Yes, I'm Officially Counting Down

Only 13 more days before we fly away!!!

I finally ordered the nursery furniture and the crib and diapering dresser have arrived. Dave assembled the dresser yesterday and I pulled the cloth diapers out of the Rubbermaid container refolded them for a little bottom and put them away. I also went through the sock and shoe container and pulled out the socks that I think will fit her. Most of them are already packed for our trip, but it was fun seeing all those little socks in the drawer. I was then able to empty the drawer out of Lili's dresser that has been housing the crib sheets and blankets and they are now resting comfortably in their new home in Naomi's dresser.

Today the crib will be assembled and the 2nd dresser should arrive this week and be ready for assembly next weekend.

I will post pictures once everything is together and set up in Naomi's room.

Two Weeks from Today

We'll be boarding a plane
Flying here

To bring this little beauty home.
Oh Happy Day!!!!

The Congo

My friend Megan just returned home from the Democratic Republic of Congo with her new son Miles. She has written a very sad and touching blog post about her visit to one of the orphanages there. Please take a moment to read this post.

Now Playing

Now, for the show you've all been waiting for . . . . .

The Doctor Doctor Dance

Sung by MoZella and Lili Weeks

Choreography by Lili Weeks

I hope you can forgive the sofa cushions in the background. The cushion covers were in the washer, but I just had to capture this dance on video. When the opportunity presents itself, you have to just go for it no matter how the house looks :-)

Counting Down

After doing some research I discovered it would be less expensive for us to spend the night at one of the hotels near the airport that offers free parking with an overnight stay. This should save us about $50 in parking charges and it also means that we'll have the luxury of a more relaxed morning instead of getting up very early to make the drive to Chicago for our late morning flight. So in 18 days we'll be loading the van with all our luggage and heading up to Chicago.

In 19 days we'll be flying from Chicago to Washington D.C. where we will board a flight to Addis Ababa via Rome.

In 20 days we'll touch down in Addis Ababa and make our way to the Ethiopia Guest Home where we'll likely get very little sleep due to the time difference and excitement.

In 21 days we will be sitting in a little family visiting room where Naomi will be placed in our arms. We'll finally get to see, touch and feel the baby girl that we've only known through pictures and medical reports.

Also, in 21 days we'll be away from the cold and snow of Central IL and basking in the warmth of Ethiopia.

For those waiting to view the 'Doctor Doctor' video, I'm sorry to say you'll have to wait a little longer. The cable needed to copy the video from the camera to the computer is at Dave's office and will hopefully make it's way home tonight. Stay tuned!

Coming Soon

To a blog near you . . . .

The Doctor Doctor dance.

Rated C for Cute!

CWA Response

Because CWA has issued a response to the recent CBS report, I am posting it here. I'll leave it up to the readers to come to their own conclusions about this situation.

CBS Reports

While I'm never happy to read or hear negative stories about adoption, the unfortunate truth is that it's not all positive.

A few months ago an Australian journalist did a story called "Fly Away Children." I did a blog post about this story and you can read it here. The story primarily focused on one agency and a short time later JCICS representatives went to Ethiopia to conduct their own investigation. They didn't just investigate this one agency, but several agencies. Fortunately and unfortunately, they found that only one agency was not following appropriate practices in Ethiopia adoptions. I can't say that I found this surprising, but it's disappointing that further investigation confirmed that the agency was not in compliance.

Another outcome of the investigations was changes at the U.S. Embassy which was the cause of our Embassy appointment delays. Also expected was American news investigations and reports. CBS came out with their report which can be seen here.

The attorney for the agency in question responded to the story and for those who are interested, it can be viewed at the following links:

Response - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8

Again, while I'm not at all happy to read or hear negative reports, I also think it's important to be aware of what is going on and for adoptive families to do their part in helping keep adoptions ethical and transparent.

Lili Update

What can I say about Lili? She's funny, stubborn, beautiful, smart, independent, curious and entertaining. Here are some of the newer things she is saying and doing these days.

