And We're Off!

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.
Next time I post we'll have met our Sweet B.
Surreal.
Life is Good.

Space Bag

The solution for the "over-packer"

I feel so much better about the heaps of clothes I'm bringing for her now that they occupy less than a square cube of packing space.

72 hours

72 hours from now, our flight will be rolling down the runway and I will probably be bawling my eyes out. The emotions of this journey are intense; both the joy and nervous anticipation of meeting our daughter, and the anxiety and fear of leaving my boys for 9 days are just about to put me over the edge. I'm a big ball of nerves.

Bags are beginning to brim with medicines for AHOPE (thank you to all who participated in the raffle!), care packages for loved ones from their family, lots of *just in case* meds and Miss B's things. Our clothes will inevitably be last to be packed, but we'll get there.

A quick snapshot of our trip: We will arrive in Addis on Thursday night and meet Baby B (name reveal coming soon!) on Friday morning. We will spend Friday and Saturday getting to know B at the care center before heading down on Sunday to the Southern region, to the area she was born, and are hoping to have the opportunity to meet with a member of her birth family and visit the intake care center where she stayed for several months before being transferred up to Addis last month. We'll return from our trip to the south on Monday, and are hoping to take custody of her on Monday or Tuesday at the latest. We will then have our visa interview at the US Embassy on Tuesday, and receive it Thursday and leave for home that evening. It will be a whirlwind. We will be wiped out when we get home, that I'm sure of. But, we will be greeted at the airport by two very excited boys who we will have terribly missed.

Wordless Wednesday

Home Drive-In

To celebrate the inauguration of the boys' new carseats, so we can fit three across our un-minivan, (we'll be there soon enough!) Mark offered to let the boys watch a quick show in their new seats.

They picked the Wiggles...a group they were just introduced to this week...I'm not going to comment.

After two Wiggles songs, he turned off the show, and the result was a 15 minute tantrum.

Possibly still worth the 5 minutes of fun.

Miracles Still Happen

We're traveling next week. Thank you for believing when I didn't.

what's wrong...

I finally got some answers on Friday. Our travel is being held up due to one piece of paper--B's relinquishment decree which was completed on the day she came into care, months ago. A piece of paper that exists and simply needs to make it from Ethiopia to our agency in Oregon by fax, email or FedEx. A paper that has been requested for over a month and has not been sent possibly because it has been stuck in a pile of other papers needing to be translated. A piece of paper that then needs to be verbally signed off on by a person in our state. Then we're good to go and our papers can be submitted to the US Embassy in Addis. Sounds simple? Well, nothing is simple in adoption. I got so far ahead of myself thinking things were smooth sailing, and never anticipated this roadblock. I didn't even know this piece of paper had any bearing on travel.

In a miraculous situation, the piece of paper might have arrived by email or fax over the weekend or early Monday morning, then signed off on verbally on Monday by the Officer in our state, and Ethiopia would be notified Monday (their Tuesday am) about our readiness to travel and then they could submit our case to the Embassy that day--which happened to be the absolute last day to submit paperwork in order for us to travel on May 26th. I am a woman of faith, but my faith does not seem to be strong enough to believe this could happen. If yours is strong enough, you can pray for that on our behalf. I feel so weak in saying that, but I am simply out of hope.

For those who haven't traveled this road, waiting 2-4 more weeks may seem like no biggie. But the idea of my daughter being in an orphanage for an extra month due to one stinking piece of paper (which will be sent and will be approved--it's not a matter of if, but when--which makes it harder to stomach) is not okay with me. We are also missing out on precious time with her...I am having a hard time even looking at her pictures because I miss her too much.

The other side of me says that everything usually works out, and often times those things we wished we'd had (like earlier travel) end up not being the best case scenario and traveling with another group later might just be what's best for us. One of my friends said that maybe I'm going to win the Lotto on June 2nd--a day that I should have been in Ethiopia. I liked that idea. Of course, I'm trying to think of all the reasons why this could be positive--just so I don't spiral into anger and negativity. Yes, I will enjoy extra time with my boys, yes, I will take advantage of the "norm" that I'm so comfortable with here in our little family, and yes, I will have extra time to pack and get organized (though I'm over half packed). And a big positive would be if we get to travel with our good friends, Cami and Ryan. That would be very very good.

So Bummed

We just heard today that we weren't included in the list of families who are traveling for the June 1st Embassy appointment. A family who passed court with us on the 30th, and two families who passed court after us are traveling. No explanation was given (I had to ask) other than that people's paperwork are processed at different rates. I am so so so disappointed, even though I knew the chances were slim--somehow feeling 'passed up' is a horrible feeling, even though I'm thrilled for those who get to travel and bring their children home so soon. And just to keep us hanging, there is still a very very small chance that we might get clearance for June 1st but it's "unlikely." (warning: dramatics ahead) I'm so bummed and feel like putting all those little sweet clothes I so nicely washed and lined dried into a big box in a closet and clearing off my packing corner and throwing away all my to-do lists. I was trying to be so prepared...for nothing.*

*I know, we'll travel some day--this road is just so emotional and the ups and downs get hard to roll with.

