Blog: Ghana is Calling.

SUNDAY, APRIL 18, 2010

Ghana is Calling.

On the telephone (many times), and now in my head. I haven't had a decent night sleep since we learned the truth about our Bubbly. I haven't had a decent night sleep since I knew that her friends had experienced the same type of pain. I haven't had a decent night sleep since I learned that some of them are still living the nightmare. I'm tired.

But, Ghana keeps calling. Many, many times. Usually, in the middle of the night. Mostly, we answer because we are always ready to hear from birthparents. Sometimes, it's not them and the voice on the other end of the phone is someone I would rather not ever hear from again. I want to shout "make it STOP!!!". Last night the 2am phone calls woke my two-year-old and my Giggles. She wants to know why Ghana is calling so much. She never wants to talk to them again because they make me cry. She tells me to forget Ghana. Ghana hurt her, her brother and sister and her friends. Obviously, that's a problem. I try to reassure her that there is beauty in Ghana, there is good. We need to tell her that it's not Ghana itself, that it's just a few people. I want to focus on my own family, to not have to make or receive any more phone calls of a disturbing or threatening nature. I don't want to clean up other people's messes that leave other adoptive parents broken hearted. I don't want to hear anymore desperate Ghanaian voices on the other end of the phone asking me for help. I want it all to stop. I want someone else to deal with it. I want to plug my ears and yell "la la la la LAAAAA!". But, it's not to be. It's too hard to ignore children.

It's like being in a dark building and having two doors, one with the lit "exit sign" and one without. You know the one with the light will lead you further into the building, so you desperately search for the one without a sign. You know that the one without a sign will lead you out of the darkness entirely, to a much happier place. But, no matter how hard you try, you can't find it. God makes it hard to find because He obviously doesn't want me to take the easy way out. So, I faithfully continue to use the door with the sign, the path God seems to want me to follow. I get deeper and deeper, then I can see the path ahead for a little while, then someone makes it disappear. But, I keep following those exit signs, hoping that someday this will all be a bad memory.

Do you know what I'm most afraid of though? What wakes me up in a cold sweat every single night? It's not the voices on the other end of the phone. They're half a world away, even when they scare me, what can they really do? I'm safe in my America. So what is it? Why can't I just see this through? Why don't I just keep following the signs, faithfully knowing that God will lead me where I need to be. I can't. I'm scared of one thing on the other side of one door, or, should I say one place. It's a place that He has led me to SO many times before.

I'm terrified that eventually the door with the sign will open and I will find a sweltering airport with unfamiliar faces, but a VERY familiar smell, and one huge sign above the door that reads "AKWAABA".

--FullPlateMom,

who feels it coming.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 5:47 AM 3 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANA

SUNDAY, MARCH 28, 2010

Thank you President Obama.

I know people have differing views on Obama. But, one portion of his health care bill has helped us quite a bit. This quote is actually from a China adoption blog that I read regularly. But, it applies to us this year and gives me quite a bit of sunshine in my day. Do you know about the adoption tax credit? If not, click here. It was due to expire. It has been renewed and then some.

It appears that the tax credit has been extended for one more year (through the end of 2011), raised to $13,170, and made refundable. That last bit means people will no longer have to spread it across multiple years, they will be able to take it all at once, no matter what they’ve paid in.

If you want to look up the exact wording then go somewhere that has the new Health Care Reform bill text listed and go to section 10909. EXPANSION OF ADOPTION CREDIT AND ADOPTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

--FullPlateMom,

who sees an expanding college fund in her future. Heaven knows we need it.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 5:24 AM 1 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION

FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2010

Grieving.

Another night of little to no sleep for me. I don't know if the stress of what we've just been through has gotten ahold of me, if I have a little bit of post-adoption depression, or if it's the three spots of skin cancer they had to slice off my face just 48 hours ago (I think we can thank the African sun for that, and yes, I wore sunscreen everyday).

It was also a sleepless night for our GhanaGuy. I think reality has set in. This is home now. It looks different, smells different, sounds different. It's just different than everything he's used to. All we can do is rock, read and cry together. GhanaGal seems to have taken it in stride for now. GhanaGuy is littler. He had a mom he loved. While GhanaGal has a unique understanding of why their mom could no longer parent them, GhanaGuy was protected for all that. He just knows that he misses his mom. He never asks to call her, but we do anyway. I want him to hear me talking to her. I want him to know that she and I are working through this together for him. I want him to know that I love her, that I would never try to replace her. Sometimes I wonder if that's a good idea though. He cries quietly every time he hears her on the other end of the phone. So, I need your advice. Do I keep offering up the phone calls? I'm not sure what to do. If any of you out there have experienced a situation like this, I would love to hear about it.