• She loves to sing and dance. She is getting better at singing the alphabet song, enjoys singing "Jingle Bells" and "Pants on the Ground." Yes, she sings "Pants on the Ground." Come on, who doesn't sing "Pants on the Ground."
• Opening up conversation about things in the future only opens the door to OCD. One morning I brought up the subject of her going to pre-school next year. That turned into daily conversations about "My cool (school)" and "I cited (excited) about my cool (school)" which turned into pointing to the neighbor's garage and telling us that was her school. Not sure where that one came from. Talking about getting on an airplane and going to get Naomi was a daily conversation and came up multiple times during the day. The latest has been discussion about going to Farm Park. Farm Park is exactly what it sounds like - a park full of farm animals. It is about 1/2 an hour from our house and we've been there a couple times with friends. Lili wants to go to Farm Park and I had to explain to her that we can't go to Farm Park until the snow melts, after Naomi comes home and the weather gets warmer. Almost every morning the first thing she tells me is that we will go to Farm Park when the snow is gone. She typically tells me 2 or 3 more times during the day. Basically, we have daily conversations now about her school, going to pick up Naomi and Farm Park.
• I introduced Lili to a couple games recently. Unfortunately, the concept of taking turns when playing games is beyond understanding at times, but there is a glimmer of hope that she'll not only be good at playing games, but will also enjoy them.
• Coloring, play-doh, and puzzles are still very much favorite activities, but a new favorite has joined the line-up. Lego's! And not the big Duplo type Lego's, but the little Lego's. That is going to be a bit of a challenge with Naomi comes home, but we'll work it out.
• Lili still loves books and has graduated to wanting to read her books to us. It's so, so, so cute and I really need to get it on video.
• A few weeks ago Lili started telling us things like, "Lili's tummy loves milk." She'll go through all the food items she's eating at the time and tell us, "Lili's tummy loves _____."
• Helping mommy is a lot of fun. She loves to take clothes from the washer and put them in the dryer or hand me clothes from the dryer to fold. Dusting is probably her favorite chore though and she gets upset if she doesn't have her own dust cloth. Now, if I could just get her to love cleaning bathrooms I'd have it made.
• The independent part of Lili wants to do things all by herself and we hear, "I do it all byself," often. By-the-way, that is how she says it. Not allowing her to be independent can also cause a major meltdown. For example, she wants to brush her own teeth, but doesn't do the best job. If mommy takes over the toothbrush WWIII breaks out. Ah, the joys of parenting!!!
• Lili has really turned into a little social butterfly over the last few months. For the first 1 1/2 years after arriving, home she was very timid around people she didn't know or didn't know well. It was common for her to hide her face when someone greeted her. Suddenly the caterpillar emerged from her cocoon and more times than not she greets people before they even know she's in the door. I can't even count the number of times she has made someone smile with just a quick wave and a 'hi' as we're going through a store. She still has her moments of hiding, but they are much fewer and further between now.
• If someone tries to give her a cute little nickname she quickly tells them, "No, I Yiyi (Lili) Weeks." However, if a stranger asks her what her name is, she won't answer the question and starts talking about something completely unrelated. That's probably a good thing since strangers really don't need to know her name :-)
• The camera she got for Christmas continues to be a hit. She has also figured out how to use the video function on the camera and quickly runs out of storage space on the camera as a result.

That's just a quick update on Lili and now here are some recent photos of our funny, stubborn, beautiful, smart, independent, curious and entertaining little girl.

She loves using various things as hats.


And has a daddy that is a good sport about playing along.
Lili thinks it's great fun taking pictures of each other taking pictures.

And that is a rubber glove balloon on the floor next to her.

A quick pose in her Dora pajamas.

Hope you enjoyed the Lili update.

Coffee

For those who enjoy coffee and want to support a good cause, Just Love Coffee Roasters have recently added some new coffees to the line-up.

