A letter and slide show from the world's greatest auntie...Ian's sissy. He will always be blessed to have her in his life. Thank you God for my wonderful sister!!!

Yesterday I got the call I've been waiting (not always) patiently for 5 months now. I had a feeling this would be the week, but never did I expect yesterday to be the day. Lindsey called and told me that there is a little baby boy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that is waiting for us to be his family.
His given name is Surafel and it means Seraphin or cherub. And to my sister and brother-in-law he is so much more than an angel... He is their hearts personified. We learned that he is 5 months old, which just happens to be around the time they began this process. She filed the paper work with her agency on May 21, approx 1 day after baby Ian was born. The night before we talked for hours about how drawn she felt to go with this country and how in love she fell with the idea of it. Neither of us knew that some where thousands of miles away a precious little cry was being heard for the first time. Thousands of miles, oceans and hours away, my sister's baby was born not only into this world, but into her heart. How WONDERFUL is GOD'S work that he brought a life and heart together across so many obstacles. My sister dealt with the initial skepticism of "why Africa" comments and "are you sure this is a good idea?" questions while miles away Ian waited. Lindsey and Cortney prepared and scrambled around trying to make things perfect for a tiny person that they didn't know and Ian waited... Lindsey's held fast to the notion that God knew Ian and that he was created only for her arms to hold and her heart to love, little did she know that all that time ago... The plan was all ready in place. Praise God for his Goodness!!! Praise God that the angel he sent us didn't have wings and words, but only a need for love.
I love you, Lindsey, Cort and Baby Ian and I will be forever blessed to have witnessed God's power through you...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Introducing...

Ian Parker Surafel Clevinger

Ahh, this day is here and nearly gone. I am trying to take it all in and process that I am a MOMMY!!! A mother to a human person and Cortney the DADDY of that same human person!!! WE ARE PARENTS!!! Our God is soooo good!!

First I want to say thank you to our extended blog family. I promise that this day is extra special because I know that each of you were looking and waiting hopefully alongside us for this picture to appear on the Clevinger blog. I was so excited when Natalie called but all I could think was, "How am I gonna let everyone know that I have the referral??" So this is how the day went...

We got up this morning and we were having a house crisis so I knew that I had lots of calls to make when I got to work. We left this morning and honestly the referral has never been further from my mind. Work was crazy busy and I made a call to the drywall contractor and I was expecting a call back from him. I had only spoken with Cortney once today and we never mentioned Natalie or the referral (very rare!). The day dragged on I called my mom around 1pm to see if she had Cortney's sunglasses in her car. I even joked before I called her that she would think I was calling with referral news since I never call her at work!!! Then I called and left Cort a message to tell him to stop by and get the glasses. We got really busy at work and I was just checking prescriptions like mad. Then one of the girls who hasn't been working with us long answers the phone. She asked who was calling and put them on hold. She turned to me and said..."It's Natalie". She had no idea that Natalie would be delivering the news of our baby!!! I got weak, I started shaking and sweating and the girls and the customers flocked around me to see what the heck was wrong!!! I was crying and shrieking, "the referral"!! Then I finally made my way to the phone and answered. Natalie said, "Lindsey, I have some good news to share with you. I know that you have been so anxious." She told us that we had a referral and wanted to know when Cortney and I could be together. Before we hung up I asked if we had a boy or a girl!!!! I can't believe I had forgotten to ask all the way through the conversation!!!! So Cortney and I talked to her together and got the details about our sweet boy! Then both of our families came to our house and we saw him together for the first time!!!

He is 5 months old, 11 lbs and 24 in long. He is healthy and happy and beautiful!!! As a matter of fact he is the most beautiful baby my eyes have ever seen! He is my SON!! We have a son!!! We love him soooo much!!!

More to come soon!

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!

This is Jamie Lindsey's sister, (otherwise known as IAN'S SISSY) Lindsey is at work with no internet but she wanted me to relay the message that we HAVE A BOY!!!!! He's five months old and we'll get to see his picture tonight at 8 when she gets home!!! There will be more to come! Praise GOD, HE IS GOOD!!!!!

11 weeks

YAY FOR THE FREY'S!!!! They got their referral!!! I am sooooo excited!!! The people here at work don't understand why I am so excited for someone else's referral but we went on the list very soon after the Frey's and now that means that I have an abundance of hope that news of Ian is close!!!! 11 weeks, I really didn't think that I would make it that long but we have and we just keep on keeping on!!! God's sustaining grace is so amazing!

Our contractor says that we will be ready to move into the house in roughly 4 to 5 weeks. Everything seems on schedule but who knows when we will actually be ready to go. I love to see progress on the house. My poor contractor has had to endure my "type A" personality the whole time and since I can't control a single thing about the adoption I have bugged him to death trying to control that situation. He has been a good sport about it!!!

Ok, so pray that the referral flood will start today and we all get a quick call!!! YAY FREY'S!!!
Have a great one!!

