Well heaven forbid I say "we're close". I mean, I do know how to jinx myself and that would be the way to do it.

So... to recap, in case you haven't been following along: 5 families got referrals on the same day, us included. 3 passed court on 3/4. Us and one other family were delayed by a day because both of the birthmom's didn't bring the appropriate paperwork to court that day.

I assume the 3 families who passed that day had their kids' paperwork submitted so that they could get birth certificates, passports, TB tests and, finally, their embassy dates. I also assume that our paperwork was submitted just a few days later.

The other 3 families' kids were taken for TB tests last week, but we were told that our kids were still waiting for birth certificates.

So far, one family was assigned an embassy date of 4/16. Great! But then another wasn't given an embassy date until 4/28 (each agency is only allowed to have embassy appts every other week). So I can only conclude that the *earliest* our embassy date will be is 5/12. If not later.

Wait, let me just say our embassy date will be late May. Maybe I can jinx myself into an earlier date.

MAY!

You know, honestly, that's fine timing for us - if it was only us I was worried about. It will be after the work conference that I have in NYC in early May (I was worried I'd have to leave our new kids at home with Dad for 3 days.). It will be after my parents visit us. Marc will almost be done with school for the summer, so we won't have to hire a nanny to be here during the day.

But it's not fine for the kids. You know, the ones in the orphanage? The ones who are going to see all their friends get picked up by their new parents. The ones who need a mommy and daddy to give them some lovin'.

Sigh.

Birth certificates and passports and TB tests oh my!

Small (non)update... Our rep in Ethiopia is waiting on the birth certificates for the kids. Once we get those, we can get passports, then we can get them scheduled for the (newly mandatory) TB tests. Once the tests come back fine (see how I'm being positive there?) then we can get our embassy appointment.

Of the 5 families that passed court on the same day, three have already been through most of that chain of events (still waiting on embassy appts). Because our court approval was delayed slightly due to missing paperwork, I can only assume that our paperwork wasn't turned in at the same time as the other families, which is why we are a little behind them.

Not a huge deal though. We know that we are very close now. And the timing will actually allow us to be here for my parents visit next week. They planned a trip to see us months and months ago, before our referral. We didn't even expect a referral by April, never mind traveling then, so we've been a little worried that we would be gone at the same time they are here. Now it looks as if we'll probably be leaving after their trip. So, as they say, "Everything happens for a reason."

Nothing and Everything

Nothing is what I seem to be getting done. Everything is what I have left to do.

I found out that the kids (all 7 being adopted by 5 different BCS families) were moved from the orphanage in Awassa up to a transition house in Addis Ababa, where they will stay until we come to get them. A representative said that "all of the children are doing well".

I got my typhoid medicine last week. I chose to take the oral (4 pills) that lasts for 5 years. Marc is getting the shot, which lasts for 2 years. The pills have wiped me out - I've been so tired the past few days.

Marc is on Spring Break this week. He and Uncle Paul are finishing up the greenhouse they're building. Then hopefully I'll get Marc to finish the playroom and paint Macy's room. And I'll start packing our suitcases.

Somehow I feel like I have a million things to do, but I guess it's not all that much.

Donations & Preparations

I'm really starting to get anxious now. Have I already said that? Well, I am.

I packed up our donations today. We're bringing them in those big plastic tubs (or "tubbaware" as Marc calls it) and will leave the whole kit & kaboodle there. One box is about half full now - toys, markers, crayons, scissors, pencil cases, hair do-dads, socks, a few pair of Crocs, etc.

The second is about three quarters full of clothing - half for bigger boys, half little girls...mostly stuff we've picked up on clearance over the past year.

I'm trying to restrain myself and not go packing our suitcases yet. We'll see how long that lasts!

Making a list, checking it twice....

Despite my desire to pull my suitcase out, pack, and go sit at the airport for the next few weeks, I am trying to keep sane and in control. Not easy.

We still have a few things we need to get done here, which will hopefully keep me occupied.

1. Change Macy's room from a guest room into a little girl's room. It doesn't need much other than some paint, her new bedspread, and a few other items moved around.

2. Make room for Felix in the boys' room. Fletcher pretty much rules the closet and dresser, so we'll need to scale his stuff back a bit. I have no idea what size Felix will be, so we have boxes of Fletcher's old clothes sitting here waiting to be tried on.

3. Paint and organize the play room. That's actually a big task. It's currently used for the storage/exercise/catch-all room, so there's lots of rearranging to be done.

I guess that's enough to keep me busy. I'll try to get some photos up when the rooms are ready.

First Time Mom v. Second Time Mom

I have to laugh at myself. Well, I do that a lot, but this time it was at the difference in me as a first time mom v. me as a second (and third) time mom.

For my first child, I had everything. Cloth diapers and disposable diapers, little baby washcloths, lotions and soaps and diaper rash creams and ointments, medicines for everything under the sun. Clothes coming out of our ears, toys bursting from every closet. An exersaucer, a playmat, a bouncer, a swing, a jumparoo, a glider and more.

When my mom called on Friday to see what we still needed for the new kids I had to think. We are getting 2 carseats from local families off of Freecycle. Felix will have Fletcher's hand-me-down clothes, and we already bought a few clothes for Macy. "Well...." I said, "We have carseats, clothes and food. I guess that's all we need!"

Fletch has more than enough toys for himself and his sister. The baby can play with the toys we have in storage that belonged to Fletch when he was a baby. They both have beds. What more could we need? Sure, there are some odds and ends I need to pick up - hair care products specifically for African hair, toothbrushes, and things like that. But for the most part, I'm feeling much more relaxed about adding these two new children to our family that I felt bringing the first one into it.

We passed!

I'm kind of confused as to how everything worked out, but I got an email this morning saying that the case that had been delayed, has now been approved.

Excuse me while I go freak out about all the things we still have to do.....