Vote for Bekah!

Click here to vote for a super cutie who was adopted earlier this year by a family with our agency. Let's help Bekah be the winner!!

Looking Toward May

It's my guess that there won't be any more referrals in April. So, now we turn our attention to May. Is that when we'll get THE CALL? I certainly hope it's no later than May. We continue to pray about passing court before the courts close. Our agency does not yet know when the courts will close this year. Last year, they closed in August and September. We'll just have to wait and see what happens this time. At this point, I simply want our baby girl home with us for Christmas. That might sound like such a long way from now but we don't even have our referral so, that's really what I've set my heart on. For Zeke, I just wanted him home by his first birthday. God answered that prayer! God is able to accomplish this desire of my heart for Quilla!

Our China LID Anniversary Comes and Goes

Our three year LID anniversary for China passed on April 23rd. Who would've imagined in 2007 that we would complete TWO adoptions and still not be close to being matched to a baby from China. I continue to have very mixed feelings about ever completing an adoption from China. Now that China is a Hague country (a good thing!), we would have a hard time re-doing our home study. You have to have background clearances from every place you've lived since you turned 18. For Brad, that would include the time he lived in Spain. Can you even imagine trying to get a background clearance from a small town in Spain?? So, it's my belief that we'll never do China. That makes me a little sad because we thought our first adoption would be from there and we dreamed about our Lily. However, God sent us down a different path and we wouldn't trade it for the world! It brought us to our Zeke and will bring us to Quilla. We rejoice in the twists and turns of this journey. There hasn't been a dull moment!

Bebe-Chiang Mai or Bust!

My sister Wendy (Weed/Weedy/Nelv/Bebe) is on her way to Chiang Mai, Thailand where she'll live for the next year or two. Please pray for her and Maybelle as they make this epic journey. According to the flight tracker websites, they arrived in Bangkok, though we haven't heard from her yet. She'll stay the night there and will catch a flight to Bangkok tomorrow morning. She should arrive around midnight, central time...It will be Sunday late morning for her. Click here to visit her blog. I'm also adding a permanent link to her blog so you can check in on her from time to time!

We're NEXT!!!

We think! Hahahaha! We're so very happy that the Booy family got their referral yesterday for a baby girl. Their DTE is only 6 days before ours. So, we're pretty sure that we're next for a baby girl referral. I can't tell you how stinkin' exciting it is! I can't wait to see our baby's sweet face for the first time...and to know all about her...her birthday, her weight, etc. Please pray with us that we will get our referral soon. We are hoping and praying with all our might that we will pass court before the court closures in August!

"Chrome Plated Heart"

Dancing Chrome from bradbelote on Vimeo.

"Chrome Plated Heart"

Dancing Chrome from bradbelote on Vimeo.

Eight Months

It's been eight months since we submitted our dossier to Ethiopia. We are hoping to get our referral soon. There are families that already have their referral that have been waiting for court dates and travel dates. I'm hopeful that more of these families will get good news soon. We hope that the process is smooth for us once we get our referral.

Check out the Street Kids Ministry and Tell Others About It!

By sharing the word of what's happening with an awesome ministry to the street kids of Addis, you can also be entered to win a cool necklace. Neat! We've added a button on the right hand side of the blog to take you to the site where you can learn more about Into the Streets...or you can just click right here.

At the Zoo

Zeke was more interested in the riding lawn mowers than the animals.

Celebrating Zeke's Half Birthday

Sent from my iPhone

Follow Up

My friend Mandy asked a very good question about time outs and I thought it was worth sharing the info in a new post. She asked what happens when your child "does his/her time" in time out and then returns to the naughty behavior. We will give Zeke up to three time outs for bad behavior. After three, if he continues to make poor choices (like putting his foot on the table), we remove him from the situation. His meal time is over. Or, we move from playing with cars in the living room where he insists on throwing his cars to doing puzzles in his room. If he pitches a fit because we are physically moving him to a different room and activity, we let him pitch his fit. At the advice of our pediatrician, we let him have his "rolling on the floor" fits and completely ignore it, as long as he is not going to hurt himself. When he sees that he doesn't have an audience, he stops his fit pretty quickly. If he gets a time out for unsafe behavior, we remove him from the unsafe situation immediately and explain in our post-time out talk that something is "a big no-no" because it could hurt him. Hope that helps!

UPDATE: Russian Adoptions NOT Suspended

Is your head whirling yet? I'm glad I said, "apparently" in my earlier post this morning. Looks like US-Russia adoptions are still open. Click here to read the latest from the AP.

