less than two weeks

until our court appointment on April 11!

Praying that a month from now we are IN Ethiopia with Silas IN our arms.

court: 2 weeks to go!

Please take your eyes to the ticker above.....2 weeks until our court appointment! We are getting very, very close!

This week 6 AWAA families got referrals! Here's the rundown: 2 infant girls, 2 infant boys, and 2 sibling groups. That's 8 children who now have families. forever.

If you would like to visit their blogs and enjoy the excitement, here are those I know about: Cordells, Kidds, Wests.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:4-5

We are thanking God and praising Him for the gift of Silas and the children in our AW families (they really do feel like family)! And He is GOOD and His love endures FOREVER. He is FAITHFUL ALWAYS and through the generations....through Silas' generation and beyond. Wow!

I told you I say "Wow!" a lot.

Other random happenings? We got our stroller in the mail yesterday. Can I just say it's awesome? The car seat was sent to my parents' house because it was too bulky. They mailed it here yesterday. Here's the stroller:

Besides, "Would you like to go out with me?", "Will you marry me?" and "When are we going to start our second adoption?", the sweetest thing I've ever heard Marshall say is, "You'll notice I made a purchase today (if I looked at our account)...I bought our boy some jeans. He really needs some jeans." Be still my heart! That he even cares about Silas' wardrobe touches me deeply. He came home with the last pair of 6 month Osh Kosh jeans in all of Germany for our son. (Maybe not all of Germany, but you get the drift.) I'm glad some poor, unsuspecting woman wasn't grabbing for them at the same time. Here they are with Sophie the Supermodel (please don't judge):

Hope you're having a great day! Thanks for checking in. Come on April 11!!!

cha-ching!

**Edited**

I have an exciting report! Our precious, generous friends have given us a total of:

$571

to buy donations for the Transition Home in Ethiopia. My heart is full! Thank you, everyone, who gave. I sat, opening the envelopes and just wept. I didn't know what else to do.

happy easter!

He is risen! Thank You, Lord for Your ultimate gift. You didn't have to die on that cross for my sins. You could have said, "No way...I'm perfect." But You didn't. You died for my mistakes and outright sins. Every single one of them, right then and there.

Thank You.

But it didn't stop there. You not only died, but You defeated death. You died on Friday and You were really dead. On Sunday morning, You were ALIVE! Only You could do that. Wow!

You're still alive, sitting at the right hand of God, interceding for me and all who call you Lord.

Double Wow!

we have a court date ya'll!

We were praying very specifically tonight at dinner for our court date. Marshall prayed that we would find out our date today. On my out of the door for PWOC, I checked my email. I am a bit compulsive about that these days.

There was an email from Duni....

Our court date is April 11.

Now, please pray that our court appointment is favorable. We will travel 2-3 weeks after that.

Thank You, Lord that You are indeed in control. You know what will happen on April 11. We can rest in that, for sure.

tagged

What's that, you ask? It's a blog game! Kristin tagged me...here are the rules:

You have to tag 5 people and you can't tag the person that tagged you. You leave them a comment on their blog letting them know you are tagging them and why. Also, direct them to your blog for instructions. It is also asked that you notify the tagger when you post your list so that they can enjoy reading the responses.

Here are 10 things about me:

1) I have ALWAYS wanted to be tagged...I'm honored.

2) Deep down, I really think I'm from the Mediterranean region, even though I had to go make sure I was spelling it correctly. I love the people, food, culture, etc. I'm probably half Greek, half Italian, but I look like I'm Irish/English. Work with me people.

3) When I'm tired, I can be really silly. Ask Marshall.

4) The missions trip to Ethiopia in June changed my life. Cannot wait to go back.

5) I didn't realize I could love a little boy in a picture SO much.

6) I'm really honored to be on the adoption journey....the Lord has taught me so much.

7) I say "Wow" a lot.

8) I want to be more generous.

9) It's hard to think about 10 whole things about myself. Here's one...I'm really not blonde...you didn't know that, did you?

10) I need to get my roots done....if you've seen me lately, you know that.

Shari, Candy, Kari, Bri, and Holly - you're it! (notice the nifty theme of all names ending in the "ee" sound.)

because i love you

so much, I have just added a long list of America World families' blogs to the right of your screen...scroll down. America World also has a new blog. Please let me know if I missed your blog...it's late.

Pay close attention to the Steiger Family this week...they are in ET right now.

Go read the Kidd Family's blog too...guaranteed to make you cry in a good way.

Our baby shower was today....I'm plum wore out! The Coen's, especially Silas, are so very loved and we are so very thankful. THANK YOU doesn't really convey it! Why am I awake if I'm so wore out, you ask? Might be the 2 hour nap I had this evening after all of the baby shower fun. I crashed. It was great! The cake was made by Cheri, our very own cake lady. They always taste as good as they look. :)

Now I need to get some sleep. Enjoy the blog roll! There are some precious people out there...you know who you are!

(No court date news....still think we'll travel in April.)

official travel packet

Our Official Travel packet arrived in the mail today. It's full of travel information, both general for traveling to Ethiopia and specific, in terms of the necessary documents and details on the adoption side of the house we need to get together.