Ethiopian Harrar - This wonderful Fair Trade Organic Ethiopian coffee comes from the same coop, Oromia, as our Yirgacheffe and Sidamo coffees. This fruity, wine-like tones create a rich aroma and an outstanding cup.

Peruvian - This organically shade grown Peruvian coffee is light to medium roasted. It has a medium body with nutty accents and an earthy finish. This coffee has some semblance to the coffees of Colombia and is very distinguishable among all the Just Love Coffee offerings.

Happy Valentine's Day

Dave and I did not exchange cards or gifts this year, instead we agreed that our gift to each other would be the purchase of our airline tickets to Ethiopia. Other than actually being with Naomi on Valentine's Day, it would be difficult to find a gift that would compare. Knowing that we have our tickets purchased and one month from today we'll be landing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia preparing to meet our daughter brings about a lot of feelings and emotion.

Anxiousness - I want the month to move along quickly so we can get to Ethiopia.
Overwhelmed - There is still a lot to get done before we leave.
Excitement - We're only 1 month away from having two little girls.
Curiosity - What is Naomi's personality like? What are her likes and dislikes? How is Lili going to react to the reality of a little sister?
Thrill - We're going to be parents again!! We're going to Africa!

Okay, I'll admit that I also feel a bit of sadness. Originally we were told that our Embassy appointment would be February 22nd and our plans were to leave February 14th which means we would have actually been traveling today. Sometimes things just don't work out the way you hope or plan, but we can't focus on the what ifs so instead we look forward to next month and finally bringing our baby girl home.

The biggest of all the emotions and feelings is 'Love.' There is a baby girl in an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia who I've never met. I've never touched her; I've never heard her coo or cry; I've never given her a bottle or fed her; I've never bathed her, changed her clothes or diaper; I've only seen her in pictures and read a few small details about her life. There are so many things I've not yet experienced with her, so many things I don't know and yet I love her deeply. I love her with a love that only a mother can feel. On the outside it seems so illogical, but on the inside it is very, very real. That is what Valentine's Day is really about. It's feeling and showing love to those closest to us. I can't show Naomi how much I love her today, but I feel it strongly and I hope that in some small way that love is making it's way across thousands of miles and it's touching her life in some magical way.

For my family here at home we'll spend the day together. Lili and I will make brownies together, because we can't have a Valentine's Day without some chocolate. Hopefully it will be a quiet and relaxed day or at least as relaxed a day as you can get with a 2 1/2 year old in the house. We'll just enjoy the chocolate and the love!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Naomi, Here We Come

After a quick call to our agency consultant, I have verified that our Embassy appointment is in fact confirmed for March 22nd. I then found a really good deal on airfare and our tickets are booked. We will leave March 13th from Chicago flying to Washington D.C. We leave Washington D.C. the evening of March 13th and arrive in Addis Ababa the evening of March 14th. On March 15th we will head to Toukoul, where Naomi will be placed in our arms and we will never let her go. Saying that is overwhelming, but in a good way.

We originally planned to leave Ethiopia on March 26th, but have shortened the trip by one day so we'll be leaving the evening of March 25th arriving back in Chicago the afternoon of March 26th.

Guest House reservations - check
Airline tickets purchased - check

Now I have to find some cheap parking near O'Hare Airport. Anyone out there know of any?

First Baby Dolls

While in process of Lili's adoption I searched for a soft, cuddly baby doll and found this one on-line.

Very soft and cuddly, although she really doesn't play with it and has never been that interested in dolls. However, that didn't deter me from searching for a soft, cuddly doll for Naomi. I found one on-line and it arrived yesterday.
Guess who wants to play with it?

Naomi Update

I just got an update on Naomi.

On February 4th she weighed 15.87 lbs and was 24.40 inches. She was diagnosed with infant eczema and treated. The doctor states she is an active young infant with adequate growth & development. She has a good appetite and sleeping cycle. She drinks 180ml of formula milk every 3 hours and she also has supplementary feedings. She sits with support, transfers objects from one hand to the other, babbles and reaches out for familiar people. She is stable and thriving well.

