J Cooper Photography

I’ve received lots of emails and facebook messages from sweet readers wondering “what’s the scoop?”  Our heads are still trying to process exactly what is happening and we are still nursing our wounded hearts just a bit…but here is the long story made short.

Today we received some answers.  Not necessarily what we wanted to hear….but answers are always better than none.

Somehow Daniel’s paperwork became seperated from the rest of our travel group while at the US Embassy in Ethiopia.  The files arrived as a group but somehow Daniel’s information wasn’t submitted back to the staff at Hannah’s Hope with the rest of the group’s information.  Darn that human error!  So while the staff was frantically working to aquire the additional documentation for the other families…we were waiting….waiting to hear WHAT documents were still necessary to complete Daniel’s visa approval.  This morning our case manager called to let us know that the rest of our travel group’s documentation DID make it back to the Embassy and that they all DID receive clearance….YEAH!   Now the staff is working frantically to round up the additional documents for Daniel’s case.  There are several outside institutions that had to be contacted in order to obtain these documents.  PLEASE PRAY THAT THEY RESPOND QUICKLY and Almaz is able to get our files back to the Embassy TOMORROW!! 

Some of the families may begin traveling even this weekend for their Embassy dates.  And while we are THRILLED that they are finally able to be re-united with their children…we are dying for that same phone call!  We know God has a plan and that we will eventually get to travel….just praying that happens SOON!

Yesterday I made the mistake of saying to a friend on the phone…”What else could happen??”  And then we laughed and laughed about how that was a dangerous thing to say.  And then this morning I woke up to Ms. Middle PUKING all over my bed.  So yeah…it could get worse  

Right now our house is full.  My sister and her family and my parents arrived yesterday to help distract us from our constant questioning and general grumpiness.  And with enough good food, brownies, and GREAT company….they have done a pretty decent job….now if our phone would just RING with some GREAT NEWS!

I wish I had some cute pictures to share along with this post.  Maybe tomorrow my cute nieces will pose for me for a few shots

We are SO HAPPY for the families who have received their clearance and cannot wait to see all these kiddos in their parent’s arms forever.  Please pray that our turn is coming soon!!

The last few days have been hard.  While I am so thankful for a beautiful Christmas with my 3 little people…it was certainly bittersweet.  We had a quiet weekend in Nebraska…a reflective Christmas Eve service, cookie decorating (and even more cookie eating), and a bit of shopping therapy.  It felt good to get away and clear our minds (and hearts) a bit.  But the coming home was hard.  Looking into the backseat at the empty car seat snugged in tight was hard.  Seeing Ms. Middle’s celebratory artwork on the chalkboard wall was hard.  Tripping over Daniel’s packed suitcase at the foot of my bed was hard.

But here’s the thing…God never promised this would be easy.  And although my heart is breaking that I can’t hold my baby yet, I’m relieved I don’t have to be strong.  I don’t have to make it through the next few weeks until we can get a new Embassy date…because God is over the details.  It isn’t lost on me that God has asked us to make this “small” sacrifice during this season of our lives.  I have never been more aware of the sacrifice HE made in order to bring me into His family.  God knows all about heart ache.  He delivered His ONLY and PERFECT son to a fallen world as the atonement for ME.  He watched Jesus grow up and start his career…and eventually be murdered on a cross for the sins of mankind.  That’s heart ache.

I would love to wish the disappointment away but somehow this is part of Daniel’s journey.  Somehow God is going to do amazing GOOD from this….and I’m just going to sit back and be amazed.
I just keep thinking…”It’s gonna be worth it…”

One of the families in our travel group got that last minute miracle call Thursday and is in Ethiopia right now.  And when they should have been focused on their own child without a care in the world…they were snuggling MY boy…taking his pictures…and giving him hugs from us.  This afternoon they sent me a beautiful picture of Daniel doing a bit of tummy time out in the courtyard.  He has a head full of fresh new curls and is definitely working on those bicep muscles   And although his picture made me so happy I felt sad…I know in my heart that he is fine.  He’s enjoying his days at Hannah’s Hope just like he has for the past 5 months.  He’s not laying around pining away for me (it sure does make me feel better to this he is though!)  He’s happy and growing strong and smiling for everyone who brings a camera nearby.

