Merry Christmas

Well, what a Christmas week we've had. First off all, I'd like to point out that here in good ol' Indiana, we've had weather ranging from an ice storm early in the week to a very balmy 60 degrees today. Crazy!!! In the midst of the ice storm, Stuart and Cameron ventured out to see the Broadway production of the Lion King. They both had a fantastic time. They both dressed up for the occasion. I must say that Cameron was probably the best dressed 6 year old there.



Stuart said that Cameron was in a trance throughout the whole performance. When I finally got to ask him what his favorite part was, he replied "the whole thing."

So, then it was onto Christmas Eve. Cameron was with his mom this year on Christmas Eve so we spent a quiet evening with Stacey and Mohamed and then went to church. Cameron arrived at our house around noon on Christmas day and we were honestly done opening presents about 20 minutes later. He was thrilled that Santa had left him a Nintendo DS as well as a Pokemon game to go with it. He spent most of the rest of the day in deep concentration trying to do whatever it is you're meant to do in that game. It shows how much I know about technology. The funniest thing is that the day after Christmas, Stuart got up to let the dogs out and never came back to bed. Cameron found him downstairs later with the DS trying to conquer the Dinosaur game.




For the most part, our Christmas was very low key and that's the way we like it around here. Our New Year's Eve celebration will be much the same. We hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas and would like to wish you the very best in 2009.

Smeltzer Family Christmas

I know, the blog updates have been slow lately. There's just not much to report on. I sent in the needed information for our CIS approval, so until we get that back, we are at a stand still. So, here's some pics from our family Christmas this past weekend. As you can imagine, my family is bursting at the seams with cute kids. Well all had a great time and, of course, were spoiled like crazy.


All Cameron wants for Christmas is his two front teeth.



Our newest nephew/cousin, Brody. He's so handsome!!!


This is the closest we come to getting a portrait of the 5 cousins. They're still cute though!!!

For those of you that care, we have decided not to send out Christmas cards via mail this year. You will be getting one over email sometime around Christmas. We cut way back on Christmas this year due to the impending arrival of baby Rogers. Besides, don't kid yourself, that card would just end up in the trash anyway. Hope everyone's Holiday Season is shaping up to be Merry. I have a feeling we'll have some pretty big announcements in 2009!!! Stay Tuned:0)

Happy Birthday Husband!!!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!!! Love you babe.

Also, a birthday shout out to my favorite baby sister Alisha and to one of my very best friends Laura:0) December 12th is a big day for the Rogers family with all of these birthdays going on. We can't celebrate with each of you but we are certainly thinking of you and wishing you the best. Tomorrow night we will celebrate Stuart's birthday with a dinner out with friends. On Sunday we head down to the Smeltzer residence in Washington for our family Christmas. Guess I had better start wrapping!!! Only 13 days until Christmas:0)

Oh, the frustration of it all

Just when we think we're on the verge of getting everything finished, something else stands in our way. Yesterday I got a letter from the Dept. of Homeland Security. For the 3rd time they are requesting a copy of Stuart's divorce decree. I have sent it in every time they've requested it. Well, this time they tell me that I am actually sending in the property settlement and not the actual decree. Seriously, why didn't they tell me that the first time. Then they also want an original copy of my birth certificate again. I don't know what was wrong with the first one but they are driving me crazy. We did receive our cover letter in the mail the other day and will be sending that off to MI for certification. Once we receive that back and our I171 we should be good to go finally. Oh, the party that will be had when this is out of our hands. Our agency has sent over a few dossiers so I expect that referrals will be coming in soon. I also received news today that the orphanage where the children are has received approval to house more kids. That should help with the referral numbers too.
In other news, I am a bachelorette this weekend. And I might be the least exciting bachelorette ever. The boys are up in MI visiting Stuart's family so its just me and the dogs at home. The weather is so yucky that I've hardly left the house and don't really plan on it until work on Monday. I did manage the Franklin College football game today but only lasted through 3 quarters of it. It was snowing and miserable. Mostly I'm just sitting and watching all of the conference championship football games on the tube. We'll consider it a victory tomorrow if I manage to change out of my pajamas. TTFN:0)

Hurry up and Wait

We are getting closer and closer to being finished with paperwork. However, it seems like it might be a bit longer than we originally expected. Our friends who are also adopting from Ethiopia are waiting on the same paperwork and found out that there is a 3 month wait for that to be processed. Neither of us were expecting it to take that long. However we are reminded, now more than ever, that God's plan is being put into place for us and his timing is perfect. So, basically nothing new to report here.
Thanksgiving was great. I love being at home with all of my family and spending time with my nieces and nephews. Cameron had a blast also and was treated to a trip to the Shriner's circus with his Uncle Matt and Aunt Kendra.
That's all from our neck of the woods. Only 3 weeks and 3 days until Christmas!!!

Help me help others...

Recently, I (Stuart) was approached with the opportunity to help out "Jerry's Kids." On December 11, 2008, I will be "locked up" to raise money for MDA. To make my stay as short and pleasant as possible, I need to raise bail money. So, please visit my website to bail me out:

https://www.joinmda.org/carmellockup2008/rogers11/

Note: This is an awesome end-of-year giving opportunity that should be tax-deductible for those of you looking to minimize your income tax liability. Give to Jerry's kids rather than Uncle Sam.

Thanks for your help.

