Howdy!!!
We had out IUI on Wednesday. We hosted Christmas parties with a house exploding with guests on both Tuesday and Thursday, so the timing could not have worked any better. The IUI was more painful that normal, and took 4 tries to get the catheter to work. Poor Ty had to witness my cringing face in pain. The sample was good after being washed and spun. We had over 9 million and 98.1% were alive and swimming! Yeah! I tried to take ti easy that evening to allow my little baby to form. We are hopeful and very peaceful this time around. Before we got over excited and hopeful, and had alot riding on the result. Now, having Ma-mush n his way home not too long from now, the pressure is off and the peace is a wonderful feeling. Regardless of the results we will be blessed with the opportunity to raise our son to be a disciple.
On another note..Lisa called today and Ethiopia found 2 numbers on different forms that did not match other forms. We are going to fix, notarize and overnight in hopes of not slowing down the process. At first I was frustrated and then Ty reminded me, that if out of 3000 pages, 2 were incorrect, then we have a pretty good rate going.
Thanks to everyone as usual for the prayers, clothes, toys and love you have already provided our son/sons. We are truly starting to understand the phrase that it "takes a village to raise a child"!!!
Background
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
December 10th,2009
Howdy!
Well last week the pregnancy test came back negative as expected, but we had better new even! Lisa called and said we could send in our i600a which is basically the form in order to open a case at Homeland Security in order to bring our son home through immigration. Basically it is 1 sheet of paper that cost almost a thousand dollars, that allows us to bring our son home in 2010! We have had the paper completed and waiting to send, so the go ahead was a very exciting moment. The site said we could send a personal check, but after Ty left the post office he had an odd feeling and called Lisa who told him to not send a check but a money order to process it faster. Ty called the post office to hold the mail and had to go back and reclaim it to put a money order in....yikes..the drama that we have! We also got disappointing news. The government has made so many cuts in funding and positions that immigration and court hearing might take a few months longer than anticipated. In other words, in stead of reuniting our family in summer 2010 it might be leaning toward fall or early winter. At first we were very heart broken, however we know God has perfect timing and we must obey his will.
On a fertility note....we finished our round of Clomid and have an appt on Tuesday with a plan for an IUI on Wednesday. We are excited, nervous and at peace all at the same time. We rarely think about biological children knowing God plans for us to adopt, but know he works multiple miracles at once. The opportunity to have a shot at multiple children who came to us in different ways is amazing. We are all His children and look forward to raising our children as His!
Well last week the pregnancy test came back negative as expected, but we had better new even! Lisa called and said we could send in our i600a which is basically the form in order to open a case at Homeland Security in order to bring our son home through immigration. Basically it is 1 sheet of paper that cost almost a thousand dollars, that allows us to bring our son home in 2010! We have had the paper completed and waiting to send, so the go ahead was a very exciting moment. The site said we could send a personal check, but after Ty left the post office he had an odd feeling and called Lisa who told him to not send a check but a money order to process it faster. Ty called the post office to hold the mail and had to go back and reclaim it to put a money order in....yikes..the drama that we have! We also got disappointing news. The government has made so many cuts in funding and positions that immigration and court hearing might take a few months longer than anticipated. In other words, in stead of reuniting our family in summer 2010 it might be leaning toward fall or early winter. At first we were very heart broken, however we know God has perfect timing and we must obey his will.
On a fertility note....we finished our round of Clomid and have an appt on Tuesday with a plan for an IUI on Wednesday. We are excited, nervous and at peace all at the same time. We rarely think about biological children knowing God plans for us to adopt, but know he works multiple miracles at once. The opportunity to have a shot at multiple children who came to us in different ways is amazing. We are all His children and look forward to raising our children as His!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
December 1st,2009
Howdy!!!
I know you must be shocked I promised to give an update immediately after the appointment and surprise-surprise..I am!!! Yes it might be the first time I followed through, but there is a first time for everything. We had an US and they said everything looked great. We saw her print the pics and add the US pics to our file..i couldn't help but giggle. We have had over 100 US and each one has 4 pictures printed, so our files have increased to 3 volumes each as thick as a dictionary. After the US, Marta said they were going to draw blood for a pregnancy test and hormones. As I got dressed Ty and I just looked at each other in silence...a pg test? WOW!!! We don't feel pregnant, and are totally at peace waiting for our son. In a way we had forgotten about a biological child. We know God plans for our son, but have no idea what other blessings he plans to provide. We simply want to follow his plan. They will call tomorrow with results and if we are not pregnant the plan is to start Clomid this week and then an IUI the week before Christmas. How exciting to "try" again...but not nearly as exciting as bringing Ma-Mush home!Thank you to all our supporters, family and prayer partners, God is good!
