Thursday, July 18, 2013

Hurry up and wait! (Or is it: Wait, then hurry up!!!)

I can't believe it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post.  I guess that tells you that not much has been happening!  Well, lots of little things, but nothing too exciting!

We have finished the kids' rooms, other than hanging the stuff on the walls.  Once we get that done, I will post pictures.  I'm really happy with how they both turned out!

We finally did get an update about Bereket this week.  He is 116cm tall and weighs 37.5kg.  That's up 2.5 cm and 0.5 kg since March, so at least he is growing a bit.  I know from seeing how slowly Thomas grows that sometimes they can seem to camp out at a certain weight for a while.  Of course, we hope his growth will increase once he is home.  In his picture this time, he is very serious and his hair is short.  He's wearing a Spiderman shirt and pants that fit, which is a big improvement, clothing wise! :)  We have heard from other families that "not smiling in pictures" is an Ethiopian thing, and so we will have to be content with these somber pictures of our little man.

This morning, we heard that we have been issued a court number.  This means that our file has been submitted & accepted with the court.  The next step will be a birthfamily court date, which we hope to hear is scheduled soon.  After that, we will get our court date, which will determine when we travel.  Another adoptive family was told by their agency that the courts are scheduled to close on August 6th, so who knows... Maybe we will squeak in there!  Yet another family who is with our agency also received their file number today and was told they should hear by the end of next week one way or another.  So, we'll see!

I did email and tell them that we are prepared to travel with no notice, as I've heard that can sometimes encourage them to get you a faster date... Who knows if it will help, but I figured it can't hurt!  Now, of course, that means I have to actually BE ready to travel with no notice, so we are starting to pick up the pace in terms of shopping, packing, etc.  I feel like we have to do a fair bit of shopping... I don't have actual rain gear, and not a lot of suitable clothes either.  I want to get a pair of "quick dry" capris, and maybe pants, too, and then a few skirts.  My lovely friend Bekah offered to share her longer, conservative skirts, but alas, my waist is showing the effects of too many treats and not enough exercise! lol. So, I will hit the thrift stores and hope to find some suitable skirts.

I also need to get luggage... We need some new stuff anyway, so I figure I may as well get a set.  Costco.ca has some decent looking sets, so I need to pick one and order it!  Thankfully friends and family have offered to lend us some additional bags. :)

Yesterday, I bought some clothes for Bereket for the first time!  So fun!  Underwear, some shorts for next year, and matching polo shirts for him and Thomas.  We plan to have the boys wear matching shirts at least part of the time, providing they both enjoy that.  I feel like it will reinforce both to us and people we meet that they are "real brothers" and we belong together.  And who knows, maybe it will simplify some of the clothing decisions (That's MY shirt! etc).  We shall see...  I ordered a book called Brothers and Sisters in Adoption by Arleta James that deals specifically with issues surrounding bringing kids from rough places into homes with typically developing kids.  So, I will also read what she has to say about clothing (sharing, matching, handing down, etc) and also the many other issues I'm sure she will raise that I haven't even thought about...

Well, I think that about catches everything up!  Hopefully I will have lots to post in the next week or two, assuming we hear about the birthfamily court date. :)  Please pray with us!

Heather

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