Addie at around 3 months old in the orphanage:

On the day we met her at 4 months old:

2 weeks at home:

And finally, Addie at 5 months old after being home for one month:

Is she cute or what?  Since everyone seemed to like her slideshow (it has been viewed over 1,100 times!), I thought you might also enjoy seeing the rest of our travel group. We were so blessed to walk though this experience with the most amazing group of families that will always have a special place in our heart. We celebrated, laughed & cried together, smooshed together in hot vans through crazy Ethiopian traffic, suffered through a sleepless night in a mosquito infested-no locks on the doors-flooded bathroom floor- hotel together, prayed together and completely bonded together. When we ran into a major problem at our embassy appointment that resulted in me rushing around Ethiopia trying to track down necessary paperwork to bring Addie home, I returned to find that our entire group had stayed with Will & Addie at the embassy, waiting for us and comforting him during a very stressful time. Their support at this moment and throughout the trip meant so much to me and I will always treasure the memories of our time in Ethiopia. It is a very special experience to be able to witness other families falling in love with their children and I hope you will feel a little of what this was like with this slideshow.

pictures of Addie

I can’t wait to share more from our trip when I am not so jet-lagged but I know that what everyone really wants to see is pictures of Addie anyways. Thanks for lifting us up with your prayers and support throughout our journey!

I will be limiting my sessions for the month of June in order to enjoy this special time in our family.  If you are hoping for a session, just send me an email and I will get back to you when I begin scheduling again.

In the meantime, here is another family blessed by adoption.  Dan, Beth, David & Matthew were my first session this spring and they got my season off to a great start!  I loved capturing the special relationship the boys have with each other.

We are not allowed to post the referral pictures until she is officially ours but you know I will make up for it when she is home!  Thank you to all our family, friends and my amazing clients for all of your interest and support and for keeping our family in your prayers.

And since any post without pictures is boring, here’s a link to a beautiful song by Steven Curtis Chapman.  I was able to hear him perform it live last year at Women of Faith and it is a moment that I will never forget.  Will & I were only exploring the idea of adopting a child but I knew in that moment that it was right for our family and that we would be blessed by the miracle of adoption.

A Glimmer of Hope - LTBH Feature Film - Austin 2009 from A Glimmer of Hope on Vimeo.

Now, some images from a 2009 session. This past summer, I had the pleasure of photographing several families in Sherrill, NY, the area that I grew up in. Since all of my family still lives there, we usually spend at least one week there in the summer in addition to a few weekend trips. If you are interested in a session in the area this year, please contact me and I can let you know when I will be there. For those of you from the area, I’m sure you will recognize the setting for these images.

This is Emery and her little sister, Juliana. And of course, we got a few with their mom & dad, whom I went to high school with. I just love the interaction in this one…

Love the adoring looks by all in this one too. What a moment…

One year later…

And big sister, Delaney…

Our first big step was choosing an adoption agency.  I admit I agonized over this for a while.  I think I was waiting for sign and knew I was losing it when I started asking for advice from a 3 year old.  After much deliberation, we chose Holt International because they have many years of experience (dating back to the 50’s with adoptions from Korea), a solid reputation and a shorter wait time for Ethiopian adoptions since it is a relatively new program.  I have also connected with many families in process with Holt through their blogs and a yahoo support group and everyone has had a positive experience.  It is amazing to discover that there is a whole community of families that share such a strong connection from sharing the unique experience of international adoption.

Since Holt is based in Portland, we needed to find a local agency for our home study and looked to Hillside Children’s Center, an agency that I have a strong connection to through my work as a clinical social worker and volunteer work with Adoption Resource Network (which is now a part of Hillside).  Currently, I run an adventure based support group for adopted teens for Hillside, so this part was an easy choice for us.  Our home study included an 11 hour adoption training, a home visit, autobiographies, 5 page questionnaires, 2 office visits, 4 reference letters, a notarized letter from our bank, a letter from our pediatrician, physicals and letters from our physician, child abuse clearance, a letter from Will’s employer, a letter from my accountant, our tax info., and finally fingerprinting.  Once all this was completed, we turned everything over to Hillside and waited for the home study to be written. It felt like a long wait through the month of December and although I tried to be patient, I’m sure I drove our social worker a little crazy with anxious e-mails!

