Travel Dates!!!

Yep, you read that right. We're working on our travel plans!! We got THE CALL yesterday evening with the news that we should plan to be in Ethiopia from January 9-15. Our embassy date is January 14. WOW! We are thrilled. We're working with a travel agent to book the flights and will hear back this morning. We are still a little shocked. I've been up since 3:30 am...when does Target open?

Gabe Video

We just received this video from a family that traveled to pick up their daughter in late November. What a great Christmas present!

Merry Christmas from the Schlafer Family

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Next Steps

Now that our court date is behind us (I still can't say that without smiling!), the obvious question is, "What now?". Now we are in a waiting phase (do you see a trend here?). We are waiting for an embassy appointment. The typical time frame from court date to embassy date is 6-7 weeks. Throw a few holidays in there, and it may be a little longer, but we'll see. Either way, my calculations show that to be either late January or early February. It would be awesome if we were there on Gabe's birthday, which is January 27. Until then, the staff in Ethiopia is busy completing paperwork, while we are doing some paperwork ourselves for our travel documents. When we get our embassy appointment date, we can go ahead and book our tickets. We will only be in Ethiopia for about a week. WOW! Then, its back home to start life as a family of 4! We can't wait!

We still have plenty to keep us busy from now until we travel. Jason got a jump on it by putting up the crib last weekend. Wyatt put in his own personal touch. When asked why he put helicopters on the crib, his response was "To protect him". I think he'll be a great big brother!

Wyatt Quotes

Wyatt saw Gabe's picture for the first time last night. It was priceless. Here are some quotes from yesterday and today.

"Is he coming home now?!" (with his face lit up)

"Can he sleep in my room?"

"Did his teeth fall out?"

"Is he going to eat my shoes?" (don't ask...I have no idea)

"Wanna see my brover" (His announcement as he walks into school holding Gabe's picture)

"Who's belly was he in? I which he and me was in the same belly so we could be twins"

Best of all is this picture he made for him and the envelope it was in.

WE PASSED!!!

Introducing Gabe Schlafer!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Nothing

We know nothing about what happened in court. Frustrating is an understatement.

Praying for a Good Week

We are so thankful for the amount of encouragement people have shown us over the past year and a half with Gabe's adoption. I cannot count how many people have told us directly or through others that they are praying for us and Gabe. Now that we're finally approaching our court date, the reality of the magnitude of Tuesday is really setting in. We know that by the end of this week, we'll either be on cloud nine or devastated. Regardless, we know that it is all part of a master plan that we cannot control.

We have had a lot of questions concerning what happens with our court date. Here are the details as we understand them.

On Tuesday, a representative from the agency we are going through will take our paperwork and Gabe's paperwork to court. If the judges determine all paperwork is complete, we pass. If we pass, we can expect to travel in 4-8 weeks (we have to wait for an Embassy appointment and more paperwork to be completed in Ethiopia). We will not find out our embassy dates immediately, but at least we know it would be in the next couple of months.

If all of the paperwork is not complete or to the judge's standard, we fail. If we fail, we either wait for another court date or they leave our case open and we wait without any end date set (we DO NOT want this).

There are some twists and turns thrown in the court date as well. There is a chance we don't even get heard on Tuesday. Due to my extensive blog stalking skills, I've seen plenty of cases that did not get heard on their court date due to missing paperwork, power outages or people not working that day. Also, we've learned that though our court date is scheduled for Tuesday, we may not hear anything until Wednesday. If that's the case, I apologize in advance to anybody that has to deal with me Tuesday or until we hear anything.

Well, that's it. That's all we know as of yet. Next post is the court outcome. I've got the video montage ready in the event we pass! If we fail...well, we'll just keep on trucking.

Getting Closer

We're getting closer! I thought this week would drag, but have been pleasantly surprised that it is flying by. Both Jason and I have noticed our optimism for the upcoming court date is shrinking...a coping mechanism I guess. It's hard to not think of all of the things that have to be right on that day for us to pass and the inability to do anything about it. Our work was done when we turned our dossier in (in October of 2008)! Since then, its been out of our hands. I keep telling myself it will happen when its right, but man, I want it to be right on Tuesday!!!

