The last entry.

This blog was started, honestly, so that I did not have to answer the same questions over and over. It did not really turn out to help me in that way, but it became theraputic as the months of waiting continued. In addition, we now have a nice record of our journey to our son. Our son is now home and so this is my last entry. I'm sure that we will join the blogosphere again in the not too distant future, but probably under a title like: backtoethiopia.yada.yada. :)

People have asked about our trip. I really cannot tell about it, really, without getting very upset. Fortunately for you, Reader, you'll be spared my red face, popping veins, and frantic tears. (A huge sigh.)

I think that it's Rob Bell's writing style that aggravates me so, and here I am about to give him a nod. Ugh.

-The Bethany staff in Ethiopia is amazing. We were all so blessed by their hard work, passion, and care. Thank God for them! Please pray for them.
-The Ethiopians that we met were so hospitable. We stayed at Ethio Comfort Guesthouse and left in tears after the most informative and best coffee ceremony.

-Our son was very well taken care of in Ethiopia. Thank God!
-None of us (NONE OF US) does enough with all that we've been given. Yes, given. What we have... our time, money, everything, is not really ours! Give it back!
-Herds of goats ran in front of our taxi everyday, on side roads and on highways.

-Our sixteen hour flight home was not the nightmare that I had imagined it to be. Thank God! However, I do not want to take that flight again for at least a year. :)
-Our fruity, Ethiopian-American welcome home was just what we needed and wanted. Thanks Fs and K!
-A teenage boy offered me some of his meal, a meal that he needed and was given, to try to calm my tears.
-I loved the constant loud-speaker prayers from the neighborhood place of worship.

-Holy rain, Batman!
-Neither Rob nor I could get ourselves to take many photos of other-than-adoption-world Ethiopia. We snapped a few out of the car windows, but barely any at all. Here is one of our favorites:

-We have a very calm and happy baby boy. Oo! He is so cute!

-Rob tasted the meal pictured below twice, if you know what I mean! I think he may have ingested some kitfo "juice." Ulch.

-There are around 400 children in one orphanage that I was told about. That is ONE orphanage in ONE city in ONE country on ONE continent! There are too many children without homes. NOT ONE of these children asked for this situation or did anything to "deserve" the situation. We all need to do more!
-You should all sponsor a child or family through Yezelalem Minch or Esperanza Viva.
-God gave me the two things that I had been praying about for months regarding our trip. I do not deserve such blessings.
-All of the older kids, waiting for their families at the transition house, kissed Israel goodbye. So sweet!
-We had delicious guacamole and clearly homemade, wonderfully greasy chips at a Mexican restaurant in Ethiopia.
-What?!

I leave you here, Reader. We are now a family of three. Until the work of becoming four begins...

Too sweet

I'm still not prepared to write about our trip. Until then, here is another look:

Home... and the biggest sigh ever.

Dear All,

We are home. This is going to be so short, because I'm still travel woozy, but...



Here he is! Girum (Amazing) Tadege (God has saved him.) Israel Robert Stensberg! You can call him Israel, or Izzy.

God willing, by this time tomorrow...

... we will be waiting at our gate at the airport, probably sharing a tall, soy mocha with no whip cream. AH!!!!!!

Tomorrow we leave for France for a bit of a vacation; and then later in the week, we will fly to Ethiopia to pick up our son. I canNOT believe that this is happening. It is a good thing that there are piles of lists and scattered suitcases everywhere to tell me that this is real... that once we leave tomorrow, the next time that we are in the U.S. will be with our son.

And, by the way, our son is THE BEST LOOKING BABY IN THE WORLD! Yes, I made that superlative statement, and I will not retract it. We received updated photos of him this morning, and... wow. He has the most beautiful eyes with these expressive, quirky eyebrows.

Please pray. Please pray that we, along with the other four families, have safe and efficient travels; that I've packed enough formula and diapers; that all of our paperwork is in order; that we three stay healthy; and that we can learn a lot about Ethiopia. I'm sure I'm forgetting something...

Just so you know, I will not be updating our blog while in Ethiopia. It is possible, but I just do not want to. I love being away, unplugged... no phones, no computers. So, until we return as a family of three...

Duérmete niño, duérmete ya...

Cradle? Check!

Auntie LACA, do you remember those sheets? I've recycled them to fit the mattress from GranD.

We are almost ready.

