With us longer than...

the time she spent in orphanages. She was in orphanages for four and a half months (which is a blessedly short amount of time compared to most orphans), and she has now been home longer than that! She is usually quiet, unless she wants food, but lately she is babbling more during playtime. I am really glad to see her trying to talk to the pets and her brothers and sister now. I think for a long time she was fascinated by how very loud and verbal they all are, and she was content to just listen. I can see she has been very busy learning. She defenitely understands what we tell her. I tell her to put things back or bring something to me or shut the door, and she understands all of it. I am constantly amazed.
And by the way, this week has been MUCH better than last week.

4+ Months Home...

Yes, I forgot I had a blog. My bad.
I could say it's because I have been crazy busy and overwhelmed and exhausted at the end of every day, and that would all be true. But it's mostly that my brain just hasn't had enough cells to work with for writing anything worth reading. That may still be true, but I'll give it a try anyway.

Our first few weeks were the hardest, but even at the hardest, it wasn't unbearable. Child #4 was almost fifteen months old when she joined our family, and she only weighed 16 pounds. She attached to me right away, and those first few weeks she didn't like to be set down. She had a fairly easy time adjusting to sleep schedules, and she took two naps a day for a month or two, like she had to catch up. Now she takes one nap in the afternoon. She was sleeping in our room at first, but we moved her to Child #3's bedroom a couple months ago. I think it has been better for both of them. Instead of competing for my attention, they can team up being mischevious. One of the harder parts for my husband was that she liked him holding her in the very beginning, but then within a week, she developed a major aversion for him. It was to the point that she wouldn't be in a room with him if I wasn't holding her. She liked him okay if it was morning and he was the only one awake to feed her. It felt like a really long time (really just a couple months) before she liked having him hold her. Now of course, she runs to greet him when he walks in the door and loves having him pick her up and make her giggle. Even our daily routine has gone way better than planned. The chaos level is not near what I was expecting. The hardest part has been dealing with her daily moods, some days she's cheerful and smiley, other days she is whiny and cranky. On the bad days she has to be held most of the day. She has had about six teeth come in since coming home, four of them molars. One of those is not quite out yet. I'm hoping that is what the bulk of her cranky days stems from. She is nineteen months old now and she weighs about twenty pounds. (Other kids are Child #1: 8 1/2 yob, Child #2: 6 yob, Child #3: 3 1/2 yog). Most of our days are chock full of food, noise, playing, learning, food, laundry, food, noise and sleeping, not nessacarily in that order. That is also where all my energy goes. I'm just thankful that I usually get a couple of hours at night to watch Hulu or read a book. I think I would be cross eyed and slightly unstable if I didn't have a little time at night to collect my wits. My good days are when everything on my list gets done AND my children all listened to me without debating or talking back AND my husband came home in a good mood AND I actually cooked a home made dinner before 6:30 pm AND I get a compliment. I might have that kind of day once a week, and it's what keeps me going. My average day has about two out of five of those elements. I also usually get about one or two BAD days a week, and I wash those days out my hair because they are far too demoralizing. And since I know you all love hearing about the bad days ;), they usually include at least three of these elements -

• I have to strip and change Child #3's bed because that nighttime cup of water was one too many.
• I spend the entire day looking for Child #2's favorite book (currently Wacky Wednesday) and listening to him ask me if I've found it yet "No, I'm still looking". (This specific scenario went on for three weeks daily to the point where I was debating between getting it off Ebay or Amazon. Then it appeared today, under Child #1's bed, where I'd already checked twice!)
• Child #1 decides to assert his #1 status by questioning the legitimacy of school work, cleaning and getting out of pajamas. He may carry this on all day and into a second or third day, thereby losing electronic priveleges and being periodically banished to his room. All of which is my fault for making it "the WORST day ever". Oh, you know it!
• I have to strip and change Child #4's bedding because she figured out to get out of her clothes again. That is the number one factor when deciding what she will wear, "Can she figure out how to take this off?" And it always has to been when she pooped because she just loves to spread that crap around. So we do spontaneous bathtimes for that too. Everyone in the house is on alert for it now. If someone hears Child #4 awake, they peak in and it is either, "MOMMY, She's only wearing A DIAPER." (level orange alert) or "MOMMY, SHE TOOK ALL HER CLOTHES OFF." (level red alert).
• I spend an hour working on dinner only to find out that an integral ingredient in the recipe is missing or is unuseable. Thankfully, I have a lot of experience in adapting recipes. I get better at improv cooking every year.
• My husband walks in the door, sees seven things on the floor and three dishes in the sink and some school books still on the table and wonders what I did all day. This means he is in a bad mood and he will spend the evening being dissatisfied and possibly vacumning and doing dishes. I love it when he cleans, but it's usually because he's cranky. Not a great trade off.
• Somebody has a fever, stomach flu, or nasty cough, thereby cancelling all activities for the next few days, like cub scouts or Bible study, and turning us into groundhogs.

