas that are donated so that we can pack them up and take them to these precious orphaned babies. We are asking for any donations of these formulas to be shipped to our home by June 1 so we know how much we have to pack for our trip and how much we need to get to other families traveling who can help us deliver the donations to the transitional home in Ethiopia.

The 2 formulas we need to send are called Nutramigen and Alimentum Powder Formula. They can be found at Wal-Mart or HEB - BUT since you are going to have to ship them to me from where you are, the best way to do this is to go to www.amazon.com to purchase the formula and then ship the formula directly to me through Amazon. Someone told me that Amazon has the best price. We need the powder form - NOT the liquid as the liquid needs to be kept refrigerated once opened AND it is too heavy to fill our luggage with. It is usually around $27 a can. It takes 2 cans to feed one baby for a week. These formulas are broken down so that weak, malnourished babies can digest it and get the nutrients they need. These formulas will save lives!

Our mailing address is: Cindy Foote, 3531 Hilldale Point, San Antonio, TX 78261. Just let me know if/when you are shipping them so I can be on the lookout.

My deepest thanks!

Humbly,

Cindy

What A Week!

2009-04-21T22:45:00.013-05:00

Above is a picture of our family on Saturday, April 11. We were invited to a Chinese restaurant by some sweet friends who are also working the Burmese family that Billy has been ministering to. So we all took that family out to eat and celebrated one of their son's birthday. Little did we know what God had in store for the next week of our lives....

The next day was Easter Sunday. We celebrated Resurrection Day with Libby in the morning. Then we cooked and prepared our home for house church. Around 4 PM we drove across town to pick up both the Burmese family and an Iraqi refugee family for house church. When we arrived home with our special guests other house church members began to arrive. We had a big meal and then worshipped. After worship our Iraqi friend said she was moved and she believed Jesus was real but she had more questions. So another friend of mine and I took this woman to Aria-Lu's room and we shared with her and answered her questions and she became a follower of Christ. For 2 years we have waited to see God move this way among our refugee friends. This beautiful Resurrection Day was another amazing display of God's power to change lives. And our waiting was so worth it!

Monday we were exhausted after such an intense weekend. But I had promised to go across town again to meet an Ethiopian refugee. To make a long story short I ended up meeting 9 other refugees - 3 or 4 Iranians, 3 Bhutanese from Nepal and a couple of others from Iraq, I believe. The woman leading the ESL class, not knowing that I am just a volunteer and that I only came to meet the one Ethiopian lady, introduced me to this table of refugees as someone who could help them. They immediately shared all their distresses, not being able to find jobs, needing help with paperwork, etc. I was completely overwhelmed. They all kept asking for my telephone number and the whole time they were talking I was trying to 1. understand their broken English 2. figure out another number besides mine to give them 3. make sure Libby was safe as she wandered around in an area that is NOT SAFE! I realized at that moment that my armpits were soaking wet and I was entirely stressed. I got out of there as fast as I could, put Libby in the car and proceeded to cry my eyes out. The stress of trying to care for all their needs was more than I could bear. That ended up being an emotional day all the way around, as I was still waiting for our referral call every second of the day!

The next day was Tuesday, April 14. In the early afternoon a package came in the mail. It was a long awaited contract. Since September Billy and I have been negotiating with a small label for a co-publishing deal. I am not at liberty to share all those details yet, but it was a glorious feeling to have that contract in hand after months of working towards it and really YEARS of Billy waiting for such an opportunity as this.

And as if that contract was not enough......That morning Libby said that Jesus was bringing Lulu's picture "tonight". There was a referral or two that morning for other families, so by the time 3:30 rolled around (which is 4:30 for AWAA and only 30 minutes before they close their offices) I thought I was in the clear and decided to take a bath and relax before I headed out with my friend, Cristie, for girl time. Of course, just after I washed my hair and stepped out of the tub, my cell phone rang and it was the beautiful numbers 703 - AW's area code. I answered excitedly and Terra asked if she should call Billy. Billy was with me, but we had her call his cell anyway so we could both hear the conversation without Terra having to hear Libby (like she would have if we had been on speaker phone). Once all the lines were connected Terra began talking and immediately her voice was hesitant and I realized this wasn't a normal referral call. She shared with us some details about our referral and this little baby's life. She had suffered from SEVERE malnutrition. Basically Terra was letting us know that while they chose this child for our referral we still had the option of saying "no." It was not the moment I had anticipated as I tried to work through the wide range of emotions and difficult information. This baby's story was so sad and I didn't know what questions to ask.

