Family meeting

We've been struggling with how much to tell the boys about our wait that is stretching on and on. From the beginning they've wanted to know each part of the process. They've been so involved. However, over the last four months, it's been really hard on them each time we have a setback. Two days ago, when we found our date had been pushed to the 14th of October, we had a family meeting to find out what the kids want as far as information. The collecitve opinion was they want to know all of the information, even the frustrating things, as they feel if they don't know what is going on, they will worry more than they do with the disappointments.

Jake said, "I don't care what happens or how it happens as long as I get my sister by Christmas."

I think that is a first on this family's Christmas list.

Woof, woof...

This morning Clark, Simon, the dog and I were in the kitchen with the usual coffee, oatmeal, dog treats & toast. Clark looked at me and said, "You are the most beautiful girl." So nice. My tummy felt flip-floppy.

And then, Simon countered, as he looked at the dog lovingly, "Actually mom, you are the second-most beautiful girl in this room."



You've got to be kidding me!



Woof, woof...

Scenario Two:

The world is a place where things move slowly and we have to wait for a new court date for our paperwork to be reviewed again.

October 14th is the new day to look forward to. All cases were shot down today in court and most were reassigned in November. So, though it is frustrating, we are so, so glad to only be looking at two weeks.

A word about my co-workers: wonderful. This week, a surprise chocolate on my desk, emails and questions about our hopes for today, a very sweet and encouraging letter, amazing support. I am lucky to work where I do, surrounded by really great people.

xoxo, C.

Send us your good thoughts

Tomorrow is the "Official First Day of Court Re-Opening". Though, court has been open for the last three days.

We called our co-director today and here's the scoop: People have been in a never-ending line to get into the courthouse for the last few days. Unless a person has a court appointment they are turned away. Our lawyer has four court appointments tomorrow, as well as 7 new cases to file. Our case has been through court twice (and failed both times). We now believe we have all of the required paperwork and should pass through court. We do not have a new date, as we have previously filed an appeal. This means???? Scenario One: The world is a beautiful place and we find out tomorrow that we have already passed through court unscathed. Scenario Two: The world is a place where things move slowly and we have to wait for a new court date for our paperwork to be reviewed again. Scenario Three: The world is a bummer, but we'll deal with it and we need additional information and then will re-file for court. Scenario Four: The world is against us and we need some unachievable, undetermined, ambiguous piece of paper. Just to note, if Scenario Four occurs, Crystal will be sent on the fast-track to the looney bin.

So, folks, those are the possibilities, unless there lies a Scenario Five which we don't even want to consider.

Send us your good thoughts please, please, please!

When you wish upon a star...

Tonight Clark and I wrapped up in fleece blankets and sat out on the porch with a glass of wine. Our date night. As we sat, I saw a beautiful shooting star. I yelled, "Come home Agnoti, come home!" I hope the Ethiopian courts heard me.

Clark is pretty sure they did. :)

Shower

I went to Linsey's welcome home baby shower for Abdisa today. He is beautiful. So healthy. So happy.

Have you ever been doing fine and then your emotions hit you like a truck? Like a truck carrying livestock, big and stinky? Linsey is standing with Abdisa and I think, "Agnoti was supposed to be here..." Then Linsey asks how I am doing with the wait. I start crying. Not just a little crying. Snot running down my face crying. Which makes Linsey cry. So we stood and cried and hugged and cried some more.

Please God, let us hear good news about Agnoti within the next few days. I feel like I am crumbling.

There was more than one baby at the shower today.....

Somethin's Fishy...

Liam had his Middle School Open House last night.

His science teacher, Mr. Wilson, has a large kiddie pool in the classroom filled with rocks and a rotating watersource. Mr. Wilson has invited the kids to bring water pets from home. We have a beta. Liam has been begging me to let him bring the beta to school. Way above and beyond the usual begging when one wants something. Last night we found out why.

