It's 11 19!

It's a phrase Hubby and I have been saying to each other everyday for the last 9 years.

We met under pretty sad circumstances; a mutual friend of ours' mother passed away just a few weeks after we met. November 19, 2001 was the first time we kissed each other.

Since that day, we have been inseparable. Twice a day since that first kiss, we make sure that we recognize the time of 11:19. We'll call and talk to each other or leave a voicemail or send each other a text at that time. During the times that we are together, we'll shout out "It's 11:19!" and then kiss and hug. We can get pretty corny and goober-like but that's how we keep the fun in our marriage. We'll make up songs and talk about how Baby E will be a goober just like us one day :-)

It doesn't matter where we are or what we're doing, we make time for 11 19. Add all that to us also getting engaged on this date and you can understand why today is an especially important day for us. Today, it doesn't matter what time it is, it's 11 19 ALL day!

All my love to my one and only sweetheart, husband, best friend. I look forward to millions more "It's 11:19!" as we grow old together. I love you :-)

The Newest "little" Mancini

So I realize that many of you have been waiting to hear the details of our Referral Call. In all honesty, the call came as a complete surprise. But there's a good reason for that. Here's how the past week went:

On Monday I already had scheduled the day off from work. John was working that day. There was no anticipation of receiving The Phone Call that day. I had decided not to let that anxious feeling get the best of me, so I put it out of my head. I had changed the ringtone of AGCI to that Motown song "My Girl".

Tuesday evening around dinnertime I was sitting in front on the tv when the cell phone rang. It was a regular ring tone so when I looked down and saw *AGCI Brandi* I stopped for a second and caught my breath. Oh Boy!! Is this it!! John's not home yet. Answer the call already!! It was the follow-up phone call to the e-mail stating that we are officially #1. We had great conversation and at the end of the conversation discussed age parameters. I was seriously considering changing them from 6 to 24 months to 0 to 24 months. As soon as we got off the phone I called and talked to John about it. He was fine with it as well and we both had great peace about the whole thing. Later that evening I e-mailed my social worker about filing an addendum to revise the age parameters.

Wednesday morning I followed up my e-mail to the social worker with a phone call and left a voicemail. My day went along as usual. When I got home there was no answered e-mail or voicemail from my social worker. However Brandi had been sending me e-mail to follow up on the addendum paperwork.

Thursday......just like any other day. Feeling a bit excited that the age parameters were going to be changed, thereby quickening the referral call. I left work  a little bit after 5 pm with my granddaughter K in the car. We were on the road for about 10 minutes when I felt the phone vibrating underneath my leg. As I looked at it and saw *AGCI Brandi* I was not at all phased. I just thought Brandi wanted to talk to me more about age parameters, social worker, anything other than a referral. But then she said those words:
"Do you have a few minutes, I'd like to talk to you about a little girl?"
Me: Brandi, are you serious?
B: Yes.
Me: What!? Oh my God! AAHHHHHHH!! (yes I actually squealed on the phone)
B: (laughing her butt off at me)
Me: I'm on my way home from work.
B: So I guess you're not near a computer then, huh?
Me: No. I'm about 30 minutes from home. I just left work a few minutes ago.
B: Okay. Do you want me to tell you a little bit about her and then you can call me once you get home?
Me: Uh, no, better not. I'm still aways from home and I have my granddaughter in the car with me and I need to focus on the road. If you start talking to me I won't concentrate on driving and that's not safe.
B: I agree. Okay. Give me a call once you get home.

We hung up and I immediately called John. He was at a friend's place during his lunch break having coffee. I screamed into the phone "We have a Reeefffferrrraaaallll!!" I was screaming so loud he couldn't understand a word I was saying. I had to say it 3 or 4 times for it to register in his mind. He then went back to his substation to get approval to get the rest of his shift off.

My granddaughter K was looking at me like I had lost my mind. "Na-na, are you okay? (she's 4 1/2). Once I explained that we could see pictures of the baby she was as excited as us. "Oh I wish I could see pictures of the baby!!" So she came over too.

When we got home it was about 5:40. I turned on the computer, let the dogs out, fed them, let them back out, and gave K her markers and coloring books. I called John to see where he was. He was making his way home. I decided not to call Brandi back until he got home. When he got home at 6:20, I called Brandi back. Voicemail. Called again. Voicemail. For 35 minutes I got her voicemail. I started panicking. Are we going to talk to her tonight? When they close at 4, is she going to go home? Oh man, we're going to have to wait till tomorrow, or worse yet, Monday for the referral. I was panicking, hitting the send/receive button on the computer every 15 seconds, hoping for something, anything to pop up. At 6:58 pm EST, my cell phone rang. It was Brandi. Thank God! At this point, John wasn't home. He was taking K home. Fortunately she only lives 30 seconds away. At 7:03 pm we were finally both listening to Brandi tell us about our little girl.

So, she's 9 months old. she's beautiful. She's healthy. She looks like me a little bit. Georgeous smile. Perfect. She arrived at HH on 11/9/10.

