We are HOME!

We arrived home late Saturday night!! Sam is amazing and is loving being home! I will catch up on the trip tomorrow, but wanted to write a quick note to say that after 2 1/2 days, 4 late flights, one re-route, one overnight stay in Atlanta due to missed flight, and 5 stand-by flights later, we are HOME. We are pretty sure that Sam thought he lived in an airport:). More to come....in the meantime, here are a few pictures:

Tomorrow....

Here we go....
This time tomorrow we will (hopefully) be on our way to Amsterdam....if, of course, traveling on the busiest travel day of the year (and one where people are thinking it wise to question security) doesn't slow us down. Either way, we are on our way! The car is packed and this is the most luggage I have ever, ever traveled with. What an amazing journey to our son. I cannot wait to have him in my arms forever! Bring on the pictures:). Happy Thanksgiving!!!

3 More

T minus 3 days!!!

Here’s the scoop on what our trip will look like:

Day 1 (Wednesday):

·         Fly to Amsterdam

Day 2 (Thursday):

·         Fly the rest of the way and get into Addis late

Day 3 (Friday):

·         Orientation/paperwork

·         Spend some time with S(!!!)

Day 4 (Saturday):

·         Spend the morning with S

·         Drive to Awassa and stay overnight

Day 5 (Sunday):

·         Spend time in Durame, close to where S was born and first went into care

·         Tour Holt medical clinic

·         Head back to Addis

Day 6 (Monday)

·         Spend most of the day with Baby S

·         We may be able to take custody this evening, if not, we take custody Tuesday morning

Day 7 (Tuesday)

·         Take custody (if we weren’t able to take custody on Monday evening)

·         Visa appointment

·         Goodbye ceremony

·         Shopping

Day 8 (Wednesday)

·         Spend the day with S

Day 9 (Thursday)

·         S’s visa should arrive midday

·         Head to the airport (late) and head HOME

I’ll leave you with some pictures of the nursery (couldn't quite get the lighting right):

I can’t wait to sit in that rocking chair with my sweet baby boy!!! So so soon!:)

Six

T minus 6 days until take-off!! We are leaving the day before Turkey Day. We will be arriving in Amsterdam Thanksgiving morning and arriving in Addis late that night. Not sure how likely it is that we will be served Thanksgiving dinner on a flight out of Europe...:). Every year, I play a game, trying to recall the last few Thanksgivings. We have moved around a lot and tend to travel a lot and so this can get a bit tricky....But, I did manage a few years and it's getting easier now that we have achieved 2 years in one place:). So, last year will be best remembered as the day (and thus the Thanksgiving) that we acquired this:

Yep, it was a rainy and cold lovely Kentucky November day and we were coming home from work (I know, I know, but we were working early and getting home early) and we were exiting the highway when B swerved to the right and said he thought he saw a kitten along the exit ramp. Well, it was Thanksgiving...I mean really, who could leave a kitten along the highway?? So we turned around, did a loop on the highway and pulled over. Yep, clearly you've guessed the rest of the story.
The year before that, we were in Whistler. We had just moved to Kentucky a few months before and were treated to some snow:

The year before that, we were in Florida (had recently moved) and went to the beach for the afternoon. (I promise, I'm almost done...) The year before that, we were in New York for my niece's baptism, you get the picture---gets a tad tricky.

This year though, this will not be one of the hazy years where I'm trying to remember where we were living and where we visited....this year, regardless of whether we get European turkey or not, is the year we are going to bring our son home. This is what I am most thankful of this Thanksgiving:

Books

I ordered a few books from Amazon last week and received them today. I have been searching for a good adoption baby book/baby photo album. I have been wanting something that could be the start of S’s life book and also document a lot of the “firsts”:). I had read some really good reviews about this book and figured I’d give it a try: My Family, My Journey: A Baby Book for Adoptive Families.

It is fantastic! It has so many places to document adoption-specific firsts---first time we met, the day of our match, the day you arrived home, the first people you met, the first month home, adoption buddies, etc.

