Monday, March 17, 2008

Without further ado...

Here are our children!

Tewodros at referral (above and below) January 28, 2008


Yodit at referral (above and below) January 28, 2008


Olivia Yodit & Ezra Tewodros - pictures from a friend in mid-February
Update picture from our agency... look how cute Olivia's smile is and Ezra's little chins are!!!

Drumroll please...

I am proud to announce that Olivia Yodit & Ezra Tewodros are now officially ours! We're finally a mommy and daddy! I'm in shock, and was so relieved to finally get word from our agency... what a LONG morning it's been!

More to come later... back to making some phone calls and working on my now VERY serious to-do list!!!!! Hooray! No word on our embassy date yet... hopefully we'll get more info in a day or two... HOPEFULLY!


I'm a MOMMY!!!!!

Nothin', Nada, Zip

Ok, so here I sit still anxiously awaiting news on how our court appointment went last night whilst I tossed and turned (couldn't call THAT sleep by any means). When I did drift off, I dreamt of Ezra & Olivia... meeting them and finally setting eyes on their incredible little faces.

*Sigh*

I gave in a moment ago and emailed my agency. Just to remind them that we're here and we're waiting. We're ready for the news, so I wanted to be sure they knew that, in case they were wondering. Just in case. Cause MAYBE they forgot about us or were wanting to wait until we couldn't stand to wait another second. Are we a family yet?? Huh, huh?! You can tell us!

I can't believe that today, after all this time, I MAY be able to post some pictures of our precious angels!

........Back to refreshing my email and staring at my phone.......

Sunday, March 16, 2008

A few hours to court!

It's hard to believe that our case will be seen before a judge in a matter of hours. Ethiopia is 10 hours ahead of us (Pacific time), so while we're sleeping tonight (or NOT sleeping in my case I think!), we should officially become a family. It's hard for me not to get worried as the big moment gets close that something could go wrong. I'm generally pretty optimistic, and think it will go without a hitch, but... you never know. Some families have multiple delays, missing paperwork needed by the judge, etc, etc. I hope our attorney has EVERYTHING he needs, and all the t's are crossed and i's dotted.

When I awaken tomorrow, I will finally (hopefully) be a Mama! I think tomorrow a celebration will be in order! And, a celebration IS happening this coming Saturday... it's our baby shower! I can't wait to celebrate with our family and friends. And to think... as soon as a week or two after the shower, we could be hopping on a plane and heading to Ethiopia! Just the thought makes my heart flutter in anticipation. I'm sooooo ready to start filling up suitcase with donations for the orphanages, baby clothes, diapers, bottles, etc. I guess this means I've really got to start figuring out where all we're going to travel to while in Ethiopia so I can start making those arrangements the minute we get our travel date!

As I type this, Joe is putting the chair rail up in the nursery, then I'll finish painting the grass on the walls. Tonight or tomorrow we should be able to get the crib that DID come set up, and the dresser put where it goes... and in another week the other crib and dresser should get here. I love how it's all just about to pull together and be finished! Their room is going to be so neat! I love it! Although I'd claim very little talent in the artistic department, I am also thrilled with how good the wall colors are and how neat the grass I'm painting is turning out. I had a vision of what I wanted it to look like, but figured there was no way I'd be successful when I actually did it! And, thanks to my mom's help, the mural looks INCREDIBLE! I hope Ezra and Olivia enjoy their room as much as I've enjoyed dreaming it up and pulling it together!

We also took an expedition to IKEA today to look for some shelves/organizers for their closet. We found a neat storage unit with pull-out, plastic cubes. I think it'll give us a lot better use of the closet space, so just one more exciting thing to have found! I'm having wayyyyyy too much fun with this!

Ok, back to work! I'll post pictures of everything once we get it done! And check back tomorrow morning... I'll post news as soon as we find out how court went!!!

PLEASE everyone cross your fingers, toes, arms & ears, pray, chant and do the successful court dance.................... anything to help the powers that be get us through smoothly and quickly so we can get to our children!