Based on this report she's been gaining about 2 lbs per month. Sounds like 3-6 and 6-9month clothing sizes are going to be just fine.

Updates are wonderful, but let's fact facts, until I can get there and see her for myself I just won't be completely satisfied.

Mommy will be there as soon as possible baby girl!!!!! No, this isn't a new picture, but I just had to throw it in because she's just so darn cute!!!!!!

Hair Advice Requested

I few weeks ago I came across a wonderful blog site on caring for AA hair. There is a lot of very good information on this blog, however, I'm not finding much on caring for infant AA hair. What I do know is that I have some blog friends out here who have been there, done that so I'm asking you to please share.

Favorite shampoo?
Favorite conditioner?
Favorite products in general?
Hair care advice?

Thanks.

Another Sweet Lili Moment

This evening Dave, Lili, Josh and I were having dinner together. Lili was sitting in between Dave and Josh, reached her hands out and placed a hand on daddy's arm and a hand on Josh's arm and said, "I love my guys."

Oh our cute, sweet and funny little girl!!!! We love you too!!!!!!!!

The Drama

Drama and International Adoption (IA) seem to go hand-in-hand. Other than the drama surrounding our Embassy appointment, the other drama has been around our fingerprint renewal (see my January 27th post here). It appears our fingerprint drama will soon be behind us. Yay!! Yesterday I picked up th email and there sat two envelopes. One addressed to me and one addressed to Dave giving us our new fingerprint renewal appointments. You would think these appointments would be drama free. Well, not completely. The nearest Application Support Center (ASC) to us is in Naperville, IL which is about a 130 miles trip one-way. That's fine. However, my appointment is February 23rd at 3:00 p.m. and Dave's is February 24th at 8:00 a.m. We couldn't even get appointments scheduled on the same day. We talked about going and just spending the night, but Dave has a very important meeting at work the afternoon of the 23rd that he really can't cancel or reschedule. Thankfully, he got the February 24th appointment and not the one on the 23rd.

It is also interesting that my notice was mailed to me at our PO Box (USCIS apparently got that correction made), but Dave's was mailed to our street address (apparently USCIS hasn't figured out that his address is the same as mine) and yet somehow it still made it to us. Why is the post office able to deliver mail to our street address sometimes and other times they can't? The world may never know. Honestly, I think it's completely dependent on who is working that particular day, but I also think the fact that there were two envelopes from the USCIS ASC being delivered the same day played a role in getting them both delivered to us. I'm just thankful we actually received both of them and can end this drama once and for all.

After this appointment we will have been officially fingeprinted 8 different times. Actually 9 times for me since the FBI couldn't read one set of my prints.

Interesting Tidbits

While I'm still not thrilled about our Embassy appointment being moved back yet again, at least we have received confirmation that our actual Embassy appointment is on March 22nd. The other appointments we were given were never officially confirmed so we weren't able to make our travel arrangements. Unfortunately, we just got caught in some recent procedural changes made by the Embassy and there isn't anything we can do about that. So we accept it and move forward knowing that Naomi is coming home. No, not as soon as we want or had hoped, but coming home none-the-less.

Last night I came to some realizations about our upcoming trip and because I'm certain that 'inquiry minds want to know' here it goes.

We arrived in Guatemala on March 19, 2008 and on March 20, 2008 Lili was placed in our arms forever. We will arrive in Ethiopia on March 14, 2010 and Naomi will be placed in our arms forever March 15, 2010. Our pick up trips are happening within the same week, just two years apart from each other. This also means that we will celebrate our Lilianaversary while in Ethiopia and Naomi will be celebrating right along with us. Of course this also means we'll have back-to-back celebrations in the future - Naomiaversary March 15 and Lilianaversary March 20th.