Since I'm fairly used to the elements of a bad day, it makes the good parts of those days shine all the brighter. Compliments are sweet nectar to my ears and obedience honey to my heart. If you can't tell, today was a bad day. Yesterday was too, which is unusual. But that puts the odds in my favor for a super day tomorrow! Thank you Lord for the gift of optimism, I couldn't be a stay at home mom without it. So let me know if you spot any typos or mistakes because I'm too tired to proofread this, plus if I don't get in the shower now, my next chance won't be for another 22 hours.

Photos from 2nd Trip...

Craft Bazaar at the International Evangelical Church -My favorite table there Abebe at the Oziopia Guest House

Some photos from our trip to the Southern Region

2nd Day with her

HOME!!!

We've been home a week and a half, but I've been a little busy...
Our week in Ethiopia was wonderful, but we didn't get out much. The first day we arrived, we were on our own, so we stayed at the wonderful Oziopia guesthouse. Abebe was the best guesthouse manager I have met yet. He took us around in the blue minibuses (that was a thrill! and only 2 birr each, unbelieveable), and he even suggested the once a month bazaar at the International Evangelical Church. They only have it the last Saturday of every month, but it was the best place to shop! When I post photos, I will put up a photo or two from there. We went to the agency guesthouse that night, and the next morning we traveled south to meet birth family. The drive south was so beautiful and it was priceless to see all the families outside of their tukuls going about their day to day lives. We even passed a soccer game with a huge ring of people watching. Meeting the birthfamily was difficult and wonderful and priceless, and I'm very thankful that I was allowed to record it. It was a long full day, and we fell asleep at 6:30 pm that night. The next morning we saw Child #4 and she was wary of us, like I expected. Just for reference, she is fifteen months old and weighed 16 pounds when we picked her up. She took to me easily again, so I was thankful for that. We didn't have her in our care full time until the next day (embassy day). I was really nervous about that, but she was fine as long as she was attached to me. We were at the embassy four hours and she didn't really cry. Rather unheard of in our family. We stayed at the guesthouse three more days and she started to relax a little. I still couldn't set her down though. She hated the guesthouse bedroom. She tensed up and cried everytime we went in there (maybe because it was small, dark and quiet?), so we stuck with the outdoors and dining room mostly. She slept through the night very well and still does.
It's been interesting to see the progress we make with Child #4 every day. In Addis, she was fine as long as I was holding her, but she didn't smile much at all. The plane ride was about as long as I imagined it to be, but it wasn't quite as awful as it could have been. Sure, I'm not positive I had more than two hours of sleep during twenty eight hours of travel. And sure, I ended up arriving in Houston with a giant mustard colored poop stain on my jeans and twelve various milk, banana and drool related stains on my shirt. But she didn't cry as much as other kids. Actually, she really only cried when she was tired and trying to stay awake. I will admit that I almost burst into tears in the Customs and Border Patrol office at the Houston airport where we sat waiting after already being in line for over an hour. All I wanted was to pick up my luggage and go home and see my kids and sleep, but the agents behind the counter were joking with each other and in absolutely no rush. That was the closest I came to crying during the whole trip. I was thinking how nice it was to finally be back in America with our efficiency and routines, but they were apparently running the office on Ethiopian time. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Anyway, I somehow lasted through a half hour there (in retrospect, that is still far shorter than the four hours we spent at the embassy), and we finally got to go home. I was a bit nervous of what Child #4 would think of our other children, but there was no need to be concerned. We had a brief mishap right after we got home. She was fast asleep in the car seat, so hubby set it on the floor when we got inside, unbeknowist to me. I noticed the same time as our sweet timid little dog started licking her toes thereby scaring her awake and into screaming, crying mode. She was in hyper vigilant mode for a little while after that, but she quickly warmed up to Child #2 and even let me walk four feet away while they played. The hardest part has been holding her all the time. She will occasionally have an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening where I can set her down as long as I sit on the floor and don't move while she explores within an eight foot radius. If she is hungry, tired, etc. then I have to be holding her and standing up. Although, she let hubby hold her the first couple of days, she has been wary and scared of him since. It's not uncommon, but it is difficult for both of us. Last Thursday was a horrible day, probably because she had just had shots and a double ear infection, but Friday was much better. I have to focus on the baby steps that we make each day. Count every smile and laugh and remember it during the bad times. Notice the moments of independence and exploration and remember it when she won't let me put her down. Today and yesterday have been great as far as her exploring more without me, and she's been smiling more often than not lately. On the other hand, we found out she has Giardia, and I'm having the dickens of a time trying to get her to swallow the medicine. Out of seven doses (only 1 ml each), I'm not sure I've gotten even a drop down her throat. I've put it in every manner of drinks, sugary syrups, fruit. I've used a medicine syringe to push it right at the back of her throat. But without fail, she has spit it on me, her clothing, the floor, dribbled it out the sides of her mouth and down her neck. I don't blame her, if it tastes half as bad as it smells. We've been relying on YL DiGize, and thankfully, that seems to be helping quite a bit. She has even gained a pound this last week! I'm just paranoid of having Giardia go throughout our family of six and making a permanant residence here. So now I carry a bottle of Purell with me everywhere. Today, we went in to have blood drawn (six tubes!) and she had the skin prick for the TB test. It was just awful, and I don't think she liked it much either... Hopefully, there won't be anything to worry about there.
I'll try to get around to posting some photos of our trip later...

