Court and travel

As of Monday April 23 @ 0315 Detroit time, I am officially a mommy :)

After court, we left for our long car ride north to Korem.   I will post details and pics from the trip after I'm home, as for some reason I am unable to upload pics from my iPad.  It was such beautiful country; we literally drove on the mountainsides.   We got back a day early on Wednesday and realize how very nice the Sadula Lodge in Addis really is!  Some of the places we used the "bathroom" were shocking, and again, I realize how spoiled we are.   It is simply thru accident of birth that we live where we do and have what we have.

On that note, Kristina and I had massages this morning!  Super inexpensive by US standards.  We are visiting Amina once more this afternoon before we head home tomorrow.  I met two other single moms adopting from Michigan yesterday, very cool :)  Definite play dates in the future.   We did not have wireless on the plane ride(s) here, so I'm assuming we won't on the way back either.  We'll be home Saturday morning Detroit time.  Stay tuned for lots of photos.

Amazing experiences

Kristina and I have been very busy the last 2 days.  We've been to see Amina two more times and she is still the cutest and sweetest girl in all the world.   I fed her and she fell asleep in my arms.  The other kids there are just awesome too - friendly and polite and inquisitive.   They are taken such good care of by the nannies and nurse.

Saturday night we went to an Ethiopian wedding reception of our host's relative.  So cool.  A lot of similarities to wedding receptions in the US, but a lot of unique details too.  We also went to 2 museums and a lion zoo yesterday.   We had pizza at the "best" pizza place in Addis.  Was different than home, but recognizable :)  We went to the Ethiopian version of Starbucks this morning for breakfast.  Caramel mocha latte and pancakes were great.  We also went to church today and then an Indian restaurant for lunch, which was delicious!   We also went shopping in a shopping area that was just a street with shop after shop.  You're supposed to bargain with the prices.  Kristina was better at that then me.   It was sad because there are a lot of orphaned homeless kids in Ethiopia (4.6 million according to the Internet) and they follow shoppers around.  After we were done shopping and back in our host's car, I couldn't stop crying.   We are so spoiled in America and we take everything for granted...

We went to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant tonight for dinner and that had live entertainment: a band and singing and dancing.  I will upload some video once I'm back home.  It was amazing.  During one of the performances they pick a man and woman from the audience to go on stage and they perform a mock wedding.  Guess who was the bride?  Ya, Kristina took video of that for sure!  I even had to do a small amount of dancing (if you can call what I did "dancing").

Monday (tomorrow) morning is my court appointment.  After that we leave for Korem, which is a 16 hour drive north.  We will get there Tuesday and be back in Addis probably Thursday, possibly Wednesday late.  No internet access during the trip.  Will post again when I'm able :)

Baby girl!!

Between jet lag and a shocking lack of sleep over about 36 hours, Kristina and I felt pretty well today despite only 6 hours last night.

We got to meet Beamlak/Amina today :)  Since falling in love with her via photo since January, I felt like I already knew her...which is kind of silly.  The thing is, she was exactly as I expected.  Adorable and such a sweet disposition.  She happily sat in my lap while we stared at her!   It was totally unreal and I couldn't possibly find the words to explain what I'm feeling.   Like being in shock, but good.  She was bright eyed and curious and totally tolerant of all my kisses :)  We were there about an hour and a half. Took pics, but can't legally post them yet.  Kristina and I walked to a local Turkish restaurant for dinner and stopped for ice cream afterwards.  Tomorrow morning we go sightseeing, then lunch and back to the orphanage.  Pretty tired now and turning in early.

I'm a space cadet

Holy crap, my anxiety level is through the roof.   I leave in just under two days and I feel like a nervous ball of energy, yet I can't seem to focus on anything.   My stomach's in knots; I'm hungry yet nauseated.   I have 5000 things to do.  Like laundry, packing, cleaning - except the power's out thanks to a crazy windstorm that's been going on all day.  So I'm sitting here in semi-darkness with my iPad willing the electricity restored.

My flight leaves Wednesday at 5pm.   First to Chicago, then London and finally Addis Ababa on Thursday 10:30pm (their time).  The hotel has wireless internet so I plan to update from there.   I meet my baby girl for the first time on Friday :)  My court appointment is Monday the 23rd, then we go on a 3-4 day trip to northern Ethiopia to meet the birth mom.  I'll be back home Sat the 28th.

omg!

Going to Ethiopia...fingers crossed

So yesterday was the birth mom's court appointment.  She must pass court before I can attend court.  Except that she missed her appointment.  Because somehow (?) someone else was mistakenly transported the 450 miles from where she lives to Addis Ababa.  Yep, that's right.

As of today, her appointment is rescheduled for April 4, and mine remains April 23.  I have to say it was with some skepticism that I bought a plane ticket today.  My friend Kristina and I will depart Detroit Metro on Wed pm April 18, and arrive back home Sat am April 28.  We will be taking a side-trip April 24-26 the 450 miles north to meet and visit with the birth mom.

My brain is wasted for the day, after all the starting and stopping with dates, calling travel agencies and looking up flights online.  And I did all of this at work, which didn't leave much time for me to do much actual work.  So thanks to all my coworkers for picking up my slack today :)

Finally!!

I got my court date: April 23!

Yay!  More details when I know them.

Starting somewhere in the middle...

Well, I'm not much of a writer, journalizer or blogger but I've been wanting to keep a record of adoption related events so my little girl can read about this experience when she's older.

I am currently in the waiting, waiting and waiting stage...I accepted a referral for a beautiful 2 month old baby girl on January 6, 2012.  My first of two trips to Ethiopia should have happened six to eight weeks after accepting, but I am ten and a half weeks out with no court date/travel date in sight. Mostly I keep it together, but sometimes the delays make me absolutely cuckoo-crazy.

I'm not allowed to post any pictures of her until she's legally mine, so here's a few teasers:

 This is her hand at 2 months old

 And this is her chubby cheek (yes, on her face) at 4 months old

I've been lucky in that I've received updated photos from the agency or from other families who've traveled about every two weeks.

I'll be back when I have news on a court date.