We're going crazy here at the Beal house!! We're going crazy because we can't believe that we could get a call with a referral so soon! I know what you are thinking..."Slow down Becca, it could be a month or more. Take it slow and don't get ahead of yourself." I understand what you are saying and I know you're trying to save me from anxious feelings and heartache if it doesn't come soon...but I just keep thinking there is a CHANCE it could be soon!! AHHHHHH!!!!! We're so excited!

All this to say I feel a little like this...

CRAZY EXCITED TO SEE OUR BABIES SWEET FACE!! :D

We'll to pass time I will update you on some things we've been up to. We've been exploring Bend quite a bit since being here. We've had two friends visit and we are really loving our new home and city. Below are pictures from the past week. We have a snow storm in our backyard, ice skating for the first time, couch sports, and pictures from Traditions at Sunriver Resort where we got to ride a horse sled, drink yummy hot chocolate, see Santa, and do fun crafts and face painting.













I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and we can't wait to update you when we get a referral!! It will be an amazing day...then we wait for our court date and approval.

Thanks for your prayers!
Beal Family :D

P.S. We have our homestudy update Saturday December 5th. Will you pray with us that our background check goes through smoothly and quickly? We really don't want any delays! Thanks!

ON DECK!!

We got our "ON DECK" email which basically lets us know we are expected to get a referral soon!! It could be one month to three months. It's kind of a long range to be waiting for "THE CALL" but this is the next step and we couldn't be more excited!!

Please pray with us that we will recieve a court date soon after and that we will pass court the 1st time. 60% of people pass the first time. 40% need a second court date. This could all postpone traveling to pick up our baby. We'd appreciate your prayers.

Most important we ask for your prayers for our family. Baby, Emmy, Charlie and I...

For God's comfort, love, and grace to fall on our sweet child waiting for his/her forever family. For our child's family...peace and comfort to FALL ON THEM.

For our family to be at peace with God's timing and with His sovereign plan in all things.

We are excited at this new place we are at in the adoption...we want to rejoice in all things!! Thanks be to God the Father for this beautiful gift!! :D

Update on our projected referral time...

I checked our agency's blog today and learned that the wait time for a referral is now at 4-6 months. This is 1-3 months SHORTER than it was previously. We are excited about possibly getting a referral in DECEMBER!! Crazy...but it could also be Febuary. We'll wait and pray and see. :D

We still have to update our homestudy which is happening in early December so hopefully nothing will be postponed or delayed. Our agency has confirmed our adoption will not be delayed because of our moving but I am still anxious about everything falling into place. I know even set backs will play into the child God has destined for us...trying to remember this if there are delays. :D

I would like to ask for your prayers. Would you pray that we would be prepared to see our child? We will recieve a picture and a page or two of information with our referral packet. Within 48 hours we need to accept or pass on this referral. We want to hear God's voice...we want the child HE has ordained for us. Please pray with us that we will know if we should accept or pass on this first referral. When we see that little face (or faces) we would hear God's voice, not ours. Thank you so much.

Once we accept a referral we then are issued a court date (in Ethiopia). Once we are issued this court date we will then need to wait to hear if we PASSED court or not. In the case that we PASS court the first time (only some 60% pass the first time) we will then fly to Ethiopia in a week or so.

If we do not pass court we will wait for our new court date and wait to see if we pass then. This process can go on as long as it needs until the judge is satisfied with our paperwork. Please also pray with us that we will indeed pass court the FIRST time. I can't imagine having this picture of our child and knowing He/She is around the globe just waiting for us to take them home!! My heart breaks just thinking about it. I know God is sovereign and continue to pray my head and heart would agree in this and rest in it. :D

Thank you again for your prayers!!
Love the Beal family.

How rich are we?!

Grieving losses to come...

As I've written before I've always wanted to adopt. Since I was young. I am so blessed to be in the process and thank God for choosing us to be parents to this little one coming our way. It's been an amazing process, and an amazingly DIFFICULT process. There are so many emotions that overwhelm me at times. The past month have been rather uneventful (with adoption news) as I (we) were simply focused on all the details that go into moving out of state. That alone is difficult and a process but add to that all the emotions of moving away and it gets even harder. Now throw a double scoop of adopting an orphan in one of the poorest countries in the world and you have one emotional person.