First thing Friday morning I made an appointment with an International Pediatrician at Children's Hospital. John and I were both able to get time off to make the appointment. We were so excited about the doctor's report, all good news. All day I showed my coworkers her picture. I was on such a high. Felt great! That night John and I filled out the Transition Plan. We got it notarized tonight and tomorrow it's going to be scanned and e-mailed to AGCI. On Monday we have our other Referral call with Emily. Very busy 3 days and interestingly enough we still have not received our referral packet in the mail even though we should have gotten it on Friday.

We are so excited and yet it still is a bit surreal. Praise God that He already has her in a home where she is loved and well taken care of. I'm excited about getting to meet her in a few months. We have been asked though, not to show any pictures or give any identifying information of her until she is home with us.

Thank you to everyone who was praying especially hard for us in the last several days. God heard you and answered accordingly. Now it's time to celebrate :-)

Thankful

The very last part of the day has been a little difficult for me. A few ups and downs:

Up: Officially

       #1 on the girls waitlist (6-24 months)
Up: I won an Israel Houghton CD from Angela http://hunts4adoption.blogspot.com/ Thanks girl! :-)

Up & Down: My #2 buddy received her referral phone call for her baby girl (YAY) and we're still waiting (SNIFFLES).

A few days ago my coworker/friend posted a challenge on FB to those who could find something to be thankful for every day for the month of November. This is what I have to be thankful for:

November 1: I am thankful to come home to a roof over my head and food in the cupboards.

November 2: I am thankful that I can hear my alarm clock in the morning, hear my granddaughter ring the door bell when she gets dropped off every morning, & listen to my praise music on the way to work.

November 3: I'm thankful that I can put one foot in front of the other without the aid of a crutch, cane, walker or wheelchair...and without any pain!

Today:
I'm thankful that after 7 years of marriage, my husband and I still enjoy each other's company and can make each other laugh.

Halloween Day

This isn't the Halloween Day that happened yesterday. This happened at my school last Thursday, the 28th. It was also our Trick-or-Treat night. I had been debating on what I was going to dress up as for Halloween. I'm not one to dress up and do all of that. Didn't do it last year either. But I really wanted to relish these kinds of moments because I knew it would be the last Halloween with my kiddos.

I looked online everywhere, trying to find something that was reasonably priced because John and I are on a Financial Peace Budget, obeying the word of God and sticking to it. At work 10 days ago, I mentioned all this to my co-teacher. I told her I wanted us to do something together. She agreed and already had these costumes (in storage) ready for us to wear.

This was the only day where the kids did not have to call us Mrs. Heather and Mrs. Shannon. Take a guess....Here's 2 clues: 1) Dr. Suess 2) Cat in the Hat

Figure it out yet?

We were SO comfortable...like being in our PJs all day!

It was around 50 degrees outside, but I gotta tell you, we were feeling no pain :-)

Well, it's unofficial

We're


I am amazingly calm at this point.  We are calm. When John and I first got on the waitlist, we gave ourselves a realistic expectation of receiving a referral by Christmas or the end of the year. We figured it would be the best Christmas gift we could receive. We haven't really talked about how we would handle receving "The Call". I guess we both figured that with both of our working schedules, we probably would not be together when "The Call" came. In any event, it is God's will how and when we will receive "The Call".  And that's good enough for us.                                        

Pumpkin Patch

A couple of weeks ago, on the 11th, I took my granddaughter "K" and met John at Kuhlwein's Farm. My daycare center was having a Family Night. It was such a gorgeous day!! Both "K" and I were excited. I had never been to a pumpkin patch before. John went every single year when he was a little boy. We went on a hayride and were dropped off at the corn maze. When we came came out of the corn maze we were right in the middle of the pumpkn field.

"K" was struggling to get her pumpkin to the tractor!

Check my pumpkin!!

I had so much fun. We got to roast hot dogs, roast marshmallows, make smores. The kids had so much fun. It was great to see them all outside of the classroom just having fun.

Meskel Celebration

It feels like it's been months since the last time I posted something on my blog. I have set a goal this weekend to get current with all my posts. First things first:

On September 25th, I went to my first Meskel celebration. It was held at a church that is just getting on it's feet. A church that a friend of mine belongs to. What a gorgeous day it was. Barely a cloud in the sky. Unfornately, John wasn't able to go with me....work, work, work. There was awesome food there and my friend Tiru was in charge of making the coffee. It was so cool to watch her roast the coffee beans. The aroma alone made my  mouth water. They also had a little area of handmade clothes that the Ethiopian women made that were for sale. Of course, the first thing I looked for was something for my little girl.

Around 5 o'clock or so we all went outside. The priest came out and there was prayer for about 30 to 40 minutes. It was so nice to be there and yet there was a part of me that felt like an outsider. I was honored and humbled to be there. It seemed pretty spiritual even though I didn't understand a word of it.

After the prayers, the bonfire was lit and the celebration began. There was lots of singing and dancing.

Just before the bonfire went out, John was able to show up. Even though he missed the majority of the celebration, he was really excited to be there. Afterwards, we back inside the church and of course, I had to show him the clothes that I found for Baby "E". He, in turn, found a dress for me and an outfit for him.