About ten minutes after arriving another mom pulls me aside asking about our electric fish. Electric fish?? She giggles saying, yes, Liam told the class that we own an electric beta fish and that she is curious about it. A couple of other parents stand nearby snickering. She then asks if we plug it in.... I look at Liam, who's face is beginning to painfully contort. He's caught in an embellishment (Liam is FAMOUS for this). Liam's mom hates this part of parenting. I smile and tell laughing-mom that our electric beta actually saves on the power bill, as we no longer need a nightlight at our house, the kids just tote our beta's bowl around.

No Liam, the beta fish will not be going to school. Somethin's fishy at Open House... ...us!

Dear Heavenly Father,

Tonight as I tucked Simon in he asked if I would listen to him pray. It sounded like this:

"Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for Mom and Clark... ...and everyone else. Thank you so much for the plants that give us ox, oxa, oxagain? Nevermind. Please God, make everyone in this house have good dreams. I love you. Amen."

About the Heavenly Father part--I had no idea that Simon and God are on such formal terms. And, yes, I did manage to hold it together over Simon's incredible appreciation for oxygen. Who doesn't pray for plants at bedtime?!? What a sweetie-pie.

Homecoming

This very weekend last year went to our friend Pat's house and stood on his porch to watch the Homecoming Parade. There was a beautiful moment with Clark standing on a step behind me, his arms wrapped around. A daddy and his Asian-looking little girl walked in front of us on the sidewalk. She wore squeaking shoes; with every step they chirped. She was jumping, shoes chirping, holding her daddy's hand. I said to Clark, the next time we are at Homecoming, our daughter will be with us.

As you all know, our daughter is not home. We have watched the changing season and I have been thinking of that little girl with the squeaking shoes, of the parade and the daughter we planned to take this year.

Homecoming was today and Liam had a football game scheduled at the same time. As we stood watching the game today Clark was standing behind me, his arms wrapped around. We were not at the parade but I said to Clark, the next time we are at Homecoming, our daughter will be with us. She will; I know it.

Drink the water

We heard the fabulous news that our friends are pregnant... Congrats N & L! And, recently, other friends have decided to adopt a baby boy. Congrats to you too K & A!

Add them to the host of friends that are expecting or have just had babies and our circle of friends is having a baby boom. Wait until these little stinkers are teenagers together, whew!

Some people are afraid to drink the water in Missoula right now. Go ahead, drink the water. Heck, dump the water over your head! :) Crystal

Eleven days and counting

September 28th is only 11 days away! We are so hoping Agnoti's appeal is heard within those three days before court starts seeing cases again. Please send your good thoughts our way...

Her new shoes came. I hope she can still fit into them; they are mediums and her feet end up being so loooong at 4.5 inches.

Soccer snacks

Simon is playing soccer & Liam is playing football. Thus, we are entering the season of fall team snacks, Clark's pet-peeve.

Some thoughts Clark has about soccer snacks: The reward for the privilege of playing an athletic sport is asinine. If your kids are hungry after soccer, you should take them home and feed them lunch. If they are hungry before soccer, feed them lunch. Maybe the kids should bring adults snacks for our sacrifices of driving to and from practice, diligently cheering along the sidelines, purchasing new sports equipment each and every season, picking them up when they fall down, biting your tongue when they blow it on the field... That's it, we are buying Pop-Rocks and Coke for snack this weekend--we won't be asked to participate in soccer snacks again.

Pop-Rocks and Coke, is he nuts? I sure love this guy!

Crawling Into the Mind of a Man...

