January3, 2011

Pretty girl ready for court!
She looks a little scary here..... I don't have a clue how to photoshop a person's eyes open! :) I was super happy that my parents could be there with us!

I of course choked again when answering simple questions! It was embassy day all over again!

The Queen!

This is my only photo, sorry mom..... Marren and I went to eat dinner Saturday night at the Queen of Sheba. Diane, my friend from down the street, went with us! It was the semi-annual dinner at the Queen with other families who have adopted or are adopting children from Ethiopia. We met several nice families and have added a couple more blogs I can stalk! :) JK. It was so nice to meet other people who have gone through the same things I have!

Marren enjoyed the injera and liked the lentils, chickpeas, string beans and the curry potato and carrot mixture. She would have been too young to eat in in Ethiopia but I am glad she is trying it early on so we can continue to go as she gets older.

Marren's nannies

Unlike other kids who are moved here a few weeks before they go home, this was Marren's home since she was 5 days old. The nannies have such love for the kids you could see what an impact they have on all the children. I was concerned about how Marren would attach to me since she spent all of her 6 months in the Enat Alem orphanage but the love and attention the nannies showed her helped her to be the happy and content child she is today. These women are special to me. Even after she was placed in my arms that day, each nanny came up to me and asked to hold her again and hugged her and made her laugh.

The Enat Alem nurse is on the left. Her husband did his post graduate work at OU! (Small world)

This is the over-night nanny. She is in high school and sleeps in the baby room at Enat Alem.

Marren fell asleep in my arms within 5 minutes of her being placed in my arms.

She is dressed differently because she was in charge of the coffee ceremony.

This is Marren's favorite nanny.

It made me cry to see her cry over Marren. She loved her very much. I am happy that I got a picture of her smiling for Marren.

Our Group!

Mom and I traveled with some great families! Our group consisted of 4 families total. I was the only first time mom and the only single chick in our party. Everyone was friendly and they made my experience in Africa better. It was somewhat of a relief to know that my fears were their fears too. This group of people seem like an extended part of my family with what we all experienced together.


This was taken on the way to Awassa. You can't tell from the picture, but all of the restaurants had an open patio area shaded by what I can only describe as draped sheets. It was always great to eat outside. Also there weren't any bugs to deal with which I found bizarre because here in Oklahoma you can say, "Patio Dining" and find 10 flies instantly buzzing around your head.


This is a pic from the leaky boat we rode in to see the hippos! I am taking the photo, and later during our excursion, one of the guides switched places with me to scoop out water from our "safe from the people-hungry hippo" boat. Look how pretty the scenery is in the background. Everything around Lake Awassa was green and fertile.


The largest outdoor market in all of Africa is the Mercado and it's in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The men in green are our body guards. It cost us 300 birr for their services and they led us through the market. I am not a easily fearful person and I was very thankful for their presence. One guy even got to jab his club in a person's side for spitting on Lindsay's shoe! Mom bought a beautiful hand made injera basket and I bought a self strung musical instrument to hang on Marren's wall.


This is everyone: Nannies, the orphanage director, AA staff, the nurse! A nanny is holding Marren. The afternoon we spent at Enat Alem was a great afternoon!

Scenes around Addis

Sheet metal roofing seemed to be the standard. Notice the satellite dish in the lower left corner. Most housing areas had communal water but we saw tons of satellite dishes in the city.


I don't think I could be a construction worker here. The scaffolding looks rickety.


This was the outside entrance to the Univeristy of Addis Ababa. We were not allowed to take pictures of the palace, or the Prime Minister residence or any "official" building. The federal police are on foot. They wear blue camo and carry AK-47's. Sammy always reminded us to put our cameras down when we were near these places.


This is the view from the Friendship Building. We ate here often. Who would have thought that I would enjoy something called "Fish Goulash" but it is delicious! We mostly had American type meals here but on the first night I ate Gorer Gorer which is raw cubes of beef eaten with "data" and injera. YUMMMMMY!


This is a shot of a spice dealer outside the Mercado. Africa has a distinct smell that isn't exactly pleasant, but the smell of the pungent spices made my mouth water.


This is a field that is near a school. My picture doesn't show it but kids play soccer here.

Views around the Sadula

This is the Embassy of Lesotho. This embassy tosses out goat heads which feed the feral pack of dogs that live outside it's walls.


The dogs sleep all day! These were the healthiest looking dogs we saw. I didn't take a picture of the goat heads. :)


The building with the blue glass was very pretty. The sun would hit the window's just right and it looked awesome!


I am not sure which embassy this is but it was being renovated.

The Sadula!

We stayed at the Sadula Lodge. It is located in the Bole, or financial district. The hotel is surrounded by embassies and diplomat housing. This is us outside on the steps! In Addis, all nicer housing has a gate and a guard to let you in the courtyard which is kind of cool. I didn't take a picture of the guards but they are all big about wearing uniforms.


This is a view from the door looking in the living area. The portable bed wasn't used until we picked up Marren, then it was used as a changing station. :)


This is the bedroom area. It has a desk and a dresser with a TV and a safe. Mom slept in here. I preferred sleeping in the living room so I could read!


This view is taken from the roll-a-way bed. You will notice the snacks! We were warned that snacks were necessary because the food was bad. I am telling you that it is all junk! I loved the food and I even had raw food occasionally and everything was delicious! Any way, it was nice to have a sink and refrigerator and microwave.


