Sunday, December 02, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Today we found out that we have been approved to adopt 3 children under the age of 6. We sent our request to Colombia in early October and were not certain when we would hear if we were apporved or not. If you all remember, we had tried to pursue 3 siblings over the summer, and that was what led us to request this change. We are still on the wait list, but the most exciting part of this news is that we are at the TOP of the "3 under 7" list. There are no other families looking for a sibling group of this age and size. The next referral of this sort that comes through ICBF will be offered to us!!!! We don't know when this will happen. It is our understanding that the courts in Colombia shut down in December, so even if we were to receive a referral now, we would not travel until next year.
This news could not have come at a better time. I have been feeling really anxious and frustrated about waiting. We have been waiting for a very long time to become parents, and this was just a beautiful reminder that God has not forgotten us. On the contrary, he has heard our prayers! Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us!
We will keep you posted as things unfold. In the meantime, I think we will try to get our house in order to make room for 3 more Eisenbergers.
This news could not have come at a better time. I have been feeling really anxious and frustrated about waiting. We have been waiting for a very long time to become parents, and this was just a beautiful reminder that God has not forgotten us. On the contrary, he has heard our prayers! Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us!
We will keep you posted as things unfold. In the meantime, I think we will try to get our house in order to make room for 3 more Eisenbergers.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Have you met Baxter?
The little guy on the right is our latest addition to the Eisenberger clan. He is cute and getting bigger every day. He is sweet and always has this air of wonder and curiosity. He loves his "big sister" and she loves him--they play, fight, sleep and repeat all day long. It is neat to see how well Sylvia takes care of him and the amount of patience she has for him, even when he is yanking on her ears. They make our house feel fuller.
--------------------------------------------------------
We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment. ~George Eliot
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
I have been realizing as I get older I become more forgetful, not just names/dates/etc..., but I quickly forget God's goodness. For those of you who are familiar with Troy and I's struggle to expand our family, you may not be surprised that we have been on quite the roller coaster where faith is concerned. We have seen pregnancy and children come so easily into the lives of many of our friends. The wait has been excrutiating. It is almost second nature now to believe that God has forsaken us. We both have had to really fight against feeling abandonned, and we have had to cling to what little hope we have left that God is good.
And He really is good. He is better than good, He is almighty and He has a plan. That plan may not be what we envisioned when we first set out on this journey toward parenthood. The plan may be the hardest thing we have ever gone through (and hopefully ever will go through). Some days I think it has been a blessing because it has refined our marriage in ways that nothing else could. And it has led to a place of great expectation.
We continue to wait, but this is the fun part. There is no paperwork to be done (at least temporarily). Instead we get to brush up on our Spanish, figure out how to raise the remaining funds we need, watch as much TV as our DVR can hold, and (as a friend recently pointed out) go out to dinner.
Stay tuned!
Andrea
------------------------------
"In this [God's great mercy] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
I Peter 1:6-7
And He really is good. He is better than good, He is almighty and He has a plan. That plan may not be what we envisioned when we first set out on this journey toward parenthood. The plan may be the hardest thing we have ever gone through (and hopefully ever will go through). Some days I think it has been a blessing because it has refined our marriage in ways that nothing else could. And it has led to a place of great expectation.
We continue to wait, but this is the fun part. There is no paperwork to be done (at least temporarily). Instead we get to brush up on our Spanish, figure out how to raise the remaining funds we need, watch as much TV as our DVR can hold, and (as a friend recently pointed out) go out to dinner.
Stay tuned!
Andrea
------------------------------
"In this [God's great mercy] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
I Peter 1:6-7
Sunday, September 30, 2007
OK, so we have been a little slow getting the word out, but we received our approval letter last Monday. Hooray! We are now waiting on our children. That has been so mind blowing for us because we have been waiting for so many other things for so long (i.e., waiting to start the next fertility treatment, waiting for our passports, waiting for various pieces of paper).
So, what happens next?
We wait for our official "referral" (or match). We are not really sure of the timeline. Our letter states that we are approved for a sibling group of two children under the age of four. This could take up to 30 months (the same as one infant). Due to recent events in our lives, we have decided to ask to be approved to adopt up to three children under the age of 6.