We have one small list of things we still need to buy before finishing packing, which includes formula. I am so scared that I am going to run out, and I hear that they do not sell it in airports. So, although I probably have enough, I'm going to buy and pack more. We have copies of our e-tickets, even one for G! It's so weird to see his name, printed on a ticket with mine. We have a shnazzy ticket holder from Susan Parr's travel agency with even shnazzier baggage tags. We have rides to and from the airport. (Thanks Mr. T. and Uncle Matty with Auntie KK!) And, we have hotel reservations. What else? Am I forgetting anything?

Je viens mon fils!

We have tickets! And, we leave in just over a week! Wahoo!

And, do you know what sweetens this already sugary deal? Paris... for three days! Je viens ma ville, je viens... enfin.

Africa

When I read the word Africa, I hear it as if Val Kilmer in The Saint were pronouncing it... weak vowels and a slightly rolled "r."

I wonder how Ethiopians pronounce Africa. It's a good thing that we'll be there in just under two weeks to find out, or the suspense would drive me nuts!

Wahoo! Hallelu Yah! God is too good to us!

Our social worker just called to tell us that our embassy date is 04 August! Ah! It is finally going to happen! G is coming home! I am going to be a mother! Yikes! I have a lot to do!

Too many exclamation points!

AFRICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A.E.S.

Rob and I are definitely suffering from Adoption Exhaustion Syndrome. Yes, I made that up, but only out of necessity. Ugh.

We're still here and busily waiting.

It's been a while. Thankfully, it's because God has provided both of us with some (wonderful) distraction during this wait for a travel date. My distraction is in the first photo, and Rob's is in the second. (Lucky me, poor Rob.)



(Yes, that's a tamping-the-road jig!)



What's new, then? We know that G's birth certificate is ready, which means that they're now working on getting his passport and last TB test done. Pray that he's healthy, please. Once those two pieces of this giant, unfinished puzzle are in place, then we should get the travel date. The next possible embassy date is 04 August, which would have us leaving sometime during the last week of July. That's only two weeks away, more or less! Wahoo!

Other news is that we just received another photo of G, from a family that just returned. He is too cute! His face looks a bit thinner than it did in the last chunky-faced photos, but his fingers are soy-sausages, for sure! His hair also looks to have grown a bit. I canNOT wait to snuggle with our son!

Please pray. Gracias.

A package

An old camp friend sent us a box, which I received yesterday, filled with such fun things for G. Just a couple of days ago, a different friend asked if I had any toys for him for the plane ride home. "No." Well, there were some in the box. Thank you, M. And look at this cute little outfit with matching haus-shue! (I'm sure I misspelled that. Sorry, SK.)

Fun with G

Have you ever taken an oral foreign language test for which you are given several photos or cartoons to arrange into a story to tell? I'm sure that that is where the idea came from and what a hit!

As I posted earlier, we received three photos of G yesterday. Now, in each of the photos, he has a slightly different expression. In one he is serious, totally straight-faced. In the next one, he is slightly quizzical, with a bit of longing. And in the third, he is smiling slightly, with a very happy look in his eyes. (Ah. Sweet child.) Auntie KK and I have had so much fun arranging the photos, talking out G's thoughts, in different accents no less. KK's Irish accent is the best so far. And, for sure, he has a belly laugh... at least all of my G-stories end with him belly-laughing.

If we are having this much fun with his photos, I can't imagine the times we'll have once he's home. Come home, baby!

Chunky... and happy!

He smiles!

He's chunky!

Thank you God, and then thank you, K. A family just returned from Ethiopia with their daughter AND with photos of our son. Ah! He's chunky! All we've had is the original photo for all of these weeks, so it's a shock to see how different he is now. Two things are for sure: He is being well-fed and he is not going to catch a chill. He looks like he's wearing a few layers of clothes. His eyes are the same, though... especially the right eye. Our sweet son! We're coming soon!

Baby G needs a tub!

When is the best time to re-do your bathroom? Two weeks, God willing, before leaving for Ethiopia! Mama, ugh, I mean, the baby will need a bathtub, right? Yes.

Whoa.

G has more clothes than Rob and I do together! Thank you so much to everyone that's passed along baby outfits. Once he's home, we'll re-assess and see where he is and how quickly he is growing. But for now, we're set! Wahoo!

Packing

Now that I'm done with work, I can get to work. Ha! Yesterday, my sister and I spent some time packing for G. K was as good as a vacuum packer, compressing each of G's outfits, along with a diaper (Shouldn't those packages be easier to open?) into a zip-top bag. (Thanks for the idea, J!)

A shower!