THE GAUNTLET HAS BEEN THROWN DOWN. THE FOLLOWING IS AN EMAIL FROM NICK TO CLARK, A POKER INVITE TITLED, "The Call to Felt (Poker Game)"

"Well mo-fo's, the evenings are getting crisp, football is the talk of Griz nation, and the leaves are starting to change colors. What does all this mean? That it is once again poker season, of course!!
Beginning on Saturday, Sept. 20th your presence is requested required and your money is needed every third Saturday night from 7pm until you are formally excused from the table or you are too squished to speak (just keep raising the pot in the latter case).
We need regular players to make this important game happen on a regular basis and family commitments are not an excused absence!! We all have families to contend with, most of which are still young and growing. Please be informed that families are to be unceremoniously cast aside for this, most special, evening of male bonding, bitching, and boozing. Remember, absence not only makes the heart grow fonder, but it also helps to keep a man's sanity intact. Thus, poker serves to improve our home lives by making us better husbands, more sensitive and caring lovers, and more attentive fathers. As you can see, poker is revealed to truly be a family game upon close examination.
Please RSVP and let me know that you will be here for every poker game with beer and money until next July, when you will be excused for a two-month summer vacation -or call and tell me you can’t make it because your wife said no and you have to stay home and play Barbie's like the little girlie girl that you are…" (Written By Nick)

ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER? BETTER HUSBANDS? MORE SENSITIVE, CARING LOVERS? MORE ATTENTIVE FATHERS? A FAMILY GAME? CAN NICK PROMISE THESE THINGS? IT SOUNDS LIKE A 12-STEP PROGRAM. GOOOOOOO POKER SEASON!!!!!

Loving a Maybe

Today we got the news that there is no news.

I am remarkably ok with this.

October 1st is when cases start processing through court again and court re-opens September 28th. Our co-director thinks that before working on new cases, pending cases will be processed. We are pretty sure all our paperwork is in order and just needs approval. So, there is a chance that in 17 days our adoption will be finalized, with us traveling about 3 1/2 weeks later.

That feels soon.

That feels wonderful.

That feels like the best maybe I've ever had in my whole life!!!

Winna, winna, winna!

This morning, I am a "winna". On Ebay, we became the proud new owners of a Britax car-seat for Agnoti for $50.00 less than the local outlet is asking. Won't she look absolutely lovely in this?

In a chocolate shop!

Clark and I had some kid-free hours today and headed downtown. Missoula is having a German beer festival (I thought today) that we were going to visit. A beer, a brat, German music--sounded up our alley. Well, as we were finding a parking spot, the clientele looked different than we expected. Turns out that we were right on time for Hemp-fest. Hmmm, no thanks. The German festival is tomorrow. We quickly changed plans and were soon walking the downtown strip. I bought some great new shoes and we made a quick visit to Posh Chocolat (the BEST chocolate!). They also have a lunch menu featuring... AN ETHIOPIAN CHICKEN CREPE!!!! We ordered one to share and it was fantastic. I took a picture of the crepe with my cell phone, but somehow deleted it. We'll have to go back for a new picture! :) And, the crepe was absolutely delicious.... I never would have dreamed that we'd find Ethiopian food in a chocolate shop!

I am finding myself in a funny place with our adoption. I've regressed. When we decided to switch to Ethiopia our plans did not seem real for a long time. During this period I found myself telling anyone who stood still about our adoption. While sharing, I'd get this excited, buzzy feeling, like a first date with someone wonderful... As our adoption became more real, we got a referral, things were looking good, the need to do this abated. Well friends, it is back and going strong. During our brief outing today I told five people about our adoption. The buzzy, first date feeling is gone, replaced by a hollow, overwhelmed, dejected feeling. It is so frustrating to not have information, to not have any kind of idea of a date, to hold nothing but question marks in our hands.

I think I'll head back to Posh for some chocolate therapy!

My Little Entrepreneur

During tonight's tuck-in I was leaving Liam's bedroom and heading for Simon's when Liam yelled out, "Mom, I would not trade you for anything in the world!" I entered Simon's room with my heart feeling melty and full of love. Simon looked perplexed. When I asked him what he was thinking he said, "Well, I think I would trade you for a million bucks. I could probably buy you back for less than that and I would make some money."

