Summer Mehaber

On Saturday we attend a Summer Mehaber event sponsored by our adoption agency. Mehaber is an Amharic word for an occasional gathering of friends and family. They had Ethiopian food, an African animals petting zoo, inflatable bouncers for the kids, games, and picnic food. We were able to meet other families who have either adopted from Ethiopia or are waiting to adopt from Ethiopia. We had a lot of fun and we are looking forward to going next year with our new son!

Well I survived the Yellow Fever Vaccine. I felt fine for 24 hours and then Saturday afternoon I felt really tired. I thought that maybe it was because I had stayed out late Wednesday and Thursday night but then I read that if you are going to get sick it is 24 hours after the vaccine is given (good thing because I was worried that I was getting old:) All I have left is a huge bruise on my right arm. Hopefully that will fade pretty soon.

We are attending an Ethiopian Picnic on Saturday. I am hoping to meet some new people. It would be great to connect with other families who have or are going to be adopting from Ethiopia.

We have not received anymore updates on our baby. Hopefully he is doing well. I am looking forward to July 10th and getting through court, then I can begin to get his room ready.

Horse Camp

My daughter just got back from a week long trip with her aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins. They attended a horse camp during the day and then camped out in a tent at night. She had a wonderful time with her cousins. She also really enjoyed taking care of and riding the horse that was assigned to her. At night, she got to swim in a lake and go for canoe rides. She is a lucky girl!

Court Date!!

We have a court date for July 10! I am really excited. There is a possibility that the court date may change again though. Ethiopia has been experiencing some power outages that are affecting court hearings. Once we get through court our adoption agency will notify us 1 to 2 days after the hearing to let us know whether or not he is officially our baby according to the Ethiopian government. We then wait 2 - 4 weeks for his birth certificate and then we will travel over to Ethiopia 3 weeks after that. So, it appears that we may be traveling late August/early September. WOW!!

I am off to get my yellow fever vaccine...I hear this one can have some side affects, hopefully I will do o.k.

Update.

We still do not have a court date. I did end up e-mailing our adoption specialists on Friday and heard back from her today. She said we should hear something shortly and to "hang in there". However, the waiting is getting a little difficult. In the meantime, I should be busy organizing and cleaning out our guest room for the baby but found myself watching the US Open instead.

Shots!

Today my DH and I went to the traveling clinic and got our shots for Ethiopia. We were able to get all of them except for the Yellow Fever Vaccine. They only give that shot on Fridays, so we will be back in a couple of weeks for that one.
Our adoption specialist also e-mailed me to let me know that she received the care package that we are sending to the baby and it should be on its way to him shortly.

Update!

We got an update on the baby yesterday. I was surprised because I was not expected one. However, we were happy to learn that he gained a little bit of weight and grew 1 cm. He seems like a healthy little boy!

Today was also my last day of work and now I get to enjoy my summer off with my two kids. I can't wait.

Sending a gift bag to Ethiopia

We are able to send a gift bag over to Ethiopia for the baby. We just need to make sure that everything fits into a gallon sized Ziploc bag. We decided to include a photo album, a small blanket from my dad, a new outfit, and a new green fuzzy stuffed animal that the kids picked out. We are going to mail the gifts to the agency tomorrow, so hopefully it will be in Ethiopia in a week or two.

We have not heard anything new from the adoption agency. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will find out about our court date in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I will be frantically trying to get our house prepared for a new baby. We just had a new furnace and air conditioner installed today. Tomorrow, we will hopefully be getting our basement painted.

Our house is quickly filling up with baby things. My mom and dad bought the baby a new outfit. My mom also found some great clothes at a garage sale. My sister gave us 2 bins of clothes for an older boy and some baby toys. However, the best gift was a light cover made by my 7 year old niece! She put a picture of a horse, bear, and stuffed animals on it--very cute.

Referral!

After waiting for 8 months, we received a referral for a wonderful 7 week old baby boy on May 22, 2008. We have known about him for 11 days now and it still seems like yesterday when our social worker called to tell us about him. At this point we can only hope and pray that everything will go smoothly. We still need to wait for a court date and then we need to get through court before he is officially ours. We should hear something about his court date within the next couple of weeks.