I DO NOT *heart* the Ear, Nose & Throat Doctor!

So I don't enjoy the doctor's office much, but today was one of those don't-ever-wanna-go-to-the-doctor-ever-again kind of visits.

I have had 3 sinus infections since the beginning of 2008 and horrible nose bleeds. So my regular doctor referred me to the ENT.

I just expected a routine exam, possibly an antibiotic and a "game plan" of what to do next or even a clean bill of health...THIS ISN'T WHAT I GOT!!!

So the nurse sprayed 2 different not-so-fun liquids in my nose to numb it and brought in the scope the ENT doctor was going to use to look inside. It was no wonder my blood pressure was unusually high. I think the scope was as long as my husband's 6'7" leg! And this was supposed to be put in my nose?!?!?! (Sorry for the TMI)

Despite the title of this post, my ENT doctor and everyone in the office were extremely kind. It was discovered that I have a deviated septum (which I am not taking care of at this time because it is not affecting my breathing, and everyone I know who has had this corrected was worse off). The Doctor also cauterized my nose (more painful than I remember) and prescribed a stronger antibiotic that I have to take for 2 full weeks. In 1 month I go back for for a CT scan of my sinuses.

I guess you can say that I got my monies worth today, but my head is pretty uncomfortable. Oh well, that's a Monday for you!

It was 1 week ago today...

...that we got the most amazing news of our lives!!!

I just wanted to remind you ! :-)

Naming Our Son

Prior to receiving our referral, Paul & I had tentatively decided on a name for our son. We wanted to wait until we knew the given name of our child before we made the announcement.

The name we have chosen is:

Natnael/Nathaniel - Amharic Biblical 'the gift of God'

We couldn't think of a better meaning for the name of our son. He truly is a gift of God. We are keeping his given name as his middle name (still not sure if I can share that until after the court date; better to be safe than sorry).

I am so thankful that God chose us to be this little miracles parents. We are so blessed!

Acceptance Letter is on it way to AWAA!

We received our official referral packet in the mail late yesterday afternoon. It was so exciting because there was a 2nd picture in there of our little boy that was not emailed to us. He is so amazingly beautiful!

Paul was so anxious to get it filled out last night, even though we couldn't mail it out yesterday. :-) By the time of this post, the Fedex people have picked up our Acceptance Letter and it will be in Virginia tomorrow morning!

We took a couple pictures to celebrate the event! Ok so we got a little silly with the camera. :-)

Love to you all.

Holly

The Call

So I thought I would give those detail oriented people (like me) a play by play of the "The Call".

This morning I woke up like normal and was getting ready. As I was putting my makeup on, I thought I heard my cell phone ringing. Because my husband & I sleep with a fan on in the bedroom I thought I was just imagining it and went on getting ready.

I walked out to the kitchen to pack my breakfast & lunch for work and I checked my phone. I had a missed call and voicemail. It wasn't until I read the phone number that I realized this could be it! I immediatly listened to the message. It was Terra asking us to call her because she had some good news for us!!!! I could hardly stand!

I ran into the bedroom and woke up my husband (trust me, Easter is probably one of the most draining Sundays of the year). I told him what the message said and he sat right up. I called Terra back and put my cell phone on speaker phone. She told us about our referral and said she was emailing us the information as we were speaking to her. Because the speaker phone wasn't the best quality, I couldn't quite understand his name, but I didn't care I just wanted to see him! Paul ran into the living room to start up the laptop while I listened to the rest of the phone call. Terra was very sweet and even mentioned how adorable she thought our little boy was. She even said that she wished she could keep him. :-)

I thanked her and hung up the phone. It seemed like our super fast laptop decided it was going to take forever doing anything this morning. We opened the email and went straight for the pictures. We downloaded them all and went to open the first one. We were on the edge of our seats until it opened....it was the AWAA logo! We laughed and laughed! Our yahoo mail puts logos like that as pictures. So we looked carefully and opened the one labeled pic 1.jpg.

We fell in love...instantly with this little face on the computer screen. He has such big beautiful eyes and a face that you can't help but love. I wanted to hug my computer, and I still try to pinch his cheeks on my laptop...it just isn't the same.

I haven't been able to focus for the rest of the day! It is a good thing that our school is on Spring break, and things are so quiet the day after Easter. :-)

Now is the beginning of my list of things to do to get ready for this little boy. My husband is thrilled about this one *love you, Honey!*

Tomorrow we will receive our official referral packet via Fedex. In this packet we have the documents we got by email (bio, medical, picture) and the official acceptance form. We fill out this form and return it with all the money we grow on the tree in our backyard (just kidding). :-)
After this is returned, the in country representative with AWAA will request our court date. This will happen in approx 4 weeks. Once the court date is approved, he will be our son! Then we can post pictures and our travel is scheduled 3 -4 weeks after that.

