The Journey

"Mrs. Woodson, is your baby going to be African American?" "Well, we are adopting an African baby, but when we bring them home they will be an American citizen. So then yes, they will be African American, but if you're wondering if my baby is going to be black,yes they will." "Oh okay." That was a simple conversation I had with one of my students a few months ago. She was obviously trying to be politically correct and was just innocently curious about the color of my baby's skin. I have been wanting to write a blog post about race for quite a while but have debating when and how to do it. After a conversation with a dear friend this week and some other events that happened this weekend, I decided to do it now. To be quite honest, I am not exactly sure where this blog will end or what its total purpose is but we will see.... If you know me and Jeffrey, you clearly know that we are an inter-racial couple, Heck, even if you don't know us y...

Since Jeffrey's birthday is on a Monday this year, we are celebrating it a little early. Tonight the two of us are going out and then tomorrow we are going to lunch with The Jones family and the Woodson family. Even though this blog is mainly about the adoption, I feel it's okay to give the daddy some love =) If you know Jeffrey, you know he is a man who is very unique. Beyond his sense of fashion, Jeffrey stands out as a man who loves the Lord and loves people. I am so thankful he was born. I am so thankful that baby Woodson has such an incredible daddy. He is helping this mommy through the rough waiting period, and he is so excited for the baby to come. Even though he isn't as vocal about it, I know that he is just as ready as I am. I can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with him. He is definitely a person worth celebrating! His life brings joy to so many others! I am proud to be his wife. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEFFREY! I LOVE YOU!

Sorry I am a little late in posting this, but I was hit with a stomach bug this week. I just want to take a moment and say thank you so much to all our friends and family who came and supported us last Saturday. Our trivia night was such a huge success! We didn't count the exact number of people, but we are estimating that around 260 people were there! IT WAS CROWDED! We raised just under $5,000! We were so blessed. Leah's goal for the trivia night was to raise enough to pay for our plane tickets, and we definitely made a big dent towards our goal. It was so great seeing so many of you who we haven't seen in such a long time, and I apologize that we didn't really get to talk to all of you as much as we would have liked to. We hope that you all had as much fun as we did! We want to give a special shout out to those of you who donate items for the auction and those of you who won auction items! Thank you to our family and friends who helped setup, tear down, ...

Tonight is our first adoption fundraiser! We have been so blessed by all the support we have received. We are looking forward to seeing friends we haven't seen in years and meeting new people! We have had so many people help make this night possible that we can't really name them all. We want to thank all the businesses and friends who have put a basket together for the silent auction. We at first considered not even having a silent auction because we were worried we wouldn't be able to get enough donations, but we have almost 30 baskets/items to auction off tonight! We could not have done this without the help of so many people coming together for our cause. We also want to thank all of you who reserved a table and invited people to come. Without you, this night would be nothing. We believe that we will still have a few walk-in tables, but as of right now, we have a total of 28 tables! We are in awe! It means so much to us to know that you took time and effort to find ...

Our adoption agency was happy to announce that their license to work in Ethiopia as an adoption agency has been renewed until 2016! I am so happy with our adoption agency; we did a lot of research before selecting one, and I have found that our agency has been honest, professional, and very helpful. I have been tracking referrals of families with babies and the process really slowed down; well, basically it stopped all together. People were not being referred to children. From what I heard, Ethiopia has been kicking some agencies out of the country due to the fact that they are involved in dishonest actions. Thankfully, our adoption agency has a lot of favor with the Ethiopian government. I have read and heard stories that some people who were adopting from Ethiopia from different agencies discovered that their agencies were not approved and that they will not be able to get their children. I AM HAPPY TO SAY THAT THIS WEEK, SEVEN FAMILIES FROM OUR AGENCY WERE MATCHED WITH THEIR CHI...

The other day, I had a pregnant friend tell me that I was doing it the easy way in referring to adoption. I know she wasn't meaning to at all, but this truly hurt my feelings because she clearly doesn't understand what I am facing. I simply said, " I don't know about that", and I walked away trying to fight back tears. I am not pregnant and have never been pregnant, so I don't feel like I really have the place to compare the two. We are hoping one day after we bring baby Woodson home that I will be pregnant, and I will give you my thoughts. I think that no matter how you come to be a mother that there our challenges that you have to face. Though they may look different, it doesn't mean that one way is easier than another. I understand that I may not be experiencing morning sickness, and my feet aren't swelling (even though they probably will on a 16-18 hour flight). I understand that my belly isn't growing (well, maybe it is but that's anothe...

This week at work the ladies were all talking about how they just wish time would slow down. They all have children in various stages of life, but it seemed like it was an unanimous vote that their children were growing too fast and time needed to just slow down. As we were sitting at the table, I could not help but thinking that I was wishing that time would just fly by; I actually said it. Lately, I have found myself just wishing time away.  I am struggling with being patient as we set in for this unknown waiting period. I am so just ready to meet my baby, hold my baby, and bring my baby home. When I came home from work after our conversation, I really started thinking about this time in my life. Although I am so ready for Baby Woodson to make his/her arrival, I want make the most of this time in my life and enjoy what I have. Lately, I have been busy wishing time away that I have forgotten that I am still living life now, and need to embrace and enjoy this time in life as we...