We also got this book: E is for Ethiopia

I love it!

p.s. 9 days!!

T minus 10 days!

10 day until we board a plane to bring home S!!!
Here are some tips/packing suggestions from my experience with the court trip that I wrote down. Not life-shattering, but I was always looking for info before we left so I figured they might help someone:)...

1. Bring a few blankets/burp cloths and baby wipes: We had the opportunity to feed our son several times when we were visiting the care center. You are handed a bib with the bottle (or baby food), but it would have been nice to have some extra clean-up (for you and your child).
2. Bring something for them to play with when you are visiting: We brought two baby teether photo albums. There are toys available, but it's fun to see them interacting with something new and I didn't see many teething options.
3. Ear plugs: The area around the guest house was really noisy (dogs barking, roosters, etc.). This is also really helpful on the plane.
4. Bring some warm things to sleep in: I always get cold, especially at night, and was really glad I brought some warm socks and sweats.
5. Don't wait to buy stuff until you get to the airport: We had some time before our flights and wandered the shops. Most items that we found were double or triple what they were when we went shopping with Holt. We did find some great books about Ethiopia (animals, history, folk tales, etc.) and they were reasonably priced.
6. Make a list of what you want to buy/look for or at least who you are buying for: Our shopping was rushed, not sure how the other groups will be.
7. Bring an extra toothbrush: Both my husband and I dropped ours in the sink on the 2nd day.
8. If you fly through Amsterdam (KLM/Delta) they will not let you take water/drinks through once you get to the security at the gate. There is only a water fountain past the gate-no place to buy more.
9. Measuring tape and pen: You'll meet with the doctor at the care center. We got an updated weight but not an updated height. Also, you may want to take notes on medications that your child may be on (our son has eczema and we wanted to give our pediatrician the name of the rx).
10. Lots of travel tissues: Toilet paper and crying:).
11. It’s not a good idea eat fruits or veggies, so we packed these: http://www.plumorganics.com/for_second_blends.php If you are used to eating a lot of fruits and veggies as we are, this will be a life saver. I will admit, not the tastiest thing out there…but it’s fruit:).
12. Money belt: We travel a lot and so we are used to traveling with a money belt if we are traveling internationally. I would really recommend one because you need to carry so much cash.

These tips are probably most relevant for Holt families on the 1st trip. Feel free to comment if anyone has any questions.

Diapers and Doctors

Please visit this site: Diapers and Doctors
This family is adopting a little boy from Ethiopia and have made shirts to benefit diapers (they will be donating to the care center) and doctors who are providing amazing services in Ethiopia. Please look and consider placing an order (we just ordered ours!!). I just got the great news today that we get to meet this amazing family because we are both traveling for the same embassy date!

Embassy Date!!!

WOOOHOOOO!!! We have an embassy date-November 30th!! We leave here the day before Thanksgiving and get back home with Baby S on December 3rd!! I booked tickets on the way home from work and was grinning ear to ear when we were discussing the lap ticket for S:). Wow, I feel like I can breathe again. What an absolutely amazing Thanksgiving.

On a lighter note...

I have a love affair with Etsy.com. Yep, it started small and now I have about two pages marked as “favorites.” Gotta have a good distraction while I wait to have my little man forever in my arms…:). So, I asked the seller’s permission and here are two of my favorite things. And a small plug---whenever possible buy handmade, buy local, and buy stuff that gives back.

So a little background on the first item….I’ve never been overly fond of owls, but when I found this fabric, I was smitten. I asked for a custom blanket from frank&me and asked for this fabric:

and got this amazing blanket:


And here's a little something for me...(yes, I am trying to claim the blanket is for S:). This seller is raising money for her international adoption(!!). AdoptingAinsley made this necklace for me. The silver disk in the middle says "enat" and the outer copper disk has my son's name (1st name and both middle names).


