Three days and counting!

Three days until we leave for Ghana! Lots to do...

Early this morning, Erik and I got up and bundled the kids in the van to start their trip through the Smokies and on to a meeting point outside Nashville, TN. They were all happy and excited to be going to see their "cousins" in Arkansas. (Not real cousins, but very good friends!) I hear from Erik that they did great and the transfer to the cousins' car was uneventful...although E did get a little clingy towards the end. Erik should be home around 7 - in time to join me at Supper Club

Here's a peek at their stuff. On the far left is there box of school work and games. In the middle is the "goody box" - little gifts for all the kids to enjoy and some Valentine's Day gifts, too. And of course their three suitcases.











Today, I've enjoyed a very quiet house. Put away all the lovely shower gifts, finally, and straightened up the girls' room. Still have to hang a shelf, but Erik will help with that. :) Cleaned up the house a bit - hoping to get it all nice and neat before we leave. Made copies of all our important documents - 1 copy to leave here with friends, 1 copy for the checked baggage, and of course the originals will be in our carry on.

I thought you might enjoy seeing some photos of the girls' room:

So, you want to see what my impressive packing prowess? Look at our carry ons!

Here's what we managed to fit in here:

- an electric tea kettle (for boiling drinking water and water for bottles) - takes up half the smaller bag!
- a travel pillow
- a travel umbrella
- an extra pair of shoes a piece
- my sun hat, Erik's baseball hat
- all our "unmentionables" and socks
- laundry supplies (bungee cord line, sink stopper, small pack of detergent)
- 10 or so diapers (5 ea of two diff sizes)
- 1 bottle and some liners
- 1 bullet thermos (stuffed with tubes of powdered formula)
- small flashlight
- electric converter and plug adapters
- baby wrap (carrier)
- 5 or 6 baby outfits (couple diff sizes)
- a couple onesies (diff. sizes)
- few pairs of baby socks (diff. sizes)
- all of Erik's clothes for the trip (pants, shorts, 4-5 tops)
- most of my clothes (pants, capris, skirt, 4-5 tops)
- all our medications and such
- bibs, 2 receiving blankets (various uses)
- a very special bunny (Hi, Dear Neighbor!)
- probably some other stuff I'm forgetting!

We are also carrying on a backpack (with our ziplock baggies of liquids, books, camera, IDs and such, another travel pillow) and a laptop bag (with laptop, our file of adoption paperwork - well, not all of our paperwork - that would fill a suitcase).

Tomorrow we work on the checked baggage. While we aren't taking much more in the way of clothes, we do have lots of "stuff" to pack in there. I think we could whittle it down to 1 bag if we had to, but we really will need extra room to bring home gifts and momentos (and lots of Ghanaian clothes for the family!). There are many things we are taking over that will be left behind (gifts and such) or used up (formula, diapers)...so I think we'll do fine!

Our last evening together as a family of 5

Tonight is our last evening together as a family of 5. Tomorrow morning Erik will drive the kids halfway to AR to meet our good friends who will be taking care of them while we are gone. And the next time we are all together, God willing, we will be a family of 6. It is very strange to think about.

With adoption, I've found that while you abstractly know you will be gaining a new family member there are so many unknowns and delays, that you don't or can't really absorb that fact until it is absolutely upon you. All of this has seemed a bit like it has been happening to another family that just looks like us. :) But now, with the baby shower and our travel so imminent...it is beginning to really sink in - we will have 4 children! We will be a party of SIX! It is exciting, but there is also a bit of apprehension, of course.

I remember feeling that way before giving birth, too. "How will the baby's needs impact my other kids, family, etc." "What type of personality will the baby have?" "Are we sure we are ready for this?" etc, etc. Of course, you are never really ready for a new child in the family - you just get as ready as you can and be prepared to be flexible!

I have moments (and I suspect Erik does too) of thinking, "Why are we going through all this?" And then I reflect back to H's simplistic and lovely question, "Hey, mom, when are you going to have another baby? We've got four seats in this van, you know.", that started it all. I remember that we began walking this path because we really believed God wasn't done growing our family...we had no idea our next child would end up halfway across the world!

Then I look at her sweet, little face and remember that she has nobody able or willing to take care of her...and I KNOW why we are doing all this - She's our daughter!