So, there you have it friends... I am worth something less than a million bucks. Ahhh, the highs and lows.... :)

The Bedroom

Here is Agnoti's bedroom. Cranberry with glitter paint on bottom. Vanilla (trim), strawberry (upper walls), and chocolate (ceiling) for the Neopolitan effect. Like I need to be encouraged to think about ice cream!!!

Clark's dad, Doug, built Agnoti's crib and we had help from the grandmas, Steph and Benny, with the paint job. Thank you helpers... xoxo

Yesterday

...was the day we were scheduled to meet Agnoti. It has been hard not to get stuck in sadness. We do not know when we will travel to get her; though, hope for a phone call or email with good news every day. It is so hard to wait.

It rained in Missoula all weekend.
Clark and I worked on the house, installing a ceiling fan in the office area and building the header for the entry door.
Linsey's girls came with our family to an Ethiopian Adoptive Parents picnic in Polson Saturday, as Linsey is still so sick from her trip to Ethiopia. The ET kids were beautiful. As always, it was wonderful to visit with the other parents.
Doug dined with us Sunday.
Glen and Tara came over for a martini last night.
We bought Agnoti a purple sweater today.
Tonight we are watching "Water Horse" with the boys.

Dear Agnoti,

Do you know your daddy keeps your picture on his desk at work?

Do you know your brother Simon lays on your bedroom floor and reads your books?

Do you know your brother Jake measures time by when you will be with our family?

Do you know your mommy sits in your rocking chair looking at the mountains outside your bedroom window?

Do you know your brother Liam says he'll paint your fingernails?

Do you know how much we love you?

Back to school and such

As of tomorrow we will have a high-school student, a middle-school student, and an elementary-school student. We almost have a day-care aged child as well! Wow!

No news on Agnoti. We did get new pictures. She is STUNNING... She also looks a bit impish, which we are soooo excited about. We have experience parenting that kind of kid! :)

The picture above is Agnoti holding the bear we sent her. I guess she giggled when she received it. Can't wait to hear that giggle firsthand!

Ethiopia Right Now

1. (Aug 2008) The draught Ethiopia (and other African countries) is experiencing...
http://www.worldvision.org/news.nsf/news/africa-food-crisis-200808?
2. (not current) This is the village we think Agnoti is from, Awasa...
http://images.google.com/url?q=http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/africa-wants-trade-not-aid/2005/07/03/1120329326420.html&usg=AFQjCNEo8E4HZnXK29BRepALEccYBNEiwA
3. (March 2008) One way for Ethiopian girls to succeed... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/14/AR2008031401155.html
4. (Feb 2007) This article claims child mortality is declining in Ethiopia... http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0702/S00407.htm
5. (Aug 2008) Rosemary Righter discusses population explosion and land policy as instrumental in famine... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/rosemary_righter/article4568457.ece
6. (Aug 2008) A Chicago man offers education in Ethiopia... http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/1116868,CST-EDT-BetterDayFour20.article
7. (not current) Adopting alleviates the orphan crisis... http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=52622

Agnoti's Birth-Father

I think about him every day. He lost his wife and then his child.

I am so thankful to him for allowing our family to raise his daughter. I am so sad for the circumstances that keep him from parenting Agnoti himself.

I wish we could hold this man's hands and convey the love we will shower on Agnoti, the promise to meet all of her needs forever, our intent to raise her knowing his love and his loss, our respect for his difficult choices, our commitment to embrace the traditions, the history and the beauty of Ethiopia.

I wish we could let him know that we feel his daughter in our hearts; that we fall asleep at night thinking of her and praying for her, and wake up doing the same.

The Romans

Today is my nephew, Ethan's, 9th birthday. He and Simon are only two weeks apart in age. The boys call themselves cousin-brothers. So cute. Ethan and Simon scored play time alone while the older kids went to Grandma's this afternoon. The boys decided to take a look through some of Clark's mother's jewelery (set aside for Agnoti to enjoy). I tossed them some play clothes, which kept them occupied for almost two hours. Ahhhh... They emerged looking pretty fancy and declared that they were The Romans.

