Pray With Africa

I found out about this awesome movement/organization through another blog. Please take a minute to watch this video and pray along WITH us: I Am African

Waiting with Excitement

September has been busy and exciting in the Nix household. On September 3rd, we were officially placed on the wait list to receive a referral for our baby! This is a huge milestone in the adoption process and means that we should be getting a phone call and email to introduce us to our baby in about 8 months. This is an average, based on our agency's recent time frames, so it could be sooner (which is what we are hoping for!) or a little longer than 8 months. Also, on September 17th, we received confirmation that our dossier is now "on Ethiopian soil," about to be translated into Amharic! One step closer...
Along with all of this exciting news has come the beginning of the Fall season (my favorite!) and the start of a new school year, which means I am working again! Crossing another adoption milestone and being captivated by the busyness of the new season has resulted in a halt of preparation for the arrival of a new baby. Of course, we are always preparing for our baby in our hearts and praying for his/her well-being. But practically speaking, we have a A LOT to do before Baby E arrives, and realizing that we could be getting the phone call in 8 months or less puts that into perspective! Fortunately, my wonderful friends who are already mothers or who are currently expecting have helped me to realize that it's okay just to "relish in the moment" when you're about 8 months away from being introduced to your baby. So, that's what we're doing...relishing in God's grace and thanking Him for this amazing gift.
And we're thankful for friends and family who are celebrating along with us. Somehow amidst this busy month, we managed to get away to Ohio and spend good quality time with Jeff's family. And in October, we are going to visit my family in Alabama. We are so blessed to have such amazing, supportive families who are anxiously awaiting for the arrival of Baby E!

Here we are enjoying an NFL football game...Can't wait for Baby E to wear his/her Bengals jersey!

My sister-in-law, Carrie, welcomed us with these great gifts...games from Africa!

Our nieces and nephews love Uncle Jeff...he is going to be the best Daddy!

Signed. Sealed. Delivered.

This weekend, we spent $35 to send 1 piece of paper to New York...all so our CIS approval could safely and quickly get to KBS Dossiers. So it was well worth it! We should officially be on the wait list very soon (which means our dossier is off to Washington D.C. for final authentication before heading to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)! Can you tell how happy we are?!

The Chase is Over

Our US CIS approval letter came today!!! I was initially bummed when I checked the mail and went through all of the official-looking letter size envelopes (mostly bills...imagine that!). I didn't think there was any way the manila envelope with a handwritten address was our approval letter. But when I saw the return address, I did a little dance in my driveway! Amazing how something so huge, so life-changing, is contingent upon this one single piece of paper.
People in the adoption world call this first phase in the process the "paper chase." Quite clever, because that's truly what we've felt like we've been doing for the past 4 months! Our dossier should be in Ethiopia in no time, which means we will officially be on the wait list for our referral~the phone call/email that will introduce us to our baby!

I Just Call You Mine

Last week I heard Martina McBride's newest release, "I Just Call You Mine" for the first time. What an incredible love song.... for my husband as well as for our unborn child who is already blessing our family and so many others. I guess no explanation is needed as to why the tears flowed like a river...

"Everyone that sees you always wants to know you.
And everyone that knows you always has a smile.
You're a standing ovation, the dream that I've been chasing
After years of waiting for a chance to finally shine
Everyone calls you amazing...
I just call you mine."

My Little Watchdog

Hey Mom, Want me to help you watch for the FedEx truck?

Maybe today is the day we get CIS approval!

Come on already, one step closer to Baby E!

I'm getting tired!

I give up...maybe tomorrow?

My Husband Rocks!

Look what my husband surprised me with! This necklace, "Hands for Africa," was custom-made and hand-crafted by Tracy Hanson who has a great space on Etsy. She creates all sorts of jewelry with adoption themes, and in doing a little research, it looks like she is getting ready to have a grandchild from Ethiopia! The necklaces are all beautiful, and a percentage of the purchase for this particular necklace goes to a family currently adopting from Ethiopia to help with travel expenses....a family who happens to be one of my favorite in the "blogging world!"
I couldn't get a good close-up picture of it with my camera, but it is covered with tiny handprints. I love wearing it, as it reminds me of all of the orphans in Africa, as well as my baby. I love that is close to my heart, literally. It is also a good "conversational piece." A few weeks ago, a TSA worker at the Louisville airport stopped me and pointed at my necklace. While I thought she was just going to make me go back through security again, she instead told me that she is adopting from Ethiopia and getting ready to travel there! She pulled a picture from her wallet of her baby boy. Such a proud mamma...so am I!

***Update on adoption progress because people have been asking- We are still waiting on the same ONE document from Immigration Services before our dossier can be sent to Ethiopia. Everything else is ready and waiting to go! It should literally be here any day now, so I've been stalking our postman, along with every FedEx truck that rolls down our street!***

p.s. I added two more blog links to the top left that I think you will find very inspirational. These families are in different stages of the process, but I frequent them both for encouragement.