I know you must be shocked I promised to give an update immediately after the appointment and surprise-surprise..I am!!! Yes it might be the first time I followed through, but there is a first time for everything. We had an US and they said everything looked great. We saw her print the pics and add the US pics to our file..i couldn't help but giggle. We have had over 100 US and each one has 4 pictures printed, so our files have increased to 3 volumes each as thick as a dictionary. After the US, Marta said they were going to draw blood for a pregnancy test and hormones. As I got dressed Ty and I just looked at each other in silence...a pg test? WOW!!! We don't feel pregnant, and are totally at peace waiting for our son. In a way we had forgotten about a biological child. We know God plans for our son, but have no idea what other blessings he plans to provide. We simply want to follow his plan. They will call tomorrow with results and if we are not pregnant the plan is to start Clomid this week and then an IUI the week before Christmas. How exciting to "try" again...but not nearly as exciting as bringing Ma-Mush home!Thank you to all our supporters, family and prayer partners, God is good!
...25 days to the celebration of the birth of our Christ!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
November 29th, 2009
Howdy!
Sorry for not sending an update recently. With Thanksgiving this past week, and friends and family flying in and out with all the festivities we have been incredibly busy. Now however, the trees are up..all 6 indoors..and 11 outdoors, lights are hung, mistletoe hung and the Christmas decoration adorning every room we are now settling down for the next exciting holiday time. Last week we had an appointment an we had blood work and an ultrasound. Both confirmed that we had ovulated and returning to normal since the Depot Lupron. We caught my body after ovulating, so we were too late to try the Clomid prescription just filled, or an IUI. We assume next month we will be on a regular routine and able to have an IUI about this time. We are by no means in a desperate rush of any sorts. We are thrilled and honored that the Lord is blessing us with out son from Ethiopia and we are at peace with whatever biological children he provides or does not provide our family. We are called to adopt our son from the Lord himself, just as we were called by name to be adopted into His family through Christ!!!
We have a doc appt. on Tuesday and will update soon.
On another note....if you have time to see THE BLINDSIDE...please do so! We know the movie is a blockbuster for its "feel good" qualities, but had a whole other effect on our family. Granted our son will be an infant when he is adopted but we will still face many of the challenges the family in the movie did if not greater. We have already faced question and concerns of many loved ones. Many of which revolve around our son being of a different race. In the movie there is a scene where friends ask racial questions and degrading concerns around a lunch table. The mother responds honorably with dignity exclaiming her son has blessed their family. The audience was silent, yet we couldn't breath we were so choked up. Our case manager Lisa has prepared us for moments like these when we have racial remarks tossed our direction, asking if we are his babysitter, why we do not have biological kids, dirty looks, rude questions, and pure ignorance, some of which we have faced before he is born, but seeing it on a small scale on a theater screen hit home.
P.S. We bought a 2010 "Mom Mobile" for me the haul Ma-Mush around yesterday!!!!
Sorry for not sending an update recently. With Thanksgiving this past week, and friends and family flying in and out with all the festivities we have been incredibly busy. Now however, the trees are up..all 6 indoors..and 11 outdoors, lights are hung, mistletoe hung and the Christmas decoration adorning every room we are now settling down for the next exciting holiday time. Last week we had an appointment an we had blood work and an ultrasound. Both confirmed that we had ovulated and returning to normal since the Depot Lupron. We caught my body after ovulating, so we were too late to try the Clomid prescription just filled, or an IUI. We assume next month we will be on a regular routine and able to have an IUI about this time. We are by no means in a desperate rush of any sorts. We are thrilled and honored that the Lord is blessing us with out son from Ethiopia and we are at peace with whatever biological children he provides or does not provide our family. We are called to adopt our son from the Lord himself, just as we were called by name to be adopted into His family through Christ!!!
We have a doc appt. on Tuesday and will update soon.
On another note....if you have time to see THE BLINDSIDE...please do so! We know the movie is a blockbuster for its "feel good" qualities, but had a whole other effect on our family. Granted our son will be an infant when he is adopted but we will still face many of the challenges the family in the movie did if not greater. We have already faced question and concerns of many loved ones. Many of which revolve around our son being of a different race. In the movie there is a scene where friends ask racial questions and degrading concerns around a lunch table. The mother responds honorably with dignity exclaiming her son has blessed their family. The audience was silent, yet we couldn't breath we were so choked up. Our case manager Lisa has prepared us for moments like these when we have racial remarks tossed our direction, asking if we are his babysitter, why we do not have biological kids, dirty looks, rude questions, and pure ignorance, some of which we have faced before he is born, but seeing it on a small scale on a theater screen hit home.
P.S. We bought a 2010 "Mom Mobile" for me the haul Ma-Mush around yesterday!!!!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
November 18th, 2009
Howdy Y'all!