Going Private

We received our Ethiopian Travel Guide from Little Miracles last week. Included in the guide was a request to make blogs private. For that reason, we are going to make our blog private beginning next Sunday. If you would like to continue following our journey, please email me at mschlafer@yahoo.com. I'll put your email into blogger and you will receive an email inviting you to view the blog.
We completely understand the reasoning behind this request. We're kind of torn though, since we realize how much we've relied on other people's blogs (most of which we do not know) for information throughout the process of adopting both Wyatt and Gabe. Once we're back home, we will again make the blog public.
Have a great Thanksgiving!!

My Helper

So I'm raking leaves today and trying to cram as many as I can into the yard waste container. Since I am a towering 5'4, I cannot reach too far into the container to pack the leaves down. I started to use the rake and then came up with a better idea. It was entertaining for all...

COURT DATE!!!

We got a court date!!!! December 8. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE LET US PASS!!!

Busy Saturday!

I'm finally sitting down and breathing for the first time today. We began the day with the "Worth the Wait" Adoption Awareness 5K. Since Jason was working, I had to push Wyatt. It's been a while since I've pushed him and it felt like he's gained about 20 lbs since the last time I pushed him as well! Andrea and Lillie were there, which always makes Wyatt's day. Unfortunately we didn't have time to hang out with them afterwards because we had to go to Wyatt's first basketball game. The good news is that he actually showed interest in touching the ball, and even shoot it a couple of times. This was remarkably different than soccer. The not so good news...we got skunked! Yeah, those shots of his, they didn't reach the rim :) Its a blast to watch, regardless of the score. And with the YMCA, there are not winners and losers. Yeah right, we're 0-1.
After the game went shopping for a birthday present for one of Wyatt's classmates. After grabbing some lunch, Wyatt went down for some snoozing, which was MUCH needed. I'm now enjoying a piece of leftover birthday cake (did you know that food on and your own birthday cake don't have calories?) and getting ready to take a nap myself. Then off to the birthday party we go!

Wyatt's New Do

No comment...

Care Package #2

Well, the families I know of that had court this week have been heard. One passed, two did not. Unfortunately, we still have not been heard yet. But, the good news is, we think we've got a package carrier to Gabe :)

Maybe, Just Maybe?

We learned a couple of weeks ago that we are what is considered an open court case. Therefore, we should not expect a court date, nor an update until our case has been heard in court. That will happen hopefully soon after all necessary documents are acquired. Of course, you know me, and you know I've been stalking the blogs. I know there are at least 2 families with our collaborating agency that have court dates this week. Maybe, just maybe, our paperwork will be done. Maybe, just maybe, our paperwork will accompany those families to court. Hey, a girl can hope, right?

Church Quote

This is the quote that struck me today in church:

"Sometimes your plans have to fail in order for God’s plan to succeed"

What quote is more applicable for the Schlafer Family?

Seriously?!

So, I'm driving today to go get Wyatt from school. I'm running a little behind, but realize I'm in good shape to get there just in the nick of time. Its 5:40, I have until 6:00 to get him and I'm only about 10 minutes away. Its raining, and my boss' last words before me leaving work were "go slow, don't hurry, the roads are wet." Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. So back to my journey. I approach the on ramp to New Circle road and hit the typical traffic. The truck in front of me is stopping, so I do so as well. Unfortunately, I did not stop quite as quickly as he did (back to the roads are wet comment) and boom, I smack into the back of his truck. No damage to his truck, but my hood is looking nice...in a ghetto kind of way. I didn't know exactly what to do. Do I call the cops? Just exchange info? What?! Jason was at a dinner for work, so I call my mom. Her and my dad recommend I call the cops in order to make an insurance claim. I agree, get out of the car to talk to the guy I hit and realize I just locked my keys in the car. Fantastic. I try frantically to call Wyatt's school to let them know I'm going to be late. I call 911 to get the cops there. I call Jason (okay stalk Jason) to get him to help me figure out what to do about the Wyatt situation. Jason calls back and gets Wyatt. After 30 minutes of waiting for the cops, Jason and I trump my parents' opinion and decide my car is isn't worth the cost of the insurance claim and rate increase. I call 911 back and tell them to cancel the cops and I exchange info with the guy in the truck. The guy was a trooper. He stayed with me until Jason could come and let me in my car. Jason shows up, lets me in my car and we decide to go to the next exit to get Wyatt from his car to mine.
We get off of the next exit at a Shell station. I get Wyatt in my car and head to the YMCA fall festival. I pull up to a stop light (to leave the parking lot) and I'm in the right turn lane. The light is red and I ease of the brakes to see if I can go. Being cautious (since I just wrecked and all) I decide not to go. However, the car behind me had a little different opinion. Oppsie poopsie, they bump into me. This time, no damage done to either car. In fact, they barely bumped me. Thank goodness.
So, my friends, try to top that. Two wrecks and locking your keys in your car...all between 5:40 and 6:40 on a Friday evening. Not quite my idea of Happy Hour.

