My Own Little Baby Shower

Well, this morning, my sister and I awoke very early in spite of the fact that we are both pretty tired from our church's annual conference that is currently going on and we went to a Mother of Twins' re-sale event (it is a group that my sister belongs to). We were one of the first in the door and I went crazy. I got the whole infant carseat/stroller system and lots of other things like bouncy chairs, bath seats, burpclothes, bibs, and baby monitor! My sister is currently in the process of adopting 2 children from Guatemala, so we had her van packed full! When we put all of our things in the van and started driving away, she said, "It feels like we just had a little baby shower for ourselves!" And, as I brought the things into the family room this morning, I was very overwhelmed by emotion. I couldn't believe that it is this close to being real...I'm going to be a mom to an infant again. I'm both terribly excited and very afraid (pretty much the same feelings I had when I was 8 months pregnant!) There's no going back now and I can't wait...Somehow a bit of a paradox to me, but I'm relishing every step of the way, regardless of my ability to philosophize about it:)

Meeting the Author

Well, I haven't posted in quite some time because there has been nothing new to say. We literally are in the waiting process. Once our dossier left our hands to go to Ethiopia, there has been nothing else for us to do except wait on the referral. The two families that were in line ahead of us for an infant have already traveled and come home, so it really will be coming any day now!

However, we did do something exciting this last week. On Thursday, Paul and I drove to Chicago to meet Melissa Fay Greene, author of There Is No Me Without You, the book at the top of every Ethiopian adoption reading list. She is currently on a book signing tour, as her book just came out in paperback, and she was at a Barnes and Noble in Evanston, Illinois. So, we found family to watch the kids and we headed up the road! She gave a great lecture, inserting readings from her book, and then she took some questions. It was very helpful to hear from someone who has adopted five children. She knows firsthand some of the trials and joys of this process, balanced with being informed as a journalist about the statistics of the current situation in Ethiopia. Afterward we had the opportunity to meet her personally and she was very approachable and gracious. We got home about 2:00 in the morning; but we had fun!

So, now I feel that I have officially entered the "nesting" stage of this paper pregnancy. I am painting the playroom, wallpapering my bathroom, making Paul take next weekend (after our church's fall conference) to finish the remodel on our back bathroom, and I am going to try to finish some of the miscellaneous things I've been wanting to do in the kids' bedrooms. For some reason, I am suddenly seeing every dusty fan and broken window blind and feeling the need to do some serious house cleaning, too! Next Saturday I am going with my sister to a mother of twins' resale day in hopes of finding some of the baby items I need (since I sold most of my things after Lela outgrew using them!)

So, again, here's to that referral coming soon, before I wear Paul out with his honey-do list!!!...