We must admit we are crazy parents to-be when the focus of our conversations, plans and life are already on our little man. We even wished for Santa to bring baby gifts this year! On another note....we had a doctors appointment with Dr. Gelety today. Little miss Marta discussed "So You Think You Can Dance" and the best way to bake a turkey before even getting to the reason we were there. We finished our DepotLupron injections and this appointment was for an ultrasound and blood work to decide the next step. We have invested our lives, heart, soul and prayers into our little Ethiopian man, and to be honest have thought little to nothing about conceiving. So they did the US to find out about the size of the cyst found last time and to their surprise they think that we are ovulating. They asked what are plans were, basically hinting at the time could be now, and we needed to act fast. I looked at Ty, and he gave me this glare of "do not dare say we don't really care about getting pregnant, since we already have a little man on the way". We have not shared the info with the doctor's office yet, and temporarily planned not to. Lying on the table I couldn't even put together a sentence and Tyler quickly answered, "We were planning on trying IUIs". Granted we didn't think the "trying" would start for another few months to get back off the injections, but as soon as possible my body kicked back into gear. I guess my internal gears work as quickly as my mind!!! Marta left to tell Dr. G what she found, and 2 minutes later they pop back in with Rx in hand for Clomid. They took my blood again as usual and will call with the results tomorrow. If things seem like they predicted I start Clomid tomorrow and we have an IUI on Tuesday!!! Wow!!! We thought we were going in for a check up....We look forward to what our God has in store!
p.s. We have had a request for info on the Ethiopian well we have committed funds and prayer to. Our sons "family" will benefit from the gift of fresh water and we believe there couldn't be a greater Christmas gift. The following link explains what is being done by our agency and the gift of life being provided in Ethiopia if you are interested.
http://liaint.org/nazarethwaterwell/
We must admit we are crazy parents to-be when the focus of our conversations, plans and life are already on our little man. We even wished for Santa to bring baby gifts this year! On another note....we had a doctors appointment with Dr. Gelety today. Little miss Marta discussed "So You Think You Can Dance" and the best way to bake a turkey before even getting to the reason we were there. We finished our DepotLupron injections and this appointment was for an ultrasound and blood work to decide the next step. We have invested our lives, heart, soul and prayers into our little Ethiopian man, and to be honest have thought little to nothing about conceiving. So they did the US to find out about the size of the cyst found last time and to their surprise they think that we are ovulating. They asked what are plans were, basically hinting at the time could be now, and we needed to act fast. I looked at Ty, and he gave me this glare of "do not dare say we don't really care about getting pregnant, since we already have a little man on the way". We have not shared the info with the doctor's office yet, and temporarily planned not to. Lying on the table I couldn't even put together a sentence and Tyler quickly answered, "We were planning on trying IUIs". Granted we didn't think the "trying" would start for another few months to get back off the injections, but as soon as possible my body kicked back into gear. I guess my internal gears work as quickly as my mind!!! Marta left to tell Dr. G what she found, and 2 minutes later they pop back in with Rx in hand for Clomid. They took my blood again as usual and will call with the results tomorrow. If things seem like they predicted I start Clomid tomorrow and we have an IUI on Tuesday!!! Wow!!! We thought we were going in for a check up....We look forward to what our God has in store!
p.s. We have had a request for info on the Ethiopian well we have committed funds and prayer to. Our sons "family" will benefit from the gift of fresh water and we believe there couldn't be a greater Christmas gift. The following link explains what is being done by our agency and the gift of life being provided in Ethiopia if you are interested.
http://liaint.org/nazarethwaterwell/
Thursday, November 12, 2009
November 12th, 2009
Howdy!
We have enjoyed celebrating our future family with so many of you lately. We are so giddy to share our story, progress and hopes along the way. We are in the long wait. Heartbreaking wait, to tell the truth! Our amazing case manager Lisa is organizing a mission to build a fresh water well in Ethiopia. How exciting! We imagine our little Ma-Mush's family members being blessed with water and that puts a smile in our heart! Therefore, we have opted for a chunk of our "Christmas" to be pledged toward the gift of water. What silly gifts could we ask for or give here in America that could every compare to fresh water? We continue to be blessed with our little man's life, even though his life with us is still months away! Love you guys!
We have enjoyed celebrating our future family with so many of you lately. We are so giddy to share our story, progress and hopes along the way. We are in the long wait. Heartbreaking wait, to tell the truth! Our amazing case manager Lisa is organizing a mission to build a fresh water well in Ethiopia. How exciting! We imagine our little Ma-Mush's family members being blessed with water and that puts a smile in our heart! Therefore, we have opted for a chunk of our "Christmas" to be pledged toward the gift of water. What silly gifts could we ask for or give here in America that could every compare to fresh water? We continue to be blessed with our little man's life, even though his life with us is still months away! Love you guys!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
November 3rd, 2009
Howdy!
We are having some sort of reaction from the DepotLupron injections and the doc wants to see us ASAP, which happens to be tomorrow. We will keep everyone updated on what the ultrasound finds tomorrow.
