Stitches and Number 23

We are officially 23 on the girls list! I think our unofficial number is lower, but we're just going with the official numbers for now. If you're not familiar, we are only "official" if the referrals made in the last few weeks are accepted by adoptive parents and paperwork is turned in. So...there could be 2 or 3 out there that will be turned in this week, maybe not. So, worst case scenario...we're 23. It worked for Michael Jordan...

We're getting really really excited for our adoption. It's still fairly far off, but now that we're on the waitlist, our minds have been freed up from the hassles of paperwork, homestudies, and other frustrations to think about our wonderful little girl.

Other than that, we have been getting ready for Christmas. Last weekend we put up our traditional Charlie Brown tree ("It just needs a little love!") and the girls LOVED it. Last year we started getting the girls each an ornament which reminded us of them, so they liked hearing the stories and putting them on the tree.

They tried on their Christmas dresses and we took a picture by the tree:


We were singing Christmas songs and dancing by the tree, but I tried to get the girls together for one last picture. You know how it is...excited, riled up...they were getting kinda crazy. They both took off toward the tree, but our little Majil got bumped off balance and smacked her head against the end table.



It was deep and bled like crazy, so she needed stitches. We tried distracting her with the Tinkerbell movie and an endless supply of Mike & Ike's (or "Michaels" as Paisley calls them), but it worked for about 2 minutes.

It was the scariest experience yet in her life, as demonstrated by her screams and crying during the whole thing. (And that was JANA!) The last time she had stitches (are we bad parents?), we were able to get the glue, but this time since it was in her hair, it was a no-go. She's since forgiven us for putting her through that. She's back to her normal self.

Don't mention the messy house. Have a great holiday season!

WAITLIST!

That's right....we're on the WAITING LIST! It's been a long road....we got our final homestudy a week ago Saturday and mailed our Dossier on Monday. Our caseworker was gone, so we figured we'd get a call or email this coming Friday, but she got to it early!

The homestudy process was long and drawn out; just when we thought we had hit every wall possible, more showed up! BUT, it's done!! Now we wait, which will definitely be hard, but we are fortunate to have our two beautiful girls to spend time with. Sooooo....we are (I think officially) number:











I'm sure we'll look back and it will have been fast

But at the time it seems S L O W like this little guy (and it's DAY 1!)














But we've prayed for the waiting list and here we are!

P.S. Funny story...Jana asked Paisley where she wanted to eat the other night. Paisley said, "Pizza Hut" which is odd because she may be the only child who doesn't like pizza. Jana said, "Paisley, I didn't think you liked pizza..?" Paisley said, "I don't like pizza, but I like huts!"

Fall Fun While Waiting for Homestudy

That's right folks....no homestudy yet. After checking on our background checks and getting sent to voicemail numerous times, Jana put her foot down and got through to the right person. We should be hearing any day now with our final homestudy! Yeah, we've heard that before...

While we've been waiting, we've been busy. A few weeks ago, the Veggie Tales came to our church with their God Made You Special show. The kids loved it, and since Jana's parents helped out, we got to MEET BOB AND LARRY! Majil was scared, but Paisley was PUMPED:


We also carved pumpkins last week. Paisley wanted a scary pumpkin (with freckles), Majil wanted a funny pumpkin. They did a great job!



Our bible study went out to a farm for a hayrack ride and smores last weekend. They had face painting and pumpkin painting. We were fortunate enough to get a family picture too!



Paisley had a costume party at school too. This year, she's a cat. Majil is going to be a princess, although she won't keep her costume on long enough for a picture. If playing dress-up= no problem. For Dad's camera = major trouble. So here's Paisley:


Finally, we've added to our Etsy site with onesies:


Hopefully, our next post will be with good news about the waiting list!

We've been tagged!

So we've been tagged by Joy, Missy, and Paul & DeeDee, so here's 7 fun and lesser-known facts about us:

1) We met at Texas Christian University (Go Frogs), which is about 12 hours away from our hometowns, which are only 50 miles apart. She went to meet a Southern Gentleman, I went to meet a Southern Belle. What started as "just needing a ride back for Thanksgiving" turned into what you see today. Our first real date was a TCU football game. Jana tripped TWICE; once on the sidewalk on the way to the game, once UP the stairs to our seats. Smooth and endearing.


