Surprise!

I just got an email from our agency rep. Our court date is Thursday, not Friday! Woohoo! I know it's just one day, but I am SO excited!! I can't wait to get that call. He will be officially ours! And yes, then I can finally post his sweet picture.

Oh, those of you who are good at this blogging thing...How do you get your favorite blogs to be linked on your page? I can't figure it out! Thanks!

Another week of suspence...

I really feel like my weary mind cannot possibly deal with another 4 days of worrying about our court date. We did find out today that our case should be one of the many going through on Friday. This Friday, August 3rd....4 little days right? No, more like 4 agonizingly long, anxiety-filled days. I feel like we got our referral 8374656352 days ago, and we are just never going to get to go. (I know, I'm whining....we all do it sometimes.)
I should be grateful. We don't have any foreseen delays, and we are expected to make it through with no problems. I really want to start packing, to book our flight, to go pick out toys to bring the other kids. I think time will go by much faster once we have our travel date. Those of you who have done this...Is that true? I am hoping that this knot in my stomach will go away once I have more info.
Fekadu is 16 months old today....by the date we have as his birthday. It make me so sad to know that we cannot be with him yet. If all goes well, the day he turns 17 months old, we will be somewhere over the Atlantic, on our way to finally hold him.

4 weeks tomorrow!

I can't believe it has been 4 weeks since our referral...I was just going through my email, trying to organize stuff (which if you know me, is a hilarious thought). I found this part of an email I sent my friend Kari, who definitely knew how I was feeling that day.

I guess I am at semi-peace with it. I don't feel like our referral is coming now, so I try not to think about the phone ringing anymore. I am just still trying to focus on the positives, and also trying to set up my business so that I can have more free time when the baby does come. I'm not saying it's gotten any easier, but what can I do other than get used to it? It would be an awesome surprise if Kristina was dialing our number right this minute (*gazing at phone*...haha). I just have to figure that our baby just isn't ready for us yet.
Maybe we do still have a chance.....haha, here I go again.

4 hours after I wrote that email, Kristina DID dial our number, and all of that tension was gone in a second. Now it is creeping back to me, because I am inclined to give in to what I want to do, which is pack my stuff, go to the airport, and sit there until we can go get our baby. I will say this...I have heard debate on which is harder, waiting for referral or travel, and this is definitely easier for me. I know who is, I know he is being cared for, and I know he is going to be ours soon. I am so grateful to the people who are making this as easy as possible for Fekadu, and I can't wait to meet them!

Work is really busy right now, which is good, because it forces me to think of other things, and bad, because it forces me to think of other things. I have some slower times coming up though, and I really need it for when we come home. I don't know how (or if) I will ever go back into full-on work mode.

Plans are also in motion for Marlena and Patrick's wedding. My little sis, all grown up! Who would have thought we would have a baby and a wedding within weeks of one another. We Worthans know how to cram it all in, that's for sure. ;) It's time to plan the Bachelorette party. (I can be a mom and still throw a good party, right?...)

We should get the GREAT news that we are through court next week. If we don't hear by Thursday, maybe I will start writing whiny, complaining emails to all of you....It did the trick last time! Keep your fingers crossed for us....

I AM good at EBay after all!

So, Adam always tells me to let him do our Ebay-ing, because, well, I kinda suck at it. I either lose whatever I am bidding on at the last second, or bid too much on something, or pay the seller the wrong way. Haha. I admit it, okay? Last night I logged on to look for some bedding, because the one we picked out is way expensive, and I thought we could do better. I finally did find a set I really liked. The bid was only at 12.50...So I bid $50, thinking it would surely go up. Adam was helping me watch it, and somehow we won! We got a brand new 8 piece bedding set for......drumroll, please! Twenty bucks! Wow...I never seem to get lucky with stuff like this, so I was really excited. It's not exactly what I wanted, but I can still go with my color scheme of baby blue, brown, and red. I know it sounds weird, but wait and see!

I posted the pic of the bedding set, and a print I am ordering for Charlie's room...

YAY!!

Heather

We finally did it!

Created a blog, that is. We should have done it long ago, because we wanted an easy way for our friends and family to follow our adoption journey. As most of you know, we accepted the referral for 14 month old Fekadu on June 27th. We are now oh-so-patiently waiting for our travel date. (That is only half true...I am miserable waiting, Adam is always calm).