Nothing new here

I realize I haven't updated in a while but honestly there's been nothing to report. All of our paperwork for our dossier has been corrected and approved by our agency. We are currently waiting for our I171H which is our approval from immigration. That should arrive anyday now. We are also waiting on a cover letter from our agency that we have to send away to get certified in Michigan. Once we have those two documents in hand, we will be able to send them to a courier in Washington DC who will get them certified at the Department of State and then authenticated at the Ethiopian Embassy. Then, we can officially say we're on the wait list. Thank goodness!!!
In other news, Stuart and I are finished with our Christmas shopping. Hooray. Thanks to a little planning ahead and finding good deals online, we finished about 6 weeks early (yes, that's right all you slackers out there, Christmas is in less than 6 weeks). It's amazing that as the years go by, buying for Cameron gets a little more expensive. This year, his major wish was a Nintendo DS. That's been the only thing that he has consistently asked for. So, I caved on the "no video game policy" for my kid and Santa is going to bring him a DS this year. We managed to buy one at a GameStop store that was used so we saved $30.00 on it. Talk about feeling old. I didn't even know how to turn the darn thing on.
Thanksgiving preparations are underway. This year we will be returning to Washington to celebrate with my side of the family. It should be a good time and there will be no less than 20 people gathering at my parent's house. It will be loud and hectic but absolutely wonderful. As usual, I can't wait to get my hands on my nieces and nephews. And as a special treat this year, we have some friends who we go to church with who are traveling with us down to Washington. Anyone who knows my parents, knows the sign that still hangs in our kitchen. It says "we always have room for one more." That will hold true this Thanksgiving and that makes me very thankful.

Do they speak Spanish in China?

Yep, that was the question that Cameron had for us last night. This came after we had dinner with some friends who are in the process of also adopting from Ethiopia. They have a little girl who was adopted from China and I was trying to explain to Cameron what adopted meant. The only question he had was "Do they speak Spanish in China?" So, maybe we'll have a bit more difficult time than we thought explaining this whole adoption thing to Cameron. Stuart and I have decided not to tell him because of his little enquiring mind. This is the same kid who had a countdown on for 90 days until he could start school. So, we can't imagine having to answer the same question day after day after day when there really is no definite timeline on when we get this baby. So, we will continue to gradually introduce the topic to him but the goal is to not really divulge a lot of information until referral day. As far as paperwork goes, we're still waiting (that seems to be a common theme doesn't it?). Once we have our I171H and our cover letter from our agency we'll be ready for the certification/authentication process. Then once we get that done, we're on the list. There will be a celebration when I don't have to carry around that manila folder under my arm everywhere I go.

Michael W. Smith

Okay, so those of you that have known me for any amount of time, know that my FAVORITE all time singer is Michael W. Smith. Well, he put a new cd out this week called "A New Hallelujah." It has no less than 3 of my favorite praise and worship songs on it. He apparently recorded it all live down in Houston with the African Children's Choir. You've got to check out this video.

http://www.reunionrecords.com/mws/radio_promo/

And yes, I cried when I was watching it. It's beautiful!!!

Rumor has it...

that the Obama family is looking for the new "First Pet."

May I suggest



Just kidding.

Have a great weekend.

Getting sooooo close.

I faxed in our dossier for review by our FTIA social worker this week. Yesterday we had a phone conference and she told me a few things that we needed to get fixed. There wasn't anything major we needed to do and I've done/requested most of those documents today. So, where do we go from here? Our homestudy is in the mail and I am expecting it today or tomorrow. We will take one copy of that to the Secretary of State for State Certification. We will take the other copy to the local CIS office and it will be added to our I600A application. Our social worker will forward us a cover letter that goes with our dossier and we have to send that to the state of Michigan for state certification (long story). Once we receive all of those documents, we will overnight them to a courier service in Washington DC who will then take them to the US Dept. of State for certification and then to the Ethiopian Embassy for authentication. They will then be overnighted back to us and we will then overnight them to FTIA. And then the waiting begins. Because we are requesting an infant so young, our wait time may be a little longer than other families that aren't requesting an infant. I don't anticipate a huge wait as we will be one of the first families from FTIA to submit our dossier. So, we're all go here. In other news, we've actually met a family who is in the same process with our agency AND they are building a house just about 2 miles south of us. We're having dinner with them next week. It made us feel so good that we will have people so close to us that we can share this experience with. That's all for now.

Thankful

This morning as I write this, our country is casting its vote for the newest leader of our great nation. No matter what political party/candidate you lean toward, there is no doubt that everyone is a little on edge about this election. When my alarm went off this morning a little after 5 a.m. so I could go stand in the world's longest line to cast my vote, I was less than happy to be dragging myself out of my nice warm bed. Then I remembered how thankful I should be that I live in a country that allows us to choose (in a round-about way) who our leader is. Many men and women have fought throughout the years so that we as Americans can maintain that right. So, instead of being annoyed that I arrived 15 minutes before the polls opened and still waited over an hour in line, I am thankful that I indeed have that right.
When I arrived at work this morning I had an email from a friend and I want to share some of that with you. These are the Top 10 predictions no matter who wins the election.

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

God approves this message.

It is great to know who really is in charge. Let us all rest in the peace and grace that God shows us daily and not worry about the future. It's in His hands.

Blog Slacker

Yeah, I know I haven't updated in the last week but there hasn't been a lot to talk about. On the adoption front, we've just been waiting for them to process our official application so we can move forward with everything. We received our dossier workbook today so now things can start moving again. Luckily, we don't have to change many things so we should still be on track. I'm hoping to fax in our dossier for review sometime early next week. Once that is finished and reviewed and our homestudy is matching up with our dossier, our homestudy will be submitted to CIS for approval. Once that is finished we submit everything to the secretary of state for certification. From there it is sent off to the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC for authentication and then off to Ethiopia. Right now, FTIA has an average wait time of 1-3 months for referral and then 2-3 months from referral to travel. So, right now I'm thinking summertime. I'm so hopeful that it will be then but we'll see what happens.
Nothing else happening around here. Our crazy schedule has settled down and we are all bracing ourselves for another fun Indiana winter. This weekend we are having a Halloween party with some friends. Other than that, no big plans. And for your viewing enjoyment here are some new pics of Cameron just being Cameron.

