Are these cute or what???

A friend at work brought me some baby clothes and shoes to look through and I couldn't resist these!!

Also...a couple, the Martins, just got back from picking up their precious baby boy in Ethiopia and they took some pics of Hannah for us. They also took her a care package. Can't wait to see the pics!! I did get an email from Alisa and she said "we got to love on your sweet girl --she's doing great!! Seems very healthy & content!!"

COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!!!

We received our email today with our court date! It is APRIL 30TH!!! Please pray that we pass court the first time (30% do not) so that we can travel soon after that to bring Hannah home to us! If we do not pass on the 30th, a new court date will be set about a month later. Passing on April 30th would be wonderful news!! We are totally trusting God with this...whether we pass the first time or not. It's still His timing!!!
Please keep us in your prayers during this time. Here are some things you can pray for:

Hannah's health
Court Date
Travel plans
Raising money to cover plane tickets, etc.
Safety while we travel

Thank you!!

A Busy Spring Break!

We have been keeping ourselves busy over Spring Break while waiting for a court date. I have been busy painting Hannah's room, as you can see from Eddie's prior post. :) When it's finished I will post more pics. Eddie and I had a nice little getaway on Monday...our last one before baby arrives! It was a wonderful time to relax and spend some quiet time together without the boys. Tuesday, we had a Youth St. Patrick's Day party at our church. It was a lot of fun...lots and lots of green! Today we went to the Oklahoma City Zoo. We had a blast with the boys but we are worn out! Tomorrow we have no big plans and I am looking forward to that. I will probably work on Hannah's room some more. I'd love to have that finished soon!

Can anyone say PINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi all, this is Eddie and I felt I needed to write this post. Julie is all smiles as she finally gets to paint something pink in our house. I think the last 10 years of jungle, sport, and pirate rooms has finally gotten to her!!!!!!
By the way, so far the room has been textured, primered, and one coat of paint. I don't know who would've put that bright red paint on the walls in there, but it sure looked good with my drums. I'm sure she'll update with finished photos, but for now this is all you get. Eddie

Care Package to Hannah

We are very excited! We have been gathering a few things to send in a care package to Hannah. A very sweet couple, the Martins, offered to take this for us next week when they travel to pick up their baby boy. They will also take some pics of Hannah for us. We cannot wait for those and are so thankful they are doing this for us!!

We are sending a small photo album, given to me by my friend Kris, and we are filling it with pics of our family. We are also sending a soft stuffed bunny blankie. My mother in law is sending a cute sleeper and my mother is sending a doll. We're packaging it up tonight and will send it to the Martins tomorrow. Can't wait to see pics of her sweet little hands touching the things we are sending!

Her Name Will Be...

Those of you who know us well know we have had a name picked out for this baby girl for a very long time...since 2005 to be exact! But for those of you who don't...we will be naming our baby girl Hannah Rose (and then her African name, which I cannot post until we pass court). Hannah means grace. In Amharic, it means favored by God. Her middle name will be Rose after my mother in law.
Since our referral, we feel like a weight has been lifted from us. We no longer wonder what she will look like. Her picture is everywhere...in frames all over the house, at work, in my car, on my computer, and in my purse. I have memorized her sweet little face and it's the last thing I see in my mind as I fall asleep and the first thing I see when I wake. She is more beautiful than we ever could have imagined. We cannot wait to meet her, to hold her and tell her how much we love her and have loved her even before she was born. Andrew, my youngest son, told me the other day that he misses her. And that is true. We all miss her and haven't even met her. It's amazing how much love we have for this little baby whom we haven't met yet.
It's a wonderful feeling having her picture and not waiting every moment for the phone to ring with "THE CALL". Now we are even more ready to have her home with us!

Referral Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

Today is the day!! We got a referral for a precious baby girl!! One month old!!! She is gorgeous and we are TOTALLY IN LOVE with her! Here's how the referral happened...
I was home from work today fighting a migraine headache. So I was laying on the couch resting when the phone rang. I almost didn't answer it because I had already gotten two calls from people wanting to sell me something! And it wasn't my cell phone that was ringing, which was the number I thought Terra would be calling. Anyway, it showed up as America World and my heart started beating fast. Before I answered it though, I calmed myself down and started thinking that she was probably calling to tell me about some kind of problem with our referral and that it would be coming soon. But she wasn't!!! She said "Julie"? I said "yes". She said "This is Terra and I'm calling with good news...this is your referral call!" Then I gasped and said something like "Oh my gosh!!! Are you kidding me?" She laughed and asked if I wanted Eddie to be in on the call. I said yes, but she was unable to reach him. So I got all the info while trying to control my sobbing so I could listen to the details. We hung up and I texted Eddie and told him to COME HOME NOW...WE HAVE A BABY! He told his students to go to another classroom and he darted home. He walked in the door with big tears in his eyes and I told him it's a baby girl. We both cried and held onto each other. I will never forget that moment the rest of my life. Then he ran to pick up the boys from school so we could see her all together. My parents came over to video for us. I will be posting the video tonight.
Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us during this crazy journey. We are so thrilled and so thankful. God is very good and his timing is perfect. Seeing her precious face for the first time made all the waiting, anxiety, and tears worth it. Now we are longing to have her home with us. Please keep us in your prayers as we take the next step on this adoption journey!

Monday Referrals???

We are sooooooo hoping for a referral tomorrow! Hoping they start March off with a BANG!! I'll keep you posted...