Quick update, as per orders from reader. (You know who you are, darling! :))
Sadly, the agency refuses to decrease the fees. This, as you know, may be a deal breaker, but we will toil on to find some way to finance Freweyne's homecoming. I was told by a very spiritual person today that we were meant to be a family and to trust that the $$ will come. Hmmmm. Powerball is not complying. We are still trying though, and wading through the paperwork yet again.
May 04, 2006
April 21, 2006
Spring has sprung and I find myself looking at babies with a renewed interest! Good grief, I thought after our loooooooong struggle to find Kali that a baby in our house was not a possibility. Now here we are fighting tooth & nail to bring Kali's sister home. From what I can see, 16 months is a pretty cool age and one that Kali will love to "mentor". LOL Still in the paperwork stage as we must fill out all the forms, get all the certified copies, etc. again. Well, it's worth it if this works, right? I am searching out all kinds of ways to make the financial aspect work. The latest is that I have become a rep for Planetjill, a line of photo jewelry based in California. Very cool that I can work from home, sell by wearing my own pieces, have parties, or people can order from the website and give my name (Beth Gallagher) as rep. By the way, the site is http://www.planetjill.com/index.html just in case you're interested! (wink wink...)
Well, too pooped to pop as my Nana used to say, so must twirl off to bed. Will write more tomorrow!
Well, too pooped to pop as my Nana used to say, so must twirl off to bed. Will write more tomorrow!
April 17, 2006
Well, not much to post today. We had a fabulous Easter (Kali's first), with the beautiful "princess" Easter dress, egg hunt in the morning, special prayers for spring/faraway Grandma/everyone that is sick or lonely (Kali's ideas), the try at church, and brunch out. Kali was so happy I thought she'd fly right off the face of the earth. This is Kali in her dress and hat. The pink flower on the hat doesn't really show, but she kept taking the hat off and smelling the flower!
On the adoption front, we've finished our subsidy form for the agency and will send it tomorrow. Hoping for a big one, but will settle for anything at this point! This week will begin work on gathering all the documents AGAIN for the agency requirements. I really have to admit that I'm a little p.o.'d that they cannot use the very same ones we submitted just last year for the first adoption, but will bite the bullet and do it all again if I must. I suppose I might as well order 5 certified birth certificate copies at once so I can cover all bases for the next few years! (Laughter with a tinge of hysteria...) The agency has very kindly asked the Ethiopian program in-country if they will reduce the fee for us, so cross your fingers. I hate to do that as I know the $$ goes only to the upkeep of the orphanage, but will have to donate later instead. So, now is the bookwork stage. Hopefully it will go quickly so that we can get Freweyne home faster. I haven't mentioned any of this to Kali. I just don't want to rock her boat needlessly if something stops this from happening, but in the car the other day - out of the blue - she said "I wish my sister could come live with us." Floored me! She just might get her wish!
April 11, 2006
Welcome to my blog. Sounds a bit odd, I must admit. Sort of like, welcome to my mind (which at this moment is a vast wasteland...).
For those of you that may not be PPSers or know me otherwise, my husband and I adopted our darling daughter from Ethiopia exactly one year ago last monday. Having gone through a few years of tragic loss, decision making and money gathering, we were amazed and humbled at the culmination of our struggles. Kali is a gift from Who/Whatever is there looking over us. She is what makes the stars sparkle at night and the sun shine so brightly. Her laugh is the sound of a million drops of soft rain falling on silver bells. Can you tell that I (we) are totally head over heels in love with our daughter? We both thought that we knew deep love, as we have it for each other and our families and friends, but we've been heaved into that other existence now. The one where you would kill or diefor your child without a thought for yourself. Needless to say, we have been living in paradise for the past year and feel unbelievably lucky to have done so.
So. Imagine my suprise, horror, and heart stopping shock at recieving a letter from Kali's only living relative insisting that we take her baby sister immediately. After a couple of weeks of grinding research, we have discovered that indeed her beloved grandmother is gravely ill and will not survive very long. This situation leaves Kali's sister in quite a precarious position as there is no one to care for her when their grandmother passes away. Side note: The grandmother is a lovely & very elegant lady that we both immediately bonded with when we met her in Ethiopia last year. In the face of desperate poverty and living conditions that most in our very fortunate country cannot even imagine in our nightmares, she is a very religious woman that instilled deep compassion, spirituality and moral values in our daughter, and loves her granddaughters beyond reason. When she passes out of our lives, she will leave a gaping hole behind her.
We are trying as hard as we can to adopt Kali's sister as soon as possible. So, at the suggestion of my posse, I begin this blog to update all of you that can put up with my posts on our journey for Freweyne (Kali's 16 month old sister in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). Frankly the suggestion was a wonderful one as I think "talking" about all of this may just keep me sane! The cost of international adoption, as some of you may know is frightening. Especially so after going through it only a year ago. We haven't even paid that off yet, and now are wondering what we can sell to make this happen. Have come up with a few ideas, some good - some not so good, and will run them by you soon.
I want to thank my PPSer girls from the center of my heart and soul. I cannot imagine life without you all, and your generosity bowls me over. There are not enough words to describe your value to me, my husband, and our daughter. As I sit here typing and sipping a lovely spanish white wine from a Mickey Mouse paper cup (dishwasher blew. $#!^), I raise my "glass" to you.
For those of you that may not be PPSers or know me otherwise, my husband and I adopted our darling daughter from Ethiopia exactly one year ago last monday. Having gone through a few years of tragic loss, decision making and money gathering, we were amazed and humbled at the culmination of our struggles. Kali is a gift from Who/Whatever is there looking over us. She is what makes the stars sparkle at night and the sun shine so brightly. Her laugh is the sound of a million drops of soft rain falling on silver bells. Can you tell that I (we) are totally head over heels in love with our daughter? We both thought that we knew deep love, as we have it for each other and our families and friends, but we've been heaved into that other existence now. The one where you would kill or diefor your child without a thought for yourself. Needless to say, we have been living in paradise for the past year and feel unbelievably lucky to have done so.
So. Imagine my suprise, horror, and heart stopping shock at recieving a letter from Kali's only living relative insisting that we take her baby sister immediately. After a couple of weeks of grinding research, we have discovered that indeed her beloved grandmother is gravely ill and will not survive very long. This situation leaves Kali's sister in quite a precarious position as there is no one to care for her when their grandmother passes away. Side note: The grandmother is a lovely & very elegant lady that we both immediately bonded with when we met her in Ethiopia last year. In the face of desperate poverty and living conditions that most in our very fortunate country cannot even imagine in our nightmares, she is a very religious woman that instilled deep compassion, spirituality and moral values in our daughter, and loves her granddaughters beyond reason. When she passes out of our lives, she will leave a gaping hole behind her.
We are trying as hard as we can to adopt Kali's sister as soon as possible. So, at the suggestion of my posse, I begin this blog to update all of you that can put up with my posts on our journey for Freweyne (Kali's 16 month old sister in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). Frankly the suggestion was a wonderful one as I think "talking" about all of this may just keep me sane! The cost of international adoption, as some of you may know is frightening. Especially so after going through it only a year ago. We haven't even paid that off yet, and now are wondering what we can sell to make this happen. Have come up with a few ideas, some good - some not so good, and will run them by you soon.
I want to thank my PPSer girls from the center of my heart and soul. I cannot imagine life without you all, and your generosity bowls me over. There are not enough words to describe your value to me, my husband, and our daughter. As I sit here typing and sipping a lovely spanish white wine from a Mickey Mouse paper cup (dishwasher blew. $#!^), I raise my "glass" to you.
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