Referral Week Mega-Post - With Pictures!

The Day we got the Call:

That Tuesday (3-3-09) I had taken Faith to school and done a few errands. I came back home to clean up for a while before meeting David for lunch. I was talking to my sister on the phone when suddenly our caller ID alerted me that someone was calling from Virginia. Our adoption agency is located in Virginia. I yelled at Jamie, "Virginia is calling! I've got to go!" (She thought I was talking about a person named Virginia and that I must get no phone calls to get that excited.) All I could think was "This is it! This is it!" Then I switched over and the voice I heard was of someone other than our family coordinator. So I started thinking "Oh, this is not it." And then she said, "I've got your husband on the line. . ." And I thought "This is it! This is it!" And then she said, "This is it! This is your referral call. . ."

She told us a little about him - his name, a little of the information in his file, his age, etc. And that he was "adorable." I could not stop shaking. I walked all around the house shaking and crying the whole time we were on the phone. And there may have been some squeaking. David sounded excited but calm enough to have presence of mind.

She said she would email us pictures and his information as soon as we got off the phone, so we made sure she had both of our email addresses and hung up. David called me right away, and we waited on the phone together for the email to arrive. His computer at work is quicker than mine, so he saw our baby first. I heard him laughing, and then my computer finally caught up and I saw my baby's sweet face.

He took my breath away. Beautiful and, to put it simply, ours. All our hopes and prayers for this child met in an instant.

We got off the phone and both of us had the opportunity to make "THE CALL" to our family - I spoke with my mom and sisters. My mom called me back again when my dad got done with a meeting and I told him as well. Everyone was so thrilled. And appropriately emotional.

David and I kept our lunch date. We couldn't stop looking at our boy and each other in amazement that we had a son. David moved an appointment back so that he could go with me to pick up Faith from school and we could tell her together. I told David that if she was in a bad mood, we would wait and tell her later. I didn't want any typical-three-year-old grump fest to spoil the special-ness of her seeing her brother's picture for the first time. But she was all smiles when she saw us both there to greet her after school, and so we showed her right there in the hall of the school. She grinned and grinned. She could not stop smiling.

Later I took Faith out so that we could buy ingredients to make the "Referral Day" cake I'd been promising her for some time. The list of my misadventures in food now has another entry since this was the result:

Hey, it's not that pretty but at least it tasted. . . well, it was delicious to us and our close friends and family who came to celebrate this most momentous occasion with us. And Faith helped make it:Here's her "sister" piece:

The Day We Said Yes

There were papers to sign, including what is called a Referral Acceptance Statement - the official yes-we-would-like-very-very-much-to-proceed-with-this-adoption-please-make-it-legal paper. We sent these back to the agency as soon as we could. Here are some pictures of us at the post office express-mailing these important documents.

Further Thoughts

"I have often walked

down this street before

but the pavement always

stayed beneath my feet before"

I used to sing this song a lot to Faith when she was a baby. (This and the theme from the love boat - it is strange what surfaces when you are trying to come up with lullabies and haven't had much sleep yourself.) It is from a song in My Fair Lady, and it is the song that comes to mind when I think of what the last week has been like. The whole world the same and yet different.

Like when you fall in love and hope and possibility come into clear view.

We've learned so much about love, hope, and faith through this experience already. Now we are trusting in Him to complete His good work and sustain us and Davis through the court proceedings and travel that will legally and physically join us as a family, if that is His will that is to be done. Thanks to all of you who have prayed with us this far - please continue during the next few months as we wait again. For homecoming.

BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!

WE GOT THE CALL!!!!

We have an absolutely beautiful baby boy! He is two months old - a smiling, sweet-faced, lovely little one. We are so super excited. I could go on and on and on, but I can hardly get my hands to quit shaking long enough to type this.

It is a good thing I wrote last time about what happens after this! Scroll down to read that, and we'll post more here soon. Thanks to all of you who prayed for this day to come. We are rejoicing in His timing - perfect even though we (particularly I) got so impatient. Totally worth it and then some.

