May 26, 2009

The Hyman Compound *Sarcasm Attached*

I dream of living off the land, that's no secret. I joke and tell people that we are going to buy a lot of acreage and call it the Hyman Compound. Brandon would kill me if he knew that I was blogging about this...lol! It has a lot to do with our frugality, and some to do with just being self sufficient and not relying on our grocery stores for food, our city for water, electric, and gas, and etc.. I would love to just be. I could knit or sew our own clothes, farm and can all our food. Hide chickens under my deck....lol!
To get some practice for our life of self sustainable living, we garden. We had a 4x20 garden in Corpus Christi, Texas that was nice, but this one is even nicer. Since we live over a cave, we built a raised cinder block bed. I posted about this in the fall. We laid chicken wire, landscaping cloth, and mulch before we laid the blocks. Then this spring we spent a fortune filling that bed with quality soil. We have onions, carrots, peas, tomatoes, broccoli, green onions, zucchini, bell peppers, green beans, romaine lettuce, spinach, jalapenos, strawberries and some herbs. I grew most from organic seeds, and we will not be adding chemicals or pesticides to our garden, but instead will use a natural approach to feed our plants and keep pests away. So far the coffee grounds are working excellent! It is so exciting to see everything come to life.
We also have four blueberry bushes that a pesky little rabbit or two nawled on and are coming back to life. We actually saw the rabbit trying to bite at the fencing to get to the plant...crazy!
And some of our sunflowers.
More pictures are to come, as our little beginnings of the Hyman Family Compound grows.

Month 10 Week 1 Day 1

This week is the week. Seriously! Our timeline is crunched and getting a courtdate before the courts close is becoming slim. This week is the week we find out who our daughter is! I guess I should go get dressed and put some makeup on incase that call comes huh? LOL

May 22, 2009

My Daddy

Many of you knew that I lost my father a little over a month ago. He was honestly the world's best father. I had a Daddy that loved me, and told me all the time. He was proud of me, and always told me I was beautiful. He always believed in me and supported me through whatever I wanted to do. He loved Brandon like a son and was crazy about Miles. My dad is at peace. I can't wait to see you again Daddy! I love you!
Forever Daddy's Princess,
Elisa

Click the photo to see video
View this montage created at One True Media
My Daddy

May 19, 2009

Prayers are working...

Today, it was announced that there were more referrals. This puts us at #2 for girls. I am so elated. I am so hopeful . Thank you God, this has given a renewed spirit. Thank you. Holy Cow, can it be this week? That's what I am claiming! AHHHHHHH!

May 17, 2009

10 Months Waiting

Waiting. How many times have I typed that word over the last year? Who knows? During the last week, I have really begun to do some soul searching. Honestly, it hasn't all been pretty. I have questioned why us? Why has this journey been so painful? Why do things keep getting put in our way? Why aren't our prayers answered? Yeah, that's the ugly.

My spiritual journey has been filled with waiting. Moments of doubt, but that longing has always been fulfilled. My needs and most wants have always been met. Not always in my time, but in due time. I think we have passed due time. I wouldn't know, because this would be our first time passing it. I say that sarcastically. We really feel like God has had favor in our lives. Real favor. We are tremendously blessed with a good income, homes, vehicles, friends and family, our marriage, Miles, our salvation. We have our Father's favor. But why not in this area? In other areas of my walk, I have had some pretty amazing stories of how things have come to pass. I look back and remember all the complaining I did, the frustration I felt, and then when it finally happened, I reflected and felt humiliated for the lack of faith I had. I had faith for big things, but didn't think that God would worry about the little things, but He does.

This journey, by far not little, has to come to be. This has been the longest we have waited for one of our requests to be met. We know that we were brought to adoption and we know that our daughter is in Ethiopia. How much longer do I need to consume with this? Seriously! In the adoption world, you always hear, "When you hold your baby for the first time, all those days of waiting just disappear and you just forget how horrible it was, not knowing." Well right now, I say "yeah right." I know there will be a day when I get to say that, although I'm not sure I will. I just can't wait to join the "we have our child" group, and quit the "we are still waiting" group. I love my waiting family, you know who you are, and I know you know how I feel and can't wait to join that group too.

Our daughter has a birth family. Our blog started praying for her and her birth family. Our daughter is coming to us through a tragedy in her life. It would be selfish of me to want that part to happen. I don't want that for any child. However, it exists and it's real. I know that she has been born and probably is already in an orphanage or our agencies transition home by now. She may have already lost her mother. I don't yet know her situation and may never share it. Our strong desire to have her here is to give her that love and provide for her needs.