2) At one time in my life, I was in a band (some might have called it a "boy band") with bleach blond dreadlocks. We recorded a CD in Nashville and drove around in a Maroon VW van.


3) When Jana was 4, she had a chance to see some young tigers up close with her Dad. Because she was scared, she was on her Dad's shoulders, but one of the tigers thought her dangling leg was a toy and jumped up and bit it. She remembers a lot of blood and people freaking out, but that's about it. She had to get several stitches and was in all the papers. And she still has scars on her leg. She had me at hello after that story...

4) Jana is currently suffering through her 11th kidney stone. That's right, 11. I have had one, but promise it was LOTS bigger than any of Jana's. (not really...)

5) Paisley's name was from a caption in a rockclimbing magazine; we kept going back to it when picking out girl's names. Majil's name is from a friend of ours at TCU...we liked how it sounded (pronounced "May-Jill", but we call her Mae).

6) Jana is ALWAYS cold, I am ALWAYS hot. From about August to June, Jana sleeps with a bag of corn that is warmed up in the microwave to keep her feet warm. It grosses me out; it smells like popcorn. BY HER FEET. Still don't know why they don't pop.

7) We started our own language shortly after we met. It drove every one of our friends absolutely crazy. We don't use it very often, but it still comes up at least once per day. We also use similar phrases and mannerisms. The pinnacle was when one of us said "pajamas" and we both acted like we were zipping up an adult size of footie pajamas.

Don't worry, that's not me. Promise. You can find anything in Google Images.

Thanks for tagging us! We'll pass it on!

Let the fundraising begin!

We've been brainstorming ideas for fundraising. Some ideas are great, others....well, not so much. We plan on doing a number of things, but the most fun (to date) has been the launching of our Etsy site! For those of you who don't know, Etsy is a site that allows people to sell handcrafted items. "What kind of handcrafted goods do the boring ol' daddy's daisies people make?" do you say? Excellent question:

Ethiopia Adoption Announcement

Africa Note Card

See our Etsy shop here: Daddy's Daisies on Etsy!

We have two cards right now with about 20 more (not all Africa or Ethiopia related...) in the basement, er..."design studio". (See: extra bedroom.) We will be adding more as time goes on, but since we're just hanging out, waiting for our homestudy, we wanted to do something to get our minds off things AND help spread the word about Ethiopia and Africa in general.

So, if you'd be so kind; spread the word. Email, blog, etc. and share these with people who might be interested. Also, cards can be customized with other countries too, for those of you adopting from Korea, China, etc.

Thanks so much!

p.s. If someone can tell me how to post two pictures side by side, we'll be done with all this "single file picture" riff-raff that makes me seasick to scroll past...

God is good

I am married to a wise woman. She has made excellent observations in the midst of all of our frustrations and waiting. Here's the deal: we are still waiting for our final homestudy. We thought things were fine, but we got a 4-page list of corrections (some of it was sample wording, so not ALL corrections) this last week. We added the things in that we could answer, but now we wait some more.

#1: God is good. That's what Jana and I have learned, or have been reminded of through all this. Whether the homestudy is complete in 2 days or 2 months, God is still good. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Who are we to think that our timeline of days and months has any significance in God's plan? We're selfish. We're impatient. We're excited. We're selfishimpatientexcited.

#2: God has a plan. The timing is His. And we submit to it. We of course are still praying for things to move quickly, but we know that God's plan is why we're here.


#3: We have to be ready for God's plan; God doesn't have to wait for us. So, we're doing everything we can right now so when we receive the final homestudy, we send it off. Copies, pictures, etc.

My wife is wise. I married my best friend and we're being selfishimpatientexcited together!! Can we do it? This picture sums it up:

Paisley's birthday and the buns joke

No, it's not Sunday night. Our posts have been weekly, usually on Sundays, BUT today was Paisley's 4th birthday. So, we had to add some pictures of her today.

