Finally! Its time to go get our son and we are more than ready.

We have been waiting since November 25th to hear about when we could go back to Ethiopia and bring A* home with us.  We finally got the call on Friday last week and have booked our tickets to Ethiopia!  We'll leave February 2nd and return on Feb 11th.

Its a longer trip this time and unlike the last trip we will have the company of 7 other adopting families during our stay.  Our schedule will include, several long visits to the care center with A*, his nanny's and pediatrician, some sightseeing, cultural dinners, Embassy appointment (where we will receive the official paperwork we need to bring A* home), a 6 hour trip to the rural southern part of Ethiopia and a farewell party.  We will take custody of this beautiful little boy most likely on Monday evening 2/7 and bring him back to the hotel with us...forever.

Aside from bringing home our son, one of the most exciting parts of this trip is the opportunity to meet any remaining birth relatives that A* may have when we make the long trip to Durame, a town in the southern part of Ethiopia.  This meeting is optional for both the relatives and ourselves and we are hopeful that they will choose to come and meet us. It will no doubt be an overwhelming, emotional and incredible experience.

Thanks to my sister, Deva and Heidi for the bounty of hand-me-downs

Teodros (king of Ethiopia)

So, while in Addis Ababa we asked some questions about A*'s name and found out that it is rarely a name given as a forever name. We had wondered about this. Its customary for parents to give children a nickname when they are born and then only later give them the name they will be called by others.  We've had some time to think about him while strolling through Amsterdam and still really like the Ethiopian name Teodros.  We even met a Teodros while we were there.  The name means King of Ethiopia (there was a celebrated king in Ethiopia's history named Teodros or Tewodros.)  We found the name months ago and Its looking like it might end up what we will call him.  Teo for short!

We fly out tomorrow morning first thing and are ready to come home!  We've had a great trip and are ready and waiting for the next travel call to go get him!!!

See you all soon!

Belly Laughs

So a little about our three visits with A*!  He is a beautiful, quiet, mellow and such a sweet little boy.  On our first visit Jamey and I sat on the floor with him and gave him the stacking cups we brought for him.  We got him to bang them together, bite them and use them to knock balloons about.  He looks right into our eyes and although he was very quiet and didn't say any words he pointed and shouted at things that interested him.  We got to feed him lunch and even got to witness his crinkled up nose smile a few times.  At the end of the visit we put him into his little bed and waved goodnight.  We returned later that day to visit with the center's pediatrician and hold and play with him some more. He clung right to me like a little Koala and is such a joy to hold.  The final visit was more relaxed and we felt much more comfortable picking him up and playing. When I bounced him on my knees he loved it and we even got a big hearty belly laugh when I turned him upside down.  His feet are super ticklish and will also elicit smiles and giggles. We can't wait to get him home! 

The luggage reunion!

Hello from Amsterdam! We arrived here safe and sound this morning with all our luggage.  It arrived at the Addis Ababa airport about 30 minutes before we boarded our plane to depart from Addis. It wasn't easy to find and only after I stuck my desparate head through the hole where the conveyor had spit out everyone else's baggage from the recently arrived flight from Amsterdam, did I see our lonely bag sitting on the floor about 10 feet away from me.  I didn't immediately celebrate.  In Detroit, where we first parted ways with our bag, I saw it too, but was not permitted to take it due to its lack of a proper baggage "tag".  Now, our lonely bag did have a tag, but for some reason the flight attendant neglected to give me the baggage reciept back in Detroit...so I was not celebrating.  luckily, the airport personnel couldn't come up with a reason not to give it to me when they saw the receipt still attached to the baggage tag. 

But, who really cares about our baggage trouble. No long term harm done.  Not washing, brushing nor drying one's hair for 3 days, or wearing deodorant, and wearing the most awkward looking get up to our court date will all be forgotton.  The lack of pictures is the biggest regret but we'll be back there again soon.  We met some Americans who adopted through another agency and they traveled back to Ethiopia only 3 weeks after their first trip.  Yikes!  We should probably assemble the crib when we get home.

Now for the more interesting news.  We went to court early yesterday morning and although it didn't go quite as planned (common theme this trip) and we didn't get to hear..".then he is yours", we eventually received word from our lawyer that we did indeed pass court.  Apparently some paperwork got misfiled and the judge kept referring to another child throughout the 2 minute proceeding.  We tried to correct her once and the lawyer did too but she looked at us like we didn't know what we were talking about.  Finally, the judge, lawyer and clerk started speaking a bit excitedly in Amharic as they shuffled through files (which sort of does a number on your nerves), and asked us to leave.  Although the lawyer said, "Its happened before, and its no problem. Don't worry," I was worried.  Luckily we had the distraction of having our last visit with A* and didn't have time to dwell on it much before Ato called with news that the problem had been rectified and we passed court. So, long story short...Yay, we passed court!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meeting our son for the first time in two days!!

We leave tomorrow to spend 3 days in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where we will meet our son for the first time, and see his home for the last 8 months (a care center in Addis Ababa).  We'll get to visit with him twice while we are there but the primary purpose of this first trip will be to  have a court hearing where the judge will confirm that we met him, and still want to adopt him and that all the paperwork necessary has made its way to the court.  At the end of the hearing, the Judge proclaims something like "then he is yours!".  Our agency is quick to point out not *really*.  He will then need a passport, birth certificate and a visa issued before we can go back and bring him home.

Wish us luck and stay tuned if you want to follow us on our journey to Ethiopia!  We land Tuesday night at 10:30pm Ethiopian time...almost exactly 23 hours from our departure from Rochester.  Addis Abba is 8 hours later than Eastern Standard Time.

Incredible Family and Incredible Friends.

Last week our dear friends held a party for us.   Guests were greeted with the smell of authentic Ethiopian food complete with fresh injera shipped from a bakery in DC.   Ethiopian music played in the kitchen and the dining room held a beautiful center piece of branches draped in antique locket necklaces which held tiny little pictures of  our Ethiopian son.  There were coloring pages and books on Ethiopia spread out on a child's size table for all the kids.

For shower gifts we had asked everyone to bring a donation for the Holt care centers in Ethiopia and the generosity of our friends was so touching.  We have about two suitcases to bring with us packed full of baby carriers, wipes, baby dolls, shoes, diaper covers, and toys for the Holt International care centers in Addis Ababa.  Thanks everyone!

At the end of the party everyone left with a locket to keep A* (shouldn't post his name until its official) close to their hearts until he comes home and Libby received a special big sister locket in the shape of a heart which NEVER comes off. Thank you to everyone who came to the gathering and for celebrating this occasion with us and thank you to those who could not come but sent in such generous donations!