We have also noticed how life changes so dramatically simply preparing for our son. We prioritize him in all decisions we make and it is such a great feeling to plan for his life and prepare to raise him as a disciple of our great God. More than anything we long to teach him of our great Lord and make our lives a true witness toward his faith. Speaking of, we watched several friends baptize their own middle school age children at the baptism event at church on Sunday! We both were thrilled for them and teary eyed thinking that would be the most joyous event, to be part of our sons journey and commitment to Christ. We are simply breathless typing the possibility!!!
We look forward to our little Ma-mush meeting each of you!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
October 30th, 2009
Howdy!
We are loving playing future Mom and Dad! We hit up BabyGap and bought the cutest outfits know to man for our little guy. We have also gotten excitement out of envisioning names. Ethiopia traditionally names their children biblical names. Therefore, we will either keep his name or are thinking i sticking with a biblical name to keep with his heritage. Therefore, we have turned normal conversation into a name game trying to find a list we love and then finalize when we see his face and personality. We long with crazy excitement for our little man.
p.s. Howdy to my little Florida boys who found their old teacher through our baby blog! We love you guys and hope you know we are here to support you in any way we can!
We are loving playing future Mom and Dad! We hit up BabyGap and bought the cutest outfits know to man for our little guy. We have also gotten excitement out of envisioning names. Ethiopia traditionally names their children biblical names. Therefore, we will either keep his name or are thinking i sticking with a biblical name to keep with his heritage. Therefore, we have turned normal conversation into a name game trying to find a list we love and then finalize when we see his face and personality. We long with crazy excitement for our little man.
p.s. Howdy to my little Florida boys who found their old teacher through our baby blog! We love you guys and hope you know we are here to support you in any way we can!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
October 24th, 2009
Howdy!
Today was the national :Make a Difference Day" and we served with our church painting school bathrooms, and clearing property at the school, then went to the U of AZ football game and dinner. Days like today serving others and having a blast are the type of days we are thrilled to share with a little one. We constantly look at each other and talk about what this will be like next year and how different and exciting our lives will be. We are looking forward to sharing life with our Ma-Mush! The Amharic translation for baby boy is Ma-Mash, so now we constantly pray for and talk about out little Ma-Mush!
Ethiopian children are traditionally named biblical names. Therefore, we wonder what our child will be named in Ethiopia and then toss around names if we change his first name. We are leaning towards using a biblical name because it serves the purpose of continuing with typical Ethiopian heritage and can be "Westernized". Thank you to all the friends and family tossing around names with us..it is too fun to hear our dreams become real blessings! Also, thank you to our friends and family sending nursery decor, clothes and prayers. Our little man will know long before birth he is loved and provided for.
Our God is too amazing for words!
Mom and Dad Johnson
Today was the national :Make a Difference Day" and we served with our church painting school bathrooms, and clearing property at the school, then went to the U of AZ football game and dinner. Days like today serving others and having a blast are the type of days we are thrilled to share with a little one. We constantly look at each other and talk about what this will be like next year and how different and exciting our lives will be. We are looking forward to sharing life with our Ma-Mush! The Amharic translation for baby boy is Ma-Mash, so now we constantly pray for and talk about out little Ma-Mush!
Ethiopian children are traditionally named biblical names. Therefore, we wonder what our child will be named in Ethiopia and then toss around names if we change his first name. We are leaning towards using a biblical name because it serves the purpose of continuing with typical Ethiopian heritage and can be "Westernized". Thank you to all the friends and family tossing around names with us..it is too fun to hear our dreams become real blessings! Also, thank you to our friends and family sending nursery decor, clothes and prayers. Our little man will know long before birth he is loved and provided for.
Our God is too amazing for words!
Mom and Dad Johnson
Monday, October 19, 2009
October 19th, 2009
Howdy!
Tyler and I are finally home from our trip of true ecstasy! We can take a deep breath to relax after the rush of returning to the US, home study, travel and Mexico vacation! If we could disappear into the lush jungle of Cabo for a month or more I think we would! As always we fell in love with the Mexican culture, beaches and food! We each have a severe sunburn, little pot belly and huge smile to show for the amazing time we had! Before we left we had another piece of the home study completed in Phoenix. Lisa interviewed each of us and we discussed goals, fears and the next steps in the process. I handed over hundreds of pages of paperwork and documents w have been writing and gathering and I felt like I was handing over my first born. We have worked so diligently it felt bizarre to let it leave our hands. However, it felt awesome to have both a MOM and DAD represented! The home study goes to court any day now and Ty has a few last documents to prepare this week and then the big wait will begin. We talk non stop about names, clothes, discipline, college, parenting and everything of our son/sons. We are literally glowing with excitement. We also had a doctors appointment today for our last DepotLupron shot for endometriosis. Along with the injection came the typical ultrasound and blood tests(3 tries this time and 1 that wouldn't stop bleeding..yikes!) We meet with Dr. G again in a few weeks for an overall look at how well the meds worked, next steps, etc! We will keep you updated and appreciate your prayers, we feel them LITERALLY!