Our case worker called today to touch base and give us the specifics on the additional information the US Embassy is requesting.  Unfortunately, she didn’t have that information for Daniel’s case so we are still in the dark.  We are hoping to hear something soon!  We continue to pray that everything will be worked out so that we can travel for the January 10th apt.

I don’t understand Your ways
Oh but I will give You my song
Give You all of my praise
You hold on to all my pain
With it You are pulling me closer
And pulling me into Your ways

Now around every corner
And up every mountain
I’m not looking for crowns
Or the water from fountains
I’m desperate in seeking, frantic believing
That the sight of Your face
Is all that I need
I will say to You

It’s gonna be worth it
It’s gonna be worth it
It’s gonna be worth it all
I believe this
It’s gonna be worth it
It’s gonna be worth it
It’s gonna be worth it all
I believe this

You’re gonna be worth it
You’re gonna be worth it
You’re gonna be worth it all
I believe this
You’re gonna be worth it
You’re gonna be worth it
You’re gonna be worth it all
I believe this

(from “Worth it all” by Rita Springer)

Well it’s not Africa…but we are cozy by the Christmas tree with family nearby and tummies full of my Dad’s chili. 

We did receive word from our case manager today around noon that the US Embassy in Ethiopia is requiring additional documentation before they will approve Daniel’s visa.  We aren’t sure what type of documentation they are asking for  or when a new Embassy appointment will be given.   There are a lot of unknowns right now.  But one thing we DO know…God is in absolute control and NEVER makes mistakes.  We are very disappointed (heart broken to be honest) but we know God loves Daniel and He will be glorified when Daniel comes home in His time.   We have exhausted ourselves discussing every possible scenario…but in the end…it really doesn’t matter.  If our agency continues in 2011 with their same Embassy appointment schedule the next open Embassy date is January 10th.  We are praying that any additional paperwork necessary is ready and processed for us to travel at that time!! 

As the Christmas cards have been pouring into our mailbox I have started to regret my decision not to send ours out this year.  We did a little mini photo shoot downtown in early October and I had designed a fun little card well before Halloween.  I had it waiting in a folder ready to order as soon as we returned from Africa.  But once I held our sweet little guy…I just couldn’t send out a Christmas card without his sweet little face.  I figured we’d be home by the first of the year and I could send out a killer New Years card.  Ok…maybe we’ll shoot for Valentine’s Day, huh?

So…here it is {the color looks off on my laptop monitor…but I can’t fix it from here…so let’s just run with it, ok!}  :) 

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Coopers!  We pray that your holiday season is full of Christ’s love and blessings!

{front of card}

{back of card}

What we DO know tonight is that God is still in control.  God loves us and He loves Daniel…and he has a PLAN.  Unfortunately, it does not look like God’s plan includes us bringing home Daniel this week   We heard from our case manager today that we have not receieved confirmation from the US Embassy and will likely not have clearance to travel on Friday.  There is still a slim chance that we could receive this tomorrow but our agency said they feel it is unlikely (we won’t stop praying though!)  We aren’t sure of much beyond that information.  Hopefully, our clearance will come soon and we will get to travel in January.  We are trying hard to trust God through the disappointment.  We are so THANKFUL for the opportunity to love this little guy and know that God brings about all things for good.  Today we are trying to trust through the valley!!

We are packed and ready to go.  Ms. Middle spent the afternoon decorating our chalkboard wall yesterday…and as I walked by it this morning a sob caught in my throat.  Not yet baby girl…just a bit longer.

We went ahead and had our family Christmas just in case we get a miracle call in the morning   Last night we went out for Mexican food and came home to stuffed stockings (thanks to Mommy having an emergency “potty break” as the kids were loading the van).  It was SO MUCH FUN to see them opening their gifts.  The recorders were a BIG HIT (I was simultaneously congratulating and reprimanding myself on that purchase!)  We watched Toy Story 3 as a family cuddled up on the couch…and when it got very late…we brought out the sleeping bags and camped out by the light of the Christmas tree.  The Christmas presents magically appeared under the tree over night and by 8am this morning our family room was littered with wrapping paper, tissue, and blissful smiles.

