An Apology

I am so sorry that we have not written anything lately. It is partially because I've been frustrated by slow-computer-syndrome and using all of my meager processing capabilities to add and rearrange my photos on our dropshots site. We do have Easter pics there they are just on weird dates so you'll have to scroll through a bunch of days to see them all. Remember, you have to know what city we are in to view the photos, thanks to my rampant paranoia.

We'll be back again soon with a proper update.

Good Friday

We have been busy painting at our house during the last few weeks - trying to get all of our projects done before baby gets here and rocks our world! So there has been little opportunity for me to hang out here. I did find the audio clue to match up with this blogpost of a few weeks ago and add it to our music box. So if you have your volume up, that is what you are enjoying (right?) now.

A tree near our house is decorated with eggs, and Faith is perpetually surprised to see it every time we ride by - "It is STILL EASTER!?" We've been coloring eggs and talking about Easter for weeks so she is a little lost in time. This is the first year I've had the privilege of sharing the good news of Easter with her and it has been amazing. She has a much greater understanding of who Jesus is and what He did and what that means than ever before. Of course, at three, she doesn't totally get it (or does she - she of the naturally child-like faith?) but she has been full of questions about Heaven and death lately and this has given us a lot of opportunities to share our faith with Faith. And when I am sharing it with her I am sharing it with myself over and over (and over some days) which I need, too. I can definitely use a daily, hourly reminder of how God so loved the world. And how He loves me. And how that means I should love.

We have done a lot with Easter eggs as a representation of life from death - an egg looks like a stone, which is a dead thing, but it contains a chick which is a live thing. Just as Jesus was dead, yet he conquered death and rose again. I read this somewhere, and I do think it has really helped Faith remember this fact. Though she does like to tease me and sometimes when I ask her why we color eggs she says, "Because of the Easter bunny" with a big sly grin. And she also likes to point out that our eggs just have more egg inside them and not chicks.

We don't talk much about the bunny. I don't really have anything to say about it. I don't want to share Easter attention with it, but I also don't want to make it a big deal, since it isn't. That is not really a struggle - the candy it brings on the other hand appears to steal attention from all other aspects of life. I long for the days when Faith thought candy was just something you held and played with by rattling it's wrapper or squishing it up. We managed to keep her from knowing that candy is for eating until her fourth Halloween! Now that candy is in season again she asks me repeatedly - some days from the very moment she opens her eyes - for "candy or a treat." I was telling my sister today that I hate being the candy police. Today, I thought I was going to have to restrict access after I allowed her to have a candy egg after lunch and then she brought another one into my room shortly thereafter. I said, "Faith, you can't have any more candy right now."

She looked at me sweet as pie and said, "I know. I was bringing this one so I could offer it to you." Yes, she said it just like that. haha. I think she really meant it, too, since she looked totally unconcerned when I took her up on it. So maybe candy teaches good lessons after all - generosity is a fruit of the spirit, right?

As far as adoption news goes - we are getting ready for our trip, looking at travel(!) itineraries, and just trying to steady our emotions daily. We got new pictures of him (which I can't share here for various reasons) and they are just so sweet. Our beautiful boy. I can't wait to see him and hold him and have him home.

OH, the towering feeling! . . .Just to know somehow you are near.
In time if not in space, little man.

April Court Dates Bring May Travel

At least in our case. If we pass on April 30 we will go on May 23rd. I wish I had something clever or more meaningful to say about this, but actually all I can say is WOW!

Court Date! (with introduction by Faith)

We're getting Davis at the end of April! Isn't that right? April the end - April at the end. hmm. Backyardigans are sneaky sometimes and sometimes they're nice. Are you writing Backyardigans things? [lots and lots of giggling] Hey do you want to say how much I did again? Hey are you typing all of it? Are you? Can I say something? [more about Backyardigans]

What she is trying to say is that WE! HAVE! A! COURT! DATE - April 30th!

We are all giddy with excitement. This means the courts in Ethiopia will look at our case on April 30 and decide if they have all the documentation they need to legalize our adoption. We do not need to be present for this "meeting" [that is what we call this for Faith - she actually does understand it somewhat and is very excited about it which is why I thought I could transcribe her description of this for the blog, but as it happens she was more interested right now in discussing her favorite TV friends] If everything is approved we will travel to Ethiopia 2 to 4 weeks after that. So we will actually go "get Davis" in May at the earliest. Thirty percent of the time there is some additional documentation needed and therefore additional wait time for us - an additional wait that may be measured in days, weeks, or months.

We are so excited to have this next milestone set in place (did I mention that we're excited?) and would greatly, greatly appreciate your prayers for favor in the courts for us on that day.

Thanks-Patricks Day!

When I woke Faith up yesterday morning the first thing she said when she opened her eyes was, "I am a leprechaun." Then she commenced her "sneaky" leprechaun business - stealing hairbrushes and hiding them, etc. I loved that she kept calling it "Thanks-Patricks Day." I corrected her a few times, but then corrected myself for messing with something so cute and decided it will be Thanks-Patricks Day for the Bullingtons forevermore.

After she went to school I went out and about with my mom putting together a care package for Davis. Some very kind folks, the Whipples, are traveling next week and agreed to carry some love over for our little boy. I found a super sweet little outfit/blanket set and a photo album to send over with them.

Then we went to the parade. AKA the slow-moving bead-necklace and candy dispensery. It was too fun. So sunny and perfect and Faith loved all of it but the loud noises, of which there were many.

Even though I got lost on the way (typical) we made it to the post office just in time to mail our precious package. So within a few weeks Davis will have a little piece of home with him. Wow.

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.