Halloween costume 2008. The least scary shark I've ever seen.


All of my kids.



I mean, who doesn't clean the shower in their underwear?

Waiting again...

Yep, we're once again in a holding pattern. At this point, our homestudy is complete and is being reviewed by FTIA. We are now waiting for our official application to arrive in Evansville so they can process it and give us all the information we're going to need to compile our dossier. From looking at their website, it doesn't look like we're going to need to change a lot. We have all the important documents collected and we'll probably just need to make a few minor changes to some of our others. We also have to send in to get our CIS application amended to our new agency. That is kind of a pain but it will get done in due time. I am waiting for a phone call from CIS so they can instruct me on how to go about getting that done. Our hope is still to be on the waiting list by Christmas. It all depends upon how quickly we get our CIS approval. Now, I am unsure of what the wait time is for this agency. Their Ethiopia program is fairly new (only a couple of months old) so my gut is telling me it won't be a long wait. Keep your fingers crossed.
In other news, Cameron's soccer is officially over. They tied their last game 4-4 on Saturday. Of course, I blame it on the coaching since we were in absentia but at least it wasn't a loss!! Stuart and I are playing our last soccer game tonight. At least we're assuming it's our last soccer game. It's the playoffs and since we're 0-7 on the season, I'm not expecting us to be pulling off any miracles tonight. Especially since we're without our fearless goalkeeper Erika who was the victim of mile 25 at the Hilly this weekend.
Cameron is on fall break for the next two days. Stuart had his first scheduled conference with Cameron's teacher on Tuesday. She informed Stuart that Cameron tends to talk a lot. I know that you can't imagine that, and it was hard for us to come to grips with that statement but it's true. Other than that he's doing very well with all of his "kindergarten" skills. Apparently they do a couple of letter and number recognition tests where the passing score is 8. Cameron scored 32 on one and 37 on the other. Hate to brag but my kid is smart. Thank goodness he got his father's brains. Heading into this weekend, we don't have a lot of plans. I'm looking forward to spending time as a family.

Answered Prayers

Well, a lot has happened since our last post on Sunday. On Monday, we received word that CHI would not allow us to pursue the adoption through them. After conversing with our in-state social worker, it was decided we would try another agency. Stuart contacted Families Through International Adoption (FTIA) out of Evansville. They agreed to review our application and let us know if they would agree to let us continue. By yesterday evening they had contacted me to let me know that they didn't see any reason why we couldn't. So, we are now in the process of switching agencies. The good news is that once they receive our application, it should be all go. We know we will have to change a few things in our dossier and get our CIS application amended to our new agency. We're still on track. We should have everything in and be waiting by the new year. Hooray!!!

This sounded like a good idea on Friday night...

All 4 of us saw the start line, but only 2 of us were at the finish

Well, the trip started off great. Our friends Erika and Ashley met us at our house on Fri. night and we journeyed down to Ellettsville, IN for our weekend of camping and cycling. Everything went smoothly. We dropped off our bikes at the storage area and picked up our fannie flags and wrist bands (yes, we laughed at the words fannie flags also). We set up camp, grabbed a bite to eat, and got a good nights sleep in preparation for the first 50 miles of our journey. The morning went great. We set off on the first 50 at about 9 a.m. We tackled some amazing hills and everyone was in good spirits.

Erika, our most experienced rider (now known as the poster child for helmet safety.)



Ashley, our fearless engineer friend


Stuart is definitely questioning what his wife has gotten him into now.


And then, disaster. So, we had just left the lunch break area where we bravely used the port a potties that undoubtedly all 4000 riders had used before us. Ashley and Stuart were in front while Erika and myself were about 100 yards behind them. We were coming down a hill at about 25 mph and I was talking to Erika. Then she was gone. I look back to see a person in a blue shirt laying in the middle of the road. Luckily, several riders behind us had seen it happen and had already stopped to help. Stuart and Ashley didn't see it happen but figured something was wrong when they looked behind and didn't see us. At first, it appeared that she had a pretty bad concussion and maybe a broken arm. The Hilly Hundred is a well oiled machine when it comes to emergencies and they had a nurse there within 5 minutes and then called for an ambulance. Erika was alert and talking the whole time but we were still pretty worried. The decision was made that Stuart and myself would finish the ride while Ashley rode with Erika to the hospital. After the ride, Stuart and I would go back to camp, pack up, and then meet them at the hospital.


At least she was excited for her first ambulance ride.




So, Stuart and I went along and finished. Our morale was a bit lower as we were worried about our friend. However, we felt really good until about mile 40 and then sort of fell apart. We ended up walking up the last two hills. The course itself was challenging but totally doable. We had a great time with the exception of the drama at mile 25. The scenery was breathtaking as were the hills. We saw some really cool people too. This couple brought their doggy on the back of their bike and she even had her own helmet. Her name is Bitsy.


We loved Bitsy!!


Yep, that's me hunched over my bike regaining my breath after the first of the infamous "Three Sisters" hill.

After we finished, we went about collecting bikes, packing up camp, and heading to the hospital in Bloomington to pick up Ashley and Erika. Everything checked out fine. No broken bones and maybe just a mild concussion. She had some pretty good road rash though and the biggest casualty was her new blue shirt that had to be cut off. We drove back last night and decided that we wouldn't attempt the second day. We feel pretty confident that next year we will be able to complete the whole 100. As for today, we have yet to get out of our pajamas. We have accomplished absolutely nothing but going to the grocery for 2 liters and oreos (yep, still in our pjs and slippers). However, this is a day that we have needed for a long time. Just quality time being lazy together. Good stuff.

We'll keep you posted as to what we hear from CHI this week. Have a good one.