After getting off the phone we received an email with our daughter's medical files and photo. I thought about sharing the video of us seeing her picture for the first time. But as I watched it I realized how guarded I was as I looked at her for the first time, not knowing if she would truly be ours. We were not sure yet if we were accepting the referral because we didn't have enough information. The medical files had typos and were somewhat confusing. I am very guarded in that captured moment and that just makes it too personal to share. The only way the video could be understood is if you know me personally and very well - then you might be able to read my mind and see all the aches and questions and simultaneous joy that was circling around in my head.

In the video Libby says some VERY FUNNY things. Before the picture pulled up Libby said "I want to see Lulu" in the sweetest, tender way. When the picture pops on the screen she said, "Is that Lulu?" And I said, "Well, we're not sure yet. What do you think?" And she said, "No". I started laughing, but I was thinking, "oh no." Up to this point, Libby had been dead on regarding several details around our referral. So as she was saying this isn't Lulu I am thinking, "oh no, what if she isn't" and at the same time I'm laughing so hard because Libby went on to say, "She's black, she's really black." At this point I don't know why Libby is surprised by this after all the preparation I have done in talking to her about this. As I was laughing and saying, "of course she's black. She's from Ethiopia" Libby said confidently, "That's not Lulu because" and she stopped to gather her words and went on to say something that - in the moment I didn't understand because I still thought she was talking about the girl in the picture. As I've reviewed the video I realized that she went on to say something to the effect of "she's white. Let me go get my dolls that are not white like that girl." She was trying to say that Lulu is not black ENOUGH. In the picture of Aria-Lu her skin is very light and Libby was saying that she was not black like her dolls. So, on video we are like, "of course she is black." But poor Libby is like, "but the girl in the video is NOT black." Poor girl must have been really confused!

While the video is subdued (and somehow funny at the same time), it is still precious to me because it is the moment I laid eyes on our Aria-Lu. I have NO WORDS to explain all the thoughts and emotions that were swirling around in me in that moment.

That night, as we prayed and wondered if this would be our girl, I read my daily reading out of my Bible. Here are some of the passages that were on that day's page:

Joshua 9:14, "The Israelites...did not consult the Lord." - This was in the first part of my reading and it was a reminder to take this completely to the Lord and consult him.

Luke 16:19-17:10 - I won't type it all out here, but in this passage Jesus is telling a story about a rich man who was splendidly clothed and lived in luxury. And at his gate was a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. Lazarus laid there longing for scraps from the rich man's table, but the rich man did NOTHING. And the story goes on to when the two have passed on and Lazarus is in heaven, but the rich man is separated from God. The rich man keeps calling out for pity, but Abraham answers him and says, "remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted and you are in anguish." - And right as I read that I knew I had consulted God in his word and I had an answer. I am the rich man/woman. And though our daughter was malnourished and there could be long-term effects due to that, it didn't matter. She was Lazarus - imperfect in health (but perfect for us!) poor Lazurus whom God LOVES. And I could NOT ignore her or I would be in anguish!

Then my prayer became, "Lord if this is not our daughter then I am NOT making that decision. You will have to do that by closing this door. I am putting this back on you. If this is not your will then make it impossible. We are moving forward with this one baby who, out of millions, was chosen for us. And if you do not close doors then she will be ours!

And then I read the last part of that passage, "In the same way, when you obey me you should say, "we are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty." And that sunk deep. This is not about us. We are unworthy of this precious calling. We are simply doing our duty and in that we are humbled and blessed.