Don't worry, I have plenty more fun stuff where this came from. On a non-update note, we will NOT be going for the November 16th embassy appointment and I don't think I've ever hoped so much that I will be eating Thanksgiving dinner on a plane:).

Non-update

ughhh.
I have procrastinated again about updating my blog. I am a bad blogger (see 1st post). I have waited in the hope I would have a nugget of news about our embassy date...so I will keep this short and sweet. We were told an average of 8-12 weeks from court to embassy and it will have been 5 weeks on Tuesday, not that I'm counting every single day. Other folks with different agencies who passed court the same day we did are either picking up their kiddos or already home. I know, every process is different (just doesn't help at the end of the day). OK, back to keeping this short....the waiting is different for every PAP/AP. This part of the wait (from court to embassy) is the most gut-wrenching, knock-the-breath-right-out-of-you wait for me. I met my son, held my son, fell completely in love with my son, and had to leave him there and come home and somehow keep getting up in the morning. I miss my son. See, short and sweet as promised.

Day 5

Day 5:
-court
-shopping
-lunch
-say goodbye to Baby S
-packing
-dinner
-airport to fly out
We got going early today. I wore a dress and B had on a dress shirt and tie. I wore a shawl my mother had knit and it was so comforting knowing she was “attending” court with us:). We climbed the several stories of stairs to the waiting room for court. We were a bit out of breath (hoping it was just the altitude and not that I’m out of shape:) and there was a moment of panic when our agency’s lawyer said it was still closed. Well, it ended up being the room we needed to wait in and not court itself. Panic averted. We were the first group of families to have their court date after the closure for rainy season. The waiting was a blur. Finally, we were sitting in the room with the judge, and after just a few minutes and a handful of questions, she said “he is yours.” So amazing. He is ours and we are his. I don’t even know how I walked out of the room, but I quit trying to hold back my tears of joy. After this journey and spending four months of gazing at S’s pictures, it was finally, finally official. I was a momma to the most amazing little boy!!
After court we started a whirlwind tour of shopping. Here’s a brief interlude on my thoughts of shopping, buying “stuff,” and the Ethiopian economy. The birr (Ethiopian currency) has dropped again. The dollar goes really, really far in Ethiopia—too far. It is really sad to me that we can buy so much for so little money, but I found myself loving that we were spending money on handmade items and that Ethiopia would be present in our house and our family’s house. I don’t ever want it to be “S’s culture,” it is our family’s culture and I want it to be visible in so many ways to S. We bought S several things to give him as he gets older too. Back to shopping…we went to a strip of shops by the post office, to a coffee shop (amazing), and to the Leprosy hospital.
And then what I have dreaded writing about….saying goodbye to S. Whoa. He was so happy this afternoon. Poor kid, we took about a million pictures and videos in our short time with him. Yep…I think I’m going to skim over the saying good-bye part. What I will say is how much the nannies in the care center absolutely adore the children; that at least made it possible for me to put one foot in front of the other and walk out of the care center. After we drove away from the care center it was on to a full night of packing, navigating too many airports, and flying back home.