--FullPlateMom,

who needs a nap.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 7:38 AM 4 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2010

Finding Comfort in the Kitchen.

We had our first tears last night about "missing home". They came from GhanaGuy. He had a loving mom before me. I love him with all my heart and have had a year to acclimate to the idea of another son. He had about three weeks to acclimate to the idea of having another mom. He's hurting. It's hard to understand the new rules that don't involve the same form of discipline he had become accustomed to. It's all just hard.

GhanaGal has been grieving by shutting down. She doesn't speak a whole lot about life before. She doesn't want to call her mom, because she "doesn't want to hear her cry"(even though her mom doesn't cry, she just tells us how happy she is). It's all just internalized. We try to draw her out, but it's difficult. I thought she would respond to comforting by me. She doesn't. She responds to her new dad a lot better. I'm trying not to be hurt by it. She had a mom before. She has never had a dad. And, my relationship with FPD totally puzzles her. She has been told, for her entire life, that marital relationships are based on a woman making her husband happy, through cooking and sewing and other household chores. All I can say to that is...BOOOOOO!!!! I've tried to show GhanaGal that FPD and I have a relationship that is cooperative, but not based on that. I work outside the home, so does he. This means that he works inside the home, and so do I. By and large, he cooks while I clean. He's funny, I'm the rule maker. Daddy is just better right now. Last night GhanaGal and FPD worked on a cooking project with a Ghanaian cookbook he found at the library. Our little GhanaGal was TOTALLY into it. This is the first time she has responded happily to a family activity. They made some wonderful Jollof.

--FullPlateMom,

who is still adjusting, so she can't imagine what this is like for her kids.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 5:35 AM 5 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2010

The Aftermath.

I have been in my home for a little over 24 hours. I have had 11 phone calls asking me what I dealt with over there. Families are scared. I can't say that it's going to be ok, because I don't KNOW each of your individual adoptions the way I had to come to KNOW mine. I know that for some of you, you have a really great advocate watching out for you, guiding you. For those of you with AAI, I'm going to put it out there...I really like Anita. She is a wonderful, concerned, advocate. She even offered to help me if I needed to start over while I was in Ghana. She has emailed me. We spoke, in generalities, about what I went through. I don't feel it appropriate to give personal details. Changes are coming, AAI's on it, and Anita's going to keep fighting for your kids. Just listen, pray, and follow your heart. I learned that this is all you can do.

We did an independent adoption, so things are a little more complex. Other families won't necessarily have the same issues we did. I didn't have an advocate at first. I was told that going into it. I knew it. I did it anyway. We eventually found our advocate, in a lovely grandmotherly lady named Auntie Jane. Auntie Jane, you have a lovely care package coming your way, filled with your favorite Mary Kay products. It's from your two new "grandchildren". Auntie Jane held me when I sobbed, listened to my heart break when I thought I would lose my kids, and waited for us outside the temple when I returned with those visas in my hand. She was never harsh with me, even when I told her I was scared, and that I knew I was being ridiculous. She told me to "cool down" and then she rubbed my back while she explained what we would do. She told me she would never give up. She talked about what was best for my kids constantly. She told me that FPD and I were what was best for them, so she would keep fighting. She continues to help us guide other independent adoptive parents when we don't know which way to tell them to turn.

The embassy. Even though I won't EVER enter again, God willing, I love you. You gave my kids the thing they wanted most in the world, a chance at a life with us in the U.S. The guards came out of the embassy (ALL of them) to hug us when we had our visas. Even though it is viewed as a bureaucratic nightmare by some, I love the people I got to know there. Paul, Janelle, Smiley Guy (sorry, I don't know your name) and Consular Evans, I'm sending you a shout out. I DO NOT consider you Satan's roadblock. I know that hurt your feelings, so I'm putting it out there to clear the air. Thank you for watching my back when I couldn't. I could tell you were all concerned for our safety and that we were doing things ethically for our kids. I promise you, we were, and will continue to fight for ethical adoptions. Thank you for watching out for the kids while you watched out for me. You are a wonderful example of quality customer service. Sorry I bugged the heck out of you. I think you all breathed a little easier as my plane took off. We all did.