This is where I slept! The gift bags are all the gift we gave to the people who helped bring Marren home. I think our gifts were the most awesome! (Even here I can't suppress my competitive nature!)

When I go back to Ethiopia, I will stay here!

Still #12

I am still #12. I have changed my status back to one child. For those like my mom who do not read my side bars, my adoption was over. I reacted poorly and was hysterical for a week or so. I told my parents, Aunt J, Aunt K, my sister, and my boss! However, and there is a big however... I could not notify the agency. I tried to make myself. I tried dialing, emailing, telepathically transmitting...... well almost. Anyway, I received my supplemental payment invoice, (my agency loves supplemental fees) and I paid them. I told my mother that I got the invoice and her intake of oxygen deprived air to her cats it was so severe :)

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Lo and behold, I believe the freak outs are for the most part behind me. The crushing weight of fear have ended. I am a strong willed person and my feelings were completely normal. I am starting to breathe again and I just try to get through one day at a time. I know that if I continue to plan well and do some heavy praying I will succeed. Although I was thrilled at the chance of two beautiful children I now put all that exuberance in hoping for one. HOWEVER I HAVEN'T MOVED A SPOT IN 10 WEEKS AARRRGGG!
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It isn't the easiest path but let's face it; when have I ever done anything easy? I usually over complicated things and make a mess!

Holding my breath

It has been six weeks and I have sent an email to my agency to see if my place has improved! If the trend continues, I should be 12!

Wish me oodles of luck!

Slow Crawl

Well after six long weeks I have found out that I am now 15th on "The List". At this rate, I will be number one in thirty weeks! Yeay and Blah would describe the conflicting emotions I feel. Yea because it is better than 18 and Blah because I have the patience of a three year old wanting someone else's toy!

Seriously I am pleased to see some movement as long as it's positive!

T-shirt Design

I am having T-shirts made for my adoption. This is a fairly good replication of the background. The design will be on a black t-shirt and underneath the artwork will say "Adopt Ethiopia." I promise it won't look like a rectangle on a shirt like the pic!

Eighteen just might be my new favorite number

So I am gonna cry! I am the eighteenth place in line for a baby girl!!!! Now this doesn't include couples or singles who don't have a preference on gender so my real place in line is unknown! I can only hope that those families are blessed by a spring season filled with baby boys! My life has been so amazing this past year sometimes I can hardly believe it! So everyone keep praying that my time passes quickly, I have finally reached that stage in my adoption where I can feel the seconds CRAWL by.....

So for the immediate future I am abandoning the ever faithful #13. I know wherever Thurman Munson is flying his plane, he will understand because #18 is it for now!!

Documents sent off to be sealed!

So I couldn't mail my doc's today, so they get shipped tomorrow! All of my notarized documents must be notarized by the state. Plus I had to wait until everything came in before getting them sealed. Makes no sense but oh well! I am just following my list of things to do. It's difficult to follow a list in the exact order. My usual way is to make a list, leave it at home, and then wing it! All of this organization is good for me but my normal disorganized mess makes sense! So tomorrow I will find my docs and my list and ship them! :) This has been a wonderful week!

So my fingerprints came back yesterday! The turn around was a week! I was totally shocked by the news and when I told mom she gasped! So last night I got my pictures taken (totally grodie picture) and this morning I emailed my Dossier for review to Kim and Chandra at AAI. Tomorrow I will be sending my dossier and homestudy to the Secretary of the State to have them authenticated. This is not happening slowly which I am thankful. Again, I momentarily got that brief throw-up feeling but it passed quicker than last time!

Homeland Security part 2

So part two of my fingerprints went better than last week. I showed up on time, 15 minutes early, and was told to sit in my car until my appointment time. Apparently if you are first you can't come in early. Other than that, it went smoothly! I was #1 and still had all my information from last week so I was in and out in under 1.5 hours! As I was driving to work my stomach coiled in knots realizing I was one step closer to becoming a mom! I must admit, until now I had no fear. I never knew you could be excited, nervous, happy and sick to your stomach at the same time. The happiness won out by the time I arrived at work and I am okay now. I just have added 2000 more things to worry about and I am not even on the list yet! :) My next step will be dossier submission once fingerprints come back. I am told that should take 2-4 weeks!
WOOO HOOO!

Homeland Security is mean!

So yesterday was my fingerprint day! I was excited and had a great adrenaline rush knowing I was one step closer to Dossier Translation and submission.... Leave to the Department of Homeland Security to throw a bucket of rotten muck all over my enthusiasm. I showed up early and they wouldn't let me in. They told me to go sit in my car for 11 minutes. They said they would arrest me if I took a picture of their sign out front. I got grilled by the Spanish Inquisition when I asked to use the phone. (Mine was locked in my car due to the fact I planned on taking pictures with my phone and selling them to the Russians... a plot the friendly Homeland Security Boys thwarted.) So after sitting in a room for three hours the power went out in the building. The ladies were nice enough, but I was told to reschedule and to leave the premises. I am not a dithering flower prone to crying jaunts, but yesterday I could have been that girl. :) I try again next Tuesday. Maybe I will bring Bodie to see if they want to shoot him to make themselves feel better.