We saw this video today in church. Very powerful. This family has unbelievable strength and faith. Watching this makes me realize its time to stop the whining and complaining about what is not happening and start being grateful for the amazing life we've been given.

Court Update

Nope, still no court date, but we've gotten some updates. The latest update is that dates are definitely being given. In fact, that agency that ours works with got 5 assigned yesterday. They check daily with the courts to see if new dates have been assigned. Unfortunately, the courts are not assigned according to the dates they were filed. Therefore, many families that have been waiting for a long time are still waiting. Many families that have been waiting much longer than us.
So, we're still being patient (well, kind of). Hopefully we'll hear something soon. Maybe I'll get a court date for my birthday!

Wyatt's First Field Trip

Today was Wyatt's first school field trip. Thankfully, it happened to be over my fall break so I could go with him. So off we went to Bi-Water Farm in Georgetown, KY. We had a great time! I'll save you the details and just the pictures tell the story.

Courts Open This Week

The Ethiopian courts open this week. Andrea (our awesome LMI coordinator) called me Friday and gave me the most recent update on Gabe. They are working on some paperwork that is required to pass court. They were asked to get additional documentation and the staff in Ethiopia, as well as the Ethiopian Family Services, are on the case to get everything complete. Their goal was to have it done prior to the courts reopening. I guess we'll find out this week if that happened or not. It is comforting to know they are going through the effort to call in additional support to get everything needed to declare him officially ours.
We'll obviously update as soon as we hear anything. I can tell you that we have a ton of pictures of the little guy. I cannot explain how huge his eyes are. He always appears happy. It is clear in the pictures that the baby house is a great place and the caregivers genuinely care about the children. That is one of the only things that keeps us sane through this process.

The Great Pumpkin

Wyatt has a new addiction..."Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". If we've watched it once, we've watched it 1000 times. The kid has been bringing letters home from school for the Great Pumpkin. I can't work up the nerve to break the news that there is no Great Pumpkin. Only 20 more days until Halloween and we can move on to the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I've never seen it and I don't know what it entails, but I'm ready for the departure of our pumpkin friend.
In honor of our new BFF, The Great Pumpkin, we got a pumpkin this week. We painted it first and kept it on our kitchen table for a few days. It got promoted to the front steps and within 24 hours a downpour of rain cleared away our painted masterpiece. We headed out to Target and got a pumpkin carving kit. The results are below.




On our way to Target, Wyatt had Jason and me cracking up. The conversation went as follows:
Wyatt: There are 5 people in our house
Us: Who are they? Name them.
Wyatt: Wyatt, Jason, Michelle, Heathrow (our cat) and Bob (Wyatt's fish)
Us: There are 5 living things, but only 3 people.
Wyatt: What are living things?
Us: Things that breathe.
Wyatt: Bob can breathe in water?
Us: Yep
Wyatt: (Without skipping a beat and completely amazed) Holy Smokes, how does he do that?

And Another One

Yep, another delay. The Ethiopian courts are now not scheduled to open until mid-October. I'm speechless. And if you know me, that's hard to accomplish. I wish I was confident this waiting would end soon. Unfortunately, I'm not.

