Week in Review with Pix!

So let's play catch-up from the last week.

Last Tuesday, we went and finally had all of our bloodwork drawn (which all looked great!). This was somewhat of an ordeal because Mari's veins aren't the greatest. They were able to get it all with 2 sticks but this was only because she needed so much drawn, one vein just wouldn't give enough. Mari did really well, fussed only a little. Then Tuesday night, we went and visited with some of my friends, Steve and Ali, that I had lost touch with for about 5 years! I sent them an announcement and Ali contacted me and invited me over. We had a great time catching up and letting the kids play. Ali has even been inspired to start a blog after reading through mine.

Wednesday, we ran errands for several hours and then both my brothers and their wives came over for dinner. Mari had missed both naps (except a little one in the shopping cart at Wal-Mart) and her feeding schedule was all messed up. So, after throwing up all over her crib (which she had peed on that morning and I had JUST changed the sheets), she went down for a nap at suppertime. She woke up after we finished eating and played for awhile. Madison also played hard after eating and it was her turn to throw up...all over Auntie Diana. Sorry, Diana but I must say...that was an impressive puke! There were bananas EVERYWHERE! Poor Madi!

You have already heard about Thursday and our trip to the ER...for those of you who commented that I sounded calm, HAHAHA! I wasn't, I had to call my mommy and she came to the ER with me. I was able to get myself together before heading to the ER and once I stopped shaking, I was able to think it through and decide that I probably hadn't broken her arm since most of the arm injuries we see in the ER (kids this age, anyway) are nursemaid's elbows. But it was very definitely a forced calmness. It took me at least 5 minutes to figure out the ibuprofen dosing for her weight and I can usually do this without even thinking about it (I LOVE drug dosage calculations--all the nurses out there just fainted after reading that but I really do).

So on to the KY trip...we had a great time. Mari is SO good. She travelled well and played with everyone. So I'll just let the pix tell the story. I'm not going to try to explain how everyone is related...if you are part of the family, you'll know. If not, just enjoy the pix!

My BFF, cousin Juli with Mari.

Mari playing with cousin Brendan (age almost 4).

Cousin Robert playing a lonely game of CandyLand Castle.

Cousins Kevin and Justin.

Cousins Callie and Mari (I'm holding Mari back as she crawls forwards and pushing Callie forwards as she scoots backwards).

Cousins Brendan and Logan fighting (I mean playing!)

My Grandma with Mari.

My Mom, Grandma, and me with Mari....4 generations!

My Grandma and Grandpa with Mari.

Mari and Callie sharing.

Crawling on Cousin Brendan.

Not sure why but it looks like Mari is mad in this picture. "I said back away from the toys!"

For someone who hates pacifiers, Mari sure was interested in Callie's.

Brendan's pet hamster Lucy. I never thought that a rodent could be so cute!

Mr. Brendan in his "old man" PJs. Isn't that the funniest thing? He loves them!
My Cousin Megan (age 13) playing the banjo (my Uncle Greg is on the guitar). There are some VERY talented musical people in my family...too bad I'm tone deaf. I think the genes shifted to others and I didn't get an equal share!

Last but not least, here is a great little onesie I found at Babies R Us. Someone's birthday is getting closer!

Growing Up!

So things are going pretty well here on the home front. My maternity leave is quickly winding down, three weeks left. The time is flying by...wish it would have flown this fast BEFORE, during all the waiting and waiting and waiting.

We went to my brother Todd's turkey plant on Wednesday (not really his plant--he just counts the turkeys and the money they bring in).

Thursday we ran all over town. We dropped our paperwork off at daycare and met some of the caregivers, we made a couple other stops (including seeing Grandma at work) and then headed to Wal-Mart. Mari loves Wal-Mart (super stimulating!) but she was so tired that she slept the entire time. Since I don't have a carrier-type car seat, I had to prop her up in the front of the cart...so cute, snoring all through Wal-Mart.

