Had to post these!

Steve took the kids to Wal-mart this morning and Marlee is again......sleeping so I thought I would do a quick post! When we got off the plane yesterday Della and Noah were waiting with a big sign that said "Welcome Home Marlee." I couldn't wait to see them both and of coarse they wanted to meet Marlee. Della went right to her and wanted to hold her. Noah could not wait to see Dad, they are pals. After we reported one of our pieces of luggage as lost, we all got in the van and went HOME!!!! Noah really took to Marlee, he asked me if he could touch her and he just kept rubbing her head, it was beautiful. I thought he would be more timid but not so much. My mom made dinner with a salad, I have been so excited to eat fresh veggies!!! My Aunt bought a cake and stopped by and my brother and sister-in-law came and washed all the dishes and helped us get unpacked. It was wonderful! Marlee was exhausted last night and a bit overwhelmed but she is a trooper. She took a bottle and went to bed at 8pm and slept until 5:45am but played until after six. Yes we are not typical but very lucky!!!

The cutest thing this morning is when Noah woke up at 6:30am came down half asleep put his arms around me and said "I am sorry I couldn't wait until 7:00 to wake up I just couldn't sleep anymore." It was so sweet, I think he missed us and was just relieved that we were here when he woke up! He then went in with Dad to finish helping give Marlee her bottle. He loves to play with her and is so gentle. He was sitting by her on the floor and next thing I know he is holding her, very well I might add. He keeps saying how cute she is. Brings tears to my eyes thinking about what she is going to add to the kids lives, not just ours! Then Della woke up and she of coarse had to hold her as well! Not quite as gentle as Noah, but she is coming along. She is taking this a little bit different, some temper tantrums are coming and last night she said she wanted to go to Nanas and sleep there. I know it is just a phase and she and I are going to do grocery shopping today, only she says she wants her baby Marlee to come to. Anyway her are some pics of them this morning, I couldn't resist to post!

Pics

Some pics!

We are back!

Just a quick note to say we are back and I am falling asleep sitting up so I will post pics tomorrow! Marlee slept like an angel, probably 12-13 of the 16 hour flight. I keep thinking I should pinch myself because she is an amazing baby! The kids are doing wonderful and I can't wait to play with them and not be half asleep tomorrow! I don't remember jet lag being this bad before! All worth it! More soon...........

Our Little Marlee!

Well we have had two nights with our sweet little Marlee!  She is a big talker and an excellent sleeper.  Last night she slept from 8-4:30am took a bottle and then back to sleep until 8:30am!  Yes she is darn close to perfect!  Last night she slept from 8-6am straight and we are deciding whether she wants to go back to bed at this point.  She is just talking to Steve!  We are still trying for a belly laugh but haven't succeeded.  She smiles a lot and is very social! Can't wait for everyone to meet her.  We are so excited that the kids get to meet her soon!

 

Speaking of that, we are leaving tonight at 10:15pm here and 3:15pm in the states!  We are ready to go home!  We actually have had a pretty sick travel group!  Kate, an American teacher for the CHSFS school, who lives at the guest house says that we are probably the most sick group she has had so far.  There are lots of theories behind the sickness, virus or bacterial, who knows!  I got a touch of something, but nothing to hold me back, others have had something pretty nasty.  All I can say is, if you are reading this and traveling soon, HAND SANITIZER!  BE NEUROTIC about it!  There are people here who have not gotten it, knock on wood!  We have been pretty careful and used lots of hand sanitizer(about every 15 minutes.)  I think with lack of sleep and jet lag, resistence goes down and then you are more likely to have a lower immunity.  Anyway we are hoping everyone is healthy on the plane! 

 

One more thing, I got my hair braided yesterday as an example for our hair braiding class.  That was fun.  I will keep it in until I see Della, she will like it, and then take it out!  Today we have an Ethiopian cooking class and then fly out tonight!  I am so homesick!  Please pray for our safe trip.  We had some turbulent flights and I am hoping everything goes much smoother.  Thanks for your continued support, I will have many stories once I get home and my head is clear!  We miss the kids like crazy and just want to get on that plane!  Have a beautiful day and talk to you next from home!