Day 4

Day 4:
-more time with Baby S:)
-lunch
-little shopping because most things were closed because of the holiday
-back to guest house early, then dinner
We came down to breakfast at the guest house to a coffee ceremony in honor of Meskel. It was such a beautiful ceremony. I have to admit that we were pretty antsy by the end because we were supposed to go see Baby S and the coffee wasn’t ready:). It was so kind of the guest house staff to include us and allow us to observe the coffee ceremony. After we drank the best coffee I’ve ever had (seriously. and I drink a lot of coffee), we got to head over and spend the morning with S. A lot of the toddlers were down in the main room this morning and they played down there while we snuggled with Baby S. The children are so loved in the care center. The nannies are wonderful and it was great to watch them interact with all the kiddos. They even busted out the bubbles during playtime which was so fun to watch. S was tired this morning and took a nap on and off in our arms, such a great feeling. He loves to watch everyone so a room full of toddlers was definitely giving sleep a run for its money:). Today was so much harder to let him go; I couldn’t quite get it together when S’s nanny came to put him down for his nap. My arms felt so so empty. I’m not sure if that I didn’t realize our visit was over, so I hadn’t “prepared” myself yet or it was sinking in that tomorrow was goodbye already. We headed to lunch and then stopped at one store to do some shopping (retail therapy). There wasn’t much open today as today was Meskel. The little shop we stopped at had some beautiful Ethiopian wooden crosses.
We went back to the guest house early and gazed at the photos of Baby S. After have only a few photos of him for the last four months, we couldn’t get enough of all the pictures:). After dinner we went to bed early—starting to get nervous about court. On one hand, I was anxious—what if they changed the process after rainy season? What if the courts weren’t open? And on the other hand, I couldn’t wait for it to be over so I could go see my little man and he would officially and forever be our son.

Day 3-1st Trip

Day 3:
-orientation at our agency office
-lunch
-met Baby S(!!!!!)
-attended Meskel celebration with our drivers
-dinner

We had a hot, delicious breakfast, and headed out with our driver first thing to go to our agency’s office. We were one of four families traveling for our court date with our agency. We found out at breakfast that we were all first-time parents! So amazing to be able to share the journey with other families. They had an orientation for us and answered questions. The orientation ended much sooner than they thought and we waited around until it was time for lunch. Can you picture four couples trying desperately to pass the time until they could meet their kiddos:)?! Lunch was delicious, we discovered that Italian food is easier to find than traditional Ethiopian food. On a side note (and insert apology here for disconnected ramblings), I can’t say enough and will probably do a separate post on this, Ethiopia is a beautiful country and we tried to soak in every moment of every new area. We were just in Addis during this trip and can’t wait to see the countryside. Back to lunch, we walked back to the office and then were finally able to drive over to the care center. I couldn’t get my heart to slow as we drove over to the care center…..it was really happening. We arrived at the care center and got settled in the main room. The nannies carried in the kiddos and all I remember was staring at the cutest baby I have ever seen and they announced “Baby S’s family.” I could not stop the tears from streaming down my face as I took him in my arms. Words don’t do justice for this moment, the world stopped for me. My husband and I devoured every moment, every smile, every reach, every gaze. We are in absolute amazement and completely, entirely in love. He is so bright, he loved watching everyone come and go around the care center. The TV was on in the main living room and Ethiopian music and dancing were on, he was captivated by this and would kick his legs as he watched. We were able to spend about 3 hours with him, and honestly, it felt like 10 minutes:). One moment that I don’t want to ever forget is when the head nurse came over to talk with us and said that Baby S resembles B. Cue the tears.

After telling Baby S we’d be back in the morning, we headed to the festival downtown for Meskel. I forgot to mention that the next day (Monday) was a huge holiday in Ethiopia. Meskel is a religious holiday centered around the finding of the true cross in the 4th century. There are bonfires the night before, gathering, singing, dancing, and celebrating. Our drivers took us downtown to Meskel square to see the festivities. It was unbelievable. There were hundreds of thousands of people in the square. It was a beautiful, amazing event. We were so thrilled that we were able to be in country for the holiday.

Day 1 & 2--1st Trip

Day 1:
-left work at 12pm
-flew out at 2:40pm

We flew KLM/Delta through Amsterdam. I was a really easy flight. Only thing that wasn’t great was that you can’t take water on the flight from Amsterdam to Addis.



