L...O...??....E

Guess what??
Megersa's case got submitted to court!!
And guess what group we're in???
Right now I am LOVING the adoption train ride!
Of course I have had my ups and downs, but I'm beyond excited to be headed to the top of the loop! We're almost there!

Here's what I know:
Dec 10...got an email saying that Megersa's case was almost ready, outside of the cover letter.
Dec 15...emailed in to find Megersa's case still hadn't been submitted.
Dec 28...called in, to find out that Megersa's case HAD been submitted, and that we are in Group V!

Here is how that conversation went on Monday:
Me:
"Hello,
This is Katie Nester, and I'm calling to find out if my little guy Megersa's case had been submitted to court yet. The last time we spoke, you mentioned that they were waiting on the cover letter to complete his file."

Her:
"Yes, I remember. When I got back into the office today I had several messages from ET...hang on while I check which one pertains to your case."
"Okay, we have here that your case has been submitted, and that you are in Group V. You should be informed of a court date within 10 days or so from court filing, and it looks good that you will have a court date by the end of January."
:)
Dec 30 (today)...we get home from PA and check the mail, to find a bill from AAI for the remaining balance we owe. It stated on the bill that this part of the ET fee was due when your case is submitted to court and must be paid in full before they can schedule an embassy date.
So, I look at the date at the top. It is marked Dec 18.
My friend Rachael got the exact same bill, so she emailed to find out she is also in Group V. Her bill is also marked Dec 18.
A conspiracy? Maybe.
Does that mean that our case was filed on Dec 18, and my stomach was in knots for 10 days for no reason!!?? Perhaps, but I know I was again, learning patience.

Fast forward to just a few minutes ago. I checked my old emails to find an email someone sent me with news of when her case had been submitted to court.
I HAD to check to see if the dates match up. Guess what?
Her case was also submitted on Dec 18!
Holy Moly!
I was told that families usually get a court date that is about 4-5 weeks after their cases had been submitted. Is it possible to think that our court date may mid January? Whoa!
Things are moving!
10 business days from the 18th of Dec would be this coming Friday, but because the office is closed tomorrow and Friday, perhaps we'll hear something early next week.
That would be awesome!
I, of course, will keep you all posted.

growing, growing, growing...

I'll start off with the things that will make you smile.
We got 2 new pictures of Megersa recently! One was of someone holding him, so we got to see what his size was in comparison to an adult. :) A very nice gift. The other was just plain adorable - good thing he's manly enough to sport the pick & green hoodie he's wearing!
We also got some new stats on his growth, and since I don't think I've ever posted his original stats, I'll just do them all:
Oct 5, 2009 - 8.9 lbs...21.7 in
Oct 13, 2009 - 9.1 lbs...22 in
Oct 19, 2009 - 9.2 lbs...22.4 in
Oct 26, 2009 - 9.4 lbs...22.4 in
Nov 9, 2009 - 9.7 lbs...23.2 in
Nov 18, 2009 - 10.3lbs...23.2 in
Dec 7, 2009 - 11.2 lbs...23.6 in
Dec 14, 2009 - 11.4 lbs...23.6 in

Observations of Megersa on 10/29/09:
He follows objects with his eyes.
He feeds well and sleeps a lot.
He is gaining weight through time.
He moves his arms and kicks his legs independently of each other.

Observations of Megersa on 12/18/09:
He can raise his head and he can hold an object in each hand.
He turns his head, moves arms, and kicks his legs independently of each other.
He smiles when you play with him.
He feeds well and sleeps a lot.

The updates are just wonderful to get, and they make me crave more! I have a friend from our small yahoo group (OAEG) who is there in Ethiopia now for the holidays, and she was able to tell me this about Megersa:
Katie - Megersa is a sweetie, and loves to cuddle. Both of my kids held him and he gave us some sweet smiles.

It was wonderful to see that he is smiling for people! I hope I can see him smile in some new pictures!

So, that is all the wonderful news I have!

Despite the beauty of all that information, I still can't shake the feeling that even in the holiday busyness (and we are SO busy here in PA visiting family)...that something is wrong. This is Megersa's first Christmas, and he's not here. :(
I SOOOOOOO long to hold him, and have him home. This journey has been very long already, and I'm ready for it to be over.
But...the wait for court filing continues. Our agency director said that there will be more cases submitted to court before the end of the month, but I haven't heard anything...and the end of the month is coming up very quickly.
I am praying for God's peace throughout the last leg of this journey...it has gotten very difficult.

