Safe and sound in D.C.

Thank goodness for sunshine! We managed to get out of the house this morning. Marc had to use the sled to transport our suitcases up the driveway. It was pretty funny and I have a photo I'll be sure to share later.

We are safe and sound in DC and looking forward to leaving for Ethiopia in the morning.

I miss my boy already. Someone give him hugs and smooches for me!

Travel Day!

We woke up this morning to blue skies and sunshine and I see water dripping off the trees already. Hopefully some of the snow will melt down in the next hour so that we're able to get the truck out. We don't have to be at the airport until 1:30 pm but, in typical Brown fashion, we have a few things we need to pick up before we leave - a gift for our rep in Ethiopia, money, etc.

I can't believe that our travel day is finally here. Fletch crawled in bed with us in the middle of the night and the first thing he said this morning when he woke up was "Brother and sister. Go get my brother and sister today." I'm going to miss him so much.

Well......if you don't hear from me again today, that means we managed to escape the snow!

3 Days...

THREE days! Every time I stop and think about that my stomach feels queasy. Not only will we be going to AFRICA, but we'll be meeting the newest members of our family. We'll be parents to THREE children. Not to brag, but I think I look pretty good for having three kids. ha-ha

To do...

• Pack - everything is picked out, I washed the kids' clothes today.
• Finish making tote bags - About 2 more hours worth of work and these will be done!
• Break out the Amharic cd & book.
• 2nd HepB shot on Friday.
• Make copies of passports & print out forms we need to bring
• Find a gift for our agency's liaison in Ethiopia
• Install additional car seats

Edited to say: We just got our travel docs in the mail from Susan Parr travel, whom I highly recommend. We never use a travel agent anymore as it's easy enough to find your own good deals online these days. But I didn't realize quite how much you have to think about when it comes to a trip like this.

Travel dates can change if there's a snag in the visa paperwork. With most airlines you can't change the tickets, or you have to pay a large fee. Susan has contracts in place that allow her not only the best deals, but she's also able to change out flights if needed. She deals with everything you don't even want to think about - like which country you should travel through to avoid having to get additional visas. And if you find yourself stuck on a runway somewhere, you call her and she makes everything better. In this long crazy process it's nice to be able to give a piece of the stress and responsibility to her, so that you don't have to deal with it.

T minus 10 Days

Tickets are booked. We'll be gone 4/19 - 5/1. But, um, don't try to come and rob us now that I've said that. There will be burly men with guns and dogs here. Okay, well the dog looks like this...

...with slightly more hair. But he is ferocious! And I think a little crazy too...shh...don't tell him I said that.

Anyway...

We have lots of friends and family who have volunteered to come and wrangle Fletcher while we're gone. I know that he will be okay but I can't let myself even think about it for a minute or I get all teary-eyed. Two weeks away from him. Sniff...

So our tickets are booked. I'm conversing with a woman at the guest house we're planning to stay at, and she's trying to hook us up with a driver so that we can see some of the country (which is why we are getting there a week before our embassy date).

I still need to:

• Go back to the travel clinic for more shots
• Get a haircut
• Get all of my work stuff arranged so that my fill-ins don't have to do a lot
• Pack
• Find / make gifts for the nannies
• Drop a boat load of stuff off at Goodwill
• Get the crib sold on Craigslist so that it's out of Macy's room
• Make a list of doctor's numbers / locations for Grandma
• Get the kids on my health insurance
• Break out the Amharic cd & book - uh yeah, better late than never I guess

Ethiopia Here We Come!

We're heading to Ethiopia!

After feeling sorry for myself and the kids last week, I finally emailed my social worker on Friday, sounding all pathetic. She told me she'd get an update for us and let us know something by Monday.

I think I checked email every 8 seconds yesterday in anticipation. I knew we wouldn't be getting a travel email, but I was hoping at least for a "the kids are scheduled for their TB tests" email.

Well, lo and behold, the phone rang and social worker was on the other end telling us to pack our bags. Our embassy date is 4/28, so we have to be there by the 26th, but we're actually trying to arrive a few days early to allow for some travel before we pick up the kids.

Is that a light I see at the end of the tunnel?