In July, our agency informed us of a group of 3 siblings (ages 1, 3, and 5). We did all that we could to pursue them, but a few weeks ago, Colombia assigned them to a family whose paperwork was already approved. We were devastated because we did not know that they had been offered to other families. On the bright side, we realized that we definitely want to pursue a sibling group. For one, we will not have the luxury of having one biological child at a time, and we definitely want more than one child. We are also uncertain of how many times we can afford to adopt. More importantly though, there are many orphans across the globe who are overlooked simply because they come as a group.
As always, we will keep you posted as things progress. So check back often.
So, what happens next?
We wait for our official "referral" (or match). We are not really sure of the timeline. Our letter states that we are approved for a sibling group of two children under the age of four. This could take up to 30 months (the same as one infant). Due to recent events in our lives, we have decided to ask to be approved to adopt up to three children under the age of 6.
In July, our agency informed us of a group of 3 siblings (ages 1, 3, and 5). We did all that we could to pursue them, but a few weeks ago, Colombia assigned them to a family whose paperwork was already approved. We were devastated because we did not know that they had been offered to other families. On the bright side, we realized that we definitely want to pursue a sibling group. For one, we will not have the luxury of having one biological child at a time, and we definitely want more than one child. We are also uncertain of how many times we can afford to adopt. More importantly though, there are many orphans across the globe who are overlooked simply because they come as a group.
As always, we will keep you posted as things progress. So check back often.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Ahhh...Fall!
The air is cooler (except in Charlotte), the leaves are changing (especially since everything has died because of the drought), and someday (probably in February) I will be able to get out my sweaters. But the thing that makes Fall the Esienbergers' favorite season is the return of television!
Survivor: China started last week and we actually had our first Survivor party in Charlotte. We went out for pizza instead of making chili, but it definitely brought back the excitement of "Survivor Night". I was sad to see Chicken go first because the boring people always seem to obtain the upper hand early on and vote out the more interesting folks. It is going to take a couple more episodes before I decide who I would want in the final four. I can tell you though, that the sooner they send Courtney packing the better. Hopefully, I will be able to get Troy to give weekly commentary because his view of the world is really hilarious.
The one show we have been holding our breath for is Heroes. How did Sylar sneak down that manhole without anyone else seeing him? Hopefully they will tell us tonight on the season premeire!
It is a sad, but true statement, that our blog will be far more interesting now that TV has returned. So, if you love TV even half as much as we do, stay tuned! Oh, and when we get adoption info, we will throw that in too!
Andrea
The air is cooler (except in Charlotte), the leaves are changing (especially since everything has died because of the drought), and someday (probably in February) I will be able to get out my sweaters. But the thing that makes Fall the Esienbergers' favorite season is the return of television!
Survivor: China started last week and we actually had our first Survivor party in Charlotte. We went out for pizza instead of making chili, but it definitely brought back the excitement of "Survivor Night". I was sad to see Chicken go first because the boring people always seem to obtain the upper hand early on and vote out the more interesting folks. It is going to take a couple more episodes before I decide who I would want in the final four. I can tell you though, that the sooner they send Courtney packing the better. Hopefully, I will be able to get Troy to give weekly commentary because his view of the world is really hilarious.
The one show we have been holding our breath for is Heroes. How did Sylar sneak down that manhole without anyone else seeing him? Hopefully they will tell us tonight on the season premeire!It is a sad, but true statement, that our blog will be far more interesting now that TV has returned. So, if you love TV even half as much as we do, stay tuned! Oh, and when we get adoption info, we will throw that in too!
Andrea
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
HOPE
Some say HOPE is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.....
....others say HOPE dangles on a string , like slow spinning redemption
winding in and winding out, the shine of it has caught my eye....
....however WE say there is reason to HOPE....to HOPE big.
Details to follow soon.
Love,
The Eisenbergers
Some say HOPE is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.....
....others say HOPE dangles on a string , like slow spinning redemption
winding in and winding out, the shine of it has caught my eye....
....however WE say there is reason to HOPE....to HOPE big.
Details to follow soon.