Yesterday was my last day of work outside of the home for some time. Strange. And what a day! Outside for eight hours in about two hundred degrees! Shoo. At about five minutes to four, my boss, who actually had the day off, called my work phone and said, "I know that you are dying out there. Come in for some ice cream." I agreed, but then I immediately felt badly: I can't eat ice cream. So, while walking the two blocks into the building, I was devising a plan of how I could be social and cover up the fact that I couldn't eat the treat.

Well, I walked into the break-room, and, "Surprise!" All of the company's ladies were sitting there in a circle. We began with M taking photos of my surprised face and then we turned our attention to the cake. It had a flawless Ethiopian flag on it and said, "Welcome home ___, into loving arms." It was THE most delicious cake EVER, homemade by S., a small part of which you see here:



While everyone was eating and raving about the cake, I turned to the gifts. I was and still am overwhelmed. The generosity of my co-workers is amazing. There was an entire box, filled with baby clothes, blankets, bibs, hats, a hand-knit blanket with a little monkey face on it, and a book. We also received an activity mat because, "you won't be able to carry him around all day," so the ladies say. Ha! Then, there was the adorable stroller which you see here, which had a blue piggy bank sitting in the seat, already started:



Rob and I are so grateful. Thank you all so much. Thank you so much, A.

We're getting ready.

Thanks to our friends, who recently returned from Ethiopia with their daughter, I now have a working packing list. Minus the books, these are some of the items I've been able to check off so far.



And then, a very kind and thrifty lady from work arranged for us to have ALL of these used baby clothes. G, come home and start growing out of all of these!

Rob, drum roll, please...

We passed court! Thank God! We don't deserve this, but He chose to have mercy. Wahoo! Ethiopia recognizes me as G's mother! Off to a celebratory dinner...

*Fellow Brew-town adopter: Sorry to have kept you waiting. I just got home from work and to the computer. :)

Court date

Our adoption court date is tomorrow, 12 June. Please pray... now, at 2am, and tomorrow. May God's will be done! Selfishly, I think of the verse in James in which He tells us to take care of orphans. That is His will, no? So, let it be done! I also have this song stuck in my head, that our church's choir sang months ago now, "Lord, have mercy. Lord! Have mercy! For we have placed all our hope in You." Have mercy on us.

The little things

Yes, those are miniature, draw-string nightshirts hanging from our drying rack. I washed the first batch of clothing that we've been given for G and which we'll take to Ethiopia with us. At this point, as the title indicates, the little things are so big.



And then today, over lunch, a co-worker of Rob's took him to his church's rummage sale and Rob, with innocent (?) urging from older church-ladies, came home with this pile of books. We are hoping that G follows in BR's reading footsteps, so we have to begin the preparations now!

Second Tuesday

Last night we met with friends for our monthly, second-Tuesday dinner. We had Ethiopian food, with different dishes made by each family. Everyone did so well with the strange recipes! JR made delicious, spongy injera and A made doro wat, complete with fenugreek. D made a "fat" salad, foraged from the streets of Milwaukee and I made the steaming (ye)mesir wat. Delicious!



We were also given several gifts from our friends. There was the cutest hat: a beet hat! There is even a burgundy vein running through the little green leaves that sprout out at the top. Ooo, I love beets. Too cute! And then there were several books, even block books! Thank you, friends.

This week's Friday

Wow. This Friday is our court date. Wow. Is this for real? Is G really going to be our son? I am having a really hard time grasping the reality of all of this... maybe on purpose subconsciously. (I know, one poopy diaper into it, and I'll realize the reality! Ha!) Please pray. Please pray for peace. I feel that I've been so calm since our referral, but I feel the anxiety creeping in. Anxiety sounds much stronger than anxious, doesn't it? But, it's the same. Ugh.

A dream

A co-worker of mine stopped me half-way down the petunia aisle this morning to tell me her dream. She said, "Amy, you were in Ghana. You were cooking, stirring a huge pot of food. You kept throwing in more ground beef and shrimp (No!), jumbalaya-style. I thought that you were nuts, because you kept putting more into the pot, but you said, 'We have to feed a lot of people.' Then, an adorable boy, around two years old, came and stood next to you. He said, 'You should be my mother. I am REALLY smart and good and you'd be REALLY proud of me.' You responded, 'I think that we can work something out.'

That was her dream.

Reality?

Gifts!

What a day! It started with my manager, who gave us her favorite aunt's old cradle. Too sweet. It will fit perfectly at the foot of our bed. Ah! G will be sleeping at the foot of our bed soon, God willing. And then another co-worker gave me some of her children's old baby clothes. There are these adorable, little night-shirts, that cinch up at the bottom. They'll be perfect, considering that we won't know how big G really is when we go to get him. And finally, Rob's co-worker gave him another Richard Scarry book to add to the collection. All hand-me-downs! I love it! Thank you, thank you, and thank you.