The next morning is when Terra shared with me more of our daughter's story. She kept saying, "we understand if you need some more time to think about this." And finally I interrupted her and said, "you don't have to worry about saying that again. We have a clear word from the Lord that this baby is ours." I could hear the happiness in Terra's voice. She went on to share the story about our daughter's formula and after hanging up the phone I remembered Libby's sweet prayers and right then I realized how precious that confirmation was - that Libby was praying so specifically for this girl at just the right time.

It was a crazy Wednesday morning as we announced to everyone that we accepted our referral. We were still emotional from it all, but now I was able to rejoice fully and celebrate. We got dressed and I took Libby to Chick-fil-a for lunch and she celebrated Lulu's referral and our acceptance of the referral with a delicious ice cream cone!

And then we went to UPS to send our ACCEPTANCE LETTER!!!! (and money, of course). I love the picture below because Libby took it! She's good!

I can't remember for sure, but I think we also went to Babies R Us on that day and shopped for a few items for little Lu. We came home and washed the premie pajamas and put a care package together for Lu. You can see the items we put in a zip lock gallon sized bag. Another AW family who is traveling to Ethiopia this week to get their child is taking the package for us.

In the care package we included premie pjs with hat and booties, a photo book, a teething toy/rattle, wrist rattels, a silkie, 2 of our CDs and some letters to the TH staff and a blessing over Lu.

On this same day, Thursday, I found myself sick and congested - and packing for a trip to Alabama. We were headed there to lead worship for a youth event in Dothan. As we packed I felt worse and worse and realized that I was probably going to have a rough trip vocally.

Our trip began at 4:30 AM on Friday. Our flight took off at 6:50AM. Once in Dothan we met some sweet people and began ministry. Though I didn't feel very good (especially Saturday) we really had a great time. The people were awesome and they just jumped on every song and sang it out, even when I couldn't.

On Saturday, in the midst of working and leading, we received a phone call from our real estate agent. There was an offer made on our house and it was decent enough to accept. We have been trying to sell our home since last June - 10 months ago!!! We've had 2 mortgages for 10 months and we had been praying for God's mercy - that He would allow our home to sell before we got Aria-Lu. The closing is now set for late May!

On Sunday we flew home - we walked in our front door at 11:10 PM. We were exhausted to say the least.

Can you believe the week we had??? A refugee came to know Christ, we got our referral, accepted our referral, received a special contract AND have a buyer for our home!

God is so good!!! Everything we have waited for and longed for - for weeks, months and even YEARS - was all delivered to us within ONE WEEK!

I have many stories to share about some other confirmations regarding our referral and some precious information that we were given by families who have already gone to ET and remember meeting our daughter. I will share those in little tidbits as we wait for that much desired court date!

Thanks for reading along. To God be all the glory. Great things He has done!!!

Give Me Another Day or 2

2009-04-21T09:29:00.002-05:00

I have SO MANY updates to post here, but I am swamped! Just wanted you all to know that we have not fallen off the face of the earth and we are still THRILLED about our referral. There is so much to tell and yet we have to be careful not to be too detailed until we pass court. Give me another day or two and I will catch you all up.... Let me just say this... Last week was the most emotional, full, blessed week of our lives!

WE HAVE A BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-15T09:56:00.006-05:00

Yesterday - Tuesday, April 14, 2009 we received a referral for a TINY baby girl. She is approximately 3 months old and she is a tiny, precious, beauty! There is a story behind our referral and why I am just now making this announcement today. Yesterday was a heavy day as we received a referral for such a terribly malnourished baby. Her story is sad and it was just hard to rejoice over the referral as we processed her circumstances and situation. AW's office closed just 20 minutes after our referral so I had to wait all night to talk with our family coordinator and get some more specific information. It took my brain a little while to realize that I had a millions questions!

During the night and even this morning the Lord has continued to confirm that this is indeed our Aria-Lu ("Lulu"). As Terra described Lulu's situation during the referral call, all that kept going through my head was the name that God originally gave me for her - "Aria" - meaning "Lioness of God" in Hebrew. The Lord was showing me that this name is a promise of strength over her. He takes the small and simple to confound the wise. He holds the weak and adds his strength. I'm thinking of that verse "the joy of the Lord is our strength" and how God made Libby such a picture of His joy. I believe Libby is going to be the perfect sister for Lulu!

