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.