Tyler and I are finally home from our trip of true ecstasy! We can take a deep breath to relax after the rush of returning to the US, home study, travel and Mexico vacation! If we could disappear into the lush jungle of Cabo for a month or more I think we would! As always we fell in love with the Mexican culture, beaches and food! We each have a severe sunburn, little pot belly and huge smile to show for the amazing time we had! Before we left we had another piece of the home study completed in Phoenix. Lisa interviewed each of us and we discussed goals, fears and the next steps in the process. I handed over hundreds of pages of paperwork and documents w have been writing and gathering and I felt like I was handing over my first born. We have worked so diligently it felt bizarre to let it leave our hands. However, it felt awesome to have both a MOM and DAD represented! The home study goes to court any day now and Ty has a few last documents to prepare this week and then the big wait will begin. We talk non stop about names, clothes, discipline, college, parenting and everything of our son/sons. We are literally glowing with excitement. We also had a doctors appointment today for our last DepotLupron shot for endometriosis. Along with the injection came the typical ultrasound and blood tests(3 tries this time and 1 that wouldn't stop bleeding..yikes!) We meet with Dr. G again in a few weeks for an overall look at how well the meds worked, next steps, etc! We will keep you updated and appreciate your prayers, we feel them LITERALLY!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
October 6th,2009
Nursery in the works....Painted all the walls and free handed the tree! Just wait for the fun leaves and decor! Yeah!Monday, October 5, 2009
October 5th,2009
Howdy!
We assumed Pop Johnson(Tyler) would be home by now, but due to the typical professionalism and organization he is stuck in limbo for over a week now, counting seconds it feels like. In turn, we have selected paint and I have begun painting like a crazy woman. The painting is not so hard, but taking down blinds and moving the nursery furniture is hard on a little lady. I have 3 hug blisters of my fingers and palms....yikes! The color is Jalapeno jelly and we are in the woks of a mural and art as well. I will post pics ASAP. We are also on a hunt for a brown cowhide rug. Hoping to see a vendor on the side of the road, and bid on one from EBAY. If you know of a better method let us know. Our "theme" is modern Nature!
Please pray for Ty's speedy return. I planned all our appointments and hearing assuming he would be home. If we miss anything, our hearing and dossier will be behind schedule, and pushed to next month. Normally that would not matter, but changes how quick we can bring our son/sons home from the orphanage. If we can help it, we do not want him/them to spend one more minute. Also, looking like if this is pushed forward we will be calling Arizona home for quite a bit longer, because we are required post placement studies.
After hours of frustration and many tears to many friends and family..we have followed our heart. We can not control, and should not try and control the situation. Gos is in control and will provide for our son/sons until we can get them home! I pray we give p everything to HIM! We struggle now reacting as protective parents rather than a couple. Pray for our baby/babies and Ty's flights back....and for no more tears!!!!
P.S. We are thinking names.......His original name, Taft, Tate, Tristan, Creighton, Prescott, Bauxley, Quinn, Jude..........we like too many to list!
We assumed Pop Johnson(Tyler) would be home by now, but due to the typical professionalism and organization he is stuck in limbo for over a week now, counting seconds it feels like. In turn, we have selected paint and I have begun painting like a crazy woman. The painting is not so hard, but taking down blinds and moving the nursery furniture is hard on a little lady. I have 3 hug blisters of my fingers and palms....yikes! The color is Jalapeno jelly and we are in the woks of a mural and art as well. I will post pics ASAP. We are also on a hunt for a brown cowhide rug. Hoping to see a vendor on the side of the road, and bid on one from EBAY. If you know of a better method let us know. Our "theme" is modern Nature!
Please pray for Ty's speedy return. I planned all our appointments and hearing assuming he would be home. If we miss anything, our hearing and dossier will be behind schedule, and pushed to next month. Normally that would not matter, but changes how quick we can bring our son/sons home from the orphanage. If we can help it, we do not want him/them to spend one more minute. Also, looking like if this is pushed forward we will be calling Arizona home for quite a bit longer, because we are required post placement studies.
After hours of frustration and many tears to many friends and family..we have followed our heart. We can not control, and should not try and control the situation. Gos is in control and will provide for our son/sons until we can get them home! I pray we give p everything to HIM! We struggle now reacting as protective parents rather than a couple. Pray for our baby/babies and Ty's flights back....and for no more tears!!!!
P.S. We are thinking names.......His original name, Taft, Tate, Tristan, Creighton, Prescott, Bauxley, Quinn, Jude..........we like too many to list!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
September 22nd
Howdy Y'all!