Itchy

I feel "itchy" to blog again. I'm not sure why.
Maybe because I have been posting every day for the past few days. Maybe because I feel like it passes the time, or records the time for me as I wait. I have been dying for my friend to announce on her blog that she got her referral! :) When she does I can discuss our plans for our children to become best friends. You know they are most likely days apart in age?
Both were born in August '09.
I wanna know Megersa's assigned birthday!!!
You know, I made a calendar for my Dad today for Christmas.
He's one of those men who has everything they want/need.
And I find it difficult to buy something for someone who usually just gets what they want for themselves.
Usually his birthday or Christmas request is Starbucks coffee or gift cards. So, I'm trying to think outside the box and get him something "invaluable" (as pictures always are).
Hence the calendar.
So, I was uploading pictures, filling in the captions for each photo, and going through each day of the month...typing in birthdays or anniversaries, when I came to realize it that NO ONE on my Dad's side of the family (and it is a LARGE family - from my 2 grandparents came 5 children, 25 grandchildren, and 5 great-grands!)...has a birthday in August. No one even has an anniversary in that month!
Until Megersa. :)
I desperately wanted to pick a day and type in that info, but I don't want it to be wrong when we actually do find out. I'll have to settle for just 'writing' it in. Not as cool. Oh well!
I took a picture of Cale holding a picture of Megersa and used that as the pic for the month of November!! Referral month! I wish I could post it!
So anyway, this 'friend' who got a referral spoke with one of our agency directors about her baby's file and found out some good information - The next group to go to court (I think they're on group "U") will have a court date of Dec 17!
At first I thought it was possible that we might get in that group, but that's highly unlikely. We haven't been submitted yet. Even if they did their best to get his file ready by next week, I can't imagine that a court submission and court date only days apart. Either way though, things ARE moving for people. The most recent court date was Dec 8, so if the pattern is court every week and a half, that would put us in a good position to travel in early spring (which is our hope/wish/prayer).
Alright, enough with that. I dont want to get myself over excited.
Here is some fun Cale and I had today: I can't take the credit for it. I found this idea in one of my Parents magazines...but try it - fill squirt bottles with water and then put a few drops of food coloring in them and let your child go wild in the snow! Cale LOOOOOOVED this! He kept asking me, can I spray dis Mommy? Yes? Cale spray the snow? It was so funny. It took him awhile to trust that he was allowed to do it. Lots of fun.

all clear!

Megersa's case is "in the clear" (for the time being anyway). I got this email from one of our agency directors:

Hi Katie,
Here is an update from Gail:
Also he (Temesgen – AAI Legal Representative) spoke to the orphanage lady from Shashemene to finalize the paper for Megersa Nester quickly. She had forgotten about it.......... that paper is clear, only for the cover letter, and shouldn't take long either now.
So, there does not seem to be a problem with the paperwork and it is on its way to being completed.
Thanks for your patience.

The way the staff writes is often confusing to me. I'm sure they all are busy, busy, busy, so they probably don't have the time to pay special attention to punctuation and proper sentences, etc...which make it a bit confusing to read.
But even still, I could tell it was good news!
Lets keep praying for the cover letter to be complete and for our case to be submitted next week!
That would be such a lovely early Christmas present!

Less Words Wednesday

I am totally off on my days. Yesterday I thought it was Wednesday and today I think it's Thursday. But it's not...and as a result - you get to see some more pictures that I think are great!
It has been snowing off and on for 2 days. Cale and I have been having TONS of fun in the snow. Making footprints, eating snow, shoveling, Me making a snowman, Cale knocking it's head off....all the good things in life! Here is a summary of our fun:We also continued the cookie baking I had started on Monday. Today Cale was very helpful! He helped me make the dough, roll it, dump sprinkles on it, and push the cookie cutters in.
Observe:
You know what's weird though? All that tempting prep work and my kid wouldn't even eat the finished product. It's not really a surprise to me. He dislikes home-baked cookies. Actually, come to think of it, the only cookies I've seen him eat, and like, are oreos. Doesn't get that trait from Me or his Daddy! What an oddball, huh? Oh well, we had lots of fun! :)

Baby Love

We got another picture of our baby today!!
It was almost a full-body shot...up to about, his knees. He is just soooo beautiful! And I mean that...not like in a sissy way, but really, he is!
The icing on the cake was that the picture had all of the things from his welcome bag in it (minus the camera) - outfit, toy, my blanket (which he was holding!!!!), and the photo album.
To see the photo album, opened to a picture of the 3 of us (here) next to his little face made me think what our family pictures would be like.
And you wanna know what my reaction was?
"I could do this all over again...and soon!"
To think that we haven't even finished our first adoption, (especially being WAY off monetary-wise...though we are confident God will provide), and I'm talking about the next one!
Crazy, I know...but I warned you in the previous post that I'm a tad batty these days! :)
ps. It was also WAY awesome to see his name in the subject line: Megersa Nester.
Yup. :)
On anther note, with respect to Megersa's case being filed, we have yet to hear about it. I wrote to our agency director to see if she knew anything. Since several people received notification that their cases had been submitted last week, it would stand to reason we would have to wait until next week at the earliest to hear anything. (Cases are submitted every 2 weeks or so).
Here is what I asked today:
Hi,
I had a quick question for you:
Toward the end of the in-process update that just went out, you mentioned that cases were filed every 2 weeks.
Some of my friends received emails last week saying their cases had been submitted to court, but we have not yet.
Am I correct in understanding that it will most likely be until next week that we hear something? He was eligible on the 24th of November.
Anxious/excited,
Katie Nester

