Right now our paperwork has been signed and is with our lawyer in Rwanda. That means that we will soon have a court date and we will be able to post our daughter's photo as well as we can finally travel to Rwanda to pick her up. This really has been the longest 42 days of my life!!! I can't wait to go meet my baby girl.
So, I thought I would write about her name and why we chose it. Her current name at the orphanage is Lucie Uwimana. Although we love this name, the problem is that our last name is Soucy. And if you do not know how to pronounce Soucy, it is basically Lucie with an S at the beginning. So, Lucie Soucy does not work. We have decided to name our daughter... (drumroll please)...
Zoe Nicole Uwimana Soucy
First let's begin with Zoe. I love this name. It means Greek for life. I find that very fitting that her name means life because first I have always wanted a daughter and I feel such an honor to raise this little life from God. I also find it fitting because 1 out of every 5 children do not make it to their 5th birthday in Rwanda and the life expectancy in Africa is 35 years old. So, I feel that not only is she giving me the gift of life, but we are also giving her the gift of life. The other neat thing about her name is that one of my very best friends Trish and her mom both had dreams about Zoe the same night. As soon as they told me I knew that this would be her name.
Her second name is Nicole. This name is also very special to me. Last April when we decided to adopt from Africa we told my sister our plan. She was so excited she couldn't wait for us to adopt. I think that she was the most excited person in our entire family. She said she would do anything to be there with me. The next month my sister passed away. We decided that we could honor her life and give her name to Zoe. I know that Nicole is watching over Zoe right now and protecting her until we are able to get her. I love Nicole so much and am so grateful that I can give her name to my daughter.
Her third name is Uwimana. This is her African name. I feel that this is one of the only things that she will be bringing back with her from Rwanda. Most everything else we will be changing. So, I am grateful that we can keep her name for a second middle name. The other reason why I love this name so much is that it means "daughter of God". How fitting, because this is exactly how I feel about her. I only hope that I can do her justice in being a mother to this amazing child.
Her last name of course is Soucy. This came with the man that I agreed to marry almost 11 years ago. I am so blessed that he is with me and he also shares the vision I have of adoption and the children out there there that are waiting for us to bring them home.
I am hoping to post pictures of the nursery soon. Another of my best friends is painting a picture for our nursery. I hope it will be done this week. As soon as it is done I can hang it on the wall and post pictures of her room. It is my favorite room in the house. Very pink!!! I find myself just sitting in there all the time. I can't wait to go in there and find Zoe waiting for me.
One more thing. Because we are going to Rwanda soon, we are collecting items for donations. If you have anything that you would like to donate please contact me and I will tell what we are going to bring to the orphanage.
Have a splendid night!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Something nice
It has been 1 month and 5 days since we have received the picture of Zoe. Although sometimes I don't think I can wait another minute and am ready to get on a plane to Rwanda and fight my way through to get her court date set I know that I must have patience.
I found out a while ago that there have been changes in employment in Rwanda in the department that handles the adoptions. I also found out that my paperwork is (and has been for a while) just sitting there waiting for one signature. I almost started crying when I found this out. No one knew when things would start up again and when they would hire someone to "sign" my paper.
Today I got an email from Children of All Nations (my adoption agency). They said that our representative in Rwanda went over today to introduce herself to the office that can "sign" my paper. It is my understanding that she went to introduce her to the new employee who can help me get closer to Zoe. I hope this is the case and that we will soon have our paper signed. Will you please keep me in your prayers that our papers will be signed and our court date will be soon.
However, I also found out something nice. My representative in Rwanda went and bought Zoe some clothes and toys and dropped them off to her. I know this sounds silly, but I almost cried with tears of joy that someone was willing to do something nice to my daughter.
Hopefully we will have some good news soon and I can finally post the picture of our daughter. I will let you know as soon as our court date is set.
Thank you in advance for all of your prayers!!
I found out a while ago that there have been changes in employment in Rwanda in the department that handles the adoptions. I also found out that my paperwork is (and has been for a while) just sitting there waiting for one signature. I almost started crying when I found this out. No one knew when things would start up again and when they would hire someone to "sign" my paper.
Today I got an email from Children of All Nations (my adoption agency). They said that our representative in Rwanda went over today to introduce herself to the office that can "sign" my paper. It is my understanding that she went to introduce her to the new employee who can help me get closer to Zoe. I hope this is the case and that we will soon have our paper signed. Will you please keep me in your prayers that our papers will be signed and our court date will be soon.
However, I also found out something nice. My representative in Rwanda went and bought Zoe some clothes and toys and dropped them off to her. I know this sounds silly, but I almost cried with tears of joy that someone was willing to do something nice to my daughter.
Hopefully we will have some good news soon and I can finally post the picture of our daughter. I will let you know as soon as our court date is set.
Thank you in advance for all of your prayers!!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Thailand Pictures while we wait
So we still don't have a court date yet for Zoe (the name of our daughter). We will let you know. However, I thought I would upload some photos of our trip to Thailand. We arrived there in New Years Eve. It was really fun.
Some neat news though is that in the past few weeks there were 9 families who were able to Journey to Rwanda and adopt 12 kids (3 families adopted 2 kids each). While they were there, two of the families were able to meet little Zoe. I was so excited!! They told her that her mommy loved her very much and was coming to get her really soon. I am so grateful for these families to find her. It gives me such a good feeling to know that she is ok. Please keep us in your prayers so that we can pick her up soon. We really need a court date soon! Once this is done then we can travel over and pick her up.
Well, in the meantime- here are some photos of our trip to Thailand.
While we were in Thailand we went to an area where you can play with tigers. Me, Josh and my brothers (Brandon & Spencer) and my sister (lindsay) went in with the big tigers. Then later we took our kids to play with the baby tigers. An incredible experience!