The adults in the house spent the day trying to re-arrange our holiday calendar and cleaning sewage out of our basement (brings a whole new level to crappy day, huh??)  The kids were unaware and uneffected by the stress of the day and happily played with their new toys from dawn til dusk…and now we are busy having a Wii tournament

Thank you for coming along side us and offering encouragement throughout this journey.  I won’t lie….it hasn’t been easy.  But our time will come.  And it will be so SO sweet!

We just received word from one of our agency’s caseworkers that we may not get to travel on Friday   Our agency has been waiting for confirmation from the US Embassy about our appointment on Monday.  There are seven families that are hoping to travel from our agency for this date!  Almaz (the director of Hannah’s Hope) worked all day today trying to get confirmation and had no success.  I’m not entirely sure what that means…but if she is not successful tomorrow in Ethiopia (during the night for us) then our travel group will be postponed until sometime in January.

My heart is so sad right now.  SO much work and preparation to make this trip happen…that it seem unthinkable that we won’t be able to go.
PLEASE PRAY that God will provide another Christmas miracle so that we are able to bring Daniel home before the end of the year!!

I was looking through pictures from our journey to our son.  It has been a long and stressful road…but we have seen God’s hand in every step.  As I looked back through some of the early images I took, my eyes rested on a particular image.  It was a late night…the girls were snuggled up in A’s bed reading the “African Alphabet” book they had checked out from the library.  The lights were out and the lamp on her night stand was just enough for them to look at the picture together.  I ran to grab my camera to capture the sweet moment and to help me remember exactly how it looked when my girls fell in love with Africa.  I never noticed the details of this particular picture through.  At the time…it was just their sweet hands resting on a page in the book.  But today I am seeing it with fresh eyes.  GOD HAS KNOWN ALL ALONG.  God chose Daniel for us from the very beginning.  And He will see this through completion (maybe not this week).  It will happen.

Trying desperately to place all of my trust in Him.  Will you pray with me???

{that one is for you Dad }

First of all…we have been completely blown away by how relatives, friends, and even a few strangers have gotten wrapped up in Daniel’s story.  When we took our first trip the donations started pouring onto our front porch:  formula, diapers, vitamins…you name it…and we had the privilege of carrying it all over to the staff and kids at Hannah’s Hope.  A couple of weeks ago, a friend took on the project of gifting ALL of the kids at HH with a pair of new pajamas for the New Year.  I commented on her Facebook post which another friend saw…and she jumped on the bandwagon too.

Today there are 72 pairs of pajamas sitting on my dining room table???  SEVENTY TWO!!!!!!!  They came in every size and pattern you could possibly imagine (believe me…I had lots of fun looking at how cute they all were!)

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.  We have been blessed beyond measure to see the outpouring of love for these sweet little children on the other side of the world.  They are so precious…I can hardly wait to see their faces when they get to pick out a new pair of pajamas to sleep in!

I can’t help but think of the parallel between these soft comfy pajamas comforting these children as they dream…dream of families that will love them forever…dream of their changed lives…and hope for the future.

THANK YOU for coming alongside our dream and for the continued love and support!!!

Edited to add:  THANK YOU for the comments!  I did not post this previously on my blog…this was completely out of my hands and faciliated by my friends…I did NOTHING…just stood in awe and watched them pouring in!  So encouraged by the many people who helped make this happen

We had a crazy last weekend as a family of five!

The girls and I made a few sugar cookies and got little baskets ready for our “December Ding and Ditch” where we leave goodies on friend’s doorsteps, ring the bell, and then run like crazy!  We turned up the Christmas tunes and rocked it out in the car   I let the girls pick out the 5 families…next year I am going to have to give them a 10 mile limit….we spent 2 hours in the car making deliveries all across KC!   I had also whipped up another one of my scrappy wreaths for a friend who had admired mine on my front door.  Her’s turned out even cuter!!!  I used a small foam wreath from the dollar store….SO CUTE….I especially love the little brown leather flower!  If I wasn’t heading to Africa this week I’d be whipping up a bunch of these!