 

Much Love,

Rach

---

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

Monday Update!

Just a quick update!  It is almost 7am here(midnight at home) and we slept well last night!  Actually I have slept well since I got here, not the case for everyone!  Monday was a great day!  We got to spend the entire morning with Marlee!  She was so excited to see us again!  We took her back to the guest house to spend time here with all of the other children, they had so much fun!  I got her to take a little rice cereal and some of a bottle(impressed about this!)  She wasn't really sure about it!  Here they drink out of cups(for sanitary reasons) not bottles!  Marlee is a lovely baby!  She really doesn't cry, but boy she babbles(should do ok in our family!)  We had a sun hat on her and she looked adorable!  Steve and I kept fighting over who gets to hold her, well not really fighting:)  When we dropped her back at the care center I put her down and she started to wimper then when I came back she smiled again!  Good sign.  It killed us to have to leave her again.  I do feel it is best for her to slowly transition though! 

 

After dropping her we went to see the hospital sponsored by CHSFS!  It was amazing to see all that our agency is doing for the community.  It is a hospital for women and children.  THey had 3 c-sections the day we were there!  They have wonderful goals and it was a great experience to go!  We also got to see the school!  The school is new and it is great!  There is a great teacher student ratio!  The facility is wonderful!  Our agency also sponsors this school!  After that we headed shopping for a few last things!  I didn't mind this!

 

Today we got have a good-bye ceremony in the morning at the care center!  This is when the nannies and workers say goodbye to the kids and we take them into our care!  Seeing how much the nannies lover our kids, I know this will be another emotional day!  They take such good care of our kids, it is amazing!  After the ceremony we head to the American Embassy to complete our adoption process!  Wow, what a year!  I can't believe that our journey of adopting her is almost over.  We have a great journey ahead though!

 

BTW-for those waiting for babies!  We went to the Hossana care center, there were so many beautiful babies!  We got to see them all!  To my friend Jen from Carmel, I was thinking when I was with those babies that one of them is probably your son or daughter!  They are all so wonderful.  A couple of them we could not get to stop laughing, it was great!  They get great care in Hossana too!  I heard from someone else in the group(don't quote me) that there may be some little ones coming up to the care center tomorrow!  Anyway just thought I would share!

 

All for now, I am going to get dressed and ready to go see Marlee!  We are excited to get home and introduce her to the kids!  I can't wait for Noah and Della to see their new baby sister!

 

R

---

Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone!

 

Something is wrong with my yahoo account so I have not been able to update as much as I wanted!  I am sending this from a friends account! 

 

Here is a quick update on Saturday and Sunday!  Saturday we got to spend time with Marlee in the morning!  She was very happy to see us when we got there!  The funny thing is when we get there, she talks a bit and then zonks out!  What a doll!  Then we got to see part of the life book that CHSFS created for us!  It is amazing.  They do an interview with birth family members and show her birthplace!  What a great thing!  I can not put into words how touching this video was!  Then we got to see Marlee for a short time more!  After that we went shopping, I was really dreading it, HA!  Lets just say I did well!  That was not the end of our day though, we then went to a traditional Ethiopian dinner at the Crowne Hotel!  It was good.  The food was actually less spicy than the Ethiopian restaurant in Indy.  I liked that!  We saw traditional Ethiopian dancers and they were spectacular.  I think all the women here are absolutely beautiful, both inside and out!  Great night!