We are using Children's Home Society and Family Services as our agency. They have been awesome every step of the way. The world of adoption is so complex...I know we have both learned so much in the last 10 months. Through this process, we have become friends with some amazing people, and I know that these relationships will be prominent in our son's life here. The process has been hard at times, emotional, wonderful, and sometimes even painful. There are delays, and disappointments...but all those feelings went away the moment we heard the magic words..."Is now a good time?...We have a little boy to talk to you about!"...Since that day, we have been getting ready for baby! Adam and I have decided to give him the name Charlie, after my dad, and keep Fekadu as his middle name. Fekadu means "His will". I have to admit it was comforting when I heard that. I have so much respect and love for his birth parents, and we want to honor them as much as possible. There is so much tragedy and so much joy at the same time in situations like these.

I cannot post Fekadu's photo online until we make it through court (PLEASE next week!) But those of you who have seen him, know why all I want to do is stare into those brown eyes until it is time to go. :)

Our agency has told us to tentatively prepare to travel on August 24th, but more likely on the 31st. This will be a long 5 weeks, but we do have a lot to do. The best part is that we will be a family of 3 just in time to attend my sister, Marlena's wedding on September 22nd. I can't wait to see her walk down the aisle (sand) and the fact that her nephew will be there to see it makes me so happy.

Our friends and family have been so supportive throughout this process as well. We never expected anything less, but it made it so much easier to deal with all the hard stuff. And of course, we have heard our share of all those things you just don't want to hear....EX..."Oh, honeeeeey, you can't have BAY-bies?? That is terrible!" To which I reply, "Um I AM having a baby, that's what I just told you." Or people want to really get into the anatomy conversation. Like, some people I don't know well seriously feel that it is okay to inquire about my reproductive organs. Ummm, no. ( By the way...we will have bio kids if it happens, but adoption has always been in our plan). I know though, that I have learned so much, that unless you have been through the process, some people don't realize that they are being offensive. I know that I will have to stop being so thin-skinned in order to protect our son. Nothing is more important to us that instilling a sense of pride in him, for where he came from, for his beautiful culture, and for the person he is and will become.

Adam and I have also spent time these last few months learning about Ethiopia. The first time we tried the food, at a restaurant in Atlanta, we were so excited because it is DELISH. We try to have it a couple times a month, and hope to learn to cook it as well. Adam is good at making injera, which is SO tough to do. When you learn about Ethiopia, it is impossible to miss the beauty of the country and it's people. It's also impossible to miss the tragedy. There are an estimated 4.3 million orphans in Ethiopia alone. By adopting Fekadu. we are not trying to save the world, or be heroes, or make a political statement. We want to be parents. Fekadu needs parents that are able to care for him. For him, and for us, it is the right choice for our family.

Maybe I should tell a little about Adam and I. Well, chances are, you know us, so you guys can skip this part. If not....We were friends long before it got romantic, but when it did....we were engaged soon after, and got married October 22, 2005. I can't believe it has been almost 2 years! We are really happy together. Of course we have our moments, but I truly know that we are both so lucky to have ended up with the right person. Adam is amazing, and I could not ask for anything more. I can't wait to see him become a daddy. :)

Okay, enough mush. We are both 27. Adam installs computer systems for Chic-fil-A, so he travels all over the country. Sometimes I can go with him! I own and operate a photography studio. It is a dream come true, and I love it! We both love hanging out with our awesome families, seeing movies, watching TV shows....good ones! We love games, trivia, camping, traveling, music....Adam is WAY into football, and I try, I really do, but it tends to annoy me. I'll try again this season, I'm sure. (Charlie will be a little DAWGS fan, or my dad will lose it.) Yes, I went against the family code and married a Tech fan.

That's enough for now. I am so excited about keeping this blog updated. I can't wait to post all the details of our trip, and to tell the story of the day we meet our sweet son!

My sister, Marlena, my best friend Jess, and my amazing mother (yes I know you helped) threw me SUCH a fun baby shower on Sunday. It was exactly what we wanted, and I had a blast. Plus we got a TON of great stuff for Fekadu. I can't wait to see him in his little outfits and playing with his toys! :)

Here are some pics!

*Disclaimer* Jayme-from-the-forum, if you are reading this, it's confession time. I saw your shower cake on your blog and fell in love with it, so my sis had it made for our shower! Hope you don't mind! :)

Thanks to Catherine for the beautiful photos.

Okay. so I wanted to put the photos here at the bottom of this post. Obviously, I have yet to figure out this blog thing. Oh, well.

More later!

Heather