Mr. P walked in the door around 8pm on Friday night (he had been in Munich since the previous Saturday) and I said, “You’ve got a lot to do!!”  Just what I’m sure he wanted to hear.  But being a single parent for a week just one week shy of our final trip to Ethiopia had completely put me over the edge.  He walked in on me in pjs under a heavy blanket veggin’ out to HGTV.  You know it’s bad when I’m sitting on the couch in front of the TV!

Saturday morning he was up early with the kids and out the door to Dunkin Donuts and to run a few errands.  I showered in peace (HALLELUJAH!!) and was ready to go by the time they returned.  I spent the ENTIRE day running errands that would have been impossible with 3 tag-a-longs.  WOW.  The crowds were CRAZY out there!  But I accomplished a ton and we are ready for our family Christmas!  J was invited to the Kansas City Symphony Pops concert and spent the afternoon hobnobbing with KC’s elite symphony go-ers.  The Brainiac and Sam spent the afternoon just playing to their heart’s content.  (which usually consists of A quizing Sam on his shapes and numbers and saying things like “Ok…do you get this?  Are you going to remember this?  Should I review it again?”

In the evening we took the girls to the Kansas City Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker.  I was more than a bit worried that J would be “cultured out” for the day but the girls LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!  Little man hung with a sweet sitter and it was so fun to spend the night with our big girls

Heading out the door for a magical night!  It even snowed a bit on the drive down…SO FUN!

We even posed for a quick snapshot taken by our sitter!

Today we went to church (I LOVE SUNDAY SERVICES IN DECEMBER!) and worked on some packing.  I hit a mega sale at The Gap (they were running 40% off of all mark downs…plus I had an additional 15% off coupon….plus I had $30 in rewards).  I got the girls each a cute little outfit for this spring and cute hats and mittens for $3 each.  I love good deals

And now we are ready to kick off one more week!

I’ll leave you with a pic of my cute “baby”….he begs to wear this hat and his mittens ALL.DAY.LONG.
On our way out the door to pick up J from school Friday he said, “Mommy…take a picture of my bear!!”  How could I resist?

we were getting ready to add a new family member we looked like this:

Somewhere over the course of the last 2 years my kids have really grown up.  I guess they have just hit that age now that makes them seem so much bigger.  As toddlers I could convince myself that they were still my babies.  Now they are all arms and legs and grown-up discussions.  I’ve been panicking a bit this week about adding a 4th child…can I really handle 4 of them?  Will I be a good mom?  Do I have the energy to do this again?  On wild days when my husband is overseas and I am covered from head to toe with exposive diarrhea….my answer is “I don’t know”.  But deep down I know I can do it.   I remember this feeling with each of my kids.  I remember waking up the morning of my scheduled induction with Sam and thinking “nope…I’m not ready to have another one”.  But as soon as I saw his darling, smooshy face…I was in love (and a mama in love with her baby will do anything she has to do to be a good mama).

So where am I at today?  Still a bit scared…excited, nervous, bewildered, amazed, tired, and…ready.  It’s time to add a new Cooper to this crazy mess we call life.  It’s time to celebrate the beauty of a new little life!

One week from tomorrow we will be on a plane for Africa…and I’m not coming home empty handed!|

1.  I’m nesting.  There, I’ve said it.  And it ain’t pretty   First up on the list was stockings.  We haven’t had enough stocking since our little man Sam entered the world and I thought it was about time to remedy that.  So I jumped in the car and headed to my favorite stores in search of some awesome coordinating socks for the family.  I came back empty handed and completely weirded out by the amazing ugliness of the selection of stockings available in retail stores.  Seriously?  Gold lame and sequins for 25 bucks?  So I called on my dear old friend, Etsy.  I foundsome darling stockings…but just could not stomach paying $210 (plus shipping) for something I *could* make myself.  So I hunkered down and whipped them up.  And by “whipped them up” I mean “cut them out and then procrastinated for a full week before hunkering down in my basement for hours upon hours making them”.  I thought briefly of offering a tutorial.  But in all honesty.  DO NOT MAKE YOUR OWN STOCKINGS.  {unless you loathe yourself and are somehow craving additional holiday stress}.  My math inadequacies showed themselves big and ugly during the construction.  Let’s just say I wasn’t a happy camper.  But they turned out cute so all is well.  In retrospect….if you have a gigantic wall of white woodwork then linen and white are likely not the best color choices.  But someday in my big OLD OLD OLD house on my big OLD OLD OLD brick fireplace…these will be quite stunning   Also.  I made these for less than $13 total which makes them that much cuter don’t you think??

