Still Waiting

It has been a while since I last posted. Unfortunately, we have no new news. We are still waiting for a US Embassy date. Fingers crossed that it happens soon. In the meantime we have been busy with house projects and currently are painting the playroom.

Colorado requires 24 hours of parent training for adoptions. The trainings have been very educational and enjoyable. For our family and friends I thought I would post some information that I found interesting about "Positive Adoption Language":

Positive Language.......... Negative Language
Birth parent..........Real parent
Biological parent..........Natural parent
Parent ..........Adoptive parent
My child ..........Adopted child
Birth child..........Own child
Was adopted.......... Is adopted
Terminate parental rights.......... Give up
Child placed for adoption.......... An unwanted child
Make an adoption plan.......... Give away
Waiting child..........Adoptable child; available child
Intercountry adoption.......... Foreign adoption
Child from abroad.......... Foreign child
Court termination.......... Child taken away
Child with special needs.......... Handicapped child
Born to unmarried parents.......... Illegitimate child

One more step...

We are one more step closer to bringing M. and S. home!! We found out today that the kids' paperwork passed Ethiopian Court so now we just wait for that US Embassy Date which should be in the next 6-8 weeks!

I keep thinking that before we know it the four of us (plus Tucker) will be snuggling in front of that fire on those cold Colorado days!!

Back from Ethiopia

We arrived home Tuesday night after 34 hours of traveling and are finally coming out of the fog of jet lag. It was an emotional and amazing week! We met the kids on Tuesday, November 9th. S. (our son) ran up to me when we got out of the taxi. (The nanny at the orphanage told him that we were coming and didn't realize that M. was our daughter too). Once M. was told, she came over to us and hugged us. They are both so sweet and after a week with them (we were able to spend 2 hours a day at the orphanage) their personalities started to show. S. is very "happy go lucky", energetic and outgoing. He loves to play with his friends and with us. He would frequently run off to play with his friends then a while later come running back to us with his arms wide open to be picked up (it was amazing!) The kid has unbelievable eye hand/eye foot coordination and loves balls. M. is the more quiet, shy one and a little slow to warm up. She likes to sit on your lap and snuggle (it is so sweet). She is also a bit stubborn and likes to do things in her own time and way. She has an amazing smile and the most beautiful face. They both seem to understand that they are now brother and sister and have enjoyed playing together with us.

On Friday, November 12th, we passed the Ethiopian court and are officially S. and M.'s parents!! The judge was a beautiful, soft spoken Ethiopian woman who asked us a few simple questions and the whole thing was over in about two minutes. Later that day, we met S. and M.'s biological families. While this was difficult and very emotional, we are very happy that we had the opportunity to meet and learn about their families. We have decided that we are only going to share their stories with them (when they are older) and they can decide who they would like to share it with.

So the next step is more waiting (imagine that!). We will return to Ethiopia for our US Embassy date (which will hopefully be by January). At that point we (hopefully) will be given visas and passports for both kids and we can finally bring them home!

Leaving them was tough but at the same time I felt like the sooner we left, the sooner we can see them again and bring them home! When we left S. hugged us and then ran off to his friends; M. hugged us and wouldn't let go. We made a picture collage of the four of us (and Tucker) and taped it to the wall near their beds and also left a blanket for each of them. We hope that they find some comfort in this. Until then we have a lot of house projects to do to get ready for them. Hopefully the time will go fast since it is the holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!! We surely have a lot to be thankful for this year:D

Always Adoption

Back in 2001, I had an amazing opportunity to volunteer for a month in a Romanian orphanage and children's hospital. At the time, Romania was moving towards getting the children out of orphanages and into foster care homes. I was responsible for training foster care families and orphanage staff on issues relative to occupational therapy such as feeding, sensory integration and childhood development. I also had time to spend time with the children and in some cases, provided occupational therapy services (there is no such thing as occupational therapy in Romania). The staff was amazing, and on the whole, more than willing to learn anything they could to improve the quality of life for these children. They truly cared about the children but there was only so much that they could do when only there eight hours a day.

I can remember spending time in the infant rooms. The children were often fed with their bottles propped on blankets. They missed out on the bonding and socialization that happens when one is fed by a caregiver. When holding the infants, it felt like they couldn't get comfortable in my arms, as if they didn't know how to snuggle. Never once did a baby fall asleep while I was holding or rocking them. They were so used to calming and putting themselves to sleep that they couldn't do it with another person's touch. The older children craved attention from adults, one as adorable as the next, yet they lacked play and social skills that children raised in a loving home have. Being in Romania was hard and leaving Romania was hard...how could I find the balance to leave an impact in a mere month and emotionally separate myself so as not to get too attached?

I returned home with the resolve to adopt one day. There are so many children in the world without a loving family to come home to, a bed to sleep in, toys to play with, and food to fill their bellies. My Romanian experience helped me to realize that adoption was how I wanted to become a mother. At the time, Steve and I were dating. He was more than supportive of me when I decided to go to Romania for a month. And when I returned, he considered and then shared in my desire of adoption being part of our way to have a family.

So for us it has always been adoption...it is our choice, our dream come true, our way of becoming the parents we have always wanted to be.

It's Really Happening!

Sometimes I have to pause and think "this is really happening!". I don't think it will sink in until we arrive at the orphanage and meet our kiddos!! We've decided to keep their Ethiopian names as these were given to them by their birth parents and this will be a connection they will always have with their families in Ethiopia. They will have the middle names Thomas (after my father) and Rose (after Steve's mother). We still can't post their names until after the court date....stay tuned!
We booked our flights and our accommodations in Ethiopia. We are leaving November 5th for home to spend the weekend with our family then depart Philadelphia November 7th for Ethiopia! We have a (few hour) layover in Frankfurt and arrive in Addis Ababa Monday night, November 8th. We will be able to visit "Thomas" and "Rose" Tuesday and can spend 2 hours a day at the orphanage. Our court date is Friday, November 12th. We decided to stay in a guest home as we would like to experience Ethiopia and it's culture as much as possible and feel a hotel might not give us the full experience. So, that is three weeks from today! Wow! It's really going to happen!! We are going to meet "Thomas" and "Rose" in less than a month!

AMAZING NEWS!!!

We have a court date!!!!! It will be November 12th (or possibly the 15th) but either way we are going to Ethiopia to meet our kids in five weeks!!! AMAZING!!!

It's been awhile

It has been a long time since my last post and so much has happened. We were home (back east) at the end of August to visit family and friends, share our news and to celebrate my birthday. We are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends...our kids are already so loved by many people who can't wait to meet them! Soon after we returned, my Mom and (Joe) Dad came for a visit. Let's just say their visit wasn't a "vacation" for them...they worked so hard to help us get the kids rooms ready. Our little guy's room is blue with an earth/space theme ceiling fan and our little girl's room is pink (I couldn't help it!) with a pastel multicolored fan. Getting the rooms painted makes this all seem more real and more exciting!

The Ethiopian courts were closed for several weeks and just reopened on September 28th. So now our "wait take two" begins as we wait for our court date. We've been told that there are families in our agency that have been waiting several months for a court date so we are realistic in thinking that we won't be given one for a few months....but certainly would welcome one sooner!