 

This morning we woke up and were out by 5am!  We went on a trip to Hossana, south of Addis Ababa!  This is the trip where we meet a representative of Marlee's birth family.  I am still trying to process this trip.  I don't think right now I can put it into words!  I will tell you that it took about 3 hours to get there and the road was OK, paved, ride not so bad!  Lots of livestock and people on roads where we were at least going 55mph.  Takes a bit of getting used to .  We did see the country and it is beautiful!  Hills, trees, just lovely!  On the way back we had a flat tire so it added on an extra 40 minutes or so but the trip was amazing!  Highly emotional but unforgettable.  We are back now and all going to bed early!  Tomorrow we get to spend the morning with Marlee here at the guesthouse and then activities in the afternoon.  Tuesday is the good-bye ceremony at the care center and then we get full custody of her.  We will go to the Embassy Tuesday afternoon to apply for her VISA.  Wednesday is a free day with a hair braiding class, Thursday we do a cooking class in the morning and late afternoon head to the airport! 

 

Wow this week has flown by so far and has been the experience of a lifetime!  There is so much to say and I am so tired I can't really put it together now!  The people here are happy and loving people and am so glad we have been given this opportunity to experience the beauty and culture of this country!  That is all for now!  I am not sure if my previous posts have made it but I will catch up when we get home! 

 

Happy Easter!

 

R

---

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

Friday post number 2

Well we got to see Marlee twice today!  Peaceful child is an understatment!  Both times we went to see her she smiled right away!  We got to give her orange juice, not a fan of that either.  The kids drink out of a cup and it takes talent to get them to do so!  Both times we went she fell asleep in our arms.  She has cried once and it was wimpy, only because she didn't want her orange juice.  She loves to suck on her fingers, definately a self-soother. 

 

All of the children at the care center are so happy.  Very little crying going on.  There are 5 of us here picking up infants and they are all so pleasent!  We got to go to the big kids care center today and it was wonderful.  Those of you who have kids there, it is a lovely place and they are loved and taken care of.  The kids were so friendly!  One of the little girls came right up and jumped in my arms.  We also went over paperwork today and got a tour of the CHSFS office!  Great day overall but we are all exhausted.

 

Tomorrow we have meetings in the morning and then we get to see the kids.  After lunch we will go to AHOPE, shopping and then a dinner at the Crown Hotel.  Busy, busy!  We are going to bed early tonight!!!!  All for now! 

 

R

 

 

www.thesimplethings-love.blogspot.com

---

Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.

We Met Marlee!

We met Marlee today!  She is beautiful and so peaceful.  She smiled and made eye contact with us right away!  She is so sweet!  Everytime Steve speaks around her she turns her head.  Let me tell you, she is well taken care of!  This place is wonderful and the nannies are so loving.  It is a very sanitary place, I had to tell Steve not to walk on the playmat with shoes!  We tried to feed her rice cereal, she is not a fan!  We are so excited!  We are going to eat lunch now and then get paperwork taken care of early this afternoon and then we get to go see her again!  There is so much going through my head right now and I really need to process it all! 

 

Noah and Della- we miss you and are so excited for you to meet your little sister.  We are going to try and get calling cards today so we can call you this afternoon(hopefully around 3pm your time)! 

 

All for now!

R

www.thesimplethings-love.blogspot.com

---

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

We are here!

It is about 10:30 pm in Ethiopia and we are here.  The flights were ok, a little turbulent at times, but we are here.  Our travel group is great!  It is warm here!  It was dark when we landed so we didn't get to see much but will tomorrow!  We will meet Marlee tomorrow morning and can't wait!  I am missing the kids like crazy, this has been hard but we know this will be an unforgettable week!  For those of you who are traveling soon, it is quite surreal!  Well we are off to unpack and then go to bed.  I slept on the plane but Steve, not so much!  I will write more tomorrow! 

 

TELL MY KIDS I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!

 

R

www.thesimplethings-love.blogspot.com

---

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

Everything is done! We are ready to go!

First of all, thanks again for your thoughts and prayers!

Well, it is 9pm and we are packed and ready. We weighed all the bags and are pretty close on some but I think we will be OK. We put the kids to bed tonight and I got sad! I won't be doing that for a while, but I know they are in good hands. At this point they don't seem that phased by it, just me!