So I'm claiming this week! This is the week that we find out who our daughter is. It HAS to be! So, our prayer request list returns. I hear people say, and I am so guilty of this too, that they are praying for us, or will pray for us. We often say this when someone is faced with a difficulty, illness or something. To fill that awkward silence, we say "I'm praying for you," or maybe we do mean it genuinely. But how often do we really do it, how often to we really pray for them? I am challenging myself to act on this. When someone needs or requests prayer, I am working on stopping what I am doing and praying right then. For my praying friends, I challenge you to do the same.

Please be praying for:
  • Our referral of our daughter THIS WEEK
  • Our daughter's health, and that her needs be met
  • For the Courts in Ethiopia to resolve the abandoned child issue quickly and effectively
  • A court date before the courts close this summer
  • Our renewed faith, that our hope is restored, better attitudes
  • The families whose children's cases are on hold, resolve their cases quickly and comfort those families

May 14, 2009

Dreaming

So you all know about my dream last Sunday. See post below. Basically, I dreamt that I snook in the HOH to get a peek of some new arrivals. Doctors were measuring her. Well, we know that those tests are now taking 3-5 weeks to get back. So, let's assume she's been there for 3 weeks. We could get our referral call tomorrow, or next week. Since we are approximately #3 for girls, I really think it's possible. I dreamt about her and I know it! No more complalining coming from me! Just call, FedEx the papers, I'll FedEx them right back with a fat check, and then we wait some more. But to know who are daughter is, it's just so impossible right now to say that. We love her, cry over her, pray for her...and we wait, UNTIL NEXTWEEK!

May 9, 2009

What's New?

Not much. Well, maybe a lot. Ethiopian courts are suspending abandoned infant adoptions out of Addis Ababa, the capital, until further notice. Apparently, there were some abandoned babies whose adoptions were questionable ethically. What does that mean? Well it most likely means that there were bribes or other unethical ways of obtaining children to put up for adoption. This was not with our agency, however all agencies will be affected. I'm not sure the percentage of children that are adopted out that are abandoned, but it is signifigant. It is still possible for to recieve a referral, but a lot is on hold and a lot is unknown.
We got this news as the big storm and tornadoes hit the midwest and Miles and I were camping out in our bathtub. We had books, toys, pillows, a radio and flash light, and of course...my camera! Oh, and a twin size mattress on top of us.

The other night, we attended a potluck for a group of Ethiopian adoptive parents. We had a great time and really enjoyed getting to hang out with families that will be made up like ours. Notice the colors of our shirts. For those of you who don't know, those are the colors of the Ethiopian flag.

May 4, 2009

I Dreamed of a Baby Girl

I just woke up from a very vivid dream. I was in the House of Hope in a room full of children that were getting their medicals. I couldn't help but peek and wonder if one had been matched with our family. They laid a baby girl down on a table to measure her. My dream focused in on her face. She was soooo tiny! Did I just dream about our daughter? Could this week be the week?

In the meanwhile, here is a picture of my baby boy, just soooo cute! I guess he is starting to look like me!

May 1, 2009

Things to Say

I must start this post assuring you all that I am writing this only to educate and not to criticize. We have been trying to adopt one way or another for almost four years. This has to be the hardest thing, emotionally, that we have ever done. Miscarrying multiple pregnancies was hard, but I have to say adoption is even harder.
Do Say
  • We love you and are here for you, and be there when I call crying or whining
  • We can't wait to meet Marley and we are excited to see her
  • I can (or can never) understand how unbearable the wait is

Refrain from Saying
  • It will all happen in God's time or God has a perfect plan
We know this, our faith is strong. Hearing it 100 times makes it seems like you don't understand. Crying out in frustration and anticipation is not a lack of faith. Sarah, Hannah, Rebekah, Rachel, Elisabeth all desired for children and their cries are documented in our bible. Sure I need to stop complaining. I do trust God that He will bring our child to us in His time. It's just hard to be crying out in anticipation for so long and to be told over and over, it's really close.
  • You are a saint for saving a child from Africa, she is going to be so blessed
Honestly, we are the ones that are going to be blessed. And if you have known us through this wait, sainthood is something we will not be entering...haha
  • Why not a U.S. adoption, we have so many kids here?
Red alert! This is a big no no...lol! We started out with the Texas Foster/Adopt system, and will never return. The foster care system in our country needs major reform! It's very sad, but true. There are more couples wanting to adopt a baby then there are babies, in this country and in most others. We chose Ethiopia because that is where God led us to and that is where our daughter is.
  • Can't you have kids of your own?
I'm still dumbfounded when I hear this one. Every adoptive families situation is different. Adoption was always part of our family plan, we just happened to need to rely on it sooner than we anticipated. This can be a very sensitive issue for most adoptive families. I am an open book and don't mind sharing, but please choose your words carefully. Our adoptive children will be our own children.


We do have an amazing support system and I thank you all for being there for us. We ARE really close. PLEASE be praying for a referral and court date before the courts in Ethiopia close from August til October. We are praying for a referral in the next two weeks to try to make it through the courts before we have to wait until the end of the year.