Ramblings

Well, no news on the adoption front yet. As the days go by, Stuart and I are more at peace than ever that God's plan for us is being put into place. We are so thankful for all of the prayers as my heart has not had this much peace since we started this process. I just know it's God working in us.
We are looking forward to getting away this weekend and participating in the Hilly Hundred. We will be camping down at McCormick's Creek for the weekend with a couple of friends of ours from our soccer team. We are going to attempt to ride both days (at 50 miles each day) but we'll see what happens. The important thing is that we're getting away from everything and just spending quality time without the business that weekends usually bring. We'll keep you posted as to how it goes.
Since there is nothing new and exciting to report from Greenwood, I'll give you an update on the Washington crew and their new addition. Mom and Dad are loving having Lish and Luke home again. They especially love that they get to spoil their grandbabies every single day. The Patton family is doing great and everyone is adjusting to the new addition. From what I hear, Hayden has been doing well with him so far and wants to hold him all the time. Here are a few pics that mom sent me to show off a little of what they've been up to.


I just want to squeeze those cheeks!!!


Hayden and Grandma decorated pumpkins.


What better place to take a nap than in Grandma and Grandpa's bed?



That's all I've got for now. Be prepared for a full update on the Hilly Hundred come Monday.

Update

Just a brief update on "the situation." A letter was faxed from my Dr. this morning. After that we got a letter from CHI asking for permission to actually contact my Dr. so that they can speak with him in person. I don't know what other information they might need and I don't know whether or not I should be optimistic. So, there is no telling when they will be able to get a hold of the Dr. Anyone that works in the medical field should know that doctors don't tend to be in their office a lot and when they are, the last thing they want to do is have to deal with an issue like this. So, we wait. In the meantime, Stuart and I went this morning to get our CIS fingerprints done. The whole time I was praying that it was not in vain. That there was actually a reason why we got fingerprinted. So, we wait. It seems we may be in limbo for a while. I am ready to know where we are getting this baby from.

Happy Birthday Hayden!!!

Happy birthday to my awesome nephew Hayden. I can't believe he's three. He brings so much joy to all of our lives. He got the best ever birthday present this weekend too.



Yep, a baby brother. Brody Patrick Patton was born Saturday afternoon weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs. 9 oz. He was exactly the same size as Hayden was when he was born. Both Lish and baby Brody are doing great. So, after celebrating FC homecoming this weekend with our great friends, we made an unexpected trip to Washington to visit our new nephew. I'll post more pics when I get them downloaded.

Overall, it was a good weekend. Friday night we distracted ourselves from all the recent stress by making cookies. We must have cut out 40 cookies and no two were the same. We did everything from trains to giraffes to letters and question marks. It was a good time. Saturday morning the mighty Impact continued their winning streak with a 5-1 victory over the Strikers. The last game of the season is this weekend but Stuart and I will not be there due to the Hilly Hundred. Saturday afternoon was spent at Franklin College at the homecoming festivities and then it was down to Washington to see the newest member of the family. Needless to say, we are pretty tired today. I think this was the distracting weekend we needed to keep our minds off of the latest adoption developments. The plan is to fax in a letter from my doctor tomorrow afternoon and we will hopefully know something by weeks end. Stuart and I want to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes. I've said it a thousand times before but I'll say it again, our friends and family are awesome and we are truly blessed to have each and every one of you in our lives.

The first dip

In this roller coaster ride, that is. We had been moving along at record speed with no bumps when all of a sudden we hit a major red light. We heard from CHI yesterday who had received our homestudy from ASC. Apparently because of a medical issue, we have to get more documentation from the doctor. We thought that this could cause a problem, however, we were under the impression that as long as the Dr. wrote us letters stating that we were in "good physical and mental health and free of contagious diseases", it wasn't going to be an issue. Well, we were wrong. So, right now we are faced with the prospect of losing this whole thing. We will hopefully know by the end of next week as to what direction we will take. We may be switching to a domestic adoption but will wait to make a decision on that until after CHI reviews the dr.'s documentation. Both Stuart and I are terrified and angry at this whole situation. However, we are reminded constantly that God is in control. We have faith that we are going to get the child we are meant to have.
So, in the meantime, we are going to have a good weekend. Tonight, Cameron and I are going to make cookies. Tomorrow, we are going to Franklin College homecoming with some of our dearest friends and on Sunday we are going to watch football like its our job.
Oh, and congratulate Stuart as he scored his first career goal in soccer last night at our indoor soccer game. Imagine everyone's excitement when husband and wife met at half field for a mighty chest bump in celebration.

Movin' right along

So, imagine my surprise when I'm sitting at my desk yesterday and open up my email to find that the first draft of our homestudy is finished. That definitely sent me into panic/frantic/omg what am I gonna do mode. It just made me so excited that they got that done so quickly. Stuart and I both looked over the draft and have faxed in our changes this morning. I am so hoping that things continue to move smoothly for us. Another super exciting thing that I found out is that the state of Indiana is one of the few states in the country that does not charge for state certification. Finally, we are getting something for free!!! Also, instead of sending it to the Secretary of State for certification, we can drop it off and pick it up the next business day.
Amazingly enough, I am calm as can be today. Last night, the most important lesson I've had in a while, hit me square in the face. God's timing is perfect. I can't control how fast or slow or how many ups and downs we're going to have from here on out. He is completely in control. Therefore, I sit here today with a peaceful, non frantic heart. I am so thankful for that. Especially since I was 30 minutes late for work today because I apparently only paused at a stop sign and Mr. Policeman was sitting there watching me. Whatever, no ticket, just a warning. Seriously, do these people not know that I've got enough going on in my life?

