It's been a wild couple of weeks, trying to wrap my brain around the idea of being a mom. It's all very exciting. The latest round of paperwork should be on its way to Ethiopia within a few days. Once it's there, the in-country representative of my adoption agency will work to get me a court date. My understanding from the timeline shared by other families is that the court date should be between 2 and 3 months from now. The purpose of the court date is to declare me her legal guardian. After that happens, she'll legally be my daughter and I can post her photo.
I got a video of Semira in the mail yesterday. It's only 2 minutes and 10 seconds long, but it's wonderful! So much more satisfying than the single photo I had of her. I got to hear her little voice, see her smile and yawn, and grab someone's finger. She looks so healthy, and her smile is so cute. I think I've watched it about 50 times since this time yesterday.
Semira has received her first baby gifts. The very first came from my friends Tim and Lisa-- a stuffed Winnie the Pooh. Semira's grandma found an adorable quilt in the shape of a teddy bear at a craft fair. She also has a soft blanket from her Uncle Jeremy and a pair of pink sparkly shoes from her Aunt CP. If CP has anything to do with her wardrobe she'll have fabulous shoes for the rest of her life. It's good that she'll have someone to help guide her fashion sense since I have so little of it myself.
What a great Christmas it's been, knowing what my daughter's name is, what she looks like, and approximately when I'll have her home with me. I think 2009 is going to be a great year.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
SEMIRA!
I received the news I'd been waiting to hear yesterday... I have a daughter! Well, I almost have a daughter. I received information about a beautiful little girl named Semira. She's 4 months old and all of her medical tests indicate that she's very healthy. I wish I could post her picture, but I'm not allowed to do that because she's not legally my child yet.
The next step for me is to complete paperwork, then our files are forwarded together to the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Addis Abeba. After that, we're assigned a court date where she'll legally become my daughter. Presuming all goes well with court, the last difficult wait is for an embassy date in Ethiopia. The embassy date is what determines when I travel to get her. I expect these next steps to take between 3 and 5 months.
Exciting!
The next step for me is to complete paperwork, then our files are forwarded together to the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Addis Abeba. After that, we're assigned a court date where she'll legally become my daughter. Presuming all goes well with court, the last difficult wait is for an embassy date in Ethiopia. The embassy date is what determines when I travel to get her. I expect these next steps to take between 3 and 5 months.
Exciting!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thanksgiving
A little bit of news to report. A referral for a baby girl went to a couple about a week ago. They have 2 weeks to make a decision as to whether she is the right child for them. If and when that happens, I'll move up to #1 on the baby girl waiting list. No word yet though.
The Ethiopian government is making a few changes to the adoption process. They're requiring new paperwork for children who have been relinquished. It's meant to safeguard the children and their families, so I think it's good. They're also starting to limit the number of single women who can adopt from Ethiopia each year. The agency I'm with heard rumors of this a few months ago, so they haven't accepted any single women since the end of the summer. I've been given every assurance that those of us in the program now will make it through fine. There are 9 of us and they're allowing 10 single women per year to adopt from my agency. I'm not sure if it's a percentage of their total adoptions, or if each agency gets a specific limit of 10.
I had a really nice visit this week with some friends from Philadelphia. They brought their 6 month old daughter with them, and she tried out my crib and changing table for me.
I'm enjoying my weekend now. We only have 4 more class days left, then a week of finals. Not long now until the end of the semester. Yippee!
The Ethiopian government is making a few changes to the adoption process. They're requiring new paperwork for children who have been relinquished. It's meant to safeguard the children and their families, so I think it's good. They're also starting to limit the number of single women who can adopt from Ethiopia each year. The agency I'm with heard rumors of this a few months ago, so they haven't accepted any single women since the end of the summer. I've been given every assurance that those of us in the program now will make it through fine. There are 9 of us and they're allowing 10 single women per year to adopt from my agency. I'm not sure if it's a percentage of their total adoptions, or if each agency gets a specific limit of 10.
I had a really nice visit this week with some friends from Philadelphia. They brought their 6 month old daughter with them, and she tried out my crib and changing table for me.
I'm enjoying my weekend now. We only have 4 more class days left, then a week of finals. Not long now until the end of the semester. Yippee!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Corner
I'm back, after a few weeks' silence. I just didn't have much to say. I've been swamped at work, I've been struggling with some big personal decisions, and I was starting to feel impatient with the wait. But today I feel like I've turned a corner in this mommy-in-waiting period so I've got a few things to say.