Small preparations

Auntie KK has kindly given G her college dresser, which she even re-painted for him. (Thank you!) Now we have a place to put all of the clothes that we don't have for him yet. Ha! (I'll lose the ribbon tied to the top drawer once he's home. I can't help but tie scarves and ribbons to things. Hm.) And I just couldn't resist buying this letter G for him.

Watch this.

Check out this video about our agency's work in Ethiopia... or, Ee-TYO-pia, as I'm going to start calling G's homeland.

Two weeks away

In two weeks, our agency's Ethiopian director will go to our court date for us, in Addis Ababa. God willing, everything will be present and perfect and we'll pass. Please pray. It is so close! Ah! Fourteen days and counting down...

Rob's tour of south-eastern Wisconsin

Oh man! Rob left before six this morning. He went to the east-side of Milwaukee, he went to Madison for about ten minutes, and then he went to work in Kenosha. All of this for four pieces of paper... yikes! All of this for our son... no sweat! Ah, perspective.

Please pray that FedEx safely, correctly, and timely delivers (Or, subjunctive?) our papers to Michigan. Pray that Michigan sends them (with all of the same adverbs) to D.C. Pray that these same papers get to Ethiopia with enough time so as not to affect negatively our court date. And pray that we pass on the first try. Please pray that G stays healthy and grows stronger each day... not He-man style, but you know...

Karochye (As the Russians say...), pray!

A change of attitude

I called the Wisconsin Secretary of State "stinking" in my last post. I've now had a change of attitude. As I was praying before a dinner of Thai pasta with my sister tonight, the thanks just came out. Thanks, Holy Spirit.

We did, as I had prayed for, receive our papers back in one day. This quickness allows us time to go to Madison to have them re-done. Had it taken longer, we wouldn't have the time to get the fix.

God knows. God is good... "all of the time!"

Yes!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, we had to re-do some of our paperwork in order to work towards bringing G home. We sent it out the other day and it came back in the mail today... all state-sealed. Yes!

However, upon further inspection, the stinking Secretary of State made a huge mistake... four times in a row! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So now, in order to get everything in on time, Rob and/or I will have to go to Madison, in person, on Tuesday, to have it all re-done.

Up, down. Yes, no. Ah, la vie. Oui, j'ai dit "la vie." Qu'est-ce que tu vas dire, dSdlcc?

COURT DATE!!!

Last evening, Rob and I found out that our Ethiopian court date is 12 June! This has happened a LOT more quickly than I had imagined. I was thinking that it would be around the end of July! Wahoo!!!!

Rob came to my work around six last evening, with some papers behind his back and an elated grin on his face. I couldn't even imagine what his secret was. After what seemed like forever, scouring my brain for a clue, he told me the great news.

There are, however, some very important papers in transit. Please pray that these papers get back to us, with no mistakes, early next week. Thank you. Also, please pray that we pass court on the first try and that G stays healthy. Gracias, again.

WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A new friend

The man at our church in charge of international student ministries (?) met an Ethiopian guy recently and e-introduced us. Tonight, we had "the King" over for dinner. We talked about a lot of things, including Ethiopia, for which I was grateful. He also tried to convince me that although Amharigna has 33 x 7 characters in its syllabary, it's actually quite easy to learn. (Okay, I'll try again.) AND, he pronounced our son's "amazing" name a few times so that we could get it just right. We definitely have the first name down, but we have some work to do on the third syllable of his second name. Again, we have time... Thank God for this connection.

In under two minutes?

So, a friend of ours timed Rob today, putting up the playpen. Unfortunately, at about a minute through, said friend had to drop his watch to help poor 'Berto. (In his defense, a bar was loose/broken and so quite out of place.) Well, at least we have another couple of months for him to practice! We'll start the intense training tomorrow.

A perfect match!

Today, Rob brought home this book, a gift from a co-worker. (Thanks, D.C.!) Look at that fitting title!

Mothers' Day

Today began with a delicious Sunday breakfast of hashbrowns à la Roberto, followed by a surprise Mothers' Day gift: an Anthropologie gift card. Wahoo! To top it off, I didn't have to work today... my only day off for the week. Next year, GTIRS will be here to help celebrate, God willing.

Check!