I can't believe we are going to pick her up, it is pretty surreal to think that when we come back she will be with us! I will be updating the blog as much as possible. We will probably not be able to post pictures from there but if I can I will! Oh and if you have my cell number DON"T CALL IT after Wednesday at 9pm. Once we hit the Atlantic I will not answer unless it is an emergency(ie. kids) Kind of pricey overseas:) I won't be able to access my blog but will email it! I won't be able to see comments but leave them anyway and I will see them when we return.

If I could ask on more thing of you before we leave? Please pray for Della and Noah and their adjustment to not having us here, for a safe flight(with very little turbulence:), and for Marlee and her attachment to us! Oh yes, for Grandma and Nana who are taking on our energetic children! If you see the kids at church on Easter Sunday please give them a huge hug, well Della a huge hug, Noah would probably prefer a high 5!

Thanks to all for your support and love during this process! Our next post will be from Ethiopia! Take Care!

R

WE ARE ON OUR WAY!

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR THOUGHTS, PRAYERS AND ADVICE! Somehow in the last 24 hours the Embassy received what they were waiting for and we are cleared to go! We will be at our airport in 24 hours! Off to do some last minute preparations but will post later! Have a wonderful day!

Our Girl!

Thought I would post a couple of pics! Kate is having trouble getting them off the document so this will have to do for now! Thanks Kate! You are the best cousin a girl could ever have!!!! Even though you make fun of my music choices:)

A little bit about Marlee! She doesn't cry unless she is hungry, wet or tired. She eats every 6 hours and they have to wake her in the middle of the night to feed her, not so sure I will do that:) She smiles and giggles and likes to cuddle. The common word throughout the document was peaceful! She likes to suck on her index and middle finger and likes tummy time!!! She does not like the sun too much, they sun bath every morning for about 15 minutes, not too fond of it! Oh yes, she is a babbler, should fit in here just fine!

Anyway, we are calming down here. I spoke with my coordinator and she said she could not guarantee anything but there is another couple in our travel group that has the same problem only they are already on their way. I am going to go off my experience that positive thinking combined with prayer, works and we will leave on Wednesday to go pick up this beautiful little thing! I am sure I will have an update tomorrow! Steve is making me take Tylenol PM tonight, smart man!

This is why we need prayers!

I feel like I have been hit by a mack truck!!!!!!!!!!! Here is what happened. The American Embassy in Ethiopia does not have Marlee's VISA approval yet. When my agency called they said they had not received it as of today. Agency calls me, I freak out! I call the National Visa Center, the National Visa Center says that they don't even have a file for us. The information was sent two weeks ago. This is not good. I freak out again! I call Indiana CIS(who sent it to the National Visa Center) asking what the heck is going on. Left 4 messages in a half an hour, am really freaking out! Decide to call Congressmen Dan Burton's office, and feel very put off there. Not happy with their people skills. Go get shots! Della takes a paper clip and scratches the Dr.'s green leather couch, nice picture she drew! Talk to Denise from CIS and find out she sent it and got a return receipt from it. Call the National Visa Center and talk to JoAnna! SHE FOUND OUR FILE! Got the date it was sent and emailed. Yeah progress, kind of! I think in our case the Embassy might be willing to accept an electronic copy since the paperwork was not sent until March 12th. We will not know this until tomorrow since it is about 11pm in Ethiopia right now. My coordinator thinks it will be fine! I still feel like I have been hit by a mack truck. Remember I am emotional, very emotional, oh and leaving in two days! The best part of the day was when I called Steve bawling and telling him what was going on and he said "Rach I am with Eric, can you tell me this calmly?" Eric is his manager. Lovely! I love my husband, so tolerant.

So we are not out of the woods yet but I do feel like this is going to work out. Keep praying though, I really believe it helped! Thanks for all of your emails of support! If there is one thing I have learned it is that I think I need to run for Congress or at least work with the office workers on communication/customer service skills. It is not like I call every week with a problem. I got a great update on Marlee and am going to post about it when my cousin gets the pictures off of it ! Can you say beautiful and peaceful! Yep, she is a happy girl! Till then.......