I made a very difficult decision over the last month or so to end my relationship with a wonderful man. As great as he is, and as much fun as we've had together, things definitely changed when I told him I was ready to start my family. He's already had the experience of raising a child, and doesn't think he's got it in him to start over with a baby again. To his credit, he's never been anything but honest with me. So I knew what I was doing when I made this decision to adopt a daughter-- I knew we'd eventually go our separate ways. I still think the world of him, but it wasn't the relationship I wanted for my future or that of my daughter. We had our talk on Friday, so I didn't have a terribly festive weekend. But I know I did the right thing for all three of us.
Saturday night I had my first dream where I held my daughter. I felt so good when I woke up and remembered how it felt to have her here with me. The wait has been longer than I expected, but I can wait a while longer. Every time I start to get a bit impatient I remember that family making a difficult decision to plan for their daughter to be adopted. I certainly want them to feel it's the right decision for them and their daughter, so I can be patient. She'll be here when she's supposed to be here.
It's been an emotional week, but I'm hanging in there as best I can.
I made a very difficult decision over the last month or so to end my relationship with a wonderful man. As great as he is, and as much fun as we've had together, things definitely changed when I told him I was ready to start my family. He's already had the experience of raising a child, and doesn't think he's got it in him to start over with a baby again. To his credit, he's never been anything but honest with me. So I knew what I was doing when I made this decision to adopt a daughter-- I knew we'd eventually go our separate ways. I still think the world of him, but it wasn't the relationship I wanted for my future or that of my daughter. We had our talk on Friday, so I didn't have a terribly festive weekend. But I know I did the right thing for all three of us.
Saturday night I had my first dream where I held my daughter. I felt so good when I woke up and remembered how it felt to have her here with me. The wait has been longer than I expected, but I can wait a while longer. Every time I start to get a bit impatient I remember that family making a difficult decision to plan for their daughter to be adopted. I certainly want them to feel it's the right decision for them and their daughter, so I can be patient. She'll be here when she's supposed to be here.
It's been an emotional week, but I'm hanging in there as best I can.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
No adoption news
I really hoped by now I'd have some good news. But nothing yet.
Happily, some other families have been connected with their new kids. At least three families with my adoption agency received and accepted referrals for their children this week. It's been exciting to hear from them. I was getting very excited last week hearing from all of these families. On Friday, I couldn't take it anymore and called Courtney for an update. There has been no movement on the baby girl waiting list.
Happily, some other families have been connected with their new kids. At least three families with my adoption agency received and accepted referrals for their children this week. It's been exciting to hear from them. I was getting very excited last week hearing from all of these families. On Friday, I couldn't take it anymore and called Courtney for an update. There has been no movement on the baby girl waiting list.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
A little news
After running wild all week, I've finally got a few minutes this afternoon to sit down and give you an update.
First, the adoption-related news. I had an email exchange with Courtney earlier this week. I asked about the agency director's visit to Ethiopia last week. IAN is now officially affiliated with a 3rd orphanage. Yeah! For the kids, this means more opportunities to find a permanent home. For me, this may mean a shorter wait time for my little girl. Not that I'm impatient or anything... Ha! Courtney has promised a more thorough update soon.
The speaker I mentioned in the last post was great. I had no idea what to expect when we scheduled him, but he gave a great presentation. The students really seemed to enjoy it, and so did I. The guy goes by the name of MC Frontalot, and he describes himself as a Nerdcore hip-hop artist. What a funny guy. The next speaker for the year will be in late October. He's from the banking industry and will be talking about current topics of economic interest. That should be quite interesting, given the issues our economy is facing these days.
I had a 2-hr conversation this morning with the book publisher. We went over the reviews of the first chapter and book proposal. Reviews were mixed, as I expected. It's not a big deal-- I'm used to mixed reviews from the student evaluations we have to do every semester. Kids in the same class completely contradict each other. You sort through the opinions, decide what's a reasonable suggestion, and move on. Everyone's got a different philosophy when it comes to teaching this class. The bottom line is that the project is a go! The next phase is a better, more detailed outline of topics to cover in each chapter and an estimate of how many photos, diagrams, and graphs I'd like to include. From there we go to a contract. Neato!
First, the adoption-related news. I had an email exchange with Courtney earlier this week. I asked about the agency director's visit to Ethiopia last week. IAN is now officially affiliated with a 3rd orphanage. Yeah! For the kids, this means more opportunities to find a permanent home. For me, this may mean a shorter wait time for my little girl. Not that I'm impatient or anything... Ha! Courtney has promised a more thorough update soon.
The speaker I mentioned in the last post was great. I had no idea what to expect when we scheduled him, but he gave a great presentation. The students really seemed to enjoy it, and so did I. The guy goes by the name of MC Frontalot, and he describes himself as a Nerdcore hip-hop artist. What a funny guy. The next speaker for the year will be in late October. He's from the banking industry and will be talking about current topics of economic interest. That should be quite interesting, given the issues our economy is facing these days.