God is preparing me for this sweet child to come into my (our) life. It is good...but it's hard.

I LOVED being pregnant. I loved it!! I loved feeling Emmy inside me...moving, kicking, living in me. It was amazing. Although I had a hard labor, in a sense, I loved that too. Minutes after giving birth I knew why people do it over and over again. Looking at Emmy's newness was beautiful. Her skin, eyes, hair, lips, every part of her was perfect and new. I instantly was close to her and connected. She had been with me for months. Although it was all still strange to me I was close to her. She knew my sounds, my body, my heart...she knew me.

Tonight I realized I was sad. I didn't really know why and then it hit me. As I looked at pictures of Emmy from birth on I realized I am grieving all the things I will miss with my second child. I will miss not carrying him in my womb...feeling the kicks. I will miss seeing her first breath. I will miss some of his firsts. She will not know me as mommy right away. To him I will be just another caregiver. I will look at him or her as daughter or son and he or she will look at me as a stranger...a foreigner with a foreign tongue. I will have to teach him to trust me instead of it being automatic at birth. I will have to work at comforting her. I will not know which ways he likes being held...or how she likes to eat.

I am also grieving the loss of a child for a mother far away. I am so blessed to be a mother...so blessed to raise Emmy. I can't imagine carrying her for those months and then her not being in my life. I can't imagine having to make a choice that involves losing a child. I don't know if my second child's family is ill, is in prison, is alone, or too young to take care of our little one. But whatever the reason I am grieving for them. I am praying that they would know that Jesus is their savior...that He alone can save them and bring salvation. I pray for them often...that God would comfort them.

Although I am grieving I am also rejoicing. I am rejoicing in that God choose us to be parents to our little orphan. Our little orphan who will be an orphan no more. Who will have a FOREVER family...who will have a last name! Who will have a mommy, daddy and sister who love him. We have prayed for them(Lots of prayers). We have waited for him. We have grieved over her. And how we long to hold him or her.

I also realized I WILL experience firsts...someone may have experienced it with them before us, but it doesn't matter because to us it will be the first laugh, smile, or crawl. It will be the first bottle, food, or bath. To us these will all be firsts. As Charlie put it..."It will be different but in the same familiar way." Simple statement but so true.

Although I am grieving losses I am rejoicing in the recieving of this precious child!! :D

Frosty...

It's getting Frosty here in Bend Oregon...this is what I woke up to this morning.



Definitely not used to seeing frost on my house or our bbq! :D It was all over the walkway and our car. We had to chip the ice off our car windows. All this to say we are still adjusting. :D

This next picture is of Emmy in her new school uniform. She is in Pre K this year and is loving it. I am all for uniforms but I was uninformed of the uniforms until the day before! So I was caught off guard and scrambled trying to find some. Mondays and Fridays they wear regular uniforms but on Wednesdays they have chapel and wear their chapel uniforms which is shown below. It is so cute! She was being silly so I couldn't get a good picture of her but you can see the cuteness still!



If you all could continue praying for us with the new transitions and with adoption. The soonest we could receive a referral is in two months (could be sooner but most likely not). It could also be another four months. We are so excited to see a picture and hear our son or daughter's name and story! I can't contain myself some days. I want to just see our child now!! :D

It's a different feeling than when I was pregnant. I was anxious to see what Emmy looked like but I also was nervous about giving birth. I knew within a week or two of my due date I would see her sweet face. It was hard but nothing like this. I have no idea when I will get a call and have a sweet picture and a story waiting in my inbox. Crazy right?!

I feel like all the hard labor (paperwork) with the adoption is done and now I wait...which is hard but not in the same way. It's more helpless than difficult. I feel helpless. I feel out of control. I feel uninformed. In the end this sweet child we are waiting for will be ours (God's), and I will one day feel a sense of "ownership", but as of now I feel like an outsider, helpless and unsure of anything regarding OUR child. It's an odd feeling that I can't quite explain. But I know once I see our child and know he/she is mine, the peace and closure will come. Maybe not right away but I will feel like "mommy" to our 2nd child one day soon...I will have all the responsibilities, rights, blessings, privileges, and FUN I do with Emmy. I can't wait!!

So will you pray with us? For us? For our child? Pray for the waiting children around the world...waiting for a forever family to love them as their own!! :D

Thank you!