Last week I had another DepotLupron shot. WOOHOO..the crazy side effects! The hot flashes are nuts. Yesterday I am sitting on the desk teaching away and all of a sudden an oven hits, I stand up and the back of my legs were so sweaty that it is through the back of my dress pants. NASTY! Good thing my kids are going through puberty and their bodies are so awkward they wouldn't know the difference. My other deal is the chubby legs I am getting..ahhh! Yesterday I ran a solid 5 miles straight, and I thought my thighs rubbing were going to start a fire at around mile number 2! If my only issues are heat, a few pounds and a few pimples I have nothing to complain about. Hopefully my endometriosis will be all cleared up..aka no pain, and better chance for a little baby Johnson #2!
Tyler and I are knee deep in paperwork and have already arranged our next meeting just a day or 2 after Ty is home. He is beyond anxious to dive in deeper and wants to get his hands dirty with our angelic case manager Lisa! We start our online parenting classes for Ethiopia today and hope to learn a bit about international adjustment for us and our little goose!(or geese....twins?)
Love y'all!
Last week I had another DepotLupron shot. WOOHOO..the crazy side effects! The hot flashes are nuts. Yesterday I am sitting on the desk teaching away and all of a sudden an oven hits, I stand up and the back of my legs were so sweaty that it is through the back of my dress pants. NASTY! Good thing my kids are going through puberty and their bodies are so awkward they wouldn't know the difference. My other deal is the chubby legs I am getting..ahhh! Yesterday I ran a solid 5 miles straight, and I thought my thighs rubbing were going to start a fire at around mile number 2! If my only issues are heat, a few pounds and a few pimples I have nothing to complain about. Hopefully my endometriosis will be all cleared up..aka no pain, and better chance for a little baby Johnson #2!
Tyler and I are knee deep in paperwork and have already arranged our next meeting just a day or 2 after Ty is home. He is beyond anxious to dive in deeper and wants to get his hands dirty with our angelic case manager Lisa! We start our online parenting classes for Ethiopia today and hope to learn a bit about international adjustment for us and our little goose!(or geese....twins?)
Love y'all!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
September 16th,2009
Howdy!
I apologize! We promised to be better about posting on our blog, and look at us now.
Sunday was this major event in our lives where we felt like God had been trying to pull us along, and finally we jumped on His treadmill and have been running with him ever since. We must give you a run down of how awesome Sunday was:
1. The kids ran the service, and the youth praise band wanted to teach us a new song called Jesus Save our Souls. Guess what our program in Africa is called...Save our Souls!
2. The youth pastor gave a passionate sermon of the difference we can make on a small and large scale. If American simply put the money they spent on Ice cream alone toward charity, then 134 kids in Africa could be fed for a year.
3. She spoke of boldness and being radical for God, not complacent. She asked a rhetorical question of "How many people can say they are living our of their comfort zone doing something radical God led them to?" For one of only a few times in my life, my heart and mind were shouting "WE ARE!"
4. The youth in church were given individual challenges to take on earlier in the year, ranging from memorizing an entire book in the bible, to serving a homeless shelter once a month. The youth wrote challenges for us. I took one and it read "Run a 5K raising money for World Vision Africa". How amazing for us! Two avid runners with a heart obviously for Africa!
5. After service a cute girl introduces herself and asks if we have children. I explain we are adopting and she says her friend adopted...from where? ETHIOPIA!
We are thrilled for what Gos is doing in our lives. We have always had a goal since we were dating, to uphold God's laws and will for our life, and now more than ever we feel we are in Him!
WHOOP!!!!
I apologize! We promised to be better about posting on our blog, and look at us now.
Sunday was this major event in our lives where we felt like God had been trying to pull us along, and finally we jumped on His treadmill and have been running with him ever since. We must give you a run down of how awesome Sunday was:
1. The kids ran the service, and the youth praise band wanted to teach us a new song called Jesus Save our Souls. Guess what our program in Africa is called...Save our Souls!
2. The youth pastor gave a passionate sermon of the difference we can make on a small and large scale. If American simply put the money they spent on Ice cream alone toward charity, then 134 kids in Africa could be fed for a year.
3. She spoke of boldness and being radical for God, not complacent. She asked a rhetorical question of "How many people can say they are living our of their comfort zone doing something radical God led them to?" For one of only a few times in my life, my heart and mind were shouting "WE ARE!"
4. The youth in church were given individual challenges to take on earlier in the year, ranging from memorizing an entire book in the bible, to serving a homeless shelter once a month. The youth wrote challenges for us. I took one and it read "Run a 5K raising money for World Vision Africa". How amazing for us! Two avid runners with a heart obviously for Africa!
5. After service a cute girl introduces herself and asks if we have children. I explain we are adopting and she says her friend adopted...from where? ETHIOPIA!