I can't believe that I am going to be a mom! :-)
Love,
Holly

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

WE GOT "THE CALL" THIS MORNING AT 8:11 AM.

We are so excited to announce that we have a referral of the most beautiful baby boy in the world! I never knew how much you could fall in love with a picture on the computer, but we are IN LOVE with our little boy!

Because of confidentiality, I am unable to share any details until the courtdate it completed.

Please continue to pray for us as we continue to work on bringing our son home.

Love,
Holly

I've Been Tagged!

Thanks Jill!

Here are the rules: Choose 5 people to tag and a reason you chose each person. Leave them each a comment directing them to your blog so they know they are it. You can't tag the person who tagged you. As a courtesy to the person who tagged you, please let them know when you have posted so they can have the sheer delight and extra work load of reading your answers. I've never been tagged but from what I have been told, I have to share 10 things about myself. Here you go!

1. My full name is Holly Tricia (Goodell) West
2. I was born and raised in Spanaway, Washington
3. I attended Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington. I earned my Associate of Arts Degree and a Certificate of Christian Studies. I was just shy of 1 year from finishing my BA in Psychology. I stopped attending full-time to work my husband through his Senior year of college.
4. My husband & I own the full West Wing and Gilmore Girls series on DVD. We also have Monk, Diagnosis Murder, Full House, Get Smart and The Cosby Show on DVD. (Currently we are watching Gilmore Girls for the 100 billionth time!)
5. I have an adorable Jack Russel Terrier who is 1 1/2 years old. His name is Chewy Turkey (because we brought him home in November) West.
6. My husband & I are the lead pastors of Rogue River Assembly of God. We have pastored here since March 2004. Rogue River is my husband's home town. You can check out Paul's blog to find out more about our church.
7. I bite my nails when I am stressed and nervous (it is amazing that I even have fingers left after the week I have had).
8. I love to sing, but I have HORRIBLE stage fright! Just walking up on the stage to sing a special song may require my own oxygen tank. :-)
9. I think Mark Harmon from NCIS is extremely handsome!
10. I am an Americal Idol junkie! My favorite all time Idol contestant is CLAY AIKEN!!!! He should have been the winner of Season 2...sorry Ruben fans, but it is true!!! :-)

6 Months

Today marks 6 months since our dossier was sent to Ethiopia. We are exactly halfway in between to 5-7 month waiting period expected for a boy referral.

Paul & I have been in the car all day driving up and back from Portland (about 4 hours each way). We had to renew our fingerprints with the USCIS (Immigration for our I-600 Orphan Petition). Needless to say, we are exhausted from the travel, but what I love is the quality time I got to spend with my husband today. I had a wonderful time talking and laughing with my best friend without the distractions of life around. :-)

I must admit, my stomach has been on edge all week. Even though we haven't waited as long as some, we know we are close so it is a little stressful. We are trusting in the Lord with all our heart and leaning not on our own understanding...Prov 3:5-6.

Adoption Updates

So there have been several exciting things happening in our adoption world over the last couple of weeks!

Last Friday we had a 2 hour conference call with all the families and our director from the agency. It was an exciting call about all the advancement our agency is making in Ethiopia. We were very encouraged by it.

We were told by a recent adoptive mom, who just recently returned home, that there were 9 children transfered to the Transition Home while she was there. Because there hasn't been any recent referrals, the buzz is that these children were moved with the anticipation of referral being given out. It is exciting and nervewracking all at the same time. One of these children could be our future son...

Would you contiue to pray with us as we wait for God's perfect timing? Thank you!

Hi, My Name Is Holly and I Am A Blog Slacker...

So I have been home from my Road trip for over a week, and yet this is my first blog entry. Please forgive my slacking bloggerness. :-)

So our Road Trip was fun and successful. There is nothing like driving a 22-foot diesel moving truck across the country with your best friend! We had a wonderful time!

Inserting pictures here: This is the monsterous truck we affectionatly named Obi-Wan Kenobi, or "Obi" for short.

Yes, that is 22-feet of moving truck craziness.

This was the AMAZING group of movers and shakers that loaded the truck for Melisma in Jackson, Mississippi. They really are more like family...

Our last stop, was Melisma's Great-Aunt's house in Garden Grove, CA. Melisma's Grandma was visiting from the Philippines and she hasn't seen her for years. (Left to right: Melisma, Grandma, Great-Aunt, Cousin Vivian).

So yes, this is me in the happiest place on earth! Melisma's Great Aunt retired from Disneyland and has a VIP pass to get up to 3 people in for FREE!!! We got to take a break from driving and spend the day at Disneyland, and then went back to the house for some yummy Filipino food!

It is so good to be home, but life has been crazier than ever since coming back. I am finally feeling like a human for the first time!