Today's the day!

Off I go, into the wild blue yonder....
A few last minute changes to my guest house which means I will not be going down to Awassa to visit baby. Now she will be with me in Addis, I can see her every day! Yeah!!!
I can't wait to share her photo with all. A few more days. :)

2 DAYS!!!!

I can't believe it and I can't wait!

Denial and ecstatic feelings have been replaced by a serious case of the nerves. I'm nauseous, having insomnia, and really scared my guest house driver will not be at the Ethiopian airport to pick me up. Breathe, Breathe, Breathe. Whew, I feel better already. Seriously though, two days!

Time is flying by - leaving in 25 days!

30 days until court, 25 until I leave. Since I've had a court date, time has been flying by. I think because it is something concrete I can take action on. Packing, buying supplies and donations, as well as reading travel books and making lists of things I want to bring back from Ethiopia. This is a lot more fun then wondering when it will happen. Of course, I will have to go through this all over again when I'm back home waiting for my embassy date. But for now, I'm enjoying it.

Ticket purchased - Ethiopia here I come!

One more step in the process completed and it feels so real now. It's good to know the ticket is purchased and I can focus on all the small details of travel now. Like what to pack and where to stay and what to do during long layovers.

Ethiopian wins Honolulu Marathon women's group

Sunday, 12/12/10, Belainesh Gebre won the Honolulu Marathon. She was the first African woman to win the Honolulu Marathon.  I was able to meet her and get her autographed picture for baby's book yesterday. A very gracious woman who will hopefully inspire my daughter someday that she can set goals and attain them.

Court Date Assigned

Finally a date in February 2011!  It is two months away, two months longer than originally thought, but nonetheless, a court date. Apparently there is a backlog of court appointments so everyone has to wait longer. Baby will then come home probably in April.

What is sad about these delays is it hurts our kids to have them stay in an orphanage longer. That's two more months of delay in getting medical care, physical therapy, learned orphanage survival behavior, malnutrition, not to mention one-on-one love that an orphanage cannot provide.

The positive is that I have a concrete date I can count down to.

Feeling Tortured

Maybe I am prone to overdramatizing, but this waiting is getting really tortuously old. It seriously makes me upset that my baby is still in an orphanage. I want to shower her with loving attention and make sure she is getting proper medical care. I pray for patience as I worry about her emotional and physical health. I know God is taking care of her and I'm sure the nannies are loving on her, but this is hard.
There is little control in international adoption while I wait on getting a court date, it's strictly up to the Ethiopian courts when they can assign a court date. Luckily baby has no idea that her living situation will change, so I take comfort that she doesn't feel the same stress as I. And so, the waiting goes on.......