A Very Happy Little Girl

As many of you have probably been able to ascertain from following this blog, Ellie has a 'thing' for slinkies. Colored slinkies, shiny slinkies, and baby slinkies are just some of the categories she has created for her little friends. We bought a case of plastic, colored slinkies (emblazoned with a map of the world because, you know, you can never start too early with geography) just so we would have some on hand when one would inevitably break. We have slinkies on top of the fridge, in my purse and in the car 'just in case' we might need one.

Some of you have told us about the 'slinky dog' featured in the movie Toy Story and we've seen it featured in vintage slinky ads on YouTube (we even have a special playlist of these commercials so Ellie can watch several minutes worth of slinky video without interuption). Mom told us she unsuccessfully searched five different toy stores in Peoria searching for the slinky dog toy that if procured might catapult her into "ultimate grandma status" (my words, not hers).

Well, tonight Nathan had "Daddy duty" at the mall while I had an appointment. Apparently the playplace holds less appeal for Ellie than it did a few months ago because after a short while she was more interested in climbing in the laps of other children's parents (she has no stranger anxiety, whatsoever), so Nathan was off in search of other forms of entertainment to kill time. They wandered into the Disney store, a place Nathan had never visited with Ellie, but given her recent fascination with movies like Peter P*n and Little Merm*id, he thought it might hold her attention a bit longer. They hadn't been walking long when she apparently froze in front of a shelf of merchandise. She said, "Slinky, Arf Arf!".

Puzzled, Nathan looked down and right at Ellie's eye level was a display of, you guessed it, Slinky Dogs. He looked at the price and immediately decided to redirect her attention elsewhere. Surprisingly, she acquiesced and moved on. But then quickly let go of his hand (a rarity these days, she's been incredibly clingy) and ran back to the slinky dogs. She pulled a box off the shelf, held it up to him and said with a sincere expression, "Show Mommy Slinky Dog?". When he didn't answer, she repeated the question. "Show Mommy Slinky Dog?"

Ah ha. This isn't for Ellie's benefit. She really just wants to get it so Mommy can see the amazingly rare toy they have designed with the slinky.

To make a long story short, Daddy caved and Ellie was soon the proud owner of her very own Slinky Dog. Enjoy the photos.

Got It!

After hearing many frustrating stories of delays, rejections, and requests for home study re-writes we were prepared to wait five to six months for the wonderful piece of paper that arrived in Friday's mail. So you can imagine our excitement to find our immigration approval in the mail after less than two months of waiting! It appears that the kinks are finally being worked out in the new system for those of us adopting from "Hague" countries.

So what's next? We will wait for the word that our dossier has been translated and submitted to the Albanian Adoption Committee (AAC). From there we wait some more. While we already have plenty to keep us occupied during the next several months, we have been told that the wait could be as long as two to three years. The number of adoptable children in Albania has dropped dramatically since Ellie's adoption two years ago (something we just became aware of in the last month or so). My bloggy friend, Melissa, visited Ellie's orphanage last month and reported that only about ten or so children currently occupy the facility in Vlore (there were close to thirty there in 2006).

In our conversations with others about this second adoption, certain questions are pretty common. Since you may be wondering the same things, I'll share the answers to those frequently asked questions...

1.) We have requested a child 36 months of age or younger, so Ellie will retain her 'birth order.'

2.) We have not specified a desire for a boy or a girl -- one can't request that when having biological children so we will happily accept what God gives us. It will also add to the fun and surprise when our referral comes!

3.) We have no idea which orphanage our child will come from. There are a number of different orphanages throughout the country -- it just depends on what child becomes available and where he or she is living.

4.) We plan to take Ellie with us. We feel strongly about this being a family experience. In addition to taking Ellie back to visit the ladies who cared for her in Vlore, there are also a number of friends in Albania that we want to re-introduce Ellie to so as she grows up, she will be able to count many Albanian 'aunts' and 'uncles' amongst her extended "family."

In other news, we were pleased to bump into the Kinnells at Fiesta Mexico Friday night and meet Chloe and Essie in person! Ellie has enjoyed looking at their pictures on their blog and we hope to have a play date some time this week. It's Ellie's spring break and we're going to try to plan some fun activities to keep her from getting too bored. ;-)

Thanks for checking in!

