We’re together and we’re home! I’m sorry for not posting from Ethiopia but we had Mac/PC issues (why can’t those two just get along?). We arrived home yesterday afternoon to a wonderful entourage of family and friends at the airport – thank you for making our homecoming so special.
Of course, we are exhausted. Right now, I can hear Dagim downstairs, pushing the popper around.
There is too much to say in the few minutes that I have right now but I wanted to post a couple pictures. Our experience in Ethiopia was amazing, overwhelming at times, and life changing. Last night, I really could not believe that Dagim was sleeping in his crib in our house. After staring at photographs of him for months, imagining what he would be like, and what our life together would be, it’s difficult to fully understand that this has actually, finally, happened. What is Dagim like? He’s wonderful. He’s sweet, affectionate, has a great smile, wants everything in sight (especially food!), chubby, smart, active. I could go on and on. I will post more soon, about our trip and getting to know Dagim.
Thanks for all the well wishes as we head off to Ethiopia! I know I’ve already said it, but I still can’t believe the time has finally come. On Monday, we will be holding our son.
I actually enjoyed packing – it was good to have a very specific task to occupy my time. I lost count of how many Ziploc bags I used. Here is our wardrobe for the trip:
I think it’s pretty impressive packing on my part for a 12 day trip but Chris said I shouldn’t pat myself on the back too much, seeing as the guest house maid is said to take care of laundry every day and even irons socks, so we didn’t need to bring a ton of clothes. But still…it was a lot of work getting those clothes in gallon bags. I’m wearing rain boots on the plane (it’s raining every day in Addis) because there was no room in the luggage. Makes for an interesting fashion statement.
We ended up with 3 checked bags, 2 carry-ons and 2 “personal items” (one of which is ridiculously heavy). All of our personal effects are in the blue backpack. The other bags are humanitarian aid and Dagim’s things (who knew a small child needed so much?). Let’s see if Jess can beat that (not that it’s a competition but I get into Amazing Race mentality whenever I travel)! We’ll be sharing the Ayat House with Jess and her husband Chris (and adorable son Cooper!) their first night in Addis, which will be our last. Jess is a fellow New Englander AND – get this – she lives in the town my mother was born in – how weird is that? Safe travels next week, friend!
The flight from DC to Addis Ababa is 16 hours. In flight entertainment will consist of four episodes of Nip/Tuck downloaded from iTunes, Anne of Green Gables (I forgot how much I adore this book), Elle and Vogue (I need to ditch them as soon as possible because they are contributing to the above-mentioned weight issue), Uno, Car Talk Puzzler Deck and my first Sudoku book. I started the first (and easiest) puzzle and it’s entirely possible that I could work on it for the duration of the 16-hour flight and not be finished by the time we land. Oh, I also anticipate tapping Chris on the shoulder repeatedly and asking “Are we there yet?” I’m terrible like that.
We return home as a family of three on Wednesday, Aug. 13th. For those friends and family that would like to meet us at the airport, we’d love to see you and introduce you to Dag. Our arrival information is as follows:
United Airlines flight 7803 from Washington Dulles (IAD) arriving at 2:21 p.m.
See you then!
PS: For all you families with court dates next week: GOOD LUCK! I’m hoping to hear about lots of passes – in particular for my friends Jennifer and Jody!
I can hardly believe that we are leaving for Ethiopia in 24 hours. I’ve followed so many families through their adoption journeys and it always felt like we would never actually get there. Well, here we are. We’ll arrive in Addis Ababa on Sunday evening. On Monday, we will receive placement of our son!
We received our last update on Dagim this week with the above photograph. He’s so cute I could just eat him up! (Note to our social worker: of course, I would never actually eat him.) Gladney’s in-country rep. reports that Dag is “ready to go!” So are we!
I woke up at 5 am this morning, too excited to sleep. Chris was cooking bacon downstairs so I got up and we had breakfast together before he left for work. I can’t quite fully grasp that our childless days are over, that when we come home there will be three of us at the table. By 9am (when I usually roll out of bed) I was exhausted and starving. Today I’ve been packing and re-arranging, trying to make sure we don’t go over the baggage weight limits. It goes something like this: hold bag and step on scale, remove items from bag, put them in another bag, repeat. Hopefully I’ll finish this soon so we can relax for a few hours this evening, our last night in the house without our son. The chances of me sleeping tonight are pretty slim.
We are hoping to post from Addis – at least some photos of the three of us – together at last!
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.
On Friday, it rained referrals for Gladney families! All Gladney Ethiopia Program families received the wonderful news that the hold has been lifted and we’re back on track! Several families saw pictures of their children for the first time on Friday afternoon. What a great day!
First, I want to send a big congratulations to Jennifer and Jody who received a referral for a ridiculously CUTE little boy! Go check out their blog to read all about it.
Grace, our fearless leader in gathering and compiling information, also received a referral for a darling little girl!
And, my fingers (and toes) are still crossed for Jana and Michael – may this coming week bring their joyous news!
