Visit to Santa

Drew's face before sitting on Santa's lap

So last weekend, we went to visit Santa downtown at the Heritage Center.  Kate was very excited and came prepared with her list for Santa.  Drew on the other hand was not so excited although he did tell me that he was going to sit on Santa's lap......until we got there and then he changed his tune. Greg was asking me as we left, are these pictures more for you or the kids???  For me of course!

All I Really Want For Christmas Music Video

Eric Ludy - Depraved Indifference

Once a month mom

So today some friends and I did our once a month mom cooking.  We periodically do this and prepare meals ahead of time.  For those of you not familiar with this, we basically cook 16 meals in one day that you can freeze and then just pull out and warm up, plus no dishes to do afterward.  It is great and I am so excited when I know that I don't have to cook for awhile if I don't have to.  Plus, for 16 dinners, it only cost a little over $5.00 per meal.  Pretty good for a family of 4.  If you are interested in this, there is a website www.onceamonthmom.com that walks you step by step how to do this.  It is a fun day with the girlfriends!  Our dinners included chicken pot pie, quiche, meatballs, taco soup, seafood enchilada, chicken casserole, taquitos, and chicken tenders!

Some of our dinners

The cooking moms

More dinners!

Donations

 As you all know, Greg and I will be traveling to meet our son within the next few months.  We hope to take several suitcases of donations to give to the orphanage where Bejigo is currently living.  There are a lot of children there and they have many needs.  Here is a list of items that the orphanage needs.  If you would like to contribute, please let me know.  
 

• Baby Packs/Slings (for the nannies to carry the babies)
• Clothes and shoes for children aged 5-10. Please note the clothing for infants is not needed at this time.
• Sippy Cups with lids
• Bottles and nipples
• Sheets for cribs & toddler beds
• Lotion(non floral)
• Hand sanitizer
• Toys for toddlers, preschoolers
• Blocks for stacking
• Stacking cups
• Wooden Puzzles
• Baby dolls
• Activity quilts (with buttons/ zippers etc)
• Plastic Feeding Spoons for toddlers
• Fly Paper
• Baby Powder
• Cloth diapers
• Plastic pants or cloth diaper covers
• Clotrimazole ointment
• Diaper Rash Cream (over the counter)
• Disposable Masks
• Flashlights with batteries
• Baby blankets
• Bottle/Nipple brushes
• Thermometers
• Mosquito nets
• Travel Packs of baby wipes (for the nannies to take with them when they travel with the babies)
• Anti fungal creams (over the counter)
• Vitamins for infants/toddlers/older children
• Educational and Instructional Items – the staff is setting up a classroom to teach children in at each care center. Education instructional items, such as the Alphabet to hang on the walls, numbers, etc…would be greatly appreciated. 

Sincerely, Greg and Mindy Hoying

Getting started in adoption

So, how did we get started with our adoption????  We began thinking of expanding our family in the fall of 2008 when Kate was 2 years old and Drew had just turned 1.  Greg was perfectly happy with two children, but I wanted more.  We were talking about possibly having another baby when we were told about a class at church called Adoption Option.  This class was taught by a wonderful christian woman.  We learned about the orphan crisis and what a great need there is for families for these children. We also learned about what the bible says about adoption.  Yes, we could have more children biologically but after several months, both Greg and I felt that God had called us to adoption and this was his plan for our family. After much thought and prayer we decided to pursue a domestic adoption.  We did all of the paperwork and formalities and then began our wait.  This was a hard, emotional time.  After waiting approximately 1 year, just before Christmas, we were chosen by a birth mom and were supposed to meet the baby the next day.   If that meeting went well, she would sign all of the paperwork and the baby would officially be ours.  We were so excited and had such high hopes.  But to our disappointment, the birth mom did not show up and was never to be heard from again.  This was a terribly heartbreaking experience as I felt this little girl was going to be ours and then suddenly, she was not.  We again began to pray about what God wanted us to do.  Whether we should continue waiting for a domestic adoption or change to an international adoption.  This was difficult, as we had invested so much time into the domestic adoption but felt like we could wait forever with no guarantee of ever being chosen.  So, in January of 2010, we began the paperwork again for an international adoption.  We started our home study and began compiling the extensive amount of paperwork required by Ohio and Ethiopia.  This is called our Dossier.

Our timeline was as follows:

Dossier received by Holt: 5/24/10
Officially # 27 on the wait list:6/11/10 (the same day as Bejigo was born!!!)
Dossier received in Ethiopia: 6/23/10
We received approval from the US government to adopt (USCIS): 6/28/10
#16 on the wait list: 8/6/10
#6 on the wait list: 8/27/10
#3 on the wait list: 9/30/10
Referral Day!!!!: 10/12/10
Travel to Ethiopia 1/29/11
Meet Bejigo for the 1st time 1/30/11
Court Date 1/31/11 We passed!!!
Case submitted to the Embassy 3/15/11

We are now waiting to receive our court date to find out when we will be traveling for our first trip to Ethiopia to meet our son and make him officially ours!  This has been a long process thus far but I know that this little boy has such a great purpose and will be such a blessing.  I am looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us.

Orphan Sunday

Just a little something to think about today.
http://vimeo.com/15775310

First Post

O.k. So I have started this blog to share with other families about our adoption journey and the happenings of our life.  I also hope to one day share it with our children.  Currently we have been matched with a beautiful, sweet baby boy.  He is 4 months old whose name means content.  We are currently waiting to receive our court date to find out when we can make our first trip to Ethiopia to hold this precious babe in our arms and officially make him part of our family!