I have been asked time and time again if I would do an independent adoption again. Yes. It led me to my kids. Am I angry about what I went through? No. I'm not "angry" at anyone. I have post-traumatic stress issues from what I lived through, so do my kids. We're working through my inability to sleep or eat (remember the shrinking white chicken post? Well, I'm still shrunken) and the fact that my kids lived for three weeks with a crazy white woman who was NOT the mom they thought they were getting. I was an entirely different person than who they had come to know. The stress of the last three weeks is melting away, I'm starting to know my kids again, not the tightly wound little people who thought that at any second we could be ripped apart. We are working through the fact that we weren't able to go and say goodbye in person to their mom. They've spoken with her several times on the phone. They seem ok with it, she's ok with it. But, this has had a lasting effect. Am I sad about it all? Yes. Am I angry about it? No. It is what it is. I lost friends through this. Some people will never understand what I SAW over there, not what I THINK happened, but what I know happened. Some people choose not to listen. That's ok too. I gained two friends who have now seen me at my worst and accepted me for who I am. We're definitely "out of Africa" Kara and Raelynn, and I'm not planning on going back anytime soon. Will I eventually? Definitely. It's still my kid's first home. I love Ghana, my kids are Ghanaian. I don't want adoption from Ghana to end. In fact, I think it's only just really beginning. I'm not out to hurt anyone anymore then they already have been. Life just needs to move forward now.

--FullPlateMom,

who won't speak of it on this blog again.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 6:54 AM 5 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

SUNDAY, MARCH 21, 2010

Home.

Here I am, blogging to you again from my pink robe...in my bed!!!!! Do you know who is sitting with me as we we watch cartoons? ALL SEVEN OF MY KIDS.

Do you know what that means? The Ghanaian nightmare is over. It was truly like living in a nightmare for three weeks. Up until our plane took off, I worried every single second that I had gotten myself into something that could land me in jail, or worse, that I would end up dead. But, I had done NOTHING wrong. This isn't just adoption drama, this was awful, ongoing, prolonged torture.

This morning I woke up, reached for FPD, and told him I felt like I had been hit by a truck. He told me I was, and it had Ghanaian plates. He's right, but there were Americans right there gassing it up. The story is long and involved, and I plan to tell it to everyone being affected by it. I don't plan to say what I "think" happened. I only planned to tell other adoptive parents what I KNOW to be true. Assumptions are what threw me into this mess.

--FullPlateMom,

who wants other adoptive parents to be able to watch cartoons with their Ghanaian kids.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 6:11 AM 8 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2010

Peace.

I feel peaceful this morning. I got the first decent night sleep that I've gotten in almost a week. I don't think that what I feel is hope, I think it's just peace that I've fought the good fight, the honest fight. When the 'mama tribunal' met this morning to pray together and discuss yesterday's events, we all agreed that we felt peace. We all are afraid to hope that God is granting us peace before the miracle, but we agreed that He might be helping us comfort ourselves in case this doesn't come to fruition. The thought makes me sick, but not incapacitated the way that it did last week. Maybe that's a sign? I don't know, I'm so confused.

My kids. That's all I can think about. The two little faces that are completely unsuspecting and innocent in all of this. The two little faces that pray their hearts out that they will get to see their "obruni daddy" again, that pray that they will get to finally meet the five brothers and sisters they have come to love the idea of. These are the two faces that pray for a family again. I have to keep my eyes on the prize, because that's what it's all about, a family. I hold tight to the promise that I have made to them, that even if I'm on the other side of the planet doing it, I'll make sure we're always a family.

--FullPlateMom,

who is headed out for another day of it. Just pray. Please.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 12:19 AM 0 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010

Keep it up.

We're making progress. It's slow though. Did you ever see those movies where people are walking through the jungle and the guy in front chops away the jungle vines with a machete? I feel like God is the guy with the machete. He's just clearing the path for us. But, we still have to walk behind faithfully.

The day was full of little miracles. People's hearts were softened. And, if the unthinkable happens and I have to start some of the paperwork over, I now have a contact and a path to do it. We're still praying for that miracle though. We are all afraid to hope, but we do anyway, because that's just how God made this trio of women. He gave us each other so that when one loses it, the other two are there to slap her and tell her to "SNAP OUT OF IT!!!". We don't really "beat" each other, but poor Raelynn, she almost got it at one point, which is scary, because she could TOTALLY kick my scrawny butt. She has the self-awareness to know when she's had it though, it's what I love about all of us. We know when we're on the edge and we buoy each other up. I'm sure my two compadres have felt like slapping me too on occasion. Especially when you've lived in a 250 square foot room with six people (and one bathroom) for almost a week. Our kids have TOTAL cabin fever. We're in survival mode.