Road Trip

We are home. For a while. I hope. My fingers feel like they've been permanently molded around the steering wheel of our van. Between the trip to Illinois last week and the trip to Marion (IN) last night/today, I'm ready to stay put... at least til Easter.

We took our fabulous group of students to visit our mission's home office yesterday. We left at 5:15PM on Wednesday and returned today at 4:55PM. It was a whirlwind visit to say the least, but when you travel with friends, it helps the time in the car go [a little] faster. We would like to stay longer but when you're trying to balance students' availability and limited time, you do what you do to include as many as possible.

This is the time of year when we bring on board our new cabinet members and phase out our seniors. It's bittersweet. The new bunch is especially fun, but we've grown quite attached to our seniors and it's hard to imagine life here without them. Thus is life in campus ministry.

Ellie continues to amaze us in the speech department. On Tuesday she did something I've been waiting 27 months for... to hear her call for me, "Mooommmmy!" (and when I didn't respond immediately from the other room -- because I was raised not to holler through a house unless I was seriously hurt) she called even more demandingly, "MOMMY!" Yes, she knows I am mommy, and has even summoned her father with "Daddy", but my turn hadn't come until this week. We'll work on the tone later. Right now I'm savoring this. It sure beats grunting, whining, or throwing an all out fit on the floor complete with kicking.

Then last night, she did something else we've been working on for ages... for her to ask for something stating, "I want ____ (fill in the blank)___". I think we've seriously been working on this with her for nearly a year. Last night she said, "Mommy (gasp!), I want candy!" (double gasp!). No way! I can't believe she spoke in a sentence and stated what she wanted! It was quite late in the evening so I didn't exactly give her candy, but she did get a cookie. If she says it again, we'll know it's 'stuck.'

She's said a few other things that have us pleased as punch, such as using the possessive 'my' in front of things that are hers on more than one occasion. While most kids learn to say 'mine!' before nearly anything else, Ellie has not quite yet grasped that concept. Perhaps a sibling would help in that area...

I'm sure there's more I could share, but I shall stop here. Enjoy your weekend!

Happy Spring!

Ellie and I are enjoying a quiet day at home. We'll be going to the park later this afternoon, but I haven't told her yet. Last night as she was drifting off to sleep she asked, "Where's Daddy?" It was like she could relax back in the familiarity of home, but then realized that something wasn't quite right. "Home" was missing someone. How do you explain to a 3-year-old where Argentina is located?

On Monday we'll be picking Nathan and the team up from the airport. In the mean time, you can read about their happenings in Mendoza here.

One other sweet Ellie saying I don't want to forget. As we were nearing Champaign driving back to Kentucky, she pushed a pudgy finger into her north-facing window and told me emphatically, "This way to Gigi's house!"

Nathan reminded me that a while ago we had mentioned how we would love for our kids to enjoy visits to their grandparents. Next month and the month after she'll have the chance to get familiar again with Nonna's house where I'm sure we'll hear the same thing, about going back to the place where the toys are more fun amd the attention extra special.

Time with cousins...

sisters

What a lot has happened since last updating the blog! Here are some photos from our time with my family last week. We were thrilled to finally meet my new niece, Pippa, for the first time. Ellie had such a great time with Tua -- we enjoyed seeing the girls have such fun together!

Shutterfly.com Features Ellie's Adoption Book

A few months ago I wrote a post about some of the unusual ways in which we have seen God provide the finances for Ellie's adoption, and now how we are seeing the same again for the second adoption we are embarking upon. At the time that post was written, we were aware of another possible provision in the works but nothing had been finalized yet to where we could share it with many people.

In December I received an e-mail out of the blue from the creative director of Shutterfly.com, an online photo company which I have used for sharing photos, ordering prints, and creating photobooks of images from our various trips or family get togethers. In his note, Robert told me that Shutterfly was going to launch a new baby microsite and wanted to feature our story. If selected, we would receive compensation for the use of our photographs. A few weeks ago, they contacted us again, this time to use an image from the book in print publicity (it's literally the size of a postage stamp) but they are going to pay us again! Wow!

Anyway, it's been hard not to share this until we knew for sure that it was going to happen. Today I got an e-mail that the site is live!

Click here to visit the site and read our story.

I've shared a link to the book on this blog before, but if you want to view the book, click on the box with link below our article titled "Explore Their PhotoBook". Below the book you can read viewer comments.

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

The weekend is here...