Hmmm... were the Romans cross-dressers? Lol! I love summer vacation...

Attachment, literally

Here is a picture of our new baby carrier. Clark purchased it (on E-bay) while I was hosting bookclub. Though, we bookclubbers watched the minute-by-minute countdown as he battled it out for our carrier.We bought this carrier with adoption attachment in mind. Our plan is to carry Agnoti as much as possible (or as much as she wants) to facilitate bonding. With a child raised from infancy parents have held, carried, cuddled, coddled and assisted with every basic need. When adopting an older child, much of that bonding time has passed. Early attachment is a very important piece of development. An infant must have their needs met consistently, lovingly and immediately. One theory in adoption attachment is that you can take a step back in time by devoting much time and attention to fulfilling those infant needs no matter how old the child.

Enter, Beco baby carrier! Agnoti, our little kangaroo, will hopefully feel more connected to Clark and I through the physical closeness provided by her carrier, as well as our efforts to meet her needs. We are learning more about attachment parenting and adopting an older child, which I'm sure I'll post about...

Puke and Poop

Sometimes puke and poop happens where it shouldn't at our house. As a bargaining tool before getting our dog, Margaux, I promised Clark to be the future cleaner of all household messes. Well, tonight, our beautiful red-head lost it on the carpet in the hallway (apparently she has been into something other than dog food!). Good to my word, I was the cleaner. It got me thinking...

This seemed a very safe bet when we had three boys old enough to make it to the toilet for years. Things are about to drastically change with a one-year-old! I no longer like my role as master of puke and poop. Clark says he has a role equivilant--taking the garbage to the street on Friday morning. Hmmmm... I don't know about that.

Boys in Bands

Agnoti's headbands came today from Tracy's Botique. They are fabulous!!! I can't wait to have a little girl to put them on, as the boys just don't do them justice. However, they get HUGE points for sportsmanship!

Tidbits...

Linsy (superhuman) has been continuing to update us about Agnoti. This is an amazing feat, as her little-one has been in and out of the hospital the whole time she's been in Ethiopia. She and Rick (her husband) also have a 2.5-year-old at the orphanage, so when she visits Daniel, she spends time with our girl too. Thankfully, Linsey gets to scoot home a couple of weeks early with Abdisa on a Medical Visa to get him the care he needs in the US. He'll be ok, he's fighting some bugs, malnutrition, etc. Abdisa only weighs around 4 lbs. at 4 months!

Posting the last few emails from Linsey:

Email #1: We will give her her bear next time.... Too crazy the first time. I did give her a sticker though and she ate it... I had to fish it out of her mouth in pieces. Oops.

Email #2: I hate to tell you this but I don't think they are giving Agnoti the formula. I saw them deliver a bunch of cups on a tray and randomly passed them out for the toddlers to drink. The nurse was very friendly to me and I will talk to her about giving Agnoti special formula... I will let you know how it goes. She was very bright eyed and playful so I think whatever she is getting is good.

Email #3: We saw Agnoti today. She is potty trained, can walk holding on to your fingers, and loved her bear! She laughs and smiles & looks really good. I can't chat much but I will talk to you when I get back. Try to come over on the am of the 20th before I go to Billings and you can see her video. She is strong and doing great... Don't worry at all, she will be a great addition to the boys. Linsey

My reflections... She is strong and doing great, thank God!!! She has a penchant for stickers. :) Darn it about the formula. Our agency director is going to ET on Monday and will look into the formula situation. Bright-eyed, playful, walks while holding on and potty trained. POTTY TRAINED!!!! What the heck, she's a one-year-old!!! I guess we better get a potty. :) And she loved the bear we sent, awwww.... These bits of information are invaluable. We really look forward to Linsey and Absida's safe return.