Day 2:
-still flying
-arrived in Addis at 9:00pm
-checked in at our guest house

As we were flying into Addis, we could see the lights of the city. This might have been the moment where the whole trip became real. Our son was sleeping under this same sky, and he was in this same city now. Amazing. I’m not sure when it hits other APs. It was real when we got our court date, but the trip and finally getting to meet Baby S became more and more surreal the closer it got. We arrived around 9:00pm, and then went through customs and immigration. We got our visa ahead of time and hardly waited at all. We’ve traveled quite a bit, and this may have been one of the easiest international airports I’ve been to. We transferred money right before we went through immigration. There is also another place to transfer money at the baggage claim. We met our agency staff when we left baggage claim. They told us that we were going to be able to meet Baby S the next day!! We had thought that we weren’t going to be able to meet him until Monday—this was definitely the start of many moments of tears for me:). We waited for another family traveling with us and then headed to the guest house. We were told when we arrive that we were staying at a different hotel then we thought. The guest house that we stayed at was wonderful, everyone was so nice. By the time we were unpacking I was dizzy with needing to get sleep. We couldn’t wait for the next day…

Here we go....

Ready for Trip 1? Check.
Packed? Since Saturday, check
Ready to meet and hold Baby S? CHECK
OK, so again, I have dropped the ball on my blog. Oh well, I am now officially back on the blogging horse. Here's a rough itinerary:
Friday-work (boo) 8-12, fly out around 3p
Saturday-still flying, arrive Addis late
Sunday-sightsee, shop
Monday-meet sweet baby boy(!!!)
Tuesday-court, spend time with baby boy, leave out of Addis late
Wednesday-arrive back home

I don't think it has sunk in....I think it felt more "real" when I got the email about a court date. It is too huge. Here we go...

To buy or not to buy...

40 days. 40 days until we leave on a jet plane to finally hold our little boy. 44 days until court. Don’t worry, if you ever find the need to find out how many days until September 24th or September 28th, let me know:). In the meantime we are getting ready for our little one. On one hand, we know this is just the first trip and our agency tells us that it could be 6-12 weeks before our embassy appointment (2nd trip), BUT it could be sooner. We have been getting ready, we have the nursery (minus the rocking chair) done, we have a list of must-haves, and we have been garage saling quite a bit. So, comes the question, to buy or not to buy more clothes….There was a sale at Carter’s this weekend and I put items in my cart, and then would take them out. I walked around Walmart last weekend hold some great onesies, and then put them back. Don’t get me wrong, we have bought some clothes, but now I’m stuck. Our little guy was about 13lbs in July…which, following all my fancy calculations (insert sarcasm), leaves me nowhere. We are guessing maybe he’ll be in 6-12 stuff or 9mo clothes? Maybe. But maybe the scale is off. So, in the meantime I keep pulling things back out of my cart. I can’t help but think that since we are one of the first court dates following the court closure that it could be a short turnaround to the 2nd trip. Oh well, babies are wicked cute in simple white onesies…right??!

Finally

I have meant to start this blog, oh, about 15 times. I’ve even put it on my never-ending “to do” list…so now, with just under 6 weeks (yay!!) until we leave for our court date, it’s moved up to #1. I want a record for S. I want him to know all the crazing ramblings, anticipations, hiccups, and amazing journey we had on our way to him. I’m working on our timeline and I’ll post it, but here’s the short version:
We received a referral for a gorgeous 10-week old baby boy on May 25th. We received a court date of September 28th for our now (almost) 5 month old little man in July. We fly out on September 24th, arrive in Addis on the 25th, and get to finally meet and hold him on the 27th. And now we wait….:).
So, to start this blog out right, I’m posting the recipe for the most delicious cake ever. I am a huge sucker for baked goods. Donuts are usually my first choice, followed very closely by cakes, brownies, pie….you get the idea. While I wait, I bake. Here is my very favorite cake at the moment. If you do try it, be sure to follow the freezing after baking instructions. Amazing.
The Best Banana Cake
Ingredients:
9x13 pan
• 1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/8 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Frosting
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups icing sugar
Directions:
Prep Time: 15 mins Total Time: 1 1/4 hr
1. Preheat oven to 275°.
2. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
3. In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
5. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
7. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
8. Stir in banana mixture.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
10. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.
11. For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
12. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
13. Add icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth.
14. Spread on cooled cake.