I know this won't surprise any of you reading this, but I can't get over how quickly Ellie is growing up. I just want to bottle up every minute and never forget what she was like at this stage (so I do things like taking pictures of her while she's sleeping soundly, well at least this one). There are some memories I would like to share, but I'm sure would mortify her later in life. Oh well. Why not? How about when she ran away from me after bathtime the other day (not an uncommon occurance), leaving me to chase her around the house with a diaper in my hand. By the time I caught she had her knees clamped together and she said, "Uh oh. Potty on da floor." Ah ha.

Yesterday she said the longest sentence she's ever spoken to me when buckling into her car seat after school. She said, "I don't wanna drive, I wanna walk!" Hmmm. Getting an opinion!

She's beginning to want to push her stroller instead of riding in it. When she does ride, she's either telling me to go faster, go this way or go that. Her right index finger has gotten really good at pointing the way. A little bossy streak developing!

Here's Ellie with her friend John. She smiled for me, but somehow couldn't tear her eyes away from the Wii game being played on the screen behind me. John's dad works in campus ministry and was hosting a fun night in our center tonight for some of the students he works with. It was fun to see little John and Ellie playing together (he's four months older than her).

Excerpt from Ellie's Communication Journal

Today Ellie's special ed teacher wrote:

"We made paper flowers in art and she liked coloring. I asked her to wait today and she said, "I don't like to wait." I just laughed to myself! ;-)

Yummy & Yucky

What do you want to hear first? The yummy or the yucky?

I'll start with the Yummy...

Sundays here can be kind of zany... between church in the morning and Global Cafe in the evening (and everything in between) we keep a full plate on a day 'of rest'!


After Global Cafe is over and the crowds have dispersed, we enjoy a more relaxed supper with our guest speakers, and, if what I've planned for the meal is easy and cheap enough to multiply, I'll invite our student cabinet to stick around for more intimate fellowship with our guests. This past Sunday night was such a night and I have to say, having a crowd around our table is a very satisfying feeling. Maybe because it's no frills, buffet style off the kitchen counter and the conversation is more important than perfectly matching tableware and serving pieces.


Sunday I tried a variation on Mom Waggoner's spaghetti pie (which I read several years ago and lost, so this may be a distant cousin of a neighbor of that recipe) and got some recipe requests so here goes: 1/2 pound spaghetti, cooked and drained. Toss with 2 beaten eggs, half a stick of butter, and about 1/4 grated parmesan cheese. Place coated noodles in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Spoon the contents of a small tub of Ricotta cheese over the noodles. Brown and drain 1 lb of italian sausage. Combine with one jar of spaghetti sauce. Pour over noodles and cheese. Add a layer of mozzarella cheese and cook at 375 for 30-40 minutes (or till contents are bubbling and cheese is beginning to brown).

Okay... now for the yucky.

Yesterday the mail came and contained a pink letter from the United States Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requesting further evidence of our legal status in America. Apparently our home study agency submitted with our home study to USCIS photocopies of IDs and birth certificates (as they had been doing for previous clients and this is what we did for Ellie's adoption in 2006) but now with the new Hague Requirements going into effect, USCIS's requirements are currently evolving and photocopies will no longer do now!

Thankfully we had some extra certified copies of Nathan's birth certificate (because they are relatively cheap thanks to the State of Indiana), but we had to reapply for another certified marriage record. This time I requested TWO because who knows when we may be asked to produce another! (at $14 each plus processing fees, one doesn't necessarily request more than you need, because the issue dates can also expire so if you don't produce them to someone sooner than 6 months, they can be worthless). For some reason, a photocopy of the bio page of my passport will suffice (I guess since Nathan is the primary requester and I am just 'the spouse').

So we have a slight delay in keeping our paperwork moving. It could be much worse, but delays are always discouraging. We're thankful we can rectify this rather easily and hopefully get them the evidence they are requesting by the end of the week.

Visitors...

Yesterday we got to see our friends, the Landerholms, again! Mark is one of Ellie's favorite buddies (do I say that lest I hurt anyone else's feelings? I'm sorry!). Mark's mom and dad were in town and we were so pleased they took time out of their schedule to see us Saturday, and by 'us' I mean Ellie. All three of Landerholm kids came through Asbury and have had involvement with us/WGM at one point in time or another. We love this family! Ellie warmed right up to our guests and in no time was learning a new game (thanks, Nancy, for teaching us "Creepy Creepy!"). Thanks for coming!