3 Years Married to My Love

Tomorrow Cortney and I will celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary! It seems like just yesterday we were flying to Vegas and I had butterflies in my stomach. We stood in line nearly 3 hours to get a marriage license then we headed over to the Little White Wedding Chapel to seal the deal! It was a wonderful day, the look on Cort's face when we met in the lobby and he saw me in my gown for the first time was priceless. I love him so much!! I can't believe I'm married to my high school sweetie!!!
We had hoped that the referral would come on or before tomorrow but I guess we will be celebrating another milestone without knowing our precious child. Hopefully it will come soon. I pray that the end of the wait is near, and I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees the most beautiful sight of all...our baby.

10 weeks and a true loss

Yesterday we said a final good-bye to a warrior and a legend. My uncle, the lt col., spent 26 years of his life fighting for my freedom and yours. He spent time in Uganda and Rwanda, assisting medical professionals in the genocide laden villages, placing sewage pipes and constructing buildings. When the preacher read his accomplishments at the funeral service I could have kicked myself for not asking him more questions about his life. He was always full of stories, and when we visited he loved to tell them. As a child I always knew he was in the army but he usually wore civilian clothes and I always imagined that he worked in an office somewhere on the base. I guess I never realized that he was a jump master, mediator between the Saudi Arabian and US governments, and a member of PSYOPS. Please keep my aunt and cousin in your prayers as they deal with this loss.

On a lighter note...I have been tagged by Jocelyn. It was so nice to read every one's posts!!

Jobs I've Had
1. Rite Aid intern then pharmacist
2. UK Medical center pharmacy tech
3. Nichol's Apothecary
4. Velocity Market cashier

Places I've Lived
1. Pikeville, KY
2. Lexington, KY
3. Winchester, VA

Food I love
1. vanilla ice cream with little chocolate chips
2. mexican food

Places I would rather be
1. Ethiopia for sure
2. if not there somewhere sunny

Movies I love
1. Dirty Dancing
2. Save the last Dance
3. Happy Gilmore
4. Christmas Vacation
5. Hitch

TV Shows I watch
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. ER
3. CSI (Miami and Vegas)
4. the Real World
5. Prison Break
6. The Unit
The list goes on and on because I am a tv junkie. You will see this when you see my book list.

Books I love
1. the two books my sister has published "Happiness Against All Odds" and "He Shall be Called Wonderful"
2. Black Baby White Hands a view from the crib

I'm tagging The Bakers and Renee and Geert

Now I've Had the Time of My Life....

I love DIRTY DANCING!!! Mountain Lake was so great!! It was beautiful this time of year to see all of the leaves changing colors and the weather was pretty good too! We had a great time and I think the absence of technology was the nicest part! The wedding was so much fun. I got to see all of my pharmacy school pals that I have been missing so much! It refreshed me and prepared me to get back to the grind of things in the coming weeks. The past three months have been difficult for us and I am looking forward to the end of October. By that point we should be working on the inside of the house (the part I am looking forward to) and this is my LAST month to work like a crazy person. My hours have been crazy and I need a break so I have vowed to cut back and enjoy some of my time before the baby comes. I think I had forgotten how much fun Cortney is to be around!!! Anyway, here are some pics of our much needed trip!!

Mountain Lake Resort

The Beautiful Bride!


My cutie hubby!!!

My Pharmacy School BFFs Gretchen and Jessica!!

9 weeks...tomorrow

After my post the other day I want to say that I am feeling better. I couldn't believe how many people offered their support at a time when we are all struggling with so many emotions. It was so great to read the encouraging words and it restored my hope and faith that despite my pessimism, this adoption will actually happen!

We are heading out of town tomorrow to my friend's wedding at Mountain Lake in VA. For all of you Dirty Dancing lovers, it is the place where Dirty Dancing was filmed. I am excited to see it, from the pics on the internet...and the movie, it looks beautiful.

We are giving up this being the week, even though tomorrow is friday I have decided to put the hope away for a few more weeks. Cortney is working on accepting that it could take a while longer but I think that I have come to terms with it. My co-workers will be so excited for my new found patience because I have taken off more than one head over the phone not being answered. I am sure that Natalie will not give up and go on to the next family if she doesn't get in touch with us on the first call so that is a goal for me to work on .

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Just trying to Make It Over Here

Today has been rough. I'm working in a pharmacy that has internet and cell service so I have worn myself out over here checking blogs today!! I wish I could shake the hope that it could be anyday. I keep telling myself it could be a while but then somewhere in the early morning I start to say, it could be today. Poor Cortney has called me three times today and he sounds pitiful. He says hello then waits for the next sound I make to see if it is the shrill scream of excitement he wants to hear or the frustrated dissapointment that he doesn't want to hear. My sister is doing the same thing these days. When I call them I can actually hear them holding their breath until I say something one way or the other. Ahh, the wait is hard on everyone. I wish that I could brace myself for 4 more weeks of waiting. I have a nasty feeling that it could be that long. I think years of failed fertility cycles and negative pregnancy tests have taken their toll on my optimistic side. I wish I could be on the other side looking back at how I am glad the wait is over. Soon, I hope..soon.