Ok, more blathering...

Anyway, back to the girls’ room project…this week along with the rest of my compulsive cleaning, I cleaned out all of the construction/painting supplies and put it all away in the garage, cleaned up the rooms, moved furniture around, helped Mercades move her clothes and “stuff” into her new room, hung the wallpaper border, moved all of Belane’s clothes and “stuff” (she doesn’t have much stuff…decent amount of clothes though) into her new room and then sat back with the satisfaction that the rooms really were done…things... more

Hey all! Sorry no post there for a little while. As I am sure you can imagine, things have been a wee bit hectic. But I have accomplished much in the last few days, and our departure time is now just over 48 hours away…woo hoo!!!!

I am really trying to keep my emotions contained. I told Josh that if my head flies off at some point, it’s because I just couldn’t contain my excitement anymore. He told me very matter-of-factly that if my head flies off, he will not be taking me to Africa.

So let’s see…besides keeping my head on,... more

And I have plane tickets and a wad of crisp, clean, unmarked bills and four giant suitcases to prove it!!!!!

In just over one a week, we will be on our way to Belane. Our flight leaves at 6:21am on Saturday, Oct. 21. Woo hoo! (ok, I probably won't be saying woo-hoo when we really are leaving because we have a three hour drive to the airport...have to be there two hours early...so we'll be pulling out around 1 a.m.) Oh, who am I kidding? I will still be saying woo-hoo at 1 a.m.!!

We still don't have word that Belane's waiver is done. That would be because when we thought it was sitting on the last desk it needs to sit on receiving the last signature it needs to receive by the... more

Continued from previous posts...

As far as doctor appointments go, while we don’t want to traumatize her right away with lots of poking and prodding, getting her evaluated and getting her treatments started, both for her HIV and for her hearing loss, are definitely a big priority. We have made an appointment with her awesome Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist (who is also an international adoption doctor) for the middle of November, and we will have her seen by our family doctor and the audiologist/ENT soon after coming home as well.

Two more tips for the “babymoon” that I have learned are one, be flexible and two, ask for help when needed.

Being flexible is essential... more

Continued from previous post...

I will spend a lot of time on the floor with the little kids…so we can play and they can be in and out of my lap as they want. I will spend a lot of time holding Belane, rocking Belane…giving her the physical contact that helps so much with bonding. I bought a toddler hip carrier so I can “wear” her if she likes that. (She loves to be “up” is what everyone is telling us and what I noticed when I was there in February).

We are putting the finishing touches on her room downstairs, (which she will be sharing with big sister Des), but I plan on having her sleep with us in the beginning…either on a mat on the floor next to our bed or in our bed,... more

I have a couple of “deep thinking” type articles related to transracial adoption that I want to tackle, but since I got a “request”, (and it’s on a topic that is a lot more fun to write about) I decided to write about this today. For those of you on Belane overload, I apologize.

Here is the “request"(thanks Jen!)

Here's a post idea for you (and it's Belane related): How do you envision your first few days home with her? Will you schedule doctor appointments and such or will you simply stay at home with her? Do you have things you will do with her to introduce her to the other kids? You get the idea!

One of my dear friends who has adopted even... more

Happy weekend everybody!

The last two days have been a little rough...we had a SNAFU...hit one of the proverbial bumps in our adoption paperwork road. We're not exactly sure if it was a true miscommunication or if someone dropped the ball and was making excuses, but we were able to get everything on track with only a week's damage done. I was once again reminded of how important it is for me to keep on top of this stuff...I shudder to think how much time would have been added to the process if we had just sat back and waited and not... more

Time for an update on things! Our last big accomplishment was that our waiver had been received and processed by the CDC in Atlanta, and the CDC had faxed their “response” back to the Embassy in Addis. The next step was for the Embassy to send the waiver on to Nairobi, Kenya, where the USCIS/Department of Homeland Security could review it and give their final approval, at which point Belane’s visa could be issued in Addis and we would be ready to travel. The last couple of families have waited almost exactly three weeks... more

In my last two posts, I discussed choosing how to share your child's story, and who to share with (or not).

Belane's adoption and this blog created a very unique situation.

While most people have been very supportive, I have taken some criticism for being so open about her HIV status. It was not a decision that we made lightly…it is not even a decision I am 100% sure was the right choice…but it is the decision we made after a lot of thought, discussion and prayer, and the choice that I truly believe was right.

For one,... more

Happy Monday everybody. I hope you enjoyed your weekend! We had a lot of fun…on Saturday we celebrated Maggie’s birthday with a giant Snow White cake, dinner out with our family and some friends, and then a trip to the movies to see “Open Season”. (Pretty darn hilarious!)

Maggie enjoyed being “Princess” for the day (although truth be told, she is the princess most days!) and birthdays are always a lot of fun in our house.

The weekends are kind of nice…with all the kids home and all of our running around, I don’t have as much time... more