Easter Doggies

Happy Easter!

We Have Big News!

Guess what you'll find if you go to the Children's Hope International website...

That's right - our agency is officially licensed in Ethiopia! We are so excited - I've been in a fog all day, dreaming of our babies.

If you're dying to ask me, "How long?" I don't really have a clear answer, but things are definitely going to start moving along now. We are awaiting our fingerprinting appointment and after that we'll wait for the 171 form (which I think is clearance for our fingerprints), and we'll get the paperwork together for our dossier. Once we have all of that together, we'll submit it to the Ethiopian government and then wait for a referral! YAY!!

Stacie

P.S. This is how I think things are supposed to go with the dossier - if anyone who has gone before us has any words of wisdom - I'd really appreciate it! Thanks!

It's Here!

It's here! My passport is finally here!! Why am I so excited? Well, this means that tomorrow I will take the long awaited passport number and a copy of my passport photo page to Erin (our SW) and she will give me a completed home study. I will then FedEx the home study off to the local USCIS office and we will wait for a letter telling us when our appointment is for fingerprinting. Just one small step closer to our babies!

Busy Weekend - Ethiopian Food & More...

We had such a great weekend -
Friday night - Ethiopian food at Meskerem (more on this later)
Saturday - matinee - Blades of Glory (very funny), then the Ohio State basketball game (they won- on to the championship game!)
Sunday - church with my friend Chryssi and her daughter Emma and brunch at one of my favorite places (vegetarian biscuits & gravy - yum!), I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the sun reading There is No Me Without You (I don' t have to say it, but I LOVE this book - I can't put it down), and tonight we're going down the street for hot-dogs and the opening day baseball game on the tv (outside on the patio).

On Meskerem - my mom (Grandma/Mimi), Kevin & I went to the new Ethiopian restaurant in town. It was so great- the food was wonderful - it was just like I remembered from the Ethiopian restaurant in Tucson and I didn't want to stop eating. We had two combo platters, so I cannot remember the names, but my favorite was the chickpeas. Kevin's favorite was the yellow lentils. He did not like the lamb - he hates lamb and I had no idea I had even ordered it - I took a big bite (I don't eat lamb) and said, "YUM!" so he took a big bite and was distraught. As a chef, he has tried a lot of different foods, but does not like (read- HATES) only two things - lamb & goat cheese. He got over it and enjoyed all of the other dishes.
The best part of the night was the owner - he came to our table and we told him we were adopting from Ethiopia and he stayed and talked to us for a long time about Addis Ababa and what we could expect. We promised we'd be back when we got our referral so we could show him the pictures (if not before then). Our server was also from Ethiopia and she offered to write down her family's address so we could visit them while we were there. That was surprising to us as Americans b/c not many people here would do that having just met someone. We told her we weren't sure when we were going but that we'd be back before we went. We left so happy to have such a great experience - I already know this will be a place we can take our children! Now if Kevin could only learn to cook injera... :)

Sorry - no pictures this time - I tried to post a picture of "twin" tulips I took with my cell phone (there are two tulip blooms on one stem!) b/c it made me smile, but I am not that tech. advanced. Maybe next time!

Continue with prayers for licensing!!

Stacie

We Love Our Agency

Okay, so we have no news on the progress front - still no passport, etc. But, we have had an exciting week. Last Saturday our agency had a meeting/class for the Ethiopia families in town. They had a panel of transracial families who spoke about their experiences and answered our questions, and we were lucky enough to have a gentleman who is from Ethiopia come and talk to us. He answered a lot of our questions and was so nice and funny! He told us about the Ethiopian community in our town and answered my question as to which Ethiopian restaurant he liked best. (For those of you in the area - it's the new one that just opened on South Grand). We really learned a lot and (this is the best) he offered to come back to teach us about Ethiopian cooking. How cool would it be to learn how to make injera from someone from Ethiopia! Maybe I'll even learn how so I can start cooking something other than fish sticks and mac-n-cheese (which is one of Kevin's favorite meals, by the way). We feel so lucky to have found our agency - they really make an effort to keep us involved.

We also had some news from our close friends this week- they are thinking about adopting an older child (4-5 years) from Ethiopia! I think it would be great if they are able to do this- not only would we have another addition to our 'family' of friends, but our children would be able to grow up knowing someone from their birth country.

And, we were lucky enough this week to have a visit from Grandpa D! Kevin's family lives out of town and we don't get to see them as much as we'd like to. Grandpa D came in town for work and had dinner with us Monday night. He informed us that he and Grandma D will be visiting a lot more when the babies come home- which makes us very happy.

And, finally, it is spring! It is so beautiful out- the tulips are coming up (which always make me think of my Grandma who I miss- she had the most beautiful tulips), the bradford pear trees are all white - we have two big ones in the front yard. And, our dogwood might actually bloom this year. The family that lived here before planted it when their daughter was born and it hasn't bloomed since we moved in. Yesterday I found little buds on it - perhaps a sign of good things to come? :) I took some pics with the intent of sharing, but I'm having trouble uploading from my camera, so I'll share one that is also a sign of spring for us - when it rains and the dogs get muddy they all need a footwash after being outside. This is all three of them in the bathtub- it's so funny when they're all in there together! Drying them off becomes a bit more challenging though!

Passport Blues

UGH.
Last week I checked the status of my passport online and it said that I could expect it by 4/9. I decided to check again today with high hopes that it might be moved earlier- but now it says that I can expect it by 4/14!! YUCK! I really wish I had expedited it. I know that we have time (we're still waiting on licensing) but I just want it to get here! Stupid passport processing delays. :)

CPR Class

Updates-
We're still waiting on my passport...
We sent in our I600-A, but we were not granted out fingerprint appointment - we'll have to wait until the homestudy is complete (passport) and then they'll give us the appointment...
FromEthiopia is waiting for a shipment of necklaces, so I'll be waiting a bit longer for that too...
PATIENCE!

Today Kevin and I got our CPR certification for adults and infants. Our friends Chryssi & John are expecting a baby boy in July, and have a 10 year old daughter, so they set up a class for other new parents or expecting parents and grandparents at their house. We wanted to go so we would feel more comfortable in an emergency, but hopefully we'll never have to use these new skills. I did once give a small (really small) piece of pizza to our friend's two year old and he started choking - very scary! His mom had taken this class and knew what to do. Thank goodness! I've taken CPR classes before (in my glorious lifeguarding days) but I've never done infant CPR and lots of things have changed in the past ten years. Also, CPR is HARD WORK! Either that, or I am WAY out of shape (which could easily be true :)

This is Kevin with his baby mannequin-Our mannequins-

Class picture - Chryssi (in the light blue) & John (on the end) are expecting a boy, Christine (in the pink) is expecting a baby girl, Kevin & I are in the center, Matt & Maureen have a three month old baby boy (he is a cutie!) and Chryssi's Mom & Dad - Grandma and Grandpa - are on the other end.