I am a......

doer, a planner, a goer, a let's-get-er-doner, so in light of that I am really, really, really, really getting sick of all this waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I knew that the wait after referral would not be easier for me. When we adopted O I was a basketcase for the two months between referral and travel(that seems like nothing compared to the wait this time!) The joke was that my mind was half in China already. I did crazy things like take my cordless phone from home in my purse to work!!

I've spent the last week getting my house decorated for Christmas....the whole time I had this feeling that something is missing. Something IS missing.....my daughter. Part of me feels like we should wait and have Christmas when she is here....but I don't think my other kids would be too happy about that! It's just frusturating that they can't streamline the system so that paperwork doesn't take at least 6-8 months until we get the go ahead to pick her up. Yes she is in our agency's transition home and getting wonderful care but it is still not a home....it is not our home.

Everyday we pray for her and we know that God will take care of her and He will take care of us. He will give me the strength and the patience to wait even when I don't feel like it anymore!!

So, for now I am trying to figure out some big projects that I can do to keep myself busy for January/February/March..........

I'm sooooo happy

for all the Imagine families!!! 246 families so the new Imagine is a go!!! I have tears in my eyes as I type this......what an amazing accomplishment!

Now lets see those referrals!!!!

Steph :-)

1 month today

Hard to believe that 1 month ago today we saw our daughter's face for the first time and I spent most of the day in a state of shock!! Here's to hoping that the next few months go just as quickly. I have a feeling that things will go pretty fast until the end of December as this is a busy time of year. But Jan/Feb/March might be another story!!

We are waiting to hear about a court date. Not expecting to have court until Jan/Feb but would be nice to find out the date before Christmas. I will keep you all posted. We have an appointment booked in February for our local travel clinic where we will have to get a few needles. Robert is really looking forward to that(not!!). The good news is that we found out that his benefits will pay 80% of them so that is great news 'cuz they are very expensive. Every little bit helps!

In the last month I have been able to connect with some fellow adoptive Moms who got their referrals around the same time as us. It is really neat to think that our kids our playing together in Ethiopia. It always helps to have people to talk to who "get it" Thanks ladies for all the great chats and the many more to come!!!

Halloween 2009(better late than never!)

The first picture is on Halloween night....my oldest son was gone to his friends that night. Our amazing pumpkin that my husband carved.....a spider on top of it's web....great job honey! The last pic is the kids dressed up when we went to Great Wolf Lodge. That's what my oldest wore on Halloween too. My daughter was a spiderman then and the cutest pirate ever on Halloween. We only had 8 trick-or-treaters come to our door as we live on a sort of main street and there is no sidewalk on our side of the street. Oh well....fine with me...saved me money! Kids got way too much candy but they all had lots of fun!!

Getting Behind......

So life after referral is WONDERFUL but I'm getting very behind in my blogging!! The weekend after our referral we took the kid's to The Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls. It is a huge hotel with an indoor waterpark. The kids had a great time!! They were already planning on going back once little sister is here.(how cute is that?!!)

Once we got home from that I was busy putting together a care package that my dear blogging friend H agreed to take to our daughter in E when she goes to pick up her daughter!! Thanks H...we REALLY appreciate it. :-) We sent a small photo album with a few pictures....some stickers...activity booklet....crayons...hair elastics and a pair of sunglasses.

Even though it's a bit late my next post will be on Halloween!! Stay tuned!

PS On the adoption front we got great news yesterday that Children's Bridge received our LONO(Letter of No Objection) from the Ministry of Ontario. It only took 1 week...that is super fast. This is a letter we have to have before we can travel to pick up our daughter. We also found out yesterday that our acceptance/immigration forms have been sent back to Ethiopia so now we just wait for a court date!! Hopefully the ball will keep on rolling!!

Our daugher!!

This last week and a half has been a bit of a blur....a good blur but a blur! For those of you not in the adoption world I will explain the process a bit. After receiving the call we had to send paperwork to our doctor and see what he had to say....meet with our social worker....wait for the acceptance forms to come by courier so we could say "yes, this is our daughter". In the Ethiopia program we are not allowed to post pics of our children until after we have gone through court and she is legally our daughter. If you see me in person I have a laminated 5 x 7 in my purse and I will show it to you!(anyone really, clerks, waiters, etc....as if they really care but that's what happens when you're excited!!) We have decided on her name. Our daughter's name is: Eyerus(her Ethiopian name but prounounced the Canadian way Iris) Lillian(my Mom's second name) Merid(her Ethiopian last name) then our last name. We think it flows very well.

