still here

I don't know if anyone is still checking in... We apologize for going dark. We've had a lot going on and needed to shut the site down for a bit. But we are back... And... And it's a big AND...

...and we are finally getting ready to go to Ethiopia to bring our daughter home. It has been a long haul (let's just say the last few weeks were by far the most trying weeks of this whole 2+ year process), but we can just about see the end in sight.

Still a few details to work on (ya know, like a last minute passport renewal for me - thank you US Embassy for ensuring that I could not complete the placement trip before I was within 6 months of my passport expiration date... but rather one day later), but we are very, very close.

Stay tuned.

day by day by day by...

Well, despite best efforts (or at least thoughts about making an effort), another month has passed without a post from yours truly. I am not sure how it is possible that times goes both so slowly (i.e. waiting, waiting to achieve each and every step and milestone of the adoption process) and so quickly (i.e. a month goes by before I have even a second to sit down and post on this blog) at the same time....

When we last met, our papers had just been delivered to the US Embassy in Addis. And that's pretty much where we still are. And I will admit that for pretty much the first time in the more than 2 years we've been engaged in our daughter's adoption process, I'm drained. With no disrespect to the US Embassy, I must say that this stage of the process feels like being in a black hole. We simply have no idea of what's happening or when we might expect to hear our fate - i.e. clearance, request for more evidence or referral to Nairobi. In a way, we would welcome any one of these, just to have a better sense of what to expect. Sigh.

"Balancing" out this adoption nothingness, is the chaos of parenthood, work and our planned move. Well, semi-planned anyway. We have some flexibility on dates, which we need, because if we move before we obtain embassy clearance, we will need to redo our homestudy and criminal and child abuse clearances... meaning we could end up being the reason for further delays. We still have some time before we have to worry... but the stress and pressure of trying to coordinate when 50% of the equation is completely out of our control... Ugh!!

So, um, yeah... we're in a bit of a "blah" zone here. I know it will all be over soon, and I really don't have any doubts that it will work out fine - that our daughter will join us soon, that we will all be living in our new apartment, enjoying the Spring, and making plans for the Summer. I just wouldn't mind if this part of the process would go just a little bit faster. Is that so much to ask for?

eventful

Well, as usual, post ideas have been floating around in my head... details from our trip... thoughts about this whole adoption process... how it feels to have met our daughter and returned home without her... the chaos of deciding to sell our apartment in the midst of all of this... you get the idea.

And again, before I could find the time to sit down and write a post (or posts) about all of these things, we get the news yesterday that our paperwork has been submitted to the US Embassy in Addis. I may have used the words "roller coaster" to describe this process before (just once or twice... or maybe a thousand times...) and this just goes to show that it is.

So what does that mean?

Well, it means that in a few weeks we should hear from the Embassy - hopefully with news that our case was approved, in which case we could be back on a plane to Addis in another week's time! But it's also quite possible that they will want do some additional diligence (request for documents or to interview people relevant to our case) and that we will have to wait to travel for a few more weeks. And of course, there is one other scenario and that is the possibility that the Embassy will feel that our case requires a deeper review, and then it could be months before we can travel. Less likely, but still possible.

We are cautiously optimistic. After two years, the end is definitely closer than the start of this process, and that fact is not lost on us, even if the end is not quite close enough.

So we are celebrating this milestone. And today we are also celebrating the life - and first birthday - of a very special little girl, a member of our family, who we love and miss and look forward to bringing home very soon.

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!!

guzo:party of four (oops - ej says five!)

According to the courts in Ethiopia, we are now a family of four!

I promise (really... truly....) to post more details soon. We had a wonderful week in Ethiopia and are just now recovering (I learned that jet lag + a four year old = 4am "lunches"). There are so many things to share...

For now, just a quick peek at our kids :)

ethiopia bound!

happy holidays!!