So many choices

You've heard of Pinterest right? Seriously, if you haven't, you really need to check it out.

I've been working on a board for Emmalyn's room, but it has so many ideas I'm having trouble paring it down. So to help myself, here are a few of my absolute favorites. What do you think?

For wall color and wainscotting (although ours will be higher up, more like 3/4's the height of the room)

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Love the yellow dresser. We currently have an old highboy dresser that is green. I think it is time for a new color and new handles.

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Love this free printable as a mobile

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Gorgeous hand lettered chalk sign for Emmalyn's name and birth date

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Love the tissue poms!

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Wall art options

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Two rug options:

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wallpaper behind the crib?

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OK I think that's enough for now :). Hopefully we will get started on the room over the holidays. I am ready to see it start to come together! We can't wait for Miss Emmalyn to be here!

Out of the mouths of babes

So, I just had to record my conversation with Lilli yesterday for posterity.

Lilli: Mommy, I don't know what I'm getting you yet for Christmas. I'm getting Daddy a new computer.

Me: You are?

Lilli: Yep, a blue one, not a white one.

Me: Who's going to pay for that.

Lilli: I don't know, but they are. And when they buy it, I'm going to download it.

Me: Oh really? Baby what does download mean?

Lilli: It's when they put it all in a package. I'm going to get it for Daddy and then download it!

Me: OK baby. <laughing inside and wishing I had recorded this conversation> I know your Daddy will love it!

Introducing....

Emmalyn Elise Cornwell

Big News!

Today we received this.....

Because of this.....

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting a new addition this Spring!!! (And yes, baby #2 definitely showed a lot faster than baby #1. Chris is convinced there are two in there, but I have had 2 ultrasounds to prove him otherwise.)

This has definitely not been the plan for the last two years, but we knew we really wanted to have another biological child. It wasn't a quick and easy process with Lilli, so when the "great slow down" with the adoption happened, we decided to leave it up to God as to which child would join our family next. Two months later we were pregnant.

We have made the very difficult decision to leave Gladney (current process requires that we go on hold until the new baby is 6 months old or terminate our contract). This was not easy. We still feel like adoption is God's plan for our family. Once the baby is born, we will start looking into different adoption options that will be open to us because we are older than we were when we started the Ethiopian process and because God has opened our hearts to different avenues of adoption we weren't previously open to.

I will still be following each and every one of your family's adoption stories. I can't wait to hear about all of your great news!! Since our adoption process is on hold, I will probably start our family blog back up, but more to come on that later. Thank you for all of the support you've given us over the last two years! It means more than you could ever know.

Life

Some of you may know my mom, some may not. She has watched Lilli, who lovingly refers to her as Nana, since she was just 6 weeks old. Do the math, that makes about 3.5 years. About a year and a half ago, she decided her days weren't crazy enough chasing around my busy toddler so she started a quilt ministry at her church. She and a group of friends get together and sew (and continue to sew individually) to make quilts to give to people who have been diagnosed with illness, injured in an accident, etc.

Recently her quilt ministry became more important than ever. You see, about a month ago my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and her sweet, sweet friends in the ministry made her a quilt last week. Would you hop over to my mom's blog, see the gorgeous quilt they made her, and leave her a message of encouragement?

Mom started chemo yesterday and so far she is doing well. She will continue through chemo for about 18 weeks and then have surgery and radiation. My baby Lilli, who isn't really a baby anymore, will be starting preschool in just a couple of weeks. Lots of changes for all of us.

Would you say a prayer for my mom, Lilli, and our family? That Mom will continue to feel good through her treatments and that those treatments will work to rid her body of cancer. That Lilli will love her new school and handle the transition well.

Mom - if you made it this far - know that I love you very much. You are the strongest, most independent, headstrong woman I know. And while those traits may drive me crazy sometimes, I know for a fact that those traits were given to you for times like these. The next year will hold its challenges but we will face them together as a family with God by our side. I love you!

"You will forget your misery; you will remember it as waters that have passed away. And your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. And you will feel secure, because there is hope; you will look around and take your rest in security." Job 11:16-18

The Big....

Missed it again....

as of the 17th.

