Approved!

I received a call from CCAI (our adoption agency) today and our adoption application has been approved!
So now what, you may ask? First we must start the process of getting our homestudy done. Once our homestudy is complete we can file our I-600 with immigration. Once our I-600 is approved we can file our dossier with Ethiopia. Alot of documents to gather once again!
First things first though, I must get our signed & notorized service fee agreements to CCAI and our homestudy agency to get the ball rolling!

What's Behind the Name?

I love to know the meanings of peoples names, especially my children. The name Miles came to me a long time ago when Fred and I were discussing adopting a little boy. From that point I knew this would be his name, but never shared it with anyone. The night Fred and I decided to move forward with the adoption, I shared the name I had and he loved it. So of course, I researched his name and it has several meanings depending on the origin. I LOVE IT.

MILES

Merciful
Origin: English

Destroyer
Origin: Greek

Gift from God
Origin: Hebrew

Servant
Origin: Irish

Solider
Origin: Latin

Exciting News!

We are so excited to announce to all of you that we will be pursuing adotion from Ethiopia! God layed this on both of our hearts during the time we were adopting Lily. We knew that God was leading us to adopt a little boy and we knew he would be african american. So,here we go on another amazing journey. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us!
The process will take about a year to complete and have him home. Ethiopia requires that you travel twice, once to the court hearing and again to bring your child home. Travel will not be as long as China was though, which is a good thing. We will only be there for a couple days for the hearing and then about 5 days when we get to bring him home.
I guess I need to start thinking of another name for our blog....hummmmm!

Last ones from CNY...

More Pics from Chinese New Year.....

Chinese New Year

We started our celebration with a meal at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants, Asian Cafe, on Thursday evening. I wanted to wait until Lily was old enough to help me prepare dinner before we ventured on winging it at home. I can't wait until she is old enough to understand and participate in things that involve her culture. I say that in one breath and in another I want her to stay just the way she is, just the age she is. We waited so long for her and I don't want to rush her growing up at all. I enjoy her so much! On Sunday, we went to a Chinese New Year party with our local adoption group. We ate a meal together, did crafts, bounced in the bouncy house and danced with the dragon. It was a lot of fun. We are so blessed to have so many children adopted from China in our own "backyard". Here are some pictures of our celebration!