Info about Agnoti

Our friend Linsey just arrived in Ethiopia and today she sent the following:

Just wanted to let you know we saw your baby girl today. She is very beautiful. We got lots of photos of her drinking milk from a cup, smiling & climbing on a car seat. She babbled a little. While she was playing a couple boys cornered her & she got scared and started to cry. I went and rescued her & she stopped crying until I had to put her down. I am pretty sure she is going to be a cuddle bug and never want to be set down again. The nurse told me while I was holding her that she was 'weak', I asked if she was getting better and she said 'oh, yes'. I pray you made it through court...
She is ready to come home and I envision her taking hold of your family really fast. She did not ask to be held when I put my arms out to her but she definately didn't complain either. I will do measurements next time we go back.
I did not see her crawl or stand.... Not sure she even puts weight on her legs much; however, she did stand up in a car seat that she was playing on. If I had to guess I would say she weighs about 10lbs max. She was very light and her bottom-half felt very small to me compared to her upper body.
Email me and let me know what else you want me to tell you about her. Crystal she is very beautiful and has a gorgeous smile... I wish I could send you photos right now. Hang in there and keep me posted on your status. Love Linsey

This new information on Agnoti is priceless. We we can not express how thankful we are to get Linsey's first-hand account of how she is doing. It is really hard to hear that she seems to have lost weight. We are worried about her. News of our court appeal can not come fast enough.

Happy and Sad

Yesterday we got the news that Agnoti has a living birth-father. We did not pass Monday's court because we need a letter from him stating his approval of our family adopting Agnoti. Our agency's lawyers were in a scramble to try find him before court closed. All day yesterday was spent imagining the difficulties of finding this man in such a short time-frame in a country of almost 100-million people. Then we had worries of him changing his mind or finding something he did not like about our family... Ugh!!!

Well, they managed to find Agnoti's birth-father We got a phone call at 5 am today. He wrote the letter approving our family for adoption. The letter went to the Minestry of Women's Affairs where they recommended our adoption to the courts. Our lawyer took all of the paperwork to the court and COURT WAS CLOSED FOR THE RAINY SEASON!!?#!!@>??!

Are you riding this roller coaster with us? Next, our agency director said that our lawyer had spoken with a judge who encouraged her to appeal the court. It turns out, even though court is closed they will allow some cases, under special circumstances, to be heard.

So, the plan is to appeal. We do not know how long this takes. The director of our agency is headed to Ethiopia (Praise God!!!) and while he is there, hopefully some action will occur. That man seems to be able to move mountains!

Today has been spent canceling our flights and guest-house reservations--very frusterating, very expensive. Our hearts are heavy. Though, we are hopeful we can still arrange a court date.

We are grateful beyond words to Agnoti's father for entrusting her to us. We are appreciative of the support we have received from family and friends. We are thankful for our fellow agency parents, who have been encouraging and sympathetic. All of which helps. And, we have a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. Her name is Agnoti.

Inspiring Film @ Orphans in S. Africa

Phone lines are down.

Did we pass?

Do we wait for an October court date?

We do not know because the phone lines are not working today in Ethiopia. Our daughter's paperwork went to court Monday afternoon (ET time) and we are not sure of the results. Waiting, waiting for that golden phone call...

Nope.

We got the dreaded email this morning. Agnoti did not pass court. The silver lining in this cloud is perhaps the letter from MOWA did not make it to court. If the letter is the problem, we can go to court again with the letter when it is available. We should have more information later today.
We are panicking (I am) a bit (a lot), as we purchased airline tickets yesterday and reserved our guest house. Also, I want to get that little girl home!!!

Not yet.

