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.

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!

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......

A Confession and Where We Are Going From Here....

When we began our second adoption, we thought two things- Ethiopia and a child with HIV. We also thought this adoption would be so much easier, as we knew the challenges with paperwork, waiting, etc. that lie ahead. We had also seen God's faithfulness to us financially during out last adoption, so honestly, we weren't even too concerned about that part. I think that was mistake #1- thinking, "we got this". I know God wants us to have peace, but I also know that he wants us to trust in Him and depend on Him- not on ourselves. It almost seemed like we felt we didn't need God's help this time around. That was about five months ago. A lot can change in five months, thankfully!


The last few months have been super confusing and anxious in regard to our second adoption, and most of that is due to our own indecision, self reliance, and the doubts that arise from taking things into your own hands! We could not make up our mind regarding country (remember in a previous post we had considered Thailand, then back to Ethiopia, then Uganda....wow!). Though I realize that we just posted about being accepted into the Uganda program and beginning to pursue adoption through that country, well.....we aren't going to do it. First I want to say that Nightlight Christian Adoptions have been awesome to work with, and I would recommend them to anyone! I also think the opportunity they are giving to families with their Uganda program is amazing. What we came to realize is that our original motive for wanting to pursue this program
was really not right. When we saw that all agencies fees were going to be waived, we thought, "Wow! This is just what we need! Not having to worry about money for the adoption would be awesome!" Of course, we love Africa and I think the whole time knew our second child would come from there, but in a way, I think we saw this as the easy way. I am embarrassed to say this, but it is the truth. However, the more we began to consider certain aspects of the program, even despite the lower cost, we realized it was not in the best interest of our family. The main reason we feel we should not pursue an adoption from Uganda is the uncertainty at this point of the travel and time spent in Uganda. It can range from anywhere to 3-6 weeks in country, and in some cases, more. Besides this, there was an issue that was really was no ones fault that was going to cause us to have to begin a completely new home study- all the visits and some of the paperwork was going to have to be redone, with us paying for both home studies. And finally, while there are most certainly children with HIV in Uganda that need to adopted, it was possible that we would be offered a healthy child as well, with no time frame for a wait for a child with HIV. These factors combined, have led us away from the Uganda program.


So, where are we going from here? To Ethiopia, for sure. We promise, unless something God-sized happens :) Our dossier was sent to our agency yesterday! Do we feel at peace? Yes. Do we feel like we can do this on our own? No way :) And we are thankful for that. Really. Because we know that only when we are relying solely on Christ, do we have the strength and power to face all that may lie ahead of us. Though the ins and outs of adopting from Ethiopia are much more established than a new program like Uganda, things can still change at any time. And the reality of adopting a child that will face a chronic illness for the rest of their lives leads us to fall at the foot of the cross each and every moment of every day. I have literally experienced a mental war like none other for the last few months about the decision to adopt a child with HIV. Satan has thrown every thought, every doubt, everything he can my way. I have spent many sleepless nights wondering if we are crazy, if we undertaking "too much". I wondered if we needed our heads examined for intentionally choosing a path that will not be easy, not be comfortable, and may take a lot of sacrifice. It just so happened that my dad had recently purchased the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I can not begin to explain to you how God used this book in my life, at just the right time. Through reading what God put in the mind of Francis Chan and through the scriptures that Francis presents in this book (that every Christian should read, by the way) God has shown me that we are not crazy!


God loved me before I loved Him. He loved you before you loved Him too! When I think that he loved me, even while I was still a sinner (Romans 5:8), I know that choosing to love others, even when it might not be the most comfortable or easy decision, is what we are compelled to do, if the love of God lives in us. Does anything in life really matter, other than loving God and loving other people?

Now that we have a clear path for our second adoption, I hope to post more about HIV, living with a child who is HIV positive, etc. As far as a timeline for this adoption- We been told 2-6 months for a referral. Keep your prayers coming this way! Even now, we pray for our child, we pray that they are being given the healthcare they need, we pray that God is strengthening their body and mind, and we pray that He will give us wisdom and courage as we continue to identify resources for our new child and try to show love in this way.

Happy 30th Birthday Zack!

Zack turned the big 30 this past weekend. We had a great surprise birthday party for him- great because he was really surprised! His sister came in all the way from North Carolina, and his college roommate and his wife made a surprise visit as well. We so appreciated everyone making the effort to help us celebrate such a momentous occasion. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and fun....and food :)

Love my Mom....Love Being a Mom :)

Even though last year was "officially" my first Mother's Day, this year really kind of felt like the real thing :) Last year at this time, Caleb had only been home around 5 months, and though we loved him dearly, we were still getting to know each other and still bonding, he was still learning to trust us, and we were all kind of still in semi-survival mode. Now, we are just like old pals :) We have had so many good times together. Seriously, I love being this guy's mommy! He is the best. No doubt about it. And he is going to be an awesome big brother. What did we ever do without Caleb?



I have been a daughter for 27 (almost 28 years now :) so I have that role down pretty well :) And my mom definitely has the mom role down. If I could only do it as well as she does one day.....Love you mom. Oh, and you are an awesome grandma (or bobbi, as Caleb says).




I was kind of looking over my blog and realized I had not posted anything very "serious" (for lack of a better word) in quite a while. A good serious post is needed :) And God has been teaching me some serious things that I need to share....so I look forward to doing that soon!

Destination: UGANDA!!!

Thursday evening we received a call from Nightlight Christian Adoptions, the agency offering the Uganda pilot program. We were told we were accepted into the Uganda program! Praise the Lord! This is a huge blessing and opportunity for our family! It has taken a little longer than we thought, but we finally have a clear path to pursue for our second adoption, and we are so excited. So, here are some details about the program:


-The program is through Nightlight Christian Adoption, a really wonderful agency.

-Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa- It comes sooo close to bordering Ethiopia....but not quite as you can see from the map below :)

-Over half of the population of the country lives on less than a dollar a day

-This is a pilot program.....which means expect anything! However, the timetable appears to be such that we will wait between 3-6 months for a referral after our dossier is received in Uganda. This could be much sooner, however, as we are open to a child of either gender under 2 with HIV. We also indicated that we are open to a sibling group of 2 children with HIV, under the age of 3 :)

-Most likely, we will travel within 1-2 months of receiving our referral, but this could take up to 6 months....again, it is a pilot program.

-We will stay in the capital of Uganda, Kampala, for at least 3 weeks, though this could be a bit longer too. However, one parent may come home after a few days.

So, where are we in the process? Well, our home study is complete, and we should be receiving it in a week or so. At that point, we will apply to USCIS and wait for their approval, which is reportedly taking around 90 days. During that time, we will assemble our dossier, and as soon as our USCIS approval comes, ship all our paperwork to Uganda!

We are very thankful and humbled for this opportunity. To God be the Glory!