Back from Ethiopia: Gondar

We arrived in Gondar around lunch time, and agreed to split a taxi with a German couple. I had no idea how seriously the husband took bartering, and all to save 5 birr. I think he may have pissed off our driver too. We seperated from them at our hotel, the Lodge du Chateau. From the moment we drove into Gondar, it had a very different feel to it. Our driver told us about how they love Americans there because so many of their family members live in America and send money back to build. He motioned toward downtown, "All this is paid for by American dollars." I didn't know that, but I could see the difference in the personality of the city. The clothes were more western, and I actually saw quite a few people smoking. There were nightclubs, and people flirting out in the open. Oh my! There was also new government subsidized housing, and it actually looked like "projects". I don't really know that they got the best of our culture. The staff at our hotel were by far the friendliest and most helpful people in the city. Our room was very affordable. My only quibles were that the bathroom door didn't shut and we had such loud music coming through our wall for twelve hours a day, it felt like we were in a discotheque. I never did figure out what was next door to the hotel. The hotel manager says it is a music store... On the other hand, Lodge du Chateau has one of the most beautiful views in Gondar. They have a well maintained courtyard garden, that is meticulously cared for every morning by their staff. They should be very proud of their flowers, especially the daisies. And the terrace where they serve breakfast was amazing! You can look out over the city, and watch people in the neighborhood going about their day. It was simply priceless to watch kids play marbles, or walk to school with each other. There was a motorcycle that appeared one morning, and the kids totally congregated around it pushing each other on and off it. You could tell when the owner was near because they disappeared really quick. On the last morning, I watched a woman cooking outside her hut. It was very humbling. Most everything I experienced on our trip was humbling. We did not get a guide for Gondar, and I think we did alright on our own. We waited until our first full day to go sightseeing, and we went to the Royal Enclosure right when it opened (50 birr each, priced just right). It wasn't as amazing as Lalibela, but it was pretty amazing on it's own. It isn't just one castle, it's a whole series all built near each other. The first was built in the 1600's and each successive emperor would add their own building or castle. You could see the different styles in each building. The coolest is Fasilida's Castle, but they are all beautiful. I just wish you could go inside more of them, but I don't think they are in the best shape inside. And I saw more birds, so that was great! I didn't know I liked birds so much until I came to Ethiopia. But now I've decided I'm going to make a book about birds of Ethiopia. I have so many photos of them, I just have to. Just on the castle grounds I saw a beautiful little gray bird with a blue belly and red spot by his eye, and a brown bird with a perfectly speckled belly. There was also sparrows flying in and out of the castles. They seem to have nests in the castles and they swoop quickly round and round the arches and through the windows. Anyway, moving on. After that, we walked through downtown past the internet cafe (not super quick but very affordable) to the Dashen Bank. Best exchange rate on the whole trip. Then we hiked 1 km out of town (but it felt a lot farther than that, probably because we were huffing and puffing up a hill) to see the Debre Birhan Selassie Church (25 birr each, again priced just right). Debre Birhan is famous for the painted walls and ceilings inside the church, and they are breath taking. There is no flash allowed, so you need to have a steady hand and a great camera. The