2.  Next.  I had a bit of leftover linen that needed a home and a front door that needed a wreath.  And after about 20 minutes with my hot glue I had a brand new creation to display!  I’m not sure if it is totlly tacky or cute?  Or maybe both {that’s possible, right?  like…so tacky it’s cute?}  I used up every last strip of the linen and a whole collection of leftover embellishment from my ebay days.  The wreath cost me about $10.  It could have been much less if I had had my handy Michaels 40% coupon with me when I was actually at the store…but oh well.  It beats the $60 wreath I really wanted from Pier One.  And there’s no tutorial on this one.  Cause me taking pictures of myself wrapping strips around styrofoam with my hot glue gun might be an insult to your intelligence.

3.  Every year I try to find the perfect spot to display all those awesome Christmas cards that start filling our mailbox.  Not sure that this year’s placement will win any awards but it keeps them prominent in our house (and the boy is certainly darling isn’t he?)

4.  I do easy crafts.  Projects with more than 5 steps confuse me.  You may remember THIS project from a previous year.  Easy peasy.  And once winter is over I set it on a shelf in my store room and then I plop it back on my table sometime in December (noticing I didn’t even bother to dust it off this year…geesh…how tacky).   I had this wreath on my door but it just blended into the dark paint.  Once I hung my newly crafted styro-wreath-thingy this pretty thing needed a new home.  I was too lazy to take it all the way downstairs to our store room.  So I plopped my centerpiece in the middle of it…and I think it looks quite fetching.  What do you think??

5.  If I could afford all new Christmas decor I would invest in mercury glass with accents of lime, avocado green, and aqua.  I keep dreaming up the *perfect* Christmas tree full of extremely delicate and breakable ornaments gilded in silver…and perfectly behaved children who never touch or even glance sideways at my glorious tree.  I may be becoming obsessed with this new color scheme because as I was browsing some Christmas catalogs I looked down and noticed I was dressed in this very combination.  Hmmm….I think I’ve gone too far.  By the way…I’ve gotten lots of emails asking about my indoor pics.  This photo shows exactly how I take pictures inside my house….speedlight bounced against my white ceilings!

6.  In between the boy’s rooms (that is SO FUN to say!) is a jack-and-jack bath.  Since those rooms used to belong to the little ladies of the house…it was a perfect shade of Pepto pink.   I finally got around to using up some “oops” paint in our garage and giving the bathroom a more manly shade (Macademia from SW).  Usually oops paint means the people mixing it made the incorrect color.  This was more of a “my husband didn’t listen to me and thought he knew exactly what color I wanted for my craft room and so brought back TWO full $40 gallon cans of the wrong color of paint”.  Those cans have been sitting in our garage for quite some time waiting for a project since the “nice men” at Sherwin Williams said that they wouldn’t return mixed paint based on poor communication with  my husband.  Bummer.  Don’t worry…I have forgiven him.   But hey…it’s been so long now since the incident that I had completely forgotten about the cost so I felt like I painted the bathroom for free.  Yeah.  And TWO little bath towels just waiting for TWO little naked bums.  Now that is a HAPPY thought.

7.  I’ve been tucking some Ethiopian treasures throughout the house.  I am obsessed with these little carved animals.  They were everywhere.  I felt the need to buy each variety that I saw.  Too bad that my more reasonable better half had the money in his money belt.  I ended up with three of these roughly carved animals and a group of smaller painted ones.  But I think when we head back I will make Mr. P go back out for a few more.  We also bought an adorable Amharic letter ball (the clerk suggested I hang it from a string as decoration in the middle of the room…yeah…think I’ll pass on that one).  One of my favorite purchases is this wooden puzzle handcrafted by disabled people in Addis Ababa.  I love it so much that I glued the pieces in place   I’ll send my hubby back out for one the kids can actually play with (ie. lose in various places throughout our house) but I wanted to make sure I had one that stay intact.