We have our Davis.

One Step Closer to Knowing

Hey, How are you? We're fine, just a bit tense and busy and not hanging out here lately. I've been regretful about having no news to report. At a certain point you start feeling like a liar - telling everyone it is so soon and then - a while of nothing much to say. At this point it might be wise to fill you in on what happens after we hear that our agency has found a baby boy who needs a family as much as we need him:

After we receive THE CALL from our agency they will email us a description of the boy they have available to us and his medical history and we will have a chance to review this information and accept or decline the referral. When we accept a referral, our agency will arrange for a court date for us in Ethiopia. This is not a date that we will be present at - we have given our agency power to act on our behalf to legalize our adoption in Ethiopia. Our agency will be making all necessary arrangements to organize documents needed for this critical day in court. Right now it appears that our court date will take place around 3 months after we receive a referral.

If at our first court appointment all of our paperwork satisfies the judge, our adoption will be legalized and our boy will become a Bullington. We will travel to pick him up a few weeks later.

And then he will be home.

Sounds simple, right? According to our agency around 30% of families do not "pass court" the first time. This means additional documentation has to be provided and your case may be delayed by weeks or months.

And courts are closed during August and October. So if we are delayed by much we will have an additional wait time tacked on. I try very hard not to think about this, but it is out there on the horizon like a dark cloud that may come this way or may not. So I feel compelled to mention it so you can see what I see.

This morning I woke up gripped by the fear of that scenario.

But overwhelmingly right now the feeling is of hope. The Rogers family, whose paperwork travelled to Ethiopia in the very same package as ours got referred an infant girl yesterday! They had requested either a boy or a girl baby, so that means we are very close to the front of the line.

I hope to have more to tell any day now. . . .

Our Funny Valentine

Next year the heart will have to be bigger!

"Love is a good thing. It'll fall like rain on your parade, laugh at the plans that you tried to make, it'll wear you down till your heart just breaks and it's a good thing."
Andrew Peterson - Love is a Good Thing - Resurrection Letters vol. II

No News for Us. . .

Is not no news for anyone! Our agency has arranged a few forever families this week. And we are everyday closer.

When we were in the car (of course) today listening to Sara Groves sing the lyrics "live in peace" Faith asked me if she meant real peace or pretend peace. I finally figured out she thought the word was "peas."

We are living in peas here, folks.

Monday, Monday

These past few weeks the days have seemed particularly long. I've been dragging Faith around more than usual to avoid sitting at the house where the wait by the phone seems too hard. Thus, we've had the chance to hear a lot of radio music.

I've been off of Christian radio since they started playing Nathalie Grant's Our Hope Endures every other minute. My apologies if this is your favorite - it is a powerful song but so heavy and intense to hear ALL THE TIME. So I've taken refuge on our fifties station. Where the heartache is heartfelt but usually related to high school break-ups. Little did I know that waiting-mom-ears can make everything about the baby. "Come and Go with Me" - I need you, darling, so come go with me - made me cry. "Sweet Dream Baby" - How long must I wait? - made me miss him even more. And today. Monday, Monday. Can't trust that day.

No news yet.

While we wait - a few funny moments

Yesterday Faith and her friend Caroline, 2, were discussing the babies about to join their families. Caroline's mother is due to have a baby brother or sister for Caroline in March. Faith asked Caroline, "What color is it going to be?"

"I don't know," said Caroline. She scrunched up her nose a bit, thought for a moment, and said, "Pink?"

One of Faith's favorite Bible stories is about Jesus healing a blind man named Bartimaeus.

Last night at dinner I was extolling the virtues of broccoli, a food that is not her favorite, saying, "I know you don't like broccoli, Faith, but sometimes we eat things we don't like because they are so good for us. Broccoli helps our eyes and our.."

Faith broke in with "Maybe Bartimaeus didn't eat enough broccoli."