This is her response:
We really don’t know I am sorry to say. As soon as the contract of adoption is signed and all the paper work is ready the cases are submitted in a group, about every two weeks. We will let you know when we have news.

And while I'm copying and pasting, I'll let you know what she said about his case with respect to the situation in Shashemene:


I saw the In-process update and was happy to see about the information
you got from the Shashamene region! I did have concerns that our case
might be delayed because of the situation...
But since you didn't contact our family directly about a long delay,
can I assume that we are in the clear (for the time being?).

Her:
Katie, When our staff informs us that there is a problem with a case we
inform the family. There have been some problems in Sheshemone with some
cases, so far we haven't heard that there is a problem with yours and we
hope that there won't be. I am sorry they haven't answered as to when you
case can be filed. I'll ask again, but with many families asking questions
about their cases sometimes messages just don't get dealt with, also there
were email problems earlier this week.

Okay, so that's all the news I have to share for the time being. Perhaps next week we'll know more! :)

It's a race! It's a race!!

Not really. There is no real race, but I feel like I'm in a race sometimes...nothing too specific, just life in general. Do you think that's because we live in such a face-paced economy? Everything we want or need is usually right at our fingertips. If we need to wait on something, life is turned upside-down!
Today MID-stir, my blender/beater (whatever you call it) broke. I immediately wanted to run out and buy another one...but without a car, it was difficult. Thankfully I have a neighbor who was willing to let me borrow hers for the duration of my Christmas cookie baking, but good glory, what would I have done without that? haha! I guess I would have had to use my arms!!
Cookie making wasn't really the issue that made me think of racing, it was just annoying, so I thought I'd share! :)
What made me think I was racing was when one of my friends announced that she passed court. A day early!
This is excellent news for her, but it made me think, "Hey wait! I haven't heard that my case was submitted to court yet!"...which doesn't make any sense. She got her referral about 2 months before I got mine, of course she would pass before me.
I feel the same way when people announce their pregnant with their 3rd child.
"I haven't even had my second,"..."I'm older than you", etc etc.
What a goofy reason to think something like that, isn't it?
I'll answer my own question - "totally."
When things do happen with referrals, court cases, or travel, it makes me happy that things are moving along, but I can't help but get a little bit 'jumpy' waiting for my turn!
I think this stuff with the possibility of delays from cases that came from Shashamene really has me crazy! I think I will feel so much better when I hear that our case has been submitted. This way I know there isn't a problem.
But until then...I'll probably be a tad batty.

Scene 3, Take 1.

It's been 1 month since we got our referral. Amazing. I still have that blissful feeling when I think about that Thursday when I got "the call." I hope the next few months fly by as fast as this one did.
Megersa is now eligible for court, but our case hasn't been submitted yet. There has been some talk of delays from the area he was born in. Some government restructuring that has been causing some problems. When I found out it was Megersa's region, I have to say that it panicked me! I spent that whole day playing tug-o-war with God as I fought to try and control this problem. I decided it was best to let Him take control, because He knows what's best for my life, and I prayed, and have been praying for God's peace with whatever the situation may be.
The most recent report from our agency states:
There has been reference recently on the aaiethiopia list to cases from Sheshemone. There has been a change in the organization and staffing of the department that approves adoptions there and new officials are nervous about adoption cases, fearing that there have been cases done improperly in the past (not with AAI cases). Temesgen was in Sheshemone last week and continues to advocate and promote adoption with these folks. With cases where we believe there will likely be a long delay we have notified the families involved.
So, since I haven't heard anything about possible delays (and I gave them a chance because I called specifically to ask about it! ;)...I'm going to go out on a limb and say that we are in the clear for now? I'm still holding my breath a little for the next week or so until I find out that Megersa's case has been submitted.
Once this court stuff is over I will definitely breathe easier.
The holidays actually help a lot!
I'd love to start some family traditions that we can continue each year, but since Cale's only 2, we haven't really started any, and I'm not sure where to begin!
SUGGESTIONS?? It could be anything really.
I need something to help pass the time.
You know what else I just noticed?
Cale will be 3 in exactly 4 months.
Scary.