Embassy FB Posts

Pam ~ I have utilized Facebook throughout our adoption journey to keep people updated and to record things that have been going on so that I don't forget. But not everyone who reads this blog are FB friends, so I thought it would be fun to share our FB posts from our Embassy trip!!!!

September 21, 2012 ~ We have arrived safely in D.C. and are checked into our hotel for the night. We head back to the airport first thing in the morning and fly to go get our GIRL!!!!

September 22, 2012 ~ It's breakfast time and then it's airport time and then it's sitting down for a very long time in a very small space with a lot of people I don't know and then it's time to go implement "Gotcha Day"!!!!

September 23, 2012 ~ Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us!!! We've made it safely to Ethiopia and are checked in at the guesthouse. We've got 1 hour here, then we'll meet other traveling families for lunch and then it's time to go GET OUR GIRL!!!!

We LOVE our little girl soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!!! I was hoping to get a video of us meeting her again, but she appeared out of nowhere and jumped into my arms with a HUGE smile on her face!!!!! Nathan and I are VERY tired, but hanging in there. She is FULL of energy (and didn't get a nap today so she is also tired and has NO attention span)!!!! Prayers for strength would be greatly appreciated!!!!

We put Maya K to bed EARLY tonight because she was sooooo tired. So we're praying that she doesn't wake up crazy early. I greased her skin up with baby oil) and some in her hair too), put her in footsie pajamas, brushed her teeth (YAY for her knowing how to do it already; I'm lovin' those nannies that have been taking care of her), "greased" up her face with cream, Nathan read a story to her and we put her in bed. It only took about 15-20 times of laying her back down with me laying down in the bed next to her crib (I know she's too old for a crib, but it's what we have available to us here), for her to finally fall asleep. Please pray that she sleeps the whole night through and doesn't wake up scared or confused!!!! (Sorry for the long post. There's been a lot happening!!!!)

September 24, 2012 ~ Kisanet slept for 12 hours last night and woke up smiling and laughing!!!! What a blessing to get to cuddle and snuggle with our little girl first thing in the morning!!! We will be leaving for our first lunch out with her in a few minutes, and we're praying that it will go well!!!.

She just called me "Enat"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That means "mommy" in Amharic!!!! Be still my heart!!!!!

We got through lunch (remind me to buy some large bibs when we get home; she is a VERY messy eater!!!) and came back to the guesthouse for a late nap (we ALL needed one). It took a half hour for her to settle down and go to sleep, but then she slept for an hour. We just woke her up (it's 4 p.m. here and we want her to sleep tonight) and she's cuddling with her daddy while eating a granola bar. We are soooooooooooooo thankful for the bonding that is already taking place!!!!! God is good!!!!!

September 25, 2012 ~ We need prayers for strength and energy today. Last night was rough. Kisanet screamed for THREE HOURS straight!!!! And she's got a powerful set of 5-year old lungs!!!! No amount of holding or rocking would make her stop. We are grateful that she allowed us to at least try to comfort her!!! She's running on about 6 and a half hours of sleep and Nathan and I are running on even less. She woke up happy and smiling (at 5:15 a.m.!!!!) but we are TIRED!!!! We leave to go shopping in about an hour, then we have lunch, and then we have our Embassy appointment.

We had our Embassy appointment and everything went as it was supposed to. We're not putting Kisanet down for a nap today because we are PRAYING that she will be so tired tonight that she will fall right asleep!!!! But, in the meantime, she is CRANKY!!! We are VERY thankful that there is a play room on the roof of the guesthouse and Kisanet is LOVING playing in there. Nathan and she just headed up there again and Mommy is having a little quiet time in the room!!! But I'm heading up soon to "relieve" Daddy!!!

September 26, 2012 ~ Yes, we gave in. She cried for 45 minutes in her bed last night and then we put her in our bed. She fell asleep in under 2 minutes and we moved her back to her crib where she slept for 9 hours!!!! It's probably the start of a bad habit, but we all NEEDED the sleep and are feeling much better today. We are also trying to take into account all the changes that are going on in her life right now. She needs to know that we will ALWAYS take care of her and when she is crying "Enat" and "Dada" we want to answer her!!!! We are going to the older child Transition Home today to try to get some video of Kisanet singing with the nannies and teachers. She LOVES to sing and is singing different songs ALL day!!! "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" is a favorite and after we sang "Jesus Loves Me" to her at bedtime last night, she sang another "Jesus" song to us in English. It was soooooooooooooooooooooo sweet!!!!!

Today was a little rough. I had a meltdown of emotions this afternoon and Nathan is such an AWESOME daddy!!!! He kept Kisanet occupied for an hour while I lay down on the bed (and believe me when I say that keeping her occupied for an hour is a VERY hard task). When I got up, I still couldn't stop crying and my sweet little girl climbed up on my lap and hugged me and fed me from her granola bar and tried to wipe my tears with her shirt!!!! That afternoon was GOOD!!!!! We are all changed for bed and just need to brush her teeth, have story time with daddy, sing some songs, and then it's bedtime!!!! We're starting her in bed with us tonight, so please pray that she settles in and goes to sleep QUICKLY!!!!!

September 27, 2012 ~ Kisanet fell asleep right away and was moved to her crib within 15 minutes of laying down and slept for 9 1/2 hours!!!! Daddy slept fantastic; Mommy is sleeping light and didn't get a ton of sleep but was able to rest. Kisanet didn't wake up as happy as before and was very serious and sober until finishing her breakfast. She ate a TON this morning, so she was obviously very hungry!!! We are taking a trip to a mountain and then a zoo this morning. Then daddy is going to try to occupy Kisanet while mommy packs for us to go HOME!!!!!