I can't comment on the events of today, other than to say that we're getting closer to the end, come what may. But please keep praying!!! We feel your prayers, and they work. I attribute your prayers to the fact that we found a true angel on earth to guide us. She is our new "auntie" and calls us her daughters. We adore her. And, if we make it out of this, I owe her my children.

I also need to send it out to my mama posse over here. We're bonded for life now. We've seen each other's worst and each other's best. As we sat on the floor at the Social Welfare Building today, not speaking, just praying, Kara lifted her head and reminded Raelynn and I that if we make it out of this we're all bonded for life. That we are, Kara. I'll get the t-shirts printed..."Out of Africa 2010". God willing, we'll all be wearing them soon.

--FullPlateMom,

who could really use a burger, fries and a chocolate shake. The children have nicknamed her "shrunken white chicken". It's true. I'm disgustingly thin. Not thin like a supermodel either, thin like a disgusting hobo. This is week three, and I'm feeling it.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 2:50 PM 4 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 2010

A prayerful update.

Today's church lesson was meant for us, and the lady who gave it was too. Then a call from one very comforting Delta flight attendant has brought me some hope. God is paving the way with little miracles. But, is He just comforting me so that I might be able to shoulder what is to come? Or, is He setting the stage for the biggest miracle of all? I don't know.

Meeting at 10am tomorrow. We're fasting and praying. I have been housed, comforted and loved by a church that originally wasn't mine. I'm there now. Miracles have happened here, and only through this church and the sweet people that have comforted me as I walk through one of the darkest roads of my life. Thank you.

--FullPlateMom,

who is afraid to hope.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 10:03 AM 6 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2010

The entry I thought I would never have to write...

We need a miracle. Really. A miracle. We have one more 'hale mary' meeting on Monday and then I will need to decide what happens to my kids. The probability is that they won't be coming home with me. I can't believe I'm writing these words. I can't believe any of this.

I'm asking everyone out there who prays to pray for our kids. They are caught in the legal limbo of not being ours or their biological mother's anymore. There is a good probability that a large portion of our adoption will need to be re-done, if that is even possible.

I am here with two other super moms. Two other absolutely dynamite women, the only people who have fought along side me every single step of the way. The two that will ride home with me, alone, if we should fail. I wish the five little voices on the phone line every night understood why they might not ever meet their new brother and sister. I wish the two that are snoring softly next to me didn't have to watch me cry outside the embassy, in the cab, in front of the Social Welfare building and basically very other second of the day. I wish they weren't so scared. I wish they hadn't just began to call me "mom" today.

If anyone has any advice, please let me know. We're taking all suggestions to heart now. Otherwise, please pray for the FullPlateFamily, the Busath Family and the Martin Family. We would like to go home now, together.

--FullPlateMom,

who feels like one more 'hale mary' might be one more than she can bear.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 4:29 PM 10 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 2010

Peace

I wish I could post pictures, but this internet cafe isn't exactly on the high tech side of Ghana (wait, is there one?). I have had a feeling of peace, and some wonderful interactions with the kids over the last couple of days. Apparently, we're speaking again (well, they weren't speaking to me because I wouldn't buy them ice cream). It's better now. We'll get there.

It rained TWO days in a row. LOVE IT!!! That has to be a good sign for Monday, right? Please pray for our visa appointment. It's 7:30 am GMT (that's Ghana Maybe Time), like maybe they'll see me at 7:30am, or maybe we'll sit around in the embassy for three hours. We shall see. As long as we come out of there with a time to pick up two visas, I don't care how long we wait.

For all of you out there who check this, your kids are wonderful!!! We've had some illness, but all the in-process (the ones who are waiting for their obruni mommies to come) children have been healthy. They are funny, smart and wonderful. Evelyn and Belinda are my little loves this time. So, for Lana and Mark, and Amy and Donald...your daughters are AMAZING!!! For everyone who follows Abe and his little brother Anninda, they are well too, and they have sprouted again (in small amounts) since last time I saw them. Abe is quite the little man now.

--FullPlateMom,

who can maybe see a little ray of hope?

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 10:25 AM 3 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010

The spectrum of emotions.

