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