This will probably be my last post until we're HOME!!!! Nathan has taken Kisanet up to the play room on the roof of the guesthouse while I stay in the room to shower and pack. We have dinner in about two hours and then leave straight from dinner to head to the airport. There are 4 or 5 other families that have been here with us this week that are on the same flight to D.C. with us, so we will all have lots of moral support!!!! Please pray that Kisanet will be good on the plane. That she will allow herself to be buckled in, that she won't cry or be scared, that she will be entertained by the entertainment on the flight, and, most importantly, that she will SLEEP for several hours!!!! The flight is about 16-17 hours long and that is a very long time for a 5-year old (and for her mommy and daddy!!!!).

Submitted to Embassy

Pam ~ Yesterday, we got an e-mail from the US Embassy in Ethiopia telling us . . . . . .

Congratulations! Your adoption case has been submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Your authorized agent, America World Adoption, submitted the case to us on September 5, 2012.

One more piece of the final puzzle has been put into place!!!! We're almost there!!!!!

We honestly were not expecting to be submitted quite this quickly. Our agency told us that we would be submitted 3-5 weeks from passing court and we can only be submitted on Wednesdays. So, our case was submitted the quickest that it possibly could!!!! Praise the Lord!!!!

We are now waiting for a second e-mail to come within the next 10 business days that will give us the next piece. There are three possibilities of what will happen. 1) The Embassy will ask to interview Maya K's birth dad, 2) They will tell us our case is "not clearly approvable" and it will be forwarded to the USCIS office in Nairobi, Kenya, or 3) We will be CLEARED to travel!!!!!

We are anticipating that #1 will be what happens with our case. They will probably request an interview with Maya K's birth dad and we will wait to hear when the interview will be. Then we will wait to hear the outcome. Then we will wait to hear if we are CLEARED to travel!!!!! (I'm glad we've already gotten so good at the waiting game!!!)

Whatever happens first, at some point in the next few weeks we should receive an e-mail telling us that our case has cleared the Embassy and we will get to request three interview dates. We will have to wait one day to hear what interview date we have been given, and then we will make our travel arrangements and fly back to Ethiopia to bring our little girl home!!!!!!

Right now, there is a small possibility that we could be traveling back to Ethiopia in just a couple week {squeal}!!!!! The great probability is that we will be traveling back the very beginning of October. Whenever God chooses, we will go!!!!!

There are still so many things that I want to get done around the house, so I'm trying to stay focused and get as much done now as I can!!!!! Once we are cleared to travel, my house won't get any more attention for a while!!!!!

Keep up the prayers!!!!!!

We Received A Court Date!!!

Pam ~ Yesterday, we received the phone call we have been waiting for the past few weeks!!!! Nathan and I have a court date scheduled in Ethiopia on Tuesday, August 14th. Praise the Lord!!!!

We have to arrive in Ethiopia no later than Saturday, August 11th, in order that we can spend time with our daughter before attending our court appointment, so we need to leave Des Moines on either the 9th or 10th. Our travel plans have just clicked into high gear. There is a lot to get done in just one week!!!!

I thought it might be helpful to explain a little about what we will be doing during this first trip to ET (at least, I'll try to explain as best as I know!!!)

The purpose of this trip is to meet our daughter and then to appear before an ET court judge, tell the judge that we have met our daughter and spent time with her, and that we do want to adopt her. The judge will then ask us some questions. There is a lot of paperwork that has to be completed by the time of our court date (a lot of it is paperwork that the ET government is responsible for and nothing that WE can help with) and if all that paperwork is ready and in order, then at the end of our meeting with the judge we will be told that we have passed and that "K" is now legally our daughter!!!! However, if ANY of the paperwork is missing, we will be told that we have not yet passed and "K"'s paperwork will need to be completed. This DOES happen, so we are already praying that God will see fit to have all the paperwork there on time!!!!

(Our court appointment will most likely be during the morning of the 14th. Because ET is eight hours ahead of us here in Iowa, please be praying as you go to bed on Monday night, the 13th, and/or if you wake up during the night.)

Regardless of whether we do or do not pass court on the 14th, we will not be able to bring "K" home with us :-(. Once we have passed court, paperwork has to be filed with the US Embassy and "K" will have to first be "submitted to Embassy" and then "clear Embassy" before we will be able to make our second trip to ET and bring her home. This second trip will be anywhere from 4-16 weeks after we pass court.

While we are in ET, we will be visiting some of the government-run orphanages, trying to see some of the cultural places in the capital city, doing a little shopping, making a long day trip to see the orphanage that "K" was originally brought to, meeting with "K"'s living birth parent, and spending as much time as we can with our daughter!!!! It will be a busy trip!!!!

Prayer Requests:
  * That travel arrangements will go smoothly and that we will get a good price on tickets. They are currently ranging from $2,000-$3,000 per ticket.
  * For peace of mind as I gather what we need to take and then pack it all
  * For the Ethiopian government and our adoption agency as they work on gathering the needed paperwork (it's a little hard to explain, but there are a couple of VERY important things that need to happen on August 7th, so please be praying on the 6th and 7th!!!!)
  * For Nathan and I as we prepare to meet our daughter and as we prepare to become parents!!!!

I hope that I have been able to explain all of this clearly!!!! Please feel free to comment and ask any questions you might have!!!! We are so very thankful for all of you readers who have been praying for us and encouraging us through our adoption journey!!!!