Love,
The Eisenbergers
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Waiting, waiting, waiting...
We found out on Tuesday that our wait to be matched with a child or children has been extended to 30 months once we get approval from Colombia's welfare service. We are still waiting on that approval which is apparently taking longer than the 2 months promised. It has been discouraging news to say the least, but we also know that God has a plan. We may not know what that plan is, but we know that it is perfect. In the mean time, we hope that you all won't get bored of waiting for news too and that you will stick with us. We can promise that once the Fall TV season starts, we will have a whole lot more to say! Til next time!
We found out on Tuesday that our wait to be matched with a child or children has been extended to 30 months once we get approval from Colombia's welfare service. We are still waiting on that approval which is apparently taking longer than the 2 months promised. It has been discouraging news to say the least, but we also know that God has a plan. We may not know what that plan is, but we know that it is perfect. In the mean time, we hope that you all won't get bored of waiting for news too and that you will stick with us. We can promise that once the Fall TV season starts, we will have a whole lot more to say! Til next time!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Why Colombia?
Well, if you are a regular blog reader (yeah, I'm talking to you Jimmy Vandal) you have been harrassing me to update our blog after the promise in our last post to write something that didn't have to do with NASCAR. Have you ever been lied to since the end of Back to the Future promised a quick sequel?...So here is a post on something that was immensly educational for us, so hopefully it is a fraction of that for you. Well, blog readers....start your proverbial engines.
To answer the "Why Colombia?" question, and starting the timeline after we decided to adopt in the first place, we had to pick between domestic vs. international.
We chose international adoption, to be honest, because we were tired of uncertainty. Domestic adoption problems are MUCH more rare than is conveyed by the mass media, but domestic adoption still has its unique issues. That being said, @ the end of the international adoption road was a child (or two...) for us, and after a few years of doubting if we will ever be parents, that was all we needed to know.
Once we decided on international, the big question became where. We quickly learned that a very big world gets reduced to a much smaller one, once you consider 1) countries that allow for international adoption.....and 2) the various rules that they employ.
A quick glance around the world reduced our search quite quickly....
Canada - Closed to non-resident adoption.
Nepal
- We were too young.
Ethiopia - We haven't been married long enough.
Nebraska
With no regard to Andrea or Troy's heritage.....not a country. Didn't know that? Yeah...me neither. I told you in this first paragraph how educational this would be.
We ended up with a list that included Guatemala, Colombia, and South Korea. Guatemala and Colombia were close geographically, but not in price range, with Guatelmala costing much more. The last decision was one of South Korea v. Colombia, and in the end we went with the country we could visit the most throughout our child's life.
So there you go...part process of elimination, part chasing after what we knew in our hearts we needed to do, and the rest just hope and trust.
Well, if you are a regular blog reader (yeah, I'm talking to you Jimmy Vandal) you have been harrassing me to update our blog after the promise in our last post to write something that didn't have to do with NASCAR. Have you ever been lied to since the end of Back to the Future promised a quick sequel?...So here is a post on something that was immensly educational for us, so hopefully it is a fraction of that for you. Well, blog readers....start your proverbial engines.
To answer the "Why Colombia?" question, and starting the timeline after we decided to adopt in the first place, we had to pick between domestic vs. international.
We chose international adoption, to be honest, because we were tired of uncertainty. Domestic adoption problems are MUCH more rare than is conveyed by the mass media, but domestic adoption still has its unique issues. That being said, @ the end of the international adoption road was a child (or two...) for us, and after a few years of doubting if we will ever be parents, that was all we needed to know.
Once we decided on international, the big question became where. We quickly learned that a very big world gets reduced to a much smaller one, once you consider 1) countries that allow for international adoption.....and 2) the various rules that they employ.
A quick glance around the world reduced our search quite quickly....
Canada - Closed to non-resident adoption.
Nepal
- We were too young.Ethiopia - We haven't been married long enough.
Nebraska
With no regard to Andrea or Troy's heritage.....not a country. Didn't know that? Yeah...me neither. I told you in this first paragraph how educational this would be.