Thursday Mari turned 10 months old. Nothing exciting happened, it was actually a not great day. Two days of schedule interruptus and we were both a little cranky. Mari would not go to sleep but was too tired to play (very unusual--she can fall asleep at the mere mention of naptime). She also wanted nothing to do with me and the rocking chair...this was especially hard because she is just really starting to get cuddly and want my affection, so this seemed like a setback. So we both went to bed crying and exhausted.

Friday was a much better day. We went to Lowe's to order new carpet for Mari's room (this was originally Ollie's room and we have some "puppy chewing issues" that needed to be resolved--we were waiting on the installation special!) and got to see Granddad and lots of his co-workers. My previous feelings from the night before were washed away. Mari used to flirt with anyone, talk to everyone and charm the socks off people. I think she was used to seeking attention anywhere she could get it. Now she is subdued around strangers, not scared just quiet. As soon as we would walk away, she would start babbling to me and smiling. I think she is finally comfortable with knowing that I will give her the attention she craves and doesn't need to seek it from anyone that is around (maybe I'm reading too much into this--developmental pysch and sociology of the family were over a decade ago!).

After getting home from Lowe's, my friend Heather came over to hang out. Mari was sweet and cute (as usual) and Heather brought us some really neat things. We now have bowls that suction to the highchair (and I mean suction) so, one day soon, we can start feeding ourselves. We have a great new play blanket that has a waterproof back that will be wonderful for trips to the park. And Heather also brought me another set of sippy cups. I'm using Gerber transition bottles and sippy cups. They are triangular shaped for easy holding (Mari is a pro at holding her own bottle) and then you can add handles that adjust to three different angles, and sippy tops that you can exchange for the nipples. All the parts are interchangable so you can transtion to a sippy cup. So here is my blonde moment of the week--I had tried the sippy top a couple weeks ago but it was a disaster. Mari ended up choking on the juice and it poured all over her, so I figured that she just wasn't ready. When I opened the new package and started dismantling the sippy tops to wash, I realized that I had never put the valves back in the other set after washing...no wonder Mari was soaked! So I popped a valave back in, handed her the pear juice and away she went...guzzled out of the sippy top without a second thought. SO SAD!! She's growing up!

We spent the rest of the day having a good time. At bathtime, Mari finally figured out how to splash around and play. This led to a meltdown when I tried to take her out of the tub. Oh well. (BTW...the funny looking thing on the tub is supposed to hold inflatable rings like a stacking toy but they were cheap and wouldn't inflate, so I threw them away. It makes a good handle for Mari to hold on to. Just wanted to clarify what it was; it kind of looks questionable!)

Today, Mom came over and we ran a few errands and then Lesa brought Madi over this afternoon for a playdate. Chad joined us later and Madi was watching her Daddy very closely as he planted kisses on Mari. So cute! We made it through the day with only one fussy patch...after dinner Mari got mad because the food was gone (this used to be an issue but we have since worked through it, until tonight!). This probably had to do with the new food we added--banana yogurt. SUPER YUMMY! We made it through bathtime without pitching a fit when time to get out. She also went to sleep before the first song was done on the lullaby CD and I was able to get out of the rocking chair, turn on the light, change her diaper, cut her nails, and put her to bed without her waking up...that's tired!

Hopefully tomorrow will go as well! Whew, that ended up being a long post! If you are still reading, enjoy some pix!

My new sneakers! I stand up so much better with them on.

The doggie loves me...he just won't let me pet him yet.

Mickey cat wanted my Cheerios something bad!

Sammy cat likes to lay down beside me and I pet him...Mommy says not to pull chunks of his hair out but he doesn't mind.

Here is my first taste of meat...I think I might be a vegetarian. I gagged until I threw up. Mommy tried to get me to eat chicken and beef but they were both yucky. Mommy videoed me but was nice enough not to put it on the blog. She says that we will try again in a couple weeks...ugh!



If you have stuck with me to the end...here is a video treat. Mari loves to be "woofed" at but seems quite worried at meowing. On the other hand, Mari can perfectly mimic Mickey's meow...I actually spun around to tell the cat to be quiet the other day and it was Mari. She sounds just like him!

Email instructions and travel updates!