Her preschool teacher made her a crown and she got to be Star of the Week.




Note the center star; yes, it says "carrots" are her favorite food. Uh huh. And Jana's is sushi. (Bad experience...)

She had a fun day. She had a visit by the balloon fairy overnight who brought a Tinkerbell balloon along with three latex balloons. At her request, we made pancakes, eggs, and bacon for dinner. We opened her presents and had the last 4 Pixie dust fairy cakes (the name keeps changing a little). Here she is opening her presents:




She was so great with Majil too. She would rip a little of the paper and have Majil finish the rest! What a good big sister. She's got such a sweet heart. The other night, some friends watched the girls for the evening. I got a text while we were out that said, "Paisley just told us that you can feel God in your heart and he feels like love." What a sweetheart.

And...without prompting, Majil told the Buns Joke on video! It's at the end:


Did you catch the buns shake at the end? Hilarious!

Oh yeah...still waiting on the homestudy. Tick Tick Tick...

....and, an anticlimactic follow up post

Well, the homestudy still isn't done. We are frustrated and trying to keep perspective. Every time we think that we will be on the waiting list soon, our home study caseworker says, "just one more thing...and this will cause a delay." It is hard because none of it has been our fault and it could have all been taken care of long ago, AND we are dealing with time sensitive stuff here...our background checks are only good for 3 months! grrrrrrr!!!!

In other news....we had a little overnight vacation for just Jana and I. Always good to get away and reconnect without interruptions. We found a great spot not too far from us; very relaxing and beautiful this time of year. We went on a hike, had dinner on the hotel's balcony overlooking an apple orchard at sunset, and slept without baby monitors! It was great.


Paisley is having her 4th birthday on Tuesday. We made cupcakes today. They are "Paisley's Pink Pixie-cakes"...so she says. She made enough to take to preschool and while she was frosting them, she said "this one's for Jackson, this one's for Autumn." It was pretty cute.





She's having a party at a paint-your-own-pottery place. It's neat because it's where I proposed to Jana via an expertly painted flower pot.


Look at us....we look young! It was almost 7 years ago...


And here we are, a wedding, two great kids, and a homestudy away from our sweet Ethiopian! Keep us in your prayers!

Final homestudy and family night!

So we had our last homestudy visit this past week. We've seen the first draft and are awaiting changes....THEN, send off the dossier! We're really excited. Judging by how many times I've checked my email for the final homestudy to arrive, I think this waiting period is going to be pretty rough.

It's been nice since the dossier stuff is all done. We have to get some photos printed, but the legwork is done. We've (I) have been a little more relaxed around the house. It was great because I could appreciate the little things. We were telling knock-knock jokes today; Paisley calls it "joking out". Majil piped in:

Majil: Knock-Knock

Me: Who's there?

Majil: House

Me: House who?

Majil: Buns (followed by side-splitting laughter)

She's been talking all about "buns". Donald Duck has buns. Her sister has buns. Diapers go on her buns. Buns buns buns. So, this knock knock joke deserved the joke of the year award in her mind. Of course, because of the laughter, we heard it again and again for the rest of lunch. I guess buns are kinda funny... Here she is being tough:


We had another successful day at Lowe's yesterday. Both girls made a pirate ship. They were pretty proud. When we got home, they were flying their boats around the house (because pirate ships can fly like in Peter Pan). I heard Paisley down the hall say quietly:

"Put out the plank, you scummy dogs!"

As long as she doesn't bring that talk to the dinner table...


We had family night tonight. The girls picked Chinese food for dinner, followed by Cinderella in our pajamas, and frozen hot chocolate for a treat. It was a lot of fun. Majil was more into it than I thought she'd be. It made us realize how big she's getting. Paisley, as always, was enthralled with Cinderella.

Last homestudy visit!