Today, with the help of our social worker, we filled out all of the remaining paperwork to bring G home. We've done what we can, and now we're back to waiting... for a court date. I'm trying not to think about this wait, but instead trying to focus on memorizing G's photo and getting ready for him physically. I don't want to focus on future events, but instead be here now. (The recent news of tons of over-time should help me here!)

Thank God for his help today!

Incroyable

There really isn't much to report, other than that Rob and I will turn in our official acceptance paperwork tomorrow. Wahoo! Every little step is so big in adoption... pre- and post-.

Other than that, we are simply getting used to the idea of G. I keep looking at his photo, thinking, "Is this for real? Will this child really come home here to live with us?" It's rather incredible.

Please pray that he stays healthy and grows strong. Please pray that the orphanage has what it needs to take care of all of the children there. Please pray that all of the children waiting to come home will be assigned court dates in the very near future and that everyone will pass on the first time. Thank you.

Sharing the news

So, my mom, whom I think we will call GranD (What do you think?), was one of the last to find out about our sweet son. (Ironic? Yes.) Anyways, it's only because she was on a plane to L.A. to visit my sister, whom we will call Auntie LACA.

This was how my sister greeted her at the airport.



We were really hoping that she got it right away and didn't think, even for a minute, that it was my sister having the boy. Shoo!

Shared joy

Check this out!

Muddy pants and rain boots

So, this is what we looked like on the day... on the day... that we became parents! Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today our social worker called to let us know that we have a son... a beautiful, rosy-cheeked, wrinkly-kneed (Is that a word?) son. We are thrilled, overwhelmed, elated, and any other good emotion that you can think of. We have a son!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(nine months, two weeks, and five days)

Adoption from the other side

Click here to read what a fellow adopter has posted about the feelings on the other side of adoption. Ugh.

Others' news

A Bethany family passed court today. Thank God! Their son is theirs. (That seems weird to write. Ah, adoption.) Two more families have court dates on 24 and 27 April. Please pray that they will pass on this try. (For one family, it is their fifth court date. Ugh.)

In addition, two families are on their way to Ethiopia now, and a few more leave very soon.

There is action, thank God... just not for us yet. Our turn will come. It will, God willing.

A dream

Last night, I had a dream. We were in a Central American country where everyone was speaking Spanish and smoking cigars. The people that we were with, in fact, kept pushing me to buy some cigars as souvenirs. There were kids selling them everywhere. It was very hot.

There were several adopting families together and we were all brought into a brightly colored room, where we were told to wait until they brought our children to us.

A person walked in with a little white baby, placed her in my arms, and said, "Here she is." I was so confused, but I didn't want to seem ungrateful, so I took her and held her, thinking, "I'm not supposed to have a white baby." Quickly, though, a family came up to me and said, "Oh, she's ours! Here she is, just like in her picture," and snatched her away.

The same delivery person came back in with an older, Asian child next and put her with me, saying, "Here is your child." Now this time, I didn't want to hurt the child's feelings, so I pretended that everything was alright, beginning to play with her. But I kept saying to myself, "I'm supposed to have a black baby, a little black baby boy." Another family, however, came up to me, thanking me for watching their child until they could arrive, and whisked her away.

Once again, the delivery person came in. This time with a tiny, tiny, black boy and said, "Yes, here is your child." I was so happy and immediately put him in my sling so that no one could take him away from me. And then the sling ripped.

What? Yes, this was the end of my dream. Maybe it was the sofrito sauce from dinner last night, I don't know, but I didn't like this dream one bit.

Happy Easter, Ethiopia!

Well, Baby E., I may as well tell you now: There will be no Easter Bunny and no Easter baskets for you here. Are you sad? Don't be! Instead you'll get the straight story of Jesus' death and resurrection and what that means for you and us. Isn't that great?! You will come to learn that it is, God willing.

P.S. Our agency posted an educational link about Easter in Ethiopia, and here is another with photos of Orthodox Easter in Russia and Ethiopians. By the way, "Kirill" was my most favorite Russian/Ukrainian male name.

P.P.S. Baby E., you will, however, get some sweet treats on the day Spring arrives each year.

Nine months, one day: Who's got the potossin?

Isn't that what they use to induce the coming into a family of a baby? But, of course, no drugs for me. I'll wait. God will deliver this child to us once we're all good and ready, I'm sure. People, however, are starting to predict. A friend from church told me this morning, "40 days." And I have a very good feeling about 13 May. When it occurred to me several weeks ago, I even marked it on the calendar. Guesses, shmesses. Bring on the baby!