We are thrilled for what Gos is doing in our lives. We have always had a goal since we were dating, to uphold God's laws and will for our life, and now more than ever we feel we are in Him!
WHOOP!!!!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
September 12th,2009
Howdy!
This week has been an overwhelming week of frustration and getting stuck in a time warp. We have been working through the paperwork, writing the essays, etc. like wild men and women. After like my 15th hours of working on just one immigration and Ethiopian packet this week my frustration had peaked and my eyes filled with tears. Tyler is usually the partner to do all the paperwork, and left alone with a stack and pen is not my strength I must admit. After I realized that the paperwork, applications and ordering of documents basically increased by 10 fold when we decided to adopt from Africa rather than U.S., for a second I debated if we should switch back to domestic. I took a diet coke break and checked the mailed. I must admit this was a God moment, because ti was too perfectly coordinated. I was about to burst screaming in frustration when I opened the mailbox to find Kelly and Chris Brown(Chris worked with me at Ruckel, and Kelly has been like a mentor through the adoption process after her own adoption) had mailed us a book on Christian Adoption. How Amazing are they and God! I still can't get over how God works int he greatest ways!
I spent a solid hour at OfficeMax making copies of everything "just in case". We have our first solid "packet" to send to Lisa at BAF, and the first stage was so thick I had to take a photo. I am hoping to have another stack about that thick to mail by the end of the week, if we keep the good pace we are working at. I then had 3 sets of fingerprints taken at a gun shop. I am sure you can only imagine how well I fit into that scene..yikes! We might be nuts, I must admit, but we bought a little board short bathing suit today for our son. We decided if we pick up little motivators like that along the way the paperwork push will be a breeze. Who can get frustrated filling our forms, when you look over at the worlds smallest board short suit, knowing our Little angel will be wearing that sooner than we imagine. Now maybe I can talk Ty into that dream jogging stroller to get through the next phase? Just teasing!
We love you all, and are more than thankful for your support and encouragement!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
September 8th, 2009
Howdy!
Today we could not smiling, like our faces were plastered in a big bozo smile. My kids even thought it was fishy, and asked why I was so happy. I told them I was excited about life and all the changes each of us have in store. One kid raised his hand and asked if I was pregnant, another asked if I was adopting a baby. Now seriously how and why would middle school kids ask that? How do they know? Are we that transparent? Of course I didn't spill the beans but felt like it. We are on fast forward and I already arranged fingerprints, CPS clearance and physical appointments for next week. Helps when you know the clinic supervisor, and a sheriff I guess???? Ty and I are both spending time normal people sleep documenting finances, education and writing autobiographies. Where our our priorities?...obviously with our Baby Johnson! Today we realized that given our time line there is most likely a woman in Africa pregnant with our son at this very moment. Praying for her and our son last night caused me to break down in tears of joy. This is becoming so real and so joyful so quickly.
Today we could not smiling, like our faces were plastered in a big bozo smile. My kids even thought it was fishy, and asked why I was so happy. I told them I was excited about life and all the changes each of us have in store. One kid raised his hand and asked if I was pregnant, another asked if I was adopting a baby. Now seriously how and why would middle school kids ask that? How do they know? Are we that transparent? Of course I didn't spill the beans but felt like it. We are on fast forward and I already arranged fingerprints, CPS clearance and physical appointments for next week. Helps when you know the clinic supervisor, and a sheriff I guess???? Ty and I are both spending time normal people sleep documenting finances, education and writing autobiographies. Where our our priorities?...obviously with our Baby Johnson! Today we realized that given our time line there is most likely a woman in Africa pregnant with our son at this very moment. Praying for her and our son last night caused me to break down in tears of joy. This is becoming so real and so joyful so quickly.
Monday, September 7, 2009
September 7th, 2009
Howdy!
Wow....huff...........I am emotionally exhausted. We were all exited for the first part of our home study, and you better believe the house was sparkling...I even woke up at dawn to weed. The house passed with flying colors. They check every room and closet, and were impressed we had a complete nursery ready. Then we sat down for an overview with questions and paperwork. I had never seen so many pages. They pulled a little carrier to hold all the pages. I didn't realize the difference in domestic and international adoption basically meant 2,000 more pages to fill out. For example, in the next 2 weeks we need to:
Get CPS clearance, fingerprinted, send away for finger print cards, fill our application, get money orders, 5 letters of reference, financial statements, birth certificates, marriage license, all of which from the state, no copies, credit reports, 14 paragraph autobiographies, physicals, tax returns and codes and agreements.
WOW!!! The said the average fist step takes 30 hours to finish. Well here goes hour one....
We are thrilled and more excited than we could ever be. We remember the excitement of engagement, marriage, IVF...and for some crazy reason none of that compares to God rescuing a baby from Africa and blessing multiple lives at once! After we started the process I am realizing all we could have missed if we had our own children biologically. Life is so great, Our God is so Holy! We will keep you updated! Love yall!