We ended up with a list that included Guatemala, Colombia, and South Korea. Guatemala and Colombia were close geographically, but not in price range, with Guatelmala costing much more. The last decision was one of South Korea v. Colombia, and in the end we went with the country we could visit the most throughout our child's life.
So there you go...part process of elimination, part chasing after what we knew in our hearts we needed to do, and the rest just hope and trust.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Congratulations JP Montoya~!
Well, the next entry was supposed to be titled "Why Colombia?" ...which will follow shortly and detail how we came to choose Colombia over Nepal, Russia, and Nebraska as the country we chose to adopt from.
However, I wanted to kick off our semi-regular feature "Famous Colombians" after the results from this past sport weekend.
Juan Pablo (That's JP for most NASCAR fans) Montoya lead his 1st lap EVER in Nascar, and went on to win his first Nascar race ever. JP is one of the top rookies this year, and used his Formula One experience to "nudge" his way past many other drivers to capture his first checkered flag at the road course this weekend. The Eisenberger household still bleeds #20 orange, but we do have a special love for the country where our children will come from. Way to go JP....win another title Tony....Matt Kenseth sucks....yeah, enough Nascar chat right? Thanks for checking out our blog.
More info here....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Pablo_Montoya.
Hooray for Colombia,
Troy and Andrea
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
For most of you who received our "Grand Opening" email, we know this is the first time you are seeing this blog. We apologize for the delay, but time goes by so fast these days. We only have two other posts, so there is not much to catch up on.
Today we got really great news that puts us one step closer to bringing our child(ren) home from Colombia. Our dossier was submitted to ICBF (aka the Colombian welfare system) on May 11, 2007. This means that it took approximately two weeks to translate. That is much quicker than the estimated 4-6 weeks. So, praise be to God, who is the only one who can expedite this whole process. And, we are ready for it to be expedited in whatever way possible!
On a side note, Preston, our goldfish, also turned 7 on May 11 for those of you who are keeping tabs on the "energizer" fish--and, yes, his water is so filthy, you can hardly see him except when he surfaces at feeding time.
More updates as we get them!
Andrea and Troy
Today we got really great news that puts us one step closer to bringing our child(ren) home from Colombia. Our dossier was submitted to ICBF (aka the Colombian welfare system) on May 11, 2007. This means that it took approximately two weeks to translate. That is much quicker than the estimated 4-6 weeks. So, praise be to God, who is the only one who can expedite this whole process. And, we are ready for it to be expedited in whatever way possible!
On a side note, Preston, our goldfish, also turned 7 on May 11 for those of you who are keeping tabs on the "energizer" fish--and, yes, his water is so filthy, you can hardly see him except when he surfaces at feeding time.
More updates as we get them!
Andrea and Troy
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Okay, so while not the grand opening promised in our last post, this is still part of of our desire to let folks know about our blog.
Please check out the last post which has all of the general info about our adoption (yes, adoption, see below for all the glorious details) process. Please feel free to add your comments. More...much more...to follow.
Much love,
Andrea and Troy
Please check out the last post which has all of the general info about our adoption (yes, adoption, see below for all the glorious details) process. Please feel free to add your comments. More...much more...to follow.
Much love,
Andrea and Troy
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Welcome.
Well this is our blog's grand opening. No balloons. No buy one, get one free offers. No giant spot lights that shine into the sky that you can see from miles away...although how cool would that be, right? I know I've always wanted one, I'm sure you have too...
ANYWAYS.....While email and other non-verbal or face-to-face communication may come across as impersonal, we hope all will recognize this as a way to communicate with many while we are in the adoption process.
If that last sentance strikes you as news, then let me say that we are adopting.....
......internationally
....from Colombia.
The last several years* have been filled with hope and heartache as we have tried unsuccessfully to get pregnant. We have spent 5 figures towards the best medical options to help assist us in that goal. However, through all of this, we believe we have been led to this point. We also truly believe that this is where we are supposed to be in life, and are excited for the opportunites provided through international adoption.
