Ready.

In 72 hours, we will be on our way to Addis Ababa to meet our son for the first time. The enormity of this comes in waves, causing me to alternate between fits of crying and bouts of complete panic. In between the waves of emotion, I am able to take care of the practical preparations of our trip and homecoming. Sadly, any kind of day-to-day living practicalities are beyond my capabilities at this point. There are zero groceries in the house and we’ve been eating fast food every night (gross). I had bought a box of Cheerios to pack for Dagim; this morning I finished off the box because I’ve been eating them for breakfast and lunch (hopefully this is no indication of my mothering skills).

I thought I would use this post for some random photographs since I figure once we are with Dagim, the interest in photographs of me opening presents will be pretty low.

BABY SHOWER:

This is the only picture where I don’t have a strange expression on my face, staring at some form of baby gear, trying to figure out what it does or where it goes. A frame I know what to do with!

This is my dear friend Steven (he was a “bridesman” at my wedding), who was brave enough to go where most men don’t go: a baby shower.

The picture on the left is my friend Nicole and me (please note my fabulous shoes). The picture on the right is my friend Aubrey (the hostess with the mostess – thank you for a fab shower!) and me (again). To my friends that are not pictured here, please don’t take it personally, as it all came down to whether or not I looked alright in the picture with you. So you could have looked absolutely fabulous but if I looked like I had a double-chin, it was a no-go.

THE NURSERY:

I made the curtains myself (thanks to a sewing class at JoAnn’s called “You Can Do It: Curtains”) and I purchased the changing table for $20 in a very shady part of town and painted and distressed it. Note to amateur bargain shoppers: always ask if the home is smoke free. Ridding the changer of the smell took weeks of fresh air, scrubbing and a coat of Kilz.

The picture to the right of the crib is a map of Africa from the 1800s. Ethiopia is about half of the continent on this map!

HAND-ME-DOWNS ROCK:

Thank you so much to our friends and family who have generously provided us with hand-me-downs. Chris and I are both only children so we figured that we wouldn’t be the recipients of this time-honored tradition. Thank you to Chris’s cousin Kara for the car seats and the toys and books (his library is off to a great start!) (and to Aunt Millie and Uncle Jack for delivering these gifts), to Gretchen for the clothes and bottles and to Nicole for giving me all of this today:

I know it was hard for Preston (her 3-year old son) to part with some of these things (even if he hadn’t seen them in awhile). He’s such a big boy to be so generous!

So, I guess this is all my long-winded way of saying that we are ready. Thanks to the support and love from our family and friends we are ready to go get our son.