EMAILING BLOGGER

Here are the instructions for emailing straight to your blog. Thank you Denise for sharing this with me.

Go to your blogger dashboard and click on Settings. Click on email and choose the option that says email to blogger. Pick something to put in the blank and then that whole address is your "blog's email address." Just use your regular email to send your blog an email...the subject line will be the title of your post, upload pix by attaching them (they will show up first then your text) and the text is what you type in the body of your email. Just FYI, every time I tried from my yahoo email, I got this annoying yahoo tag line at the end of the post but this did not happen if I emailed from my google account. You can go in later and edit your post just like always. If anyone knows how to get rid of that yahoo tag line, let me know because I like my yahoo mail much better than gmail.

TRAVEL UPDATES

So on to travel updates. Plane tickets have been booked and confirmed. There was a small panic attack when our seat assignments said we were in seats A & C, meaning that we were separated (NO NO NO NO!!!) but Susan Parr assures me that on this plane there are no B seats, so Dad and I are together next to the window (perfect!!). Hopefully I will have the courage to actually look out the window!

There is a slight problem with the spelling of my daughter's name, just got the middle initial wrong--the travel agent assures me this is no problem but I'm checking with CHI tomorrow because I was told they had to be an exact match. Unfortunately, the travel agent says the only way to fix it is to cancel and re-issue the tickets but since there is a waiting list for tickets, I would automatically lose my seats as soon as we cancelled. So I may have to change this in the airport after we get to Addis.

We are on the same flight with the Kikstras and Denise and Troy. Check out their blogs so you know who we are traveling with; they are from a different agency so I don't know if we will see each other in Addis but it is nice to have flying companions. It doesn't look like the Reese's will be going with me...I am extremely sad about this because we have looked forward to travelling together since our referrals. Our daughters were in the orphanage together and we wanted to share this. Unfortunately a paperwork glitch may hold them up a week (still waiting on definite) but we may still overlap our trips. At least I'll get to meet the twins!

Flights....we leave Monday, December 31st at 8:30 pm from Dulles on Flight 501 and we will land in Addis at 7:40 pm (11:40 am our time) on January 1st. Returning....Tuesday, January 8th at 10:15 pm (2:15 pm our time) on flight 500 and will land in Dulles at 7:20 am on Wednesday. The flights are roughly 16-17 hours and we have a short landing in Rome but will not be getting off the plane.

Hotel....we are staying at the Hilton. Tsegay (CHI's Ethiopia Director) is making the arrangements in-country and is getting a great rate! Much better than trying to do it from here.

Packing....packing is well underway. Amari is packed (I think!) as are my donations and food. Now I just have to pack me. I still have the entire house to clean, the animals to get ready for the separation, and lots of errands to run. I tried to knock out a bunch of errands today but kept hitting roadblocks...the pharmacy did not have the malaria meds until tomorrow and they refused to give me Amari's antibiotic in powder form (I mix them multiple times a shift at work but they didn't care) so I have to call the pediatrician to see if they have a sample bottle (if you reconstitute it, it only lasts 10 days). I needed another passport photo and the photo place's machine was out of paper, so when I went back for them, they said it would be another hour (this happened last time I needed passport photos). So I have to re-do half my errands from today. Ugh! Add in the bank, the post office, a different pharmacy for Sam cat's med, dropping off a check at daycare to hold my spot...and I guess I'll be stopping at the gas station somewhere in there!

Wow, this is a long post. A lot happening! My last day of work is Saturday, so I'll really get down to business next week. Christmas is Tuesday (duh!) and I am ready. I'm taking the car seat to Mom & Dad's and my brother is going to help me install it!!! Check out the new blog for my niece Madison. Also keep in mind that my Dad is going with me to Ethiopia, so be sure to keep up with his blog too.

Okay, I'm sure there is more but my mind is all gobbly-gook! I'll write more soon!

Baby Presents and Christmas Time!

Well, I promised some happier posts and some pictures. So here are some pictures of my baby shower last weekend and some of the wonderful presents Amari received. And then there are some pictures of Christmas in the making.