Our paperwork was missing once piece (a very important piece). The recommendation letter from the Ethiopian Ministry of Women's Affairs did not get put in with our court documents. Not great news, but not terrible news. The director of our agency said that our case should be tried Friday (tomorrow!!!) or Monday and she feels like we will pass. We bought our airline tickets and reserved our guest house. We are bound and determined to bring Sweetie-Pie home! We plan to travel August 30th through September 7th.

The Ways We Wait...

In two days we find out if we are legally Agnoti's parents; we wait with frantic anticipation.
Potential flight plans are in the works; we wait to spend $5,000.
Three boys are craving a sister; they wait for mid-September.
Primer in Agnoti's bedroom is drying; we wait to paint the final coats of Cranberry Coctail with Glitter Sparkles.
Guest-house reservations are pending; we wait for an embassy date.
Our arms feel empty; we wait to fill them with the most amazing one-year-old girl.
A little girl sits in an orphanage half-a-world away; does she know what's waiting for her?

Gifts for Agnoti

A mom traveling to Ethiopia generously offered to bring Agnoti a Ziploc baggie with gifts in it. It's hard to decide what to send a one-year-old. Clark, Liam, Simon and I went to the mall last night and found an adorable little zebra. Of course they voted for a boy zebra! I couldn't have that, so today pulled off the boy collar and attached a black and pink collar. Walla, it's a girl! :) Margaux (our dog) was sure that zebra was hers, so Agnotie should find essence of dog slobber on her new gift's tail. My friend Jen has introduced me to the world of scrap-booking, which I did a little on the pic's we sent. I also had the pictures laminated, as the first place an infant puts anything is her mouth. These should hold up for awhile...

Little One

In the past couple of weeks we've found out that our daughter is struggling a bit. She has been termed "failure to thrive" along with three others in the orphanage (of about 70 children). As a children's counselor, I've seen failure-to-thrive with children in problematic environments losing the desire to nourish themselves and participate in their surroundings--shutting down physically and emotionally. While the orphanage Agnoti is in takes beautiful care of the children, it is known that some kiddos lose ground without consistent individual care.

It could be that Agnoti is having difficulty in the orphanage setting, or her formula is not agreeing with her, that she is grieving, or maybe she has been sick... Regardless, we are worried. Clark and I, with another family, sent a box of formula specialized for underweight babies to the orphanage. The formula arrived on July 18th and we are hoping this helps. We will have new pictures of her within a week or so and we can't wait for that physical reassurance!

The picture in this post is of Agnoti's tiny hands and feet. Currently, the term Little One very accurately portrays our daughter.

Baby Girl, Baby Doll

I found this wonderful, snuggly blankie/doll at WOKiTS and couldn't pass it up. Agnoti's will be orange. Our baby girl has her first baby doll!!!!!

Agnoti!!!

We have a little girl! Her name is Agnoti. She is approximately one year old. She's amazing!!! I can not post pictures of her until we pass our court date. Our date is July 31st and we are hoping against all hopes that we pass, as, if we do, we can pick Agnoti up at the end of August.
The information we have on her is as follows: She is one and used to have a full head of hair (we've seen pictures and it was bouffant!). She weighs 14.8 pounds and is 27 inches (about the 3rd percentile). She can bear weight on her legs. She is beautiful. She has huge eyes and amazingly-long eyelashes. Her mouth is heart-shaped. She is malnourished, but we'll change that!
To say that we are thrilled, elated, over-the-moon, ecstatic, bursting with joy and possibility is an understatement!!!!!!

From Ho Chi Minh to Addis Ababa in One Day!

Our approval from the US to adopt landed in its destination yesterday, or so the very kind woman with the National Visa Center told us this evening. This was our last paperwork'ish thing to worry about (we hope!). We've been working on this for weeks! When we filed initially it was sent to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam; with our switch to Ethiopia we needed that approval to follow suit. It did--to Addis Ababa in one day. Cause for celebration!!!

Mom, I read your comment on yesterday's post. I have not thought about those pins in months. Funny how that works out! xoxo, Crystal