I love my Granny!

So my granny calls me today to tell me a story.  She has breakfast with a group of ladies every week.  She was talking with them about my adoption and G-man.  She realized that one of her friends didn't know about it, so started to explain it to her.  Her "friend" said,  "NO NO NO.  Those people are taking over, one of them is even pastor of my church. He's going to living behind me, I just know it.  You're granddaughter is going to have problems." Its sad that people still think this way.  But my granny looked her in the eye and said, "She will if people like you are around."  Tell her granny!  I'm so proud of her for standing up for her grandson.  Awesome.  Just thought I'd share.  

WE PASSED!!

I found out today that we passed court.  I am a MOM!  He is mine.  I also found out that my immigration approval is in the mail today.  Its been a big day!

The next steps...

The immigration approval has to get to Ethiopia to the US Embassy before I can be assigned a Visa date for Gman.
I have to have a visa date before I can book my plane ticket. 
Each agency has certain days that they get visa appointments.  They have 10 appointments each day.  So I have to wait to for immigration approval before I can take one of the 10 appointments.  There have also been mutliple court passings from my agency in the last few weeks (YIPPEEE!!!! for all of us), but that does mean that I will have to wait (as patiently as possible) for my turn.  I'm thinking end of July, early August, but no guarantees for that one. 

So that is the latest. 

Stalking the Mailbox and Court

So I've been stalking the mailbox for the last 2 or 3 weeks.  Everyday I come home and check the mailbox looking for the USCIS return address.  But everyday nothing.  I am waiting for the 171H.  This form is my permission to bring an orphan into the US.  So the deal is that if I was to pass court this Thursday I can't plan to travel to bring him home until I have my 171H and its been sent to the US Embassy in Addis.  So I wait and stalk the mailbox.  I'm about to become a major pest to the local USCIS office!

In regards to court:  there are a few things that could affect passing court on Thursday. 

• Gman's birth mother is required at court.  Its about an 8 hour drive from where she lives to Addis.  My placement agency takes care of helping her get there, but there is still always the possiblity she won't be there.
• MOWA (Ministry of Women's Affairs) in Ethiopia is over adoptions.  They have to have a letter filed with the courts giving permission for the adoption to proceed.  Adoptions in Ethiopia have mutliplied in the last several years, but the personelle for MOWA has not. So its not unusual not to have the letter there.
• Electricity is iffy in Ethiopia.  
• Their being enough time in the day.  There are a lot of court cases scheduled for that day so they might just run out of time. 

I've been trying to stay calm and not get my hopes up and until these last couple of days I've been doing well at this.  But now the hopes are rising, so if you don't mind sending up a prayer for these things, or a positive thought or whatever you may believe in I would be eternally grateful!  Here's to patience and finding out the results of court sooner rather than later!

My Arms Hurt!

Today I went to the travel clinic and had 7 shots.  My arms are sore!!!!  What we do for our children.  I am ready now to head for Ethiopia.  If I had to leave tomorrow, I think I could.  My house is not ready. My job is not ready.  My heart is more than ready (okay if I'm really honest its still a little overwhelmed by it all). But I can't wait to have him in my arms.

Sunday is Mother's day. And it has a whole new meaning to me.  Last year's mother's day was hard for me.  I just wasn't anywhere near where I thought I wanted to be in my life. But  this year even though he's on the other side of the world, I'm still feeling excited and happy about mother's day. 

But when I think of his birth mom.  I'm pretty sure they don't have mother's day in Ethiopia, but I think about her, what she must feel everyday.  And my heart hurts for her.