This is the beautiful cake that Amy's husband, Dennis, made for my shower. It was very yummy and VERY sugary!!


Leisa's daughter Chrissy was super well-behaved at a table full of grown-up chatterboxes!!!
This cute little monkey from Becky is "Tickle Toes." It giggles hysterically when you squeeze its foot...which leads to some hysterical giggling from the peanut gallery!

A giraffe "lovey" from Pam that will probably make it into the diaper bag for Ethiopia. Sweet and small enough to travel.

Cute, cute outfit (from Tamara) that I can't wait for Amari to wear. It will probably be for next winter but it is so cute, I wish she could wear it now.

Another cute outfit (from Julie F.), my favorite chocolate color!! Amari will need to grow into this one also...it so nice having stuff for the coming growth spurts.

Alright, on to the Christmas pictures. While going through my box of decorations, I found the doggie reindeer antlers that Ollie got for Christmas last year. He was VERY tolerant of me putting them on him and taking pictures. He just sat there looking all defeated (but cute!).

A little dusting of snow that helped with the holiday spirit. Here is Ollie's perfect pawprint.

My Christmas tree...decorated only the top 2/3 of it because someone likes to eat the ornaments. I remember when I was a kid, Mom used to finish our tree with a can of aerosol snow. I had a sense of ironic deja vu last night as I sprayed the bottom of the tree with bitter apple spray to keep the animals from eating the branches!!

Mom bought me these Boyd's Carolers one year for Christmas...I collected the Boyd's Dolls and she thought these two would be a great addition to the collection. Interesting that one is a red-head and the other is black with pigtails....hmmm. A little foreshadowing maybe? Also interesting that the little black caroler is taller than the white one...I'm only 5 foot 2, I'm sure my daughter will be taller than me by the time she's in 1st grade!!

Happy holidays!! Several families traveling now and next week...so maybe more Amari updates to come. Court is on Tuesday again. I am hopeful but not getting overexcited yet...I think, now that I know Amari will not be home for Christmas, there is a little less pressure to hurry up the process. I still am in a hurry to get her home but I know she is healthy and being well-cared for, so I okay with the little extra wait (I say that now...who knows what I'll say if court falls through again--I may go certifiably bonkers!).

I am humbled.

One of the greatest benefits that CHI has done for its adopting families is to set up yahoo chat groups so we can all ask questions, give suggestions, plead for well-wishes, and support each other. We have all become a family and even though we share a lot with each other and try to keep up with what all is going on in every adoption, I somehow missed the awesomeness of this family's adoption experience. I don't know if I lost track because I'm consumed in my own little adoption world or because I didn't pay attention...I think they just did not share some important details with us because, to them, the struggle they are facing is NOT what this adoption is all about. It is about saving and loving a beautiful little girl named Tinsae. So check out the McConomy's blog, pray very hard for this little girl's fight (literally, a fight to survive), and then think really hard about your own problems. I am humbled, I am awestruck.

His Love for Us

Michelle and Bill, Thank you for what you have done and are continuing to do.

BABY SHOWER!!!!!!

So yesterday was my baby shower, given to me by my wonderful family. Thank you all very much. It was quite overwhleming but very, very nice! It was a giraffe theme and I got lots of giraffe presents...hope, hope, hope that Amari doesn't have a weird aversion to giraffes because they are going to be everywhere she looks!! Got to see several friends that I hadn't seen for a very long time which was pretty cool. My cousins Christy and Juli came in for the weekend (with 6 month-old Callie) and we had a great time. Baby Callie is a spitter (Stacie--I now understand what you are going through with Micah!) and I learned that NO, you can never have enough bibs and burp clothes!!

So on to the details...I had a wonderful little helper, Kaili, who assisted me in opening my gifts and "test-driving" several of them. Leave it to a 2.5 year to figure out how the toys work before I could! We had a blast opening gifts and it was so much better than everyone just staring at me (augh!).