Have you ever heard adoption described as a rollercoaster? Totally cliche, but totally true. It's smooth sailing one minute and then a life changing drop comes along the next second. I've never felt that more then now. This process is becoming so difficult and unpredictable, that I'm afraid to say it...I feel a little like giving up and going home. I'm sure that attitude is influencing my interactions with my kids, which have been some of the roughest yet. Things were so easy and simple before, now they are so much more complex.

I need everyone out there to pray for visas. This should be the easy part, and it's not. We need five (for myself and the two other moms that are here). They are not "forthcoming" (see, I speak Ghanaian now, and, I'm totally kidding). Visa appointment on Monday. Just pray.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 2:37 AM 5 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2010

Got it.

FINALLY!!! The last piece of paperwork that we need has been submitted to the embassy courtesy of another mom who fought REALLY hard to get it there. Seriously, we joked that the only thing she hadn't encountered yet was a goat stampede. Can you imagine the nightly news? "And in breaking news goats have stormed the gates of the embassy in Accra forcing it to close for the entire day". There would be this poor mom, standing in front of the embassy, waving my paperwork for the third day in a row as goats nearly run her over. Ridiculous. Satan's roadblocks to stop our adoption have been endless. I'm very blessed to have people who are willing to spur me on to keep fighting, otherwise, evil would have won a long time ago. Thank you, Kara.

When you give birth you have someone there to deliver the baby, or so I'm told, since I've never actually done it. I have a list of about 20 people that have helped me get my kids here. Can you imagine having to depend on 20 people to help you become a parent? I love it. Do you know how lonely this process would be without them? People who encouraged me, people who helped me gather paperwork and then helped deliver it, people who hugged my kids when I couldn't. There are so many people who have stepped forward to help me. All these people did it for nothing other than the want to help my kids. As irritated as I am with some American parents and their greed and disrespect, it is at these moments that I remind myself that there are twice as many who have their hearts exactly in the right place.

--FullPlateMom,

who reminds you that goats are smart, so they'll probably steer clear of the embassy.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 6:45 AM 6 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2010

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.

"The paperwork will be ready tomorrow". This is like my daily wake up call. So, if the paperwork really isn't ready tomorrow I will be boarding the next flight to Ghana. In Ghana I will be forced to wait until it is ready, which means I have no idea when I'll be coming back. I have five children, a business, a career and grad school here, and I have no idea when I'll return. There is a curse word for this, but I won't utter it since this is a G-rated blog (except for the granny panties on my daughter's head pictured below).

I could write a book about what has happened over the last few days. If you read back to the beginning of this blog, you will see where it all began, with a failed adoption in Ethiopia and a phone call from Utah asking for help with for a child who was burned. I walked into Ghana naively expecting this to be easy. Heal the sick, hug the orphans and everything else will be okay. This process, and some of the other Americans I have had the misfortune to encounter along the way, have left me crawling out of Ghana. This process has officially brought me to my knees and it has slowed to a pace where I'm pretty sure I could crawl out of Ghana before my kid's paperwork is ever ready.

--FullPlateMom,

who thinks being brought to her knees put her in a good position to pray, because there really isn't anything else to be done.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 12:23 PM 2 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2010

SMILE!!!

I have a friend who has been my cheerleader through this whole process. I'm talking an entire YEAR of adoption garbage. She is the same person who sent me roses a couple of weeks ago. I would let her remain anonymous, but we outed her in the last post. So, visit her here on her home planet. She must have known that I was going to reach my breaking point earlier in the day, because she sent me a whole box of "smiles" today. Here are some of the contents...

That hand has already been opened and all my children have been "slapped" with it. They found it highly amusing. There was also a squirt gun that has already been used on all the children (and the dog) and was then used in the tub during bath time tonight. The suckers have been passed around and shared amongst the kids (yes, they licked each other's suckers, eeeuuuwwww).

There was one more thing in the box that just has to be mentioned. Here is the Diva inspecting them. Can you tell what they are?

Hmmm...what could they be? She didn't know. Were they a hat? Alrighty then.

Totally Fun!

Peek a Boo!

In case you still can't tell, they're GIANT granny panties! The kind FPD hopes I never wear. They were inside a bag labeled "For throwing at Justin Timberlake". HA! Now that's the kind of smile I needed.

--FullPlateMom,

who prefers Josh Duhamel. Sorry Fergalicious.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 6:50 PM 3 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, DIVALISH, LAUGHTER LIVES TUESDAY

Disappointment.