LISTEN.....CAN YOU HERE IT......I DID IT!!!!!

I posted music all by myself!!!!!!! I like all kinds of music but I am in an inspirational, you can do it mood this morning! Probably beacause I just posted music! Yes I did like Michael Jackson. And I still do like "Man In The Mirror!" Message of the song it good and since I analyze every song, it passed inspection! Secret, I did "Annie Are You OK?" in show choir in high school and enjoyed it:)

Ok off to start a super busy day! Update later but for now enjoy the classics!

Let me tell you about my day!

Today started out in the right way! I slept much better last night. I woke at 5am and said "No this is not happening!" I fell back asleep until 7am! When I woke I came downstairs to a breakfast made by Noah and Steve. Whole wheat pancakes, eggs, turkey bacon, apple, yogurt, toast, nutter butter cookies, you name it, they put it out. I even had home made place mats that said "I love U mom!" Steve actually told me that they were planning something and not to come downstairs without warning. He woke Noah up at 6am and they went to work. It was very sweet and just what I needed!

We spent the bulk of the morning and afternoon running errands and getting bags packed. We headed to church tonight for Palm Sunday. The music was great and it was a touching service. Rev. Miller asked us to come up so everyone could pray for our journey coming up in a few days! We were touched and truthfully we will take all the prayers we can get.

Three days from now we will be waiting to board our flight to Ethiopia. Things are really starting to set in! We are going to meet our daughter. After a year of anticipation, our moment is almost here. Stay tuned, I hope to have more pictures of Marlee before we leave!

Early Morning Rambling!

It is now 4:45 am but I woke at 4:00am and have no idea why. The good news is I did get 7 hours of sleep, only one hour less that what I need, I am an 8 hour person! Yes I went to bed at 9pm last night. We had a busy but fun evening. We went to Sam's, out to dinner at Moe's, Super Target and then home for family movie night, Chicken Little was showing! Then we did slumber parties. Della got to sleep in my bed and Steve and Noah are in sleeping bags in the bonus room. We had a great evening!

My head is spinning at a high rate these days! Reality is hitting that things are about to change around here and that we are flying half way across the world to pick up our daughter in just 4.5 days. We are leaving the comfort of our 4 walls, our community and our country and going somewhere we have never been. The adventurer in me is so excited, the mother in me is both excited to meet Marlee and sad because we have never left our kids this long and they want to come too. I think that is just to ride on the airplane though. I am also exhausted not matter how much I sleep. I think it is knowing that this emotional roller coaster ride of adoption is almost come to an end, we are almost there. I am a very emotional person, I feel everything. Ok those who know me well can stop laughing now! When I get worked up over something, like the past year of waiting, I get so tired when I reach the end line. Emotionally drained would be accurate.

On the other hand I feel like I am going to burst I am so excited. My friends who are traveling with us got their social reports on their children already. We did not receive ours yet. The social report has lots of pictures and I am sure it is over 10 pages long. It tells about their schedule and habits and much more. I WANT MINE! My coordinator said that it could be Monday morning before they get it to us but if may come in over the weekend too. Can I just tell you twice my amazing coordinator has emailed us over a holiday or weekend to tell us something or answer a question. I don't know about you but that just means the world to me. She really cares about her families and these children. I love this agency!

Well it is 5am now and I think I need some coffee. I may have an hour to sit and read "A New Earth," Oprah's book. Highly recommend it, starting to change the way I think. My best friend, Alicia, always teases me because I am a self-help reader, she likes fiction, I probably have just about every self-help, live up to your potential book, out there! This one by far the best one though!

Thanks for listening and do have an Super Saturday(sounds like an advertisement for a car lot.)

A Beautiful Day!