We have** been filling out paperwork since November of 2006. All of our paperwork*** is on its way to Colombia as this is being typed, and within a few months we will receive word from the Colombian government. We hope and pray that this is an approval. Once approved, we begin the 1-2 year wait until we receive our referral. I'm sure our blog will consist of preparation updates and what great t.v. shows**** we are watching. {So check back often.}
Last week was a week we had been hoping for since November. It turned out to be one filled with immense tradgedy as well. Amidst all of the horrifying, unthinkable evils that occured on the VT campus, where I learned Fluid Mechanics, Advanced Calculus, and underage drinking; my college mentor and the reason I decided to pursue drainge as a career, Dr. Loganathan died. I have already written as much as I care to mention about this:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/virginiatech.shootings/victims/profiles/g.v.loganathan.html
...but it has been hard. This is a tragedy for everyone—family, friends, alumni, everyone...the whole world mourns in light of this.
ANYWAYS...in all the tradgedy of the past week, our paperwork—despite many obstacles that will likely be detailed in future entries—has left Charlotte, made it to our agency (Commonwealth Adoptions International) in Tampa, FL and is on the way to Colombia.
For all the latest information on the process, keep checking back (emails will accompany major updates and if you don't want the updates, just let us know). This is going to be a long process, so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Also, feel free to post your comments or ask us questions.
That may be enough for the first entry. Thanks for reading this far. It means alot to us...wherever you are.
Love y'all & Ut Prosim,
-Troy & Andrea
FOOTNOTES
* - 3 and counting
** - "Andrea has"
*** - aka "dossier", you too can learn hip adoption lingo...impress friends, intimdate enemies
**** - 24, LOST, Veronica Mars, Survivor, Heroes, Drive, Ugly Betty, Battlestar Galactica ....
Well this is our blog's grand opening. No balloons. No buy one, get one free offers. No giant spot lights that shine into the sky that you can see from miles away...although how cool would that be, right? I know I've always wanted one, I'm sure you have too...
ANYWAYS.....While email and other non-verbal or face-to-face communication may come across as impersonal, we hope all will recognize this as a way to communicate with many while we are in the adoption process.
If that last sentance strikes you as news, then let me say that we are adopting.....
......internationally
....from Colombia.
The last several years* have been filled with hope and heartache as we have tried unsuccessfully to get pregnant. We have spent 5 figures towards the best medical options to help assist us in that goal. However, through all of this, we believe we have been led to this point. We also truly believe that this is where we are supposed to be in life, and are excited for the opportunites provided through international adoption.
We have** been filling out paperwork since November of 2006. All of our paperwork*** is on its way to Colombia as this is being typed, and within a few months we will receive word from the Colombian government. We hope and pray that this is an approval. Once approved, we begin the 1-2 year wait until we receive our referral. I'm sure our blog will consist of preparation updates and what great t.v. shows**** we are watching. {So check back often.}
Last week was a week we had been hoping for since November. It turned out to be one filled with immense tradgedy as well. Amidst all of the horrifying, unthinkable evils that occured on the VT campus, where I learned Fluid Mechanics, Advanced Calculus, and underage drinking; my college mentor and the reason I decided to pursue drainge as a career, Dr. Loganathan died. I have already written as much as I care to mention about this:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/virginiatech.shootings/victims/profiles/g.v.loganathan.html
...but it has been hard. This is a tragedy for everyone—family, friends, alumni, everyone...the whole world mourns in light of this.
ANYWAYS...in all the tradgedy of the past week, our paperwork—despite many obstacles that will likely be detailed in future entries—has left Charlotte, made it to our agency (Commonwealth Adoptions International) in Tampa, FL and is on the way to Colombia.
For all the latest information on the process, keep checking back (emails will accompany major updates and if you don't want the updates, just let us know). This is going to be a long process, so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Also, feel free to post your comments or ask us questions.
That may be enough for the first entry. Thanks for reading this far. It means alot to us...wherever you are.
Love y'all & Ut Prosim,
-Troy & Andrea
FOOTNOTES
* - 3 and counting
** - "Andrea has"
*** - aka "dossier", you too can learn hip adoption lingo...impress friends, intimdate enemies
**** - 24, LOST, Veronica Mars, Survivor, Heroes, Drive, Ugly Betty, Battlestar Galactica ....
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