Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Woke up to GOOD NEWS!!!


















This morning I woke up in a beautiful setting. We had driven about 45 miles to be with Zack's parents as they were vacationing at Lake Cumberland and had invited us to spend some time with them. They rented a very small but wonderful cabin only a short walk from the lake. It was a beautiful morning, and little did I know it was only going to get better! As I checked my email via Punky's awesome iphone, I noticed I had an email from our family coordinator and the subject line was "Good News". My heart began to race and I wondered if it could be news about court, or if it was maybe a general email she had sent to the group about some good news in Ethiopia.




Well, it was good news for us, the Caldwell family!!! The email informed us that our case had been submitted to court on June 25th (ONLY TEN DAYS FROM THE TIME OUR DOSSIER ARRIVED IN ETHIOPIA!!!!) and that we were now waiting for a court date to be issued! This is an absolute miracle and we know it is from God! There is still no guarantee of a court date before the courts close, but judging from when fellow adoptive parents are being granted court dates and the time their cases were submitted to court, we feel we have a very, very good chance!




It is an exciting, overwhelming feeling to think about traveling in a month or less! I almost can't believe it might be happening....it seems surreal. Just a reminder, the new laws in Ethiopia do not allow us to bring Noah home after the first trip, this trip is just to appear in court. It will most likely be another 8 weeks (or maybe even more) after our first trip before he could be escorted home. But to get to see him, to take him the things he needs, to love on him, to show him we are his mommy and daddy and will love him forever.....this would be such an answer to prayer! As soon as we know our date, I will of course post it here!




Well, as I stated at the beginning of this post, we were at the lake today, and Caleb (along with all of us) had the best time ever! It was a beautiful day, the water was soooo warm, and it just couldn't have been better. Caleb made some big strides today as well. He felt comfortable enough to just float around the lake in his life jacket without us holding him the entire time (we were right beside him :), and even tried to move his arms and legs in a swimming motion. He did great! He also rode the intertube (don't worry, at very slow speeds :) with mommy and loved it!!! He actually is staying the night tonight with his nana and papaw and it seems so strange not to have him hear. I miss him.


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Our Dossier Has Landed....And Our Big Boy :)







The director of our agency informed us that our dossier should be in Ethiopia today! Amazing! Just keep praying that our dossier can be translated, the appropriate forms signed, and our file merged with Noah's file in time for a court date to be scheduled before the courts close in August. We are praying with lots of hope that this can and will happen! We are so excited to welcome Noah into our family! We also sent a care package to him this week. It has a photo album of his new family, a cool monster truck and some small Matchbox cars. It also has a t-shirt. It is customary with AAI to send a new t-shirt in care packages. When the child that has been referred to a family puts on the t-shirt, then everyone in the orphanage knows they have a family- too cool!!!


In other news....Caleb is no longer a baby. He is quite the big boy now. He is potty trained, and only wears a diaper to bed. He loves to wear his underwear and is very proud of them :) He is such a big boy that when we go to the bathroom, after I turn the light on, he tells me to "go out". Wow. Not only this, but he is no longer sleeping in his crib any more. He sleeps in his big boy bed! All this took place during the month of May, so it was some month around our house. We are so proud of him, but it is kind of bittersweet in a way. He has grown up so fast. I still remember when we first brought him with us to the hotel in Ethiopia- he was so tiny and needed us for almost everything. Now, with each passing day, he needs our assistance a little less, and a little less. Sigh. I guess that is just part of being a parent! We must truly treasure each moment- time doesn't wait!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

REFERRAL!!!!!!

WHAT??? A referral already??? No kidding!!! This past Friday afternoon we contacted our agency and told them that we would like to officially accept a child that we saw on our agency's waiting child list! We have been reviewing his file for almost two weeks, and we finally totally surrendered ourselves to whatever God would have for us this time around..... and this precious child is it!! Originally we were thinking we would keep Caleb as the oldest child, and adopt a child a year or so younger than him. But God began to open our hearts to children who were already waiting for a family and he gave us the faith to trust him each step of the way.


This cute little guy is approximately 3 years old, though we believe he is probably closer to 4. He has a brilliant smile and beautiful eyes. He is HIV positive, though he is very healthy at this this time, and does not even need to be on medication for now! He lives at the same orphanage that Caleb first lived at. Pretty cool, huh! The staff there said he loves to play with his friends, draw and color, listen to children songs, swing high, and watch cartoons (I can already picture him with Caleb watching their movies....I can't wait!). They also said he is shy until he gets to know you, but once he feels comfortable, he begins to talk and smile.


Friday morning we were showing his pictures to Caleb again, and Caleb said, "He needs a mommy". I sat there amazed and thanked God that because of the miracle of adoption, he soon would have a mommy....and a daddy, and a brother, and wonderful grandparents! It brings tears to my eyes to think that because he is older he can actually understand what it will mean for him to have a family! I just wonder how he will feel when someone from the orphanage will tell him, "You have a family now!" I would love to be there for that!

Speaking of that, our adoption agency has been very upfront with us and has told us there is only a slim chance that we could hope to have a court date scheduled before the courts close in late August. But, we serve a mighty God who can make anything happen, and so one of our biggest prayer requests at this time is that our paperwork will make it to Ethiopia asap and that we will have a court date scheduled in time! If not, we know what it is like to wait until October, so I know we will make it, but for our son, we hope he doesn't have to wait any longer!


We have decided to name him Noah N**** Caldwell. Because he is older, if he prefers to go by his Ethiopian name, which we would like to use as his middle name, that is fine too. It is a very nice name and means King or Emperor. I can't really reveal his middle name yet because he isn't legally our child, but I guess you could google what word in Amharic would mean king or emperor and find it pretty easy :)

That is really all I can say for now. He is supposed to have a medical update next week, so we are praying that will go well. For now, we are just keeping him constantly in our thoughts and prayers, and would love for you to offer up a prayer for him as well! More to come soon......