We knew we were waiting for a correction on the death certificate of the kid's father. His Ghanaian name was used instead of his Christian name. I understand why they need this corrected. All the other documents have his Christian name on them, how would they know this is the same man that is discussed in the Social Welfare Report? Either we need to prove he is actually dead, or he needs to consent to the adoption. Since he is dead, it needs to be corrected. That was over two weeks ago that we got that news. No death certificate. Not anyone's fault, just disappointing.

Today I found out that the embassy needs that corrected death certificate to even look at one piece of our paper. So, for all I know, there could be 8 more of these type of errors that they just haven't had the time to discover yet. How long will this go on? No one will tell me. Disappointing.

There are people that bribe and steal their documents. Their children might well be home before mine. While I make sure that all my i's are dotted and t's are crossed, other people push and bully their children's birthparents and government officials into getting their way. Disappointing at best.

--FullPlateMom,

who feels a little sick today when she wonders if any of this is worth it.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 6:50 AM 4 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2010

I feel so loved. Thank you.

Since I declared a little "radio silence" to anything regarding the "A" word (shhh...adoption), I have had so many cards and emails telling me to hang in there. I just wanted to say thank you. I also had some people send a little gift. Thank you. Your gift will be going to William's Infirmary and to benefit Abe's Fund at Lucky Hill. Don't know what I'm talking about? Check here.

William's Infirmary has supplies stacked in boxes on the floor and stuck into filing cabinets. I want to get it all up off the ground into properly labeled storage bins on new shelves. So, I'm going to use the generous gifts that you all sent to our new kids to stimulate the economy in Budumburam and employ a local carpenter to build those shelves. Then, while my kids are in school at Kings International School, and I'm patiently twiddling my thumbs for their visas to print, I will do what I love to do best...ORGANIZE. I'll proudly display some pictures when I'm done. I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of how far we've come. None of the kids at Lucky Hill will ever have to suffer the way William did. And, good things came out of the pain he endured. God definitely had a plan for William (besides the fantastic parents he got out of the deal). God made sure that the hospital is standing there now for all those injuries that could become major without a little first aid. Wow. What a difference a year makes!!! I have lofty goals for this year as well. How about a nurse for our little Infirmary?

The Full Plate Family is hanging in there, readying our home for the two new blessings that should be arriving in the next four weeks. We've got flooring to lay, closets to organize and Spring soccer schedules to manage. Life continues on.

--Full Plate Mom,

who feels your prayers.

POSTED BY FULLPLATEMOM AT 1:13 PM 2 COMMENTS

LABELS: ADOPTION, GHANAGAL, GHANAGUY, WILLIAM

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BECAUSE WE'RE NEVER QUITE FULL...

The Meat & Potatoes...Our Family

Full Plate Mom (FPM): A 31- year- old girl, married to her high school sweetheart, mom to five transracially adopted children, small business owner, pediatric nurse and grad student.

Full Plate Dad (FPD): A 32 year old spanish interpreter, marathon runner, triathlete and CRAZY dad to the above mentioned five.

GigglyGirl (Giggles): Our 8-year-old with a signature giggle that will melt your heart. Home from Ghana in March of 2010.

Responsible Boy (ResponsiBoy): Our 7-year-old wonder boy who truly deserves superhero status for all he does for his younger sibs.

Middle-Middle (M-M): Our 6-year-old who earned his title when he informed us what it meant to be the middle child. "Middle, middle, middle...trouble, trouble, trouble".

ShyGuy: Our 5-year-old man of few words, with a smile that lights up a room. Home from Ghana in March of 2010.

Gigant-O-Baby: A 4-year-old who lives inside the body of 6-year-old but has the tendency to want to be loved like a 1-year-old.

BubblyGirl (Bubbles): A 3-year-old Ghanaian-American tornado. Home from Ghana since late July 09.

Divalicious (Divalish): 1-year-old little princess to three older brothers. The first girl to join the fam. Spoiled? Most definitely.

**Did you keep count? That's SEVEN children. Yes, SEVEN!**

The Bread and Butter: Our careers. Between the two of us, we have 4 work outside the home jobs.

Veggies: Religion and higher education. Oh so good for us!

Fruits: Sports, athletics and extracurricular activities. Great tasting, but good for us too!

Dessert: Family vacations, outings and fun activities.

WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE CODE NAMES?

Not understanding? That's ok. Sometimes I don't either!

Check out this post for an explanation. It will be ok, I promise.

STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND?

FULLPLATEMOM

fullplatemama@gmail.com

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