Eight

On the 17th we hit 8 months in the waitlist. 13 months since the first time we went on the waitlist. Honestly forgot we had moved up another month until yesterday. Not sure if that is good or not. Kind of feels like we haven't made any progress with all the changes going on recently. I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that it will be many months before we get a referral.

New look

Still working on it. What do you think? Anything hard to read?

She's her father's child...

From Lilli's school program. She's the one in the green. You can't miss her. Make sure to watch the whole thing. She really gets going towards the end of the second song.

Lilliana's School Program from Chris Cornwell on Vimeo.

Make that two..

24. Surprise my husband. Just once.

Slowly making my way through that 30 by 30. Today is Chris's birthday. Friday night I told him I was taking him out to dinner but instead we headed to his surprise party! Let me say, Chris and I have known each other for about 20 years and we have been dating or married for 10 of those. In all that time I have never, NEVER, been able to surprise him. He is the world's best guesser, and I can't hide anything from him. But I finally did it and I am so glad I did! (Especially since I will probably never be able to do it again.)

Happy Birthday babe! I love you!!

Mark one off the list!

I completed my first 30 by 30 task this weekend.

20. Buy my husband an iPad.

Yay! It was an early birthday present for Chris, he turns 30 on Sunday. And he is one happy birthday boy!

7

7 months officially waiting.

12 months since the first time we went on the waitlist.

16 months since we started the process.

The Grey Area

Are you guys familiar with Katie Davis?

You should read her blog post today.

What she had to say has totally changed my morning: "The thing is, this is real life and so there is this huge gray area in the middle and that is where we are living. In the gray area. That is adoption though. Big, beautiful, scary, confusing, unnatural, redemptive, tragic, wonderful gray."

I'm so thankful for God who loves us enough to challenge us with grey areas.

six...again

We reached 6 months "officially" waiting this week. 11 months since we originally went on the waitlist.

Friends

*This party will be closing today, March 15, if you still want to place an order please let me know ASAP.

There are so many unexpected blessings that come along with adoption. One of those unexpected blessings are the great friends you make. They are often "blog" friends. People you have never met in real life, but who still support you, your family, and your adoption.

I recently started selling Thirty-One products as a way to increase our family income to help support our adoption. Sweet, sweet Debi saw a post I put on facebook, and offered to host a blog/catalog party. I can't thank her enough for this.

I just wanted to encourage all of you to stop by her blog. Even if you don't purchase any Thirty-One items, she is doing a great giveaway for people just willing to share about the party on their blog, facebook, or twitter. So stop by, share, and leave a comment to be entered to win one of her great handmade Africa products!

http://jenkinsethiopiaadoption.blogspot.com/2011/03/im-having-blog-party-and-giveaway.html

And each of you should now that I am so grateful for your friendships! I am thankful that this crazy rollercoaster ride of an adoption has allowed me to "meet" you!

30 by 30

In honor of my non-birthday (I'm a leapyear baby, so neither yesterday nor today was really my birthday, although that didn't keep me from celebrating!) I've decided to make a list of 30 things I want to do by the time I turn 30 in 2014. In no certain order:

1. Run a 5K.

2. Adopt a child.

3. Travel to New York City.

4. Travel to Seattle.

5. Take a vacation to Hawaii.

6. Renew my wedding vows (our 10th anniversary will not be until Dec. 24, 2014, so this might happen a little later than my 30th birthday).

7. Have another biological child. Baby #2 born 4/3/12!!

8. Teach my daughter to recognize her ABC's. Completed April 2012 (her teacher did way more than me).

9. Completely organize my craft area.

10. Learn how to perfectly distress a painted piece of furniture.

11. Go on an international mission trip.

12. Pay off both our cars. 1st car completed - August 2011, 2nd car completed - September 2013

13. Become a stay-at-home mom. Completed 2/1/13

14. Make a quilt.

15. Learn how to sew a zipper.

16. Make a slipcover.

17. Relearn Spanish.

18. Grow out my hair. Completed 10/2009-10/2011

19. Chop off my hair. Completed 10/7/11

20. Buy my husband an iPad. Completed 4/17/11

21. Wear a size 6.

22. Learn to cook something new.

23. Play in the rain with my kids.

24. Surprise my husband. Just once. Completed 4/22/11

25. Purchase an original piece of art.

26. Throw a dinner party.

27. Start my own business.

28. Redesign an entire room using only antique or flea market purchases.

29. Go to the beach. Completed 5/13

30. Read my Bible all the way through (but chronologically).

What would you add to this list? Should I consider making it a 101 in 1001 (days)?