We're going to make our own travel arrangements, because from here, it's just easier and we will most likely get a better price. We went to the travel agent the other day and inquired about it. We will try to get a direct flight on Ethiopian Air instead of the KLM flight I took last summer. It was a great flight, but direct would be fabulous.

I think the Official Travel packet means that we're legit and we will be traveling to Ethiopia! Woo hoo! Of course we need a successful court date first, but this is big news. It was encouraging to finally get this step in the mail. Now I need to get to work and get some things notarized, faxed, copied and so on. I've busted out my orange highlighter and I'm going through the packet line by line. Each paragraph gets us closer to our boy!

I don't think the paperwork ever really ends. You just take a little break during the wait. But, no, you do not hear me complaining. I will notarize, fax, copy and so on joyfully and with Silas in my heart. I would walk 10 miles in the snow uphill both ways and barefoot to fax a document for that boy! Thankfully we are having a very mild winter, but I would do it if I had to. :) I'm sure that counts for something.

No word yet on when our court appointment is. We are continuing to pray that it's this month and we will travel in April. I'll keep you posted, no pun intended.

we hit the lottery again!

Precious Mel sent more pictures tonight. Love her.

From her report I can tell you that Silas is being well taken care of. To know that brings so much peace. I knew it in my heart, but Mel's description of his care sealed it. Don't get me wrong, I would be on a plane yesterday if possible, but to know someone is loving on him, holding him and meeting his needs makes my heart full. I can't wait to get my hands on him and then hug his special nanny and tell her how much we appreciate her love!

No word on the court date. You'll be the first to know!

Today marks 4 weeks since we met Silas. Feels like we've known him forever!

update

Our court date has been requested, but we have not been assigned a date yet.

We received an email from the AWAA Travel Department yesterday. Our paper travel packet is in the mail as of last week. This means that we are nearing the end and need to begin travel plans, in conjunction with a court date, of course.

We're praying for a court date in March and travel in April.

Please continue to pray! Isn't this exciting?! It's almost more than I can take....in a good way!

behind the green gate

Silas is behind this very green gate. This is the Transitional Home for our agency. When children are referred to families, they are moved from the orphanage to this home until their parents come to pick them up. Thus, the transitional home. It's the piece between being and orphan and being forever with their family.

There are about 13 nannies on staff, a guard, head nurse, cook and directors at the home. The home holds between 12 and 20 babies and children at a time. Right now, Mr. Silas is one of those babies. When you think of it, please pray for the nannies and staff at the Transitional Home. They work tirelessly to give these children a home away from their forever homes.

When we travel, we'll be taking our donations here. Our plan is to take money to spend in the local economy for familiar products like formula and diapers, as well as anything else they may need. Our luggage weight limit is not so high, so since money doesn't weigh much and we can stimulate the local economy, it seems to be the best plan.

We're trying to get there as fast as we can, little man! But until then, it's so good to know you're being well taken care of.

better than winning the lottery!

Today we got 3 new pictures of Silas from, Erica, one of the parents traveling to pick up her son. And Mel, another traveling parent, posted on our Yahoo! group that:

"JILL: Baby Boy was sleeping a lot of the time we were there but I can tell you that he loves singing! Actually, all of the babies love music but he just smiled and smiled while the nannies were singing!! I don't think I ever saw the nannies put him down the entire 3 hours we were there too so he is in good hands!"

In all of Erica's pictures, Silas was in the arms of a nanny, so I'd say he's getting some good attention. He also wears his bigger than life, pink pacifier better than any baby boy I've ever seen. That pacifier is almost as big as he is.

Thanks Erica and Mel! Today's pictures and post were better than winning the lottery for this momma!

families in ET

There are some families in and on their way to Ethiopia right now to pick up their children. Several have blogs, if you would like to follow:

McIlrath Family

Wegner Family

Treadwell Family

Harpold Family

The other families either have private blogs or no blogs.

Enjoy and let the blog-stalking fully commence! ;)

update from the transitional home

On Thursday we got an update from the director of the Transitional Home (TH). What a gift!!

As of 22 February, Silas weighs 9 pounds and is 20 1/2 inches of sweetness. It's reported that he smiles a lot, sleeps a lot, eats as he should and is "quiet", meaning he doesn't cry a lot. Howevah, Silas does NOT enjoy a bath and does cry a lot while that is happening.

I like that about him. Sounds like he is laid back, but will let you know if he doesn't like something. He's got a little sass. That's my boy.

i'm acting like a mom

Last night I went to dinner with my lovely Chaplain wives....I love them! We had Indian food, which I was so excited about because I hadn't ever had it. It was yummy. The first tender moment occurred when our newest addition to the group was looking over our roster. It includes our name, hubby's name and unit, birthday, anniversary, address, phone numbers, etc. I happened to glance over at the paper and under my name I saw, "Children: Silas".

Be still my heart, he's on the roster! My eyes welled up and I was so touched. To see it on paper was so sweet.

And then our waitress was not Indian. I told my friend across from me that she looked Ethiopian. On our way out, I asked the waitress where she was from. She said Eritrea. Close! Eritrea is the country that borders Ethiopia to the north. They have a choppy history. I told her that my son was in Ethiopia and before she could agree to see his picture I had it whipped out of my purse in all of it's 4X6 framed glory....right over her tray of drinks she was attempting to serve. She was sweet about it. I guess that's just how mothers act?