I had a 2-hr conversation this morning with the book publisher. We went over the reviews of the first chapter and book proposal. Reviews were mixed, as I expected. It's not a big deal-- I'm used to mixed reviews from the student evaluations we have to do every semester. Kids in the same class completely contradict each other. You sort through the opinions, decide what's a reasonable suggestion, and move on. Everyone's got a different philosophy when it comes to teaching this class. The bottom line is that the project is a go! The next phase is a better, more detailed outline of topics to cover in each chapter and an estimate of how many photos, diagrams, and graphs I'd like to include. From there we go to a contract. Neato!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
No news yet
I still don't have any adoption news, but thought I'd update the blog with a new post anyway. Sorry if it turns into babble.
Thanks to those of you who have left comments. It's nice to know there are others out there who are going through the same thing or have in the past. Something about comfort in company.
And welcome family members! I finally decided I'd waited long enough to tell my extended family about the adoption. I wanted to do a big "TA-DA!" announcement when I had my referral and photos of my little girl. But I caved in to my own excitement and let everyone know about this new little member of the family today. I probably should have done that a month or two ago, but I think I was waiting until it felt a bit more real to me. Not that I have any reason to doubt that I'll have a little girl home in my arms in a few months... but it just still feels so far away and unreal at this point. Maybe having more support and excitement from the family will help me feel more like a waiting mom and less like this is an abstract exercise.
Meanwhile, life goes on. We're about a third of the way through our semester. I'm getting ready for my 2nd round of tests in the freshman classes. We're about 2 weeks away from Midterms. I get to start talking about volcanoes in my Natural Disasters class next week. My favorite part of the semester. I schedule an unusually long time for that subject, as those of you who know me will understand. I get to sneak in a few of my own photos from Hawaii, Iceland, Ecuador, and Mt. St. Helens, which is fun. Well, it's fun for me anyway.
I'm chair of the Speaker Symposium [Lecture Series] committee at work. Our first speaker is scheduled for Monday, so I'm in 'what did I forget?' mode. I've got the theater reserved, dinner plans and hotel reservations made, a reception planned, a person to pick him up at the airport, and have organized as much publicity as I can handle. It'll be fine, it's just in my nature to get nervous before major events I'm in charge of. Thankfully I've got a great group of hard-working people on the committee so even if I did forget something we'll pull it together just fine.
The acquisitions editor of the book company contacted me today and said she wants to talk to me about the reviews of my prospectus and first chapter. I'm nervous about reading the reviews. I've done those types of reviews for other books and have been a bit hard on some of the authors. Especially when I review first editions. I expect no different from the reviewers of my book. I get to find out how thick my skin is one week from today.
So, that's my life right now. Work, more work, and anxiously awaiting my baby girl!
Thanks to those of you who have left comments. It's nice to know there are others out there who are going through the same thing or have in the past. Something about comfort in company.
And welcome family members! I finally decided I'd waited long enough to tell my extended family about the adoption. I wanted to do a big "TA-DA!" announcement when I had my referral and photos of my little girl. But I caved in to my own excitement and let everyone know about this new little member of the family today. I probably should have done that a month or two ago, but I think I was waiting until it felt a bit more real to me. Not that I have any reason to doubt that I'll have a little girl home in my arms in a few months... but it just still feels so far away and unreal at this point. Maybe having more support and excitement from the family will help me feel more like a waiting mom and less like this is an abstract exercise.
Meanwhile, life goes on. We're about a third of the way through our semester. I'm getting ready for my 2nd round of tests in the freshman classes. We're about 2 weeks away from Midterms. I get to start talking about volcanoes in my Natural Disasters class next week. My favorite part of the semester. I schedule an unusually long time for that subject, as those of you who know me will understand. I get to sneak in a few of my own photos from Hawaii, Iceland, Ecuador, and Mt. St. Helens, which is fun. Well, it's fun for me anyway.
I'm chair of the Speaker Symposium [Lecture Series] committee at work. Our first speaker is scheduled for Monday, so I'm in 'what did I forget?' mode. I've got the theater reserved, dinner plans and hotel reservations made, a reception planned, a person to pick him up at the airport, and have organized as much publicity as I can handle. It'll be fine, it's just in my nature to get nervous before major events I'm in charge of. Thankfully I've got a great group of hard-working people on the committee so even if I did forget something we'll pull it together just fine.
The acquisitions editor of the book company contacted me today and said she wants to talk to me about the reviews of my prospectus and first chapter. I'm nervous about reading the reviews. I've done those types of reviews for other books and have been a bit hard on some of the authors. Especially when I review first editions. I expect no different from the reviewers of my book. I get to find out how thick my skin is one week from today.
So, that's my life right now. Work, more work, and anxiously awaiting my baby girl!
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