ceiling is the most famous part with it's 80 cherubic faces, but I was just as impressed with the front of the church. There are tiny paintings going all along the curtained archways and corners, and the awesome Holy Trinity above the crucifixion scene. And like all amazing Ethiopian churches, it is still in use today. There was a particularly nice boy in the church courtyard that wanted to practice his English, and he walked all around with us talking. Outside the church, he went on his way, and we started back to the hotel. It was really sweet and refreshing to talk with a boy that just wanted to talk, especially after our walk through town. By the time we had gotten back to our hotel, I told mom that everyone seems to think our names are Mrs. MoneyPotts and Mrs. MoneyPenny, but mostly the kids. I understand we are western tourists, but we had already given all our clothes away in Lalibela. Our money was dwindling since this was our last stop, and I still wanted to go to the Falasha settlement and Goha Hotel for dinner. There is no easy way to explain this to young boys that have limited English. We hired a driver to take us to the Falasha settlement. This is where the Ethiopian Jews had a settlement before they were air lifted out over a number of years. From what I understand, now most of the families that live there are half Jewish. They still have amazing handicrafts, much of it with the Star of David. And I think I can safely say, it is home to the most determined sales women in all of Ethiopia. It was a rainy afternoon and we were the only visitors. From the moment we stepped out of the car, we were surrounded by women and children selling their wares. They started with necklaces and clay handicrafts, holding the necklaces four inches from our faces, each jostling to put their product closest to our eyes. "30 birr, 30 birr, okay for you, 25." They didn't even slow down when the rain started to pour. It was just like all of a sudden we were surrounded by umbrellas and untouched by rain. We tried to buy a little from everyone. Every time they would see us buy something, they would appear in front of us with similar items in that category, like, "Oh she likes the baskets! Show her our baskets!" And their prices were great, so I didn't bother bartering much. I loved their sign that said, "We will not beg for money, we do not charge for photos." Dude, they earn their money. I'm glad I saved my money for that village. Shopping there was an experience by itself. We drove to the Goha Hotel next, which sits on top of a mountain looking out over Gondar. The Goha is the nicest hotel in the neighborhood, and you can pay a bit and actually get Wifi up there. I've heard that it is the nicest hotel in the government hotel chain, and that wouldn't surprise me. Their restaurant was certainly along the lines of any five star American restaurant. Except they had birds flying around and chirping inside, which actually made it six stars in my book. Plus, I was able to find a copy of Journey to Ethiopia at their gift shop, which is out of print and very hard to find. We went to bed early, and left for the airport in the morning. I have to say the airport security there was much more vigilant than any of the stops we had previously been to. I'm not sure if it's always like that or what, but we were ready to go home by then. We ended up spending about eight hours in the Addis airport before it was time for our flight home to leave. I was pretty impressed by the shops in the upstairs of the Bole airport. Many of the stores had very good prices, and there was a lot of variety in the goods. Eventually, we made it all the way back to my family and home and bed. Thus ended my very first trip to Ethiopia, and my first trip out of the U.S. I am beyond excited to be going back, although this time for a much different reason. I won't have much time for sightseeing or shopping on this trip. Well, maybe just a day or two before all the fun starts...

