2007.08.30

Wow, I just realized how long it's been since I added any info. We traveled June 19 and he came home with me June 24. He is here, he is amazing, and I am in love.

2007.05.23

HE IS MINE!!!!!!

My case passed court and he is officially legally my son! I will meet him June 20th in Addis and will bring him home a few days later. I AM OVERJOYED!

2007.05.02

I have a court date! Barring any unexpected snafus (not to be confused with expected snafus), my case goes to court in Addis May 23 – at which time I legally become his mom! The agency tells me “It takes a minimum of three weeks to have the adoption decree translated, obtain the Letter from the Children's Commission, and process the birth certificate and passport. Therefore, a travel estimate would be mid June.”

WOW! I’m counting the hours now… (503 hours and 57 minutes, if you’re wondering…)

2007.04.23

YAY! A new court group! Now I'm holding my breath...

2007.04.03

Bummer. My court group was rescinded because someone whose signature is required was not around. Crap. Crap crap crap.

2007.03.28

YAY! I have been assigned to a court group! In about a week, I will know my court date - the date on which he will legally be mine!

2007.03.23

Oh man, I re-read the info, and it could be as long as 40 weeks! So that would be January 23, 2008! Please oh please don't let it take that long... I wish he were home with me now!

2007.03.22

Sigh. I was browsing information from AAS and found a document about timelines. From referral to travel, there is a minimum of 9 weeks, up to 22 weeks! So the soonest would be mid-May, but it might not be until mid-August! ARRGGH! Not that I don't have tons to do (e.g. I don't have a crib yet, and need to paint and carpet his room), but now that I've seen him, I just want to bring him home.

Ah well, I can comfort myself with the knowledge that at least I have a referral, and my son is beautiful. Plus, as other folks travel and post photos from their travels, I've been able to find more photos of the boy! So I can have something to look at as I obsess about him.

2007.03.17

In talking with the adoption agency, I’ve learned that my son's actual birth date is November 16, 2005. That makes him only 16 months old, but he is still very very small – he is the height of an average 6 month old and the weight of an average 3 month old. Two terms on his medical information sheet were unfamiliar to me: “marasmus” and “frontal bossing”. Marasmus is a protein and calorie deficiency, typical of chronically malnourished children. The heartbreaking pictures of starving kids with stick thin arms and pot bellies are examples of this condition, although from his photos, my boy seems to be in better shape than that (e.g. he can stand on his own).

Frontal bossing was more scary when I looked it up (one of the dangers of Google, I suppose!) as it is characteristic of several very serious conditions such as Russell-Silver dwarfism, Pfeiffer syndrome, basal cell nevus syndrome, Crouzon syndrome, Hurler syndrome, Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, and cleidocranial dysostosis. Scary words that got even scarier when I read the effects of each condition! I was hoping to find a site that would tell me frontal bossing was a common result of malnourishment, but couldn’t seem to find any – until I tried searching for “marasmus and frontal bossing”. And there is was - frontal bossing is a common symptom of rickets (resulting from Vitamin D deficiency), as are “widened wrists,” another notation on his medical form. A stressful half-hour for a new mom who’s not even held her child yet!

The agency founder emailed me congratulations yesterday, along with the comment “I was there and saw him on Wednesday. I got a little video of him but it will be two weeks or so before we get the DVD ready for you. He is a cutie!” A video? I’m overjoyed – I had no expectations of that!

2007.03.14

I AM A MOM! The agency called today to tell me about my 16-month old boy. I am thrilled beyond words. He is beautiful, and I just want to go pick him up.

2007.01.08

I spoke with the adoption agency today, and they let me know I am in the “top third” of the waiting list. Of course, they aren’t allowed to tell me how long the list is, nor the dates on which dossiers were sent to Ethiopia for the folks ahead of me on the list, but at least I know my dossier isn’t sitting buried on a beaurocrat’s desk in Addis Ababa! And since I know the dossier went over August 31, and it has taken four months to move to the top third of the list, I can guess that I might get a referral in about two months’ time – March! If I travel say three months after that, I could be bringing my new son or daughter home in June or July. How cool would that be?