Wow....huff...........I am emotionally exhausted. We were all exited for the first part of our home study, and you better believe the house was sparkling...I even woke up at dawn to weed. The house passed with flying colors. They check every room and closet, and were impressed we had a complete nursery ready. Then we sat down for an overview with questions and paperwork. I had never seen so many pages. They pulled a little carrier to hold all the pages. I didn't realize the difference in domestic and international adoption basically meant 2,000 more pages to fill out. For example, in the next 2 weeks we need to:
Get CPS clearance, fingerprinted, send away for finger print cards, fill our application, get money orders, 5 letters of reference, financial statements, birth certificates, marriage license, all of which from the state, no copies, credit reports, 14 paragraph autobiographies, physicals, tax returns and codes and agreements.
WOW!!! The said the average fist step takes 30 hours to finish. Well here goes hour one....
We are thrilled and more excited than we could ever be. We remember the excitement of engagement, marriage, IVF...and for some crazy reason none of that compares to God rescuing a baby from Africa and blessing multiple lives at once! After we started the process I am realizing all we could have missed if we had our own children biologically. Life is so great, Our God is so Holy! We will keep you updated! Love yall!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
September 3rd, 2009
Howdy!!!
On the medical front....I am doing just great, side effects are more and more mild, other than weight gain and pimples. Seriously I eat NOTHING, work out with a trainer and put on weight. Then I have gotten pimples from the hormones where people just plain do not get pimples! Like bizarre puberty or something. I wonder if that really happens with natural menopause?
On the adoption front....We sent in or preliminary paperwork and applications and had phone conferences with 2 agencies. CSS I think will not work for us, because they have basically said we need to stay in AZ for the next few years to have placement and then the post adoption counseling and check-ups. BAF has blown us out of the water. They are fabulous!!! Every negative answer we have gotten elsewhere they have answered positively glowing. Such as they can pretty much guarantee either a domestic or Ethiopian infant adoption within 9 months, home study next month, and then we can do out follow-ups through an affiliate if we move immediately afterward. Then recently we were referred to CWA and filled out the initial application and all with them, missed several calls(hard because they are East Coast) and plan for a webinar in 2 days. Then the big decisions..........
Tyler and I are giddy excited now, and sweet Ty says he can't stop smiling and dreaming about it. Thrilling the ways God has revealed himself!!!!
On the medical front....I am doing just great, side effects are more and more mild, other than weight gain and pimples. Seriously I eat NOTHING, work out with a trainer and put on weight. Then I have gotten pimples from the hormones where people just plain do not get pimples! Like bizarre puberty or something. I wonder if that really happens with natural menopause?
On the adoption front....We sent in or preliminary paperwork and applications and had phone conferences with 2 agencies. CSS I think will not work for us, because they have basically said we need to stay in AZ for the next few years to have placement and then the post adoption counseling and check-ups. BAF has blown us out of the water. They are fabulous!!! Every negative answer we have gotten elsewhere they have answered positively glowing. Such as they can pretty much guarantee either a domestic or Ethiopian infant adoption within 9 months, home study next month, and then we can do out follow-ups through an affiliate if we move immediately afterward. Then recently we were referred to CWA and filled out the initial application and all with them, missed several calls(hard because they are East Coast) and plan for a webinar in 2 days. Then the big decisions..........
Tyler and I are giddy excited now, and sweet Ty says he can't stop smiling and dreaming about it. Thrilling the ways God has revealed himself!!!!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
August 29th, 2009
Howdy! I realize attempting to take a picture one week after the fact does not do justice to my arm. Lats week when they took blood they could not get the vein to stop bleeding leaving an inflated bruise about 6 inches long down my arm. This is over a week later and hard to see given my camera skills, but pretty nasty either way. The DepotLupron has had a few wild side effects, but we keep agreeing that these sacrifices are nothing compared to the opportunity to have a child. I have experienced incredible hot/cold flashes, and earth shaking insomnia, both very expected. The one I have difficulty with is the weight gain. I have been on an organic fresh foods diet of about 1000 calories and work out with a trainer for 1.5 hours a day and steadily my weight has gone up. I have never been all about the skinny girl image, but I always have been about health, and eating/working out so hard has proven to not combat Lupron. I find it hard to eat spinach for lunch, run 6 miles, lift for 30 minutes, and gain a pound in that time. Frustrating. I can only imagine eating normal, and not working out every day what would happen. Don't want hubby to come home to fatty wife! Only 6 more weeks or so, if they stop extending it over and over!Look into the future...Tyler and I have looked into and filled out original paperwork for either infant domestic adoption, or adopting from Ethiopia...more on that to come....
Promise to keep everyone updated more often and apologize for not doing so more.
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