Maddness at the Clevinger house!

Congrats to Keva, Trevor and Micah Atwood on their baby boy referral!!! He is beautiful!

Ahh as the time dwindles down and court rapidly approaches we are still trying to get the ground to steady under our feet! The house is nearing completion and so many things have to be picked out and picked up. I am working long days so that I can take time off from work for the trip and the time after the trip! Cortney has recovered from the appendectomy and we are trying so hard to get caught up before we leave. I am so hopeful that court goes well next week and Ian will be officially ours without a hitch. We are packing for so many different reasons that I can't find anything and maybe never will! All bags headed to Ethiopia are packed except the one for our clothes. We have 7 suitcases brimming over with donations and gifts. I agree with Renee that it isn't the space that has hindered us as much as the weight. We have lots of extra things to take since we will be in Ethiopia for 23 days. The diapers/formula/wipes alone take up 2 pieces of luggage! Needless to say we will be re-wearing many things while in Ethiopia!

I am trying to wrap my mind around the notion that (unless there is a disaster with the court date) I will be holding Ian in just a little over two weeks! Holding him, in my arms..kissing his sweet cheeks!! I am a little sad that we won't be with our families for Christmas and that they will not be spending Christmas with Ian. I wish that we could have all been home by then but my only comfort in this time of complete chaos is knowing that I will be snuggling him before I know it.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Only 10 more days of work before we leave for Africa!!!!!

Travel Plans

The past few weeks, heck the past few months have been so hectic that we hardly know if we are coming or going. I have worked an insane schedule and with my type A personality and lackadaisical contractor I have quickly become the project manager of my house!!! Poor Cortney has worked so hard too and tried to keep me happy during each little catastrophe! All that being said our trip to Ethiopia will serve as our much needed vacation. Our court date is December 6th (prayers please that all things go as planned) and our travel dates are Jan 1st thru Jan 8th. We have decided that we will travel to Ethiopia on December 16th and remain in country until Jan 8th. We are so thankful that Ryan, Abby and Belay gave us permission to come early! So, we will be spending 22 nights in Addis!!! We are looking forward to the time we have alone with Ian to begin our very special bond with him. I am very excited that I will have 3 weeks away from anything to do with the house and work!!!

If meeting my son for the first time isn't enough...we will also be having Christmas with the Loeffens!!! I am so excited to meet Renee, Geert, Maryn and Keller in person!!!

Thank you Drew, Carey and Zoe!!! Oh my goodness, my baby boy is beautiful!!!! Enjoy!!!

Sweet kisses from sweet Carey!!! Thank you for loving on my boy!!!!

Perfect toesies!

BABY SHOWER!!!

The CAKE!!


The diaper cake made by my mom!!!

My niece Emma...such a cutie pie!!!

Dorky hat but they tell me it is a shower must!

We had the best time at the shower! I can't believe how blessed we are to have so many wonderful friends and family! It was great to see how excited everyone is about Ian and how supportive they are of us!!! I hope in some way that Ian can feel how much he is cared about by us and our whole community! There is a shirt on cafepress.com that says "I'm kind of a big deal in Ethiopia". Well, today Ian was a huge deal in Elkhorn City!!! Thank you so much to my sister, her wonderful friends, my wonderful friends, Mary Anne, and my mommy!! You guys are the best!!!

Emergency Appendectomy!

This day has been crazy! Cortney had what we thought was a stomach virus yesterday and this morning when I got up he was in so much pain that I took him to the ER. And from the title I'm sure you've guessed it by now...they took his appendix out!!! It was kinda nuts but he is doing well and home already. Thank God it wasn't any worse! Now he is loopy from the pain meds and saying the funniest things. Can you believe that they let you go home 2 hours after an appendectomy now???

Our nursery furniture arrived today and is sitting in a boxes in the middle of the living room floor along with luggage for the trip and all the boxes for moving! AHH, it is a good thing I handle stress well or else today would have been the day that took me out!!

Have a good night and keep my pitiful patient in your prayers!!!

New Pictures!!!

Thank you so very much Drew and Carey!! Our hearts are smiling!!! Here is our very strong, handsome, precious, beautiful, sweet, adorable (love him) baby boy!!!

Here you go Lindsey/Courtney....
We have some more we will send in a few days when we get home...wetook a ton of pics for alot of families and are trying to get off afew to everyone here from ethiopia....
FYI...you're little guy is doing very well...very alert and happy andhe says to tell you he can't wait to meet you. Carey says he looksbigger in person than in pics and he feels and looks very substantialand healthy...
P.s. He also told me he is a Lakers fan....just so you know:)
Also...he loves to flash the "number #1" sign over and over
Best-
Drew/Carey

Ian with his first gifts from Mommy and Daddy!!! We love you sweetie!!!

We have a court date!!!

WOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ian Parker Surafel Clevinger will be offically ours on December 6th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!! Can you tell I'm excited??? The Clevinger house is happy tonight!!! WOO HOO!!!

Finally did my letters...

BEFORE...

AFTER!!!

Proud daddy and Uncle David stuffing baby shower invites!!! Of course it was a race and of course David won!!! Thank guys!!!

Poppy, Ganny and Daddy putting the swing, jump-a-roo and high chair together! They just couldn't wait till the shower!! (Thank goodness for Poppy's expertise in putting stuff together!)

Cortney and my sister Jamie put this one together. Very little assembly required! Thank you to Nana and Papaw who also couldn't wait for the shower!!!

Can you tell how excited they are about what they got baby Ian??? He is so lucky to have the best cousins ever!!!

The final product...a little more assembly than the travel system!!!

Continued Waiting

As we wait for our son and pray that the Lord will have us united before Christmas, we continue to wait. So far in this process each bit of glorious news has been tainted with the sadness of the waiting that would ensue soon after the initial feeling had passed. I take solace in knowing that the next bit of news that we will have will allow us to know the exact date in which Ian will become ours officially. These weeks are so difficult as I try to put the urgency I feel on a back burner and deal with the resulting guilt for trying to do so. As I enjoy the luxuries of my life (my loving family) I could just cry for my son who is not experiencing these same things. I think forward to the holidays that are nearly here and I wonder how much joy I will have knowing that Ian is still waiting for the love and kisses I have to offer. I have to try to make peace with this wait once again because we have no choice.
Thank God that Renee and Geert received news of their court date today. Their children need them so much and I can't wait until they are all together.