Our first official baby purchase

Yep, we got a jogging stroller. Thanks to the heads up of my awesome sister-in-law. One of her co-workers was selling it at a great price so she jumped on it for us. Hooray!! Last night was one of those "ohmigosh this is really real" moments. It felt good for a short while then the realization of the wait set in again. I did manage to assemble most of our dossier last night. It's all done and notarized (thanks to my favorite notary). I'm waiting on our family pics to add some of those in and then a couple of letters from the social worker. I'm hoping to be able to fax in all of our documents by the end of the week. It's been almost 3 weeks since our last homestudy visit so I'm expecting the homestudy to be done by the end of October. Once that is done, we can finally assemble the rest of the dossier for certification. What a long process. I know I share this sentiment with a lot of people: Why in the world can anyone go out and have a baby but because I want to adopt a child who needs parents, I have to spend thousands of dollars, watch 10 hours of parenting education, and stress over a pile of paperwork?

Getting Closer!!!

Monday already. However, this Monday brings new excitement for the Rogers family. We are in final dossier preparations and hope to have everything done at the end of this month. On Friday we received our appointments for CIS fingerprinting. Our homestudy agency didn't think we'd get that until our homestudy had been forwarded to them. However, they surprised us and we get to go next week to be fingerprinted. Then, when our homestudy is done, that's the final piece of this crazy puzzle. At that point there will be a lot of frantic trips to the post office and lots of certified mail I'm sure but then it will be onto the wait. We are really hoping that our wait won't be that long. We know that our wait is going to be at least 6 months from the point that our dossier is officially added to the waiting pile. The good news is that the referrals have started coming in again and just in the past week there have been 5. Some as young as 1 week old.
Tonight I am meeting my friend Laura for dinner and a notary party. She is going to be notarizing all of the documents that Stuart and I have put together for our dossier. Our friends and family have really been very helpful on our journey. We are truly blessed to have the support system that we do and we know our child will be also. Later in the week we will be scanning in our dossier and emailing it to our CHI social worker for her to look over. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't have to redo anything.
In other news, the mighty Impact improved to 4-0 on the season this past Sat. It was a hard fought game but we came out on top by about 3 goals. And last, but not least, here are a few pics from our family photo shoot this past weekend. I'll post the rest when we get them.




Seriously, could he be cuter?

Oh and one last pic.


Just wanted to show what it takes to be successful in the 6 and 7 year old league these days.

Midweek Madness

It's hump day, hooray!! I love it when the week is on its downward slope and we are heading toward the weekend. This weekend is going to be a doozy too. We've got several functions on Saturday including a soccer game, family pics, and a party that night. Then on Sunday we head down to Washington for my awesome nephew's birthday party.
I just had to share a few stories from our little entertainer. First of all, last night, he was meant to be upstairs brushing his teeth. We didn't hear anything for quite some time and finally Stuart yelled up and asked him if he had brushed his teeth yet. Standing at the top of the stairst Cameron yells down "That is in a excellent question Dad." Seriously, just when I thought I couldn't laugh anymore he keeps it coming. This morning while I was driving him to his mom's house, he serenaded me with a pretty accurate version of "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees. Really, do six year olds really know that stuff?
On the adoption front, the courts in Ethiopia are open again!!! Hurrah. That means that the referrals should start coming in at a greater pace than what they have been coming in for the past two months. We have finished with all of our documentation and just need to get everything notarized. I spoke with our CHI social worker today and she said she'd review all the documents for us and make sure we have everything perfect. Once that is done, our homestudy is done and we get our I171H, we basically send everything into the State of IN for certification. From there it goes to the Ethiopian Embassy for certification and then to Ethiopia. It sounds like a lot, but really we've done all we can to expedite the process. Then we can just sit back and wait anxiously as we work our way down the waiting list. Patience is key. I'm going to need a lot of things to keep me busy.

Go Impact!!!

The mighty Impact moved to 3-0 on the season yesterday in a dominating performance. The final score was 11-0 and our kids had a blast. It's amazing to watch how far these kids have come. They are now starting to understand the concepts of running to open spaces and passing the ball to one another. Stuart and I were very impressed with them yesterday. Oh, and they're also great kids who are very caring for one another. We are very proud to be their coaches.
We have had a fantastic weekend so far and are planning on just relaxing the rest of this afternoon. On the adoption front, we began watching our required parenting DVD's from Heart of the Matter Seminars on adoption. We were kind of expecting some really interesting videos on other people's experiences with international adoption. Not so much. It was basically 2 hours of someone talking to us. Seriously, they should make it a book on tape so I can at least listen to it while I drive. Neither Stuart nor myself were impressed. But, we took our first quiz today and each scored 100%. Only 3 more to go...

I love Fridays!!!

Because that means I have a light work load on Fri. afternoons and will most likely be out of here by 4:30 this afternoon. As some other people in my field might know, getting out of work at 4:30 for an athletic trainer is like having an extra day to your weekend. Just fabulous!!! This week has been crazy busy as usual. We typically have something going on every night of the week right now. That will all change in a few weeks as Cameron's soccer will be over, our soccer will be over, and no more Wednesday night bike rides. I'm actually looking forward to some nice quiet evenings at home. Which brings me to this weekend. No plans!!! Yep, that's right, no plans. I may not leave my couch after I plop down sometime tomorrow afternoon. The Impact is putting their 2-0 record on the line tomorrow morning so I'll keep you posted as to how that goes. No Colts game this weekend so that means an extended Sunday afternoon nap. I love naps!!! Here's wishing everyone a great weekend. TTFN.

Finally a Free Moment!!!

