CASE CLEARED!!

These are the wonderful words that we have been waiting to read in an email from the US Embassy in Addis Ababa. We are clear to come pick up our sweet little E!!! We are literally in shock...this all seems to have happened so fast! We left Ethiopia just over 6 weeks ago, and we get to go back and be with our daughter forever!!!

This is also bitter sweet though as the other families that we travelled with for our first trip are not yet cleared to travel. We are the only family travelling at this point. We have our fingers crossed that their clearance will come in the next week or so.

So currently we are waiting for the US Embassy to schedule an "interview" appointment for us. All this entails is going to the Embassy while in country with our child in hand and answering a few short questions. Then her visa will be issued. So in the next couple of days we should have confirmation of dates.

The soonest we will be leaving is Friday 4/28, with return 5/3 or4...already have been checking flights and we do have a couple of options!!!

Feeling really crazy and scatter brained right now!!

** It was so cute last night, Trek said, "I miss E, do you?" And we agreed that yes of course we do, and hope that we can go get her soon, so Trek could meet her!!

All for now!! Still hovering on cloud nine!

Happy 13th month little E!

Today little E is 13 months old! It is actually hard to believe that just over a month ago we met her face to face. It has been a busy month...just normal life stuff though! Another reason I think this time has flown by is because so much has happened since we left Ethiopia. E's birthmother was found and appeared for her court interview, we are officially legal guardians of E, her Ethiopian birth certificate and passport have been issued...and as of Tuesday all of the documents regarding her adoption have been submitted to the US Embassy. Now we wait again. As soon as the US Embassy does their investigation and issues her visa, we can travel to pick her up. We really don't know how long this wait will be...as with each stage of international adoption...but one thing is for sure...she is worth the wait!!!

Happy day sweet girl!

1!

Happy 1st birthday little E! We feel so privileged to be able to have spent almost 6 hours over two days with you last week! You were very unsure of us at first, but you were quick to warm up to us! You have the sweetest smile, adorable laugh, and a spunky personality! We can't wait to hear when we can return and really start to get to know you! In the meantime, we are so impressed by the love and care you are receiving at the care center. The nannies love you and you love the nannies! This mommy and daddy are now learning some serious patience! So glad the God is in control of all!

11 months!

Happy 11 months sweet baby girl!! Oh, and just 22 days until we meet our daughter! We are so excited, but have so much to do! Trek will not be traveling with us so we need to get some documents organized related to his care while we are gone!

So bittersweet to leave our son to go meet our daughter. Then to leave our daughter shortly after meeting her and rushing back to be reunited with our son. We hope that it won't be too long before we are together as a family of four!

Court Date!

So excited to share that we found out this morning we have a scheduled court date of March 1st! Our sweet girlie turns 1 on March 5th!! So how exciting that we can be with her very near her first birthday! I am stoked! She will probably think we are so scary when we sing happy birthday to her!!

So now we get to book a flight to Addis Ababa with only 4 weeks notice! What a wonderful predicament!!!

Over the moon!!!

Using the slow cooker!

I have found that I really like my slow cooker! In the past, all I would use it for is a roast...that would be over cooked and dry, not appetizing! So I have just recently started using it a lot more, and we have really liked the outcome. I found a site called Eat at Home Cooks. They recently posted a packet of favorite slow cooker recipes. We have been trying them out...they are yummy!

A few that have been gobbled up at our house are:

Chicken Fried Pork Chops

6 pork chops (boneless or with bones)

1/2 cup flour

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

oil for frying chops

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/3 cup water

Instructions:

1. Mix flour, salt, ground mustard, and garlic powder together.

2. Dredge the chops in the flour mixture and fry in a skillet. You don't need to cook them all the way, just get them browned.

3. Put the chops in the slow cooker.

4. Mix the soup and water together. Pour into the hot skillet, stirring to pick up the little crispy pieces left by the chops.

5. Pour the gravy over the top of the chops in the slow cooker.

6. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8 hours.

I made no changes to this; very tasty! I served them with mashed potatoes and salad. Nice comfort food!!

Italian Parmesan Herb Chicken and Potatoes

2 lbs. frozen chicken tenders

1 med. onion, sliced

1 1/2 lbs. New potatoes, quartered

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp salt

Black pepper to taste

1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1-2 T olive oil

Instructions:

1. Place chicken in the slow cooker. Top with sliced onion.

2. In a small bowl, combine garlic, herbs, salt, pepper, parmesan and oil. Toss with potatoes.

3. Put potatoes over chicken and onions in slow cooker.

4. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8 hours.

So I couldn't find chicken tenders in the organic meat area at the store, so I used bone in breast and rib meat. It turned out great. The meat fell off the bone easily and I saved a bit of money by getting the bone in type. This meal smelled up the house wonderfully so that I couldn't wait to dig in. Every one at our house at it! I served it with cooked carrots seasoned with salt and dill. Next time I may just add the carrots in so it all cooks together! Yum, and I am free to get other stuff done around the house while it is all cooking away. Love that!!

Inspiration to cook!

Lately, we have been trying to eat at home more. Reasons for this are to eat healthier and save some money. Now, this hasn't been so easy for me. I have a few meals I like to fix and the boys like to eat, but I get bored. So I have been searching different sites for INSPIRATION to get back in to the kitchen, and to enjoy it! So far it has been working! One thing I am finding is that I will make a recipe and want to make sure I don't lose it somewhere on the web. I started to print out these recipes and put them in a binder. Well, it is a waste of ink and paper, so I am going to try to keep them on this blog. Once I get the hang of it, I am hoping to have pics of us enjoying said recipes. For now, it is going to be text of the recipe with my alterations and input, basically so I can go back and make it again!

Today I made:

Gluten Free Dairy Free Baked Oatmeal Bars

from Once a month mom posted 1/3/2012

Ingredients:

2 cups gf or regular old-fashioned rolled oats

2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp gf baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 egg, or 1 T. ground flax mixed with 3 T. boiling water (let sit for 5 minutes until thickened)

1/4 cup sugar or sweetener of choice

1 1/4 gf vanilla extract

1/2 cup raisins of chopped date, more for sprinkling on top if desired

chocolate chips are good too

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil on 8X8 baking pan. Set aside. If you are making the bars egg-free, mix flax seed mixture now. Set aside to thicken.

Combine oats, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add milk substitute egg (or flax mixture), applesauce, sweetener, and vanilla. Mix well. Mix in dried fruit.

Put batter into oiled pan, smoothing with spatula as needed. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If bars brown too quickly, tent the pan with some foil. Allow bars to cool completely, then cut into bars.

Freezing directions:

Package bars in an air-tight freezer container. Label and freeze.

To serve: Thaw. Eat at room temperature or slightly heated through.

Servings: 8

So the main thing I will change next time is to double the batch and try them in a 9X13 pan. In a short few hours Trek and I have almost finished them off! I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, which turned out very yummy! Next time I want to use coconut milk (I used regular milk, since no one in our house has any problems with dairy), I think the flavor would be good.

They are soft granola bars...as I introduced them to Trek. They aren't overly sweet, which is refreshing.

Definitely a do-again recipe!