Embassy Date!

We actually recieved our embassy date while I was still coming back from Ethiopia! But I've been so busy with preparing for our new daughter to come home, and doing laundry, and catching up on everything then getting ready to leave again, that I haven't had time to post about it. Our embassy date is just 32 days after our court date! I can't believe it myself. My post about Gondar is coming soon.

Back from Ethiopia: Lalibela

We went to the airport early in the morning. The plane is a Dash 8 and looks brand new. It's a super fun flight and less than an hour long. The countryside is beautiful and green. We go on a wild twenty minute ride from the airport to town. We see tukuls, livestock, barefoot children tending goats and a few woman carrying the bright yellow water containers. We hire the guide that is associated with our hotel, Derabe, and he proves to be the best guide ever. We are staying at the Tukul Village Hotel, and it is beautiful and luxorious. We quickly meet Getu, a teenager that is sponsored by one of my forum friends. I had promised to bring him a bunch of winter clothes and books for him and his brother as a favor to her. We also included a lot of things from us. It proved to be one of the highlights of our trip. Getu invited us to coffee at his house. His brother is currently in another city going to school for nursing, so he lives by himself in a one room house. Derabe goes with us, and Getu leads into his neighborhood. We climb around mud houses, up hills, and around holes. People walking down the street stare at us as we fumble to get to his house. We are one of only about six farenjis on this side of town. Getu has a neighbor girl fix the coffee. His house has a dirt floor with mats on it and two bed rolls. His walls are covered with posters of Obama, Mary and Jesus. Cds also decorate the walls, shiny side out. I am so humbled when he offers us seats and serves us popcorn (it is salty and sweet and quite good), while the girl starts washing the coffee beans. The water comes from two big yellow water containers that sit near the door. It was amazing to be able to watch the full coffee ceremony. She lights charcoals and roasts the beans, then she uses a mortar and pestle to smash them over and over. She uses the old style coffee pot to heat the water and cook the coffee grounds in it. I should mention here that I hate cofffee, and I determined ahead of time that I would drink the whole cup regardless of what it tasted like. It was served to us in little cups and saucers with raw sugar offered in a jar. I added sugar, and took a sip. Amazingly, I loved it. It was not bitter like coffee I've tasted before, and it was very dark. But it was wonderful. I had two cups! Later we start our tour of the churches. For those traveling to Lalibela, the price of admission to the churches has gone up again. It is now 350 birr per person, which is still good for four days. It is worth it, but we had not anticipated that price ahead of time. We climb up and down, and we take our shoes off and put them on again for every church. I cannot describe how amazing it is to see churches carved from the cliff side 800 years ago. These are churches that are still in use today. It's just awesome! When it starts to pour down rain on our way to see the church of St. George, we stop and take shelter at an artist's tukul. He makes his own paints and paints religious pictures on goatskin, and he also has about 30 students that he teaches to become deacons (the next step would be priests if they choose). While we're in his tukul, two more women come in, and the man just keeps moving his little table toward the back. At one point, there were eight people in the tiny tukul, and it felt like a clown car. I was glad we stopped there. He had very low prices, and even signed the back of his art for us. My favorite is a little picture of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednago in the fire. As the rain dried up and we walked away, two boys appeared at the door and started reading very loudly from their prayer books and another boy started singing a few feet away. It was like they were all trying to be heard the most. We invited Getu to dinner that night at the Jerusalum House. He said the last time he had eaten there was two years ago when my sponser friend took him there. He said it is normally too expensive for him. He ordered injera with beef tibs and an orange soda. He tells me about how much he loves injera. Getu is endearing.

