My little man is 17 months today!

SO! My little man is 17 months old! I can't believe it, I remember when he made a big deal over every WEEK..."he is 2 weeks old today!" Ahh the time goes by SO fast! He has turned

into quite a little show off :)
He is absolutely so fun these days!

Here he is enjoying some playful snuggle time with his
"older woman" sweet Ms. Kyla!
They have really come to be good friends and it

is sooo cute to watch them play and interact
together now! I love it!

He is even.....

practicing his "sharing" though it is with our huskie :) They enjoyed Cherrios Saturday morning while watching animal planet! haha!

Now I have him playing with a rubber duckie "family of 4" in the bathtub! He lines them so neatly and sweet and then one by one knocks them off! :D

Did I mention he has become a show off! He LOVES making his "Da-da" lift up for a dunk on our

little goal in Matt's UK room (soon to be Tyler's big boy room.) Matt would lift him up and Tyler would turn all the way around to make sure I was looking at him with my camera ready...nice pose huh!? :D



Well I hope you have enjoyed the many faces and moments of my sweet little man...he is growing up sooo fast, I can't savor enough of each sweet moment when he lays his head on my chest or calls out "mama" first thing in the morning....the love a parent has for their child is so amazing, yet it is a small comparison to the love God has for us! How grateful I am to raise and love this little boy, in hopes of showing him that he too is a beloved child of God.

My heart explodes with love for Tyler and I can not imagine how I will feel when I have TWO sweet boys! I can't wait and am so excited for Tyler to have a brother to grow up with and share so much with....oh yeah it looks like we really are #6 :)

HAPPY 17 MONTH BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET TYLER BOO!

Oh my...

So we might be # 6 now! My head is spinning :)
I am off to work tonight...my Joy will sustain me through the long 12 hour shift!
"They Joy of the Lord is my STRENGTH"

So... it looks like Tyler is not so thrilled about being carried around in my home-made baby sling :) I hope his new brother will be! This one was kinda small for him...but I wanted to try it out! Anyway on to....

My oh so precious parents :)

My dad came over to look at our dishwasher which wasn't spinning the water out, we found nasty yellowish water in the bottom of it...gross! BUT thankfully he was able to figure out where the clog was and now the dishwasher is up and running! I have to admit that washing the dishes by hand the "old fashion way" was kinda fun. It took me back to washing dishes as a kid...my dad would wash and I would dry :)

Also my mom got to pick up her "Love for Ethiopia" shirt! :) Too cute - she had a hard time posing for a picture by herself so dad had to jump in!

I am feeling random, but want to end with this..........

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait on him" Lamentations 3:22

Tyler in his CUTE overalls!

Thought I should add some pictures! Haven't posted any in a while!

I just love my little man!

AHHHHH!!!!

I am getting SOOO excited!!!! More referrals (more families were matched up with children) were made this week!!! We are for sure #7 now...but the there has also been the hint that maybe the new unknown #1 family has recieved their referral too.....we could even be #6!!! AHHH! I will stick with 7 for now though! WHOA!!!!
AHHH I just can't wait to see the baby God has for us!!
Matt, Ty and me were wrestling/snuggling on the couch tonight and I said "oh I can't wait until we add our 2nd boy to this pile!!!" It may be sooner than later!!! I just hope the courts in Ethiopia re-open and get back in buisness before things slow WAY down...so far so good!
let me say it again............
AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baby Slings!

Ok! So I have now added baby slings to the list of crafts that I am plunging myself into to help raise money for the adoption. So now there is...
-baby slings ($15)
-t-shirts (either with Africa in a heart or Ethiopia in a heart or the rustic Ethiopian flag)
-fitted shirts with the Africa shape on them in various fabric patterns
-piggy banks
-ornaments
I refuse to let my list grow any further, because I am starting to get carried away...I guess this "wait list" period is getting to me! The crafting distracts me and helps to raise money...both are wonderful and much needed!
Email me if you are interested in anything!
awalter060405@insightbb.com

Crafts for Cash continued...and more

So I have discovered that the slideshow I made of pictures of the crafts I have been working on to raise money for our adoption wasn't working all the time. I think something was wrong with the website where I made it...SO I posted pictures of them all in the side bar. See my previous post "Crafts for Cash...well kinda :) " for the prices. I also added the paypal button to help make paying for the items easier and just in case some one feels led to donate to our adoption!
God is really motivating me to step out in faith and try to raise money and see what He can do!
I read in a book the other day that had adoption advice and someone wrote some words of advice that where so big to me.....
"God is not bound by geography, timelines, politics or finances ~ God hasn't asked you to walk this path alone. Not only will He remain with you each step of the way, He has prepared many warriors to go into battle with you. You'll be amazed at who He uses to meet your needs"
I read this at the perfect moment when I needed to be reminded of this the most, His grace is enough!