Introducing Ethiopia

Rob's family was around this Easter weekend and we seized the opportunity to share a bit of Ethiopia with them by taking them to a "tukul" (Ugh.), the Ethiopian Cottage Restaurant. Overall, I think that they liked it. I, of course, did, and my sister, Auntie KK, enjoyed it too.

Three bags down

I finally got the motivation to organize and re-pack all of the donations that we've collected so far. It feels so good to have everything in order. Shoo. I'm actually surprised at how much room is left. (Mom, don't go nuts, now!) I think that for the rest of the space (the equivalent of about one piece of luggage), I'm going to concentrate on the list that our agency gave us, part of which is:

infant/children vitamins
Fer-n-Sol infant iron drops
baby bottles
powdered formula (esp. premature, high calorie)
baby thermometers

What a great way to spend our "waiting time," no?

A celebration dinner

With all of the adoption excitement this week, it was only fitting to cap it all off with a delicious dinner of injera and wat. So tasty.

I imagine that things will quiet down now. Usually the referrals come in batches, so I bet that they are done for the month. There are a few court dates for families that already have their referrals at the end of April, which is great. And two (updated 07 April: five) families already have their tickets to fly over to pick up their children around Easter.

So, it's back to reading about Ethiopia and adoption for me. Maybe May will be our month.

Ahh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, it's not our referral. However, another adopting family from Brew-town got theirs this morning! Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A one month old girl. Ah!!!!!!!! We are so excited for them. Wahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, MIW., this jig is for you:



And for those of your counting numbers with us, we are officially first on the list! This does not mean that we'll necessarily get the next referral, but we sure are close. Yes!

And! And!

Two more referrals require two more jigs! I had to dig for these photos, which I guess means that I need to dance more these days. I'll be working on that. Yes, I'll get right on that! Cue "Cotton-eyed Joe!"

P.S. for don Santi y la Chinita: I tried to find the ones with the most finger action.

Great news!

Today a family received a referral for a one month, yes, one month old baby girl! Wahoo! Yes, I did a jig-o-happiness.

I am because we are

Ugh. My brother came across this movie the other day and thought that I'd be interested. The same day, a fellow adopting mother suggested that we watch it. I decided to do so on Monday night, and... well, it is well worth the hour and a half to watch it if you are prone to action.

From Deutschland mit love

Thoughtful Auntie KK brought back this animal/numbers book for our child. Too cute! I have no idea what it says, but I get the idea. Flip the flap and count what's beneath. Danke!

Aesop's tortoise

I can do a lot, but only slowly it seems. It's the story of my life, really.

Rob and I went shopping this past weekend to get a few things for around the house. The main goal was to find a little table and chair for our child, because we only have high stools and high chairs around our bistro-style table.

I was much too impatient to wait for Rob to get home from work to put it all together, so I began. I began around nine this morning, and now it's almost one. They are miniature! Why should it take so long? Moreover, while it took me hours to get everything just right for the chair, my baby sister came into the room and unpacked and built the table in about five minutes!

Regardless of the process, the product is cute and ready.

Others' news

So, the family that didn't pass court two days ago... they ended up being re-heard yesterday and passed. Wahoo! However, a family that had their THIRD court date today didn't pass. Ugh. They now have to wait till next month to be re-heard. This has to be too hard for them.

Whose birthday was it anyways?

The beginning of Rob's... I mean, um, our child's Richard Scarry book collection. I hope that they'll share! To many hours of rocking and reading!

An unsuccessful court date

A family from our agency had a court date today; however, it was unsuccessful. Ugh. Now they have to wait for another one to be assigned and then wait for that date. It's too hard. They know who their son is. They have his face memorized. It must be too difficult.

Please pray that they get another court date very soon and that it is successful. And already for us, although we don't know who our child is, please pray that: all of our papers are in order, our child has enough to eat today, our child has a safe place to be, angels would be all around him/her, our child does not get sick, our child does not have TB, the birthparents know God, we will get our referral for our son/daughter today... of course, there is more. There is always more.

Thankfully, God can handle it. He can handle all of our petitions. Thanks, God.

Sprouts to harvest

Will we be eating you, o broccoli, with Little E. sitting on our laps?

I wish...

...that there were no adoption "process." I wish that God would just drop the child to be adopted in our living room. No warning. No waiting. He knows who will adopt and so He delivers the child(ren). I've been unusually frustrated yesterday and today. I'm tired of seeing our names fourth/fifth down on the list. I'm annoyed by delays, whether real or rumored. I've had it with "the process." (a disgruntled sigh)

I know, "this too shall pass."

The final four

(I had to stick with March Madness.)