There is so much more to this story. Some I might be able to share soon. The rest will have to wait. We can not share her picture with you until we pass court. We are, from this point forward, going to be praying first for Lulu's health and weight gain, then for a quick court date and then a SUCCESSFUL first court date so we can pass court before the Ethiopian courts close in August! Timing is important here! Lulu needs to be held and nurtured by the family God has chosen for her - US!!! - so that she can fully recover!

One quick story of confirmation to share. Lulu is only a little over 6 pounds right now. But she was even smaller a few weeks ago. So our agency had to start shipping a special formula from the States just for Lulu. That is the formula she started responding to. Well - back in January and throughout February Libby was praying specifically that Jesus would send milk to Lulu. I never suggested that she pray that way. She just did it and now it makes so much sense. Indeed, Jesus has had to ship special milk to her so she could survive!

Here is the actual post from March 6 about Libby praying in that way (which is EXACTLY when they were trying to figure out what formula would work for her!):

FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2009

Big Sister's Thinking of You

Lulu,

Today, out of nowhere and not prompted at all, Libby said, "Momma, Lulu is crying and we need to get her." Then she said, "Lulu is crying and she needs her milk." A little while later while we were cooking she said, "Mom, Lulu is crying and we need to get her home. She needs her milk. Will Jesus give it to her?" And before I could answer she started praying out loud, "Jesus, give Lulu her milk and get her home. Thank you Jesus."

I wonder what is happening in your world today?

Love you!

Love,

Mommy and Libby

We are NUMBER ONE in line!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-14T13:17:00.003-05:00

Shala Bartley received a referral today for a one year old girl! Congratulations!!!

SO... WE ARE NUMBER ONE IN LINE FOR AN INFANT GIRL!!!

Libby told me this morning that Jesus is bringing Lulu's picture tonight and we will get her picture tomorrow.... we shall see.....

The wait continues.....

Cindy

10 Months and Counting... argh!

2009-04-13T22:03:00.001-05:00

Today marks 10 months of official waiting.... and we're still counting.... what can I say....

Moving Mountains in Lulu's Room!

2009-04-12T23:21:00.003-05:00

Quick post to share this...

In Lulu's room tonight a woman of Muslim background, moved by the Spirit during worship and Scripture reading, sat and cried and asked questions and....became a follower of Jesus! Mountains were moved in your room tonight, Lulu! Now... may the mountain called "WAITING" be moved so I can get to you!

A Thread of Dreams

2009-04-04T16:57:00.004-05:00

God has spoken to our family in many creative ways over the years. Little confirmations at just the right time, words of encouragement, even some prophetic words that totally came true and were such evidence of how we serve the Living God! He still speaks! Of course, everything spoken over us or to us has always been measured by the Word of God as to its validity.

Dreams and visions.... they seem like such a mystery to many Western Christians. But to some of my Iranian friends and other Muslim background friends, dreams and visions are a normal way in which God has revealed Himself to them. Many had dreams of a "prophet" robed in bright white and they had such a peace in the dream, but didn't know who the prophet was. Then, at just the right time, God brought someone to tell them the Good News of Jesus and they realize...that was the man in their dreams! And they become followers of Christ. I hear stories from various mission fields about this all the time.

The summer before we traveled to China to get Libby Billy and I led worship at our local church. After the service a man came up to me that I did not know. He told me that as I sang he had a vision of me pregnant. He said I was fully pregnant and glowing. And he just felt that I should hear about this vision. I did not think much about it at the time. We were close to getting Libby and I assumed the vision had to do with that somehow.

About a month later we led worship at a camp. At the end of the service another man approached me that I did not know. He basically shared with me the exact same vision. He felt sure that it was not about our adoption but about a physical pregnancy that was to come.

A little history here, before I go on with the story: Billy and I have never TRIED to get pregnant because of some genetic issues on my side of the family. But we have also never used birth control. It's always been on our hearts to leave that to the Lord and see what happens. We have not struggled with the desire for biological kids at any time. We have always had a heart for adoption and we've felt very complete and normal in that desire. It has been the most natural thing for us.

