The In-Between

So, yes, I know. I haven't posted much in the last couple weeks. Yes, it's Christmas-time craziness but it's also that "in between" time. You know how it goes. It's like when you buy a house and then wait to move in. Or you find that perfect piece of furniture and then have to wait for it to arrive. Or . . . nah, those are bad examples. Hmmmm, well, it's like when someone gives you the bestest, most wonderfulest, fantabulous gift imaginable on the planet, and then tells you, "but it's not quite yours yet" . . . and that "yet" is the aforementioned "in between". Thankfully, the "in between" is not painful like the waiting for a referral. It's just like breathing shallow and waiting for the good part of the movie. Again, bad example, but I think you get the jist of it.

Anyway, so that's where we are. Counting down the days until our January 6th court date.

Meanwhile we had a wonderful Christmas. Very low stress. Fun seeing what friends and family got our sweet boy. Talking about how exciting next Christmas will be when we have a little one to bring the magic part of Christmas back into our house.

The highlight of our week thus far? We got a couple new pictures from the Salyers who were in Ethiopia picking up their beautiful baby girl last week. He's standing up in his crib (no word on whether he's walking yet), and has filled out quite nicely and still has THE most beautiful eyes on the planet. We also put a small photo album together with pictures of us, including Gwen and the dogs (of course!), to send with another traveling family that's leaving this Friday to pick up their little boy. It'll be given to our little guy once we pass court next week. They'll also take pictures for us.

So, that' about it from the Land of In Between. Positive thoughts (please, please, please!) for a successful court hearing on the 6th!

Well, that was QUICK!

You know, sometimes the strangest things happen . . . like the day we got our referral, and I wasn't there to answer the phone.

Or today, when court dates were being handed out and I wasn't there to get the email! See, I got a new email address (to go with the fancy new phone Kyle got me) . . . and our agency sort of got the email address a little wrong, so since 11:00 a.m. this morning an email was sitting in the wrong email box telling us we had a court date.

But WHO CARES because WE GOT A COURT DATE!!! And it's so close: January 6th!! Holy all things moly: my head is spinning!!!! In the good kinda way!

Yeah for the Hansels!!

I just found out this morning that the Hansels (who got their referral the same day we did) just received their court date after only a 4 week wait! Their court date is January 5th with a possible embassy appointment on February 5th! They waited SO long for their baby girl and I'm thrilled that they got such a fast turn around on their court date!!!

Now before you get too excited, that does NOT mean we'll get a court date immediately . . . dates are not given out in order of referral. It has more to do with the paperwork and when it gets translated/collected/submitted to court (a delicate dance between CHI, the orphanage, the transition house, the MOWA, etc., etc.) . . . we could still have several more weeks of waiting for our court date. But it's coming!!!

Again, congrats to the Hansels!

A Little Smoke with our Coffee?

This last Saturday night a group of dear friends came together to help us celebrate our little guy's first birthday at Kokeb restaurant in Seattle. Believe it or not, this was our first experience with Ethiopian food . . . I know, amazing, huh? I took the brand new Flip video camera Kyle just bought me with the intention of posting a cute little video of our evening. Well, that's not going to happen . . . let's just say the videographer (that would be ME) needs a little practice on her new toy before she shares!! That said, however, Kyle took a few still photos that came out just lovely. He's good like that.

ANYWAY . . . we had a wonderful meal (photo below) . . . we ordered both a veggie combo plate and a meat combo plate. Both were fabulous (I can speak for the veggie side, and am taking the word of others on the meat side!!).

Following dinner, we were treated to a coffee ceremony. They first brought out a small pan with the roasting beans in it so we could savor the aroma. Then after lighting something fragrant in a small dish (we couldn't figure out what it was -- although it smelled wonderful), they served some wonderful coffee which we thoroughly enjoyed.

It was a great evening and a place we'll go back to many times. The ladies there all made us promise to bring our son with us the next time we visit. A promise we look forward to!

A thank you to our friends for making the evening so much fun!

Happy Birthday

Today is the 1 year birthday of our gorgeous new son! How we wish we could be there to share this special day with him (or that, even better, he could be here with us!).

Our message to our son on his first birthday:

Sending all our love across the continents and oceans that, for now, separate us. We hope that your day is as special as you are. We hope today, and each day until we are together, that you are surrounded with all the hugs and kisses and warmth and safety and love we will shower upon you. We will be there soon. All our love, Mommy & Daddy

Getting Cozy with my Phone Again!

As you all know by now, I spent several LONG weeks recently carrying my phone with me EVERYWHERE just knowing I might get THE CALL. I thought those days were behind me, but now I find I'm constantly (dare I say OBSESSIVELY?) carrying and checking my phone again waiting to hear from our friends Greg and Tegan about THEIR referral!!! I'll have you know, I carried that phone near and dear to my heart all through Costco, PCC, the bank, the post office . . . but, alas, no referrals seem to have gone out today. I'm prepared to go the distance and get cozy with my cell phone again anxiously awaiting the call about THEIR call!

On other fronts, there were several court dates handed out to other waiting families today . . . including one family that received their referral just 2 weeks before us (which is a MUCH shorter wait than we've been told to expect). I'm not getting my hopes up, but that was a fun ray of sunshine to brighten our rainy Monday.

Oh, and Costco is now a dangerous place for me. I took a very (VERY) innocent stroll through the baby aisle (you know, just CHECKING) . . . walked out with three outfits. They WERE really cute and I apparently have no self-restraint. :o)

Well, that's about it for today . . . hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Timelines and Yup, More Waiting!

We have officially accepted the referral of our 11 1/2 month old son! CHI (our agency) has confirmed receipt of our acceptance paperwork and final adoption fee payment!

And since many of you have asked, the following are some expectations our agency has set about what comes next:

* It may take from 5 - 8 weeks to hear when our court date has been set (that would be mid December - mid January).
* The court date we receive will be an additional 4 - 6 weeks from the date we get notice of it (so, late January to mid February). We will NOT travel to Ethiopia for court; that takes place before we get there. IF we pass court the first time (dependent on proper paperwork being submitted, surviving birth parents showing up at court, no power outages to delay court, etc., etc.), we would officially be the legal parents of our new son by the end of the court day. If there's a problem with any paperwork, etc., a new date is usually scheduled within 2 weeks.
* Once we've officially passed court, we wait for an embassy appointment in Ethiopia (wherein we receive paperwork to legally bring our new son back to the U.S.). This appointment date is the trigger for when we get to travel to Ethiopia. Embassy appointments can be up to 4 weeks from the date you pass court (which could be any time in the month of March, maybe late February).

SOOOOO, to recap: Given all the uncertainties and "what ifs" listed above . . . worse case scenario, we won't travel to pick up our son until late March. Best case scenario would be late February, early March.

The continued wait is maddening, of course, but there's a more "real" element to it now. Before, when we were waiting for this open-ended, abstact idea of a referral, it was so much harder to grab onto anything tangible. Now we have a face, a name, a heart, little lips, beautiful eyes, a SOUL to focus on as we count down the weeks.

Thank you to everyone for your phone calls, emails, blog comments and FB postings! It's wonderul to share our excitement and we both truly appreciate the love and support we've received!

More to come . . .