In case you can't see the slideshow...

I posted a slideshow on the sidebar of the crafts I am trying to sell to raise money for our adoption but some people can't see it for some reason so here is the link to see them all...
http://s788.photobucket.com/albums/yy170/awalter060405/

Crafts for Cash....well kinda :)

I really just thought "Crafts for Cash" sounded catchy :) We will accept any form of money, not just cash! :)
Seriously though, our time on the wait list has really been moving along and so I have been overwhelming my brain with ideas for raising more money since it appears we will be needing it sooner rather than later! We are waiting to hear back about grant money, but we will still need to raise alot of money on our own even if we are awarded grants. So I have put my energy into making crafts that are inspired by adoption and will hopefully be somthing that others, including those not directly involved in adoption would like....I posted a slide show of most of the things but here is a description
1. T-shirts $20.00 ~I have discovered Iron-on! There are 5 designs I am sticking with to keep from going over board
a - worth the wait ~ very cute on a onesie (see picture in slideshow)
b- the shape of africa inside a heart (see picture of logo in slideshow)
c- the Ethiopian flag -rustic looking (see picture of logo in slideshow)
d- shape of Africa solid black with the words "adoption rocks" and heart over Ethiopia in pink (sorry no picture, I will add one soon, but trust me it is very cute)
e- red heart shape with Ethiopia on the inside of it in white letters (picture also coming soon)

2. Piggy Banks $7.00 ~ I loved decorating the piggy banks and thought it'd be a great thing for couples to purchase not just for themselves but for them to give out to other family members

3. Africa shape fabric shirts $20.00~ These vary some and depend on availability of the shirts I have, but my cousin Brittany was so kind to model for me (see slide show) So I can do a large Africa shape in the center or a smaller one to the side like seen in the picture of me (in the pink).
I can also add a heart over the country of your choice

4. Onesies $7.00 ~ They are the same as the shirts - you can choose from either one of the logo's I mentioned like "Worth the Wait" or I can put the Africa shape on the onesie too! Very cute - I hope to add a picture of my son modeling one of the Africa fabric shaped onesies you see in the pictures

5. Ornaments $5.00 ~ I love these! The phrases so far...
-Our Heart's in Ethiopia
-Waiting with Love (along with Africa shape and heart over Ethiopia)
-Forever Family and your family's name

* I hope somthing appeals to you! All the prices include shipping!
Email me ~ awalter060405@insightbb.com or Facebook me if you are interested in anything or have any questions!

Labor of Love

As we creep closer and closer to finding out who our baby is and prepare to actually go get him and bring him home, there is sooo many things to think about and to do and to pray about and at times I can get really overwhelmed with it all...but tonight all I can think about is "baby E's" (as Aunt La-La has nicknamed him) birth mother.
If we are only a few months away from finding out who he is, then she may be only months or even weeks away from delivery...or maybe has even already delivered him. What is she thinking? Does she touch her belly in hope? Is she sick and facing death? Is this child the only thing keeping her going right now? Is she young and scared? It hurts to imagine her, but I must. I pray she is comforted. Regardless of the details of her situation, she has to be sad.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
Matthew 5:4
This verse brings hope
I am praying for baby E's birth mother to be comforted. Please pray with me

Not much to blog about...

I feel like life has been pretty "usual" lately. Nothing too exciting or new to really need to blog about...but then I think that is a horrible way to think...God is doing big and great things in our lives each and every day.
As far as our progress in our "wait" we are already up to #9! Wow! That is 4 spots up in just a month...things will be a little slower this month, but then I am sure they will speed up again in mid-October. In the mean time we are waiting to hear about grants we have applied for and I am brainstorming ways we can make and or raise money for the remaining expenses...I have alot of ideas, but not too many that will make it very far. There will be more to come about that soon...once I have more things in order.
I have been drawn to the need to dwell on God's commands lately. Lots of times through out my days and weeks, I think about the adoption process and how crazy it may seem to others and even to myself at times and then I begin to allow doubt and fear to creep in...I have struggled with doubts related to everything about the adoption more than any other experience we have gone through. God has shown me that this is because it requires more faith and obedience than anything else we have ever done and this ultimately brings Him more glory, so satan has to do his best to make me have doubts and fears in hopes of leading me to doubt God and loose faith. But I won't let satan do that. I know God has called us to do this and we will obey...we will rely on our faith in God and bring Him the glory He deserves while doing so! He has brought us this far, and I KNOW He will continue to guide us through this process and in everything else we face.
"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ" Philippians 1:6