A few nights ago, I had the most lovely and real dream...I dreamed that I made her LAUGH - one of those cute soft-gurgly baby laughs! It is a sound I truly can't wait to hear!

7 Quick Takes - Jan 30

Another week of Jen's 7 Quick Takes...

As I expected, blogging has been spotty, but I didn't want to miss the last 7 Quick Takes before e leave on our adoption trip. That' what's, obviously, been foremost in my thoughts this week, so you'll notice that trend in my 7 Quick Takes!

One
There are so many unknowns about our daughter for us! One of these is "How big is she?" We know that at about 2 months she was around 8 1/2 lbs which puts her in the 5% for weight here in the states. Based on that I'm estimating that now she'll be a little under 12lbs at 5 months. But her two month weight could be a weight reflecting a very low birth weight and her weight gain might be beyond the percentile curves...so she could be up to 16 or more pounds. Of course she could have dropped weight or slowed down on her growth and be still just barely past 10 lbs.

Two
This unknown means we have to bring clothes in many different sizes. I'm bringing a few 0-3 month, mostly 3-6 month, and a few 6-9 month. That goes for diapers, too!

Three
We had packed all our stuff (did a dry run) into 1 large suitcase to check, and 1 duffle-style and one small suitcase carry-ons. In our luggage we were carrying another duffle to help us transport home memorobilia and gifts. But instead we have decided to use both duffles as carry-ons and check both suitcases. Our carry-ons have all the things we "couldn't live without" (and couldn't purchase there) and a few changes of clothes for both us and the baby (my packing prowess is impressive!). On the way home we'll check everthing - except the bag with the gifts and memorobilia.

Four
I am amazed at the number of people who have offered to help - taking our kids, taking dogs, feeding the cats, loaning us travel items, calling in favors, etc. I'm not surprised - we have good friends, but I am really humbled by it all. Adoption is pretty good for gaining some humilty in many ways.

Five
Hubby and I are really looking forward to the adventure of travel ahead of us. We travel well together and enjoy visiting new places. We can't wait to see Ghana and experience the culture! I could pass on the heat, though, but there's no getting around it.

Six
In some ways, hubby and I feel like we are about to go on second honeymoon! At least it will feel that way for the first couple of days and then I suspect the baby will change that! Of course, after you've had more than one little one (especially when you get beyond 2), having just one to care for seems so easy.

Seven
Today is my daughter's 7th birthday! Happy Birthday Sweetie!


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The past week...

So, a lot has happened in the last 7 days. Some of you may be wondering exactly how we got from Adoption decree to receiving entry visas, huh?

Well, as you saw, we did pass court and recieved a final adoption decree on last Wednesday. I was at our weekly Classical Education co-op when I got the call from Erik! At that time we expected to travel in 2-3 weeks. Boy, were we in for a surprise! The next day we got an email from our agency director that we could plan on traveling in 10 days. WOW! That will make your head spin!

This adoption thing is weird. You wait and wait and wait and then when it is time to hustle you have to really HUSTLE. We had to make arrangements for our kids, dogs, cats, get our entry visas, get our airline tickets, finish gathering all our paperwork, obtain one more "approval" for the US Embassy, send payment to our adoption agency, and get some baby stuff (like diapers, wipes, formula, bottles, pacifiers, baby wash, etc)!

Saturday morning, Erik and I had a plan to go to the aiport, bank, pharmacy, FedEx shipper, and maybe the tailor. We started at the airport to purchase our tickets. Since we are doing an adoption fare (discounted, refundable tickets), they had to be purchased in person at the airline counter. We had to have a copy of our airline itinerary for our Ghana entry visas (to prove we weren't planning on staying in the country). For the visa, we had to provide a copy of the airline tickets, a bank statement (showing were are financially stable), 4 passport photos per person, and a money order to pay for our expedited visa fees. Oh, and a pre-paid fedex return envelope for them to return our passports with the visa. While we were at the bank getting the money order, we also picked up our certified check for the adoption agency. And in the middle of all that, we also managed to make it to the tailor to get some pants hemmed for Erik. Accomplishing all this took about 4 hours!

Then it was home for a quick "lunch" - which consisted of choking down half a chicken strip from my son's lunch. A quick "freshen up" and then Mom, E and I were out the door to run a couple errands and stop by a friend's house for a church meeting (and some cake to celebrate the adoption). Well, here's where it gets funny!