Once we completed everything for our home study, work began on our dossier.  This is the entire packet that will need to go through the Ethiopian court system prior to bringing our child home.  The dossier includes a notarized letter from our bank, a notarized letter from Will’s employer, a notarized letter from my accountant, a family profile summary, a notarized letter to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs explaining why we are interested in adopting, 2 passport photos of each parent, a notarized copy of our home study agency’s license, a certified birth certificate of both parents, a certified marriage certificate, 2 notarized letters of recommendation, police clearance from our local law enforcement agency, notarized medical certificates from our physician, notarized tax information, a notarized certificate regarding post placement agreement reports, a notarized attestation and declaration of personal condition, a notarized power of attorney and a notarized copy of our home study.  As if this was not enough, the power of attorney and copy of our home study also needs to be certified through our county and then state certified in Albany and then it will be complete.  

We finally received the final copies of our home study last Friday and the boys and I dropped them in the mail today to Holt (with a kiss from each of us for good luck!). This was a huge step as we will officially be put on the waiting list as soon as Holt receives and accepts the home study.  Currently, the average wait time for a referral through our agency is 1-3 months. We are asking for an infant girl.  We are able to specify gender because we have only boys and we all agreed on a girl.  The boys can not wait to have a little sister and Riley asks almost every day when she will be home.  She will be between birth and 2 years of age at the time of our referral, then it should be about 4 more months to get through the Ethiopian courts and then an additional 6-8 weeks to receive an embassy date.  When the time finally comes, Will and I will travel to Ethiopia for 10 days to bring our baby home.  

Now that our paper chase is almost over, the real waiting begins.  The wait for a referral, the wait for a court date (and usually a second court date), the wait for a travel date, the wait to meet our child and bring her home.  I will keep you posted!

In the meantime, I will continue to pray for children that are alone or suffering in the world, especially in Haiti.  When we began this process, we considered adopting from Haiti but decided it was not the best match for us due to the long wait.  In normal times, families can expect the process to take 2-3 years.  I can not imagine what it must be like for the families who have fallen in love with their children, have been waiting all this time and are now unsure if they are okay or will make it home.  May your faith give you strength and lead your children home.  

And then, just when I was starting to feel sorry for myself, I was reminded of just how blessed I am.

Blessed to have such incredible clients and an overwhelmingly busy year.  It is amazing to be able to do something that I truly enjoy so much and that makes others so happy too.  This fall marked the 3 year anniversary of when I picked up a serious camera for the first time and it’s been a whirlwind ever since.  This summer, I photographed several families that were my first clients ever.  It was so much fun to reconnect with the families and to see how the kids have grown.  I can’t wait to catch up on my blog after the holidays and to share images of these sessions and many more of all the new families that I have captured a glimpse of.  As crazy as the last month has been, all of the last minute orders coming in were such a blessing as every penny has gone into our adoption fund.  

Blessed to be touched by the miracle of adoption.  We have been overwhelmed by the positive support from everyone in our lives since we shared our decision.  It is something we have been thinking about for so long and it feels wonderful to finally share our excitement with everyone. Many have commented about what a wonderful thing we are doing for a child.  But that is the amazing part.  We are the ones whose lives have already been changed.  Adoption has opened our eyes to those that are suffering in the world and reminded us of what is really important in life.  I feel it in my heart and I see the changes in our boys as they become more compassionate and grow from this experience. As much as I am trying to be fully present with them in this moment, I can’t help thinking that our other child is out there, wondering what her first Christmas will be like and what her family may be going through.  

Blessed to have such a loving & supportive family, friends who lift me up with their encouraging words, an amazing husband and my two sweet boys who are tucked in right now dreaming of Santa.  I am reminded that what is under the tree or how perfect (or not so perfect) the lights on it look are not nearly as important as who is sitting around the tree with you.  I am reminded that it is His love for us that is the cause for celebration and the best gift we can give to others is our own love.  

Since I couldn’t send this out to everyone, here is my family’s holiday card and a few more of my favorite images of my boys from 2009.  The last image was taken by my friend, Melany Klink, for our home study since we didn’t have any pictures that I was in.  I look forward to all the adventures that 2010 will bring and wish all of you a peaceful time full of many magic moments with your own little ones.  Merry Christmas!