Trudging through another week...

As you can see by the photos the bathroom is nearing completion. Tiling is complete! I'm so glad to have that done. Still baseboard and crownmouldings to do, plus some other bits of trim. Still have to hang the medicine cabinet and shelves above the toilet. I've also to paint the linen cabinet. So it's safe to say I've got several weeks ahead of me yet.

Set back in the adoption process this week. AAI had to hire a new attorney to represent us and them in court in Ethiopia. They hired an excellent attorney, but our power of attorney that we signed, had notarized, authenticated by the State of Texas, the US State dept and the Ethiopia embassy now isn't any good. We have to go through that process again with a new one and hope and pray it gets to Ethiopia before our court date on the 16th. I'm a bit of a pessimist and am not expecting to get the adoption finalised on the 16th now. I think we realistically can look at early to mid-may. Alan is the optimist though and thinks everything will be just grand! Oh glass half full/half empty. I've to go to Austin tomorrow morning first thing and get the State of Texas authentication then overnight it to AAI and they will get the other authentications done and send to Ethiopia. They are hopeful that they can get it all there by the court date. This has really messed up a number of families with court dates before ours. They have even shorter time frames to work in.

Got my garden planted. 14 various types of tomato, 6 hot banana peppers plants, 6 jalapenos and of course some herbs. I've still a bit more room and am trying to decide what else to plant. We had a light freeze last night (very late) but I think my garden is in a sheltered enough spot that it will be ok.

Well my glass is empty so I think I'll go refill it (Dr. Pepper) and then go pull weeds. Later.

Let's Swing!

Let's Swing!!!

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I've had a busy week and still loads to do. Alan and I went to Waco on Tuesday. Went shopping - of course we bought more stuff for the kids. Alan really hopes to get them interested in golf so he picked out a kid size driver and some practice wiffle golf balls. He also picked out a new soccer ball. We will try to keep this one away from Bonnie. I found a great swing to get them and hung it from the tree on Wednesday. We also bought some more clothes for them. I just can't resist. After shopping we went to get our vaccinations that we need to travel. Hep A and B, Typhoid, Tetanus/dipthria/pertusis for a total of 4 very painful jabs. They hurt for several days and only today are we feeling somewhat normal. We still have to return in 4 weeks for the 2nd Hep B and then in 6 months for the 2nd Hep A and a 3rd Hep B. After that it was Elite time! Margaritas and green beer at the Elite Circle Grill. Then a late lunch/early dinner. Mmmmmm I do like that place!

Thursday brought me a email from a parent that had just returned from Ethiopia - Pictures of Abate and Fantu! they look to have grown taller. Abate is looking a bit thin, Fantu already was and still is quite thin, but they both look so good! what a good looking pair. We are at less than 4 weeks now and counting til court!

Today - I tiled, and tiled some more. It is done! well kind of, I still have to grout it all but all the tiles are up. Hope they stay up! I think we might actually get this room finished beofre too much longer.

Well I guess thats it for now.

Room with a view....

Since I keep going into the kids room and looking into their closet at all the cute little outfits I can't wait to see them wear I thought I'd share that view with you all. We've not too much more to get before we travel. I know I'll have to take them shopping for some stuff once we get them home but they each will have 4-5 outfits, several pair of pj's - providing of course that I have guessed correctly on their sizes.
1 Month and 1 day til court!

I think I made some real progress in the bathroom this weekend. I haven't finished the tiling, but I think I can finish it next weekend. I have been really lucky that so far I've had very few tiles that had to be cut. That has really sped things up, I'm not very good at cutting tile. So hopefully I can get the tiling and grouting done next weekend. I might actually get the bathroom finished before we travel to Ethiopia. Remember we started back at Christmas!

I feel really square right now...

4 x 4, tile after tile. all those little white squares. But I feel I've made some progress. This little bit took about 2 1/2 hours. I hope to get really stuck in tomorrow and make some real progress.

Post more when there's more.

COURT DATE!

Yes!!!! We have a court date April 16th! 5 weeks and 1 day - actually 5 weeks exactly as it is already Thursday in Addis! This means we will travel in early to mid-May providing that we pass court - positive thinking - when we pass court!
I'm so excited!!!!!!!

Ready and Waiting!

Abate and Fantu's bedroom is complete! Everything is done, it's all ready for them to come home to. I'll try to add a few toys and books while we wait to bring them home.
Still no news of a court date. Once again we are hoping that this new week will bring us news. The date at the latest should be the first week in May. Friday brought good news to 9 of 10 families that had their court hearings, 90% passed - first time! That's about the best that they've had since we began. It does help us maintain a level of optimism here that often fails us. I'm just ready to go to Addis. I keep checking airfares and travel info. Emirates Air is so cheap right now, I'd love to just hop on a plane and go over and spend time with Abate and Fantu. I must admit while I'm so happy for each parent that goes to pick up their own child(ren) after their own long waits, I'm a bit jealous as I just wish it were us. The Smiths from Oklahoma have arrived in Addis today and are picking up their new family at Kidane. They will get to see, talk to, take pictures and hopefully get shoe sizes of our two. I'll be counting the days until they return back to Oklahoma with news for us. They are delivering letters and pictures to Abate and Fantu from us.
Well with the kids room complete I don't have excuses to not get in and finish the bathroom. I did finish painting the walls in there on Friday. I really need to get busy and get the tile up around the tub.
Still no rain. Allergies are still killing me. I can't step outside at this point the pollen is so bad. I'm getting really tired of hearing "how bad I look". Red eyes, runny nose, coughing, sneezing and I've taken enough tylenol to increase their stock price by 50% (lol). There is a chance of rain this week, but I'll believe it when I see it.
Okay so a new week and a fresh hope that we will get good news from Ethiopia before it's over!

Coat and Book rack/shelf

Abate's Bed

Fantu's Bed with her canopy - and Bonnie. She is becoming quite a fixture on Fantu's bed. I've caught her sleeping there several times this week.

Just add kids!

The bedroom is nearly ready for Abate and Fantu. I got the curtains made and hung. Alan and I assembled the beds and shelving unit. Alan also had to assemble the cubes that will be used to store their clothes. I just couldn't get them assembled. We had thought that it would all be a total nightmare to put all this stuff together but it really wasn't too bad. All we have left to do is hang the canopy over Fantu's bed and hang the coat/book bag shelf on the wall. I've started buying a few clothes for them both. Hit some terrific sales and have nearly everything they will need to get started. Several outfits each, and pajamas. I'll start getting socks and underwear over the next few weeks and then shoes as soon as I get some idea of what size they wear. Now we just need to hear of a court date. I had thought we would have heard something by now but we are still waiting. I suppose there isn't too much we can do about it, so we'll wait along with everyone else. It's just like I said when we started this journey it will be mostly just waiting. Well with the kids room nearly complete I can focus on finishing the bathroom. No progress in there this week. I also need to get my vegetable garden ready to plant - 2 weeks and I need to get stuff set out. It really needs some work. I haven't step foot in it since Alan killed a copperhead snake in there several weeks ago. It's quite a mess and we have had only a drop of rain since the beginning of the year. Well I guess that's it for now. Hope I get to post a court date this week!