Almost October

Four months ago, we were anxiously awaiting our court date that was scheduled for two short weeks later. Then came the abandonment investigation. Although disappointed, we understood the reasoning behind ensuring adoptions were being conducted in a lawful and ethical manner. Waiting without knowing when courts would open was tough. The anticipation and race of getting courts reopened and assigned another court date prior to the annual closure was unexplainable. The courts opened and began passing cases in late July. Although we tried our best to not get our hopes up, we were completely deflated when the courts closed again in late August without us having passed court. Blog stalking didn't work in my favor during this process. Reading day after day about families passing was discouraging to say the least. Obviously we were thrilled for those families, but I'm not going to try to kid myself or you into thinking there wasn't some jealousy there. We dreaded the closure, but when it happened, a weird peace came over us. We realized the day to day anticipation was gone. We knew there was no opportunity to be assigned a court date until October. During this time, we began receiving pictures of Gabe. Our son, that we first saw a picture at 7 weeks of age is now 8 months old. We are so grateful to have the opportunity to send him a package and get pictures of him prior to meeting him. The faith and knowledge of "it will happen when its right" and "everything happens for a reason" became our belief in the adventure of meeting our son.
But now here we are...one week before the end of September. One week before October. Two weeks before courts reopen. WE ARE THRILLED that courts will be opening and the opportunity for us to finally meet and bring Gabe home are upon us, yet something weird has happened. The feelings are coming back. The anxious, stressful and desperate need for updates and progress feelings are back. Not what I was wanting or anticipating, but here they are. Please let us get a quick court date and pass!

Why am I blogging this? I'm not quite sure. I guess you could consider it a warning label. Moody Woman on Board.

Wyatt Pops the Question

Wyatt is home sick today. We've been hanging low - coloring, writing, reading, movies, etc. Lots of mom and Wyatt time. Lots of time for quality conversation. After reading our 8th book (not an exaggeration), "Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born," Wyatt popped the question.

Wyatt - "How do babies get out of tummies?"
Me - "Huh?"
Wyatt - "How do babies get out of tummies?"
Me - "Let's talk about that another time"
Wyatt - "I want to know now"
Me - "The doctor gets it out"
Wyatt - "How, with a needle?
Me - "Want to watch Scooby Doo?"

Soccer Season

Wyatt's first soccer game was Saturday. Actually, Wyatt's first official game of any sort. While unpacking our chairs from the car and heading to the soccer fields, I remembered the many days my parents spent doing that exact thing. Its hard to believe I'm now starting that very adventure with my kid. We were anxious to see how Wyatt would do. The majority of his first practice was spent playing in the dirt. On the ride there, I was giving him the "no hands, no pushing" pep talk. He definitely listened to the "no hands" part. The "no pushing", well, its all relative I guess. Nothing red card worthy, but enough to make his presence known. A few body bumps never hurt anybody! The game was hilarious. Kids running all over, in one big blob after the ball. Here's some pictures of the initial game. In case you are wondering, he's playing for the YMCA, so they don't keep score. Therefore, there is no official winner. However, I will say (unofficially) the Fire are 1-0...undefeated!

Wyatt the Movie Star

I'm going to let Wyatt do the talking here. He's been back in school for 3 weeks. This is one of the first things he learned...


They do a letter of the week in his class. Last week was "A". I've had this song in my head for a week now...


PS...Notice the new hairdo.

Pictures!

Nope, no pictures for you. But we were so excited to receive lots of emails from Kristine (who just came back with her daughter from Ethiopia) with pictures of Gabe. She was kind enough to take him a package from us; which he has in some of the pictures. He looks very healthy and happy, which makes this wait a a little more bearable. According her her, he's an active, crawling, sweet little guy. Hurry up, September! Courts open back up in October and we are praying for a quick court date!!

What a Week!

The past week has been busy to say the least. School started for Wyatt last Wednesday, we had our first friend weekend sleep over and we threw in a birthday party into the mix on Saturday. Some things we learned over the past couple of days are:
1. Our house isn't ample for a family of 4...especially 2 boys. If anyone is looking for a house in Lexington, I can hook you up.
2. Bounce U Rocks!! And they can make a killing off of parents looking to zap some energy out of their kids.
3. Preschool is a God send. If you know me, you know this is not anything new I learned this year. I could go on for days about the importance Early Childhood Education. Now you throw in a little personal experience with my kid and I could go on forever. I cannot wait to see the gains he makes this year.

