1st Gift to Our Son

I'm sending a package with our first little gift to our son. Since he is only 3 months old, I am not sending much. But, it is worth noting that the outfit has airplanes on it, since that's the way we are going to get him home! And, the little teddy bear blanket has sports balls on it. It matches his crib bedding (chosen by his big brother, of course!)

Packing List

I mentioned this great packing list in my last post, and someone requested that I share. Here is the one that Stacie directed me to:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pkbFu4FD39ln7MT8LimTaag

It is really fun because it is from someone who has been there and she tells whether or not she used it, wished she had it, or wished she hadn't taken it.

I'm not usually much of a planner when it comes to things like packing. I tend to throw things in the night before an international trip. Or, for last year's vacation, I brought my husband home from an unexpected trip to the hospital and we decided to head out that afternoon. So, I literally packed the van for a week to Florida with 3 kids in about 2 hours!...Crazy! But, I figured that where there was a super-Walmart, I should not lack! However, I plan to follow this packing list as a guide for myself, because I have a feeling there will not be a super-Walmart around the corner from the House of Hope!

Awaiting the Court Date

Things are in motion with our referral! Tsegay (our agencies' contact in Addis) has begun moving our case through the various ministries so that we will be awaiting our court date. Sharon (the director of CHI's Ethiopia program) believes we can plan to travel in two months. So, I am curious to know if we will be there over our 10th anniversary, which is December 12. I hope that we will be back in time for Christmas...What a great gift that would be to our family!

Now I want to put together a package to send to our baby boy. On Monday, I also need to make appointments for us to start our shots for travel. I already have a great packing list that someone posted on our Yahoo group, so I think that will make packing much simpler. Anyway, there's much to do...

Pictures!!!

I just received another email from Julia with more photos of Baby Z. I can't believe how much I am stalking my email right now, waiting for another glimpse of his face! In today's photo, he was looking directly at the camera and I felt like I could really see into those sweet eyes....I am officially in love! I know there's a kindred spirit in that little soul and I can't wait to unearth all the treasures that he will bring to our lives. Yeah for email (and instant gratification) for this mama!

Eating for Two?

Is it possible to gain weight with a paper pregnancy? Because I seem to be eating for two this last week! In fact, I just baked a double-batch of brownies tonight for "the kids". But, truthfully, I ate enough brownie dough to blow that cover before they even came out of the oven:) Somewhere among dreadfully excited to finally have a name and face for which to pray, terribly anxious about finances, and striving to trust God with everything, I have given in to many cravings! So, off to Curves I go tomorrow morning. I have to get in my 3 workouts this week and knock off some chocolate or I'm going to have some serious baby-fat to lose by the time Baby Z comes home!

What's In a Name?

We have had the name Caleb since my 2nd pregnancy. After my 3rd pregnancy, and 2 girls later, we decided that must be the name we were going to use for baby #4. So, for the last 18-months in which we have been "paper-pregnant" we keep calling the baby "Caleb".

Until 2 months ago that is, when I started telling Paul that I thought Zeke was a cute nickname. He wasn't sure that was a good nickname for Caleb (?) but I told him I liked the sound of it with Cole, Hope, and Lela. So, we didn't think too much more of it until the social worker called with our referral. She said, "I don't know how to pronounce his name, but let me spell it for you...Z...E..." Ok, at that point I stopped listening and started yelling, "Are you kidding?" I couldn't believe his name began with "ze"...close enough to Zeke for me!

So, we still don't know if we will keep Caleb or ditch it altogether; but for now, he is "Baby Z". That seems appropriate enough!

"The Call" Has Finally Come!

Today was the day! I can hardly believe it! I got the call from our social worker, Julia, this morning around 10:30 or 11:00 and she said "I have a baby boy for you!"....I couldn't believe it...I just started to cry and told her how timely it was and how perfect it was of God to choose this day (for many reasons of which I will not bore you). Finally, she asked if I wanted to know about the baby. Yes, of course, I just had to stop blabbering to pull myself together enough to listen! He is 2 1/2 months old and healthy. He is still very small, but currently in our agencies' transitional housing. I don't think I can share his name through this medium, but I hope to be able to post his name and pictures of him very soon. Let's pray for a quick court date!!! I'd love to be able to travel to get him before the end of the year so he'll be home for Christmas.

Honestly, I had a very emotional moment while we were learning of his family and how he came to be relinquished. I was surprised at how moved in grief I was for his loss. It just became profoundly real when I heard a story that was now attached to a face and a name. He's not just a statistic; he's my son. So, while I celebrate this day, I also remember to pray that God will be with him to comfort his grieving soul and bring peace to his family. I know that this divine door of destiny did not come without a price.