So on to the show:

Here is a beautiful picture of Amari...I realized after taking a picture of the picture that I couldn't post it yet (duh!). But Kaili solved the problem by putting a gift tag over Amari's face!
Yes we even ate giraffe!Pictures of my cutie-pie assistant!Here are some pictures of some of the gifts...sorry I'm not showing them all. People probably don't need to six pix of onesies and bottles and socks and books and outlet covers and crib sheets and etc, etc, etc. So here are some of the more interesting ones picture-wise.

Jerry the Giraffe stacking toy (kind of a creepy name for a toy!). (Chad and Lesa)

Toy bins (Mom and Dad).

Giraffe Backpack--adorable!!! (Deborah, Randy, Kaili)

Umbrella Stroller that took me 15 minutes to figure out! (the KY crowd!)

Booster chair for taking places. (Todd and Diana)Really neat hot-air balloon--to be put up in the window. (also Todd and Diana)Other great stuff not pictured...boppy pillow, FisherPrice Amazing Animals Zoo Train (really, really, really neat toy!), Moses basket, lots and lots of essentials from clothes and linens, to sippy cups and spoons and bottles, toys (including a vibrating frog teether!), books and more books, stuffed animals, wipes!!, car/stroller accessories, a jar of pickles and ice cream money for late-pregnancy cravings!! (thanks Uncle Bill and Aunt Phyllis). Wow, I can't even begin to list all the stuff! Crazy!

After the shower we hung out at my house, letting Baby Callie and Baby Madison play together. It was quite interesting to watch these two "examine" each other. They keep rolling over into each other and I think some infant fingers might have found their way into the other's mouth/nose!

Baby Callie went home to KY this morning, so Madi is back to playing alone. But not for long!!

Bye-bye Callie!

Random Thoughts

So nothing new to report...hopefully this week???? Just looking forward to hearing about court dates. Also looking forward to receiving my "travel guide" from CHI so I can get down to the nitty-gritty of prep.

Let's talk about the weather. Last weekend it was in the mid nineties...yesterday when I got off work at 7am, it was 35 degrees!! What!! I love fall but that is a 60 degree difference. It was too hot to mow the grass last week and now it is too cold. And I really need to mow one more time before winter. Any volunteers? Hahaha!

Interesting facts about dates. I did a baby registry with Wal-Mart and BabiesRUs, as well as signing up for diaper/formula coupons, etc. On all these, I put my "due date" as October 1st. My referral came on October 5th. Hmmmm...pretty good estimation! I ran back through my blog to see what I was doing the day Amari was born (keeping in mind that this may not be her actual birthday--just what we think it is!). I didn't post that day (I had only been posting about a week--had only mailed my application in 2 weeks before this) but I did spend that weekend, including the "birthdate," cleaning out Ollie-dog's room and shopping for nursery decor! It is weird to think that I was preparing over here while she was starting life over there!!

Check out Mumblerrr website...this couple is adopting thru CHI also and the husband's business, Sugardaddys, is going to be featured on Bobby Flay's Throwdown on Food Network. Pretty cool! Hey guys...if we get to travel together, will you bring me a brownie?

Deedra clarified that she got pix of her son because the first one wasn't the greatest quality. I'm really happy that they received one that they could really "feel" the spirit of their son in. A little disappointed because I was hoping this meant there would be updates forthcoming. Oh well, the whole adoption process is about trusting and being ready for anything. I'll take any info I can get but if none comes, I'll just have all the more fun expecting the unexpected. I just stare at Amari's picture, wishing I could hold her hand (she has it curled up like she wants to hold on) or run my fingers through her curls. Soon...soon...

Be sure to check out CHI's website every now and again...scroll down the right side to all the different blogs. They are labelled by home state and by country of adoption and divided into waiting and completed. Best of all, CHI moves blogs to the Traveling section while families travel for their gotcha days. It is a lot of fun to keep up with. Right now there are a couple families in Colombia and one in Kazakhstan. Check them out.

Told you this post was random thoughts...also rambling.

10 weeks....