The next day we went to see the rest of the churches. I particularly like Bet Abba Libanos. In my head, I call it the hobbit church. It is more of a cave church, but it has a gigantic tree towering over the facing cliffside. It is secluded and peaceful and lovely. We are fortunate to have come during the rainy season when everything is exploding in bright green and the rocks are covered with moss. We've finished seeing all the churches by mid morning, and Derabe takes us to see the market. They have a market day once a week, where people come from all around to sell their wares. Some people walk an hour, some a day, I am told. They seperate themselves by what they sell. We pass piles of firewood first, then a row of men selling "tire shoes". Simple shoes made from tires. They cost about 10 birr. I am told they last much longer than the prettier plastic shoes that sell for 20 birr though. Although, I think the plastic shoes look a little more comfortable. There are many people selling livestock, goats, cows, mules, chickens and eggs too. I see one woman emptying eggs out of a carrier made of fur turned inside and sewn up. It actually looks quite a bit like an inside out rabbit. There are rows of teff flour, legumes, sorghum, hops (for beer), rock salt, sugar, then rows of woven fabrics and dresses and scarves. It is quite a sight to behold. We take it easy that afternoon and get packed up to go to the airport in the morning. We see Getu, and he ties a small wooden cross around my neck, and then one around my mom's neck. He tells us that he bought them at the market for us to remember him and remember Lalibela, and he will pray for us. Positively endearing.

Back from Ethiopia: Addis Ababa Court Trip

We arrived in Addis Sunday night, and we were pretty exhausted from the long plane ride. We made our way through the airport, first time ever that my baggage claim tickets were actually checked. They actually x-ray your lugguage on the way out of the airport, so that was a little different. Sidenote to future travelers: the porters outside the airport are very determined, and if they so much as even move your suitcase from the ground to a taxi, they will expect a tip. It's a good idea to have a few 5 birr notes especially for this. We met all of our fellow court travelers at the airport (and it was a large group of 15 families), and headed to the agency guesthouse. As it turned out, our room was up four flights of stairs, so I soon saw the drawbacks of both my mom and I taking two suitcases each. Then again, on the way back I appreciated all the space in those two suitcases for all the things I bought.

The next morning, we headed straight to the care center where I met Child #4. I was especially nervous about that because by all accounts she does not take well to strangers, and she's described as a serious child. She is fourteen months old, but she was with the babies. I was actually thankful for that because it meant that I would get to have one on one time with her. She initially cried when everyone came in, but the nanny insisted on passing her to me. She calmed down quickly and spent the next hour and a half sitting in my lap and watching people around her, then she fell asleep toward the end. The next day went very similar, but she made a lot more eye contact with me. She really enjoyed chewing my finger and went right to sleep. She smelled wonderful, and her hair is soft. She has big lips and big eyes, but she doesn't smile or babble much. I wonder if she will be like this on the plane ride home, and what will her personality be like when she is secure in our love. That night, we went to the Yod Abyssinia Cultural Restaurant for dinner. We ate traditional Ethiopian food. I love injera, but I am not so good with the spicy meats. My favorite is actually the cabbage and the lentils. There is wonderful dancing, and it makes me wish I had my camcorder instead of the digital camera.

The day after that we have free time for shopping and exploring. It was a very fun day, and I love all the shopkeepers that I meet. I buy traditional outfits, tshirts, necklaces and coffee at the first store, and the lady has fun teaching me the correct way to say Ah-ma-say-guh-nah-lo (thank you). In another store, an old man visibly enjoys bartering with me over a goatskin drum. I notice belatedly that he's missing fingers. He is so adept that it doesn't seem to affect his cashiering skills. I love shopping, but getting to know the people was almost as fun. I fall asleep early that night. It seems like I'm getting up earlier and earlier, which is totally out of character for this night owl.

Day 4 is court day and I'm wide awake before the sun comes up. I go on our balcony and take photos of the neighborhood waking up, and all the colorful birds that I constantly hear chirping. I am meticulous with my makeup and clothes, and I'm ready to go two hours before it's time to leave. I end up going up and down the stairs aimlessly trying to burn off my nervous energy. Court turns out to be more mundane than I've built it up to be. When my turn comes, I go into an office, give my passport and POA from hubby, and sit in a chair. The judge is kind, but very soft spoken. She asks a few questions about our family and preparation to adopt, and I answer her in a shaky voice. When she says, "then she's all yours" I thank her three times and almost forget my passport. I have to go in the hallway because I burst into tears. I am so grateful that it has finally happened. She is ours and we are hers. I finally know that she is definitely coming home.