That little "cake" at the "meeting" was actually a huge ruse to get me to show up for my own SURPRISE Baby Shower! There were about 30 ladies attending and the most adorably decorated table and cake. I really had no idea what they were up to! Well, needless to say, after the baby shower there weren't many more things we needed to purchase for the baby before the trip. I'll post some photos later - it really was such a nice afternoon.

The past couple days we've been getting various tasks accomplished: school lessons planned, laundry done, errands run, kids clothes gathered, our clothes and travel needs gathered, etc.

Right now the kids are all packed and ready to leave this weekend to head to our dear friends' home (Hi, Pete and Karen!) in Arkansas. Then next week Erik and I leave for Ghana. Hard to believe!

I'm proud to say that we are packed with two small duffles for carry-ons. We have packed so that should our checked bags be lost, we could live for two weeks out of our carry-ons (of course purchasing what we need while in country). But I sure hope we don't have to! I'm so proud of my packing prowess (ahhhh, aliteration, don't you love it?), that I will have to post photos.

Erik and I are really looking forward to a couple days of peace and quiet between the time the kids go to AR and the time we leave for Ghana. So, please forgive us if we seem to drop off the face of the earth for those couple of days. :) It may be the last calm we have for quite some time!

Our Entry Visas for Ghana came today!

On Saturday, among many other things, including a surprise baby shower, we prepared and submitted our application for an entry visa to the Embassy of Ghana in Wash., DC. This required passport photos (x4), airline ticket itineraries, bank statements, our passports, and a money order be sent to the Embassy. We overnighted the package on Saturday for a Monday morning delivery and included a pre-paid, FedEx return envelope. Our hope was to get it back by Friday...and guess what...IT CAME TODAY!

A friend of ours was able to talk with a friend of his in the Ghana Embassy who was willing to walk our application through the process. We did pay for expedited processing, but that was way beyond our expectations!

Our departure date is getting closer and closer!

Adoption News! UPDATED

Wow - I've been an absentee-blogger, haven't I? Well, I do have a good reason...NESTING! I've been in pretty heavy nesting mode and we just got news today and expect more tomorrow that could throw it into serious overdrive:

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!

Tomorrow morning at 9AM (Ghana time, that is 4am EST) our petition for adoption goes to court in Ghana! We are praying for everything to go smoothly and for the judge to issue a "favorable opinion" on a final adoption decree.

My stomach is in knots - I've no idea how I'll ever get to sleep tonight. My husband has suggested wine, lots of wine. I'm not even sure *that* would do it.

I'll post in the evening (we are out of the house all day tomorrow) with any news. Thank you for your prayers!

UPDATE: Our adoption was GRANTED!! We are the parents of a new little sister! We'll be making travel plans soon, so I'm sure blogging will be a bit spotty between now and the time we return. Pray for us to be able to bring her home on the first trip (if all our documents are ready for the US Embassy, we should be able to do that!).


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Adoption Granted!

Our adoption was granted today! Court went well (we hear from the in-country team) and we have a new family member.

We should get more information soon (in the next day or so, I expect) about travel dates - but should be traveling in 2-3 weeks. There is some paperwork to get wrapped up in Ghana for the US Embassy and then we'll be ready to travel. Pray for this to happen quickly so that all will be ready to the Embassy on our first visit.

We are really praying to be able to bring her home on the first trip. The sooner she gets home, the better for her attachment process and developmental progress.

Now it is time to hustle! Lots to do and plan for...

COURT DATE!

We have a court date! Tomorrow morning at 9am, January 21st, our case finally goes to court! That is 4am Eastern Standard, of course. We appreciate your prayers for a favorable opinion on a final adoption decree. My stomach is in knots...

We'll post as soon as we have news!

No court date, yet, but big news!

We do not have word on our court date, yet, but we do have some really BIG news!

We had heard that one of the major hurdles in getting our daughter home after the court date is getting her Ghanaian passport. The passport process can be a long one in Ghana (not unlike the US, but the US's is a more consistent wait time). The wait can be a week or two...or a month or more. Often it is the last thing that holds up bringing a child home.

Well, guess what - WE HAVE A PASSPORT!! On Monday our agency notified us that the passport had been finished and recieved by our facilitator! This is HUGE!

