Makin' some lists...

I'm not really sure where to start! The time really seems to be passing quickly as we prepare to travel to Ethiopia, have a family of six and navigate all that the last quarter of the school year entails for our children, Mark and Tessa, and for me as a school administrator. We received our referral three weeks ago today, and accepted a little over two weeks ago. Relatively recently we received the first travel preparation packet from our agency. WOW! It is very detailed and easy to understand, and it guides us through the next steps we need to take while waiting to pass court. Among those steps are travel immunizations, getting Ethiopian visas (not the credit card...the passport stamp ;) ) and making a photo album to send to our girls. Tonight I tracked down the information for the Kendall County Health Department Travel Clinic, and plan to check in with the family doc tomorrow to figure out the course of action with those. We really should get them all in the next two weeks. Jim has done some third world travelling more recently than I, so he may be off the hook for some of them that I will have to get.

I also completed the visa applications tonight, with the exception of a couple lines that I need to verify with our case manager. My efforts were also slightly thwarted when, upon going to the "Important Papers" file, I found Jim's passport, a few other legit important papers....and birth/adoption certificates for Webkinz, Cabbage Patch kids and Build-A-Bears galore, but NOT my passport. I just renewed it recently, so here's hoping I find it in my office tomorrow!

We also have to send a small photo album introducing ourselves to the girls. I've gone into our digital photos, and created a folder for which ones may be good to include. Next Jim will upload the Easter photos so I can add a new family photo as well. Then we'll be able to print, label and send the photographs to our agency in Massachusetts so that they can ship them to Ethiopia. We'll also include the pictures of the girls themselves, as the children enjoy seeing pictures of themselves, but don't typically have the opportunity to do so. We'll also start work on a photo album and a letter to present to the birth family that we'll bring to Ethiopia when we travel.

Then there's those lists that don't always make the travel packet... I might start a weekly post called Trivial Thursdays (A.K.A. Things that are important to me because they are a little more in my control than the rest of this process, but not really in my control and might seem silly compared to the depth and importance of some of this adoption "stuff", but, hey, I'm thinking about 'em anyway so might as well share...) where I dispense my ramblings on room decorations, what to wear in Ethiopia, how to successfully execute Mark and Tessa birthday parties before we travel, names to add to their Ethiopian names and the like. We'll see how tomorrow goes!! Until then, please keep our friends, the Hanson family, in your thoughts this evening, as their court date for their adoption will take place tonight while we are all sleeping. Well, all of us but the Hanson fam, probably!

Yikes! Now what?

Now that our agency has processed our acceptance paperwork, it will make its way through Ethiopian government offices and the court system. Once we pass court, we will be assigned an embassy appointment and travel dates. We do not attend court, but we do go to the embassy to get the girls' visas. The process from referral to travel typically takes two to five months...typically... There is a possibility of us traveling as early as June, but any point over the summer is realistic. Jim and I will go for a week, and Mark and Tessa will stay here. Tessa firmly reminded me that I would need to get them a babysitter if Daddy and I were going to Africa for a week.

When we do go to Ethiopia, we will go to the embassy and also to a birth family visit, in all likelihood. The birth family visit will take us out of Addis Ababa, the capital city, south into the Sidama region. This is said to be a phenomenal experience, and I am already researching motion sickness medication to ensure I make it :) While in Addis Ababa, we'll stay at the guest house adjacent to Horizon House, our agency's care center. The girls will have been moved to Horizon House from a private regional orphanage when we passed court. Typically, there is a two to three week window between passing court and travel. While we wait for travel, we have lots to keep us occupied from immunizations to preparing rooms to updating paperwork to creating photo albums to a whole bunch of other things that make me wonder what we've been doing during this wait!! And, of course, getting a babysitter for Mark and Tessa.

More Melton GIRLS!!!

We are so excited to have accepted a referral for two girls (age 3 1/2 and age 2)! Here's how the call went down:

So the Tuesday of Spring Break (March 24), the kids and I started out our day by taking Mark to the dentist, a quick Jamba Juice "way to be good at the dentist, buddy" post-appointment briber and a venture into Super Target for a birthday gift. We got home and had a little time to hang out with Jim and play before Tessa's ballet class. At some point, Jim ended up on his cell phone with his sister and Mark and Tessa were playing together. So our home phone starts ringing, and I, the adoption phone stalker of well over a year, walked up the stairs, away from the ringing phone, without a second thought. You see, Jim adjusted our home phone plan because we don't use it terribly often, and we no longer have caller ID. I figured it was Johnny Refinance or the Fraternal Order of Somebody and really never thought that would be "it". Didn't even enter my mind...

