Testing from Addis Ababa!

We'd heard we couldn't blog from Addis, but it might appear otherwise. If you're reading this... we have arrived!

Test Post from the Guest Blogger

Hi Everyone.. just making sure we are up and running before the Stones fly off to meet Baby Stone!! I promise to do the best I can updating everyone with what info I get from Anne and Terry.. I have threatened them that we NEED UPDATES!!

Hang in there and we will be back when they land!!

Kyndra

This day.

This day finds us doing final loads of laundry, tying up loose ends at work, mowing the lawn, organizing and finally, packing!

Our friends picked up our sweet pup for a few weeks away. The house feels very empty after only a few hours. We miss him already.

And, in the midst of all of this, every once in a while I feel my heart peek open, and BBS smile. We're on our way soon, sweet boy. Today is 2 years, 6 months and 9 days since we started this process.

We'll do our best to send updates through my Fryendra til the Eyndra while we're gone. No pictures here until he's home with us though. We had to make that tough decision, and I feel good about it.

God speed!

30-second update

Hi - we're still here. We'll meet BBS in a week! We'll be in Ethiopia in less than a week!

We're running around with our hair on fire trying to get ready for the trip in just a few days.

No major exciting updates, and I won't bore you with a list of how productive we've been, again. Yes, we're excited! Yes, we're overwhelmed! Yes, things are coming together. People have been amazing and supportive and we feel super blessed to have the family and friends we do.  

Here's the situation.

Oh my God - did I just quote Jersey Shore?? Can't be. Some unfortunate coincidence I am sure. I'm giddy!

At any rate - we learned this morning (from a delightful couple and their gorgeous son we just met) that WE CANNOT UPDATE BLOGGER while in Ethiopia! Oh no!! Apparently the Ethiopian government has it blocked.

This is a problem (situation) on many levels, because writing on this blog is therapy, it's our diary of our process - and you won't be able to follow on our journey!

I'll either do a temporary WordPress site for the 2 trips, or update y'all the old-fashioned way - by email or skype :)

 Anne

PS - I came this close < > to putting a picture of "The Situation" on this blog post, but God forbid the authorities ever get into this blog. We'd be deemed unfit parents I am sure.

PS #2 - I had the flu for a week. There wasn't much else on, it was an all-day Jersey Shore marathon. I couldn't help it. It hasn't happened since.

T-Minus 13

We are leaving for Addis Ababa in 13 days. We are CRAZY busy. Here's just a small list of what we've accomplished in the last week or so:

• Cleaned out BBS's (Baby Boy Stone's) room
• Painted mural in BBS's room
• Shopped for and bought crib (thanks Carolyn!)
• Bought cutest little table for BBS to draw at w/daddy (")
• Bought used Tripp-Trapp high chair
• Bought clearance baby boy clothes
• Had garage sale
• Registered at Babies R Us and REI
• Picked up used pack and play (thanks Lynn!!)
• Took leftover items to Habitat for Humanity and consignment
• Preparing lists of invitees for 3 baby showers
• Each have had multiple immunizations
• Researched and booked flights
• Researched travel insurance
• Researched and booked hotel rooms
• Researched additional travel to N. Ethiopia
• Researched gliders (thanks Liz!)
• Researched rain boots that are functional, cheap and cute, no luck
• Got multiple prescriptions for trip
• Put together medical kit
• Shopped REI for travel-related items like chlorine tablets for H2O
• Started packing list
• Made a list for friend who offered to shop additional garage sales (thanks Julie!)
• Answered 10,000 questions about the adoption process now that it's happening (ok, maybe 100)
• Talked with my mom at least 10 times
• Wrote multiple thank you notes
• Found a Jackson-sitter (thanks Ann and Ross!)
• Got photo album for BBS and decided on pictures to take
• ...

I am too tired to finish this list. You get the picture. 

Oh... I forgot to mention that then there's my full-time job! (Fortunately, I love my job and the people I work with, so it's a pleasant distraction. And my boss, who I adore, let me work from home last week which was a LIFESAVER!) And the women I work (who I also adore) with are laughing at the"baby-brain" taking over my usual hyper-diligence.

My fryendra til the endrya.

This blog post is dedicated to my friend Kyndra.

Kyndra and her husband have 2 gorgeous kids who also happened to be adopted. I mention they're adopted because she's walked this very path before me. Kyndra has been - as so many people have - amazingly supportive in our journey. (But that's another blog post...)

I met Kyndra at a Nepal potluck more than two years ago and liked her immediately. And in that time, she has: talked me through the ups and downs of Nepal, helped me through the closure of Nepal, helped me come back from kind of losing my mind when we lost our child in Nepal, talked me through the ups and downs of Ethiopia, suggested our international adoption doctor, shopped multiple garage sales for me, found me a tripp trapp high-chair (new for a used price), found me other used baby items, talked me through travel questions, helped with nursery decisions (she's an awesome interior designer if you need one!), offered to host a baby shower, been available for questions at any hour - the list goes on!

OK. I will mention here that I'm a pretty productive person. (I'd even say in the 90th percentile in terms of what I can get done when I put my mind to it.) But today, I was put in my place. I was humbled.

Kyndra did one of the most helpful things a friend could do today. She took me to Babies R Us, and walked me through every single aisle. In less than one hour, we registered for 69 items.

I will admit that, prior to today, I had tried to register on my own, and came up with 4 things I thought we probably needed. Yup. 4. I did learn that of those 4 well-thought out items I worked so freaking hard to register for, we only need 3. Oh, yeah, I also learned this weekend that babies don't use "sheet sets". They have only a bottom fitted sheet. This, after searching in vain for sheets sets and being confused as to why I couldn't just buy the fitted sheet, the top sheet and the pillow cases in one package! And - there is no "6-9 months" size. It doesn't exist. 0-3, 3-6, some 6-12, 12-18, 18-24. No 6-9. Whatever. I think these things are to make people like me feel unfit to be a parent. And it's working.

Anyway. Kyndra knows what one needs when bringing home a close-to-one year-old. She knows the layout of the store. She knows I want mostly natural and BPA-free stuff. She knows my nursery colors and, mostly, she knows that I know nothing about any of this. We had a tight timeline, and we were practically a tornado in that store. We checked in, I was handed a scanner gun, and off we went. (There are seriously very few people who could have handled the pace physically or emotionally.) At one point, I started to ask a question about an item. Kyndra didn't stop what she was doing, held up the item in question with one hand while reaching for the next necessary item with the other, and said: "Point and shoot, Anne. Point and shoot."

So, that's our mantra for the next phase of our life. "Point and shoot. Point and shoot."