Obviously, after a second vision that was explained to me almost exactly the same way - FULLY PREGNANT and GLOWING - I figured there was something to this. I called my friend, Terry and shared the 2 visions with her. She said, "Oh, Cindy, I have to tell you something". And immediately I wondered what she was talking about! She went on to say that her husband, Larry, had a dream about me being pregnant back when they lived in Africa. But the Spirit had not released him to share the dream with us yet. So we would have to wait until he was ready before we could know the rest of the dream.

Several months later, we already had Libby, Larry decided to share the dream. He dreamed that I was FULLY PREGNANT and that in the dream a man was chasing me with a knife. This man wanted to cut the baby out of me, but Billy stepped in and shot the man dead. He said that the dream was more about Billy's role of protection in the spiritual realm than me being pregnant, but he remembered specifically that I was VERY pregnant in the dream.

Shortly after Larry shared that dream with us, the Lord put it on my heart to adopt from Ethiopia. I struggled with it a little only because I wondered if the purpose of the dreams and visions were to put the desire in our hearts to have biological children. But the way in which I felt called to adopt from Ethiopia was so real that I just knew I was to move forward with that. Of course, at that time we had only had Libby a few months and Billy was not open to adopting again just yet. So, unbeknownst to me, I had another year to pray over it all.

On Mother's Day the next year (2007) I was holding Libby during worship and praying that God would help us do the right thing - which I was convinced was adopting from ET. A woman that I barely knew approached me in the middle of worship and said, "The Lord just gave me a vision of you VERY PREGNANT and GLOWING. I don't know if it is a biological child or an adopted child, but it's going to happen VERY SOON."

You can only imagine at this point how stunned I was that God was continuing to give this vision to random, but divinely appointed, people in my life! For months I continued to pray and wonder what all this meant.

At the end of December 2007 the Lord finally put the desire in Billy's heart to adopt from ET and the journey began. I have wondered many times during this journey if those visions were for a third child - a biological child - or if the visions were about adoption.

Today a friend of mine sent me a message through Facebook about a dream she had last night. In the dream I was BIG PREGNANT and GLOWING as we talked about Aria-Lu and parenting in general. She said that even though I was pregnant, she knew in the dream that the pregnancy was for Aria-Lu who we were adopting. The two were one. And it was about to happen AT ANY MINUTE!

I am sharing this primarily for my adoptive mommy friends - especially the ones who, like me, have never been physically pregnant. This adoption journey is the most real thing. I believe these visions and dreams have been for the purpose of confirming that in the spiritual realm adoption is a pregnancy. God plants the seed of desire in our hearts to adopt already knowing what child he has chosen for us. And from that point on we carry in us the child to be in a spiritual sense. In the spiritual realm we are pregnant and it is REAL! And we are GLOWING!

It seems that the first two or three visions/dreams were about Libby as I was very near to receiving her. The rest have been for Aria-Lu - our sweet Lulu who is about to be revealed to us! I am in tears right now as I envision the beauty of this spiritual pregnancy. My heart and my emotions tell me it is real. But as I walk around shopping for Lulu other people, for the most part, can't see what I know is in me. So to have others who have been given a special glimpse into the spiritual reality of this pregnancy confirm such is very much a comfort and encouragement to me. I am not journeying to find Lulu. God has already found her for me and in the spiritual realm she is in me ready to burst forth! Praise God!

I hope this thread of dreams is an encouragement to you and to anyone who is struggling with the idea of adoption. Adoption is NOT unnatural. But is IS supernatural! And for those who sometimes grieve missing out on having a child physically within them, know that in the spiritual realm you have missed nothing at all!

Blessings,

Cindy

Ahhhh.... the weekend.... sigh....