10/5

So, it's been 10 months today since we went on the waitlist the first time. But the exciting news this month is that we are officially back on the waitlist. And with our adjusted waitlist date we have been "officially" waiting 5 months.

I am so relieved to finally be official again. I am really praying that the delay will be resolved soon and that referrals will start coming quickly. Praying for all those families at the top of the list, and those who have been in limbo with court.

I owe it all to you

Happy Valentine's day to my sweet hubby! I love you so much!

(Make sure to check below for details from our family valentine's day celebration!)

Will you be my......

Valentine?

Dinner: heart shaped pancakes with strawberry syrup, heart shaped fruit

Valentine's kisses (I sure love this girl!)

Gifts: Bubble bath, teddy bear, book, and suckers!

After party: Dancing with Samantha

It's Time to Celebrate!

We are back on the waitlist!!! Woohoo!!!

So for a few details:

We have an adjusted waitlist date of 9/17/10. The average for referrals is 10 months. That puts us at getting a referral in July-ish. (*Just to be clear, this is based on current averages, due to some extenuating circumstances, we expect the averages to go up for a little while. But then I am really hopeful they will level back out around 10 months. Either way God is in control!)

A court date and travel will most likely not happen until after the rainy season and courts reopen.

We have slightly changed our preference. We are now anticipating a referral for 1 or 2 children of either gender between the age of 0 to 18 months (including twins).

Thank you so much for your support over the last 5 months (Wow! I really can't believe it's been that long!). Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We would love to have our child(ren) home by the end of the year.

Love you guys!

The question

For the first time this weekend, I was asked, "Why Ethiopia?" I wish I had the capability to show them this video at the time.

Nine

This month brought to you by the letter D: discouraged, disappointed, and delayed.

Will next month be brought to us by the letters H and W: happy, hopeful, and waitlisted?

Yummy new recipe

So, I was searching for a stuffed shells recipe the other day, but almost everything called for ricotta, which no one in this house likes. So after googling a bit, and kind of making it up as I went, I fixed this tonight. It was pretty healthy, and it was awesome! My biggest complaint is that I couldn't find wheat pasta shells.

Turkey and Spinach stuffed shells

1/2 box large pasta shells
8 oz. fat free cream cheese, room temperature
1 box frozen spinach
1/2 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 package ground turkey (our store only sells them in 10 oz packages)
1 jar spaghetti sauce (we buy the kind with extra servings of veggies, yay for sneaking it in!)
1-2 cups shredded mozzaarella (we buy 2%)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook pasta per box directions, add a little oil to the water to prevent sticking. When finished, drain pasta.

Brown the turkey, drain, and then set it aside.

While the pasta and turkey are cooking, thaw spinach and drain the water. Chop onion and garlic.

After removing the turkey from the pan, saute the onion and garlic in a little olive oil. Add the spinach and heat through.

Pour half the jar of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9x11 baking dish.

In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese, turkey, and spinach. Fill the shells with 1-2 tablespoons of filling. Then place in the sauce. When all shells are filled, pour the rest of the sauce over the top and sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the sauce.

Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

So, it's a little work, but this recipe is about 8 servings, so you could split it into two 8x8 pans and freeze one, or double the recipe and have three to freeze.

It was super yummy!

One word....

Elora recently announced that she and her husband are adopting. As part of that announcement she talked about their one word for the year.

I really like the idea of this, and have actually had one word that has been coming to me again and again. Sometimes in the most unexpected of places.

After a difficult 2010 that included job loss that has temporarily put our adoption on hold, my word for 2011 is: HOPE.

Psalm 130:5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

HOPEfully we will have good news this week about getting back on the waitlist. All paperwork has been turned into Gladney, we are just waiting on final approval.