Still on the paper chase

So as of today we’ve mailed in all our paperwork. We’re just waiting on child abuse checks from Colorado and Illinois and then we’ll be done with our homestudy. The lady doing our homestudy is having a baby any week now. There’s no one taking her place so if we’re not done by the time she goes into labor then we’ll be delayed until she comes back to work. Pray that everything comes in and we get our home study finished and approved before her baby comes. We’re so excited to have this first part done and be moving on to the next step. I think the next step is a lot of waiting until we can get our dossier ready… but at least we’re moving forward.

2 Minutes Late: A story of Alan changing his first baby diaper

My brother and sister-in-law were only going to be gone a few hours. Carter, my nephew, and I were spending the afternoon together having some man time. I was looking forward to spending time with him, but I wasn’t about to give up my pact so easily. A few years back I realized that I had made it through 20 years of life without changing a diaper, and I vowed to sit on the sidelines and wait this challenge out until that poo came from my gene pool. As Carter and I sat on the couch my burning question was this, “Will he drop a deuce or let me live up to my vow?”

We were watching Cars and I was thoroughly entranced. All of a sudden he began to hide behind the couch with a sheepish grin like a second grader who has a crush on his teacher. “Oh no…did he do it?” I looked at the clock, at the door, the clock, the door. They would be getting home any minute. As I took a step closer to him there it was, like a sucker punch to the kidney, like a messenger carrying the deadly letter. It was official- poo had left the chute and was waiting patiently in his Huggies (I did not receive any monies from the company for this endorsement).

“Can I wait it out? Can I risk diaper rash for personal dignity? Can I say, in good conscience, that I didn’t know?” After two minutes an awful feeling of responsibility came over me. After chasing him around the room (weird that kids want to have feces in their shorts and hate being changed) I caught him and began the walk of shame upstairs…while still eyeing the door. That would’ve been the perfect moment for mommy to walk in. I’d make the pass off and still be a hero to the little guy, and myself. Not so.

After the walk of shame I looked at the changing table like a tool I had never taken out of the box. Upon opening the diaper I found last night’s red pepper rice burning a hole in my nostrils. All the while the little guy was smiling as if to say, “life is great and you’re a sucker for doing this.” I had no idea what I was doing but quickly wadded the diaper, made a few well-intentioned swipes, and in an amazing feat I pulled the new poo catcher (also know as one Huggy) out with the other hand. I fitted it onto him as fast as possible, still wondering how I was going to tell others I had broken this vow, and began to snap up his pants.

At this moment mom and dad promptly walked in the door. Two minutes late! There I was feeling dirty with a shattered ego laying on the floor below me.

Moral of the story: When faced with diaper rash, a ticking clock, a running baby, a new experience, and any form of poo, procrastination is always the best option. I guess I’m ready to start thinking more about kids now.
~Alan~

Now it’s Julie’s turn… the P.S. of the story is that I found out two weeks later from Carter’s mom that Alan put the diaper on backwards… guess she didn’t have the heart to tell him… Keep practicing Al!

An Increadible Gift From A Friend

Our wonderful friend, Clay Ross, has donated this painting, “Colorado Hiker,” to our cause. It’s worth over $800 and he gave it to us so the profits could be used for our adoption. It’s dimensions are 36×48 (it’s big!) and the minimum suggested donation is $700.

Alan Has Become A Painting Machine

16×20 Painting “Africanvas” SOLD, but you can request another!

16×20 Painting “Triple Crown: Chinese” Minimum Suggested Donation of $100

Enjoy Some More Art By Alan

16×20 Painting “Love:1, Religion:0″ Minimum Suggested Donation of $110

24×30 Painting “Starry Cross” Minimum Suggested Donation of $170

More of Alan’s Paintings for Sale

We’ve sold 4 of Alan’s paintings! Here are a few more that are currently for sale. (If you like one of the paintings that has already sold you can request another and Alan will paint it for you.) All the proceeds are going towards our adoption fund. Thanks so much for supporting us! Email juliebriggsis(at)gmail(dot)com to request or purchase a painting.

16×20 This one is gone, but you can request another! “Africa Crosses”

8×10 SOLD “Africa Heart”

Alan’s Paintings For Sale

16×20 SOLD! “Red, White, and Black”

11×14 SOLD! “Tapestrica”

16×20 SOLD! “He is Risen”

Anything purchased by 4/19/09 will be $100 each
To purchase contact Julie at juliebriggsis(at)gmail(dot)com

Love Jewelry and Baby Bows?

My very generous friend, Maisie Knowles, has been hand-making jewelry and little girl’s hair clips and bows. She is selling them on an online store and donating the profits to our adoption. She’s very creative and her stuff is great. Check it out here.

Shots!!!

Who doesn’t love shots?!? Our arms feel like we slugged each other in our sleep… tetanus, TB, and 3 viles of blood each to make sure we don’t have HIV or syphilis. Did I mention LONG lines to get blood drawn?!? It’s just another step in the adoption process and all worth it in the end. Besides, I think it’s been over a decade since Alan and I got shots. We were probably due.

We’re almost done with our paperwork and will hopefully be submitting all our applications in the next few days. I’m not sure what’s next… lots of waiting and trainings to attend I guess. At least we’re currently still in the phase where we have something to do. I hear the months and months of waiting and doing nothing are brutal. Can’t wait…

Julie

Ethiopia’s Water Crisis

A deep water African Well

I have been advocating for the world water crisis for the last year, and Julie and i are getting very passionate about Ethiopia as well. This week I was reading an article published by Living Water International and I found out a few quick facts about the water crisis in Ethiopia. For Christmas 08 Julie and I challenged our student ministry to help raise money for water projects in South America and Africa by giving up Christmas presents and swapping junk for global impact. Who knows, maybe Julie and i can be part of building a well over in Ethiopia or bringing some new water technology to this amazing country.
- Ethiopia’s population has risen to 82 Million
- Over 4.8 million of those are orphans
- Rains came late in 2008 causing a major crisis with both crops and drinking water
- In 2008 Living Water International brought water and sanitation to 74 communities through local leaders
- LWI is investing in a huge truck-mounted well in 2009 that can bring many more wells
- Wells cost between $2,500 and $3,000 to dig and support (not much money to provide water for several villages)