We finally received our paperwork after they were sent to our old address(oops!) and we filled everything out and I purolated them back to our agency in MB yesterday so they will receive them Monday. They will then send them on to Ethiopia. Once received in Ethiopia the representative for our agency will apply for a court date for us. Getting a court date can take anywhere from 2-4 months. Some people pass on the first try others it takes 2, 3 even 4 court dates. Once you have passed court all of the paperwork is translated then sent to the Canadian Embassy in Nairobi. Then you wait for the travel visa. This usually takes between 6-8 weeks but can be as fast as 2 or as long as 12!! Obviously we are hoping for a VERY quick court date(and only 1) and a super fast visa. The sooner we can bring her home to her forever family the better!

You may have noticed I put a new ticker on the side of my blog and I am counting down to the day she comes home. I guesstimated on June 30th and I am hoping we will pleasantly surprised and it will be even sooner than that!

Now it's back to the thing we are sooooo good at........waiting!!

Finally a Happy Post!!!!

Yesterday October 21, 2009 we received the call we've been waiting for, for 16 1/2 months. Here's how it all went down.......(get a cup of tea, this is long!!)

I take my daughter to school at 9:00am her bell rings at 9:10am. After the bell rang I walked over to my parent's house and visited with them for a bit. Then it was looking like rain so instead of walking anymore I just decided to go home. When I got home I checked the phone and there was a message from Children's Bridge at 9:09am. Part of me thought....maybe???...but I quickly pushed that thought from my mind thinking they probably need some paperwork or something. I called and said "Hi it's Stephanie Lebold calling back" K from CB said "Hi Stephanie Lebold(in a sing songy kind of way) I thought no it can't be. K said "How are you?" I said "I'm good" She said "well you're about to get better...this is your referral phone call" I said "NO WAY!!!" She then proceeded to give me information which I wrote down. You have a daughter who will be 4 in December. She is very beautiful!! I was very calm(meaning in shock). She had said she would email me the info as well as a picture. In the next few minutes of the convo I must have asked 12 times..."have you emailed the picture yet?". As soon as I got the picture....we wrapped up the conversation and I phoned my husband at work. When he answered the phone I said "you have another daughter" his response was "NO WAY!!"(sound familiar). I think we had both accepted the fact that it was going to be awhile that the call seemed to come very out of the blue. He then proceeded to print out the picture and all the paperwork. He then faxed the medical paperwork to our Doctor. I hung up and called some of my very good friends(but suprisingly I hadn't really cried yet!)

Then my oldest son called to say he had forgotten his running shoes and since it was break could I run them over to the school. I said yes and took the picture with me. When I got there I asked him to get his brother as I needed to talk to both of them. He asked me "why" and "was it good". I said "yes it's good just get your brother". Then they both came I pulled out the picture and said "this is your sister" and they said "Really?" with big smiles on their faces. Then my younger son was happy to hear that her birthday is in December because his is in January and the rest of our family is in the summer. Then they both said "gotta go Mom it's lunch". It was totally the reaction I expected. I then went to my friend's house in my town and showed her the pic then my parents stopped by to see. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the phone until it was time to pick up my daughter from school. I took the picture with me and my daughter said "that's my sister...for real??!!!" I said "yes it is" then my daughter said "I want shoes like hers...they're nice!" We then showed her teacher who proceeded to make a big deal out of how cute her sister was and what a great big sister she will be....it was very nice.

Later afternoon I had to drive my son to track and a good friend of mine printed off colour pics for me on photo paper at work(thanks P!!!) so I picked those up then went to Staples to have them laminated.(whoever says don't attach to the picture is whacked....totally impossible!!) I then came home and was on the phone until midnight!!(I have ALOT of friends!!) Then I went to bed at 1:00am but my head was just spinning. I just didn't want the day to end.

Today I still find myself wondering if it really happened but then I see the picture and I smile...my heart is full of joy!!!