YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Got our fingerprint appointment for next week! Time has been running up to a month for approval, so everyone cross their fingers please. Here is another adorable picture of our littlest girl.

I know, it's been way too long since my last update and even that was rather pathetic. Have to admit, I've never been very good at waiting so this waiting to go to Ethiopia is practically killing me! We've sent everything in to the agency and are now waiting (yes, that horrible word again!) for US Immigration to approve and fingerprint us. Wouldn't you know that our last fingerprints just expired?! Now, generally speaking, one would think that fingerprints would not have changed in a year, nor would a fairly boring couple from rural NH have spent that year honing our skills as white slavers or international jewel thieves. Our tax dollars hard at work.

So, in the mean time...I am trying to wade through all the junk/stuff/crap in our office (soon to be the girls' bedroom: pink with Tinkerbell on the walls) so that I can paint it next week. I hope you are crossing your fingers for me since I will need all the help I can get to focus and finish it! Well, I will add some more details later, but am preparing for a playdate with the very popular Nicholas this morning. Must shower and convince the Princess to change out of her cheerleader pajamas.

Here are a few more pictures of our new daughter that a very lovely and generous friend (Julie) took while she was in Addis last week. Thanks Julie!

This is our small video montage of our newest darling, coming home in October! More on that later, but take a look at our sweet Freweyne at
Kaly's Baby Sister, Freweyne.......

Preparations...

We are counting down now to mid september when the Ethiopian courts open. I should say that we are counting down until all our paperwork is in to US immigration for approval and then the package is off to Ethiopia for court procedures. Truly, we can't wait to see our new little girl and DD#1 is waaaaaaay too excited!

Meanwhile, life goes on. Yesterday and today were spent at the beach with a Quebec family we met at the beach last summer. They come every year and we have daughters the same age. They are lovely people and we all wish they lived a bit closer. The picture at the top is of the two girls jumping waves. Next summer we will have two daughters jumping waves with their canadian friend!

My video montage of DD#1's first year home

She's a joy. We're in Heaven. And now I've set it to music! :) (Just click on 'Our Kalkidan')


Our Kalkidan

About the Life Book thing...

Forgot to tell you about that! As a bookbinder, I am planning to hand bind the Life Book myself. I am, at this point, using a program called Storyteller to create the book, but so far am just playing to see if it will take shape the way I "see" it. It begins with the photos we have from DD#1's family and will be about her life with them including the few details we know. She has told us some memories that I'll include in italics. Then will include a letter I wrote to our child before the referral and the referral picture we got of her. Will put in some of our preparations for her, trip tickets, etc., emails that we sent home while we were there, photos of Horizon House and all the people there, etc. and photos of her first year at home. I will put narrations on each page and perhaps quotes from family. The intention is for it to be flat pages and not the scrapbooking type, as I want her to be able to look at it until it falls apart! I hope to have DD#1's book finished by the time we go to Ethiopia for DD#2.

If you've done a Life Book for your child, please tell me what kind of stuff you're doing or have done.

Preserving our daughters' heritage and Lifebook creation:

I've been asked many times what we are doing to help our daughter keep her heritage, know more about her biological family, and give her something of her own that chronicles her life before us. Very good questions all, and these are subjects that every adoptive family wrestles with. We chose to be very open about the creation of our family, and I think it has worked out very well. DD#1 asked me if she grew in my tummy, and I said no. I said that she was my child and God told me where to find her; that her Ethiopian family was our family too and that we all loved her so much; that we are lucky to have such a large family now in 4 countries! We make and eat Ethiopian food often, talk about Ethiopian art and culture, express pride in Ethiopia and that our family is Ethiopian, and play Ethiopian music in the house and car. We've also maintained a close relationship with her grandmother in Ethiopia, sending small gifts that DD#1 has made, drawings, and many many photos. She, in return, has sent us letters and cards which we cherish and will put in DDs' books. Many adoptive moms-to-be seem to get sort of freaked out about having to share parenthood, and feel that their role as mom might be threatened if they maintain any relationship with the biological family. Those thoughts did go through my mind before my daughter arrived in my life, but now I see that in my eyes, in her eyes, in the eyes of the law both here and there and the eyes of her Ethiopian family - she is my daughter and I am her mother. The open appreciation of the love and care her Ethiopian family gave to her that we show both to our daughter and to them has only solidified our roles as her parents.

Also, I began writing her letters in a blank journal book about a month after she arrived. I've been telling her about things she's said and done, memories of Ethiopia she has told me, our feelings about her, etc. My plan is to give the book to her when she is 16 or whenever she needs to peek into my mind and heart for guidance or stability.