Zoe's Room!

For those of you who have been asking for pictures of our sweet baby's room- here they are!  I'm not completely finished with it yet, but I think this is all I plan to do until we travel.  I'm hoping we can pick up some things in Ethiopia to add to her room....

 Looking in from the doorway... 

 Love this sign- "Every life is a fairy tale written by God's fingers", and my rocking chair from when I was little

 Her crib :) Can't wait until she is sleeping in it!!

 I put these together myself since we were on a tight budget for this room- Drew told me that was the only way I could redecorate in pink!

 Her doll (it was in her stocking at Christmas long before we had even seen her face) and taggie blankie- Evan has always slept with a similar blankie...

 Her Zoe doll- Drew ordered this right after we had decided on her name and Evan and I were surprised when it came to our house one afternoon :)

 Africa with a flower over Ethiopia- We made this out of foam board.  Drew cut out the shape of Africa with a utility knife and I filed down the edges and then we spray painted it brown.  We were very happy with the way it turned out- and it was soo inexpensive!

And last but not least, my little munchkin kissing on his baby sister's picture.  He has her picture in his room and I love when I go in there and see the frame has been moved- that means he's been giving her kisses!  He CAN'T WAIT to have her home.

*Adoption Update:
Our agency has several families with their 2nd hearing today and we are hoping to hear tomorrow how it went and if they passed court AND got their MOWA letters (which would be the best case scenario) This will help us determine what our situation will be like in a couple of weeks.  As we updated before, our court date is June 17th and as of now, we are planning to leave around the 13th.  We are starting to cross things off the packing lists and ordering some last-minute things we will need for traveling.  Also, we are still collecting donations to take with us for Zoe's orphanage, so if any of you feel called to donate, just let us know and we can either pick items up or you are welcome to drop them off to us too!!  Thanks for your prayers for our baby girl and this adoption process!! 

DONATION UPDATE!

Just a quick post to let anyone who may be interested in donating items for Zoe's orphanage:  Our agency director told us last week that they are in desperate need of formula and diapers.  Not that we won't be taking ANY of the other items on the list, but these are the ones they need the most! I will try to post pictures of Zoe's room later this week :) 

BIG NEWS!

So....  we got our court date yesterday!!!  HIP HIP HOORAY!!  We are scheduled for court on June 17th- less than a month away!  For those of you unfamiliar with the process- the first hearing for our case is on June 8th (which we do not have to attend).  Two things have to happen before we can travel for the second hearing on June 17th.  We have to PASS COURT and our letter from MOWA has to be there.  MOWA is currently processing 5 cases per day (which was the change that happened a couple of months ago).  We are still hopeful that things will progress as planned, although we realize that there could be delays.  We would love it if you would pray with us that those involved in our case move as quickly as possible and we can keep our June 17th court appointment.  And most importantly, please keep our sweet baby girl in your prayers.  Oh how my arms ache to hold her!  Ok- back to making lists of all the things that have to be done before we leave! 

Collecting Donations!

As we get a little closer to traveling (we still don't know for sure when we're leaving yet), we are starting to work on collecting donations for Zoe's orphanage.  We have received a list of the items that they are in need of.  If any of you feel led to donate to Zoe's orphanage, we would be more than happy to take your items with us!

The items they need are as follows:
Toys
Clothing (especially children sizes 4-12)
Shoes
Bedding (crib,twin and full sizes)
Hygiene products
Baby/Childrens Shampoo
Baby/Childrens Soap
Baby Powder
Lotion
Teeth Products
Baby Wipes and Childrens Wipes
Formula
Rice Cereal
Diapers
Childrens Vitamins
Childrens Medicines
DVD's (learning or Disney)
Books

If you live close and would like to drop them off at our house, that would be great..  Or we would be happy to come pick things up as well.  Thanks for any and all donations!  They will be much appreciated!

Recent Happenings and Adoption Update...

We have been keeping busy around here...  Evan is pretty much back to normal now- been through a round of steroids and almost through his amoxicillin...  Praise the Lord for bubblegum medicine that he actually likes...  Trying to get him to take the steroid (cough medicine) was terrible- very stressful for both him and us! 

 I made digital mother's day cards this year for our moms and grandmas- this was one of the pictures on the card :)

 Helping Daddy mow the backyard...

 Lunch at Chipotle last week after his doctor's appointment...

 His new llama from Ma- she spoiled him after he was so brave at the doctor- he went twice last week and both times our doctor wasn't in- so he had to see 2 different doctors.  This was a big deal for E- he LOVES his Dr. Camille!  But he did so well both times..

 A visit to the zoo Mother's Day weekend-- my little hyena :)

 Sittin in the safari car..

 E and Drew planting flowers- they planted our hanging baskets for me and surprised me on Mother's Day with them.  So thankful I didn't have to worry about doing that this year!

 E and Momma on Mothers Day :)

 A playdate at the mall yesterday with Steph and Caleb- loving the carousel...

Happy about their Chick-fil-A!

As far as an adoption update:

We talked with our agency director last Friday and found out that a couple of families who were filed for court on March 28 just received their court dates for June 2.  We were filed on April 11 (2 weeks after them), so we are hopeful that we'll hear of our court date within a couple of weeks.  Evidently the judge who does the assigning of court cases was on vacation (how dare she!) so that slowed things up a bit.  We're still hoping to travel at the end of June or beginning of July for the first time...  Please pray that we can get our court date soon so we can finally meet baby Zoe! 

We've also been working on Zoe's room.. It's starting to come together and I love the pink and brown!  I will post pictures once we get things on the wall and get a little closer to having it done.  As always, thanks for your continued support and prayers....

Hanging in There...

My little man has croup :(  On Sunday he started complaining of a sore throat and had a low-grade temp.  Sunday night was a LONG night.  Poor little guy was restless with a fever and up all night barking like a little seal.  A quick Google search diagnosed it as croup.  I took him to the doctor right away Monday morning and we were right :(  He has some steroids and is on the mend, but we're laying low at home today.   He had a little meltdown this morning when he realized he was going to miss out on his normal Tuesday activities, but then Aunt Laura saved the day and delivered a donut to him for breakfast!  Wonderful surprise and turned his frown upside down for sure!

Our small group from church volunteered at a 6K race on Saturday for Come Unity, a wonderful organization doing all kinds of great things in Africa.  We were so thankful for this opportunity to help out and raise money for all those without clean water. This picture was taken before the race- I didn't realize how long it's been since we've taken a family picture of the 3 of us.

My little man looking handsome in his sunglasses!

Getting the water ready to pass out to the runners and walkers...

Evan and his buddies Jared and Katelyn ready to hand out the water!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of Evan and his little girlfriend Riley at Pizza Hut after the race!  They are too cute :) She calls Evan "my Evan".  Love it :)

We also had a pool party Saturday night at Evan's buddy Ryan's house.  It had been awhile since he'd been swimming, but he jumped in just like a little fish and had oh so much fun!  Can't wait to swim lots this summer :)

Not much to update on the adoption :(  We continue to wait for a court date.  There are a few families with our agency that were submitted to court on March 28 who still haven't received their court dates yet.  We were submitted on April 11, so we definitely don't anticipate hearing anything until after they have received theirs.  Trying to hang in there and stay positive, but it's sooo hard some days.  I so wish we had her home and in our arms instead of in an orphanage.  As always, we treasure your support and prayers for our sweet baby girl and a speedy court date so we can BRING HER HOME SOON!