Wow it is an amazing day here. We have taken a walk, did some bike riding and just enjoyed the brief day of sunshine and warmer weather! I wanted to post some pics of the kids riding!

test

Seeing if I can post through email!

www.thesimplethings-love.blogspot.com

---

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

ONE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One week from today we will be preparing to head to Ethiopia to go and get our daughter/sister!!! We are coming along as far as packing goes. We have gotten everything notarized that we need to, we still need to fill out forms but have them printed and ready, we have all of Marlees clothes washed and ready and our clothes are out but not packed. Still have one more appointement with the travel doc on Monday, more shots.

Going through this process, no matter how long it takes, you never really feel like it is going to happen. Now it feels that way. We are making a trip to Sams to buy diapers and formula, we have not done that in a while. We have made Marlees first appointment with her pediatritian and the International Adoption Clinic. I always feel like I am forgetting something but Steve assures me, I have got it under control and then rolls his eyes. I am not that bad, am I? He reminds me of the time we moved into our last house and I had a schedule on excel of moving times, what we were moving, carpet tear out, putting the carpet in, painting the entire house, babysitting for Noah, lunch break, you name it, I wrote it down and scheduled it. This was all done in one week so we had to be organized, what would he do without me:) We are going to be fully prepared!

We are so excited and can't believe we are one week away! Hope you all have a super day!

WATCH OUT TECH WORLD, HERE I COME!!!!

Ok, so I figured out how to make a video with my camera and post it on the same day!! This is monumental in my life!! Enjoy this Sunday morning video. Especially Grandma!

Couple extra pics!

Weekend Fun!

So last night we had a good dinner and then I decided to make cupcakes for some friends who have just moved into a new house! I don't bake that often because I end up eating so much batter and end product that I feel horrible when I am done. The kids were ecstatic though, they got to lick the bowl, spoon and the mixers. I took a few shots of them enjoying themselves. Della is really ready for it to be warm out because for the past week or so she has been putting on short sleeve shirts and shorts/skirts to play in the house. She needs a little help on how to match colors but I have no doubt she will pick that up, after all she is her mothers daughter!!!

After a good family evening we woke up this morning did some work around the house and then went to the Cherry Blossom Festival at Noah's school. I volunteered to work a shift at a game booth. I was breaking a sweat after an hour of running the game, wow, how do the teachers do it? The kids really enjoyed themselves!

We have been getting things together because we leave in a week and a half, I know, quick! I am making folders for Carol(Grandma Whitlock) and my mom(Nanna) on schedules, emergency numbers, you name it, I am writing it down. I also need to go do Easter baskets because we will be gone for Easter this year. My cousin Katie came over tonight to take a family picture because we need one to give to Marlee's birth family. The last one we took was at Christmas and it was professional so I would have to take the CD back to the studio and get one printed. I decided I wanted a new one anyway. She did a great job. She took the one I posted at the top! I am also posting a couple of other pics that she took. Hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Update on Marlee!

I woke up this morning with great news when I checked email. We got updated measurements and milestones for Marlee! The great news is she is a growin girl, that little thing is 12 lbs now! She is also 23.2 inches. They wrote in the 25th and 50th percentile! I have learned she is on lactose-free formula, she babbles and rolls from front to side! Smiles and doesn't cry alot! We should get a more in depth up date a couple of days before we go! Atleast I know a weight for clothes etc. Off to start the day!

Della's Pulmonologist appointment!

We spend the morning with Della at a Pediatric Pulmonologist appointment! First of all, the Doctor was awesome!!!! He confirmed what I have known for a while and that is, no child should be this sick. First of all, he thinks she has Asthma. There is really no way to diagnose it except the past. With the 2 acute asthma attacks, pneumonia twice, sinus infection and chronic cough so hard you throw up, he thinks asthma is an underlying problem. Will she grow out if it? There is a 50/50 chance. If she does start to grow out of it he said now would be the time it starts to fade. We will have to see.

