Baby Shower Time

Today I had to update my fingerprints with the Immigration ofc.(a bureaucratic ordeal that lasted well over three hours!) and in the afternoon I attended my first baby shower. I have attended and helped to host about a million baby showers in my life, but this time I was finally one of the honorees! The school's social committee hosted a baby shower in honor of four of us. I told E., who is due in March, we should have had a wager on whose child comes first. Since the others are visibly with child, I wore a shirt that read...PREGNANT WITH LOVE FOR MY CHILD IN ETHIOPIA.

My teammates, the dream team, had fun celebrating with me! A special thanks to S. who never stays late at school. (She stayed just for me :-) Now we are all just waiting for that travel call so they can meet baby Seth in person!!!

What Color Is Your Brain?

As usual I have tons to do, but instead of doing what I need to do I am once again goofing around on the computer. I was reading another adoptive parent's blog and saw this personality quiz. Supposedly I am a blue brain. I don't know if I 100% agree with this but feel free to try it out yourself. Hmmm but maybe that's why I can't get anything done...I'm too busy thinking about things.

Your Brain is Blue

Of all the brain types, yours is the most mellow. You tend to be in a meditative state most of the time. You don't try to think away your troubles. Your thoughts are realistic, fresh, and honest. You truly see things as how they are. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about your friends, your surroundings, and your life.

What Color Is Your Brain?

Nursery Under Construction

H. used to be in the Army and served in several artillery battalions. My daddy was also an artillery officer many, many years ago. For this reason, I know that during times of battle it is necessary to call in the "big guns". So my parents (the big guns)are here this weekend to lend a hand at getting Seth's room together. We emptied the bookshelves and put up the border. Well, at least that is a start.

One Step Closer

Although we received our adoption referral on November 21,2007 the Ethiopian courts had to officially approve our adoption. The case was heard on January 17, 2008 and we received a call on January 18 that the Ethiopian government has officially approved us to be the parents of Geremu Assefa.
Since we are offically through court I can now post his picture.
Introducing....Geremu
The first picture was the one we received at referral on November 21, 2007. The next one was received in December and the last one was received this month.
It saddens us that he has grown so much and we were unable to see him develop but we are very thankful that he has remained healthy.
When the agency let us know that we were approved by the courts they outlined the next steps in the process.
1. When the decision is granted, the written court order is drafted and is usually issued within a week.
2. Once the court order is issued, a letter of support is requested and received from the Ministry of Women's Affairs office (approximately 1-2 weeks after decision).
3. Once the MOWA letter is received, the birth certificate is issued-this usually takes 3-5 business days.
4. When the birth certificate is issued, the agency will receive a scanned copy of it and will verify that the information is correct. At that point, the agency will advise us of a travel date-approximately 3 weeks advance notice. The agency will advise Ethiopia staff that the birth certificate information is correct and they will proceed to obtain the child’s Ethiopian passport, Embassy medical exam and will prepare the final paperwork to submit to the Embassy for interview appointment.

So if everything goes as planned we should be traveling to Ethiopia in about 6 weeks. Oh boy! So much to do!

Bridge to Ethiopia

Our son is from a country rich in tradition and culture. Today we attended a function at the Ethiopian Community Center in Washington, DC. An adoptive parent contacted the center to see if a partnership could be forged between the Ethiopian adoption community and Ethiopians in the area, hence the name of the group is Bridge to Ethiopia. An Ethiopian explained that many of their children are the first generation to be born in the United States so they too want to make sure their children learn many of the traditions of the culture. Students of Ethiopian descent performed traditional dances and the components of the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony were on display. We tasted the kolo (roasted barley) that was passed around in a traditional basket and H. liked it so much they gave him the rest of the bag after the performance was over! Since Gerumu is not legally our son yet we can not post his picture on our website, we can however, share it with those we see. So of course whenever someone asked if we had received our referral I quickly pulled his picture out of my wallet. Just like a proud Mom! (smile) Most people are amazed at the fact that he looks like a member of our family from birth. After seeing his picture, an Ethiopian man at the gathering asked how we were matched with him...all we could say was... it was God!