We are in the final four. We're actually fifth on the list, but we share a submittal date with number four. It just happens that "s" comes before "u," and so they are in front of us. (We are "u," belying our last name.) We are in the final four... which will be decided by the end of March! Can the analogy hold?

No news Friday

Well, today is the last day of the second week of March... and there have been no referrals. I think that the greater-Bethany-Ethiopian community all expected some. There have always been referrals in the second week. Sad. So, we move into April. April showers bring May flowers.



Can April referrals also bring May court dates? A short sigh.

Eight months: swollen ankles and sore hips

Aren't those common conditions for someone who's eight months along into waiting to have a baby? Ha! Adoption is a bit different, thankfully, and my main concern at eight months is all of the daydreaming that I do. Will our child have those large, almond-shaped eyes? How much curly-curly hair will (s)he already have? Since we only have a shower, with no tub, where will we do baths? Am I going to have to use bottles or will we just skip to sippy-cups? Will (s)he fit nicely into the sling that I made and like riding around in it? Will I really be able to use the cloth diapers that I want to or will my super-strong gag-reflex prevent it? Where should this baby sleep once we just get home? Ah, yes, daydreaming. I'll take it any day over swollen ankles and sore hips!

Good news Friday

"God is good, all the time. All the time, He is good." Do you know the song? That is one of my favorites. Cue the trumpets! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da!

On a morning like today it is so easy to sing that song. I do know that we're to be able to sing that song all of the time; but it's not always so easy, is it? However, when we experience a gift from God...

(I just realized that this is all starting to sound like we've gotten our referral. Sorry... not yet.)

... we are to rejoice and thank Him for it. So, thank God! Today, on this sunny, warm day, we got our renewed immigration paper! Wahoo!

About 15 minutes ago, I pulled myself away from the sunny windowsill, where I was dreaming of summer gardens, and went downstairs to see if the mail had come. It had. And, there was a lot. I saw a few magazines, but also several letter-sized pieces. I just had a feeling, but I didn't want to dive in. So, I slowly (at least in my mind, slowly) set the bigger things off to the right of the table and then flipped, one by one, through the letter-sized envelopes. And, as I got to the last one, I saw that the Department of Homeland Security was the return-address. Wahoo!

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow!" That's another favorite song.

---about three minutes pass---

Ah! There is more! All five of the families that had courts dates this week passed! The other two, who were "on hold" for documents, heard today that they passed. AND one of the families, with a referral already, got its court date today... for the end of April! Wahoo!

"And we're moving' on up!" (How about that song?)

Update

Selom!

So, the family that's been in Ethiopia had a successful consular appointment on Tuesday and is on its way home. Thank God!

Of the five families that had court dates, three of them completely passed. Thank God, again! Two of the families didn't quite make it through because of some missing paperwork on the birth-mothers' part. They hope to clear up the issue without having to go through another court appointment.

And, as yet, there have been no referrals... but then it's not yet the second week. Ah! Maybe? Please!?

Finally, we need our renewed immigration paper. You are allowed to apply for it two months early, which I did to the date; however, there's been no sign of it. I'm a bit nervous that something is wrong because when we got re-fingerprinted, we received the new form the next week. May God's will be done... so, please pray.

That's all for now. Ciao! (Yes, that is what they say in Ethiopia.)

Newsweek

"In the end, parents, teachers, and mentors are all responsible for arming students with the right tools for the future. And when our children end up learning only half the story, no one wins" (Allison Samuels, Newsweek).

This was at the end of an article called, "Rethinking Race in the Classroom;" however, it is true for so much more. The adoption history and the Bible come to mind. Even now, before I know the complete "story," I am daunted by the thought of reconciling all the chapters.

March Madness

Although once upon a time I did fill out a March Madness roster-thingy, I make no connection to basketball here other than to use the term "March Madness." Sorry, Scott Larson.

This month, in our adoption agency: one family will bring home its daughter, seven families have court dates, and hopefully a number of families will receive referrals during the famous second week. So much action!

Please pray that the family currently in Ethiopia will have a successful Embassy interview, that the seven families with court dates will pass on the first try and get travel calls soon thereafter, that many children will be referred to their second families, and that all of our children will be healthy and provided for.

Inside a tukul

Oy, identity.

I've just finished a very good book by Rebecca Haile, entitled Held at a Distance: My Rediscovery of Ethiopia. Her family was forced to leave Ethiopia after the Derg came to power in the late 1970s; and in her book, she tells of her return to that country, physically and intellectually, nearly thirty years later.