Part number two, even with Asthma there is no reason a child should be sick for over two months straight(same symptoms.) Even people with Asthma have normal 3-4 day colds. He said whenever a cough wakes a child at night and she can't just roll over, she throws up etc. that is not normal. He thinks she may have had the same sinus infection since right after Christmas. Yes she has been on antibiotics since then, but I guess with a sinus infection it takes a 20 day round of something like Augmentin. She was on Amoxicillin 10 days for the sinus infection and Omnicef 10 days for the pneumonia. She is now on Augmentin for 20 days and if that does not solve the problem we look at her lungs and allergies.

We are relieved that we saw him, waited a long time to get in, but worth the wait!!!!! We now see him for all of Della's respiratory issues! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers for her, we are on the right path now!

WE ARE COMING MARLEE!!!!!

We are leaving in two weeks from tomorrow to pick up our little girl!!!!!! So much to do, not much time! We are leaving March 19th and will be back March 28th! We can't believe we are going and it looks like we are going to have a great travel group too!!!!

Birth Certificate and Travel Date on Tuesday!

This pic is pretty grainy but it is from Marlee's birth certificate. She gets more beautiful by the day! We should hear tomorrow when we can go get her!!! She looks angelic in the picture, I can't wait to hold her!!!!!!

IT'S MONDAY!!!

Some dread the word MONDAY but in the adoption world that is when things start up again, referrals are given, travel dates, things happen during the week! We are really hoping to be assigned our travel date early this week. It has been two weeks today since Marlee made it through court and 2 weeks is when you usually get their birth certificates and then TRAVEL DATE! I am emailing people who got through court the same day and it has been great to bounce things off of each other. I hope we can travel with all of them, it would be a fun group!

Today Steve and I go get our 2nd round of vaccines, this is the live vaccine round! I suppose that means there may be more side effects! Oh well it has got to be done!

Della's appointment with the pulmonologist is tomorrow and we are so relieved to finally get to see him. She is starting the cycle of cold then cough then usually something bigger like pneumonia or sinus infection, plus asthma attack on top of it. Really it could be worse I just hate seeing her go through it. Hopefully we will get some answers soon since she has been healthy only two weeks since Dec. 27th. Those were the best two weeks though, what a happy child!

I have to tell you, on Saturday(I was going into nesting mode) Della helped me pick up Marlee's room, wash her clothes, make outfits, you name it she was my helper, she keeps asking when Baby Marlee Melkamnesh is going to come home(it's really very cute.)

Noah is going nuts inside! We had a nice day yesterday and I know when it gets bad this week he is going to be bugging me to go outside again. He keeps asking when it is going to be 60 degrees because that is when I told him he could go ride his bike. He sure knows how to put the guilt trip on though, he says "my gym teacher says we need to exercise so I need to go outside and run around." I am sure his gym teacher is not telling him to run outside in 20 degree weather. He does know how to negotiate though, just like Dad!

All for now!

Trying out my new sling with my friend Edy!

Positive Thinking Really Works!!!

Guess what? We got word from our local CIS office(the nice woman that I have been nagging) that we are approved to travel and we should get the changed I-171H early next week! Yippee! She didn't call until the end of the day and Steve and I had just left to take the kids to Nana's. At dinner I said I think I need to check my messages and sure enough, there was one from her!!! It is amazing how your mind set works! It really does, when we were about a week from our original court date, it was scheduled for Feb. 22nd, I just keep thinking to myself, "I wonder if they ever take people early." I had a gut feeling that we were going to go through with the others on Feb. 18th, and we did!! I also usually trust my instinct but I guess that is also positive thinking. Oh well, enough analyzing, we are now waiting for a confirmed travel date and we are off!

Steve and I had date night last night and went to Wal-Mart to get all of the things we need for the trip, wow, lots of things!!!! It was fun! We got bottles etc and things are really sinking in that we are starting this all over again. It has been 4 years since Della was Marlee's age, I think it will be a bit of a shock to our system, the best shock ever of coarse! Well I should have more news early next week about when we are going to Ethiopia! Happy Saturday!