Here I am lying down on a sleeping tiger. YIKES!! He fell asleep about 5 minutes before we went in the cage. Lucky us- so I got to lay right on top of him. But trust me I was still poised and ready to run like mad if he woke up!!
Me with the big tiger. It was really neat to be able to pet a tiger. They are really soft.
Josh with his big tiger!
When we were in with the big tigers they were playing with them right in front of us. We were all wet, but it was totally worth it. However, all I can say is if you have never been 3 feet away from a grown tiger and no cage in between you and he is staring at you in the eye- you do not know what fear is. It is one of the scariest things I have ever done!
Martin with the baby tigers. We loved hanging out with the baby tigers. They were so cute (but still dangerous!)
Calvin playing with a baby tiger.
Martin with a sparkler on New Years Eve in Thailand.
Our Thai friend Anong got us all these special type of balloons that you light up at the bottom and the fire causes it to rise in the air. When it goes up you will just see a bright light. It was really fun! It is a Thai tradition. So happy we got to participate. New Years was a blast!
Here is Josh letting go of his baloon. The sky was lit up with these all night in Thailand. It was beautiful. They would stay up in the air around 2 hours and then float down. When we went up to our hotel room we could see hundreds of thousands of them all lit up for New Years Eve.
Here is our entire group on New Years Eve that went on the trip to Thailand. All of our wonderful family and friends. We had so much fun!!!
Josh and Calvin crossing the river on the elephant ride.
Martin and I were on one elephant together. We went through rivers and jungle. The kids loved it!
We rode bamboo rafts down the river after our elephant ride. It was very green and beautiful!
We went to a long neck village in Chaing Mai. It is a very difficult life for these women to wear these rings around their neck. They are incredibly heavy. I have no idea how they do it.
My boys with a cute little family. Aren't the kids darling!!<
All the women would make different scarves or other items to sell. The women were all so beautiful!! That's me- the plain one!
At a snake show up in Chaing Mai. This guy kissed a King Cobra. I still have nightmares about it. However, it is now Calvin's favorite animal. He was very impressed.
Calvin actually holding a snake. This was huge for him!! Martin was very excited to kiss a large python. The snake show was a huge hit for the boys!
Picture of the boys at a theme park in Phuket, Thailand.
We always get so sad to leave Thailand. But it has been great to be home. Especially since we must do so much to get ready for our little Zoe to come home.
Please keep us in your prayers that we will soon have a court date for Zoe. We want to get her as soon as possible and bring her home to her family.
Some neat news though is that in the past few weeks there were 9 families who were able to Journey to Rwanda and adopt 12 kids (3 families adopted 2 kids each). While they were there, two of the families were able to meet little Zoe. I was so excited!! They told her that her mommy loved her very much and was coming to get her really soon. I am so grateful for these families to find her. It gives me such a good feeling to know that she is ok. Please keep us in your prayers so that we can pick her up soon. We really need a court date soon! Once this is done then we can travel over and pick her up.
Well, in the meantime- here are some photos of our trip to Thailand.
While we were in Thailand we went to an area where you can play with tigers. Me, Josh and my brothers (Brandon & Spencer) and my sister (lindsay) went in with the big tigers. Then later we took our kids to play with the baby tigers. An incredible experience!
Here I am lying down on a sleeping tiger. YIKES!! He fell asleep about 5 minutes before we went in the cage. Lucky us- so I got to lay right on top of him. But trust me I was still poised and ready to run like mad if he woke up!!
Me with the big tiger. It was really neat to be able to pet a tiger. They are really soft.
Josh with his big tiger!
When we were in with the big tigers they were playing with them right in front of us. We were all wet, but it was totally worth it. However, all I can say is if you have never been 3 feet away from a grown tiger and no cage in between you and he is staring at you in the eye- you do not know what fear is. It is one of the scariest things I have ever done!
Martin with the baby tigers. We loved hanging out with the baby tigers. They were so cute (but still dangerous!)
Calvin playing with a baby tiger.
Martin with a sparkler on New Years Eve in Thailand.
Our Thai friend Anong got us all these special type of balloons that you light up at the bottom and the fire causes it to rise in the air. When it goes up you will just see a bright light. It was really fun! It is a Thai tradition. So happy we got to participate. New Years was a blast!
Here is Josh letting go of his baloon. The sky was lit up with these all night in Thailand. It was beautiful. They would stay up in the air around 2 hours and then float down. When we went up to our hotel room we could see hundreds of thousands of them all lit up for New Years Eve.
Here is our entire group on New Years Eve that went on the trip to Thailand. All of our wonderful family and friends. We had so much fun!!!
Josh and Calvin crossing the river on the elephant ride.
Martin and I were on one elephant together. We went through rivers and jungle. The kids loved it!
We rode bamboo rafts down the river after our elephant ride. It was very green and beautiful!
We went to a long neck village in Chaing Mai. It is a very difficult life for these women to wear these rings around their neck. They are incredibly heavy. I have no idea how they do it.
My boys with a cute little family. Aren't the kids darling!!<
All the women would make different scarves or other items to sell. The women were all so beautiful!! That's me- the plain one!
At a snake show up in Chaing Mai. This guy kissed a King Cobra. I still have nightmares about it. However, it is now Calvin's favorite animal. He was very impressed.
Calvin actually holding a snake. This was huge for him!! Martin was very excited to kiss a large python. The snake show was a huge hit for the boys!
Picture of the boys at a theme park in Phuket, Thailand.
We always get so sad to leave Thailand. But it has been great to be home. Especially since we must do so much to get ready for our little Zoe to come home.
Please keep us in your prayers that we will soon have a court date for Zoe. We want to get her as soon as possible and bring her home to her family.
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