2009-04-03T22:59:00.003-05:00

It is the weekend. I just ran 4 miles on my treadmill to work out the energy I collected as I waited for the phone to ring today. I have been so calm all week. I'm actually very impressed that I have not been emotional or moody or abnormally impatient (I'm always a little impatient!) during this first week of intense waiting. Thursday night I had some anxiety and today I thought about it ALL DAY... but I think it was just the realization that if no referral came today I would have to wait through the weekend to start hoping for the referral call again. Now, at 11 PM, I am accepting that and moving on. It should be a great weekend... not too much planned. I am taking it easy and staying indoors as much as possible because I am SO ALLERGIC to San Antonio in general (but I still love my San Anton) and we are scheduled to be in the studio next week. I NEED my voice to be ready for that! And yes - this means there will be a new EP soon - 5 new songs by Billy!... sometime before early summer! Artwork for CD cover is looking great, songs are already laid down... just need to sing them! No pressure, right!

But seriously - the studio will be a GREAT distraction from the wait - if necessary.. I would certainly rather have the referral Monday and then go into the studio with all that wonderful, blissful, care free energy! It's way better than anxious energy!

I'm kind of rambling.... better go.

Cindy

Micah is a Kulp!!!!! Praise God!

2009-04-01T08:19:00.003-05:00

I can not begin to tell you the story that is Micah Kulp's today. There has been more spiritual warfare in the midst of his journey and the journey of 3 other children being adopted by another family. So much that I can not even begin to cover it all. But TODAY - at just the right time - little Micah passed court and became a Kulp after MANY months of labored prayer! The video the Kulp's have posted on their blog is priceless. All praise to God Almighty!!! Now we just have to pray the three children home who God has chosen for the Semlows! They are so close!!!!

The Kulp's still have to travel to ET to get Micah, but our agency has been sending them monthly updates and photos.....You have got to meet Micah!!!! http://thekulpfamily.blogspot.com/

ADOPTING ARIA

Moving Gracie's Updates to Family Blog

Gracie at 15 and 16 Months

Happy 14 Months!

New Blog

Help Haiti's Orphans - Here's How!!!

Gracie's 11 Months and Her First Christmas!

10 Months (and more!)

Happy Nine Months!

Eight Months Old and Counting

Gracie is SEVEN months today!

link to updates

Quick Update!

Partial Answers - But REJOICING nonetheless!

Grammy and Papa Boots Visit!

Update

Prayer Requests....

Gracie's First Doctor's Appointment

Life With Gracie and A Special Father's Day!

We're Home!!!

Headed to Houston!

Headed to Houston!

Headed to Houston!

Around the town in ET

Adoption Day!

More pictures to go with previous post...

Gotcha Day!!! and so much more.....

a few more!

Gracie's birthmother - Also her Uncle and Grandfather

Let's See More!!!

Photos from Metcha Day!

Meeting Gracie

Gracie's Birth Mother - The Story

He met her!!!

Made it to Ethiopia!

A Day in Dubai

Traveling to Dubai - The Whole Story!

We are in Dubai!

Travel Prayers

One more thing... or two

We Leave in the Morning! Gotcha Day in ONE WEEK!

An Update on Gracie Lu!!!!!! NEW PICTURES!!!!!

Libby has the croup...

We Think She's "Gracie Lu" and Here's Our Itinerary:

1 week!

CONCRETE Travel Dates!!!!

Not this week...

In Case We Leave Tomorrow...

Praying for ONE DOCUMENT!!!

On hold until the last minute!!!

Praying for travel confirmation in the morning!

The Baby Shower !!!

WE PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And more great news!!!!!!

Words of Hope....

Time to PRAY! Tonight is THE Night!

3 more days!

Children's Hope Chest's Goal MET!!!!

Travel Packet!

Miracles Are Happening for Children's Hope Chest Formula Drive!

Just answering a common question

I Think This Article is About Our Baby Girl!

May 04, 2009

URGENT NEED: Forumla Needed for Malnourished Babies in Ethiopia

Good news!

The Countdown!

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!

2 More Tidbits of GLORIOUS NEWS!

A Little News About Our Daughter!

So many people ask, "What can I do to help?" Here's the answer!

What A Week!

Give Me Another Day or 2

WE HAVE A BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2009

Big Sister's Thinking of You

We are NUMBER ONE in line!!!!!!!!!!!

10 Months and Counting... argh!

Moving Mountains in Lulu's Room!

A Thread of Dreams

Ahhhh.... the weekend.... sigh....

Micah is a Kulp!!!!! Praise God!