After the most hectic weekend of 2008, things have finally settled down enough to let me reflect on how well our homestudy went. I think Stuart and I were afraid to get too excited about the whole thing. For some reason, after our social worker left on Friday, we were able to finally truly grasp the excitement of the whole thing. She literally said "I have no doubt that I could put you two on a plane tomorrow and you'd be ready to bring home babies." We both grabbed that statement and allowed ourselves to rejoice in it. We are ready to bring home babies and can't wait to expand our family. Another important thing that happened was that she approved us for more than one. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that we will get more than one. However, if twins or a sibling group becomes available, we are approved to adopt both. Can you imagine going from a family of 3 to a family of 5 literally overnight? It's happened before and you never know if it might happen to us. Whatever will be, will be and we're just going to take it and run.
In other news, our soccer team, The Impact, is now 2-0 on the season. Cameron has thoroughly enjoyed this season. We now play on a bigger field with goalies and we keep score. The kids love it and Stuart and I are having a blast coaching. Of course, it probably all stems from the fact that we are now keeping score so there is evidence that we're not terrible coaches.
And now for the most exciting news of all...Cameron can tie his shoes!!! Seriously, I was beginning to think he might be the only future president to only wear velcro shoes. He finally figured it out last night and was very excited (as were his parents). That's all from the Rogers family for this week. We are all looking forward to a quiet rest of the week and weekend.

Another project done

Today was the day. Our homestudy visit. It went very well to say the least. Of course, the week leading up to this visit can best be described as hectic. However, this morning went off without a hitch. Our social worker arrived and after giving her a brief tour of the house (my incredibly clean house thanks to an evening of frantic cleaning), we sat and chatted for about 2 hours or so. It all went very well and now we feel that we are finally getting somewhere. So, here's how the process goes from here.
1. Our homestudy gets written by our in state agency
2. Our homestudy gets sent to Children's Hope for approval
3. Our homestudy gets sent to the State Dept. of Homeland security for approval and state certification
4. Once we receive the "Golden Ticket", the I171H, we submit our completed dossier to Children's Hope
5. They submit our dossier to the Federal Government
6. Our dossier is in Ethiopia and we are officially "paper pregnant"

Wow, I'm worn out just thinking about all of that. The good news is though, that we've done all that we can do and are just waiting on the State, our in-state agency, and Children's Hope to do the rest. So, bottom line is, we're getting closer but not quite there yet.

We have a crazy weekend ahead full of social gatherings and soccer. We'll keep you posted!!!

Paperwork, cleaning, books, paperwork, cleaning, paperwork...

This is what my life is this week. Yesterday was the first day out of this whole process that I felt like I was losing my mind. We have been trying to acquire all these documents for our dossier, making sure we're meeting all of the requirements, making sure we have everything done for our homestudy this week, studying the required texts and dvd's on parenting an adopted child and trans-racial adoption, and still trying to get on with real life. On top of that, the week for me is jam packed with too many other activities. I know we will get it all done but at times it just seems so overwhelming. It's little details like the UPS guy only coming to deliver my state certified birth certificate during the day and then they want to send it back because we're not home. It's trying to fit in a TB test when the only days you can go are the days the doctor isn't in. It's trying to make sure everything is signed and notarized correctly. It's insanity!!! This morning I feel much better than I did yesterday and I think once I get past this week and weekend, I might feel somewhat calm.
In other news, Cameron is hilarious. Yep, I know I'm biased but I don't care. That kid is funny. Last night he lost his second tooth. He was a bit disappointed this morning when he found that the tooth fairy had only left him 1 dollar. He thinks that since he's lost 2 now, he should get 2 dollars. I tried to explain to him that he only gets 1 dollar per tooth. It doesn't multiply with the amount of teeth he loses altogether. I used to think that when kids lost teeth, they started to lose their cuteness. I personally think my kid might be the cutest toothless kid ever (once again, I'm biased) He also informed me yesterday that 6 year olds only eat waffles for breakfast. News to me!!! The other night, I introduced the kid to Diet A&W Root Beer. Talk about a classic reaction. After he took a big swig, his eyes rimmed red because he forgot to breathe and followed up with "Megan, that is the best thing I ever tasted!!!" Funny.
Friday is the final homestudy and I'm also looking forward to that whole day away from work. Hopefully it will be a productive day and we will start to feel a little more at ease. We'll keep you posted as to how everything goes.

Cameron's Birthday pics

Cameron and Daddy playing the shooting game

The Smeltzer family was out in full force for the party

After a nice ride on the Go Karts
Cam and Mackenzie in their party hats
Yay presents!!!

And the news just keeps on coming...

I know that I've been obsessed with updating the blog lately. But, the beauty of a blog is that if no one really wants to hear your news, they can just not read it all. Anyway, wanted to post a little bit about the fact that Cameron lost his first tooth yesterday. It happened at school and we haven't seen him yet because it was his Mom's night to have him. So, I can't wait to hear all the details when he gets home tonight. I'm so sad we missed it. But, at least the Tooth Fairy doesn't have to come to our house this time. Grandma Gill told Cameron that the Tooth Fairy now brings dollars instead of change. So, we might be poor by the time this kid loses all of his teeth. We have no plans this weekend other than hanging out with my gorgeous nephew tomorrow and getting our house cleaned for the home visit. Maybe Hayden and Cameron can wash baseboards and windows.