On Saturday, I was “showered” by my friends. My dear friend Aubrey hosted a beautiful and tasteful (no plastic babies or storks here!) baby shower for me. Many of my wonderful friends gathered to wish me well and help me prepare for our boy’s arrival. Before we sat down for brunch, everyone went around the room and said how they knew me. I got a bit teary eyed, remembering how long some of these friends have been in my life, and also felt lucky that I had several new friends attend the party. These dear friends have supported me through the ups and downs over the last few years. As I looked around the room, I could barely believe that after nearly three years of trying to create a family, our time was nearly here. Hopefully, in a few weeks we’ll be on our way to Ethiopia to meet our boy. Our son. Our happy ending (and beginning).
I must admit that I did get a bit tipsy at the shower. But, not every mom-to-be can drink as many mimosas as she desires with no ill-effect (other than a post-party headache). Plus, cranberry juice and champagne combine to create a lovely shade of pink which matched my dress perfectly.
I will post pictures from the actual shower as soon as Nicole gets them to me (hint-hint). Until then, the pictures of the cupcakes and my “booty” will have to do. We received lots of truly great presents to get us ready – ranging from very practical (a toothbrush and toothpaste – apparently I’m supposed to brush his teeth twice a day) to indulgent (a Kate Spade picture frame) – a perfect combination! I couldn’t have asked for a better day.
No news to report. We did have a good 4th of July with Jennifer & Jody (thanks guys!). We spent the night at their house and had a great time eating, drinking, talking and playing games. We feel lucky to have such wonderful new friends. Not surprisingly, Jennifer and I spent much of the time speculating about what will happen next and when. When we tired of that, we played with her five little dogs. I was a bit slow to warm up to all of them but by the time we said goodbye in the morning, I knew I would miss the little rascals. Above is Petie, wearing his plaid pants (he was not crazy about them and they came off right after the photo). Doesn’t he look cute? Petie is the love of Jennifer’s life (second to Jody, I’m sure).
So, I’m just trying to keep busy at this point. I made jam for the first time last week. One package of strawberry jam made half a jar. I needed at least two jars (one to keep and one to bring to Jennifer and Jody) so I went to Costco and bought two boxes of apricots. This turned out to be too much. I ended up with a bounty of apricot jam and I still have one box of apricots left (I’ll probably spend some time tonight stirring the fruit on top of the stove). Had I bothered to count the apricots, I would have realized that 50 was too many. If I see you in the next week or two, don’t be surprised if I hand you a jar of apricot jam.
So, where have I been? The truth? Moping. Sulking. Feeling sorry for myself. The delay in our adoption has been really difficult. Last week I spent every day on the sofa, watching season one of Dawson’s Creek (sad, I know). This week, I’m beginning to come out of my funk. How am I doing this? By cooking and eating. Comfort food. If it’s warm and gooey, I want to eat it. Slowly, it is working. Cooking means I can’t sit on the sofa and watch TV, at least for a little while.
Yesterday I bought a new cookbook that is now my all-time favorite (I haven’t actually tried any of the recipes but that’s beside the point). The book is “Apples for Jam” by Tessa Kiros. It’s beautiful, filled with full color photographs, little drawings, wonderful stories of her own childhood and her two daughters. It makes me look forward to the day when my son is in the kitchen, sitting on the counter, helping me stir pancake batter. In the meantime, I can try out some new recipes and dream of the day when we’re a family of three sitting down to dinner.
Anyway, some of my favorite comfort foods are macaroni and cheese, baked beans, warm fruit pies and all kinds of soups. What are yours?
Yesterday was little D’s first birthday. I made a cake to celebrate although it was bittersweet, of course (the feelings, not the cake – it was devil’s food). We wish he was home with us. I’ve been feeling down in light of the delays in Ethiopia but I’m trying to keep my head up and remain optimistic.
Today was our court date – we have been rescheduled for June 9th.
When Chris and I sat down last night to light the birthday candle, we grabbed the camera to take pictures and then we thought it would be nice to get a picture of us AND the cake but without a go-go-gadget arm, this is difficult. At that exact moment (I’m not making this up), our doorbell rang. It was our next-door-neighbor who wanted to see if he could borrow a DVD. In exchange for snapping the above photo, we lent him a few movies and sent him home with some cake.
In other birthday gifts, our camera memory card arrived in the mail from Michele, loaded with 30 new pictures of little D. In my favorite one, he is looking quite seriously at the photo album Michele delivered for us, as if to ask “Are you sure this is them?” A wall cubby that I ordered for the nursery three months ago from Relics arrived (they have absolutely beautiful furniture). And, a big package arrived from my high school friend, Brandi, overflowing with donations to bring to the orphanages when we travel. A huge shout-out and thank you to Brandi, who adopted her son from Ethiopia and changed the course of our life too. Thank you, Brandi!
So, all in all, it was a pretty good day, considering the little boy we hope will soon be our son is halfway around the world without us. Don’t worry, baby, I made a wish for you.
I know all of you are tired of looking at my care package post (at least Jennifer is) but I’ve pretty much been moping around the house, running to my phone every time it rings, and it didn’t seem fair to whine about a court date when so many families are still waiting to see pictures of their beautiful babies. But today the phone rang with the much anticipated news…we have a court date! It’s June 3rd which is one day after his first birthday. I’m hoping a birthday wish does the trick and we pass court on the first try.
In between moping, I’ve been working on preparing his room and will post about that soon — once I stop jumping up and down and doing this weird thing that’s a cross between crying and laughing.