My favorite section of the book gave its title to this post: Inside a tukul. While she was going to an American school in Addis Ababa, growing up, the one hour spent inside a tukul, which had been plopped down in the middle of the modern school's courtyard, was the only class that acknowledged the Ethiopian-ness of the handful of national students. The American kids were exempt from this one lesson a day on Amharic, even though they too were growing up in Addis Ababa. The second tukul she writes of is at the Crown Hotel, where ethnic dance performances are given for turistas. She tells of dancers from each of the main ethnic groups, all happily in the same show... whilst in reality, each of these groups is vying for its own dominance in the breaking Ethiopia.

I do not want to raise our child from Ethiopia inside a tukul, where only one hour is dedicated to the Ethiopian ones and where a false sense of romanticism is displayed. I'd rather have our child held at a distance, but more involved. But, in the end, the author decides that "the tukul will be there as long as the school remains in business, and I can't see why that is such a bad thing" (p160). I, however, believe that she would agree that the tukul could be better used.

But, how do I do this? The instructors and participants inside the tukul are Ethiopian. Am I only a turista? Can I be otherwise? BJL says that "adoption is biologically alien to the unadopted."

I know that our identity must come from God first; but, I don't think that we can/should ignore other aspects of it.

"Igziyabher yakal. Igziyabher ke fekede."

Like a paddle-ball

(A long, deep sigh... purging and restorative. Auntie KK, you know the kind.)

After reading those two books by BJL, and being quite discouraged by the second one (Lost and Found), I wrote to our social worker. She had suggested those reads and I wanted to give her my feedback. My discouragement came through clearly and she responded immediately... and then again today, with the link that I'm about to attach. It is just what I needed. A good story. A happy ending. Hope.

Now, it has been brought to my attention that some people don't know how to work the links that I attach. I am going to type the words "adoption hope" at the end of this entry and it will be in another color. If you roll your mouse over that word, it will change to yet another color. Click on it. You will be taken to the site that has the story and mini-movie that encouraged me today.

Adoption hope.

Two down

This second bag is full and packed thanks to my mother and my cousin, who supplied us with brand-new toddler clothes, marbles, diapers and formula. Wahoo!

Twice Born

I just finished the book Twice Born, by Betty Jean Lifton. These are some of the sentences that made me think the most... for better or for worse.

"I learned to accept that the branch must be separated from the tree" (p4).

"I went into the labyrinth and emerged with what I sought - my story" (p5).

"An adoptee's natural parents never completely lose the aura of fantasy, both positive and negative, which once surrounded them, even after they are found" (p9).

"... because occupations are something like adoptions: no matter how benign or well-meaning, they obscure the subject's origins, alter the identity" (p68).

"Adoption is biologically alien to the unadopted" (p81).

"I found myself weeping uncontrollably for I knew not what" (p99).

"A recorded existence is a real one" (p105).

"She was my mother physically, but what is being a mother" (p143)?

"I was beginning to feel much like those concentration-camp victims, prisoners of war, and the 'brainwashed' who maintain that only those who have shared their experience can possibly understand them" (p153).

"Every movement needs such a fanatical force pushing it to the outer limits if it is to get off the ground" (p176).

"Is it the orphan wind blowing through me" (p183)?

"Just as death at an early age assures a person eternal youth, so too does adoption keep one eternally young, helpless, infantilized" (p191).

"Does the adopted person go on the tree she was placed on biologically or on the tree onto which she was transplanted" (p196)?

"... the adoption triangle is set up now, everyone is victimized" (p264).

"It all comes down to the fact that we have to develop a different sense of parenthood" (p270).

Ah!

There was a referral today! Ah! Of the families that participate on the forum, we are now number four! ¡Ay! He is a baby boy of three months! My mind is racing... the referrals always come in groups! ¡Oy! ¡Ay!

Packed!

Sorry to mislead you with the title... I had to do it. No, we're not going to Ethiopia yet; however, I do have one of our four pieces of luggage packed! You see, our plan is this: Rob and I each get two checked pieces of luggage and each get a carry-on. Rob and I will pack what we need for our week in Ethiopia in our carry-ons. In three and a half pieces of the large luggage to check, we'll put donations for the two orphanages and transition house that we'll visit. And in the remaining half, we'll put what we need for our son/daughter. Thanks to my friend, JR, and her sister, I have the piece of luggage that you see ready to go. Each time I receive more donations, I feel like it's Christmas. I pour over them and then pack them à la Amy. I have a feeling that the bag you see may be over the weight limit, but I'll be able to even things out once I'm working with all four bags. Anyways, this is my bit of adoption excitement for this week.