Nesting

We are preparing for Abinet's imminent arrival. It is so exciting! We received his birth certificate about a week and a half after he passed court. Then last week we found out about our new travel date (for more info, contact us directly). All of a sudden everything in our process is speeding up!

Some of you might not have heard that I had to have surgery on April 27. I was having a string of medical tests because of a low iron level, and one of the tests went awry (sort of). Let's just say I had a tiny camera stuck inside of me for a month, and the surgery took care of that. I am healing quickly and ready to approach this new frontier called motherhood!

On May 9 we also celebrated my first Mother's Day! It was so wonderful to receive a necklace and mug with photos of our son on them.

So much love and support is surrounding us as we prepare for Abinet's homecoming. This Wednesday evening a number of friends are stopping by to help us move furniture around, figure out where to put toys, childproof the house, etc. We are being showered from all directions, and we are going to have one well-dressed child! I will try to add photos soon.

We passed court today!

Hi everyone! We are excited to announce that we passed court today. We are his, and he is ours. This means that we are now allowed to post pictures! Kevin & Julie

Social Report!

We received A's social report yesterday. It was wonderful to read about his interactions with the children and nannies at the care center. We also have a dozen or so wonderful photos of him. He already looks so much older than he did in his initial referral photos, even though it's only been two months since he arrived. His hair is starting to grow and it has beautiful loose curls. He looks like he's a little guy, and they did *not* include any measurements, so we have no idea what size clothes he'll be wearing. Our friends have a son about the same size, and he mainly wears one-piece 18 month old outfits and an occasional 12 month old pair of pants. Even though A will be two in August, it might be awhile before he's in 24-month clothes. We plan to get him some big blocks and some crayons, since he's playing with those in his photos. He's so adorable. You're all going to love this kid. I can't wait to meet him.

More updates!

We found out today that the agency now expects that families will be traveling 5 weeks after they pass court! That is SOON! Our tentative court date is April 28, 2010. Assuming we don't get "bumped" to a new date, that would mean traveling to Ethiopia in early June. It is thrilling to think of having A home so soon and spending the summer with him!

On another note, thank you to everyone who helped us prepare our care package for A. I checked in today and it hasn't actually gone to Ethiopia yet, but should be traveling with one of the Minnesota families who is going over to pick up their child.

Edited to Add (ETA): The travel-for-court rule doesn't go into effect until May, so we're just under the wire and will only need to travel to pick up A, experience Ethiopia, and bring him home. After everything else in our adoption process moving so slowly, we are amazed that this part is moving so quickly!

Update on travel timeline

We listened to our agency's latest "webinar" tonight and learned that we can expect the following timeline:
-Court date 3-6 weeks after referral (That would be anytime in April for us.)
-Travel 4-5 months after referral (That's July or August!)
As usual, nothing is ever set in stone or highly predictable in the adoption process, but we were excited to hear that these time lines are shorter than what our specialist told us last week (6-8 wks till court, 6 months till embassy date).
They also said that it sounds like the new rule about families traveling twice might be postponed for the moment. We had heard rumors that it was supposed to go into effect April 9, but the court staff in Ethiopia still hasn't met to discuss logistics, so our agency's Ethiopia Program director doesn't see how it could happen that quickly. Nonetheless we're poised to travel if it does suddenly go into effect. We'll keep you posted.

Books to familiarize children with adoption

We've been asking around, and the following books keep coming up as good books for you to read to your kids (adopted or biological) so when suddenly K & I have a son they'll sort of know how that happened.
Over the Moon by Karen Katz
A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza
Owen and Mzee by Isabella Hatkoff (our favorite!)
The Family Book by Todd Parr
Motherbridge of Love by Xinran and Josee Massee
We Belong Together by Todd Parr

Updates on the court - travel situation

Our agency has no news for us yet on whether we'll be traveling for A's court date, but I found another agency that updates its clients on the latest rumors. We'll all ingest this info with a grain of salt, but enjoy the flavor of having something to nibble on till we get more news. http://www.bethany.org/blogs/ethiopiablog.nsf Once you click that link, scroll down to see the posts on the court situation.