Packing without a Date

Here drawers are overflowing with the generous gifts of others...

...and very very cute clothes are beginning to make their way toward the luggage in anticipation of the big trip.

We are still waiting on our travel dates. We had hoped to travel for the June 1st embassy appointment (leaving two weeks from today), but it is unlikely our paperwork will be ready to be submitted in time for that date (it has to be submitted two weeks in advance). If the 1st doesnt' work out, we hope to travel for the June 14th embassy appointment, leaving home on June 9th. Grandparents are graciously on standby, knowing we will not have much travel notice. The boys will be well cared for (and spoiled!) while we're away.

Double Triple

These two are less than a month apart in age and are becoming fast friends as they grow older. Watching them ride double on their "motorcycle" was priceless.

They were soon joined by T and became a triple...

You Grow Girl!

Today we received updated measurements for Baby B. My jaw dropped because she has GROWN so much in the last 3 months. She is now almost 6 months and 16 pounds, 26" tall and has a big noggin in the 80th percentile. We're so glad that her body is thriving in the midst of all the change she's endured.

Q&A

How about a little Q&A?

First, since we announced our inexplicably good news last Friday, I've received numerous questions about when we're traveling.

Short answer: We don't really know.
Long answer: Our agency in Ethiopia now has to obtain a birth certificate for Baby B as well as an Ethiopian passport. She then has to undergo a medical exam by a Dr. at the US Embassy. Once she has those documents and medical clearance, our US Embassy Visa appointment can be scheduled. Each agency has appointments every other week, for a maximum of ten children at once. So, twenty children can go home per month. Right now there are a couple of families who are waiting for travel dates along with us, who know they have passed court. There are about 60 more families waiting for their court hearings (after the big lull in referrals from Dec-March, there was a big batch of referrals in late March/early April). This bodes well for us in terms of traveling soon because we are not currently in a bottleneck. The next probable Embassy appointment date for us is June 1st or June 14th. That means we may travel May 26th or June 9th. Soon in any case, if all goes smoothly. We should get our travel dates in the next week or two, we hope.

When can you share her name and sweet face online?
A: I need to check on when we can share her name. Maybe that's now? As for her photo, we have to wait until we're traveling to post her photo. I will be sure that I figure out how to pre-post so you all aren't left hanging when we set off for Ethiopia!

Are you having a garage sale?
Oh gosh, how did you know? We are having a garage sale THIS SATURDAY at our place. I have been so overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family who have donated some great stuff. Plane tickets to Ethiopia starting in late May (perfect, huh?) are about $2300 a piece because of the frenzied exodus to South Africa for the World Cup--that's $1000 more than they are right now. Airline demand=higher prices. Setting pride aside, we really need funds for travel. I hope we raise a few hundred with our garage sale, and am open to other suggestions for how to raise funds. Maybe I'll do a World Cup bracket contest where folks can buy into the contest and half will go to the pool and half will go to our travel (stealing that idea from someone!). I may also try to squeeze in making another quilt to raffle off here (though I recently heard that raffling online is illegal? So it may be, make a donation to us and then we'll do a give away to someone who gave!). In any case, come on out to our garage sale this Saturday if you're in the area. We have lots of baby stuff, tons of household items, clothes, loads of books (50 cents each!) and furniture too. Things are priced to SELL (most things are $2 or less) because otherwise we just have to take things to Goodwill.

Are you ready to bring her home?
We are ready! Okay, so lots of things around here aren't ready, but if she came home this very day, we would make it all work. Her room is 1/3 painted, she has a crib and I bought some bottles. Food and sleep=done. It's incredible how long my to-do list is. I'm making lots and lots of food to freeze. Today it's enchiladas in honor of Cinco de Mayo. Also on the menu this week is lasagna, pizza (freezing sauce and dough), and chili. The bigger the batches the better. It feels so good to know that we won't be scrambling to make meals when we come home with B. I also started looking over our packing list, ordered some things we needed from Vitacost, and even made B's first Dr's appointment (assuming we travel May 27th). It felt surreal to be making a Dr's appointment for her...because she'll be here. We're also in the process of working on our boys arrangements with grandparents when we're gone. They're (and we're) so lucky to have the best grandparents and they'll be fine and happy (I keep telling myself that so i don't go crazy!).

I hear a few of you yawning, so time to wrap this up. Again, thanks to all of you who supported our garage sale and who have encouraged us as we've gone through this adoption process. We are so grateful.

Look Who's a Big Boy?

*He's still wearing diapers, just having momentary underwear hours...little boys in underwear are just too cute!