We made it! After overcoming our first major headache, we've finally scheduled our last homestudy visit. Everything has flowed rather smoothly in the grand scheme of things, except my Dr's letter. To make a long story short, I was told it was mailed for about 3 weeks straight and that "mail takes a little while to get places" (an hour away!?) and that I should just be patient! Finally, I spoke with the office manager who said, "Oh, no...it's right here. I thought you would pick it up." I had sent Jana to pick up the letter, but she was given the first draft. Nice detail to leave out....the completed, notarized copy was in a different envelope. Wonderful. In the end, it's totally God's work; I was prepared to request a new letter, arrange for a notary, schedule ANOTHER $80 visit, etc. But God is faithful....he takes care of us.

So Wednesday morning this place will be sparklin'! THEN, we ship off our Dossier to AGCI! I'm sure the waiting period is difficult, but I'm kind of excited to cherish the time with Paisley and Majil. They've got such great hearts--I'm honored to be their daddy.

Paisley started Preschool last week. It was tough for all of us, but mostly Majil! We went back to the car after dropping her off and she started crying and saying "Where's Paisley? Where's sister?" She thought we were leaving her by accident! When we got home, she looked through the whole house..."Paisley?....no....Paisley.....no..." It was adorable.

Jana took Paisley out to get her nails painted the night before the big day. She was pretty proud of her new nails (apparently called a mani-pedi; I'm learning so much. Sounds like a kind of Thai food...)
Paisley got to eat off the You Are Loved plate...an awesome idea by Jana that the kids get on their Special Day...they pick the food and activities for the day!

Our big girl Mae at home without her sister :(

We're reminded every day in one way or another that this is God's path for us and he will take care of us. Jana came across this in her devotions:

"Let them know that it is your hand,
that you, O LORD, have done it."
--Psalm 109:27

Exciting times!

It's been forever since we've blogged....didn't make the priority list like I thought it would when it started. But, we've had an exciting few weeks:

-We had 3 of our 4 homestudy visits. The final visit is in a week or so when we get everything put together.
-We've completed our Dossier stuff and are waiting to get the homestudy to ship it all off.
-We got to greet our good friends at the airport when they returned with their adorable boy from Ethiopia. They looked REALLY tired, but also very excited.
-Chris got his passport in the mail and thinks the picture isn't as dorky as he thought.
-We've cherished times with our girls and have been thankful that God has blessed our family so much. Lord willing, there will soon be 3 girls in our home and God has given us a waiting period so we can get to know them and their personalities more and more every day.


Paisley starts preschool next week. Ugh. It kind of makes me nauseous that my first is old enough to go to preschool. She is really excited. She has a super cool Tinkerbell backpack for the first day. Majil is busy...had her second birthday. She has been talking quite a bit since she got her tubes in her ears earlier this year, but in the last few weeks has exploded with a . It cracks me up..."Daddy, Daddy....swimming pool....come!" Ok, so that's not an example of a sentence, but it's really cute to hear her say it.

So hopefully on the waitlist soon. We're excited to see what God has in store for us.

Oh...and, we're reading "There's No Me Without You"...it is a MUST READ for anyone adopting through Ethiopia. The statistics in the first two chapters are mind-boggling. If you haven't heard about it, click here.

Parenting...

Yesterday, the girls were busy at the table and Jana and I were deep in a discussion over something really important, but I can't remember what exactly it was. Usually, it's something super cool like, "if I were an 90's rap star, who would I be?"

It's kind of a loaded question, but we usually settle on me being Vanilla Ice (yep yep) and Jana being Biggie Smalls (because of his talent as a lyricist, not his appearance or message!). Anyway, we look over and see this:Why wouldn't a marker end up in a water bottle? So of course, we ask who did it:

She was pretty proud. It dawned on me that this is something a young couple without kids would never see. I thought about all the crazy things we do as parents that would be quite inappropriate if it weren't for the kids involved:

Smelling a child's rear end to see if they need a new diaper comes to mind...

But for the most part it's wonderful. (Even the disgusting stuff, right!?) So I took my camera on our walk to try to capture the great parts of parenthood:


Some day, our children will grow up, but still give us the same looks.

"For mommy."

I can't wait for #3 to arrive!

(Yes, there are more pictures of Majil because Jana was up ahead with Paisley...)