Remember when...

school pictures consisted of just a cheesy snapshot with some random background or prop (much like the infamous wicker chair pics)? Not so much anymore my friend. Today was school picture day at Pleasant Crossing. Can you believe the cheapest package was $16.00? The most expensive package was $60.00. For goodness sake people, it's a school picture. Not only do you have to check one of the 13 packages they assemble for you; but you also have to choose a background, the layout, and if you want your picture touched up or not. Do they know these kids are in kindergarten? Needless to say, the thrifty Rogers family chose the cheapest package and are planning on getting more pics taken by a family friend. Seriously.
In adoption news, we got our homestudy visit scheduled. Friday September 19th is the day. Hopefully shortly after we can get the homestudy approved and then send it off for the magic CIS approval. So, in the meantime, I plan on cleaning like crazy. They tell you that it's not a white glove test, mostly just a safety check. I don't buy it. So, other than napping and watching football this weekend, we will be cleaning from the baseboards up. Nothing like a little motivation to finally get all those little projects done that we've been putting off for so long. I think that's all from our end of the world. I promise I'll get Cameron's birthday pics put up in the next few days. TTFN

Complete Randomness

Who says you have to be pregnant to be emotional? From my experiences early on in this whole adoption thing, all I have to do is see a picture of someone seeing their baby for the first time and I'm done. Just like every bad employee, when its slow at work, I tend to surf the net (don't deny it, you know you do) and read up on every/any Ethiopian adoption blog I can find. Through my "blog stalking" I find myself getting choked up every time I read a different referral story. I just can't imagine what that moment is going to be like. The feeling that God has selected this special baby for us so we can take him home and love him. I don't think I quite understand what that kind of love feels like. Yes, there are definitely times in my life that I've had that fierce motherly love for Cameron. However, something tells me that is going to be different from this. So many questions in my mind. When that day comes, what is it going to be like? Where will I be? How long will we have been waiting? What will my reaction be? What will Stuart's reaction be? Then, I think about the first time I actually get to hold this baby. Will I be overjoyed and emotional or completely and utterly terrified that for the first time in my life, I will be solely responsible for a young life? My guess is a combination of both. I came across this video the other day in one of my blog stalking adventures. Seriously, I watch it at least 4 times a week. Get out your tissues and have your sound on.

http://www.kristinjphotography.com/Slideshows/Day4_Slideshow/Ethiopia_Day4/

That's all my randomness for now. Who knew adoption hormones could be so strong?

Seriously?

I wait 7 long months for the return of my Colts and that's what I get. What a disappointing opening to the season. Hopefully they can shake the rust off and impress me more next week.

Anyway, other than basking in the joy that is the arrival of football season, we had a busy weekend full of birthday fun. On Saturday the entire Smeltzer side of the family was up for Cameron's 6th birthday celebration. It was a great time and included bowling and go kart rides at Rascals followed by pizza, cake and ice cream at the Rogers' household. It was a great day but we were all worn out by the end of the evening. Project this week: rid ourselves of the cake hangover. Next time I get a chance we'll post some pics of the weekend.

Homestudy Interview 9-4-08

We have had such a full day, I can hardly remember where we started. Stuart and I were up early and off to the State Police Building downtown for fingerprinting. That didn't take long at all and pretty soon we were on our way up to the ASC. Since we arrived at the ASC early, Stuart and I went over to the CVS to have passport pics taken. We needed those for our dossier. Not sure why but I think it has something to do with our Visa once we get in country. After that, it was time for us to meet with our social worker. We basically sat for 2 hours and we talked about ourselves. I can honestly say I've never wanted/had to talk about myself that much before. But, this is only the beginning. I'm sure we'll be repeating the process again in a few weeks when we have our homestudy. After we finished all that it was down to Franklin for a quick lunch and then off to the Johnson County Sheriff's Dept. to obtain our local background check. Everything went very smoothly today with the exception of trying to get color copies of our passports. Apparently it's illegal to copy because they are copyright protected. So, we will need to find a way around that as we have to have that for our dossier. We are making great progress on getting things put together so I think its very realistic for us to be on the waiting list by December. I did receive an email from CHI today stating that the dossiers have piled up so much in country that they won't be sending anymore over for a while. The referrals just have not been coming in as fast as the dossiers. So, let's hope it starts raining referrals come Oct. when the courts reopen in Ethiopia. Thanks for all of your prayers. We're getting closer!!!

Labor Day Weekend 2008

We have had the most fantastic weekend!!! This weekend was our friend Jenica's wedding. It was such a beautiful day and I must say I've never seen a better looking ring bearer. We all had a great time and danced late into the night.
Cameron was done by the end of the night and so were we. Luckily Aunt Karen and Uncle Mike came to the rescue and we had the entire next day to recover on the boat.



So, that was our fantastic weekend. Today we plan on being as lazy as possible in preparation for a busy week ahead.

The Waiting Game

We have spent a lot of the past few days organizing documents and appointments for our homestudy. Our first homestudy interview is scheduled for September 4th. Stuart and I are both taking off that entire day so we can work on getting fingerprinted (for the state background check) and also getting documentation that is needed for the homestudy. We each have to have a physical exam so we are getting those this Friday afternoon. I'm hoping that if we overachieve and get a lot of this stuff done before our first meeting, it will help expedite the process. I've been hearing through the blog world that wait times for babies in Ethiopia are increasing so the sooner we get our dossier over there, the better. I just have to keep reminding myself that God's timing is perfect and I don't have any control over how this is going to turn out. So, we'll let you know how our first homestudy interview goes.

On the homefront, Cameron is loving kindergarten. He is eager to show us everyday new things he has learned. He has even started to learn the difference between consonants and vowels. I think that's pretty impressive for a kindergartner. He's got his magic birthday coming up on the 6th of September so last night we had a big debate on what kind of cake he wanted. At first he told us that he wanted a banana transformer cake. Well, after preparing myself for the challenge of that, he then told me that he wanted a dog bone cake like we had at Lady's birthday. Okay, I thought, I can do that. Well, now he's changed his mind and would like a funfetti Transformers cake with both chocolate and white icing. So, it seems that I've got some work to do.

Last night, Stuart and I celebrated my birthday early upon my request. We went to the wheat beer dinner at BJ's brewhouse with some friends. What a great time!!! We were treated to a 5 course dinner and samples of 8 different wheat beers from around the world. The food was delicious and the beer was great, however, the company was the best part. Apparently BJ's is going to be doing a themed beer dinner once every quarter so we are excited to find out what the next beer selection will be.