After we leave the court building, we drive to Entoto mountain road to visit a weaving shop set up for the women fuel carriers. Those are the women that carry up to 200 pounds of wood on their back on the mountain road, which they sell for people to cook with. The weaving shop is an alternative to selling wood. I bought quite a few scarves there. I have never seen so many beautiful scarves in so many colors. They are all woven by hand on looms. There are a few boys there that get a kick out of seeing short videos that I've taken of them weaving. Afterwards, we head back to the guesthouse and pack all our things. We will be heading north to Lalibela tomorrow morning, but that will have to be... in another post.

Court Date CONFIRMED!!!

I'm actually going! Here's how I found out:
Yesterday, I called my agency on a fluke, just to ask some minor questions (and I just can't resist calling them at least once a week to milk them for information). Anyway, after I babbled away to my specialist, she told me she had been planning to give me a call. She gave me the news with such a dour voice, I was sure it was bad. She said "Your birth family did make their appearance". It took me at least five full seconds to process that it was good news! So it is all confirmed. I bought the tickets last week (when the date was "tentative"), and God has had his hand on the timing. If I had waited till now to buy tickets they would have been twice as much. We're actually staying a day longer than we planned to because we couldn't get a flight back on our originally planned date. Apparently many people are traveling at the same time. My mother and I will be leaving on July 24, I will meet Child #4 July 27 for a brief time and my court date is July 29. I am super nervous about appearing before the judge. I will be armed with a POA from hubby, but it will be just me to answer the questions. Eeeek. Super crappy part is I am not allowed to take any photos or video of Child #4.... So you will all get to see lots of photos of Ethiopia (and her referral pic when we pass). Hubby has to stay at home with the kids (shortage of vacation time for both trips, needed at work), but thankfully, his parents will be there to help and keep him sane :) I am feeling massive mother guilt about being away from the kids for so long, and galivanting around with my mom while my husband stays at home. But on the other hand, both my mother and I have never left the country (unless you count when she arrived here at the age of 3 from the Netherlands), and we are pretending this is our own "Amazing Race" episode (except we won't be digging through hay bales). It is relatively affordable to travel around Ethiopia, so we will be going north to Lalibela and Gonder for the last three days to see the churches that were carved out of cliff sides 800 years ago and I'll actually get to see a real castle in Gondar. Can you tell how excited I am??
Here is my laundry list of prayer requests if you feel led (it just keeps growing):
-travel mercies for our parents getting here and for my mom and I and all the traveling we'll be doing, keep everyone safe
-that meeting Child#4 would go better than I could imagine
-that court would be smooth, simple and we would PASS (and that I wouldn't worry so much about it)
-that we would stay healthy and not be affected by jet lag too bad
-that hubby and his parents would have a wonderful time together, and that the kids would be good for them :)
-that we wouldn't have any mishaps or lost baggage or damaged items, etc. during our travels
-that I would be able to find an affordable way to talk to my family at home
-that we would glorify God throughout our trip and Jesus would shine through us
I'm hoping to get enough internet to post something. So check periodically after the 24th. If all goes well, we will hopefully be bringing her home sometime in late September. I don't think it will all sink in that I'm actually going around the world until I'm in the plane, and I'll probably be crying too much from leaving the kids to realize it.... :0

COURT DATE!!!

AAAAAH! Can you hear me screaming in disbelief and delight????
I just got a phone call today that we have a tentative court date of July 29. They won't tell us what the first court date is (when the birth family are going), but they will let us know sometime in the next two weeks if all went well. Then we get to buy tickets!! Oh my gosh, I might actually be leaving for Ethiopia in three and a half weeks. I am totally shocked. I wasn't sure if we would make the court closure or not, and now it looks like we will be in the first group of families from our agency to go before the judge. Can you say "nerve-racking"? I am having serious feelings of anxiety that I was not expecting. But I am so excited!!! Coincedentally, July 29 is Child #2's birthday. So I will probably be feeling some mother guilt on top of it all. So much to do!!!!!