We got us a court date!

We are in hyper-insanity mode right now as we are frantically making plans, but wanted to take a quick break to share the news!

All has been going accordingly with the courts this week - which means that she has been officially made a ward of the state, or a recognizable orphan, or whatever they call it. Today we got word that our court date is on June 14th! We hope to be leaving on the 7th or 8th. Husband and Travel Agent are madly looking at all ticket scenarios (that won't break the bank) as I type this.

**UPDATE: Most tickets were sold out, or were a million dollars, but managed to get one on the 6th that did not totally bust us. It is a direct flight from DC .... meaning we will be in the air for 13 hours straight! This thought puts me in hyper-freak mode.

Holy cow - this is really happening! 

Happy Mother's Day!

I want to wish all of my dynamic, amazing, rockin' mothers out there the happiest of days!

Each day, I feel so grateful for the gifts of my life - mainly my sweet son. Being a mother to him has far exceeded my wildest expectations and dreams. Somehow he just gets it on Mother's Day - meaning he is on his best behavior. He's not demanding nor a rascally pest, rather just doting and loving. It is a much appreciated day when I can just sit back, be loved on, and take some time to think about how amazing my life is being his mom.

Of course, I am also thinking about little Y. I've heard that she is an active, playful, 27 pound firecracker. What is she doing right now? Is she jumping, laughing, hugging, crying? I have to remind myself that I won't officially be her mom until she lands on US soil, but as my son put it this morning, "Mom, even if maybe-baby-sister does not ever get to come home to us, she is always going to be a sister in our hearts". I agree with him completely.

I used to read about adopted mothers' feelings toward their child's birth mother, but I could not really understand the magnitude of that feeling until I saw her picture for the first time. Somewhere out there, there is a mother that needed to give up her child for reasons that I am assuming are circumstance beyond her control. Maybe she could not feed her, maybe she is sick, or maybe she has a new husband that does not want former baggage. Regardless, I feel certain that 6 months ago, this mother was the bravest person in the world and her heart hurts beyond imagine for what has happened.

We anticipate the chance that we will get to meet her. We will learn her story and the story of how Y came to us. We will lock that story up in our hearts, and being attune to Y's needs, share with her when she is ready to hear it. When I meet Y's mother, I want to grieve with her. I want her to know that I will always honor the sacrifice that she made so that I could mother her child. I want her to know that her life will always be honored in our lives. I want her to know that she is always #1 mother and that I will always be #2 mother, and I am very much at peace with that.

We got us a court date!!!

Woot Wootin' Willy!

Three cheers for Atu Teklo for working so hard to get the courts to move Y's family member's court hearing from July up to May 28th! As in the very month that we are in right now! Like in 22 days!

What does this mean for us? That means that we will most likely be on a plane in 1 month to meet and adopt our daughter! As in the very next month from this one! As in 30 days from now!

                                                              ........ GULP .......  

In layman's terms, a family member or "finder" gets a court date and then the adopting family's court date (that would be us) is typically scheduled 10 days after. In adoption lingo, an emphasis is always placed on "typically" because even though that is the norm, it all is just crazy unpredictable. Because of this, the really sucky thing is that we will not be able to book our tickets until the family member goes through court and we officially have ours assigned. Before we have our court date, we will have to fly to Addis Ababa then up north to Mekelle to spend some time with our sweet little Y, then fly back down to Addis for court.

To have all of this sequence just right, this essentially means that we get a court date then pretty much need to be landing in Addis 6 days later.  Six days! As in, 1..2..3..4..5..6! Ummm... has anyone priced last minute tickets to Ethiopia lately? Because I have not and I am scared. Very scared.

But holy hell  - it will be so worth it!!!!

(clarification: we will actually not be able to bring her home this trip, rather we will have to come home to the states without her for a short time while embassy does it's thing, then we'll fly back "typically" in a time frame of 6-8 weeks. BUT, this first trip is the most significant by far, as the adoption will take actually take place.)

I will keep the updates rolling as they come!