This weekend, Cameron and I are in a wedding of some friends of ours. We're planning on spending Saturday night and Sunday with my Aunt and Uncle and hopefully be able to go out on their boat. Then a glorious Monday of no plans. Hooray!!! I'll be sure and post some pics of the weekend festivities next week. Until next time...

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Return to Glory

How excited am I that the U.S. women's soccer team won gold!!! I thought for sure they would struggle without their star forward Abby Wambach, but they came through and avenged their world cup loss from last year. This game reminded me a lot of when they won the World Cup in 1999. I was in New Zealand visiting my Grandparents and Aunt and I was glued to the live results as they were being fed very slowly through the internet. Thankfully, Mom sent a fax through right after Brandy Chastain secured the victory with the famous penalty kick followed by de-shirting scene.

That's about the most excitement I've had for the week. The Olympics have been a bit anti-climatic after the excitement of Phelps' 8th gold medal. The triathlon is over so we're setting our sights on different upcoming events. Mainly the Hilly Hundred in the middle of October. It's a 2 day, 100 mile bike ride through the hills of Southern Indiana. It will be a challenge but it's not a race so there will be plenty of time to stop and rest if we feel like we can't go on.

Cameron seems to really be enjoying school. When he spoke to his Grandma Gill the other night he told her that "the other kids are learning, but I already know it." As you can tell, he's pretty modest about things.

On the adoption front...after the initial excitement wore off about our application being accepted we are now in "holy cow we have a lot to do" mode. First and foremost, we have to decide how to best finance this. As you all know, adoption in general is not cheap. However, it is reasonable. The problem comes with all of the initial fees that are due right away. The Rogers' financial plan is to just take one step at a time and trust that God will provide. We also got our first interview scheduled for the home study. We are interviewing on Thursday September 4th at 10 a.m. In the meantime we will be collecting all information we need such as letters of reference, letters from the police, letters from our doctor, birth certificates, and pet vaccinations. Yep, you read that right, they even want pet vaccinations!!! We feel very overwhelmed with all of this but we are "doers" so once we get started, there will be no slowing us down. I can't say enough nice things about the ladies at the Adoption Support Center. They are the ones that opened this doorway into international adoption and are now going to be doing our homestudy. They are so friendly and helpful. It comforts me to know that they will be helping us through this process.

This weekend is shaping up to be nice and relaxing. We really don't have any plans except for dinner with friends on Saturday night. It will be so nice. Until next time...

"Is Holy Ship a Bad Word?"

This question was posed to me yesterday by a certain almost 6 year old. He certainly keeps us laughing.

What a weekend!!!

Wow, this weekend has gone by in a blur. We have packed a lot in over the past few days. Friday night was our night out with the London Gang. Those are the girls that I went to London with during Winter Term 200o at Franklin College. There are still 4 of us that get together with our hubbies usually every other month or so. It's such a great time and so nice to hear what everyone has been up to.
On Saturday we headed downtown to tour Lucas Oil Stadium.
All in all it was a decent tour but we were disappointed we didn't get to see any of the luxury suites or many of the other features of the stadium. While we were downtown, Stuart and I went to pick up our race packets and check out the condition of the canal. The canal is newly cleaned, however, it didn't look like it so much. Disgusting!!!
And today was race day. We both did as well as we thought we would. The swim, of course, was our weakest event but we made it. Stuart and I managed to stay together during the swim but then lost each other on the ride. It was a pretty good experience and I think we will both be doing that again sometime.

Stuart crossing the finish line and TEAM ROGERS

What a fantastic weekend!! We sure did pack a lot of stuff in. Thank goodness for the Sunday afternoon nap tradition I typically follow. Until next time...

Another step in the process

Stuart just emailed me. He received an email from Children's Hope stating that our application is approved. I know that this is a small step, but a step nonetheless. It's a pretty good feeling that we can start moving forward in the process. I am now hoping that we can get this homestudy done within the next two months and I think it's a realistic expectation to have everything done and be on the waiting list by December. When I think about where we are on the journey and how far we have to go, it sometimes seems overwhelming. However, I have never felt more strongly that this is the path that God wants us to take. I know that our little baby is probably not even born yet but I am so excited to be a Mom. I consider myself a mother to Cameron but it's different with him because he only is with us half of the time. It is going to be so nice to love a child and not have to "share" with another parent. We have not yet shared any of our plan with Cameron and we probably will not until we get a referral for a baby. He continuously reminds us that he wants a baby sister. The other night when we were saying our night time prayer, he stopped me in the middle and said "Don't forget the one about you trying to get me a baby sister." Moments like that are precious and we pray a lot for a new baby in our family. We almost feel that we should request a girl so Cameron can have that baby sister. But we both feel that we should not request a specific gender because there is a baby out there that needs our love regardless of gender. So, that's the first step. Here's hoping we can start getting the rest of it underway soon.

Is there any doubt that this kid is related to me?

Nope, there's no disputing it, Hayden Alexander is my soul mate.

First Day of School

Well, today was the big day. Today was Cameron's first day of school. He was very excited and almost couldn't sit still while we waited to leave for school. I had to take him from 10-10:45am. He did a great job of just sitting and coloring, which, if you know Cameron, he doesn't do quietly very often (or anything for that matter). Cameron's teacher, Mrs. Sanchez, explained expectations and all other "administrative matters" to all of the parents. I think that Cameron is really going to enjoy her class. She is very passionate about teaching and I really feel like she will do her best to challenge all the kids.

Here are some pictures of Cameron this morning before he left for school, at school coloring, his teacher, Mrs. Sanchez, and then leaving school on the first day in front of the school.