Funny Story of the Week: The letter of the week is "A". I was at the store, so I bought an apple. I get home give him the whole "I got you a surprise at the store, it starts with a letter A. What do you think it is?" speal. His response.... A (emphasis on the long a sound) Lunchable! Wrong!!! The look on his face was priceless when I took that apple out of the bag. It was the look you gave the person handing out toothbrushes instead of the chocolate on Halloween. I guess I better start thinking more creatively about the letter B. Any suggestions?

Oh, and the spider man suit picture. That was taken on our walk today. He was wringing wet from sweat, but he was dead set on wearing that. Some battles just aren't worth fighting.

Reality Check

It hit me this weekend. I've been blissfully naive in hoping that we could get our court date prior to the closure. However, we believe this Friday is the day courts close until October. We don't know this for sure, as our agency has not given us specific dates, but everything we read (which we can't confirm as accurate, but fairly consistent) points to Friday as the dreaded day. What does this mean. MORE WAITING. Waiting until at least October for a court date. We went from hoping to travel in late June (our first scheduled court date was June 5), to now hoping we will travel in 2009. Am I being pessimistic? Possibly. But sometimes, the optimism can override the reality that has simply slapped me in the face. With that said, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that there is a piece of me that still is hopeful we'll be surprised by a "you passed court" call. A girl can hope, right!?

Enough of me feeling sorry for myself!!! We are so grateful for the past couple of weeks in which we've seen updated pictures of Gabe. Wait until you see these eyes! There is a family traveling to Ethiopia this Friday to meet their daughter and they are taking Gabe a care package from us, as well as taking more pictures. We cannot wait to hear all about him and see even more pictures of our boy!! We cannot thank them enough for doing this for us. It definitely makes the waiting a little more bearable.

Wyatt is Four!!!

What just happened? How is it that my kid is four?! I remember looking at him (oh about 3 years ago) and thinking, I'll always think of you as a baby. Well, that baby grew into a toddler and now a boy. I'm having a little issue accepting this! It's amazing how every year, I claim "this is my favorite age" and of course, that holds true for 4. Now don't get me wrong, Wyatt was a little more angelic in his earlier years. But this past year, the personality has taken over. The Wyatt spunk that only he has. The spunk that I love more than anything and the same one that sometimes has the potential to put me in the loony bin. Its that spunk that keeps us on our toes, looking at each other and laughing, wondering where in the world did this kid come from!!! Regardless where he came from or what in the world he's said or done, he's our big four year old that we wouldn't change for the world.

Weekend of Camps

What a great weekend. Friday was Wyatt's family night at his summer camp, so I got to experience Pepperhill camp first hand. My boy suckered me into being the only adult in the pool, but I couldn't turn him down. He went from clinging on to dear life at the beginning of summer to running and jumping into the pool (with a life jacket on). I could have died when I saw him do it for the first time. We also went on a hayless hay ride. This is where I heard Wyatt's first witnessed flirting attempt. Wyatt had been talking about his "girlfriend" Megan all week. So, we're on this ride and the one and only Megan spots him and comes to sit next to him. And then, in a tone you can only imagine, Wyatt says "Red Rover, Red Rover, send Megan right over." What...did I just hear that? I could have died! And I had nobody there to laugh with!

Saturday we went camping with some friends. This was our first camping trip (and my first since I was about 6 and camping in my aunt's yard with my cousins). Apparently Jason and my aunt have a difference of opinion in tents. I prefer the tent that you can stand up in. He prefers the kind that you all but have to slither into. Regardless we all packed our hind-tails in it for some close family fun. Well, until it stormed and the one not-so-waterproof part of the tent was over my face. Being the great wife that I am, I wake Jason up and make him switch spots with him. I have since been shopping on-line for tents because we really did have a blast. Wyatt ate his weight in S'mores and even found a snail on the outside of our tent. It's amazing how much you can relax in such a short period of time without TV, phones or computers!

Finally, Wyatt has been golfing with Jason. Personally, I'd rather eat my arm than shoot 9 holes, but I'm all for the boys going out for an afternoon round. My parents got Wyatt some clubs this summer and Jason's teaching him the basics. Keep it up kid...you either need to be really smart or athletic, cause college ain't cheap!

No Fingerprints for You!