8. I know I have mentioned my disdain for random ledges in new houses that seem to hover in mid air of entryways.  Yes, we have one of those.  And I’ve been ignoring it for 3 1/2 years.  But I finally threw something up there…a giant 3 foot wooden star and a few glitter-laden grapevine trees.  I realize now that there definitely needs to be some greenery or something up there amongst all the wood…but I doubt I will risk life nor limb to shimmy up a ladder to do anything about it.  The fact that I even decorated the ledge at all is a giant step towards the “accept the house you live in” mantra I have taken up these days!  If you can’t change it…embrace it.  HA!  I’m SO not there yet

9.  (Drum roll please)…Daniel’s room has a rug.  I know I know…it’s thrilling isn’t it?  Now his room feels completely complete to me…so satisfying.  I took advantage of Cyber Monday and received free shipping on this bad boy.  And I figure with TWO boys in the house there will always be a need for a denimish rug.  Plus it is 90% recycled denim clippings which make me feel so responsible and grown-up like.  And it is cute to boot!  I’d like to say “it really just ties the whole room together” but that sounds SO HGTV.  So I’ll just show you how cute it is and you can make your own proclamation!

10. Pink Christmas trees are divine.  I love this tree in the girls’ room.  Every year they beg to put all of their crazy crafty ornaments on it and I won’t let them.  Don’t worry…we have  silver tinsel tree downstairs that hold all of the handmade/crafted/preschool works of art!  I adore this little ornament from when J was a baby about Daniel’s age.  I’d love to back track and get one of A as a baby.  Anyone still making these soldered  beauties??

Thanks for the sweet comments about our fire incident and my bad day yesterday!  I had 4 friends call today just to “check in on me”.  I think they were snooping out to see if I needed a padded room…but I was thankful for the phone calls nonetheless!!  Happy Tuesday!

Today I am so thankful for friends.  Living in a city with no family nearby we have come to heavily rely on our friends.  Right now I should be at my girls’ violin Christmas concert across town.  But when Sam’s doctor’s apt. ran 2 hours over schedule this afternoon and then he crumbled into a heap on my kitchen floor from pure exhaustion I new I needed to call in reinforcements.  The girls spent the entire afternoon at friend’s houses.  I showed up to pick them up HOURS late…but what did I receive…complete graciousness.  And when I called a friend in tears out of frustration at 6pm…needing to still get the girls dressed, fed, and in the car in less than 15 minutes…I received empathy…and help.  And although I am sad that my girls are on stage right now performing and I’m not there…I thankful for friends who willingly step up when I can’t.  My little man is already asleep in his bed after a long stressful day.  And I’m here…thankful.  For friends who are willing to do anything to be a friend.

I stole this picture off of Facebook.  These gals have known me a LONG time…one has been a friend since kindergarten!  Every year we get together for our annual Christmas ornament exchange.  I look forward to our get togethers almost as much as Christmas itself.  Over the past few years we have been through so much together: new babies, job changes, marriages, life crisis, health battles, career changes, etc.  Yet we always come together to enjoy each other.  And once again I am reminded of how much I NEED friends and the encouragement they bring to my life!

Not only are these gals an amazing support system…but we have a heck of a good time together!  This year we literally set my friend’s house ON FIRE!!  She had a beautiful Christmas centerpiece on her dining room table with gilded branches and tea lights.  You see where this is going don’t you?  After unwrapping our ornaments a piece of tissue caught on fire!  Our host’s husband grabbed the tissue and threw it to the ground to stomp out the flame.  I jumped in to grab the next piece and began to stomp it out when my boot caught on fire!!  As I was trying to decide what to do (I guess that stop-drop-and-roll instinct never took over) the flames started to pick up and spread to one of the coats.  Just then one of the gals wisely screamed, “WATER!!  WE HAVE WATER” as she grabbed some of the water glasses and promptly doused the fire.  Funny I never thought of that.  So I stomped my boot out and the water put out all the flaming tissue and we all burst into fits of laughter.   The entire saga probably only lasted a total of 10 seconds (it felt much longer) but is something we’ll be talking about for years to come   We took the picture right after we got the embers cleaned up and got our wits back around us

God is definitely humbling me during this wait by showing me the MANY reason I have to be thankful.  THANK YOU FRIENDS…for your encouragement, listening ears, and laughter!!