Well Thursday marks another week gone...still waiting on a referral. The future is looking promising. Still no real time frame when my referral will come but the courts did re-open on Monday (yea!!!) and a couple more referrals have come in. One was for a 13-month-old girl (remember, I asked for under 12 months...oh, so close!) and the other was for a 2.5-month-old boy. The little boy was a referral for Paul and Deedra; they turned in their dossier near the beginning of the process so they have been waiting for around 4 months. So it is nice to see that referrals are coming in and that there are indeed wee little ones waiting on mommies!

Getting company this weekend...my BFF cousin Juli and her hubby Robert are coming to visit with their 3-year-old Brendan. It should be a lot of fun and a much needed distraction. I haven't seen them since January (they live in KY) and we always have fun together. Juli and I grew up together (she is 6 months older than me) and when we are together, I'm afraid we still act like 6-years-olds. But it is nice to have someone like that to have fun with.

I'll post pix of my dog soon...he got groomed today and looks fabulous. So cute and fluffy and snow white (that won't last!)! Fortunately, grooming day wears him out and he has been super tired tonight. I have a fever and sore throat and am just not in the mood to do the in-out-in-out-in-out routine we usually do in the evenings. Even the cats have picked up on my illness and have been hanging close keeping me warm.

Worked a little on packing this past weekend for Ethiopia. Yes, I know it is a little premature, but I wanted to see if my backpack I'm using as a carry-on would hold everything I want. I was surprised to see that I think it will! I also worked a little on the diaper bag, organizing it. This is something I'm a little worried about because I liked to be super-organized and since I'm new at this, I have a feeling that it will take a few re-packings in Ethiopia to get everything the way I need it. Luckily my job has prepared me to be pretty adaptable on the fly.

Not much else to tell. I'll keep everyone posted.

Baby Fever

Spent several hours tonight with my niece, Madi...she is SO cute and has the sweetest disposition. She was awake for a long time, fascinated with the ceiling fans...then, blink, sound asleep. So adorable. If you click on my dad's blog, he posted a picture of her sleeping in my arms...the picture of me is horrible but no one wants to look at me anyway--look at the baby!

I hosted a baby shower for a co-worker last week. She had her little boy a few weeks early so we actually got to play with him while she opened gifts...he's a cutie at a whopping 5 pounds.

Then I've been following Micah and Mamush's stories...needless to say, baby fever is spiking! I am so impatient...I know I can't go until the courts reopen, etc. I just need info...who is she, what is her name, how big is she. I tell myself that once I get this, I will be satisfied and can rest easily as I prepare for her and wait on the courts. Yeah Right!! As soon as I see that adorable face, I will be ten times more impatient. A year from now, I'll laugh at this post...thinking "it wasn't THAT long." Already the home study process and getting the I-171H seems like it took no time even though I agonized over each and every step and delay. So that is the adoption update.

On the homefront...Sam went back to the vet today. He got gassed and then they did a tracheal lavage and cleaned out "a lot of junk" from his lungs. The vet is leaning towards an inflammatory process like asthma (that would be a great diagnosis, considering the other possibilities) but I have to wait on the test results; those will be 3-5 days. The good news--his heartworm tests were negative. Thank goodness! After the research I did...let's just say, nasty stuff! Sam is feeling pretty good overall. He was still pretty groggy when I brought him home. He was all glassy-eyed, stumbling and just kept walking in circles. I couldn't stand to watch him, so I took Ollie dog and went to my parent's (where I met up with Madi!). Sam is much better now and only slightly wobbly when he first gets up. The vet said the anesthesia would take longer to wear off because he is so fat!

Feeling Better!

Feeling better these days...just getting anxious for a referral. I don't know why, because courts are closed and I'll have to wait anyway. But just to see a picture and know her....

Anyway...if you want to see some awesome pix of Micah (and some of friend Mamush--who comes home later this month) click on this site. Hopefully Kevin and Stacie don't mind me posting the link. They should be leaving Ethiopia shortly with baby Micah! It sounds like they are happily exhausted and ready to come home but not really ready to leave...makes total sense to me!