Something to Read

Just had to post a link to this article (click here) because I think it's an important issue to consider. Going through the adoption home study process really makes you reflect on discipline and how you want to raise your child. We only use time out's with Zeke and we expect anyone who cares for him to do the same. It's very effective because we are consistent with it. He hates time out and most of the time, a warning of a possible time out stops the inappropriate or unsafe behavior. Besides that, how can we tell him not to hit us or others if we hit him? Just something to chew on...

More on how we use time out (from the Super Nanny technique):
1. First, there's a warning given to Zeke at his eye level and making eye contact. It's not shouted from across the room. If the behavior continues, he will get a time out. Sometimes, acting out occurs because a child wants the attention of an adult. When you get on the child's level and make eye contact, you are giving the child attention. That's why a warning can stop the behavior and allow you to address the underlying issue.
2. If he continues the behavior, he gets a time out. The length of the time out is 1 minute x the child's age, so 2 minutes for a 2 year old.
3. If he doesn't stay in time out, he is repeatedly placed back in time out until he stays. There is no negotiation and we do not talk to him during this process or make eye contact. Sometimes, we have to do this multiple times before he stays in time out. I'm not going to lie. It takes time and energy to implement this technique but we strongly believe it's worth it and is far more effective than hitting.
4. When the time has expired, you get on his level and make eye contact. You calmly explain WHY he got a time out. He must say he's sorry. Then, we love on each other and he must promise to make better choices next time.

Time out works on so many levels but only when it's implemented correctly. Time out can let a child calm his/her emotions. Hitting a child only escalates the emotions. We also talk a lot in the course of our daily lives about good choices and bad choices (which would result in a time out). Zeke is always a good boy. We never tell him he's a bad boy. He's a good boy who sometimes makes bad choices. We think that this technique also reinforces that very important message.

Pray for Russian Adoptions

Apparently, Russia has suspended adoptions to US families in light of the recent craziness. Read about it here. Please pray for the children, the waiting families, and the birth families. This breaks my heart.

What You Can Do With $6

What have you spent six dollars on lately? Think about it. Coffee, something from iTunes, a quick snack at the mall? Consider the fact that six dollars will provide a child in Ethiopia with one healthy meal per day for a month! Robel Alawi, a staff person with our adoption agency has a wonderful ministry for the children who work and live in the streets of Addis Ababa. Check out his blog by clicking here and join us in financially supporting this ministry. We are called to be the hands and feet of Christ. This is an excellent way to live out that calling.

LOVE this story on adoption that aired on NPR!!

In light of the Russian adoption story about the mom sending her son back to Russia, it was so wonderful to hear this commentary on NPR. Since I work for an NPR affiliate station, I know several NPR staff members. There are actually many, many staffers who have children through adoption. This piece aired this week and I just had to share. Click here to listen.

Early Zeke

Since Brad is in Vegas, I have to get Zeke up early so I can be at work at my usual time. He's so sweet in the morning. I love the "morning Zeke." He's cuddly and extra pleasant.

This morning, as we were riding in the van, he was munching on Honeycomb cereal, a new treat for him. When he gets milk on his chin, we call it a "milk beard." Well, he has taken this concept to new heights. This morning, he was holding a honeycomb up to his chin and saying "cereal beard." We were both cracking up.

This is our first week being "on deck." I know the time will fly by (loved your comment on the last blog post, Weed!) and I'm trying not to think about the fact that we are in the zone...but it's hard not be excited!!!

What Now?

As we prepare to enter our first week of being "on deck," you may be wondering what happens now? Well, I will always keep my cell phone charged and with me. Ha! We will get a call from our agency saying we have a referral. Our Family Coordinator will email us info on the baby. We will do some paperwork and send it back to the agency. Then, the agency begins working on getting us a court date. We've been told to expect a court date 4-8 weeks after accepting our referral. This is when we will travel to meet our baby for the first time! So, once we get a referral, this could all happen quite quickly. I have no idea when we will get our referral in the next three months. I'm still just happy to officially be "in the zone!"

We are ON DECK!!!

We got the on deck email from our agency this afternoon. That means we could get our referral as early as Monday or as late as July. What we do know is we are in the group of families that are NEXT for a referral!!! Woo-hoo!!! It's great to be OFFICIALLY close to our referral! Please continue to pray that we will pass court before the courts close in August.