Guess who leaves in 5 days?!?!?!?!

Our shots are done, only two more oral typhoid vaccine tablets to take, bags are packed (full of donations of formula, diapers--cloth and disposable, and shoes), hopefully our visas will be processed this week, and we are racing to finish our big projects (me--work and school, Ababa--the kitchen and various other projects around the apartment).  We had a wonderful "toddler shower" on Saturday and enjoyed spending time with our friends and B's future BFFs:-)  We had our official travel call with our agency this morning, and we can't believe the time is almost here!

I leave Saturday and Ababa next Tuesday (don't get any ideas about breaking into our place as we have someone staying there while we are gone, and our friends will be keeping an eye on it as well:-)

Please pray that B's aunt's court date goes smoothly tomorrow and that she has peace about her decision, that our MOWA letter is written before we travel for court, and that our travel and court date goes smoothly.  Most of all, please pray for B (and for us) that our hearts are open and we can begin this journey of becoming a family!

Only Three Weeks...

Three weeks from today, we meet B!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In 16 days I leave for Russia, on June 29 Ababa and I will meet-up in the Frankfurt airport (he'll be coming from NYC) to fly into Ethiopia together and then on June 30 we meet B and July 1 we appear in court.

Please pray that this all goes smoothly.

Three things have to happen before B will legally be our son:

1. His current guardian has to legally relinquish their rights (please pray for peace and safety for them as it is a long journey and a heartwrenching decision!)

2. MOWA needs to write their letter approving our adoption.

3. Ababa and I have to both appear in court in Ethiopia

Then it takes several days for the adoption decree to be written...and then, B will legally be our son and can come live with us in Addis until he is cleared by US Immigration to come to the US and we all will come home together.

Things easily can take longer at each step of the way, and there are many possible complications.

But, as Ababa says, "if God say the same" in about three weeks we meet our son and become a family.

Court Date:-)

Well, I can't contain the excitement anymore:-)

WE GOT A COURT DATE FOR SWEET B!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're still working out the details as it is smack dab in the middle of my business trip, so we'll see how it all works out! But, eitherway...WE ARE MEETING B IN JULY AND THEN LIVING IN ETHIOPIA UNTIL HE IS CLEARED BY THE US EMBASSY TO COME TO THE US (probably 6-8+weeks).

Our hearts are so full!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Court Update

We got a quick update from our agency today that families who were submitted to court a few weeks before us just received court dates for mid-June.  AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!! I'm trying to remain level-headed about this, but this is really, really, really exciting!!!

Please keep praying that we get a court date (and pass court) before the closure.

Sweet B, we may get to meet you in just a couple of weeks!

On a other note, I met my adorable niece V this weekend and am in love:-)  B-you're going to have an awesome cousin to play with!

Submitted to Court!

Well, after my mopey Monday (and a horrible night in the ER on Tuesday due to a severe ankle sprain/torn ligament that I got at w@rk:-( ) we got this super exciting message from our agency yesterday:

Your case was submitted to the Federal First Instance Court in Ethiopia today.

YAY and PRAISE GOD!!!!

So, now we keep waiting:-)

It will probably be 4-6 weeks until we are assigned a court date and then the actual court date will be 4-6 (or more) but there's a chance we could be meeting B in 8-12 weeks!!!!!!

We also got our weekly update on B.  I haven't been posting his stats here, but in case you were wondering, he's exactly 2 1/2 and he is now:

weight-28.6 lbs
height-35.1 inches
head circumference-19.4 inches