So I happen to hear Jim say, "Hi, Erica." Now I do have Erica friends, but when I heard this I practically slid down the railing to get back downstairs to see if it was "Erica- Wide Horizons Case Manager" and it WAS her. Jim is kind of shaking his head, and I'm all in his face asking if it is "Erica Erica" and if it is kids. The head shaking continues and he informs her that his wife is two inches from his face and will continue to interrupt and ask questions every time either one of them makes a sound, so he is going to give her the phone. Who me??? Of course, me! So I say hello to Erica and she tells me to get a piece of paper and a pencil because she has good news. I've read that line in a jillion other people's referral blog posts and was stunned that it was now our turn to spaz out in an attempt to locate one piece of stinkin' paper in this whole house....but we found it, she told us about our new daughters and let us know that we should check our e-mail as soon as we got off the phone.

We are so fortunate to have received several pictures of them, but are not able to post those pictures here until we pass court. We also received medical reports and social histories which we sent on to our doctor. After our phone conference with him on Monday morning, we accepted the referral formally and told Mark and Tessa about their new sisters!!

Thanks so much to those of you that have supported us during this portion of the wait!! We are so excited to share this good news!!

Just thinkin'....

So it is 5:33 p.m. in Oswego-land, which means it is 6:33 on the East Coast AND it is Monday AND we haven't received the weekly update yet which prompts that weekly flurry of questions in my "wow, this could actually happen soon, but I don't want to be excited 'cause it could still be a while, but it could be soon" head....

Is someone getting a referral right NOW and that's why they haven't sent it yet? Are they looking up someone's phone number right now to give the good news? Are they looking up MY phone number? Is MY phone ringing at home and Jim is not answering because he is engrossed in a game of "Barbie v. the Clone Troopers"?? Are any of my blog friends getting their referrals right now? Has there been a dramatic increase in the number of posts on the Yahoo! board??

And then, just like that, I click on the other window, check my e-mail and there it is- the update! More families did pass court, which was not expected this week and is totally awesome, and there have still been no referrals for February, which is in the normal range but could also mean some are bound to happen soon.

Keeping current

On Friday afternoon, our social worker, Wendy, came over to update our licensing (which happens every 6 months) and gather some information to finalize our home study revision (which has to be done every year while in process). The licensing update was pretty quick; she checks our hot water temp, tests the smoke alarms, checks for carbon monoxide detectors and ensures all things hazardous are locked up.

For the home study part, she had already collected the documents prior to the visit, but now that our kids are older she had to talk to them about the adoption and include that in our report. Tessa went first and said she was excited to get new brothers or sisters. She reminded Wendy (multiple times) that she is 4 1/2. Wendy asked how she would feel if babies came, and Tessa told her, "Well, they would be, like, 1 (year old) and I am 4 1/2. Glad we got that squared away... Wendy moved on to Mark, and he said, "We just keep waiting and waiting and waiting." She asked him how he thought he could help when the babies or kids arrived, and he said that he would write down some words and tell them how to read the words. What a great kid! Wendy suggested that Mark help us make some flashcards for the children to help them communicate with us while they learn English; regardless of their ages, I thought this was a great way for Mark and Tessa to get involved in the preparation and bond with their siblings when they arrive at home. Mark was brainstorming important words and Tessa immediately suggested "chocolate"; that girl is always thinking. We'll let you know how that project goes!

I've also added a bunch of blogs written by families who are also adopting or have already adopted from Ethiopia to the right of this page. Some are people using our agency, some we found through other blogs and we are even fortunate to have one other family who we know "in real life"; it has been so great to have them with us in this process (Insert shout-out to the Hanson family here...). I enjoy reading all of their stories and seeing how their families have evolved. Thanks to all of them for sharing that!

The "Promised in November" Holiday Photo

Here's Mark (sans front teeth) and Tess (w/ her ever-so-fashionable hair bow) from Christmas 2008... They are really great kids! Last night at bedtime, Mark prayed that the babies (or "babies who are already kids" as he and Tess call them due to our open age request from infant to 5) would come during the night or the next night or SOON! He also referred to them as his brothers.....wishful thinking or psychic powers??? Leaving our request open to either gender, and given our age range, there are so many possibilities when the call comes!

Sooooooooooooo...

It seems that little three-post-sprint I went on in November tired me considerably, because I haven't exactly been on top of posting regularly since then...mmmm, or ever. Don't get me wrong, I do visit my blog often to view my "What's the current temp in Addis?" icon so I can share with everyone around me how warm it is there and how cold it is here (Right, Kim!?). I do feel bad, however, that another waiting parent visited my blog and had to comment on a November post 'cause that's all there was. On the adoption front, there are many families traveling to pick up their children in the current and upcoming weeks as well as many who just returned. Congratulations to all of them! We continue to make sure all of our paperwork is updated and in order for when we get "the call".

...and here's to a busy February of posting :)