The other interesting piece of information is that when we brought Lili home from Guatemala we landed back on U.S. soil March 27th. When we bring Naomi home, we will be landing back on U.S. soil on March 27th.

Okay, maybe this isn't exciting for all of you, but for me it's a silver lining to the dark cloud that we've been living under trying to get Naomi home.

Another Delay

I returned home a short time ago to find an email from our agency telling us that our Embassy appointment has been pushed back yet again. It was originally supposed to be February 22nd and then the Embassy made changes that pushed it back 2 weeks to March 8th. Now, due to the Embassy not being able to collect all the necessary documents in time they have rescheduled our appointment to March 22nd. Ugh!!!!

Here is the official explanation from our agency.

Reason given by the Embassy: the MOWA letter will not get there in time. Short story: after the final court decree is issued, it goes straight from the court to MOWA. Then MOWA sends a letter to the Embassy that they will issue the ‘approval’ and then send the notification to the birth certificate office; then to the passport office. Without these documents the Embassy appointment cannot be held. Therefore, the Embassy knowing that MOWA will not have the above-mentioned paperwork in time, rescheduled all 5 families for the next assigned date.

So where is the silver lining to this cloud? The only one I'm finding so far is that it will give us more time to get our USCIS fingerprint dilemma resolved. Don't get me wrong, that's a big one, but I would still rather be leaving February 27th to bring my baby girl home. Like always, it's hard to predict what might happen in the wonderful world of international adoption.

Wonder if there is anyway we can afford to go to Ethiopia earlier and just wait it out?

Preparing for Travel

Although we still haven't received final confirmation, our agency feels strongly that our March 8th Embassy date is a go. We haven't booked airline tickets yet, but I'm watching fares closely and have begun preparing for travel. Our plan is to leave the U.S. on February 27th which will get us to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on February 28th. On March 1st we will head to Toukoul and Naomi will be placed in our arms. Yes, in 25 days we should be holding our precious baby girl!

Our plan is to stay in Ethiopia long enough that Naomi has plenty of time to adjust to her new family while still around familiar sights, sounds and smells. We also want ample time to see some of the sites around and just outside Addis Ababa, so our plan is to fly home on March 12th which means we won't land on U.S. soil until March 13th.

We have made our reservations at the Ethiopia Guest Home and I've started getting all Naomi's clothes together and ready for packing. Another suggestion that has been made to us by a few people is that we begin taking probiotics now and continue taking them while in country. For those not familiar with probiotics here is a brief description:

The term "probiotics" refers to dietary supplements or foods that contain beneficial, or "good," bacteria that are similar to those normally found in your body. Although you don't need probiotics to be healthy, these microorganisms may provide some of the same health benefits that the bacteria already existing in your body do — such as assisting with digestion and helping protect against harmful bacteria.

Since travel outside the U.S. increases the risk of picking up intestinal parasites and bacteria that upset the natural bacterial balance, probiotics can assist in fighting off bad bacteria and can help ward off potential intestinal problems.

Having talked to others who took them prior to and during their trip to Ethiopia and who had absolutely no stomach problems during the trip, we are now taking probiotics and will continue taking them until sometime after we return home. There seems to be enough scientific evidence in place to indicate that they do have some definite benefits, especially for those traveling outside the country.

Another suggestion made is using eucalyptus oil mixed with jojoba, grapeseed, almond, olive, or apricot oil. Eucalyptus has many benefits, one of them being respiratory. Since Addis Ababa is very polluted and at a higher elevation, many people have respiratory issues. It's also common for babies and children to have respiratory issues and eucalyptus can be beneficial in opening up the airways. On babies and children it is a 50/50 mixture of eucalyptus oil with another oil and then rubbed on the bottoms of their feet. What I like about it is the fact that its a natural/organic substance and is easily found at health food stores.

Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing other helpful hints and tips that have been passed along to me as well as some hints and tips that I found helpful when we traveled to Guatemala. Of course if any of my readers want to share their own hints and tips, please do so in the comments section and I'll try to include them in a future post.

Do You Like Give Aways

If so, visit Megan's blog here.

Excitement Abounds

Okay, I will admit that when waiting for a referral, nothing can compare to your own personal referral. However, friends getting their referrals is way up there in my book, but what ranks a little bit higher than a friend's referral is a family members referral. No, I'm not announcing that any family members has gotten their referral, but it's getting really close.

First, for those who may not know much about the process of adoption from Ethiopia, let me just say that the time frame between dossier submission and referral is very dependent on the agency. Our agency has quoted 5-6 months to referral for some time now, other agencies quote 18-24 months and yet other agencies quote time frames in between. Our referral came in 5 months, but we do have family members with a different agency who have been waiting 18 months now. Needless-to-say, they've been on a very long journey to their child and as the end of their wait nears, I am barely able to contain my excitement and anticipation. I've even written my referral prediction on my calendar just to see how close I am.

Not only is it exciting to know that I'm going to become an aunt again, but to know that Lili and Naomi will have a little cousin from Ethiopia is too exciting for words.

Of course there was hope that we would receive our referrals about the same time and find ourselves in Ethiopia on our pick up trips at the same time, but we knew the likelihood of that happening was extremely small.

Even though I know you don't know them, I'm now asking each of you to humor me a bit and make your predictions as well.

When do you think our family members will receive their referral?
Will they be referred a boy or girl?

By-the-way, they are currently #4 on an unofficial wait list.

I don't have a prize for the winner, but it will be fun to play along and then you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you won :-)

Making Plans

If things stay on track this time, we should be holding Naomi one month from today. However, as most IA families know, things can always change and for us some recent changes pushed our travel plans back two weeks. For now we are making tentative plans, preparing for travel and waiting for confirmation that we have a March 8th Embassy date and can firm up our travel plans. There is certainly a lot of waiting during the adoption process and the closer it gets to travel time, the more difficult the wait becomes. I mean come on, did you see Naomi's pictures? How could that not make her new mommy and daddy even more anxious to get to Ethiopia.

Again, I would like to thank all who have helped us out along the way. Many have sent words of encouragement throughout the process and others have helped us out financially by contributing to our fundraising efforts. We are grateful to have such wonderful friends and family that have traveled this journey with us.

Now we are coming to the end of the road and will soon have Naomi home. It's so exciting and I'm very ready to be a full-time mommy to two little girls. Lili is also getting excited, although I think the majority of her excitement is about getting on a big airplane to go get Naomi. Hope she still feels that way after we've been in the air for a few hours. LOL!!!

Our Just Love Coffee Roasters storefront is only going to be open for another month. If there is anyone out here who would like to help us out by purchasing coffee or other products please do so before the end of the month. Click here to see the list of products and make a purchase.

In addition to making plans for our pick up trip, we are also making plans for our return home.

When we brought Lili home we told our friends and family to please not meet us at the airport and to please not come by to visit. We wanted to give Lili ample time to get used to us, her brothers and her new home in her new country. Granted she had been with us for just over a week by that point, but that's not a lot of time and she was going through a lot of changes that a baby just can't understand. We didn't want to push her too far, too fast. We were home several weeks and then hosted a "Come Meet Lili" open house in our home. There were a lot of people anxious to meet her and we realized that it was difficult for them to wait, but we had to do what we felt was best for Lili and her adjustment. We did allow some family to come visit prior to the open house, but we limited the visits to avoid too much disruption in our new life together as a family. it was definitely the right thing to do and we will do the same thing for Naomi. Other than a few short visits from family, we want to give Naomi several weeks to get used to her new family and her new surroundings. Once we feel comfortable that she is adjusting well we will once again open our house and ask our friends and family to come "Meet Naomi."

Don't worry though, I'll still blog when I can and will be posting tons of pictures of both my girls :-)