Once the court date has happened and the adoption decree issued, we will travel to Ghana and submit our i600 - which results in an IR4 Immigration visa for our daughter to enter the US where she will then be readopted by us.

Now, if we can get the US Embassy to speedily process the visa (which does depend somewhat on some paperwork from Ghana being ready for them to review) then we acutally might be able to travel once, rather than twice, and bring her home in early Feb!

It is looking more and more like she will be home celebrating Valentine's Day with us!

7 Quick Takes: Jan 9th

Jen's 7 Quick Takes is up for this week! There is just something satisfying about getting quick, bite-sized bits from bloggers. This week's quick takes seemed to get longer and longer as I went along....

One
Our adoption court date didn't happen this week. I don't know why exactly, but suspect it might have something to do with the elections not being finalized until this past weekend. Also, our facilitator's wife just had a baby! So, we hear from him that we are "all set for court next week". TIA (this is Africa), so sometimes things get delayed.

Two
I've had a request from a blog reader (her second request, actually) to post about how we schedule our days, specifically with Classical Conversations work. Perhaps a Mr. Linky would be in order so other CCers can add their schedules, too.

Three
Got a new planner - you know, new year, new planner. Actually, the truth is that I switched back to an old planner. For many years I used a "Classic" sized planner and loved it, but started to feel it didn't give me enough space. So, last year decided to make the switch to the full-sized "Monarch" planner. I didn't really love that. It was just too big. I keep my planner out on my kitchen counter and that Monarch just took up too much space. So, back the the Classic and I am really happy! Absence makes the heart grow fonder, I suppose.

Four
About that planner - one thing that has made the difference is that I switched back to Franklin Planner products. I don't know why, but they really are worth the price difference. So, if you've tried a planner and never tried Franklin Planner, I highly suggest you consider taking one of their classes and making the switch.

Five
Meal planning - a friend recently asked me about how we plan meals. I promised to share with her a great 5 week rotation of meals I put together for my family. If anyone is interested I'll probably share it at my food blog. Check on Monday - I'll try to have it up for "Menu Plan Monday". Do you have a monthly rotation plan for your menu? I'd love to link to you if you do!

Six
My new interest is "babywearing". Now, I don't think I'll ever be as hardcore as some of the ladies in these circles are, but I did use and enjoy a sling with my three bio kids. With the adopted little one on the way (she'll be about 6 months when she gets home), I'm beginning to get back into it. Since I gave away all my baby stuff, including the sling, I've launched myself into the world of baby wraps.

DN (dear neighbor) used one in China for her adopted daughter and she's passed that one on to me, but I've also purchased another one (Storchenwiege Inka - if you are interested). DN's was a stretchy one - great for little babies, but the other one I purchased is a woven one. These are better for bigger babies (so I read). It is very long (like 12') and good for many different carries. When we get to Ghana, I think I will also purchase fabric to make a smaller one, good for simple carries. Between the three I should be covered for the next couple of years!

I've been spending oodles of time reading about and trying out different carries. It is like a whole subculture: Front wrap cross carry, rucksack carry, poppins rebozo carry, strap carry, etc. My DD (6) has been my guinea pig for the carries and helping me "break in" my wrap.

Seven
This is really the year for change...and you'll think this is odd. but somehow our kitchen applicance always seem to be the "canary in the coal" mine. Something in the kitchen goes and major change is on its way (or has just happened.

Now this is weird...for 15 years we had a great little black&decker toaster oven that chugged away almost daily and then it had a little fire and died. We replaced it with another black&decker which didn't last long at all. In fact, the knobs broke off (we could still use it by using a pair of pliers to set the timer) and then this week it stopped working altogether.

So, I started looking to replace it...but all I could find were super-cheap toaster ovens or super expensive ($75 and up!). There were some inbetween models but they did not get good reviews. Well, in thinking about how we use a toaster oven these days (really only for toast) we decided that it might be wise to go back to just a plain toaster. You can get a decent one for $25 and we did!

It is just so strange afer 16+ years of a toaster oven, we are back to a basic toaster. Hubby has doubts that we won't miss our toaster oven (and we might). But with the size of our family growing, we really can't use the toaster oven to fix small meals (we don't fix small meals!), it makes less sense to invest in technology we won't use. Long live the TOASTER!

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