Not much been happening the last couple of days. Sam (my very overweight 2.5 year old orange tabby) has developed a cough which got really bad the other night. So I took him to the vet on Thursday and he had some abnormal findings on his chest x-ray...they are going to gas him on Monday and explore...it could be an infection, asthma, heartworms...who knows. He hasn't coughed since he came home from the vet's so maybe we scared it out of him. Hopefully it is nothing serious. Those that have known me for awhile know about my ordeal with a certain other 3 year-old orange tabby (we won't go there) that ended badly several years ago. I got Sam shortly after that and Sam is my absolute sweetheart...I hope everything is okay but I will not put him through the torture that Smuckers went through. So, I'm praying for feline asthma or an infection...we can handle those. It certainly hasn't interfered with his ability to eat!! I'll keep everyone posted.

Found someone that wants to house sit for me while I'm in Ethiopia...so I don't have to worry about the cats being alone for a week. Ollie-dog will still go to Mom's--he loves going to her house and I think he will need her in my absence. He gets a little pitiful when I leave! So him and Daniel-dog can play together for a week...that will be fun.

That's it for today...starting a long stretch of working days so I'll post when I can!

Check out some other blogs!

So nothing new to report on my end...starting my shots tomorrow. So I'll probably be feeling crummy the next couple of days. Ugh!

Lots of news with some of my fellow adopters. Jenni and Jim's court date went off okay with only a slight 24-hour glitch. So they are officially parents. No name picked out but check out their site for pix. They should be looking to travel around the end of the month.

Kevin and Stacie are traveling this weekend to meet and bring home Micah! Pray for safe travels for them. Keep an eye on their blog over the next couple of weeks. I know they will post as much as they can from Addis (depending on the internet!).

Heaps of clothes and big dogs

Nothing new on the adoption front. Dossier is still in DC although Lindsay said it should be back on Monday (fingers crossed!). Then it will head out to Ethiopia! I called and made my appt with the Health Department for August 3rd. I'm thinking about changing it though...maybe checking out the UVA Travel Clinic. Several of the docs at work recommended trying it, they specialize in international disease-ology (yeah, I made that word up!). The nurse at the Health Dept was not nice on the phone. She was more worried about which side of the dividing line I lived on so she could bum me off on another district. Then she informed me that I had to get "everything." Sorry...but I'm only getting a couple of the recommended shots. I am getting the yellow fever shot; it is not required but I've heard that occasionally you will be given one when you get off the airplane if the receiving officials feel it's necessary. I'd rather get it before I go. Most of the others are low risk so I'll discuss it with the docs before I proceed.



This is what my house looked like on Thursday night. My friend Deborah (Kaili's mom--see blog on right) brought over "some clothes" for me and my sister-in-law to have. After 3 hours of sorting and repacking, I can confidently say that neither my daughter nor my niece will need any clothes for quite some time. In the garage is a rubbermaid full of 24 month/2T, another even larger container full of 18 months, and also one full of 6-9 and 12 months. The 6-9 and 12 month clothes are sitting in the nursery waiting on my sister-in-law Lesa to come over and go through with me. There was everything from playclothes to dresses, snowsuits and swimsuits, boots and shoes and socks! She also brought me a diaper genie and some toys, books, bottles, and an infant carrier (something that will definitely come in handy for the trip!).

She also bought me this great giraffe artwork piece as a present. I'm thinking I may actually hang it beside the door leading into the nursery. Thanks Deborah!!

My friend Shannon came over Saturday evening for a few minutes before I went to work. She brought one of her Great Danes (Josie) for Ollie-dog to meet. This is the first time that I ever saw him truly intimidated. Of course, he's never seen a dog that is taller than my grill! My cats were also quite spooked...which is unusual for them. Mickey usually hides under the bed and Sam climbs as high as he can...they just sat and looked at Josie--never hid, just sat there with their fur puffed up. Here is a great picture of Josie and Ollie...I think Ollie was confused and didn't really believe Josie was the same species. Or maybe it was because he could reach her butt to sniff and he doesn't understand anything that he can "sniff-test."

By the way...Josie is super well-behaved and it was very cool being able to pet a dog without leaning over!

Hopefully, I'll have more news to post in the next couple of days! I'll keep you "posted!"