Are we on candid camera? Is this all a sick joke? Jason and I both take half days to go to Louisville to get our fingerprints done today since they expire in September. We get there are are thrilled to see a waiting room with only one person in it. We go to sign in and then learn that we have to get a number assigned to us prior to getting our fingerprints done and we have to get the number from the office upstairs. No big deal, right...WRONG! That office is closed on Wednesdays. After staring at the man like he was speaking French and our blood pressure going through the roof we head out to the car. After a little venting, we decided to spend the day in Louisville and have dinner as planned at the Ethiopian dinner.

We ended up finding some really cute clothes for Wyatt at the mall and really enjoyed dinner. We weren't quite sure what to order, so we ordered a sampler platter appetizer and a mixed plate for dinner. We each had our favorite and ate ourselves pretty full. Anybody know hoe many Points in Ethiopian food? :) I'm guessing on a day like today, it's all zero Points...including my Dairy Queen dessert!

"Put Me In Coach...I'm Ready to Play...Today"

The good news is that the Ethiopian courts are hearing and passing abandonment cases as again. Actually, this is fantastic news. Things are moving in the right direction. We are thrilled for the families that are passing court and getting ready to bring those babies home! However, I'd be denying the obvious if I didn't admit, I feel a little burn inside. Like sitting on the bench in a championship game. You're thrilled to be winning, but are dying to be in the game. I feel like screaming "put me in the (Bleep, Bleep) game! But, here we are, still hanging out, spitting sunflower seeds. Hopefully this week brings the news we're dying for.

We're headed to Louisville tomorrow to update our fingerprints. Isn't that interesting. Who would think of all things, we'd have to update fingerprints. I'm perplexed by that. After that, Jason and I are headed to an Ethiopian restaurant. We've only eaten Ethiopian food once and we both enjoyed it, so we're looking forward to another great experience.

Hopefully, next post, we'll be bragging about a court date or some updated pictures...something!! Stay posted...

We've gotten a lot of questions about the progress of Gabe's adoption lately. Unfortunately, we have little to report concerning Gabe's case specifically. Ethiopian adoptions in general are making progress. As we understand it, the ban is lifted and new court dates have been assigned to lots of families. Unfortunately, we are not one of those families. We are one of the many families still constantly checking emails hoping for good news; keeping our cell phones by our side, waiting for a call to hear the date that's been put on hold a month and a half now. We read lots of rumors about the date court closes for rainy season, but without word from our agency, we cannot believe what we read. Too often I've allowed what I read to give me too much hope and end feeling worse. We know that it all will happen when its right, and that is what keeps us sane right now. We'll obviously update as soon as we hear any news.


On a more uplifting note, Jason and Wyatt had a priceless conversation today before Wyatt's nap. It went as follows:
Wyatt: I want to see Jesus.
Jason: You will someday.
Wyatt: Where does he live?
Jason: In your heart and in heaven.
Wyatt : In here? (pointing to his chest)
Jason: What are you doing? (as Wyatt is now putting his hand in his mouth and fingers almost down his throat)
Wyatt: I want Jesus to see my hand

Never a dull moment with this kid!!!

Love MochaClub.org

Destin

Kim found a good one. Any man that can vacation, get married and spend his honeymoon...all while sharing a 3 bedroom condo with his new in-laws, is a keeper!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Summertime

Wyatt's last day of school was last Wednesday. His first year wrapped up with a performance titled "On the Road Again". I never thought I'd hear my 3 year old sing Willy Nelson. Just like the last one, it was great. We cannot be happier with our experience with Immanuel Baptist this year. It's hard to believe his first year of school is done...but to think we have 14 more to go, I think I can handle it!

On another note, this Friday is our scheduled court date for Gabe. However, the abandonment cases are still be investigated, therefore, we're still on hold. It would take a miracle for the investigation to be complete before Friday. I've become a blog stalker looking for any small detail about the investigation. I found one site where people post what their agency shares with them. Then, that blog links to a venting and rumor blog. I love that one! I think there are a lot of people out there with the same feeling as me...hearing anything at all about the investigation is better than nothing. And even it if is just hearing somebody vent, it helps. I can't help but wonder how much Gabe has changed since the one picture we have of him was taken. I know it will all happen when the time is right...I just hope that is soon!!